Research Newsletter - Spring 2013 by Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine

OFFICE OF THE VICE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES

Research Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1

January, 2013

Research Office Updates Inside this issue:

Research Updates Policy News

Announcements

Upcoming Events

Faculty News

Awards and Achievements

Grants

Meetings

Publications and Presentations

6-8

New Faculty

Post-doc News

8-9

Compliance

Commercialization 9

Welcome back from the holidays and Happy New Year from the Research Office. 2013 promises to be an interesting year as we move forward with the reunification with TAMU. While the specifics about how this reunification will be implemented remain unclear, there are certainly positive aspects from the research perspective. For example, our Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) proposal was submitted in early January, and this proposal stressed a highly integrated series of programs across the HSC, TAMU, and our clinical partners. The breadth of resources, faculty, and programs available among these entities is remarkable, and the combination of a health science center with a tier one research university provides our application with unique strengths and feature not available at most standalone health science centers. We believe that the robust characteristics of our combined institutions and the opportunity to enhance our institutional training and research in in the areas of clinical and translation science will be a transformative process with great impact on the new combined institution. I would also like to thank all of our PIs and their research teams for making FY12 a successful year for research grants. Given the funding climate, I was anticipating a possible decline in direct research expenditures for FY12, but we managed to hold level (Fig. 1) which is a testament to all the hard work by our faculty in scouring both federal and private agencies for funding opportunities. (If you are interested in more detailed information about research expenditure these numbers can be found in the HSC Rainbow Reports which are available under the Research tab in myHSC.) There were also some additional positive signs for FY12 such as the number of proposals (Fig. 2), awards (Fig. 3), and value of awards (Fig. 4) all increasing in FY12 compared to FY11. In addition, our total number of NIH grants increased from 73 in FY11 to 79 in FY12, and the number of PIs with NIH grants increased from 50 to 57. Interestingly, while our number of NIH grants increased, the percentage of our total college research portfolio derived from NIH funding dropped from 67% in FY11 to 55% in FY12. The decline in percentage of funding derived from NIH was balanced by an increase in funding from foundations and

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Research Newsletter

Research Office Updates

other non-federal sources. I believe this trend reflects a very positive and growing emphasis by our faculty to explore less traditional funding sources while NIH and other federal agencies remain mired in single digit paylines. I think we will be seeing similar trends in FY13, and hopefully our faculty will remain aggressive about submitting applications, developing collaborations, and finding whatever ways possible to support their research programs.

Policy News 

As we move forward towards reunification with TAMU there may be changes in compliance oversight, but until that time remember that the HSC has its own Office of Research Compliance, and their website has a wealth of information about policies, procedures, and training (http://www.tamhsc.edu/departments/orgs/compliance/index.html). I urge everyone to keep an eye on this sight for updates and useful information.

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As of September 1, 2012, all new research grants were to be submitted through the new Office of Sponsored Research Services (OSRS; http://osrs.tamus.edu/) rather than the Research Foundation. As existing grants handled through RF come up for renewal they will be transitioned to OSRS. If you have questions or concerns about how the OSRS is handling current or new grant submissions please contact the COM Office of Research (979-436-0314) or the VPR (979-436-0580).

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I wanted to thank everyone for their rapid and timely completion of the new training and forms for Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI), and the college has had excellence compliance. These new regulations went into effect last fall and apply to all PIs and most research staff (grad students, post-docs, etc.). There is still some ongoing evolution in our internal policy and process, so as changes occur we will provide updates through this newsletter or direct emails as needed. The latest information on current policy and training can be found at http://www.tamhsc.edu/departments/orgs/compliance/fcoi/index.html.

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Research News Announcements 

I wanted to remind everyone that the HSC Office of Research has the series of internal funding categories listed below. Please contact the VPR’s office if you have questions about these funding opportunities: Research Development Grants: Applicants of the Research Development Grants are eligible for awards up to $15,000 which are to be primarily used to generate pilot data for extramural grant applications. Allowable costs include supplies, specialized equipment, and salaries for research technicians. Faculty salaries, general use equipment (e.g., computers), and travel to scientific meetings will not be supported through this mechanism. Enhancement Grants: Enhancement grants are awarded to provide support for investigators who have submitted one or more proposals for peer reviewed (i.e., NIH, AHA) extramural funding that were not awarded, but are likely to be competitive for funding with additional pilot research data. Bridge Funding Grants: These grants provide support for existing funded research projects that have demonstrated likelihood of continued funding after resubmission. This program provides a mechanism for maintaining viability of existing research programs. Research Infrastructure Grants: Infrastructure grants provide support for acquisition of large research equipment and development of core research facilities. Cost-sharing and availability of matching funds from the HSC departments, centers, and components, as well as external institutions and agencies, are principal considerations in this award. Scientific Program Grants: These grants support meetings, symposia, and workshops designed to explore and stimulate development of new research within the HSC.

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The VPR’s office also publishes a Hot Topics research newsletter that lists current internal and external funding opportunities along with relevant HSC research news. The current and archived editions can be found at: http://www.tamhsc.edu/ departments/orgs/hot-topics1.html

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The NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant Program (S10) program is now active. The current closing date for applications is Mar 21, 2013. They expect to make about 85 awards of up to $500,000 each.

Upcoming Events 

I wanted to remind everyone again about the CSTAR Institute Grand Rounds series. These seminars are at noon on the first Tuesday of each month and are intended to be a unifying and focal event that brings together all faculty, students, and trainees across the HSC. The talks are geared towards a general audience and provide state-of-the-art information about important and topical subjects in biomedical science. The previous talks have been outstanding with content presented at a level that should be accessible to everyone in the audience. I urge everyone to get these events on your 2013 calendar and resolve to be an attendee and an active participant.

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The annual GSO Symposium will be held April 26th, from 8-5 at HPEB on the Bryan campus. The keynote speaker is Dr. Thomas Spencer, a former TAMU faculty member in Animal Sciences, now at Washington State University. His research interests include developmental biology and function of the uterus and placenta, endogenous retroviruses, and physiological genomics. The call for abstracts and the schedule of events will be announced later this semester, and I encourage all the grad students, med students, and post-docs to present and/or attend.

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The Cardiovascular Research Institute will hold its 4th Research Symposium on May 2-3, 2013 at the TAMHSC College of Medicine Medical Education Center in Temple, TX.

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Faculty News After many years in the position, Dr. Arthur Johnson of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine has stepped down as the Wehner-Welch Chair. Dr. Johnson holds the designations of Regents Professor and Distinguished Professor and has been one of most prominent and successful researchers. Dr. Johnson will remain in the department and continue his research efforts. The Wehner-Welch Chair is now held by Dr. Vytas Bankaitis, also from MCMD

Awards and Achievements 

In November, Dr. David Zawieja from the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine was awarded the designation of Regent’s Professor by the Texas A&M System Board of Regents.

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Dr. Geoffrey M. Kapler, Chair of the Molecular and Cellular Medicine Department, was named the Tom and Jean McMullin Professor of Genetics.

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Dr. Farida Sohrabji from Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics was named the Joseph H. Shelton Professor of Neuropharmacology and Neurotoxicology

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Dr. David McMurray from Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis has been invited to serve an additional threeyear term on the Editorial Board of Infection and Immunity. He has been a member of the board since 1994. Dr. David McMurray was also inducted into the Texas A&M Health Science Center Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators Charter Class for 2012.

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Dr. Gianfranco Alpini, a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine was nominated member to be a member of the editorial board of Journal of Biological Chemistry. He was also chosen to serve as a permanent member of NIH Hepatobiliary Pathophysiology (HBPP) study session, as a member of VA Merit Review Subcommittee on Gastroenterology, as a member of American Liver Foundation (ALF) Review Panel, on the Experimental Cholestasis review group for the DDW and AASLD meetings, and as the APS Star Reviewer for 2012.

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Dr. Brett Mitchell (Internal Medicine) was chosen to Co-Chair the American Heart Association National Vascular Biology & Blood Pressure-Clinical Study Section.

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Dr. Jing Pan became an editorial board member of the World Journal of Hypertension

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Grants

CSTR Institute Pilot Grants CSTR Institute Pilot Grants The Texas A&M Clinical & Translational Research (CSTR) Institute has launched its Pilot Grants Program (PGP) to promote team research across spectrum of clinical and translational science. The has overall goal ofitsthe PGP is to catalyze The Texas A&Mthe Clinical & Translational Research (CSTR) Institute launched Pilot Grants Programinnovative, (PGP) to high risk/high gain interdisciplinary and across collaborative clinical and translational research projects. is on developing novel approaches and promote team research the spectrum of clinical and translational science. Emphasis The overall goal of the PGP is to methodologies for cost-effective of research projects and testingclinical feasibility novel approaches for projects. conducting clinical and catalyze innovative, high risk/highexecution gain interdisciplinary and collaborative andoftranslational research translational research. The novel PGP isapproaches expected to invigorate the clinical and translational researchofenvironment and enhance the potenEmphasis is on developing and methodologies for cost-effective execution research projects and tial for feasibility competitive applications to the This program has been initiated by the CSTR testing of multi-investigator novel approaches grant for conducting clinical andNIH. translational research. The PGP is expected to invig-Institute with $100,000 of institutional supportresearch from the College of Medicine and the Office of the and has multi-investigator generated enthusiastic participaorate the clinical and translational environment and enhance potential for VPR, competitive tion is stimulating interdisciplinary that not Institute otherwisewith occur. Rigorous peer review was used to grantthat applications to the novel NIH. This program has collaborations been initiated by themight CSTR $100,000 of institutional select proposals for funding at $50,000 each. The of PI the academic unithas willgenerated provide matching funding. The CSTR supporttwofrom the College of Medicine and the Office VPR, and enthusiastic participation that is Institute will work with novel each interdisciplinary awardee research team to establish CSTR Studios to occur. facilitate and leverage and serstimulating collaborations that might not otherwise Rigorous peer interdisciplinary review was usedresources to selecttotwo proposals for funding at awardees $50,000 each. vices maximize productivity. The are: The PI academic unit will provide matching funding. The CSTR “Cannabinoid Selective Agonists to Improve Prognosis of Pancreatic Institute will CB2 workReceptor with each awardee research team to establish CSTRCancer” Studios to facilitate and leverage interdisciPI: Dai Lu, Ph.D., Department Sciences,The Rangel College of Pharmacy plinary resources and services of to Pharmaceutical maximize productivity. awardees are: Paul Chiao, Ph.D., M.D. Anderson “Cannabinoid CB2 Receptor Selective Cancer AgonistsCenter to Improve Prognosis of Pancreatic Cancer” Alexandros Makriyannis, Ph.D.,ofCenter of Drug Discovery, Northeastern PI: Dai Lu, Ph.D., Department Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rangel College University of Pharmacy Teresa Olszewska, Ph.D., Rangel College Pharmacy Paul Chiao, Ph.D., M.D. Anderson CancerofCenter Alexandros Makriyannis, Ph.D., Center of Drug Discovery, Northeastern University “Manipulation of the Ph.D., Renin-Angiotensin System Therapy for Viral Pneumonias” Teresa Olszewska, Rangel College of as Pharmacy PI: Julian Leibowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Microbial & Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine David Dostal, of Ph.D., Department of Internal Medicine, of Medicine “Manipulation the Renin-Angiotensin System as Therapy College for Viral Pneumonias” Pinghua Ph.D., Department Microbial and Molecular&Pathogenesis, College of Medicine PI: JulianLiu, Leibowitz, M.D., Ph.D., of Department of Microbial Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine Shekhar Ghamande, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine David Dostal, Ph.D., M.D., Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine Pinghua Liu, Ph.D., Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine More information regarding the CSTRofInstitute be found at: cstrinstitute.tamhsc.edu Shekhar Ghamande, M.D., Department Internalcan Medicine, College of Medicine More information regarding the CSTR Institute can be found at: cstrinstitute.tamhsc.edu

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Dr. Troy Baudino from the Department of Internal Medicine received an American Heart Association grant to study fibroblast-endothelial cell interactions in vascular remodeling in the heart. This grant will run 1/1/2013-12/23/2014. Dr. Troy Baudino from the Department of Internal Medicine received an American Heart Association grant to study fibroblast-endothelial cell interactions in vascular remodeling in the heart. This grant will run 1/1/201312/23/2014. Dr. Xu Peng from the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine received a $140,000 BeginningGrant-in-Aid from American Heart Association for his project entitled “Molecular mechanisms of Cdc42 in ADAM17-mediated VEGFR2 shedding in blood vessel formation”. The project started Jan 1st, 2013 and will end Dr.Dec Xu Peng from the Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine received a $140,000 Beginning on 31, 2014. -Grant-in-Aid from American Heart Association for his project entitled “Molecular mechanisms of Cdc42 in ADAM17-mediated VEGFR2 shedding in blood vessel formation”. The project started Jan 1st, 2013 and will end on Dec 31, 2014. Drs. Ian Murray and Carmen Ramirez receive a $40,894 grant from the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative for the project entitled “Amyloid cross-seeding as a mechanistic link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease”. Drs. Ian Murray and Carmen Ramirez receive a $40,894 grant from the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative for the project entitled “Amyloid cross-seeding as a mechanistic link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease”. Dr. Robert Alaniz from Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis received a new NIH NIAID R21 for the period 09/01/12 – 08/31/14 for a project entitled "Microbiota-derived Metabolites in Mucosal Homeostasis”. He also had a pilot project award funded through the Center for Translational Environmental Health Research (TAMHSC-TAMU) directed by Dr.and Cheryl Walker (IBT). Thisreceived 1-year pilot for the Dr. Robert Alaniz from Microbial Molecular Pathogenesis a newgrant NIH isNIAID R21project for theentitled period "Effect of –xenobiotic toxicant exposure on "Microbiota-derived microbiota that produce protective tryptophan metabolitesHe" and 09/01/12 08/31/14 for a project entitled Metabolites in Mucosal Homeostasis”. also includes Dr. Arul Jayaraman Engineering, and Translational Dr. Joseph Petrosino (Baylor College of Medihad a pilot project award (Chemical funded through the TAMU) Center for Environmental Health Research (TAMHSC-TAMU) directed by Dr. Cheryl Walker (IBT). This 1-year pilot grant is for the project entitled "Effect cine, BCM) as co-PIs. of xenobiotic toxicant exposure on microbiota that produce protective tryptophan metabolites " and includes Dr. Arul Jayaraman (Chemical Engineering, TAMU) and Dr. Joseph Petrosino (Baylor College of Medicine, BCM) as co-PIs.

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Meetings     

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Diane E. Chico and Ian V. Murray (2012). Enhancing Student Understanding of Histological Structure-Function Relationships. Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) Poster Abstract. Submitted Dec 3 2012. Yasuhiro Nishiyama, Mariko Hara, Kenji Watanabe, Stephanie A. Planque, Rina Taniguchi, Ian V. Murray, Einar M. Sigurdsson, Brian O’Nuallain, Robert P. Friedland, Richard J. Massey and Sudhir Paul (2012). Homeostatic proteolytic autoantibodies to amyloids in old age. Keystone meeting Aging and Diseases of Aging Japan. Oct 22-26 2012. Nishiyama, Y; Planque, S; Hara, M; Watanabe, K; Xu, X; Taguchi, H; Sigurdsson, E M; O'Nuallain, B; Murray, I; Friedland, R P; Fukuchi, K -I; Massey, R; Paul, S. (2012). Beneficial catalytic autoimmunity to beta-amyloid peptide. Alzheimer's and dementia. [Meeting abstract] 2012;8: P706. Beifuss KK, Schultz RD, Bageshwar S, Bennet EE and TL Gumienny (2012). “A directed RNAi screen for C. elegans TGF-betarelated DBL-1 trafficking components reveals non-synaptic vesicle machineries in neurons”, 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, December 15 – 19, 2012. San Francisco, California (poster). Rakeshwar S. Guleria, Amar B. Singh, Irina T. Nizamutdinova, Tatiana Souslova, Amin A. Mohammad, Kenneth M. Baker and Jing Pan. “Activation of Retinoid Receptor-Mediated Signaling Ameliorates Diabetes-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction in Zucker Diabetic Rats”, poster presentation at the 2012 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles, CA, November 4th, 2012. Dr. Sudhiranjan Gupta presented the following poster at the 2012 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles, CA, November 4th, 2012. Sudhiranjan Gupta, Il-Kwon Kim, Chuanyu Wei and W Keith Jones. “NF-kB mediated miRNAs modulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension induced right ventricular hypertrophy”, poster presentation at the AHA Specialty Conferences.

Publications and Presentations  

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Mendez IA, Damborsky JC, Winzer-Serhan UH, Bizon JL, Setlow B. α4β2(∗) and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor binding predicts choice preference in two cost benefit decision-making tasks. Neuroscience. 2012 Nov 14. doi:pii: S0306-4522(12) 01096-2. 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.10.067. Damborsky JC, Winzer-Serhan UH. Effects of sex and chronic neonatal nicotine treatment on Na²⁺/K⁺/Cl⁻ co-transporter 1, K⁺/Cl⁻ co-transporter 2, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NMDA receptor subunit 2A and NMDA receptor subunit 2B mRNA expression in the postnatal rat hippocampus. Neuroscience. 2012 Dec 6;225:105-17. doi: 10.1016/ j.neuroscience.2012.09.002. Estrada IA, Donthamsetty R, Debski P, Zhou MH, Zhang SL, Yuan JX, Han W, Makino A. STIM1 restores coronary endothelial function in type 1 diabetic mice. Circ Res. 2012 Oct 2;111(9):1166-75. S. Zhang: invited presentation at the Texas Bioscience Institute (9/7/12) entitled "Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels and immune response". A Renzi A, S DeMorrow, P Onori, R Mancinelli, F Meng, J Venter, M White, A Franchitto, H Francis, Y Han, Y Ueno, G Dusio, K Jensen, J J Greene, S Glaser, E Gaudio, and G Alpini. Modulation of the biliary expression of arylalkylamine Nacetyltransferase alters the autocrine proliferative responses of cholangiocytes. Hepatology 2012 Oct 18. doi: 10.1002/ hep.26105. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 23080076 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]. De Minicis S, Kisseleva T, Francis H, Baroni GS, Benedetti A, Brenner D, Alvaro D, Alpini G, and Marzioni M. Liver carcinogenesis: rodent models of hepatocarcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma. Dig Liver Dis. 2012 Nov 21. doi:pii: S1590-8658(12) 00406-9. 10.1016/j.dld.2012.10.008. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 23177172 H Bai, N Zhang, Y Xu, Q Chen, M Khan, J J Potter, S K Nayar, T Cornish, G Alpini, S Bronk, D Pan, and R A Anders. Yesassociated protein regulates the hepatic response after bile duct ligation. Hepatology 56:1097-107, 2012. F Meng, S Glaser, H Francis, F Yang, Y Han, A Stokes, D Staloch, J McCarra, J Liu, J Venter, Zhao H, X Liu, T Francis, S Swendsen, C-G Liu, H Tsukamoto, and G Alpini. Epigenetic regulation of miR-34a expression in alcoholic liver injury. Am J Pathol 181:804-17, 2012. X Xia, D Jung, P Webb, A Zhang, L Li, S D Ayers, C Gabbi, M Warner, J-A Gustafsson, G Alpini, D D Moore, and G LeSage. Liver X receptor β and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ regulate cholesterol transport in cholangiocytes. Hepatology 56: 2288-96, 2012. H Francis, J Cherry-Bohanan, and G Alpini. Hedgehog signaling and LSEC capillarization: stopping this one in its tracks. Gut 61:1243-4, 2012.

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Publications and Presentations  

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V Nobili, G Carpino, A Alisi, A Franchitto, G Alpini, R De Vito, P Onori, D Alvaro, and E Gaudio. Hepatic progenitor cells activation, fibrosis and adipokines production in pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology 56: 2142-53, 2012. G. Alpini presented lectures at Children’s Hospital and University of Cincinnati, Gastroenterology (“Proliferative and Secretory Heterogeneity of the Biliary Epithelium”, November 27, 2012) and at the University of South California, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Liver, Keck School of Medicine (” Secretory and Proliferative Heterogeneity of the Intrahepatic Biliary Epithelium, September 2012). Lee KH, Biswas A, Liu YJ, Kobayashi KS. Proteasomal degradation of Nod2 protein mediates tolerance to bacterial cell wall components. J Biol Chem. 2012 Nov 16;287(47):39800-11. Kobayashi KS, van den Elsen PJ. NLRC5: a key regulator of MHC class I-dependent immune responses. Nat Rev Immunol. 2012 Dec;12(12):813-20. Christensen, S., Nemchenko, A., Borrego, E., Murray, I., Sobhy, I., Bosak, L., DeBlasio, S., Erb, M., Robert, C., Vaughn, K., Göbel, C., Tumlinson, J., Feussner, I., Jackson, D., Turlings, T., Engelberth, J., Nansen, C., Meeley, R., Kolomiets, M. (2012). The multi-tasking lipoxygenase, ZmLOX10, regulates green leaf volatile, jasmonic acid, and herbivore-induced plant volatile production for defense against insect attack. The Plant Journal, Wiley. In press. Cook, N.; Archer, C.; Fawver, J.; Schall, H.; Rodriguez-Rivera, J.; Dineley, K.; Martí, A.; Murray, I. “Ruthenium red colorimetric Sanchez V, Dong JJ, Battley J, Jackson KN, Dykes BC. Human cytomegalovirus infection of THP-1 derived macrophages reveals strain-specific regulation of actin dynamics. Virology. 2012 Nov 10;433(1):64-72. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2012.07.015. Epub 2012 Aug 5. COVER ARTICLE Nguyen H, Chiasson VL, Young KJ, Chatterjee P, Mitchell BM. Interleukin-17 causes rho-kinase-mediated endothelial dysfunction and hypertension. Cardiovasc Res 2013;(in press). Chiasson VL, Jones KA, Kopriva SE, Mahajan A, Young KJ, Mitchell BM. Endothelial cell transforming growth factortor activation causes tacrolimus-induced renal arteriolar hyalinosis. Kidney Int 2012;82:857-866. PMC Journal – In process **Editorial Commentary: Morrissey JJ. Direct or indirect endothelial cell transforming growth factor β receptor activation initiates arteriolar hyalinosis. Kidney Int 2012;82:838-839.Chatterjee P*, Weaver LE*, Doersch KM*, Kopriva SE, Chiasson VL, Allen SJ, Narayanan AM, Young KJ, Jones KA, Kuehl TJ, Mitchell BM. Placental Toll-like receptor 3 and Toll-like receptor 7/8 activation contributes to preeclampsia in humans and mice. PLoS ONE 2012;7(7):e41884. Ji, J.Y., Miles, W.O. Korenjak, M., Zheng, Y., and Dyson, N.J. (2012). In vivo regulation of E2F1 by Polycomb group genes in Drosophila. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 2, 1651-1660. Herr, A., Longworth, M. Ji, J.Y., Korenjak, M., Macalpine, D.M., and Dyson, N.J. (2012). Identification of E2F target genes that are rate limiting for dE2F1-dependent cell proliferation. Developmental Dynamics 241, 1695-1707. Taneja-Bageshwar S and TL Gumienny. (2012). Two functional domains in C. elegans glypican LON-2 can independently inhibit BMP-like signaling. Developmental Biology 371: 66-76. Tina Gumienny from MCMD gave two invited presentations: 1) November 5, 2012 Department of Biology, “Body size control and TGF-beta superfamily regulation: insights from C. elegans”, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Jonathan King, Associate Professor, host and 2) November 19, 2012 Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, “Body size control and TGF-beta superfamily regulation: insights from C. elegans”, Rice University, Houston, Texas. Dr. Weiwei Zhong, Assistant Professor, host. Chuanyu Wei, Il-Kown Kim, Sandeep Kumar, Samantha Jayasinghe, Nayeon Hong, Giovanna Castoldi, Daniele Catalucci, W. Keith Jones and Sudhiranjan Gupta. NF-kB mediated miR-26a regulation in cardiac fibrosis targeting collagen I and CTGF genes. J Cell Physiol. 2012 (Dec 18. doi: 10.1002/ jcp. 24296, in press). Nandini Nair, Sandeep Kumar and Sudhiranjan Gupta. Circulating miRNA as novel markers for diastolic dysfunction. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 2012 (Dec, 18, in press). Sudhiranjan Gupta*, Sandeep Kumar, Nikolai Sopko, Yilu Qin, Chuanyu Wei and Il-Kwon Kim. Thymosin β 4 and cardiac protection: implication in inflammation and fibrosis. Annals of New York Acad. Sci, 1269(1):84-91, 2012. Chuanyu Wei, Sandeep Kumar, Il-Kwon Kim and Sudhiranjan Gupta. Thymosin beta 4 targets antioxidant and anti-inflammatory genes to protect cardiac myocytes under oxidative stress. PLoS One, 7(8): e42586 2012.Sudhiranjan Gupta, Il-Kwon Kim, Chuanyu Wei and W Keith Jones. NF-κB Mediated miRNAs Modulation in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Induced Right Ventricular Hypertrophy. Selected as Best of AHA Specialty Conferences in BCVS 2012 and received top 10 percent of the accepted abstracts. The abstract was then re-presented at Scientific Sessions 2012, November 3-7, in Los Angeles, California. Thomas CM, Yong QC, Seqqat R, Chandel N, Feldman DL, Baker KM, Kumar R. Direct Renin Inhibition Prevents Cardiac Dysfunction In a Diabetic Mouse Model: Comparison With an Angiotensin Receptor Antagonist and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor. Clinical Science. 124, 529–541, 2013.

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Publications and Presentations      

Blaxall BC, Baudino TA, Kirshenbaum LA. Cardiac Fibroblasts and Cellular Cross Talk in Heart Failure. Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. 5:737-738, 2012. Bowers SLK, Baudino TA. Cardiac Myocyte-Fibroblast Interactions and the Coronary Vasculature. Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. 5:783-793, 2012. Thomas CM, Yong QC, Seqqat R, Chandel N, Feldman DL, Baker KM, Kumar R. Direct renin inhibition prevents cardiac dysfunction in a diabetic mouse model: comparison with an angiotensin receptor antagonist and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. Clinical Science (2012) Immediate Publication, doi:10.1042/CS20120448 Kumar R, Yong QC, Thomas CM. Do Multiple NF-κB Activation Mechanisms Explain its Varied Effects in the Heart? Ochsner J. (In Press) 2012. Dr. Shaodong Guo was invited to give a seminar entitled with “Targeting Hepatic Insulin Signaling Pathway for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus”, at the Institute of Metabolic Syndrome, Xiangya Hospital, The South-Central University, Changsha, China, 7 July, 2012. Dr. Shaodong Guo was invited to speak at the Joseph E. & Martha E. Kutscher DDRC Symposium of Scott & White Healthcare Digestive Disease Research Center and Central Texas Veteran’s Healthcare System on September 28, 2012 with the title of “Transcriptional Regulation of Hepatic and Metabolic Homeostasis by FoxO Signaling”.

New Faculty 

Dr. Koichi Kobayashi, an M.D./Ph.D. who was formerly at Harvard joined the Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis in the early fall of 2012. Dr. Kobayashi is an immunologist with an emphasis on the role of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in Crohn’s Disease, inflammatory diseases, and host-pathogen interactions (http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/basic-sciences/mmp/faculty/koichi-kobayashi.html). His lab is located in the Reynolds Medical Building on the fourth floor.

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Dr. Alistair McGregor, Ph.D., formerly of the University of Minnesota, also joined the Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis in the late fall. Dr. McGregor is a cytomegalovirus specialist who will be joining the departmental virology group in the Laboratory for Molecular Pathogenesis located on the second floor of the SRPH Building B (http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/ basic-sciences/mmp/faculty/alistair-mcgregor.html).

Post-doc News 

The TAMHSC Post-doctoral Association (PDA) sponsored a visit on November 27, 2012 from Dr. Philip Clifford. Dr. Clifford is the Associate Dean for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin and also a Professor of Anesthesiology and Physiology. Dr. Clifford is an acknowledge leader in and champion for better mentoring for post-docs and was the 2012 recipient of the National Postdoctoral Association’s 2012 Distinguished Service Award. He spoke on Individual Development Plans.

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Post-doc News 

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The PDA recently held its annual election of officers and the new leadership is: Co-presidents:

Dinorah Leyva (Temple – dleyva@medicine.tamhsc.edu) Meg Mittelstadt (Houston – mittelstadt@ibt.tamhsc.edu)

Secretaries:

Suzanne Zeitouni (Temple – Zeitouni@medicine.tamhsc.edu) Ana Cohen (Houston - acohen@ibt.tamhsc.edu)

Treasurer:

Dana Carter (dcarter@medicine.tamhsc.edu)

Special advisors:

Erin van Schaik (vanschaik@medicine.tamhsc.edu) Rose-Anne Meissner (Meissner@medicine.tamhsc.edu) Sanjukta Chakraborty (schakraborty@medicine.tamhsc.edu)

Compliance 

Remember, the iRIS portal (https://imedris.tamu.edu/) is now online and can be used to submit and update many of your compliance documents. It has been discovered that many PIs were not receiving notifications because iRIS has their old TAMU email account listed. To be sure you haven’t missed anything you should log in and check the status of your protocols and personal information (log in uses your SSO ID and password). If you have problems please contact the iRIS Support Line at 979.845.4969.

Commercialization  

Due to Jim Joyce’s departure from the HSC, Dr. Joe Jilka (Jilka@medicine.tamhsc.edu) is now the chair of the HSC Technology Commercialization Advisory Committee. Due to numerous staff departures, the System Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) is seriously understaffed and may be slow in handling some projects. They had been under a hiring freeze, but recently received approval to resume hiring so should be back up to full staff levels within six months. If you have issues or problems with commercialization activities please contact the COM Research Office or Dr. Jilka.

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.