What's on My Mind
What’s on my mind this month is a series of bold innovative initiatives that have been proposed to reduce and eliminate health disparities in Maryland. The recommendations come from a 13-member Health Disparities Workgroup that I chaired at the request of Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown. The workgroup is a diverse panel of experts in health disparities, physicians and scientists, and leaders in public health, government and business.
While Maryland has some of the best hospitals and healthcare facilities in the nation, African-American Marylanders have infant mortality rates that are almost three times higher than white Marylanders, an HIV infection rate that is almost 12 times higher than the white population, and are almost twice as likely to lack health insurance. These disparities pose a serious healthcare and financial challenge. In fact, our data showed that nearly $230 billion in direct medical costs could have been saved from 2003 to 2006 if there were no racial or ethnic health disparities.
Using hospital admission rates as a measure, we identified disparities in three major chronic conditions—lung diseases (especially asthma), cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. For hypertension and diabetes, hospital admission rates were as much as 4.5 times higher for African Americans. The ripple effect of chronic disease accounts for 80 percent of health costs, so the workgroup targeted these conditions to have the greatest impact. The workgroup is recommending the following innovative strategies to help expand access to care and reduce disparities.
Establish Health Enterprise Zones
Modeled after economic enterprise zones, Health Enterprise Zones (HEZs) should be established in areas with significant health disparities, poor access to primary care and high rates of chronic illness. Primary care physicians would be encouraged to practice in HEZs through a range of incentives to include loan repayment assistance, tax credits and help in installing health information technology. To be eligible for zone benefits, clinicians would have to participate in the Medicaid program and meet voluntary standards for community service.
Create a Maryland Health Innovation Prize
The Maryland Health Innovation Prize would provide a significant financial reward and public recognition for a new intervention or program that successfully reduces or eliminates healthcare disparities. The goal of the prize is to broaden the scope of community participation and discover new solutions that can be copied and employed throughout the state.
Track Performance Incentive Data by Race and Ethnicity
Healthcare performance data is currently monitored by the Health Services Cost Review Commission and the Maryland Health Care Commission, but these two programs do not track performance by race and ethnicity. The workgroup believes that requiring performance metrics to be analyzed by race and ethnicity will help the state to better identify disparities, and determine whether new incentive programs are required.
Addressing Health Disparities
As healthcare professionals we have a responsibility to promote the health and well being of all citizens, and as an institution we are already taking steps to help erase health disparities. The Program in Minority Health and Health Disparities Education and Research educates current and future health professionals about health disparities issues, supports relevant multidisciplinary research and fosters quality clinical care for minorities and diverse populations. In the community, we are making it easier for patients to receive access to the best possible care by spearheading the Maryland Patient
Centered Home program. Patients will have one primary point of contact for all medical needs under a streamlined system that provides expanded clinic hours and personalized communication via phone and email.
Incentives, education, outreach, technology, and innovation will empower us to do even more in communities where the greatest disparities exist. These recommendations have been presented to the Maryland General Assembly, and Governor Martin O’Malley has included funding for Health Enterprise Zones in the state budget. It is my firm belief that these strategies can and will have an immediate effect on health and health disparities in Maryland, reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of life for all citizens of the state.
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
Grants and Contracts
Congratulations to our very productive faculty on their recent grants and contracts!
Edson Albuquerque, MD, PhD, professor, and Edna Pereira, PhD, assistant professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, and Louis DeTolla, VMD, MS, PhD, professor, Department of Pathology, received a four-year $19.3 million grant from Countervail/BARDA entitled “Nerve Agent Countermeasure for Downwind and Worried Well Populations.” Dr. Albuquerque also received a two-year $616,784 grant from the National Institutes of Health titled “Developmental Neurotoxicity of Sarin and Soman in Guinea Pigs.”
Mordecai Blaustein, MD, professor, Department of Physiology, received a four-year $1,535,000 National Institutes of Health grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for his work entitled “Alpha-2 Na+ Pumps, [Ca+2], Arterial Contraction and Hypertension.”
Robert Bloch, PhD, professor, Department of Physiology, received a three-year $362,295 development grant from the Muscular Dystrophy
Association for his work entitled “Cellular and Molecular Studies of Dysferlinopathy.”
Matthew Frieman, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, received a five-year $250,000 RO1 grant from NIH for his project titled “Role of the Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor in SARS Coronavirus Pathogenesis.”
Jon Furuno, PhD, assistant professor and Kerri Thom, MD,
assistant professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, were awarded a one-year $41,772 grant from Merck entitled “Emergence and Risk Factors for Colonization by Carbapenem-resistant EBSL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Critically Ill Patients.”
Wendy Lane, MD, MPH, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was awarded a five-year $250,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration for “The Baltimore Citywide Child Protection Team: Improving Access to Care for Children with Suspected Abuse and Neglect.”
Jay Magaziner, PhD, MSHyg, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a five-year $5.5 million grant from the National Institute of Aging for his work titled, “Effects of Multi-Modal Exercise Intervention Post Hip Fracture.”
Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD, DSc, professor and Min Zhan, PhD, assistant professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, were awarded a two-year $345,856 grant from NIH entitled “Hot Flushes and SNPs of the Norepinepherine and Serotonin Transporter Genes.”
Mary-Claire Roghmann, MD, MS, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a three-year, $1.3 million grant from AHRQ for her work “Modifying Contact Precautions for MRSA in Extended Care.”
Michelle Shardell, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was awarded a three-year $410,053 grant from the National Institute on Aging for “Statistical Methods to Correct for Proxy Bias in Studies of Older Adults.”
Michael Terrin, MD, CM, MPH, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a five-year $12.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health entitled “Non-Invasive Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Clinical Trial.” Additionally, Dr. Terrin and Rose Marie Viscardi, MD, professor, Department of Pediatrics, Laurence Magder, PhD, professor, and J. Kathleen Tracy, PhD, assistant professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, were awarded a five-year $3,071,031 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development titled “Azithromycin to Prevent BPD in Ureaplasma-Infected Pre-Terms.”
Owen White, PhD, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, and director of Bioinformatics, Institute for Genome Sciences, was awarded a three-month $98,877 grant from URS Federal Technical Services/Department of Defense for “Bioinformatics Pipelines for Annotation of Bacterial and Viral Genomic Sequences.”
Appointments
We applaud our colleagues on their recent appointments!
Claudia Baquet, MD, MPH, professor, Department of Medicine, and associate dean of Policy and Planning, was appointed to serve as a member of the Societal and Ethical Issues in Research study section with the Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes of Health. Her term began on July 1, 2011 and will end on June 30, 2015. Members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline, as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors. The tasks of this study section are to review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on these applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in this field of science. Dr. Baquet was recognized for her contributions to the scientific aspects of social and ethical determinants in health disparities research and her efforts to foster public trust in research.
Toby Chai, MD, the John D. Young, Jr. Professor in Urology, Department of Surgery, was selected to serve a four-year term as an assistant editor for the Journal of Urology, which is the official journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). Dr. Chai was also selected to serve a four-year term on the AUA Foundation Research Council. This Council supports the AUA’s research mission by working to increase and diversify funding for research in urologic disease.
Ann Gruber-Baldini, PhD, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was co-chair of the selection committee that chose the new editor for the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.
Jennifer Hopp, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, was appointed chair of the regional Abilities Network/Epilepsy Foundation for the Chesapeake Region. This organization provides service and support to people with epilepsy and other neurological disorders such as autism, as well as programs to increase education and awareness of these disorders.
Philip Mackowiak, MD, MBA, professor & vice-chair, Department of Medicine, was appointed president elect of the American Clinical and Climatological Association on October 20, 2011. His term of office begins in October 2012.
Tony Passaniti, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and a member of the Program in Oncology, has been appointed to the editorial board of The Journal of Cellular Biochemistry for a three-year period (2011–2014).
Kevin Sheth, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, has been named to the Neuro-Critical Care Society 2012 Annual Meeting Committee.
Devinder Singh, MD, assistant professor, Department of Surgery, and co-director of the Kernan Cleft Palate Clinic, was named to the board of directors of Changing Children’s Lives, Inc. In 2010 and 2011, Dr. Singh travelled with this organization to Uganda, Vietnam and Colombia and repaired more than 100 cleft lips and palates on those charity surgical missions.
New Faculty
We welcome our new faculty!
Olga Goloubeva, PhD, MSc, joined the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health in July 2011 as an associate professor.
Events, Lectures and Workshops
Kudos to our colleagues who are experts in their fields and give their all to represent the School of Medicine!
The Department of Radiation Oncology hosted the Radiation Oncology Symposium—Best of 2011 (formerly known as the Mid–Atlantic ASTRO Review Course) at the University of Maryland Southern Management Corporation Campus Center on January 5, 2012. This continuing medical education course provided a review of new changes in technology and treatment modalities that have occurred within the past year, including a review of the latest developments in treating cancer. More than 100 guests attended this year’s event, which included radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, medical oncologists, hematologists, nurse practitioners, dosimetrists, physician assistants, nurses, medical physicists and other interested personnel.
Mordecai Blaustein, MD, professor, Departments of Physiology and Medicine, and director, Maryland Center for Heart,
Hypertension & Kidney Disease, presented an invited symposium talk entitled “How Salt Raises Blood Pressure: A New Paradigm for the Pathogenesis of Salt-Dependent Hypertension” at the University Vita Salute San Raffaele, School of Nephrology, in Milan, Italy, on October 6, 2011.
Ricardo Feldman, PhD, associate professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, was an invited speaker at the 4th Annual Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium, held at Towson University on October 6, 2011. The title of his talk was “Generation of Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Modeling and Treating Types 1, 2 and 3 Gaucher Disease.”
Gary Fiskum, PhD, the M. Jane Matjasko Professor for Research and vice-chair of Research in the Department of Anesthesiology, presented “The Dangers of Over-Oxygenation After Cardiac Arrest: Mechanisms and Experimental Evidence” at the American Heart Association Resuscitation Symposium in Orlando, FL, on Monday, November 14, 2011.
Benjamin Lawner, DO, EMT-P, assistant professor, and J.V. Nable, MD, EMT-P, third-year resident, both from the Department of Emergency Medicine, and Christopher Stephens, MD, assistant professor, Department of Anesthesiology, served as faculty members for the paramedic refresher course sponsored by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in November 2011. Eighty paramedics from across the country attended the four-day course.
Michael Makley, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, was an invited speaker for the symposium entitled “Sleep-Wake Disturbances After Traumatic Brain Injury” at the World Association of Sleep Medicine Meeting, held in Quebec City, Canada in September 2011.
Horea Rus, MD, PhD, associate professor, and Cosmin Tegla, MD, post-doctoral fellow, both from the Department of Neurology, along with Violeta Rus, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, presented “SIRT1 expression is decreased in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis” at the ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS 2011 Meeting, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands from October 19–22, 2011.
Alan Shuldiner, MD, the John L. Whitehurst Endowed Professor of Medicine and associate dean for Personalized & Genomic Medicine, gave Obstetrics and Gynecology Grand Rounds at St. Luke’s & Roosevelt Hospital in New York, NY, on October 4, 2011. The title of his talk was “The Genetic Interface Between Gestational Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes.” Dr. Shuldiner also was the Inaugural Guest Speaker at Ohio State University’s Discovery of Medicine series on October 19, 2011. The title of his talk there was “Genetics of the Metabolic Syndrome: Lessons from a Founder Population.” The next day he presented Internal Medicine Grand Rounds at Ohio State University, where the title of his talk was “Personalized Medicine: An Epic Journey Through the Human Genome.”
Deborah M. Stein, MD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Surgery, presented “Computational Gene-Mapping to Analyze Continuous Automated Physiologic Monitoring Data in Neuro-Trauma Intensive Care,” at the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma 25th Annual Scientific Assembly in Scottsdale, AZ. She also presented a poster entitled “Use of Serum Biomarkers to Predict Secondary Insults Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.” Other Department of Surgery faculty members participating in this event were Gabriel E. Ryb, MD, MPH, assistant professor, who presented a poster entitled “Aortic Injuries in New Vehicles,” Joseph Rabin, MD, assistant professor, who presented a poster entitled “Traumatic Aortic Injury Selective Management Is Safe and Effective,” and William C. Chiu, MD, associate professor, who presided over a scientific session entitled, “Clinical Trauma Surgery.”
Stefanie Vogel, PhD, professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, presented “Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses to Francisella Tularensis” at the New England Regional Center of Excellence Innate Immunity Workshop, held in Dedham, MA, in September 2011.
Paul Welling, MD, professor, Department of Physiology, was an invited speaker at the annual American Society of Nephrology Meeting, held in November 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. He delivered a lecture entitled “Answers to the Aldosterone Paradox in the Integrated Action of Renal Potassium Channels.”
Publications
Hats off to those who have been published!
Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD, and Mary Louise Scholl, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Anna Quigg, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Kristen Hurley, PhD, assistant professor, and Reese Pepper, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, all from the Department of Pediatrics, co-authored an article on “ID and IDA in the First Two Years of Life: Strategies to Prevent the Loss of Developmental Potential” in Nutrition Reviews, 2011 Nov;69 Suppl 1:S64-70. Drs. Pepper and Black also co-authored “B12 in Fetal Development” in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2011 Aug;22(6):619-23.
Mordecai Blaustein, MD, professor, Departments of Physiology and Medicine, and director, Maryland Center for Heart, Hypertension & Kidney Disease, and Jin Zhang, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Physiology, co-authored “Attenuated Renal Vascular Responses to Acute Angiotensin II Infusion in Smooth Muscle-Specific Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger Knockout Mice” in American Journal of Physiology–Renal Physiology. 2011;301:F574-F579.
Christopher D’Adamo, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine and Marc Hochberg, MD, professor, Department of Medicine, along with Michelle Shardell, PhD, assistant professor, Gregory Hicks, PhD, adjunct assistant professor, Denise Orwig, PhD, assistant professor, Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD,
adjunct professor, Jay Magaziner, PhD, MSHyg, professor and chair, and Ram Miller, MD, CM, assistant professor, all from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-published “Serum Vitamin E Concentrations Among Highly Functioning Hip Fracture Patients are Higher Than in Non-Fracture Controls” in Nutrition Research 2011;31(3):205-214.
Howard Dubowitz, MB, ChB, professor, Department of Pediatrics, Wendy Lane, MD, MPH, assistant professor, and Laurence Magder, PhD, professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-published “The Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK) Model: Impact on Pediatric Primary Care Professionals” in Pediatrics 2011;127(4):e962-e970.
Jon Furuno, PhD, assistant professor, Min Zhan, PhD, assistant professor, Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, professor, and Mary-Claire Roghmann, MD, MS, professor, all from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, along with Jennifer Johnson, PhD, DABMM, assistant professor, and Richard Venezia, PhD, DABMM, professor, both from the Department of Pathology, co-published “Comparison of the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Acquisition Among Rehabilitation and Nursing Home Residents” in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 2011;32(3):244-249.
Seth Himelhoch, MD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Psychiatry, published “Feasibility of Telephone-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Targeting Major Depression Among Urban-Dwelling African-Americans with Co-Occurring HIV” in Psychological Health and Medicine, 2011; Mar;16(2):156-65.
Jennifer Hopp, MD, assistant professor, Ana Sanchez, MD, assistant professor, Allan Krumholtz, MD, professor, and Elizabeth Barry, MD, associate professor, all from the Department of Neurology, published “Nonconvulsive Status Epilepticus, Value of a Benzodiazepine Trial for Predicting Outcomes” in The Neurologist, 2011 Nov;17(6):325-9.
Julie Kreyenbuhl, PharmD, PhD, associate professor, Eric Slade, PhD, associate professor, Deborah Medoff, PhD, associate professor, and Lisa Dixon, MD, MPH, professor, all from the Department of Psychiatry, co-published “Time to Discontinuation of First- and Second-
Generation Antipsychotic Medications in the Treatment of Schizophrenia” in Schizophrenia Research, Sep;131(1-3):127-32.
Alicia Lucksted, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, and Bruce DeForge, PhD, professor, School of Social Work, co-authored “Ending Self-Stigma: Pilot Evaluation of a New Intervention to Reduce Internalized Stigma Among People with Mental Illnesses” in Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 2011 Summer;35(1):51-4.
Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD, DSc, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-published “Catecholaminergic Axonal Varicosities Appear to Innervate Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone-Immunoreactive Neurons in the Human Hypothalamus: the Possible Morphological Substrate of the Stress-Suppressed Growth” in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2011 Oct;96(10):E1606-11.
Daniel Morgan, MD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-published “Antihelminthic Therapy and Antimony in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in
Patients Co-Infected with Helminths and Leishmania braziliensis” in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2011;84(4):551-555.
Emmanuel Mongodin, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute for Genome Sciences, co-authored an article entitled “The Importance of a Multifaceted Approach to Characterizing the Microbial Flora of Chronic Wounds,” in Wound Repair And Regeneration, 2011 Sep;19(5):532-41.
Tony Passaniti, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and a member of the Program in Oncology, was senior author on “Glucose-Activated RUNX2 Phosphorylation Promotes Endothelial Cell Proliferation and an Angiogenic Phenotype” in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 2012 Jan;113(1):282-92. This manuscript was chosen as a featured article in the print version of the journal. Dr. Passaniti was also senior author on “Regulation of RUNX2 Transcription Factor-DNA Interactions and Cell Proliferation by Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) Prohormone Activity” in the Journal of Bone Mineral Research, 2011 Dec 20 [E-pub ahead of print]. Co-authors included Averell Gnatt, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics.
Michael Quon, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, co-published “Caveats to Aggressive Lowering of Lipids by Specific Statins” in the International Journal of Cardiology, 2012 Jan 26;154(2):97-101.
Michelle Shardell, PhD, assistant professor, Dawn Alley, PhD, assistant professor, Gregory Hicks, PhD, adjunct assistant professor, Samer El-Kamary, MB, ChB, MPH, assistant professor, Ram Miller, MD, CM, assistant professor, and Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD, adjunct professor, all from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, co-published “Low-serum Carotenoid Concentrations and Carotenoid Interactions Predict Mortality in US Adults: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey” in Nutrition Research 2011;31(3):178-189.
Kevin Sheth, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, co-authored “Restricted Diffusion in Spinal Cord Infarction Demonstrated by Magnetic Resonance Line Scan Diffusion Imaging” in Stroke, 2011 Oct 27 [Epub ahead of print].
Alan Shuldiner, MD, the John L. Whitehurst Endowed Professor of Medicine and associate dean for Personalized & Genomic Medicine, co-authored “Determinants of Blood Pressure Response to Low-Salt Intake in a Healthy Adult Population” in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 2011 Nov;13(11):795-800. Dr. Shuldiner also co-authored “Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Upstream of Interleukin 28B Associated with Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Early Viral Kinetics in Patients Infected with HCV Genotype 1” in the Journal of Hepatology, 2011 Oct 23 [E-pub ahead of print]; co-authored “PharmGKB Summary: Very Important Pharmacogene Information for Cytochrome P450, Family 2, Subfamily C, Polypeptide 19” in Pharmacogenetics and Genomics, 2011 Oct 24 [E-pub ahead of print]; co-authored “A Functional Haplotype in EIF2AK3, an ER stress Sensor, is Associated with Lower Bone Mineral Density” in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2011 Oct 25 [E-pub ahead of print]; and co-authored “Meta-Analysis Identifies 13 New Loci Associated with Waist-Hip Ratio and Reveals Sexual Dimorphism in the Genetic Basis of Fat Distribution” in Nature Genetics, 2011 Nov;42(11):949-60.
Devinder Singh, MD, assistant professor, Department of Surgery, published “Massive Localized Lymphedema: Review of an Emerging Problem and Report of a Complex Case in the Mons Pubis” in Annals of Plastic Surgery, 2012; Jan;68(1):101-4.
Soren Snitker, MD, PhD, associate professor, and Mao Fu, MD, assistant professor, both from the Department of Medicine, were co-authors of a meta-analysis research article entitled “Physical Activity Attenuates the Influence of FTO Variants on Obesity Risk: A Meta-Analysis of 218,166 Adults and 19,268 Children,” which was published in PLoS Medicine, 2011 Nov;8(11):e1001116. [E-pub ahead of print].
Ashley Strobel, MD, a second-year Emergency Medicine/
Pediatrics resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine, published “Pediatric Concussions” in the December/January issue of EM Resident, the national publication of the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association.
George Willis, MD, instructor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was lead author of “Traumatic Amputations,” which was published in Emergency Medicine Reports, 2011;32(24):1-296.
Honors and Awards
Congratulations to the following who have received honors!
Pediatrics at the Harbor (PATH) was recently designated as a Pilot-Centered Medical Home site by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Under the direction of medical director Jill Kempthorne, MD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, PATH is one of only 80 practices to have achieved this designation. In this model of care, patients are followed more carefully, with 24-hour access to physicians, and evening hours are offered at all PCMH-designated practice sites. The PCMH initiative also requires that physicians be available to patients at pre-determined times throughout the day to facilitate easier access to care. PCMH also mandates that emergency room utilization be monitored. Ultimately, the goal of all PCMH-designated sites is to improve the overall quality of patient care while decreasing the costs of providing that care to patients. Dr. Kempthorne’s efforts to provide documentation and develop care models contributed significantly towards this important achievement.
Dawn Alley, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was chosen as a Top 12 Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) reviewer for 2011. To meet the criteria for this recognition, reviewers had to have reviewed at least five new manuscripts during the year; have had at least 50 percent of their reviewed papers receive the highest quality rating; have had no reviewed papers receive the lowest quality rating; and have completed reviews in a timely manner. Dr. Alley and the journal’s other reviewers contributed to JAGS’s recognition by the Special Library Association as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Biomedical Journals in the World in the Past 100 Years, and its status as the only geriatrics/gerontology journal selected for inclusion in that list.
Abdu Azad, PhD, professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, was the 2011 recipient of the Hoogstraal Medal from The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Named for Harry Hoogstraal—an American entomologist and parasitologist who was one of the world’s best-known authorities on tick-borne diseases—this award recognizes outstanding achievement in medical entomology.
Rolf Barth, MD, associate professor, Department of Surgery, was awarded the prestigious Vanguard Prize by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons during their winter symposium in Miami on January 14, 2012. The Vanguard Prize honors junior members for their publication efforts in basic and clinical research.
Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD, and Mary Louise Scholl, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, was the 2011 recipient of the University of Maryland Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s (UM CTSI) Excellence in Mentoring award, which recognizes annually a member of the University of Maryland faculty who has been an outstanding mentor to early career researchers during the past year. Nominations were solicited from faculty on individual (e.g. K08) and institutional (e.g. K12) career development awards. Dr. Black has been an enthusiastic advisor and ardent advocate for junior faculty, providing mentorship to more than 100 scientists over the course of her career. In honor of her achievement, Dr. Black‘s name was added to the listing of awardees displayed in the UM CTSI Education, Training and Career Development Center suite.
Robert Buchanan, MD, professor, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC), has been selected as the senior recipient of the American Psychiatric Association/Kempf Fund Award for Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry. The award recognizes a senior researcher who has made a significant contribution to research on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia as both a researcher and a mentor. Maju Koola, MD, a fellow at the MPRC, will receive the junior award. The awards will be presented on May 7 at the Convocation of Distinguished Fellows at the 2012 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA.
Richard Goldberg, PhD, associate professor, Department of Psychiatry, was the recipient of the 2011 Armin Loeb Award from the U.S. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA). This prestigious award is presented for excellence in psychiatric rehabilitation services research.
Alicia Lucksted, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, was the recipient of the 2011 GLBT Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association’s (USPRA) Multicultural Committee.
Paul Welling, MD, professor, Department of Physiology, received the prestigious Arthur Guyton Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology at the organization’s annual meeting, held in December, 2011 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
In the News
A job well done to all who have kept us in the media spotlight!
Vincent Bruno, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute for Genome Sciences, was featured in Genome Technology’s Sixth Annual Young Investigators feature in GenomeWeb’s December 2011/January 2012 issue. The feature highlighted young investigators in The ’Omics Community who are producing thought-provoking work.
Michael Donnenberg, MD, professor, Department of Medicine, was interviewed by WJZ-TV on September 30, 2011 and October 3, 2011 regarding a Listeria outbreak that was linked to cantaloupes from a farm in Colorado. Dr. Donnenberg noted that symptoms can develop weeks or even months after exposure and that it is most harmful to the very old and the very young. According to the CDC, this outbreak caused 146 persons to become ill and led to 30 deaths in the United States.
W. Florian Fricke, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Samuel Angiuoli, PhD, director, Software Engineering & Bioinformatics, both from the Institute for Genome Sciences, were featured in an article entitled “UMD Team Marries Cloud, Virtualization, to Offer Low-Cost Analysis Option for Microbial Genomes,” which appeared in GenomeWeb Bioinformatics on October 28, 2011. The article discussed the use of cloud computing and the CloVR bioinformatics tool (developed at the Institute for Genome Sciences) for cost-efficient sequence analysis.
The mobile health research of Charlene Quinn, PhD, assistant professor, and her team, including Michelle Shardell, PhD, assistant professor, Michael Terrin, MD, CM, MPH, professor; Erik Barr, data analyst, and Ann Gruber-Baldini, PhD, professor, all from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was spotlighted in an article entitled “Mobile Technologies Changing Models for Diabetes Management” in the October 2011 issue of Endocrinology Today, a clinical research newsletter for endocrinology professionals.
Michael Witting, MD, MS, associate professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was quoted in an article in The Baltimore Sun regarding the resuscitation of a 55-year-old man who experienced cardiac arrest near the finish line of the half-marathon during the Baltimore Running Festival in October, 2011. Baltimore City police officers, Howard County paramedics, and physicians in a treatment tent along the race route responded quickly in transporting the runner to UMMC, where Dr. Witting was a member of the receiving team that resuscitated him.
Richard Zhao, PhD, professor, Departments of Pathology and Microbiology & Immunology and the Institute of Human Virology, was invited to discuss “Individualized Molecular Testing for Personalized Medicine” on the December 7, 2011 episode of Personalized Medicine Television, an online news site devoted to discussion of personalized medicine.