Kudos

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Awards and Honors

Bryant Boutwell, Dr.P.H., associate dean for community affairs, Medical School (MS), was elected to full membership in the American Osler Society at the organization's 35th annual meeting April 11-13 in Pasadena, Calif. Boutwell, who is the John P. McGovern, M.D., Professor of Oslerian Medicine, presented a paper tracing the historical development of the Texas Medical Center and its impact on medical education.

The American Osler Society was founded to bring together members of the medical and allied professions who are dedicated to memorialize the life, intellectual resourcefulness and ethical example of Sir William Osler (1849-1919), who is considered by many as the father of modern medicine. Membership in the organization requires a strong track record as a medical historian involved in teaching medical students with a patient-centered approach that emphasizes the "art" of medicine as well as the science.

Irma Gigli, M.D., professor and deputy director of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), was honored as the 11th recipient of the David Martin Carter Mentor Award at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology May 4-7 in Saint Louis. She received a plaque commemorating the award and a $1,000 prize. Gigli also is the Walter and Mary Mischer Distinguished Professor in Molecular Medicine, director of the IMM's Research Center for Immunology and Autoimmune Diseases, and a Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) faculty member.

Patricia Starck, D.S.N., dean of the School of Nursing (SON) and the John P. McGovern, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Nursing, received the 2005 Health Policy Award at the Great Expectations Luncheon: A Salute to Nursing Futures. The luncheon benefited Health Access Texas and its campaign for the uninsured. Starck was chosen to represent the many nurses being honored for their importance in expanding community health care. She distinguished herself by serving on numerous state and federal committees that direct health policy.

James Steele, D.V.M., emeritus professor at the School of Public Health (SPH), has been selected as the recipient of the Schwabe Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. He is being recognized for his exceptional achievements in epidemiology and public health, especially in promoting contributions to these fields by veterinarians. The award will be presented at a Dec. 4 symposium, convened in Steele's honor and held in conjunction with the 85th Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases in St. Louis.

R. Palmer Beasley, the Ashbel Smith Professor in Epidemiology, SPH and GSBS, was the keynote speaker for the annual SETS (Science, Engineering, Technology Seminar) May 21 in Houston. SETS is sponsored by the Association of American Chinese Professionals (AACP). Lu-Yu Hwang, M.D., associate professor of epidemiology, Center for Infectious Diseases, SPH and GSBS, is an AACP board director for medicine and health.

Presentations
Miguel da Cunha, Ph.D., professor of target populations, SON, presented "Genetic Etiology of Human Disease" May 13 to the Nurse Oncology Education Program, which met at the School of Nursing Student Community Center.

Richard Yee, M.D., clinical professor of ophthalmology and visual science, MS, was an invited keynote speaker at the prestigious World Cornea Congress April 13-15 in Washington, D.C. The congress is held every 10 years. Yee presented "LASIK, PRK and EPIDelaminators: Is there a difference?" to high-level specialists in cornea and external disease, corneal and refractive surgery, and eye banking. He also spoke in early May at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Society Conference in Hong Kong.

Publications

A recent publication by Zuber Mulla, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at the El Paso Regional Campus, SPH, and his colleagues was chosen for inclusion in the 2005 edition of The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy, a popular handbook used by both students and health care professionals. The article, cited in The Sanford Guide's section on skin infections, reports that the antibiotic clindamycin is beneficial in the treatment of patients hospitalized for necrotizing fasciitis caused by the "flesheating" bacterium (group A Streptococcus).

Stephen Tyring, M.D., Ph.D., professor of dermatology, MS and GSBS, is senior editor of the book Tropical Dermatology, recently published by Elsevier. In addition to Tyring, other Medical School authors are David Huang, M.D., Ph.D., fellow in infectious diseases, Internal Medicine; and Charles D. Ericsson, M.D., professor of internal medicine.

Tyring is one of the authors of "HLA-DQB1 and Cervical Cancer in Venezuelan Women," published in February in Gynecologic Oncology. He is an author with Peter Rady, M.D., Ph.D., research professor of dermatology; Gregory Shipley, Ph.D., assistant professor of integrative biology and pharmacology; and others of "Molecular Diagnosis of Cutaneous Diseases," published in February in the Archives of Dermatology. Tyring also is an author of "Aspartoacylase Gene Knockout Results in Severe Vacuolation in the White Matter and Gray Matter of the Spinal Cord in the Mouse," published in March in Neurobiology of Disease.