News for BCM Faculty, Sept. 19, 2019
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Ask Me About My Research: Dr. Robin Kochel, associate professor of pediatrics – psychology, talks about her autism studies with special guests Emma and Maddy Schack in this episode of Ask Me About My Research. You can pick up your own “Ask Me” button in the Office of Communications & Community Outreach, Room 176B, main Baylor.

Faculty Reviews: The Faculty Performance Evaluation and Development Planning forms are open to all faculty members today, Sept. 19, through Oct. 21. Provost Alicia Monroe recommends that you prepare by:

• Updating your CV: An updated and accurate CV provides critical information for your self-evaluation and development planning as well as for your evaluator’s use in assessing your performance and in helping you plan to successfully reach your career goals. View the CV Tips and Guidelines webpage for suggestions to help ensure your CV is working for you.
• Reviewing Training Materials: Visit the Faculty Performance and Development Planning website. The site includes several short (30 second – 2 minute) videos and FAQs designed to help you get the most out of this experience. For those who will be evaluating colleagues, training materials are available to help you provide effective and constructive feedback.
• Entering Goals: Please note a change this year: You have to enter a goal to complete the self-review process. Goals can be added in a number of ways: 1) by using the goal module from the menu in the upper left to create a new goal, copy a goal from a past plan or select a goal from the new goal library, 2) during the self-review or 3) by supervisors, evaluators or chairs.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Jonnae Atkinson, assistant professor of family & community health, is this week’s highlighted senator on the faculty intranet portal as the Faculty Senate observes Women in Medicine Month. Read about the commitment she brings to the officer role of senate secretary.

Dr. Biykem Bozkurt, professor of medicine - cardiology, has been elected president of the Heart Failure Society of America. A member of the organization for 15 years, she assumed the presidency this month after serving as president-elect. Bozkurt holds the Mary and Gordon Cain Chair of Internal Medicine in the Winters Center for Heart Failure Research and the W.A. “Tex” and Deborah Moncrief, Jr. Chair.

Dr. Malcolm Brenner, professor and founding director of the Center for Cell & Gene Therapy, explains how immune systems can be programmed to fight cancer in “Cell Wars,” the latest episode of Body of Work, the podcast where Baylor scientists and physicians explore the impact of hot button issues on healthcare, research, community and education.

Dr. Matthew Ellis, professor and director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, and Dr. Valentina Hoyos, assistant professor at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, were awarded grants from Susan G. Komen for their research on new ways to treat metastatic breast cancer. Ellis will receive $400,000 to define druggable pathways and molecules in patients with endocrine therapy resistant advanced disease. Hoyos will receive $449,220 to study how to teach T-cells, a component of the immune system, to target and kill breast cancer metastases.

Dr. James T. McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs, has been named chair of the board of directors of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. A professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation, he has served as ABPMR board director since 2010. His three-year term as chair began in August.

The newest class of the Master Teacher Fellowship Program held its graduation ceremony on Sept. 6. The 20-year-old program’s primary aim is to enhance the educational mission of the College by developing the knowledge, skills and interests of individual faculty members. The two-year fellowship is designed to increase fellows’ knowledge of key educational principles and theories; skills in lecturing, facilitating, designing and evaluating; interest in serving as an educational leader; and self-reflection and readiness to benefit from constructive feedback from learners and peers. Graduates are Dr. Titilopemi Aina, Anesthesiology; Dr. Stephanie Morain, Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy; Dr. Alison Haddock, Emergency Medicine; Dr. Laura Nietfeld, Family & Community Medicine; Drs. Rola El-Serag, Claudine Johnson, Erica Hubenthal Lescinskas, Rajeev Raghavan and Stephanie Sherman, Medicine; Dr. Helen Dunnington and Dr. Bani Ratan, Obstetrics & Gynecology; Dr. John Dawson, Orthopedic Surgery; Dr. Elton Ashe-Lambert and Dr. Yi-Chun Carol Liu, Otolaryngology; Dr. Christine Roth, Pathology; Drs. Kathryn Ban, Amanda Brown, Audrea Burns, Lindsay Cameron, Jenelle Little, Sanghamitra Misra and Linessa Zuniga, Pediatrics; Sarah-Ann Keyes, Physician Assistant Program; and Dr. Gia Merlo, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.

College Events

Scholarship Showcase: The Academy of Distinguished Educators highlights educational projects by Baylor trainees and faculty at the Annual Showcase of Educational Scholarship, noon to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, in Rayzor Hall, main Baylor. Stop by to view the posters, engage in discussions and enjoy light refreshments. Awards for best posters will be presented at 3 p.m. in Cullen Auditorium.

Compassion Series: Dr. Daniel Epner, a palliative care physician at MD Anderson Cancer Center, presents “Using Stories to Learn about Grief, Redemption and Forgiveness” as part of the Compassion & the Art of Medicine series at noon Friday, Sept. 20, in Cullen Auditorium.

Global Health: Dr. Sharmila Anandasabapathy, professor of medicine - gastroenterology and director of Baylor Global Initiatives, discusses global health challenges and the development of new technologies to address them with Dr. Elizabeth Yu Chiao, professor of medicine – infectious diseases, presented by the Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance, 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, in Conference Rooms A&B, Baylor Medical Center on the McNair Campus.

Faculty Opportunities

Off Script: The Narrative Medicine Program seeks story submissions for “Off Script: Stories from the Heart of Medicine” on the theme of dealing with conflict. The submission deadline is Monday, Sept. 30, and the storytelling hour is set for Nov. 14. For more information, please see the website.

Charity Art Show: Baylor hosts its annual Art Show benefiting the Texas Children’s Hospital Arts in Medicine Program Nov. 18-22. Artists are encouraged to register and submit artwork for the event. Register by contacting Nate Achilly before Oct. 31. At least 40% of the auction sales will go to the Arts in Medicine Program, with the remainder going directly to the artists.

Faculty Resources

Toastmasters: Medically Speaking Toastmasters hosts an open house with refreshments and door prizes to introduce the public speaking program and Pathways learning experience, a set of practical workplace skills, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, in Room N311, main Baylor. The group meets weekly at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Find out more online.

Secularity & Science: The Baker Institute for Public Policy sponsors a talk with Dr. Elaine Howard Ecklund, a Rice University social scientist and author of “Secularity and Science: What Scientists Around the World Really Think About Religion” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Baker Institute on the Rice campus. RSVP to attend.

Diversity & Inclusion Week kicks off with an ice cream social hosted by the Association for Graduate Student Diversity and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in Alkek Lobby, main Baylor. On-campus diversity events include:

• A Compassionate Conversation: Immigration Care in the First Person – a panel discussion with Dr. Fernando Stein and Dr. Karla Fredericks, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, in Cullen Auditorium, main Baylor.
• Refugee Experience: Trauma, Resilience and Recovery – a panel discussion with Drs. Sophie Banu, Jeffrey Kottler and Suni Jani, 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in Cullen Auditorium, followed by a reception in Rayzor Lounge.

For a Good Cause

Wellness 5K: The annual race/walk benefiting student wellness initiatives is Oct. 12 in the Texas Medical Center. This is a timed event, and runners can join as individuals or teams. There are lots of fun race-day activities including a kids fun run and childcare. Register online by Thursday, Sept. 26, for early-bird special pricing.

Prostate Cancer: Researchers at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center are recruiting participants for the largest African American prostate cancer study to date. African-American men in Texas who were first diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States on Jan. 1, 2015, or later qualify for the study. For more information, visit the website.

Attention Clinicians: See Clinical Events

Clinical Seminars

Surgery Grand Rounds: Dr. Nader Massarweh, associate professor of surgery, speaks on “Surgical Quality Improvement: Moving the Needle or Measuring for the Sake of Measurement?” at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, in Room N315, main Baylor, or via Zoom, meeting ID: 517 471 817.

Lung Injury: Baylor’s Avoiding Lung Injury Conference is a one-day CME-eligible symposium on strategies for minimizing lung injury and improving respiratory outcomes in the neonatal intensive care unit. A panel of local speakers will address a variety of topics spanning care from the delivery room to the NICU on Oct. 18 at Texas Children’s Hospital. For conference information and registration, please see the website.

Transition Medicine: The 20th Annual Chronic Illness and Disability Conference, "Transition from Pediatric to Adult-Based Care," for healthcare providers, patients and patient families is Oct. 24-25 in the Texas Medical Center. The conference is sponsored by Baylor and Texas Children’s Hospital; learn more and register online.

Blood Cancers: Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center sponsor the Acute Hematologic Malignancies Symposium on Nov. 2. Dr. Gustavo Rivero, assistant professor of medicine – hematology & oncology. Dr. Martha Mims, Dan L Duncan Professor of Medicine, and Dr. C. Kent Osborne, professor and director of the DLDCCC head the symposium committee with topics including clonal hematopoiesis, myelodysplasia and acute AML pathogenesis and therapy. Register online to attend.

Attention Researchers: See Research Calendar

Research Seminars

Genetics: Dr. David A. Weinstein, professor at the University of Connecticut, discusses “Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ia: 30 Years of Progress from Cornstarch to Gene Therapy” at noon Friday, Sept. 20, in Room 301A, main Baylor.

Digestive Diseases: “Exfoliomics: A noninvasive method to monitor host/microbiome crosstalk in the gut” is the topic of a talk by Dr. Robert S. Chapkin, professor of integrative nutrition & complex diseases at Texas A&M University, 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, in Room M112, main Baylor.

Research Resources

Research Methods: The Department of Family & Community Medicine offers "Beginner’s Clinical Research Methods," a course providing hands-on training in procedures and tools used to analyze clinical research data, on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27-28, at the Baylor Family Medicine Clinic, 3701 Kirby Dr., or via Zoom. Register online.

Michelson Prizes: The Human Vaccines Project and the Michelson Medical Research Foundation are accepting applications for the 2020 Michelson Prizes. The $150,000 prizes are awarded to investigators under age 35 and in a variety of disciplines who are applying innovative research processes to advance the development of vaccines and immunotherapies for major global diseases. Learn more online. The deadline for submission is Oct. 31.

From the Labs: Read how research by Dr. Xiang “Shawn” Zhang, professor in the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center and DLDCCC member, is revealing the role immune cells within tumors play in tumor growth and response to therapy 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.

Questions or Comments?

Faculty Senate: Please contact your senator for faculty-related questions or suggestions.

Institutional Policy Committee: Contact the Policy Committee to learn more about College policies and procedures.

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