News in brief - April 19, 2004

National awards from AMA Alliance - Liability insurer sells renewal rights - Women faculty want flexible work schedules - UT gets $25 million gift for stem cell research

National awards from AMA Alliance

The AMA Alliance recently gave its 2004 Health Awareness Promotion and Legislative Education and Awareness Promotion Awards.

2004 HAP winners are: community service -- the Alliance with the Washoe County (Nev.) Medical Society for its "Community Action Fund Grant Program;" education and awareness -- Southeastern (Ind.) Medical Alliance for its "Early Age Literacy Project;" fund raising -- Sonoma County (Calif.) Medical Assn. Alliance for its "Foster Children's Gift Program;" Stop America's Violence Everywhere (SAVE) -- Summit County (Ohio) Medical Alliance for its "No Bullies--No Victims" program. Initiated in 1989 by the AMA Alliance, the HAP Awards recognize excellence in the health programs and projects of county alliances nationwide.

The LEAP Awards were initiated in 2002 to recognize excellence in the legislative education and awareness programs and projects of county and state alliances. One award is presented to a county and a state alliance annually. LEAP winners for 2004 are: county -- Lee County (Fla.) Medical Society Alliance for its "Bundled MD-1000 Club Memberships" program; and state --Texas Medical Assn. Alliance for its "First Tuesdays at the Capitol" program.

Liability insurer sells renewal rights

Doctors in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Wisconsin who are insured by OHIC Insurance won't see renewal notices from the Columbus, Ohio-based firm. OHIC has announced that ProAssurance of Alabama bought renewal rights to all of the business OHIC did in those states.

The change applies to policies that expire on or after May 1, according to a joint press release from the companies. The renewals will be underwritten using ProAssurance guidelines and rates. Only claims-made coverage will be available.

Ohio physicians who buy insurance through OHIC will not be impacted.

Women faculty want flexible work schedules

The number of women in academic medicine has stayed relatively flat for several years, with women making up 11% of faculty at the professor level. In an effort to look at what might help change this, researchers surveyed women faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine about what they see as priorities to attract, retain and advance women in academia.

The results, published in the April issue of Academic Medicine, showed that respondents' first priority would be for an environment where women with young children could work flexible schedules without negative consequences. Next on their list was having the option of a three-month sabbatical from clinical and administrative duties. Other priorities were departmental mentoring for academic career development and school or departmental administrative secretarial support for grant and manuscript preparation.

UT gets $25 million gift for stem cell research

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has received a $25 million, 10-year commitment to fund stem cell research at the center's Institute of Molecular Medicine. It is the largest gift the center has ever received.

The university identified the donor only as "a grateful patient of James T. Willerson, MD," a cardiologist and the center's president.

A $200 million campaign is being conducted to build new facilities for the institute, and this gift puts the total collected at $176 million.

"The investigations of this new center will prove crucial to the translation of molecular medicine into actual drug development and patient care," Dr. Willerson said in a press release.