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News for BCM Faculty, March 26, 2020
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Match Day at Baylor College of Medicine went virtual this year due to the national call to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. That did not stop fourth-year medical student Katherine Zhu from sharing her joy on social media. The match included 184 students: 105 of them will enter residency in primary care fields and 33 will stay at Baylor. See where else students are going and read what it’s like to match during a global pandemic in BCM Family.

Top Tips for Faculty: Faculty Senate leaders are coordinating with Baylor’s Incident Command Center to provide clear and consistent messages to faculty members about the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on travel restrictions, protocols for potential COVID-19 exposure and diagnosis, campus restrictions, employee benefits, continuity of operations and more is archived on the Coronavirus Preparedness website. Based on feedback from constituents, the Senate offers some top tips for faculty members:

  • Working from Home: Information Technology has gathered resources for connecting to Baylor systems remotely, attending virtual meetings, forwarding BCM phone extensions and using technology at home.
  • Teaching Remotely: The Education Innovation Core has developed quick-start guides, online training and a catalog of instructional design resources for faculty transitioning to online teaching.
  • Accessing the Library: The TMC Library provides access to online research guides and to librarians from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. via email, chat or text
  • Understanding Benefits: Human Resources can answer COVID-19 questions related to time off, leave of absence, medical benefits or back-up dependent care benefits: please email AskHR@bcm.edu or call 713-798-2754.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Lindsay Burrage, assistant professor of molecular & human genetics, is the recipient of the Society for Pediatric Research 2020 Young Investigator Award. Burrage was to give a presentation titled "From Rare Disease Gene Discovery to Therapy: Urea Cycle Disorders as a Paradigm" at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2020 Meeting in Philadelphia, which has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Daniel Lacorazza, associate professor of pathology & immunology and a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been awarded an American Society of Hematology Bridge Grant Award in the amount of $150,000. The grant demonstrates ASH’s commitment to protecting and supporting the careers of those who are dedicated to hematology research.

Dr. Chaya Murali, pediatric geneticist, received the 2020 Richard King Award for the best trainee publication in the journal Genetics in Medicine. Her article, “Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument Is a Useful Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Physical Function in Children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta,” was recognized by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics Foundation.

Dr. Hardeep Singh, professor of health services research in the Department of Medicine, co-led two working groups at a World Health Organization meeting in February to launch the WHO flagship initiative, "A Decade of Patient Safety 2020-2030: Formulating the Global Patient Safety Action Plan." The groups were focused on patient safety research and innovation and global patient safety challenges. Their work will contribute to the development of a global patient safety action plan including policy advice, strategic guidance and technical support to WHO member states.

Faculty Resources

DocTalk: Dr. Asim Shah, professor of psychiatry & behavioral health, discusses fear and anxiety during this uncertain time at noon Wednesday, April 1, via Zoom. Register to receive the presentation and Zoom information on Tuesday, March 31. Eligible employees and spouses/domestic partners will receive 50 BCM BeWell Vitality points for submitting the verification survey and verification code given during the presentation. Please email wellness@bcm.edu if you have any questions.

Redeployment Opportunities: Due to COVID-19, some Baylor departments have employees who cannot perform their regular duties. At the same time, other areas in the College have increased workloads or new activities in response to the pandemic. To address this need, Baylor has created a process to redeploy labor. The redeployment taskforce is working diligently with leaders, supervisors and administrators to accomplish this. Employees involved can expect communication as it becomes available. Employees who feel they are eligible for redeployment should communicate with their immediate supervisor. For additional questions, email AskHR@bcm.edu.

DOI Update: The deadline to complete the 2019 Annual Financial Disclosure through the BCM DOI Portal has been extended to May 31, in consideration of the coronavirus crisis. Thank you to the 88% of faculty, residents, fellows, graduate students, postdocs, staff-1s and staff-2s who already have completed this important documentation. Helpful materials are available on the DOI webpage.

Junior Faculty Seed Awards: The College supports new investigators at the assistant professor level who are beginning their careers as independent researchers with the Junior Faculty Seed funding program. Several awards of $30,000 each are available for fiscal year 2021 to help junior faculty prepare to submit applications for outside funding for clinical or basic science proposals. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 8. Application instructions and more information are available on the website.

From the Labs: Read how Drs. Eric Chang, Matthew Ellis and Zeyi Zheng in the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center discovered new insights into the function of neurofibromin in breast cancer resistance in this week’s post. Receive From the Labs via email by entering your email address in the box at the end of any article and clicking the "subscribe" button.


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