Edward E. Cornwell III, MD, FACS, FCCM

This endowed chair was created as a tribute to Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., who was the professor and chairman of the department of surgery at Howard University from 1970-1995. Leffall himself occupied the Charles R. Drew endowed chair in surgery at Howard from 1992 to present. His contributions to American and, indeed, international surgery were the equal of any surgical leader in the world during his half-century academic career, which was devoted to the study and treatment of cancer, particularly among African Americans. He was the first African-American president of the following organizations: American Cancer Society, Society of Surgical Oncology, Society of Surgical Chairmen and the American College of Surgeons. In 1995, the LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., surgical society was formed by friends, colleagues and his former students and residents, and the Leffall Chair in Surgery was established in 1996. In 2005, the Howard University Press published his memoirs entitled, No Boundaries-A Cancer Surgeon's Odyssey.     

BOOK REVIEW: Polyurethanes in Biomedical Applications, by N. Lamba, K. Woodhouse, and S. Cooper

PAC00: 0130Vv, 8768+z     

Harlem health care,a look back. An interview with Edward A. Nichols,MD/pediatrician. Interview by George A. Dawson

Our goal in this series of interviews is to provide a historical record, of sorts, and to highlight persons of African American ancestry who are health care professionals in Harlem, New York. Today, Harlem is undergoing a second cultural renaissance, and in this milieu, doctors are active contributors as providers of health care and, therefore, must be reckoned with as the proverbial backbone to any community change, be it positive or negative. In this instance, we judge the changes occurring in Harlem, for the most part, to be positive. Our inaugural interview is with Dr. Nichols, a longtime member of the National Medical Association and a pediatrician who has practiced in Harlem for well over 25 years.