Pediatrics Lectureships

The Valerie P. Opipari, MD Endowed Lectureship was established in honor of Dr. Valerie Opipari’s leadership and contributions to the Department of Pediatrics during her tenure as Chair (2003-2018), her work to develop and advance the department’s research programs and her commitment to support and promote faculty and trainees in their academic and research careers. The annual lectureship brings leading physician scientists to Michigan Medicine to share innovations in pediatric and children’s health research and to inspire, mentor and support the next generation.

The Valerie P. Opipari, MD Endowed Lectureship invites a leader in Pediatric/Children's Health Research to give a lecture at the annual Pediatric Research Symposium. The purpose of the Symposium is to support and promote research in the Department of Pediatrics. The visiting scholar may also participate in meetings and mentoring panels with residents, fellows and junior faculty to discuss pathways and issues of a career in academic research.

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The Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology is pleased to host this special lecture in honor of the late Dr. Laurence A. Boxer.

Dr. Boxer was the first Henry and Mala Dorfman Family Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and was Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases in the U-M Medical School. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, he earned his medical degree from Stanford University in 1966, then completed residency training at Yale and a fellowship at Harvard. He joined the U-M faculty in 1982, and was an internationally recognized expert in pediatric hematology and cancer who published hundreds of papers and was a sought-after speaker at medical conferences around the world.

Dr. Boxer had a lifelong professional interest in clinical disorders of the neutrophil (a type of white blood cell) such as chronic granulomatous disease, as well as the diagnosis and therapy of chronic neutropenias (hematological disorders characterized by an abnormally low number of neutrophils in the blood). He also was expert in the diagnosis and treatment of anemias and thrombocytopenia.

He was one of the founders of the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry and was an executive officer. The registry is involved in monitoring the treatment of patients with severe chronic neutropenia, including those with severe congenital neutropenias, cyclic neutropenias, and severe chronic idiopathic neutropenias. The registry also is interested in the outcome of patients who have undergone a stem cell transplant for treatment of neutropenia or leukemia, or those patients with severe congenital neutropenia who develop leukemia.

Dr. Boxer served as Division Director for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology from 1982- 2008. During that time, he established one of the first of its kind Training Program in Molecular and Translational Hematology that has been supported by the National Institutes of Health since 1986. This nationally recognized training program has been renamed in his honor and has supported the fellowship and junior faculty training of up to 6 trainees per year, including MDs and PhDs from Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Pathology.

Dr. Boxer was a dedicated, passionate mentor and educator whose students, fellows and junior faculty have gone on to successful research careers across the country in a diverse array of clinical and laboratory medicine including coagulation disorders, globin switching, leukemogenesis, lymphogenesis, stem cells, neuro-oncology, molecular hematopoiesis, graft vs host disease and biomarkers for the complications of stem cell transplantation. Former trainees have achieved extraordinary success as recipients of extramural funding, numerous awards, and many serve as division directors and even department chairs. Over the years they have all voiced Dr. Boxer’s tremendous influence in shaping their academic careers. He was honored by the American Society of Hematology with their Mentor Award in 2016.

Supported by the many generous donors to the lectureship in memory of Dr. Laurence A. Boxer.

• SAVE THE DATE: April 10, 2026:
  • Teresa Tarrant, MD - Visit the event webpage.
• 2023-2024:
  • Bertil E. Glader, MD, PhD
• 2022-2023:
  • Mark Hannibal, MD, PhD
  • Tom Michniacki, MD
  • Nadine Saad, MD
  • Kelly Walkovich, MD
• 2019-2020:
  • Kenneth C. Anderson, MD

The lectureships is supported by the Department of Pediatrics and the Henry and Mala Dorfman Family Foundation.

• 2016-2017:
  • Valerie P. Opipari, MD
• 2015-2016:
  • Thomas D. Coates, MD

The lectureship fund provides enduring support for lectures on adolescent risk behaviors, eating disorders, and reproductive health in memory of Professor David S. Rosen, carrying forward his lifelong commitment to compassionate care and advancing adolescent medicine. avid S. Rosen, M.D., M.P.H. Patient Care Fund in Eating Disorders

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Support the Collegiate Professorship

Support the Patient Care Fund in Eating Disorders

David S. Rosen, MD, MPH, In Memoriam: Honoring a Lasting Legacy in Adolescent Medicine at Michigan

From 1990 until 2013, Dr. David S. Rosen was a pillar of adolescent medicine at the University of Michigan. Patients, families, colleagues and students all recognized his extraordinary dedication to seeing every patient as a whole person. A native of Southfield, Michigan and a proud U-M alumnus, Dr. Rosen trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at St. Louis University and completed fellowship training and a master’s in public health at the University of Minnesota before returning to Ann Arbor to join the faculty. He served as a professor in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Psychiatry.

Dr. Rosen was instrumental in founding the Division of Adolescent Medicine and developing the university’s eating disorders treatment program. He was a prolific scholar, authoring over 60 publications and serving as editor for major journals and textbooks in adolescent medicine.

Beyond his clinical and academic achievements, Dr. Rosen was a compassionate mentor. He taught generations of medical trainees how to understand and support adolescent patients, helping future doctors recognize the subtle ways teenagers communicate with their physicians.

As a third-year medical student in 1991, Dr. Terry Bravender, who is the Division Director of Adolescent Medicine and the inaugural David S. Rosen Collegiate Professor of Adolescent Medicine, remembers meeting Dr. Rosen when he was a new faculty member: “I was impressed with his approach to the patient, his empathetic understanding, and his ability to connect.” Dr. Bravender was one of many students through the decades whose life was forever changed after meeting Dr. Rosen.

His commitment to kindness and humanism continues through the David S. Rosen Award for Humanism in Medicine, established in 2013 to honor graduating Med/Peds residents who embody his values.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Rosen was a talented photographer whose work has been exhibited at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. His exhibit included 25 photographs from his personal collection of 225 prints from all photographic genres which was subsequently donated to the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

His legacy also lives on through generous estate gifts and the ongoing lectureship fund, which supports education on adolescent risk behaviors, eating disorders and reproductive health for future generations.