April
We have many things going on in the college this month, so I'll briefly touch on each one.
Congratulations go out to Dr. Don DiPette, Chair of Internal Medicine, who was recently named Dean of the University South Carolina School of Medicine. While this is a huge loss for us, this is a great move for Don and we wish him well.
We have made a slight change to our protocol for Dean's Town Hall meetings. Summer Morgan will be sending you a form to complete and anonymously return with any questions for me. I will then address those questions at the Town Hall meetings. We are hoping to engage faculty, staff and students more closely with the affairs of the college.
The M2 pilot is proceeding without too many glitches. There have been a few video drops and other technical difficulties, but we continue to work on these problems to make it a more reliable method of delivering the curriculum. I met with the students this past week to get feedback, and their main concerns include study space and workout facilities. We will see what we can do to accommodate them.
The HSC should have an A&E firm selected and approved by the Board of Regents this week. As soon as a firm is identified, the campus planning process will begin.
The Donor Recognition Reception is scheduled for Friday, April 27 at 3 p.m. in the courtyard. I encourage all of you to attend and extend appreciation to our growing list of donors and potential donors. Last year many of you attended, and it did not go unnoticed.
The Preceptor Dinner and the Cadaver Ball are also scheduled this month. These are great opportunities for us to show our support for our preceptors and students.
Rice-Ficht Receives $2.6 Million for Military Vaccine Delivery Project
Dr. Allison Rice-Ficht, Regents Professor of Molecular and Cellular Medicine and the director of the Center for Microencapsulation and Drug Delivery (CMDD) at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, received a $2.6 million grant award in mid-March. Her project, entitled "Microencapsulation and Vaccine Delivery Research", focuses on creating a new method for vaccine delivery for U.S. military personnel.Dr. Ficht and colleagues will be working on the two-year project with the Military Infectious Disease Research Program, which is a component of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. At the end of the study, Dr. Ficht hopes to have a prototype of the "pocket vaccine" ready for human testing.
For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/communications/latestnews.html#news031207
Young Receives $3 Million Toward Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research
Keith Young, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, has received $3 million to fund post-traumatic stress disorder research at Veterans Affairs facilities in Temple and Waco.
The funding for Dr. Young, who is the co-director of the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System Neuropsychiatry Research Program, was introduced to federal legislators in December 2005 but not released until the first week of March. For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/communications/latestnews.html#news030207
Colenda Testifies on Veterans' Mental Health Needs before House Subcommittee
Dean Christopher C. Colenda was in the nation's capitol Wednesday, March 21 to testify on the need for research into treating adults with late-life mental disorders and for veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Colenda spoke as past president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies in Washington, D.C.
His testimony cited the need for a comprehensive study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies to make recommendations on future work force needs for treating older adults with late-life mental disorders and dementia, including older veterans, and the importance of better research on and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/communications/latestnews.html#news032107
Internal Medicine Interest Group Recognized as National IMIG of the Month
The College of Medicine's Internal Medicine Interest Group (IMIG) was chosen as the IMIG of the month for February by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Interest group co-presidents Dylan Medley and David Pham submitted an article spotlighting their interest group and its activities throughout the year for the national newsletter, IMpact.
To read the group's article, visit: http://www.acponline.org/journals/impact/feb2007.htm#5
Record Number of U.S. Medical School Seniors Apply to Residency Programs
More than 15,000 U.S. medical school seniors participated in "Match Day" ceremonies nationwide on March 15 to learn where they will spend their years of residency training following graduation. The record number of seniors applying for residencies through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) this year, nearly 200 more than in 2006, reflects recent increases in medical school enrollment.
Results from the 2007 Match also showed a significant increase (9 percent) in the number of participants who are graduates of non-U.S. medical schools. Despite increases in the number of international medical graduates (IMGs) applying to U.S. residency programs through the Match, U.S. medical school seniors were more likely than other applicants to successfully match to a residency position of their choice. For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/communications/latestnews.html#news031507
Wesson Meets With Congressional Representatives on World Kidney Day
Kidney specialist and Vice Dean on the Temple campus, Don Wesson, M.D., met Thursday, March 8 with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Representatives Joe Barton, Lloyd Doggett, Charles Gonzalez and Randy Neugebauer to ask for an increase in federal funding for kidney disease research. The physician's visit to Capitol Hill came on World Kidney Day, an international effort to raise awareness about the growing incidence of kidney disease and the need for increased funding for kidney disease research and education.
For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/communications/latestnews.html#news030807
Pliego Named Member of SSH Educational Committee
Dr. Jose Pliego has been appointed as an active member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) Educational Committee. The overall responsibilities of the committee include setting national standards for accreditation, reviewing annual meeting program content, recommending topics for consideration at post-graduate courses, determining guidance for affiliation or co-sponsorship, coordinating with the journal editors and other society publications and insuring that all programs and publications which provide continuing education adhere to policies and guidance of the society.
OFFICE OF RESEARCH
Funding Opportunities
Charles E. Culpepper Scholarship in Medical Science
Each medical school may nominate one candidate.
Candidate must:
Be a US citizen
Have received an MD degree in 1999 or later
Have at least one year of post-doctoral training, but no rank above assistant professor
Be able to devote 75% of time to Culpepper research project
For more information, click here.
Association of American Medical Colleges
Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education - $10,000
Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Awards - $10,000 to awardee, $2500 to institution, $1000 to AOA chapter
Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences - $5000
David E. Rogers Award - $10,000
Herbert W. Nickens Award - $10,000
Humanism in Medicine Award - $5000
Outstanding Community Service Award - engraved crystal presentation piece For more information, click here.
Edith and Peter O'Donnell Awards for 2008
There is one award given in medicine, engineering, science, and technology innovation. Each award is $25,000. To be eligible one must be within 15 years of a first faculty appointment or 15 years from first appointment in industry and have spent the past 2 years, ending October 31, 2007, performing research or developing technology in Texas. All nomination materials are due by April 30, 2007.
For more information, click here.
FACULTY
Family & Community Medicine
Dr. Rachel Bramson, Michelle Jeter, Angela Heads, Dr. Robert Wiprud and Dr. Mark English presented "An Effective Method for Teaching Patient-centered Communication Skills to Second-year Medical Students" at the 27th Annual Conference on Families and Health held in Austin in March.
Dr. Rachel Bramson, Angela Heads, Dr. Kim van Walsum, Dr. Forrest Lang, Dr. Robert Wiprud and Dr. Mark English presented "Improving Self-Efficacy of Medical Students' Communication Skills Using the Common Ground Method" at the 33rd Annual Predoctoral Education Conference held in Memphis, Tennessee in January. The paper was also awarded an invited publication in the journal "Teaching and Learning in Medicine".
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR MEDICINE
Dr. Nick Pace presented a talk on "Fine-Tuning Protein Stability" at the International Symposium on Advanced Science and Biotechnology in Osaka, Japan on March 9. On March 12, Dr. Pace presented a seminar on Factors Determining the pK Values of the Ionizable Groups in Proteins at the Riken Spring 8 Synchrotron at the Harima Institute in Hyogo, Japan.
Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics
Dr. Gerry Frye presented a seminar entitled "Synaptic development: MINI current events in a model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder" to the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on March 5.
Dr. Farida Sohrabji presented "Growth factor regulation by estrogen in the aging and injured forebrain: BDNF as a case study" at the 2nd World Congress on Gender Specific Medicine and Aging: The endocrine impact on March 9 in Rome, Italy.
OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Jose Pliego will be presenting a workshop entitled, "Teaching and Assessing Medical Team Communication through Simulation Training", at the 2007 Regional Meeting of the SGEA in Louisville, Kentucky, April 19-21.
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Dr. Jose Pliego presented "Factors Influencing Students Choosing a Career in Ob-Gyn: Results of the APGO National Survey" at the 2007 CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City March 7-10.
Dr. Pliego and Dr. Russell Fothergill presented "Anxiety in Third-Year Students Pre- and Post- One-Day Innovative Clinical Simulation Training" and "Impact of an Innovative Clinical Simulation Training Session on Medical Students' Self-Confidence Level" at the 2007 CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 7-10, 2007.
Dr. Pliego has also been selected to serve on the Presidential Task Force of Simulations and will be meeting with the Simulation Task Force on Monday, April 23 at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists' National Headquarters in Washington, DC. The Simulation Task Force's primary goal is to create a new curriculum that incorporates surgical simulation and to use surgical simulation as an adjunct to surgical skills training.
RESEARCH
Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis
Dr. David McMurray received an Award Notice this month for an NIH grant on which he and Robb Chapkin are co-PIs. The grant, entitled "n-3 fatty acids alter T-cell activation and signaling", is funded from 2/15/07 to 1/31/12. The total award to the institution is $1,478,259.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis
Bian, X, Rosas-Acosta, G, Wu, Y-C and Wilson, VG. Nuclear import of BPV1 E1 protein is mediated by multiple alpha importins and is negatively regulated by phosphorylation near a nuclear localization signal. Journal of Virology, 81:2899-2908 (2007).
Cho, H and McMurray, DN. Recombinant guinea pig TNF enhances antigen-specific type 1 lymphocyte activation in guinea pig splenocytes. Tuberculosis, 87: 87-93 (2007).
Deyrieux, A, Rosas-Acosta, G, Ozbun, M and Wilson, VG. Sumoylation Dynamics During Keratinocyte Differentiation. Journal of Cell Science, 120: 125-136 (2007).
Langeries, M, Rosas-Acosta, G, Mulder, K and Wilson, VG. Production of Sumoylated Proteins Using a Baculovirus Expression System. Journal of Virological Methods, 139:189-194 (2007).
Lee, S-Y, Cherla, RP and Tesh, VL. Simultaneous induction of apoptotic and survival signaling pathways in macrophage-like THP-1 cells by Shiga toxin-1. Infection and Immunity, 75: 1291-1302 (2007).
Rubakova, E, Petrovskaya, S, Pichugin, A, Khlebnikov, V, McMurray, D, Kondratieva, E, Baturina, I, Kondratieva, T and Apt, A. Specificity and efficacy of dendritic cell-based vaccination against tuberculosis with complex mycobacterial antigens in a mouse model. Tuberculosis, 87: 134-144 (2007).
Yamamoto, T, Lasco, TM, Uchida, K, Goto, Y, Jeevan, A, McFarland, C, Ly, L, Yamamoto, S and McMurray, DN. Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination modulates TNF- production after pulmonary challenge with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis in guinea pigs. Tuberculosis, 87: 155-165 (2007).
Molecular and Cellular Medicine
Hamai, C, Cremer, PS and Musser, SM. "Single Giant Vesicle Rupture Events Reveal Multiple Mechanisms of Glass-Supported Bilayer Formation," Biophysical Journal, 92:1988-1999 (2007).
Trevino, S, Scholtz, JM and Pace, CN. Amino Acid Contribution to Protein Solubility: Asp, Glu, and Ser Contribute More Favorably than the other Hydrophillic Amino Acids in Ribonuclease Sa, Journal of Molecular Biology, 366, 449-461 (2007).
Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics
Etheredge JA, Murchison D, Abbott LC and Griffith WH. Functional compensation by other voltage gated Ca2+ channels in mouse basal forebrain neurons with Cav2.1 mutations. Brain Research, 1140: 105-119 (2007).
Huang LZ and Winzer-Serhan, UH. Differential regulation of feeding-related peptides in the hypothalamus in response to chronic nicotine treatment in neonates. Developmental Neurobiology. 67, 363-377 (2006).
Jiang, W, Ko, WC, Hsiao, SH and Chiou, GCY. Effects of Z,E-butylidedephthallide on experimental choroidal neovascularization in rats and ocular blood flow in rabbits. International Journal of Ophthalmology, 7:1-7 (2007).
Dates to Remember
- April 10: GSO Symposium, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Reynolds Medical Building
- April 12: Annual Preceptor Appreciation Dinner, 6:30 p.m.; 7F Lodge
- April 13: Cadaver Ball, 7 p.m.; Pebble Creek Country Club
- April 14: Health Circus in Navasota, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- April 19: Dean's Town Hall in College Station, 4 p.m.; Lecture Hall 1
- April 24: Dean's Town Hall in Temple, 5 p.m.; Mayborn Auditorium
- April 27: Donor Recognition Event, 3 p.m.; Medical Sciences Courtyard
- May 3: Magnolia Tea, 2 p.m.; Reveille Inn
- May 18: Senior Banquet, 6 p.m.; Reed Arena
- May 19: Class of 2007 Commencement, 2 p.m.; Rudder Auditorium
Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H.
Dean, College of Medicine
The Texas A&M 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
