Members of the newly established Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee have been announced. Established through the Affordable Care Act by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the coordinating committee will work to identify basic and clinical research objectives on the symptoms, causes, and treatment of pain and will recommend federal research programs in these areas. Committee appointees include biomedical researchers, representatives from nonprofit public advocacy organizations, and representatives of seven federal government organizations that deal with pain research and patient care.
Story Landis, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) will serve as committee chairman. As announced by the NIH, the following appointees join Dr. Landis on the committee:
Martha J. Somerman, DDS, PhD, is director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the NIH.
Charles G. Helmick III, MD, is a senior medical epidemiologist with the Arthritis Program at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Audrey N. Kusiak, PhD, is a portfolio manager in the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Research and Development, where her portfolio includes research on spinal cord injury, pain, regenerative medicine and translational neural repair.
Bob Andrew Rappaport, MD, is director of the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Richard Ricciardi, PhD, NP, is a health scientist in the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and a pediatric and family nurse practitioner.
Maj. Gen. Richard W. Thomas, MD, DDS, most recently served as the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Surgeon General. His current assignment is commanding general, Western Region Medical Command.
Non-federal researchers appointed to the committee:
Ronald Dubner, DDS, PhD, is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, where he chaired the Department of Biomedical Sciences from 1995 to 2003. He conducts research on pain mechanisms and the development of new pharmacological strategies for acute and chronic pain. Dr. Dubner was previously president of the American Pain Society and chief editor of the international journal Pain.
Carmen R. Green, MD, is professor of anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, and health management and policy at the University of Michigan’s schools of Medicine and Public Health, Ann Arbor. Her research agenda focuses on access to health and pain care, pain assessment, management and outcomes, minority and women’s health, clinician decision making and health policy. She also conducts studies on health and pain disparities due to age, race/ethnicity, gender, class and geography.
Sean Mackey, MD, PhD, is chief of the Division of Pain Management and associate professor of anesthesiology, neurosciences and neurology at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif. His studies integrate advanced neurobehavioral, psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques to elucidate and characterize the underlying mechanisms of pain.
Christine A. Miaskowski, RN, PhD, is an American Cancer Society clinical research professor and the associate dean for academic affairs at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. She also is the Sharon A. Lamb Endowed Chair in Symptom Management Research in the Department of Physiological Nursing. Her research focuses on the evaluation of the harmful effects of unrelieved pain and the development of strategies to improve pain management.
Michael A. Moskowitz, MD, is professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School affiliated with the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, Boston. His laboratory in the Neuroscience Center at Massachusetts General Hospital conducts studies related to migraine, stroke and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Moskowitz also is a past president of the International Headache Society and the Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.
Wally R. Smith, MD, is professor and chairman of the Division of Quality Health Care and scientific director for the Center on Health Disparities at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, where he is also vice chair for research in the Division of General Internal Medicine. His research interests include pain in sickle cell disease and studies centered on health disparities, health services, physician decision making and managed care quality.
Appointees from public advocacy organizations:
Terrie Cowley is president and co-founder of the TMJ Association, Milwaukee, Wis., a nonprofit organization established in 1989. Ms. Cowley has worked as a patient representative with several government agencies, including the Institute of Medicine, the NIH and the FDA.
Elizabeth B. Gilbertson is chief of strategy for Unite Here Health, Aurora, Ill., and serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit National Committee for Quality Assurance, Washington, D.C. She is a past president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Welfare Fund.
Tamara K. Liller is president of the National Fibromyalgia Partnership, Linden, Va., a nonprofit organization established in 1992 and dedicated to disseminating medically accurate, quality resource information on fibromyalgia to patients, health care professionals and the general public.
Tina M. Tockarshewsky is president and chief executive officer of The Neuropathy Association, New York City, a nonprofit organization providing patient support, neuropathy education, awareness and advocacy as well as promoting research into the causes of and cures for peripheral neuropathies.
Mary Vargas, JD, is chair of the board of directors for the American Pain Foundation, Baltimore, and partner at Stein & Vargas, LLP, Baltimore, a national law firm focusing on discrimination on the basis of disability.
Christin Veasley is executive director for the National Vulvodynia Association, Silver Spring, Md., a nonprofit organization that serves women with chronic vulvar pain and related pain disorders, as well as medical professionals and scientists interested in research on vulvodynia.
Drexel University College of Medicine Receives $2 Million NIH Grant for Malaria Research
Drexel University College of Medicine received a two million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study malaria. Members of the Drexel University College of Medicine team will collaborate with an international group of investigators for preclinical development of a novel antimalarial drug. Researchers at Drexel previously discovered antimalarial pyrazole compounds. The four-year study will focus on understanding the implications of these compounds in the prevention and treatment of malaria.
Akhil B. Vaidya, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and director of the Center for Molecular Parasitology at Drexel, serves as the principal investigator of the study. Additional members of the team from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Drexel are: Lawrence W. Bergman, PhD, professor; Sandhya Kortagere, PhD, assistant professor; Joanne Morrisey, research instructor; and Thomas Daly, research instructor.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine Receives Gift from The Iris & Junming Le Foundation
The Iris & Junming Le Foundation has given a $250,000 gift to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry. The funds will support early-career scientists conducting neuroimaging research in psychiatry and will provide up to six grants for $35,000 to $45,000 for psychiatric neuroimaging pilot projects over the next two years. Using magnetic resonance imagining and positron emission tomography, researchers will explore neural systems function in patients with psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Junming Le, known for developing Remicade, founded The Iris and Junming Le Foundation in 2007. Le Foundation supports a variety of research, education and patient care health initiatives.
Penn State College of Medicine Receives D2PA Program Grant
Penn State College of Medicine was awarded a $425,000 grant as part of the Discovered in PA, Developed in PA (D2PA) program, from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). The grant program, established by DCED, is aimed at increasing research-related entrepreneurial opportunities in Pennsylvania. Information related to the D2PA program, as well as other economic development initiatives in PA, is online at www.newPA.com.
As part of the D2PA program, the College of Medicine has also established the Innovation Café, the “Executive-in-Residence” and ExecuStar initiatives. The Innovation Café is designed to engage regional businesses and stakeholders in ongoing discourse focused on fostering local entrepreneurialism and market growth in biomedical research and development. The “Executive-in-Residence” program is designed to connect faculty members who are interested in launching new biotech companies with experienced entrepreneurs and business leaders. The ExecuStar program provides training to early career leaders in high-growth companies to help them successfully expand their organizations.
Penn Medicine Radiology Researchers Receive NIH Grant for Breast Cancer Virtual Clinical Trials
Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania received a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award was granted to Andrew Maidment, PhD, associate professor of Radiology and Physics Section Chief, and Predrag Bakic, PhD, assistant professor of Radiology, to conduct breast cancer virtual clinical trials research. They will work with researchers from Barco, Inc., a technology company that designs and develops visualization products, to investigate virtual clinical trials of breast cancer screening technology. Their work will build upon a variety of computational and theoretical models. The funding is part of the NIH Academic-Industrial Partnership (1RO1CA154444), an initiative to bring together academics and industry to advance imagining technology developments toward application in human or animal studies.
UF Health Science Center Receives $5 Million Gift to Establish Chair in Gene Therapy and Genetics Research
The University of Florida (UF) has received a $5 million gift from the Powell Gene Therapy Center’s original benefactors, Earl and Christy Powell. The Powell’s recent gift will establish the Earl and Christy Powell University Chair in Gene Therapy and Genetics Research at the UF Health Science Center. The gene therapy research program was renamed in their honor in 2000, when the Powell’s contributed their initial gift of $2 million.
Researchers at UF have already made significant contributions in gene therapy treatment of congenital blindness, cystic fibrosis, Pompe disease and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The new chair will be charged with fostering development of viable methods for delivery of therapeutic genes to treat a variety of illnesses. The University will select an internationally recognized leader in gene therapy for the post.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center Receives $10.5 Million Gift
The University of Kansas (KU) Cancer Center and Truman Medical Center have received $10.5 million from the Hall Family Foundation to support the university’s effort to earn National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. With this gift, the Hall Family Foundation’s overall commitment toward achieving NCI designation becomes $29.9 million.
Seven million of the recent contribution will be allocated to new faculty and researchers at the KU Clinical Research Center in Fairway, KS. The Center, which opened to patients in January 2012, is housed in a building donated by the Hall Family Foundation in 2008. The funds will also support the cancer center, Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Stowers Institute in their efforts to develop pediatric cancer therapies, and will support a new drug discovery laboratory as well as the newly established Department of Cancer Biology at KU Medical Center.
The remaining $3.5 million will be dedicated to updating the facilities at Truman Medical Center and to funding Truman’s ongoing membership in the Midwest Cancer Alliance. The Midwest Cancer Alliance, a regional network of hospitals and health care organizations, is an important component of the KU Cancer Center’s bid for NCI designation. The Center applied for NCI designation in September 2011.
SSCI Installs 66th President
Dr. Robert T. Means Jr., professor of internal medicine, associate dean for veterans affairs, and executive vice dean at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Medicine, was installed as the 66th president of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI) in at its annual meeting in New Orleans in February.
The SSCI serves to recognize and promote academic excellence and to support early career investigators. Established in 1946 by Dr. Tinsley Harrison, founding editor of “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine,” the SSCI’s elected membership is comprised of individuals recognized for academic achievement and commitment to research and teaching.
Prior to joining UK in 2004, Dr. Means served as director of the Hematology-Oncology Division at the Medical University of South Carolina. He also previously served on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati and at Vanderbilt University. His research has focused on the pathophysiology of red blood cell disorders, and he is an editor of the “Wintrobe’s Clinical Hematology” textbook.
Dr. Means earned his MD at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed residency in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and fellowship in hematology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
2012 Passano Awards Announced
The 2012 Passano Laureate and Physician Scientists have been announced. Established in 1943, the Passano Foundation serves to recognize and promote medical and scientific research having impactful clinical applications. The Passano Foundation has annually awarded “a person or persons who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of medical science and whose work was done in the United States,” since 1945. Since 1975, the Foundation has also made an annual award to an early career investigator in recognition of outstanding contribution to scientific research. The Foundation also supports the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Clinician Scientist Award by naming a Passano Physician Scientist annually. Additionally, the Foundation names a Physician Scientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who has been selected for a research award by the American Heart Association (AHA)-Maryland Affiliate.
Eric Olson, PhD, founding chairman of the molecular biology department at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, was awarded the 2012 Passano Award. The award includes a $50,000 prize. Dr. Olson is recognized for identifying major genetic pathways that control the development of the heart and other muscles, including: the MEF2 transcription factor; myocardin, and Hand1 and Hand2. Dr. Olson directs the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Basic Research in Cancer, the Nearburg Family Center for Basic and Clinical Research in Pediatric Oncology, and is associate director of the Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center at UT Southwestern.
Dr. Olson has served on the UT Southwestern faculty since 1995. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, and has received numerous honors and awards for his work. In 2009, he was awarded the Institut de France’s Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation Grand Prize. He has also received the Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research, the Pasarow Award in Cardiovascular Medicine, and the Outstanding Investigator Award from the International Society for Heart Research. He is the inaugural recipient of the AHA Distinguished Scientist Award and has also been awarded the AHA’s National Research Achievement Award. Dr. Olson earned his PhD in biochemistry at Wake Forest University’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine.
The 2012 Physician Scientists Awardees are:
Ina Burd, MD, PhD
Gynecology and Obstetrics
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Jonathan M. Gerber, MD
Hematology
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Kevin N. Sheth, MD
Stroke and Neuro-Critial Care
University of Maryland School of Medicine
2012 Rolf Luft Award Announced
David Mangelsdorf, PhD, chairman of pharmacology at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, has been awarded the 2012 Rolf Luft Award. The annual award is given by the Karolinska Institutet for outstanding scientific contribution in endocrinology and diabetes. Dr. Mangelsdorf is recognized for his research of nuclear receptor pathways. As described in the award announcement, “he defined crucial signal-transduction networks in their entirety by identifying the ligands, target genes, physiological functions, and molecular mechanisms for several orphan nuclear receptors”. “Nuclear Receptor Regulation of Nutrient Metabolism: From Worms to Humans” was the title of Dr. Manglesdorf’s prize lecture, given in March.
Dr. Mangelsdorf has been a member of the UT Southwestern faculty since 1993. He became the department chairman of Pharmacology in 2006. He has earned numerous honors and awards for his work, including: the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas; the Heinrich Wieland Prize from Boehringer Ingelheim; the Transatlantic Medal from the European Society of Endocrinology; the Gerald D. Aurbach Award from the Endocrine Society; the Adolf Windaus Prize from The Falk Foundation, and the John J. Abel Award in pharmacology from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Mangelsdorf earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Arizona. He completed postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
2012 Genetics Society of America Awards Announced
The Genetics Society of America (GSA) announced the 2012 honorees of its annual awards for distinguished service in the field of genetics. Award recipients are nominated and selected by their colleagues. Complete details of the 2012 awards are available online at http://www.genetics-gsa.org/pages/awards.shtml.
The 2012 awards are:
Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal
Awarded to recognize “lifetime contributions to the field of genetics”.
Kathryn V. Anderson, PhD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, received the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal. Dr. Anderson holds the Enid A. Haupt Chair in Developmental Biology and is the founding chair of the Developmental Biology Program at the Sloan-Kettering Institute. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
The George W. Beadle Award
Awarded to recognize “ outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers”.
Therese Markow, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego received the George W. Beadle Award. Dr. Markow is a professor of evolutionary biology and ecology, and is director of the Drosophila Species Stock Center, supported by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Markow holds the Amylin Chair in Life Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2001, she received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
Genetics Society of America Medal
Awarded to recognize “outstanding contributions in genetics for the last 15 years”.
Joanne Chory, PhD, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, was awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal. Dr. Chory is the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where she serves as professor and director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory and is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of The Royal Society, German National Academy of Sciences, and French Académie des Sciences.
The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education
Awarded to recognize “significant and sustained impact in genetics education”.
David A. Micklos, of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), received The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education. Mr. Micklos is a science educator and writer. He founded the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) at CSHL in 1987 and serves as the DNALC executive director. He is lead author of the secondary and post-secondary textbook, “DNA Science: A First Course”. He received the 1990 Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education.
The Edward Novitski Prize
Awarded to recognize “an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving a significant problem(s) in genetics research”.
Dana Carroll, PhD, of the University of Utah, received The Edward Novitski Prize. He is honored for developing a method to improve the efficiency of gene targeting. Using zinc finger nucleases, he was the first to adapt an enzyme to generate targeted chromosomal breaks at specific locations in a DNA sequence, utilizing the natural cellular DNA repair mechanisms to introduce new genetic material in that region. Dr. Carroll is professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah, where he has served his entire faculty career.