Dr. Carlos Pellegrini, Henry Harkins professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, has been elected to leadership positions in two national surgical organizations. He has been elected secretary of the American Surgical Association and president of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. The American Surgical Association, founded in 1880, is the country’s oldest and most prestigious surgical organization, with a limit of 350 active members. Pellegrini was first elected to membership in the organization in 1988. His term as secretary is for five years. The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract includes approximately 2,200 surgeons, mostly in the United States. Pellegrini will serve as president for one year.

Dr. Sean Sullivan, associate professor of pharmacy and health services, has received the Research Excellence Award for practical applications from the International Society for Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research. The award was for his paper, “Evaluating Clinical Outcomes and Economic Consequences for Formulary Decisions: A Practical Approach,” published this year in the American Journal of Managed Care.

Dr. Wilfred Fujimoto, professor of medicine, received the 1999 Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology from the American Diabetes Association at its recent annual meeting in San Diego. Fujimoto is a leading researcher in the epidemiology of Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. His population study of second- and third-generation Japanese Americans in Seattle compared to Japanese in Japan allowed him to identify how environmental factors influence the expression of genetic predisposition and to recognize the importance of central obesity in predicting coronary artery disease and Type 2 diabetes. His work was an important element in understanding the high risk of diabetes in Asians. He continues to work on insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the Japanese through collaboration with researchers in Japan and Brazil. ¶