Prominent pathologist to deliver 2006 Highman Lectureship

Mary Lipscomb, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of New Mexico, will deliver the 2006 Benjamin Highman Lectureship on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 5 p.m. in the UC Davis Cancer Center auditorium.

The title of Lipscomb’s talk is “Animal Models for Pulmonary Anthrax: Strategies for Development of New Human Vaccines.”

A nationally recognized leader as a professor and scientist, Lipscomb is the Frederick H. Harvey Chair and a Professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology. She served as the school’s Associate Dean for Clinical Research from April 2003 to January 2005 and the Senior Associate Dean for Research from February 2005 to June 2005.

Lipscomb received her medical degree from the School of Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge in 1967. She received her training as a fellow in infectious diseases at the LSU School of Medicine and as an intern at Charity Hospital, LSU School of Medicine, in 1967-68. She was a resident in pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Lipscomb then served as an immunology fellow in the Departments of Pathology and Microbiology at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, and then joined the faculty at UT Southwestern. Lipscomb has served as a visiting professor of pathology at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Pathology, Vascular Research Division, from February to July 1992.

Lipscomb is currently serving as the elected councilor of the American Society of Investigative Pathology (ASIP), and she previously served as the chair of the Membership Committee, the Committee for Career Development, Women and Minorities, and a representative to the FASEB Board. She has been an active and important member of the Association of Pathology Chairs (APC) since 1995. In the APC, she served as the president (2002-2004) and has chaired various committees. Lipscomb has also been an active member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and served in many leadership positions. She has been a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) since 1982.

Over the years, Lipscomb has received numerous honors and awards. She was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2004. She received the ATS Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishment in May 2003 and the Governor's Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women, Certificate of Recognition in 2001.

Lipscomb's research focuses the mechanisms of host defense and immune regulation in the lung. In her laboratory, Lipscomb and her team use both infectious and allergic pulmonary inflammation animal models as well as human lung tissue, bronchoalveolar lavage samples and human peripheral blood to study the relevance of the animal studies to human health and disease. Lipscomb is the author of numerous publications and received the American Thoracic Society's Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishment for her research/creative work.

The Highman Lectureship is an annual lectureship in honor of Benjamin Highman. Dr. Highman spent almost 40 years in the U.S. Public Health Service, serving as medical director and as chief of pathologic anatomy at the National Institutes of Health. He was awarded the Willey Medallion and a special citation by the FDA. In 1985, Dr. Highman retired and joined the volunteer faculty at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He is fondly remembered for his enthusiastic participation in medical student and resident teaching.

Here is a list of previous recipients of the Highman Lectureship

• Dr. Evan Synder
• Dr. Clive R. Taylor
• Dr. Daniel D. Sedmak
• Dr. Paul Holloway
• Dr. Mark E. Sobel
• Dr. Victor A. McKusick
• Dr. Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz
• Dr. Ernest Beutler
• Dr. Donald A. Lindberg
• Dr. George D. Lundberg
• Dr. Mary-Claire King
• Dr. Robert E. Scully
• Dr. Ramzi Cotran

Although there is no fee for the lectureship and reception, seating is limited. Those interested in attending should e-mail famohamud@ucdavis.edu.

For more information, please contact Fatima Mohamud at (916) 734-3300.