Rutgers-Newark University recently appointed Annette Gordon-Reed, class of '81, to its faculty. Gordon-Reed will begin teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in the American History and American Studies departments in the spring of 2007. Her research interests focus on the role of race in American history. After graduating from Dartmouth, Gordon-Reed earned a law degree from Harvard in 1984. She has been a professor at New York Law School since 1992, a position which she will retain during her time at Rutgers-Newark. Gordon-Reed first gained recognition for research she conducted about the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, one of Jefferson's female slaves. She is the author of "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy" and is currently working on a new book titled "The Hemings Family of Monticello: A Story of American Slavery" to be published by W.W. Norton next year.
John A. Baron, a professor at Dartmouth Medical School, recently found that the drug Vioxx can reduce the risk of certain benign tumors, known as colorectoral polyps, that are precursors to colon cancer. His findings were first reported on Aug. 30 on the American Gastroenterological Association website and were then published in the medical journal Gastroenterology. Although previous studies found cyclooxyganase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors such as Vioxx to reduce the risk of polyps in patients with a rare genetic disorder, this was the first study to demonstrate similar outcomes in a larger range of people. Baron is a Professor of Medicine and of Community and Family Medicine at the Dartmouth Medical School and has focused his research on the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer for several years. Despite evidence of serious side effects incurred by some patients, researchers remain optimistic about the drug's potential to help prevent colon cancer. The study was conducted at 108 different sites around the world by Merck Research Laboratories and involved 2,587 patients with a history of colorectoral polyps.
James Moor, a former chairperson of the philosophy department at Dartmouth College, and Fritz Alhoff of Western Michigan University received a grant of approximately $250,000 to study ethical issues pertaining to nanotechnology and to human enhancement. The two men are members of the Nanoethics group, a nonpartisan coalition of professional ethicists, that studies the ethical ramifications of nanotechnology. The grant was given to the team by The National Science Foundation to subsidize research conducted jointly by Dartmouth College and Western Michigan University for three years. In addition to Moor and Allhoff, scientists from Dartmouth's Center for Nanomaterials Research will participate in investigating the extent to which human enhancement and nanotechnology are morally permissible.
