Class notes: 1970s
Ronald Bruce Turner, MD '76, was just announced as the new Chief Medical Officer of G.ST Antivirals (a clinical-stage biotechnology company applying innovative, host cell-based strategies to develop broad-spectrum antivirals against respiratory tract infections).
The CEO of G.ST stated, "He is a world leading expert in clinical research of respiratory viruses, whose outstanding work and remarkable contributions to our field I have been following for a long time. His knowledge will be invaluable when driving our clinical development of 2-DG through Phase II and beyond, and I am very much looking forward to working together.” Read more here.
Douglas Byers, MD ’78, “retired after 42 years in family medicine in Hillsboro, Illinois, in August 2023. Working on figuring out retirement still. All is well.”
Allen Gerberding, MD ’77, “Greetings from North Georgia where the sky is blue, the air is clean, mountains are near and pickleball courts are buzzing. God is good (always). Pray for peace.”
Jane Arbuthnot, MD ’78, “Moved to Naples permanently after the pandemic. Love it! Also, just bought a house in Kansas City to be close to our daughter and her family (2 grandsons). Will be there in the summer.”
Rebecca Johnson, MD ’78, "is named the New Board Chair of The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). She served on the ABMS Board of Directors from 2009-2018, was a member of the Executive Committee from 2014-2017, and currently serves on the Advancing Practice Task Force. She has served on ABMS’ Database and Information Technology Advisory Committee (DITAC), Committee on Certification (COCERT), MOC Part III Task Force, International Engagement Planning Committee, Improvement in Medical Practice Task Force, and the Task Force for Focused Expertise/Added Proficiency. She also chaired the Organizational Standards Task Force. Dr. Johnson was the Chief Executive Officer for the American Board of Pathology (ABPath) for nine years and prior to that was a Trustee for 11 years, serving as its President in 2009." Learn more here.
Steven Swedlund, MD ’78, “I signed up already for a 1-week bicycle and camping trip for the week of June 15 through to June 22, 2024, and cannot make the trip for the June 22, 2024 reunion.
It's called 'Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure.' It was started by the Children’s Hospital in Columbus OH about 35 years ago, to keep young people active. We travel about 300 miles during that week. I will be supervising Scouts with 3 other adults. (Both male and female Scouts; 'Boy Scouts' name was changed to 'Scouts' about 3-4 years ago when we recruited females into this leadership program.) I retired from teaching and practicing clinical medicine (22 years in Family Medicine Residency, and 15 years in Geriatric Medicine Fellowship) on June 30, 2023. The Geriatrics Department of Wright State Boonshoft SOM awarded me 'Assistant Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geriatrics.'
I appreciate the education provided to me by SIU-SOM in the 1970's. Thank you for keeping me updated on SIU-SOM.”
Ingrid and David Alexander, MDs ’79, “Doing well, enjoy all random calls, emails, and visits from old classmates! (Cards accepted also!)”
These class notes are updated with the latest content from July 2023 through April 2024.