From the Dean

I hope everyone is enjoying this short summer break between classes. Congratulations to our most recent graduates, the Class of 2009! 75 new M.D.s and 1 M.D./PhD. graduated at the College of Medicine commencement ceremony last month.

Very shortly we will be welcoming 153 new students of the Class of 2013. The white coat ceremony will be held on Saturday, August 1st at 10:00 A.M. All staff and faculty are certainly invited to attend. Reunion details are available at http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/institutional-advancement/alumni/reunion/.

Construction on the new Bryan campus on highway 47 is progressing nicely. If you haven’t seen it, drive by and take a look. You will be amazed at the progress. The Round Rock campus building is nearing completion and will be completed this fall. Images of the construction progress are available at http://www.tamhsc.edu/marcomm/bg/imagery/construction/index.html.

Everyone have a very safe summer!

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

• July 31 – August 1: COM Alumni Reunion
• August 1: White Coat Ceremony
• August 2: Donor/Recipient Reception

College News

Arroliga Appointed as new Chair of Department of Internal Medicine

Alejandro C. Arroliga, M.D., F.C.C.P., F.A.C.P was recently named as chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine for the college and Scott & White. With the appointment, Dr. Arroliga, former interim chair and a professor of medicine, now holds the Dr. A. Ford and Brooksie Neil Boyd Wolf Centennial Endowed Chair in Medicine.

As chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, Dr. Arroliga leads more than 150 physicians and scientists representing 12 medical specialties and subspecialties in the delivery of patient care and directs the departmental programs of medical education and research.

“We are delighted and extremely fortunate to have Dr. Arroliga as part of the College of Medicine and Scott & White to head our Department of Internal Medicine,” said Christopher C. Colenda. “During his time as interim chair, Alex has exhibited tremendous leadership and a passion for our academic mission. He is the right person at the right time for our respective institutions.”

Congratulations Dr. Arroliga!

For the full story, please visit http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/institutional-advancement/communications/news/19may2009.html.

Registration Opens for Reunion 2009

Registration has opened for the annual alumni weekend scheduled for July 31 - August 1, 2009. This year’s reunion specifically celebrates the 25th reunion of the Class of ’84 as well as the classes of ’89, ’94, ’99 and 2004, but all college alumni are welcome to attend. Faculty members are also encouraged to attend this opportunity to interact with former students.

Featured events include:

• Continuing Medical Education (CME) Symposium focusing on primary care
• Dean’s Welcome Dinner
• White Coat Ceremony
• Reunion 2009 Gala

Most reunion events are free, however, there is a $100 per person charge to attend the gala. Departments or other organizations may also purchase tables for this event.

For complete information, or to register online, visit http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/alumni/reunion/index.html.

Faculty

Peng Appointed Assistant Professor

Dr. Xu Peng was appointed Assistant Professor of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine in September 2008. Dr. Peng earned the MD degree from Shanghai Tiedao Medical College and a PhD in cardiology from Peking University. His postdoctoral training at Cornell University focused on the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the small GTPase Cdc42 in embryonic development of the heart and blood vessels. Dr. Peng is funded by a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association, National Center. His research program emphasizes the use of transgenic mice to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac and vascular development in the embryo.

For additional information about Dr. Peng’s research, visit his lab webpage at http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/basic-sciences/sbtm/faculty/xu-peng.html.

Junior/New Faculty Group

The next meeting of the Junior/New Faculty Group will be in August. No meetings will be held in June or July.

Students

Skeen, Armstrong named Outstanding Residents by Scott and White Healthcare

Shawn J. Skeen, M.D., and Christopher S. Armstrong, M.D., have been named as outstanding residents at Scott and White Healthcare. These two recipients were selected by the graduate medical education committee, consisting of all residency and fellowship program directors at Scott and White, for their excellent work in residency training.

Dr. Skeen, a 2006 graduate of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, received the Charles Welch outstanding resident award for his work in the internal medicine residency. The nominator for Dr. Skeen stated, “[His] evaluations throughout his residency have exuded with accolades. He is knowledgeable, responsible and exceptionally enthusiastic. His bedside manner is impeccable and rivals seasoned practicing physicians. He consistently teaches spontaneously on the wards. If we could clone a perfect resident, he would be it.”

Dr. Armstrong, a resident physician in the anesthesiology department at Scott and White, is the recipient of the John Montgomery outstanding resident award. “He exhibited excellence in all of the core competencies and all aspects of the training program,” according to his nominator. “Perhaps his greatest attribute… is his ability to communicate effectively with patients and their families, faculty, his peer group, and ancillary staff. He is equally respectful with all groups and has the ability to put people at ease with his excellent sense of humor.”

Congratulations Dr. Skeen and Dr. Armstrong!

Administration

College launches "Resource Team"

The College of Medicine recently launched an initiative aimed at staff enrichment and professional development. This new initiative, “The Resource Team,” will support professional development, resource and information sharing, mentoring, and introduce new technologies for COM non-faculty, non-research employees. Resource Team participation is open to all COM staff at all campus locations.

Meetings are scheduled to be held every-other month and will target strengthening of college-wide communication, connectivity, operational continuity, and camaraderie. The first meeting of the Resource Team, held on May 20th, featured presentations by Dean Colenda, Associate Dean Filomeno Maldonado, and Assistant Dean Karan Chavis. Over 90 staff members were in attendance either in person at the College Station campus, or by video conferencing from Temple, Houston, and Round Rock.

Future meetings will present information on emerging technologies, workplace dynamics resulting from employee generational differences, characteristics of highly effective work environments, developing cultural competencies in an increasingly diverse and global world, and effective communication, problem solving, and teambuilding. Each meeting will provide an opportunity for a College of Medicine department or unit to present information about its operation.

College of Medicine staff members are encouraged to become involved in Resource Team activities. Service opportunities include participation in committees addressing programming, professional development and mentoring, and challenges and opportunities.

For more information on “The Resource Team,” contact Theresa Ralston at ralston@medicine.tamhsc.edu.

Basic Science

MICROBIAL & MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS

Grants Received

Dr. Jon Skare was awarded an R01 Grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH/NIAID) entitled “Genetic Mechanisms in Borrelia burgdorferi Pathogenesis” for $1,250,000 through March 31, 2014.

Dr. James Samuel was awarded a subcontract from DoD InBiose (PI): subcontract $13,281 (phase I).

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Vernon Tesh attended the 109th meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, May 17-21, in Philadelphia, PA. The following posters were presented:

• Lentz, E.K., R.P. Cherla, V. Jaspers, and V.L. Tesh. The role of TNF-α in disease using a mouse model of Shiga toxin-mediated renal damage.
• Leyva-Illades, D., R.P. Cherla, C. Galindo, A.K. Chopra, and V.L. Tesh. Global transcriptional response of macrophage-like THP-1 cells to Shiga toxin type 1.

Dr. David McMurray was invited to the Center for TB Research at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, MD, from May 11-12 to present a seminar entitled “Vaccination modulates cytokine responses in the granulomas of tuberculous guinea pigs.” He discussed collaborative experiments being conducted in his laboratory with funding from the NIH TARGET sub-contract to JHU.

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Galveston, TX, on May 20th to discuss topics of common research interest with colleagues in the Departments of Microbiology & Immunology, and Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He presented a seminar entitled “Assessing guinea pig immune responses in the context of pulmonary tuberculosis.”

Recent Publications

Chen, C., Bouman, T.J., Beare, P.A., Mertens, K., Zhang, G.Q., Russell-Lodrigue, K.E., Hogaboam, J.P., Peters, B., Felgner, P.L., Brown, W.C., Heinzen, R.A., Hendrix, L.R., and J.E. Samuel. Candidate antigens for Q fever serodiagnosis revealed by immunoscreening of a Coxiella burnetii protein microarray. 2009 Clin. Microbiol. Infect. PMID: 19281461.

Cirillo, S.L.G., Subbian, S., Chen, B., Weisbrod, T.R., Jacobs, Jr., W.R., and J.D. Cirillo. Protection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from reactive oxygen species conferred by the mel2 locus impacts persistence and dissemination. Infect. Immun. 77:2557-2567. 2009.

Kim, W., McMurray, D.N, and R.S. Chapkin. Chemotherapeutic properties of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids – old concepts and new insights. Immunol Endocr Metab Med Chem 9: 38-44, 2009.

Khounlotham, M., Subbian, S., Smith III R., Cirillo, S.L.G., and J.D. Cirillo (2009). Mycobacterium tuberculosis modulates the host response to infection through the murine EphA2 receptor. J. Infect. Dis. 199:1797-1806.

Prabhakaran, S., Liang, X., Skare, J.T., Potts, J.R., and M. Höök. A Novel Fibronectin Binding Motif in MSCRAMMs Targets F3 Modules. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5412, 2009.

Voth, D.E., Howe, D., Beare, P.A., Vogel, J.P., Unsworth, N., Samuel J.E., and R.A. Heinzen. The Coxiella burnetii ankyrin repeat domain-containing protein family is heterogeneous with C-terminal truncations that influence Tot/Icm-mediated secretion. 2009. J. Bacteriol. Online Access. PMID: 19411324.

Wu, Y.-C., Bian, X.-L., Heaton, P.R., Deyrieux, A.F., and V.G. Wilson. Host Sumoylation Level Influences Papillomavirus E2 Protein Stability. Virology 387:176-183, 2009.

MOLECULAR & CELLULAR MEDICINE

Scientific Presentations

Dr. J. Martin Scholtz presented a lecture entitled "Electrostatic Effects in Proteins: Charges and Consequences" at the 14th Annual Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics Symposium in Galveston, Texas on March 27, 2009.

Dr. Sarah Bondos gave an invited talk entitled “Using a Drosophila Transcription Factor to Generate, Functionalize, and Pattern Extensible Protein-based Materials” at the 17th Annual Texas Protein Folders Meeting in Navasota, TX on April 24-26, 2009.

Dr. Siegfried Musser gave an invited talk at the "Nucleocytoplasmic Interactions" Conference (Tourtour, France), coordinated through the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg, Germany), sponsored by the Fondation des Treilles (May 25-29). The talk was titled: "Single Molecule Studies of Nucleocytoplasmic Transport."

The Bondos lab presented three posters at the 17th Annual Texas Protein Folders meeting in Navasota, TX on April 24-26, 2009.

• A. Huang and S.E. Bondos presented "Structured Region of Hox Protein Ultrabithorax Activation Domai Regulates Large Disordered Region"
• Z.G. Huang, A.M. Greer, A. Oriakhi, Y. Lu, A. Brawley, J. Patterson, J. Lou, K.S. Matthews, and S.E. Bondos presented "Using a Drosophila Transcription Factor to Penerate, Functionalize, and Pattern extensible Protein-based Material"
• Y. Liu, K.S. Matthews, and S.E. Bondos presented "Regulating Tissue-Specific DNA Binding by Protein Interaction and Alternative Splicing"

The Pace/Scholtz lab presented a poster at the 17th Annual Texas Protein Folders meeting in Navasota, TX on April 24-26, 2009 co-authored by R. Thurlkill, J.M. Scholtz, and C.N. Pace entitled "Buried Hydrogen Bonds and Buried Hydrophobic Pockets Contribute to the Stability of Proteins."

The Johnson lab presented one poster at the 17th Annual Texas Protein Folders meeting in Navasota, TX on April 24-26, 2009 co-authored by A.L. Karamyshev, A.E. Patrick, A.E. Johnson, and P.J. Thomas entitled "Identification of Proteins Involved in Interactions with the CFTR Nascent Chain."

Recent Publications

Pace, C.N., Grimsley, G.R., and J.M. Scholtz. (2009) Protein ionizable groups: pK values and their contribution to protein stability and solubility. J Biol Chem. 284: 13285-13289.

Flanagan, J.J., Tweten, R.K., Johnson, A.E., and A.P. Heuck. (2009) Cholesterol exposure at the membrane surface is necessary and sufficient to trigger perfringolysin O binding. Biochemistry 48: 3977-3987.

Belmadani, S., Matrougui, K., Kolz, C., Pung, Y.F., Palen, D., Prockop, D.J., and W.M Chilian. (2009) Amplification of coronary arteriogenic capacity of multipotent stromal cells by epidermal growth factor. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 29: 802-808.

NEUROSCIENCE & EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

Faculty

Dr. Reddy served as a charter member of the NIH study section ANIE (Acute Neuronal Injury and Epilepsy) reviewing several grants for the June 11-12, 2009 meeting.

Dr. Reddy served as an ad hoc member of the NIH study section CNNT (Clinical neuroplasticity and neurotransmitters) reviewing several grants for the June 4-5, 2009 meeting.

Dr. Reddy serves as executive editor for the Internal Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Nanotechnology.

Dr. Reddy was appointed as an editorial board member and review editor for the Frontiers in Neuroscience journals.

Dr. Sohrabji was the spotlight speaker at the “New Development in Geriatric Research and Practice Symposium” in College Station, TX on May 8, 2009.

Dr. Sohrabji was interviewed by WTAW for Women’s Health Week.

Recent Publications

Hubbard, J.K. Book Review of: Snell RS: Clinical Neuroanatomy 7th Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. For Doody's Review Service (on-line). Available at http://www.doody.com.

Gangisetty, O. and Reddy D.S. The optimization of TaqMan real-time RT-PCR assay for transcriptional profiling of GABA-A receptor subunit plasticity. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2009 May 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Reddy, D.S. Steroid hormones and sex differences in seizure susceptibility. In: Encyclopedia of Basic Epilepsy Research (Edited by P. Schwartzkroin), Elsevier 2009, vol 1, pp. 526-533. Book Chapter.

Son, J.H. and U.H. Winzer-Serhan. Chronic neonatal nicotine exposure increases mRNA expression of neurotrophic factors in the postnatal rat hippocampus. Brain Res. Apr 30. 2009. [Epub ahead of print].

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY & TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Awards

Honey Golden won first place in the junior poster division at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Graduate Student Organization 14th Annual Student Research Symposium in April 2009.

Heather Francis won second place in the junior poster division at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Graduate Student Organization 14th Annual Student Research Symposium in April 2009.

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Anatoliy A. Gashev gave an invited presentation “Mechanisms of the age-related alterations in lymphatic pumping” at the Third Annual National Institutes of Health/National Institutes of Aging DAB New Investigators Forum in Bethesda, Maryland.

Clinical Science

INTERNAL MEDICINE

Scientific Presentations

Dr. Alpini presented an invited state-of-the-art lecture on the “Recent advances on cholangiocyte pathophysiology” for the Department of Human Anatomy at the University of the Studies of Rome on May 14, 2009.

Dr. Alpini presented an invited lecture on the state-of-the-art of cholangiocytes research entitled “Functional heterogeneity of the intrahepatic biliary epithelium at the the hepatic stem / progenitor cell niche” during the annual meeting of the IUAP-VI network HEPRO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Medical Campus Jette, May 18, 2009.

Awards

Dr. Alpini was named to the editorial board of the Open Access Journal of Hepatology.

Recent Publications

Frankel, A.E., Kuo, S.R., Dostal, D., Watson, L., Duesbery, N.S., Cheng, C.P., Cheng, H.J., and S.H. Leppla. Pathophysiology of anthrax. Front Biosci. 2009, 14:4516-24.

Glaser, S.S. and G. Alpini. Activation of the cholehepatic shunt as a potential therapy for primary sclerosing cholangitis. Hepatology. 2009 Mar 19;49(6):1795-1797. [Epub ahead of print]

Glaser, S.S., Gaudio, E., Rao, A., Pierce, L.M., Onori, P., Franchitto, A., Francis, H.L., Dostal, D.E., Venter, J.K., DeMorrow, S., Mancinelli, R., Carpino, G., Alvaro, D., Kopriva, S.E., Savage, J.M., and G.D. Alpini. Morphological and functional heterogeneity of the mouse intrahepatic biliary epithelium. Lab Invest. 2009, 89(4):456-69.

Golden, H.B., Watson, L.E., Lal, H., Verma, S.K., Foster, D.M., Kuo, S.R., Sharma, A., Frankel, A., and D.E. Dostal. Anthrax toxin: pathologic effects on the cardiovascular system. Front. Biosci. 2009. 14:2335-57.

Lal, H., Verma, S.K., Foster D.M., Golden, H.B., Reneau, J.C., Watson, L.E., Singh, H., and D.E. Dostal. Integrins and proximal signaling mechanisms in cardiovascular disease. Front. Biosci. 2009. 14:2307-34.

Strazzabosco, M., Fiorotto, R., Melero, S., Glaser, S., Francis, H., Spirlfi, C., and G. Alpini. Differentially expressed adenylyl cyclase isoforms mediate secretory functions in cholangiocyte subpopulation. Hepatology. 2009 Mar 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Academic Medicine

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