From the Dean

I hope everyone enjoyed their time off at Spring Break. Match Day was a great success and our fourth-year students did an outstanding job, placing into some top-notch residency programs. Commencement is just five weeks away, so the rest of the semester will fly by. I have a few items to note this month:

• Dr. Fallon tells me our incoming students have made their campus designations. I am happy to report that of the Class of 2013, 111 students (73 percent) received their first choice, followed by 41 applicants (27 percent) receiving their second choice. The 2+2 College Station/Temple track continues to be the most popular choice.
• Search committees for the four open department chair positions at Scott & White are still working hard and making progress.
  • Internal Medicine: A final candidate has been selected and should be officially on board within the next month.
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology: After interviewing three external candidates, the committee has narrowed down the field to one, and will continue to evaluate this candidate.
  • Pediatrics: Two candidates are being considered, and will be brought back to Temple soon for a second round of interviews.
  • Behavioral Health and Psychiatry: The committee has been reviewing C.V.s and will soon begin scheduling interviews.
• As most of you already know, a fire occurred in a lab on the 3rd floor of the Reynolds Building early in the morning on Saturday, March 7. The fire doors were closed, preventing the fire from spreading. Kudos go to George Martin and Pedro Herrejon for responding quickly and taking care of everything. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and damage was limited to confocal equipment and the laboratory.
• COM Web Update: The College of Medicine’s website receives approximately 5,000 views per day, half of which is internal traffic. For more information about the college’s website, contact COM webmaster, Allen Parish at parish@medicine.tamhsc.edu. Allen has been with us since October and is doing a fantastic job.  The top three viewed pages are the college’s home page, Admissions, and the LRU. Web initiatives going forward include: 
  • Extending the reach of the website with a COM Facebook page, RSS (really simple syndication) feeds for student blogs and news update notifications, and E-commerce abilities to assist with conference registrations, the annual fund drive, etc.
  • Website accuracy
  • Website redesign.
• A final proposal for the M.D./M.P.H. degree has been received from SRPH. Students will complete coursework for the M.P.H. degree between years 2 and 3. The practicum will be completed as an elective for credit for COM and required credit for SRPH in the 4th year. Prerequisites must be met before beginning the main coursework between years 2 and 3. Four majors will be offered: epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, health policy and management, and social and behavioral health. This is an exciting development, as it’s something I’ve been encouraging since I arrived here. More details will be available as the program is hammered out.

 

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

Dates to Remember

• April 1: College Station Dean’s Town Hall Meeting; Lecture Hall 1, RMB – 4 p.m.
• April 9: Temple Dean’s Town Hall Meeting; Lecture Hall 1, MEC – 12 pm.
• April 15: J.L. Huffines Distinguished Lecture with speaker Dr. Jim Rohack; Lecture Hall 1 RMB – 6 p.m.
• April 16: 14th Annual GSO Symposium; Reynolds Medical Building – 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
• April 29: Magnolia Tea 2009 with speaker Dr. Farida Sohrabji; Reed House (Chancellor’s Home) – 2 p.m.
• May 9: Class of 2009 Commencement Ceremonies; Rudder Auditorium – 2 p.m.

College News

Colenda Appointed to ACGME Board of Directors and NBME Executive Committee

College dean, Dr. Christopher C. Colenda, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), effective March 1. In this role, Dr. Colenda will serve on the Governance Committee. The ACGME is a private, non-profit council that evaluates and accredits medical residency programs in the United States. For more information about the ACGME, visit: http://www.acgme.org/.

He was also elected to the Executive Committee of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) at the organization’s recent meeting in Philadelphia. Dr. Colenda was first appointed to the NBME in the summer of 2006 and then to the NBME’s International Collaborations Advisory Committee in November 2007. For more information about the NBME, visit:http://www.nbme.org/.

COM Hosts 4th Annual Magnolia Tea on April 29

The Office of Institutional Advancement is presenting the 4th Annual Magnolia Tea on Wednesday, April 29 from 2-4 p.m. The Magnolia Tea is designed to bring women of all ages from across the Brazos Valley to hear current health and research information on topics related to women’s health. This year’s event will be held at the Reed House, the home of the A&M System Chancellor Dr. Mike McKinney and his wife Lou Ann, who is serving as the event hostess.

Farida Sohrabji, Ph.D., associate professor and the associate head of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, will serve as the guest speaker. Dr. Sohrabji was the speaker at the very first Magnolia Tea, held in 2005. Mary Mike Hatcher of Bryan Broadcasting will be the guest emcee, a role she also filled at the event in 2007.

Tickets are $100 and can be purchased by contacting Brenda Long at bklong@medicine.tamhsc.edu or calling 979-845-8526.

Graduate Student Organization Hosting 14th Annual Symposium

Courtesy of Joseph Tingling, 2008-2009 GSO President

The 14th Annual Graduate Student Organization Symposium will be held Thursday, April 16 at the Reynolds Building. This year we are focusing on the contributions of both basic science research and clinical translational medicine. In light of this, we have come up with the theme "Bridging the Gap Between Basic and Clinical Sciences.”

We have invited two speakers – first, Dr C. T. Caskey who is a distinguished and highly accomplished medical investigator, geneticist and biomedical entrepreneur. Dr Caskey is the director and CEO-elect of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, part of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Our second and keynote speaker is Dr Susan Sharp is the chair of ASM’s Committee on Laboratory Practices, and the chair of ASM’s American Board of Medical Microbiology Examination Committee.

The symposium will feature oral and poster presentations of biomedical research which will be judged. We will also offer and outstanding Principal Investigator award at the symposium. Breakfast, lunch and a reception will be hosted.

Schedule of Events

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.: Check-In and Breakfast
8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.: Distinguished speaker Dr. C. Caskey
10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Oral Presentations
11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.: Keynote speaker Dr. S. Sharp
12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.: Lunch
2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Posters
4 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Refreshments
4:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. Awards Presentations

Rohack to Present First Ever Huffines Distinguished Lecture

The Sydney and J.L. Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine and Human Performance will be presenting the first annual J.L. Huffines Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, April 15 here at the Reynolds Medical Building. Our very own Dr. Jim Rohack, the 2009 president-elect of the American Medical Association (and College of Medicine faculty member) will be the guest speaker and will present “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Healthcare Costs.”

A reception will be held at 6 p.m. in the lobby, followed by Dr. Rohack’s presentation at 6:30 p.m.

College of Medicine Creates Facebook Fan Page

The Office of Institutional Advancement launched a College of Medicine page on Facebook® in early March to connect with current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni and donors. As of the end of the month, the college has 185 fans! If you already became a fan, thanks for joining. If you have not yet joined our group, what are you waiting for?!?

A combination of multimedia content will provide important on-demand information to friends of the college. Photos, videos, and important news will be regularly posted to deliver targeted content to key constituencies. A moderated discussion board will allow community members to pose questions and interact with others connected with the College of Medicine.

Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-AM-Health-Science-Center-College-of-Medicine/6425705596 and join as a fan to stay connected with the latest happenings at the College of Medicine! (Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.)

TMA Hosts Tobacco Cessation Lecture April 9

On April 9, TMA will be hosting a Tobacco Cessation lecture presented by Dr. Rachel Bramson at 12 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2 for current M1 and M2 students. Faculty are welcome to attend -- the session will be counted as 1 credit hour for CME.

For more information, contact Bianca Caram at caram@medicine.tamhsc.edu.

Faculty

Alpini Receives Renewal of VA Research Career Scientist Award

Gianfranco D. Alpini, Ph.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and Systems Biology & Translational Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, was recently notified of the renewal of his Research Career Scientist award from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Dr. Alpini holds the Dr. Nicholas C. Hightower Centennial Chair of Gastroenterology and is the Director of the Scott & White Digestive Diseases Research Center.

Dr. Alpini first received this prestigious designation four years ago and was recently approved for another five years, a period which will run from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2014.

"I am very proud of this achievement - it is all due to teamwork," Dr. Alpini says. "It is an acknowledgement of my personal success, but also the success of my group. Most of the time when a scientist receives a grant, it is related to a specific topic, but this is recognition of my career and the people I work with, so I am truly humbled and honored."

For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/institutional-advancement/communications/news/12march2009.html

 

Gianfranco D. Alpini, Ph.D (front row, middle) and members of the Digestive Disease Research Center

Kotrla Reappointed to Governor's Advisory Committee

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed four members to the Advisory Committee to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments for terms to expire Feb. 1, 2013. The committee provides a formal structure for criminal justice, health and human service, and other organizations to communicate and coordinate on policy, legislative, and program issues affecting offenders with special needs.

Kathryn J. Kotrla of Georgetown is associate dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. She is a member of the Texas Medical Association, American College of Psychiatry, Society for Neuroscience, and Williamson County Medical Society. She serves on the Mental Health Transformation Work Group and Local Authority Network Advisory Committee. Kotrla received a bachelor's degree from Rice University, a master's degree in biology from Stanford University and a medical degree from the Texas A&M College of Medicine. She is being reappointed.

For the full story, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/institutional-advancement/communications/news/26march2009.html

Sohrabji Appointed to NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health

Farida Sohrabji, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Associate Head of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics and Director of the COM’s Women’s Health in Neuroscience program, was appointed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health, effective February 1. She will serve in this capacity until January 31, 2013.

Dr. Sohrabji’s role on the committee will be to assist the NIH and the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) to better address scientific, legal and ethical issues affecting the health of women through biomedical and behavioral research and related career opportunities.

The Advisory Committee was established in 1993 as a mechanism for eliciting advice and recommendations on priority issues affecting women’s health research. The assistance and expertise of Advisory Committee members are sought to provide guidance in such areas as: refinement of the NIH’s women’s health research agenda, exploration of questions regarding gender difference in clinical drug trials, development of methodologies that enhance research on health needs of women and monitoring of the inclusion of women in clinical studies founded by the NIH. The Advisory Committee meets twice a year at the NIH in Bethesda and all travel and expenses are paid.

Students

COM Fourth-Year Students Experience Successful Match Day

Members of the Class of 2009 at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine participated in the nationwide Match Day on Thursday, March 19, held this year at the Cultural Activities Center in Temple. Students gathered for a class photo at 10 a.m., then had time to mingle with their classmates, family and friends until 11 a.m. when college dean, Dr. Christopher Colenda, passed out the envelopes.

Envelopes are handed out to the class at random, but they all must wait to open them until the last name is called. And although the last recipient must wait the longest, he or she is rewarded by getting to take home the fishbowl of money, filled to the brim by faculty, staff and classmates.

The first envelope this year went to David Galloway, who matched in pediatrics in Arizona. Both couples in the class, McLean and Cheryl Sanborn and Matt Brown and Becky James, matched together, in San Antonio and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively. Glenn Walker matched in surgery in Dallas, just hours after his wife gave birth to their daughter. And Nitasha Thomson, who is headed to Washington, D.C., was rewarded with the longest wait and the fishbowl of cash.

For the full story, to view full statistics and for a link to event photos, visit: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/institutional-advancement/communications/news/25march2009.html

Binz, Liu Publish Articles with NEXT/Surgery Faculty

Third-year student Jeffrey Liu and second-year student Daniel Binz recently published articles with College of Medicine faculty Dr. Rudy Briner, Dr. Gerard Toussaint and Dr. Jonathan Friedman.

The full text of Jeffrey’s article with Drs. Briner and Friedman is available for download. (PDF)

The abstract of Daniel’s article with Drs. Toussaint and Friedman is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19224404.

Awards Presented at 2009 Cadaver Ball

From the Class of 2012:

12th Man/007: Dr. Miranda
Successfully took on the responsibilities of running the Organ Systems course / At first glance appears extremely nice and friendly but has “killer” test questions

Most Heart/Improv Comedian: Dr. Chen
The professor who stood out as really caring and being helpful to his/her students / Always seemed to find a way to be funny accidentally (1st test preview/”light maroon”)

Best Friend/Grill Master: Dr. McCord
The friendliest professor / Loves his BBQ (quizzes and food!)

Most Enthusiastic/Vasant Stalker: Dr. Parker
The professor who was most enthused about her subject / Incorporated pictures/stories of Vasant any chance she could

Hardest Lectures/The reason why Maxwell House Coffee was made: Dr. Maxwell
The professor who had to give the hardest lectures / Lectures could be used as a sleep aid for insomniacs

From the Class of 2011:

Best Facial Hair - Dr. Lindner
Best Use of Red Pen During Lecture - Dr. Wells
Class Friend - Dr. Brandt
Best Professor - Dr. Trezciakowski
Best Block - Hematology

Fourth-Year Students Volunteer at Martha’s Kitchen

Courtesy of Tammy Grab, GHHS member and Class of 2009 Historian

On March 16, the members of Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) chose to do a secondary service project (in addition to our major Physician Heal Thyself project) by doing some good old fashioned volunteering at Martha's Kitchen. We made 500 sandwiches and served dinner that night.

Volunteers at Martha's Kitchen

Making sandwiches at Martha's Kitchen

Serving at Martha's Kitchen

Administration

OFFICE OF FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

Upcoming Education Grand Rounds

College of Medicine Education Grand Rounds Presents the following:

“Challenges Unique to Women in Academic Medicine”

• Presenter – Ruth L. Bush, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
• Date – Wednesday, 04/22/09, Noon-1:00 p.m.
• Location - R109 (Lecture Hall 1), Medical Education Center, S&W Temple simulcast to Lecture Hall 1, Reynolds Medical Building, College Station; Old Town Square, Ste. 400, Round Rock; CVRI, Temple; and St. Joseph’s COM Classroom, Bryan

 

College of Medicine Education Grand Rounds are to be held monthly throughout the year, Noon-1:00 p.m. except for December. The College of Medicine Education Grand Rounds (01/2009-11/2009) have been approved for CME Category 1 Credit through the Scott & White Office of Continuing Medical Education.

OFFICE OF RESEARCH & GRADUATE STUDIES

Graduate Program Update

There are currently 99 students in the Medical Sciences Graduate Program, with 42 at the IBT and 57 at the College of Medicine. Thirty-four of the COM’s graduate students are located in College Station, 15 in Temple, four in Kingsville and four are wrapping up their studies. Six or seven students are on track to graduate in May. The program anticipates accepting 12-15 new students for the upcoming academic year.

M.D./Ph.D. Program Update

Eighteen students are currently in the M.D./Ph.D. program, with 10 in College Station, five in Temple and three at the IBT in Houston. The program has been very successful in the last few years, with 10 of the 18 students currently in their M1 or M2 year. Dr. Leibowitz anticipates admitting between four and six new students to the program this year.

Research Funding Opportunities

Research Associateship Programs—National Research Council
Website: http://www.national-academics.org/rap
Contact: National Research Office of the National Academies (202) 334-2760
Annual Deadline: February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1

HHMI’s 2009 Med into Grad Initiative Competition
Website: http://www.hhmi.org/competitions
Contact: Dr. Anh-Chi Le (301) 215-8879
Deadline: April 27, 2009

2009 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research
Website: http://www.mskcc.org/marksprize
Contact: Mary Delessandro (marksprize@mskcc.org)
Deadline: April 30, 2009

J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine-Cardiovascular Research
Website: http://www.robarts.ca
Contact: John McDonald (519) 663-5777
Deadline: May 1, 2009

NIH/NMA Travel Award
Website: http://www2.niddk.nih.gov/Funding/FundingOpportunities/Minority_Health_Research_Coordination/travel-award.htm
Contact: Dr. Frances Ferguson (301) 594-9652
Deadline: May 4, 2009

2009 Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program
Website: http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/ocrp.htm Contact: E-mail (cdmrpwebmaster@sdmrp.org)
Deadlines: Pre Application-May 8, 2009; Application-May 22, 2009

2009 Department of Defense Autism Research Program
Website: http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/arp.htm
Contact: E-mail (cdmrpwebmaster@sdmrp.org)
Deadlines: Pre Application-June 24, 2009; Application-July 15, 2009

National Headache Foundation
Website: http://www.headaches.org
Contact: Carolyn Smith (312) 274-2652
Deadline: December 1, 2009

Basic Science

HUMANITIES IN MEDICINE

Faculty News

The Fay Lecture Series organized by David H. Rosen, M.D., the McMillan Professor of Analytical Psychology, and Professor of Humanities in Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Science will be held this year April 3-5, 2009. This year’s lecturer is Professor Dr. Christian Gaillard, Jungian Analyst from France. If you are interested in attending the link to the brochure is the following: http://psychology.tamu.edu/Faculty/Rosen/fay_lectures.htm

Dr. Barbara Gastel recently led two international workshops on scientific writing. One, for researchers at the National University of Rwanda, was held February 23-26 in Butare, Rwanda; it was given under the auspices of AuthorAID (http://www.authoraid.info), an international project to help researchers in developing countries to write about and publish their work. The other workshop, for researchers from throughout Mexico, was held March 16-20 at La Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Torreón, Mexico.

Student News

Laura Sanchez, 4th year student is presently in London, UK, for four weeks participation in the Humanities in Medicine Directed Research Elective and the John L. Montgomery History of Medicine Research Fellowship. This course is in collaboration with the Welcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine. Laura is researching "Kinder transport (1938-1939)": A Historical Background and Psychological Impact through Surviving Photographs.

Following the model initiated during the civil war in Spain when children were sent out of the country for safety, during WWII, 10, 000 largely Jewish children were sent to England and survived. There are lessons to be learned from the impact of this traumatic experience as she researches through the archives in London of the Imperial War Museum and Wiener Library. Also she will be attending a history of medicine certificate course sponsored by the Welcome Trust's Centre at University College London at the Worshipful Society of the Apothecaries.

MICROBIAL & MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS

Faculty

Dr. Van Wilson hosted the 2009 Sigma Xi Symposium on Stem Cells in Medicine on March 25 on the Texas A&M University campus.

Dr. Jeff Cirillo attended a TB Drug Accelerator Grantee Meeting in Seattle, WA, from March 16-19, 2009.

Dr. James Samuel participated in the Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Developmental Project Review Meeting in Galveston from March 3-4, 2009.

Dr. Jon Skare participated in the NIH Study Section in Washington, DC, from March 11-13, 2009.

Grants Received

Dr. McMurray received the Award Notice from NIH for the next year of funding on Grant R01 DK071707, entitled “N-3 fatty acids alter T-cell activation and signaling”. The total award for the third year of support, which runs from 2/15/09 to 1/31/10, is $257,836. He is a co-PI on this grant with Dr. Robb Chapkin.

Dr. Vernon Tesh received notification of a Research Subaward Agreement from the TAMU RF regarding NIH-NIAID grant UO1 AI075386-02 “Shiga toxins: pre-clinical animal model development and therapeutic testing,” PI: Dr. Shinichiro Kurosawa, Boston University School of Medicine, Contractor: V.L. Tesh, contract total direct costs = $47,932.

Recent Publications

Yam KC, D’Angelo I, Kalscheuer R, Zhu H, Wang J-X, Snieckus V, Ly, LH, Converse PJ, Jacobs WR, Strynadka N, Eltis LD. Studies of a ring-cleaving dioxygenase illuminate the role of cholesterol metabolism in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PLoS Pathogens 5: 31000344 (2009).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Van Wilson presented a seminar entitled “Papillomavirus-Host Interaction: A Focus on Sumoylation” at the Department of Biology at the Univ. of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Margie Martinez-Moczygemba attended and presented a poster at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in Washington, DC, March 13-17. The following poster was presented at the meeting: Martinez-Moczygemba, M. and Lei, J. L. “Role of IL-5 receptor tyrosine phosphorylation in intracellular trafficking”.

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Japan from 9-20 March under the auspices of a Visiting Scientist Scholarship award from the Japan Health Sciences Foundation (JHSF). While in Japan, he was invited to speak at the 82nd Annual Congress of the Japanese Society for Bacteriology in Nagoya City from 12-14 March. The title of his presentation was “Contributions of the guinea pig model to the understanding of TB pathogenesis”. During his stay in Japan as a JHSF Visiting Scientist, he presented research seminars at three different institutions in Tokyo: (1)Japan BCG Laboratory/Research Institute for Tuberculosis (16 March) – “The Yin-Yang of TNFa in the guinea pig model of pulmonary TB”; (2)National Institute of Infectious Diseases – Toyama Campus (17 March) – “The latest developments in the study of vaccine-induced resistance in the guinea pig model of TB”; (3)National Institute of Infectious Diseases – Murayama Campus (18 March) – “The role of neutrophils in the response of guinea pigs to mycobacterial infection.”

MOLECULAR & CELLULAR MEDICINE

Recent Publications

Block, GJ, Ohkouchi, S, Fung, F, Frenkel, J, Gregory, C, Pochampally, R, Dimattia, G, Sullivan, DE and Prockop, DJ. Multipotent Stromal Cells (MSCs) are Activated to Reduce Apoptosis in Part by Upregulation and Secretion of Stanniocalcin-1 (STC-1). Stem Cells. 27: 670-681 (2009).

Shaw, KL, Scholtz, JM, Pace, CN and Grimsley, GR. Determining the Conformational Stability of a Protein using Urea Denaturation. Methods Mol. Biol. 490: 41-55 (2009).

Burghardt RC, Burghardt JR, Taylor, JD 2nd, Reeder AT, Nguen BT, Spencer TE, Bayless KJ, and Johnson GA. Enhanced focal adhesion assembly reflects increased mechanosensation and mechanotransduction at maternal-conceptus interface and uterine wall during ovine pregnancy. Reproduction. 137: 567-582 (2009).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Darwin J. Prockop presented the keynote lecture at the 2009 Sigma Xi Spring Symposium at Texas A&M University on March 25,2009 entitled ”Discovering the Power of Adult Stem/Progenitor Cells to Heal the Body.”

Dr. Steve Maxwell presented a poster entitled, “14-3-3zeta mediates resistance of diffuse large B cell lymphoma to an anthracylcine-based chemotherapeutic regimen” at the Frontiers of Cancer Research: Biology, Emerging, Technologies and Therapeutics Conference in Houston, Texas on March 26-27, 2009.

NEUROSCIENCE & EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

Univ. of Virginia School of Medicine Dean to Present Two Lectures April 23

The Vice President and Dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Dr. Steven DeKosky, has been invited by College of Medicine Dean Dr. Christopher Colenda and the Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics Department to present two lectures on Thursday, April 23. He will present "Alzheimer's Disease: How Basic Research "Translates" to Clinical and Therapeutic Advances" to the medical students from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2 of the Reynolds Medical Building. The talk will be broadcast to RMB Lecture Hall 1 and Lecture Hall 2 of the Medical Education Center in Temple. Additionally, Dr. DeKosky will present a lecture entitled "Research Advances in Alzheimer's Disease" for the general public from 4-5 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2 RMB and broadcast to Lecture Hall 2 MEC.

Faculty

Dr. Bill Griffith attended a meeting of the Association of Medical School Neuroscience Department Chairpersons (AMSNDC) in San Juan Puerto Rico on February 25-March 1, 2009.

Dr. Rajesh Miranda served as an Ad-hoc member for NIH/CSR AA-4 study section in Washington DC on March 16-17 and was appointed as a charter member to NIH/CSR AA-4 study section.

Recent Publications

Reddy, DS and Gadsby, JE. Hormones Affecting Reproduction (Chapter 28). In: JE Riviere and MG Papich (editors): Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 9th Edn, 2009, pages 717-733.

Qu, X, Metz, RP, Porter, WW, Cassone, VM and Earnest, DJ. Disruption of period gene expression alters the inductive effects of dioxin on the AhR signaling pathway in the mouse liver. Tox. Appl. Pharm. 234: 370–377 (2009).

Bizon, JL, LaSarge, CL, Montgomery, KS, McDermott, AN, Setlow, B, Griffith, WH . Spatial reference and working memory across the lifespan of male Fischer 344 rats. Neurobiology of Aging, 30 (4), 646-655 (2009).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Rajesh Miranda presented a talked entitled“MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as master regulators of neural stem cell maturation: Evidence from studies on teratology” to the Sigma-Xi symposium on Stem Cells in Medicine, March 25th, College Station, TX.

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY & TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Faculty

Dr. Anatoliy Gashev was recently promoted from Research Associate Professor to Associate Professor.

Dr. Xu Peng recently joined the department as the newest Assistant Professor.

Dr. Lih Kuo received the "James M. Barr Award for Outstanding Retina Research Achievement" from the Retina Research Foundation, March 2009. Dr. Kuo also served as a grant reviewer for the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, Cardiovascular Disease Study Section, March 2009, San Francisco, California.

Dr. Cindy Meininger participated in grant reviews for the American Heart Association National Center as a member of the Vascular Biology/Blood Pressure I Study Section, Dallas, Texas, March 2009.

Dr. Andreea Trache served as Ad-hoc Session Chair for Techniques in Biophysics, American Physical Society March Meeting 2009, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Scientific Presentations

Soon-Mi Lim, Bryan A. Kreipe and Dr. Andreea Trache presented “Sub-cellular structures studied by combined atomic force-fluorescence microscopy” at the American Physical Society March Meeting 2009, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Abstract Y39.3

Soon-Mi Lim, Bryan A. Kreipe, Dr. Jerome Trzeciakowski and Dr. Andreea Trache presented the poster “Force transduction in smooth muscle cells” at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, February 2009.

Daniel C. Jupiter, Hailin Chen and Dr. Vincent VanBurnen presented “StarNet 2.0: Visual data mining for gene regulatory network discovery” at The Alliance for Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Systems Biology at Texas A&M 2009 Workshop on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Systems Biology, March 2009.

Clinical Science

CLINICAL SIMULATION

Simulation Center Named to Surgical Simulation Center Consortium

At the Annual Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) & the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) that took place March 11-14, 2009, San Diego, CA, Dr. Jose F. Pliego, Chair of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG) Simulation Consortium, gave an update on the activities of the consortium. The purpose of the consortium is to develop and implement unique simulation-based curricula to assist residency programs to teach and improve residents' clinical performance.

The consortium is formed of nine state-of-the-art Surgical Simulation Centers with the goal of providing access to a voluntary standardized and validated simulation curriculum to all other residency programs. Texas A&M HSC COM and Scott & White Hospital were honored to be named in the initial selection, and are the only center in Texas. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2009.

For more information about the Simulation Center, visit: http://simulationcenter.sw.org/

INTERNAL MEDICINE

The department’s monthly report is available for download. (PDF)

Recent Publications

Fava, G, DeMorrow, S, Gaudio, E, Franchitto, A, Onori, P, Carpino, G, Glaser, S, Francis, H, Coufal, M, Marucci, L, Alvaro, D, Marzioni, M, Horst, T, Mancinelli, R, Benedetti, A and Alpini, G. Endothelin inhibits cholangiocarcinoma growth by a decrease in the vascular endothelial growth factor expression. Liver Int. 2009 Mar 9. PMID: 19291182 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Mancinelli, R, Onori, P, Gaudio, E, Franchitto, A, Carpino, G, Ueno, Y, Alvaro, D, Panfnarale, L, DeMorrow, S and Francis, H. Taurocholate feeding to bile duct ligated rats prevents caffeic acid-induced bile duct damage by changes in cholangiocyte VEGF expression. Exp Biol Med 234:462–474 (2009).

Glaser, SS, Gaudio, E, Rao, A, Pierce, LM, Onori, P, Franchitto, A, Francis, HL, Dostal, DE, Venter, JK, DeMorrow, S, Mancinelli, R, Carpino, G, Alvaro, D, Kopriva, SE, Savage, JM and Alpini, GD. Morphological and functional heterogeneity of the mouse intrahepatic biliary epithelium. Lab Invest. Apr;89(4):456-69 (2009). Epub 2009 Feb 9. PMID: 19204666 [PubMed - in process]

PEDIATRICS

Dr. John Saito recently received the 2008 Outstanding Public Affairs Volunteer Award from the March of Dimes Texas Chapter for educational and advocacy work with cystic fibrosis newborn screening in Texas. This award was published in the AAP News, Volume 10, Number 3, March 2009.

The Adolescent Conference took place April 24-26, 2008, with 53 physicians, 4 residents, 12 nurses, 3 PA's and 16 faculty in attendance.

The Robert Myers Lectureship took place in March 2008 with 57 in attendance.

Pediatric Subspecialty for the Primary Care Provider for 2008 was held in Round Rock with 81 participants.

SURGERY

Binz, DD, Toussaint, LG, Friedman, JA. Hemorrhagic Complications of Ventriculostomy Placement: A Meta-Analysis. Neurocritical Care 10(2): 253-256 (2009).

Liu, JT, Briner, RP and Friedman, JA. Comparison of inpatient vs. outpatient anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: a retrospective case series. BMC Surgery 2009, 9:3 (2009).

RADIOLOGY

Dr. James Vasek, diagnostic radiology resident, was recently chosen to receive scholarship funds to attend the Society of Breast Imaging 9th Postgraduate Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado in April 2009.

Academic Medicine

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