2008-09 Fellows
FELLOWS IN MEDICAL ETHICS 2008-2009
Stephen P. Dretler, MD is a Clinical Professor of Surgery (Urology) at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Kidney Stone Center at The Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been practicing, teaching, and doing clinical research there for 43 years. His main interests have been the development of devices for the treatment of kidney and ureteral calculi, mentoring residents, teaching the use of new technology and occasionally creating al new paradigm for clinical management.
Kate Gallin Heffernan, JD is an attorney who practices at the intersection of law and medicine. She counsels hospitals, academic medical centers, health care and research organizations, IRBs and other ethical oversight boards on issues related to human subjects research, human embryonic stem cell research and patient care (patient privacy, informed consent, and patient care policy, with a specific focus on the use of assisted reproductive technologies). Until last December, Kate worked in the Office of the General Counsel at Partners HealthCare System. Since then, Kate has been working as outside counsel/independent consultant for various clients as the founder and president of KGH Advisors LLC. Kate received her BA from Georgetown University (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and her JD from New York University School of Law (magna cum laude, Order of the Coif). Kate has spoken and published on many issues related to human subjects research and human embryonic stem cell research, and her writings have appeared in, among others, Cell Stem Cell, BNA’s Medical Research Law & Policy Report, IRB: Ethics and Human Research, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Kate is interested in exploring how informed consent policy made in response to new technologies that are perceived as highly sensitive (for example, stem cell research) inadvertently impacts other accepted research and clinical practices.
Suzanne Hitchcock-Bryan, RN, MPH is a clinical trials research nurse at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She serves on the IRB, the Scientific Review, and Ethics Advisory Committees. Prior to her current position at DFCI, she was an experimental medicine clinical research nurse for 4 years and a pediatric research nurse for 7 years. Suzanne is the principal investigator for a social behavioral study: “Entering a clinical trial: Is it right for you? — A randomized study of the clinical trials video and its impact on the informed consent process”.
Padmaja Itikala, MD is a second-year fellow in the Division of Newborn Medicine. She is originally from Ohio. Padmaja completed her undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame, her medical education from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, her Master of Public Health in epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and her pediatric residency training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Padmaja is interested in deepening her knowledge of medical ethics as it relates to her personal development and research interests within newborn medicine.
Paul Jodka, MD, FCCP is an attending physician in the Adult ICU at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. He received his medical degree from Tufts University, and subsequently completed residencies in Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine as well as a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine. In addition to his clinical role, Paul functions as a Critical Care Medicine program director and is heavily involved in the ICU-based palliative-care program. Paul has a strong interest in post-graduate medical education, patient/family centered care, and in developing a systematic approach to the multitude of potential ethical dilemmas routinely encountered in the practice of Critical Care Medicine.
Daniel S. Kamin, MD is on staff as a gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital Boston (CHB), where he serves as Medical Director of intestinal transplantation at the Liver, Intestine, and Multivisceral Transplant Program. Daniel received his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College, attended Yale University School of Medicine, and trained in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). After completing his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at CHB/MGH three years ago, Daniel entered the world of intestinal transplantation as Children’s Hospital first medical director. Daniel is interested in understanding how personal or institutional ethics inform the decision to want, and become a recipient of, an intestinal transplant.
Nicholas Sadovnikoff, MD is a physician in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is trained in Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesiology, and divides his clinical time between providing anesthesia for thoracic surgery and attending in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, of which he is Co-Director. He has pursued a longstanding interest in Biomedical Ethics by joining the hospital Ethics Committee five years ago and participating in the Ethics Consultation Service. He also directs the Fellowship in Anesthesiology Critical Care, for which he has developed a basic curriculum in medical ethics.
Andrea Saltzman, RN is a registered nurse and currently serves as the Associate Director of the Research Subject Advocate (RSA) Program of the General Clinical Research Centers (CGRCs) at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to her role as advocate, she is also a member of the MGH Ethics Task Force and the Partners Institutional Review Board (IRB). By participating in the Fellowship, she hopes to strengthen her ability to carry out the mandate of the RSA program, “to ensure that studies in the GCRC are designed and conducted safely and ethically with protection of human subjects accorded the highest priority.”
Shirley Shalev, MA, PhD is a researcher and consultant on the policy, practice and ethics of assisted reproductive technology (ART), gametes donation, genetic enhancement and diagnosis, postmortem reproduction, human embryonic stem cell research and cloning. Shalev’s research and teaching focus on the politics of reproduction and contemporary interactions of medical technology, bioethics, media, bio-politics, reproductive rights, and women’s health. Her academic work explores the ethical, political, financial, and social implications of health care policy in the field of human reproduction. Dr. Shalev received her PhD at Tel-Aviv University, her MA degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (summa cum laude), and was awarded numerous honors. Her professional experience incorporates strategic consultation on the implementation of health care policy, women’s empowerment and leadership, marketing communication and business development.