Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine are proud to announce that three faculty members have been named distinguished professors:
Danielle K.B. Boal, M.D., was named distinguished professor of radiology and pediatrics. An expert in radiologic imaging of non-accidental trauma, Boal was the first pediatric radiologist at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She added CT, MRI and interventional biopsy capabilities, recruited pediatric radiology colleagues and mentored their career development. As a member of the Medical Legal Advisory Board of the Attorney General, Boal has worked closely with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania coroners to develop a statewide database and discover new information to better understand the relationship of injuries. She has been recognized in the Best Doctors in America database and is a fellow of the American College of Radiology.
Lawrence I. Sinoway, M.D., was named distinguished professor of medicine. Sinoway is the first director of the Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute, which launched in 2005. Under his direction, the institute now ranks among the top 100 cardiovascular hospitals in America and is considered a leader in research, development and clinical use of heart pumps. A cardiologist, Sinoway's research has contributed to understanding how heart and blood vessels of patients with congestive heart failure respond to exercise. He has served as program director for the General Clinical Research Center.
John W. Wills, was named distinguished professor of microbiology and immunology. Wills' research focuses on several areas of molecular biology and immunology, including the molecular mechanisms of virus assembly and budding, the method by which viruses progress. The goal of his research is to determine how the structural components of these viruses move through the budding pathway, culminating in the virus-cell separation step. His primary focus has been on the retroviral Gag protein because it is the only protein needed for the budding of these viruses. He has begun analysis of the more complicated herpes viruses, for which the minimal budding machinery is completely unknown.
The honor recognizes exceptional, research, creativity and service to the University community. Twelve Penn State faculty members have been named distinguished professors and two have been named distinguished librarians this year. The recipients represent the arts, humanities, medicine, science and libraries.
In total, the College of Medicine has sixteen distinguished professors.