Health Sciences

The former old boys club on 22d Street, replete with majestic columns, marble rotunda, grand staircase, and a beaux arts exterior protected by a wrought-iron gate, is imposing but not impenetrable. At 16, Faith Konate of South Philadelphia already has a foot in the ancient oak door. An 11th grader at Masterman High, Konate is among 24 young people from "under-resourced" neighborhoods who were handpicked for a novel project at the revered College of Physicians, on South 22d Street.

Philadelphia is not only the cradle of liberty but also the cradle of American medicine, having given birth to so many of our nation's medical firsts: the first hospital, the first medical school, the first cancer hospital and the first children's hospital. But it is not enough to live in the past. With one of the largest concentrations of health-care knowledge in the nation, this region has the assets to become a global life-sciences center second to none. This is one of Philadelphia's real opportunities to create new jobs and economic growth.

Seeking to calm frayed nerves at the Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, the school's interim president told an overflowing auditorium of students yesterday that she is "reasonably certain" the university will survive, though under different leadership. "At the end of the day, I am reasonably certain you will have a university like the one you have today, only it won't be associated with AHERF," said Dorothy McKenna Brown, who replaced Donald Kaye as head of the university last month.

Jennifer Jackson, 16, and Joe Mundey, 15, are among four students from the Franklin Learning Center, the city's health sciences magnet school, who are leaving for Salt Lake City today to compete in a national College Bowl-type competition on health sciences, sponsored by Health Occupation Students of America. Other members of the team, which beat out 14 other Pennsylvania high schools in April, are Magalie Emile, 16, and Kristina Leidy, 14.

DOROTHY BROWN, interim president of Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, speaks at memorial service yesterday for Dr. Jonathan Mann, School of Public Health dean and pioneer AIDS fighter, who died in the Swissair crash Sept. 2.

Anthony M. Sanzo logs 35 to 40 miles a week running near his home in the Pittsburgh suburbs, and competes in triathlons and marathons. He'll need the stamina. On Friday, Sanzo was named chief executive and president of Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation, succeeding Sherif S. Abdelhak, whom the foundation board abruptly ousted after a 12-year reign. Now Sanzo faces perhaps the biggest challenge of his 20-year career in hospital administration: to turn around the financially ailing Allegheny system, whose Philadelphia-area operations are losing millions of dollars.

The terrible prospect of Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic leaving the city has reignited an idea that has been smoldering in my mind for some time. To combat Philadelphia's continuing job-loss problem, we need to identify sectors of the economy that are still viable and build upon them. One way of building is to first "dramatize. " Our medical and health-sciences industry is one of the largest on the planet. We have six medical schools, two dental schools, innumerable great hospitals and nursing schools, a host of pharmaceutical and bioresearch companies, health-care insurers, and thousands of medical doctors in private practice.

When it comes to names, nothing's sacred anymore. Banks, stores, hospitals. Bought, sold, names changed, changed again. Confusion? No problem. A big advertising campaign can make folks forget the old name, make them wander around humming, "You know us; we know you. " But amid all the recent name changes in familiar institutions, one seems to stick particularly in the Philadelphian craw: Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation. AHERF. (Really catchy acronymn, eh?

After five years as president of the Great Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, Christine Boyle is leaving at month's end to launch her own business. Mary Ann Severance, 39, of Malvern, will become president effective Sept. 1. She is former advertising director of the Route 202 Review, a monthly business publication. Boyle, 42, of Uwchlan, said that during her tenure the chamber, has grown from 150 to 300 members. Its territory encompasses 10 townships and one borough. "When I came, we were the youngest chamber in Pennsylvania, to my knowledge," said Boyle.

The president of the University of the Sciences will retire at the end of August after 16 years at the helm of the Philadelphia college. Philip P. Gerbino has spent 44 years at the university, first as a student who graduated in 1969 with a degree in pharmacy when it was the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, and then as a faculty member and administrator before becoming president. Enrollment doubled under his leadership, and the school became a university with programs in areas including health sciences, premed, physical therapy, health-care business, and health policy.

The former old boys club on 22d Street, replete with majestic columns, marble rotunda, grand staircase, and a beaux arts exterior protected by a wrought-iron gate, is imposing but not impenetrable. At 16, Faith Konate of South Philadelphia already has a foot in the ancient oak door. An 11th grader at Masterman High, Konate is among 24 young people from "under-resourced" neighborhoods who were handpicked for a novel project at the revered College of Physicians, on South 22d Street.

Edmond F. Notebaert, the president and chief executive of Temple University Health System, will step down, he announced today. Notebaert began the job in September 2008, having come from a similar position at the University of Maryland. He previously was CEO and president of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "The Board of Trustees knew when Ed was recruited for this critical position that he was a skilled health-care professional and change agent," Patrick O'Connor, chairman of the Temple University Board of Trustees, said in a statement.

YOUR EDITORIAL of July 21 would be laughable if it weren't so awfully out of touch with the truth. Your essay bemoans the politicization of science since the Apollo 11 moon landing, placing blame on ideologues and, by implication, conservatives. The fact is that ever since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins returned to Earth on July 24, 1969, liberal politicians have steadily cut the space program budget in order to fund entitlements, while the activist left has usurped scientific research and has used it to further their extreme programs.

A new fellowship program will pair about two dozen low-income ninth graders in Philadelphia with professional mentors this fall to prepare them for careers in health care and science. The Karabots Junior Fellows Program will offer traditional mentoring from physician experts over three years as well as field trips, extra classes, college prep, internships, video seminars, and online networking. It is funded with an initial $800,000 grant from the Karabots Foundation in Fort Washington.

University administrators from New York, Maine and North Dakota were recommended last night by the West Chester University council of trustees to replace former university president Madeleine Adler. The names of the three finalists will be forwarded to the chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, who is expected to interview the three on Tuesday, according to Bernard Carrozza, who headed the 11-member search panel. The finalists are: Katherine Conway-Turner, a provost and vice president of the State University of New York at Geneseo; Mark B. Lapping, an interim provost and vice president of the University of Southern Maine in Portland; and Greg Weisenstein, a provost and vice president of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

The terrible prospect of Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic leaving the city has reignited an idea that has been smoldering in my mind for some time. To combat Philadelphia's continuing job-loss problem, we need to identify sectors of the economy that are still viable and build upon them. One way of building is to first "dramatize. " Our medical and health-sciences industry is one of the largest on the planet. We have six medical schools, two dental schools, innumerable great hospitals and nursing schools, a host of pharmaceutical and bioresearch companies, health-care insurers, and thousands of medical doctors in private practice.

Educators in the Norristown Area School District have been working to try to convince parents that there are merits to reorganizing the 2,000-student high school into small, themed "academies. " But some parents are proving a tough sell. A recent event at the school drew more than 100 parents, many of whom sought assurances that the changes would benefit students in gifted, honors and college-prep classes as much as students with academic problems. "Their view is 'It ain't broke; why are you fixing it?

Paleontologists find four-wing dinosaur fossil Fossil hunters in China have discovered a four-winged dinosaur that apparently glided from tree to tree. The animal, estimated to be 128 million years old, was about 2 1/2-feet long and had two sets of feathered wings, one on its forelimbs and the other on its hind legs. Paleontologists had seen gliding dinosaurs before, but never one with feathers, and never one with four wings. Another study confirms perils of taking Vitamin A Taking vitamin A supplements can weaken the bones and increase the risk of fractures and broken hips up to seven times, according to a Swedish study.