Alfred Toselli RES’60, MD, PMD’83, 95, died Sept. 18, 2024. He was a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Brown.
Born in Providence and a graduate of Providence College, he attended medical school at the University of Bologna in Italy. After a pediatrics residency at Rhode Island Hospital, he joined Brown’s faculty, serving for 45 years. Dr. Toselli formed Pediatric Associates Inc., the first pediatric clinical group practice in the state. He was chief of pediatrics at St. Joseph’s Hospital and served on the staff of Our Lady of Fatima, Rhode Island, Women & Infants, and Memorial hospitals. He was also a former president of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Toselli was co-founder and first president of the Rhode Island Bologna University Medical Association and was active in Italian-American medical affairs, receiving the Order of the Star of Italy with the rank of cavaliere from the president of Italy in 1974. He lived many years in Jamestown, where he built a home, and will be remembered for his love for his family and devotion to the Catholic Church. He is survived by his son, Richard M. Toselli MD’83, daughter-in-law, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Gifts in his memory may be made to Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
Sheree-Monique S. Watson ’00 F’25, MD, 44, died Nov. 27, 2024—just months shy of completing her fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dr. Watson studied biology at Brown and earned her MD at Columbia University, where she met her husband, Juan Puyo. Following her pediatrics residency at Harvard and Boston University’s combined program, she worked as a pediatrician as well as for New York City’s organ procurement organization, LiveOnNY. As an organ recipient herself, organ donation was a cause dear to her heart.
A track athlete in high school and college, Dr. Watson ran multiple half marathons and tried rock climbing, mountain biking, and whitewater rafting. Her passion for performing arts led her to participate in many shows, including Shakespeare in the Park plays. She also enjoyed traveling, visiting museums, listening to music, and playing word games. She is survived by her husband, mother, brother, sister, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, and many aunts and uncles. Gifts in her memory may be made to the LiveOnNY Foundation.
Dominic F. Corrigan, MD, 83, died March 8. He was a clinical associate professor of medicine at Brown.
Born in Fall River, MA, Dr. Corrigan graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and Tufts University School of Medicine before joining the US Army. He completed his fellowship training in endocrinology at Walter Reed Medical Center and was chief of medicine at the US Army Hospital in Berlin as well as assistant chief of endocrinology at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas.
After retiring as a lieutenant colonel, Dr. Corrigan was chief of endocrinology at Abington Memorial Hospital, director of its Diabetes Treatment Center, and a member of the clinical faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to New England in 2003 as a professor at Brown and an endocrinologist at Rhode Island Hospital.
A gifted physician, educator, and mentor, he dedicated his life to improving patient care and advancing medical knowledge. In October 2024, Susan J. Mandel, MD, MPH, of the University of Pennsylvania delivered the inaugural Dominic F. Corrigan, M.D. Lecture in Clinical Endocrinology, created in recognition of Dr. Corrigan’s long, dedicated excellence in training physicians in the Brown Health Endocrinology program.
Dr. Corrigan’s greatest joy came from his family. Known affectionately as “Pop-Pop,” he treasured time with his nine grandchildren, playing games, going to the beach, or entertaining all with his show-stopping rendition of “Mack the Knife.” He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Dee, three children and their spouses, and many nieces and nephews. Gifts in his memory may be made to the American Diabetes Association.
Alger M. Fredericks PhD’19, 38, died March 15. He was an assistant professor of surgery (research) at Brown.
After completing his doctorate at Brown and the Brown Respiratory Research Training Program at Rhode Island Hospital, Dr. Fredericks joined the Department of Surgery at The Warren Alpert Medical School as an instructor. His research was supported by funding from Brown Physicians Inc. and the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery.
Dr. Fredericks’ work focused on advanced computational biology approaches to understand RNA sequencing data from patient samples. He collaborated with many colleagues and was a wonderful mentor to trainees. His work showed the importance of RNA biology, such as RNA splicing, in many critical illnesses such as sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Most recently he had been working on using RNA signals from pathogens to better diagnose infectious diseases.
Francis L. Cummings, MD, 84, died April 7. He was an associate professor of medicine at Brown.
Born in New Haven, CT, Dr. Cummings contracted polio as a young child, and his admiration for the doctors caring for him inspired his interest in medicine. He studied at Trinity College and the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and pursued the new specialty of oncology. He served on Brown’s medical faculty for 50 years, contributing to the development of the oncology program there, while practicing at Roger Williams Cancer Center.
Above all, Dr. Cummings treasured his family and friends. He moved to Barrington and joined its yacht club, developing many important friendships. He participated actively in Little League, the YMCA, and later, the Senior Center and the Barrington Village. He was a communicant at St. Luke’s Church. His legacy is one of self-determination, warmth, and an enduring love for the people and pursuits that brought meaning to his days. Dr. Cummings is survived by his wife of 35 years, Laura Young, five children, three grandchildren, and many family members and friends. Donations in his memory may be made to Friends of the Peck Center for Adult Enrichment, of Barrington, or the Village Common of Rhode Island.
David J. Fortunato RES’79 F’81, MD, 77, died April 10. He was a clinical associate professor of medicine at Brown. After receiving his BA from Case Western and his MD from the University of Bologna, Dr. Fortunato trained in internal medicine and cardiology at Brown and The Miriam Hospital. He practiced cardiology for decades at The Miriam, the Providence VA Medical Center, and St. Joseph Health Services—where he also served as president of the medical staff. Throughout his career, Dr. Fortunato was passionate about caring for veterans and educating fellows, residents, and medical students. He was known for his mastery of ECGs and his ability to explain complex knowledge to trainees and students in simple and understandable ways. He was recognized for his commitment to medical education with numerous awards, including the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award, the Distinguished Teacher Award, and the Phillips MD Mentorship Award.
Dr. Fortunato cherished his time with his family. He was passionate about tennis, golf, skiing with his children, and dancing with his wife. He loved to travel and spent extended periods in Italy, particularly in his adopted hometown of Merano. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Santa Ventimiglia; three children; two brothers; and a brother-inlaw and sister-in-law. Donations in his memory may be made to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.
George “Ted” Goslow Jr., PhD, 85, died May 5. He was a professor emeritus of biology at Brown.
Born in Tacoma, WA, Dr. Goslow’s formative years spent in the Puget Sound region and the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies had a profound impact on his life’s passion to explore and experience the grandeur of nature. After receiving a bachelor’s from UCLA, master’s from Humboldt University, and PhD from UC-Davis, he joined the faculty of Northern Arizona University, where he taught from 1968 to 1989. He was then recruited by Brown, where he led the Medical School’s Human Morphology course and taught until his retirement in 2004. While at both NAU and Brown, Dr. Goslow conducted research at the Cambridge Field Station and Friday Harbor in Puget Sound, served as a “human locomotion” adviser for Nike, and studied peripheral nerve regeneration with hometown company Gore.
Dr. Goslow was widely recognized for transforming the Human Morphology course into one of the most positive and empowering courses in the Medical School. Known for putting muscle-recording electrodes in his biceps and doing chin-ups in front of a packed auditorium to demonstrate coordinated muscle activation, to bringing his pet skunk, Pepe, to lectures in order to demonstrate the movement of the leg during locomotion, to preparing detailed dissections to teach anatomy, he creatively demonstrated the wondrous underpinnings of evolutionary biology, vertebrate locomotion, and anatomy. His early work on vertebrate functional morphology not only advanced the entire field of organismal biology but also launched multiple techniques that were applied widely to the study of vertebrates. His later work included several key discoveries that shed light on how bird flight evolved.
Dr. Goslow used his laboratory as a classroom and a forum for learning, and he used to say as much. Those who were lucky enough to experience Ted Goslow in action had their lives changed in some way for the better. He is survived by a daughter and son; a son-in-law and two daughters-in-law; and seven grandchildren.
Joseph Dowling Jr. ’47 RES’52, MD, GP’19, GP’23, 98, died May 12. He was a clinical associate professor emeritus of surgery at Brown.
A graduate of Brown and Tufts Medical School, Dr. Dowling completed his medical internship at Rhode Island Hospital. He served as a lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the US Navy on board the USS Monrovia during the Korean War. He then completed his ophthalmology residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. In 1957, Dr. Dowling established a private ophthalmology practice in Providence, which evolved into the Rhode Island Eye Institute. He earned a Distinguished Teacher Award from Brown and a Distinguished Service Award from The Miriam Hospital; and served as president of the New England Ophthalmological Society, and on the Rhode Island Health Services Council and the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline. He was the author of many articles and two book chapters, and co-authored Vision (2016, MIT Press) with his brother, John. Dr. Dowling was a trustee emeritus of the Brown Corporation and arguably a record holder for the most Brown athletics games attended. He supported many Rhode Island institutions, including Trinity Repertory Company, where he chaired the board and received the Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts; and Bradley Hospital, where he was a trustee and received the Humanitarian of the Year Award.
He loved to travel with his wife of 63 years, Sally; together they visited dozens of countries, from here to Timbuktu. Dr. Dowling is also survived by his brother and sister; four children, including Joseph Dowling III, P’19, a trustee of the Corporation; and 13 grandchildren, including Miles Dowling ’19 and George Dowling ’23. Donations in Dr. Dowling’s memory may be made to Bradley Hospital.
Arthur Frazzano RES’79, MD, 75, died June 2. He was a clinical associate professor emeritus of family medicine at Brown.
Born in Montclair, NJ, he studied at Seton Hall University and Rutgers Medical School and then trained in family medicine at Brown. Dr. Frazzano practiced for two decades in Portsmouth, RI, offering in-office care, home visits, and nursing home services. In 1990 he returned to Brown as an educator and mentor, helping to establish the Doctoring course and serving as associate dean of medicine. His passion for teaching earned him numerous accolades, including the Charles Hill Award recognizing leadership and service, an honor he held especially close to his heart.
A tireless advocate for public health, Dr. Frazzano served as president of both the Rhode Island Academy of Family Physicians and the Rhode Island Medical Society. He took great pride in launching Tar Wars, a statewide anti-tobacco education program for schoolchildren.
Dr. Frazzano cherished his role as a father and grandfather, and took great pride in the paths his kids and grandkids took. In his later years, he faced cancer with tenacity and grace, participating in clinical trials to help advance treatments for multiple myeloma in an act that embodied the same devotion to service in medicine that defined his life. He is survived by his wife, Irene; three children and their spouses; four grandchildren; his siblings, nephews, niece, sister-in-law, and closest friend. Gifts in his memory may be made to the Cancer Center at Massachusetts General or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Francis J. Pescosolido, PhD, MPH, 74, died June 8. He was a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown.
Born in Providence and raised in East Greenwich, Dr. Pescosolido earned his bachelor’s and master’s of education degrees at Springfield College, master’s of social work at Simmons College, MPH at Harvard, and PhD at Boston College. He practiced psychotherapy for more than 40 years, beginning his career at Bradley Hospital, where he later served as a behavioral health specialist, clinical social worker, director of the Sexual Abuse Clinic, and consultant in the Child/Adolescent and Family Psychological Trauma Inpatient Service. He held academic appointments at Harvard, Boston University, and Simmons College, and joined Brown’s faculty in 2001.
Dr. Pescosolido’s many honors included Clinical Social Worker of the Year (Children and Families), from the Rhode Island chapter of the National Association of Social Workers; Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award, from Brown’s Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior; and Bradley Hospital’s Irena B. Smith Award for Excellence in Clinical Social Work and Counseling. Henry T. Sachs III, MD, the president of Bradley, said of Dr. Pescosolido, “As well as the children and their families, the staff came to see Frank as a person of uncommon wisdom, thoughtfulness and humanity—the very beating heart of the Children’s Inpatient Unit.” Dr. Pescosolido enjoyed collecting antiques, tending to his flowers, trips to Nantucket and Maine, making people laugh, and above all, taking care of his family and being “Poppy” to his grandson, Luke. He leaves behind a legacy of making others feel safe, validated, seen, comforted, understood, and loved.
Dr. Pescosolido is survived by his wife, Associate Justice Debra E. DiSegna; son, daughter-in-law, and grandson; a sister and brother; and many nieces and nephews. Donations in his memory may be made to Bradley Hospital.
Atul J. Butte ’91 MMSc’95 MD’95, PhD, 55, died June 13. A biomedical informatician, pediatrician, and biotechnology entrepreneur, he was the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and the inaugural director of UCSF’s Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute.
Born in Philadelphia, he studied computer science as an undergraduate in the Program in Liberal Medical Education. He completed his residency in pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Children’s Hospital Boston, and earned his doctorate from the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. In 2005 Dr. Butte joined Stanford’s pediatrics, computer science, and immunology and rheumatology faculty. He went on to serve as chief of the Division of Systems Medicine at the School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Butte moved to UCSF in 2015 to lead the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute. His colleagues wrote that in that role, “he transformed frozen data into actionable insights, championing the principle that real doctors plus big data equals better medicine. … Under his leadership, UCSF became a global hub for artificial intelligence, informatics, and translational science—advancing health care in service of patients and discovery alike.” Dr. Butte also served as UC Health’s inaugural chief data scientist and the co-founder of the Center for Data-driven Insights and Innovation.
Dr. Butte was awarded numerous accolades, including election to the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recognition from the Obama Administration as an Open Science Champion of Change. He received the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence, the highest honor in biomedical informatics; and the Association for Molecular Pathology’s Award for Excellence, for his pioneering work in molecular diagnostics and computational health sciences.
He is survived by his wife, Gini Deshpande, their daughter, and his brother, Manish J. Butte ’93 MD’96, PhD.