From the Dean

To submit college, student, faculty, staff or administrative news for future editions, please Click Here. The deadline for news submission is the first Thursday of the month for inclusion in that month’s edition. The Dean’s E-News will now be published at the end of each month.

Colleagues, Faculty, Staff and Students,

Despite the scorching summer temperatures, our daily business continues, and we have accomplished much in the past few weeks. Our second-year students are back in class, and the new clinical building on the Bryan campus, which houses our Humanities Department as well as our clinical skills and psychiatry faculty, is open for business.

Kudos to Karan Chavis and Theresa Ralston for making the move work so smoothly. The Bryan campus has become a beehive of educational, research and clinical activity.

In Dallas, renovations to student space have been completed, and the space will be ready for its first round of students in December.  All clerkship coordinators have been hired and regional clerkship directors appointed.

Formal announcements about the clinical training program in Dallas were sent out on August 26 along with the announcement of Dr. Cristie Columbus as the Vice Dean for the Dallas program. Dr. Columbus and her staff are doing a terrific job of handling the myriad logistical details to be dealt with in anticipation of the arrival of our students.

In Round Rock, we welcomed Dr. Ethel Taylor, our first Preventative Medicine Fellow on August 8. Dr. Taylor comes to us from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and throughout the next year she will work with the College of Medicine, the School of Rural Public Health and the Williamson County Health District to conduct projects that unite epidemiology, preventative medicine and public health programs.

In Temple, our students hosted the annual HealthFest for Bell County children and families on August 20 and gave more than 100 immunizations and 95 sports physicals to children and hundreds of screenings to adults. A new student lounge is open and seems to be working well for our Temple based students.

Twenty-three students from all our campuses recently were awarded scholarships for the 2011-2012 year, and we are incredibly proud of their commitment to academic achievement and service to their communities.

The White Coat Project, a new program that gets our first-year students into clinical care settings from the beginning of their medical school experience, has launched in Temple and Bryan-College Station and seems to be going well. Thanks to Ruth Bush, Associate Dean for Education in Temple for coming up with this innovative idea.

We also have welcomed three new assistant deans to our leadership team: Leila Diaz, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Diversity, John Erwin, Assistant Dean for Continuing Medical Education for the Temple campus and Russell McAllister, Assistant Dean for Quality for the Temple campus.

At the same time, we say thank you to Kelly Hester, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, and Doug Venuti, Executive Associate Dean for Finance and Administration, on the occasion of their retirement. Both have been long serving memebers of our College community and have contributed much to our success over the years. We wish them both all the best.

Please take note of all of the important upcoming activities.  We have much to do in the coming months, and I thank you for your continued hard work and diligence. 

Sincerely,

T. Samuel Shomaker, M.D., J.D.
The Jean and Thomas McMullin Dean of Medicine and
Vice President for Clinical Affairs for the Texas A&M Health Science Center

Dates to Remember

• CSTAR Grand Rounds, Dr. David Huston presents “Translating Cytokine Biology into Clinical Medicine”: September 6, 2011, 12:00 p.m., HPEB LL 44, ALKB 1114, BCD 318, MEC LH1, COP 139
• Basic Science Department Chairs Meeting: September 8, 2011, 12 p.m., HPEB 1051, MEC 407C (Note change in location in Bryan.)
• Dr. Kelly Hester Retirement Reception: September 8, 2011, 3:30-5:30 p.m., HPEB 3047 A&B
• Dean’s Semi-Monthly Staff Meeting: September 13, 2011, 9-10:30 a.m., all locations
• George C. Y. Chiou Lectureship in Pharmacology, Dr. Warren Zimmer presents “Pharmacogenomics: Molecular Based Personalized Medicine”: September 15, 2011, 12p.m., HPEB LL 30, Temple MEC LH1
• MREB Scientific Open House: September 16, 2011, 4-6 p.m., MREB, Bryan
• Education Grand Rounds with Dr. Elizabeth Nelson, Baylor College of Medicine, presenting “Time Management/Negotiation and Assertiveness”: September 21, 2011, 12p.m., HPEB LL 11B with videoconferencing to Temple MEC LH1, Temple CVRI 1R01 Round Rock S100, and Dallas Roberts Building, 17th floor, Howell Room
• Rapport Society Meeting: September 30-October 2, 2011, Dallas

Save the Dates

• Faculty/Staff Meeting: October 20, 2011, 3:30-5:00 p.m., all locations
• LCME Mock Site Visit: November 16-18, 2011, Bryan-College Station, other locations TBD
• LCME SITE VISIT: February 26-March 1, 2012, Bryan-College Station, Temple, Dallas
• SACS SITE VISIT: March 6-8, 2012, Bryan-College Station, Round Rock, Dallas

College News

To submit college, student, faculty, staff or administrative news for future editions, please Click Here. The deadline for news submission is the first Thursday of the month for inclusion in that month’s edition. The Dean’s E-News will now be published at the end of each month.

Columbus Named Vice Dean of Dallas Clinical Training Program

T. Sam Shomaker, M.D., J.D., dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine, announces the appointment of Cristie Columbus, M.D., as the college’s vice dean for its Dallas clinical training program.

Dr. Columbus will lead academic activities for current students and faculty that support the college’s mission of excellence in education, research and health care delivery.

"As we seek to offer our medical students new and diverse clinical learning opportunities, Dr. Columbus and her leadership in Dallas are vital to our success as a medical school for Texas,” Dr. Shomaker said. “As vice dean, Dr. Columbus will oversee faculty recruitment, curricular offerings, student services and affiliations with health institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Since 1993, Dr. Columbus has served BUMC as the assistant director of medical education in addition to holding teaching positions at BUMC. She has lectured in many areas of infectious diseases but has a particular interest in health care epidemiology and infection control and prevention.

Among her many leadership roles for the Baylor Health Care System, she serves as assistant medical director for epidemiology and infectious diseases and emergency management and infectious diseases.

For the full article, visit TAMHSC-News

First Preventative Med Fellow Arrives

On August 8, 2011, the College of Medicine welcomed Ethel Taylor, DVM, MPH, DACVPM as the first Preventative Medicine Fellow. Dr. Taylor comes to the College of Medicine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, and for the next year she will work with the College of Medicine, the School of Rural Public Health and the Williamson County Health District to conduct projects that unite epidemiology, preventative medicine and public health programs.

Dr. Taylor will be based out of the College of Medicine’s Round Rock campus. She will examine the broader scope of disease prevention at the population level and will evaluate public health projects to ensure the wise use of limited resources and to maximize the number of people impacted by public health programs.

See TAMHSC News for the forthcoming article.

CPRIT awards cancer grants to TAMHSC, McClellan and Team

The Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health and College of Medicine received $3,235,597 in July’s grant awards by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

David McClellan, M.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine in the TAMHSC-College of Medicine, and Jane Bolin, Ph.D., J.D., RN, associate professor of health policy and management in the TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health, were awarded $2,748,008 as co-principal investigators for the project, “Enhanced Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Family Medicine Residency Program Serving Low-Income and Underserved: Translating Research Into Practice.”

The three-year evidence-based colon cancer prevention grant to Drs. McClellan and Bolin will be used to screen and educate low-income patients at risk for colon cancer while training family medicine residents in colorectal cancer screening procedures. Its goals are to increase the number of low-income rural and underserved patients receiving colon cancer screenings in the Brazos Valley, as well as the number of family medicine physicians trained to conduct colonoscopy screenings; increase the capacity of the TAMHSC-College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program to provide colonoscopies; and provide promotores (bilingual community health workers) as patient navigators.

The colorectal cancer screening project will harness several unique partnerships throughout the Brazos Valley and Texas by utilizing the significant strengths of the health science center’s Family Medicine Residency Program, School of Rural Public Health and Rural and Community Health Institute; Brazos Valley Community Action Agency; Health for All; Brazos Valley Health Partnership; Texas Life Science Foundation; Día de la Mujer Latina Inc.; and the Clinical Trials Network of Texas.

Assisting in the project from the TAMHSC-College of Medicine are John Simmons, M.D., Robert Pope, M.D., Ryan Loyd, M.D., and Christine Pinones, RN. Marcia Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., is co-investigator and director of evaluation, and Janet Helduser, M.A., is program manager.

CPRIT provided more than $72 million overall in its latest round of funding for cancer prevention programs and services and to attract top-notch cancer researchers to the state. Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing CPRIT and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas.

For the full article, visit TAMHSC-News

TAMP and FMR Reach Students at Aggieland Market

On Friday, August 26, 2011, nurses, residents and a student assistant from the College of Medicine's Texas A&M Physicians and Family Medicine Residency in Bryan reached out to the student community at Texas A&M University's semi-annual Aggieland Market.  There, the team handed out flyers about Texas A&M Physicains, magnets, hand sanitizer spray, bandage dispensers, pocket-sized CPR cards, and of course, bottled water.

Visit the College of Medicine facebook page to see the photo album. 

TAMP receives check for EHR initiative

Texas A&M Physicians (TAMP), the practice plan of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine, recently was awarded a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) incentive check of $127,500 from the CentrEast Regional Extension Center (REC) for its efforts toward adoption, implementation and progress toward meaningful use of electronic health records.

As part of the TAMHSC Rural and Community Health Institute (RCHI), the CentrEast REC provides physicians and health care professionals in 47 Central and East Texas counties technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices so they can become more meaningful users of electronic health records.

Texas A&M Physicians is working with e-MDs of Austin – a physician-led provider of electronic health records – and through the CentrEast REC for practice assessment, workflows and preparation towards its meaningful use attestation to Medicaid.

Texas A&M Physicians has invested a considerable amount of money in its electronic medical records,” said David McClellan, M.D., TAMP physician.  “This incentive check helps us offset that cost and ultimately improve patient care.”

For the full article, visit TAMHSC-News

Coleman Delivers Dickey Leadership Lecture

On July 26, 2011, Dr. William H. Coleman from Scottsboro, Alabama, delivered the Nancy W. Dickey Leadership in Medicine Lecture to the TAMHSC College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency in Bryan. Dr. Coleman is the past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and he practiced family medicine in Scottsboro for 26 years.

Bryan FMR Gets Down and Dirty for Hospice Fundraiser

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, a few of the Family Medicine Residency staff, residents and faculty from Bryan suited up for a mud volleyball game in Snook to benefit Hospice Brazos Valley. What a team!

Visit the College of Medicine Facebook page to see the photo album.

 

Faculty

To submit college, student, faculty, staff or administrative news for future editions, please Click Here. The deadline for news submission is the first Thursday of the month for inclusion in that month’s edition. The Dean’s E-News will now be published at the end of each month.

Education Grand Rounds Sept. 21

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine will host an Education Grand Rounds with featured speaker Elizabeth Nelson, M.D., at its Bryan campus with videoconferencing to Temple, Round Rock and Dallas sites.

The lecture titled “Time Management, Negotiation and Assertiveness: Three Pillars of Successful Career Management” is eligible for continuing medical education credit and will begin at 12:00 p.m. in the Health Professions Education Building room LL 11B in Bryan with videoconferencing to the following locations.

Temple: Medical Education Center lecture hall 1
Temple: Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) room 1R01
Round Rock: lecture hall S100
Dallas: Roberts Building, 17th floor, Howell Room 

Registration is required by Friday, September 16. Register to indicate if you would like a lunch.

Dr. Nelson currently serves as Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education and as Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

For more information, contact the TAMHSC College of Medicine Office of Faculty Development at (979) 436-0227.

For the full article, visit TAMHSC-News

Heavy Lifting: TAMP Doc Gill Helps Student Athletes and More

We caught up with Texas A&M Physician and Assistant Professor of Family & Community Medicine Dr. Kory Gill on August 18 at an Aggie Football practice where he was observing student athletes.  Gill is one of a team of physicians who serve Texas A&M’s more than 600 student athletes.

He also uses his special sports medicine training train residents like third-year Mandy Pockrus during her sports medicine rotation.

Students

To submit college, student, faculty, staff or administrative news for future editions, please Click Here. The deadline for news submission is the first Thursday of the month for inclusion in that month’s edition. The Dean’s E-News will now be published at the end of each month.

M4 Ovu Receives Minority Med Student Award

On July 29, 2011, Steven Ovu (second from left), a fourth-year student at the TAMHSC College of Medicine, was selected as one of 11 participants in the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) 2011 Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP), which encourages minority medical students to pursue an interest in hematology research. 

Each of the first- or second-year medical students selected for this award will receive personalized support from a research mentor and a career-development mentor and travel stipends to attend the ASH annual meeting. For an eight- to 12-week period, MMSAP participants will work closely with their mentors on a hematology-related research project and will then present their findings at ASH’s annual meeting in December, one of the largest medical meetings in the country, attracting more than 20,000 attendees each year.

Complete Press Release regarding Ovu’s receipt of the award.

Temple’s HealthFest Helps Families and Students Alike

On Saturday, August 20, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine Student Community Health Initiative (SCHI) hosted HealthFest at the Wilson Park Recreation Center in Temple.

Organized by first- and second-year medical students at the College of Medicine Temple campus, the annual family-oriented event offered immunizations for underinsured and uninsured children and free health screenings for all ages, including glucose and cholesterol screenings, blood pressure and body mass index checks.

According to Joey Carlin, SCHI President and second-year student, more than 100 children received immunizations, 95 received sports physicals, and hundreds of adults were screened for body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels.

“Health Fest was truly an awesome opportunity to serve and apply some of the things we learned during the first few weeks of medical school,” said first-year student Sam Han.  “It was amazing to finally serve the community through the clinic.”

“I value the experience I gained from HealthFest, as the opportunity to administer immunizations to children was meaningful and educational,” said first-year student LeeAnne Feher.  “It was exciting to serve my new community in this capacity, which truly makes a difference in the health and well-being of the youth in this area.”

For the full article, visit TAMHSC-News

Administration

To submit college, student, faculty, staff or administrative news for future editions, please Click Here. The deadline for news submission is the first Thursday of the month for inclusion in that month’s edition. The Dean’s E-News will now be published at the end of each month.

Columbus Named Vice Dean of Dallas Clinical Training Program

T. Sam Shomaker, M.D., J.D., dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine, announces the appointment of Cristie Columbus, M.D., as the college’s vice dean for its Dallas clinical training program.

Dr. Columbus will lead academic activities for current students and faculty that support the college’s mission of excellence in education, research and health care delivery.

“As we seek to offer our medical students new and diverse clinical learning opportunities, Dr. Columbus and her leadership in Dallas are vital to our success as a medical school for Texas,” Dr. Shomaker said. “As vice dean, Dr. Columbus will oversee faculty recruitment, curricular offerings, student services and affiliations with health institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Since 1993, Dr. Columbus has served BUMC as the assistant director of medical education in addition to holding teaching positions at BUMC. She has lectured in many areas of infectious diseases but has a particular interest in health care epidemiology and infection control and prevention.

Among her many leadership roles for the Baylor Health Care System, she serves as assistant medical director for epidemiology and infectious diseases and emergency management and infectious diseases.

For the full article, visit TAMHSC-News

Herbrich Joins Team in Round Rock

On August 22, 2011, Erin Herbrich, MPH, has joined the College of Medicine Round Rock staff as an Education Program Coordinator.  Erin is completing a week of a comprehensive orientation to provide a solid foundation as she assumes the role of Family Medicine clerkship coordinator.

Herbrich received her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy and Management from the TAMHSC School of Rural Public Health in May 2007. She previously served as a Health Education Specialist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Community Outreach & Education Program in Smithville, Texas.  She can be reached at eherbrich@medicine.tamhsc.edu or (512) 341-4918.

Web Content Providers: CMS Training Now Offered Monthly

For anyone who serves their department as a website content provider, the Texas A&M Health Science Center website content management system (CMS) training was recently modified to include hands-on, interactive exercises.
OIT’s Web Services Group regular training sessions are held the last Friday of every month. It’s a great opportunity to brush up on your content management skills and find out about useful features within Cascade Server 6.7.
Register at http://training-cms.tamhsc.edu/

In addition, the Web Services Group maintains a CMS Training Site which provides users with quick reference sheets, tutorials, frequently-asked questions, and a thorough User Guide for Cascade Server 6.7. A new feature of the site includes step-by-step videos that show how to perform specific tasks within the CMS.

If you have any questions about registration or about the site referenced, please contact Cynthia Kauder at 979-436-0916 or Kauder@tamhsc.edu

Basic Science

Microbial & Molecular Pathogenesis

Recent Publications

Dharmadhikari AS, Basaraba RJ, Van Der Walt ML, Weyer K, Mphahlele M, Venter K, Jensen PA, First MW, Parsons S, McMurray DN, Orme IM, Nardell EA.  Natural infection of guinea pigs exposed to patients with highly drug-resistant tuberculosis. Tuberculosis 91: 329-338 (2011)

Jia Q, Ivanov I, Zlatev ZZ, Alaniz RC, Weeks BR, Callaway ES, Goldsby JS, Davidson LA, Fan YY, Zhou L, Lupton JR, McMurray DN, Chapkin RS.  Dietary fish oil and curcumin combine to modulate colonic cytokinetics and gene expression in dextran sodium sulphate-treated mice.  Br J Nutr. 2011 Aug;106(4):519-529.

Presentations, Conferences & Meetings

Dr. James Samuel, Dr. Laura Hendrix and Dr. Chen Chen visited the School of Basic Medical Sciences of Beijing Capital Medical University and Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology at Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Bejing, China, from July ….. to discuss possible collaborative research.  Dr. Samuel gave a presentation of his research at the School of Basic Medical Sciences of Beijing Capital Medical University and Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology at Academy of Military Medical Sciences

Awards

Dr. Robert Alaniz received an National Science Foundation Travel Award to attend the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences regional conference in Brownsville Texas on August 2nd, 2011.

Dr. Lan Ly received an award from the TAMU WSGI (Whole Systems Genome Initiative) for a Catalyst Grant for a project entitled ““Transcriptome of the Protective Host Response to BCG Vaccination in Guinea Pigs" for the period September 1, 2011-August 31, 2012.

Molecular and Cellular Medicine

Recent Publications

Huang, Z., Salim, T., Brawley, A., Patterson, J., Matthews, K.S., and Bondos, S.E. (2011) Functionalization and patterning of protein-based materials using active Ultrabithorax Chimeras.  Advanced Functional Materials 21:2633-2640.

Devaraneni, P.K., Conti, B., Matsumura, Y., Yang, Z., Johnson, A.E., and Skach, W.R. (2011) Stepwise Insertion and Inversion of a Type II Signal Anchor Sequence in the Ribosome-Sec61 Translocon Complex. Cell. 146(1):134-147.

Seval, D.L., Buckley, T., Kuehl, T.J., and Sulak, P.J. (2011) Attitudes and prescribing patterns of extended-cycle oral contraceptives. Contraception. 84(1):71-75. [ Epub 2011 Jan 11]

Agunanne, E., Horvat, D., Harrison, R., Uddin, M.N., Jones, R., Kuehl, T.J., Ghanem, D.A., Berghman, L.R., Lai, X., Li, J., Romo, D., and Puschett, J.B. (2011) Marinobufagenin Levels in Preeclamptic Patients: A Preliminary Report. Am J Perinatol. 28(7):509-514.  [Epub 2011 Mar 4]

Jin, C., Yang, C., Wu, X., Wang, F., and McKeehan, W.L.  (2011) FGFR3-expressing smooth muscle-like stromal cells differentiate in response to FGFR2IIIb-expressing prostate tumor cells and delay tumor progression.  In Vitro Cell. Devel. Biol. 47(7):500-505. [Epub 2011 Jan 21]

Rascoe, P.A., Reznik, S.I., and Smythe, W.R.  (2011).Chondrosarcoma of the thorax.  Sarcoma.  Vol. 2011. Article ID 342879, 7 pages.

Meng, L., Hsu, J.K., and Tsai, R.Y.L.  (2011) GNL3L Depletion Destabilizes MDM2 and Induces p53-Dependent G2/M Arrest. Oncogene. 30(14):1716-1726.

Yin, Y., Wang, F., and Ornitz, D.M. (2011) Mesothelial- and epithelial-derived FGF9 have distinct functions in the regulation of lung development.  Development. 138(15): 3169-3177. 

Sena, L., Schneider, M.P., Brenig, B.B., Honeycutt, R.L., Honeycutt, D.A., Womack, J.E., and Skow, L.C. (2011) Polymorphism and gene organization of water buffalo MHC-DQB genes show homology to the BoLA DQB region. Anim Genet. 42(4):378-385. [Epub 2011 Feb 6]

Presentations

Dr. Nick Pace presented a seminar entitled  “Forces Stabilizing Proteins,” Symposium Honoring Charles Tanford and Walter Kauzmann at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Protein Society, Boston MA on July 13, 2011

Dr. Leyuan Liu was invited to give a seminar entitled “Roles of LRPPRC-C19ORF5-RASSF1A Complex in Regulation of Autophagy and Suppression of Hepatocarcinomas” at the 2nd International RASSF Symposium at Queens College in Oxford, United Kingdom on July 12-16, 2011.

Dr. Gregg Wells and Dr. Anthony Ricci (Stanford University) presented a seminar entitled "Exploring the role of mechanotransduction activation and adaptation kinetics in hair cell filtering using a Hodgkin-Huxley approach" at the Mechanics of Hearing Workshop in Williamstown, MA from July 16-22, 2011.

News

The Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Health Science Center Postdoctoral Association has a new Facebook page. Please pass on this information to any postdocs you know!

In July, the organization hosted two events:

• On July 15 from 3-4 p.m.  a seminar/Q&A event with Xin-Xing Tan of SeqWright, a DNA technology company in Houston, on working in industry.
• On July 26 from 4-5 p.m. a seminar on interviewing, with Ruth Schemmer of the career center and our own Bhanu Chowdhary with his thoughts on interviewing from the *other* side of the desk.

Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics

David Earnest, Ph.D.

Publications
Manuscripts accepted or in press

• Burkeen, J.F., Womac, A.D., Earnest, D.J. and Zoran, M.J. (2011) Mitochondrial calcium signaling mediates rhythmic extracellular ATP accumulation in suprachiasmatic nucleus astrocytes. J. Neurosci. 31: 8432-8440.
• Shende, V.R., Goldrick, M.M., Ramani, S., and Earnest, D.J. (2011) Expression and rhythmic modulation of circulating microRNAs targeting the clock gene Bmal1 in mice. PLoS ONE 6(7): e22586. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022586

Ian Murray, Ph.D.

Research/Scholarly Activity
Abstracts

• Karen Duong, Janelle Fawver, Ian Murray. CATECHOLAMINES AND AMYLOID
  Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) previously ICAD 2011 Paris,  France. P2-253. July 19 2011Seminars and Invited Presentations
  Meetings/symposium presentations
• Alzheimer’s Association International meeting, 07/16/2011, Paris, France

Mendell Rimer, Ph.D.

Other Scientific/Scholarly Meetings Attended

• 15th Annual International Spinal Muscular Atrophy Research Group Meeting, 06/23 – 06/25, Lake Buena Vista, FL

D. Samba Reddy, Ph.D., R.Ph.

Publications
Review Articles

Reddy DS. Role of anticonvulsant and antiepileptogenic neurosteroids in the pathophysiology and treatment of epilepsy. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology (submitted)

Service
Seminars and Invited Presentations
Seminars Presented

• 07/28/11 – Title: How to write a best scientific paper, Location: Kakatiya University, Warangal, India.
• 07/28/11 – Title: Advances in pharmaceutical research, Location: Balaji College of Pharmacy, Warangal, India

Other Scientific/Scholarly Meetings Attended
Institutional/local
2010-current, Topic: Faculty Advisor, TAMU Hindu student association, Location: TAMU
Other Research/Scholarly Activities of Importance

• 07/2011 – Visited University of Pacific Department of Pharmacology, Sacramento, CA
• 07/2011 – Visited Kakatiya University Pharmacy College, Warangal, India

Mendell Rimer, Ph.D.

Abstracts

• Paez X, B Seaberg, and M Rimer. (2011). Role of motoneurons in SMA model mice. Poster 51A, 15th Annual International Spinal Muscular Atrophy Research Group Meeting, June 23-25, 2011, Lake Buena Vista, FL. This poster was selected for a talk at the meeting. Only 10 out of 77 posters were so honored during the meeting. Graduate student Ximena Paez gave the talk.
  Other Scientific/Scholarly Meetings Attended
• 15th Annual International Spinal Muscular Atrophy Research Group Meeting, 06/23 – 06/25, Lake Buena Vista, FL

Systems Biology & Translational Medicine

Communiqués

Dr. Lih Kuo was elected to serve on the Scientific Executive Committee for 2011 World Congress on Heart Disease, International Academy of Cardiology.

Publications

Javier La Fontaine, DPM, MS, Naohiro Shibuya, DPM, MS, H. Wayne Sampson, PhD, Maria Del Pilar Valderrama, DDS, MS. “ Trabecular Quality and Cellular Characteristics of Normal, Diabetic and Charcot Bone. J. Foot Ankle Surg. (in press) Epub ahead of print 2011 Jun 24
PMID 21705241

Presentations

Dr. Carl Tong presented a talk at the American Heart Association, Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2011
Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, Louisiana on July 20, 2011. The title of his talk was “Mechanical stretch inducer phosphorylation of cardiac myosin binding protein-C”.

Dr. Lih Kuo presented a talk to the 16th World Congress on Heart Disease, International Academy of Cardiology at the annual scientific session in Vancouver, B.C., Canada on July 25, 2011. The title of his talk was “Regulation of Coronary Vasomotor Function by Oxidative Stress.”

Professional Activities

Dr. Cynthia J. Meininger attended the National Director of Graduate Studies meeting in East Lansing, Michigan July 7-9, 2011

Clinical Science

Division of Investigative Pathology

PAOLA ROSAS

Presentations/Meetings/Workshops

Journal Club presentation at Center for Cell Death and Differentiation, July 8, 2011: “Human-IAPP disrupts the autophagy/lysomal pathway in pancreatic β-cells: Protective role of p62-positive cytoplasmic inclusions”.

Division of Molecular Cardiology

Professional Service

Kenneth M. Baker
Dr. Baker was appointed to the Review Editorial Board of Frontiers in Integrative Physiology.

Publications (Accepted)

Sampson HW, Chaput CD, Brannen J, Probe RA, Guleria RS, Pan J, Baker KM, VanBuren V. Alcohol Induced Epigenetic Perturbations During the Inflammatory Stage of Fracture Healing. The Journal of Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Abstracts (Accepted)

Seqqat R, Thomas CM, Yong QC, Feldman DL, Baker KM, Kumar R. Aliskiren Prevents Diabetic Cardiomyopathy, Independent of Blood Pressure, in a Mouse Model: Comparison with an ACE Inhibitor and Angiotensin Receptor Blocker. Accepted for presentation at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research 2011 Scientific Sessions, September 20-24, 2011, Orlando, FL.

Other

Dr. Sudhiranjan Gupta’s research was mentioned in a press release by RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. RegeneRx is focused on the development of a novel therapeutic peptide, Thymosin beta 4, or Tβ4, for tissue and organ protection, repair and regeneration. RegeneRx currently has three drug candidates in clinical development and has an extensive worldwide patent portfolio covering its product candidates.

Internal Medicine

View an online report of Internal Medicine's Scholarly Activity (PDF).

Internal Medicine Research

Papers

Y Han, S DeMorrow, P Invernizzi, Q Jing, S Glaser, A Renzi, F Meng, J Venter, F Bernuzzi, M White, H Francis, A Lleo, M Marzioni, P Onori, D Alvaro, G Torzilli, E Gaudio, and G Alpini.  Melatonin exerts by an autocrine loop antiproliferative effects in cholangiocarcinoma; its synthesis is reduced favoring cholangiocarcinoma growth. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2011 Jul 21. [Epub ahead of print].  PMID: 21778461 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher].

A Renzi, S Glaser, S DeMorrow, R Mancinelli, F Meng, A Franchitto, J Venter, M White, H Francis, Y Han, D Alvaro, E Gaudio, P Onori, and G Alpini. Melatonin inhibits cholangiocyte hyperplasia in cholestatic rats by interaction with MT1 but not MT2 melatonin receptors. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2011 Jul 14. [Epub ahead of print].  PMID: 21757639 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher].

Shannon Glaser, Ph.D.
Accepted invitation to become AGA Institute Liver and Biliary Section Councilor for 2011 to 2013

Academic Medicine

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