2008 REF Concert

Ephraim P. Engleman, MD, FACP  

ACR Past President and Master, Ephraim Engleman, MD, FACP, is widely regarded as one of the founders of the modern practice of rheumatology and the investigation of its diseases. He led the National Commission on Arthritis in the mid-1970s, a congressionally mandated task force charged with suggesting remedies for the inadequate status of arthritis research, teaching and patient care in the U.S., which resulted in the creation of what is now known as the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Engleman is the founding Director of the Rosalind Russell Medical Research Center for Arthritis at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also a recipient of the ACR’s Presidential Gold Medal, which is the highest national honor in the field of rheumatology.

Edgar G. Engleman, MD  

Son of Dr. Ephraim Engleman, Edgar Engleman, MD, graduated from Harvard University with a BA and from Columbia University School of Medicine. Currently, he is Professor of Pathology and Medicine at Stanford, where he oversees the Stanford Blood Center and his own immunology research group. Dr. Engleman was among the first to use monoclonal antibodies to characterize human lymphocytes and their subsets, and in the 1980s he used this technology to enable the Stanford Blood Center to become the first blood bank in the world to screen its blood supply for AIDS. Dr. Engleman was a scientific founder of several biotech companies, including Dendreon; co-founded Vivo Ventures, LLC, a firm that invests in life sciences companies; and serves on the boards of several biopharmaceutical companies.

Edward D. Harris, Jr., MD  

ACR past President and 2007 Presidential Gold Medal Recipient, Edward D. Harris, Jr., MD, graduated from the two-year pre-clinical medical school at Dartmouth in Hanover, and transferred to Harvard for clinical study. Currently, he is the Executive Secretary at Alpha Omega Alpha and is Editor of The Pharos after retiring from Stanford, both from the medical school and as the Academic Secretary to the University. Dr. Harris’s scientific and clinical career has focused almost entirely on rheumatoid arthritis and the publication of which he is the most proud is the monograph, Rheumatoid Arthritis, published by W. B. Saunders in 1997.

Courtney Johnson, MD  

Courtney Johnson, MD, is Professor of Pediatrics and Rheumatology at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital and School of Medicine. He graduated from Harvard with a BA in musicology and from Washington University School of Medicine, and is the only pediatric rheumatologist in New Mexico. Dr. Johnson studied piano with Kate Friskin and Eugene List, and piano and composition with Nadia Boulanger. He is interested in the relationships between medicine, music, and the humanities.

Michaela Johnson  

Daughter of Dr. Courtney Johnson, Michaela Johnson, a 2006 graduate of the University of Arizona, majored in vocal performance, studying with Faye Robinson. She performed in several university opera productions and sang the role of Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Michaela is currently teaching as an opera artist with the Tucson Unified School District’s “Opening Minds Through the Arts” program. She also sang in various productions with the Arizona Rose Theater Company and is currently taking science prerequisites in hopes of attending the University of Arizona’s accelerated nursing program.

Stephen E. Malawista, MD  

ACR Past President and Master, Stephen Malawista, MD is Professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, where, during 21 years as Chief of Rheumatology, he built what began as a one-man operation into a major unit. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and from Columbia University, College of P&S. In research, he is especially well known for work on motile and killing functions of white blood cells in the context of the inflammatory response; the mechanism of action of colchicine; the pathogenesis of gout; and of course the discovery and elucidation of Lyme disease with Allen Steere. Dr. Malawista is a recipient of the ACR Distinguished Investigator Award and Presidential Gold Medal.

Tobé Malawista  

Wife of Dr. Stephen Malawista, Tobé Malawista founded The Mirror Visions Ensemble in 1992. Concert programs performed by Mirror Visions explore the art song repertoire from a number of angles and are built around favorite poets, in particular: Shakespeare, Verlaine, Dickinson, and Heine. Mirror Visions performed in many museums, including: Carnavalet Museum in Paris, Musée Nissim de Camondo, La Maison Française of New York University and Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. During the last decade, the ensemble commissioned 69 new works for the vocal chamber music repertoire and currently has three CDs released by Albany Records: Un Américain à Paris; Secrets; and Cosmic and Domestic Matters.

Rena Panush  

Wife of Richard S. Panush, MD, Rena Panush, lyric coloratura soprano, comes from Detroit, Michigan. She made her New York debut at Town Hall in Rossini's Il Viaggio a reims and was also in the Newport Festival production of that opera. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Manhattan Philharmonic and her Carnegie Recital Hall debut as guest artist with the Chelsea Chamber Ensemble. She has sung leading roles including Lucia, Norma, Fiordiligi, Rosalinda, Micaela, Rosina and Donna Anna with the Regina Opera Company. Ms. Panush is known for her Yiddish/Classical program, "From Delancy to the Met," which she has performed in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Michigan. She maintains a teaching studio in New Jersey.

Charles M. Plotz, MD, Med ScD, MACR  

ACR Presidential Gold Medal recipient and Master, Charles Plotz, MD, Med ScD, MACR, attended medical school and graduate training at Yale and Columbia. At Columbia, and later via his laboratory at the Mount Sinai Hospital, his seminal studies on rheumatoid factor led to the concept of auto-antibodies, the invention (with his Fellow Jacques Singer) of the latex fixation test, and hastened the development of the nascent science of immunology.

Allen Steere, MD  

ACR Master, Allen Steere, MD, serves as Director of Clinical Research in Rheumatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and as Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. During his college and medical school years at Columbia University, Steere studied violin with Ivan Galamian, Director of the Violin Department at Juilliard School of Music. He is also a gifted pianist and now focuses his musical expressions on the piano.