As many of you know, we are continuing to celebrate our 210th Anniversary, and we have many accomplishments about which to be proud.
- Some of these include the following: The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) received a $14.4 M grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for HIV vaccine research. The IHV also received more than $138 M in grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria.
- The initial cadre of new faculty recruits, brought to the School of Medicine through the “STRAP” (Special Trans-Disciplinary Recruitment Award Program) Initiative, have contributed nearly $30 M in federal funding to our research awards, and have further reinforced our research leadership in multiple areas, including vascular biology, brain science, orthopaedics and transplantation, among others.
- We celebrated the opening of Cole Field House at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), which is the home of the UM Center for Sports Medicine, Health and Human Performance, a partnership between the UMSOM and UMCP to conduct innovative, translational research and provide discovery-based clinical care.
- Our work using MRI-guided focused ultrasound was recognized as one of the top ten clinical research achievements of the year by the Clinical Research Forum, one of the nation’s leading advocacy groups working to promote the public’s investment in the biomedical sciences.
- Our Class of 2017 had an extremely successful Match Day, receiving residency positions at 68 different hospitals in 24 states. Of the 157 students who successfully matched, 39 entered programs in Maryland and 26 continued on to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
- In response to the opioid addiction crisis that is ravaging our Nation, and is acutely felt in our surrounding neighborhood of West Baltimore, our Department of Psychiatry is a leader in Maryland, combatting this public health “state of emergency,” using a combination of therapeutic approaches, rooted in rigorous research.
- The UMSOM has taken a lead in reducing the burden of childhood obesity by providing targeted nutrition and exercise training to teachers and students in Maryland. We had many more achievements, but I will save a comprehensive review for the upcoming State of the School of Medicine Address on October 25, 2017 at 3:30 pm in Leadership Hall.
Most importantly, we have remained united in our vision, values and goals as a top-tier medical school, committed to improving all human lives through our research, clinical care, education and community service mission areas. For example, when the current federal administration threatened to cut the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget by a detrimental 20 percent, we responded by holding a Research Strategy Forum. This was a forum to develop counter strategies to mitigate anticipated major federal budget cuts. During this event we highlighted our most successful investigators and areas of research, and the research support services available to all faculty, trainees and staff. Resources that set us apart from our peer institutions, such as those provided by our Center for Innovative Biomedical Resources (CIBR) that are featured in this month’s SOMnews.
At the Research Strategy Forum, we also launched the second round of Dean’s Challenge Awards, to encourage faculty to catalyze the launch of major, multi-disciplinary, collaborative “Big Science” research programs within the UMSOM and across Departments, Centers, Institutes and Programs. As before, the Dean’s Challenge Awards are intended to support the generation of pilot data for new and ambitious research projects which are well positioned to receive large federal funding, specifically from the NIH. In addition, this second round of funding will provide mentoring to junior faculty on track to securing their first large external research award. Therefore, all proposals need to include both senior, well-funded faculty and junior faculty who do not currently hold R01 grants. The deadline is October 13, 2017, and I strongly encourage everyone to apply.
We are one of an elite group of seven universities now in their Third Century which formed the foundation upon which American medicine was built: Pennsylvania University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Yale University and Brown University.
I am delighted that this year included a number of major milestones for the UMSOM. As we all head back to work and back to school, I strongly encourage you to recommit yourselves to strive for even greater heights for the coming academic year.
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 welcome our new faculty and staff!.
Jessie Duggan, DVM, was recently appointed to a joint Postdoctoral Fellowship to study gut-brain phenomena within the Program of Comparative Medicine and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (Department of Psychiatry). Dr. Duggan obtained her DVM from Western University of Health Sciences, and has a wide range of veterinary and laboratory animal experience from small animal clinics, wildlife centers, aquariums/zoos, and universities, including John Hopkins and MIT.
Paul Luethy, PhD, joined the School of Medicine as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology on August 7. He is ABMM/CPEP Board certified and received his Bachelors of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Michigan State University–Honors College in East Lansing, MI, and his PhD in Molecular Biology from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Luethy completed his postdoctoral training with the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
Thanks to those who selflessly donate their time, talent and resources. Your goodwill does not go unappreciated.
Leslie Glickman, PT, PhD, Adjunct Faculty II, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, and volunteers from the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, helped facilitate a donor drive for the Bone Marrow Registry on June 20. The aim of the event was to increase the number of people on the registry, which then increases the chances of those in need finding a match. Participants had both of their cheeks swabbed and became part of this great cause to find a cure for blood cancer.
Kudos to our colleagues who are experts in their fields and give their all to represent the School of Medicine!
Soren Bentzen, PhD, DMSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, presented an invited lecture on “Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer” at the 36th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Radiation Oncology, May 5–9 in Vienna, Austria.
Delia Chiaramonte, MD, Assistant Professor of Family & Community Medicine, and Associate Director and Director of Education, Center for Integrative Medicine, presented a live webinar on July 19 titled “Practical Stress Management: A Mind-Body Approach” for EDSAwareness.com. It is available for viewing at http://www.chronicpainpartners.com/webinar/webinar-stress-management-eds/.
Laundette Jones, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, presented at an event to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) program, held on June 27 at the Natcher Conference Center on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
Emmanuel Mongodin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, was an invited speaker at the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda on May 19, where he presented “Temporal Dynamics of the Microbiota in Different Tobacco Products.”
Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Vaccine Development, chaired sessions, participated in, and presented research at the Global Disease Burden of Influenza and RSV, XIX International Symposium on Respiratory Viral Infections in Berlin, Germany on June 24. During the same month, Dr. Neuzil also presented “Introduction of Typhoid Conjugate Vaccines” to the Higher Institute for Population Sciences and Health Action Research Group in Burkina Faso and “Introduction of Typhoid Conjugate Vaccines” to the national Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) team in Madagascar.
Charlene Quinn, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, presented “What are the Gaps in Diabetes Digital Health Research?” as an invited speaker at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Meeting “Harnessing the Power of Digital Connectivity in Sickness and Health” on June 9–13.
Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Associate Director of Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences, was a Keynote speaker at the UPENN PROMOTES symposium on April 28, where he presented “Interactions Between the Host, the Vaginal Microbiota and Sexually Transmitted Pathogens.”
Mark Rogers, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Professor and Chair; Mario Inacio, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; and Ozell Sanders, PhD Candidate, all from the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, presented at The International Society of Posture & Gait Research (ISPGR) during its annual conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Presentation titles included: “Intervention to Enhance Lateral Balance Function and Prevent Falls in Aging: First Results from the LIFT Study,” “Influence of Initial Limb Load and Hip Abductor-Adductor Muscle Performance on Lateral Protective Stepping in Younger and Older Adults,” and “Motor Prediction Modulates Protective Balance and Startle Responses to Sudden Drop Perturbations in Standing Humans.”
Congratulations to the following who have received honors!
Søren Bentzen, DSc, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, will be awarded a Gold Medal, its highest honor, from the American Association for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). ASTRO awards its annual Gold Medal to individuals who have made outstanding lifetime contributions in the field of radiation oncology, including achievements in clinical patient care, research, teaching and service to the profession. Dr. Bentzen, who has a secondary appointment in the Department of Radiation Oncology, will be honored at an awards ceremony during ASTRO’s 59th Annual Meeting in San Diego September 24–27.
Ann Farese, MA, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was awarded the Alumni Professional Achievement Award by the College of Health Sciences at Marquette University on April 29.
Shyamasundaran Kottilil, MBBS, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Co-Director, Clinical Research Unit, Associate Director, Clinical Research and Care Division, Institute of Human Virology was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) on April 27. The ASCI is an honor society of physician-scientists, those who translate findings in the laboratory to the advancement of clinical practice. Founded in 1908, the Society is home to nearly 3,000 members who are in the upper ranks of academic medicine and industry.
Joseph Lakowicz, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has been selected as one of this year’s “Beacon” honorees in the Researcher category for his notable contributions to the photonics field. The designation was on behalf of Photonics Media, publisher of Photonics Spectra, which reaches 95,000 readers each month and has been the go-to publication in the field for nearly 50 years. Beacons are the photonics industry’s luminaries, guiding scientific, business and consumer communities to embrace optics and photonics technologies.
Hao (Howard) Zhang, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, has been chosen to receive the Basic/Translational Science Abstract Award (Senior Investigator) in the Physics category for “Estimated Benefit of Dose Reduction to Highly Ventilated Lung Regions for Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Using Normal Tissue Complication Probability Models” from the 2017 Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The ASTRO meeting will be held in September.
We applaud our colleagues on their recent appointments!
Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Vaccine Development, has been elected to serve a three-year term to the Board of Directors for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). “I am honored to be working with NFID on their mission to provide education to public and professional communities on emerging pathogens, the importance of curbing antimicrobial, and the role and value of vaccines,” says Dr. Neuzil.
Congratulations to our very productive faculty on their recent grants and contracts!
Eileen Barry, PhD, Professor of Medicine, and Wilbur Chen, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine, both from the Center for Vaccine Development, were awarded a three-year, $2.47 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a vaccine to protect against Shigella and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), pathogens which are among the leading causes of diarrheal disease in young children in developing countries and a common cause of “traveler’s diarrhea” among travelers to these countries. Myron Levine MD, DTPH, the Simon and Bessie Grollman Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Global Health, Vaccinology and Infectious Diseases, is a co-investigator.
Thomas Blanchard, PhD, JD, Associate Professor, and Sandra Mooney, PhD, Associate Professor, both from the Department of Pediatrics, received a two-year, $224,486 UH2 award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for “Prenatal Alcohol Effects on the Gut Microbiome Contributing to Failure to Thrive and Altered Immune Function.”
Qi Cao, BM, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was awarded $952,560 over five years the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, to study “18F Proline Preclinical PET Imaging in the Diagnosis of Early Stage Alcoholic Liver Fibrosis.”
Cristiana Cairo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology, and Miriam Laufer, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Malaria Research, Institute for Global Health, were awarded a five-year, $2 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the impact exposure to HIV has on the immune systems of infants in utero and how those changes impact the ability of infants to fight off infections after birth.
Niel Constantine, PhD, MT(ASCP), Professor of Pathology, Institute of Human Virology, was awarded a contract with Chembio Diagnostics Systems, Inc. in the amount of $214,500 to perform an FDA clinical trial for assessment of a novel test to detect HIV and syphilis infections simultaneously. In addition, Dr. Constantine received a contract for $18,200 from the Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency, Ethiopia to determine the suitability of test kits for HIV as claimed by manufacturers.
James Galen, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Center for Vaccine Development, was awarded a one-year bridge grant in the amount of $334,523 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to continue development of a live bacterial vaccine against Acinetobacter baumannii, bacteria that can lead to lethal pneumonia as well as serious soft tissue infections.
Olga Goloubeva, PhD, MSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, received a one-year, $40,000 award through the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Innovative Biomedical Resources for “Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Utilization Among African American, Hispanic, Asian and Caucasians Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck Cancer (HNSCC). Data Source: SEER-Medicare Linked Database.”
Bret Hassel, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, received a R25 grant for $1.3 million over five years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for the School of Medicine’s Bridges to the Doctorate (B2D) partnership with Towson University. The UMSOM-TU B2D provides training and research experiences at UMSOM for minority students in the TU Biological Sciences MS program, so they can gain the professional skills necessary for the successful transition from MS to PhD and MD/PhD programs at UMSOM and institutions nationwide. The TU-UMSOM B2D will thus enhance diversity in the UMSOM student population and increase URM representation in the biomedical profession. B2D represents the latest in a growing pipeline of minority-focused training at the UMSOM and UMGCCC that spans middle school through post graduate studies.
Christopher Jewell, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Jonathan Bromberg, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery; and Walter Royal, MD, Professor, Department of Neurology, received a four-year, $1.1 million grant from United States Veteran Affairs for “Using Self-Assembly to Study and Combat Autoimmune Disease in Mouse Models of MS and in Samples from Human MS Patients.”
Feng Jiang, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology, received a two-year, $539,069 Department of Defense grant from U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity for “Sputum Biomarkers to Improve CT Screening for the Early Detection of Lung Cancer in Veterans.”
Laundette Jones, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, received a one-year, $105,000 grant through the National Science Foundation for “Collaborative Research: Photolysis of Environmentally-Relevant Organometallic Compounds in Aqueous Matrices.”
Ulrich Langner, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, received a $20,000 seed grant from UM Ventures to support the development and manufacture of a working prototype of an energy-modulating device for use in proton arc therapy.
Dean Mann, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, received a $200,000 yearly extension of a grant from The Hasumi International Research Foundation for “Development of a Dendritic Cell Based Vaccine for Cancer.” This grant has been funded annually since 2002.
Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD, DSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, received a three-year sub-award from the University of Texas Health Science Center for “Brain-Selective Therapy to Alleviate Hot Flushes of Prostate Cancer Patients. The current award of $176,567 is for year one of a three-year award from the National Institutes of Health.
Daniel Morgan, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, received a four-year, $1,721,478 award through the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality for “Understanding and Preventing Clostridium difficile Transmission from Asymptomatically Colonized Patients.” This grant is funded though the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, which supports exceptionally creative early career investigators who propose innovative, high-impact projects.
Byong Yong Yi, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, along with JPLC Associates, LLC, received $100,000 in funding from the Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program for “Filmless HDR QA using Raven QA.”
Michal Zalzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, received a two-year R21 from NINDS/NIH for “A Novel Cell Therapy Approach to Augment Regeneration in Neurodegenerative Disease.” The goal of this grant is to establish novel protocols for cellular therapies for Parkinson’s disease by using expanded tonsillar derived stem cells.
Richard Zhao, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology, received a three-year, $601,550 R01 from NIGMS for “A Novel and High Throughput System for Drug Discovery and Testing on Multidrug Resistant HIV-1 Proteases.”
Recent Patents
Nariman Balenga, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, received a patent for “Expression and Function of Gpr64/Adgrg2 in Endocrine Systems and Methods to Target It Therapeutically.”
Vincent Njar, PhD, Professor, and Puranik Purushottamachar, PhD, Research Associate, both from the Department of Pharmacology, were awarded US patent #US9,694,005 B2, effective July 4, for “Nonsteroidal and Steroidal Compounds with Potent Androgen Receptor Down-Regulation and Anti-Prostate Cancer Activity,” which is the next generation of galeterone analogs (NGGAs).
Hats off to those who have been published!
Danielle Abraham, PhD Candidate (first author), and Ann Gruber-Baldini, PhD, Professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Lisa Shulman, MD, the Eugenia Brin Professor in Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (last author), Department of Neurology, were among the co-authors on “The Factor Structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) in Parkinson Disease Patients” in Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2017 May;96:21-26. Drs. Gruber-Baldini and Shulman (last author) were also among the co-authors—along with Christian Lachner, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor (first author), Department of Psychiatry, and Stephen Reich, MD, the Frederick Henry Prince Distinguished Professor, and Paul Fishman, MD, PhD, Professor, both from the Department of Neurology—on “Discordance Between Physician Assessment and Patient-Reported Depressive Symptoms in Parkinson Disease” in Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 2017 Jul;30(4):191-195.
Nicholas Ambulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Man Charurat, PhD, MHS, Professor of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology; Kevin Cullen, MD, the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Distinguished Professor in Oncology and Director of the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Søren Bentzen, PhD, DMSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, were among the co-authors on “Genotyping of High-Risk Anal Human Papillomavirus (HPV): Ion Torrent-Next Generation Sequencing vs. Linear Array” in Virology Journal, 2017 Jun 13;14:112.
Ashraf Badros, MB, ChB, Professor (first author); Aaron Rapoport, MD, Professor; and Mehmet Kocoglu, MD, Assistant Professor, all from the Department of Medicine; Ning Ma, CRNP, from the UM Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center; Olga Goloubeva, PhD, MSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health; and Zeba Singh, MBBS, Assistant Professor (last author), Department of Pathology, were among the co-authors on “Pembrolizumab, Pomalidomide and Low Dose Dexamethasone for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma” in Blood, 2017 May 1 [Epub ahead of print].
Nariman Balenga, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, was among the co-authors on “Orphan Adhesion GPCR GPR64/ADGRG2 Is Overexpressed in Parathyroid Tumors and Attenuates Calcium-Sensing Receptor-Mediated Signaling” in Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2017 Mar;32(3):654-666.
Eileen Barry, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Center for Vaccine Development, was among the co-authors on “Differential Growth of Francisella tularensis, Which Alters Expression of Virulence Factors, Dominant Antigens, and Surface-Carbohydrate Synthases, Governs the Apparent Virulence of Ft SchuS4 to Immunized Animals” in Frontiers in Microbiology, 2017 Jun 22;8:1158. Dr. Barry also was among the co-authors on “Analysis of Shigella flexneri Resistance, Biofilm Formation, and Transcriptional Profile in Response to Bile Salts” in Infection and Immunity, 2017 May 23;85(6).
Andrea Berry, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Center for Vaccine Development, was among the co-authors on “Two-Year Antibody Persistence in Children Vaccinated at 12-15 Months with a Measles-Mumps-Rubella Virus Vaccine Without Human Serum Albumin” in Human Vaccine Immunotherapy, 2017 May 8:1-7.
Latey Bradford, PhD Candidate, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Program, Ravel Lab; Marcus Chibucos, PhD, Research Associate, Microbiology & Immunology; Bing Ma, PhD, Research Associate, Microbiology & Immunology; Vincent Bruno, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology; and Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Associate Director of Genomics, all from the Institute for Genome Sciences, co-authored “Vaginal Candida spp. Genomes From Women with Vulvovaginal Candidiasis” in Pathogens Diseases, 2017 Jun 4 [Epub ahead of print].
Warren D’Souza, PhD, MBA, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was among the co-authors on “Randomized Phase II Study of Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy ± Panitumumab Followed By Consolidation Chemotherapy in Potentially Operable Locally Advanced (Stage IIIA, N2+) Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: NRG Oncology RTOG 0839” in Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 2017 Sep;12(9):1413-1420. He was also among the co-authors on “Adaptive Region-Growing with Maximum Curvature Strategy for Tumor Segmentation in 18F-FDG PET” in Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2017 Jul 7;62:5383–5402.
Zachary Dezman, MD, Assistant Professor, and Amal Mattu, MD, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, with Richard Body, MB, ChB, PhD, Manchester Royal Infirmary, UK, co-authored “Utility of the History and Physical Examination in the Detection of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Emergency Department Patients” in Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2017 Jun;18(4):752-760. Through a literature review, they evaluated whether atypical symptoms and “classic” symptoms can be used to reliably rule in or rule out the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome and whether further testing is necessary at all.
Tejan Diwanji, MD, Resident (first author); Jason Molitoris, MD, PhD, Resident; Arpit Chhabra, MD, Resident; James Snider, MD, Resident; Randi Cohen, MD, MS, Assistant Professor; Sally Cheston, MD, Assistant Professor; Elizabeth Nichols, MD, Assistant Professor; and Steven Feigenberg, MD, Professor, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology; Katherine Tkaczuk, MD, Professor, and Paula Rosenblatt, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Medicine; and Susan Kesmodel, MD, Assistant Professor, and Emily Bellavance, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Surgery, were among the co-authors on “Utilization of Hypofractionated Whole-Breast Radiation Therapy in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: A National Cancer Database Analysis” in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2017 Sep;165(2):445-453.
Termeh Feinberg, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow, Family & Community Medicine, and research faculty, Center for Integrative Medicine, was the lead author on “Nonvitamin, Nonmineral Dietary Supplement Use among Adults with Fibromyalgia: United States, 2007–2012” in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2017;2017:6751856.
Chiguang Feng, PhD, Assistant Professor; Wilbur Chen, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine; Alan Cross, MD, Professor of Medicine, all from the Institute for Global Health, were among the co-authors on “Antibody Against Microbial Neuraminidases Recognizes Human Sialidase 3 (NEU3): the Neuraminidase/Sialidase Superfamily Revisited” in MBio, 2017 Jun 27;8(3):e0078-17.
Magali Fontaine, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, was among the co-authors on “The Safety of the Use of Group A Plasma in Trauma—The STAT Study” in Transfusion, 2017 Aug;57(8):1879-1884.
Cheng-Ying Ho, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, was the first and corresponding author on “Differential Neuronal Susceptibility and Apoptosis in Congenital ZIKV Infection” in American Neurological Association, 2017 Jul;82(1):121-127.
Hao Yuan Hsiao, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Vicki Gray, PhD, Research Associate; Robert Creath, PhD, Assistant Professor; and Mark Rogers, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Professor and Chair, all from the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, were among the co-authors on “Control of Lateral Weight Transfer is Associated with Walking Speed in Individuals Post-Stroke” in Journal of Biomechanics, 2017 Jul 26;60:72-78.
Olga Ioffe, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, was among the co-authors on “Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Endometrial Carcinoma Mortality and Recurrence” in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2017 Mar 1;109(3):1-10.
Sarah Jackson, MPH, PhD candidate (first author); Diane Marie St. George, PhD, Assistant Professor; and Sania Amr, MD, MS, Professor Emerita, all from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, were among the co-authors on “Non-occupational Exposure to Agricultural Work and Risk of Urinary Bladder Cancer Among Egyptian Women” in Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2017 May 4;72(3):166-172.
Sarah Kattakuzhy, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology, was the lead author on “Expansion of Treatment for Hepatitis C Virus Infection by Task Shifting to Community-Based Nonspecialist Providers: A Nonrandomized Clinical Trial” in Annals of Internal Medicine, 2017 Aug 8 [Epub ahead of print]. Shyam Kottilil, MBBS, PhD, Professor of Medicine, and Co-Director Clinical Care Research Unit, Institute of Human Virology, who was also an author on the paper, says that this trial provides evidence that treatment of uncomplicated hepatitis C infection can now successfully be task shifted to new providers, and that this study should pave way to expansion of HCV treatment by new providers including primary care physicians and nurse practitioners, much needed to treat over 70 million people carrying hepatitis C virus.
Karen Kotloff, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, and Milagritos Tapia, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, both from the Center for Vaccine Development, were among the co-authors on “Global, Regional, and National Disease Burden Estimates of Acute Lower Respiratory Infections Due to Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Young Children in 2015: A Systematic Review and Modelling Study” in Lancet, 2017 Jul 6; pii: S0140-6736(17)30938-8.
Jason Molitoris, MD, PhD, Resident (first author); Shahed Badiyan, MD, Assistant Professor; and Minesh Mehta, MB, ChB, FASTRO, Adjunct Professor (last author), all from the Department of Radiation Oncology, and Søren Bentzen, PhD, DMSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, were among the co-authors on “Multi-Institutional External Validation of a Novel Glioblastoma Prognostic Nomogram Incorporating MGMT Methylation” in Journal of Neuro-oncology, 2017 Jun 22 [Epub ahead of print]. Drs. Molitoris and Bentzen, along with Tejan Diwanji, MD, Resident; James Snider, MD, Resident; Randi Cohen, MD, MS, Assistant Professor; Elizabeth Nichols, MD, Assistant Professor; Sally Cheston, MD, Assistant Professor; and Steven Feigenberg, MD, Professor (last author), all from the Department of Radiation Oncology; Emily Bellavance, MD, Assistant Professor, and Susan Kesmodel, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Surgery; Paula Rosenblatt, MD, Assistant Professor, and Katherine Tkaczuk, MD, Professor, both from the Department of Medicine, were among the co-authors on “Increasing Utilization of Regional Nodal Irradiation in Elderly Node-Positive Women and Declining Emphasis on Demographic Factors” in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2017 Jun 23 [Epub ahead of print].
Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Vaccine Development, authored the post “Ensuring Resistance Doesn’t Take Hold: The Importance of Taking on Typhoid Now” on June 15 on Breakthroughs Blog, which is hosted by the Global Health Technologies Coalition.
Rebecca Nowak, PhD, Assistant Professor (first author), and Søren Bentzen, PhD, DMSc, Professor, both from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health; Nicholas Ambulos, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Man Charurat, PhD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology; and Kevin Cullen, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, were among the co-authors on “Genotyping of High-Risk Anal Human Papillomavirus (HPV): Ion Torrent-Next Generation Sequencing vs. Linear Array” in Virology Journal, 2017 Jun 13;14(1):112.
Jennifer O’Brien, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, and Magali Fontaine, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, both from the Department of Pathology, were among the co-authors on “Cases of Transfusion-Transmitted Babesiosis Occurring in Nonendemic Areas: A Diagnostic Dilemma” in Transfusion, 2017 Aug 7 [Epub ahead of print].
Lyndsay O’Hara, PhD, MPH, Research Fellow (first author); Surbhi Leekha, MBBS, MPH, Associate Professor; Sarah Jackson, MPH, PhD candidate; Natalia Blanco Herrera, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow; and Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, Professor (last author), all from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, were among the co-authors on “Indirect Versus Direct Standardization Methods for Reporting Healthcare-Associated Infections: An Analysis of Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in Maryland” in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 2017 Jun 19:1-4.
Marcela Pasetti, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Center for Vaccine Development, was among the co-authors on “Cytokines are Markers of the Clostridium Difficile-induced Inflammatory Response and Predict Disease Severity,” Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 2017 Aug 4;24(8).
Mary Rodgers, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FASB, FISB, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, co-authored “Chapter 2: Body-Worn Microfluidics Sensors” in Diagnostic Devices with Microfluidics, published by James & Taylor, CRC Press, 2017.
Mary-Claire Roghmann, MD, MS, Professor (first author); Alison Lydecker, MPH, Research Coordinator; and Patricia Langenberg, PhD, Professor Emerita, all from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health; and Jennifer Johnson, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, were among the co-authors on “Microbiological Effect of Mupirocin and Chlorhexidine for Staphylococcus aureus Decolonization in Community and Nursing Home Based Adults” in Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2017 May;88(1):53-57. Dr. Johnson was also a co-author, with Natalia Blanco Herrera, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Fellow (first author); Daniel Morgan, MD, Associate Professor; Lisa Pineles, MA, Research Associate; Gwen Robinson, MPH, Lead Clinical Research Specialist; and Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, Professor (last author), all from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, on “Effect of Meteorological Factors and Geographic Location on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Colonization in the US” in PLoS One, 2017 May 30;12(5):e0178254.
Katherine Scilla, MD, Resident (first author), UM Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center; Pranshu Mohindra, MD, MBBS, Assistant Professor; Elizabeth Nichols, MD, Assistant Professor; Melissa Vyfhuis, MD, PhD, Resident; Neha Bhooshan, MD, PhD, Chief Resident; and Steven Feigenberg, MD, Professor, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology; Søren Bentzen, PhD, DMSc, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health; and Martin Edelman, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, were among the co-authors on “Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio Is a Prognostic Marker in Patients with Locally Advanced (Stage IIIA and IIIB) Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Combined Modality Therapy” in Oncologist, 2017 Jun;22(6):737-742.
Khandra Sears, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Sharon Tennant, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine; Mardi Reymann; Rafi Simon, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine; William Blackwelder, PhD, Professor of Medicine; Eileen Barry, PhD, Professor of Medicine; and Marcela Pasetti, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, all from the Institute for Global Health, were among the co-authors on “Bioactive Immune Components of Anti-diarrheagenic Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) Hyperimmune Bovine Colostrum Products” in Clinical Vaccine Immunology, 2017 Aug 4;24(8).
Charles Simone, II, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was the senior author of “Speedy Response Can Be Achieved from Palliative Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Painful Uncomplicated Bone Metastases” in Annals of Palliative Medicine, 2017 May 26 [Epub ahead of print]. He was also among the co-authors on “Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Executive Summary of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline” in Practical Radiation Oncology, 2017 Jun 5 [Epub ahead of print].
Harshvardhan Singh, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Ozell Sanders, PhD Candidate; Sandra McCombe Waller, PT, PhD, MS, NCS, Associate Professor; and Mark Rogers, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Professor and Chair, all from the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, were among the co-authors on “Relationship Between Head-turn Gait Speed and Lateral Balance Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults” in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2017 Jun 10 [Epub ahead of print].
O. Colin Stine, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, was the last author on “Minimal Genetic Change in Vibrio cholerae in Mozambique Over Time: Multilocus Variable Number Tandem Repeat Analysis and Whole Genome Sequencing” in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2017 Jun 16;11(6):e0005671.
Yutaka Tagaya, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology and Robert Gallo, MD, the Homer and Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine and Director, Institute of Human Virology, co-authored “The Exceptional Oncogenicity of HTLV-1” in Frontiers in Microbiology, 2017 Aug 2;8:1425.
Semhar Tewelde, MD, Assistant Professor, and Amal Mattu, MD, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, with William J. Brady Jr., MD, from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, were co-authors on “Pitfalls in Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome in Low-Risk Chest Pain” in Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2017 Jun;18(4):601-606.
Aaron Wessell, MD, Resident (first author); Matthew Kole, MD, Resident; and J. Marc Simard, MD, PhD, Professor (last author), all from the Department of Neurosurgery; Neeraj Badjatia, MD, MS, Professor, and Gunjan Parikh, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Neurology; Jennifer Albrecht, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health; and David Schreibman, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, were among the co-authors on “High Compliance with Scheduled Nimodipine is Associated with Better Outcome in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients Co-treated with Heparin Infusion” in Frontiers in Neurology, 2017 Jun 9;8:268. Dr. Albrecht was also among the co-authors—along with Deborah Stein, MD, MPH, Professor, Department of Surgery, and Gordon Smith, MB, ChB, MPH, Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health—on “Alcohol is Not Protective Against Mortality Following Traumatic Brain Injury” in American Journal of Epidemiology, 2017 Jun 21 [Epub ahead of print].
Jill Whitall, PhD, Professor and Director of the PhD Program, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, was a co-author on “Time Spent in Rehabilitation and Effect on Measures of Activity After Stroke” in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017, Issue 3.
R. Gentry Wilkerson, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, served as a guest editor for the August issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, the topic of which was observation medicine. Dr. Wilkerson co-authored the preface with his colleague Christopher Baugh, MD, MBA, from Harvard Medical School. He was also a co-author on “Care of Acute Gastrointestinal Conditions in the Observation Unit” (2017, Aug;35[3]:571-587).
Li-Qun Zhang, PhD, Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, was among the co-authors on “Improvement in Off-axis Neuromuscular Control Under Slippery Conditions Following 6-Week Pivoting Neuromuscular Training” in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2017 May 18 [Epub ahead of print].
Michal Zalzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was among the co-authors on “Harvesting Multipotent Progenitor Cells From a Small Sample of Tonsillar Biopsy for Clinical Applications” in Stem Cell Research and Therapy, 2017, Jul 8(1):174.
Richard Zhao, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology; Robert Gallo, MD, the Homer and Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine and Co-Founder & Director, Institute of Human Virology (IHV); and J Marc Simard, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery; were among the co-authors on “Characterization of Cytopathic Factors Through Genome-Wide Analysis of the Zika Viral Proteins in Fission Yeast” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2017 Jan 17;114(3):E376-E385.
In Memoriam
David Ibrahimi, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, passed away on July 19. He is survived by his wife, Lindsay Zilliox, and daughter Madelyn, as well as his parents and three siblings. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Dr. Ibrahimi be directed to support the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Please make checks payable to: UMMS Foundation. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that this gift is in memory of Dr. Ibrahimi to the UMMS Foundation, 110 S. Paca St. 9th floor, Baltimore, MD 21201, or gifts can be made online at www.ummsfoundation.org/give.
Paul David Stolley, MD, MPH, an epidemiologist who fought for more rigorous drug safety testing, died August 4 of bone cancer in his Columbia home. He was 80. Dr. Stolley was a former Chair of the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health. He also served as an editorial board member for the New England Journal of Medicine, and president of both the American Epidemiological Society and the Society for Epidemiological Research. He was a longtime member of Physicians for Social Responsibility and served on many advisory committees that dealt with drug safety. He worked for Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, a consumer advocacy organization, as well.