March 17, 2006

Ezekowitz to step down from MGH Pediatrics for senior role at Merck

Alan Ezekowitz, MBChB, DPhil, chief of the MGH Pediatric Service and pediatrician-in-chief of MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHC), will be leaving the MGH at the end of April to become the senior vice president and franchise head of Immunology, Respiratory and Endocrine at Merck Research Laboratories. In his new role, Ezekowitz will be responsible for the scientific direction of these three major areas of research, managing the drug discovery and development processes and formulating strategy for Merck. Ronald Kleinman, MD, associate chief of MGH Pediatrics, will serve as interim chief of the department while a search committee seeks a permanent chief.

Ezekowitz came to the hospital in 1995 and made significant contributions — most notably spearheading the creation of MGHC in 1999. Under his leadership, MGHC was formed by joining together the Pediatrics Service, Pediatric Surgery and other services that care for children to form a hospital within a hospital that has set the standard for personalized, family-centered pediatric care.

During his tenure, pediatric admissions and observation stays grew 32 percent, and outpatient visits increased 46 percent. Total research funding for pediatrics went from $2.5 million to more than $20 million during the past decade, and the quality of the MGH pediatric residency program has steadily climbed.

As chief of Pediatrics for Partners HealthCare, Ezekowitz helped establish a high-quality integrated health care network for children throughout Eastern Massachusetts. This growing network includes MGHC as the hub, and North Shore Medical Center
and Newton-Wellesley Hospital as the two regional centers. In this role, Ezekowitz has built key relationships with pediatricians, community hospitals and other organizations.

In addition, Ezekowitz has served as chairman of the MGH's Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) for the past year and was vice chair prior to that. During this time, he has further strengthened the hospital's research program and has provided ongoing support to and advocacy for the scientific community. He also was integral in launching the Office for Research Career Development as an important resource for MGH investigators. Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD, chief of MGH Psychiatry and current vice chairman of ECOR, has agreed to succeed Ezekowitz as ECOR chair.

"Alan is an enormously dedicated and talented physician-scientist who has poured his amazing energy and enthusiasm into building and shaping MassGeneral Hospital for Children," says Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH. "His personal commitment to our youngest patients has been extraordinary. We wish him the very best in this new endeavor and take great comfort in knowing that he will continue to use his talent, intelligence, energy and creativity at Merck to improve the lives of patients."