FROM THE DEAN

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather we have been having lately!  It has really been perfect. My office hosted a reception for new faculty last Friday, and I was very pleased at the attendance. It was a great opportunity for faculty and staff to interact and meet the new folks at the college. I want to commend Brenda Long in my office for putting on a very nice event. I think everyone who attended appreciated it.

Our plans for Round Rock campus are moving forward. The new staff members we have hired for Round Rock will be moving into their leased office space in the next week or two. They will be housed in the Town Square Building off I-35. It is a great site, as it is centrally located between the clinical facilities, and easily accessible.

We have all the site coordinators in place for the clinical clerkships in College Station. They are as follows:

• Family Medicine – Dr. Mark English
• Pediatrics – Dr. Betty Ann Svendsen
• OB/GYN – Dr. Bill Price
• Internal Medicine – Dr. Rick Dusold
• Psychiatry – Dr. Rich DeVaul
• Surgery – Drs. Bill Hoak and Bryan Parrent

We are excited to have everyone on board as we officially begin our four-year campus in Bryan/College Station.

I have recently been at meetings discussing the buildings for the new HSC campus. The architects have done a magnificent job of designing some very attractive buildings. They are aesthetically pleasing inside and outside. I will show everyone the architect’s renderings as soon as they become available.

I spent time last month on an LCME site visit and the fall meeting where I was appointed to the Standards Committee. I learned more about what the LCME expects from us as we proceed with our multi-campus expansion. We have a report due January 1, 2008 to outline our plans for expansion.

Many of our faculty and staff will be attending the national AAMC meeting this week and next week in Washington, DC.&If there is anything newsworthy from that meeting, I will share it with you in the next newsletter. Until then . . . have a great month!

STUDENT NEWS

Students Organize Healthy Heart 5K Fundraiser

First and second-year students are hosting the Healthy Heart 5K on November 3 to raise funds for the June Rusch Hamrah Camp For All. The race fee is $10 and local radio station Candy 95.1 will be broadcasting from the event. On race day, the Women in Medicine Interest Group will be collecting gently used running shoes for the One World Running, a non-profit organization that sends shoes to children in sub-Sahara Africa, Haiti and Central America.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE NEWS

LEARNING RESOURCES

Learning Resources in Temple hosted Ms. Dawn Kruse, a University of North Texas School of Library & Information Sciences intern, this past summer. During her 180-hour assignment, she participated in the Internal Medicine Clerkship Informatics Rotation, completed and helped revise the M4 Computers & Medical Informatics elective, and visited other information resources environments including the Drug Information Center, the Scott & White Medical Library, and the Cancer Patient Resource Center. We were pleased to learn that she received the Mayo Drake Scholarship from the Medical Library Association South Central Chapter to attend the annual conference in Albuquerque where she will present a poster about her intern experience.

Cancer Nutrition Network for Texans

The Cancer Nutrition Network for Texans (CNNT) is a statewide initiative funded by the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Texas Cancer Council, dedicated to helping meet the nutritional needs of cancer survivors and their primary caregivers.

• CNNT Project - www.utmb.edu/nsights
• CATCHUM Project - www.catchum.utmb.edu

OFFICE OF RESEARCH

Brain Tumor Research Awards Program

The Goldhirsh Foundation provides strategic investment in brain tumor research to accelerate progress toward more effective treatment for malignant diffuse glioma tumors. Applications are encouraged from investigators working in the continuum between basic research and clinical application, integrating and translating knowledge in various disciplines into meaningful progress for patients.

• Deadline for Letter of Intent: January 16, 2008
• Award Categories: 3 Year Project - $600,000; 1 Year Project - $100,000

Major Research Instrumentation Program

The Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) is designed to increase access to scientific and engineering equipment for research and research training in our Nation's organizations of higher education, research museums, and non-profit research organizations. This program seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research and research training in science and engineering, and to foster the integration of research and education by providing instrumentation for research-intensive learning environments. The MRI program encourages the development and acquisition of research instrumentation for shared inter- and/or intra-organizational use and in concert with private sector partners.

• Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (required): December 21, 2007 (Required only for acquisition requests between $2 million and $4 million. See full text of this solicitation for details.)
• Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): January 24, 2008

For more information:http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08503/nsf08503.htm

Faculty Research Colloquium

November 26, 2007
5 PM – 7 PM
Faculty Speaker: Dr. Allison Ficht

2007 COM – Excellence in Research Award

Given to a senior and a junior faculty member
Deadline for nominations: November 16, 2007

UNCF

Merck Science Initiative Research Scholarship/Fellowships
Deadline: December 17, 2007
www.uncf.org/merck

2008 Presidential Award of Excellence for Faculty Service to International Students

Deadline: November 30, 2007
http://intlcenter.tamu.edu/PresAwardExcForFacServ.asp

2008 Research/Scholarship

AMA Foundation
Deadline: December 3, 2007
www.amafoundation.org

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Dr. Kenneth M. Baker has been appointed the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Medicine and nominated for President-Elect of the National American Heart Association.

3rd Annual Research Retreat

The 3rd Annual Research Retreat of the Cardiovascular Research Institute was held in Temple October 11-12. More than 120 faculty members and their trainees presented oral and poster presentations focusing on the normal functions and diseases of the heart and circulation. Attendees represented every component of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and several colleges from the main campus of Texas A&M University.

W. Robert Taylor, M.D./Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, gave a keynote address on “Modulation of Vascular Inflammatory Responses by Humoral and Mechanical Factors in the Development of Atherosclerosis.”.

Michael Davis, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Medical Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, gave a keynote address on “Rate-Sensitive Contractile Responses in Lymphatic Vessels.”

Awards were presented for outstanding oral and poster presentations by trainees. The winners and the titles of their presentations were:

• Best Oral Presentation:  Yoonjung Park, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station. “Compensatory Role and Identity of EDHF in Type 2 Diabetes-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction.”
• First Place Poster Presentation:  Vivek Singh, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate, Division of Molecular Cardiology, CVRI, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple. “Diabetes Activates the Intracellular Renin-Angiotensin System in Rat Heart.”
• Second Place Poster Presentation:  Olga Gasheva, M.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station. “NO-Dependent Regulation of Lymphatic Contractility by PKG.”
• Third Place Poster Presentation:  Zhanna Nepiyushchikh, M.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station. “Regulation of Lymphatic Contractility by Myosin Light Chain Phosphorylation.”
• Third Place Poster Presentation: Hojin Kang,  Graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Dwight Look College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station. “Effects of Fluid Shear Stress on Endothelial Cell Invasion into Three-Dimensional Matrices.”

Financial support for the event was provided by the Office of the HSC Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine and the Division of Molecular Cardiology of the Department of Internal Medicine.

Grants Awarded

PI Sharron DeMorrow received a $39,538 Scott & White IRC grant for “Central Administration of Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH) Regulates Cholangiocyte Growth for the period November 2007 to October 2008.

PI Heather Francis and mentor Gianfranco Alpini received a $40,000 Scott & White grant for “Inhibition of Cholangiocarcinoma Growth by the H3 Histamine Receptor Agonist, RAMH” for the period November 2007-October 2008.

David Dostal, Ph.D. received a $10,000 Scientific Program Grant from Health Science Center for the 3rd Annual Cardiovascular Research Retreat. He also chaired the event which was held on October 11-12, 2007.

Publications

Booz, GW. PARP Inhibitors and Heart Failure: Translational medicine caught in the act. Congest. Heart Fail. 13:105-12 (2007).

Booz, GW. Left ventricular physiology in hypertension. In: Comprehensive Hypertension. Editors: Y. H. Lip and J. E. Hall. Mosby, Chapter 10, pp.113-121 (2007).

Booz, GW and Baker, KM. Protein phosphorylation. Hypertension Primer: The Essentials of High Blood Pressure (4th ed), Senior Editors: J. L. Izzo and H. R. Black. Baltimore, Maryland: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (In Press).

Booz, GW. Devising New Drugs for the Treatment of Hypertension - “Novel Drugs Targeting Hypertension: Renin Inhibitors and Beyond” J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. Jul;50(1):1-2 (2007).

Joshi, S, Guleria, RS, Pan, J, DiPette, D and Singh, US. Heterogeneity in retinoic acid signaling in neuroblastomas: Role of matrix metalloproteinases in retinoic acid-induced differentiation. Biochim biophys Acta. 1772(9):1093-1102 (2007).

Kumar, R, Singh, VP and Baker, KM. The intracellular renin-angiotensin system: a new paradigm. Trends Endocrinol Metab 18: 208-214 (2007).

Kumar, R, Baker, KM and Pan, J. Cardiac and vascular renin-angiotensin systems. In: Contemporary Endocrinology: Hypertension and Hormonal Mechanisms, Second Edition, R.M. Carey, Ed., Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ, pp 23-42 (2007).

Kumar, R, Singh, VP and Baker, KM. Kinase inhibitors for cardiovascular disease. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 42: 1-11, (2007).

Kurdi, M and Booz, GW. Evidence that IL-6-Type Cytokine Signaling in Cardiomyocytes is Inhibited by Oxidative Stress: Parthenolide Targets JAK1 Activation by Generating ROS. J. Cell. Physiol. 212: 424-431, (2007).

Kurdi, M and Booz, GW. Jak1 inhibition, but not STAT1 knockdown, blocks the synergistic IFNγ- and Fas-Induced apoptosis of human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. J. Interferon Cytokine Res. 27: 16-24, (2007).

Kurdi, M, Bowers, MC, Dado, J and Booz, GW. Parthenolide induces a distinct pattern of oxidative stress in cardiac myocytes. Free Radic Biol Med. 42: 474-481 (2007).

Kurdi, M and Booz, GW. Can the protective actions of JAK-STAT in the heart be exploited therapeutically? Parsing the regulation of IL-6-type cytokine signaling. J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. 50: 126-141 (2007).

Kurdi, M and Booz, GW. G-CSF-Based Stem Cell Therapy for the Heart – Unresolved Issues. Part A: Paracrine Actions, Mobilization, Delivery. Congest. Heart Fail. 13: 221-227 (2007).

Kurdi, M and Booz, GW. G-CSF-Based Stem Cell Therapy – Unresolved Issues. Part B. Congest. Heart Fail. (In Press).

Lal, H, Vermam SK, Smith, M, Guleria, RS, Lu, G, Foster, DM and Dostal, DE. Stretch-induced MAP kinase activation in cardiac myocytes: differential regulation through beta1-integrin and focal adhesion kinase. J Mol Cell Cardiol. Aug;43(2):137-47 (2007).

Lleo, A, Invernizzi, P, Selmi, C, Coppel, R, Alpini, G, Podda, M, Mackay, IR and Gershwin, ME.  Autophagy: highlighting a novel player in the autoimmunity scenario.  Journal of Autoimmunity 29:61-8 (2007).

Choudhary, R, Baker, KM and Pan, J. All-trans retinoic acid prevents angiotensin II- and mechanical stretch-induced reactive oxygen species generation and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. J of Cellular Physiology. Published Online: 16 Oct 2007.

Salunga, TL, Cui, ZG, Shimoda, S, Zheng, HC, Nomoto, K, Kondo, T, Takano, Y, Selmi, C, Alpini, G, Gershwin, ME and Tsuneyama, K. Oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of bile duct cells in primary biliary cirrhosis. Journal of Autoimmunity Jun 1; PMID: 17544621 (2007).

Singh, VP, Le, B, Bhat, VB, Baker, KM, Kumar, R. High glucose induced regulation of intracellular angiotensin II synthesis and nuclear redistribution in cardiac myocytes. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 293: 939-948 (2007).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Gianfranco Alpini presented the Ralph Wright Lecture for the British Association for the Study of The Liver September 14 in London. His talk was entitled “Autocrine Regulation of Cholangiocyte Growth by Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor.”

Dr. George W. Booz presented a poster at the XIX World Congress of the ISHR Bologna (Italy) on “Oxidative stress blocks activation of JAK-STAT signaling in cardiac myocytes.” He also presented a talk on PARP inhibitors and heart failure at the 6th Annual Symposium (The Cutting Edge – Cardiology for the Future) of the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, California.

HUMANITIES IN MEDICINE

Faculty Members Appointed to Editor Positions

Barbara Gastel, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities in Medicine has been selected to serve as Knowledge community Editor for AuthorAID @ INASP, a project of the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). AuthorAID @ INASP is a project to help scientists in developing countries to publish their research.  This project will have three main components: a mentoring system, workshops on scientific publication, and a Web-based knowledge community. As Knowledge Community Editor, Dr. Gastel will be responsible for content on scientific writing and publishing for the knowledge community. In addition, she will take a lead role with regard to the workshops.

Dr. Gastel also recently published a book review in the New England Journal of Medicine. She reviewed the Dictionary of Medical Biography, edited by W.F. and Helen Bynum.

Donnie J. Self, Professor, Department of Humanities in Medicine has been named Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education. The publication is the official journal of the Association for the Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education or ABSAME. Medical school faculty representing sociology, psychology, anthropology, pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, preventive medicine, and psychiatry constitute ABSAME as an interdisciplinary professional society dedicated to strengthening behavioral science teaching in medical schools, residency programs, and in continuing medical education.

The purposes of the ABSAME organization are:

• To promote the application of social and behavioral science knowledge, skill and perspectives in the education and training of physicians, nurses, and other professionals working in the field of health.
• To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health care through the application of social and behavioral science knowledge, skills and perspectives.
• To encourage the improvement of educational and training practices in the preparation of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals.
• To aid in the continuing education of teachers, clinicians, researchers and administrators involved in carrying out the above activities.

November Medicine and Humanities Consultation

The next Medicine and Humanities Consultation is slated for Monday, November 5 at the Halley House in Salado, from 1-6 p.m. The consultation will engage clinicians of medicine, nurses, social workers, clergy and academic humanists in an in-depth exposure to “Dishonesty in Medicine.” The day will be spent in informal discussion led by our invited guest and facilitator, Herbert L. Fred, M.D., M.A.C.P.

Dr. Fred is a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice Institute, Houston in 1950, Dr. Fred received his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1954. He completed his internship and residency training at the University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals in Salt Lake City. During his career, Dr. Fred has received numerous “excellence in teaching” awards from students and faculty. If you would like to register for the consultation, please contact the Humanities Department at 979-845-0755.

MICROBIAL AND MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS

Grants Awarded

Dr. Cirillo received a grant subcontract NIH/NIAID #AI43199 for “Genes Associated with M. avium Pathogenesis” from Oregon State University.  Total Costs: $45,000.

Publications

Rogers, JD, Connery, NL, McNair, J, Welsh, MD, Skuce, RA, Bryson, DG, McMurray, DN and Pollock, JM. Experimental exposure of cattle to a precise aerosolized challenge of Mycobacterium bovis: a novel model to study bovine tuberculosis. Tuberculosis 87: 405-414 (2007).

Lu, D, Garcia-Contreras, L, Xu, D, Kurtz, SL, Liu, J, Braunstein, M, McMurray, DN and Hickey AJ. Poly (Lactide-co-Glycolide) microspheres in respirable sizes enhance an in vitro T cell response to recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen 85B. Pharm Res 24: 1834-1843 (2007).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Aminkutty Jeevan prepared and presented a talk on “Addressing classical questions in the guinea pig model” at the NIAID Guinea Pig Reagent Workshop in Bethesda, MD, on September 28 for obtaining supplemental funding of the NIH, NIAID contract.

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Zhengzhou, China, from September 9-15 to attend the China-Japan-US International Tuberculosis Symposium and the 42nd annual meeting of the US-Japan Tuberculosis and Leprosy Panels of the US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program. As the Chair of the U.S. panel, he assisted with the organization of the meeting, co-chaired one of the scientific sessions and presented an invited talk entitled “Animal models for product development in TB.”

MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR MEDICINE

Publications

Bageshwar, UK and Musser, SM. "Two Electrical Potential-Dependent Steps are Required for Transport by the Escherichia coli Tat Machinery," J. Cell Biol., 179:87-99 (2007).

Trevino, SR, Scholtz, JM and Pace, CN  “Increasing Protein Conformational Stability by Optimizing beta-Turn Sequence” J. Mol. Biol., 373:211-218 (2007).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Siegfried Musser, Dr. Changxia Sun and Dr. Wei Dong Yang presented "Using FRET to Monitor Import Complex Dissociation at the Single Molecule Level," at the European Molecular Biology Organization Workshop "Mechanisms of Nucleocytoplasmic Transport," in Taormina, Sicily/Italy October 27-31.

NEUROSCIENCE AND EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

The Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics Department is a sponsor of this year’s Alzheimer’s Memory Walk and 3K, slated for Saturday, November 10. Held at the Wolf Pen Amphitheater, the fun run begins at 9 a.m., followed by the walk at 9:30 a.m. Registration fees are $20 for adults, $10 for seniors, children and students, and $5 for dogs. Visit www.alztex.org for more information.

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Gerry Frye presented the George C.Y. Chiou Lectureship in Pharmacology entitled "Alcohol, Ambien and Insomnia: Molecular Pharmacology of Forgetting?" on October 4.

Dr. Farida Sohrabji was an invited speaker at the 11th Biennial Graylyn Conference on Women's Cognitive Health at the Graylyn International Conference Center of Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina on October 24-26.

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Publications

Gashev, AA, Wang, W, Laine, GA, Stewart, RH and Zawieja, DC. Characteristics of the active lymph pump in bovine prenodal mesenteric lymphatics. Lymphat Res Biol; 5(2):71-80 (2007).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Lih Kuo presented “Exercise and Coronary Collateral Function: Role of Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Peroxide” to the Department of Life Science at Tunghai University, “Coronary Vascular Diseases: NO is the answer” to the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Veteran General Hospital and “Vasomotor Comparisons between Coronary and Retinal Microcirculation” at the Life Science Research Center at Tunghai University, all during October in Taiwan.

DATES TO REMEMBER

• November 1-7: AAMC Annual Meeting; Washington, D.C.
• November 20: Dean’s Harvest Luncheon, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; RMB Lobby
• November 22-23: Official Thanksgiving Holiday; COM offices closed
• January 16, 2008: HSC Convocation

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