What’s on my mind this month is the tenacity, bravery and dedication of the healthcare professionals who volunteer to go to the front lines of deadly infectious disease outbreaks because of their commitment to preserving the well-being of all people.
Since the news of an Ebola outbreak in Guinea was announced in March of this year, every day we hear updates about the toll this virus has taken on the people of West Africa. Ebola hemorrhagic fever has swept through multiple countries, killing an estimated 1 in 2 people who have become infected. The September 23, 2014 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), estimated that, under a worst-case scenario, 1.4 million people could be infected with the virus by January 20, 2015, and a similar report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, predicted that Ebola might become endemic to Africa, along the lines of HIV/AIDS.
These dire forecasts do not take into account the commitment of healthcare workers, physicians, research scientists and physician-scientists around the world who have mobilized against the Ebola outbreak. I am pleased and proud that School of Medicine faculty members are among those on the front lines of the public health counterstrike against Ebola. For example, Alan Schmaljohn, PhD, a professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, developed an antibody against Ebola and is the co-inventor of one of the antibodies used in the cocktail that successfully treated two American aid workers who became infected with the virus. He is currently developing Ebola vaccine candidates.
At the end of August, we announced that Myron “Mike” Levine, MD, DTPH, founding director of the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and a professor in the Department of Medicine, has been asked to lead Ebola vaccine clinical trials in Mali, along with CVD-Mali’s director Samba Sow, MD, MS, an adjunct professor in the Department of Medicine.
However, combating a major public health threat is not new for our faculty. For decades, the School of Medicine has established and built up robust programs in biomedical research and clinical care, making us poised and ready to respond to any new public health threats that emerge or re-emerge. As the May and August issues of SOMnews highlighted, respectively, our faculty in the CVD and Institute of Human Virology (IHV), as well those working across all our academic units, have investigated some of the most devastating pathogens of the last two centuries, from malaria to HIV/AIDS, cholera to tick-borne diseases, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), to pandemic influenza virus, hepatitis C virus, and enteric diseases.
Our work has dramatically impacted efforts to combat infectious diseases on nearly every continent. Because of our deliberate decisions to invest and reinvest in strategically focused research programs years ago, today, it is almost more difficult to identify where we are not working than to pinpoint where we are working. This is something that truly sets the School of Medicine apart from our sister institutions. We are privileged to have colleagues who work tenaciously to improve the well-being of people here in the United States and around the world. Much of our impact in the area of infectious diseases has been felt by people in developing nations who are the most vulnerable to illness, because they often live in austere conditions with very little access to health care.
This month, we highlight the efforts of our investigators working to combat Ebola, but I applaud our entire School of Medicine community, because you have dedicated your careers to understanding and enhancing the health of all people through the basic research, translational studies, and clinical work you conduct here each and every day.
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
We applaud our colleagues on their recent appointments!
Cynthia Bearer, MD, the Mary Gray Cobey Professor of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, has been appointed to be the American Society of Pediatrics’ representative to the Pediatric Policy Council (PPC). The PPC is a well-established group comprised of two representatives from eachconstituent society: the American Pediatric Society (APS), the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR), the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPDC), and the Academic Pediatric Association (APA). PPC members serve simultaneously as representatives to the AAMC Council of Faculty and Academic Societies and as representatives to the AAP Committee on Federal Government Affairs (COFGA). The PPC also works with the Washington Coordinator in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Department of Federal and Government Affairs.
Mukta Srivastava, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, has been appointed Director of Quality for the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.
We welcome out new faculty!
Wuqaas Munir, MD, joined the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences in August 2014 as an Associate Professor and Chief of Ophthalmology at the Baltimore VA Medical Center. Dr. Munir received his medical degree in 2001 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his Ophthalmology residency in 2005 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, followed by a fellowship in Cornea, External Disease, and Refractive Surgery at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami in 2006. Dr. Munir then served as Assistant Professor for eight years at the Boston University School of Medicine, where he also functioned as the Director of the Cornea Service as well as Cornea fellowship director. Dr. Munir specializes in complex cataract surgery and lamellar (partial-thickness) corneal transplant surgery. He also performs refractive surgery such as LASIK.
Kudos to our colleagues who are experts in their fields and give their all to represent the School of Medicine!
Cynthia Bearer, MD, the PhD, Mary Gray Cobey Professor of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, was selected to give open public comments on “Is Chlorhexidine Safe for Preterm Babies?” at the FDA hearing on the Non-prescription Drugs Advisory Committee.
Raymond Cross, MD, MS, AGAF, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, presented at the inaugural IBD 2020 meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, in early May. The topic of his talk was “Can Telemedicine Be Uused for IBD care?” He also presented on “Biologic Therapies in IBD” at the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians meeting in Frederick, MD, in June; and on “Prognostication in IBD: Can We Really Predict the Future or AreWe Just Describing the Past?” at the “Mastering Clinical Challenges and Emerging Therapies in IBD: Individualizing our Approach to IBD” symposium, held in Chicago in July.
Colleen Hughes Driscoll, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, was recently the guest speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Division of Neonatology’s City Wide Conference where she presented “Healthcare Quality Improvement and Patient Safety: Directions at the University of Maryland Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.”
Ann Farese, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was invited to present “Medical Countermeasure Development Following the FDA Animal Rule: Efficacy of Neupogen and Neulasta in Rhesus Macaques Experiencing the Hematopoietic Syndrome of the Acute Radiation Syndrome” as part of a symposium on “Medical Countermeasures Against the Acute Radiation Syndrome” at the 60th Annual Radiation Research Society Meeting held in Las Vegas, NV, from September 21–24.
Claire Fraser, PhD, Professor, Departments of Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology and Director, Institute for Genome Sciences, was one of the speakers at the NIH Common Fund 10th Anniversary Symposium on June 19.
Feng Jiang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, and Sanford Stass, MD, Professor and Chair, both from the Department of Pathology, presented “Small ncRNA Biomarkers for Identifying Lung Cancer in Indeterminate Solitary Pulmonary Nodules” at the 9th NIH Early Detection Research Network Scientific Workshop “Biomarkers at a Crossroad in Personalized Cancer Risk Assessment and Detection” in Bethesda, MD, in September.
Philip Mackowiak, MD, MACP, Professor, Department of Medicine and the Carolyn Frenkil and Selvin Passen History of Medicine Scholar-in-Residence, presented a talk on “Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Dark Side of Medical Science” at the Annual Exhibit and Opening ofthe American Urological Association Museum in Linthicum, MD on July 24.
Amal Mattu, MD, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was the grand rounds lecturer at the University of South Florida in Tampa on August28. He presented “Everyday Leadership: Secrets of Great Minds Through the Ages” for the emergency medicine program and “Low Risk Chest Pain: Mythology, Mortality, and Malpractice” for the internal medicine program. Dr. Mattu also presented two lectures for emergency medicine grand rounds at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, on September 3. The titles of his talks were “Deadly Arrhythmias” and “Everyday Leadership: Secrets of Great Minds Through the Ages.”
Michelle Pearce, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, will be the director of a new online graduate certificate program in The Graduate School called “Death, Dying, and Mourning: Applied Thanatology.” This 12-credit, three-course online program can be completed over the span of one year and is ideal for healthcare professionals. Participants will acquire knowledge, sensitivity, and advanced skills for providing specialized care for those dealing with death, dying, and grief. Registration is now open, and the first course begins in January. More information is provided on the website at http://www.graduate.umaryland.edu/thanatology/index.html.
Soren Snitker, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, gave Inter-institutional Endocrine Grand Rounds at the National Institutes of Health on April 11, on an invitation by Dr. Kong Y. Chen.
Stefanie Vogel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology presented “Novel Host-oriented Treatments of Viral Respiratory Infections” at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.
Congratulations to our very productive faculty on their recent grants and contracts!
Maria Baer, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, received a four-year, $600,000 Merit Review Award from the Veterans Administration for “Inhibition of Pim Kinases in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.”
Sarah Boudova, BA, MS, a MD/PhD student in the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology program working in the Center for Vaccine Development under Miriam Laufer, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics (pictured), received a three-year, $109,506 F30 Individual Pre-doctoral MD/PhD Fellowship from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “The Effect of Malaria During Pregnancy on Infant Susceptibility to Malaria.” This individual training grant was awarded with one year of PhD and two years of MD support. The purpose of the F30 is to support promising pre-doctoral applicants who have the potential to become highly productive researchers in their fields.
Jeffrey Deiuliis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, has received a one-year KO-1 grant for $427,200 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH/NIDDK) for “Adipose microRNAs in Insulin Resistance.” Dr. Deiuliis was also recently awarded a one-year, $30,000 renewable intramural grant by the University of Maryland Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (UM-OAIC) Leadership Committee for “Circulating MicroRNAs in Older Adults.”
Howard Dubowitz, MB, ChB, FAAP, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, received a nine-month, $100,000 grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) for “The Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK) Model: Using Software Innovation to Prevent Child Abuse and Help Promote Children’s Health, Development and Safety.”
Michael Grasso, MD, PhD, FACP, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, has received two preliminary grants from the Northrop Grumman Corporation and the Arthritis Foundation for $19,000 and $32,000, respectively. The goal of this research is to develop new analytical approaches, optimized for Big Data, which can be applied to disease prediction and treatment efficacy.
Ronna Hertzano, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Surgeon-scientist, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense for the project “Towards a Molecular Understanding of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.” The grant applies genetically modified mice to perform cell type-specific translatome analysis using RNA-sequencing and is a collaboration between the UMSOM, College Park (Didier Depireux, PhD), and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Ran Elkon, PhD).
Wendy Lane, MD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a one-year, $39,807 award from Kennedy Krieger Institute to take part in “The Baltimore Citywide Child Protection Team.”
A-Lien Lu-Chang, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has been awarded a two-year grant from Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund to research “The Effect of Histone Deacetylation and DNA Methylation on Somatic Cell Reprograming.”
Laurence Magder, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, received a four-year $102,198 award from the National Science Foundation for collaborative research on “Modeling Disease Trajectories in Patients with Complex, Multiphenotypic Conditions.”
Anup Mahurkar, Executive Director, Software Engineering & IT, Institute for Genome Sciences, has been awarded $250,687 from the National ScienceFoundation for his collaborative research entitled “ABI Development: VIROME, Bioinformatics Cyberinfrastructure for the Next Wave of ScientificAdvancements in Microbiome Research.” The three-year award started July 1, and is in collaboration with the University of Delaware.
Andrei Maiseyeu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, has received an award in the amount of $77,000 from the American Heart Association for “Nanoparticle-Aided Modulation of Inflammation in Atherosclerosis.”
Sandra Mooney, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, has received a sub-award in the amount of $314,000 over five years for Main Project 5, a study on the effects of developmental exposure to alcohol. The sub-award is part of a five-year, $8,100,000 grant from the NationalInstitute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to the Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center (DEARC) at Binghamton Universityin New York.
Toni Pollin, MS, PhD, Associate Professor, and Alan Shuldiner, MD, the John L. Whitehurst Endowed Professor, both from the Department of Medicine, have received a four-year, $3.74 million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for “Genomic Diagnosis and Individualized Therapy of Highly Penetrant Genetic Diabetes.” Dr. Shuldiner is also Associate Dean for Personalized & Genomic Medicine and Director of the Program in Personalized Medicine.
Lynn Schriml, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health and the Institute for Genome Sciences, has received a four-year sub-award from The Scripps Research Institute for $259,844, funded by NIGMS/NIH, for collaborative Disease Ontology research entitled “Gene Wiki: Expanding the Ecosystem of Community-Intelligence Resources.” The project is in collaboration with Andrew Su (PD/PI) from The Scripps Research Institute and will involve the expansion of standardized disease content and disease-gene-drug target content within the Wikipedia and Wikidata resources. The award started July 15 and will run through April 30, 2018.
Nirav Shah, MD, FCCP, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, received a five-year, $1,070.568 Career Development Award fromthe Departmentof Veterans Affairs for “Temperature-Dependence of Endothelial Barrier Functions in Acute Lung Injury,” under the mentorship of department colleagues Jeffrey Hasday, MD, Professor; Sergei Atamas, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; and Simeon Goldblum, MD, Professor. Dr. Goldblum also received a 4 year, $649,954 Merit Review grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs for “NEU1 Sialidase Disrupts CD31-Driven Angiogenesis in Human Lung Endothelia.”
Raphael Simon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, received a three-year, $379,000 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for “Exploration of Protective Immunity Induced by Salmonella Cops: FLIC Conjugates.”
Soren Snitker, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, was awarded $83,688 through the National Institutes of Health’s Pharmacogenetics Research Network (U01 GM074518). The purpose of the funding is to perform RNA-sequencing of Dr. Snitker’s adipose tissue samples from his project “Pharmacogenomics of Thiazolidinedione Response (R01 DK074828).”
Diane-Marie St. George, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, has received a $21,940, one-year award from the Baltimore City Health Department to serve as an administrative agent for the Baltimore City Cancer Health Equity Coalition.
Zhekang Ying, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, received a $1.6 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health for a new RO-1 titled “Hypothalamic Inflammation in Insulin Resistance.”
The Genomics Resource Center at the Institute for Genome Sciences has received a two-year, $1.6M contract funded by FDA to sequence, assemble and annotate a population of bacterial pathogens. The GRC is led by Luke Tallon, Scientific Director, and Lisa DeShong Sadzewicz, PhD, Administrative Director.
Congratulations to the following who have received honors!
Mike Benitez, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, was awarded the Theodore E. Woodward Teaching Award bythe Depart-ment of Medicine in May, in recognition of his teaching excellence.
Matthew Frieman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, has received the Innovator of the Year award from The Daily Record. Dr. Frieman was recognized for his work on developing therapeutics for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The Innovator of the Year award is a way to recognize Marylanders and Maryland-based companies for their innovative spirit in creating new products, new programs, new services or new processes that have helped their companies, industries or communities.
Bryan Hayes, PharmD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, has been awarded fellowship status by the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology. This highest level of peer recognition within the organization acknowledges longstanding commitment to the field of toxicology and to the Academy.
W. Jonathan Lederer, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology, and Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology (BioMET), has been se-lected as the co-recipient (with Dr. Roberto Bolli from the University of Louisville) of the 2015 Peter Harris Distinguished Scientist Award of the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR). The award will be bestowed during the 2015 ISHR European Section meeting in Bordeaux, France from July 2–5, 2015. As a recipient of this award, Dr. Lederer will present a major lecture and receive $3,000 and a plaque. An announcement of the Award, along with a photograph and a biosketch, will be pub-lished in Heart News and Views and posted on the ISHR website. Dr. Lederer will also prepare a review article based on his lecture that will be published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, published by the ISHR. The full details of the award are available on the ISHR website at www.ishrworld.org.
Myung Park, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, received the Physician Colleague Award at the annual UMB Nurses’ Week Awards Event on May 7.
Nirav Shah, MD, FCCP, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine has been designated a Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians. The FCCP designa-tion signifies achievement of excellence in the field of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
Gautum Ramani, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, was awarded the Gary Plotnick, MD Teacher of the Year Award in May 2014 by the Division of Car-diovascular Medicine.
Kari Ann Shirey, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology was awarded the Theresa L. Gioannini Women in Science Travel Award for the October 2014 meeting of The Society for Leukocyte Biology and The International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society. Rajesh Rajaiah, PhD, and Darren Perkins, PhD, Research Associates in the department, received travel awards for the same meeting.
Stefanie Vogel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, will share the 2014 Seymour & Vivian Milstein Award of the International Cytokine and Interferon Society (ICIS). This award represents the “pinnacle of scientific achievement in interferon and cytokine research.” (http://www.milstein-award.org/about-the-milstein-award/).
A job well done to all who have kept us in the media spotlight!
Randi Cohen, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was profiled in the September 2 issue of Maryland Physician, in an article titled “Clinical Trials Propel Cancer Breakthroughs.” The article is available at: http://umm.gd/1sXFTiv.
Steven Gambert, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine and Co-Director of the Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, appeared on Maryland Public Televi-sion’s Direct Connection on June 30. He was featured in the “Your Health” segment, where he discussed the topic of successful aging.
Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Associate Director of Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences, was quoted in The Scientist on May 19 in an article about characterizing the healthy vagina.
Hats off to those who have been published!
Soren Bentzen, PhD, DMSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, was among the co-authors on “Long-Term Results of a Randomized Trial in Lo-cally Advanced Rectal Cancer: No Benefit From Adding a Brachytherapy Boost” in International Journal Of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, 2014 Sep 1;90(1):110-8; “Recurrences After Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma More Likely to Originate From Regions With High Baseline” in Radiotherapy and Oncology: Journal Of The European Society For Therapeutic Radiology And Oncology, 2014 Jun;111(3):360-5; “Cancer Risk From Bone Morphogenetic Protein Exposure in Spinal Arthrodesis” in The Journal Of Bone And Joint Surgery, American Volume, 2014 Sep 3;96(17):1417-22; and “Randomized Trial of Hyperfractionation Versus Conventional Fractionation in T2 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Vocal Cord (RTOG 9512)” in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. 2014 Aug;89(5):958-963.
Lindsay Black, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, was among the co-authors on “Viral Nanoparticle-Encapsidated Enzyme and Re-stricted DNA for Cell Delivery and Gene Expression” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 2014 Sep;111(37):13319–13324.
Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD, and Mary Louise Scholl, MD, Professor, and Kristen Hurley, PhD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor, both from the De-partment of Pediatrics, co-authored “Investing in Early Childhood Development” in The Lancet, 2014 Jun 16;S0140-6736(14)60607-3. Dr. Black and Stacy Bucking-ham-Howes, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, were among the co-authors on “Relations Between Prospective Memory, Cognitive Abilities, and Brain Structure: Findings from a Longitudinal Study Examining Effects of Prenatal Drug Exposure During Adolescence” in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2014; 127, 144-162; and “Prenatal Drug Exposure Moderates the Association Between Stress Reactivity and Cognitive Function in Adolescence” in Developmental Neuroscience, 2014;36(3-4):329-337. Those two, along with Prasanna Nair, MBBS, MPH, Professor and Yan Wang, MD, DrPH, Assistant Professor, also from the Department of Pediatrics, and Laurence Magder, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, were among the co-authors on “Prenatal Drug Exposure, Behavioral Problems, and Drug Experimentation Among African-American Urban Adolescents” in the Journal of Adolescent Health, 2014; 55(3):423-31. Dr. Black, Dr. Nair and Adam Spanier, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, were the co-authors on “Dose and Timing of Prenatal Tobacco Exposure: Treats to Early Child Development” in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2014 Sep;2(9)677-679.
Vasken Dilsizian, MD, Professor, Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors on “PET-Determined Hyperemic Myocardial Blood Flow: Further Progress to Clinical Application” in the Journal of the American College of Cardiolology, 2014 Oct;64(14):1476-1478.
Alex Drohat, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, was among the co-authors on “Mechanisms for Enzymatic Cleavage of the N-glycosidic Bond in DNA” in Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2014 Sep 2 [Epub ahead of print].
Howard Dubowitz, MB, ChB, FAAP, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, was among the authors on “Developmental Transitions in Presentations of Externalizing Problems Among Boys and Girls At-Risk for Child Maltreatment” in Development and Psychopathology, 2014 Jul;21:1-15.
Matthew Frieman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, was among the co-authors on “Repurposing of Clinically Developed Drugs for Treatment of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection” in Antiviral Agents and Chemotherapy, 2014 Aug;58(8):4885-93, and “Evaluation of SSYA10-001 as a Replication Inhibitor of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Mouse Hepatitis, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronaviruses” in the same issue (2014 Aug;58(8):4894-8.). He also was among the co-authors on “Purified Coronavirus Spike Protein Nanoparticles Induce Coronavirus Neutralizing Antibodies in Mice” in Vaccine, 2014 May 30;32(26):3169-74.
Tracy Hazen, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, and David Rasko, PhD, Associate Professor, both from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and the Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the co-authors on “Whole Genome Assembly of Klebsiella pneumoniae Co-Producing NDM-1 and OXA-232 Carbapenemases Using Single-Molecule, Real-Time Sequencing” in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2014 Oct;58(10):5947-53.
David Kaetzel, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, was among the co-authors on “The Metastasis Suppressor NME1 Regulates Expres-sion of Genes Linked to Metastasis and Patient Outcome in Melanoma and Breast Carcinoma” in Cancer Genomics Proteomics, 2014 07-08;11(4):175-194. He was also first author on “Dual Functions of NME1 in Suppression of Cell Motility and Enhancement of Genomic Stability in Melanoma” in Naunyn Schmiedebergs Archives of Pharmacology, 2014 Jul 15 [Epub ahead of print].
Abdul Kazi, PhD, Assistant Professor; Thomas MacVittie, PhD, Professor; Giovanni Lasio, PhD, Assistant Professor; Wei Lu, PhD, Associate Professor; and Karl Prado, PhD, Professor, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the co-authors on “Response to Zeman” in Health Physics, 2014 Oct;107:356–358. Dr. Lasio and Mariana Guerrero, MD, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, and Wilfried Goetz, Research Lead Specialist, both also in the Department of Radiation Oncology, were among the co-authors on “Effect of Varying Dose-per-Pulse and Average Dose Rate in X-ray Beam Irradiation on Cultured Cell Survival” in Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, 2014 Aug 29 [Epub ahead of print].
Seth Kligerman, MD, Assistant Professor; Jean Jeudy Jr., MD, Associate Professor; and Charles White, MD, Professor, all from the Department of Diagnostic Radiol-ogy & Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors on “Improved Accuracy of PE-CAD Using Iterative Reconstruction Compared to Filtered Back Projection” in the American Journal of Roentgenology, 2014 Oct;203(4):763-71.
Erik Lillehoj, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, was among the co-authors on “Effect of in ovo Injection With Selenium on Immune and Antioxidant Responses During Experimental Necrotic Enteritis in Broiler Chickens” in Poultry Science, 2014 May;93:113-121.
A-Lien Lu-Chang, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, was among the co-authors on “Histone/Protein Deacetylase SIRT1 is an Anticancer Therapeutic Target” in the American Journal of Cancer Research, 2014 May 26;4(3):211-21.
Sandra Mooney, PhD, Associate Professor, and Kristen Wellmann, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, both from the Department of Pediatrics, were among the co-authors on “D-cycloserine Ameliorates Communication and Social Behavior Deficits in a Valproic Acid Model of Autism” in the Brain Research Bulletin, 2014 Aug 15;108:1-9.
Garry Myers, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; Heather Huot Creasy, Bioinformatics Analyst; and Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Associate Director of Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the co-authors on “Early MicroRNA Expression Profile as a Prognostic Biomarker for the Development of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease in a Mouse Model of Chlamydial Genital Infection” in MBio, 2014 Jun 24;5(3):e01241-14. Dr. Ravel was also among the co-authors on “Free Glycogen in Vaginal Fluids Is Associated with Lactobacillus Colonization and Low Vaginal pH” in PLoS One. 2014 Jul 17;9(7):e102467. He and Pawel Gajer, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, were among the co-authors on “The Vaginal Microbiota of Pregnant Women Who Subsequently Have Spontaneous Preterm Labor and Delivery and Those With a Normal Delivery at Term” in Microbiome, 2014 May 27;2:18.
Julie Dunning Hotopp, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and Kelly Robinson, a graduate student in the Molecular Medicine & Genome Biology program, both from the Institute for Genome Sciences, were the authors of “Mobile Elements and Vviral Integrations Prompt Considerations For Bacterial DNA Integration as a Novel Carcinogen” in Cancer Letters, 2014 Oct 1;352(2):137-44.
Lynn Schriml, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health; Vincent Bruno, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immu-nology; Claire Fraser, PhD, Professor, Departments of Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology, Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences; Julie Dunning Hotopp, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; Emmanuel Mongodin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; David Rasko, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; Lisa Sadzewicz Deshong, PhD, Administrative Director; Joana Carneiro da Silva, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; Luke Tallon, Scientific Director, Genome Research Center; Hervé Tettelin, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; and Owen White, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health and Associate Director, Bioinformatics, all also from the Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the co-authors on “Standardized Metadata For Human Pathogen/Vector Genomic Sequences” in PLoS One, 2014 Jun 17;9(6):e99979. Drs. Mongodin and Fraser were also among the co-authors on “BorreliaBase: A Phylogeny-Centered Browser of Borrelia Genomes” in BMC Bioinformatics, 2014 Jul 3;15(1):233.
Zeljko Vujaskovic, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the co-authors on “Two Phase I Dose-Escalation/Pharmacokinetics Studies of Low Temperature Liposomal Doxorubicin (LTLD) and Mild Local Hyperthermia in Heavily Pretreated Patients With Local Regionally Recurrent Breast Cancer” in the International Journal of Hyperthermia, 2014 Aug;30:285–294.
Thanks to those who selflessly donate their time, talent and resources. Your goodwill does not go unappreciated.
Karen Beasley, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, was Event Chair for the “Play Safe in the Sun” outreach program at the LPGA International Crown tournament in Owings Mills, MD, in July. She and Dermatology residents Ebaa Alawami, MBBS, MSc (PGY-3), Anna Chacon, MD (PGY-2) and Christian Halvorson, MD, Chief Resident, spent two days volunteering at the Women’s Dermatological Society booth with other dermatologists from Maryland and DC, spreading the word about the importance of sun protection and offering free skin exams and counseling for patrons of the LPGA tournament.
Lewis Rubinson, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Critical Care Resuscitation Unit at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, has deployed to Sierra Leone as a consultant for the World Health Organization. Dr. Rubinson is assisting with the clinical response to the devastating outbreak of Ebola viral disease that continues to ravage West Africa.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Student National Medical Association (SNMA) continued its tradition of community outreach with their 12th annual Charm City Health Fair, which took place on Saturday, September 20th, at Lexington Market in Baltimore. SNMA members worked with over 30 vendors to provide information about eating healthy, exercise, urban agriculture and insurance. Students from the Student National Dental Association, the Student National Pharmaceutical Association and the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences also participated. Booths provided interactive activities for children, eye screenings, oral cancer and blood pressure screenings, as well as a Zumba and a Yoga class. Over 300 community members participated in the fair.