Welcome back everyone! I hope your holidays were wonderful and relaxing as you spent time with family and friends. We have lots of things going on this new year, so I hope everyone is rested and refreshed for the year ahead.

The Basic Science Department realignment is now complete and official. The new department names are: Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis, Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics and Systems Biology and Translational Medicine. I want to congratulate the faculty and department heads on the outstanding job they did to make this realignment occur. This is an exciting move for the college as we work to attract new faculty and expand our signature research programs.

We had a very nice holiday dinner for Dean's Staff and Department Heads at Briarcrest Country Club before the break, and I want to thank Brenda Long for doing such a fine job with planning the event. Everyone was very impressed with the event, and it was a great evening of conversation and celebration.

In December I was honored to attend the White House Council on Aging (WHCoA). It was an interesting and informative meeting.Congress has recently ended funding of training programs for geriatric medicine which is particularly troubling to me as a geriatrician, but the attendees of the WHCoA recommended to the President and Congress that they make it a high priority in the future.

The LCME and AMA visited the college in December, and we received positive reviews from both groups.

Please don't forget the HSC Convocation on Tuesday, January 24th at 1:30pm. This is an important day for the Health Science Center as they unveil their new brand, and their Vision 2015 plan. Please make every attempt to be in attendance at this event.

Service Anniversaries and Outstanding Staff Awards

The college hosted holiday receptions on the Temple campus December 6 and in College Station December 15 to honor faculty and staff with service anniversaries, as well as to present the outstanding staff awards.

Outstanding Staff in College Station were: Evelyn Francis, Amy Keally and Paula McCarver

Service Award recipients in College Station were:

5 Years
Andrey Karamyshev
Christine McFarland
Paula McCarver
Alexandra Person

10 Years
Julian Leibowitz
Yuanlong Shao
Xin Wu
Rajesh Miranda
Farida Sohrabji

15 Years
Karen Kelly
C. Nicholas Pace
Gul A. Russell

20 Years
Janis Chmiel
Jane Miller
G. John Kochevar
Darcy Tammen

25 Years
Lisa Lero
Jerome P. Trzeciakowski

Service Award recipients in Temple were:

5 Years
Barbara Abercrombie
Richard Lawlis
Ajay Rana
Kenneth Baker
Michael D. Matthews
Basabi Rana
Manoj Barthwal
Russell McAlister
Suzanne Ray
Usha Chowdhury
Charles McCuskey
Rebecca Riser
Luis Concepcion
Catherine McNeal
Amelia Rodriguez
Calvin Eshbaugh
Rakesh Mehta
Sandhva Sanghi
Sean Grinovich
Tina Mendoza
Manuela Smith
Robert Jamroz
Douglas Murdoch
Rajesh Kumar
Jing Pan


10 Years
Gianfranco Alpini
Richard Erickson
Tore Ulf
Madhava Beeram
Kevin Foskett
Goran Westblom
Bankim Bhatt
Vic Malabonga
Keith Young
Ansuya Desai
Mohanram Narayanan


15 Years
John Blevins
Donald Lynch
Kyle Smith
Monford Custer
Michael Marquardt
Curtis Stauffer
Beatriz Hall
George Martinez
Roger Tuggle
Lewis Hutchinson
Robert Probe
Paul Wright
Brian Knieriem
Charles Roberson

20 Years
Craig Clanton
Randall Jensen
Jerry Pickle
Kathleen Fallon
L. Gill Naul
Steven Smith
David Gantt
Paul Ogden
William Stanley

25 Years
Robert Barnes
Don Cauthen
William Engvall
John Bonnet
Glen Drake
Ronald Hayward

Give to the Annual Campaign for 2006 via Payroll Deduction by January 9

It's not too late to submit your gift to the annual campaign via payroll deduction for the calendar year 2006. Payroll deduction gifts can be made any time during the year, but all monthly deductions expire on December 31 of the pledge year. If you would like to make a gift for 2006 and have the funds deducted in 12 equal installments, please complete the payroll deduction form located online, and return it to the Dean's Office no later than Monday, January 9.The link to the form and list of accounts can be found online here: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/OIA/doc/Payroll_Deduction_form.pdf

Remember, gifts made through monthly payroll deduction can be designated for a variety of funds and begin at $5. Recently added to the list of accounts is our Annual Campaign Unrestricted Fund. Alumni and parents of our current students have already helped establish this fund with more than $15,000 in support. Annual Campaign sponsorships at varying levels include token gifts and plaques recognizing donors for their support.

Year-End Giving Report:

Scholarships: $572,482
Unrestricted: $34,873
Research: $20,367
Outreach: $13,040

TOTAL GIFTS AND PLEDGES: $640,762

Spotlight On: Helene Andrews-Polymenis

Helene Andrews-Polymenis, D.V.M, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis department and became a tenure-track faculty member in August 2005. Having received her D.V.M. from the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001 and her Ph.D. from Tufts University in 1999, Dr. Andrews-Polymenis first came to the College of Medicine as a post-doctoral research associate in 2001 in the lab of Dr. Andreas Baumler. She is joined in her lab by post-doc Dr. Lydia Bogomolnaya, where she studies salmonella and the genetic basis of intestinal persistence and host range restriction of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in its mammalian hosts.

COM Alumnus Honored By American Academy of Pediatrics

A member of the College of Medicine Class of 2000, Tiffany J. Riehle, M.D., M.S.E. was recently named the 2005 recipient of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Young Investigator Award. Dr. Riehle completed her research during fellowship training at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Sibley Heart Center ¨C in collaboration with Sibley Heart Center Cardiology (SHCC) and the Divisions of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Anesthesia of Emory University School of Medicine. She is currently conducting congenital heart disease research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prior to joining the SHCC fellowship program, Dr. Riehle received her bachelor's and master's degree in engineering from Tulane University and obtained her medical degree from the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/communications/index.html#news112205

HUMANITIES IN MEDICINE

The Department of Humanities in Medicine continues "The Study of Medical Student Attributes." On December 14, members of the Class of 2009 participated in the second phase of testing which entailed the completion of written surveys to measure hope, personal and spiritual meaning. Phase III of the study will be completed in the spring of 2006. Student participation in this research is voluntary.

Congratulations to Barbara Gastel, M.D. - Humanities in Medicine Faculty

The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Southwest Chapter is pleased to present the 2006 John P. McGovern Award to Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH. Dr. Gastel coordinates the master's degree program in science and technology journalism at Texas A&M University, where she teaches medical writing and related subjects in her capacity as an associate professor of veterinary integrative biosciences, humanities in medicine, and biotechnology. Dr. Gastel is also the editor of the Council of Science Editors publication Science Editor, and she has published four books on medical writing, science education, and related subjects.

Dr. Gastel regularly teaches the AMWA Advanced Curriculum course "Teaching Techniques: Theory and Practice" and two Core Curriculum courses, "Medical Journalism: From Choosing a Topic Through Polishing the Piece" and "Journal Submissions Other Than Research Articles." She was made an AMWA Fellow in 1991 for her many contributions to the organization. Additionally, Dr. Gastel received AMWA's Golden Apple Award in 1993 for her consistent excellence as a workshop leader, and she was honored with the Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award in 1998 for her extensive contributions to the field of medical writing.

In addition to her educational contributions in the United States, Dr. Gastel has done a great deal to promote medical writing abroad. She spent two years as visiting professor of technical communication at Beijing Medical University, and she directs part of a program funded by the China Medical Board of New York to help Asian researchers publish their work in English-language international journals. She has also led delegations of medical writers to China and Mongolia (in 1995) and to Russia and Estonia (in 1997) as part of the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Gastel!

Upcoming Events

The Department of Humanities in Medicine presents "Conversations with Leaders in Medicine & Biomedical Sciences: Living History and The HSC Senate Sponsored Speaker Series in the Biomedical Sciences", the Texas A&M Health Science Center Distinguished Lectureships in the Biomedical Sciences, a joint presentation from the Humanities in Medicine Department and the Health Science Center Faculty Senate. Entitled "Stress and the Mind-Body Connection: Lessons from Neuroendocrinology", the guest speaker is Bruce McEwen, Ph.D., the Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and Head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University, New York.

The event will be held Thursday, January 5 from 12-1 p.m. in Lecture Hall 1 and will be teleconferenced to all HSC components. A reception in the lobby will immediately follow the lecture.

More Information:

The first of the HSC Faculty Senate Speaker Series is being sponsored by the Office of President of the Health Science Center. As the Senate is uniquely positioned to address issues that concern the entire Health Science Center, the series will serve as a forum both to inform its faculty and administration and to promote a greater integration between its various components. The series will address (a) developments that will affect the future of the whole of the HSC, (b) provide a comparative perspective on health care research and health care delivery and (c) invite outstanding scientists on controversial or other subjects which arise from research in the biomedical sciences and technology.

"The Conversations with Great Leaders in Medicine and the Biomedical Sciences: Living History " was started in 2001 as an annual lectureship to give medical students - "the physicians of the future" - a unique opportunity to meet and talk with a physician/scientist who is already part of bio-medical history and one who combines advancement of knowledge of the biomedical and clinical sciences with commitment to education and mentorship, dedication to humane care and improvement of health.

Both series are coordinated by Gül A. Russell, Ph.D., Professor of History of Medicine, in the Department of Humanities in Medicine at the College of Medicine.

OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Thank you to all faculty who completed the faculty needs assessment. The results can be found at the S&W R&E OED website. Contact Pam Wilson at pwilson@swmail.sw.org for the user ID and password.

The top ranked items are:

• Giving effective feedback to students
• Using active strategies in teaching
• Computer-based instruction/quality web-based academic resources
• Integrating e-learning activities into lectures, laboratories and seminars

During 2006 OED will offer faculty development workshops that address these identified needs.

Save the morning (4 hours) or afternoon (repeat of a.m.) of April 20, 2006 and the morning of April 21, 2006 for the Faculty Development Seminar, "Advanced Teaching and Writing Skills for Faculty" taught at S&W by Deborah St. James, Director of Writing, Speaking and Communication Skills for Physicians Group.

FACULTY

Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, from November 12-19 to attend the 10th International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Pacific Rim. The conference was co-sponsored by the US-Japan Tuberculosis and Leprosy Panel, which he chairs. He served as a member of the International Organizing Committee. The focus of this year's conference was on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), HIV, and co-infection. He presented a talk entitled "The US TB Vaccine Development Pipeline".

Dr. McMurray has been invited to serve as an international member of an Expert Panel appointed by the Academy of Science of South Africa to conduct a Consensus Study on Nutritional Influences on Human Immunity with emphasis on tuberculosis and HIV. His participation will require frequent teleconference calls and occasional trips to Cape Town.

Dr. McMurray has also been asked to serve an additional three-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. The Foundation is funded by an $83 million grant from the Gates Foundation to bring promising new TB vaccines into clinical trials. He has been a member of the Board since 2001.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis

Siegler, RL, Pysher, TJ, Tesh, VL, Noris, M, Cassis, P, and Taylor, Jr., F.B. Reduced nitric oxide bioavailability in a baboon model of Shiga toxin mediated hemolytic uremic syndrome. Renal Failure 27:635-641 (2005).

Clayton, F, Pysher, TJ, Lou, R, Kohan, DE, Denkers, ND, Tesh, VL, Taylor, Jr., FB and Siegler, RL. Lipopolysaccharide upregulates renal Shiga toxin receptors in a primate model of hemolytic uremic syndrome. Amer. J. Nephrol. 25:536-540 (2005).

McMurray, DN, Allen, SS, Jeevan, A, Lasco, T, Cho, H, Skwor, T, Yamamoto, T, McFarland, C and Yoshimura, T. Veccine-induced cytokine responses in a guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis. Tuberculosis 85: 295-301 (2005).

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DATES TO REMEMBER

January 5: Distinguished Lectureships in the Biomedical Sciences, Lecture Hall 1, 12-1 p.m.
January 19: Mini-Medical School Session #1 with Rajesh Miranda, Ph.D., Lecture Hall 1, 6 p.m.
January 24: HSC Convocation, Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, 1:30 p.m.
January 26: Mini-Medical School Session #2 with Don DiPette, M.D., Lecture Hall 1, 6 p.m.
February 2: Mini-Medical School Session #3 with Nancy Dickey, M.D., Lecture Hall 1, 6 p.m.
February 9: Mini-Medical School Session #4 with Stephen Crouse, Ph.D., Lecture Hall 1, 6 p.m.
February 10-11: Curriculum Retreat, Hilton Garden Inn, Temple
February 16: Mini-Medical School Session #5 with Gill Naul, M.D., Lecture Hall 1, 6 p.m.
February 23: Mini-Medical School Session #6 with Charles Sanders, M.D., Lecture Hall 1, 6 p.m.


Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H.
Dean, College of Medicine
The Texas A&M University System 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