MAA - The Bulletin - Fall 2008

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Appointments to National Organizations

Ronald B. Gartenhaus, MD

Patricio O'Donnell, MD, PhD

Martin J. Edelman, MD

Marcela F. Pasetti, MD

Ronald B. Gartenhaus, MD, associate professor, department of medicine and program in oncology, has been invited to join the editorial board for Cell Biology Insights.

Martin J. Edelman, MD, professor, department of medicine, has been appointed an associate editor for the journal Lung Cancer.

Patricio O’Donnell, MD, PhD, professor, department of anatomy & neurobiology, has been appointed to the scientific council of the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders, one of the largest foundations supporting mental health research, focusing on schizophrenia and affective disorders.

Marcela F. Pasetti, MD, assistant professor, department of pediatrics and center for vaccine development, has accepted an invitation from the Department of Health and Human Services to serve as a member of the vaccines against microbial diseases study section, center for scientific review. The term of appointment began July 1 and runs through June 30, 2012. Members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

Larry D. Weiss, MD, JD, FAAEM, professor, department of emergency medicine, was elected to a two-year term as president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine at the organization’s annual scientific assembly, which was held in Amelia Island, Florida, in February 2008.

Awards & Honors

Timothy B. Gilbert, MD, MBA, MSc, FACC

Stephen B. Liggett, MD

Miriam Laufer, MD

Timothy B. Gilbert, MD, MBA, MSc, FACC, professor and vice chair, department of anesthesiology, and professor, department of medicine, was awarded the 2008 distinguished service award for his service as an officer, board director and long-standing member of the Baltimore City Medical Society. Gilbert has been a member of the Baltimore City Medical Society since 1992.

Miriam Laufer, MD, assistant professor, department of pediatrics and center for vaccine development, has received the clinical scientist development award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Her project, “Malaria in Pregnancy,” which is funded by this award, will identify the timing of maternal peripheral malaria infection that causes placental infection and also will determine the vulnerable period during pregnancy
when malaria infection is most likely to cause low birth weight, pre-term delivery and maternal anemia.

Stephen B. Liggett, MD, professor, departments of medicine and physiology, was inducted into the Interurban Clinical Club in Boston on April 4, 2008. Founded by Sir William Osler in 1906, the organization consists of physician investigators from Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New Haven, and New York.

Events, Lectures & Workshops

Maria R. Baer, MD, professor, department of medicine and program in oncology, was an invited speaker at the Acute Leukemia XII conference in Munich, Germany, in February 2008. She also chaired an educational session entitled “Evaluating, Treating and Supporting Older Adults with Acute Leukemia” at the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago in June 2008, and gave a talk entitled “Acute Leukemia Biology and Treatment Response in Older Adults” as part of the session.

Thomas Blanpied, PhD

Thomas Blanpied, PhD, assistant professor, department of physiology, and a recent R01 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grantee, was one of four new NIMH investigators invited to present research at the 218th meeting of the National Advisory Mental Health Council open policy session in Bethesda, Md., in May 2008. Blanpied's R01 (which was funded at the 0.8th percentile), is entitled “Internal Dynamics of the Postsynaptic Density.”

Brian J. Browne, MD, professor, Amal Mattu, MD, associate professor, Robert L. Rogers, MD,

Brian Browne, MD

assistant professor, Michael E. Winters, MD, assistant professor, Fermin Barrueto, MD, clinical assistant professor, and Roger Stone, ’87, clinical assistant professor, all from the department of emergency medicine, were invited participants at the 14th annual scientific assembly of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. This symposium, considered one of the premier events in emergency medicine education, was held on Amelia Island, Florida, in February 2008.

France Carrier, PhD, assistant professor, department of biochemistry & molecular biology and program in oncology, gave an invited presentation at the inaugural International Conference on Drug Design and Discovery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February 2008. The title of the presentation was “Molecular Understanding of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors (HDACIs) Efficiency in Cancer Cells.”

France Carrier, PhD

Niel Constantine, PhD

Rudolph J. Castellani Jr., MD, professor, department of pathology, presented “Prion Diseases in the United States” at the International Congress for Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity in Bucharest, Romania, in March. Additionally, Castellani presented “Prion Diseases in the Baltimore, Maryland Area: A Recent Survey” at the American Association of Neuropathologists Meeting in San Diego in April 2008.

Niel Constantine, PhD, professor, department of pathology, was an invited speaker for the HIV Congress 2008 in Mumbai, India, in March 2008. In his presentation, “Point of Care Testing and Monitoring for HIV Infection,” Constantine informed the group of 400 participants about newer technologies appropriate for HIV identification and manual CD4 monitoring of infected persons in physician offices, public health clinics and health care facilities in remote venues. Constantine also chaired a scientific session.

Timm-Michael Dickfeld, MD, PhD

Steven Czinn, MD

Steven Czinn, MD, professor and chair, department of pediatrics, chaired a topic forum session, “Immunopathogenesis of H. pylori Infection,” and presented a paper entitled “Vaccine-induced Protective Immunity against Helicobacter pylori is IL-23 Dependent” at Digestive Disease Week in San Diego in May 2008.

Timm-Michael Dickfeld, MD, PhD, assistant professor, department of medicine, presented an abstract entitled “AV- Freeze: Prospective Safety Assessment of Cryo-Effects on the Human AV Node” at the meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago in March 2008. This study demonstrated that unwanted effects of cryoenergy can persist in a large number of patients.

Jack Gladstein, MD, associate professor, department of pediatrics, presented a two-hour course on controversies in pediatric headaches at the American Headache Society annual meeting in Boston in June 2008.

Jack Gladstein, MD

David Mallott, MD

Michelle Kush, MD, assistant professor, department of obstetrics, gynecology & reproductive sciences, presented at the Food and Drug Administration spring 2008 maternal health team course. Her topic was “Drug Treatment Used in the Management of Pre-eclampsia: What is effective? What are the Standards of Care?”

David Mallott, MD, associate dean for medical education and associate professor, department of psychiatry, was an invited speaker at the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders 2008 annual meeting in Pacific Grove, California, in March 2008. His presentation was entitled “When Should Psychiatry Consult the Metabolic Specialist.”

Kathleen Michael, PhD, MSN, assistant professor, department of medicine, presented “Motivators for Exercise after Stroke” at the 2008 International Stroke Conference in New Orleans in February 2008.

Alan Shuldiner, MD

Feyruz Rassool, PhD, associate professor, department of radiation oncology and program in oncology, was an invited speaker at a seminar series entitled “ROS, DNA Damage and Errorprone Repair: A Model for Genomic Instability in Myeloid Malignancies” in Munich, Germany, in June 2008.

Alan Shuldiner, MD, Whitehurst Professor of Medicine, and director, program in genetics and genomic medicine, presented “Pharmacogenomics of Anti-platelet Agents” at the PGRN-Riken-JSSX workshop on pharmacogenomics in Tokyo in February 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to stimulate collaboration between U.S. and Japanese scientists in the area of pharmacogenomics. He also presented “Translating Type II Diabetes and Related Traits Whole Genome Association Studies” at the National Institutes of Health’s genes, environment and health initiative symposium on translating whole genome association data into clinical practice in Bethesda, Md., in March 2008. The purpose of the meeting was for experts to review the state of the field and to identify barriers to implementing personalized medicine in the clinical setting. Additionally, Shuldiner presented “Pharmacogenomics of Antiplatelet Agents” at the international conference on pharmacogenomics, in Busan, Korea, in April 2008.

Loren P. Thompson, PhD

Sanford A. Stass, MD

Sanford A. Stass, MD, professor and chair, department of pathology, and interim hair, department of medical & research technology, moderated a session called “Expanding the Biomarker Pipeline” at the National Cancer Institute’s 5th annual early detection research network scientific workshop in Bethesda, Md., in March 2008.

Loren P. Thompson, PhD, associate professor, department of obstetrics, gynecology & reproductive sciences, was an invited speaker at the international conference on high risk pregnancy and fetal maternal medicine in Xian, China, in May 2008. His lecture was entitled “Impact of the Adverse Intrauterine Environment on Fetal Growth and Organ Function.”

George Wittenberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor, department of neurology, gave a presentation at the National Institute of Aging’s laboratory of cognition and personality entitled “Brain Activity in Activities of Daily Living: Practical Motor Function before and after Stroke” in Bethesda, Md., in February 2008.

Book/Textbook Publications

Amal Mattu, '93

Amal Mattu, ’93, associate professor, department of emergency medicine, and William J. Brady, MD, from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, co-edited ECGs for the Emergency Physician. Volume 1, now in its seventh printing, has been on Blackwell’s bestsellers’ list since 2005 and has been translated into Portuguese and Polish. Volume 2 of this text was published in April 2008. The two volumes contain one of the best collections of high-quality electrocardiograms (ECGs) ever assembled for acute health care providers.

Grants & Contracts

Michael S. Donnenberg, MD

H. Moo Kwon, PhD

Michael S. Donnenberg, MD, professor, department of medicine, received a $1,166,667 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to fund years 17 through 21 of his work entitled “The Eae Gene Cluster of Enteropathogenic E. coli.”

H. Moo Kwon, PhD, professor, department of medicine, received a five-year $1.6 million competitive renewal R01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for his work entitled “Tonicity Signaling to TonEBP Transcription Factor.”

Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD, professor, department of physiology, received a five-year $1,024,519 competing renewal National Institutes of Health pre-doctoral training grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for her work entitled “Training Program in Neuroscience.”

Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD

James Nataro, PhD, '87

James Nataro, MD, PhD, ’87, professor, department of pediatrics and center for vaccine development, received a four-year $3,414,292 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entitled “Live Attenuated Bacterial Vaccines against Plague.” This grant will provide support for final pre-clinical development of a Salmonella-based platform technology, the ultimate intent of which is to provide protection against anthrax and plague in a single vaccine, combined with protection against typhoid fever provided by the vector itself.

Feyruz Rassool, PhD, associate professor, department of radiation oncology and program in oncology, received a three-year $1,500,000 Maryland Stem Cell Exploratory Research Grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation for “Dissecting the Genetics and Epigenetic Origins Underlying Tumorigenic Potential of Human Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells.”

Edward Sausville, MD, PhD

David W. Scott, PhD

Edward Sausville, MD, PhD, professor, department of medicine and program in oncology, received a five-year $4,000,350 K-12 Paul Calabresi Award for Clinical Oncology and a five-year $2,903,548 U01 award for “Early Clinical Trials of New Anti-Cancer Agents” from the National Cancer Institute. Sausville’s co-investigators on the last award are Martin Edelman, MD, professor, Maria Baer, MD, professor, and Ivana Gojo, MD, associate professor, all from the department of medicine.

David W. Scott, PhD, professor, departments of surgery and microbiology & immunology and center for vascular and inflammatory diseases, received a five-year $1,250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for his work entitled “Induction of Tolerance-Factor VIII in Hemophilic Mice.”

Grants & Contracts of $1 million and above

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