The American College of Physicians has selected Grover C. Bagby, M.D., and Thomas G. Cooney, M.D., as 2010 Masters. The titles are awarded each year by the ACP after a meticulous selection process. The ACP named just 50 doctors from around the world as Masters for 2010.
According to the ACP, Masters are selected based on "personal character, positions of honor, contributions towards furthering the purposes of the ACP, eminence in practice or in medical research, or other attainments in science or in the art of medicine. The Master must be distinguished by the excellence and significance of his or her contributions to the field of medicine."
Bagby founded the OHSU Oregon Cancer Institutein 1992. It was renamed the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute in 2009 in recognition of the generous $100 million gift from Nike founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny. As director, Bagby persuaded Brian Druker, M.D., to leave Harvard and set up his lab at OHSU. Druker went on to develop the first targeted cancer pill, Gleevec, which turned chromic myeloid leukemia from a terminal illness into a manageable disease.
Bagby retired as director of the institute in 2007. Currently, he is a professor of medicine, and molecular and medical genetics in the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, OHSU School of Medicine. His research is in carcinogenesis and leukemia. He has been funded by the National Institutes of Health continuously throughout his career, is an associate editor of the journal Blood and is a member of the Association of American Physicians.
"When I consider my own Oregon heroes that were Masters of the ACP, luminaries like Drs. Howard Lewis and Edwin Osgood, this is one of the most meaningful awards I've ever received," says Dr. Bagby. "I am truly humbled and honored to have been selected."
Dr. Tomasz Beer, Deputy Director of the Knight Cancer Institute has high praise for Bagby. "Dr. Bagby is known around the world for his passion and dedication to advancing the care of patients through research. Those of us who have had the privilege of working directly with Dr. Bagby, know that his same passion and unbending commitment to excellence also permeate every visit with a cancer patient and every encounter with a physician in training. Countless physicians he has trained carry within them Dr. Bagby's passion for patients, for students, and for the advancement of knowledge. No one is more deserving of this honor."
Cooney is professor of medicine and vice chairman for education in the Department of Medicine. He has served as residency program director for medicine since 1984. His clinical interests have focused on common medical problems faced by primary care physicians. He has published extensively in these areas, including pressure sores, the swollen leg, medical problems of the male homosexual, HIV infection and headache.
Cooney's research interests have focused largely on medical education and health policy related to graduate medical education. Research has included observational, interventional and questionnaire-based studies. Funding has included support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the federal Bureau of Health Professions (BHP). "I was deeply honored to learn that I had been elected to Mastership, particularly given the small and distinguished group of Oregon physicians who had previously been selected," says Dr. Cooney. "And to be elected alongside Grover only made it sweeter."
Masters will be inducted at a special convocation ceremony at the American College of Physicians in Philadelphia in April 2010.
About the Knight Cancer Institute
With the latest treatments, technologies and 400 research studies and clinical trials, the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute is the only cancer center between Sacramento and Seattle designated by the National Cancer Institute — an honor earned only by the nation's top cancer centers. The honor is shared among the more than 500 doctors, nurses, scientists and staff who work together at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute to reduce the impact of cancer.
About OHSU
The Oregon Health & Science University is the state's only health and research university, and Oregon's only academic health center. OHSU is Portland's largest employer and the fourth largest in Oregon (excluding government). OHSU's size contributes to its ability to provide many services and community support activities not found anywhere else in the state. OHSU serves patients from every corner of the state, and is a conduit for learning for more than 3,400 students and trainees. OHSU is the source of more than 200 community outreach programs that bring health and education services to every county in the state.