February 18, 2005

Tarbell will lead new Center for Faculty Development

Nancy Tarbell, MD, division chief of Radiation Oncology at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, has been named director of the new MGH Center for Faculty Development. The center's mission is to assist MGHers who are Harvard Medical School (HMS) faculty members with the planning and development of their careers, with particularattention to the HMS promotion process. It will include the Office of Women's Careers (OWC), which Tarbell will continue to lead, as well as a new Office of Research Career Development.

"We want to take the lessons we've learned with the OWC and expand those services to all faculty," Tarbell says. "We'll be working closely with the Multicultural Affairs and Graduate Medical Education offices to explore possible synergies; and we hope to expand opportunities for mentoring and improve understanding about the Harvard promotion process, which is still a bit of a mystery to many."

A search will soon begin for a director for the Office of Research Career Development, which will specifically address concerns about career pathways and communications within the hospital's growing research community. "Almost two years of discussions among the research community - with input from the MGH Scientific Advisory Committee - underscored a need for additional career guidance for our diverse research faculty in an increasingly complex academic landscape," says Daniel Podolsky, MD, chair of the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR).

"Dr. Tarbell's experience in nurturing careers and her outstanding leadership of the OWC made her an ideal choice to head this broader institutional effort. The plan for this office is the culmination of the excellent work of ECOR vice-chair Dr. Alan Ezekowitz and the task force he led, as well as the thoughtful input of a group of PhD members of our research community," Podolsky adds.

Rebecca Starr, who has been OWC administrative director, will be administrative director for the Center for Faculty Development, which should be in full operation later this year. For additional information about the center, call the OWC at (617) 724-5229.