Alumni notes

’40s
Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, M.D. ’46, world renowned as the “father of cognitive therapy,” received the $250,000 Heinz Award in the human condition category for his early development of techniques used to treat millions of individuals suffering mental and behavioral health challenges. The award was made by the Heinz Family Foundation, a charitable trust established by Mrs. John Heinz in 1993 in honor of her late husband, Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania. Beck is professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. Previous recipients of the award include Yale faculty members James P. Comer, M.D., HS ’66, and Edward F. Zigler, Ph.D.

’90s
Antonio F. Vinals, M.D. ’93, wrote to say that he has completed a residency in ophthalmology and a fellowship in corneal and refractive surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is a clinical instructor at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and in private practice in Manhattan. Vinals is married to Liselotte Pieroth, M.D., a second-year ophthalmology resident at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, who was a visiting international medical student and resident at Yale.

Ramsey Alsarraf, M.D. ’94, M.P.H., PC, was named director of The Newbury Center for Cosmetic Facial Plastic Surgery in Boston. Alsarraf completed an American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery subspecialty fellowship with Calvin M. Johnson Jr. and is a co-author with Johnson of the soon-to-be released text, The Aging Face: A Systematic Approach. He is also serving as a guest editor for a special
outcomes research edition of Facial Plastic Surgery, the
official journal of the European Academy of Facial
Plastic Surgery.

Physical medicine specialist Anthony S. Burns, M.D. ’94, has joined the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Valley at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as assistant director. He was also appointed assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. Burns was the recipient of the Arthur A. Siemens Memorial Award, presented to a senior resident in the Johns Hopkins/Sinai Hospital rehabilitation medicine residency program for excellence in academic pursuits and devotion to patient care.

—Claire Bessinger

Send alumni news items to: Claire Bessinger, Yale Medicine Publications, P.O. Box 7612, New Haven, CT 06519-0612.