March 22, 2002

Electronic newsroom

02-19

Brookhaven Town Honors Two Brookhaven Lab Employees

UPTON, NY - Two employees from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory were among ten women honored for their accomplishments and contributions to Brookhaven Town at the Town-sponsored Women’s Recognition Night on March 21. The Town held the special ceremony in observance of National Women’s History Month. Margaret Bogosian was recognized for her contributions to law, and Linda Chang was honored for her contributions to science.

As manager of Brookhaven’s Office of Intellectual Property and Industrial Partnerships, Bogosian is responsible for patenting and licensing technology developed at the Laboratory to industry to foster commercialization. A number of Brookhaven-developed products have been commercialized, including a red blood cell-labeling kit, which is currently being used worldwide in over two million medical procedures each year, and an asbestos-digesting foam, which transforms asbestos fibers into harmless materials while retaining their fire-retardant and insulating properties.

Bogosian is in charge of negotiating the contracts that cover Brookhaven scientists’ work-for-others research and the Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, known as CRADAs, that promote the transfer of scientific expertise and technology from Brookhaven to industry. In addition, her office puts in place the contracts covering the use of the Laboratory’s unique scientific facilities, known as user facilities, which are used by as many as 4,000 guest researchers each year from throughout the world.

Bogosian is also chair of Brookhaven’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), which oversees medical research studies involving human research volunteers at the Laboratory.

In this capacity, she is responsible for ensuring the rights and welfare of people who volunteer for studies at Brookhaven Lab. Bogosian has been a leader in making Brookhaven’s IRB recognized as being among the most proactive in the U.S.

After earning her law degree from Fordham University in 1967, Bogosian became assistant to the patent counsel in the National Institutes of Health, a position she held from 1967 to 1969. She then joined Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., where she was initially patent attorney and then general attorney from 1969 to 1976. In 1978, she became legal counsel for the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, a position she held until she joined Brookhaven as patent counsel in 1981. She became deputy manager of the Office of Intellectual Property and Industrial Partnerships in 1991, and was promoted to manager of the office in 1995.

“My work is both challenging and rewarding for me, and I am both privileged and pleased to be recognized for it by Brookhaven Town,” said Bogosian.

Linda Chang is chair of Brookhaven’s Medical Department, which carries out research on the effects of addiction, aging and HIV on the brain, and investigates radiation effects on the neural system, among other studies. Chang is responsible for overseeing a staff of about 60. She also carries out her own clinical research to determine how the brain is affected by HIV infection, especially in those who use stimulant drugs, such as cocaine. She uses a technique known as magnetic resonance imaging to study the effects of drugs in the brain. The knowledge derived from this research may help guide future treatment and prevention.

Board-certified in both neurology and electrophysiology, Chang earned a B.S. in biochemistry at the University of Maryland in 1981, an M.S. in physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University in 1982, and an M.D. at Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1986. She served her internship in internal medicine at the University of Southern California Medical Center, and her residency in neurology at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center.

From 1981 to 1983, Chang was a chemist and research assistant at the National Institutes of Health. She began her career at UCLA as a clinical instructor and research associate in 1991 and eventually became associate professor of neurology. Chang is the recipient of several awards, including the 1998 Richard E. Weitzman Award in Biochemical Research given by Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. In 2001, Chang became a board member of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, an honor given to only one clinician from North America each year.

“I am honored to be recognized by Brookhaven Town,” said Chang. “I hope that my research will one day help the people of the Town and the nation.”