OFFICE OF THE VICE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES
Research Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 2
June, 2013
Inside this issue:
Research Updates
2
Policy News
3
Announcements
3
Faculty News
4
Grants
4
Presentations
4
Publications
4-5
Awards and Achievements
6
Meetings
6
Other Activities
6
New Faculty
6
Post-doc News
7
Compliance
7
Commercialization 8 CTSA
8
Graduate Studies Newsletter
Research Office
Volume 2, Issue 2
Page 2
Research Office Updates Greetings from the COM Research Office. As the weather starts to heat up we are all rolling up our sleeves and preparing for the merger with TAMU. Fortunately, on the research side we have always worked closely with our TAMU counterparts on research administration, commercialization, and compliance, so the merger shouldn’t cause any immediate major changes in our operations. While details about how the overall HSC research administration will interface with TAMU are still being developed, at the college level we will continue our normal day-to-day activities. While the merger preparation inches forward, our researchers continue to be productive with an effective second and third quarter of FY13. There were146 proposals submitted and 82 awards received totaling $10,815,735. The breakdown by months in the second and third quarters are shown below.
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Research News Policy News
In case you missed it, the Office of Sponsored Research Services (OSRS) changed its name to Sponsored Research Services (SRS). Their website URL has been changed to http://srs.tamus.edu/ to reflect this change. During the last year as RF transitioned to OSRS and then to SRS there have continued to be some problems with both pre- and post-awards. If you have had any difficulties please let us know as the VPR’s office is trying to gauge the scope of the problems and help construct strategies to improve the service.
In April SRS also issued new guidelines for proposal submission deadlines. Initial notification about a submission should be at least 4 full business days prior to the sponsor submission deadline, and the final submission of the completed application should be no later than 3:00 pm two full business days prior to the sponsor submission deadline. For example, if the sponsor’s deadline is 5:00 pm on Friday, then the complete proposal should be submitted by 3:00 on Wednesday. While SRS will accept proposals that do not adhere to these deadlines, they cannot guarantee adequate review and submission of late proposals. For late proposals the PI will be asked to sign a waiver form acknowledging that SRS may not be able to review and submit the proposal on time. Bottom line–start the process early and don’t wait till the eleventh hour to complete your proposal!
I wanted to remind everyone that COM has a Research Advisory Committee that meets monthly to discuss and review research-related issues across the college. The membership and meeting times can be found at http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/ research/committees/research-advisory.html. This group helps resolve problems, consults on policy development and implementation, assists with strategic planning, and generally provides advice on research issues for the college. If you have topics for the committee please contact Mary Ann Wolff (mawolff@medicine.tamhsc.edu) or one of the members to have it put on the agenda.
The HSC website has a nice compilation of research rules and policies at http://www.tamhsc.edu/departments/orgs/research/ guidelines.html, and this would be a good starting point when looking for information on research-related issues.
Announcements
Congratulations to the CSTAR Grand Rounds program for another excellent series in the spring semester. These seminars are intended to be a focal event for the college and the greater HSC/TAMU community and provide a venue to bring together students, faculty, and trainees at all levels to enjoy and learn about cutting edge translational science.
The institutional NIH IDC rate will be decreasing from 46% to 45.5% as of September 1, 2013.
The HSC will soon be implementing a monthly “content calendar” on their website. Each month will have a theme, and around that theme the calendar will feature research and/or education-related stories from each component. You may be contacted about contributing information about your research program or teaching activities for these stories.
The Summer Research Program began May 28 and includes 15 undergraduates and 23 of our medical students. 16 students will be working in Bryan/College Station, 5 in Houston, and 17 in Temple. We are looking forward to another exciting and productive research experience for these students, and hope to see everyone at the Poster Reception Day on Wednesday, August 7 where the students will all have the opportunity to present their work.
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Faculty News Grants
Congratulations to Dr. Keith Young from Psychiatry & Behavioral Science who received a $1,583,006 grant from DOD-US Army Medical Research ACQ Activity entitled The Root Cause of Post Traumatic and Development Stress Disorders.
Presentations
Chico
Reddy
Winzer-Serhan
Diane Chico, Ph.D., attended the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Southern Group on Educational Affairs in Savannah, GA and presented a poster by D. Chico & I. Murray entitled "Enhancing Student Understanding of Histological Structure-Function Relationships".
Samba Reddy gave an oral presentation entitled “A neurosteroid-based novel treatment for OP-intoxication” at the 6th Annual CounterACT Network Research Symposium, San Francisco, CA. 2012.
Ursula Winzer-Serhan, Ph.D. presented a seminar entitled “The long-lasting consequences of developmental nicotine exposure" at the Texas A&M Toxicology program.
Anjali Rai, Irina Nizamutdinova, Rakeshwar Guleria, Jonny Kendall, Sen Zhu, Kenneth M. Baker, and Jing Pan presented “Alltrans retinoic acid inhibits high glucose-induced fibrosis through regulation of NF-B signaling” at the Medical Student Association (AMSA) national conference Mar, 2013, (Poster).
Sen Zhu, Rakeshwar Guleria, Amar Singh, Irina Nizamutdinova, Tatiana Souslova, Amin A. Mohammad, Kenneth M. Baker, and
Publications
Circulating miRNAs as Potential Marker for Pulmonary Hypertension Chuanyu Wei, Heather Henderson, Christopher Spradley, Li Li, Il-Kwon Kim, Sandeep Kumar, Nayeon Hong, Alejandro C. Arroliga, Sudhiranjan Gupta PLoS ONE 8(5): e64396, 2013 Circulating miRNA as novel markers for diastolic dysfunction Nandini Nair, Sandeep Kumar and Sudhiranjan Gupta* Mol. Cell. Biochem. 376: 33-40, 2013 Does Cyclosporine Down Regulate IL-17 in Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy? Nandini Nair, Luciano Potena, Sandeep Kumar, Sudhiranjan Gupta; Enrique Gongora, Federica Angeli, Paolo Romani Open Journal of Organ Transplant Surgery, 3: 1-4, 2013 Role of mir-142-3p In the Post-Transcriptional Regulation of the Clock Gene Bmal1 In the Mouse SCN. PLoS ONE, in press. Shende, V., Neuendorff, N. and Earnest, D.J. Long-lasting distortion of GABA signaling in MS/DB neurons after binge-like ethanol exposure during initial synaptogenesis. Wang, H., DuBois, DW., Tobery, AN., Griffith, WH., Brandt, P., Frye, G.D. Brain Research 2013, In Press. Estrous cycle-regulation of extrasynaptic δ-containing GABA-A receptor-mediated tonic inhibition and limbic epileptogenesis in mice. Wu X, Gangisetty O, Carver CM and Reddy DS (2013). J Pharmacol Exp Therap 2013 May 10. [Epub ahead of print] The pathophysiological and pharmacological basis of current drug treatment of migraine headache. Reddy DS (2013). Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology May; 6(3):271-288.
Volume 2, Issue 2
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Publications
Finasteride inhibits the disease-modifying activity of progesterone in the hippocampus kindling model of epileptogenesis. Reddy DS and Ramanathan G. Epilepsy & Behavior (in press). New drugs of 2012: A concise overview of NMEs and trends for innovative brand markets in the United States. Reddy DS (2013). Int J Pharm Sci Nanotech 6(2):2009-2013. The menstrual cycle, sex hormones and neuronal excitability. In: Epilepsy in Women (edited by C. Harden, T. Tomson, S. Thomas). Reddy DS (2012). Wiley-Blackwell, UK. In press. Novel role for vinculin in ventricular myocyte mechanics and dysfunction. Tangney JR, Chuang JS, Janssen MS, Krishnamurthy A, Liao P, Hoshijima M, Wu X, Meininger GA, Muthuchamy M, Zemljic-Harpf A, Ross RS, Frank LR, McCulloch AD, and Omens JH. Biophys J. 2013; 104: 1623-33. Mitochondrial Atpif1 regulates haem synthesis in developing erythroblasts. Shah DI, Takahashi-Makise N, Cooney JD, Li L, Schultz IJ, Pierce EL, Narla A, Seguin A, Hattangadi SM, Medlock AE, Langer NB, Dailey TA, Hurst SN, Faccenda D, Wiwczar JM, Heggers SK, Vogin G, Chen W, Chen C, Campagna DR, Brugnara C, Zhou Y, Ebert BL, Danial NN, Fleming MD, Ward DM, Campanella M, Dailey HA, Kaplan J, Paw BH. Nature 2012; 491(7425): 608-12. Snx3 regulates recycling of the transferrin receptor and iron assimilation. Chen C, Garcia-Santos D, Ishikawa Y, Seguin A, Li L, Fegan KH, Hildick-Smith GJ, Shah DI, Cooney JD, Chen W, King MJ, Yien YY, Schultz IJ, Anderson H, Dalton AJ, Freedman ML, Kingsley PD, Palis J, Hattangadi SM, Lodish HF, Ward DM, Kaplan J, Maeda T, Ponka P, Paw BH. Cell Metab. 2013; 17(3): 34352. Impact factor: 13.668. Activation of Retinoid Receptor-Mediated Signaling Ameliorates Diabetes-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction in Zucker Diabetic Rats. Guleria RS, Singh AB, Nizamutdinova IT, Souslova T, Mohammad AA, Kendall JA, Baker KM, and Pan J. J Mol Cell Card. 2013 Feb 5 [Epub ahead of print]. NF-κB mediated miR-26a regulation in cardiac fibrosis targeting collagen I and CTGF genes. Wei C, Kim IK, Kumar S, Jayasinghe S, Hong N, Castoldi G, Catalucci D, Jones WK, and Gupta S. J Cell Physiol. 2012 2012 Dec 18. doi: 10.1002/jcp.24296. [Epub ahead of print]. Do Multiple NF-κB Activation Mechanisms Explain its Varied Effects in the Heart? Kumar R, Yong QC, Thomas CM. Ochsner J. 13: 157-165, 2013. Activation of the Renin-Angiotensin System in Heart Failure. Kumar R, Baker KM, Pan J. In: Heart Failure: A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease, 3rd edition, Editor: Douglas L. Mann. Elsevier Saunders, (In Press). Vesalius and the Emergence of Veridical Representation in Renaissance Anatomy, Russell, GA. (2013) In: The Fine Arts, Neurology and Neuroscience: History and Modern Perspectives. S. Finger, D. Zaidel, F. Boller & J. Bogousslavsky (Eds.), Elsevier. 50 pages; 18 figs. (in press). Dif-ferential retinal origins of separate anatomical channels for patternand motion vision in rabbit. Steele-Russell, M. I. Russell, J. A. Castiglioni, J. Graham. Experimental Brain Research © Springer-Verlag 2012. 10.1007/s00221-012-3198-1.
Awards and Achievements
At the 19th TANA Convention held in Dallas, TX from May 24-26, 2013, Dr. Samba Reddy, Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at College of Medicine in the TAMHSC Bryan campus, was presented the prestigious 2013 TANA Award of Excellence. This award from the non-profit TANA Inc. recognizes scientific professionals in the community around the globe who have made outstanding accomplishments in science or academia. This meeting, which was held at the Dallas Convention Center, attracted nearly 10,000 people from all over the U.S. and many guests from India, Canada and abroad. Indian tourism minister & film star Dr. K. Chiranjeevi presented the award to Dr. Reddy at the awards banquet attended by over 2,000 dignitaries. The neuroscientist was felicitated by Justice Chalameshwar, a Hon’ble Judge in the Supreme Court of India who was here as the guest of honor for the award function.
Dr. Candice Thomas, Postdoctoral Research Associate, received 1st place award for poster presentation at S&W Internal Medicine Research Day in March 2013.
Dr. Rickyn Patel, Resident PGY3, received 3rd place award for oral presentation at S&W Internal Medicine Research Day in March 2013.
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Meetings
The Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) held its 4th Research Symposium in the HSC Medical Education Center at Scott & White in Temple on May 2 and 3. More than 160 faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, staff scientists and graduate students from the HSC and TAMU participated in the event. The program for the symposium can be viewed at http:// medicine.tamhsc.edu/research/centers/cvri/index.html.
The 6th International Symposium on Mesenchymal Stem/Progenitor Cells –“ MSCs and Cancers: Issues and Opportunities” was held May 3 at the Texas Institute for Preclinical Studies in College Station. This annual event is sponsored by our Institute for
Other Activities
Dostal
Gupta
Guo
Dr. Dostal served as Co-chair for the AHA Signaling-3 Grant Peer-Review Committee, April 11, 2013. Dr. Gupta accepted an Academic Editor position for PLoS One. Dr. Guo is a guest editor for the Journal of Endocrinology for the Special Issue review entitled "Energy, Insulin Resistance and the Metabolic Syndrome" which will publish at the end of 2013. Dr. Guo has also agreed to write a review article on the topic of ‘Insulin Signaling, Resistance, and Metabolic Syndrome’ for the special issue of this journal.
New Faculty
K. Yeon Choi, Ph. D., joined the Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Choi studies cytomegaloviruses, and she is located on the second floor of the SRPH research building in the Laboratory for Molecular and Pathogenic Virology.
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Post-doc News
In June, look for an email from the PDA regarding an all-members lunch-time meeting (food provided).
The PDA is awaiting approval for post-doc travel awards to scientific meetings. Get the details at our June meeting (TBA).
September 23-27 is Postdoc Appreciation Week. A way for PI's and the PDA to say 'thanks' for all the hard work and great research!
The Medical Center postdoctoral career symposium held in Houston last month was a huge success! Dialogues have started on the potential to shuttle B/CS and Galveston postdocs to Houston to encourage partipation. For more info on session summaries, check http://www.apcstmc.org/session-summaries.html, which is continually updated!
Compliance
IRIS: Just a quick reminder that the iRIS system (https://imedris.tamu.edu/) is now the single stop portal for research compliance protocols such as IBC, IACUC, and IRB. The login uses your UIN and SSO password. Be sure to check the System/ Browser Requirements tab on the login page before starting as failure to use the recommended settings can caused problems. If you need help logging in or working with the program the hotline number is 979-845-4969. If you continue to have problems with iRIS (or any other research system, e.g. Maestro) please document them and send them to Mary Ann Wolff (mawolff@medicince.tamhsc.edu), and we will take them forward to the appropriate HSC and/or TAMU offices.
Export control: Increased attention, at both the national and local levels, is being focused on compliance with export control issues. There is now an Export Control website (http://vpr.tamu.edu/resources/export-controls) through the TAMU VPR’s office that contains valuable information and resources pertaining to faculty responsibilities. If you are shipping materials outside the USA or are traveling abroad, please check this site to ensure that you follow the regulations. Brad Krugel (bkrugel@tamu.edu; 979-458-1467) at TAMU is in charge of export control and can be contacted for questions or concerns.
Maestro: Starting May 27, Maestro is now the portal for FCOI (Financial Conflict of Interest) submissions. This will allow direct coupling of FCOI information (training, disclosures, and management plans) to grant submissions. Julie Bishop (jbishop@tamhsc.edu) in Dr. Carlson’s office is our resident Maestro expert, so please contact her if you have problems.
The TAMU Office of Research Compliance and Biosafety has restarted its Biosafety Newsletter and the current and past editions can be found at http://rcb.tamu.edu/more/publications/newsletter . These newsletters provide important updates and general information, and I encourage everyone to look them over when they are released.
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Commercialization
On February 5, 2013, the newest company LymphaCor Therapeutics, based on technology from the College of Medicine, was born. This company was founded to advance the work of Dr. Mariappan Muthuchamy in the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine, College of Medicine. Dr. Sanjukta Chakraborty, postdoctoral research associate, is also a cofounder of the company. Lymphatic inflammation is closely associated with the onset and progression of a large number of diseases including IBD and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), which affect almost 40 million Americans. Currently, there is currently no cure for IBD and the primary goal of disease management is only to minimize complications and unnecessary suffering. A similar situation exists for MetSyn, which is a cluster of metabolic risk factors increasing the chances of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The mission of LymphaCor is to address these unmet therapeutic needs by targeting specific microRNAs (miRNA) that modulate both the inflammatory and lymphangiogenic pathways in these diseases. Drs. Mutachamy and Chakraborty’s preliminary data shows that a specific miRNA is implicated in these inflammatory and lymphangiogenic processes as one of the key determinants in balancing the inflammatory and signaling cascades. LymphaCor has applied for a NIH Phase I SBIR grant for the development of effective miRNA preclinical candidates for human use. It is hoped that this work will lead to preclinical studies resulting in the submission of an Investigational New Drug Application for new therapies for IBD and MetSyn to FDA. LymphaCor Therapeutics is part of the HSC unique program for creating new startup companies designed to accelerate new therapies to the market. This program was created in collaboration with the New Ventures office at the Office of Technology Commercialization. If you have questions about this program or believe that the results of your results could be accelerated into new therapies in this program please contact Joe Jilka, Director of Commercialization, at 979-436-0586.
CTSA Updates 
The Texas A&M Clinical & Translational Research (CSTAR) Institute received HSC approval this spring and is now formally active. The Executive Committee is actively pursuing the Institute objectives while waiting to hear from NIH about our most recent CTSA application (to be reviewed in June). Some specific activities in progress include: Crafting a proposal to obtain formal BOR approval for the CSTAR Institute Creating a CSTAR Institute website (coming soon at http://cstrinstitute.tamhsc.edu/) Developing a new Ph.D. program in Clinical and Translational Science Establishing a biomedical informatics program In addition to the activities in progress, the CSTAR Institute has implemented a Pilot Grant Program (PGP) to promote team research across the spectrum of clinical and translational science. The overall goal of the PGP is to catalyze innovative, high risk/high gain interdisciplinary and collaborative clinical and translational research projects. Emphasis is on developing novel approaches and methodologies for cost-effective execution of research projects and testing feasibility of novel approaches for conducting clinical and translational research. The PGP is expected to invigorate the clinical and translational research environment and enhance the potential for competitive multi-investigator grant applications to the NIH. This program has been initiated by the CSTAR Institute with $100,000 of institutional support from the College of Medicine and the Office of the VPR, and has generated enthusiastic participation that is stimulating novel interdisciplinary collaborations that might not otherwise occur. Rigorous peer review was used to select two proposals for funding at $50,000 each. The PI academic unit will provide matching funding. The CSTAR Institute will work with each awardee research team to establish CSTAR Studios to facilitate and leverage interdisciplinary resources and services to maximize productivity. The inaugural awardees are:
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CTSA Updates
“Cannabinoid CB2 Receptor Selective Agonists to Improve Prognosis of Pancreatic Cancer” PI: Dai Lu, Ph.D., Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rangel College of Pharmacy, Paul Chiao, Ph.D., M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Alexandros Makriyannis, Ph.D., Center of Drug Discovery, Northeastern University, and Teresa Olszewska, Ph.D., Rangel College of Pharmacy
“Manipulation of the Renin-Angiotensin System as Therapy for Viral Pneumonias” PI: Julian Leibowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Microbial & Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine David Dostal, Ph.D., Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine Pinghua Liu, Ph.D., Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine Shekhar Ghamande, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
One Health Updates The One Health Program now offers a One Health Certificate Program for Graduate and Professional Students. For additional information and the application form please visit their website at http://onehealth.tamu.edu/education/certificateprogram-requirements.
Mission OFFICE OF THE VICE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES
Primary Business Address MREB Suite 1001 8447 State Highway 47 Bryan, TX 77807-3260 Phone: 979-436-0314 Fax: 979-436-0086 E-mail: mawolff@medicine.tamhsc.edu
www.tamhsc.edu
The mission of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Office of Research is to coordinate and provide guidance in research, technology commercialization and related programs within the College of Medicine.