Edelstone, Elin and Kaplan named to lead departments in School of Medicine

Daniel I. Edelstone, M.D., Ronald J. Elin, M.D., Ph.D., and Henry J. Kaplan, M.D., have been selected to serve as the three newest department chairs in the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Daniel I. Edelstone joined UofL in August 2001 as a professor and chair of the obstetrics, gynecology and women's health department and director of the women's health initiative.

His research team is addressing the physical and psychological health of women and identifying novel areas for health education and research. Edelstone also has a long-standing interest in factors that affect the delivery of oxygen to fetuses and has authored numerous abstracts and book chapters on this and related subjects.

Through the years he has received many professional honors, including two consecutive awards for faculty excellence from the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Edelstone began his academic career as an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh in 1977, eventually becoming director of education and faculty development and medical director of obstetric services.

In 1997 he joined Albany Medical College as chair of obstetrics and gynecology. He also served as director of the OBGYN residency program and held a secondary appointment as a professor in the department of physiology and cell biology. He left Albany to accept the Donald E. Baxter endowed chair at UofL.

A native of Boston, Edelstone earned his medical degree from the University of Southern California.

Ronald J. Elin was named the A.J. Miller Professor and chair of UofL's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine on Jan. 1, 2002. Elin, who also was named chief of pathology at University Hospital, joined the School of Medicine in 1997 and previously served as vice chair of the pathology department.

His research interests include clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, immunology, the metabolism of minerals and the properties of endotoxin. Elin has published extensively in these areas, including nearly 20 textbook chapters and more than 450 abstracts and peer-reviewed manuscripts.

The Minneapolis native served for 27 years with the U.S. Public Health Service, logging a 22-year tour as chief of the Clinical Pathology Department at the National Institutes of Health and a concurrent 20-year stint as chief of the NIH's clinical chemistry service.

He is the recipient of numerous honors and has held key leadership positions in multiple professional societies, including the College of American Pathologists.

Elin began his academic career in 1977 as a clinical associate professor of pathology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. The following year, he was promoted to full professor.

In 1997 Elin moved to Louisville to accept a position as professor and vice chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in UofL's School of Medicine. He also was named medical director of University Hospital Laboratory, a post Elin still holds.

The pathologist earned his medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota.

Henry J. Kaplan joined UofL in September 2000 as the William H. and Blondina Evans Professor of Ophthalmology, director of the Kentucky Lions Eye Center and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

Kaplan's extensive research has focused on a broad range of diseases affecting the eye, including uveitis and age-related macular degeneration._The ophthalmologist has published more than 400 manuscripts and abstracts and currently serves as editor in chief of the journal Ocular Immunology and Inflammation.

Among his honors are the Scientific Award from the Alcon Research Institute and the Senior Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, an organization of which he is a fellow.

Kaplan also is a member and past president of the American Uveitis Society, as well as an associate examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology.

Kaplan's academic career began in 1974 at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where he taught for a year in the cell biology department before moving to the University of Iowa to complete a residency in ophthalmology.

Kaplan returned to teaching in 1979 as an associate professor of ophthalmology at Emory University. He remained in Georgia until 1988, eventually being named director of research for the department of ophthalmology. Kaplan's last post before moving to Louisville was chair of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, a title he had held since 1988.

Kaplan earned his medical degree from Cornell University.