NewsLink, June 17, 2022 
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College News

Reception for Dr. Wolf

Baylor leadership and colleagues celebrated Dr. John Wolf at a reception on Monday, June 13. Dr. Wolf is retiring in July as chair of the Department of Dermatology after serving in this role for 40 years. He will continue to serve on faculty and see patients.

Department of Education, Innovation & Technology updates

The Department of Education, Innovation & Technology welcomes two new members of its leadership team. Dr. Tyson Pillow has been named vice chair of the department. He is an associate professor in the department and in emergency medicine, medical director of the Simulation and Standardized Patient Program and co-designer of the Basic Educators' Certification Course that is in development. Dr. Alana Newell has been named assistant director of the department's Center for Educational Outreach. She is an assistant professor in the department and serves as co-director of Baylor's Master Teachers Fellowship Program.

HR news

The Getaway to Good Health multiyear challenge will encourage you to keep track of your physical activity while learning more about Baylor 's international projects and joining your colleagues in a journey toward your best self. Details on this challenge can be found at powerofvitality.com > COMMUNITY > My Challenges.

Events

Juneteenth events

To mark Juneteenth, our affiliate, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, will host an event, open to all, today at noon, which will include a screening of "Juneteenth: 1865 – 2021," from KHOU Channel 11. Attend by Zoom. Events in Houston to commemorate the day, June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston learned of their freedom include Emancipation Park's 150th Juneteenth Celebration, June 18 – 19, and Mayor Sylvester Turner's Annual Acres Homes Juneteenth Parade, June 18. See a list of events in Galveston, the birthplace of Juneteenth.

Seminar on data analytics tool

A learning opportunity today from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. on the i2b2 analytic tool will instruct participants on using the tool to generate patient-oriented clinical data and research cohorts; improve core data sets to gain insight; and identify strategies to refine searches, examine trends and drill down to line-level details quickly to find related records. Register here. CME available.

Webinar on community participation in research

Spark for Autism at Baylor and Texas Children's will host "No Gimmicks, Just Facts: Encouraging Community Participation in Research," June 24, noon – 1:30 p.m. Dr. Debra Murray, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics, will discuss African American history in research and explore how parents can give back to their communities through participating in research. Register here.

Join BCM Pride for celebration

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and BCM Pride are hosting a booth at Houston LGBT+ Pride Celebration, June 25, 1 – 6:30 p.m. in downtown Houston near City Hall. All members of the Baylor community who are attending the celebration are invited to visit the booth. To volunteer to staff the booth, sign up here.

Online substance use disorders course

Texas experienced a 36% increase in overdose deaths from 2020 to 2021. Healthcare professionals are uniquely positioned to make a substantial and positive impact on the epidemic of substance use disorder. The Department of Family and Community Medicine is offering a free, interactive, self-paced online course, which consists of six, 5–10-minute modules that provide guidance and resources on how to integrate evidence-based practices for treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine and opioid use disorders in primary care. Learn more. CME available for this course.

Awards and Recognitions

Ballantyne, Gibbs honored for HeartCare study

Dr. Christie Ballantyne, professor of medicine and chief of cardiology, and Dr. Richard Gibbs, chair and professor of molecular and human genetics, have been awarded the Common Spirit Physician Enterprise VISION Award in Academic Excellence. This honor recognizes healthcare professionals advancing the practice of medicine through key research or published studies with a goal of developing a healthier future for all through quality, patient experience and education. Out of 26 submissions, their project HeartCare, a collaboration between Baylor cardiologists and the Human Genome Sequencing Center and published in Genetics in Medicine, was selected. The pilot study demonstrated how the application of genomic technology has the potential to help a healthcare system improve cardiovascular care. It is now being followed up by another study on cardiometabolic precision medicine with Dr. Ashok Balasubramanyam.

de Paiva awarded for ophthalmology research

Dr. Cintia de Paiva, associate professor of ophthalmology, has earned a Stein Innovation Award from Research to Prevent Blindness. Up to $300,000 will be provided over three years. This award supports scientists engaged in research to understand the visual system and the diseases that compromise its function, with a focus on new technologies and cutting-edge research techniques. de Paiva is among 45 researchers who have received the prestigious award, named after the organization's founder Dr. Jules Stein, since it was established in 2014.   

King's research on top 10 list

Research by Dr. Katherine King, associate professor of pediatrics – infectious diseases, was included as a top 10 paper for 2021 in the recent 'Best of Cell Stem Cell.' She was ranked 8th for her findings that inflammatory signaling during infection drives Dnmt3a mutant clonal hematopoiesis.

Lupo elected to birth defect society

Dr. Philip Lupo, professor of pediatrics – hematology and oncology, was recently elected as vice president-elect for the Society of Birth Defects Research and Prevention and will advance to president in 2024. The mission of the society is to understand the cause and pathogenesis of structural and functional birth defects, developmental delays, perinatal death and other disorders of developmental and reproductive origin to prevent their occurrence and improve diagnosis and treatment.

Faculty in the News

From tips to cope with the Saharan dust to a molecule produced after exercise that suppresses hunger, and from turning to TikTok for medical advice to the latest with COVID – our experts were all over the news this week. See it all in Faculty in the News, and follow BCMHouston_News on Twitter to keep up with our experts in the media. Interested in science news? Read the latest in From the Labs.

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