News for BCM Faculty, Oct. 18, 2018
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Ask Me About My Research: Dr. Ben Musher, associate professor of medicine – hematology & oncology and a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and his son Avi show just how easy it is to start a conversation about your research in this video. Talking about the great work going on at Baylor not only informs the public but also might inspire the next generation of scientists. You can pick up an “Ask Me About My Research” button in the Office of Communications and Community Outreach, Room 176B, main Baylor.

Faculty Senate: Assistant Dean Nana Coleman gave an update at the Oct. 11 meeting on the Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER), an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education program focused on supervision and accountability, patient safety, transitions of care, quality improvement, professionalism, and wellness and fatigue mitigation. A joint taskforce of the College, Ben Taub Hospital, DeBakey VA Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center is in the process of implementing CLER goals and ensuring resources to maintain accreditation.

• The Faculty Affairs & Benefits Committee proposed a draft resolution to develop and implement standards for promotion, equity and merit-based raises for tenured and non-tenured faculty. The committee also sought to address ongoing constituent concerns about the Faculty Group Practice compensation plan through draft resolutions calling for the analysis of the plan’s impact on scholarly activities and FGP faculty retention.
• The Administrative Operations Committee discussed potential patient safety concerns related to hospital services moving to the McNair Campus. It presented a draft resolution to ensure early involvement of front-line faculty and staff in transition planning.
• The Communications & Public Affairs Committee reported progress on improving faculty access to BCM email and websites from affiliate locations. The College’s Information Technology team worked with counterparts at Texas Children’s Hospital to resolve TCH access issues. A draft resolution from the committee calls for designated group viewing locations at affiliate sites for Baylor town hall meetings, grand rounds and seminars available via Zoom video conferencing.
• Following a comment period for senators, each of the draft resolutions presented in the meeting will be subject to a Senate vote.

Policy Update: The Board of Trustees approved several new and revised policies at its Sept. 26 meeting, including: 23.1.11 - Credit Hour Policy; 21.1.07 – International Activities: Anti-Bribery Policy; 20.0.02 – Open Research and Publication Policy; 12.2.03 – Network and Security Incident Response Policy; 12.1.14 – Data Security Procedures; and 12.1.05 – Wireless Network Usage Policy. Please contact Megan Monroe, director of policy governance, if you have any questions.

Reuters Ranking: Baylor College of Medicine ranked among the top 100 most innovative universities in the world by Reuters for the fourth year in a row. At No. 43, the College is the highest ranked free-standing health sciences university and one of only two institutions in Texas to make the list. This ranking is based on numerous indicators including patent filings and research paper citations.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Titi Fasipe, assistant professor of pediatrics – hematology & oncology at Baylor and Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers, received the Sickle Cell Association of Texas Marc Thomas Foundation Leadership of Excellence Service Award. She was recognized for her commitment to patient care, education and community awareness, and has the unique perspective of understanding these needs as both a physician treating patients with the disease and an individual with sickle cell disease.

Dr. Charleta Guillory, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the Neonatal-Perinatal Public Health Program at Texas Children's Hospital, received the Texas Pediatric Society Sidney R. Kaliski Award of Merit at the society's annual meeting last month in San Antonio. This award recognizes her service as an advocate for children and her substantial contributions to the health and welfare of Texas children and to the organization.

Dr. Nmazuo "Maz" Ozuah, assistant professor of pediatrics – hematology & oncology and part of the international program at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers, was awarded the Daniel D. Von Hoff Innovator Award at the American Association of Cancer Research/ American Society of Clinical Oncology Methods in Clinical Cancer Research conference. The award recognizes his proposal on the feasibility of dose-intensive, response-based chemotherapy for pediatric Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Malawi.

Dr. David Persse, professor of emergency medicine and medical director for the city of Houston, received the American College of Emergency Physicians Outstanding Contribution to EMS award at the organization's annual meeting. As the city's public health authority, Persse is responsible for the medical aspects of clinical care, quality management, disease control and public health preparedness. He played an important role in the response following Hurricane Harvey.

Dr. Kevin Roarty, assistant professor of molecular & cellular biology, accepted a grant from the Susan G. Komen organization for his work to identify how some triple negative breast cancer subtypes are better at metastasizing than others. His goal is to identify new treatment options for patients diagnosed with these types of aggressive breast cancer.

Postdoctoral associate Dr. Hari Krishna Yalamanchili received the 2018 NRI Zoghbi Scholar Award, a special fund established by Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, to honor trainees who have worked in her laboratory and to foster the next generation of successful scientists. Yalamanchili's proposal was titled, "Decoding Cryptic Splicing in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Driving Disease Gene Discovery."

College Events

Co-Cathedral Service: Physicians, healthcare professionals and trainees are welcome at a special service for the health professions at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Pkwy. Sponsored by Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Catholic Healthcare Professionals of Houston and San Jose Clinic, the service includes reflections on “The Nature and Treatment of Human Suffering” and is followed by a reception.

Early voting for the midterm elections begins Monday, Oct. 22, and runs through Nov. 2. Fiesta Mart at 8130 Kirby Drive is the closest early voting location to the Texas Medical Center for Harris County-registered voters. See the website for more information.

Cybersecurity: IT and Compliance & Audit Services host presentations on “How Safe is the Connected Home?” and “Dude, Where’s My Information?” at noon Tuesday, Oct. 23, in Cullen Auditorium, main Baylor. The series is part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

DocTalk: Dr. Karen Lawson, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences, speaks on “Living Life to the Fullest,” at noon Wednesday, Oct. 24, in Cullen Auditorium, main Baylor. Bring your lunch, join the conversation and earn BeWell points.

Team Launch Bootcamp, the first Team Discovery session of the academic year, is set for 3:30 – 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in Rooms M321-323, main Baylor. This interactive session will be led by Dr. Kathryn Jones, associate course director of Team Discovery and assistant professor of pediatrics - tropical medicine. Team Discovery sessions are part of Team Launch, which provides trainees, faculty and staff opportunities to learn and apply team skills in healthcare and biomedical science.

Compassion Series: Dr. William Edwin Fann, professor of pharmacology & chemical biology, presents “Spirituality in Medicine” as part of the Compassion & The Art of Medicine series at noon Friday, Oct. 26, in Cullen Auditorium, main Baylor.

Dr. James Phillips: The Office of Institutional Diversity, Inclusion and Equity hosts a celebration of the remarkable career and contributions of Dr. James Phillips, senior associate dean for diversity and community outreach, at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in the Alkek Lobby, main Baylor. All are welcome at the reception.

Faculty Resources

Quality & Safety: Sunday, Oct. 21, is the deadline to apply for QI Jumpstart, the Institute for Continuing Professional Development in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety program. This intermediate-level training course to is designed for healthcare providers with an introductory knowledge of the concepts of quality improvement and patient safety but who would benefit from hands-on experience in applying the learned principles to improve their healthcare practice and to mentor trainees. There is no charge to attend the course but space is limited. Learn more and apply online.

Benefits Enrollment: The 2019 Open Enrollment season ends Monday, Oct. 22. HR representatives are available to answer your questions about health and life insurance from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Monday (Oct. 19 and 22) in Room 018D, main Baylor.

Pathways to Promotion: Get an introduction to the College’s updated promotions guidelines plus a workbook tool to guide your progress at this Office of Faculty Development presentation at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center McNair Campus Conference Room A&B. To attend, RSVP to faced@bcm.edu.

Career Advancement: The Office of Faculty Development hosts two workshops on Friday, Oct. 26, to help you succeed professionally. “Educational Portfolio” is 1 – 3 p.m. in Room N317; “Building and Refining Your CV” is 3 – 5 p.m. in Room N311. To attend, RSVP to faced@bcm.edu.

Management Certificate: The College and Rice University offer the Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management, a CME credit-eligible program designed for physician- and nurse-executives, medical directors and senior administrators to develop their leadership and management skills. The six-weekend course begins Nov. 9 and runs through May 4, 2019. You can read more about the program and apply online.

College Advice: BCM benefit vendor Bright Horizons now offers advice on saving and preparing for college in addition to back-up care for children and the elderly. Register on the Education and College Advising portal (passcode: BCM) before Nov. 30 to be entered to win one of four $25 Amazon gift cards.

Attention Clinicians: See Clinical Events

Clinical Seminars

Post-Harvey Child Health: Texas Children's Hospital Center for Child Health Policy and Advocacy, Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and Children at Risk bring together regional, state and national leaders to explore the intersection of natural disasters, social determinants of health and child health at “Policy to Practice,” a symposium starting at 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19 at Rice’s Bioscience Research Collaborative. Register online.

Cochlear implant recipients, candidates and families are invited to attend a free informational session with surgeons and audiologists from the Center for Hearing and Balance and learn more about the road to better hearing at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center McNair Campus, Conference Room A&B. RSVP to ears@bcm.edu.

Clinical Note

HCMS Hospital Survey: The Harris County Medical Society’s Physicians’ Hospital Survey wants to hear from you. Go online to take the survey soliciting feedback on Greater Houston-area hospitals regarding quality of medical care, hospital policy and administration, medical staff issues and electronic medical records. All practicing physicians are eligible to participate in the anonymous survey, which closes Nov. 12.

Attention Researchers: See Research Calendar

Research Seminars

Keck Conference: The 28th annual Gulf Coast Consortia Keck Center Research Conference focuses on “Data Science and Machine Learning for Biomedicine” Friday, Oct. 26, at the Rice University BioScience Research Collaborative. Guest speakers include Dr. Casey Greene, assistant professor of systems pharmacology & translational therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Lucila Ohno-Machado, professor of biomedical informatics, UC San Diego. Register online.

Blood Cancer Symposium: The Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, along with Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, the DeBakey VA Medical Center and Harris Health System host the inaugural Hematologic Malignancies Symposium on Nov. 3. Clonal hematopoiesis, myelodysplasia and acute AML pathogenesis and therapy are topics for the poster session and presentations led by Dr. Gustavo Rivero, Dr. Martha Mims and Dr. C. Kent Osborne, director of the DLDCCC. For more information, contact Christina Velasquez. Register for the symposium online.

Research Resource

From the Labs: Read what inspires McNair Scholar Xiang “Shawn” Zhang, associate professor in the Dan L Duncan Cancer Center, in this week’s post. You can receive twice-weekly articles on Baylor's research and innovation highlights as they are posted by going to From the Labs and entering your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the right. Or get a digest at the end of the month with links to the articles posted that month by emailing science writer Ana Rodríguez with "Subscribe me to From the Labs" in the subject line.

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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