From the Interim Dean

Colleagues, Faculty, Staff and Students,

While most students are on spring break, we are hard at work. In fact, some of our students are spending their vacation in Uganda for a medical mission. They are joined by College of Medicine alumnus Dr. Eric Wilke, class of ’95, a co-founder of Martha’s Clinic in Temple. Good luck to our folks in the field as they reach out to the underserved across the world.

A special thanks to Brenda Long of the Office of Institutional Advancement for her hard work last week organizing this year’s Magnolia Tea. The sunny weather was the perfect backdrop for keynote speaker, Texas First Lady Anita Perry, and by all accounts, the event was a success.

 

I also encourage the faculty to attend the Inaugural Scholarly Day in Round Rock on March 24. This program provides our third-year students an opportunity to present scholarly work specifically geared toward competencies in multiple disciplines. Among the presentations, HSC President Dr. Nancy Dickey will bring remarks from the Health Science Center, and Dr. James Rohack will speak on health care reform. Many thanks to Drs. Shabahang, Zimmer and Ogden, Bobbie Ann White, and their teams for organizing this program.

As we prepare for the many upcoming events, I encourage you to keep up the great work that you are doing for your departments and for the college.

Sincerely,

Edward J. Sherwood, M.D.
Interim Dean
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: sherwood@medicine.tamhsc.edu

Dates to Remember

• 3/18 - Match Day College Station: 11 a.m., Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Dr.
• 3/18 - Match Day Temple: 9:30 a.m., Cultural Activities Center, Strasburger Hall, 3011 N. 3rd St.
• 3/24 - Inaugural Scholarly Day:12-5 p.m., Round Rock, St. David’s Auditorium
• 4/8 - Dr. Sam H. Black Legacy Society Unveiling: Reynolds Lobby
• 5/21 - Commencement Rehearsal: 2:00 p.m., Rudder Auditorium
• 5/22 - Commencement: 2:00 p.m., Rudder Auditorium

College News

Texas First Lady Anita Perry Emphasizes Healthy Lifestyles at Magnolia Tea

On Tuesday, March 9, Texas First Lady Mrs. Anita Perry was hosted by the College of Medicine and the Texas A&M System Chancellor’s wife, Mrs. Lou Ann McKinney, for the college’s sixth Magnolia Tea luncheon benefiting women’s health research at the college.

More than 100 guests showed up at the Chancellor’s home, the Reed House in College Station, to celebrate healthy lifestyles and health related research at the College of Medicine. Guests were escorted through a saber arch by some of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Ross Volunteers, and many of the attendees sported brightly colored hats, a Magnolia Tea tradition.

Health Science Center President Dr. Nancy W. Dickey welcomed everyone and highlighted examples of current research. Mrs. Perry then spoke on the importance of healthy lifestyles for women citing the annual Texas Round-Up, a statewide fitness initiative helping Texans become active and more physically fit, and the renowned Texas Conference for Women, an educational and networking event for women that she and Governor Perry founded.

For the second year, Mrs. McKinney, Chancellor’s Circle members and friends have raised money for a Magnolia Tea scholarship to be awarded to an outstanding female student in the College of Medicine. This year’s recipient was Lisa Chapa, an M2 from McAllen, Texas.

Mary Mike Hatcher of Bryan Broadcasting was guest emcee.

 

(Left to Right:) Mrs. Lou Ann McKinney, First Lady Anita Perry, Ms. Lisa Chapa and HSC President Dr. Nancy Dickey

Temple Students Hold Cadaver Memorial

On February 2, Temple students gathered for their 2010 Cadaver Memorial. Dr. John Hubbard was the guest speaker. Class CEO Travis Anthony offered comments, and one member from each tank group spoke to honor the individuals who donated their bodies to the college. Students who spoke were: Drew Benac, Varghese Mathukutty, Aaron Schmitt, Jonathan Seale, Millie Bittenbinder, Suraj Sunder, Rishi Malla and Christopher Lee. Class Vice President Laura Weaver closed the memorial with a moment of silence and closing remarks.

 

Latest News from the Center of Excellence

 

Dr. John Klocek, the VISN 17 Center of Excellence Treatment Core Leader, completed the VA Prolonged Exposure training for VISNs 17 and 18. As a COE Core Leader and investigator, Dr. Klocek will play a significant role in providing treatment oversight to clinicians and providers participating in clinical research who treat veterans with PTSD, TBI, substance abuse and other significant disorders. Outcome data will provide valuable information to researchers as the VISN 17 COE seeks ways to help veterans facing various mental health challenges.

 

Faculty

In Print and On Air: Bix Featured in Science News

Dr. Gregory Bix, Assistant Professor Department of Molecular & Cellular Medicine and the Department of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics was featured in the Feb. 26 edition of Science News, a print and online journal. More information about his work with a compound that might facilitate stroke recovery is available online.

Dr. Bix has also been invited to speak at the 13th International Symposium Signal Transduction in the Blood-Brain Barrier to be held in Zurich, Switzerland from September 2-4, 2010.

Students

A delegation of College of Medicine students from the Christian Medical Association (CMA) and sponsored by alumnus Dr. Eric Wilke ’95 has arrived in Kampala, Uganda this week for a medical mission. Look for photos coming soon to the COM facebook page.

Basic Science

HUMANITIES IN MEDICINE

Workshops Conducted

Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH, professor, Department of Humanities in Medicine, gave a scientific-writing workshop in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, on January 14 and 15. The workshop was sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Office of Fellows Career Development and the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Attendees included approximately 80 postdoctoral fellows and others from NIEHS and nearby universities.

Publications

Gul A. Russell, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Humanities in Medicine
After Galen: Late antiquity and the Islamic World in History of Neurology (Handbook of Clinical Neurology, vol. 95, 3rd series). Elsevier (2010), chap. VI, pp. 49-61.

MICROBIAL & MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS

Grants

Jon Skare received a non-competitive renewal for an R01 application (AI-58086) entitled “Host Spirochete Interactions in Lyme Disease” for the time frame of March 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011.

Conferences

Dr. Margie Martinez-Moczygemba attended the 5th International Conference on SUMO, Ubiquitin, UBL Proteins: Implications for Human Diseases on February 10-13 in Houston, TX and presented a research poster entitled “Ubiquitination controls IL-5 receptor endocytosis and signaling”. It was co-authored by J.T. Lei and T. Mazumdar.

Dr. Margie Martinez-Moczygemba attended the 2010 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology on February 26-March 2 in New Orleans, LA and presented a talk entitled “βc ubiquitination is a molecular signature for IL-5 receptor endocytosis and signaling”. It was co-authored by J.T. Lei and T. Mazumdar.

Dr. James Samuel, Dr. Laura Hendrix, and Dr. Katja Mertens attended a WRCE Meeting in Galveston on February 28.

The Skare laboratory attended the Gordon Research Conference on the “Biology of Spirochetes” in Ventura, CA from January 31-February 5, 2010. The following presentations were made at the conference:

1. Dr. Jenny Hyde presented a poster entitled: “Characterization of conditional and conventional mutants of bosR in Borrelia burgdorferi”. The co-authors were J. Hyde, D. Shaw, R. Smith, J. Trzeciakowski, and J. Skare.
2. Ms. Dana Shaw presented a poster entitled: “BelA, an exported lipase of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi”. The co-authors were D. Shaw, J. Hyde and J. Skare.
   Ms. Shaw was also selected to a “Late Breaking Session” talk based on the abstract she submitted to the GRC.
3. Ms. Jing Wu presented a poster entitled: “Borrelia burgdorferi adheres to a₁b₁ integrins”. The co-authors were J. Wu, E. Weening, J. Faske, M. Höök and J. Skare.

MOLECULAR & CELLULAR MEDICINE

Faculty

Dr. Sarah Bondos presented a poster entitled "Ultrabithorax, an Intrinsically Disordered Protein, Selects Protein Interactions by Topology" for the Genetics Recruiting weekend on February 11-13, 2010. It was co-authored by H.C. Hsiao, D.J.C. Catanese, Jr., and K.S. Matthews

Dr. Siegfried Musser attended the 2010 Biophysical Society 54th Annual Meeting in San Francisco from February 20-24. He presented a poster titled "Choreography of Importin /CAS Complex Assembly and Disassembly at the Nuclear Pore Complex".

Dr. Sarah Bondos attended the 2010 Biophysical Society 54th Annual Meeting in San Francisco from February 20-24. She presented a poster entitled "Reverse Regulation: Controlling Intrinsically Disordered Domains with Structured Elements". It was co-authored by Y. Lu, A. Huang, and J. McIntyre.

Dr. Allison Ficht presented a talk for the session on Novel Vaccine Approaches at the 8th Annual ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Baltimore Maryland on February 20-24, 2010. The presentation was entitled ".Microencapsulated Vaccines".

Recent Publications

Bille, C., Pedersen, D.A., Andersen, A.M., Mansilla, M.A., Murray, J.C., Christensen, K., Ballard, J.L., Gorman, E.B., Cabrera, R.M., and Finnell, R.H. (2010). Autoantibodies to Folate Receptor alpha during Early Pregnancy and Risk of Oral Clefts in Denmark. Pediatr Res. 67(3): 274-279.

Rice-Ficht, A.C., Arenas-Gamboa, A.M., Kahl-McDonagh, M.M., and Ficht, T.A. (2010) Polymeric Particles in Vaccine Delivery. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 13(1): 106-112 Epub 2010 Jan 13.

Dae Cho, S., Lee, S.O., Chintharlapalli, S., Abdelrahim, M., Khan, S., Yoon, K., Kamat, A.M., and Safe, S. (2010) Activation of Nerve Growth Factor-Induced B{alpha} by Methylene-Substituted Diindolylmethanes in Bladder Cancer Cells Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Tumor Growth. Mol Pharmacol. 77(3): 396-404. Epub 2009 Dec 18.

Li, X.Y., Lu, Y., Sun, H.Y., Wang, J.Q., Yang, J., Zhang, H.J., Fan, N.G., Xu, J., Jiang, J.J., Liu, R.Y., Li, D.L., Liu, M., and G. Ning (2010) G protein-coupled receptor 48 upregulates estrogen receptor alpha expression via cAMP/PKA signaling in the male reproductive tract. Development 137(1):151-157. PMID: 20023170

Grants

Dr. Kayla Bayless received an Award Notice from NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute for funding of Grant #1R01HL095786 entitled "Mechanisms of Angiogenic Switch Activation during Wound Repair." The Project Period extends from 02/01/2010 to 01/31/2015 with $362,534 awarded annually.

NEUROSCIENCE & EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

Meetings and Presentations

William H. Griffith, Ph.D. attended the 22nd Annual Winter Conference on Neural Plasticity in Aruba, Caribbean on February 6-13, 2010 and presented a symposium talk entitled, “G-protein modulation of ion channels and synaptic transmission in the basal forebrain during aging”.

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY & TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Awards and Appointments

Xin Wu received an award for ‘top-scoring oral abstracts’ in Scientific Sessions 2009, American Heart Association for his abstract entitled: Cardiac myosin binding protein C regulates cross-bridge kinetics to affect diastolic function.

Sanjukta Chakraborty was awarded the Pappenheimer Postdoctoral Travel Award from the Microcirculatory Society. This award will cover her to travel to the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting in Anaheim, California in April.

Publications

Gashev AA, Davis MJ, Gasheva OY, Nepiyushchikh ZV, Wang W, Dougherty P, Kelly KA, Cai S, von der Weid PY, Muthuchamy M, Meininger CJ, Zawieja DC. Methods for lymphatic vessel culture and gene transfection. Microcirculation. 2009 16(7): 615-628. *Figure 7 from this paper used for cover page figure.

Yang Y, Wu X, Wu J, Sheng JZ, Ling S, Braun AP, George E. Davis GE, Davis MJ. α5β1 integrin activation increases BK channel current and Ca2+ sensitivity through c-Src mediated channel phosphorylation. J Biol Chem. 2010, 285:131-141.

Presentations

Soon-Mi Lim, Jerome P. Trzeciakowski, and Andreea Trache presented a poster entitled “Adaptive cellular remodeling to mechanical stimulation” at the 49th Annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, San Diego, California, December 2009.

Carl W. Tong, Xin Wu, JC Ralphe, JA Scherman, Mariappan Muthuchamy, HH Valdivia, and RL Moss gave an oral presentation entitled “Cardiac myosin binding protein C regulates cross-bridge kinetics to affect diastolic function” at Scientific Sessions 2009, American Heart Association. The abstract was published in Circulation. 2009, 120:S871.

Soon-Mi Lim, Jerome P. Trzeciakowski, and Andreea Trache presented a poster entitled “Mechanically induced cell signaling stimulates real-time cytoskeleton remodeling” at the Biophysical Society Meeting, San Francisco, California, February 2010.

Xin Wu, Gerald A. Meininger, and Mariappan Muthuchamy gave an oral presentation entitled “Fibronectin increases mouse cardiac contractility via alpha (5) beta (1) integrin” at Scientific Sessions 2009, American Heart Association. The abstract was published in Circulation. 2009, 120:S872.

Professional Service

Cynthia J. Meininger participated in NIH grant reviews as part of the Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology Study Section, February 2010.

Clinical Science

CLINICAL SIMULATION

Lectures and Presentations

Presenter, Jose F. Pliego, International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare 2010, Experience Simulation: A Rough Delivery & Experience Simulation: Drama in the ER workshops, Phoenix, AZ., January 24-26, 2010.

INTERNAL MEDICINE

Alpini

Study session with American Liver Foundation

Editorial board, International Journal of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology

Polycystic liver diseases.
Onori P, Franchitto A, Mancinelli R, Carpino G, Alvaro D, Francis H, Alpini G, Gaudio E. Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Feb 5. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 20138815 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

International Hepatology.
Glaser SS, Alpini G.
J Hepatol. 2010 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 20129691 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Vascular factors, angiogenesis and biliary tract disease.
Glaser SS, Gaudio E, Alpini G.
Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2010 Jan 13. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 20061944
Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Recent advances in the regulation of cholangiocyte proliferation and function during extrahepatic cholestasis.
Glaser SS, Onori P, Wise C, Yang F, Marzioni M, Alvaro D, Franchitto A, Mancinelli R, Alpini G, Munshi MK, Gaudio E.

G Alpini. Introduction to Mini-Symposium on Cholangiocyte Pathophysiology-Part I. Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Feb 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Recent advances in the regulation of cholangiocyte proliferation and function during extrahepatic cholestasis.
Glaser SS, Onori P, Wise C, Yang F, Marzioni M, Alvaro D, Franchitto A, Mancinelli R, Alpini G, Munshi MK, Gaudio E.
Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Talk entitled “Regulation of biliary growth by secretin”, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, February 2010.

Glaser

Editorial board, International Journal of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology

DeMorrow

Received NIH-R03 grant entitled “The role of progranulin in cholangiocarcinoma growth.” Editorial board, International Journal of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology

A PDF of Internal Medicine’s activities here is avaiable online.

Cardiovascular Research Institute Division of Molecular Cardiology

Grants and Awards

Dr. David Dostal received an Award Notice for an NIH grant entitled “Mechanical Signaling Mechanisms in Cardiac Tissue.” The award is from January 2010 to December 2013, for a total of $1,450,136.

Professional Service

Dr. David Dostal participated in the Cardiac Contractility, Hypertrophy, and Failure NIH Study Section in Washington, DC from February 2-3, 2010.

Book Chapters

Lal H, Verma SK Golden HB, Foster DM, Holt AM, and Dostal DE. Molecular Signaling Mechanisms of Myocardial Stretch: Implications for Heart Disease. In Mechanosensitivity in Cells and Tissues Volume 3: Mechanosensitivity of the Heart , Editors: Kamkin and Kiseleva, Springer pp. 55-81, 2010.

A PDF of Internal Medicine’s activities is available online.