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Science Briefs

	The glue that binds leaky blood vessels
	Study focuses on type 2 diabetes treatment
	Phillips recognized for work with minority medical students

The glue that binds leaky blood vessels

Got an art project, a broken teacup, or a leaky blood vessel? “Superglue” it.

Surgeons at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are studying whether a liquid sealant, similar to common household “superglue,” forms a tight seal around blood vessels used in vascular graft surgery.

“When you sew blood vessels together for a graft, they sometimes leak,” said Alan Lumsden, MD, chief of the vascular surgery section of the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery. “In this trial, we will seal that leak, or basically ’superglue’ it together.”

Doctors currently use the glue to close skin wounds instead of using sutures. The sealant, manufactured by Closure Medical Corporation, is designed to provide a strong physical seal that remains in place while the graft heals. Over time, the seal will break down into absorbable fragments.

Lumsden is the principal investigator of the international clinical trial, which will enroll up to 150 patients at 14 institutions in the United States and Europe. Local surgeries will be performed at The Methodist Hospital and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston.

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Study focuses on type 2 diabetes treatment

A national study launched recently will investigate what treatment is the most effective for children and teens with type 2 diabetes.

Baylor College of Medicine will recruit 150 patients in the Houston area for the study, to be conducted at Texas Children’s Hospital. Nationally, 750 patients will be recruited at 12 sites for the National Institutes of Health study. The patients, between the ages of 10 and 17, will be followed for five years.

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: metformin alone; metformin and rosiglitazone in combination; and metformin plus intensive lifestyle change aimed at losing weight and increasing physical activity.

Morey Haymond, MD, a researcher at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at BCM and Texas Children’s, is the principal investigator of the local study. Siripoom McKay, MD, and Barbara Anderson, MD, both at BCM, and Patrick Brosnan, MD, at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, are co-investigators.

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Phillips recognized for work with minority medical students

James L. Phillips, MD, senior associate dean at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has been elected as national chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Student Affairs – Minority Affairs Section.

“The MAS was established in recognition of the essential role minority issues play within academic medical centers,” said Phillips, also a professor of pediatrics at BCM. “The purpose of the GSA-MAS is to serve in an advisory and resource capacity, to all facets of the AAMC, on issues of minority concern at national and regional levels.”

Phillips served for two years on the GSA-MAS Coordinating Committee and received the GSA-MAS Service Award in 2001 for his dedication to all students interested in pursuing a career in medicine.

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