THESE TIMES CALL ON US FOR MORE - OUR COMMUNITY HAS RESPONDED - Dartmouth-Hitchcock | Geisel School of ...
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Giving in Action
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
REPORT ON PHILANTHROPY | FALL 2020
THESE TIMES
CALL ON US
FOR MORE.
OUR COMMUNIT Y
HAS RESPONDED.
Researchers Pivot Alumni Back Norris Cotton Cancer
to Concentrate on Geisel Campaign Center Focuses on
COVID-19........................... p. 3 Priorities.......................... p. 12 Innovation.............p. 20
FEATURES
3
SAVING LIVES,
IN FOCUS
08 T
he Economics of Vaccine
Development
SERVING SCIENCE 09 Snapshot of Federal Grants
Cutting-edge COVID-19 research
gave our patients options 10 R
esearch Briefs
not available in most rural
communities. 14 S
eeding Change within Medicine
16 M
ilestone Gift Funds Geisel Student
Scholarships
18 I ncreasing Our Capacity to Care
24 A
lumni Gifts Launch Entrepreneurial
Accelerator
26 D
onors, Fiscal Year 2020
28 G
iving Highlights
12
31 Pinnacle Society
SUPPORTING OUR
STUDENTS
Giving in Action
Alumni and donors get behind Fall 2020
Geisel’s campaign goals
with groundbreaking gifts Executive Director
to scholarships and student Kate Villars
wellness programming.
Managing Editor
Lauren Seidman
Editorial Assistant
Patti Green
Design Production
Farah R. Doyle
Contributors
Audra Burns, Timothy Dean,
Jennifer Durgin, Susan Green, Kendall Hoyt, PhD,
Sue Knapp, Lara Stahler
Cover Photograph
Yujia Shentu ’23 volunteers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
20
Medical Center’s Farmacy Garden, which helps
provide food to those in need in our community.
Photo by Mark Washburn.
Photography
Mark Washburn (except where noted)
Produced by
Office of Development and Alumni Relations
MOTHER. MENTOR. Dartmouth-Hitchcock | Geisel School of Medicine
SCIENTIST. at Dartmouth
ENTREPRENEUR. One Medical Center Drive, HB 7070
Lebanon, NH 03756
Norris Cotton Cancer Center
scientists like Arti Gaur, PhD, Websites
excel at bringing discoveries to dartmouth-hitchcock.org/donate
the marketplace. dhgeiselgiving.org
geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/campaign
LEADERSHIP LETTER
THESE TIMES.
These times are most often described George Floyd, Geisel students began that’s carried us through this year. As
as difficult, extraordinary, challenging, steering efforts to address the racism health care professionals, scientists,
and unprecedented. But let’s be that exists in our own community, and educators, we are called to the
honest. The nine months since a novel and continue that work today. When vital work of creating healthier, more
coronavirus upended life as we knew it these times called for selflessness, resilient, and more equitable commu-
have been heartbreaking, lonely, scary, our medical students led by example. nities. We must confront the persistent
and frustrating. Doctors, nurses, and staff across the racism and inequities that lead to un-
Yet they’ve also been inspiring. From Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health sys- acceptable disparities in nearly every
the moment the first case of COVID-19 tem have shown commitment and aspect of modern life—including health
in our region was diagnosed at Dart- resourcefulness in caring for patients care. That’s why Geisel and D-H have
mouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and during the pandemic. Our Connected launched multiple initiatives to address
the Geisel School of Medicine moved Care team dramatically expanded use the policies, practices, and cultural
its curricula online, to the ongoing of telemedicine appointments in order norms that perpetuate bias, racism, and
protests against endemic racism in to ensure continuity of care for people inequity within our institutions and to
America, our faculty, students, care- at home. Then, as conditions allowed, better support our employees, students,
givers, and neighbors have stepped up. our care teams worked together to and patients from underrepresented
These times call on us for more, and adapt our operations to safely and and disadvantaged groups. This work
our community has responded. successfully re-open for in-person will not be easy nor quick. It will require
appointments and procedures. When sustained engagement and investments.
Last spring, Geisel and Dartmouth- These times call on us for listening
Hitchcock (D-H) researchers, in these times called for creativity, our
providers envisioned different ways and self-examination, and we are
collaboration with Dartmouth College committed to this undertaking.
colleagues, quickly pivoted to focus on to deliver their care.
COVID-19 diagnostics and treatments. Throughout the crisis, you—our donors, Flexibility, selflessness, creativity,
That work enabled D-H to provide friends, and volunteers—have stood generosity, listening and self-examina-
accurate and rapid coronavirus testing with us. You used your connections tion—in these ways and so many more,
early in the pandemic, and to offer to ensure that our frontline staff were our community has responded to the
patients with COVID-19 the most equipped with personal protective challenges of these times, and we are
promising treatments through clinical equipment (PPE). You aided those deeply grateful.
trials—options not routinely available in need with gifts to our COVID-19
in rural communities. When these Community Relief Fund, D-H’s HOPE
times called for flexibility, our Fund for employees, and Geisel’s student
scientists and clinicians took action. emergency fund. You participated in a
In-person classes and clinical rotations virtual Prouty and virtual CHaD Hero
ended abruptly for Geisel students, to raise money for Dartmouth’s and
an enormous disruption in their Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton DUANE A. COMPTON, PHD
medical education. But they have Cancer Center and the Children’s Dean, Geisel School of Medicine
demonstrated the resilience, empathy, Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
and determination we need from our And in the midst of great economic
future physicians. While adapting to uncertainty, you stayed the course with
online learning, students like Yujia your crucial support for research, mental
Shentu ’23 also volunteered their time health, medical student scholarships,
to distribute fresh produce to food and so much more. When these times
called for generosity, you moved us JOANNE M. CONROY, MD
pantries, help frontline workers with
with your kindness. CEO and President,
childcare, and serve in nonclinical
Dartmouth-Hitchcock and
roles in hospitals. After the murders of Looking ahead, we will act with the
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and same commitment and resourcefulness
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 1
DHART (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced
Response Team) nurse Adam Bean
transports a patient from another hospital
to the COVID-19 Unit at DHMC. CALL
ON US
TIMES
THESE
TO CARE
S A V I NG
L IV E S ,
S E R VI NG
SCIENCE
Clinical Research in Robert Trembley, MD, was
the first patient enrolled in
Our Rural Community DHMC’s remdesivir trials.
BY LAUREN SEIDMAN
R
obert Trembley, MD, is no stranger before known asymptomatic spread and
I. MARCH 2020
to illness. As a primary care physician mask recommendations.
in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom for Soon after arriving home in Vermont,
over 30 years, he treated countless patients both Trembleys started to develop symptoms.
in a rural health center, at North Country While his wife felt better after a couple of
Hospital, and in local nursing homes. And days, Trembley couldn’t shake a low-grade
as a person with cancer, he’s undergone temperature and an overwhelming sense
treatment for both Hodgkin’s disease and of weakness. He wasn’t experiencing any
acute myeloid leukemia (AML). respiratory symptoms, but he was suspicious.
“I survived potent chemotherapy, With coordination from John Hill Jr.,
a bone marrow transplant, and ongoing MD, one of Trembley’s hematologists at
challenges of graft versus host disease,” says Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Trembley. “All of which put me at high-risk (DHMC), Trembley was admitted to North
for COVID-19.” Country Hospital. He needed IV fluids and
When SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes oxygen. A chest X-ray showed inflammation
COVID-19, began spreading in the United in his lungs. The next day, his COVID-19
States in early March, Trembley and his swab came back positive.
wife, Carol, were in Florida. They headed “Dr. Hill arranged for me to be transferred
back north by car, staying twice along the to DHMC right away,” Trembley says,
way with friends and, once, at a hotel. They “because that very day was the start of the
used hand sanitizer, cleaned surfaces, and remdesivir trial.”
avoided crowds, but this was in the days
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 3
R
emdesivir, an antiviral medication, is
II. REMDESIVIR
now known to be one of the few drugs
that may shorten recovery time for a
patient with COVID-19. But in March 2020,
open-label (non-placebo-controlled) clinical
trials of remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment
were just beginning. DHMC was one of
the first 20 U.S. sites to participate in the
worldwide trial and the only site participating
in New Hampshire or Vermont.
“COVID-related research displays our
agility and ability to activate studies,” says
Leigh Burgess, vice president of Dartmouth-
Hitchcock’s (D-H) Office of Research
Operations. “It also demonstrates the
Dartmouth-Hitchcock mission of advancing understand both what they’re agreeing to
health by providing each person the best and that they are free to bow out at any time.
care, in the right place, at the right time, Patients and their research nurse establish a
every time.” deep, trusting relationship, with a lot of one-
In what can typically take two to three on-one interaction throughout the course of
months, a team of experts in research a trial. But for COVID-19 clinical trials the
operations, including Jami Wilson, director research nurses had to do most of their work
of the Clinical Research Unit and director from outside patients’ rooms because of the
of research nursing at DHMC, and principal contagiousness of the disease and the need
investigator Richard Zuckerman, MD, to minimize the number of people coming
MPH, opened two therapeutic studies of into contact with these patients.
remdesivir in a remarkable eight days. These Robert Trembley was the first patient
Phase III trials were designed to gather enrolled in DHMC’s remdesivir trials. He
information about safety and efficacy by had come to DHMC specifically to take part
studying different populations and different in the research and was ready to consent
treatment durations, as well as using the drug upon arrival. He recalls being in his bed in
in combination with other supportive care. the COVID Unit with signed consent form
“With any novel virus there is no in hand, and his research nurse, by phone,
standard of care,” says Wilson. “This was asking him to bring the form to the window
an international pandemic and everyone so she could take a photo of it. But he was
worked together to get the trials up and too weak to get out of bed.
running because we didn’t have two months He doesn’t remember doing this, but it
Above: Jami Wilson, to figure it out.”
director of the was around that time that he’d texted his
Clinical Research Wilson explains that in any clinical trial, a wife, “On six liters of oxygen. Not good.”
Unit and director of
research nursing at research nurse is the patient’s primary point Shortly after that, Trembley was put on a
DHMC. of contact. They make sure trial participants ventilator.
By the *
NUMBERS 477 177 109 1,333
*data accurate as active therapeutic opened trial
of August 2020 studies trials studies, enrollments,
2020 to-date 2020 to-date
Clinical Research at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
“This outbreak has
reminded us why it’s
so important for our
academic medical center
to be involved in clinical
trials and groundbreaking
research.”
“
This outbreak has reminded us why it’s for its ability to prevent “cytokine storm” in
III. LENZILUMAB
so important for our academic medical organ transplant patients and in patients with
center to be involved in clinical trials refractory leukemia and lymphoma. The hope
and groundbreaking research,” says Richard is that it can do the same to protect coronavirus
Zuckerman, director of D-H’s Transplant and patients from the cytokine storm that often
Immunocompromised Host Program, program leads to the need for mechanical ventilation.
director for the Infectious Disease Fellowship, “Dartmouth connectivity was key to
and associate professor of medicine at the bringing the lenz trial here,” says Lewis. Of
Geisel School of Medicine. “As a clinician, to the 17 sites participating in the randomized,
quickly get an agent that may have efficacy is placebo-controlled Phase III study, DHMC
so important. Even if we don’t have a huge was one of the first four medical centers to
volume of patients with COVID-19, it shows initiate the trial—once again in just eight
the community that we are poised to offer days. An alumnus of Dartmouth’s medical
cutting-edge medicine and we care to bring it school, Dale Chappell MED’99, MBA, is chief
to the medical center in a safe way.” scientific officer for the drug’s developer,
In May, Zuckerman began serving as co- Humanigen, and Michael Zubkoff, PhD, an
principal investigator on another drug trial associate dean at Geisel, faculty director of
with Lionel Lewis, MD, medical director the Center for Health Care at the Tuck School
of the Dartmouth Clinical Trials Office, of Business, and director of the MD-MBA
co-director of Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth- Program at Dartmouth, put Chappell in
Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center touch with Lewis.
(NCCC) Early Phase Clinical Trials Oncology This study will comprise 300 adult patients
Group, and professor of medicine at Geisel. at sites including DHMC, the Mayo Clinic,
The drug, lenzilumab (or “lenz”), is different and hospitals at the University of Southern
from remdesivir in that it’s not an antiviral California and in Brazil. Participating patients
medication but a monoclonal antibody. sick enough to need oxygen will get either lenz
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made or a placebo. If the drug works, Humanigen
versions of proteins naturally produced by the will ask the Food and Drug Administration
immune system in response to invading viruses (FDA) to authorize its emergency use. Results
or other pathogens. In some patients with are expected in November 2020.
Above: Richard COVID-19, signaling proteins called cytokines
Zuckerman, MD, “It was so important to our hospitalized
that activate immunity go into overdrive, and
MPH, principal patients at DHMC to have us involved in
investigator on the immune system goes haywire. The massive
the remdesivir and inflammation that results damages lungs and this research,” Zuckerman says. “Now we
lenzilumab trials at had options.”
DHMC. other organs. Lenz has already been studied
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 5
A
fter five days on a ventilator, Robert useful treatment option to as many people as
IV. ANTIBODIES
AND CORONAVIRUS IMMUNITY
Trembley was extubated. possible.”
“I think the very early intervention To date, plasma collected at DHMC has
was instrumental in turning things around gone to patients at the medical center and
for me,” Trembley says. “If I hadn’t been close to patients at hospitals in Southern New
enough to an academic medical center with Hampshire, which experienced a greater
the option of the clinical trial, I would likely early surge of people sickened with the novel
have remained at my community hospital and coronavirus. Likewise, people who’ve recovered
been treated with hydroxychloroquine, put on a from COVID-19 have traveled to DHMC from
ventilator, and that’s it. The timeline of getting across the region in order to donate their blood.
to DHMC and getting on remdesivir created “The response from our community has been
a window of opportunity for me that made a amazing,” says Jenna Khan, MD, assistant
difference in my survival.” director of the Transfusion Medicine Service
While Trembley was recovering, Zbigniew at DHMC and assistant professor of pathology
“Ziggy” Szczepiorkowski, MD, PhD, D-H’s and laboratory medicine at Geisel. “People have
section chief of Laboratory Medicine, director been eager and willing to do anything they can
of Transfusion Medicine Service and of the to help others suffering from the disease.”
Blood Donor Program, and professor of A single blood draw can provide plasma
pathology and laboratory medicine at Geisel, for up to two patients—as well as samples
had started evaluating the use of blood plasma for research. Investigators throughout D-H,
rich in antibodies as a COVID-19 treatment. Geisel, NCCC, and Dartmouth College are
Supported by federal government agencies using these and other donated samples by
including the FDA, and with the Mayo Clinic enlisting volunteers to further understand
serving as the Institutional Review Board, the COVID-19 disease and the body’s response
DHMC program was making plasma collection, to it. In one such collaboration, Peter Wright
processing, and access to treatment easier for D’64, MED’65, professor of pediatrics at
patients throughout Northern New England. Geisel, Margaret Ackerman, PhD, professor of
“Treatments with convalescent plasma, or microbiology and immunology at Geisel and a
plasma from patients who have recovered from professor at the Thayer School of Engineering,
a disease, date back to the Spanish Flu of 1918,” Jiwon Lee, PhD, of Thayer, and colleagues
says Szczepiorkowski. “The belief is that plasma from the biotech firm Adimab and from the
makes a difference, but we’re still waiting for University of Texas-Austin, are studying the
results of randomized, controlled trials.” breadth of immune responses in the blood and
in the respiratory secretions of patients who
Because plasma is known to be safe and have recovered from COVID-19. The groups are
anecdotal evidence suggests it can help patients, profiling and isolating the effective antibodies
in the spring the FDA authorized its emergency for use as therapeutics and to inform potential
use as an Investigational New Drug, or IND. vaccine efforts.
(The FDA further expanded the emergency
use of convalescent plasma in August 2020.) “We have a strong consortium at Dartmouth
The designation allowed DHMC to provide pulling together expertise in immune
plasma to anyone who met the criteria for responses,” says Wright, an infectious disease
it—hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit and specialist, “and the Clinical Research Unit
about to be intubated—and the outcomes will at D-H has been extraordinarily helpful in
contribute to the understanding of its efficacy. coordinating and accommodating our work.”
“We felt that if we believe this might work Lionel Lewis also notes the benefits of
as a COVID-19 treatment, we have to offer working in a small, tight-knit community.
it,” Szczepiorkowski says. “There are other “Geisel and College scientists walk the same halls
sites conducting randomized controlled trials as D-H clinicians. We don’t feel like two separate
of convalescent plasma and we need those, institutions. And the more collaborations we
but for us the right choice was to join the have, the more successes we’ll have.” Successes
Mayo Clinic’s protocol and get this potentially for patients like Robert Trembley.
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • 6
Plasma collected at DHMC
has gone to patients at
the medical center and to
patients at hospitals in
Southern New Hampshire,
which experienced a
Zbigniew “Ziggy”
Szczepiorkowski, greater early surge of
MD, PhD, principal
investigator on people sickened with the
the convalescent
plasma program. novel coronavirus.
F
ive months after contracting are underserved by academic medical
V. AUGUST 2020
COVID-19, Trembley says he’s back centers. We get to bring things to our rural
to baseline. Or, according to his wife, population that generally wouldn’t be
“even better than” his previous baseline. available.”
He doesn’t feel like he’s had significant “During a health crisis, a really scary time,
residual effects from the disease, perhaps, we’re able to offer patients treatments that
in part, because of the health challenges let them stay close to home,” says Wilson, the
he’s already faced. director of research nursing. And she notes
“This experience has made me even that these options are available to patients
more determined to be consistent about facing any number of health crises—not
exercising and doing the things that help just COVID-19. There are currently more
keep me healthy,” he says. “I received than 450 research studies actively enrolling
exceptional care and I’m so fortunate. Now at DHMC, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock
I’m just enjoying each day as it comes.” With Manchester is ramping up its abilities to
the permission of his care team, Trembley’s enroll study participants in the southern
been able to spend most of the summer in region of New Hampshire.
Massachusetts, swimming, boating, and “I’m extremely grateful that I had the
relaxing on the beach. opportunity to be part of a clinical trial,”
For everyone involved in Trembley’s says Trembley. “Everyone at DHMC did
treatment or other research at D-H, it’s a superb job and I want to extend my
stories like his that drive them. Lewis says, profound and sincere thanks.”
“Rural populations in developed countries
PHASE III
Large participation (1,000 to 3,000) to allow
PHASE II researchers to collect data on safety and
PHASE I Studies a new drug, device, or
efficacy of a drug or treatment and to com-
pare the new treatment to the standard
Determines the safety of a treatment with 100 to 300 partici- treatment or to placebo. This phase may be
treatment, device, or drug pants with condition or disease for randomized and blinded by assigning par-
in a small group of people. the target of the treatment. It’s ticipants randomly to the groups with the
Also called nonblinded designed to determine if the drug new treatment, standard treatment, or pla-
as both researchers and or device is an effective treatment cebo, when relevant. A blinded study means
volunteers know what for a specific disease, has any side patients and/or doctors do not know which
medication is being used. effects, or has any risks. treatment they are receiving.
The Phases of a Clinical Trial
W
hen I led Medicine Grand Rounds at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Medical Center on January 10, 2020, we discussed the
The
scientific, economic, and logistical factors that make
epidemic vaccine development especially challenging. I shared a
chart that illustrated the growing frequency and intensity of new
Economics of
outbreaks around the world and noted that it was already out of
date given the reports of unidentified viral pneumonia circulating
in China. The discussion was lively, but did we know how deeply
invested we would all become in finding solutions to these problems
in the coming months?
VACCINE With forecasts indicating that COVID-19 could claim 40 million lives
and reduce global economic output by $12 trillion by the end of 2021,
there is not a moment to lose.
DEVELOPMENT Well over 300 vaccine candidates are now in development, with
scientists, corporations, and nations racing for the finish line. Before
the pandemic, I’d been collaborating with Christopher Snyder, PhD,
the Joel Z. and Susan Hyatt Professor in Economics at Dartmouth
College, on a paper outlining mechanisms to address market failures for
epidemic vaccines. Companies are often reluctant to respond to smaller
outbreaks such as Ebola or Zika in part because they have to redirect
personnel and facilities away from other more profitable projects to
focus on an outbreak with an uncertain future. In some ways, high
demand and global competition suddenly seemed like a great problem
to have. However, uncoordinated free market competition may actually
hinder efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
In a free market, vaccines will go to the highest bidder, which will
drive up the price—by a factor of 13 according to our research—and
reduce access. Furthermore, protectionist measures on the part of
any one nation could hamper the pace of progress since vaccine
development expertise, manufacturing capacity, and supply chains
are highly distributed around the world.
Dr. Snyder and I, along with our colleague Dimitrios Gouglas from
the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), make
the case for a global coordination mechanism much like the one that
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, launched earlier this year to procure large
amounts of vaccine from multiple developers. An advance purchase
commitment from such an entity would reduce the cost and risk of
development and allow vaccine to be allocated on the basis of need,
prioritizing individuals most likely to transmit the virus or suffer severe
consequences from it. Equitable allocation is not just the right thing
to do; it also provides the highest probability of ending the pandemic
in the shortest period of time.
Pandemics are transnational issues that no one country can solve
alone. The challenge in the years ahead is to develop institutions and
tools that will allow nations to address these problems collectively.
An advance purchase mechanism takes one important step in that
direction, allowing nations to pool and coordinate resources to produce
pandemic vaccines as a global public good.
Kendall Hoyt, PhD, is an assistant professor of medicine
at the Geisel School of Medicine and a lecturer at the
Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. She is the
author of Long Shot: Vaccines for National Defense.Snapshot of Federal Grants
Federal grants support the work of researchers throughout Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the
Geisel School of Medicine. Below is a sample of recent grant awards and the studies they support.
$19.9M $3M
A collaboration between Geisel and the The Center for Technology and Behavioral
University of New Hampshire to enhance Health (CTBH) at Geisel received a 5-year,
biomedical research capabilities in the state $3 million grant from the National Institutes
as part of the New Hampshire IDeA Network of Health to test the effectiveness of digital
of Biomedical Research Excellence (NH-INBRE) behavioral intervention tools in high-risk
continues with a five-year, $19.9 million grant patients who suffer from Type 1 diabetes—a
from the National Institutes of Health. condition that is difficult and expensive to
manage. The study is led by Catherine Stanger,
PhD, a deputy director for CTBH and an
$15.5M
associate professor at Geisel.
$1.5M
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has
renewed its Cancer Center Support Grant to
Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris
Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC), continuing core A four-year, $1.5 million grant from the
funding for the only Comprehensive Cancer National Cancer Institute was awarded to
Center north of Boston. The five-year, $15.5 investigators at Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth-
million grant will provide continued core Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center
support for NCCC’s clinical care and research (NCCC) to build and validate machine learning
missions. The prestigious designation as a approaches to non-small cell lung cancer
Comprehensive Cancer Center indicates that (NSCLC) that can reveal relationships between
NCCC is one of only 51 centers in the United clinical and pathologic findings, patient genetic
States recognized by the NCI for its leadership profiles, and drug resistance—and lead to
and resources. better, personalized treatment strategies for
NSCLC patients. Saeed Hassanpour, PhD, a
computer scientist at NCCC and an associate
$6.4M
professor of biomedical data science and
epidemiology at Geisel, leads the study.
$12.5M
Two federal grants are helping Dartmouth-
Hitchcock (D-H) expand support for children
and families impacted by trauma and parental
substance misuse. Project Launch, funded
by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Michael Whitfield, PhD, chair of the
Services Administration, as well as Partners to Department of Biomedical Data Science at
Promote Safety, Permanency and Well-Being Geisel, is principal investigator on a five-year,
for Families Affected by Substance Abuse $12.5 million grant from the National Institutes
(P2P), funded by the Children’s Bureau of of Health to establish a Center for Quantitative
the Administration for Children and Families, Biology at Geisel that brings together and
involve cross collaboration across different enhances initiatives in computational biology,
departments of D-H, including psychiatry, bioinformatics, and experimental genomics
population health, pediatrics, and obstetrics across Dartmouth.
and gynecology.
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 9RESEARCH BRIEFS
Kurt Wehde
Monitoring
Wastewater for
COVID-19
Promising New
Test to Measure
Brain Function
A collaboration between the Geisel School of
Medicine and Northwestern University is shedding
light on the effects of the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) on the central nervous system (CNS). Jay
Buckey, Jr., MD, who led the study, says, “We thought
The presence of SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19— we’d find that HIV affects the ear, but what seems to
in municipal wastewater can give an early warning that the virus is be affected is the brain’s ability to process sound.”
re-emerging in that area. A team of Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) Using tests that measure not whether a person can
researchers led by Isabella Martin, MD, and Jacqueline Hubbard, hear a sound but how the sound is processed by the
PhD, is now measuring the level of the virus in wastewater in brain, investigators found that the auditory-neuro-
specific communities or individual institutions such as nursing physiological responses to certain speech cues were
homes, prisons, and colleges throughout New Hampshire and disrupted in HIV-positive adults, even though they
Vermont. With these warnings, community leaders and public performed normally on hearing tests—confirming
health officials could more promptly manage outbreaks. that these hearing difficulties are grounded in the
Wastewater surveillance will not replace human diagnostics, but CNS. Researchers are using auditory processing as a
is expected to complement it. Especially in institutional settings, “window” into brain function, which may lead to a
it could provide an efficient, cost-effective, and less invasive signal better understanding of many disorders that strike
of a significant spread of SARS-CoV-2. the brain—not just HIV.
A generous gift from Vickie and Ken French enabled D-H to Buckey says, “We think these tests hold a lot
launch this important work. of promise as a way to assess the brain easily and
objectively.”
Co-leading the wastewater surveillance project team for D-H are
(l-to-r) medical microbiologist Isabella Martin, MD, and clinical chemist Jay Buckey, Jr., MD, is a professor of medicine at Geisel,
Jacqueline Hubbard, PhD. Both are assistant professors of pathology director of the Space Medicine Innovations Laboratory
and laboratory medicine at Geisel. The project coordinator is Gregory at Dartmouth, and an adjunct professor at the Thayer
Tsongalis, PhD, vice chair for research and director of the Laboratory School of Engineering.
for Clinical Genomics and Advanced Technology in the Department of
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at D-H.
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • 10Preserving
Jon Gilbert Fox
Independent
Primary Care
Practices
Rob Strong
VISTA Keeps the
Immune System Quiet
Against Cancer
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe finan- A team of researchers at Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s
cial stress for both hospitals and physician practices, Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC), led by Randolph Noelle, PhD,
raising serious concerns that many may either close have identified some of the molecules that the immune system uses to
or be purchased by larger organizations. Carrie Colla temper immunity. While these molecules are usually good, they also limit
D’01, PhD, a health economist and member of a the magnitude of the immune response to cancer. The team has learned
team of researchers at The Dartmouth Institute that turning off these “brakes” on immunity allows a stronger therapeutic
for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, is using her response to cancer. VISTA is one of these molecules.
expertise to fight for policy change that would help “We have learned that keeping your immune system quiet is a challen-
to preserve independent primary care practices. ging and very active process,” says Noelle. “VISTA may be a valuable target
As co-author on a recent study that showed in regulating the immune response in cancer and autoimmunity.”
independent primary care practices provide equal An antibody specific to VISTA identified by the Noelle Lab is currently
quality care to integrated health systems, Colla notes in Phase I clinical trials at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
that these practices need and deserve support during
this time of disruption. “The policy implications of
this research are clear,” says Colla. “With COVID-19
Randolph Noelle, PhD, is the Thomas S. Kosasa, MD, Professor at Geisel and
wreaking financial havoc on smaller health care member of the Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program
organizations, policy makers—both at the federal at NCCC. Noelle is the co-founder of ImmuNext, a company that develops
immunoregulatory drugs.
and state levels—should ensure that purchases of
practices and hospitals adhere to current antitrust
law. They should also consider financial support for
those most threatened by the pandemic.”
Carrie Colla, PhD, is a professor of The Dartmouth
Institute. In 2020 Colla was named an Emerging
Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar by the
National Academy of Medicine.
RESEARCH BRIEFS
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 11SUPPORTING UR STUDENTS
Alumni-Donors Answer the Call
For medical students, the challenges and opportunities of their chosen
career path are greater than ever. Yet Geisel School of Medicine
students—and the faculty, staff, alumni, and donors who support
them—are as committed and passionate as ever.
When the pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of life, including in-person medical
education and training, Geisel students didn’t hesitate to ask themselves “how can I help?”
The examples are many. They set up networks to help health care workers in multiple regions
find childcare. They secured and distributed personal protective equipment. They worked
with rural health clinics to provide access to food for people in need. And they helped conduct
a regional population health survey to guide COVID-19 responses.
Then, when police killings of unarmed Black people spurred protests nationwide, Geisel
students advocated for renewed commitments and actions within their own medical
school. Because of the tireless work of these students and the support of faculty, staff,
and senior administrators, Geisel is now launching several new initiatives to eliminate
all forms of racism, to better support underrepresented minority students, and to
create a truly equitable and inclusive academic community. The philanthropic support
of alumni and donors will be critical to propelling
these efforts—and to achieving Geisel’s larger vision
to Educate Complete Physicians. Gifts of all sizes
can advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. (See
contact information in adjacent column.)
Photos by
Jeffrey Andree, Paul Reitano,
Kata Sasvari, Rob Strong,
Mark Washburn, Kurt WehdeEducating the
BY JENNIFER DURGIN &
LAUREN SEIDMAN
COMPLETE PHYSICIANS
Our World Needs
Geisel seeks to
increase scholarship
Educate Complete Physicians is one of four unifying themes
support for its within Geisel’s $200-million fundraising campaign, which is part of
students, to set the Dartmouth College’s The Call to Lead campaign. With the support
of generous donors, Geisel will prepare the “complete physicians”
standard nationally for that our world needs—physicians who provide medically excellent,
highly compassionate, and culturally sensitive care, and who
educating complete work to improve health systems. Through its curriculum, thought
leadership, and student programming and supportive services,
physicians, and to Geisel will set the standard nationally for medical education and
for creating a healthy, equitable learning environment.
create a healthy, Thanks to the generosity of Geisel and Dartmouth College
alumni, fundraising goals for the Educate Complete Physicians
equitable learning priority are within reach.
environment. Gifts
from visionary donors Learn more about Geisel’s other campaign goals:
are helping achieve Strengthen Healthcare Systems, Innovate to Overcome
Cancer, and Build the Foundation for Children’s Health.
those goals. Visit: GeiselCampaign.Dartmouth.edu
TO DISCUSS MAKING A GIFT, CONTACT ROBERT HOLLEY,
Senior Associate Director of Development for Geisel School of Medicine:
Robert.D.Holley@Dartmouth.edu or 603-369-1129Seeding
UR STUDENTS
CHANGE WITHIN MEDICINE
Geisel’s Revolutionary Approach to Student Mental Health
SUPPORTING
I
t’s no secret that medical school is extremely demanding, says Duane Compton, PhD, dean of the Geisel School of
creating high levels of stress among students. Nationally Medicine. Launched in late 2019, the program is a top priority
nearly one-third of medical students report symptoms of for Geisel, has a fundraising goal of $5 million, and is part of
depression and related illness, and one in ten have considered The Call to Lead campaign.
suicide. These higher-than-average rates persist throughout Healthy Students, Healthy Physicians provides and continues
residency and physicians’ careers—and have a direct impact to plan a variety of training and supports, including mental
on quality of life, productivity, and patient care, according health screening, increased access to individual and group
to several studies. At the Geisel School of Medicine, surveys counseling, and wellness and resiliency programming—all at no
of MD students have found that they are not immune from cost to students. Geisel MD, MD-PhD, and MD-MBA students
these issues. can utilize the program, and it will be available to students from
Thanks to a $2M gift from a Dartmouth College alumnus The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
and his spouse, Geisel has launched Healthy Students, Healthy by 2021. Fundraising to further expand these offerings is
Physicians, a new comprehensive mental health and wellness ongoing. Duncan notes that while general awareness of mental
program that prepares Geisel graduates to meet the stresses health issues has improved, they remain highly stigmatized in
and challenges of their profession without sacrificing their the field of medicine. A program like Healthy Students, Healthy
own health. Physicians is a vital step in ending that stigma.
“This gift is allowing Geisel to launch a truly revolutionary “We want to create a community in which developing
program that sets our medical school apart as a model for other resilience is part of physician training and seeking mental health
institutions,” says Matthew Duncan, MD, MED’01, an assistant care is seen as a sign of strength and not a personal weakness
professor of psychiatry at Geisel and leader of the program. or professional liability,” says Duncan. “This gift will help plant
“We hope the generosity, vision, and leadership of these the seeds of cultural change within the practice of medicine.”
donors will inspire others to support this pioneering program,”
FAST, FREE SUPPORT
T
ailored to medical students’ unique schedules, the communities and health care systems,” says Duncan. “Our
program offers flexible hours for individual and group new counselor has joined a task force of faculty, staff, and
counseling in two locations near the Geisel campus, students focusing specifically on the mental health needs of
as well as video and phone appointments. Students who our underrepresented minority students and, later this fall,
call the dedicated Geisel Counseling phone line to schedule they will set forth a proposal for expanded workforce and
a non-emergency appointment are guaranteed a response programming to meet these needs.”
within 48 hours, and offered a first appointment within seven Another resource that will soon be available to students
days. Counseling is available throughout students’ entire through Healthy Students, Healthy Physicians is the Interactive
time at Geisel with no limits to number of appointments Screening Program (ISP), a 27-item questionnaire that screens
and no billing hassles. for stress, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and eating
In August 2020, a licensed mental health counselor disorder symptoms. Used by more than 25 medical schools
with experience in race-based trauma and the mental and more than 120 higher education institutions, the ISP
health impacts of structural racism joined the Healthy helps students understand if what they’re feeling is normal
Students, Healthy Physicians counseling team. “Students stress or something more serious. Counselors receive the
from underrepresented minority groups often face additional encrypted results and can engage with the student—who
stressors, especially in predominantly white academic remains anonymous—to give an assessment, open a dialogue,
and point the student to additional resources as needed.
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • 14“Many of our students are experiencing common life
or school-related stressors that are resolved through a HEALTHY
supportive approach or coaching,” explains Duncan. “For
those who meet the diagnostic criteria for a formal mental STUDENTS,
HEALTHY
health disorder, counseling is most useful and appropriate.
The ISP is one more tool we can use to identify the students
who could benefit from any of these types of help.”
PHYSICIANS
RESILIENT Making an Impact on the
FUTURE Lives of Medical Students
PHYSICIANS
O
ther Healthy Students, Healthy Physicians offerings
include Mental Health First Aid Training that
Total students served
teaches students, faculty, and staff how to identify,
understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses;
wellness and resiliency workshops, seminars, and electives
on topics such as mindfulness, meditation, and cognitive 100 Percentage of
behavioral therapy; and a stigma reduction workgroup to student body
25%
increase discussions about mental illness among physicians that has utilized
counseling
and the importance of seeking help.
services
With philanthropic support from additional donors, AS OF OCT. 1, 2020
Geisel hopes to broaden services to the program. A dedicated
psychiatrist could provide assessments, medication DATA Cost to students
SHOWS
management, and continuity of care to Geisel students.
A neuropsychologist could provide neuropsychological
evaluations—tests that are essential to students in need of
reasonable accommodations in order to have equal access to $0
the academic environment.
9.54
In the meantime, program data and survey results
gathered since the program launched demonstrate a high Student likelihood of
level of satisfaction among students. One hundred medical recommending Geisel Counseling
AVERAGE to a classmate on a 0-10 scale
students have received confidential counseling through
(0 Not at all likely, 10 Extremely likely)
the program so far, and a vast majority indicated that
they are very likely to recommend Geisel Counseling to a
classmate. Healthy Students, Healthy Physicians leaders will
continue to measure the program’s success through the use
of anonymous surveys and confidential reporting.
Duncan sometimes uses an athletics analogy to explain
the importance of mental health supports for medical
students. “If you recruit a top athlete, you provide them with
athletic trainers and supports to help them keep their bodies
in peak physical condition. Likewise, we want to provide
medical students with mental health supports and resiliency
training to help them navigate the stresses of medical school “Taking part in this
and perform at their very best throughout their careers—
which benefits everyone, especially their patients.” program is probably the
single most helpful thing
I’ve ever done for myself.”
—anonymous student
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 15MILESTONE GIFT
Funds Geisel
Student
Scholarships
The scholarship support that Tlalli Moya-Smith ’20
received while at Geisel is helping her pursue her
goal of working with underserved communities.
A
new $10 million gift commitment from a Dartmouth general practice and internal medicine for nearly 40 years
medical school alumnus is the third largest gift in before retiring in 1997. Like many of his classmates, he
the school’s history and the largest commitment has been a long-time supporter of the medical school. “I
received to date by the Geisel School of Medicine as part hope my gift will encourage the development of the next
of The Call to Lead, Dartmouth’s comprehensive fundraising generation of primary care physicians,” Gasteyer says.
campaign. Combined with a bequest commitment of When received, these gifts will establish endowments
approximately $1 million from a second alumnus, the gifts that together are expected to provide more than $500,000
will add $11 million to the school’s scholarship endowment, a year in additional scholarship aid to Geisel students—a
significantly increasing financial aid for medical students. nearly 15 percent increase in the total amount available
The groundbreaking $10 million gift, to be fulfilled today. As the endowments grow over time, so, too, will their
through a bequest, will provide scholarship support for annual distributions.
medical students at Geisel based on their demonstrated “These incredible commitments will make a Dartmouth
financial aid need. “As I look back over a fulfilling and medical education possible for more students with financial
rewarding life, I consider my admission to the medical
UR STUDENTS
need and reduce the debt burden that so many of our
school at Dartmouth, and the supportive and humanistic students graduate with,” says Duane Compton, dean of
teaching I received there, as perhaps the finest gift I have Geisel. “Reducing this debt is a top priority because it helps
ever received,” says the first donor, who prefers to remain ensure that students’ choice of medical specialty is driven
anonymous. He noted his particular interest in supporting by their passions and desire to serve, and not by earning
students who hope to provide primary care, such as family potential.”
medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, and internal medicine—
specialties that encourage and enable physicians to care These philanthropic commitments come at a time
for people in their communities. “It is my hope that future when Dartmouth is doubling down on its long-standing
graduates will one day no longer be burdened by student dedication to ensuring affordability for all students through
financial aid. In response to the current economic crisis and
SUPPORTING
debt as they begin their professional careers,” he says.
increasing student need, the College recently reaffirmed its
Together with the bequest commitment from alumnus campaign goal to secure $500 million in endowed funds to
Ted Gasteyer D’54, MED’55, the two gifts advance progress support graduate and undergraduate students.
toward Geisel’s campaign goal of raising $20 million in new
scholarship support for medical students. Gasteyer was in
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • 16On June 5, 2020, Geisel students and Dartmouth-Hitchcock
THESE
TIMES
ON US
CALL
employees took part in the national White Coats for Black
Lives movement, standing in solidarity with those speaking
out against the death of George Floyd.
TO ACTIncreasing Our
Capacity to Care
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK MEDICAL CENTER’S
NEW PATIENT PAVILION
* 200 + 396
By the Patients are denied
access to DHMC each
Total current inpatient
beds at DHMC, of
NUMBERS month because of a
lack of capacity
which 316 are in single-
occupancy roomsN
ewborns in distress. Teenagers with appendicitis. Men
and women with sudden-onset seizures, life-threatening
injuries, brain bleeds. Again and again, Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Medical Center (DHMC) is forced to send patients elsewhere for care,
simply because there aren’t enough beds. More than 200 critically ill
and badly injured children and adults are turned away every month.
Instead of receiving superb, sophisticated care close to home, near
families and loved ones, these patients are sent to medical centers
hours away, at great cost and inconvenience—and at added risk from
the delay in receiving care.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) recently took a major step in addressing
this problem. On July 22, 2020, a small group gathered to break
ground for a new Patient Pavilion. This facility, scheduled to open
Renderings courtesy of HDR. by 2023, not only will provide 64 additional single-occupancy rooms
to meet current needs but also include unfinished space to allow
for future expansion.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) and D-H Board Chair Ed
Stansfield remarked at the ceremony, “When our community needs
us, we must be ready to take action, and this new Pavilion is the
evidence of that.”
Also at the groundbreaking, Charlie Plimpton, the Chair of the
Board’s Finance Committee, outlined the project’s financial viability,
and he highlighted the role that donors will play. “In order for D-H to
sustain its uniquely essential mission as an academic health system,
an increase in philanthropic support becomes essential.” Plimpton
and his wife, Barbara Nyholm, made the inaugural commitment to
support the construction.
D-H and D-HH CEO and President Joanne M. Conroy, MD, reiterated
that the team at D-H is committed to providing world-class health
care in our region. “We know that the demand continues to grow
in the communities we serve, and thus the demonstrated need for
the Pavilion. It really is a testament to our community that, in the
midst of all the uncertainty facing the country, we are still going
ahead with this project.”
64 + $150M 2022-23
New single-occupancy Projected cost of Expected completion
inpatient rooms, with five-floor (~200,000 date when the building
the flexibility to add sq. ft.) facility will be ready for patients
another 64 in the futureMO T HE R.
MENT O R.
SCI E NT I ST .
ENT R E P RE NEU R.
Arti Gaur and Her
Fearless Pursuit
Arti Gaur, PhD.
BY JENNIFER DURGIN
F
or scientists like Arti Gaur, PhD, entrepreneurship “Make sure the consequences of your discoveries
is essential to achieving their ultimate goal: reach humanity,” she says “and you can’t just go from lab
dramatically improving patients’ lives. to humanity. You need things like intellectual property,
“If you truly are passionate about making a difference, you need venture capitalists, you need to talk to them,
please follow through,” Gaur tells the students she present to them, and convince them that your project
mentors in her lab at Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth- is an endeavor that they should fund.”
Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center. An assistant Gaur has done all of those things, herself, multiple
professor of neurology at the Geisel School of Medicine, times. She admits it’s been a steep learning curve. In her
Gaur applies her training as an immunologist to study many years of scientific training, she never learned how
the development and treatment of brain tumors. She to bring a discovery to the marketplace. Those lessons
insists that her students conduct their scientific and came later, when pure frustration and grief set her on a
academic work with “absolute rigor and excellence.” But path toward entrepreneurship.
she also pushes them further.
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • 20“You can’t just go from
lab to humanity. You need
things like intellectual
property and venture
capitalists,” says Gaur.
In early 2020, Gaur and Dartmouth chemist Glenn Micalizio, PhD,
(far right) met with Barry Schweitzer, PhD, D’82 (far left) of the
Technology Transfer Office and Jamie Coughlin (second from
right) of the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship to discuss a
promising new therapy for brain cancers.
NO TIME TO WASTE
G
aur was in the second year of her doctoral “My child taught me how to be fearless and
training at the University of Cologne focus on what really matters,” says Gaur. She draws
when her mother was diagnosed with on this fearlessness, this determination in the face
B-cell lymphoma—the very cancer she had of a devastating illness, to power her science, her
studied as a graduate student at the University of entrepreneurship, and her mentorship of students.
Rochester. Her mother died six months after her Gaur wants to find ways to monitor cancer
diagnosis, not from the cancer but from the side treatments in real time to prevent “horrific,
effects of the cancer treatment. systemic side effects,” to detect brain diseases
“I used to think the saddest day of my life was early, to deliver treatments directly to tumors,
when my mother passed away,” recalls Gaur. Then, to recognize unhealthy changes in the immune
shortly after she became an assistant professor system—and she wants to achieve all this as
at Geisel and received the National Brain Tumor quickly as possible. She knows that when a loved
Society’s prestigious Daniel Paul Bogart Chair of is suffering, there is no time to waste.
Research, her second child was diagnosed with Gaur already holds seven patents that range from
Rett Syndrome, a severe neurological condition diagnostic biomarkers and potential treatments
that would require a lifetime of round-the-clock for brain tumors to tiny wireless devices to detect
care. “My husband and I were devastated, burned cancer and deliver targeted therapies. She also
down to ashes.” They had to build a new normal leads a multi-institutional, prospective clinical trial,
for themselves, their family, and their research which aims to establish ways to diagnose, predict
programs. (Gaur’s husband, Makul Sharma, PhD, outcomes, and monitor treatments for brain tumor
is a professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth who patients using only a few milliliters of blood.
studies geological processes.)
The Cancer Center ranks sixth nationally
for entrepreneurship among National Cancer
Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers.
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2020 • 21LEARNING THE SCIENCE
AND THE INDUSTRY
“
Dr. Gaur embodies exactly what I was looking New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System. After
for,” says Jordan Isaacs, a third-year graduate the fellowship, Ravi will continue her doctoral research
student in Geisel’s Program in Experimental and in Gaur’s lab, investigating potential vulnerabilities in
Molecular Medicine. Gaur is helping Isaacs pursue brain tumors that could become therapeutic targets.
both her PhD in Cancer Biology, Pharmacology, For Isaacs, the focus of her laboratory work so far
and Molecular Therapeutics and her ambitions to has been a new “drug-like” steroid that appears highly
work in venture capital. Isaacs wants to be the one effective in treating brain cancers and was created by
assessing which technologies, new therapies, and Dartmouth chemist Glenn Micalizio, PhD. Isaacs is
other innovations to support. In her first year at also working closely with Dartmouth’s Technology
Dartmouth, Isaacs became a Healthcare Fellow at Transfer Office, which will help Micalizio and Gaur
Ulysses, a local biotech venture fund. “I was able to move the therapy from academia to industry—a
see the full picture of how to bring a drug from the critical step on the way to clinical trials in patients.
bench where I’m working to really being looked at as Dartmouth’s Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship
a potential investment,” says Isaacs. and the Technology Transfer Office use their
Divya Ravi, another PhD student in the Gaur lab, is knowledge of intellectual property, private industry,
learning about biomedical entrepreneurship as a Mount and venture capital to assist researchers at Dartmouth.
Sinai Innovations Partner—a competitive program at the (See adjacent article about the Accelerator.)
RIGHT PARTNERS, RIGHT STRATEGY
T
he collaboration with Micalizio is one of several evade the immune system. Lodestone is now pitching
for Gaur. She is also co-founder of a new its technology as a way to monitor new therapies in
company with Axel Scherer, PhD, a professor real time, thereby reducing the risks of clinical trials
at Caltech. Gaur and Scherer are developing wireless for both patients and companies. Using this approach,
nanoscale sensors that can be implanted in the body Lodestone recently secured a major federal grant (details
to monitor signs of health and disease—and ultimately below) that will fund the development of the technology,
detect cancers early. That’s especially important for making it more appealing for investors and moving it
brain cancers, which are almost always detected too closer to clinical trials.
late for life-saving treatment. The technology is still Philanthropy has also been critical to Lodestone’s
years away from testing in humans, but if Gaur and progress. In 2018, Diamond received the J. Brian and
Scherer can attract enough financial support through Allie J. Quinn Scholars award, which helped him find
federal grants, investors, and philanthropists, they can the right strategy for Lodestone and develop himself
accelerate that timeline. as a faculty entrepreneur.
Another collaborator of Gaur’s is Solomon “The collaborations and idea sharing that came
Diamond, PhD, at Dartmouth’s Thayer School and out of the Quinn Scholars is just so much more
co-founder of Lodestone Biomedical. Lodestone than the dollars,” says Diamond. As a requirement
struggled for years to attract funding and investors, of the Quinn award, Diamond presented to several
despite having a remarkable imaging technology experienced biotech entrepreneurs and investors.
based on magnetic nanoparticles. Their guidance, along with Gaur’s, led to a $400,000
“We needed a collaborator with deep subject matter Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from
expertise and a track record of experience in translational the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dartmouth-
work,” says Diamond. “That search led us to Arti.” affiliated companies have secured more than 20
With Gaur as a scientific advisor, Lodestone refined such NCI-SBIR grants in the last decade—making it
its market strategy. Tumors are not isolated islands, sixth in entrepreneurship among all NCI-designated
Diamond learned. They are living communities of cells comprehensive cancer centers.
that are constantly interacting with and attempting to
DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK | GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • 22You can also read
