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Awards and Honors

Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, M.D., associate professor of medicine, Medical School (MS), was among 81 distinguished physicians and scientists from the United States and abroad this year to be elected fellows in The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the nation’s leading professional society in infectious diseases. He was elected to fellowship for his contributions in the areas of medical mycology and hospital epidemiology. Ostrosky-Zeichner is medical director of epidemiology for the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.

During the American College of Emergency Physicians’ 2007 Scientific Assembly Oct. 8-11 in Seattle, Diana Fite, M.D., clinical assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine MS, was presented the Council Meritorious Service Award. The award is presented to a member of ACEP who has served as a councilor for at least three years and who has made consistent contributions to the growth and maturation of the college’s council. Arlo Weltge, M.D., clinical associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, won the award in 2004. He has been selected by the ACEP’s Nominating Committee to run this year for vice speaker of the council. The council elections will be held this fall during the Scientific Assembly.

Pedro Ruiz, M.D., professor and interim chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MS, was appointed as a member of the following Editorial Boards: International Review of Psychiatry (England), International Journal of Social Psychiatry (England), Cross-Cultural Mental Health (England) and Romanian Journal of Psychopharmacology (Romania).

Members of the Department of Neurology, MS, Mya C. Schiess, M.D., professor and the Adriana Blood Chair in Neurology, Gage Van Horn, M.D., professor and vice chair, and Erin Furr-Stimming, M.D., assistant professor, were presented with the Roy H. Cullen, Quality of Life Award at the Polo for Parkinson’s fundraiser on Sept. 30. The three serve on the medical advisory committee of the Houston Area Parkinson’s Society, a nonprofit organization that meets the needs of patients with Parkinson’s by educating and assisting patients with emergency financial aid and social work.

Presentations

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., director of the Research Center for NanoMedicine at The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), chaired the annual International Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Expo in Dallas Oct. 3-4. He presented “The Promise of Tomorrow. The Business of Nanotechnology.” The Nanotechnology Conference & Trade Expo, held during International Nanotechnology Week, was created to highlight the world’s commercial micro- and nanotechnology initiatives.

Linda Stafford, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Integrative Nursing Care, Psychiatric/Mental Health Division, School of Nursing (SON), had an abstract accepted for both a round table discussion and for a poster at the Professional Nurse Educators Group conference, at the Oregon Health and Sciences University Oct. 18-21, 2007. Her abstract is titled: “A critical concern facing nursing academia: For whom do we exist?”

Publications

Marlene Z. Cohen, PhD, RN, FAAN, John S. Dunn, Sr. Distinguished Professor in Oncology Nursing and Chair, Department of Integrative Nursing Care, SON, coauthored two recent articles regarding subject concerns with clinical trial participation. The first article, “Who Should Go First in Trials with Scarce Agents? The Views of Potential Participants” appeared in IRB: Ethics & Human Research. The second article, “Phase I participants’ views of quality of life and trial participation burdens,” appeared in the journal, Supportive Care in Cancer, and was co-authored by Jacquelyn Slomka, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral sciences and ethics, School of Public Health (SPH).

Samuel Kaplan, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, MS coauthored “Novel Heme-based Oxygen Sensor with a Revealing Evolutionary History” in the Sept. 28, 2007 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. This paper was subsequently selected for Faculty of 1000 Biology, an online service that evaluates the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences, based on the recommendations of top world researchers.

Dr. Kaplan also coauthored “Comparative genomics and sitedirected mutagenesis support the existence of only one input channel for protons in the C-family (cbb3 oxidase) of hemecopper oxygen reductase,” published in the Sept. 4, 2007 issue of Biochemistry.

“Bacterial cytoskeleton: Not your run-of-the-mill tubulin” was pubished in the August issue of Current Biology by William Margolin, Ph.D., professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, MS.