From the Dean

Dear Faculty and Staff:

As many of you now know, I have accepted a position with West Virginia University as the Chancellor for the WVU Health Science Center and will resign my position as Dean of the College of Medicine and Vice President for Clinical Affairs effective November 1, 2009.

I have been fortunate to be part of this outstanding organization for nearly seven years as dean. During that time, we have expanded our physical campuses with new facilities under construction and doubled our class size while maintaining the quality and diversity of the entering class. We have established clinical rotations on the Bryan-College Station, Round Rock and Houston campuses, increased our number of research faculty and total research expenditures including the establishment of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and developed Texas A&M Physicians, the College of Medicine Practice Plan. We also have reorganized the basic science departments into a more interdisciplinary model and implemented a new medical education curriculum and curricular database.

Simply put, together we have advanced all areas of our mission because you commit yourselves to expanding the boundaries of medicine, maintain our centers of excellence and elevate the level of care in our communities. Most importantly, you will continue to educate students whose futures are bright with the results of your efforts.

You should receive information from Dr. Dickey soon regarding next steps and the appointment of an interim dean who can continue to lead the College’s efforts while a national search is conducted. I will work closely with Dr. Dickey to ensure a smooth transition. I am confident in your continued success and bolstered by the outstanding quality of our faculty, staff and students. With your steadfast efforts I am certain that you will continue to set the pace of exceptional medical education, research and clinical care.

Kathy and I want to thank all of you for making us part of the “Aggie Tradition.” We have been blessed by your support.

Sincerely,

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

Dates to Remember

• September 18: Dean’s Monthly Staff Meeting, College Station only, 9 a.m.-noon
• October 1: Executive Committee Meeting, various locations, 3 p.m.
• October 13: Farewell Reception for Dean Colenda, Temple, location and time TBA
• October 15: Farewell Reception for Dean Colenda, College Station, RMB, 3:30-5 p.m.

College News

HBO’s The Alzheimer’s Project coming soon

The College of Medicine is proud to present a screening of the HBO documentary, The Alzheimer’s Project. Screenings will be on four consecutive Mondays, beginning September 21, 2009, and ending October 12, 2009, in Lecture Hall 1 of the Reynolds Medical Building, starting at 6:00 p.m.

The screening schedule is as follows:

September 21 The Memory Loss Tapes

This showing provides an up-close and personal look at seven individuals living with Alzheimer’s throughout the progression of the disease.

September 28 Momentum in Science – Part I

Momentum in Science is a two-part state-of-the-science film that takes viewers inside the laboratories and clinics of 25 leading scientists and physicians, revealing some of the most cutting-edge research advances.

October 5 Momentum in Science – Part 2

October 12 Caregivers

Caregivers highlights the sacrifices and successes of people who experience their loved one’s descent into dementia.

Following each screening, a question and answer session will be hosted by faculty members of HSC-College of Medicine who are experts in Alzheimer’s research, treatment and care.

Light refreshments will be served. Free parking is available in Lot 73 behind the Reynolds Medical Building.There is no charge for this event; however, seating is limited and reservations are recommended.

Please RSVP online by email to bklong@medicine.tamhsc.edu.

For questions, contact Brenda Long at 979-845-8526.

Students

Run for Fun—and a Good Cause

On Saturday, October 3, the Texas Medical Association will host the 4th Annual TMA Healthy Heart 5k Fun Run. All proceeds are donated to the Health for All Clinic in College Station and Martha’s Clinic in Temple. More details coming soon.

Faculty

Ji Hired as Assistant Professor

The Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine is pleased to announce that Jun-yuan Ji, PhD has been hired as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Ji joined the department in September 2009. He received his BS in Cell Biology from Lanzhou University in 1994, and a MS in Developmental Biology from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1997, where he worked in the laboratory of Professor Fang-zhen Sun. He obtained his PhD in Zoology from the University of Washington at Seattle in 2003 working with Professor Gerold Schubiger. His postdoctoral work was with Professor Nicholas Dyson’s laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School.

Using Drosophila and cultured human cancer cell lines as model systems, Dr. Ji has been working on the molecular and genetic regulatory circuits that control cell proliferation during development and tumorigenesis. By performing genetic screens using Drosophila, he identified CDK8 (Cyclin-dependent kinase 8) as a potent inhibitor of E2F1, which is a key transcription factor that regulates the G1 to S-phase transition. His laboratory will combine genetic, cell biological, and biochemical approaches to study the functions and regulation of CDK8-CycC in an effort to better understand the processes of normal development as well as cancer and tumor growth. His work has appeared in a number of top journals including Nature, Current Biology, Development and Genetics.

Gupta Hired as Assistant Professor

The Division of Molecular Cardiology welcomes new faculty member Sudhiranjan Gupta, Ph.D. Dr. Gupta joined the Division in June, 2009, as an Assistant Professor from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. His general research interests include molecular signaling of cardiac hypertrophy, role of NF-κB in cardiac remodeling, role of Integrin link kinase (ILK) and its associated protein complex in cardiac remodeling, cross-talk between cardiac cells in cardiac disease, and pharmacological and genetic intervention of cardiac hypertrophy.

He is currently exploring the underlying molecular mechanism of ECM regulation by NF-κB utilizing both in vitro and in vivo systems. Dr. Gupta is also investigating how thymosin β4, or related pathway members, protect tissues from cardiac damage. He uses a combination of genetic, molecular biology and biochemistry, transgenic and cell culture systems to comprehensively investigate and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of cardiac hypertrophy and its remodeling. Dr. Gupta’s research is funded by a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association.

Administration

Key Legislators Land in Temple to Tour COM Facilities and IRM

On Wednesday, September 2, 2009, Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus and Representative Ralph Sheffield traveled to Temple to tour Scott & White and College of Medicine facilities including the Institute for Regenerative Medicine. HSC and COM leaders including, Dr. Nancy Dickey, Dr. Christopher Colenda and Dr. Donald Wesson accompanied Straus and Sheffield throughout the afternoon.

One of the last stops on the tour was the IRM where director Dr. Darwin Prockop welcomed Straus and Sheffield with an informal presentation of the IRM’s work and a tour of some of the facilities. Straus described the Health Science Center, the College of Medicine and the IRM as “important assets” for Texas.

A more detailed article of the Speaker’s visit can be found in the Temple Daily Telegram at http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/09/03/60356.

 

Basic Science

Humanities in Medicine

Hispanic Heritage Month – In Celebration

On September 16, 2009, 12:00-1:00 p.m in Lecture Hall II, The Center for the Study of Health Disparities in collaboration with the Mexican American Latino Research Center at Texas A&M University and The Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Department of Humanities in Medicine presents Transdisciplinary Roundtable – Fall 2009, The Research to Practice Circle: Preventing Type 2 Diabetes Among American Youth.

Dr. Roberto P. Treviño, Executive Director, Social and Health Research Center and Founder and Medical Director of the San Antonio Institute of Medicine will lead the roundtable discussion. Dr. Treviño has spent over a decade in medical practice, research, and advocacy aimed at reducing obesity and the susceptibility to type 2 diabetes among youth. He will discuss results from his randomized controlled trial titled, The Bienestar/NEEMA Coordinated School-Based Diabetes Prevention Program. Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the program. Detailed information soon to be released.

The John P. McGovern Humanities Seminar Series

Because of the generous endowment from the John P. McGovern Foundation the Department of Humanities in Medicine is able to offer to College of Medicine students, faculty and staff several outstanding presentations during the academic year as part of the John P. McGovern Humanities Seminar Series. While some of these presentations will be given during the Phase I curriculum, they will also be available to faculty, staff and the interested public.

September 22, 2009, 12:00-1:00 p.m. in LH I and II College Station, MEC LH I and LH II, Room 202A IBT, Conference Room RR and Room 618 BCD, David Bolinsky, Co-Founder XVIVO Scientific Animation, Rocky Hill Connecticut, will present “Animating Life”. This will be a truly unique presentation demonstrating state-of-the-art graphics and animation to illustrate molecular science and medicine.

September 29, 2009, 1:00-2:00 p.m. in LH I and II College Station, MEC LH I and II Temple, Room 202 A IBT, Conference Room RR and Room 618 BDC, Dax Cowart, J.D., will present a very special presentation “Autonomy and Disability.” Dax Cowart is a nationally prominent speaker with a heart-wrenching life story. It has been a few years since Dax visited the College of Medicine, so we encourage attendance for his presentation.

More detailed information will be available soon.

Medicine and Humanities Consultation Series

The Medicine and Humanities Consultations are faculty development conferences sponsored by the Department of Humanities in Medicine and the Scott & White Hospital Ethics Committee. Consultations engage clinicians of medicine, nurses, social workers, clergy, and academic humanists in in-depth exposure to ethical issues. We anticipate the approval of 4 hours Physician Continuing Medical Education Credit, Continuing Nurses Education Credit and Social Worker Continuing Education Credit. These informal discussions are led by an invited guest facilitator and are held in the Longhorn Room, Stagecoach Inn, Salado, Texas from 1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. with the next on September 14, 2009. The topic will be “Schweitzer and Professional Values” facilitated by O. J. Sahler, M.D. To be placed on the announcement list please send e-mail to Tina Price at price@medicine.tamhsc.edu.

October 26, 2009
James H. Jones, M.D.
Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

December 7, 2009
David Lakey, M.D., M.P.H.
Allocation of Limited Resources in Pandemics

February 15, 2010
John Ford, MB
Clinical Applications for Medical History

March 29, 2010
J. James Rohack, M.D.
Healthcare Reform in the United States

May 3, 2010
Fred Hafferty, Ph.D.
Obesity in America: Behavioral of Medical Education and Residency Training

July 12, 2010
TBA
Osler Birthday Celebration

 

Other Upcoming Events

October 20, 2009
Michael A. Excamilla, M.D.
“Ethics in Genetics Research: Ethical Challenges in Psychiatric Genetic Research”

November 24, 2009
Admiral Robert Kiser, M.D.
US NAVY
"NePhysician Insecurity"

 

MICROBIAL & MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS

Publications

Cherla, R.P., S.-Y. Lee, R.A. Mulder, M.-S. Lee, and V.L. Tesh. Shiga toxin 1 induced proinflammatory cytokine production is regulated by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway. Infection and Immunity 77:3919-3931 (2009).

Jeevan A, Bonilla DL, McMurray DN. (2009) Expression of interferon-g and tumor necrosis factor-a messenger RNA does not correlate with protection in guinea pigs challenged with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis by the respiratory route. Immunology 128:e296-e305.

Meetings, Seminars and Presentations

Dr. James Samuel and Dr. Laura Hendrix attended the American Society for Rickettsiology 23rd Annual Meeting from August 15-18, 2009, in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Dr. Samuel presided as President of this meeting. There were five posters presented by members of their lab:

K. Mertens, J. Berg and J.E. Samuel. Complementation of a natural katE mutation in Coxiella burnetii Nine Mile enhances growth in murine macrophages.

N. Unsworth, S.C. Kwiatkowski, and J.E. Samuel. Type IV pilus gene dependent type II secretion of Coxiella burnetii.

Y. Zhang, G. Zhang, L.R. Hendrix, and J.E. Samuel. Coxiella burnetii phage II induces a low level of apoptosis in an early stage of infection via a caspase-independent pathway in human THP-1 cells.

C.Chen, C. Dow, J. Zhang, J.E. Samuel and B. Peters. Characterization of the H-2-Ab restricted C. burnetii CD4+ T cell epitopes: Intricate linkage between antibody production and CD4+ T cells specificities.

J.E. Hill and J.E. Samuel. Coxiella burnetii acid phosphatase: inhibiting the release of reactive oxygen intermediates in polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Dr. David McMurray attended the quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation in Rockville, MD, from 24-25 August.

Grants

Dr. Helene Andrews-Polymenis received a notice of award on a R21 NIH grant entitled “Genetics of Salmonella Resistance to the Inflammatory Response in the Gut” for $436,000.

MOLECULAR & CELLULAR MEDICINE

Faculty

Dr. Kayla Bayless presented a seminar on New Insights into Activation of the Angiogenic Switch for the Department of Molecular & Cellular Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center on August 17, 2009.

Dr. Siegfried Musser presented a talk entitled Choreography of Importin alpha/CAS Complex Assembly and Disassembly at the NPC at the 2009 International Meeting on Nuclear Trafficking Conference in Banff, Canada from August 24-29, 2009.

Recent Publications

Maxwell, S.A., Li, Z., Jaya, D., Ballard, S., Ferrell, J., and Fu, H. (2009) 14-3-3zeta mediates resistance of diffuse large B cell lymphoma to an anthracycline-based chemotherapeutic regimen. J. Biol. Chem. 284(33):22379-22389. Epub 2009 Jun 12.

NEUROSCIENCE & EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

Grants

D. Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, received an NIH-NINDS grant totaling $308,844 for Progesterone receptors and seizure susceptibility for the year August 1, 2009-July 31, 2010.

Grants Reviewed

D. Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, reviewed research grants for the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand, Research Grant Program 2009.

Service

D. Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, was named as coordinator for the Special Interest Group on Neuroendocrinology at the American Epilepsy Society annual meeting to be held December 2009. Reddy will also serve as chair of the symposium on “new drug discovery and development” at the 61st Indian Pharmaceutical Congress meeting in December 2009.

• Member, Scientific Review Committee, 61st Indian Pharmaceutical Congress meeting 2009.
• Review Editor, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience journal
• Executive Editor, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Nanotechnology (working on manuscripts for new issue in October).

Farida Sohrabji, PhD, was invited to serve on the Editorial Board of Endocrinology for term 2010-2013.

Presentations

Gerald D. Frye, PhD, presented A conversation about your questions: #1. Why some PD drugs are used in combinations #2. How PD drugs might affect thought patterns #3. Consequences of long-term PD drug use to the Cen-Tex Parkinson’s Support Group at St. Joseph’s Rehab Center on August 23, 2009.

Ian Murray, PhD, presented Detection and prevention of lipid oxidative damage in Alzheimer's disease at the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology on August 13, 2009.

Publications

Farnell, Y.Z., Allen, G.C., Neuendorff N., West, J.R., Wei-Jung, A.C., Earnest, D.J. (2009) Effects of Neonatal Alcohol Exposure on Vasoactive-Intestinal Polypeptide Neurons in the Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. Alcohol 43:387-396.

George C.Y. Chiou, PhD, was featured in the Texas Aggie Magazine July/August 2009 issue. The article, Seeing the Future by Stephanie Jeter, described Chiou's research and development of dry AMD drugs.

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Awards and Appointments

Jerome P. Trzeciakowski was appointed to the editorial board of Circulation Research in the role of statistical consultant. See more at http://circres.ahajournals.org/misc/edboard.shtml.

Presentations

H. Wayne Sampson presented MicroRNA Regulation in Bone Tissue is Affected by Alcohol Consumption at the 39th International Bone and Mineral Society Workshop on Musculoskeletal Biology at the Sun Valley Inn in Sun Valley, Idaho in August 2009.

Vincent VanBuren was invited to present New Bioinformatics Tools for Systems Biology at the 4th Annual Medical Biotech Forum in Dalian, China in August 2009.

Clinical Science

Internal Medicine

Poster Presentations

Heather Francis received two poster presentation acceptances at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting in Boston:

• Stimulation of the H4 histamine receptor decreases cholangiocarcinoma growth and invasion via integrin-dependent mechanisms.
  Fanyin Meng, Gianfranco Alpini, Sharon DeMorrow, Gabriel A.Frampton, Julie Venter, Mellanie White, Shelley Kopriva, Valorie Chiasson, Heather Francis
• H1 (but not H3) histamine receptor agonists accelerate the regrowth of the biliary epithelium following 70% partial hepatectomy by increased cholangiocyte VEGF expression. Gianfranco Alpini, Fanyin Meng, Eugenio Gaudio, Paolo Onori, Antonio Franchitto, Julie Venter, Romina Mancinelli, Shelley Kopriva, Cynthia J. Meininger, Heather Francis

Publications

Gianfranco Alpini published Changes in the endocannabinoid system may give insight into new and effective treatments for cancer.
Alpini G, Demorrow S.
Vitam Horm. 2009;81:469-85.

Conferences and Sessions

Gianfranco Alpini attended a study session at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism on August 11, 2009.

Grants

Shannon Glaser's NIH Grant for The Role of the Renin-Angiotensin System in the Regulation of Biliary Proliferation was funded at $225,000 per year for 2 years.