Marin Kollef, MD, and Brian Rubin, MD, honored by medical staff for longtime service to hospital, university and community
(Reprinted from the May 31, 2022 issue of Physician Connect.)
Marin Kollef, MD, FACP, FCCP and Brian Rubin, MD, FACS, received the Barnes-Jewish Medical Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Association’s semi-annual general meeting May 12 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center. Physicians who have given 25 years or more of distinguished service to Barnes-Jewish Hospital (BJH) are eligible.
“At times we can take for granted the quality of the physician colleagues we work with daily. Having the opportunity to review the nominations, contributions and accomplishments of Drs. Kollef and Rubin, and frankly so many of the other nominations, is a regular reminder of the incredible expertise and commitment of so many of our physicians,” says Randall Jotte, MD, Washington University professor of emergency medicine and president of the Medical Staff Association (MSA).
Dr. Kollef joined Washington University School of Medicine in 1992 as an assistant professor of medicine. From 1998-2005, he was associate professor of medicine and, in 2005, he became a professor of medicine and the Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Chair in Respiratory Intensive Care Medicine for the Department of Medicine. He earned his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY, and his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Sara Haluf MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Washington University School of Medicine, nominated Dr. Kollef for the award. Says Haluf, “Dr. Kollef is the definition of an exemplary physician and is deserving of the Lifetime Achievement Award. He is well known and respected globally for his work with sepsis, ventilator associated pneumonia, antibiotic selection and resistance, and critical care medicine. He has directly contributed to a better understanding of multiple medical conditions and disease processes for which there are now better treatment options and patient outcomes thanks to his lifelong dedication to his specialty. He has authored numerous journal articles, opinions and guidelines. He has also acted as a mentor to many colleagues in their own research and publishing journey. He is a gifted educator who excels at teaching the intricacies of critical care to students, staff, and physicians of all levels and backgrounds. He has helped shape the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, the Medical ICU, and the Respiratory Care department. In addition, he is a skilled intensivist with a compassionate bedside manner. I have been honored to learn from and work alongside Dr. Kollef during my last 10 years as a nurse practitioner in the Medical ICU.”
Dr. Rubin came to Washington University School of Medicine in 1989 for a fellowship in vascular surgery under the direction of Gregorio Sicard, MD. The first year was devoted to research, studying platelet function and novel glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, and the second year was a clinical fellowship.
After completion of his fellowship, he joined the Washington University faculty as assistant professor, director of the vascular laboratory and the sole academic vascular surgeon at Jewish Hospital of St Louis. In 1999, he became an associate professor and, in 2006, a professor. With the merger of Barnes and Jewish hospitals, and the creation of a unified vascular service, he was named associate director, and subsequently the medical director of vascular laboratories serving inpatients and outpatients in multiple locations.
Patrick Geraghty, MD, Washington University professor, Surgery and Radiology, nominated Dr. Rubin. Says Dr. Geraghty, “For 30 years, Dr. Rubin has provided a masterful combination of surgical prowess, thoughtful and compassionate patient-centered care, clinical research, and superb teaching of generations of general and vascular surgeons. Vascular surgery has changed dramatically over the past three decades, as the introduction of endovascular techniques serially revolutionized every aspect of our practice, from aortic surgery to lower extremity and carotid interventions to dialysis access and maintenance. In each instance, Brian was at the forefront of not only adopting those techniques, but working to understand how they could be best applied to the patient’s advantage, and discerning those situations where traditional open surgery still provided optimal outcomes.
Brian has trained over 50 vascular surgeons in his career, many of whom now lead nationally recognized academic vascular surgical programs. His teaching style has always been impeccable – ever patient, often humorous, and always spurring the trainees to think carefully through the multiple paths that each procedure might take. He has a gift for understanding the best therapeutic options for each of his patients, and for patiently educating those patients and their family members so they can participate in a truly shared decision-making process regarding their care choices. He has always taken great pride in belonging to the engaging and talented group of clinicians who make Barnes-Jewish Hospital not just an academic powerhouse, but an irreplaceable resource for regional hospitals and referring physicians, and a lifeline for the seriously ill.
Drs. Kollef and Rubin will receive their awards at the Semi Annual MSA meeting Nov. 10.