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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.

Thomas Shomaker

Colleagues, Faculty, Staff and Students,

We are now less than 150 days away from our LCME site visit for accreditation, and I want to thank everyone—faculty, staff and students—for your continual hard work to make us the best medical school for Texas.

In the coming weeks you will hear more about our finalized strategic plan for the College of Medicine and our continued implementation of the College’s strategic priorities.

On September 8, our Office of Faculty Development announced the launch of a central, comprehensive and college-wide faculty development program specifically designed for the professional educational development of all College of Medicine faculty members.

New resources include a faculty development website, continuing medical education (CME) modules, an online calendar of events with electronic registration and a three-tier training program.

Since the launch of the College’s Alumni Association in April, two new initiatives have been developed to increase our outreach to our former students and alumni. As a result, we will host a meeting of the Alumni Diversity Committee, a subcommittee of the Alumni Association designed to develop strategies to increase diversity in our student body, on October 8 in Bryan.  We will also host the first Dean’s Gathering for alumni on October 13 in Austin.

In Round Rock, we welcomed Perry Jefferies as Manager of the TexVet initiative last month. Jefferies retired as a First Sergeant in 2004 after deploying with the Army’s 4th Infantry Division to Iraq.  Among his many awards, he has received the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit, and we are glad to welcome him to the TexVet team.

In Temple, our colleagues of the Biliary Pathophysiology Research Team at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System were honored with the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States Research and Development Award that will be presented in November. More news on these items will be coming soon.

Nominations for Employee of the Quarter are being accepted via the online submission form http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/dean/employee-award/index.html until 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 7.

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

  • CSTR Grand Rounds Seminar Series: Dr. Theresa Fossum, DVM, Ph.D. presents “Bridging the Gap Between Clinical Medicine and Translational Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer,” October 4, 12-1 p.m., Bryan HPEB LL 44; Teleconference to: Temple MEC LH 1, RR S307, Houston Alkek 1114, other HSC locations
  • Executive Committee Meeting: October 6, 3-4 p.m., all locations
  • Alumni Diversity Committee Meeting: October 8, 10-2 p.m., HPEB, Bryan
  • Dean’s Semi-Monthly Staff Meeting: October 11, 9-10:30 a.m., all locations
  • Basic Science Department Chair Meeting: October 13, 12-1:30 p.m., HPEB 3047B; Teleconference to MEC 407C in Temple and Alkek 810 in Houston
  • Dean’s Gathering for Alumni: October 13, 6:30 p.m., Austin
  • Faculty/Staff Meeting: October 20, 3:30-5:00 p.m., all locations
  • Stem Cell Symposium: November 4, 8:30 a.m.-3:15 p.m., TIPS Auditorium (800 Raymond Stotzer Parkway, College Station); “Moving Adult Stem Cells and the Therapeutic Proteins They Produce from the Laboratory to the Patient”

Save the Dates

  • 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
  • HSC Convocation: January 20, 2012, Annenberg Conference Center, College Station
  • 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.

Shomaker to Speak at World Veterinary Year Panel

Shomaker, Greens, Sams

On October 19, 2011, College of Medicine Dean, Dr. Sam Shomaker will participate in the final lecture of World Veterinary Year.  The lecture, a panel discussion exploring the “One Health Plus” initiative and the critical collaborations between health professions, will also include Dr. Eleanor Green, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Alan Sams, Executive Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The event will be from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Sciences (TIPS) Auditorium at 800 Raymond Stotzer Parkway.

VA Gets New Researcher, Launches Two Studies

CoE logo

On August 29, 2011, the Heart of Texas Health Care Network (VISN 17) Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans (CoE) at the Waco Veterans Affairs (VA) campus welcomed Deborah Little, Ph.D. to its research team. 

Dr. Little serves as the CoE’s Neuroimaging and Genetics Core leader where she guides research into the biological foundations of a predisposition to mental health problems and treatment outcomes in veterans by using genetics and advanced imaging procedures.  She will also serve in a faculty role at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

The CoE also recently launched two large-scale, long-term studies to investigate veterans’ health during and after deployment. 

Project SERVE, a study evaluating returning veterans’ experiences, examines how veterans with combat exposure adapt to potentially traumatic events during deployment and general stress after returning to civilian life. The Million Veteran Program, or MVP, is one of the largest nationwide studies of genes and their effects on health. Throughout the next five to seven years, the VA aims to enroll 1 million veterans into the program which will then collect and examine their genetic samples and health information. 

See the full article at TAMHSC News.

2011 Summer Research Program Marks Another Successful Year

Summer Research Program

On August 18, 2011 the College of Medicine’s annual Summer Research Program drew to a close with a poster session, keynote speaker, certificate presentation and Dean’s Recognition Awards presentation. 

One of the College’s longest running programs, this year’s Summer Research Program highlighted the research of 14 medical students from and 12 undergraduate students.  The undergraduate student participants came from schools across the nation including the University of Notre Dame, Duke University, Roberts Wesleyan College and Taylor University in Indiana to name a few.

Students worked with faculty mentors in Bryan-College Station, Houston and Temple throughout the summer to complete research projects on a variety of topics including preeclampsia, various cancers, novel treatment of bacterial infections, and innovative vaccine development.

Because of an overwhelming interest in the program, some faculty members including colleagues at Texas Brain and Spine Institute sponsored students out of their own budgets. 

Award winners include:

Outstanding Undergraduate Student: John Cochran mentored by Dr. Kayla Bayless and Dr. Bryan Saunders

Outstanding Medical Students: M2 Kathleen Nguyen mentored by Dr. David Huston and M2 Aaron Varghese mentored by Dr. Veronica Sanchez

Honorable Mention: Jeevitha Patil mentored by Dr. Samba Reddy

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.

In Print and On Air: Fiocco on Psoriatic Arthritis

Guy Fiocco, M.D., an assistant professor of internal medicine, was featured in an article on Health.com and on HuffingtonPost.com re: psoriatic arthritis and its risk factors. 

Prockop to Speak at Stem Cell Symposium in College Station

Stem Cell Symposium

On Friday, November 4, 2011, the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS) and the TAMHSC College of Medicine Institute for Regenerative Medicine will host “Moving Adult Stem Cells and the Therapeutic Proteins They Produce from the Laboratory to the Patient.”

The Symposium will be held in the TIPS Auditorium at 800 Raymond Stotzer Parkway in College Station from 8:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. Dr. Darwin J. Prockop will present “Advances in Using the Proteins Produced by Adult Stem Cells to Treat Myocardial Infarction and Diseases of the Eye” at 11:15.

Please register with Marcia Wenck at (979) 845-3374 or email mwenck@tamu.edu.  Registration is $15 and includes lunch.

Abstracts are due by October 4, 2011, to mwenck@tamu.edu. Thirty abstracts will be selected for poster presentation.

Poster Guidelines, Abstract Form and more information at the TIPS website

Bayless Selected for Tabor Award

On August 12, 2011, Kayla Bayless, Ph.D., assistant professor of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, was selected as one of the Journal of Biological Chemistry’s Herbert Tabor Young Investigator Award recipients.  The awards recognize innovators and achievers in new generations of researchers who exemplify Dr. Tabor’s values of creativity and scientific excellence.

The journal’s associate editors select promising young researchers at scientific symposia and meetings throughout the year that focus on the molecular and cellular basis of biological processes.

The awards will be issued each year to meeting participants who give outstanding oral or poster presentations. Dr. Bayless received her award at the Gordon Research Conference on Matrix Metalloproteinases in Smithfield, Rhode Island.  Her presentation was titled “Fine-tuning angiogenic sprout initiation.”

The award includes a plaque, a cash prize and a feature in the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology member magazine, “ASBMB Today.”

 

Murphree Earns MHA from UNC

Paul Murphree

On August 6, 2011, Paul Murphree, M.D., Regional Chair of OB/GYN in Round Rock, received his Master’s of Healthcare Administration degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Dr. Murphree pursued this degree to assist in healthcare reform issues and to better understand the business of medicine.

Dr. Murphree gained a broader perspective on the administration of healthcare on a national, state and local level. The course work provided an awareness of the use of biostatistics and epidemiology, interspersed with the importance of providing quality and value in the delivery of healthcare.

Dr. Murphree stated that it is important to convey to students the benefit of providing quality health care to their patients.

Beyond Pedagogy: COM’s New Faculty Development Enterprise

Office of Faculty Development

On September 8, 2011, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine Office of Faculty Development announced the launch of a central, comprehensive and college-wide faculty development program specifically designed for the professional educational development of all TAMHSC College of Medicine faculty members.

The Office of Faculty Development has recently expanded to include two full-time members, Lori Graham, Ph.D., and Courtney West, Ph.D. Several other faculty members will also be helping with this new program.

The Office of Faculty Development’s tools and programmatic offerings include a new website, training programs, continuing medical education (CME) modules, an online calendar of events with electronic registration and a three-tier training program.

See the full article at TAMHSC News

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.

COM Awards 2011-2012 Scholarships

2011-12 Scholarships Recipients

On September 1, 2011, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine awarded more than $23,000 in scholarships to students for the 2011-2012 academic year. Scholarships were funded by philanthropic support from donors, organizations and the College of Medicine.

“These scholarship awards recognize the commitment of our students to academic excellence and community service,” said Sam Shomaker, M.D., J.D., Dean of the TAMHSC College of Medicine.  “Scholarships, by decreasing the cost of attending medical school, help to keep a career in medicine within reach for all Texans who excel academically and help form lifelong connections between students, donors and the College of Medicine.”

Two $1,000 scholarships were awarded by Dr. Nelson Avery to students who spent their third year in Round Rock, excelled academically and participated in community service.

Avery Scholarship
Erick Torres
Ryan Russell

One four-year, $2,000 Ted and Stephanie Routh Presidential Endowed Scholarship was awarded to a student who exhibited academic excellence and a strong history of community service.  

Routh Presidential Endowed Scholarship
Grace Chang 

Two $750 scholarships were awarded by the Texas Medical Association (TMA) 50 Year Club to fourth-year students who demonstrated outstanding academic progress.  The scholarships were funded by those who have been TMA members for 50 years or more.

TMA 50 Year Club
Leslie Schornack
Justin Fried

Eighteen one-year, $1,000 scholarships were awarded to second-, third- and fourth-year students who demonstrated academic excellence and excellent service within the community and/or the college.

Class of 2012

Michelle Ganyo (Service)
Valarie Schwind (Service)
Chris Hovland (Service)
Erica Bartlett (Academic)
Jonathan Williams (Academic)
Carson Fairbanks (Academic) 

Class of 2013  

Monica Martinez (Service)
Wilson Harrison (Service)
Ben Raber (Service)
Adam Jaster (Academic)
Kyle Mueller (Academic)
Jessica Ward (Academic) 

Class of 2014

David Michel (Service)
Manik Aggarwal (Service)
Sanket Borgaonkar (Service)
Victoria Schneider (Academic)
Steven Glenn (Academic)
Christian Ernst (Academic)

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.

TAMHSC Pulse Newsletter

OIT Administrative Updates

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is offering a more personalized support experience for faculty, staff and students of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC). Support technicians and walk-up areas are now available at every campus location.

OIT is pleased to announce the addition of lead webmaster Jeremy Tarpley to its staff.  He has worked in information technology since 1999 – in the private sector, within his own business and at Texas A&M. He is responsible for directing the TAMHSC web team as well as developing and maintaining university websites.

The OIT mission is to be a trusted partner in teaching, learning and discovery, providing valuable information technology resources to faculty, staff and students. Communication with user groups throughout our institution is essential in this partnership.

OIT is implementing new methods to keep TAMHSC users aware of technology, services, initiatives, security issues, system alerts and much more.

OIT plans to keep users informed through:

  • A quarterly newsletter.
  • A notifications site containing system alerts and IT information.
  • Helpful tutorials to introduce new technologies.
  • Streamlined website information for faculty, staff and students.
  • The addition of social media outlets to expand communications capabilities.

See the full article at TAMHSC News

Robert Nobles

Nobles new director of research compliance

Robert Nobles, Dr.PH., M.P.H., has joined the Texas A&M Health Science Center Office of Research as director of research compliance.

Dr. Nobles will be primarily responsible for overseeing all health science center research compliance activities related to animal welfare, human subjects research, biosafety, conflicts of interest, export control, responsible conduct of research and good laboratory practice.

See the full article at TAMHSC News

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

Basic Science

Microbial & Molecular Pathogenesis

Recent Publications

Lentz, E.K., Leyva-Illades, D., Lee, M.-S., Cherla, R.P., and Tesh, V.L. 2011. Differential response of the human proximal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 to Shiga toxin types 1 and 2. Infection and Immunity 79: 3527-3540.

Presentations, Conferences & Meetings

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Seattle, WA, from 1-3 August to speak at a TB vaccine meeting sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and held at the Foundation’s headquarters. The title of his invited presentation was “BCG: Myths and Realities”

Dr. David McMurray traveled to Rockville, MD, from 16-18 August to attend a quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation.

Molecular & Cellular Medicine

Recent Publications

Liu, Y., Merchant, Z., Hsiao, H.C., Gonzalez, K.L., Matthews, K.S., and Bondos, S.E. (2011) Media composition influences yeast one- and two-hybrid results. Biol Proced Online.13(1): 6. [Epub ahead of print].

Fuxreiter, M., Simon, I., and Bondos, S. (2011) Dynamic protein-DNA recognition: beyond what can be seen.  Trends Biochem Sci. 36(8): 415-423. [Epub 2011 May 27].

Bondos, S.E., and Hsiao, H.C. (2011) Roles for Intrinsic Disorder and Fuzziness in Generating Context-specific Function in Ultrabithorax, a Hox Transcription Factor. In Fuzziness: Structural disorder in protein complexes, ed. Monica Fuxreiter and Peter Tompa, pp. 86-105. Austin, Texas: Landes Bioscience.

Lee, B., Clarke, D., Al Ahmad, A., Kahle, M., Parham, C., Auckland, L., Shaw, C., Fidanboylu, M., Orr, A.W., Ogunshola, O., Fertala, A., Thomas, S.A., and Bix, G.J. (2011) Perlecan domain V is neuroprotective and proangiogenic following ischemic stroke in rodents. J Clin Invest. 121(8): 3005-3023. [Epub 2011 Jul 11].

Arenas-Gamboa, A.M., Rice-Ficht, A.C., Kahl-McDonagh, M.M., and Ficht,T.A. (2011) Protective Efficacy and Safety of Brucella melitensis 16M{Delta}mucR against Intraperitoneal and Aerosol Challenge in BALB/c Mice. Infect Immun. 79(9): 3653-3658. [Epub 2011 Jun 27].

Tu, L.C., and Musser, S.M. (2011) Single molecule studies of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1813(9): 1607-1618. [Epub 2010 Dec 16].

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. Anim. 47(7): 500-505. [Epub 2011 Jun 21].

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]

Gibbons, T.F., Storey, S.M., Williams, C.V., McIntosh, A., Mitchel, D.M., Parr,  R.D., Schroeder, M.E., Schroeder, F., and Ball, J.M. (2011)  Rotavirus NSP4: Cell type-dependent transport kinetics to the exofacial plasma membrane and release from intact infected cells. Virology Journal, 8:278. 

Presentations

Dr. Geoffrey Kapler presented a talk at the FASEB Summer Conference Series entitled "Ciliate Molecular Biology" in Crete, Greece on July 10 to July 15, 2011. The title of the presentation was "Unconventional Responses to DNA Damage and Replication Stress in Tetrahymena" which was co-authored by Dr. Pamela Sandoval and Po-Hsuen Lee.

Dr. Kayla Bayless attended a Gordon Conference on Matrix Metalloproteinases from August 7 to August 12, 2011 in Smithfield, Rhode Island.  She presented a talk entitled, "Fine-tuning angiogenic sprout initiation".

Dr. Tina L. Gumienny attended the FASEB Summer Research Conference on "The TGF-beta Superfamily: Signaling in Development and Disease" in Il Ciocco, Italy on August 21 to August 26, 2011. She presented a research poster entitled, "Molecular characterization of TGF-beta regulation by multiple intracellular vesicle trafficking processes in C. elegans".

Dr. Tina L. Gumienny presented a talk at Umea University in Umea, Sweden entitled "Identifying and characterizing regulators of BMP-mediated body size in C. elegans" on August 29, 2011.

Awards

Dr. Kayla Bayless was named  Herbert Tabor Young Investigator at the Gordon Research Conference on Matrix Metalloproteinases held August 7 to August 12 , 2011 in Rhode Island. The award which included a plaque and honorarium was sponsored by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and presented by Dr. Judith Bond, an Associate Editor for The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Krystle Yakshe, a medical sciences graduate student in Dr. Judith Ball’s lab competed for and was selected to work in Mexico City, Mexico at the Institute for Biotechnology at the National Autonomous University this summer for 10 weeks. The application was a proposal and the institute paid her for her travel, living expenses, as well as tuition and fees.

News

Dr. Geoffrey Kapler co-organized the FASEB Summer Research Conference entitled "Ciliate Molecular Biology" in Crete, Greece on July 10 to July 15, 2011 with Dr. Eric Meyer and Dr. Sandra Duharcourt from the Institut de Biologie de l’Ecole Normale Superieure, CNRS, in Paris, France.

Grants

Dr. Chris Chaput (PI), Dr. Carl Gregory (co-PI), and Dr. Wayne Sampson (co-PI) were awarded a Scott and White Research Grant #100216 entitled "Osteogenically Stimulated Bone Marrow in Bone Regeneration and Repair" for 2 years (2011-2013), Total 40,000.  Dr. Chris Chaput is with the Dept. of Surgery and Dr. Wayne Sampson is with the Dept of Systems Biology.

Dr. Wallace L. McKeehan received an award of $90,000 from Eli Lilly for his project titled "Metabolic Studies of FGF19 and FGF21 in FGFR deficient mice". Dates of project are 8/18/11-8/18/14.

Dr. Geoffrey Kapler (PI), Dr. Eric Meyer (co-PI) and Dr. Sandra Duharcourt (co-PI) received a grant award from the National Science Foundation, Division of Molecular Biosciences. 2011 Ciliate Molecular Biology Conference, Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece. Amount $15,000.

Systems Biology & Translational Medicine

Communiqués

Dr. Vincent VanBuren was elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences.

Publications

Hayenga HN, Trache A, Trzeciakowski J, Humphrey JD. Regional atherosclerotic plaque properties in ApoE–/– mice quantified by atomic force, immunofluorescence, and light microscopy. J Vasc Res 2011; 48:495–504.

Shibuya N, Jupiter D, Ciliberti L, VanBuren V, LaFontaine J. (2011) Prevalence of podiatric problems in veterans versus non-veterans. J Am Podiatric Med Assn 104:323-330.

VanBuren V. (2011) Computational modeling of microtubule structure and assembly: A pseudo-mechanical model and a mechanical model. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag, 152 pp.

Presentations

Dr. Lih Kuo presented a talk at the National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan, August 22, 2011. The talk was titled "Vasomotor regulation of microcirculation: ET ROCKS."

Grants

Drs. Christopher Chaput, H. Wayne Sampson, Carl Gregory, and Vasilios Zerris received a $40,000 Scott & White RGP Project grant titled “Osteogenically stimulated bone marrow regeneration and repair” for the period 2011-2013.

Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics

George C.Y. Chiou, Ph.D.

Other indices of teaching (awards, quality of teaching, or any additional information not listed above)

Research/Scholarly Activities

Review articles (full citations)

  • Chiou, GCY, Pharmacological  treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology, in press (2011)

Book chapters (full citations)

  • Chiou, GCY Treatment of Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration In: Age Related Macular Degeneration, (book chapter),  in press (2011)

Mendell Rimer, Ph.D.

Ursula Winzer-Serhan

Publications

Manuscripts accepted or in press (full citations and PMID if available)

  • Pei-San Huang, Jong-Hyun Son, Louise C. Abbott, Ursula H. Winzer-Serhan, “Regulated expression of neuronal SIRT1 and related genes by aging and neuronal beta2-containing nicotinic cholinergic receptors”, Neuroscience, in press.

Clinical Science

Latest News From The Center of Excellence on Returning War Veterans

The CoE would like to introduce the newest addition to the research group, Deborah Little, Ph.D. Dr. Little will become the Neuroimaging and Genetics Core leader and will join the faculty at Texas A&M Health Science Center as a Professor of Psychiatry and Human Science. She comes to us from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago Illinois. Dr. Little is funded by the Department of Defense, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and has recently received a Merit Award from the VA. The study funded by the Merit Award will investigate the effects of blast + mild Traumatic Brain Injury on thalamic and brain stem fiber integrity and function using a combination of neuropsychological testing high field MRI and tests of oculomotor function. Dr. Little is a well-respected and productive scientist in her field with over 10 publications since January 2011.

The CoE welcomes two new OAA Fellows who will begin their fellowship in September, 2011; Richard Seim, Ph.D, graduated from Western Michigan University in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Seim’s completed his predoctoral internship at Cincinnati Veterans Administration Medical Center. Lianna Evans, Ph.D. graduated from Spalding University, School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Evans completed her predoctoral internship at The Ohio Psychology Internship/Summit Psychology Associates, Inc.

Grants Awarded
  • David Greenawalt, Ph.D. Test of a Motivation Enhancement Group to Increase Engagement in Residential PTSD Treatment.  VISN Award, $50,000 4/1/11 - 3/31/13
  • Suzy Bird Gulliver, Ph.D. A Test of Peer Led vs. Interactive Computer Training for Firefighters. Department of Homeland Security. $945,000 6/1/11 - 5/30/12
  • Suzy Bird Gulliver, Ph.D/John Klocek, Ph.D.  Motivating Substance Abusing Veterans, via Family to Seek Treatment, VA Merit Award. $1,100,000 11/1/11 -10/31/15
  • Nate Kimbrel, Ph.D. Gene x Environment Effects on PTSD. VA Career Development Award, $1,897,429, 10/1/11 – 9/30/16
  • Marc Kruse, Ph.D. Normalization of Attention Bias as a Treatment for Veterans with PTSD. VISN Award, $50,000 4/1/11 - 3/31/13
  • Jack Tsan, Ph.D. Investigating Factors Associated with Specialty Mental Health Follow-through after Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI). VISN Award, $50,000 4/1/11 - 3/31/13
Posters Presented
  • Greenawalt DS, Tsan JY, Kimbrel NA, Meyer EC, Kruse MI, Tharp DF, Gulliver SB, Morissette SB: Mental health treatment involvement and religious coping among African Americans, Hispanic and White Veterans of the Operation Enduring and Operation Iraqi Freedom Wars. Annual VHA Mental Health Conference August, 2011 Baltimore Maryland
  • Tsan JY, Stock EM, Zeber JE, Copeland LA: Primary Care Mental Health Integration and Persistence in Care among Iraq and Afghanistan war Veterans. Annual VHA Mental Health Conference August, 2011 Baltimore Maryland

Division of Investigative Pathology

Dr. Punit Kaur

Abstracts Accepted
  • Adaptogens Stimulate Molecular Chaperone Hsp70 Expression in Neuroglia Cells, 59th International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research, September 4-9, 2011, Antalya, Turkey
Posters
  • Identifying Biomarkers with High-throughput Proteomics Technology, August 11, 2011, Texas Bioscience Institute, Temple, Texas
  • Identification of Specific Biomarkers Using Proteomics, August 11, 2011, Texas Bioscience Institute, Temple, Texas

PAOLA ROSAS

Presentations/Meetings/Workshops
  • “The Role of Heat Shock Proteins in Preventing Amylin Aggregation: A New Approach Towards Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus” presented on August 18, 2011, at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, Temple, Texas

Division of Molecular Cardiology

Presentations

Dr. Rajesh Kumar presented the following talks:

  • NF-kB/Renin-angiotensin system axis in diabetic cardiomyopathy. Invited lecture at the XIX Meeting of Brazilian Society of Hypertension, August 11-13, 2011 at Guaruja, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  • New aspects of the renin-angiotensin system. Invited lecture at the XIX Meeting of Brazilian Society of Hypertension, August 11-13, 2011 at Guaruja, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  • Novel aspects of the cardiac renin-angiotensin system in diabetes. Invited lecture at Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Other

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Rakeshwar Guleria on his recent promotion to Assistant Professor. Dr. Guleria has been with the Division of Molecular Cardiology since 2007, first as Postdoctoral Research Associate, then as Instructor. Prior to joining us, Dr. Guleria served as Postdoctoral Research Associate from 2004-2007 for the Department of Internal Medicine.  We are very proud to have Dr. Guleria as part of our team and look forward to working with him in his new capacity.

Dr. Wen Chen will soon be joining the Division of Molecular Cardiology as an Instructor. Dr. Chen has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and has completed two postdoctoral research fellowships; one in Mass Spectometry in the Structural Biology Program at New York University School of Medicine; and the other working in the Proteomics area in the Department of Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He will be working with Dr. Kenneth Baker’s research group on one aspect of the currently NIH funded research effort on the Intracellular Renin Angiotensin System.

Internal Medicine

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

Internal Medicine Research

Papers

Dr. Gianfranco Alpini was invited to become an editorial board member for the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology.

Dr.’s Gianfranco Alpini and Shannon Glasers’ grant entitled "Development and Characterization of a CF Biliary Epithelial Model" was funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This is a collaborative grant with Dr. Drew Feranchak at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Gianfranco Alpini received a Certificate of Excellence from the journal Laboratory Investigation as recognition of being a Top 5% reviewer for the journal.

Dr. Sharon DeMorrow gave a Webinar presentation "Biliary tract diseases: update of latest research from Digestive disease week" Sponsored by the cholangiocarcinoma foundation in partnership with the Primary Schlerosing cholangitis foundation.

Dr. Sharon DeMorrow received a Certificate of Excellence from the journal Laboratory Investigation as recognition of being a Top 5% reviewer for the journal.