Pizzo, Honored with Howland Medal, Discusses the Future of Medical Education

Philip Pizzo, M.D., dean of the Stanford School of Medicine and a Class of 1970 graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, discussed the future of medical education during a January visit to Rochester.

Pizzo, who is a member of the University of Rochester board of trustees, lectured in the Class of ’62 Auditorium at the Medical Center and later at a panel discussion. To listen to the discussions, go to:

http://mediasite.urmc.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=2e630852-75b6-4762-85af-1fcfac9b80a1

and

http://mediasite.urmc.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=4ada7a42-0fe9-445a-bda8-2c435b396d57

Pizzo is the 2012 recipient of the John Howland Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Pediatric Society and considered the most coveted award in pediatric academic medicine.

He is the fourth person with Rochester connections to receive the Howland award. The other recipients are:

• Gilbert B Forbes, M.D., a Class of 1940 graduate of the School of Medicine and Dentistry and a longtime Rochester faculty member, who received the award in 1992. He died in 2003.
• Robert J Haggerty, M.D., former chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the school of Medicine and Dentistry, received the award in 1998.
• Russell Chesney, M.D., who graduated from the School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1968 and is the former chair of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, received the award in 2011.

The medal honors Pizzo for a lifetime of achievement, spanning his four decades in research and care for children with cancer, AIDS and other infectious diseases, as well as his leadership and advocacy in pediatrics and academic medicine.

“The committee believed that Dr. Pizzo was the perfect candidate because of his long-standing leadership in research and in HIV clinical trials, as well as his general leadership in both research and advocacy for pediatrics,” said Bruder Stapleton, M.D., president of the society and chair of pediatrics at the University of Washington.

 “The committee also felt that Dr. Pizzo was such an outstanding, visible role model that it would inspire the membership,” Stapleton said. “His recognition would be very positive for the whole field of pediatrics.”

The son of Italian immigrants, Pizzo, 67, was the first member of his family to go to college. He attended Fordham University, graduating cum laude with studies in philosophy and biology. After receiving his M.D. degree with honors and distinction in research, he went to the National Cancer Institute, where he spent the next 23 years as head of the infectious disease section, chief of the pediatric department and acting scientific director of the Division of Clinical Sciences.  He has contributed findings in oncology and infectious disease to more than 500 scientific articles and 16 books and monographs.

Pizzo became dean at Stanford 2001 after serving as physician-in-chief of Children’s Hospital in Boston and as chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School from 1996 to 2001.

He will receive the Howland Medal in Boston April 29 at the American Pediatric Society annual meeting.