Briefs
- Faculty appointments highlight research, clinical accomplishments
- Zoghbi wins Bristol-Myers Squibb Neuroscience Research Award
- Compassion and the Art of Medicine
Faculty appointments highlight research, clinical accomplishments
The Baylor College of Medicine Board of Trustees has appointed four faculty members to endowed chaired positions.
- Hugo Bellen, Ph.D., D.V.M., professor of molecular and human genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, was named March of Dimes Chair in Developmental Biology. Bellen is the director of BCM's Program in Developmental Biology and is internationally recognized for his contributions to synaptic biology.
- Amy Young, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics-gynecology, became the Henry and Emma Meyer Chair for Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Young has served as director of the OB/Gyn residency program, and her recent research focuses on the management of fibroid tumors.
- Joseph Coselli, M.D., professor of surgery, was appointed as the Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair in his department. Coselli is chief of cardiothoracic surgery at BCM and chief of adult cardiac surgery at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital's Texas Heart Institute.
- Mary Estes, Ph.D., professor of molecular virology and microbiology and medicine, was awarded the Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair in her department. Her research centers on the field of viral gastroenteritis, and she has conducted studies on viral gene function, molecular pathogenesis, and vaccine development.
Zoghbi wins Bristol-Myers Squibb Neuroscience Research Award
Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D., professor of pediatrics, neurology, neuroscience and molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has been selected to receive the Bristol-Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research.
The award recognizes her seminal contributions to understanding the molecular basis and pathogenesis of certain neurodevelopmental diseases of childhood including Rett syndrome - one of the most common forms of mental retardation in young girls. She also shed new light on the genetic basis and mechanisms for late-onset inherited neurodegenerative balance disorders.
In addition, she identified the gene essential for generating the cells of the inner ear that mediate hearing and balance.
Zoghbi also serves as an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is a physician at Texas Children's Hospital.
Compassion and the Art of Medicine
The annual Compassion and the Art of Medicine series hosted by Baylor College of Medicine is underway.
The series is free and open to the public although seating is limited. The first 200 guests will receive complimentary brown bag lunches. All presentations begin at noon, followed by a question-and-answer session at 1 p.m.
BCM's department of family and community medicine presents the series with a grant from The Community Hospital Foundation, Inc.
This month's lectures include:
- Sept. 1, Cullen Auditorium: "Beethoven: Music and Illness" – Dr. Richard Kogan. A graduate of Juilliard, Harvard University
- Sept. 8, McMillian Auditorium: "Time on Fire" – Evan Handler. Handler has appeared in the television shows "Sex and the City," "Lost," "Law and Order," "The West Wing" and in such movies as "Ransom" and "Natural Born Killers." But his biggest accomplishment may have been his successful four-year battle with acute myeloid leukemia. This is Handler's portrayal of his encounter with disease, death, doctors, and the dehumanization of being treated in a large medical center.
