I hope all of you enjoyed your long Memorial Day Weekend! As we head into the summer, we will be focusing on our planning efforts as we anticipate the completion of a Strategic Plan for the College by the end of the summer. At that time, the implementation phase of our planning process will begin. I will continue to keep you posted as the planning process proceeds.

Annual Reports

It is annual report time again. Annual report instructions will be distributed to every department/office in June. Each department is urged to follow the format as indicated in the instructions. Annual reports will be due in the Dean’s Office by 5:00 pm on July 30, 2004.

Basic Science Department Heads Planning Retreat

The Basic Science Department Heads held a planning retreat in May to discuss possible department realignment. Several possibilities were discussed, but consensus was not achieved. Follow-up planning retreats will be held throughout the summer until an acceptable department realignment plan is developed.

Town Hall Meetings

Beginning in June, I will be holding quarterly Town Hall Meetings for the purposes of updating all employees of the College on pertinent issues, as well as listening to your questions and concerns. These will be informal meetings, and I encourage all employees to attend. It is important to me that I hear your ideas and concerns, so please make an effort to attend.

Please supply any pertinent information to Dr. Annette Tommerdahl (artommerdahl@medicine.tamhsc.edu) by the 15th of each month for inclusion in this eNewsletter.

Strategic Planning

The Strategic Planning Work Groups continue to meet as they work to develop goals and strategies for medical education, research, faculty development, facilities, and information technology. The Strategic Planning Committee will meet on June 28th to review the white papers submitted from each work group. In addition, there is a Strategic Planning Retreat scheduled for Friday, July 9th in Temple as a follow-up to the January retreat. ADMISSIONS Filo Maldonado, Assistant Dean for Admissions

The Joint Admissions Medical Program (JAMP) is underway again this summer. JAMP is a program created by Senate Bill 940 of the 77th Texas Legislature to provide services to support and encourage highly qualified, economically disadvantaged students pursuing a medical education. The program awards undergraduate and medical school scholarships and guarantees admission to those students who satisfy both academic and non-academic requirements to one of the eight participating medical schools. The College of Medicine is one of the eight medical schools participating in the program. As part of its commitment to the program, the COM provides JAMP students with stipend summer enrichment internships and mentoring and personal assistance to facilitate preparation for medical school while attending college.

The students enroll in one of the eight medical schools after completing a baccalaureate degree via a match process, which means that they have choices and preferences of schools. Therefore, recruiting the best and brightest of this group of students (now numbering approximately 80) is particularly important to us. This number is divided equally among the 8 schools. We have 12 students in our program this summer.

The College of Medicine and in particular the Office of Student Affairs and Admissions is implementing the six-week JAMP Summer Program II. Wanda J. Watson, our Director of Recruitment and Special Programs, has been designated the Medical School JAMP Coordinator, and oversees the program.

The summer enrichment experience is rather intense by design. All eight Texas medical schools adhere fundamentally to the same program template. There are some variations unique to each school. In essence, it involves primarily academic enhancement/ enrichment experiences.

Part of the experience requires clinical exposure or clinical observational experiences. The bulk of that experience has been worked out with Scott & White Clinic in College Station. However, we want to provide the participants with a one-day, all day clinical experience at Scott & White in Temple shadowing physician faculty. The date scheduled for that experience is Tuesday, June 8, 2004.

Student Affairs

Dr. Kate Fallon, Associate Dean for Student Affairs Senior Banquet The following awards were presented to members of the Class of 2004 at the Senior Banquet held Friday, May 21:

Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Award
Samantha Elizabeth Dieterich
Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation
Liza Danielle Bunting
Lesley Elizabeth Hamilton
Kristina Marchand
Merck Award
Christopher Charles Bathurst
Thomas Roy Lewis
The Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets March of Dimes Scholarship
Samantha Dieterich
Alpha Omega Alpha Award
James Cooper Brien
2004 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards
Leslie Hamilton (student)
Dr. Larry Frankel (faculty)

Commencement

Commencement for the Class of 2004 was held on Saturday, May 22, at 2 pm in Rudder Auditorium on the Texas A&M campus. The Commencement speaker was William Robert Kiser, M.D., M.A., F.A.A.F.P., captain in the United States Navy’s Medical Corps. Fifty-nine medical students (M.D.) and eight doctoral (Ph.D.) students received their respective degrees.

Medical Education

Dr. Ben Green, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education and Co-Director, Office of Education Development

PRESENTATIONS

Several members of the College of Medicine faculty have recently presented the results of educational projects at national meetings and are participating in ongoing research initiatives in medical education. Recent presentations include:

Quarles, J, Skare, J and Tesh, V presented a poster entitled “Integrated Curriculum at Texas A&M University HSC: A Work in Progress” at the 10th Microbiology and Immunology Education Strategies Workshop in Myrtle Beach, SC, May 1-5, 2004.

Sanders, CW, Sadoski, M, Bramson, R, Wiprud, R and van Walsum, K presented “Teaching Surgical Skills with Mental Imagery” at the American Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Meeting in Lake Buena Vista, FL, March, 2004.

Sanders, CW and Wiprud, R presented a poster entitled “Teaching Surgical Skills” at the Southern Group on Educational Affairs Meeting in Savannah, GA, April 16, 2004.

Sanders, CW and Wiprud, R presented a poster entitled “Impact of Curriculum Database” at the Southern Group on Educational Affairs Meeting in Savannah, GA, April 16, 2004.

Faculty Development Opportunities
“Effective Teaching in the Clinical Setting”
Sponsored by the Dept. of Pediatrics
June 18, 2004, 1:00 – 5:15 pm
Scott & White Clinic College Station
For more information contact Pat Jarma on Groupwise or at 254-724-2140

“Exam Item Writing Skills” Sponsored by the Office of Education Development and presented by the National Board of Medical Examiners
August 19, 2004, 12:00 – 5:00 pm
Reynolds Medical Building, College Station
For more details contact Dr. Tom Peterson or Dr. Ben Green, Office of Education Development

Announcements

Kudos to Dr. Tom Peterson for his upcoming participation in the Harvard Macy “Leaders in Medical Education Program," June 13-18. This is an intensive program with the purpose of helping “educational leaders develop their own action plans for leading and managing change to fulfill their institution’s education mission.”

Please contact Dr. Sandra Oliver in the Office of Education Development at 254-724-2886 if you need assistance or would like to pursue a research interest in Medical Education.

Humanities in Medicine

Dr. Charles Sanders, Interim Department Head
The Humanities in Medicine department gave three awards at the recent College of Medicine Senior Awards Banquet on May 21, 2004. Two of these awards were given to students, and one was presented to a faculty member. Lesley Hamilton, medical student, and Dr. Lawrence Frankel, Professor of Pediatrics, received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. This award is presented to the graduating medical student who has exhibited the most humanistic qualities, and to a faculty member who is an outstanding role-model. Each recipient received a $1,000 award which is supported by an endowment gift from the Tow family to the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Debra Ann Bell received the James A. Knight Award, named for the founding dean of the College of Medicine. This award is given to the medical student who has displayed humanistic qualities, including compassion, insight, dedication to patients’ well-being, intellectual honesty, humility and a sense of humor. Dr. Knight strongly believed the future of medicine is dependent on the physician’s capacity to blend the scientific and humanistic aspects of medical practice.

FACULTY

Senior Banquet
The following awards were presented to faculty at the Senior Banquet held Friday, May 21:

Family Medicine
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Gil Grimes
Outstanding Resident
Dr. Raneth Heng

Internal Medicine
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. John Starr
Outstanding Resident Award
Dr. Duc Vu

OB/Gyn
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Jose Pliego
Outstanding Resident Award
Dr. Sherilyn Willis

Pediatrics
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Sharyl Santema
Outstanding Resident Award
Dr. Lynn Azuma

Psychiatry
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Phil Antunes
Outstanding Resident Award
Dr. Stacia Lusby

Surgery
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Randall Smith
Outstanding Resident Award
Dr. James Bordelon
Outstanding Clinical Clerkship Award
Surgery Department

Medical Biochemistry & Genetics

Dr. C. Nick Pace Regents Professor and Distinguished Professor, Robert A. Welch Foundation, "Enzyme Stability and Solubility in Organic Solvents," $165.000, June 1, 2004-May 31, 2007. He was also an invited speaker at the International Summer School on understanding Protein Stability sponsored by the Karolinska Institute and Summer University of Southern Stockholm, Sweden, May 6-14, 2004.

Dr. Stephen Cheley, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Genetics, participated in the annual Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) meeting on "Array-based nanopore stochastic sensors for multiplexed bioassays," in Oxford, UK, April 23-28, 2004.

Dr. Scott McMurray, Wenjiang Zhu, and Joonwoo Nam were visiting March 21 through April 20, 2004 from Princeton University to collaborate with Dr. Xiyun Guan, Assistant Research Scientist, in Dr. Stephen Cheley's lab, on electrophysiology procedures for the MURI project "Stochastic sensing with engineered channel proteins," Office of Naval Research. This is a five year grant to Dr. Hagan Bayley and four other institutions ($4,817,497).

Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology

Dr. U. Winzer-Serhan (Principal Investigator) received a research development grant through the research development and enhancement program, A&M Health Science Center, entitled “Chronic postnatal nicotine: Effects on gene expression, neurogenesis and apoptosis in the brain” for a total amount of $15,000.

Humanities in Medicine

Dr. Richard DeVaul, Professor in the Department of Humanities and Co-Director of the Leadership in Medicine Program was awarded the “Media Award” by the Texas Public Health Association. Dr. DeVaul has a weekly radio show on KAMU-FM and did a topic on “The Importance of Colorectal Screening” that earned him this award. The Media Award is given “for excellence in communicating public health information and for outstanding contributions to public understanding of the importance and need for protecting the health of all citizens through organized community efforts.”

Cardiovascular Research Institute

E. Bridenbaugh received the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Scholarship. Award covered costs of attending the Gordon Research Conference: Molecular Mechanisms in Lymphatic Function and Disease, Ventura, CA, March 7-12, 2004.

Dr. E. Wilson received a $279,087 Muscular Dystrophy Association grant entitled “Arterial remodeling in mouse models of muscular dystrophy” for the period of 01/01/04-12/31/06.

Z. Sun received The Cardiovascular Section Research Recognition Award ($500) for a first-authored abstract submitted to the Cardiovascular Section category of Experimental Biology. This award assists junior investigators with their travel expenses.

B. Weylie received First Place ($200 award) in the Undergraduate Life Sciences category of the Student Research Week poster competition for a poster entitled “Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway mediates FGF-1 induced angiogenesis in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane."

VA

Thomas Edward Scott, M.D., MPH, FACS has been selected as Chief, Surgery Service for Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS). Dr. Scott is currently the Chief, Surgical Care Line at the Southern Arizona Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. He also holds the title of Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Scott has been with the VA for two years. Dr. Scott retired from the Air Force with the rank of Colonel in 2002. Military duties included being the Commander of the 355th Medical Group, Tucson Arizona and Chief, Clinical Quality Management Division, Office of the Surgeon General. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Scott received his medical degree from University of Nebraska School of Medicine and has a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. He has a strong research background which focused on clinical decision analysis and effectiveness of training surgical faculty in educational techniques. Dr. Scott has over 14 years of teaching experience and has numerous publications.

Dr. Scott will assume his duties in July, 2004.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Cardiovascular Research Institute

Jones S, Patterson J, Chao J-T, Ramos K, Wilson E. Modulation of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor proteins and ERK1/2 activity allylamine-injured vascular smooth muscle cells. J Cell Biochem 91(6): 1248-59, 2004.

Kawasaki J, Davis G, Davis MJ. Regulation of endothelial cell BKCa channels by ?v?3 integrin. J Biol Chem 279(13); 12959-12966, 2004.

Kohli R, Meininger CJ, Haynes TE, Yan W, Self JT and Wu G. Dietary L-arginine supplementation enhances endothelial nitric oxide synthesis in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. J of Nutr 134: 600-608, 2004.

Kwon H, Wu G, Meininger CJ, Bazer FW and Spencer TE. Developmental changes in nitric oxide synthesis in the ovine placenta. Biol of Repro 70: 679-686, 2004.

Tinsley JH, Yuan SY and Wilson E. Isoform-specific knockout of endothelial myosin light chain kinase: closing the gap on inflammatory lung disease. Trends Pharmacol Sci 25(2): 64-66, 2004.

Weylie B. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway mediates FGF-1 induced angiogenesis in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane. Texas A&M Undergraduate Journal of Science (in press, 2004).

Wu G, Kelly KA, Hatakeyama K and Meininger CJ. Regulation of endothelial tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis by L-arginine. In: Pterins, Folates, and Biogenic Amines (Blau N, Thony B, Eds) Heilbronn, Germany: SPS Publications, pp. 54-59, 2004.

Neerman, MF, Zhang, W, Parrish, AR and Simanek, EE. In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a melamine dendrimer as a vehicle for drug delivery. International Journal of Pharmaceutics (in press, 2004).

Chen, H-T, Neerman, MF, Parrish, AR and Simanek, EE. Cytotoxicity, hemoloysis and acute in vivo toxicity of dendrimers based on melamine, candidate vehicles for drug delivery. Journal of the American Chemical Society (in press, 2004).

Murchison, D, Zawieja, DC and Griffith, WH. Reduced mitochondrial buffering of voltage-gated calcium influx in aged rat basal forebrain neurons. Cell Calcium, 36: 61-75, 2004.

Dates to Remember

• June 14 – Town Hall Meeting, 4:00 pm

• June 16 – College of Medicine Student Awards Ceremony, Temple

• June 18 – Effective Teaching in the Clinical Setting, Scott & White, College Station

• July 9 – Strategic Planning Retreat, Noon – 5:00 pm, Temple

• July 26 – M-1 Orientation begins

• July 26 – White Coat Ceremony, 3:00 pm

• August 19 – Exam Item Writing Skills, Reynolds Medical Building

Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H.
Dean, College of Medicine
The Texas A&M University Health Science Center
147 Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building College Station, TX 77843-1114
Phone:979-845-3431
Fax:979-847-8663
Email:Colenda@medicine.tamhsc.edu