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News for BCM Faculty, Oct. 28, 2021
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College News

Andrabi Rusk Blue Coat ceremony

Dr. Sara Andrabi, assistant professor of emergency medicine, spoke at Baylor College of Medicine Biotech Academy at Rusk's Blue Coat ceremony last week. She talked to the students about the importance of STEM education and the significance of the blue coat. Baylor School of Medicine students handed out the coats to the eighth graders to represent their interest in pursuing careers in health professions. Andrabi is an alumni of Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions, part of Baylor's secondary school programs that also includes Rusk.

Vaccine reminders:

Flu - Like the COVID-19 vaccine, the flu vaccine is required per College policy unless there is an approved exemption. The deadline to receive the flu vaccine and complete attestation is Tuesday, Nov. 30. The deadline to request a flu vaccine exemption is this Sunday, Oct. 31. The attestation form is available via the BCM Flu Vaccine app. Employees who do not comply will be subject to progressive discipline.

COVID-19 - Baylor Medicine is offering COVID-19 Pfizer and Moderna booster shots at its vaccine clinic, 7200 Cambridge on the sixth floor, suite 6B. In addition to vaccinating employees, learners and patients, the clinic is available to your family and friends, regardless of where they received their primary vaccine series or which vaccine they already have received. Appointments are recommended; scheduled online through MyChart or call (713) 798-8600.

TMC Orchestra: The Texas Medical Center Orchestra is returning with a performance titled "The Healing Power of Music," Nov. 7, 6 p.m. at the Hobby Center. Support the members of the Baylor community who are part of the TMC Orchestra!. Please note the COVID-19 safety protocols on the Hobby Center website that require masks and proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test with photo identification. Read more.

Healthiest Employers: Baylor has been ranked third among the 2021 Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America and first in Texas in the extra-large employer category by Healthiest Employers. Judging is based on multiple categories including culture and leadership commitment, communications and marketing and programming and interventions. Read more.

Happy Halloween: In celebration of Halloween, on Friday, Oct. 29, employees may wear family-friendly costumes respectful of each department's dress codes.

Faculty Kudos

The Human Genome Sequencing Center was awarded a grant for nearly $250,000 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for work with the Genome in a Bottle consortium. The HGSC team, led by principal investigators Dr. Harsha Doddapaneni and Dr. Fritz Sedlazeck, both associate professors at the HGSC, will develop new reference datasets to improve standardization and calibration in ongoing genome studies.

Dr. Bijan Najafi, professor and director of clinical research in the division of vascular surgery, is leading a group of Baylor researchers who are now part of the newly established Precision Aging Network, which will focus on how and why individuals experience aging differently. Led by the University of Arizona, the network was established through a five-year, $60 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Read more.

Dr. Teresia O'Connor and Alicia Beltran have received a one-year grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to expand and study the efficacy of "Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids," a program aimed to help fathers lose weight while influencing healthy behaviors in their children. This grant is a collaboration with the Texas Children's Health Plan and the YMCA of Greater Houston. Read more.

Faculty Opportunities

UH-BCM research symposium: Join the third UH-BCM Virtual Symposium, Friday, Oct. 29, 2 – 4:30 p.m. The event will feature short presentations from the nine research groups that received Collaborative Pilot Grants last summer from the University of Houston and Baylor. Baylor and UH vice presidents of research, Dr. Mary Dickinson and Dr. Amr Elnashai, will provide opening remarks, followed by 15-minute presentations from each group. See agenda and register.

Professionalism series: Profiles in Professionalism Speaker Series presents Dr. Betsy White Williams, professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, to discuss health and wellbeing as an aspect of professionalism. Her talk, "Calming the Waters: Professionalism Post COVID," will cover poor health and well-being leading to professional difficulties. Join via Zoom (Meeting ID: 965 4804 9828 Password: 506389) Thursday, Nov. 4, at 12:15 p.m. or 5 p.m.

Funding available: The Cancer Research Institute is requesting letters of intent for its Technology Impact Award to fund work addressing the gap between technology development and clinical application of cancer immunotherapies. The program is designed to encourage collaboration between technology developers and clinical cancer immunologists to advance technologies that can speed up developing immunotherapies that are effective for all cancer patients. Applicants must hold a faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor or higher at the time of award activation. Deadline is Nov. 15. Read more.

Salary support: The Shan and Lee-Jun Wong Fellowship Fund is offering funding for salary support for a senior postdoctoral fellow or junior faculty member. Funding supports those working in the areas of translational science or diagnostics, with an emphasis on mitochondrial biology and disease or cancer biology. Applicants should submit a one-page proposal to Dr. William Craigen (wcraigen@bcm.edu) by July 1, 2022. In addition, a brief letter of support should be provided by the faculty supervisor or in the case of a junior faculty member a senior mentor. The CV for the applicant as well as NIH biosketch of the supervisor/mentor should be included.


Questions or Comments?

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

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