What's the Buzz? August 2020

As we approach the end of the summer season, our nation is still far from the end of the challenges that have confronted us this year. Even so, we can see a light at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Where many factions across the country have experienced setbacks and regression, we have been fortunate to continue making progress on some of our highest level goals. This is no doubt due to the people who have invested their lives’ work in our mission. With the recent passing of three longstanding, prominent luminaries, our community is grieving the loss of exceptional talent, distinguished character, and significant contribution toward a better institution and a better state. I am personally grieving the loss of irreplaceable friends and true confidants. Reflecting on the lives and careers of Dr. Nancy Lowitt, Dr. Milford “Mickey” Foxwell, Jr., and Dr. Michael Shipley reminds us of the aspiration and excellence that have fueled the School of Medicine’s activities for decades.

Throughout the course of their service, these three stood as pillars of compassion, respect, and leadership. They earned these reputations. Winston Churchill once proclaimed, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” They listened to the people around them so well, a surprisingly unique ability with remarkable effect. The impact of their management styles and work ethic is evident in what they and their teams produced. Dr. Lowitt’s legacy will grow as the quality of our medical education and faculty development continues to increase; Dr. Foxwell’s influence will persist in admissions and mentorship for generations to come; and the School of Medicine will remember Dr. Shipley in the success of the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology and its national prestige. The common thread that ties these leaders together is the fact that they did not work for themselves. Never were they motivated by personal gain to pursue an idea or launch an initiative. Entire classes of students and groups of faculty received the gain from the tireless and loyal work of Dr. Lowitt, Dr. Foxwell, and Dr. Shipley.

As their projects, efforts, and departments continue to move forward, we can only expect continued success. Effective leaders enable progress to occur even when they are absent. While I am certain that many of us will feel their physical absence for quite some time, we can honor their memories and their accomplishments by conducting ourselves with integrity, authenticity, and sincere humanity. I commend this academic medical community for the reflections of these principles which I have already witnessed. The School of Medicine will no doubt continue to reap the rewards of success in their areas as we are one cohesive entity with one common goal: to improve the health of the citizens of Maryland and beyond.

I continue to feel grateful for each and every one of you and the integral roles you play in keeping this instituition not only functioning, but flourishing during this challenging season. Stay safe, stay productive, and stay hopeful that we will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever.

In the relentless pursuit of excellence, I am
Sincerely yours,

signature

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


New Faculty

Michael Alan Brock, MD, joined the Department of Pediatrics in July 2020. Dr. Brock obtained his MD from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed a Residency in Pediatrics, a Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship, and a Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at the University of Florida at Orlando Health.

Ericka Davies, PhD, joined the Department of Pediatrics in April 2020. Dr. Davies obtained her PhD at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She has completed Postdoctoral Fellowships at Uniformed Services University and at the National Institute of Health.

Nisha Divakaruni, MD, joined the Department of Pediatrics in July 2020. Dr. Divakaruni obtained her MD and completed her Residency in Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Megan Fox, PhD, joined the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology as an Assistant Professor in April 2020. Dr. Fox received her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016, after which she joined the laboratory of Mary Kay Lobo, PhD, Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Fox’s research focuses on neuroadaptations in psychiatric illness at the cellular, molecular, and circuit level. Her work is currently funded by a K99/R00 award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Jennifer Hong, MD, MPH, joined the Department of Pediatrics in July 2020. Dr. Hong obtained her MD and completed a Pediatric Residency as well as a Fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Vandana Racherla, MD, joined the Department of Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor in July 2020. Dr. Racherla obtained her MD from Drexel University College of Medicine, and completed an Internship and Residency in Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Anikita Taneja, MBBS, MPH, joined the Department of Pediatrics in July 2020. Dr. Taneja obtained her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal in 2009. She obtained her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed a Pediatric Residency at University of Florida College of Medicine. She followed this with a Fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at University of Florida College of Medicine.

Junliang Xu, PhD, joined the Department of Radiation Oncology as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Medical Physics in July 2020. He comes to Maryland from the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa., where he completed his three-year Medical Physics Residency. His research interests are in radiation dose delivery optimization for rotating gamma systems, 2D-array dosimetry for patient-specific plan verification, and clonogenic assay of normal cell lines treated by pulsed low-dose-rate radiotherapy.

Recent Appointments

Thomas BlanpiedThomas Blanpied, PhD, Department of Physiology, was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor, effective July 1, 2020.

Donna Calu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, joined the editorial board in May 2020, as review editor for Decision Neuroscience, including Frontiers in Neuroscience and Frontiers in Psychology.

Andrea MeredithAndrea Meredith, PhD, Department of Physiology, was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor, effective July 1, 2020.

Matthew Trudeau, PhD, Department of Physiology, was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor, effective July 1, 2020.

Congratulations to the following who have received honors!

New UMB logoJulie Frank, MS, CGC, Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, was selected as the 2020 AGCPD Outstanding Clinical Supervisor Award recipient by the University of Maryland School of Medicine Masters in Genetic Counseling Program.

Derik DavisDerik Davis, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was featured in the May 2020 edition of the “American Journal of Sports Medicine Editorial Board Spotlight.” See: https://ajsmeditorialboardspotlight.wordpress.com/2020/05/

In the Media

David Marcozzi, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was featured in a Baltimore Business Journal article, “Turns Out, Baltimore’s Field Hospital had a Lot More Capacity than was Needed—So Far,” which was published on June 2, 2020.

Congratulations to our very productive faculty on their recent grants and contracts!

Eugene AlbrechtEugene Albrecht, PhD, Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, received a five-year, $3,506,350 grant from the National Institute of Health for “Estrogen Regulation of Fetal Microvessel Development During Primate Pregnancy: Impact on Insulin Sensitivity in Offspring.”

Tracy Bale, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Director, Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development, received a five-year, $3,394,308 R37 MERIT award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH/NIMH) for “Paternal Stress and Epigenetic Programming of Offspring Neurodevelopment.”

Laura Latey BradfordL. Latéy Bradford, MD, PhD, Resident, was selected by the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation to receive a 2020 Family Medicine Cares Resident Service Award for her service project, “Queens Court: A Postpartum Education and Support Group Designed to Empower and Facilitate Wellness in Women of Color.” This $16,500 award provides support for direct project costs, funding to the University Family Medicine Clinic, and a travel award for Dr. Bradford to attend the 2021 National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Students to present the results of the project.

Linda Chang, MD, MS, and Thomas Ernst, Dr rer nat, both Professors from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, and PIs of UMB’s site of the landmark Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, were awarded a seven-year, $13,098,568 grant renewal.

New UMB logoYasmine Cissé PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pharmacology, Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development, received a three-year, $202,062 F32 NRSA from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NIH/NICHD) for “Programmatic Role of Maternal Preconception Stress on Offspring
Metabolic Health.”

Deeraj Gandhi, MBBS, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was awarded $347,880 from the Focused Ultrasound Foundation for “MR Guided FUS of Thalamus (Central Lateral Thalamotomy) for Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia: Feasibility and Safety Study.”

Eldin Jašarevic, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Pharmacology, and Associate Director of Research Bioinformatics, Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development, received a four-year, $528,096 K01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH/NIDDK) for “Immune and Developmental Actions of the Maternal Microbial Metabolites on the Hypothalamus.”

Xiaofeng Jia, BM, PhD, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, received a two-year, $345,000 grant from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) Discovery Program for “Developing Human iPSC-Derived Exosome Therapy to Improve Recovery after Peripheral Nerve Injury.”

Mary Kay Lobo, PhD, Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Seth Ament, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Genome Sciences, along with a colleague at State University of New York at Buffalo, received a $1,823,772 grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIH/NIDA) for “Heroin-Induced Fenomic Regulation of Ventral Pallidum Neuron Subtypes.”

Arezoo Modiri, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, received a $206,049 grant from the Sponsored Research Agreement with Varian Medical Systems for “Risk-Model-Based Radiotherapy Treatment Planning to Optimize Individual Overall Survival.”

Jean-Pierre Raufman, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, received a five-year, $2,103,549 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH/NIDDK) for renewal of a T32 program “Research Training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology.”

Zeljko VujaskovicZeljko Vujaskovic, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, received a five-year, $12,239,361 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) for “Intercollaborative Radiation Countermeasure (INTERACT) Consortium for Advanced Development of Medical Countermeasures to Mitigate/Treat Acute and Delayed Radiation Syndromes.” As part of the award, the University of Maryland School of Medicine becomes a member of the NIAID Centers for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation Consortium.

Jungfang WuJunfang Wu, BM, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, along with Long-Jun Wu, PhD, from Mayo Clinic, received a five-year, $2,392,596 R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS) for “The Function and Mechanisms of Voltage-Gated Proton Channel Hv1 in Spinal Cord Injury.”

Peixin YangPeixin Yang, PhD, Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, was awarded a five-year, $2.56 million R01 renewal for “Autophagy and Its Regulation in Diabetic Embryopathy.”

Kudos to our colleagues who are experts in their fields and give their all to represent the School of Medicine!

The Department of Emergency Medicine hosted a half-day Alumni Week conference on May 6, 2020, featuring past residents and current faculty presenting on various topics related to COVID-19 from their respective locations. Lecture topics included:

  • COVID-19 Update: What We Know as of May 6, 2020
  • COVID 19: Update from NYC
  • International COVID-19 Update from the
    Netherlands, Japan, and Pakistan
  • Skin Findings in COVID
  • Lung Ultrasound in COVID
  • Pediatric COVID Update
  • Critical Care COVID Update
  • COVID EMS Update

Marianne Cloeren, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, presented a lecture to a national audience on June 10, 2020 for the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s (ACOEM) Safely Returning to Work: A Virtual Symposium. The topic of her talk was “Tracking Employee Exposure to COVID-19.”

Natalie DavisNatalie Davis, MD, MMSc, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, was an invited speaker for the “LiveSavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities” on June 9, 2020. She presented her research on child passenger safety for preterm neonates in a talk titled “Is It OK to Be Little? How Can You Be Sure I Am Safe?”

Martin FlajnikMartin Flajnik, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, was a guest lecturer for a seminar at Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Immunology, titled “Origins of Antigen Presentation” on February 17, 2020.

Recent Patents

Feyruz RassoolFeyruz Rassool, PhD, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, received a European patent for “Therapy Regimen and Methods to Sensitize Cancer Cells Treated with Epigenetic Therapy to PARP Inhibitors to Ovarian Cancer” (UMB Docket Number: FR-2013-075 (EP).

Hats off to those who have been published!

Zubair Ahmed, PhD, Professor, and Saima Riazuddin, PhD, MPH, MBA, Professor, both from Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, were among the co-authors of “Molecular Characterization of SLC24A5 Variants and Evaluation of Nitisinone Treatment Efficacy in a Zebrafish Model of OCA6,” which was published in the July 2020 issue of Pigment Cell Melanoma Research.

Eugene AlbrechtEugene Albrecht, PhD, Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, was among the authors of “Regulation of Uterine Spiral Artery Remodeling,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of Reproductive Sciences. Separately, Dr. Albrecht, was featured in “Bare Benches: Research During the COVID19 Outbreak,” which appeared in the May 2020 issue of Endocrine News, a publication of the Endocrine Society.

Omer Awan, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was last author of “Overcoming Challenges for Successful PACS Installation in Low-Resource Regions: Our Experience in Nigeria,” which was published in the Journal of Digital Imaging on June 3, 2020, and “Social Media in Radiology: Overview and Usefulness of Online Professional #SoMe Profiles,” which was published in Academic Radiology on May 29, 2020.

Tracy Bale, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmacology, and Director, Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development (CERCH), and Yasmine Cissé, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, also from the Department of Pharmacology and CERCH, were authors of “Brain and Placental Transcriptional Responses as a Readout of Maternal and Paternal Preconception Stress Are Fetal Sex Specific,” which was published in Placenta on July 2, 2020.

Aditi Banerjee, PhD, Assistant Professor; Steven Czinn, MD, Professor; and Thomas Blanchard, PhD, Associate Professor, all from the Department of Pediatrics, were among the co-authors of “Crosstalk Between Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Anti-Viral Activities: A Novel Therapeutic Target for COVID-19,” which was published in Life Sciences on August 15, 2020.

New UMB logoEli Bar, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, was among the authors of “Spatial Enrichment of Cellular States in Glioblastoma,” which was published in Acta Neuropathologica on July 1, 2020.

Maureen BlackMaureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD and Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor in Pediatrics, and Angela Trude, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, also from the Department of Pediatrics, published a commentary, “All Children Surviving and Thriving: Re-Envisioning UNICEF’s Conceptual Framework of Malnutrition,” which was published in June 2020 Editorial Pick in The Lancet Global Health.

Michael BondMichael Bond, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Professor, and Amal Mattu, MD, Professor, both from Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Designing the Third- and Fourth-Years Clerkship Schedule,” which was published in Journal of Emergency Medicine on January 13, 2020.

Vincent Bruno, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, was among the co-authors of “GRP78 and Integrins Play Different Roles in Host Cell Invasion during Mucormycosis,” which was published in mBio on June 2, 2020. Dr. Bruno also co-authored “Oral Epithelial IL-22/STAT3 Signaling Licenses IL-17-Mediated Immunity to Oral Mucosal Candidiasis,” which was published in Science Immunology on June 5, 2020.

Donna Calu, PhD, Assistant Professor, and David Martin, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, both from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, were senior and lead authors, respectively, of “Effects of 5-HT 2A Receptor Stimulation on Economic Demand for Fentanyl after Intermittent and Continuous Access Self-Administration in Male Rats,” which was published in Addiction Biology on May 26, 2020.

Qi CaoQi Cao, BM, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “Imaging Assisted Evaluation of Antitumor Efficacy of a New Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor in the Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer,” which was published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging on June 26, 2020.

Wengen ChenWengen Chen, MD, PhD, Professor, and Vasken Dilsizian, MD, Professor, both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, published an editorial comment titled “Molecular Imaging of Amyloid Deposits for Early Diagnosis of Cardiac Amyloidosis and Monitoring Treatment Response,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.

Miroslaw Janowski, MD, PhD Miroslaw Janowski, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; Chengyan Chu, MD, and Xiaoyan Lan, MD, both Postdoctoral Fellows; Anna Jablonska, PhD, Research Associate; and Piotr Walczak, MD, PhD, Professor, all from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the authors of “Neuroinflammation Following Stereotactic Radiosurgery-Induced Brain Tumor Disintegration Is Linked to Persistent Cognitive Decline in a Mouse Model of Metastatic Disease,” which was published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics on May 26, 2020.

Elizabeth Clayborne, MD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, authored “Pregnant on the Frontlines,” which was published in Emergency Physicians Monthly on June 1, 2020.

Natalie DavisNatalie Davis, MD, MMSc, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, was the first author of “Variation in Car Seat Tolerance Screen Performance in Newborn Nurseries,” which was published in the July 2020 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.

Zachary Dezman, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was among the authors of “Maryland Emergency Department Drug Surveillance (EDDS) System Illustrates the Need for Hospitals to Update Their Toxicology Panels to Include Fentanyl and Other Emerging Substances,” which was accepted for publication in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on May 28, 2020.

Vasken DilsizanVasken Dilsizian, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was a co-author of “Safe Reintroduction of Cardiovascular Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Guidance from North American Societies,” which was co-published in the April 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Canadian Journal of Cardiology and the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Separately, Dr. Dilsizian was a co-author of “Cardiac Imaging in the Post ISCHEMIA Trial Era—A Multi Society Viewpoint,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Dilsizian was a co-author of “Guidance and Best Practices for Nuclear Cardiology Laboratories During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: An Information Statement from ASNC and SNMMI,” which was co- published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Dilsizian was additionally the senior author on “Impact of the ISCHEMIA Trial on Stress Nuclear Myocardial Perfusion Imaging,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Mary Kay Lobo, PhD, Associate Professor; and Michel Engeln, PhD, Research Associate, both from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, along with Ronna Hertzano, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the authors of “Individual Differences in Stereotypy and Neuron Subtype Translatome with TrkB Deletion,” which was published in Molecular Psychiatry on May 4, 2020.

Victor Frenkel, PhD, Associate Professor, and Director of Translational Focused Ultrasound Research, and Ali Mohammadabadi, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors of “Pulsed Focused Ultrasound Lowers Interstitial Fluid Pressure and Increases Nanoparticle Delivery and Penetration in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Xenograft Tumors,” which was published in Physics in Medicine and Biology on June 22, 2020.

Matthew FriemanMatthew Frieman, PhD, Associate Professor; Stuart Weston, PhD, Research Fellow; James Logue, Graduate Reserach Assistant; and Robert Haupt, all from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, were among the authors of “High-Throughput Effort Using Both Humanized Mice and Convalescent Humans Yields SARS-Cov-2 Antibody Cocktail,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of Science.

Omer Awan, MD, MPH, Associate Professor; and Durga Sivacharan Gaddam, MD, Resident, both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, co-authored “Back to the Future: Shortcomings of an Archaic Model for Radiology Lectures,” which was published in the July–August 2020 issue of Radiographics. Separately, Dr. Awan was last author of “Artificial Intelligence-Based Clinical Decision Support Systems Using Advanced Medical Imaging and Radiomics,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.

Ronna HertzanoRonna Hertzano, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Institute for Genome Sciences, was among the co-authors of “Characterization of the Development of the Mouse Cochlear Epithelium at the Single Cell Level,” which was published in Nature Communications on May 13, 2020, and highlighted in a press release by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Rydhwana Hossain, MD, Assistant Professor (first author), and Charles White, MD, Professor (last author), both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the authors of “CT Scans Obtained for Nonpulmonary Indications: Associated Respiratory Findings of COVID-19,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of Radiology. Separately, Drs. Hossain and White were among the co-authors of “COVID-19 Diagnostic Imaging Recommendations,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of Applied Radiology.

Owen Woodward, PhD, Assistant Professor; Kazi Hoque, PhD, Research Associate; Eryn Dixon, Student; and Victoria Halperin Kuhns, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, all from the Department of Physiology, were among the co-authors of “The ABCG2 Q141K Hyperuricemia and Gout Associated Variant Illuminates the Physiology of Human Urate Excretion,” which was published in Nature Communications on June 2, 2020.

Amal Isaiah, MBBS, DPhil, Assistant Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, was the author of “Predicting Polysomnographic Severity Thresholds in Children Using Machine Learning,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of Pediatric Research.

Miroslaw Janowski, MD, PhD, Associate Professor (last author), and Piotr Walczak, MD, PhD, Professor, both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors of “Mesenchymal Stem Cells Injected into Carotid Artery to Target Focal Brain Injury Home to Perivascular Space,” which was published in Theranostics on May 17, 2020. Separately, Drs. Janowski and Walczak also were among the co-authors of “Methacrylated Gellan Gum and Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Blends for Image-guided Neurointerventions,” which was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B on June 16, 2020.

Jean JeudyJean Jeudy, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the authors of “Imaging Modalities to Delineate Sequelae of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection Managed with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention,” which was published in Cureus on April 8, 2020.

Xiaofeng Jia, BM, PhD, Professor (corresponding author); Xiang Xu, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow (first author); and co-author Thomas Mee, Medical Student, all from the Department of Neurosurgery, were authors of “New Era of Optogenetics: From the Central to Peripheral Nervous System,” which was published in the February 2020 issue of Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Gaurav Jindal, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the co-authors of “Transport Blood Pressures and Outcomes in Stroke Patients Requiring Thrombectomy,” which was published in the May-June 2020 issue of Air Medical Journal.

Danya Khoujah, MBBS, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was the lead author of “The Geriatric Emergency Literature 2019,” which was published in American Journal of Emergency Medicine on May 17, 2020.

Linda Chang, MD, MS, Professor, Professor (last author); Hua Jun Liang, MBBS, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow (first author); and Thomas Ernst, Dr rer nat, all from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the authors of “Striatal and White Matter Volumes in Chronic Ketamine Users with or without Recent Regular Stimulant Use,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Also, Drs. Chang and Ernst were among the authors of “Associations Between Body Weight, Hippocampal Volume, and Tissue Signal Intensity In 12- to 18-Year-Olds,” which was published in Obesity (Silver Spring) on June 5, 2020. Separately, Dr. Chang and Christine Cloak, PhD, Assistant Professor, also from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors of “Reciprocal Influences of HIV and Cannabinoids on the Brain and Cognitive Function,” which was published in the Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology on May 22, 2020.

Alberto MacarioAlberto Macario, PhD, Adjunct Professor, and Everly Conway de Macario, Adjunct Professor, both from Department of Microbiology & Immunology, co-authored “Does SARS-CoV-2 Trigger Stress-Induced Autoimmunity by Molecular Mimicry? A Hypothesis,” which was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine on June 29, 2020.

Javed Mahmood, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, was the first author of “A Combination of Radiotherapy, Hyperthermia, and Immunotherapy Inhibits Pancreatic Tumor Growth and Prolongs the Survival of Mice,” which was published in the April 2020 issue of Cancers. Separately, Dr. Mahmood, was the first author of “RhoA/ROCK Pathway Inhibitor Ameliorates Erectile Dysfunction Induced by Radiation Therapy in Rat,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of Radiotherapy and Oncology Journal.

Ilia Baskakov, PhD, Professor; Natallia Makarava, Research Associate; Jennifer Chen-Yu Chang, Lab Research Technician; and Kara Molesworth, Lab Research Specialist, all from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology and the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology (BioMET), were authors of “Posttranslational Modifications Define Course of Prion Strain Adaptation and Disease Phenotype,” which was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on June 2, 2020.

Rena Malik, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, was a senior author of “A Systematic Review of Best Practices for the Perioperative Management of Abdominal Sacrocolpopexy,” which was published in Neurourology and Urodynamics on May 29, 2020.

Amal Mattu, MD, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was among the authors of:
• “Lay Responder Care for an Adult with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Author Reply to Letter to the Editor,” which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on March 26, 2020.
• “Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a consensus statement published on behalf of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the American College of Cardiology, and the American College of Emergency Physicians in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions on April 17, 2020, and in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on April 20, 2020.

Andrea MeredithAndrea Meredith, PhD, Professor; Jenna Harvey, PhD, Research Associate; and Amber Plante, Graduate Student, all from the Department of Physiology, published the invited review “Ion Channels Controlling Circadian Rhythms in Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Excitability,” in the October 2020 issue of Physiological Reviews.

Dheeraj Gandhi, MBBS, Professor; Timothy Miller, MD, Associate Professor; and Gaurav Jindal, MD, Associate Professor (last author), all from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the authors of “A Critical Assessment of the Golden Hour and the Impact of Procedural Timing in Stroke Thrombectomy,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the American Journal of Neuroradiology. Separately, Dr. Gandhi was among the co-authors of “Implications of Achieving TICI 2b vs TICI 3 Reperfusion in Patients with Ischemic Stroke: A Cost-effectiveness Analysis,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery.

Emmanuel MongodinEmmanuel Mongodin, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, was among the co-authors of “Mentholation Triggers Brand-Specific Shifts in The Bacterial Microbiota of Commercial Cigarette Products,” which was published in Applied Microbiolgy and Biotechnology on May 24, 2020.

Christopher Morgan, PhD, Lead Research Project Coordinator and Associate Director of Epigenetic Research, Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development (CERCH); Yasmine Cissé, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Kathleen Morrison, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Eldin Jašarevic, PhD, Research Associate and Associate Director of Research Bioinformatics, CERCH; Nickole Kanyuch, Graduate Research Assistant; and Tracy Bale, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Director, CERCH, all from the Department of Pharmacology and CERCH; along with Weiliang Huang, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, and Maureen Kane, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Mass Spectrometry Center, both from the School of Pharmacy; and Seth Ament, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, and Amol Shetty, PhD, Lead Bioinformatics Software Engineer, both members of the Institute for Genome Science, were authors of “Reproductive Tract Extracellular Vesicles Are Sufficient to Transmit Intergenerational Stress and Program Neurodevelopment,” which was published in Nature Communications on March 20, 2020.

Andy NeuwaldAndrew Neuwald, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Institute for Genome Sciences, was first author of “Obtaining Extremely Large and Accurate Protein Multiple Sequence Alignments from Curated Hierarchical Alignments,” which was published in Database (Oxford) on June 5, 2020.

New UMB logoChiara Orlandi, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology, was the first author of “Antigen-Induced Allosteric Changes in a Human IgG1 Fc Increase Low-Affinity Fcg Receptor Binding,” which was published in Structure on March 24, 2020.

New UMB logoThomas Ptak, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the authors of “ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Suspected Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, and “ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Major Blunt Trauma,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

David RaskoDavid Rasko, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, was among the co-authors of “Comparative Genomic Analysis Provides Insight into the Phylogeny and Virulence of Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia Coli Strains from Brazil,” which was published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on June 1, 2020.

Jacques RavelJacques Ravel, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Associate Director, Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences, was a senior author of “Complete Genome Sequences of Six Lactobacillus iners Strains Isolated from the Human Vagina,” which was published in Microbial Resource Announcement on May 14, 2020.

Dana Roque, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, was among the co-authors of “Randomized Phase II Trial of Carboplatin-Paclitaxel Compared With Carboplatin-Paclitaxel-Trastuzumab in Advanced (Stage III-IV) or Recurrent Uterine Serous Carcinomas That Overexpress Her2/Neu (NCT01367002): Updated Overall Survival Analysis,” which was published in Clinical Cancer Research on June 29, 2020.

Lynn SchrimlLynn Schriml, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Institute for Genome Sciences, was a first author on “COVID-19 Pandemic Reveals the Peril of Ignoring Metadata Standards,” which was published in Nature Scientific Data on June 19, 2020.

David Serre, PhD, Associate Professor (senior author), and Matthew Cannon, PhD, Research Associate, both from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, were among the co-authors of “(2020) Single-Cell Transcription Analysis of Plasmodium Vivax Blood-Stage Parasites Identifies Stage—and Species-Specific Profiles of Expression,” which was published in PLoS Biology on May 4, 2020.

Eliot SiegelEliot Siegel, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the authors of “Radiology’s Information Architecture Could Migrate to One Emulating That of Smartphones,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Gentry Wilkerson, MD, Assistant Professor; Jason Adler, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor; and Robert Brown, MD, Resident, all from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Silent Hypoxia: A Harbinger of Clinical Deterioration in Patients with COVID-19,” which was published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine on May 21, 2020.

Andrew Windsor, MD, Assistant Professor, and Semhar Tewelde, MD, Assistant Professor, both from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were the lead authors of “An Odontoid Fracture and Vertebral Artery Injury in Fast-Track,” which was published in Clinical Case Reports on May 25, 2020.

Michael WintersMichael Winters, MD, Professor; Amal Mattu, MD, Professor; and Michael Bond, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Professor, all from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Clerkships in Emergency Medicine,” which was published in Journal of Emergency Medicine on January 5, 2020. Separately, Dr. Winters, was among the discussants in the twice-monthly podcast, Critical Care Perspectives in Emergency Medicine, episodes:
• “COVID-19: Toxicities of Potential Therapies,” published on May 13, 2020
• “HFNC [High-Flow Nasal Cannula] in COVID-19 Patients—Helpful or Harmful?” published on May 26, 2020

Michael WittingMichael Witting, MD, Professor; Kami Hu, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor; Semhar Tewelde, MD, Assistant Professor; and Amal Mattu, MD, Professor, all from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Evaluation of Spodick’s Sign and Other Electrocardiographic Findings as Indicators of STEMI [ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction] and Pericarditis,” which was published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine on March 25, 2020.

Jade Wong-You-CheongJade Wong-You-Cheong, MD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, was among the authors of “ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Hematuria,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Jungfang WuJunfang Wu, BM, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, was the corresponding author of “Sustained Neuronal and Microglial Alterations Are Associated with Diverse Neurobehavioral Dysfunction Long after Experimental Brain Injury,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of Neurobiology of Disease.

Su Xu, PhD, Associate Professor, and Rao Gullapalli, PhD, MBA, Professor, both from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the authors of “Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Administration Prevents Experimental Diabetes-Induced Cognitive Impairment and Loss of Hippocampal Neurons,” which was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences on May 26, 2020. Separately, Drs. Xu and Gullapalli (last author), along with Jiachen Zhuo, PhD, Assistant Professor, also from the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, were among the co-authors of “Postnatal Guinea Pig Brain Development, As Revealed by Magnetic Resonance and Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging,” which was published in the June 2020 issue of Brain Sciences. In addition, Dr. Gullapalli was among the co-authors of “Vitamin D, Folate, and Cobalamin Serum Concentrations Are Related to Brain Volume and White Matter Integrity in Urban Adults,” which was published in the May 2020 issue of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.