Gregory A. Storch, M.D., has been named director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics and the first Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The new endowed professorship, given by Alvin J. and Ruth Siteman, will support leadership in pediatric infectious diseases.
“We are most grateful to Al and Ruth Siteman for their generous support of the Department of Pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases, a field which has eliminated so much childhood disease through vaccine development and early recognition and therapy,” said Alan L. Schwartz, M.D., Ph.D., the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and Chair of Pediatrics, professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine and pediatrician-in-chief, St. Louis Children ‘s Hospital. “The inaugural recipient, Greg Storch, is a nationally renowned scholar, teacher and clinician in pediatric infectious diseases as well as a superior citizen of the School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.”
The professorship is part of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine Joint Program in Pediatric Chairs, which set a goal to have 12 new pediatric professorships by 2008.
“This is the latest endowed chair in the 10-year-old program St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine have developed for revered pediatric leaders,” said Schwartz.
“I am deeply honored to be appointed to the Siteman chair because of the tremendous contribution that the Siteman family has made to the University, particularly in the area of cancer care, which is very meaningful to me personally,” said Storch.
Storch, professor of pediatrics, of medicine and of molecular microbiology, will continue in his role as director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. He is also director of the virology and bacteriology laboratories.
Storch is internationally recognized as an expert in virology and the molecular identification of new and emerging pathogens. He is medical director of Project ARK, or AIDS/HIV Resources and Knowledge, the St. Louis program for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS that has received national recognition. His research interests are in developing molecular diagnostic tests for viral infections and other unconventional pathogens as well as in pediatric HIV.
He also served as chairman for two years of the School of Medicine ‘s Executive Committee of the Faculty Council, the highest elected position among the 1,500 medical school faculty. For that committee, Storch organized a faculty retreat that took place in November 2003 and chaired the Retreat Implementation Committee whose work led to the development of new standards for appointments and promotions at the School of Medicine.
“We are indebted to Al and Ruth Siteman for their generosity which effectively endows our vision of clinical excellence throughout St. Louis Children ‘s Hospital,” said Lee F. Fetter, president and senior executive officer of Children ‘s Hospital. “Greg Storch is a wonderful choice to fulfill this role given his outstanding record of expertise within many of our clinical specialties and contributions that have advanced the medical field.”
Storch came to Washington University School of Medicine in 1973 as an intern and resident at Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. He then worked for the Epidemic Intelligence Service office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and returned to the School of Medicine in 1978 as a clinical and research fellow in infectious diseases. He joined the faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of pediatrics.
Storch serves on the editorial board of Clinical Microbiology Reviews and is a reviewer for several other medical journals. He serves as faculty adviser for the STATS Program (Students Teaching AIDS to Students) and was formerly co-faculty master of the Cori Society. Storch also served a three-year term as an elected director of the Harvard University Alumni Association and is the representative for former house staff members of the Executive Council of the Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association. He has been listed numerous times in the Best Doctors in America.
St. Louisans Alvin J. and Ruth Siteman have given generously to the medical center over the years. In 1999, they committed $35 million to Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University to advance cancer research and treatment in what became the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.
Alvin J. Siteman, president of the Siteman Organization, previously was chairman of Mark Twain Bancshares Inc., the corporation he helped merge with Mercantile Bancorporation in 1997. He also is chairman and president of Site Oil Company of Missouri and Flash Oil Corporation. Siteman was previously on the Board of Commissioners of the Saint Louis Art Museum.
Ruth Siteman, who received a bachelor ‘s degree from Washington University’s University College in 1975, has supported an Arts & Sciences Scholarship at the University, and is a former member of the Arts & Sciences National Council. Among the Washington University alumni in their family are daughters Joanne Siteman Gordon of Riverwoods, Ill., and Nancy Siteman of St. Louis.
In addition to being avid supporters of the arts in St. Louis, the Sitemans have been loyal and generous contributors to the current Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, the former Jewish Hospital, to Washington University and its schools of business and medicine. Alvin Siteman is an emeritus member of Barnes-Jewish Hospital ‘s board of directors.
The Sitemans are major benefactors of Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation and also are Life Patrons of Washington University ‘s William Greenleaf Eliot Society. In 1997, the Sitemans established a cancer endowment fund and endowed chair in oncology in their name at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. They also established the Phillip L. Siteman Professorship in Marketing at the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in 1985 to honor his father. Alvin J. Siteman received the Dean ‘s Medal for exceptional dedication and service to the business school in 1994 and the Robert S. Brookings Award that same year for furthering the alliance between the University and its community. At the School of Medicine, in 1993 he established the Alvin J. Siteman Cerebrovascular Research Fund in the Department of Neurology.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.