|
|
|
|
For a printable PDF version of SOM e-NEWS, click here.
News and information (appointments, searches, events, awards, etc.) pertaining to the School of Medicine are featured in SOM e-NEWS in abstract form and are linked to the web for more detailed information. If you have information you would like published in this newsletter, please contact Denise Gonzalez, in the Dean of Medicine Office via email (djgonzal@utmb.edu) or by fax (29598). Please let us know your ideas and suggestions for this communication format. You may send your comments via email to Jackie Genovese, Director of Communications, School of Medicine, jmgenove@utmb.edu.
July 2007
Click on topic to read announcement or scroll 2. 2007 SCHOOL OF MEDICINE COMMENCEMENT 3. Dr. Leonard E. Swischuk Awarded 2007 ARRS Gold Medal Award 4. DRs. helen wu & JASON GLENN attend nida HIV conference 5. DR. OLIVERA NESIC RECEIVES 2007 ERICA NADER AWARD AT THE ASIA MEETING 6. UTMB awarded $750,000 Howard Hughes grant 7. DR. Blackwell named director of General Internal Medicine 8. STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS AND ASTHMA FEATURED ON NPR's "LIVING ON EARTH" 9. family Medicine opens new Stewart Road Family Health Clinic 10. LEADING MEDICAL INSTITUTES TO DEVELOP SPACE MEDICINE PROGRAM 11. Apply now to become or to support a Team Works Scholar 12. Call for Proposals - RWJ Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars Program
13. SCHOOL
OF MEDICINE IN THE NEWS
FACULTY OF MEDICINE MEETING
A faculty forum to discuss the revisions to the APT Guidelines will be held on Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 5:00 PM in the Caduceus Room located on the 6th floor of the Administration Building.
Please see the schedule below for future Faculty of Medicine Meetings through August 2008. A reception for new faculty will immediately follow Faculty of Medicine meetings as indicated below (●). These dates may be subject to change should future circumstances dictate.
Register now for Clinical Research Course “Clinical Research: Tools and Techniques” is a series of 37 weekly sessions offered by the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) and Clinical Research Education Office (Karl E. Anderson, M.D., course director). This course will begin Monday, August 6, 2007, 5:15 p.m., Children’s Hospital, Room 2.312. The one-hour sessions provide an overview of ethics, methods, and issues in the conduct of research involving human subjects. A brochure further describing the sessions is available upon request or at the course internet site listed below. CME, CME ethics hours, Risk Education, and GME credits are available for selected sessions. The course is also approved for credit for graduate students enrolled in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. To register, complete and submit the registration form located on the brochure or internet site, or contact the Clinical Research Education Office at 772-1484. The course fee of $45 covers registration, letter of completion, Risk Education and GME credit, and refreshments. An additional $45 covers optional CME credit for physicians or nurses. The schedule of this and other components of the Clinical Research Training Program are available on the CREO web page, http://www.utmb.edu/gcrc/education/Ed_CREO.htm Course Internet site: http://www.utmb.edu/gcrc/education/Ed_ResearchCourseCurrent.htm HONORS AND
AWARDS PROGRAM AND WHITE COAT CEREMONY
The Honors and Awards Program recognizes outstanding students and
faculty; the White Coat Ceremony is the School of Medicine's formal
welcoming and introduction of our incoming medical students to the
profession of medicine. This event will take place on Monday, August
20, 2007 at 4:00 PM in the Levin Hall Main Auditorium. _____________________________________________________________
2. 2007 SCHOOL OF MEDICINE COMMENCEMENT  The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine awarded 197 Doctor of Medicine degrees at its 117th Commencement Exercises held on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at the Moody Gardens Convention Center in Galveston.
Read more about Commencement on the School of Medicine web site.
_____________________________________________________________
3. Dr. Leonard E. Swischuk Awarded 2007 arrs gold Medal Award
_____________________________________________________________
4. DRs. helen wu & JASON GLENN attend nida HIV conference
Drs. Helen Wu, assistant
professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and member, Center for Addiction
Research, and Jason Glenn, assistant professor, Institute for the Medical
Humanities and Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and member,
Center for Addiction Research, attended a conference entitled “Drug Abuse and
Risky Behaviors: the Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS,” hosted by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in collaboration with multiple NIH institutes
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The inspiring conference
provided a timely forum to explore the growing knowledge of the behavioral and
social factors that affect HIV infections rates among various populations,
including multiple influences of drug abuse and addiction on HIV risk.
Traditionally, the risk behaviors to HIV have been associated with injection,
and homosexual behaviors. In recent years, the focus of research has moved
toward an understanding of how substance abuse, including non-injection drug
use, affects HIV/AIDS risk in diverse populations (e.g., adolescents,
minorities, those involved with the criminal justice system) and how testing and
counseling can be incorporated as a key component of HIV prevention strategies
for drug-abusing populations. Wu is currently conducting research to
understand how non-injection drug use impacts HIV risk behaviors in young,
low-income women, while Glenn is working to develop a prisoner re-entry
program for non-violent ex-offenders with a history of substance abuse. Further,
Glenn and Wu, together with a group of researchers at UTMB, are developing
multiple research projects to tackle HIV related risk behaviors in prison
inmates, probationers, and other community agencies. _____________________________________________________________
5. DR. OLIVERA NESIC RECEIVES 2007 ERICA NADER AWARD AT THE ASIA MEETING
_____________________________________________________________
6. UTMB awarded $750,000 Howard Hughes grant
_____________________________________________________________
7. DR. Blackwell named director of General Internal Medicine
_____________________________________________________________
8. STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS AND ASTHMA FEATURED ON NPR's "LIVING ON EARTH" A study conducted by UTMB researchers in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology was featured on the National Public Radio's Saturday morning program, "Living on Earth." The article is about how environmental estrogens working via nongenomic mechanisms cause the release of asthma mediators and exacerbate release by allergens. It could help explain the increasing incidence of asthma in this country. To hear the program, click here. _____________________________________________________________
9. Family Medicine opens new Stewart Road Family Health Clinic
As one of the nation's leading medical centers, The University of Texas Medical Branch offers a full range of primary and specialty care outpatient services at its on-campus and community-based clinics. The UTMB clinics logged more than 763,000 outpatient visits last year. _____________________________________________________________
10. LEADING MEDICAL INSTITUTES TO DEVELOP SPACE MEDICINE PROGRAM A comprehensive space medicine resource for the entire civilian spaceflight industry is the focus of a memorandum of understanding that has been signed between Mayo Clinic in Arizona, the University of Texas Medical Branch and Wyle Laboratories. “Collectively, the partners will seek opportunities and develop mutual agreements to provide medical assessment and screening services to people considering space flight in an effort to assure passengers remain healthy and well,” said Dr. Vernon McDonald, director of Wyle’s Commercial Space Flight Service Unit. Medical services including screening, medical management and special environmental testing would be available to spaceflight vehicle operators, suborbital spaceflight passengers, commercial space ports and other entities involved in the commercial spaceflight industry. “Working with Wyle and Mayo will enhance the services we can provide to both current and future customers, and truly provides an exceptional and uniquely qualified resource for the commercial space industry,” said Richard Jennings, M.D, UTMB associate professor of clinical preventive medicine and program director of its Aerospace Residency Program. _____________________________________________________________
11. Apply now to become or to support a Team Works Scholar Team Works! is a new AAMC professional development program designed to put the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of high performing teams to work in medical schools and teaching hospitals. The program provides coaching for team skills over the course of six months, using on-line support of active learning, workshops, and peer analysis of team function. Lessons include team goal-setting, conflict management, and integration of different experiences and styles into daily work. Participants in the program will work with an experienced team coach and five to six scholars drawn from AAMC member medical schools and teaching hospitals to address the very real challenges of the work of research, teaching, and clinical teams in their home institutions. Additional information is available on the AAMC meetings page at http://www.aamc.org/meetings/specmtgs/ete07/start.htm. Only 48 scholars will be accepted for this unique opportunity. The deadline for applications is July 13, 2007. For questions about program content, please contact Diane Magrane, M.D. at Dmagrane@aamc.org. _____________________________________________________________
12. Call for Proposals - RWJ Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars Program The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is now seeking applicants for its Physician Faculty Scholars Program. This program is designed to strengthen the leadership and academic productivity of junior medical school faculty who are dedicated to improving health and health care. In 2008 the Foundation will make up to fifteen awards of up to $300,000 each over three years to help young physicians develop their careers in academic medicine. A medical school may submit one nominee. Click here for additional information. _____________________________________________________________
13.
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN THE NEWS
Below is a listing of SOM faculty or programs in the news: News RX Online, May 2007, Researchers from Sweden, the U.S. and Spain publish new findings on colon cancer. New findings from Sweden, the United States and Spain describe advances in colon cancer. Colon cancer is diminished by the effect of dietary fiber on tumor suppressor signals. Investigators in the United States conducted a study "to determine whether sodium butyrate (NaB), a major short-chain fatty acid produced in the human gut by bacterial fermentation of dietary fiber, enhances transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling and potentiates its tumor suppressor activity in the gut.” The molecular mechanisms by which dietary fiber decreases the risk of colon cancers are poorly characterized. TGF-beta is an important tumor suppressor in the gut and has many similar biologic activities as NaB. "Therefore," wrote K.A. Nguyen and colleagues, University of Texas Medical Branch, "we hypothesized that the chemopreventive effects of NaB are mediated in part by enhancing TGF-beta signaling and its tumor suppressor function in the gut. The effects of NaB on Smad3 expression in rat intestinal epithelial (RIE-1) cells and six human colon cancer cell lines were examined." For additional information, contact T.C. Ko, University of Texas Medical Branch, Dept. Surgery, 301 University of Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555, USA. http://www.newsrx.com/library/topics/Colon-Cancer/64187.html Galveston County Daily News, June 1, UTMB champion John McGovern dies. One of UTMB’s staunchest supporters, John P. McGovern, died Thursday at John Sealy Hospital after a long illness. He was 84. Physician and philanthropist McGovern’s gifts to University of Texas Medical Branch rank among the most generous and innovative from any individual donor, hospital officials said. “It would be impossible to overestimate the impact he has had on this institution,” said John D. Stobo, medical branch president. “For decades, he has given generously to our department of family medicine, our school of nursing and our institute for the medical humanities. “But his most significant contribution has been his endowments establishing the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine, recognizing medical faculty who exemplify and teach the compassionate, patient-centered art of medicine, which is just as important today as when William Osler practiced it a century or more ago.” http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=98038f7d2582c496 (This story appeared in multiple publications.)
MedIndia.com, June 1, Aerobic Exercise Helps Maintain Muscle in Elderly. Experiments at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and the University of Southern California, Los Angeles conducted on 13 healthy volunteers in their late 60s showed that 45 minutes of walking 20 hours before exposure to insulin restored the muscle-growth-stimulating effects of the hormone to levels comparable to those seen in normal young adults. http://www.medindia.net/news/Aerobic-Exercise-Helps-Maintain-Muscle-in-Elderly-Research-21518-1.htm (This story appeared in multiple publications.)
Washington Post, June 1, At Med Schools, a New Degree of Diversity. The six members of Medical Team 4 have a lot in common. Each wears a white coat, has a stethoscope for a necklace and has stayed up late this week. They can all start an IV and work up a solitary lung nodule. They share something less obvious, too. With one exception, none has a grandparent born in the United States. Med 4 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northwest Washington is the new face of American medicine. Its members happen to come from Georgetown and George Washington universities, but the team is indistinguishable from similar groups of young doctors and doctors-to-be at many of the country's 125 medical schools. In the past 15 years, U.S. medicine has seen a huge influx of first- and second-generation immigrants. It follows and augments a different demographic trend that began 30 years ago with the acceptance of increasing numbers of women into medical schools. As a result of that earlier revolutionary change, half of new practitioners today are women. The Norman Rockwell-Marcus Welby image of the American doctor -- an avuncular white man, often in a bow tie -- is rapidly disappearing. From 1980 to 2004, the fraction of medical school graduates describing themselves as white fell from 85 percent to 64 percent. Over that same period, the percentage of Asians increased from 3 percent to 20 percent, with Indians and Chinese the two biggest ethnic groups. The most recent arrivals -- Africans -- are the hardest to quantify. Morehouse School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has 12 students born in Africa out of about 210 in the M.D. program. Meharry Medical College, another historically black institution, in the past eight years has had an average of two foreigners per year in its incoming classes of about 60. Dr. Lauree Thomas, an African American physician who is associate dean for admissions at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, estimated that "20 to 30 percent of the black applicant pool" at her school is students who were born in Nigeria, or of Nigerian parents. Foxwell, the Maryland dean, estimates that close to half the black students there have recent ties to Africa. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053102433_3.html?sub=AR BioPortfolio, June 2, Thrombotargets announces new scientific advisory board. Thrombotargets, a privately owned biotech company focused on the development of new drug candidates and technologies in the field of hemostasia, today announced the membership of its new scientific advisory board. Members were selected for their expertise on hemostasia, vascular biology, coagulation diseases management, and dental procedure treatment of coagulation disease patients. The new members include: Cam Patterson, M.D., F.A.C.C, the Ernest and Hazel Craige Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Chief of the Division of Cardiology, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He obtained his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in 1989 where he served as resident until 1992, and as chief resident, until 1993. He did clinical and research fellowships at the Cardiovascular Biology Laboratory of the Harvard School of Public Health, 1993 to 1996, and later at the Cardiology Section of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston where he served as principal investigator for the Sealy Center for Molecular Cardiology and as associate professor in the Department of Medicine (Cardiology). http://www.bioportfolio.com/biotech_news/Thrombotargets_6.htm Forbes, June 5, Antipsychotic Drugs Raise Death Rates in Elderly. A new study adds to growing evidence that antipsychotic drugs raise death rates among elderly people, who are sometimes given them when their behavioral problems become too much for doctors or families to handle. Antipsychotic drugs have been around since the 1950s and are typically used to treat people with mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Over time, Gill said, doctors began using them to treat behavioral problems associated with senility, also known as dementia. In 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned doctors about atypical antipsychotics, specifically olanzapine (Zyprexa), aripiprazole (Abilify), risperidone (Risperdal), and quetiapine (Seroquel). Fifteen of 17 studies of elderly patients with dementia -- which included more than 5,100 patients -- found a 1.7-fold increase in death rates in those who took the drugs. Study findings were published June 4 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. James S. Goodwin, director of the Sealy Center on Aging at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, agreed with the researchers about the study's drawbacks. An "observational" study like this one, in which researchers do not control which people take a drug, raises the prospect that the results may be caused by something other than a drug, he said. "So the same underlying reasons that led physicians to put a patient on a treatment might be the reason for the poor or good outcome," he said. "In this case, to give just one example, patients with delirium are much more likely to be given antipsychotics, and patients with delirium are at higher risk of death." Goodwin added that many doctors think antipsychotics are overused in older patients. However, he said, "there is a class of demented patients with real bad behavioral problems, like striking other residents in a nursing home, where antipsychotics might be the least bad solution." http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/06/05/hscout605225.html Galveston County Daily News, June 6, Protect your children from summer heat, Column by Drs. Sally Robinson and Keith Bly. Is this year hotter than last year? We may never be able to agree on that, but it's hot enough to be dangerous. You don't have to be actively running around outside to be overcome by the heat, either. The elderly quietly succumb in apartments lacking air conditioning. Infants and children die locked in superheated cars, forgotten by neglectful parents. Whether you are active or shut in, heat can attack you. Parents can help kids avoid serious heat illness b practicing some commonsense rules. http://galvestondailynews.com/guestcolumns.lasso Port Arthur News, June 9, Sabine Pass family prays for miracle. Sitting at a table in his FEMA trailer, Craig Ray flipped through photos of him and his wife, Linda, and their two children. The past few years have been tough on the couple; in 2005 Hurricane Rita destroyed their century old family home and in March Linda was diagnosed with untreatable small cell cancer of the pancreas and lungs. “She was my first girlfriend,” he said. “We were 12 and 13 at the time, then we married when we were 15 and 16.” Just months ago Linda went to a local hospital three separate times to check on a knotting feeling in her stomach. She was released each time because emergency room doctors did not find anything wrong with her. Eventually she went to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where the cancer and its severity were diagnosed. http://www.panews.com/local/local_story_160161923.html San Antonio Express News, June 9, Obituary: Married almost 66 years, the Posts died only three days apart. Dr. Perry Post and Dorothy Bowen met in early 1941 at El Paso's Fort Bliss, where he was stationed and she worked at the Officers Club. The couple fell in love, and within months, the young officer from San Antonio and the woman, a native of Douglas, Ariz., became engaged. They married that June. Not long after, he was shipped to Hawaii. She was a director of volunteers at a hospital in Washington. It would be nearly four years before they were together again. Except for those years during the war, Dr. Post and his wife were seldom apart again, and would have been married 66 years on June 14. But this week, death separated them — although not for long. Post, 92, a former president of the Bexar County Medical Society and faculty member at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, died Monday. And so what was to have been a single funeral will now be a joint service. Specializing in family medicine, Post practiced briefly in Boerne after serving in World War II with the Army Medical Corps. From Boerne, Post moved his practice to the Jefferson area in San Antonio. Houston attorney Mason Post Hester said his grandfather attended St. Mary's University but left when he was 19 to start his medical studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA060807.04B.Obit_Post_2.2df3fa7.html Austin American Statesman, June 11, Surgeon gets alumni award. Austin surgeon Robert E. Askew Sr. was recently chosen by the University of Texas Medical Branch to receive its highest alumni award at a ceremony and reception in Galveston. He also was honored by the Austin-based Shivers Cancer Foundation, which established a $500,000 endowed chair in his name. Askew, a 1959 UTMB School of Medicine graduate, served as chief of staff and chief of surgery at Austin's Seton Medical Center. He also has presided over the Travis County Medical Society, the Ellis County Medical Society, the UTMB Singleton Surgical Society, the Texas Surgical Society and the South Texas Division of the American College of Surgeons. http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/11/11honchos.html Galveston County Daily News, June 12, Another reason why it’s so hard to base medicine on good evidence, Column by Dr. Howard Brody, M.D. Dr. David Slawson, a family physician at the University of Virginia, recently gave some of us an update on “evidence-based medicine,” and in the process, reminded us of all the reasons why it is so hard to get good evidence on which to base medical practice. Dr. Slawson reminded the audience – mostly those who had done family medicine training at Virginia – of a major research study conducted there in the newborn intensive care unit. The goal was to find out whether surfactant helps premature babies breathe better – which we believe today it does. The study was supposed to meet the highest gold standard – a randomized trial. If a premature baby coming into the unit seemed a suitable candidate, residents were supposed to take a sealed envelope off a special stack. On opening the envelope they would find out if this child had been randomly assigned to the surfactant or regular care group. Only problem was, if you held the envelope up to the light, you could see what group was assigned. The residents got into the habit of peering into the envelope to see the assignment for the next baby. If a baby rolled in who, in the resident’s opinion, ought to get that specified treatment, it was enrolled in the study and that treatment was “randomly” assigned. But if the baby looked like it would do better on the other treatment, the resident found various reasons to declare the baby unsuitable for the study, and it was treated based on medical judgment outside of the trial. http://galvestondailynews.com/columns.lasso Galveston County Daily News, June 13, Inexpensive ways to spend time with kids, Column by Drs. Sally Robinson and Keith Bly. How expensive it is to take the family anywhere? Twenty dollars here, $20 dollars there, it adds up. Organized activities require transportation, parking, tickets, planning and a lot of money. Most kids have just as much fun spending time with their families doing simple, cheap things. And Galveston is full of them. Here is our favorite list of quiet and inexpensive ways to spend quality time with the kids after work. We’re sure there are lots more. If we miss your favorites, or if you live off the island, but have fun spots of your own, please e-mail us, and we’ll pass them on in a later article. So here we go: Monday is beach night. Shorts or swimsuit are ideal. Catch the first breeze of evening with a walk on the Seawall. Eat a snow cone with the kids, wander down to the beach where sand and sea meet, splash feet, dig your toes in, take the time to build a sand castle or just dig a hole, sit in the surf and let the waves wash over you. Tuesday is free band concert behind Ashton Villa, across from Rosenberg Library in the gazebo. It starts with the Pledge of Allegiance and includes lots of timeless big band music. It’s a wonderful event for kids with a weekly children’s flag parade around the park’s perimeter and a name-that-tune contest for kids. This concert has been going on for 79 years. It almost ended a couple of years ago, but we sort of hope more kids of all ages take the time to enjoy and keep the music flowing on warm summer evenings. Wednesday is park night, playground night at Schreiber Park or Kempner Park or any of the playgrounds in the city. Thursday is the night for a free ride on the ferry. Our kids never get tired of it. Neither do we. http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=fdad81796228f2e68c141f31bbdc9b5c&session=TheDailyNews:AAE0087E0efdf0CDA2uTL2B1F33F Houston Chronicle, June 14, Prison bureau awards health care to UTMB. The Federal Bureau of Prisons awarded the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston a contract beginning July 18 to provide comprehensive medical care to inmates at the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont, according to a news release. The one-year contract, which includes renewal options, is valued at about $99 million over the next five years, said Jack Smith, associate director of business development for UTMB's Correctional Managed Care division, in the release. UTMB will offer a full range of medical, dental and mental health services to the 5,700 male inmates. Those who need specialized care will be treated at Hospital Galveston, the UTMB correctional hospital in Galveston. Medical emergencies will continue to be treated at local area hospitals. UTMB has been the medical provider for the facility since it opened about 10 years ago. This is the only prison in the federal system that contracts with another agency to provide all of its health services, Smith said. It is CMC's second-largest contract. The largest is the $400 million contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to provide comprehensive health services each year to 80 percent of the state's inmate population. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/bay/news/4891179.html Galveston County Daily News, June 15, UTMB offers hope for infertility cure. A discovery by gynecology researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch may pave the way for new treatments and therapies for a leading cause of female infertility. The team has found that the amount of one particular enzyme is elevated in sufferers of polycystic ovary syndrome, which affects as many as 15 percent of women of childbearing age. First diagnosed in 1935 as Stein-Leventhal syndrome, the cause of the complicated syndrome is still unknown, and its numbers are rising because of the obesity epidemic. The syndrome affects women of all races and nationalities and is defined as having two of the following symptoms — an irregular period with no ovulation, increased hair growth or increased blood testosterone, or polycystic ovaries identified with ultrasound. Dr. Ayman Al-Hendy, the senior investigator and medical branch associate professor of gynecology, said: “We have identified an enzyme, catechol-O-methyl transferase, or COMT, that is elevated in the ovaries of PCOS patients.” http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=77e6dc44846fddc3 Galveston County Daily News, June 16, Keep America as the pinnacle nation, Guest Column by Dr. Benjamin S. Carson. Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr., was the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremonies of the University of Texas Medical Branch’s School of Medicine on June 2. Here are excerpts from his speech: I want to talk a little bit not only about who we are as physicians, but who we are as extraordinarily well-educated and privileged people. There were a lot of problems along the way of me realizing my dream of becoming a physician, not the least of which was the fact that I was a horrendous student. Unfortunately, I find that there are many such students still. A survey some years ago looked at the ability of students in 22 nations to solve so-called complex math and science problems. We ranked number 21 out of 22. That is a problem. We produce 60,000 engineers in this country each year, 40 percent of whom are foreign born. China produces 392,000 engineers a year. The chairman of Intel recently said it imports all its technical skill from China, Japan, India, Pakistan and South Korea. This is a problem. Now, it is true that, right now, the United States of America is the pinnacle nation in the world. But we’re not the first pinnacle nation. Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome were pinnacle nations. What happened to each and every one of them? They became enamored with sports, entertainment, lifestyles of the rich and famous. They lost their moral compass and they went right down the tubes. You look at what’s important in our society and it really is pretty embarrassing. http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=756d22956301f697
Marketwire, June 18, BioServe selected for study on thoracic aortic disease. BioServe announced Monday that it has been selected by Houston-based Specialized Clinical Center of Research (SCCOR) for a novel study aimed at identifying the genetic cause of thoracic aortic disease. The SCCOR is a collaborative program by University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas Medical Branch. Under terms of the agreement, BioServe will provide the SCCOR researchers with access to certain unique sample sets from its Global Repository of over 600,000 human DNA, tissue and serum samples linked to detailed clinical and demographic data to assist in identifying genes that are predictive of the development and progression of thoracic aortic diseases. Thoracic aortic disease is the 15th leading cause of death in the United States. http://www.marketwire.com/2.0/release.do?id=743194 Galveston County Daily News, June 19, Perry cuts $2M for UTMB diabetes work. A veto by Gov. Rick Perry last week erased $2 million that the University of Texas Medical Branch would have used to prevent and treat diabetes. Perry, however, approved $18 million for diabetes research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “One of my priorities is increasing collaboration among the agencies and institutions of higher education. The medical branch can collaborate with Southwestern.” Perry, who vetoed $570 million in state appropriations as he slashed away at what he called “pork,” said: “Our process of funding higher education is seriously flawed.” Dr. Randall J. Urban, chair of internal medicine at the medical branch and director of its Stark Diabetes Center, said he was disappointed by Perry’s veto. The center would have divided the state appropriations among communities, giving $150,000 each to Laredo, Brownsville, Corpus Christi and the Galveston region, which includes Brazoria, Orange, Matagorda and Jefferson counties. http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=56002d5d4c47a2e3 Endocrinology, June 21, Aldose Reductase Essential For High Glucose-Induced Muscle Cell Growth. Kota V. Ramana, Ravinder Tammali, Aramati B.M. Reddy, Aruni Bhatnagar, and Satish K. Srivastava. Diabetes is associated with increased generation of cytokines and tissue inflammation, but it is unclear how increased cytokine synthesis is causally related to the development of diabetic complications. Herein we report that exposure to high (25 mM) glucose, but not iso-osmotic concentrations of mannitol or 3-methyl glucose, increased TNF- secretion by rat and human aortic smooth muscle cells in culture. The increase in TNF- production was prevented by actinomycin D and cycloheximide, indicating transcriptional activation of TNF- gene. High glucose-induced TNF- release was specifically inhibited by PKC- inhibitor (Rottlerin) but not PKC- 2 inhibitor (CGP53353) indicating possible involvement of PKC- in HG-signaling. TNF- secretion was also prevented by pretreating cells with aldose reductase (AR) inhibitors-sorbinil or tolrestat and in cells treated with antisense AR mRNA. Inhibition of AR also prevented the increase in TNF- mRNA. Addition of anti-TNF- antibodies or soluble TNF- receptor 1 and 2 to the medium or RNA interference ablation of TNF- attenuated NF- B activation and prevented high glucose-stimulated cell growth. These data indicate that AR is required for high glucose-induced TNF- synthesis and release. In vivo, the release of TNF- by high glucose leading to autocrine stimulation of TNF- synthesis may be a critical step in the development of the cardiovascular complications of diabetes. Interruption of the autocrine effects of TNF- may be a useful strategy for treating diabetic vasculopathies. http://endo.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/en.2007-0512v1 Galveston County Daily News, June 24, Americans have fewer close bonds now. Barbara Canetti and Barbara Monahan, both 57, have known each other since they were toddlers in New York. Careers and marriage have put 1,400 miles between them. Monahan still lives in New York, while Canetti, who has an island home, lives in Houston. But through long-distance calls, instant messaging, e-mails and visits, the women helped raise each other’s children, grieved the loss of parents, celebrated milestones and confided in one another. The women, who can finish each other’s sentences, call each other on good days and bad — and sometimes call to say nothing much at all. So who needs friends and confidants anyway? Pretty much everyone, say health-care providers and sociologists. If Americans are becoming more socially isolated, there’s cause for concern, said Dr. Kyriakof Markides, professor of socio medical sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch. “We established centuries ago that good social relationships are associated with good health and long lives,” Markides said. When it comes to friendships and relationships, quality is better than quantity, Markides said. And it doesn’t necessarily matter if a confidant is a relative or friend, Markides said. A friend, child, spouse or sibling is extremely important to an older person without a big social network.
Sulphur Springs News Telegram, June 24, Free workshop on respite care offered at HCMH. A respite care workshop aimed at helping cancer survivors and their caregivers was conducted Monday, June 25, in the first floor conference room at Hopkins County Memorial Hospital Plaza. The free workshop, hosted by Cancer Nutrition Network for Texans, was open to everyone, particularly those interested in additional information and ideas for including others needing respite care. Dr. Billy Philips, a professor of preventive medicine and community health at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, was the featured speaker. According to information provided by CNNT, Philips has been a caregiver and knows firsthand the personal difficulties experienced by people battling cancer, including the need for nutritional support and respite care. He is an expert in cancer prevention and control, and is well-published in the subject. http://www.ssnewstelegram.com/news/2007/June/nt062407hcmh.html
San Antonio Express News, June 26, Poor with asthma neglected. Asthma, a chronic disease that inflames the lungs and narrows breathing pathways, is vastly underdiagnosed throughout Texas, participants at a local conference on health disparities said Tuesday. Asthma in people with low incomes and little to no health insurance is frequently missed or overlooked because they often lack access to consistent medical care or do not have primary care physicians as their providers, said Dr. Sharon Petronella, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Once diagnosed, the poor and uninsured find it hard to get specialized services, medications and education to manage their disease, said Dr. Pamela Wood, a pediatrics professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Petronella and Wood joined about 50 others from around the state for a meeting on health care disparities that focused mainly on asthma. The conference at the health science center, which attracted physicians, public health experts, school officials and policymakers, was hosted by state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, who is a pharmacist. Data on asthma prevalence in Texas indicate African American adults have the highest rate of the disease, at 9.2 percent, and Hispanics have the lowest, at 4.3 percent. The rate for Anglo adults is 7.7 percent. But Petronella suggested that the data is limited because it came from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention phone survey reflecting only the cases that have been diagnosed by a health care professional. "When you hear that asthma is lowest in Hispanics, I'd argue that it's probably not any lower, it's just less likely to be diagnosed," she said. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/medical/stories/MYSA062707.3B.asthma.2d4483d.htmlGalveston County Daily News, June 26, Don't forget -- nuclear war is bad for your health, Column by Dr. Howard Brody, Director, UTMB Institute for Medical Humanities. Back in the early 1980s, I was one of a group of physicians who carried out the nuclear bombing of Lansing, Michigan. We didn't, of course -- thank goodness. What we did was produce a program for a local cable TV station, showing exactly what would happen as one moved from Ground Zero (which we assumed to be the Capitol) one, two, three, five and 10 miles outward. We showed, for instance, that the major hospitals were close enough to Ground Zero to disappear in the first blast leaving little of any medical aid for any survivors coming in from farther away. Our group was a local chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, which was the U.S. wing of the International Physicians Against Nuclear War. At the end of the '80s, with the breakup of the Soviet Union and the apparent diminution of the actual risk of nuclear war, I moved away from PSR and on to other causes. I was reminded of our Lansing exercise recently when George Lakoff, a linguist and political analyst, called attention to an ominous series of events. There is talk of a military strike against the Iranian nuclear facilities, if Iran refuses to stop its uranium enrichment program. Some military authorities believe that that facility is so well protected and so deep in the ground, that only a nuclear weapon would be sure to destroy it. http://galvestondailynews.com/columns.lasso Forbes, June 27, Bisphosphonates Linked to Jawbone Disorder. A new study has found a link between bisphosphonates -- drugs used to treat bone cancers, osteoporosis and other conditions -- and serious jawbone problems. Previous studies have found an association between the use of intravenous bisphosphonates and osteonecrosis of the jaw or facial bones. In osteonecrosis, poor blood supply leads to bone death and deterioration. Biphosphonates are used to fight cancer-related bone lesions, elevated levels of calcium in the blood, or reduced bone density. For the study, published in the June 26 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston identified more than 14,000 people with cancer who were treated with bisphosphonates (either pamidronate or zoledronic acid) and more than 28,000 patients who did not receive these medications. http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/06/26/hscout605893.html (This story appeared in multiple electronic news venues)
Medical News Today, June 27, Blood Banks Must Recruit Immigrant Donors To Address Potential Supply Imbalance. A potentially dangerous imbalance in the blood supply could deplete available stock of O-positive blood. It is linked to a variance between the number of Type O donations and the increasing number of transfusions, primarily within Hispanic populations, which are predominantly O-positive. The concern was discussed in a recent summit for blood and cellular therapy executives sponsored by Mediware Information Systems (Nasdaq: MEDW). "There is a significant imbalance between Type O-positive patients and donors, especially in Texas, California and other states with large Hispanic populations," said Alexander Indrikovs, MD, associate professor of pathology and clinical laboratory sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch. "For example, seventy-one percent of blood donors at a large collection center in Mexico City have Type O-positive blood, compared to 47 percent of Caucasians. As a result, there is increasing pressure on the supplies of O-positive blood because the donor rate among Hispanics is very low," he told the Mediware summit. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=75332 (This story appeared in multiple electronic news venues)
Galveston County Daily News, June 27, Home alone: Is your child ready? Column by Drs. Sally Robinson and Keith Bly. Here comes summer and many parents are faced with the decision of what to do with their children for summer vacation. Day camps, babysitters, or day care works for younger children, but older children may not be interested in going to camp and may feel that they are too old for a babysitter. How can you tell if your child is ready to stay home alone? Ask yourself the following questions to determine if your child is ready to stay home alone. http://galvestondailynews.com/columns.lasso
Galveston County Daily News, June 29, Medical ethics also stretches to researchers, Guest Column by Dr. Seymour Fisher, Professor Emeritus, UTMB .I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. Howard Brody’s column “It’s hard to base medicine on good evidence,” (The Daily News, June 12). I particularly liked his emphasis on some of the inherent difficulties in researchers’ passionate pursuit of perfection. I wish, though, that he had had even more space to dwell on the critical role of research staff and, especially, the ethical obligations of a study’s leaders. I was appalled at the “innocence” (giving him or her the benefit of doubt) of the University of Virginia’s principal investigator in not insisting that the staff understand that they could be the primary confounding influence in the study. Some residents held the random assignment envelopes up to the light to see which treatment the baby was to receive and would then sometimes ignore the predetermined assignment. I was involved for 40 years in the methodology of clinical research (primarily psychopharmacology). http://galvestondailynews.com/columns.lassoScience Daily, June 29, Bacterial pathogen may be key to understanding cancer development. A research team including University of Central Florida Microbiology Professor Keith Ireton is using the bacterial pathogen Listeria Monocytogenes to understand the mechanisms of cell growth and cancer development. In research published this month in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team found that a Listeria protein called InlB induces internalization and degradation of a human receptor known as Met. Met has been implicated in the development of cancers. Dr. Lisa A. Elferink at the University of Texas Medical Branch led the team. She and Ireton found that the ability of InlB to induce Met internalization and degradation requires a human protein called Cbl. If scientists could figure out how to control Cbl, such knowledge might lead to the development of drugs that induce the destruction of Met and are useful in treating Met-related cancers. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070628183217.htm(This story appeared in multiple publications.)
Earthtimes, June 29, Progen Pharmaceuticals establishes international clinical advisory board. Progen Pharmaceuticals Limited today announced the establishment of an international clinical advisory board to support the clinical development and commercialization of PI-88 in the treatment of post- resection liver cancer. The advisory board consists of nine world-renowned thought leaders in the fields of oncology and liver cancer including Professor S. Gail Eckhardt, professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, where she also serves as director of the Developmental Therapeutics and GI Malignancies Programs and division head of Medical Oncology. Prior to joining the University of Colorado, Professor Eckhardt served as associate director of clinical research, and as director of the drug development fellowship training at the Institute for Drug Development, Cancer Therapy and Research Center, in San Antonio. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and Investigational New Drugs. She has published over 60 manuscripts on her research in GI malignancies. She received her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,131604.shtml Brazosport Facts, June 30, Man recovering after lightning strike. An Angleton man remained at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston on Friday recovering from injuries he sustained from a lightning strike. Jonathan Crabtree, 22, was near the first fairway of the Austin Bayou Golf Course near Danbury on Monday afternoon when he was hit by a bolt of lightning, said Will Garrett, course superintendent. “He was right off the fairway on No. 1,” Garrett said. “It was the first bolt of lightning that we got.” Crabtree suffered a gash to his right shoulder and the heels of his shoes were blown out, Garrett said. “He wasn’t breathing and he didn’t have a pulse,” Garrett said. “We got him into the barn and resuscitated him.” Crabtree was taken to Angleton Danbury Medical Center and then transferred Tuesday to the burn center at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He was sitting up, eating and in good condition at the burn center late Friday, said his father, Scott Crabtree. http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=7d13334a32ede786 Galveston County Daily News, July 1, Abuse follows increased prescription rates. Xanax and Vicodin aren’t the first prescription pills to be used recreationally and likely won’t be the last, experts say. Mike Montagne, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and an expert in societal drug use, said there is a clear pattern to explain how certain prescriptions become problems. Non-medical use of pills comes soon after the number of legitimate prescriptions increases, he said. When that supply increases, experimenting with the drugs becomes easier. When the non-medical use starts among artists and celebrities, it is referenced in pop culture, furthering its acceptance, he said. “You see Bart Simpson pop a Ritalin,” Montagne said. “The mom on ‘Desperate Housewives’ takes her son’s medication to finish her housework. The portrayals aren’t negative and it reinforces that safety.” Often, teens take the drugs from family members’ medicine cabinets. That’s how16-year-old Josh, who began using and dealing in marijuana when he was 9, first dipped into Xanax and Vicodin. Dr. Howard Brody, a family medicine specialist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said studies have shown that doctors undermedicate pain. Brody said it’s also difficult when doctors are expected to prescribe based on the medicine’s intended purpose while simultaneously individualizing treatment. http://blogs.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=ed5e6059f2f0349d Beaumont Enterprise, July 2, Beaumont specialty clinic treats kids with sickle cell anemia closer to home. Six-year-old Nyseya Brown tried not to giggle as the gigantic X-ray machine hovered over her body, scanning her bones and blood. The kindergartener has sickle cell anemia and the bone scan was to help doctors look at the trapped blood cells causing the sharp, prickling pain in her left knee and back. Years ago her mom, Denise Brown, would have had to take her to Galveston or Houston for routine health checkups but now she can go to a specialty clinic offered at Memorial Hermann Baptist Beaumont Hospital. The clinic opened about two years ago. About once a month, Brown goes to the specialty clinic to see Dr. Frederick Huang, director of pediatric hematology and oncology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Huang, who started seeing five patients each month in November 2005, comes to Beaumont twice a month to see children like Nyseya who have rare blood disorders and cancer. He sees about 15 a session now. http://beaumontenterprise.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18540540&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6 _____________________________________________________________
Faculty and administrators are encouraged to submit their
department's news for inclusion in SOM e-NEWS. This information may be
submitted via email to
djgonzal@utmb.edu.
_____________________________________________________________
Submit your information for SOM e-NEWS: · Via email to djgonzal@utmb.edu · On the phone to ext. 23967 · Via fax at 29598 SOM e-NEWS is an initiative of the Office of the Dean of Medicine, to improve communication with faculty and staff in the school. The editor of the newsletter is Jackie Genovese. An archive of the newsletter is available on the SOM web site: http://www.som.utmb.edu/e-NEWS/eNEWS-TOC.htm. Thank you for your interest and time. Copyright 2001, The University of Texas Medical Branch
_____________________________________________________________
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Leonard
E. Swischuk, M.D., professor, Department of Radiology and director for the Division of
Pediatric Radiology, is one of three
winners of the American Roentgen Ray Society’s (ARRS) highest award, the Gold Medal for
Distinguished Service to Radiology. Dr. Swischuk received the award at a
ceremony held during the ARRS 107th Annual Meeting in Orlando.
Dr.
Olivera Nesic, assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular
Biology, was awarded the 2007 Erica Nader Award by the American Spinal Injury
Association (ASIA). The award is sponsored by the Viscogliosi Brothers and is
the Association's most prestigious award. Nesic was presented the award in
June at the ASIA annual meeting in Tampa for her outstanding work in the area of
proteins that contribute to edema and syringomyelia after spinal cord injury.
The Howard Hughes Medical
Institute has awarded a $750,000 grant to UTMB in support of precollege science
education programs. UTMB is one of 31 institutions selected nationwide for this
renowned award. According to Dr. Clifford W. Houston, associate vice president for
Educational Outreach, the five-year grant will further increase the availability
and interest of science for students, teachers and the community through a
variety of science education programs.
As
part of a concerted plan to continue to improve the level of care that Internal
Medicine patients receive at UTMB’s Harborside Medical Clinic and adjacent
Daniels’ Clinic, Department of Internal Medicine Chair Randall J. Urban has
appointed Dr. Thomas A. Blackwell as the division director for General Internal
Medicine. Blackwell has supervised all Department of Internal Medicine
physicians practicing at the clinics since November, when he was named interim
director. He is also a longtime senior associate dean for graduate medical education at UTMB and program director for the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program.
He sees private patients regularly at the Harborside Medical Clinic and works
closely with physicians-in-training.
