What’s on my mind this month, as we celebrate the closing of 2013, are the unique challenges we faced this year—from sequestration, to the lack of hospital rate increases, to the Federal Government shutdown in October—and our resolve to remain undeterred in our pursuit of excellence.
On March 1, 2013, we reached a point we never thought we would go: sequestration went into effect, enacting across-the-board spending cuts to the discretionary budget. Academic institutions like ours have been deeply affected by the budget reduction hitting the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Medicare. These cuts will hurt the biomedical research and healthcare enterprises, they could set back progress in clinical trials of new treatments for patients in dire need of novel therapies and reduce staff needed to give that care, and they threaten to severely diminish the pipeline of young investigators and new research projects required for science to thrive.
According to an NIH fact sheet, approximately 640 fewer grants were funded in fiscal year (FY) 2013, compared with FY 2012, 750 fewer patients were admitted into clinical trials, and an average 4.7% reduction to the budgets of existing grants has taken place due to the sequestration. Circumstances have become such that NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins donned an uncharacteristic political hat this past summer and sang the “Sequester Blues” on YouTube. Although a lively song, Dr. Collins’ lyrics underscore the vital importance of the biomedical enterprise and the long-term impact that the spending cuts will really have on Americans’ health and well-being.
The situation created by the fiscal cliff has led to job losses in certain areas of the health care industry. A recent article in U.S. News & World Report cited the sequestration as part of the reason behind employee cuts at Indiana University Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic, among others. According to estimates by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, hospitals cut 9,000 jobs in May, the worst number of losses in the past decade.
To make matters worse, the 16-day government shutdown in early October put many already living under the constraints of sequestration under additional pressure. The offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, went dark. Grant processing was halted; surveillance of infectious diseases, such as influenza, food-borne illnesses, or other outbreaks, stopped. Government-run programs, including Head Start and WIC (Women, Infants and Children), on which many families rely, were suspended. The closing of all national parks meant many first-time visitors were turned away and events canceled or moved. Among the hundreds affected by the park closures were the families of fallen firefighters who were unable to hold the annual ceremony commemorating the lives of their loved ones at the National Fire Academy—a federally-run park—in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Despite these sizeable roadblocks, we have persevered, and I continue to urge you to think boldly, strategically and selectively about how you approach and contribute to all of the School of Medicine’s key mission areas. Just these last two months, we have accomplished great things. For example:
- In November the Foundations of Research and Critical Thinking course began, intended to establish an early research culture in our medical students and serve as the basis for excellent analytical and critical thinking skills, which will be required by our physicians who will need to translate the abundance of data and information collected about a patient into personalized, routine medical care.
- We hosted our first School of Medicine Festival of Science, which gave us an opportunity to showcase our incredible work, and receive input and critique from our new external Scientific Advisory Council, composed of five outstanding and distinguished biomedical research scientists.
- I announced the Dean’s Challenge Award to Accelerate Innovation and Discovery in Medicine (ACCEL-Med), which will provide seed funding to senior investigators who work together on projects that will tackle “big science” questions to improve health and well-being and which are poised for successful large funding from a federal source.
- We also held the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new School of Medicine Center for Innovative Biomedical Resources (CIBR), a center of excellence for state-of-the-art technologies, equipment and expertise which support biomedical research, clinical practice and health care across the campus.
These activities are just a handful of the new, strategic and bold directions we already have implemented, but I believe that you will develop even more. Take the upcoming break to recalibrate and consider what exciting ideas you want to pursue or projects you plan to accomplish in the coming year. I hope you will return to work refreshed and reinvigorated in 2014. The challenges of 2013 are by no means behind us, but, based on our performance of this last—and a most difficult—year, I am confident we can overcome them, as individual contributors and as an empowered community.
In the relentless pursuit of excellence, I am
Sincerely yours,
E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland
John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and
Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Appointments
Thomas Scalea, MD, FACS, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery and Director, Program in Trauma, was named President Elect for 2013–2014 by the American Association of the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) at the AAST Annual meeting in San Francisco, CA, in September.
Community Service
The School of Medicine’s Student National Medical Association (SNMA) held its annual CommUNITY Fest at Lexington Market on September 21. The event was a huge success, with participation not just from medical students but from volunteers all across the University of Maryland, Baltimore schools. Health information about a variety of ailments was presented, and patrons participated in blood pressure screenings, posture and flexibility screenings, CPR instruction and oral hygiene screenings.
Events, Lectures and Workshops
Brian Berman, MD, Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Director, Center for Integrative Medicine, presented a keynote lecture entitled “Integrated Medicine: The Future” at the 6th European Congress for Integrative Medicine held in Berlin, Germany from October 4–5.
Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD, and Mary Louise School, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, and Nicholas Tilton, Graduate Student, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, presented “Stunting and Iron Deficiency are Associated with Low Preschool Development Scores in a Rural Indian Community” and “Dietary Diversity as an Index of Infant Nutrition, Health, and Development in Rural India,” both at the International Union of Nutritional Science in Granada, Spain, on September 17.
Laura Latéy Bradford, a PhD Candidate in the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology Program and the Ravel Lab at the Institute for Genome Sciences, was invited by Donald Wilson, MD, MACP, former University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean and Association for Academic Minority Physicians (AAMP) Founder/President, to give an oral presentation of her research at the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Association for Academic Minority Physicians, held from Oct 4-6 in Alexandria, VA. The title of her presentation was “A Community Genomics Approach to Study the Dynamics of the Vaginal Ecosystem During Vulvovaginal Candidiasis.”
Svetlana Chapoval, MD, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, was an invited speaker at the 4th International Conference on Biomarkers & Clinical Research held in Philadelphia, PA, in July. Her topic was “Neuroimmune Semaphorinsas Potential Biomarkers and Drug Targets for Asthma.”
Shiladitya DasSarma, PhD, Professor, and the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, hosted the first Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) Distinguished Seminar at the Columbus Center in Baltimore on September 4. The speaker was Sir Richard Roberts, PhD, FRS, Nobel Laureate and Chief Scientific Officer at New England Biolabs. In his talk on “Bacterial Methylomes,” Dr Roberts reported on a novel approach to characterizing restriction-modification systems and DNA methylation patterns on a genome-wide basis using single molecule real time (SMRT) sequencing, research that may have far-reaching implications in the field of biotechnology.
Jose Diaz, MD, Professor, Department of Surgery, presented “Complicated Pancreatitis” and moderated a session on “Acute Care Surgery” at the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma annual meeting in San Francisco, CA, in September. At the same meeting, Thomas Scalea, MD, FACS, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery and Director, Program in Trauma, presented “Life Threatening Chest Injuries” and was a discussant for the presentation “Are We Lemmings? Non-Selective Use of Angiography Provides No Benefit in High-Grade Blunt Trauma”; Carnell Cooper, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery co-moderated a panel discussion on “Gun Violence: Pediatric, Prevention and Advocacy Perspectives”; Sharon Henry, MD, the Anne Scalea Professor of Trauma, Department of Surgery, participated as a panelist for “Challenging Cases”; James O’Connor, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, presented “Damage Control Thoracic Surgery: Management and Outcomes”; Sarah Murthi, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, presented “Making the Financial Case for a Surgeon-Directed Critical Care Ultrasound Program (CCUP); Deborah Stein, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, presented “How Are You Really Feeling? A Prospective Evaluation of Cognitive Function Following Trauma,” and was the discussant for the presentation “Enteral Albuterol Decreases the Need for Chronotropic Agents in Patients with Cervical Spinal Cord Injury (CSCI) Induced Bradycardia”; and Laurie Punch, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, and Dr. Henry presented a poster on “Perineal Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection (PNASTI): An Observational Study of Multidisciplinary Care and Lower Than Expected Mortality.”
Erin Hager, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, presented “The Local Wellness Policies: Increasing Opportunities for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in Schools” at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Human Nutrition Special Seminar in Baltimore on September 12.
Linda Lewin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics,will present the following workshop and platform presentations at the combined annual meeting of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors/Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics in Nashville, Tennessee on December 12-13, 2013: “Does Evaluating Medical Students’ Oral Case Presentations Affect Subsequent Presentations?”; “Using Oral Case Presentations to Teach and Assess Clinical Reasoning Skills across the Continuum of Learners”; and “The Difficult Learner: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options,” the latter of which is to be presented with Leah Millstein, MD, Associate Program Director, Department of Pediatrics.
Fred Osher, MD, Clinical Associate Professor; John Talbott, MD (pictured), Clinical Professor; and Erik Roskes, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Psychiatry, were among 50 judges and psychiatrists who met on October 13 to discuss “Developing Strategies for Individuals with Behavior Health Needs in the Criminal Justice System.”
Horea Rus, PhD (pictured), Professor, Department of Medicine, and Cosmin Tegla, MD, Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology, presented “Response Gene to Complement-32 Mediates C5b-9 Induced Cell Cycle Activation and Migration in Endothelial Cells” at the 15th International Congress of Immunology, held from August 22-27, in Milan, Italy.
Wendy Sanders, MA, Assistant Dean for Research Career Development, gave a workshop on grant writing at the annual AAMC Minority Faculty Development Conference in New Orleans on September 22.
Grants & Contracts
Karen Kotloff, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Center for Vaccine Development, has received a 10-year contract from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) designating the University of Maryland and eight other research centers throughout the U.S. as Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Units (VTEUs). The contract provides up to $135 million annually to conduct clinical trials and studies of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to combat existing and emerging infectious diseases of public health importance (see page 2 of SOMnews for more information).
Miriam Laufer, MD, MPH (pictured), Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics & Medicine; Matthew Laurens, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics & Medicine; and Kirsten Lyke, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, all also with the Center of Vaccine Development, have received funding for two sub-studies to be conducted for one-year as part of a clinical trial being conducted by Drs. Laufer & Laurens entitled “Clinical Trial of Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole or Chloroquine in Adults on ART.” The first sub-study, entitled “Mass Cytometry Analysis of T and B Cell Immune Exhaustion in Response to Chronic Malaria Infection in HIV Co-Infected Malawian Adults,” is funded for $259,620. The second one, entitled “Effect of Malaria Infection on ART-Resistant HIV Virus Subpopulation Replication,” is funded for $75,000.
David Loane, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Center for Shock Trauma and Anesthesiology Research (STAR), was recently awarded a four-year, $1,358,687 NIH R01 research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for his research on “Microglial Activation Phenotypes and Mechanisms of Repair In the Aged TBI Brain.”
Emmanuel Mongodin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute for Genome Sciences, has received a five-year $3,474,076 award from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for “Exploring Tobacco Microbial Constituents and the Oral Microbiome of Tobacco Users.” Claire Fraser, PhD, Professor, Departments of Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology and Director, Institute for Genome Sciences, is co-investigator on this study. The project is part of The University of Maryland Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (UMD TCORS) initiative “Rapid Response Characterization of New and Manipulated Tobacco Products,” a $19 million center recently awarded to Pamela Clark, PhD, Research Professor, University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) School of Public Health. UMD TCORS will include three major research studies focused on new and manipulated tobacco products, led by research experts from the University of Maryland and the Batelle Memorial Institute: 1. Toxicity Testing Through Measurement of Exposure to Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (led by Battelle’s Dr. Granville); 2. Characterizing Consumer Acceptance and the Likelihood That a Person Will Use/Become Addicted to the Product (led by UMD’s Dr. Clark); and 3. Exploring the Bacterial Communities Present in Tobacco and the Role They May Play In the Development of Infectious and Chronic Diseases Among Tobacco Users (co-led by Dr. Mongodin and UMCP’s Dr. Sapkota).
Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and Associate Director for Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences, received a five-year, $2,698,000 RO1 grant from the National Institute for Nursing Research at NIH to study “Influence of Modifiable Factors on the Vaginal Microbiota and Preterm Birth.” The grant was awarded in partnership with Mary Regan, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing. Dr. Ravel also received a five-year, $2,650,000 RO1 grant from the National Institute for Nursing Research at NIH to study “Revealing the Role of the Cervico-Vaginal Microbiome in Spontaneous Pre-term Birth.” The grant was awarded in partnership with Michal Elovitz, MD, Professor, University of Pennsylvania.
Honors and Awards
LaToya Bates, MSSA, LCSW-C, Director of the Center for Infant and Child Loss in the Department of Pediatrics, won the “Child Advocate Award of the Year” from MDAAP (Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics). The voting was very close this year, and the chapter was thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize all of LaToya’s efforts on behalf of Maryland’s kids. She was honored during an awards luncheon on October 5 at the chapter’s annual Leffler Lecture at the Howard County General Hospital Wellness Center.
Niharika Khanna, MBBS, MD, DGO, Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, visited the White House in September as a nominee for the “Champions of Change for Public Health and Prevention” award. Dr. Khanna received the recognition for her role in promoting advanced primary care practice and public health in Maryland.
Dionne Rebello, MS-III, has been selected as a Foundation of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Research Scholar. She will be working with Walter Royal, III, MD, Professor, Department of Neurology, on her proposed project “Effects of Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Brain Endothelial Cell Tight Junction Proteins in EAE,” which she will present at the 2014 CMSC annual meeting in Dallas, TX, next May.
Several MD/PhD students received awards at the 36th Annual Medical Student Research Day on September 17: Molly Hritzo (MS II) won First Prize in the Oral Session I section; Sai Divakaruni (MS II) won First Prize in the Oral session II section; Carolyn Rosinsky (MS II) won Third Prize in the Oral Session II section, and Andrew Wescott (MS II) won Second Prize in the Oral Session III event.
In the News
Chris D’Adamo, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, and Director of Research, Center for Integrative Medicine, was quoted in an August 29 Jewish Times article entitled “Honey For Your Boo-Boo,” where he discussed the many benefits of honey.
Samuel Galvagno, Jr., DO, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, was featured in an interview on Hemodialysis.com on August 6, discussing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).
New Faculty
Rebecca Carter, MD, has joined the Department of Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Carter is a 2010 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She did her internship in Pediatrics at the Children’s National Medical Center from 2010–2011, followed by a Pediatrics residency there from 2011-2013. Dr. Carter is Board eligible in General Pediatrics and holds current certifications in Basic Life Support/Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Neonatal Advanced Life Support.
Elizabeth Lamos, MD, has joined the Department of Medicine as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Lamos is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and did her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), where she also did a fellowship in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. Her clinical specialties include Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, including the use of continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps; thyroid disease, including thyroid biopsy; and general endocrine disorders, including pituitary and calcium disorders.
Regina Macatangay, MD, has joined the Department of Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor. She earned her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2006, followed by a Pediatrics residency at UMMC’s Hospital for Children. She was also chief resident at UMMC, serving as a hospitalist attending with teaching responsibilities; scheduling; and providing clinical coverage in the Pediatric Ambulatory Clinic from 2009-2010. Dr. Macatangay followed this with a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical College from 2010–2013. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Stephanie Stein, MD, has joined the Department of Medicine as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Stein earned her medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine, did a residency in Internal Medicine at UMMC, and then did a fellowship at UMMC in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. Dr. Stein has a particular research interest in monogenic diabetes syndromes resulting from a change in a single gene. This is in contrast to the more-common type 1 or type 2 diabetes that results from a complex combination of genetic and non-genetic factors. She also has a special interest in treating patients with pituitary, thyroid, and metabolic bone disorders.
Publications
Kelley Banagan, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, wrote “Emergency Medicine,” a chapter in the book Orthopaedic Emergencies: Expert Management for the Emergency Physician, published by Cambridge University Press in November 2013.
Fermin Barrueto, Jr., MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was among the co-authors on “Intraperitoneal Elemental Mercury Exposure from a Mercury-Weighted Bougie” in the Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2013 Sep;9(3):270-3.
Maureen Black, PhD (pictured), the John A. Scholl, MD, and Mary Louise School, MD, Professor, and Kristen Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Pediatrics, were among the co-authors on “Helping Children Develop Healthy Eating Habits” in the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, published by the Montreal, Quebec Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development; 2013:1-10. Dr. Black was also among the co-authors on “SNAP Cuts Will Harm Children in the USA” in The Lancet, 2013 Oct 5;382:1155-1156.
Jonathan Bromberg, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery, was among the co-authors on “An Update on the Impact of Pre-Transplant Transfusions and Allosensitization on Time to Renal Transplant and on Allograft Survival” in BMC Nephrology, 2013 Oct 10;14(1):217 [Epub ahead of print].
Joana Carneiro da Silva, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and the Institute for Genome Sciences, was among the co-authors on “Whole Genome Mapping and Re-Organization of the Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genomes of Babesia microti Isolates” in PLoS One, 2013 Sep 4;8(9):e72657. Dr. Carneiro da Silva; James Munro, PhD, Bioinformatics Analyst, Institute for Genome Sciences; and Christopher Jacob, PhD Candidate, Molecular Medicine program, were among the co-authors on “A Novel Clade of Unique Eukaryotic Ribonucleotide Reductase R2 Subunits is Exclusive to Apicomplexan Parasites” in the Journal of Molecular Evolution, 2013 Sep;77(3):92-106.
Svetlana Chapoval, MD, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, was a senior author on two recent papers: “Neuroimmune Semaphorin 4D is Necessary for Optimal Lung Allergic Inflammation” in Molecular Immunology, 2013, 56:480-487, and “Neuroimmune Semaphorin 4A As a Drug and Drug Target for Asthma” in International Immunopharmacology, 2013, 17:568-575. The papers were co-authored by Achsah Keegan, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; Elizabeth Smith, MS, Director of Histology Core Facility, Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases; Louis DeTolla, VMD, MS, PhD, Professor, Departments of Pathology, Epidemiology and Public Health, and Medicine; and Michael Lipsky, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology.
Michael Chuong, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors on “High-Dose-Rate Endorectal Brachytherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer in Previously Irradiated Patients” in Brachytherapy, 2013 Sep-Oct;12:457–462; and of “Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced and Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer is Effective and Well Tolerated” in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2013 Jul 1;86:516–522.
W. Florian Fricke, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and the Institute for Genome Sciences, was among the co-authors on “Characterization of the Bacterial Community of the Chemically Defended Hawaiian Sacoglossan Elysia rufescens” in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2013 Nov;79(22):7073-81.
Samuel Galvagno, Jr., DO, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, was among the co-authors on “Practical Considerations For the Dosing and Adjustment of Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit” in the Journal of Critical Care, 2013 Jul 24, pii: S0883-9441(13)00143-3.
Anthony Harris, MD, MPH (pictured), Professor, and Daniel Morgan, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, were among the co-authors on “Use of Gloves and Gowns for All Patient Contact in ICUs Does Not Reduce Overall Rate of Acquiring MRSA or VRE,” published October 4 on the JAMA website, to coincide with a presentation on the study at the IDWeek 2013 Conference.
Isabel Jackson, PhD, Assistant Professor, and Zeljko Vujaskovic, MD, PhD (pictured), Professor, both from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the authors on “Do Variations in Mast Cell Hyperplasia Account for Differences in Radiation-Induced Lung Injury Among Different Mouse Strains, Rats and Nonhuman Primates?” in Radiation Research, 2013 Aug;180:216–221. Dr. Vujaskovic was also among the authors of “Phase 1 Trial of Neoadjuvant Radiation Therapy Before Prostatectomy for High-Risk Prostate Cancer” in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2013 Sep 1;87:88–93; and “SOD Therapeutics: Latest Insights Into Their Structure-Activity Relationships and Impact Upon the Cellular Redox-Based Pathways” in Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 2013 Oct 1 [Epub ahead of print].
Katja Langen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the co-authors on “Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) Technologies for Radiation Therapy Localization and Delivery” in International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2013 Sep 1;87:33–45.
Miriam Laufer, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, was among the co-authors on “Timing of Malaria Infection During Pregnancy Has Characteristic Maternal, Infant and Placental Outcomes” in PLoS One, 2013 Sep 18;8(9):e74643.
Matthew Laurens, MD, MPH (pictured), Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Kirsten Lyke, MD, Associate Professor, and Christopher Plowe, MD, MPH, Professor, both from the Department of Medicine, were among the co-authors on “Protection Against Malaria By Intravenous Immunization With a Non-Replicating Sporozoite Vaccine” in Science, 2013 Sep 20;341(6152):1359-65. They worked with colleagues from the NIH Vaccine Research Center, the U.S. Military’s Malaria Vaccine Research and Development program, and Sanaria Inc., to test a highly promising malaria candidate vaccine that showed 100% protection against an experimental malaria challenge.
Steven Ludwig, MD, Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, was among the co-authors on “Does Smoking Have an Impact on Fusion Rate in Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion with Allograft and Rigid Plate Fixation?” in Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 2013 Aug 30 [Epub ahead of print].
Crystal Massie, PhD, OTR, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, was the lead author on “Effects of Motor Cortical Stimulation During Planar Reaching Movement” in the Journal of Rehabilitation Robotics, 2013;1(1), 42-53.
Monica McArthur, MD, PhD, Instructor, Department of Pediatrics; Marcelo Sztein, MD (pictured), Professor, Department of Pediatrics; and Robert Edelman, MD, FACP, Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, all also from the Center for Vaccine Development, were among the co-authors on “Dengue Vaccines: Recent Developments, Ongoing Challenges and Current Candidates” in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2013 Aug;12(8):933-953.
Minesh Mehta, MB, ChB, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors on “New Validated Prognostic Models and Prognostic Calculators in Patients With Low-Grade Gliomas Diagnosed by Central Pathology Review: A Pooled Analysis of EORTC/RTOG/NCCTG Phase III Clinical Trials” in Neuro-Oncology, 2013 Sep 18 [Epub ahead of print]; on “Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) Group. Challenges Relating to Solid Tumour Brain Metastases in Clinical Trials, Part 1: Patient Population, Response, and Progression. A Report From the RANO Group” and “Part 2: Neurocognitive, Neurological, and Quality-of-Life Outcomes” in Lancet Oncology, 2013 Sep;14:e396–e410; on “Memantine For the Prevention of Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients Receiving Whole-Brain Radiotherapy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial” in Neuro Oncology, 2013 Oct;15:1429-1437; on “A Phase 3 Trial of Whole Brain Radiation Therapy and Stereotactic Radiosurgery Alone Versus WBRT & SRS With Temozolomide or Erlotinib For Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and 1 to 3 Brain Metastases: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0320: In Regard to Sperduto et al.” in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2013 Aug 1;86:809–810; and on “RTOG 0913: A Phase 1 Study of Daily Everolimus (RAD001) in Combination with Radiation Therapy and Temozolomide in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma” in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2013 Aug 1;86:880–884.
Ayse Mindikoglu, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, and Matthew Weir, MD, Professor, both from the Department of Medicine, were co-authors on “Current Concepts in the Diagnosis and Classification of Renal Dysfunction in Cirrhosis” in the American Journal of Nephrology, 2013;38(4):345-54.
Mark Mishra, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors on “Identifying Barriers to Patient Acceptance of Active Surveillance: Content Analysis of Online Patient Communications” in PLoS One, 2013 Sep;8:e68563.
Nilesh Mistry, PhD (pictured), Professor; Xiutao Shi, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Steven Feigenberg, MD, professor; and Warren D’Souza, PhD, Professor, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the authors of “Evaluation of Fractional Regional Ventilation Using 4D-CT and Effects of Breathing Maneuvers On Ventilation,” e-published on September 21 ahead of print in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.
Garry Myers, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and Associate Director of Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the co-authors on “Genus-Optimized Strategy for the Identification of Chlamydial Type III Secretion Substrates” in Pathogens and Disease, 2013 Jul 19 [Epub ahead of print]. Dr. Ravel and Claire Fraser, PhD, Professor, Departments of Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology and Director, Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the co-authors on “Probiotics: Finding the Right Regulatory Balance” in Science, 2013 Oct 18;342(6156):314-5.
Robert O’Toole, MD, Associate Professor, and Christina Boulton, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Orthopaedics, were among the co-authors on “Do Locking Screws Work in Plates Bent at Holes?” in The Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, 2013 Aug 14 [Epub ahead of print]. Dr. O’Toole and Jason Nascone, MD, Associate Professor, were among the co-authors on “Does a Trochanteric Lag Screw Improve Fixation of Vertically Oriented Femoral Neck Fractures? A Biomechanical Analysis in Cadaveric Bone” in Clinical Biomechanics (Bristol, Avon), 2013 Aug 30 [Epub ahead of print]. Dr. O’Toole and Ebrahim Paryavi, MD, Chief Resident, were among the co-authors on “Perioperative Supplemental Oxygen to Reduce Surgical Site Infection after Open Fixation of High-Risk Fractures: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial” in Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 2013 Oct;75(4):657-663.
Y. Veronica Pei, MD, MPH, MEd, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was the author on “Intrahepatic Hematoma Requiring Hepatic Artery Embolization: A Rare Complication of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy” in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2013 Sep;31(9):1425.e1-2.
Jerimy Polf, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors on “Tumor Spheroids as an In Vitro Model For Determining the Therapeutic Response to Proton Beam Radiotherapy and Thermally Sensitive Nanocarriers” in Theranostics, 2013 Aug;21:687–691; and “Measurement of Characteristic Prompt Gamma Rays Emitted From Oxygen and Carbon in Tissue-Equivalent Samples During Proton Beam Irradiation” in Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2013 Sep 7;58:5821–5831.
Feyruz Rassool, PhD, Associate Professor, and Carine Robert, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, both from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the authors on “Oxidative Stress Leads to Increased Mutation Frequency in a Murine Model of Myelodysplastic Syndrome” in Leukemia Research, 2013 Aug [Epub ahead of print]. Dr. Rassool was also among the authors on “Personalized Synthetic Lethality Induced by Targeting RAD52 in Leukemias Identified by Gene Mutation and Expression Profile” in Blood, 2013 Aug 15;122:1293–1304.
Terez Shea-Donohue, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors on “Combined Blockade of IL-17A and IL-17F May Prevent the Development of Experimental Colitis,” in Immunotherapy, 2013 Sep;5:923–925. Dr. Shea-Donohue was also among the co-authors on “Selenium Status Alters the Immune Response and Expulsion of Adult Heligmosomoides bakeri Worms in Mice” in Infection and Immunity, 2013 Jul;81:2546–2553; and “Gut Microbiota, Tight Junction Protein Expression, Intestinal Resistance, Bacterial Translocation and Mortality Following Cholestasis Depend on the Genetic Background of the Host” in Gut Microbes, 2013 Jul-Aug;4:292–305.
Cedric Yu, PhD (pictured), Professor; Steven Feigenberg, MD, Professor; William Regine, MD, Professor; and Yildirum Mutaf, PhD, Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the authors on “Dosimetric Comparison Between Intra-Cavitary Breast Brachytherapy Techniques for Accelerated Breast Irradiation and a Novel Stereotactic Radiotherapy Device for Breast Cancer: GammaPodTM” in Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2013 Jul;58:4409–4421.
Hao Howard Zhang, PhD, Instructor, and Warren D’Souza, MD (pictured), Professor, both from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the authors on “Predicting Pathologic Tumor Response to Chemoradiotherapy with Histogram Distances Characterizing Longitudinal Changes in 18F-FDG Uptake Patterns” in Medical Physics, 2013 Oct;40:101707. Drs. Zhang and D’Souza, along with Byong Yong Yi, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, were also among the authors on “Beam Controlled Arc Therapy—A Delivery Concept for Stationary Targets” in Physics in Medicine and Biology 2013 Oct;58:7117–7129. Dr. D’Souza was also among the authors of “Maintaining Tumor Targeting Accuracy in Real-Time Motion: Compensation Systems for Respiration-Induced Tumor Motion” in Medical Physics, 2013Jul;40:071709.
Rui-Xin Zhang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Center for Integrative Medicine, and Brian Berman, MD, Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, and Director, Center for Integrative Medicine, were among the co-authors on “DAMGO in the Central Amygdala Alleviates the Affective Dimension of Pain in a Rat Model of Inflammatory Hyperalgesia” in Neuroscience, 2013 Nov 12;252:359-66, and on “Electroacupuncutre Inhibits Spinal Interleukin-17A to Alleviate Inflammatory Pain in a Rat Model” in The Open Pain Journal, 2013 Jun; 6:183-189. Dr. Zhang was also lead author on “Osteoarthritis Pain Mechanisms: Basic Studies in Animal Models” in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2013 Sep;21(9):1308-15.