June 22, 2001

Parenthood and a prominent career in medical research each are challenging undertakings in and of themselves. When combined as simultaneous full-time roles, however, they demand exceptional qualities.

Four MGH junior faculty members recently were recognized for such qualities as the recipients of the 2001 Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards. This year's winners are: Ellen Grant, MD, of MGH Radiology; Marina Feschenko, PhD, of MGH Neurosurgery; Shyamala Maheswaran, PhD, of MGH Pediatric Surgery and the MGH Cancer Center; and Corrine Welt, MD, of the MGH Reproductive Endocrine Unit

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From left, Welt, Grant and Maheswaran. Not pictured: Feschenko

The Claflin Awards are granted each year to junior faculty who are at the most vulnerable point in their academic careers: their child-rearing years. The awards – facilitated by the MGH Office for Women's Careers (OWC) – were established in 1996 and named in tribute to Jane Claflin, an honorary MGH trustee who helped launch the initiative to increase funding for junior women faculty. The goal of the stipends – funded by the MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) – is to provide transitional funding for women hoping to advance to senior positions in academic medicine.

There have been only two recipients per year previously, but the program's proven success prompted ECOR this year to grant funding for two additional 2001 award winners.

"We submitted a proposal to ECOR this year requesting an increase in the number of awards, because there is now documentation regarding the successful outcomes the awards have helped to facilitate," says Suzanne Metallo, associate director of the OWC. "ECOR was quite generous in granting two more awards this year, and we will be seeking fundraising support to keep the additional awards going in the years to come."

For information about the Claflin Awards, contact the OWC at (617) 724-5229.