News for BCM Faculty, Sept. 24, 2020
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Dining on Campus: Morrison Café has kept main Baylor employees fed throughout the pandemic, serving a menu of coffee drinks, hot meals and grab-and-go snacks from 7 to 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. Visit it on Hall E by the Courtyard to see how masking, sanitizing and physical distancing can still feel hospitable.

Faculty Reviews: The annual Faculty Performance Assessment and Development Planning process begins Monday, Sept. 28. Faculty members have until Oct. 30 to complete self-evaluations; meetings with evaluators must be completed by Jan. 8, 2021.

Gun Safety Statement: Baylor College of Medicine has issued a position paper stressing its support for comprehensive research, training and advocacy to address firearm safety and improve public health. The paper includes six key elements:

• Government and privately funded public health research is critical to reduce firearm-related injury and death.
• More investment in school- and community-based prevention and intervention is needed.
• Safe and secure storage practices are essential to reducing the risk of firearm injury and death.
• The College supports efforts to identify innovative technological approaches to advance firearm safety.
• Physicians must be trained and enabled to counsel patients on firearm safety.
• Baylor opposes laws that forbid physicians from discussing firearm ownership and safety practices.

COVID-19 Resources: Investigators at Baylor and the University of California San Diego have developed two new web resources to improve access to COVID-19 research. The resources, freely available through the Signaling Pathways Project (Baylor) and the Network Data Exchange (UCSD), provide information about cellular genes whose expression is affected by coronavirus infection and place these data in the context of the complex network of host molecular signaling pathways, potentially accelerating the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Milton Boniuk, professor of ophthalmology and pathology, will be honored with the 2020 Guardian of the Human Spirit Award by the Holocaust Museum Houston for his dedication to an inclusive community, which includes the creation of the Boniuk Library and Boniuk Center for the Future of Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Studies at HMH, and the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance at Rice University.

The Academy of Distinguished Educators featured 59 posters in the Annual Showcase of Educational Scholarship Sept. 18, selecting four faculty posters as winners: "An Online Course to Optimize UC Provider Antimicrobial Use for Pediatric Upper Respiratory Infections" by Dr. Lindsay Cameron, assistant professor of pediatrics; "Impact of a teaching service on patient outcomes and costs at a community hospital" by Dr. Andrea Dean, assistant professor of pediatrics; "Correlation Between Empathy and Knowledge: How an Educational Film-Documentary on Homelessness Positively Impacts Learners' Perceptions" by Dr. Fabrizia Faustinella, associate professor of family & community medicine; and "A case-based approach to improve the quality of resident event reporting" by Dr. Molly Horstman, assistant professor of medicine. See all the winning faculty and trainee posters online.

Two Baylor teams were among five selected by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health to advance the study of space radiation and investigate countermeasures for deep-space exploration using human tissue/organ models. Dr. Sarah Blutt, associate professor of molecular virology & microbiology, and her team received funding for "Use of Microbial Based Countermeasures to Mitigate Radiation Induced Intestinal Damage." A team led by Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, associate professor of pediatrics, was chosen for "Counteracting space radiation by targeting neurogenesis in a human brain organoid model."

Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor, director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Institute and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has been named a Citation Laureate for 2020 by Clarivate Web of Science. This designation recognizes researchers whose work is among the most frequently cited in journal publications, typically in the top 0.01%.

College Events

Postdoc Week: Celebrate research postdoctoral associates and fellows during National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week, with virtual events through Friday, Sept. 25.

Blood Donations: Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center has rescheduled its blood drive at the BCM Gym for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30. For those with appointments, Gulf Coast Blood Center will reach out individually to reschedule. To make an appointment, please use the online scheduler.

CVRI Seminar: Dr. Guo Huang, associate professor of physiology and the University of California San Francisco, speaks on "Molecular Control of Heart Regeneration: Insights from Platypus, Armadillos, Bats and Whales," at noon Wednesday, Sept. 30, via Zoom, meeting ID: 913 8092 8360, passcode: 021807.

She Leads Peds: Learn from female leadership in the Department of Pediatrics at a virtual roundtable featuring Drs. Susan Blaney, Carla Davis, Lara Shekerdemian, Joan Shook, Geeta Singhal and Teri Turner, 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, via Zoom, passcode 597810. This is the kickoff event for sheLEADSpeds, an initiative to foster community, mentorship and sponsorship among women in pediatric academic medicine.

Ethics Grand Rounds: The Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center present “Supporting Families and Managing Moral Distress During COVID-19,” a panel discussion with Drs. Eric Storch, Andrew Childress, Charu Agrawal, Claire Horner and Deborah Whisnand, BSLMC clinical pastoral education, at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, via Zoom. Text 713-903-7277 and enter event ID: REVRON.

Faculty Resources

Zoom Update: Beginning Sunday, Sept. 27, all Zoom meetings will be required to have either a passcode or waiting room enabled to ensure a safer, more secure meeting. If neither is turned on, a waiting room will be enabled by default. These changes will help prevent unwanted participants from joining your meetings. Review the Zoom Security Change article to learn more.

Career Workshop: The Office of Faculty Development hosts a Norton Rose Fulbright portfolio workshop, 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28. RSVP to attend virtually.

Geriatrics Conference: Baylor and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center present “Geriatrics for Primary Care Providers and Hospitalists,” 10 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3. The virtual event is approved for continuing medical education credits. Online registration is open.

Education Grand Rounds: Dr. Teri Turner, professor of pediatrics, discusses “Transforming Your Educational Efforts into Scholarship” at noon Wednesday, Oct. 7, via Zoom. Contact the Office of Faculty Development to register.

Calling All Artists: The Charity Art Show is accepting art submissions for its virtual show Nov. 16-20. The show benefits Texas Children’s Hospital Arts in Medicine Program with 40% of proceeds from the online auction. Remaining profits go to the artist and unsold art is returned. Submit your artwork by Oct. 30.

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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