OF INTEREST
NEW FACULTY RECRUITS
Tetsuo Ashizawa, M.D. Tetsuo Ashizawa, M.D., joined the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute as director of the Neurosciences Research Program. Ashizawa, formerly executive director of the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida, organized and developed interdisciplinary neuroscience research programs involving multiple colleges and departments. As a physician-scientist, he is studying neurogenetic disorders caused by expansions of DNA sequences that are connected end-to-end and abnormally repeated.
Randa El-Zein, MBChB, Ph.D. Professor of Radiology Randa El-Zein, MBChB, Ph.D., received her medical degree from Alexandria University in Egypt, and her Ph.D. in human biological chemistry and genetics from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. El-Zein and her team developed a novel cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay that can measure susceptibility to lung cancer in high-risk individuals. Currently, they are working to combine the standard features of mammography with identification of blood-based biomarkers to more precisely indicate a woman’s risk for breast cancer-specific subtypes.
Paolo Zanotti Fregonara, M.D., Ph.D. An expert in PET image quantification, kinetic modeling for PET brain imaging, dosimetry and radioprotection, Paolo Zanotti Fregonara, M.D., Ph.D., joined Houston Methodist as the director of the Positron Emission Tomography Facility. Prior to joining Houston Methodist, Zanotti was an associate professor in the nuclear medicine department at the University of Bordeaux, France.
NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS
NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS APPROVED FROM JANUARY - JULY 2016 Endowed Professorship E. Brian Butler, M.D. - Jim and Joan Harrell Distinguished Professor in Radiation Oncology
Houston Methodist Research Institute Appointments/Promotions Bincy P. Abraham, M.D., M.S. - Associate Clinical Member Baiba Gillard, Ph.D. - Assistant Research Member
Phat Le, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in Oncology
Francesca Taraballi, Ph.D. - Instructor
Tristi W. Muir, M.D. - Acting Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Marija Vukicevic, Ph.D. - Assistant Research Member
Edward Lee, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Xiang Xiao, Ph.D. - Assistant Research Member Orthopedic Surgery Leila Neshatian, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Yicheng (Helen) Wang - Associate Research Medicine Member* Guodong Zhang, Ph.D. - Instructor
Ahmet Omurtag, Ph.D. - Adjunct Associate Professor of Computational Surgery
Institute For Academic Medicine Appointments/Promotions
Leif E. Peterson, Ph.D. - Professor of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics*
Carlos F. Bechara, M.D. - Associate Professor of Clinical Cardiovascular Surgery
Lidong Qin, Ph.D. - Professor of Nanomedicine*
Ye (Tony) Hu, Ph.D. - Associate Member* Eugene J. Koay, M.D., Ph.D. - Assistant Affiliate Member
Dolon Das, M.D. - Instructor in Medicine Adaani E. Frost, M.D. - Professor of Medicine
Dongfang Liu, Ph.D. - Assistant Member
Baiba Gilliard, Ph.D. - Assistant Research Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences
Alessandro Grattoni, Ph.D. - Associate Member* Nakul Gupta, M.D. - Assistant Clinical Member Dale J. Hamilton, M.D. - Full Clinical Member* Philip J. Horner, Ph.D. - Full Member
Rahul T. Pandit, M.D. - Associate Clinical Member Leif E. Peterson, Ph.D. - Full Member* Kumar Pichumani, Ph.D. - Associate Research Member Alan R. Prossin, M.D. - Assistant Affiliate Member Lidong Qin, Ph.D. - Full Member* Alpesh Shah, M.D. - Associate Clinical Member Haifa Shen, M.D., Ph.D. - Associate Member*
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Zheng-Zheng Shi, M.D., Ph.D. - Associate Research Member*
Alessandro Grattoni, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Nanomedicine* Dale J. Hamilton, M.D. - Professor of Clinical Medicine* Philip J. Horner, Ph.D. - Professor of Neuroregeneration Ye (Tony) Hu, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Nanomedicine*
Haifa Shen, M.D., Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Nanomedicine* Zheng-Zheng Shi, M.D,. Ph.D. - Associate Research Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences* Mark Sultenfuss, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology Yicheng (Helen) Wang - Associate Research Professor of Inflammation and Epigenetics* Jihad Georges Youssef, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine Guodong Zhang, Ph.D. - Instructor in Nanomedicine * Promotions