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Awards and Honors

John H. Byrne, Ph.D., the June and Virgil Waggoner Distinguished Professor, chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the Medical School (MS) and a faculty member at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) received the International Neural Network Society Hebb Award for 2004. The awards ceremony was July 25, during the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks in Budapest, Hungary. Up to three awards of $500 each are presented annually to senior individuals for outstanding contributions in the field of neural networks. The Hebb Award recognizes achievement in biological learning.

Peter Doris, Ph.D., associate professor in human genetics, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), and a GSBS faculty member, accepted invitations to join the editorial boards of Current Hypertension Reviews and The Journal of Molecular Medicine. He served July 26-27 on the Special Emphasis Panel Study Section in Proteomics and Metabolomics in Type 1 Diabetes and its Complications, in Arlington, Va.

Irma Gigli, M.D., professor and deputy director of the IMM, director of the IMM’s Research Center for Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases, and a GSBS faculty member, served at meetings of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation Board of Directors June 21-22 in Arlington, Va., and
June 28-29 in San Francisco. Gigli also is the Walter and Mary Mischer Distinguished Professor in Molecular Medicine.

Kelly Peters, D.D.S., assistant professor of restorative dentistry, Dental Branch (DB), was named a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry at the annual meeting July 10 in Anaheim, Calif. To become eligible for this honor, Peters completed 500 hours of continuing dental education, passed a comprehensive written exam and fulfilled five years of continuous membership with the academy. The award recognizes excellence in the dental profession and a commitment to providing excellent patient care.

Pam Shiao, Ph.D., associate professor of target populations, School of Nursing (SON), has been selected as a leader in the nursing field for induction as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Erica W. Swegler, M.D., a Medical School graduate was sworn in July 17 as president of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. Swegler, who has a group practice in Keller, assumed her leadership
role during the academy’s 55th Annual Session and Scientific Assembly in the Woodlands.

Rick Wetsel, Ph.D., professor in immunology and autoimmune diseases and director of the Laboratory for Developmental Biology, IMM, and GSBS, was elected treasurer of the International Complement Society. He co-chaired a session on “Complement and Infectious Diseases II” at the XXth International Complement Workshop June 13-18 in Honolulu.

UT Health Science Center President James T.Willerson, M.D., was in Brisbane as a guest at the annual scientific meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. He delivered the R. T. Hall Lecture, the annual major international lecture, on “Clinical Reflections: Vulnerable Plaque and Stem Cells, 1977-2004.” As is the custom for the R. T. Hall Lecturer, Willerson also acted as a judge of the Ralph Reader Prize Presentations.

Presentations

At the XXth International Complement Workshop June 13-18 in Honolulu, Neil R. Cooper, M.D., presented the Hans J. Müller-Eberhard Lecture. Cooper recently retired from The Scripps Research Institute in California, where he worked with Müller-Eberhard, the IMM’s founding director. Irma Gigli, M.D., professor and deputy director, IMM, introduced Cooper.

Those from the IMM making poster or oral presentations at the Complement Workshop were: Michael Braun, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics-nephrology, MS, GSBS, and Research Center for Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases; Scott Drouin, Ph.D., assistant professor, Research Center for Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases; David Haviland, Ph.D., assistant professor, Research Center for Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases and GSBS; Stacey Mueller-Ortiz, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow; and Meenal Sinha, GSBS graduate research assistant.

Winning travel awards from the International Complement Society to attend the workshop and make presentations were: Travis Hollmann, a medical student conducting research in the laboratory of Rick Wetsel, Ph.D.; and Scott Wenderfer, M.D., Ph.D., clinical fellow in pediatrics-nephrology, MS, who is conducting research in the laboratory of Michael Braun, M.D.

Heinrich Taegtmeyer, M.D., D.Phil., professor of medicine, MS and GSBS, presented a keynote address July 18 at the 7th Nuclear Cardiology Interventional Conference in Park City, Utah. The title of his talk was “Metabolic Signals in Normal and Diseased Heart: New Opportunities for Molecular Imaging.”

Publications

Janet C. Meininger, Ph.D., the Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Distinguished Professor of Nursing, Department of Nursing Systems, SON; Wenyaw Chan, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics, SPH; William H. Mueller, Ph.D., professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences, SPH; and former SON faculty members P. Liehr and G. Smith published “Developmental, Gender and Ethnic Group Differences in Moods and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Adolescents” in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The article reports the findings of mood and blood pressure in 371 African American, European American and Hispanic American adolescents.

Faun Ryser, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing for target populations, SON, published an article on “Breastfeeding Attitudes, Intention, and Initiation in Low- Income Women: The Effect of the Best Start Program” in the July issue of the Journal of Human Lactation.

Austin Stack, M.B.B.Ch.B.A.O., assistant professor; B.V.R. Murthy, M.B.B.S., M.D., D.M., assistant professor; and Donald A. Molony, M.D., professor, all from the Department of Internal Medicine Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, MS, were authors of “Survival Differences Between Peritoneal Dialysis and Hemodialysis Among Large ESRD Patients in the United States,” published in Kidney International. In a nationally representative cohort of over 134,728 dialysis patients in the United States, this study demonstrated that hemodialysis conferred a survival advantage over peritoneal dialysis in large patients.

Stack also published “Determinants and Prognostic Impact of Cardiomegaly Among New U.S. Dialysis Patients” in Annals of Epidemiology in July 2004. The three other authors were H. Serna, M.D., and C.S. Henry, M.D., former renal fellows now in community practice, and a collaborator from the United Kingdom.