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September 2008

Dear Colleagues

What’s on my mind this month is the School of Medicine’s reaccreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Review. As you know, the LCME survey team visited the School of Medicine last February, and provided its recommendations to the LCME shortly thereafter. An LCME committee then met in early June to review and evaluate the survey team’s recommendations. It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the LCME voted to continue accreditation of the educational program leading to the MD degree at the School of Medicine for an eight-year term. The program’s next full survey will take place during the 2015—2016 academic year.

The LCME concurred with the survey team that the following represent institutional strengths:

The Office of Medical Education, headed by Associate Dean David B. Mallott, MD, is lauded for its superb support of the curriculum.
The excellent resources and services provided by the library and the information technology staff facilitate the implementation and administration of the educational program.
Strong professional development programs and faculty mentoring efforts throughout the school are laudatory, as is the support provided by the Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, headed by Associate Dean Nancy R. Lowitt, MD, EDM, FACP.
Maturation of the revised curriculum in Years I and II has been facilitated by excellent communication and collegiality among faculty members and department chairs and through the oversight of the Curriculum Coordinating Committee.
The School of Medicine has benefited from strong decanal leadership over the past decade.
The accelerated growth of the research enterprise is especially noteworthy.
It is evident that an outstanding commitment to teaching permeates the institution. Read More

Paul A. Anthony, MD

Paul A. Anthony, MD, assistant professor, Department of Pathology, co-authored an article entitled "Tumor-specific Th17-polarized Cells Eradicate Large Established Melanoma" in the March 2008 issue of Blood: Journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Rebecca Brotman, PhD, MPH

Rebecca Brotman, PhD, MPH, interim visiting assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine and Institute for Genome Sciences, co-published an article entitled "The Effect of Vaginal Douching Cessation on Bacterial Vaginosis: A Pilot Study" in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, February, 2008 (DOI:10.1016/j.ajog.2007.11.043).

Brian Berman, MD

Robert W. Buchanan, MD, professor, James M. Gold, PhD, professor, Robert P. McMahon, PhD, associate professor, and William T. Carpenter, Jr., MD (above), professor, all from the Department of Psychiatry, co-authored "The Cognitive and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia Trial (CONSIST): The Efficacy of Glutatmatergic Agents for Negative Symptoms and Cognitive Impairments" in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 164(10):1593-1602, 2007. Additionally, Drs. Buchanan, Gold and McMahon, along with Mary P. Ball, RN, CMS, instructor, Department of Psychiatry, co-authored "Galantamine for the Treatment of Cognitive Impairments in People with Schizophrenia" in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(1):82-89, 2008.

Rudolph J. Castellani, Jr., MD

Rudolph J. Castellani, Jr., MD, professor, Department of Pathology, co-authored an article entitled "Redox Active Iron Accumulation in Aceruloplasminemia" in the February 15, 2008, issue of Neuropathology. Additionally, Dr. Castellani co-authored an article entitled "Bilateral Internal Carotid Absence: A Case Report of a Rare Congenital Anomaly" in the March-April 2008 issue of Cardiovascular Pathology.

Richard Colgan , MD

Richard Colgan, MD, associate professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, published an article entitled "Risk Factors for Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Resistance in Patients with Acute Uncomplicated Cystitis" in the March 2008 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. In the article, Dr. Colgan describes a prediction rule that will enable doctors to choose the correct antibiotic more than 95 percent of the time by simply asking two clarifying questions to patients with bladder infections.

Douglas O. Frost, PhD

Douglas O. Frost, PhD, professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, co-published an article entitled "The Fibroblast Growth Factor System is Down-regulated Following Social Defeat" in Neuroscience Letters, 430 (2008) 147-150.

Barney J. Stern, MD

Barney J. Stern, MD, professor, Department of Neurology, published an article entitled "Neurology Education Research" in Neurology, 70, March 11, 2008.

M. Samir Jafri, PhD

M. Samir Jafri, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, co-published "Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging of the Inner Ear: A Feasibility Study with Implications for Cochlear Implantations" in Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, 117, 341-46, 2008.

Aakanksha Khandelwal, PhD;
Lalji K. Gediya, PhD; Vincent
C.O. Njar, PhD and T. Sean Vasaitis, PhD

Aakanksha Khandelwal, PhD, post-doctoral fellow, Lalji K. Gediya, PhD, post-doctoral fellow, and Vincent C.O. Njar, PhD (left), associate professor, all from the Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, co-published an article entitled "MS-275 Synergistically Enhances the Growth Inhibitory Effects of RAMBA VN/66-1 in Hormone-insensitive PC-3 Prostate Cancer Cells and Tumours" in the British Journal of Cancer, 2008 Apr 8;98(7):1234-43. Additionally, Drs. Njar, Khandelwal and Gediya, along with Puranik Purushottamachar, PhD, post-doctoral fellow, T. Sean Vasaitis, PhD, post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Angela Brodie, PhD, and Robert D. Bruno, BS, all from the Department of Pharmacology & Ex-perimental Therapeutics, co-published an article entitled "Potent Antiprostate Cancer Agents Derived from a Novel Androgen Receptor Down-regulating Agent" in the February 14, 2008, issue of Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. Mr. Bruno is a PhD student in Dr. Njar’s laboratory. In addition, Drs. Vasaitis and Njar co-published an article entitled "CYP17 Inhibitors for Prostate Cancer Treatment–An Update" in Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, 15: 868-899.

Stephen B. Liggett, MD

Stephen B. Liggett, MD, professor, Departments of Medicine and Physiology, co-published an article entitled "A G Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase-5 Polymorphism that Inhibits ß-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling is Protective in Heart Failure" in Nature Medicine in May 2008. Dr. Liggett also co-published an article entitled "Alternative Splicing of the G Protein-Coupled Receptor Superfamily in Human Airway Smooth Muscle Diversifies the Complement of Receptors" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 1, 2008; vol. 105 No. 13 pages 5230-5235.

Patricio O’Donnell, MD

Patricio O’Donnell, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, co-authored an article entitled "P. D2 Dopamine Modulation of Corticoaccumbens Synaptic Responses Changes during Adolescence" in European Journal of Neuroscience, 27 (2008) 1364-1372.

Hong-Qi Peng, MD, MS

Hong-Qi Peng, MD, MS, assistant professor, Department of Pathology, co-authored a paper entitled "Evaluation of Performance of EUS FNA in Preoperative Node Staging of Cancers of Esophagus, Lung and Pancreas" in the May 2008 issue of Journal of Diagnostic Cytopathology. This is a collaborative study between the Department of Pathology’s Division of Cytology and the Department of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology.

Thomas W. Donner, MD

Thomas W. Donner, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, published an article entitled "Tagatose, A New Anti-diabetic and Obesity Control Drug," in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity and Nutrition, 2008;10:109-134, as well as "Diabetes Management in the Hospital," in Medical Clinics of North America 2008;92(2):407-425.

William F. Regine, MD

William F. Regine, MD, professor and chair, Jeanette Linder, MD, assistant professor, Ritesh Kataria, MS, research specialist, and Galina Tucker, MD, research manager, all from the Department of Radiation Oncology, co-published an article entitled "The Proliferation of Primary Cancer Caregiving Stress to Secondary Stress" in Cancer Nursing, 2008:31(2):116-123. Additionally, Dr. Regine published "Fluorouracil vs. Gemcitabine Chemotherapy Before and After Fluorouracil-Based Chemoradiation Following Resection of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma a Randomized Controlled Trial" in the March 5, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Through the study, Dr. Regine, who is the principal investigator, found that adding the drug gemcitabine to standard chemotherapy and radiation following surgery improved survival for patients with the most common form of pancreatic cancer. The study focused on patients with pancreatic head adenocarcinoma, or cancer of the head of the pancreas. However, researchers concluded that new, more effective systemic therapies are still needed to prevent recurrence of this often-deadly disease.

Silvia A. Piñeiro, PhD

Silvia A. Piñeiro, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Medical & Research Technology, co-published a manuscript entitled "Phylogenetic Relationships amongst the Saltwater Members of the Genus Bacteriovorax using rpoB Sequences and Reclassification of Bacteriovorax stolpii as Bacteriolyticum stolpii gen. nov., comb. nov." in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionaly Microbiology, 58: 1203-1209.

Mohan Suntha, MD

Mohan Suntha, MD, professor and vice chair, and Nancy Kennedy, RN, CCRA, both from the Department of Radiation Oncology, co-published an article entitled "Cetuximab with Concurrent Chemoradiation for Esophagogastric Cancer: Assessment of Toxicity" in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2008:70(2): 391-395.

Horea Rus, MD

Horea Rus, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, published an article entitled "B-cells and Humoral Immunity in Multiple Sclerosis" in Implications for Therapy/Immunologic Research, 2008; 40(3):224-34. This is Dr. Rus’ 100th publication.

Thomas Blanpied, PhD

Thomas Blanpied, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Physiology, and a recent R01 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grantee, was one of four new NIMH investigators invited to present research at the 218th Meeting of the National Advisory Mental Health Council Open Policy Session in Bethesda, MD, in May 2008. Dr. Blan-pied’s R01 is entitled "Internal Dynamics of the Postsynaptic Density."

Loren P. Thompson, PhD

Loren P. Thompson, PhD, associate professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, was an invited speaker at the International Conference on High Risk Pregnancy and Fetal Maternal Medicine in Xian, China, in May 2008. His lecture was entitled "Impact of the Adverse Intrauterine Environment on Fetal Growth and Organ Function."

Timm-Michael Dickfeld, MD, PhD

Timm-Michael L. Dickfeld, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, presented an abstract entitled "AV- Freeze: Prospective Safety Assessment of Cryo-Effects on the Human AV Node" at the meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago in March 2008. This study demonstrated that unwanted effects of cryoenergy can persist in a large number of patients.

Niel Constantine, PhD

Niel Constantine, PhD, professor, Department of Pathology and Institute of Human Virology, was an invited speaker for the HIV Congress 2008 in Mumbai, India, in March 2008. In his presentation, "Point of Care Testing and Monitoring for HIV Infection," Dr. Constantine spoke about newer technologies appropriate for HIV identification and manual CD4 monitoring of infected persons in physician offices, public health clinics and health care facilities in remote venues.

William F. Morgan, PhD

William F. Morgan, PhD, DSc, professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, presented "Low Dose Radiation: Strengthening Scientific and Industrial Cooperation in Support of Effective Risk Management" at an international scientific symposium in Miami in April 2008. Also that month, Dr. Morgan gave an invited lecture at the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements’ 44th Annual Meeting in Bethesda, MD, followed by a lecture entitled "Omics for Assessing Unclear Risks" at an international workshop in Berlin, Germany, in May 2008.

Alan Shuldiner, MD

Alan Shuldiner, MD, Whitehurst Professor of Medicine, presented "Translating Type II Diabetes and Related Traits Whole Genome Association Studies" at the National Institutes of Health’s Genes, Environment and Health Initiative Symposium on Translating Whole Genome Association Data into Clinical Practice in Bethesda, MD, in March 2008. Additionally, Dr. Shuldiner presented "Pharmacogenomics of Antiplatelet Agents" at the International Conference on Pharmacogenomics, in Busan, Korea, in April 2008.

Stephen B. Liggett, MD

Stephen B. Liggett, MD, professor, Departments of Medicine and Physiology, was an invited speaker at the Johns Hopkins University Pediatric Pulmonary Research Conference in March 2008. His lecture was entitled "Unexpected Partners in GPCR Signaling in Airway Contraction/Relaxation Relevant to Asthma." Additionally, in April 2008, Dr. Liggett presented "Atypical Signal Switching Modulates Airway Contraction and Relaxation" at the Johns Hopkins University Asthma and Allergy Center, spoke at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, presenting "New Insights into Polymorphic Variation of the ß2-Adrenergic Receptor and ß-Agonist Therapy," and presented a lecture on the "Pharmacogenomics of Asthma Treatment" at the Howard University College of Medicine.

Rudolph J. Castellani, Jr., MD

Rudolph J. Castellani, Jr., MD, professor, Department of Pathology, presented "Prion Diseases in the United States" at the International Congress for Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity in Bucharest, Romania, in March 2008. Additionally, Dr. Castellani presented "Prion Diseases in the Baltimore, Maryland Area: A Recent Survey" at the American Association of Neuropathologists Meeting in San Diego in April 2008.

Sanford A. Stass, MD

Sanford A. Stass, MD, professor and chair, Department of Pathology, and interim chair, Department of Medical & Research Technology, moderated a session called "Expanding the Biomarker Pipeline" at the National Cancer Institute’s 5th Annual Early Detection Research Network Scientific Workshop in Bethesda, MD, in March 2008.

Mark W. Rogers, PT, PhD, FAPTA

Mark W. Rogers, PT, PhD, FAPTA, joined the Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science in May 2008 as interim visiting assistant professor, vice chair for Research and director of the PhD Program in Rehabilitation Science. Previously, Dr. Rogers was associate professor and associate chair for Post-professional Education and associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at Northwestern University. His research interests include motor control of human posture and balance in healthy adults and persons with movement dysfunction due to aging, Parkinson’s disease and stroke.

Joyce Frye, DO, MBA, MSCE

Joyce Frye, DO, MBA, MSCE, joined the Departments of Family & Community Medicine and Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences in March 2008 as a clini-cal assistant professor. Previously, Dr. Frye worked for the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania as a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine post-doctoral fellow and the City of Philadelphia Health Department as a clinician. Also, Dr. Frye served as chair of the Department of Gynecology at Presbyterian Medical Center and has practiced integrative medicine since her earliest medical training days, co-founding the Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Frye provides homeopathy consultations and second opinions regarding gynecological surgery and infertility as well as osteopathic manipulative medicine and nutritional and guided imagery support to surgical patients.

Lauren Richter, DO, Mac

Lauren Richter, DO, Mac, joined the Department of Family & Community Medicine in April 2008 as a clinical assistant professor. Previously, Dr. Richter was an associate professor of Clinical Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Board certified in family medicine in 1989, Dr. Richter has been practicing as a primary care physician since 1986, and has been a primary care provider at Maryland Primary Care Physicians in Anne Arundel County since December 2000. She obtained her licensure as a medical acupuncturist in the state of Maryland in 2004. Dr. Richter consults with patients at the Integrative Medicine clinic in Kernan Hospital and provides a full range of family practice services.

Elijah Saunders, MD

Elijah Saunders, MD, professor, Department of Medicine, was interviewed on NBC Nightly News on March 31, 2008, about the Baltimore Hair, Heart and Health Program. This program trains area barbers and hair stylists to reach out to their customers and pre-screen them for high blood pressure, based on the American Heart Association guidelines, and then make appropriate healthcare referrals. This effort is proving to be highly successful in the African-American community. The program, launched in 2006, is a collaborative effort of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the school’s Community Health Awareness and Monitoring Program and CareFirst Blue-Cross BlueShield.

Timm-Michael Dickfeld, MD, PhD

Timm-Michael Dickfeld, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, was interviewed by ABC News about the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardia during the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting on March 30, 2008. Dr. Dickfeld’s interview can be seen on ABC News’ Heart Health Web site at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HeartDisease.

Ronald B. Gartenhaus, MD

Ronald B. Gartenhaus, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine and Program in Oncology, received a three-year $325,000 Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute Clinical Innovator Award for "Translational Control and Breast Cancer Development."

Anne Hamburger, PhD

Anne Hamburger, PhD, professor, Department of Pathology and Program in Oncology, received a one-year $112,500 Department of Defense Concept Award for "Negative Regulation of ErbB Signaling in Breast Cancer by the ErbB3 Binding Protein Ebp1."

Feng Jiang, MD, PhD

Feng Jiang, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pathology, received a two-year $150,000 RO3 grant from the National Cancer Institute for his project entitled "A Genetic Test for Lung Cancer Early Detection."

Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD

Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD, professor, Department of Physiology, received a five-year $1 million competing renewal National Institutes of Health pre-doctoral training grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for the "Training Program in Neuroscience."

Edward Sausville, MD, PhD

Edward Sausville, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine and Program in Oncology, received a two-year $750,000 R21 Quick Trial from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his work entitled "Treatment of Melanoma with Wild-Type P53 and Detectable S10B Using Pentamidine: A Phase II Trial with Correlative Biomarker End-points." Additionally, Dr. Sausville received two more grants from the NCI, a five-year, $4 million K-12 Paul Calabresi Award for Clinical Oncology and a five-year $2.9 million U01 award for "Early Clinical Trials of New Anti-Cancer Agents." Dr. Sausville’s co-investigators on the last award are Martin Edelman, MD, professor, Maria Baer, MD, professor, and Ivana Gojo, MD, associate professor, all from the Department of Medicine.

James Nataro, MD, PhD

James Nataro, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Pediatrics and Center for Vaccine Development, received a four-year $3,414,292 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entitled "Live Attenuated Bacterial Vaccines against Plaque." This grant will provide support for final pre-clinical development of a Salmonella-based platform technology, the ultimate intent of which is to provide protection against anthrax and plague in a single vaccine, combined with protection against typhoid fever provided by the vector itself.

Yun Qiu, PhD

Yun Qiu, PhD, associate professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, has received two three-year grants, each for $562,500, from the U.S. Army Research and Material Command for her works entitled "The Role of Tyrosine Kinase Etk in Chemoresistance of Prostate Cancer" and "The Role of EZH2 in Prostate Cancer Progression."

Jacques Ravel, PhD and
Rebecca Brotman, PhD, MPH

Jacques Ravel, PhD, associate professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute for Genome Sciences, and Rebecca Brotman, PhD, MPH, interim visiting assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine and Institute for Genome Sciences, received a one-year $50,000 Other Tobacco-Related Diseases Research Grant from the Maryland Tobacco Restitution Fund for their work entitled "Effects of Smoking on Women’s Reproductive Health."

H. Moo Kwon, PhD

H. Moo Kwon, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, received a five-year $1.6 million competitive renewal R01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for his work entitled "Tonicity Signaling to TonEBP Transcription Factor."

Feyruz Rassool, PhD

Feyruz Rassool, PhD, associate professor, Department of Radiation Oncology and Program in Oncology, received a three-year $1.5 million Maryland Stem Cell Exploratory Research Grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation for "Dissecting the Genetics and Epigenetic Origins Underlying Tumorigenic Potential of Human Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells."

Stuart S. Martin, PhD

Stuart S. Martin, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Physiology and Program in Oncology, received a two-year $230,000 Maryland Stem Cell Exploratory Research Grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation for "Novel Therapies to Destroy Circulating Breast Tumor Stem Cells."

Eric Balzer, PhD

Eric Balzer, PhD, Graduate Program in Life Sciences PhD student, received a three-year $97,200 Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program Breast Cancer Pre-doctoral Fellowship for his work entitled "Molecular Alterations that Reduce Cortical Containment of Tubulin Microtentacles and Their Impact on Breast Tumor Metastasis." Stuart Martin, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Physiology, is Dr. Balzer’s mentor.

Edward Cho, PhD

Edward Cho, PhD, Graduate Program in Life Sciences PhD student, received a three-year $97,200 Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program Breast Cancer Pre-doctoral Fellowship for his work "Elucidating the Role of Aberrant Microtubule Nucleation in Breast Cancer Metastasis." Stuart Martin, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Physiology, is Dr. Cho’s mentor.

Geoffrey Girnun, PhD

Geoffrey Girnun, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Program in Oncology, was awarded a three-year $450,000 Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Award for his work entitled "Bioenergetic Control of Breast Cancer Growth by the Transcriptional Coactivator PGC1alpha."

Margit Horiba, MD

Margit Horiba, MD, clinical fellow, Department of Medicine, received a two-year $80,000 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Fellowship Award for her work entitled "Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells in NSCLC Influence of Tumor Bulk and COX-2." Martin Edelman, MD, professor, Department of Medicine, is Dr. Horiba’s mentor.

Thelma B. Wright, MD

Thelma B. Wright, MD, assistant professor, Department of Anesthesiology, was appointed director of the Pain Medicine Division. Dr. Wright is board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine and directs the University of Maryland Pain Medicine Fellowship Program for the Department of Anesthesiology and the University of Maryland Pain Management Center at Kernan Hospital.

Yvette Rooks, MD, CAQ, FAAFP

Yvette Rooks, MD, CAQ, FAAFP, assistant professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, was installed as president of the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians, effective June 27, 2008, for a two-year term. Additionally, she was promoted to vice chair of the Department of Family & Community Medicine, effective July 1, 2008.

Seung Lee, MD

Seung Lee, MD, was promoted to assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Lee is board certified in anesthesiology and practices pain medicine at the University of Maryland Pain Management Center at Kernan Hospital.

Stephen B. Liggett, MD

Stephen B. Liggett, MD, professor, Departments of Medicine and Physiology, was inducted into the Interurban Clinical Club in Boston on April 4, 2008. Founded by Sir William Osler in 1906, the organization consists of physician investigators from Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New Haven and New York.

Janine Good, MD

Janine Good, MD, associate professor, Department of Neurology, was invited to be a member of the University Health Consortium’s (UHC) Operations Committee. The University Health Consortium is a nationwide organization composed of academic medical centers. This committee is comprised of 12 individuals, including administrative and physician leaders, who represent a broad geographic distribution as well as a variety of ambulatory care structures. The Operations Committee acts in an advisory role to provide strategic perspective and tactical input on the value of UHC, with focus on identifying opportunities for UHC to meet member needs through its initiatives, products and service offerings.

Donna S. Hanes, MD

Donna S. Hanes, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, was chosen by the School of Medicine’s Class of 2008 to receive the American Medical Student Association’s Golden Apple Award. Dr. Hanes received the Golden Apple Award at pre-commencement on May 16, 2008. The award recognizes a faculty member who has shown particular interest in medical education and excellence in teaching in both the preclinical and clinical years.

Mario Pizarro

Mario Pizarro, graduate student, Department of Medical & Research Technology, received a fellowship from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography-Minority Program for his project entitled "Characterization of a Nudix Hydrolase BM2 from Bacteriovorax marinus SJ." This fellowship award covered all his expenses to participate in the 2008 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Orlando in March 2008, where he gave an oral presentation. Mr. Pizarro’s research investigation was conducted under the mentorship of Silvia Piñeiro, PhD, assistant professor, in the Department of Medical & Research Technology.

Timothy B. Gilbert, MD, MBA, MSc, FACC

Timothy B. Gilbert, MD, MBA, MSc, FACC, professor and vice chair, Department of Anesthesiology, and professor, Department of Medicine, was awarded the 2008 Distinguished Service Award for his service as an officer, board director and long-standing member of the Baltimore City Medical Society. Dr. Gilbert has been a member of the Baltimore City Medical Society since 1992.

Miriam Laufer, MD

Miriam Laufer, MD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics and Center for Vaccine Development, received the prestigious Clinical Scientist Development Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Her project, "Malaria in Pregnancy," which is funded by this award, will identify the timing of maternal peripheral malaria infection that causes placental infection and also will determine the vulnerable period during pregnancy when malaria infection is most likely to cause low birth weight, pre-term delivery and maternal anemia.

Shayna Rich

Shayna Rich, MD/PhD Student (Graduate Student II, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine), was awarded the American Geriatrics Society’s 2008 Edward Henderson Student Award. The Henderson Award is presented to a student interested in pursuing a career in geriatrics who has demonstrated excellence in the field. In order to be eligible for the award, Ms. Rich had to demonstrate her commitment to the field of geriatrics through leadership in areas pertinent to geriatrics, initiation of new information or programs in geriatrics or scholarship in geriatrics through original research or reviews. Mona Baumgarten, PhD, associate professor, Ann Gruber-Baldini, PhD, associate professor, and Ram Miller, MDCM, MS, FRCPC, assistant professor, all of whom are faculty members in the Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, nominated Ms. Rich for her outstanding achievements as a medical student who has demonstrated significant interest in geriatrics development and leadership.

Steven J. Prior, PhD

Steven J. Prior, PhD, post-doctoral fellow, Department of Medicine, received a three-year VA Career Development Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs for his work entitled "Aging, Angiogenesis and Metabolic Responses to Aerobic Exercise."