Things are moving along with the Life Sciences Initiative and our collaboration with TAMU. We are back at the table, and Drs. McCallum, Scholtz, and I have been involved in the planning process. I am excited about this, and will keep you posted on our progress.

I regret to inform everyone that Diana Foster will be leaving us in September. She recently accepted a position at the American Heart Association in Dallas as the Executive Assistant to the CEO. This is a great opportunity for Diana and I wish her the best. She will be greatly missed at the COM! There will be a farewell reception on Wednesday, September 15th from 2:00 – 3:30 pm in the Office of the Dean.

We recently hired Summer Hicks as our Communications Specialist to handle all the public relations, marketing, publications, community relations, as well as other communications functions for the COM. She will be joining the COM in mid-September.

Institutional Advancement

Now up and running, our Office of Institutional Advancement is making progress on several fronts. We have established several development priorities for the College from student scholarships and faculty endowments to facilities improvements. Already, the office team has identified over 40 private foundations and has begun preparing grant proposals to seek gifts for several of our priorities. Tom Pool, the office director, is also beginning to schedule meetings with our individual alumni, retired faculty, and friends to discuss the opportunities for development at our College. In addition, progress is being made to strengthen our identity and visibility both internally and externally through the work of a marketing committee organized by Tom and Dr. Annette Tommerdahl, Director of Institutional Planning. I have charged this committee with the responsibility of developing an effective plan to raise awareness of the strengths of our medical school and communicate our vision for future success.

Strategic Planning

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) met on July 30th to approve the reports submitted from each of the five strategic planning work groups. The SPC approved the education, research, facility, faculty development, and information technology reports as written. The reports were then forwarded to the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) for review and approval. The FAC will discuss and vote on the strategic planning work group documents at their September meeting. The Executive Committee will also review the work group documents in September, and approve them before forwarding them to the Academic Council. It is anticipated that the Academic Council will vote on the work group documents at the December meeting. Following approval of the strategic plan by the Academic Council, we will begin the implementation phase of the strategic planning process.

Town Hall Meeting

There will be a Town Hall Meeting for all faculty, staff, and students on September 14th (in Temple) and September 15th (in College Station). I will be presenting the Strategic Plan as it relates to the overall vision for the College. Please make every effort to attend one of these meetings as I will discuss the direction for the College for the next 10 years.

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

Information Technology

Jeff Lett, Chief Information Officer, HSC In an effort to provide a higher quality of computer support throughout the College of Medicine, a consolidated support infrastructure is being constructed that will provide faculty and staff with a more reliable, predictable and quantifiable level of support. Over the next month, there will be procedural changes for requesting assistance with computer problems and/or computer configurations. Some of these procedural changes will include a 1-800 help line for initiating a request for computer assistance, as well as web-based services to initiate a request on-line. The overall goal of this change in support delivery is to ensure that calls for computer help will be answered expeditiously and efficiently by on-site personnel who are adequately staffed, trained and equipped to resolve personal computing issues. Our commitment to faculty and staff will include: Initial response to a logged trouble ticket within 30 minutes. Face-to-face response to a ticket within 4 hours as required. Ultimate resolution and/or viable alternate in place within 24 hours. The addition of two support personnel for call needs.

We appreciate your patience and support over the next several weeks as we undertake the arduous task of implementing all of the elements associated with this important change in support philosophy. Ultimately, we firmly believe that these changes are necessary to ensure the continued growth and success of the College of Medicine and the Texas A&M Health Science Center. Further information and instructions will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead.

Admissions

Filo Maldonado, Assistant Dean for Admissions

TOTAL APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED VIA TMDSAS TO DATE: 1,189
Average GPA of Applicants: 3.53
Average MCAT of Applicants: 27 (VR-8.7, PS-8.9, BS-9.4)
Total African American Applicants: 49
Total Hispanic Applicants: 124

TOTAL SECONDARY APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED TO DATE: 879
50.1% Males
49.9% Females
Total African American Applicants: 21
Total Hispanic Applicants: 76

TOTAL APPLICANTS INTERVIEWED TO DATE: 131
Average GPA of interviewed Applicants: 3.71
Average MCAT of interviewed Applicants: 30 (VR-10, PS-10, BS-10)
51% Male
49% Female
1.5% (2) African Americans
6.9% (9) Hispanics
22% (29) Asians

Medical Education

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

Faculty Development

On August 19th, the Office of Education Development (OME) sponsored a faculty development workshop on “Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences." Thirty-six faculty from both the College Station and Temple campuses attended. Both of the presenters for the workshop were from the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME): Dr. Aggie Butler, NBME Associate Vice President for Medical School Programs and Dr. Raja Subhiyah, NBME Associate Vice President for Scoring Services. Besides covering the topic of exam question writing, the two presenters also discussed how the NBME develops its various examinations, exam scoring system and national norm tables.

Rural Family Medicine Clerkship Update

Faculty have been recruited to serve as preceptors for 4-6 Yr III students to complete their required 6-week Family Medicine Clerkship in Beeville, Texas, this academic year. It is anticipated the first students will begin their rotation in December. The Christus-Spohn Beeville Hospital will be providing housing and other support for the students during their rotations.

Humanities in Medicine

Dr. Charles Sanders, Interim Department Head

New CAM Elective

The Humanities in Medicine Department is offering a new special topic elective this fall entitled, “Complementary and Alternative Medicine – Where is the Science?” The elective is offered at noon on selected Wednesdays, and began August 25th. It is open to any M1 or M2 medical student. This elective is also offered as a seminar for those students, faculty and staff desiring to attend the class to hear about selected subjects. All sessions except September 15th will be held in Lecture Hall I. The September 15th session will be in room 162. A schedule of classes will be available in the lobby.

Please let us know (875-0755) if you plan to attend so we can accommodate those interested. You may also email Evelyn: efrancis@medicine.tamhsc.edu or Mandy: ajnovosad@medicine.tamhsc.edu.

Black-Zandveld Lecture in the History of Medicine

The Seventh Annual Black-Zandveld Lecture in the History of Medicine will be Tuesday, September 14th, in Lecture Hall I, 1:00 p.m. We are honored to host Dr. John L. Montgomery, Scott & White, Temple, as the speaker for the lecture. A reception for faculty, guests, staff and students will follow in the COM Lobby.

Dr. S.H. Black, Professor Emeritus of Humanities in Medicine and of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, established the Black-Zandveld Lectureship in the History of Medicine in 1997 as a memorial to his wife of 36 years, Elisabeth Martha Black-Zandveld. The endowment is intended to support the Department of Humanities in Medicine in bringing to the College eminent scholars to speak on various topics related to the history of medicine. It is Dr. Black’s hope that this lecture series will serve both as a fitting tribute to his beloved wife and as a way of enriching the academic environment of the College of Medicine.

RESEARCH

Division of Molecular Cardiology

Winn, R. and Booz, G.W. received a $39,100 Scott & White Memorial Hospital grant entitled "Antioncogenic potential of GRIM-19 in human non-small-cell lung cancer cells" for the period 04/05/04-04/04/05.

Dostal D.E. received a $16,913 Scott & White Memorial Hospital grant entitled "Pulmonary gene expression in pressure-overloaded rats" for the period 04/01/04-05/30/05.

Dostal, D.E. received a $1.1 million NIH grant entitled "Mechanical Signaling Mechanisms in Cardiac Tissue" for the period 04/01/04-03/31/05.

Sanghi, S. received a $25,484 Scott & White Memorial Hospital grant entitled "Role of beta-integrin in alpha-1-adrenergic mediated angiotensinogen gene expression in cardiac myocytes" for the period 02/03/04-02/28/05.

Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology

Winzer-Serhan, U., PI, was awarded an RO1 grant from NIH/NIDA entitled: “Nicotinic modulation of hippocampal development” for $900,275 for 5 years.

FACULTY

OB/GYN
Dudley P. Baker, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was the 2004 recipient of the Baden-Gibbs Award at the recent 75th Annual Joint Meeting of the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Texas Section ACOG, held April 1-3 in Dallas, Texas. Shown is Dr. William Rayburn (COM Class of 1983), Chair of the Texas Section ACOG, presenting Dr. Baker with the award.

This is the sixth year that the Baden-Gibbs award has been presented. This award was named after Wayne F. Baden, MD (Belton) and Charles E. Gibbs, MD, (deceased, San Antonio) both founding members of the Texas Association of Ob/Gyn and the Texas Section ACOG. The award, nominated by the membership, is presented to a member who has exhibited lifelong commitment to foster and stimulate improvements in women’s health care and outstanding leadership in Obstetrics and Gynecology to his fellows and the women in the state of Texas.

Previous winners include Drs. Baden and Gibbs, mentioned above, Dr. William McGanity (Galveston), Dr. Raymond Kaufman (Houston), Dr. Norman Gant (Dallas), and Dr. Daniel Chester (McAllen).

Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology

Dr. James R. West will deliver the 5th Annual George C.Y. Chiou Lectureship in Pharmacology on Thursday, October 14, 2004, in the Sam Black Lecture Hall. The topic of his lecture will be “Thank Goodness It’s Alcohol and not a Real Drug? An Old Problem, New Solutions!” Dr. West came to the Texas A&M University College of Medicine in 1993 as Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. He was named Distinguished Professor in 2003. Dr. West has served in leadership roles in several professional organizations, received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, and developed an impressive grants and publications record. Dr. Chiou will introduce Dr. West at 11:00 am, followed by Dr. West’s lecture. At noon refreshments and pizza will be served.

The George C.Y. Chiou Lectureship in Pharmacology was established in 2000 by Dr. S. H. Black, Professor Emeritus of Humanities in Medicine and Medical Microbiology and Immunology. The endowment is intended to support the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology in bringing to the College eminent scholars to speak on various topics related to pharmacology. It is Dr. Black’s hope that this lecture series will serve as a way of enriching the academic environment of the College of Medicine.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology

Beauregard, C. and Brandt, P.C. Down regulation of interleukin-1b-induced nitric oxide production in lacrimal gland acinar cells by sex steroids. Current Eye Research, 29 (1): 59-66 (2004).

Neerman, M.F., Zhang, W., Parrish, A.R. and Simanek, E.E. In vitro and In vivo evaluation of a melamine dendrimer as a vehicle for drug delivery. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 281: 129-132 (2004).

Chen, H.-T., Neerman, M.F., Parrish, A.R., and Simanek, E.E. Cytotoxicity, hemolysis and acute In vivo toxicity of dendrimers based on melamine, candidate vehicles for drug delivery. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 126: 10044-10048 (2004).

Dates to Remember

• September 14 – Black-Zandveld Lecture in the History of Medicine, 1:00 pm

• September 14 – Town Hall Meeting, 5:00 pm, Temple

• September 15 – Reception for Diana Foster, 1:00 – 3:30 pm

• September 15 – Town Hall Meeting, 4:00 pm, College Station

• October 4 – HSC Road Show with Dr. Dickey, 1:00 pm

• October 14 – The George C.Y. Chiou Lectureship in Pharmacology, 11:00 am

 
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