Alumni Day 2009

Friends, colleagues and classmates reunited May 14-15 at Alumni Day 2009, hosted by the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Physician Alumni Association.

Alumni Day kicked off on May 14 with the Welcome Reception and Spring Medical Staff Party, held for the second year at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland, which will be one of the most prominent venues when Pittsburgh hosts President Obama and other world leaders during the G20 Conference on Sept. 24-25.

Alumni Day talks and presentations were held the next day in the Conference Center at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center on Children's stunning, newly-opened campus.

Speakers included:

• President of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and President, Children’s Community Pediatrics Christopher A. Gessner (with special introduction by Children’s alum Thomas Gessner, MD)
• Cardiothoracic surgeon John Brown, MD, of the Riley Hospital for Children
• Pediatric neurology researcher and former Children’s staff member Nina F. Schor, MD, PhD, the University of Rochester Medical Center
• Pediatric trauma researcher Flaura Koplin Winston MD, PhD, FAAP, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Alumni Day program also included annual award presentations:

• The 2009 Howard A. Mermelstein Award for Excellence in Pediatrics was given posthumously to Children's pediatrician William I. Cohen, MD
• The 2009 Eugene S. Wiener, MD, Award for Outstanding Contributions to Pediatric Healthcare was presented to retired Children's cardiologist William H. Neches, MD

Sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Department of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation and Children’s Hospital medical staff.