The Medical Center Alumni Association honored seven physicians for alumni achievement and distinguished service during its reunion activities recently at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis.
The Alumni Achievement Awards went to Marshall E. Bloom, M.D. and Willard B. Walker, M.D. The Alumni/Faculty Awards went to Clay F. Semenkovich, M.D. and Gregory A. Storch, M.D.
The Distinguished Service Awards went to William H. McAlister, M.D.; Alan L. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.D.; and Samuel L. Stanley, M.D.
Bloom is associate director of Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) of the Division of Intramural Research of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in Hamilton, Mont.
He is internationally recognized for his research on parvoviruses and pathogenesis of chronic viral illness and for his expertise in biocontainment and biodefense. Bloom earned undergraduate and medical degrees from WUSTL.
Upon completing a pediatric internship at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, he went to RML as a research associate.
He became an RML-tenured investigator in 1977, was designated as acting chief of the RML Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis in 2005 and played a critical role in the development of the NIAID’s first Biosafety Level 4 laboratory facility.
Walker is an associate professor emeritus of clinical surgery at the School of Medicine, known for his distinguished career as a vascular surgeon. A native St. Louisan, Walker completed his undergraduate education at WUSTL and earned a medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1946.
He completed an internship, residency and chief residency at Barnes Hospital. He joined the WUSTL faculty in 1953 and served St. Louis’ Homer G. Phillips Hospital as a surgical consultant and supervisor of surgery for 25 years.
As a faculty member, Walker was considered an outstanding clinician and mentor who had a lasting impact on many students and residents. After retirement, he volunteered as a surgical consultant for Connect Care for two years.
Semenkovich is the Herbert S. Gasser Professor, professor of medicine and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research. He is known for his contributions to the understanding of lipid metabolism, diabetes and atherosclerosis.
He earned a medical degree from WUSTL in 1981 and completed a residency at Barnes Hospital and a fellowship at WUSTL. He joined the faculty in 1990 and was named professor in 1999.
He has served as assistant program director of the University’s General Clinical Research Center and is the founding director of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Program.
Semenkovich has used genetically manipulated mice to develop strategies for reversing insulin resistance, hypertension and diabetes, and to identify new mechanisms underlying diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Storch is the Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics and professor of medicine and of molecular microbiology. He is known for his work in virology, specifically in molecular diagnostics of viral infections and in pediatric HIV/AIDS.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1969 and a medical degree from New York University in 1973. He came to St. Louis for his internship and residency at Jewish Hospital. After two years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Storch returned to WUSTL, joining the faculty in 1981 and becoming a professor in 1994.
Storch is director of the divisions of Laboratory Medicine and of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics and is director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
McAlister is professor of radiology and pediatrics. In 1960, he came to St. Louis as an instructor in radiology at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and the School of Medicine. He later joined the Department of Pediatrics faculty and was named professor in 1968.
He has served as section chief in pediatric radiology at the school and St. Louis Children’s Hospital since 1965 and was the radiologist-in-chief from 1992-2006.
As a result of his research on bone and joint disorders, human genetics and skeletal dysplasias, he is considered a national leader in pediatric radiology whose outstanding skills as a diagnostician have played an important role in enabling the other specialties at Children’s Hospital to function at an extremely high level.
Schwartz is the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, professor of molecular biology and pharmacology, and pediatrician-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
He served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for eight years, then joined the WUSTL faculty as professor of pediatrics and pharmacology and head of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. He became chairman of the Department of Pediatrics in 1995.
Schwartz is renowned for his pioneering research in the field of receptor-mediated endocytosis, the process by which proteins enter cells in order to provide the cell with nutrients or regulate cell activities.
In addition, he developed a graduate-education program called the Markey Pathway for educating research-oriented trainees in the fundamentals of human pathology.
Stanley is professor of medicine and of molecular microbiology and is known as an expert in biodefense and infectious diseases. He joined the WUSTL faculty in 1987 as an instructor. He then became professor in 1999, and in 2004 was appointed professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology.
Stanley is known as a superb clinician, teacher, researcher and administrator. He studies the biological mechanisms cells employ when responding to infectious agents such as parasites, bacteria and viruses.
He also directs the Midwest Regional Center for Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, based at the University and funded by a $37 million National Institutes of Health grant. He recently was named WUSTL’s vice chancellor for research, the chief officer responsible for the University’s $500 million research enterprise.