NEWS A L U M N I 1 community health. The Eric B. Chandler Health Center received 2 PHOTOS BY KIM SOKOLOFF Fourth Annual Gala Is a Grand Success: Event Builds New Support for Medical Student Scholarships he Fourth Annual Scholarship Gala to Celebrate with Alumni and Friends, co-hosted by Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers University Foundation, was a spirited and memorable evening. Building on three previous, highly successful events, the Gala raised $135,000 in support of medical student scholarships. The celebration, held on April 12 at The Heldrich, in New Brunswick, included more than 250 alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends of the medical school. They were joined by leaders from nine of the medical school’s hospital affiliates located throughout New Jersey. The evening included a special salute 1. Left to right: Natalia Bistiny, chair, Eric B. Chandler Health Center Board of Trustees; Eric Jahn, MD ’88, senior associate dean for community health; Sandra Adams, executive director of the health center; Vicente H. Gracias, MD, dean (interim); and awardees Jeffrey Bruce, MD ’83, Edgar E. Housepian Professor of Neurological Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/ Columbia; and Joseph Bertino, MD, university professor of medicine and pharmacology and associate director and chief scientific officer at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. T to the Class of 1974, the medical school’s first four-year graduating class, which was celebrating its 40th reunion. “On behalf of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, I am extremely grateful to our alumni and colleagues who supported the Scholarship Gala,” says Vicente H. Gracias, MD, dean (interim), who served as master of ceremonies. “Their generosity provides necessary financial support for our medical students who face a growing amount of debt in pursuit of becoming physicians.” Three exemplary honorees were recognized at the Gala for their dedication to promoting medical and scientific education, research, philanthropy, patient care, and the Meritorious Service Award for 25 years of leadership and dedication to improving the health care of underserved children and adults in the New Brunswick area. The Honorary Alumni Award was presented to Joseph R. Bertino, MD, university professor of medicine and pharmacology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief scientific officer at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. As a physicianscientist, Dr. Bertino has dedicated his career to the design and development of anticancer agents to optimize treatment for cancer patients. The Distinguished Alumni Award was given to Jeffrey N. Bruce, MD ’83, Edgar M. Housepian Professor of Neurological Surgery at New York-Presbyterian/ Columbia. Dr. Bruce, one of the country’s preeminent neurosurgeons, was recognized for his contributions to translational brain tumor research. He has served as a mentor to Robert Wood Johnson Medical School graduates completing their residency training at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. —K.O’N. 48 Robert Wood Johnson I MEDICINE