NewsLink, July 8, 2022 
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College News

'Wildest Dream' comes true for two med students

On Tuesday, the New York Times published a crossword puzzle constructed by two Baylor medical students, Margaret Nowakowska and Eileen Williams. The puzzle marked their debut in the Times and earned them the Puzzle of the Week honor from xwordinfo.com, a resource for avid crossword-doers. Read more about their puzzle and solve online. You'll be seeing 'Red' if you don't complete this puzzle swiftly!

Calling all DeBakey High grads!

Are you a graduate of DeBakey High School for Health Professions? Baylor is celebrating the 50th anniversary of our partner high school with HISD, and we want to hear from you! Send us an email at pa@bcm.edu with your name, which year you graduated and a brief summary of how your experience at DeBakey influenced your career and life!

IT news

Coaching sessions: The Information Technology Business Enablement Team offers weekly coaching sessions on Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Storage. The Microsoft Teams sessions are especially helpful to those who are migrating to Teams Telephony. These sessions are offered Tuesdays at 9 a.m., Wednesdays at 7 a.m. and Thursdays at 1 p.m. Sign up here. Department and individual sessions also are available by appointment here.  

Help desk update: Beginning Sept. 1, the Help Desk email address it-support@bcm.edu will be retired. Tickets will no longer be created by using this address. You may still have a ticket created by visiting the IT Portal and using the "Report a Problem" feature or by contacting the Help Desk via phone at 713-798-8737.

Faculty needed for committees

Faculty are needed to serve on two committees. The Student Appeals and Grievances Committee provides advice during final resolution of student appeals and grievances. The Student Services Committee provides a forum for discussing a wide range of student issues related to the academic and institutional learning environments to enhance students' experiences and learning outcomes. Interested faculty can contact Neelam Ali or Dr. Carolyn Smith for more information. Please express your interest in serving on a committee no later than Sunday, July 24.

Events

Volunteer opportunity: Kids' Meals Inc.

Join your colleagues Wednesday, July 13, from 12-1 p.m. in Rayzor Lounge in the Cullen Building to decorate brown lunch bags for Kids' Meals Inc., a local organization that delivers free healthy meals to children in need. Brown lunch bags and decorating materials will be provided. If you cannot attend the event, you can decorate your own brown lunch bags at your convenience (see instructions) and drop off by Thursday, July 14, in suite 176B at main Baylor. Questions? Email Alex Alanis.

HR events

DocTalk: "The Art of Self-Care: Building Healthy Habits for Resilience" July 12 at noon, by Zoom, presented by the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Register here. Correctly complete the survey shared during the presentation to earn BCM BeWell points. Questions? Call 713-798-1500 or email wellness@bcm.edu. 

MoneyTalk: "Make the Most of Your Retirement Savings," July 13 at noon, by Zoom. Register here. Eligible employees will receive 50 BCM BeWell points when they complete the confirmation survey at the end of the session. Questions? Call 713-798-1500 or email ask-retirement@bcm.edu. 

2nd.MD information session: Register now to hear from 2nd.MD specialists, Dr. Heather Hofflich and Dr. George Letsou, at noon on July 14, as they answer your questions and give you a sneak peek into what a virtual expert medical consultation is like from beginning to end. Questions? Email ask-insurance@bcm.edu or call 713-798-1500.

Research Investigator Learning Series continues

The BCM Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center will host the final lecture in the Research Investigator Spring Learning Series on Engagement, Communication and Education at noon on Wednesday, July 20. Dr. Mina Silberberg from Duke Global Health Institute will give a lecture titled "Value and impact of community-engaged approaches – from local to global perspectives." Register to attend via Zoom here.

Seminar on pelvic pain

A free seminar is being offered by Baylor and Texas Children's for women experiencing pelvic pain, Thursday, July 21, 6:30 – 8 p.m., at the Pavilion for Women. Topics will include the root causes, the challenges of diagnosis, the latest in treatments and more. Learn more and register here.  

Clinical Research Methods

The clinical research methods beginner's course is offered by the Department of Family and Community Medicine at BCM and aims to train health professionals on how to analyze data using SAS. Registration has opened for new 2022-2023 sessions. All courses will be offered through Zoom. Please check the course website for more details.

Awards and Recognitions

Cooper awarded for myotonic dystrophy research

Dr. Thomas Cooper, professor of pathology & immunology, was awarded the Steinert Award for Excellence in Myotonic Dystrophy Basic Science Research at the 13th International Myotonic Dystrophy Consortium Meeting held in Osaka, Japan.

Davis to serve on nurse anesthesia board

Dr. Rachel Davis, director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program – Nurse Anesthesia in the School of Health Professions, was elected to serve a three-year term as an educator director on the Board of Directors of the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The council is the accrediting agency for institutions and programs of nurse anesthesia at the post-master's certificate, master’s or doctoral degree levels in the United States and its territories. She will begin here term in October. 

Samuel named Mallinckrodt Scholar

Dr. Melanie Samuel, associate professor of neuroscience and in the Huffington Center on Aging, was named the 73rd Mallinckrodt Scholar by the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation. This national competition recognizes innovative investigators engaged in biomedical research that has the potential to significantly advance the understanding, diagnosis or treatment of disease. Studies funded by this four-year award will investigate roles for neuron-microglia signaling in modifying neural disease outcomes.

Schnur earns grant for stroke research

Dr. Tatiana Schnur, associate professor of neurosurgery and neuroscience, and her colleague Dr. Margaret Blake of the University of Houston have been awarded a $3.7 million R01 research project from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders to support their work, "Recovery of Language and Theory of Mind after Stroke." This research brings together multiple institutions in the Texas Medical Center including Baylor St. Luke's, the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston and the Houston Methodist Research Institute to investigate communication deficits and their recovery after acute stroke.    

Storch and team receive grant for OCD research

Dr. Eric Storch, professor and vice chair in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and collaborators recently were awarded a $500,000 International OCD Foundation Breakthrough Award for the project, "CBT Augmentation to Promote Medication Discontinuation in Pediatric OCD." The project aims to address the question of whether youth with obsessive compulsive disorder who also are on an antidepressant augmented with cognitive behavioral therapy can effectively discontinue antidepressant use and be returned to a state of wellness and pre-illness life. Members of the research team from BCM include Drs. Kirti Saxena, Amanda Palo, Andrew Guzick, Andy Wiese, Yasmine Omar, Wayne Goodman, Ms. Minjee Kook and Ms. Saira Weinzimmer.  

Zobeck awarded for work in Sub-Saharan Africa

Dr. Mark Zobeck, instructor of pediatrics – hematology and oncology at BCM and Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Center, was recently awarded a Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Paediatric Oncology for his abstract, "Accurately Forecasting Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Patient Volumes at Treatment Centers in Sub-Saharan Africa." He will present his research at the Annual Congress, held in Barcelona Sept. 28 – Oct. 1.

Faculty in the News

What do all these 'Asthma Aware' alerts that people have been getting from the city of Houston mean? Dr. David Corry and other experts explain in this Houston Chronicle article. See Baylor's other news media mentions 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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