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Baylor College
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email: pa@bcm.edu

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Briefs

	Baylor College of Medicine lauded for exceptional service
	Baylor ranked 10th on national list of medical schools
	Kuspa appointed new chair in biochemistry and molecular biology
	Stal named chief of the division of plastic surgery at BCM

Baylor College of Medicine lauded for exceptional service

Baylor College of Medicine was one of four medical schools receiving national recognition from the Association of American Medical Colleges for assistance provided to the academic medicine community following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

The "Award of Exceptional Service to Academic Medicine" honors BCM, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and The University of Texas Medical School at Houston for outstanding leadership in providing facilities, resources, and personnel to support displaced Tulane University medical students, residents, and faculty.

The AAMC has also awarded the same recognition to LSU-Shreveport for the assistance it provided to the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and to the academic medical community following Hurricane Katrina.

Baylor ranked 10th on national list of medical schools

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston ranked 10th among the 125 U.S. medical schools in an annual survey published by U.S. News & World Report, moving up three positions from its 13th ranking last year.

BCM is listed as 11th in primary care, moving up from its 22nd ranking last year. Primary care includes internal medicine, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics. BCM's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences ranks in the 22nd position for best Ph.D. program in the biological sciences, up from 24th in 2002, which is the last year that the survey was conducted for this field. This also places the Graduate School in the top 10 percent of its category, based on approximately 400 schools with graduate programs on the National Science Foundation's "Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards" for 1999 through 2004.

BCM, Duke University, the University of California – San Francisco and the University of Washington are the only medical schools in the country to achieve top 10 percent ranking in both research and primary care medical school categories and a top 10 percent ranking in their biological sciences program.

The medical school rankings survey included 125 medical schools fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, plus the 19 schools of osteopathic medicine fully accredited by the American Osteopathic Association. The rankings are based on a weighted average of eight "indicators" that includes average undergraduate GPAs, average MCAT (Medical College Aptitude Test) scores, acceptance rate, NIH research grants, faculty-to-student ratio, out-of-state tuition and fees, and total medical school enrollment. In addition, peer-assessment surveys of medical and osteopathic school deans, deans of academic affairs, and heads of internal medicine or directors of admissions rate program quality on a scale of one-to-five.

Doctoral program rankings are based on the results of surveys sent to deans and department chairs in each discipline.

Kuspa appointed new chair in biochemistry and molecular biology

Adam Kuspa, Ph.D., recently was named chair of the Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine by the college's board of trustees.

A professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, Kuspa joined the BCM faculty in 1993 as an assistant professor of biochemistry. He is involved in several research programs, including cell and molecular biology, development biology and molecular and human genetics, as well as the Human Genome Sequencing Center at BCM.

He received his doctorate in biochemistry from Stanford University. He served a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at San Diego.

Last year Kuspa received a Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Excellence in Research Award and was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Stal named chief of the division of plastic surgery at BCM

Samuel Stal, M.D., has been named chief of the division of plastic surgery in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine.

Stal has been serving as interim chief of the division of plastic surgery since January 2005. He has an appointment at Texas Children's Hospital, where he is the medical director for the Center for Facial Surgery, and chief of the Plastic Surgery Service. Stal also has appointments in pediatrics, otolaryngology, and physical medicine & rehabilitation.

His main interests are rhinoplasty and pediatric plastic surgery with a special emphasis on the treatment of cleft lip and palate as well as other facial deformities.

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