From the Dean

Colleagues, Faculty, Staff and Students,

We have been busy this month with events, service activities and administrative undertakings, and I encourage you take a moment to read and share our good news. 

In the past few weeks we have demonstrated our commitment to primary care and the health of Texans through several events in our communities.

On June 1, Leila Diaz of the Temple campus was appointed as the College’s first Assistant Dean of Admissions and Diversity, and in this new role, she will oversee programs for prospective and current students, faculty and staff that support the College’s strategy for promoting and developing diversity as a pathway to excellence. As one of the College’ core values, diversity of all types is vital to our success as a medical school for Texas.

On June 16, we welcomed nine new Family Medicine residents to the Family Medicine Residency program in Bryan.  The very next week we graduated seven third-year residents who were joined by friends, family and very special guests, Dr. H. D. Pope and Dr. J. T. Lamar McNew, the founders of the original Family Medicine Residency in Bryan.  Between those two, they have taught or mentored nearly all of the College of Medicine’s students and residents in the past thirty years.

On June 30, we celebrated the opening of a new clinic space at 2900 E. 29^th Street in Bryan for our Texas A&M Physicians Family Medicine division and the Family Medicine Residency.  Our faculty, staff and residents joined with the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce to host more than 150 community members at a ribbon cutting and open house. 

Our impact in the community was made abundantly clear in the stories shared by guests who had been treated or who had family members treated by our doctors.

We will officially welcome 200 students in the Class of 2015, our largest class ever, at the White Coat Ceremony on Monday, July 25, and I encourage you to attend as able.

In an effort to improve the College of Medicine website, please share your feedback via the website survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S99THMS  through Monday, July 18.

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

• DATE CHANGE Class of 2015 White Coat Ceremony: Monday, July 25, more details soon
• Dean’s Semi-Monthly Staff Meeting: July 26, 9-10:30 a.m., all locations
• Executive Committee Meeting: August 4, 4-5 p.m., all locations
• Dean’s Semi-Monthly Staff Meeting: August 9, 9-10:30 a.m., all locations

College News

Texas A&M Physicians Opens New Clinic

On June 30, 2011, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine celebrated its Texas A&M Physicians Family Medicine division with a ribbon cutting at their new facility at 2900 East 29th Street in Bryan in conjunction with the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce.
“The opening of this clinic is part of our important commitment in the College of Medicine to improving the health of people of the Brazos Valley,” said Sam Shomaker, M.D., J.D., the Jean and Thomas McMullin Dean of the College of Medicine and Vice President for Clinical Affairs for the Texas A&M Health Science Center.
In January 2011, construction began on the inside of the first two floors of the three-story building at the corner of Broadmoor Drive and East 29th Street in Bryan.  The Texas A&M Physicians Family Medicine division began seeing patients at the new facility June 1.

See TAMHSC-News for the full article.

Diaz Appointed COM’s First Asst. Dean of Admissions & Diversity

T. Sam Shomaker, M.D., J.D., Dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, announces the appointment of Ms. Leila E. Diaz, as the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine’s first Assistant Dean of Admissions and Diversity.
Diaz began her new role on June 1, and as Assistant Dean of Admissions and Diversity will oversee programs for prospective and current students, faculty and staff that support the College’s strategy for promoting and developing diversity as a pathway to excellence.

See TAMHSC-News for the full article.

Bryan Family Medicine Residency Celebrates 2011 Grads

On June 24, 2011, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency in Bryan, Texas hosted its Thirteenth Annual Graduation Ceremony for third-year residents. The ceremony was held at the Health Professions Education Building on the TAMHSC Bryan Campus.
“Congratulations to the Class of 2011,” said Family Medicine Residency Director, David McClellan, M.D. “You have now joined a prestigious group of family physicians who serve the people and the areas in the most need.  From here, your experience and knowledge will continue to grow as you serve your patients and their families.”

See TAMHSC-News for the full article.

Rural Health Rotation Concludes Successful First Year

A new, year-long rotation provides healthcare to special-needs families and early clinical experience to students in the town of Holland, Texas.
With the help of many faculty members, one independent school district and more than a dozen medical student volunteers, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine instituted a rural health rotation for first-year medical students this academic year.
The idea is simple: match first-year medical students who need clinical experience with families in rural areas who might not otherwise have access to basic medical care. But where to start?

See TAMHSC-News for the full article.

Faculty

COM researchers uncover ‘do-it-yourself’ stroke protection and brain repair

Bix’ and team’s research suggests that naturally occurring extracellular matrix fragment represents a promising approach for stroke treatment

Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine have proposed a distinct type of treatment that capitalizes on the self-repair processes occurring in the brain after a stroke.

Their study is currently online and scheduled to be in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability and third leading cause of death in the United States. The most common type of stroke, ischemic stroke, occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery, causing nerve cells to die rapidly.

“Most research thus far has focused on acute stroke treatment and neuroprotection only,” said Gregory Bix, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor at the TAMHSC-College of Medicine and study senior author. “However, there is a clear need for ischemic stroke therapy that is both neuroprotective and promotes brain repair. So we hypothesized that using the self-repair mechanisms within the brain may also yield therapeutic strategies.”

See TAMHSC-News for the full article.

Meininger Recognized as Outstanding Mentor

Since 1987, Cynthia Meininger, Ph.D., Professor of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine and Director of the Division of Vascular Biology at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine, has been committed to the College of Medicine.

Dr. Meininger received the very first Ph.D. awarded by the College of Medicine in 1987 in Medical Sciences for research conducted in the former Department of Medical Physiology. She is also the first recipient of the Outstanding Mentor Award for the year 2010-2011 presented by the TAMHSC School of Graduate Studies at its commencement in May 2011.

Dr. David Carlson, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, while presenting the award, said “Dr. Meininger’s colleagues and students, both current and former, noted that she stands out among all graduate faculty mentors at the Health Science Center.”

See Faculty Stories for the forthcoming profile.

Ferguson to Present Pilot Program Poster in VA

Laura Ferguson, M.D., professor of pediatrics in Round Rock, has been invited to present her poster “First Year Medical Student Introduction to Rural Health: A Pilot Program” at the Pediatric Education across the Continuum Conference in Arlington, VA in September 2011.

Russell Organizes International Symposium

Dr Gül Russell, Professor in the Department of Humanities in Medicine, organized an international  symposium on “Neuroscience and Art: Faces, jointly with Dr. Nick Wade, Professor at the  University of Dundee, Scotland, at the joint Meeting of the International Society for the History of Neuroscience (ISHN)  and  The Society for the History of Psychology (Cheiron) in Calgary/Banff, Alberta, Canada.  She also gave a presentation on “Neuroscience in Art: Theoretical or Empirical?” In addition, she chaired the joint poster session of both societies.

 

 

In Print and On Air

Young on msn.com re: PTSD

Keith A. Young, vice chair for research in the department of psychiatry at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine was quoted in the article “Women Exposed to Combat Trauma as Resilient as Men” on HealthDay.com and msn.com in June 2011.  "I'm not so surprised that military women experience similar mental health problems as men," said Young, who is also the Neuroimaging and Genetics core leader for the VA Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans in Waco, Texas.

Bramson Published in AMA’s American Medical News

Rachel Bramson, M.D., associate professor in the Dept. of Family & Community Medicine and the Dept. of Humanities in Medicine, was published in the American Medical Association’s American Medical News Ethics Forum in March 2011 in response to the scenario “What role do primary care doctors have in preventing violent acts by patients?”

Students

M3 Burkeen Published in Journal of Neuroscience

Third year medical student Jeff Burkeen recently published a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience entitled “Mitochondrial Calcium Signaling Mediates Rhythmic Extracellular ATP Accumulation in Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Astrocytes.” Burkeen’s co-authors on the paper were Alisa Womac, Dr. David Earnest and Dr. Mark Zoran, all of the Department of Biology and Center for Biological Clocks Research at Texas A&M University.  Subsequent articles were published by Texas A&M News and Information Services and by The Battalion.

 

 

 

Student Spotlight: Luke Potts

Luke Potts knew at a young age he had dreams of becoming a physician. As just a senior in high school and through college, he began shadowing a pediatric ophthalmologist in Dallas. Potts obtained his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2006. His experiences in formal lab coursework and undergraduate research spurred his interest in pursuing further education in medical research. From the advice and encouragement of the Department of Chemistry chairman, he decided to pursue combined training as an MD-PhD student.

In 2006, Potts was admitted into the MD-PhD program at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Potts has now completed the first three years of medical school and passed Steps 1 and 2 of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). Currently, he is working on his doctoral research in the laboratories of Dr. Lih Kuo, Professor of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine and holder of the Kruse Centennial Chair in Ophthalmology, and Dr. Travis Hein, Associate Professor of Surgery.

See Student Stories for the forthcoming profile.

Administration

Bush Elected to Office for PVSS

Ruth Bush, M.D., M.P.H., Professor in the Department of Surgery and Associate Dean for Education at College of Medicine Temple Campus, was recently elected to the office of president-elect for the Peripheral Vascular Surgical Society (PVSS).

The PVSS is an international society dedicated to the discipline of vascular surgery, with a focus on the needs of young vascular surgeons with less than twelve years of experience in the field. The Society’s objectives are to improve the art and science of vascular surgery through the active sharing of knowledge, and to promote basic and clinical research into the evolving fields of vascular surgery and intervention. The PVSS has more 700 members, each having undergone specific residency training in vascular surgery.

PVSS members dedicate their professional lives to the prevention, understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of vascular disease.

Weichert to Serve on AAMC Dean’s Assistant Group

Ellen M. Weichert, Assistant to the Dean, was elected to represent the Southern region of the Dean's Assistant Group (DAG) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The DAG is comprised of members serving as Administrative/Executive Assistants to deans in colleges of medicine.
The DAG improves communication among all medical schools through networking, enables the Deans to better achieve their goals, and assists in planning projects, curriculum changes, faculty appointments, legal matters, etc.  DAG members represent more than 100 medical schools throughout the country.

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 AND MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS 

Presentations, Conferences & Meetings

Dinorah Leyva-Illades and Vernon Tesh presented a poster entitled: “Dual specificity phosphatase expression and its effect on mitogen-activated protein kinases and chemokine expression elicitied by Shiga toxin type 1 in human macrophage-like THP-1 cells” at

the 111^th General Meeting of The American Society for Microbiology, May 21-24, 2011 in New Orleans, LA.

Dr. Margie Martinez-Moczygemba attended and presented a poster at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in San Francisco, CA, March 19-22.  The following poster was presented at the meeting:  Martinez-Moczygemba, M., Lei, J. L. and Mazumdar, T. “The common beta chain phosphorylation axis controls IL-5 receptor sub-cellular distribution”.

Dr. Amminikutty Jeevan attended the 98^th Annual Meeting of The American Association of Immunologists in San Francisco from May 13-17, 2011 and presented a poster “UVB-induced suppression of resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in guinea pigs after BCG vaccination: Cellular and molecular changes in the skin”.

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Rockville, MD, from 10-12 May to attend a quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. 

Molecular and Cellular Medicine 

Recent Publications

Comb, W.C., Cogswell, P., Sitcheran, R., and Baldwin, A.S. (2011) IKK‑dependent, NF‑κB‑independent control of autophagic gene expression. Oncogene.  30(14): 1727-1732. 2010 Dec 13. [Epub ahead of print]

Barhoumi ,R., Mouneimne, Y., Ramos, E., Morisseau, C., Hammock, B.D., Safe, S., Parrish, A.R., and Burghardt, R.C. (2011). Multiphoton spectral analysis of benzo[a]pyrene uptake and metabolism in a rat liver cell line. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol.  253(1): 45-56. 2011 Mar 21. [Epub ahead of print] 

Presentations

Dr. Leyuan Liu was invited to give a seminar entitled "Roles of C19ORF5 in Regulation of Autophagy and Suppression of Hepatocarcinomas" at the University of Minnesota, Austin, MN on May 17, 2011.

Dr. Greg Bix gave an invited presentation entitled "Matrix Revolutions, Perlecan Domain V is a novel stroke and Alzheimer's disease therapy" at Sanofi-Aventis in Frankfurt, Germany on May 18, 2011.

Dr. Greg Bix gave an invited seminar entitled "Perlecan Domain V: from stroke and Alzheimer’s disease basic research, to big Pharma" at Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, University of Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany on May 19, 2011.

Dr. Greg Bix attended the 25^th International Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism meeting in Barcelona, Spain from May 25-28, 2011.  The title of his research talk was "Perlecan Domain V as a triple threat against stroke affording Neuroprotection, enhancing angiogenesis, and suppresses astrogliosis."

Dr. Fen Wang was an invited speaker at the Duncan Cancer Center in Baylor College of Medicine, entitled "FGF signaling in the prostate and prostate cancer” on May 20, 2011.

Dr. Julia Yu-Fong Chang in Dr. Fen Wang’s lab gave a presentation titled "Fibroblast Growth Factor Signaling in Mouse Odontogenic Epithelial Stem Cells" at the American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology Meeting held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from April 28-May 3, 2011.

Christi Parham from the Bix lab presented a poster entitled "Perlecan Domain V Prevents Amyloid-beta Toxicity" at the 16th Annual Graduate Student Organization Research Symposium on May 6, 2011 in College Station, TX. The poster was co-authored by Michael Kahle, Courtney Shaw, Lisa Auckland, Irene Griswold-Prenner and Greg Bix.

Kelly Churion from the Bondos lab presented a poster entitled "Large conformational change upon DNA binding of the Drosophila Hox protein Ultrabithorax" at the 16th Annual Graduate Student Organization Research Symposium on May 6, 2011 in College Station, TX. The poster was co-authored by Sarah Bondos as well as Ying Liu and Kathleen S. Matthews from Rice University.

Jui Dave from the Bayless lab presented a poster entitled "Proteomic Characterization of Endothelial Sprouting using a 3-D In Vitro Angiogenic Model" at the 16th Annual Graduate Student Organization Research Symposium on May 6, 2011 in College Station, TX. The poster was co-authored by Steve Maxwell, Adriana Mendoza, Hojin Kang, Shih-Chi Su, Hyeong-li Kwak and Kayla Bayless.

Awards

Christi Parham (Bix lab) won 1^st place in the Senior Graduate Poster Competition at the 16^th annual GSO Student Research Symposium on May 6, 2011.

Kelly Churion (Bondos lab) won 1^st place in the Junior Graduate Poster Competition at the 16^th annual GSO Student Research Symposium on May 6, 2011.

Jui Dave (Bayless lab) won 2nd place in the Junior Graduate Poster Competition at the 16^th annual GSO Student Research Symposium on May 6, 2011.

Grants

Dr. Yongde Luo in Dr. Wallace McKeehan’s lab was honored as a recipient of the Texas A&M Health Science Center Enhancement Grant award. Grant date from 5/9/11 – 5/8/12.

NEUROSCIENCE & EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

George Chiou, Ph.D.

Publications – Manuscripts

• Shen, Y, Zhuang, P and Chiou, GCY, Effect of guanabenz on rat AMD models and rabbit choroidal blood flow, The Open Ophthalmology J. 5: 27-31 (2011)
• Zhuang, P, Shen, Y, Lin, BQ, Zhang, WY, and Chiou, GCY, effect of quercetin on formation of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Eye Science Journal, In press (2011)

David Earnest, Ph.D.

Manuscripts accepted or in press

Ko, M.L., Shi, L., Tsai, J.-Y., Young, M.E., Neuendorff, N., Earnest, D.J. and Ko, G.Y.-P. (2011) Cardiac-specific mutation of Clock alters the quantitative measurements of physical activities without changing behavioral circadian rhythms. J. Biol. Rhythms, accepted.

Gary C. McCord, MD

Attended the annual meeting

• 4/8-4/10, Texas Radiological Society Annual Meeting, Austin, TX

Mendell Rimer, Ph.D.

Publications - Manuscripts accepted or in press

• Lee, Y.I., Mikesh, M., Smith, I., Rimer, M., Thompson, W.  (2011). Muscles in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy show profound defects in neuromuscular development even in the absence of failure in neuromuscular transmission or loss of motor neurons.  Developmental Biology. In press.

Farida Sohrabji, Ph.D.
 

Review articles

• Ian V.J. Murray, Joseph F. Proza, Farida Sohrabji and John M. Lawler (2011) Vascular and metabolic dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease: A review. Exp. Biol Med, In press. 

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Communiqués

Lesley A. Gardiner, Graduate Student, won first place in the Senior Graduate Poster Competition at the 16th Annual Student Research Symposium hosted by the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine GSO in College Station, Texas, May 6, 2011.

Dr. Warren Zimmer was elected to the Editorial Board of Brain Research Bulletin.

Dr. Warren Zimmer was elected as Treasurer for the Baylor College of Medicine Alumni Association Executive Committee.

Dr. Warren Zimmer was also elected Treasurer for the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Publications

Hailin Chen and Vincent VanBuren (2011) published an open-access book chapter titled “Data retrieval and visualization for setting research priorities in biomedical research.” Knowledge-Oriented Applications in Data Mining, Kimito Funatsu (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-154-1. InTech, available from: http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/data-retrieval-and-visualization-for-setting-research-priorities-in-biomedical-researchPublications

Presentations

Dr. Soon Mi Lim, Dr. Jerome P. Trzeciakowski, Harini Sreenivasappa, and Dr. Andreea Trache presented a poster at the Frontiers in Cell Migration and Mechanotransduction Symposium, Bethesda, Maryland, May 25, 2011. The title of the poster was “Effect of Rho-induced tension on cellular remodeling”

Dr. Andreea Trache gave an invited presentation at the 27th Annual Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference at the University of Texas, Arlington, Texas, May 1, 2011. The presentation was titled “Tension sensing through functional adhesion contacts.”

Dr. Vincent VanBuren presented an abstract at the 27th Annual Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference at the University of Texas, Arlington, Texas, April 30, 2011. The title of his presentation was “A proposed test for annotation enrichment.”

Professional Activities

Dr. Thomas Peterson attended the state of Texas Joint Admissions Medical Program (JAMP) Council meeting, Austin, Texas, April 30, 2011. JAMP is a State program for disadvantaged students to gain admission to medical school.

Dr. Vincent VanBuren served as a grant review panelist for the American Heart Association on the Bioengineering and Biotechnology Panel, April 13, 2011.

Dr. Warren Zimmer served as a Poster Judge for the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Graduate Student Organization Symposia, College Station, Texas, May 6, 2011.

Dr. Warren Zimmer attended the National Institutes of Health Review Panel NHLBI-PP-760 for National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Program Project Grants, Bethesda, Maryland, May 12-13, 2011.

Grants

Dr. Xu Peng received a $50,000 Scott & White Memorial Hospital grant for the period 09/01/11-08/31/13. The grant is titled “Role and molecular mechanisms of Cdc42 in DiGeorge Syndrome.”

Dr. Cynthia Meininger, Dr. Anatoliy A. Gashev, and Dr. Vinod Labhasetwar received a $49,952 Scott & White Memorial Hospital grant for the period 03/01/11-02/29/12. The grant is titled “Lymphatic delivery of tetrahydrobiopterin-loaded nanoparticles for vascular dysfunction in diabetes.”

Dr. Andreea Trache received a noncompeting continuation of her $429,783 National Science Foundation CAREER award for the period 05/01/11-04/30/12. The grant is titled “CAREER: Integrated scanning and optical imaging techniques to enable understanding of live cell dynamics - from molecular biology to physiological function.”

Dr. Carl Tong received an $140,000 American Heart Association, South Central Affiliate Beginning Grant-in-Aid for the period 07/01/11-06/30/13. The grant is titled “Roles of cardiac myosin binding protein-C phosphorylation in heart failure.”

Dr. Carl Tong, Dr. Nandini Nair, Dr. Troy Baudino, Dr. David E. Dostal, Dr. Richard L. Moss, and Dr. Sakthivel Fadayappan received a $49,996 Scott & White Memorial Hospital grant for the period 09/01/11-08/31/13 . The grant is titled “Roles of cardiac myosin binding protein-C phosphorylation in heart failure.”

Dr. Mariappan Muthuchamy and Dr. Cristine Heaps received a $140,000 American Heart Association, South Central Affiliate grant for the period 07/01/11-06/30/13. The grant is titled “Mechanisms of cardiac contraction in porcine model of exercise training and ischemic heart disease.”

Clinical Science

Latest News from the Center of Excellence on Returning War Veterans

• Jen Robinson Ph.D.’s paper, “Robinson JL, Laird AR, Lovallo WR, Glahn DC & Fox PT (2009) Delineating the functional connectivity of the human amygdala.  Human Brain Mapping, 31(2); 173-184” was nominated for Editor’s Choice Award for Human Brain Mapping
• Jack Tsan, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow at the CoE has been awarded the American Psychological Association, Division 51’s 2011 Loren Frankel Dissertation Award for his work in the area of men and masculinity.  He will be awarded with a plague at the Division’s business meeting in August.
• Sandra Morissette, Ph.D’s symposium:  “Beyond Fear: Understanding Negative Emotion in the Psychopathology & Treatment of PTSD” was accepted for the 45th Annual Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies, in November, Toronto, Ont.

Presentations

• Dolan SL (2011), Examining Religious Orientation and Alcohol Use in College Students: A New Approach, Southwest Psychological Association, April San Antonio, TX
• Kruse MI (2011), Evidence of patterns of heavy drinking in military veterans recruited outside of the Veterans Affairs Health Care System. 31st Annual Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Mar, 2011, New Orleans, LA
• Klocek JW (2011), Research and Primary Care, VISN 17 Primary Care Behavioral Health Conference, March, 2011, Austin, TX
• Meyer EC, (2011), Experiential avoidance as a predictor of PTSD among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, 31st Annual Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, March, New Orleans;
• Meyer EC (2011), Conceptualization, assessment and treatment of PTSD and co-occurring depressive, anxiety and substance use disorders. Southern Regional Medical Command, April, San Antonio, TX

Posters

• AhnAllen C, Liverant G, Kamholz B, Gulliver SB, Levitt J, Nader J, Koneru V, Kaplan G (2011); Anhedonia, emotion regulation strategies and intention to quit smoking in psychiatric patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, March, Mysell Conference at Harvard Research Day Boston, MA
• Ellor JW, Crow J, Dolan S, Myers D, Reese S, Morissette S (2011); Intergenerational Coping in Times of Military Trauma: The Military Family Coping Project., Annual Meeting of the American Society on Aging, April, San Fransico, CA

DIVISION OF INVESTIGATIVE PATHOLOGY 

DR. ALEXZANDER ASEA

Abstracts Accepted/Presented

“Immunomolecular Characteristics Of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Stem Cells: Role Of Hsp72 Containing Exosomes,” 27th Annual Meeting of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO), May 26-28, 2011, Aarhus, Denmark

Presentations/Meetings/Workshops

“New Possibilities in Targeted Breast Cancer Therapy” Relay for Life – American Cancer Society Luminary Service, May 01, 2011, Wildcat Stadium, Temple High School, Temple, TX

“Development of Heat Shock Protein-Based Anti-Cancer Therapies” Patient Education Symposium Sponsored by Vasicek Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society, May 20, 2011, Temple, TX

“Targeting HSP27 in Breast Cancer Tumors Using Combined Lentivirus-RNAi Technology” 27th Annual Meeting of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO), May 26-28, 2011, Aarhus, Denmark

DR. PUNIT KAUR

Abstracts Accepted/Presented

“Immunomolecular Characteristics Of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Stem Cells: Role Of Hsp72 Containing Exosomes,” 27th Annual Meeting of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO), May 26-28, 2011, Aarhus, Denmark

Presentations/Meetings/Workshops

ThermoFisher Scientific Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry 3-Track Workshop May 12, 2011, Thompson Conference Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

Professional Activities

“New Possibilities in Targeted Breast Cancer Therapy” Relay for Life – American Cancer Society Luminary Service, May 1, 2011, Wildcat Stadium, Temple High School, Temple, TX

INTERNAL MEDICINE

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

INTERNAL MEDICINE RESEARCH

Papers

Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2011 May 19. [Epub ahead of print]

Knockout of the Neurokinin-1 Receptor Reduces Cholangiocyte Proliferation in Bile Duct Ligated Mice.

Glaser S, Gaudio E, Renzi A, Mancinelli R, Ueno Y, Venter J, White M, Kopriva S, Chiasson VL, Demorrow S, Francis H, Meng F, Marzioni M, Franchitto A, Alvaro D,Supowit SC, Dipette DJ, Onori P, Alpini G.

Presentations at Digestive Disease Week

S Glaser, R Mancinelli, P Onori, A Franchitto, J Venter, M White, F Meng, A Renzi, G Carpino, W Butler, R Sferra, D Staloch, E Gaudio, and G Alpini. Ischemia reperfusion of the hepatic artery induces the functional damage of large bile ducts by changes in the expression of the cholangiocyte angiogenic factors, VEGF and angiopoietin. Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-937. Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

A Renzi, S DeMorrow, S Glaser, P Onori, J Venter, R Mancinelli, A Franchitto, M White, H Francis, Y Ueno, F Meng, W Butler, E Gaudio, and G Alpini.  Modulation of the biliary expression of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT, the key enzyme regulating melatonin synthesis) alters the proliferative/apoptotic responses of cholangiocytes to liver injury in vivo and in vitro. Gastroenterology 140: Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-887. Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

J Venter, H Francis, F Meng, M White, D Staloch, A Renzi, P Onori, W Butler, E Gaudio, and G Alpini. Initial development and characterization of primary cultures of small and large intrahepatic cholangiocytes from normal rat liver.  Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-937. Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Y Han, F Meng, S Glaser, H Francis, J Sharma, C-G Liu, J Venter, M White, A Stokes, H Levi, D Staloch, and G Alpini. Aberrant expression of the miR-17-92 cluster in human cholangiocarcinoma stem cells. Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-889. Oral presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

F Meng, H Francis, S Glaser, Y Han, C-G Liu, J Venter, D Staloch, A Stokes, T Hidekazu, and G Alpini. Epigenetic regulation of miR-34a expression in alcoholic liver injury. Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-914. Oral presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Y Han, S DeMorrow, P Invernizzi, F Meng, A Lleo, J Venter, M White, H Francis, F Bernuzzi, D Alvaro, P Onori, M Marzioni, E Gaudio, and G Alpini.  Melatonin inhibits in vivo cholangiocarcinoma growth by enhanced biliary expression of serotonin N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) the key enzyme involved in melatonin synthesis. Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-910. Oral presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

S DeMorrow, P Onori, R Mancinelli, J Venter, A Franchitto, M White, Y Ueno, H Francis, W Butler, E Gaudio, and G Alpini. Selective activation of the serotonin receptor 2B isoform increases cholangiocyte growth and induces the expression of the fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1). Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-888. Oral presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Quinn, Matthew; Frampton, Gabriel; Pae, Hae Yong; Horvat, Darijana; Huang, Li; DeMorrow, Sharon. Increased serum bile acids after extraheptic biliary obstruction causes leakiness to the blood brain barrier via the disruption of tight junctions. Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Huang, Li; Frampton, Gabriel; Liang, Li-jian; Rao, Arundhati; Horvat Darijana; Quinn, Matthew; Hocker, Kimberly; Culbreath, Brianne; DeMorrow, Sharon. Restoration of the epigenetically suppressed Monoamine oxidase A expression inhibits cholangiocarcinoma proliferation. Oral presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Fanyin Meng, Dustin Staloch, Taylor Francis, Yuyan Han, Heather Francis.  Histamine, via the H4 Histamine Receptor, Decreases Cholangiocarcinoma Growth Both In Vitroand In Vivo by Altering EMT Processes Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-937. Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Yuyan Han, Taylor Francis, Fanyin Meng, Dustin Staloch, Heather Francis. Histidine Decarboxylase Supports the Tumor Microenvironment in Cholangiocarcinogenesis by Increased Cholangiocyte VEGF and Mast Cell Mediator Expression Gastroenterology Vol. 140, Issue 5, Supplement 1, Page S-938. Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Gianfranco Alpini, PhD.

Dr. Alpini gave lecture entitled “Melatonin regulation of biliary functions” at Emory University School of Medicine on May 19, 2011

Sharon DeMorrow, PhD.

Dr. DeMorrow received an invitation to serve on the American Physiological Society’s Animal care and experimentation committee from January 1^st 2012 for a period of 3 years.

Heather Francis, PhD.

Dr. Francis judged at S&W Internal Medicine Research Day - Basic Science posters

Dr. Francis attended Career Day at Southwest Elementary School in Belton

Fanyin Meng, PhD.

Dr. Fanyin Meng chaired alcoholic liver injury session during the Annual meeting of the AGA (Digestive Disease Week) Chicago, May 7^th-12^th 2011.

Academic Medicine

Division of Molecular Cardiology

Grants Funded

Shaodong Guo

Dr. Guo received notice from the American Heart Association that his Beginning Grant-In-Aid entitled “Forkhead Signaling in the Control of Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy” will be funded.

Professional Service

David E. Dostal
Dr. Dostal (in his capacity as IACUC Chair) attended the PRIM&R’s 2011 IACUC Conference in Chicago, IL from 3/31-4/1/2011.

Publications(Published)

Sopko N, Qin Y, Finan A, Dadabayev A, Chigurupati S, Qin J, Penn MS, Gupta S.  Significance of Thymosin β4 and Implication of PINCH-1-ILK-α-Parvin (PIP) Complex in Human Dilated Cardiomyopathy. PLoS ONE 6(5): e20184.

Publications (Accepted)

Chopra M, Das P, Golden HB, Mullapudi S, Dowhan W, Dostal DE, Sharma AC. Modulation of myocardial mitochondrial mechanisms during severe polymicrobial sepsis in the rat. PLoS (In Press).

Book Chapters (Accepted)

Golden HB, Gollapudi D, Gerilechaogetu F, Li J, Cristales RJ, Peng X, and Dostal DE.  Isolation of Cardiac Myocytes and Fibroblasts from Neonatal Rat Pups. Humana Press.  Book series “Cardiovascular Development: Methods and Protocols” edited by Xu Peng (In Press, 2011).

Golden HB, Sunder S, Liu Y, Peng X and Dostal DE. In Utero Assessment of Cardiovascular Function in the Embryonic Mouse Heart using High Resolution Ultrasound Biomicroscopy. Humana Press.  Book series “Cardiovascular Development: Methods and Protocols” edited by Xu Peng (In Press, 2011).

Awards

Graduate Student Organization (GSO) 16th Annual Student Research Symposium, May 6th, 2011, Bryan

Tony Lu (MD student in Drs. Baker/Pan laboratory) received second place for his poster presentation (Medical Student category) entitled “Targeted Activation of Retinoid Receptor Mediated Signaling Protects Cardiomyocytes From Free Fatty Acid-Induced Apoptosis”

Promotions

Dr. Jing Pan was recently promoted to Associate Professor. 

Dr. Pan has developed a strong international reputation for her outstanding research contributions in the cardiovascular field, for her effectiveness and dedication as a mentor, and for her service to the academic community.  Dr. Pan received her medical degree from Shanxi Medical University, China, in 1987.  She completed her internship and residency, at the same institution in 1989, and her cardiovascular research fellowship, in the Third Hospital of Beijing University Health Science Center, from 1991 to 1994.  She received her Ph.D. in Cardiology from Beijing University, Health Science Center, China, in 1994, and subsequently joined the Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School of Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, for postdoctoral training from 1995 to 1999.  Dr. Pan joined our lab for further postdoctoral training in 2000.

Dr. Pan has done a superb job with regard to her research accomplishments, and we are pleased to have her as a member of our faculty.