The past year has asked a lot from us. We have had to trade in our quality time with family and friends for time at home, alone. We answered the call to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, while trying to keep in check the sometimes-blurry line between social distancing and social isolation. We have battled both the physical war against COVID-19 and the mental war against anxiety, and loneliness. At times it seems like the end of the pandemic is near, and at other times it appears to still be far off. Sometimes it feels as though it will never end.
In many ways, some of us can truly picture ourselves in the midst of a war zone. Some celebrate their victories in the form of negative COVID-19 tests and COVID-19 recoveries. Others mourn the losses from the battles that overcame them. We have employed many weapons against this virus, from testing and quarantining to hand washing and vaccinating. It is frightening to consider where we might be without these public health measures. This pandemic is exhausting, as it has followed the true nature of combat with sudden twists and turns, disappointing setbacks, and hopeful advances — one after the other. Even so, “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors,” as the African proverb goes. All the challenges we have confronted have worked to shape us into more refined and resilient individuals, which in turn creates a stronger and more successful academic medical institution.
OAs our economy and our country continue to make strides toward reopening, the number of positive COVID-19 cases and deaths in Maryland are trending in the wrong direction. We now know from the sequencing efforts in our COVID-19 testing laboratory, at our Institute for Genome Sciences, that almost half of the positive COVID-19 cases are found to contain the variants. This represents a significant variant surge, but as this virus has developed, so have our protections and our responses. With testing becoming more specific, we are becoming armed with more knowledge and data that we will use to continue our fight, and to ultimately win.
Our vaccination numbers are trending in the right direction, with over 70 percent of faculty and 67 percent of students at UMB now vaccinated. Chancellor Perman’s mandate that all eligible faculty, students, and staff who will be on campus this fall must be vaccinated against COVID-19 is another piece of our armor that will only help us progress toward a safer and healthier environment. Our clinical numbers are also trending in the right direction, demonstrating the hard work from our faculty, staff, students, and trainees to rebuild the trust with our patients and ensure that it is safe for them to once again visit our providers.
As we prepare to gradually return to campus, I want to encourage each of you take every precaution to make yourself safer and to help make those around you safer. Part of that includes remaining vigilant while on campus and following the public safety guidelines posted on the SOM website. Review the University of Maryland, Baltimore Police Department’s new monthly newsletter and pay attention to the messages and warnings they issue. Finally, if you have not yet been vaccinated, I encourage you to take the initiative to learn more about it and register today. In the relentless pursuit of excellence, every day.
In the relentless pursuit of excellence, I am
Sincerely yours,
E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Recent Appointments
Kenneth Crandall, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, was appointed Treasurer of the Maryland Neurosurgical Society in February 2021.
Vasken Dilsizian, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was appointed to serve as the Vice Chairman of the of the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). He has served as the Nuclear Cardiologist representative on the ACMUI since May 2014 and has actively participated on numerous subcommittees, including the Chair of the Patient Intervention Subcommittee. He is proactively engaged to enhance communications between the NRC and the medical community while serving on the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Board of Directors as Immediate Past President.
Shana Ntiri, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, was elected President-Elect of the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians.
Samuel Tisherman, MD, Professor, Department of Surgery, Program in Trauma, was appointed Co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
Congratulations to the following who have received honors!
Laura Buchanan, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, was named Guest of Honor by the UMSOM Student National Medical Association (SNMA), for the 2021 Annual Senior Banquet, held in March 2021. This honor was bestowed on Dr. Buchanan in recognition of her inspirational mentorship to the members and countless medical students, being an exemplary physician and patient advocate and a fervent community activist. The invitation goes on to say members of SNMA have great respect for her work ethic, dedication to excellence, and vast efforts to reach out to under-served communities, local and worldwide.
Diana Carvajal, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, has been awarded the 2021 Family Medicine Educator of the Year by the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians (MDAFP) in recognition of her exemplary clinical teaching of medical students and residents in the specialty of Family Medicine. The MDAFP presents the Family Medicine Educator of the Year award to recognize a physician who exemplifies the tradition of the Physician as the Teacher.
Geraldine Ezeka, Graduate Student, and McKayla Mickle, Graduate Student, both in the lab of Richard Eckert, PhD, Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, were selected as recipients of a 2021 AACR Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award. Minority Scholar Awards are given annually to early-career researchers who are in training and presenters of meritorious scientific papers at the AACR Annual Meeting. Selection is made based on the application, abstract, nomination letters, and other factors taken into consideration by the Minority Scholar Award Selection Committee.
Kyle Fletke, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, was inducted into the the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AΩA) on behalf of the Beta Chapter.
Robert Gallo, MD, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Director, Institute of Human Virology, is the recipient of an Honorary Membership in the National Virus Association (NVA), a Division of the Russian Global Virus Network (GVN). This honor is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the study of HIV infection as well as to fighting HIV epidemics and participation in NVA’s bilateral research and educational projects. The NVA has become a leading Russian expert platform for the quality educational programs in HIV infection and concomitant diseases.
Stephen Gottlieb, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, was announced as one of the recipients of the 2021 Shock Trauma Center Hero Awards. Each year the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center presents the Hero Award to remarkable teams from the extensive network of partnerships that comprise Maryland’s elite EMS/Trauma system in recognition of their extraordinary lifesaving work. To be a recipient of the Hero Award is an incredible and prestigious honor. It is a symbol of the initiative taken in a critical situation, and the vital role played in saving a person’s life. Honorees were recognized during the Annual Shock Trauma Celebration, which was held virtually on Thursday, April 15, 2021.
Sharon Henry, MD, Professor, Department of Surgery, Program in Trauma was honored by the American Health Association-Maryland as a community leader during Black History Month 2021.
Warren Naselsky, Medical Student, in the lab of Richard Eckert, PhD, Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was selected to receive the iMig 2021 Young Investigator’s Award for the 15th Meeting of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig 2021), to be held virtually,
May 7-9, 2021.
Angela Smedley, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AΩA) in February 2021. Membership in the society is reserved for those “who, based on merit, demonstrate the characteristics of excellent physicians in alignment with AΩA’s mission and values.”
In the Media
Amitabh Chandra, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was featured on MPT’s Direct Connection “Your Health” segment on March 8, 2021.
Elizabeth Clayborne, MD, MA, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was featured in “Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne on Her Outlook for the COVID-19 Vaccination Timeline,” published February 25, 2021, by Yahoo Finance.
David Marcozzi, MD, MHS-CL, MHS-CL, FACEP, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was featured in:
- Governor Hogan’s February 11, 2021 press conference discussing newly relaxed hospital visitation policies, the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, recommended postvaccination behaviors, and the latest CDC masking guidelines
- “Maryland’s Falling COVID-19 Positivity Rate Shows Residents Heeding Warnings, Expert Says, But People Shouldn’t Get Overconfident,” aired February 15, 2021, by WJZ 13 CBS Baltimore
- “Rutherford: ‘Vaccine Shopping’ Leading Clinics to Administer COVID-19 Shots to Residents from Other Counties,” published March 3, 2021, by WBAL NewsRadio 1090 and FM 101.5
Sandrine Niyongere, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, was featured in the article, “Her White Blood Count Was Dangerously Low. Was Med School Still Safe?” that appeared in the New York Times Magazine on February 18, 2021. The article describes Dr. Niyongere’s successful efforts to fully diagnose and investigate worrisome test results that suggested a serious illness.
Congratulations to our very productive faculty on their recent grants and contracts!
Linda Chang, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, and Eleanor Wilson, MD, MHS, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, were awarded $424,874 for an 18-month grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for “Neuroimaging and Behavioral Studies to Assess for Neuroinflammation in COVID-19 during Convalescence.”
Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a 10-month $57,400 contract with the Eastern Research Group, Inc, for his work entitled, “Understanding Markets for Anti-Microbial Drugs.”
Isabel Jackson, PhD, (PI), the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Endowed Professor in Radiation Oncology, received one-year funding of $81,167 for a research collaboration with Kallyope Inc. on “An Adaptive, Randomized, Vehicle-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Kallyope’s K-Compounds as Mitigators of the Acute Radiation Syndrome Using a C57BL/6J Model of Total Body Irradiation with 2.5% Bone Marrow Sparing (TBI/BM2.5).”
Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, the Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor of Vaccinology and Director, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD), was awarded a $1,566,239 CIVICs contract supplement from NIH for a clinical trial of a novel neuraminidase influenza vaccine on February 25, 2021.
Adam Puche, PhD, Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology; Joseph Kao, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology; and Ricardo Araneda, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biology UMCP, are the recipients of an MPower Brain Health and Human Performance seed grant, entitled “Dysregulation of Endocannabinoid Signaling in the Aging Olfactory System.” Dr. Puche also was selected by the School of Medicine’s Class of 2021 to receive the Student Council Award for Best Pre-Clinical Faculty.
Kristen Stafford, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, and Ciheb Deputy Director, Institute of Human Virology, has been awarded $900,000 to expand a first-phase COVID-19 seroprevalence study in Nigeria. In May 2020, Ciheb was awarded $2.1 million to estimate COVID-19 prevalence across the three Nigerian states of Enugu, Gombe, and Nasarawa. Survey findings revealed that the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were 23 percent in Enugu State, 19 percent in Nasarawa State, and 9 percent in Gombe State. This means that the proportion of the population still vulnerable to infection in these states ranged from 77 percent to 91 percent. The new grant will expand the investigation to Kano State and the Federal Capital Territory.
Uni Wong, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, has been awarded a one-year Advanced IBD Fellowship grant from Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, beginning July 1, 2021.
Yuji Zhang, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a four-year $63,567 contract from the Mayo Clinic for her work on “Developing Cardiomyopathy Modifiers and Therapies via Zebrafish Genetics.” This is an NIH passthrough award.
Kudos to our colleagues who are experts in their fields and give their all to represent the School of Medicine!
Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD and Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor in Pediatrics, and a member of the BEGIN Committee (Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition) sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), was invited to present a summary of research on breastfeeding and responsive feeding at a webinar sponsored by NICHD, on February 12, 2021. Dr. Black, also a member of the Advisory Board of the Lancet Commission on Global Hearing Loss, was invited to also present a review on research related to “Early Childhood Development and Hearing Loss” at a global meeting sponsored by the Lancet Commission on Global Hearing Loss, and hosted by Duke University on February 25, 2021.
Eunsung Cho, MD, Assistant Professor; Natalie Davis, MD, MMSc, Associate Professor; and Colleen Hughes Driscoll, MD, Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, organized the 13th Annual Baltimore Washington Virginia Perinatal Consortium (BWVPC) conference, held March 4, 2021. This conference brings together faculty and fellows from the seven regional academic Neonatal-Perinatal fellowship programs and provides a forum for trainees and junior faculty to present their research, practice moderating sessions, as well as network and collaborate with other researchers in the region. Dina Metwally, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division Chief of Neonatology, presented the closing address.
Joana Carneiro Da Silva, PhD, Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, presented a virtual talk entitled: “Optimization of Heterologous Plasmodium Falciparum Challenge Strains for Use in Controlled Human Malaria Infection and Their Utility,” as part of the Joint International Tropical Medicine Meeting, which was held December 15-18, 2020.
Vasken Dilsizian, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, delivered an oral presentation on March 20, 2021, at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology Virtual Conference in collaboration with the Saudi Heart Association entitled “Imaging Cardiac Infections.”
Erin Hager, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, was invited to present on research in “The Connection Between Food Insecurity and Childhood Obesity” at the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) Member Meeting on February 26, 2021. NCCOR brings together the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to accelerate progress in reducing childhood obesity in America. Dr. Hager also was invited to present an overview of School Meals Research in the U.S. and participate in a panel discussion as part of an international webinar titled “International Actions on School Meals in Times of Crisis: A USA/Scotland Knowledge Exchange on School Meals and COVID-19,” which was hosted by the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University on March 10, 2021.
Jonathan Lederer, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology, and Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, presented a virtual “MitoCare Seminar” entitled “Mitochondrial ATP Production in Heart” at the Thomas Jefferson University Center, Sidney Kummel Medical College, in Philadelphia, Pa., on January 19, 2021. He also presented a virtual seminar entitled “Mitochondrial ATP Production in Cardiac Cells” at Washington University in St. Louis, hosted by The Cardiac Bioelectricity & Arrhythmia Center (CBAC), Biomedical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine on February 15, 2021. Additionally, Dr Lederer co-authored the poster “Consequences of Inner Membrane Folding on Mitochondrial ATP Output,” which was presented at the 65th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting on February 26, 2021. Dr. Lederer and Liron Boyman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, were among the co-authors of the poster “On the Nature of the Mitochondrial Permeability Transition,” which was presented at the same meeting.
Carmen Mannella, PhD, Visiting Professor, Department of Physiology, and the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, presented “Consequences of Folding the Chemiosmotic Membrane” at the inaugural online “MitoCare” lecture, held at the Thomas Jefferson University Center for Mitochondrial Imaging Research and Diagnostics on January 19, 2021.
Pranshu Mohindra, MD, MBBS, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, presented “Clinical Implications of Technological Advances in Lung Cancer Management” at the Conference on Evidence-Based Management of Cancers in India on February 27, 2021. The conference was hosted by Tata Memorial Cancer Centre (Mumbai, India) and was held remotely. Dr. Mohindra also chaired a session at the conference.
As Chair of the Surgical Infection Society Informatics Committee, Habeeba Park, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, assisted with the coordination and held the first in a series of webinars on “Interesting Cases from the Frontlines of COVID-19.” The first was held in February 2021. Dr. Park also participated in the creation of a virtual version of the Stop the Bleed Program, which will be available online soon.
Karen Sack, PTRS Allied Health Administrator, and Surekha Vishwasrao, PTRS Director of Finance, were invited to serve as panel speakers for the iSRA Financial Management Conference. This was an inaugural event for the Society of Research Administrators International. The “Research Finance” roundtable session was held virtually on February 24, 2021, with approximately 98 attendees. Additional panel members included: William Hoffman, Research Department Administrator from the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Dentistry, and Debbie Pettitt, Senior Grants Management Specialist from the National Institutes of Health.
Samuel Tisherman, MD, Professor, Department of Surgery, Program in Trauma, gave a talk to the Edinburgh Student Surgical Society on “Resuscitation Lessons Learned: Fix the Patient! But Sometimes You Have to Buy Time.” He also gave two talks at the Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Congress entitled “Early Goal Resuscitation: Then and Now” and “History of Rounds.”
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) held its annual Combined Sections Meeting virtually during the month of February 2021. Presentations from members of the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science (PTRS) included:
- Odessa Addison, DPT, PhD, Assistant Professor, who presented an education session entitled, “Body Composition and Mobility in Older Adults: A Conversation about Exercise and Nutrition” during the Geriatrics Session.
- Gad Alon, PhD, PT, Associate Professor Emeritus, who recorded his presentation entitled, “Neuromodulation of the Brain: Treatment Options to Manage Migraine, Clinical Depression, and Locomotion Deficits” and held a question/answer session on February 11, 2021.
- Ruth Akinlosotu, PhD Student; Nesreen Alissa, PhD Student; and Kelly Westlake, PT, MSc, PhD, Associate Professor; delivered a podium presentation entitled, “Influence of Secondary Cognitive Task Type on Reach-to-Grasp Balance Responses in Older Adults.”
- Jason Falvey, PT, DPT, PhD, Assistant Professor, was a co-author of the recorded platform talk entitled, “Neighborhood Disadvantage and Disability Burden after Critical Illness.”
- Jason Falvey, PT, DPT, PhD, Assistant Professor, and Cara Felter, PT, DPT, MPH, NCS, PCS, Assistant Professor, participated in a panel which presented the recorded talk entitled, “Rehabilitation in Rural America: Preparing the Next Generation of Physical Therapists” on February 9, 2021.
- Mei Zhen Huang, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Douglas Savin, PT, PhD, Assistant Professor; Vincent Conroy, PT, DScPT, Assistant Professor; Li-Qun Zhang, PhD, Professor; and Mark Rogers, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Adjunct Professor, were co-authors of the presentation entitled, “Effects of Multicomponent Home-Based Training on Gait and Muscle Strength in Older Adults with Hip-Fracture.” Huang and Zhang also were co-authors on the presentation entitled, “Intensive Sensorimotor Rehabilitation for Acute Stroke Survivors with No Ankle Movement.”
- Sanjana Rao, PhD Student; Ahmed Ramadan, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Dongwon Kim, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Raziyeh Baghi, PhD Student; Giovanni Oppizzi, Research Fellow; and Li-Qun Zhang, PhD, Professor, were co-authors on the poster presentation entitled, “Proximal Versus Distal Robotic Upper Limb Rehabilitation on Motor Recovery Post Stroke.”
- Rachel Reoli, PhD Student, was a co-author of the poster presentation entitled, “Rehabilitation after Acoustic Schwannoma Resection Complicated by Cerebellar Infarct: A Patient-Centered and Evidence-Based Approach.”
- Kelly Rock, PhD Student, and Victoria Marchese, PT, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair, were co-authors of an Education Session presentation entitled, “Unraveled: Using a Diagnostic Framework to Demystify Movement Problems in Pediatric Cancer.
- Kelly Rock, PhD Student; Christa Nelson, PT, DPT, PhD, Assistant Professor; and Victoria Marchese, PT, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair; were co-authors of the poster presentation entitled, “Muscle and Mobility in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Bone Tumors: Exploring a Functional Strengthening Intervention.”
Community Service!
Niharika Khanna, MD, MBBS, DGO, Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, is the Chair of the Maryland Cancer Collaborative and participated in the publication of the Maryland Cancer Control Plan, which aims to reduce cancer risk, detect cancer early, improve treatment, and enhance survivorship. Dr. Khanna participated in the Maryland Healthcare Commission’s Telehealth Policy Workgroup resulting in the following report: Telehealth Policy Workgroup February 2021. mhcc.maryland.gov/mhcc/pages/hit/hit_telemedicine/documents/Telehealth_Policy_Workgroup_Report_Final.pdf
Students from the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science’s DPT Program, Class of 2022, Emily Garguilo, Luanne Zimmermann, and Nicole Williams, assisted the Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation (GEDCO), Senior Services Division, by contacting GEDCO’s Stadium Place residents and assisting them with scheduling procedures to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. The students also provided “Friendly Health Reminders” to the residents that included: frequent handwashing, wear a mask whenever you leave your apartment, practice physical distancing - stay six feet away from other people, cover your mouth when coughing, stay home if feeling sick, and call your doctor if you feel sick or have trouble breathing. This effort was coordinated by Vincent Conroy, PT, DScPT, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, and GEDCO Senior Services Committee Advisory Board Member; and Mr. Ted Gross, GEDCO Director of Senior Services and Chief Program Officer.
Recent Patents!
Amit Sawant, PhD, Associate Professor, and Carlo Repetto, Machinist, both in the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the inventors on a new U.S. patent for “A Deformable Lung Model Apparatus” (U.S. Patent Number: 10,898,157) issued on January 26, 2021.
Hats off to those who have been published!
Bradley Alger, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physiology, had a selection from his book, Defense of the Scientific Hypothesis: From Reproducibility Crisis to Big Data, featured in a collection entitled, “In Science We (Still) Trust? Misinformation, Half-Truths, and Uncertainty in the Scientific Community,” which was published by Oxford University Press on March 9, 2021.
Bizhan Aarabi, MD, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, and Director of Neurotrauma at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, along with Howard Eisenberg, MD, the R. K. Thompson Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery Residency Program Director, authored Chapter 393, “Surgical Management and Prognosis of Penetrating Brain Injury,” in Youmans and Winn Neurological Surgery, Volume IV, Eighth Edition.
Sally Adebamowo, MBBS, MSc, ScD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was a co-author of “A Proposed New Generation of Evidence-Based Microsimulation Models to Inform Global Control of Cervical Cancer,” which was published in the March 2021 issue of Preventive Medicine.
Abdul-Kareem Ahmed, MD, Resident, Department of Neurosurgery, authored “The Sound of Healing,” which was published in the January 2021 issue of Cerebrum.
Jennifer Albrecht, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was a co-author of “CPAP Adherence is Associated with Reduced Risk for Stroke among Older Adult Medicare Beneficiaries with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” which was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine on February 22, 2021.
Omer Awan, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was the author of “Peer to Peer Learning: Its Importance and Benefits,” which was e-published in Academic Radiology on February 28, 2021. Separately, Dr. Awan was the author of “Virtual Radiology Readouts after the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which was e-published in AJR American Journal of Roentgenology on February 17, 2021, and co-author of “Engaging with Professional Societies During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which was e-published in Academic Radiology on February 2, 2021.
Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD and Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor in Pediatrics; Angela Trude, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics; and Alysse Kowalski, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, were co-authors of “Growth in the First 1000 Days Lays the Foundation for Human Capital Formation,” which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on March 1, 2021.
Clayton Brown, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-authored “The Ending Self-Stigma for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (ESS-P) Program: Results of a Pilot Randomized Trial,” which was published in the February 2021 issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress. Dr. Brown also co-authored “Outcomes of Ending Self-Stigma, a Group Intervention to Reduce Internalized Stigma, among Individuals with Serious Mental Illness,” which was published in Psychiatric Services on February 1, 2021, as well as “The Utility of Spot vs 24-Hour Urine Samples for Metal Determination in Veterans with Retained Fragments,” which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology on February 11, 2021.
Linda Chang, MD, MS, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “Diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 Infections,” which was e-published in Nature Materials on February 15, 2021, and “A Role for Extracellular Vesicles in SARS-CoV-2 Therapeutics and Prevention,” which was e-published in the February 2021 issue of the Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology. Dr. Chang was last author of “Working Memory Training in Amnestic and Non-Amnestic Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Preliminary Findings from Genotype Variants on Training Effects,” which was published in the February 2021 issue of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
Rong Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “Preoperative Differentiation of Serous Cystic Neoplasms from Mucin-Producing Pancreatic Cystic Neoplasms Using a CT-Based Radiomics Nomogram,” which was e-published in the February 2021 issue of Abdominal Radiology.
Shou Chen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-authored “The MicroRNA-195—BDNF Pathway and Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia Patients with Minimal Antipsychotic Medication Exposure,” which was published in Translational Psychiatry on February 8, 2021. Dr. Chen also was co-author of “Detecting Survival-Associated Biomarkers from Heterogeneous Populations,” which was published in Scientific Reports on February 5, 2021.
Chengyan Chu, MD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Yajie Liang, MB, PhD, Assistant Professor; Miroslaw Janowski, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; and Piotr Walczak, MD, PhD, Professor, all from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors of “White Matter Demyelination Predates Axonal Injury after Ischemic Stroke in Cynomolgus Monkeys,” which was e-published in the February 2021 issue of Experimental Neurology. Separately, Drs. Walczak and Janowski were among the co-authors of “New Mechanistic Insights, Novel Treatment Paradigms, and Clinical Progress in Cerebrovascular Diseases,” which was published in the January 2021 issue of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. Dr. Janowski was also among the co-authors of “Immunomodulatory and Regenerative Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Extracellular Vesicles: Therapeutic Outlook for Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases,” which was published in Frontiers in Immunology on February 5, 2021.
Matthew Peter Dattwyler, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “American Society of Emergency Radiology Multicenter Blunt Splenic Trauma Study: CT and Clinical Findings,” which was e-published in the February 2021 issue of Radiology.
Thomas Ernst, Dr rer nat, Professor; Christine Cloak, PhD, Assistant Professor; and Linda Chang, MD, MS, Professor, all from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors of “Association Between Habitual Snoring and Cognitive Performance among a Large Sample of Preadolescent Children,” which was e-published in JAMA Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery on February 25, 2021.
DeAnna Friedman-Klabanoff, MD, Instructor; Andrea Berry, MD, Assistant Professor; Mark Travassos, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor; Marcela Pasetti, PhD, Professor; and Matthew Laurens, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, all from the Department of Pediatrics, authored “Low Dose Recombinant Full-Length Circumsporozoite Protein-Based Plasmodium falciparum Vaccine is Well-Tolerated and Highly Immunogenic in Phase 1 First-in-Human Clinical Testing,” which was published in Vaccine on February 22, 2021.
Robert Gallo, MD, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Director, Institute of Human Virology, and other colleagues wrote a letter to the editor of Risk Analysis, Vol. 41.
Dheeraj Gandhi, MBBS, Professor, and Miroslaw Janowski, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were the co-authors of “Stretching the Spring of Endovascular Opportunity in Stroke,” which was published in the March 2021 issue of Stroke. Epub was February 10, 2021.
Peter Gorman, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, was an author on two recent publications stemming from his multi-center Department of Defense supported work on the use of exoskeletons for restoration of ambulation in persons with spinal cord injury. The first, entitled “Mobility Skills with Exoskeletal-Assisted Walking in Persons with SCI: Results from a Three Center Randomized Clinical Trial,” was published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI on August 4, 2020. The second paper, for which Dr. Gorman was the first author, was entitled “Exoskeletal-Assisted Walking Effect on Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function: Results from a Randomized Trial and Comparison to other Physical Interventions,” and was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine on March 2, 2021.
Daniel Haase, MD, Assistant Professor, and Quincy Tran, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Arterial or Cuff Pressure: Clinical Predictors among Patients in Shock in a Critical Care Resuscitation Unit,” which was published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine on March 9, 2021.
Anthony Harris, MD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Mohammad Sajadi, MD, Associate Professor, Institute of Human Virology, and Saman Saadat, Postdoctoral Fellow, were among the co-authors of “Binding and Neutralization Antibody Titers after a Single Vaccine Dose in Health Care Workers Previously Infected with SARS-CoV-2,” which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), on March 1, 2021.
Gregory Jasani, MD, Resident, Department of Emergency Medicine, was first author of “Weapons Screening in the Emergency Department: What Is the Standard?” which was published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine on February 8, 2021.
Xiaofeng Jia, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, was the corresponding author, along with first-author Yang Zhang, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; and co-authors Xiang Xu, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Jian Du, PhD, Research Associate Faculty; and Xijie Zhou, MD, MS, Postdoctoral Fellow, all from the Department of Neurosurgery, of “Therapeutic Effects of Peripherally Administrated Neural Crest Stem Cells on Pain and Spinal Cord Changes after Sciatic Nerve Transection,” which was published in the March 2021 issue of Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Dr. Jia also was the co-corresponding author, along with first-author Jian Du, Research Associate, of “Glycoengineering Human Neural and Adipose Stem Cells with Novel Thiol-Modified N-Acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) Analogs,” which was published in the February 2021 issue of Cells.
Aleta Hong, MD, Clinical Instructor; Breanna Kebort, MD, Resident; Laura Bontempo, MD, MEd, Associate Professor; and Zachary Dezman, MD, MS, MS, Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were sole authors of “40-Year-Old Female with Sudden Onset Dyspnea,” which was published in Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine on December 28, 2020.
James Galen, PhD, Professor; Sears Khandra, PhD, Research Associate; and Sharon Tennant, PhD, Associate Professor, all from the Department of Medicine, were among the co-authors of “Advances in the Development of Salmonella-Based Vaccine Strategies for Protection against Salmonellosis in Humans,” which was e-published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology on March 4, 2021.
Niharika Khanna, MBBS, MD, DGO, Professor; Elena Klyushnenkova, PhD; and Alexander Kaysin, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Family & Community Medicine, were co-authors of “Association of COVID-19 with Race and Socioeconomic Factors in Family Medicine,” which was published in the February 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Drs. Khanna, Klyushnenkova, Kaysin, and David Stewart, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, were co-authors of “Utilizing the Learning Health System Adaptation to Guide Family Medicine Practice to COVID-19 Response,” which was published in the October 2020 issue of the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health.
Brent King, MD, MMM, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, and Megan Cobb, MD, DPT, Adjunct Instructor, Department of Emergency Medicine, were sole authors of the book chapter “Thoracic Trauma,” published in Harwood-Nuss’ Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine, 7th Edition on October 10, 2020. Mimi Lu, MD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was co-author of the chapter “Constipation.”
Shenghan Lai, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was a co-author of “4C Study Group. Association of Serum Bile Acids Profile and Pathway Dysregulation with the Risk of Developing Diabetes among Normoglycemic Chinese Adults: Findings from the 4C Study,” which was published in the February 2021 issue of Diabetes Care. Dr. Lai also co-authored “The Role of NO in COVID-19 and Potential Therapeutic Strategies,” which was published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine on February 1, 2021.
Marcel Lanza, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, was a co-author of “Resistance Training with Different Repetition Duration to Failure: Effect on Hypertrophy, Strength and Muscle Activation,” which was recently published online for PeerJ Life & Environment.
Iris Lindberg, PhD, Professor, and Manita Shakya, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, both from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, together with collaborators from Michigan and Canada, were senior and lead authors, respectively, of “Mice Lacking PC1/3 Expression in POMC-Expressing Cells Do Not Develop Obesity,” which was published in Endocrinology on March 10, 2021.
Jay Magaziner, PhD, MSHyg, Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-authored “Effect of a Multifactorial Fall Injury Prevention Intervention on Patient Well-Being: The STRIDE Study,” which was published in the January 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Dr. Magaziner with Denise Orwig, PhD, Professor, also from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-authored “The Effect of Frailty on Walking Recovery after Hip Fracture: A Secondary Analysis of the Community Ambulation Project,” which was published in The Journals of Gerontology. Series A. Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences on February 12, 2021, and “Change in Vertebral Strength and Bone Mineral Density in Men and Women Over the Year Post-Hip Fracture: A Subgroup Analysis,” which was published in Archives of Osteoporosis on February 22, 2021.
Carmen Mannella, PhD, Visiting Professor, Department of Physiology and the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, was the author of “VDAC—A Primal Perspective,” which was published in a special issue, “VDAC As a Cellular Hub: Docking Molecules and Interactions” for the International Journal of Molecular Sciences on February 8, 2021.
Sarah McAvoy, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors of “A Prospective Phase II Randomized Trial of Proton Radiotherapy vs. Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma,” which was e-published in Neuro-Oncology on February 27, 2021.
Timothy Miller, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “Safety of the APOLLO Onyx Delivery Microcatheter for Embolization of Brain Arteriovenous Malformations: Results from a Prospective Post-Market Study,” which was e-published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery on February 1, 2021.
Siamak Moayedi, MD, Assistant Professor, and Mercedes Torres, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Abscess Management: An Evidence-Based Review for Emergency Medicine Clinicians,” which was published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine on December 6, 2020.
Elizabeth Nichols, MD, Associate Professor; Shifeng Chen, PhD, Associate Professor; Jason Molitoris, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor; and Stewart Becker, PhD, Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the authors of “Reproducibility of a Novel, Vacuum-Assisted Immobilization for Breast Stereotactic Radiotherapy,” e-published in the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics on March 3, 2021.
Li-Qun Zhang, PhD, and Giovanni Oppizzi, Research Fellow, Professor, both from the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, were co-authors of “Do Fully Threaded Transiliac-Transsacral Screws Improve Mechanical Stability of Vertically Unstable Pelvic Fractures? A Cadaveric Biomechanical Analysis,” which was recently published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma.
Justin Ortiz, MD, MS, Associate Professor; Amanda Driscoll, PhD, MHS, Research Associate; Wilbur Chen, MD, MS, Professor; Meagan Fitzpatrick, PhD, Assistant Professor; Samba Sow, MD, MSc, Adjunct Professor; and Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, the Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH Professor in Vaccinology and Director, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, all from the Department of Medicine, were among the co-authors of “The Potential Effects of Deploying SARS-Cov-2 Vaccines on Cold Storage Capacity and Immunization Workload in Countries of the WHO African Region,” which was e-published in Vaccine on February 19, 2021.
Prashant Raghavan, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “Imaging Characteristics of Sigmoid Sinus Wall Anomalies, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, and Spontaneous CSF Leaks,” which was e-published in Otology and Neurotology on February 22, 2021.
David Serre, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, was a senior author of “Transcriptional Heterogeneity and Tightly Regulated Changes in Gene Expression during Plasmodium Berghei Sporozoite Development,” which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on March 9, 2021.
Dennis Sparta, PhD, Assistant Professor, and Sonia Aroni, PhD, former Postdoctoral Fellow, together with others from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, were senior and lead authors, respectively, of “Repeated Binge Ethanol Drinking Enhances Electrical Activity of Central Amygdala Corticotropin Releasing Factor Neurons In Vivo,” which was accepted for publication in Neuropharmacology on March 10, 2021.
Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, and President and CEO of UMMS, was among the NRG Oncology Group authors of “Risk Groups of Laryngeal Cancer Treated with Chemoradiation According to Nomogram Scores: A Pooled Analysis of RTOG 0129 and 0522,” which was e-published in Oral Oncology on February 25, 2021
Samuel Tisherman, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Program in Trauma, was among the co-authors of “Emerging Hemorrhage Control and Resuscitation Strategies in Trauma: Endovascular to Extracorporeal,” which was published in the August 2020 issue of the Journal of Trauma Acute Care Surgery.
Quincy Tran, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, and Ashley Menne, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Preventing Seizure Occurrence following Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Seizure Prophylaxis,” which was published in Seizure on February 28, 2021.
Sastry Vedam, MS, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the authors of “Machine QA for the Elekta Unity System: A Report from the Elekta MR-Linac Consortium,” which was e-published in Medical Physics on February 12, 2021.
Charles White, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was the last author of “Current Role of Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Acute Coronary Syndrome,” which was published in the February 2021 issue of Diagnostics (Basel). Separately, Dr. White was last author of “Proposed Quality Metrics for Lung Cancer Screening Programs: A National Lung Cancer Roundtable Project,” which was e-published in the February 2021 issue of Chest.
Michael Winters, MD, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was among the discussants in the twice-monthly podcast, Critical Care Perspectives in Emergency Medicine, episodes:
- “The HOT-ICU [Handling Oxygenation Targets in the Intensive Care Unit] Study,” published February 16, 2021
- “COVID-19 Updates March 2021,” published March 8, 2021
Graeme Woodworth, MD, FACS, Professor and Chair, Department of Neurosurgery; Jeffrey Winkles, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery; Anthony Kim, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery; Heather Ames, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology; Pavlos Anastasiadis, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Neurosurgery; Adarsha Malla, MD-PhD Candidate; and Pranjali Kanvinde, Doctoral Candidate; authored “Leveraging the Replication-Competent Avian-Like Sarcoma Virus/Tumor Virus Receptor—A System for Modeling Human Gliomas,” which was published in Glia on February 27, 2021.