Volume 7, Issue 9 • May 29, 2012

www.usuhs.mil

The Official USU Newsletter
On the cover

USU’s Biomedical Instrumentation Center 

has an extensive collection of sophisticated 

equipment designed to take research to new 

levels. See story, page 9.

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

Sharon Willis

Deputy Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

Christine Creenan-Jones

Contributing Writer

Lori Fields

Layout and Design

Production

Editorial content is edited, prepared 

and provided by the USU Office of 

External Affairs unless otherwise 

indicated. The Pulse staff may 

include or exclude articles based 

upon news value, impact on the 

university and space availability.

Submissions

The Pulse will be published 

bi-weekly on Mondays. The 

deadline for submissions is at 4 p.m. 

Tuesday prior to the publication 

date. Submissions can be sent to 

swillis@usuhs.mil or by calling 

301-295-3578.

2 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

U.S. Army Special Operations Command 

Surgeon: Hero of Military Medicine

Courtesy of USASOC Public Affairs

Army Col. (Dr.) Russ Kotwal, a 

1996 graduate of USU’s F. Edward 

Hébert School of Medicine, received 

the 2012 Heroes of Military Medicine 

award from the Henry M. Jackson 

Foundation for the Advancement of 

Military Medicine in Washington, 

D.C., May 2. 

Kotwal was one of three individuals to receive the award. The recipients distinguished themselves 

through excellence and selfless 

dedication to advancing medicine 

for the nation’s wounded, ill and 

injured service members, veterans 

and their families. 

Kotwal has served in the U.S. 

Army for 27 years. He is currently 

the Deputy Command Surgeon for 

the U.S. Army Special Operations 

Command. In addition to his USU 

degree, his education includes a 

Bachelor of Science in Health Education from Texas A&M University 

(1985) and a Master of Public Health 

from the University of Texas Medical 

Branch (2004). 

Kotwal completed residency 

training in both Family Medicine at 

Martin Army Community Hospital 

(1996-1999) and Aerospace Medicine 

at the Naval Operational Medicine 

Institute (2003-2005) and is a Fellow 

of the American Academy of Family 

Physicians. 

His operational assignments 

include four years with the 25th 

Infantry Division, nine years with the 

75th Ranger Regiment, and two years 

with the U.S Army Special Operations Command. He has deployed to 

combat twelve times with the Rangers, 

nine times to Afghanistan and three 

to Iraq. He has conducted hundreds 

of combat ground and air missions 

as the senior medical provider for 

which he has received five Bronze Star 

medals, two Joint Service Commendation medals for valor, and two combat 

jump stars.

His other awards include two 

Meritorious Service Medals, three 

Army Commendation Medals, and 

four Army Achievement Medals. 

Other recognitions include that of 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 

Award for Excellence in Military 

Medicine, Distinguished Member of 

the 75th Ranger Regiment, Special 

Operations Medical Association 

Award for Lifetime Achievement, 

Order of Military Medical Merit, and 

Infantry Order of Saint Maurice.

Kotwal is also a master parachutist and master flight surgeon. He is 

credited with numerous novel training 

and technology initiatives, professional 

publications, and national and international presentations related primarily to 

pre-hospital medicine on the battlefield. 

Kotwal is an adjunct professor for 

both USU and the Texas A&M Health 

Science Center, and he is a member of 

the U.S. Department of Defense Health 

Board Committee on Tactical Combat 

Casualty Care. 

Courtesy Photo 

Army Col. (Dr.) Russ Kotwal
 May 29, 2012 3

New research illustrates successful collaboration between 

USU faculty member and Sesame Street to help military 

families cope with deployment 

By Christine Creenan-Jones

Stephen Cozza, M.D., associate 

director of USU’s Center for the Study 

of Traumatic Stress (CSTS), reunited 

with long-time colleagues – Sesame 

Street’s Elmo and Rosita – for a panel 

discussion at the National Press Club 

in Washington, D.C. 

Cozza and other members of the 

panel spoke about the effectiveness 

of Sesame Workshop’s “Talk, Listen, 

Connect” program – a comprehensive, multimedia outreach kit created 

to help military families cope with 

deployment challenges.

Cozza, who has been a part of the 

program since its 2006 launch, and the 

rest of the “Talk, Listen, Connect” team 

were lauded for helping thousands of 

people – big and small – through difficult transitions. The outreach program, 

distributed to nearly one million 

families and grief service providers 

worldwide, has been very successful at helping military families heal, 

according to new research conducted 

at Purdue University’s Military Family 

Research Institute and the CSTS.

The study, unveiled at the 

National Press Club event, 

found: 

• More than 80 percent of 

families rated the kit as 

highly appealing, effective, 

and comprehensible for 

adults and children. 

• Families expressed increased 

comfort levels in helping 

children cope with current 

and future deployments by 

utilizing suggestions and 

strategies from the materials. 

• Parents reported feeling less 

depressed and hopeless. 

• Families reported that 

their children exhibited 

fewer negative behaviors 

and an increase in constructive family interactions about deployment.

Cozza, a member of Sesame 

Workshop’s advisory board and a 

featured expert in one of the “Talk, 

Listen, Connect” videos, is encouraged 

by the program’s positive impact on the 

military community worldwide.

“It’s easy for military families to 

become overwhelmed by tragedy, but 

Sesame Workshop is giving people the 

tools they need to get through tough 

challenges related to deployment,” he 

said. “These much needed materials 

offer wonderful strategies that can help 

military families with young children 

and foster meaningful connections 

between family members, friends, and 

communities in their everyday lives.”

Other panelists echoed Cozza’s 

sentiments about the “Talk, Listen 

Connect” program, including General 

Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the 

Joint Chiefs of Staff, who believes in 

public-private partnerships like the one 

between Sesame Workshop, the CSTS 

and the DoD.

“What these young men and women 

and their children see is not that it’s 

just the government’s responsibility 

to care for them, but that the nation 

cares,” said Dempsey, before leading 

Continued to page 9

Photo by Tom Foster

Photo by Tom Foster

Sesame Street Muppet Rosita reunites with USU’s 

Dr. Stephen Cozza for a recent panel discussion at 

the National Press Club.

Dr. Stephen Cozza (second from right) was among panel members who discussed the 

effectiveness of Sesame Workshop’s “Talk, Listen, Connect” program for which Cozza 

was a consultant. Joining him were (front, l to r): Dr. Jeanette Betancourt; Mrs. Patty 

Shinseki; Mrs. Lee Woodruff; Maj. (ret.) Nico Marcolongo; H. Melvin Ming, President and 

CEO of Sesame Workshop; Gen. Martin Dempsey; Cozza; Dr. Shelley Macdemid 

Wadsworth; (back, l to r): Mr. Charles Milam; Mr. Bob Woodruff; and Muppet Rosita.
4 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

USU 40th Anniversary 

Trivia Contest #2

Many distinguished people 

have spoken at USU’s graduation 

over the years, including this 

commencement speaker who said, 

“Yours is the only medical school in 

America which trains physicians to 

be ready for duty on the bottom of 

the ocean or on the surface of the 

moon and any place in between.”

The first person to correctly identify 

the speaker and send their response 

to Christine.Creenan-Jones@usuhs.

edu wins a large coffee and donut, 

courtesy of USU’s cafeteria.

USU receives second consecutive 

AAFP Top 10 award 

By Sharon Willis/American Academy of Family Physicians

For the second year in a row, a 

Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert 

School of Medicine department has 

been nationally recognized for its 

Family Medicine program.

Glen Stream, M.D., M.B.I., President 

of the American Academy of Family 

Physicians (AAFP), presented Navy 

Capt. (Dr.) Mark Stephens, chair of 

USU’s Department of Family Medicine 

with a “Top 10” award from the AAFP. 

This is the second consecutive year 

that the School of Medicine has been 

presented the award, which recognizes 

the top 10 allopathic medical schools 

that have contributed the most to the 

national pipeline of family physicians. 

The award recognizes schools that, 

during a three-year period, graduate the greatest percentage of students 

who choose first-year family medicine 

residency positions.

At a time when the United States is 

facing a shortage of primary care physicians, filling the pipeline is vital to the 

health of America, according to Stream.

“Family physicians are the foundation 

of a health care system that meets the 

needs of patients,” Stream said. “Research 

has consistently shown that people 

who have access to a family physician 

have better overall health. Americans 

make more office visits to family physicians than any other medical specialty, 

and family physicians provide care for 

patients who have a sore throat, patients 

who need stitches, and patients who have 

multiple, complex conditions such diabetes with congestive heart failure.

“These 10 medical schools have 

demonstrated their consistent commitment to meeting the nation’s need for 

family physicians. I commend them, 

their leadersh¬ip and their faculty to 

helping ensure that Americans have 

access to the care they need.”

Stan Kozakowski, MD, AAFP 

director of medical education agreed. 

“Initiatives at the medical school 

level are invaluable to increasing 

the number of students who choose 

family medicine for their specialty,” 

he said. “Admissions policies, 

academic and clinical experience 

with family physicians, and rural 

medicine tracks have significant 

influence on students’ choices.”

Top 10 Award schools employ several 

initiatives that support students who are 

interested in and most likely to become 

family physicians. Those initiatives 

include student outreach, admissions 

policies that target students from rural 

and medically underserved areas, clinical rotations that emphasize positive 

experiences in family medicine, faculty 

involvement in medical school committees, strong family medicine interest 

groups and financial aid packages that 

minimize student debt.

The 2012 award recipients and the 

percentage of graduates entering family 

medicine are:

• The Brody School of Medicine at East 

Carolina University, with 20.9 percent,

• Oregon Health & Science University 

School of Medicine, with 18.4 percent,

• The University of North Dakota 

School of Medicine & Health Sciences, with 18.1 percent,

• Uniformed Services University of 

Health Sciences, with 17.2 percent 

(up from 15.8 percent in 2011),

• The Joan C. Edwards School of 

Medicine at Marshall University, 

with 16.8 percent,

• The University of New Mexico School 

of Medicine, with 16.2 percent,

• The University of Iowa Roy J. and 

Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, with 15.9 percent,

• The University of Kansas School of 

Medicine, with 15.4 percent,

• The University of Washington School 

of Medicine, with 15.3 percent, and

• The Sanford School of Medicine at 

the University of South Dakota, with 

15.2 percent.

“The USU Department of Family 

Medicine is very proud to have been 

recognized by the American Academy 

of Family Physicians as a center of 

excellence,” said Stephens. “Our 

philosophy is ‘vires per ingenium 

versatile’ (strength through intellectual 

versatility). Training our students to 

embrace complexity in diverse medical 

settings helps also to reinforce the 

USU mission of ‘learning to care for 

those in harm’s way.’”
 May 29, 2012 5

GSN faculty member Joins Forces with First and Second Ladies

Navy Lieutenant Commander Pamela Wall, now 

former director of USU’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse 

Practitioner program, recently spoke at a Joining Forces 

event held at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is 

working toward a Doctor of Philosophy. 

 “The Joining Forces initiative is important, because it 

provides America’s nurses with the education, information 

and sensitivity they need to recognize and treat conditions 

that are unique to military and veteran populations,” said 

Wall, who was selected by the dean of Penn’s nursing school 

to talk about her military nurse corps experiences.

 At the event, Wall also introduced First Lady Michelle 

Obama, another Joining Forces guest speaker, who called 

nurses the “frontline of America’s healthcare.”

Wall is leaving USU for a new assignment at Camp 

Lejeune, N.C.

A happy heart failure patient is a healthier patient, according to a team of researchers in the USU Department of 

Medical and Clinical Psychology. 

Heart failure is increasing in prevalence, mortality is 

high, and symptoms and hospitalizations for heart failure 

are a major source of medical utilization and cost in the U.S. 

Psychosocial factors may be associated with important heart 

failure health outcomes, including hospitalizations, clinical 

events, and death.

The primary study author, graduate student Kerry 

Whittaker, working as part of a research team led by professor and department chair David Krantz, Ph.D., studied 105 

patients with congestive heart failure to see if personality 

characteristics, such as optimism, would affect symptoms, 

functional limitations, or predict subsequent hospitalizations 

Optimistic heart patients less likely to be hospitalized; 

have better quality of life

By Sharon Willis

for heart failure. The patients completed a questionnaire 

assessing optimism-pessimism as a personality trait (general 

expectations that good versus bad things will happen). The 

scientists then examined whether patients’ optimistic traits 

would predict their physical symptoms at an initial visit, and 

at a 3-month follow-up, and whether or not it would predict 

heart failure hospitalizations over the following 18 months. 

“The study results indicated that patients who had 

higher levels of optimism experienced fewer physical 

symptoms, functional limitations, and better quality of 

life at both visits, even after accounting for their disease 

severity and other medical risk factors such as smoking 

and body mass index,” said Whittaker. “We also found that 

patients with higher levels of optimism were less likely to 

be hospitalized over the 18 month follow-up period.” 

These findings, which were presented at the American 

Psychosomatic Society’s 70th Annual Scientific Meeting, 

March 14-17, suggest that heart failure patients who approach 

life with a sense of general optimism have fewer symptoms, 

better quality of life, and are less likely to be hospitalized for 

their disorder. Attention to these psychological characteristics may have implications for reducing symptoms, functional 

limitations, hospitalizations, and health care utilization. 

Whittaker was presented with the American Psychosomatic Society’s Young Scholar Award based on her dissertation research on optimism and heart failure patients. Between 

10 and 24 APS Scholar Awards are presented to outstanding 

abstract submissions where the first author of an accepted 

abstract is either a student, resident or fellow. Each award 

provides monetary assistance for the APS conference fees, 

travel, and hotel accommodations.

USU graduate student Kerry Whittaker presents her 

award-winning research at the American Psychosomatic 

Society meeting recently. 

Lt.Cmdr. Pamela Wall (seated, right), participated in a recent 

“Joining Forces” event at the University of Pennsylvania with 

First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

Courtesy Photo Courtesy Photo 
6 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Learning is a hands-on experience at USU, especially the Antietam Road March, which takes place on the historic battlefield in 

Sharpsburg, Md. Throughout the seven-mile journey, students receive a glimpse of Civil War medicine - the origins of modern 

military triage. Here, George Wunderlich from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., addresses first-year 

medical students.

Students stop at key points along Antietam National Battlefield to learn about battlefield conditions and military strategy 

during the Civil War, important lessons for USU’s students, who will likely deploy at some point during their military careers. 

At the Dunker Church, Col. (Dr.) Tom Clarke, vice chair of USU’s Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, tells students 

that disease—not enemy fire—was the most prolific killer of the Civil War. 

USU Students take a walk through history

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour Photo by Thomas C. Balfour
 May 29, 2012 7

USU experts and Civil War historians discuss the fierce 

battle that raged through Antietam’s cornfields. They 

also bring form to important history lessons from the 

past, including a firsthand look at how famed Army 

surgeon, Jonathan Letterman, developed a threestaged casualty management system for treating badly 

injured Soldiers. Variations of this life-saving method 

are still being used on battlefields in Afghanistan today.

Students stop halfway through their march across Antietam for a brief 

reprieve and a MRE lunch. Although tired from the long journey, their 

gear isn’t nearly as heavy as the loads Union and Confederate Soldiers 

carried in their haversacks.

Amputation was a common surgery performed during the Battle of 

Antietam, which helped save many lives during the Civil War. This 

procedure is still being used today on servicemembers like Petty Officer 

First Class Todd Hammond, who was injured by a roadside bomb. 

Hammond was invited to Antietam to talk about his wound and the care 

he received both on the battlefield and in military hospitals back home.

Photo by Thomas C. BalfourPhoto by Thomas C. Balfour Photo by Thomas C. Balfour
8 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Several USU alumni and faculty were among the Army 

medical officers recently elected as Fellows or Masters in 

the American College of Physicians (ACP). 

Col. Gregory J. Argyros, M.D., MACP, who is boardcertified in critical care medicine, pulmonology and 

internal medicine, and is director of education, training and research for the Joint Task Force National 

Capital Region Medical, and professor of medicine at the 

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 

was elected to Mastership in the ACP. Argyros previously 

served as chief of medicine and director of the internal medicine residency program at Walter Reed Army 

Medical Center, and as the ACP Army Chapter Governor 

from 2005-2009. In addition, he has received numerous 

teaching awards over the years.

Recently retired as an Army colonel after a 27-year 

career, Alan J. Magill, M.D., MACP, who also teaches 

USU Faculty, Alumni Among Internal Medicine Masters, 

Fellows honored by American College of Physicians

By Sharon Willis/U.S. Army Medical Department release 

Dr. Ildy Katona (center), chair of USU’s Department of 

Pediatrics, recently received the Outstanding Service Award 

from the Uniformed Services Section of the American 

Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The award, presented to her 

at the annual Uniformed Services Pediatric Seminar in 

Seattle in March, honors a present or former uniformed 

services pediatrician who demonstrates outstanding 

service and a long-term commitment to the military and 

pediatrics. Dr. Katona is pictured here with Dr. Gary Crouch, 

vice chair of USU’s pediatrics department; Jackie Burke, 

AAP; Cmdr. (Dr.) Christine Johnson, U.S. Navy pediatrics 

specialty leader; and Col. (Dr.) Thomas Burklow, chief of 

pediatrics, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

USU Chair lauded 

by national academy

at USU, was also honored as a Master by the College. Dr. 

Magill is currently a program manager at the Defense 

Advanced Research Projects Agency, where he develops effective interventions in the event of an influenza 

epidemic. He previously served as director of the Division 

of Experimental Therapeutics at the Walter Reed Army 

Institute of Research, and is an attending physician with the 

Infectious Disease Service at Walter Reed National Military 

Medical Center. Dr. Magill has held leadership positions in 

infectious disease at the National Institute of Health, International Society of Travel Medicine, American Society of 

Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and other organizations.

Only 43 medical leaders from around the world who 

have achieved eminence through their contributions to 

the field of internal medicine in at least one area, such as 

practice, teaching, research or volunteerism, were awarded 

a Mastership in 2012.

“That two Army physicians were inducted as Masters 

by the American College of Physicians speaks to the 

high quality of physicians who choose to make the Army 

their career and the extraordinary opportunities Army 

medicine offers them,” said Col. Jeanne Tofferi, M.D., 

MPH, FACP, internal medicine consultant to the Army 

Surgeon General (USU ’94). “Both of them have made 

tremendous contributions to our nation through teaching, 

medical practice and research.”

In addition, nine USU alumni were elected as ACP 

Fellows in 2012, including Maj. Fouad J. Moawad, M.D. 

(Gastroenterology, USU ’03); Maj. Sheri K. Dennison, 

M.D. (Hematology/Oncology, USU ‘03); Maj. Aaron B. 

Holley, M.D. (Pulmonology/Critical Care Medicine, USU 

‘01); Maj. Jeffrey S. Kunz, M.D. (Cardiology, USU ‘02); 

Maj. Jason A. Regules, M.D. (Infectious Disease, USU 

‘02) from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; 

Maj. Rodd E. Marcum, MD (Internal Medicine, USU ‘02) 

and Maj. David Owshalimpur, M.D. (Nephrology, USU 

‘03) from the Madigan Healthcare System (Joint Base 

Lewis-McChord, Wash.); Lt. Col. Richard G. Malish, M.D. 

(Cardiology, USU ’96) from Winn Army Community 

Hospital (Fort Stewart, Ga.); and Maj. Ramey L. Wilson, 

M.D. (Internal Medicine, USU ‘02) from Womack Army 

Medical Center (Fort Bragg, N.C.). 

Criteria for Fellowship include board certification by the 

American Board of Internal Medicine, recognition by other 

internists for excellence and skill in medical practice, teaching or research, and commitment to continued education 

and advanced training. Fellows of ACP are recommended 

by their peers based on character, ethics and excellence in 

medical practice, and undergo the review by ACP’s Credentials Subcommittee.

Courtesy Photo
 May 29, 2012 9

USU partners to 

develop National 

Alzheimer’s Plan

By Sharon Willis

The National 

Alzheimer’s 

Project Act 

(NAPA) was 

signed into 

law in 2011 

and required 

the development of a national plan to accelerate research toward treatment and 

prevention of Alzheimer’s, and to 

improve care, services, and support 

to people with Alzheimer’s, 

families and caregivers. 

Army Col. (Dr.) Brian Unwin, 

associate professor in USU’s 

Department of Family Medicine, 

represented the University as a 

member of the advisory council 

charged with developing the 

national plan. The advisory 

council included representatives 

from the Department of Defense, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, National Institutes of 

Health, and Department of Veterans Affairs, among others. 

“Alzheimer’s dementia is a 

condition that impacts many of 

us personally and/or professionally,” said Navy Capt. (Dr.) Mark 

Stephens, chair of USU’s family 

medicine department. “Col. Brian 

Unwin is a recognized expert in 

geriatric medicine and was handselected to help provide both the 

primary care and the Military 

Health System perspective in 

shaping this national endeavor.”

“The National Plan to Address 

Alzheimer’s Disease” was released 

May 15. To download a free copy 

of the National Plan, go to: 

http://alzheimers.gov/fighting_

alzheimers.html.

USU’s campus is filled with bold 

thinkers eager to push new scientific 

boundaries. But, the sophisticated 

equipment needed to break new 

ground can be expensive – almost 

a million dollars for a single instrument, even. Researchers at USU 

cannot shoulder these costs alone, 

but they do have other resources for 

turning their novel ideas into groundbreaking science.

Among them, USU’s Biomedical Instrumentation Center, located 

in rooms G 230 - 242, is a popular 

place to move science investigation 

forward. The state-of-the-art facility 

has an extensive collection of high-tech 

equipment – including an MRI, CT 

scanner, laser microscope analyzers, a 

synthesizer and many other powerful 

research tools.

“People may not realize how much 

the BIC has to offer. Our collection is 

so diverse, we literally have something 

for everyone here,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Felicia Langel, VMD, PhD, 

director of the BIC. “We also have 

faculty and specially-trained technicians on hand to run the equipment 

and provide expert guidance to anyone 

using our facility.”

Moreover, the BIC’s knowledgeable staff and sophisticated equipment 

are available to USU personnel and 

other DoD researchers 24 hours a day. 

Visitors pay a modest fee for services, 

which helps keeps USU’s research costs 

low and the BIC running efficiently.

“The BIC is a well-oiled machine. 

Our cutting-edge technology is pushing 

university research to new heights,” said 

Langel, a USU alumna as well. “We’re 

also constantly seeking ways to improve 

the center by expanding our services 

and upgrading our equipment.”

Langel’s ambitious goals for the 

center will help ensure the BIC remains 

a popular place for making new 

discoveries across disciplines as diverse 

as the center’s technology. For more 

information about the BIC, visit 

http://bic.usuhs.mil/.

USU’s BIC: A Catalyst for 

Groundbreaking Science

By Christine Creenan-Jones

USU faculty member and Sesame Street to 

help military families cope with deployment 

Continued from page 3

fellow panelists and audience members 

in an impromptu sing-along of Sesame 

Street’s theme song, “Can You Tell Me 

How to Get to Sesame Street.”

Bob Woodruff, an ABC News 

Correspondent who was critically 

injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq 

while on assignment, and his wife, 

Lee, co-moderated the event. Other 

panelists included:

Charles Milam, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; Shelley 

Macdermid Wadsworth, PhD, Director of the Military Family Research 

Institute at Purdue University; Patty 

Shineski, a board member of the 

Military Child Education Coalition; 

Retired Marine Corps Major Nico 

Marcolongo, program manager for 

the Challenges Athletes Foundation 

Operation Rebound; and Jeanette 

Betancourt, Ed.D., Senior Vice 

President of Outreach & Educational 

Practices at Sesame Workshop. 

Visit www.sesameworkshop.org/

our-impact/our-stories/militaryfamilies.html and www.centerforthestudyoftraumaticstress.org/ to learn 

more about “Talk, Listen, Connect” 

and the CSTS.
10 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Joy presented Lifetime Achievement Award

By Sharon Willis

USU’s first 

medical school 

commandant, 

founding chair 

of the Department of Military 

Medicine, and 

founding chair 

of the Department of Medical 

History, Robert J.T. Joy, M.D., was 

recently presented the Lifetime Achievement Award of 2012 by the American 

Association for the History of Medicine.

Joy, whose medical history lectures 

were a Friday afternoon staple for USU 

students in the 1980s and 1990s, was 

given the award for “his many notable 

accomplishments in the field of history 

and medicine,” according to the citation. 

“One of the things we sometimes 

forget, because we are familiar with 

each other, is that this is a vibrant and 

distinguished community of scholars; 

Bob’s honor is a reminder of that fact,” 

said USU Senior Vice President and Joy’s 

successor as Medical History department 

chair Dale C. Smith, Ph.D. “Professor 

Joy built discipline of military medical 

history by force of personality and the 

hard work of teaching but what the 

Association recognized in many ways 

was the continuing commitment to the 

life of scholarship: advising the senior, 

encouraging the young, asking the 

hard questions and then helping people 

discover the answers. 

“In support of Dr. Joy’s nomination, 

scholars from around the world and 

across generations wrote in support, 

because that is the nature of Bob Joy’s 

career and contribution. As one noted, 

“his generous spirit is as legendary as his 

scholarly rigor.” Another colleague noted: 

“he has generated and epitomizes the 

intergenerational, cross-cultural scholarship and mentorship we aspire to in the 

American Association of [sic] the History 

of Medicine.” Bob has been honored by 

every organization he ever belonged to, in 

general because he made them all better 

by his participation. We can all aspire to 

the same thing,” Smith said.

Joy received a B.S. from the University of Rhode Island (1950); an M.D. 

from Yale University (1954), an M.A. 

from Harvard University (1965), and 

is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff 

College (1968). He was trained in Internal Medicine at Walter Reed General 

Hospital and held a research fellowship 

at the Walter Reed Army Institute of 

Research (WRAIR).

He served in the Army from 1954 

to 1981, rising from First Lieutenant 

to Colonel. He was a Medical Platoon 

Leader and Battalion Surgeon, founding 

commander of the Institute of Environmental Medicine, commander of the 

WRAIR Research Team in Vietnam, and 

Director of the WRAIR. He held senior 

staff positions in medical research in the 

Office of the Army Surgeon General and 

the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 

In 1976, he founded the Department of 

Military Medicine at USU. Upon his 

retirement from the Army in 1981, he 

founded the USU Section, later Department, of Medical History. In 1996, 

he was named Professor Emeritus of 

Medical History at USU.

 Dr. Joy is a Fellow of the American 

College of Physicians, the American 

Association for the Advancement of 

Science, and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and is a member 

of a number of clinical, scientific and 

historical societies, serving in leadership positions in several of them. He 

has held more than 60 named lectureships and visiting professorships in the 

U.S. and in England, Canada, Israel, 

Germany, and Australia. He served 

on several editorial boards and as 

editor of the Journal of the History of 

Medicine. Internationally recognized as 

an expert in military medical history, he 

has published more than 125 articles, 

chapters and reviews. Dr. Joy was also 

often sought by documentary filmmakers for his historical knowledge. He 

last appeared in the History Channel’s 

“Modern Marvels” series in 1999, in an 

episode entitled “Battlefield Medicine.” 

He has been awarded the Distinguished 

Service Medal, four awards of the 

Courtesy Photo

Robert J.T. Joy, M.D.

Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, several 

commendation and campaign medals 

and flight surgeon’s wings. 

 Dr. Joy is also a recipient of the 

Osler Medal in medical history, the 

Hoff Medal and the Billings Award in 

military medicine, The Hunter Award 

in tropical medicine, the Kern Award 

for the Association of Military Surgeons 

of the U.S., the Clements Award in 

military education, the Outstanding 

Civilian Educator Award from USU, 

and several awards for teaching from 

USU students. He is on the faculty 

of the USAF School of Aerospace 

Medicine and of the Industrial College 

of the Armed Forces.

“Dr. Joy is known to all as a 

champion of the history of medicine 

and of its practitioners as well as for 

his distinguished military career,” said 

Carolina Hannaway, Ph.D., Historical Consultant and chair of the AAHM 

Lifetime Achievement Award committee, who presented the award to Joy 

on behalf of the organization. “The 

USUHS became his institutional 

home...where he established the 

longest course in medical history in 

American medical schools. He almost 

singlehandedly developed the field of 

the history of military medicine and 

this has remained his primary (but not 

his only) area of research interest as is 

attested to by his numerous published 

articles, in a wide variety of journals 

and edited volumes. ...he has been a 

forceful presence at meetings for many 

years speaking generally from the back 

of the room to inform and straighten 

out many hapless graduate students 

and distinguished scholars alike. Bob 

is very well known for his mentorship 

of numerous students, physicians, and 

historians of medicine,” she said. 

“Bob, in short, is one of the characters every historical field needs but 

is not always lucky enough to have,” 

said Hannaway, who described Joy as 

“a preeminent historian of military 

medicine, a generous spirited member 

of the AAHM, and an asset to the field 

of medical history.” 
 May 29, 2012 11

In Memoriam: Lawrence Lewin, USU Board of Regents 

Mr. Lawrence 

S. “Larry” Lewin, 

a very dedicated 

and supportive member of 

the Uniformed 

Services University of the Health 

Sciences Board of 

Regents, died on 

Sunday, April 29, 

following a battle with cancer. He was 74.

“USU has suffered a tremendous 

loss,” said President Charles L. Rice, 

M.D. “Mr. Lewin’s strong leadership, 

insight and wise counsel were an invaluable asset to the University and he will 

truly be missed.”

Larry Lewin was born in 1938 

in New York City and was raised 

in Flushing, New York. He earned 

an A.B. degree from Princeton’s 

Woodrow Wilson School of Public 

and International Affairs, and an 

M.B.A. from the Harvard Business 

School, where he was a Baker 

Scholar. Mr. Lewin also served as an 

officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He 

spent most of his life in the Washington, D.C., area, where he was an avid 

supporter of the local arts community, serving on the board of Bethesda’s Roundhouse Theater and the 

Arena Stage in Washington. 

In 1970, he founded The Lewin 

Group and remained its President and 

CEO through three acquisitions until 

his planned resignation in December 1999. He first entered the health 

policy field in 1969 as a Vice Chair 

(Management) of the Secretary of 

Health, Education and Welfare’s Task 

Force on Medicaid. Over the ensuing 

40+ years, he directed a wide range of 

projects in health policy and finance, 

academic medicine, public and private 

health insurance, technology and 

market assessment of medical devices 

and pharmaceutical products, strategic visioning and planning, and health 

systems management and governance. 

He conducted nearly 100 workshops 

and strategic planning conferences for 

a wide variety of health care executives 

and organizations.

A substantial portion of Mr. Lewin’s 

work focused on the consequences 

of shortfalls in the nation’s current 

system of financing health care. 

He directed studies of both public 

insurance (especially Medicaid) 

for a number of state governments, 

and of the private insurance system, 

particularly as it affects access to care 

and the viability of safety net clinics 

and hospitals. He also conducted 

the seminal research comparing 

non-profit and investor-owned hospitals. This research also explicated the 

cost-shift phenomenon so critical to 

understanding how health care for the 

uninsured is financed. 

While CEO of The Lewin Group, 

he directed the firm’s efforts to model 

comprehensive health insurance 

proposals. This model (The Health 

Benefits Simulation Model) has 

been extensively used by numerous 

states, private entities (e.g. SEIU) and 

elements of the federal government. 

He helped develop and model health 

insurance proposals for three presidential candidates; and in 1995, he 

and his colleagues at The Lewin Group 

conducted an extensive and widely 

publicized study of President Clinton’s 

Health Security Plan Proposal.

 He left The Lewin Group in 

December 1999 and subsequently, 

as an Executive Consultant, assisted 

senior healthcare executives, foundations, and organizations in strategic 

decision-making, program improvement, and executive coaching. He 

focused his attention on clinical and 

technology effectiveness, the nation’s 

public health infrastructure, health 

promotion, and the challenge of 

managing collaborative organizations 

and programs in both the academic 

and clinical realms.

Mr. Lewin served on a number of 

corporate boards including: H&Q 

Healthcare and Life Sciences Funds 

NYSE (which he chaired), Intermountain Healthcare whose Information 

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

Lawrence S. 

“Larry” Lewin

Systems Board Committee he chaired 

from1993 to 2007. He was a member 

of the National Commission for 

Prevention Priorities and served as a 

member of the year-long Congressionally-mandated DoD Task Force on 

the Future of Military Health Care. 

He also served as a member of Pfizer’s 

MRSA Advisory Committee, and 

was a member of the International 

Advisory Committee for Brookdale’s 

Smokler Center in Jerusalem. He was 

a founding member of the Association for Health Services Research 

(now Academy Health), and a Board 

Member of the National Association of 

Social Insurance.

He was elected to the Institute of 

Medicine/National Academies in 

1984, served eight years as an elected 

member of the IOM Council and in 

2004 was awarded the IOM’s Adam 

Yarmolinsky Medal for Distinguished 

Service. Mr. Lewin served as contract 

staff director for the IOM’s first study 

in 1972-03 – The Cost of Educating Health Professionals. In 1989-90, 

he chaired the IOM’s study on Drug 

Treatment and was a steering committee member of the IOM study on The 

Future of Academic Medicine, and in 

2008-2009 chaired the IOM Committee “America’s Uninsured Crisis: 

Consequences for Health and Health 

Care.” He also served as a reviewer 

on several IOM reports, as a member 

of the IOM’s Membership Committee, and as the Council’s liaison to the 

Health Services Board.

Mr. Lewin was appointed to the USU 

Board of Regents by the Secretary of 

Defense in 2009. 

He is survived by his wife of 31 years, 

Marion Lewin; his son, Danny; Marion’s 

sons, Mark and Jon Ein; his grandson, 

M. Sheppy Lewin; and his brother, 

Edward Lewin.