Three Wayne State University School of Medicine faculty members have been selected for Distinguished Professor honors by Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid for their outstanding accomplishments and service to the university.

The designation is the highest honor the university can bestow on a faculty member. The university has appointed only 31 faculty members as distinguished professors since it began the program in 1959. Important criterion for the honor is a reputation on the national and international level, and long-time standing on the university faculty. The distinguished professor receives an annual grant.

Barry P. Rosen, Ph.D., professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Jack Sobel, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases; and Linda Hazlett, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, are among nine university faculty to be given the title of 2007 Distinguished Professor.

Dr. Sobel graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1965. He served as a research fellow in Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases, with the National Institutes of Health, and as a fellow in Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He joined the School of Medicine as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in 1985, the same year he was named chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

“The award is particularly pertinent since it has been a rare event to recognize a clinician as opposed to a basic science scientist,” said Dr. Sobel. “… Wayne State University Medical School has a national reputation for clinical and translational research, and we need to acknowledge and celebrate our excellence.”

He served as president of the Michigan Infectious Diseases Society from 1997 to 1999, and is a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, National State President’s Committee, as well as the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Practice Guidelines Committee.

Dr. Sobel received the Distinguished Faculty Award, Department of Internal Medicine, from WSU in 1986. Named a “Best Doctor in America” 10 years, he was also presented with the School of Medicine’s Teaching Award in 2004. He has served as a consultant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s special committee for recommending guidelines for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

Dr. Hazlett has published innumerable papers, chapters and books. Her major research interests are ocular infection and pathogenesis; inflammation; cytokines and chemokines; innate immunity; immunopathogenesis; and aging and infectious disease.

She is a member of the American Association of Anatomists, the American Society for Cell Biology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the International Society for Eye Research, the American Society for Microbiology and the American Association of Immunologists.

“It is an honor that I did not anticipate, but for which I am most pleased,” said Dr. Hazlett, who graduated with a doctorate degree in anatomy from Ohio State University in 1971. She joined the Wayne State University School of Medicine that same year as an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy.

In 1989, Dr. Hazlett was awarded the Charles Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowship by the university. She was the recipient of the university’s first Interdisciplinary Program Development Award in 1991, and in 2002 she was named to the WSU Academy of Scholars.

Dr. Rosen is a world-renowned scientist at the School of Medicine whose research has been continuously funded for 35 years. He holds three major grants from the National Institutes of Health, with nearly $1 million per year in funding. His research in the area of arsenic detoxification is at the forefront of his field, and he is one of the leading experts in this subject.

Dr. Rosen was recently elected president of the Association of Medical and Graduate Departments of Biochemistry, the national organization of biochemistry departments. The association represents medical school and graduate departments in addressing key issues related to biomedical science, health research and education. As AMGDB president, Dr. Rosen will speak on topics regarding biomedical science and education with key members of the House and Senate at the National Caucus of Basic Biomedical Science Chairs’ visit to Congress. The caucus emphasizes the need to maintain the nation's leadership in scientific discovery and improvements in the quality of life.

Dr. Rosen was named a Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellow by the university in 1997. He received the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award in 1999. In 2005, he received the National Institutes of Health’s Method to Extend Research in Time Award. He has served on the advisory board of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics since 2004, and is president of the Wayne State University Academy of Scholars.

“I am very pleased to be recognized by Wayne State University as a Distinguished Professor,” said Dr. Rosen. “This is the highest honor that the university can bestow on a faculty member. It is the culmination of a 21-year career in the School of Medicine, but not the end. I expect that I will continue to make substantial contributions to the university and to science.”