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| {{Short description|American ophthalmologist and academic}} | |||
| {{primary sources|date=November 2010}} | |||
| {{Infobox |
{{Infobox academic | ||
| |name |
| name = Carmen Puliafito | ||
| | |
| image = dean_headshot.ashx.jpg | ||
| | birth_name = Carmen Anthony Puliafito | |||
| | discipline = ] | |||
| | birth_date = January 5, {{birth year and age|1951}} | |||
| | children = 3 | |||
| | education = ] (], ])<br>] (]) | |||
| ⚫ | | workplaces = ]<br>] | ||
| | sub_discipline = ] | |||
| | module = {{infobox officeholder | |||
| | embed = yes | |||
| ⚫ | | office = Dean of the ] | ||
| | term_start = 2007 | |||
| | term_end = March 2016 | |||
| | predecessor = Brian E. Henderson | |||
| | successor = ] (interim) | |||
| }} | |||
| | birth_place = ], U.S. | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''Carmen Anthony Puliafito''' (born January 5, 1951)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blain |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDIfDB48vDkC&dq=Carmen+Puliafito+1951&pg=PA87 |title=Lasers: A Guide to the Book Literature |date=2002 |publisher=Nova Publishers |isbn=978-1-59033-225-2 |language=en}}</ref> is an American ] and former academic administrator. From 2007 until March 2016, he was dean of the ]. | |||
| '''Carmen A. Puliafito'''<ref></ref> is the current dean of the Keck School of Medicine of the ] in ], ], and holder of the May S. and John Hooval Dean's Chair in Medicine. | |||
| In 2017, the '']'' revealed that Puliafito had engaged in parties with young recreational drug users and prostitutes, including at the Keck School's offices, and that Puliafito had smoked ] at these events.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-usc-doctor-20170717-htmlstory.html|title=An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-05-11|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> | |||
| Puliafito is recognized worldwide as an innovator in the diagnosis and treatment of retinal disease and accomplished leader in academic medicine. He was recently appointed to a second term as dean of the Keck School of Medicine, a position he has held since 2007.<ref>http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/14134.html</ref> In this role, he has continued to enhance his reputation as a visionary academic medical leader, a highly effective administrator and educator and an innovative clinician-scientist. Since his appointment, he has led the continuing transformation of the Keck School of Medicine into one of the nation's preeminent research-intensive medical schools, with an annual budget of $700 million (FY 2013), 4,000 employees and 1,300 faculty with $200 million in sponsored research (FY 2012). | |||
| == Early life and education == | |||
| Under his leadership, the clinical, research, and educational programs of the Keck School have been dramatically enlarged and restructured. Puliafito led the clinical business planning which culminated in the successful acquisition by USC in April 2009 of its two private teaching hospitals, USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, both of which had been previously owned and operated by a publicly traded, for-profit hospital corporation. These 471-bed tertiary and quaternary teaching hospitals form the nucleus of a newly constituted USC-owned academic medical center, offering Keck School faculty unprecedented new opportunities for clinical practice, research, and teaching at every level. | |||
| Born and raised ], Puliafito received a Bachelor of Arts degree from ] in 1973 and a ] from ] in 1978.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hqJ8DwAAQBAJ&dq=Carmen+Puliafito+born+in&pg=RA1-PA229 |title=IBBO-International Biography and Bibliography of Ophthalmologists and Visual Scientist (A-Z) |date=2018-11-30 |publisher=Wayenborgh Publishing |isbn=978-90-6299-896-8 |language=en}}</ref> He completed a ] in ] and a ] in ] at the ]. Puliafito also earned an ] from the ] of the ].<ref name=usc/> | |||
| ⚫ | == |
||
| Puliafito started his career at the ] and ], where he was the founder of the Laser Research Laboratory, director of the Morse Laser Center, a member of the Retina Service and associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School until 1991. A cum laude graduate of ] and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Medical School, Puliafito completed his residency and fellowships in ophthalmic pathology and vitreoretinal diseases and surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. | |||
| ⚫ | == Career == | ||
| Puliafito is recognized as co-inventor of the technology of ] (OCT) and with being the first ophthalmologist to use this technology to study the human macula in health and disease. From the first publication about OCT in 1991 to the implementation of the first clinical system two years later, Puliafito has led in the development of OCT technology – a technology which has truly revolutionized retinal practice and made a real difference for both patients and retinal specialists. From a single system at the New England Eye Center at ] in 1993, OCT has grown to have a global impact, now with more than 20,000 systems in use every day throughout the world. For his work on OCT, Puliafito was awarded (along with James Fujimoto and Eric Swanson) the 2002 Rank Prize – the world’s most prestigious award in optoelectronics. In 2012, also for his work on OCT, Puliafito was awarded (along with James Fujimoto, Eric Swanson, David Huang and Joel Schuman) the Champalimaud Vision Award, often called the “Nobel Prize for Vision,” which comes with a $1.3 million prize, the largest monetary prize in the field of vision science and among the largest scientific and humanitarian prizes in the world. | |||
| Puliafito was appointed dean of the ] in December 2007.<ref>USC Press Release. Dec 5 2007. </ref> Before that, he had been director of the ] of the ] at the ], and chair of the department of ].<ref name="usc">. University of Southern California. Accessed February 2015.{{self-published source|date=February 2015}}</ref> The institute has regularly been ranked as the best eye hospital and vision research center in the nation by '']''. In 2012, he was 21st of the highest-paid research university executives in the United States.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.genengnews.com/keywordsandtools/print/3/33096/ | publisher=Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | title=25 Top-Paid Research University Leaders | date=Nov 18, 2013 | author=Alex Philippidis|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423085620/http://www.genengnews.com/keywordsandtools/print/3/33096/|archivedate=April 23, 2016}} Accessed February 2015.</ref> While dean, he served on the board of the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Board of Trustees |date=9 April 2015 |url=https://www.chla.org/board-trustees |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002100729/http://www.chla.org/board-trustees |archivedate=October 2, 2015 |publisher=Children's Hospital Los Angeles}}</ref> | |||
| In March 2016, Puliafito resigned as dean of the Keck School of Medicine, and USC professor ] was appointed interim dean.<ref name="trojan">{{Cite web|url=http://dailytrojan.com/2016/03/24/dean-keck-school-medicine-usc-resigns/|title=Dean of Keck School of Medicine of USC resigns |last=Maamoon|first=Noorhan|website=Daily Trojan|date=25 March 2016 |access-date=2016-04-03}}</ref> After leaving USC, he took a role as chief of strategic development with a pharmaceutical company called Ophthotech that was ] new drugs for eye diseases; he was laid off along with 80% of the staff in December 2016 when two ] clinical trials produced negative results.<ref name="LAT2017" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Ben|title=Ophthotech cuts to hit around 80% of staffers after phase 3 failures|url=http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/ophthotech-cuts-to-hit-around-80-staffers-after-phase-3-failures|work=FierceBiotech|date=January 17, 2017|language=en}}</ref> | |||
| Throughout his career Puliafito has been an innovator, most recently participating in the introduction of ] (]) for the treatment of retinal disorders. He was the first to describe the use of the semiconductor diode laser for retinal photocoagulation, and he did pioneering basic science research in excimer laser photoablation and optical breakdown and photodisruption. He established a major optical imaging program while at the ], and is still actively working with his laboratory team investigating novel retinal imaging approaches at USC, most notably an initial description of the novel technique of photo acoustic ] (March 2010). | |||
| As a chair of two departments of ophthalmology over a 16-year period, Puliafito established himself as one of the most creative and successful leaders in academic ophthalmology. From 2001 to 2007 he served as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the ] of the University of Miami School of Medicine.<ref>http://bascompalmer.org/site/default.asp</ref> He earned acclaim for creating and enacting a strategy for growth that propelled Bascom Palmer to new heights in clinical practice, education and research. The faculty increased to 70 members from 33. Two satellite patient care centers were opened, extending Bascom Palmer's services across South Florida. He guided fundraising for and development of a $22 million, seven-acre campus in ] that represents the most technologically advanced eye care center in the ]. Bascom Palmer's research funding rose to more than $8 million in FY07 from $2.5 million in FY02, and its clinical revenues grew to more than $35 million from $16 million in 2007. He led the rebuilding of the ]'s vision research program, with successful competition for a new core grant, and increased the department’s ranking in NIH funding to 8th from 16th in five years. | |||
| Puliafito's California medical license was revoked based on disciplinary orders on August 17, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=California Board Of Medicine |url=https://search.dca.ca.gov/details/8002/G/88200/d8dd63f54e672c11946effa314ff086f}}</ref> | |||
| Under Puliafito's direction, Bascom Palmer seized back the No. 1 ranking in ]'s rankings of eye hospitals in 2004, three years after his arrival, and has maintained that position in all subsequent years. | |||
| === Research === | |||
| Prior to his work at Bascom Palmer, Puliafito served as founding director of the New England Eye Center and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at ] (1991 to 2001). There he accepted and met the challenge of building an eye program at Tufts that could compete with well-established counterparts in the Boston area. The Tufts program is recognized as a highly successful academic ophthalmology practice, with a strong research portfolio in epidemiology, imaging and genetics, and a unique community-based outreach program which Puliafito developed. During this time he solidified his credentials as an administrator by earning an M.B.A. from the ] of the ]. | |||
| Puliafito was one of the inventors of ];<ref name=opto/> for this work, ], Eric Swanson and Puliafito received a Rank Prize for Opto-Electronics in 2002.<ref name=opto> (May 2002). . '']'' '''79''' (5): 279–280. Accessed February 2015.</ref> In 2012, Fujimoto, Swanson, and David Huang, with Puliafito and ], received an António Champalimaud Vision Award from the ].<ref name=champ>. Champalimaud Foundation. Accessed February 2015.</ref> | |||
| Puliafito participated in research into the use of ] for the treatment of retinal disorders.<ref name=michels/><ref name=rosenfeld/><ref name=rich/><ref name=mosh/> | |||
| ==Tenure at USC== | |||
| Puliafito led the integration of 19 separate physician practices into a single 500-physician faculty practice organization under the aegis of the ] as of July 2009. This was a formidable undertaking that required the successful resolution of multiple complex legal, financial, and business system issues. This new unified physician practice organization provides improved opportunities for state-of-the-art multidisciplinary patient care and clinical research, as well as new resources for The Doctors of USC (the integrated practice group) to compete effectively in the ] marketplace. The acquisition of the two hospitals and the integration of the faculty physician practices were the two key steps in maintaining an environment in which all resources are directed toward one goal: academic excellence at the highest levels. | |||
| === 2017 ''Los Angeles Times'' report === | |||
| In his three years at USC, Puliafito has established his reputation as a highly effective recruiter and fundraiser. He has already recruited 17 new department chairs, institute directors and chiefs of major clinical divisions, including new chairs of surgery, pediatrics, pathology, preventive medicine, urology, and cell and neurobiology. These new appointees have been recruited from institutions such as ], ], ] and the ] as the result of national searches. | |||
| '']'' reported in July 2017 that while Puliafito served as dean and USC professor, he "kept company with a circle of criminals and drug users who said he used methamphetamine and other drugs with them."<ref name=LAT2017>{{cite news|last1=Pringle|first1=Paul|last2=Ryan|first2=Harriet|last3=Elmahrek|first3=Adam|last4=Hamilton|first4=Matt|last5=Parvini|first5=Sarah|title=An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-usc-doctor-20170717-htmlstory.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 17, 2017}}</ref> The reporters reviewed video and photographs of Puliafito engaging in these activities in hotel rooms, apartments, and the dean's office.<ref name=LAT2017/> According to the newspaper, a 21-year-old prostitute had overdosed while taking drugs with Puliafito in a Pasadena hotel room on March 4, 2016; the article included a recording of a conversation between a 911 operator and Puliafito. The report said that police had found methamphetamine in the room.<ref name=LAT2017/> Three weeks later, on March 24, 2016, Puliafito resigned as dean of the Keck School of Medicine. Nothing was said about the incident; he said he was resigning because he wished to "return to academic ophthalmology and pursue some identified opportunities in healthcare."<ref name=trojan/> | |||
| Immediately following the publication of the 2017 ''Los Angeles Times'' report, USC announced that Puliafito had been placed "on leave from his roles at USC, including seeing patients."<ref name="Elmahrek">Adam Elmahrek, Sarah Parvini, Paul Pringle & Matt Hamilton, , ''Los Angeles Times'' (July 17, 2017).</ref> | |||
| Under his leadership, the biomedical research enterprise at the ] has demonstrated impressive growth. From FY 2008 to FY 2011, total grant awards to the Keck School of Medicine increased by 25% to $248 million. Emphasis has been placed upon interdisciplinary research in neuroscience, genomics, oncology, and epidemiology and preventive medicine. This increase propelled the Keck School to rise eight positions in the ] ranking of research-intensive medical schools to the 31st position in 2014. In 2010, the Keck School led USC's successful competition for a prestigious NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award of $58 million. This award stresses interdisciplinary research, and involves faculty leaders from the Vitberbi School of Engineering, School of Social Work, School of Pharmacy and community health organizations. Under Puliafito’s leadership, construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM (California Institute of Regenerative Medicine)<ref>http://www.cirm.ca.gov/Board_Carmen_Puliafito</ref> Center, an 80,000 sq. ft. stem cell research facility, was completed. | |||
| In July 2022, ], the reporter who first uncovered and reported the story of Puliafito's activities, published a book entitled '']''. It describes his year-long struggle to get the story published over the objections of his superiors at the ''Times'', who did not want to offend USC. Pringle's investigation of the case began with the March 2016 incident, but the paper refused to publish it. He and colleagues persisted, continuing to research the case until the report was finally published in July 2017, long after Puliafito had resigned as dean.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-usc-doctor-20170717-htmlstory.html|title=An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of a USC med school dean|date=July 17, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=14 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/books/review/bad-city-paul-pringle.html|title=Book review: U.S.C. Sex Scandals and the Paper That Tried to Cover Them Up|last=Benner|first=Katie|date=July 13, 2022|work=The New York Times|access-date=14 July 2022}}</ref> | |||
| Since his tenure at the Keck School, Dean Puliafito’s development team has raised more than $700 million. Major gifts included $150 million from the W.M. Keck Foundation, $54 million from Sumner Redstone and $60 million from the Nohl Trust for hematology research. Other major gifts under his leadership include $15 million from the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation for an expansion of cancer care facilities, $5 million from the Larry Ellison Medical Foundation, $5 million from the Annenberg Foundation for medical student scholarships, $24 million from Sumner Redstone, and $5 million from the Wunderkinder Foundation. | |||
| ⚫ | == Personal life == | ||
| Puliafito recruited new leadership and provided new direction to the Keck School's medical education program. In 2010, the Keck School was awarded an eight-year reaccreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). In the award letter, Puliafito was credited with creating “an energizing institutional spirit of commitment to teaching and the educational program,” with resources from university leadership. The letter commended him for significantly increasing funding for educational leadership, infrastructure and innovation. The Keck School developed an innovative Health Engineering and Technology (HTE) educational track within the M.D. curriculum (in collaboration with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering) to train a new generation of clinician-scientists and Ph.D. biomedical scientists. Puliafito has actively participated in the rich opportunities for cross-university/cross-school collaboration at USC, including founding a university-wide USC Institute for Global Health, developing new bachelor's and advanced degree programs in global medicine and a new online Master of Public Health (MPH) program, and stimulating the creation of a new university-wide health careers advisory and development initiative. Under Puliafito’s leadership, the Keck School developed a summer biomedical sciences program for aspiring medical students from underrepresented minorities. | |||
| Puliafito and his wife, Janet Pine, had three children. A psychiatrist, Pine met Puliafito while they were students at Harvard Medical School.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-08-23 |title=Carmen Puliafito named new dean of the Keck School of Medicine |url=https://news.usc.edu/18096/Carmen-Puliafito-named-new-dean-of-the-Keck-School-of-Medicine/ |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=USC News |language=en-US}}</ref> He was fired by USC for engaging in a pattern of illegal drug use and sometimes partied with a group of drug users in his USC offices. <ref> https://laist.com/shows/take-two/usc-fires-dr-puliafito-launches-external-investigation</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ==References== | ||
| In his role as dean of the Keck School of Medicine, Puliafito serves as the primary academic officer of the ], one of the nation’s largest and most important safety net teaching hospitals. LAC+USC is staffed exclusively by USC full-time faculty (more than 500 physicians), residents and fellows. Puliafito helped coordinate the October 2008 move into a new $1 billion hospital facility. He successfully negotiated a $112 million annual, multiyear contract for faculty services at LAC+USC, and developed a management team which works closely with the ] in effectively managing the challenges of the current health care environment. He founded the Keck School’s Community Advisory Council composed of leaders from the diverse communities the medical school serves and promoting greater involvement in meeting the primary care needs of these communities. | |||
| ⚫ | {{reflist|refs= | ||
| <ref name=michels>Michels S, Rosenfeld PJ, Puliafito CA, Marcus EN, Venkatraman AS. (2005). Systemic bevacizumab (Avastin) therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration twelve-week results of an uncontrolled open-label clinical study. ''Ophthalmology'' '''112''':1035–47.</ref> | |||
| Puliafito serves as vice chair of the boards of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital. He is a member of the board of ],<ref>http://www.chla.org/site/c.ipINKTOAJsG/b.5264283/</ref> the Huntington Hospital (Pasadena) and the House Ear Institute. He serves as an elected member of the board of the Los Angeles County Medical Association. In the past he has served as president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the world’s largest vision research organization, and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. He served as editor-in-chief of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, and is the current editor of Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers and Imaging. | |||
| <ref name=rosenfeld>Rosenfeld PJ, Moshfegi AA, Puliafito CA. (2005). Optical coherence tomography findings after an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (Avastin) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. ''Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers & Imaging'' '''36''': 331–5.</ref> | |||
| ==Awards and nominations== | |||
| Puliafito is a winner of the Rosenthal Award and the J. Donald M. Gass Medal of the Macula Society. He received the Innovators Award of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in 2005. He was awarded the Howe Medal of the ]. He has delivered numerous named lectures, including the J. Donald M. Gass lectures of the Retina Society and the Ophthalmic Photographers Society, the Arthur Bedell and Inaugural Kenneth Nase lectures (Wills Eye Institute), the Samuel Kimura and Francis Proctor lectures (]), the Edward W. D. Norton Lecture (Bascom Palmer Eye Institute), the Mclean Award Lecture (Cornell Weill Medical College), the Taylor R. Smith memorial lectures (the ] and the Aspen Retinal Detachment Society), the Van Buskirk Lecture (Devers Eye Institute, ]), the Stuart Brown Lecture (]), the W. Morton Grant Lecture (the New England Eye Center of ]), the Knobloch Lecture (]), the Roscoe Kennedy Lecture (Cole Eye Institute of the ]), the George Wise Lecture (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), the Kambara Lecture (]) and the Paul Sternberg Sr. Lecture (]). | |||
| <ref name=rich>Rich RM, Rosenfeld PJ, Puliafito CA, ''et al''. (2006). Short-term safety and efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. ''Retina'' '''26''': 495–511.</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ==Personal life== | ||
| Puliafito is a native of ] and graduated from St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, where he has been inducted into the Signum Fidei Society. Puliafito has been married for more than 30 years to Dr. Janet H. Pine, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at USC, and has three children, Amy, Ben and Sam. He lives in ]. He is an award-winning philatelist and postal historian specializing in the United States Independent Mail Stamps of 1845 and 1846. | |||
| <ref name=mosh>Moshfegi AA, Rosenfeld PJ, Puliafito CA, ''et al''. (2006). Systemic bevacizumab (Avastin) therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: twenty-four-week results of an uncontrolled open-label clinical study. ''Ophthalmology'' '''113''': 2002–11.</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ==References== | ||
| ⚫ | {{reflist |
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| ==External links== | |||
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| | NAME = Puliafito, Carmen A. | |||
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| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American academic | |||
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Latest revision as of 15:56, 10 July 2024
American ophthalmologist and academic| Carmen Puliafito | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Carmen Anthony Puliafito January 5, 1951 (age 72–73) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Children | 3 |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Harvard University (AB, MD) University of Pennsylvania (MBA) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Ophthalmology |
| Sub-discipline | Optical coherence tomography |
| Institutions | University of Miami University of Southern California |
| Dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC | |
| In office 2007 – March 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Brian E. Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Rohit Varma (interim) |
Carmen Anthony Puliafito (born January 5, 1951) is an American ophthalmologist and former academic administrator. From 2007 until March 2016, he was dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
In 2017, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Puliafito had engaged in parties with young recreational drug users and prostitutes, including at the Keck School's offices, and that Puliafito had smoked methamphetamine at these events.
Early life and education
Born and raised Buffalo, New York, Puliafito received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1973 and a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School in 1978. He completed a residency in ophthalmology and a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Puliafito also earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Career
Puliafito was appointed dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC in December 2007. Before that, he had been director of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, and chair of the department of ophthalmology. The institute has regularly been ranked as the best eye hospital and vision research center in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In 2012, he was 21st of the highest-paid research university executives in the United States. While dean, he served on the board of the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
In March 2016, Puliafito resigned as dean of the Keck School of Medicine, and USC professor Rohit Varma was appointed interim dean. After leaving USC, he took a role as chief of strategic development with a pharmaceutical company called Ophthotech that was developing new drugs for eye diseases; he was laid off along with 80% of the staff in December 2016 when two phase III clinical trials produced negative results.
Puliafito's California medical license was revoked based on disciplinary orders on August 17, 2018.
Research
Puliafito was one of the inventors of optical coherence tomography; for this work, James Fujimoto, Eric Swanson and Puliafito received a Rank Prize for Opto-Electronics in 2002. In 2012, Fujimoto, Swanson, and David Huang, with Puliafito and Joel Schuman, received an António Champalimaud Vision Award from the Champalimaud Foundation.
Puliafito participated in research into the use of bevacizumab for the treatment of retinal disorders.
2017 Los Angeles Times report
The Los Angeles Times reported in July 2017 that while Puliafito served as dean and USC professor, he "kept company with a circle of criminals and drug users who said he used methamphetamine and other drugs with them." The reporters reviewed video and photographs of Puliafito engaging in these activities in hotel rooms, apartments, and the dean's office. According to the newspaper, a 21-year-old prostitute had overdosed while taking drugs with Puliafito in a Pasadena hotel room on March 4, 2016; the article included a recording of a conversation between a 911 operator and Puliafito. The report said that police had found methamphetamine in the room. Three weeks later, on March 24, 2016, Puliafito resigned as dean of the Keck School of Medicine. Nothing was said about the incident; he said he was resigning because he wished to "return to academic ophthalmology and pursue some identified opportunities in healthcare."
Immediately following the publication of the 2017 Los Angeles Times report, USC announced that Puliafito had been placed "on leave from his roles at USC, including seeing patients."
In July 2022, Paul Pringle, the reporter who first uncovered and reported the story of Puliafito's activities, published a book entitled Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels. It describes his year-long struggle to get the story published over the objections of his superiors at the Times, who did not want to offend USC. Pringle's investigation of the case began with the March 2016 incident, but the paper refused to publish it. He and colleagues persisted, continuing to research the case until the report was finally published in July 2017, long after Puliafito had resigned as dean.
Personal life
Puliafito and his wife, Janet Pine, had three children. A psychiatrist, Pine met Puliafito while they were students at Harvard Medical School. He was fired by USC for engaging in a pattern of illegal drug use and sometimes partied with a group of drug users in his USC offices.
References
- Blain, Charles (2002). Lasers: A Guide to the Book Literature. Nova Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59033-225-2.
- "An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
- IBBO-International Biography and Bibliography of Ophthalmologists and Visual Scientist (A-Z). Wayenborgh Publishing. 2018-11-30. ISBN 978-90-6299-896-8.
- ^ Carmen Puliafito named new dean of the Keck School of Medicine. University of Southern California. Accessed February 2015.
- USC Press Release. Dec 5 2007. USC Installs Dr. Carmen Puliafito as New Dean of the Keck School of Medicine
- Alex Philippidis (Nov 18, 2013). "25 Top-Paid Research University Leaders". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Accessed February 2015.
- "Board of Trustees". Children's Hospital Los Angeles. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015.
- ^ Maamoon, Noorhan (25 March 2016). "Dean of Keck School of Medicine of USC resigns". Daily Trojan. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
- ^ Pringle, Paul; Ryan, Harriet; Elmahrek, Adam; Hamilton, Matt; Parvini, Sarah (July 17, 2017). "An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean". Los Angeles Times.
- Adams, Ben (January 17, 2017). "Ophthotech cuts to hit around 80% of staffers after phase 3 failures". FierceBiotech.
- "California Board Of Medicine".
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