Kudos

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Awards and Honors

Nori Aoki, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, School of Health Information Sciences, has attained board certification as a physician executive, as certified by the American College of Physician Executives. Aoki would like to pursue combining informatics with management in medicine.

Pamela Berens, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Medical School (MS), has been appointed to the board of the Texas Breastfeeding Coalition, or TXBC. The TXBC’s goals include improving the breastfeeding rate and ensuring that all state and local laws and policies protect breastfeeding. The newly formed coalition held its kick-off meeting in October in Austin.

Sheila Koh, D.D.S., associate professor, Restorative Dentistry, Dental Branch (DB), was asked by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve on the Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry of the Human Resources and Services Administration for a term that lasts until September 2008. The committee provides recommendations on programs and activities authorized under section 747 of the Public Health Service Act.

The University of Houston-Clear Lake recognized Darla McKitrick, assistant professor and clinical coordinator, DB School of Dental Hygiene, as one of the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients during the 2006 Alumni Celebration in October.

Zuber D. Mulla, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health (SPH) El Paso Regional Campus, received the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association. The national board of directors chose Mulla in part for his research on necrotizing fasciitis caused by the “flesh-eating” bacterium, group A Streptococcus. The award ceremony was in November in Tucson.

At the 44th Annual Meeting of Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in Toronto, Barbara E. Murray, M.D., professor and director of Infectious Diseases and co-director of the Center for the Study of Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens, MS, was reelected to a second three-year term as secretary-treasurer of the society. Murray, who is the J. Ralph Meadows Professor in Internal Medicine and also a faculty member in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), received The Editors’ Award for an article that “illustrates the highest ideals of IDSA.” The article, “Destroying the Life and Career of a Valued Physician-Scientist Who Tried to Protect Us from Plague: Was It Really Necessary?” was published in 2005. Murray also presented two invited symposium lectures at the meeting.

Heinrich Taegtmeyer, M.D., D.Phil., professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, MS and GSBS, has been elected president of the Society for Heart and Vascular Metabolism. The international society was founded in 2001 to advance cardiovascular health through research in molecular and cellular metabolism. Members reside in 14 countries, including the United States and Canada. Taegtmeyer previously served on the society’s board of directors and is one of the founding members. He is a leader in the research of cardiac metabolism, gene expression and function of the heart, and heart failure and diabetes.

Sudha Veeraraghavan, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, MS and GSBS, presented “Direct/DNALigand Interaction Assay for Promoter Analysis and Structural Studies” at the Biochip Symposium of the 62nd South-West Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in October in Houston.

Diane Wardell, Ph.D., associate professor, Target Populations, School of Nursing (SON), reviewed grants for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Special Emphasis Panel, Oct.30-31. She also delivered the keynote address in Australia for the Nov. 10-13 “Gathering,” which is the Australian Healing Touch conference.

Presentations

William Dowhan, Ph.D., professor and holder of the John S. Dunn Sr. Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MS and GSBS, presented plenary lectures on “Lipid- Dependent Organization of Polytopic Membrane Proteins” at two separate international symposia. The European Lipidomics Initiative sponsored a meeting on “New Concepts in Lipidology: from Lipidomics to Disease” Oct. 21-26 in Noorwijk, The Netherlands. The second meeting, on “Membrane Proteins and Cellular Dynamics,” was Nov. 2-5 in Osnabrueck, Germany.

Several from SON presented at the 2006 National State-of-the- Science Congress in Nursing Research Oct. 12-14 in Washington, D.C.:

Marlene Z. Cohen, Ph.D., the John S. Dunn Sr. Distinguished Professor, Target Populations: “Delirium and Distress in Patients with Advanced Cancer and Their Caregivers” and “The Experience of Filipino Cancer Patients.”
Lorraine Frazier, D.S.N., associate professor, Nursing Systems: “Depression and Inflammatory Protein Levels after Coronary Stenting Predict Future Major Adverse Coronary Events.”
Sandra K. Hanneman, Ph.D., the Jerold B. Katz Distinguished Professor for Nursing Research, Acute and Continuing Care, and Mary Anne Vincent, D.S.N. student: “Challenges of Establishing a Pre-Clinical Model for Translational Research in Critical Care.”
Sharon K. Ostwald, Ph.D., holder of the Isla Carroll Turner Chair in Gerontological Nursing, Nursing Systems: “Predictors of Life Satisfaction Among Stroke Survivors and Spousal Caregivers One Year Post Hospital Discharge.”

“Clinically Differentiating Obstructive Sleep Apnea from Primary Snoring Disorder in the Pediatric Population,” a study by two pulmonologists, was presented in October at CHEST 2006, the annual scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians. Instructor Sajid A. Haque, M.D., and clinical fellow Nisha Rathi, M.D., both of the Internal Medicine Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Medicine, MS, found that significant differences in body mass index, neck circumference and tonsil size exist between patients with obstructive sleep apnea vs. those with primary snoring disorder.

Publications

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., professor and director, Center for Nanomedicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), and GSBS, is editor-in-chief of a four volume series on Biomems and Biomedical Nanotechnology published in 2006 by Springer. Volume 1 is Biological and Biomedical Nanotechnology, Volume 2 is Micro/Nano Technology for Genomics and Proteomics, Volume 3 is Therapeutic Micro/Nano Technology, and Volume 4 is Biomolecular Sensing, Processing and Analysis. Ferrari is one of two authors of “Fantastic Voyages,” the Feature Focus: Bioengineering article in the October issue of Mechanical Engineering. His invited comments were included in “nano∙technol∙o∙gyn.” in the October issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

Kathy L. E. Klos, Ph.D., assistant professor of human genetics, SPH; Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D., professor and holder of the Kozmetsky Family Chair in Human Genetics, SPH and GSBS; and James E. Hixson, Ph.D., professor of human genetics, SPH and GSBS, along with Myriam Fornage, Ph.D., assistant professor in the IMM’s Research Center for Human Genetics and GSBS, collaborated on “Consistent Effects of Genes Involved in Reverse Cholesterol Transport on Plasma Lipid and Apolipoprotein Levels in CARDIA Participants,” published in Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. Boerwinkle also is director of the IMM research center.