Career Pulse

Artenstein Chairs BMC Department of Medicine

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Andrew Artenstein, an accomplished physician scientist and infectious-diseases specialist with expertise in biodefense, has been named chair of the Department of Medicine at Baystate Health.

Prior to his appointment at Baystate, Artenstein served for nearly a decade as the physician-in-chief of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket and as founding director of the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Pathogens. He was also professor of Medicine and professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dedicated to training the physicians of tomorrow, Artenstein was a five-time recipient of the annual Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award and received the medical school’s Department of Medicine Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Teaching.

“Dr. Artenstein’s recognized excellence as a clinician, teacher, and researcher will serve him well in leading Baystate’s largest department, whose physicians — ranging from neurologists to heart and vascular specialists and from oncologists to emergency-medicine practitioners — provide care to the community in both the outpatient and hospital setting,” said Dr. Mark A. Keroack, chief physician executive at Baystate Health.

As chair of the Department of Medicine, Artenstein will oversee more than 200 faculty physicians and advanced practitioners in 14 divisions — both private-practice and Baystate-employed physicians — who were responsible for some 170 active research protocols and 250 publications last year.

Artenstein completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Rochester and is an Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his postgraduate training in medicine and infectious diseases at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Active in the area of research, Artenstein is the recipient of numerous research grants and has authored over 50 original, peer-reviewed papers in the arenas of molecular epidemiology, vaccine clinical trials, novel therapeutics targeting emerging pathogens, and the pathogenesis and immunology of biodefense threat agents. He has also published 25 book chapters and invited reviews and is the editor and lead author of the book, Vaccines: A Biography, and author of the upcoming book, In the Blink of an Eye: The Deadly Story of Epidemic Meningitis. He is an associate editor of the journal VACCINE and is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

He holds membership in numerous professional societies and organizations, including the American Medical Assoc., the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, the Assoc. of Chairs and Chiefs of Medicine, the Assoc. of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, and the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. He is a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America and the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Artenstein’s clinical background and special interest in infectious diseases led to his founding of the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Pathogens at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island. He plans to continue his multi-center collaborations in the area of biodefense at Baystate Health, focusing on biothreats, both naturally occurring, such as pandemic influenza, and those resulting from malice, such as acts of bioterrorism.

Callahan Joins BMC Pulmonary Practice

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Cynthia Yan Callahan, a pulmonary and critical-care medicine specialist, to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the physician staff of Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC. Callahan is accepting new patients in need of pulmonary care, and joins Drs. Twinkle Chandak, Daniel Doyle, Michael Mortelliti, Jack Ringler, and Otto Villa at Pulmonary Professional Services of BMC.

Callahan received her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and completed her residency in internal medicine at Tufts Medical Center, where she served as chief medical resident. She is fellowship-trained in pulmonary and critical-care medicine from New York University.

Mlapah Tapped to Direct HMC Hospitalist Service

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Medical Center announced the appointment of Dr. Ted Mlapah to the position of medical director for the Hospitalist Program. In addition to his new role, Mlapah is the vice president of the medical staff and chief of Medicine for the medical center.

A member of the hospitalist service since 2006, Mlapah obtained his medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Dallas in Irving. He performed his residency in internal medicine at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Mlapah is a member of the Mass. Medical Society, the American Medical Assoc., and the American College of Physicians. His past teaching experience includes work as a clinical assistant instructor at Tufts Medical School and a teaching assistant in Microbiology/Immunology at the University of Dallas.

Holyoke Medical Center Welcomes Sheth

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Medical Center welcomes Dr. Nirav Sheth to HMC Cardiolovascular Specialists, located at Suite 404 on the fourth floor of the medical center.

Sheth received his bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery degrees with honors from the University of Bombay, India. He also ranked fourth overall in his final exams at the university. From there, he completed an internal-medicine residency at SUNY at Stony Brook and a cardiology fellowship at the Nassau University Medical Center in New York.

Sheth is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, echocardiology, and nuclear cardiology.

Sheth said he is thrilled to join the Holyoke Medical Center team. “Together, we can build a foundation for world-class cardiology care in our community. As the healthcare environment changes in the coming years, we have a good mix of specialty and primary care in the community, and we will be prepared to meet all of the healthcare needs of our patients.