FEATURE

Jay S. Steingrub MD, Department of Medicine's Vice Chair for Research, Awarded 2008 Weinberg Family Prize

Dr. Jay Steingrub, Division of Critical Care Medicine (CCD), received the Weinberg Family Prize, Baystate Health's highest academic honor, for distinguishing himself as an outstanding clinician, impassioned educator, and a highly successful clinical investigator who has brought significant national recognition to Baystate Health for the Division’s program in critical care research.

In accepting the award, Dr. Steingrub emphasized that "constant commitment to the academic mission is the best way to expand human knowledge, enrich the lives of our patients, and encourage current educators and researchers to create a lasting legacy for future generations of clinicians at our institution."

Dr. Steingrub credits Baystate's senior leadership for its "true commitment to keeping our education and academic mission intact" and its support for building a formal research infrastructure.

Saying that the Prize is a great honor that epitomizes success as a clinician and educator, Dr. Steingrub believes it sends a message that young faculty members just out of training—as he was when joining Baystate—can, with commitment and tenacity, succeed at BMC.

According to Steingrub, Dr. David Longworth, Department of Medicine Chair, has been a great mentor and colleague and continues to provide him with invaluable support. He also acknowledges the immense contributions of the physicians and research coordinators within CCD saying, "This is an exhilarating experience for me and my team. My success is their success, and their success is my success."

In his time at Baystate, Dr. Steingrub has built a nationally recognized clinical research program devoted to sepsis and ARDS. In 2001 he successfully competed for an ARDSnet award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that enabled his research team to participate in an elite group of organizations studying pathophysiology and therapeutic interventions in sepsis and ARDS. In 2005 he and his colleague, Dr. Mark Tidswell, won a 7 year competitive renewal of this award in a highly competitive renewal cycle.

Steingrub has recently passed the ICU Research Director baton to Dr. Tidswell, his Co-PI on all federally-sponsored grants, while he focuses on replicating CCD's research accomplishments for the entire Department of Medicine.

Weinberg Family Prize Has Recognized Outstanding Academic Achievement Since 1997

This prize, created through the generosity of Dr. Ethel Weinberg and her husband, Saul Weinberg, is awarded annually to a faculty member whose innovative research, publications, or leadership of a national academic organization have brought honor to Baystate Health.