Kudos

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Awards and Honors

S.Ward Casscells, M.D., the John Edward Tyson Distinguished Professor in Cardiology, Medical School (MS), and the UT Health Science Center at Houston's vice president for biotechnology, and his wife, Roxanne Casscells, were honored Feb. 12 at the American Heart Association's "Fire and Ice Heart Ball" at the Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel. They were this year's medical honorees on fund raising and on the medical mission of heart health.

Interfaith CarePartners honored James H. "Red" Duke Jr., M.D., the John B. Holmes Professor of Medical Sciences, MS, and Rabbi Samuel E. Karff, D.H.L., adjunct professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, MS, along with Willie Nelson, March 3 at Sweet Charity 2005 at the Edwin Hornberger Conference Center. Interfaith CarePartners sponsors scholarship, research, education and service. Its largest activity is the Care Team program, consisting of more than 1,900 volunteers who help more than 1,100 adults and children with a chronic, debilitating or terminal condition, such as Alzheimer's, AIDS, cancer, Parkinson's or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Larry Gilstrap III, M.D., the Emma Sue Hightower Professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, MS, was inducted March 5 into the University of Miami Medical Alumni Association's Hall of Fame in Coral Gables, Fla. Gilstrap graduated from the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in 1970. The Hall of Fame award recognizes graduates who have made outstanding contributions to medicine.

A paper by Kristina Mena, Ph.D., assistant professor at the El Paso Regional Campus, School of Public Health (SPH), was selected for the 2005 American Water Works Association Water Science and Research Division Best Paper Award. The paper, "Risk Assessment of Waterborne Coxsackievirus," was published in the Journal of the American Water Works Associationin July 2003.

Ayesha Mian, M.D., a resident at the Mental Sciences Institute, MS, has received a Laughlin Fellowship from the American College of Psychiatrists. He was honored at the annual meeting in February. The Laughlin Fellows are chosen from psychiatry residents throughout the United States and Canada as likely future leaders of psychiatry, based on their academic record and accomplishments.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has reappointed Michael Seale, M.D., assistant dean for correctional medicine, MS, to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The commission establishes criteria for the care and treatment of county prisoners and the construction, maintenance and operation of county jails. Medical director of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, Seale has served on the board of the American Correctional Health Services Association and is a member of the American Correctional Association. Seale also has served on the Public Health Strategic Planning Task Force of the Houston Department of Health and Human Services.

Gloria M. Spencer, coordinator of continuing education and teaching associate, Community and Educational Outreach, School of Nursing (SON), was selected as a mentee of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations at the coalition's first national conference March 11-13 in Washington D.C. The conference's goal was to introduce ethnic minority nurses to growing opportunities in research. Mentees were awarded conference registration, travel and housing. Spencer, a registered nurse with a Master of Science in public health nursing, is also a student in the nursing school's Doctor of Science in Nursing (D.S.N.) program.

Katherine H. Taber, Ph.D., a research fellow in the School of Health Information Sciences, has been named a fellow of the American Neuropsychiatric Association. Her award was formally presented March 1 at the ANPA Annual Banquet in Bar Harbour, Fla.

Presentations

Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), gave the plenary lecture Feb. 3 at the annual Western Association of Physicians and the Western Association of Clinical Investigation meeting in Carmel, Calif. He gave the plenary lecture Feb. 11 at the annual meeting of the Society of University Surgeons in Nashville, Tenn. The title of both lectures was "Nitric Oxide and Cyclic GMP in Cellular Signaling and Drug Development." Murad holds the John S. Dunn Sr. Distinguished Chair in Physiology and Medicine and chairs the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, MS. He holds a faculty appointment at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS).

D.S.N. students and SON faculty presented at the Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS) conference in Atlanta Feb. 3-5. Houston has been selected to host the 2007 annual meeting for SNRS, the regional nursing research organization for 14 states. Nancy Busen, Ph.D., Department of Nursing for Target Populations, is chairing a local planning consortium that includes the UT Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas Woman's University, Houston Baptist University, and Prairie View A&M University schools of nursing. Faculty presentations in Atlanta included:

Amy Calvin, Ph.D., assistant professor of acute and continuing care, and Joanne Hickey, Ph.D., professor of acute and continuing care, "The Neuroscience Nurse's Experience with End-of-Life Care," paper.

Calvin and Lillian Eriksen, D.S.N., associate professor of nursing systems and technology, "Measuring Personal Preservation in Hemodialysis Patients," poster.

Theresa Carroll, Ph.D., professor of nursing systems and technology, "Career Transition Theory and Transitions Post Nurse Executive/Manager Job Loss: A Work in Progress," poster.

Janet Meininger, Ph.D., a Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Distinguished Professor of Nursing, Department of Nursing Systems, "Mapping Out a Publishable Research Report," paper.

Kristin Ownby, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing for target populations, and Linda Dune, Ph.D., assistant professor of acute and continuing care, "Exploring the Mystery Forming a Substantive Theory for Peripheral Neuropathic Pain in AIDS Patients," paper.

Gwen Sherwood, Ph.D., professor and executive associate dean, and Eric Thomas, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, MS, "Trauma Resuscitation Teams' Descriptions of Working Together: Building a Teamwork Model to Improve Patient Safety," paper.

Faculty from the Department of Dermatology, MS, made presentations at the American Academy of Dermatology 63rd Annual Meeting Feb. 18-22 in New Orleans.

Ronald P. Rapini, M.D., professor and chairman, "Controversies in Dermatology," "Basic Dermatopathology," "Advanced Self-Assessment of Dermatopathology," "Advanced Dermatopathology," and "Digital Media Education."

Adelaide A. Hebert, M.D., professor, "Pediatric Dermatology" and "Hyperhidrosis."

Steven R. Mays, M.D., assistant professor, "Skin Disease in Cancer Patients."

Stephen K. Tyring, M.D., Ph.D., professor, "Viral Infections" and "Modern Dermatological Therapy."

Publications

Millicent Goldschmidt, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, MS, professor of periodontics at the Dental Branch (DB), and a GSBS faculty member; Donna P.Warren, associate professor of periodontics, DB; and William Tate, D.D.S., associate professor of restorative dentistry, DB, are authors of "Effects of an Antimicrobial Additive to Toothbrushes on Residual Periodontal Pathogens" published in volume 15 of The Journal of Clinical Dentistry.

Warren; Harold A. Henson, assistant professor of dental hygiene, DB; Paula O'Neill, Ed.D., associate dean for educational research and professional development, DB; and Stewart D. Turner, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy, MS, are authors of "Diversity, Cultural Sensitivity, Unequal Treatment, and Sexual Harassment in a School of Dental Hygiene," published in volume 78 of the Journal of Dental Hygiene.