Faculty Commons, May 17 - 23, 2018
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Familiar Faces:The College’s 2018 Alumni Award winners include Dr. Carol Baker ’68, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology & microbiology, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; Dr. Joseph Coselli ’82, professor and chief of cardiothoracic surgery and holder of the Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair, who received the Distinguished Service Award; and Dr. Ellen Friedman, professor of otolaryngology and director of the Center for Professionalism in Medicine, and Dr. James Phillips, professor of pediatrics and senior associate dean for diversity and community outreach, who received Distinguished Faculty Awards at the May 3 ceremony. Read about all the award winners and see their videos online.

Academic Council: Council members approved the awarding of degrees to 187 M.D. candidates in the School of Medicine, 33 Ph.D. candidates in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and one D.N.P., one M.S.O.P. and one M.S.P.A. candidate in the School of Health Professions at the May 14 meeting.

• Dr. David Berger, COO of Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, provided an update on the hospital, which recently was named one of "100 great hospitals in America" by Becker's Healthcare and earned an "A" grade from The Leapfrog Group, improvements he attributed to its quality and patient safety initiatives. A financial turnaround has enabled Baylor St. Luke's to invest in new capital projects at its existing location and at the McNair Campus.
• Senate Chair Oluyinka Olutoye described the inaugural Faculty Senate Lunch & Learn as a success with about 50 attendees, and thanked President Paul Klotman and CFO Julie Nickell for leading the "Finance 101" discussion. He announced the Senate’s first Roadshow at Menninger Clinic May 17. Senate leaders will meet and greet Baylor faculty at additional affiliate locations throughout the year.
• Senior Associate Dean Carolyn Smith reviewed progress in implementing the Graduate School Transformation Plan. Faculty members have selected new programs with which to align and the GSBS is confirming eligibility with departments in some cases. The Development, Disease Modules & Therapeutics Program has accepted the most faculty in this interim phase.
• Associate Provost Toi Harris reported on the Wellness Intervention Team, an administrative services group that supports Baylor students who are facing acute health challenges. Within accreditation guidelines and federal and state regulations that protect student privacy, the team has helped students access acute care, crisis management and academic and non-academic support resources and assisted school leadership with the processing of long-term leaves of absence in the last year.
• Dean Jennifer Christner introduced new guidelines for affiliation agreements, which must be signed for every location where any student rotates and kept on file with the Provost’s Office.

Faculty Senate Elections: Faculty members in Anesthesiology, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family & Community Medicine, Huffington Center on Aging, Human Genome Sequencing Center, Medicine, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Molecular & Human Genetics, Molecular Virology & Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Neurology, Neuroscience, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Pathology & Immunology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Surgery and Urology have until midnight Monday, May 21, to vote for their representatives on the Faculty Senate. All faculty will have the opportunity to vote for at-large senators in the second round of elections June 4 – 11. For more information, please see the Senate’s webpage.

Education Kudos: At Academic Council, Dean Jennifer Christner highlighted recent attention to Baylor's medical education programs by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr. Sarah Bezek, assistant professor of emergency medicine, presented the new Critical Thinking & Problem Solving pre-clinical course during the AAMC Curriculum Inventory Administrators' Group national webinar on May 9. That same week, AAMC News published an article on the College’s "humanism rounds," a pilot program to foster patient engagement and counteract burnout in residents. In April, Dr. Christner and Dr. Nadia Ismail, associate professor of medicine and associate dean for curriculum, published a scholarly commentary on "Translational Research in Medical School Curriculum" in the AAMC’s Curriculum Inventory in Context.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Richard Danielson, associate professor of otolaryngology in the Center for Space Medicine, recently was inducted into the National Academies of Practice in Audiology as a distinguished fellow. The NAP is a national group of practitioners dedicated to advancing interprofessional healthcare by fostering collaboration and advocating policies in the best interest of individuals and communities.

Dr. Lisa Hollier, professor of obstetrics & gynecology, has been named president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She was sworn in during the ACOG Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of obstetrician-gynecologists in the United States and the premier medical conference focused solely on women's health. As president, Hollier will focus on reducing preventable maternal mortality.

Dr. Heather Lukolyo, assistant professor of pediatrics, recently was elected to a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on International Child Health. As a member of the committee, she will assist the section in fulfilling its mission of improving the health of children worldwide.

Dr. Philip Lupo, associate professor of pediatrics – oncology, is the 2018 recipient of the F. Clarke Fraser New Investigator Award from the Teratology Society. He will deliver a special lecture about his research looking at birth defects and childhood cancer risk at the society's annual meeting in Clearwater, Fla., in June.

Dr. Buck Samuel, assistant professor of molecular virology & microbiology, was an invited participant in the strategic planning initiative for the Genetics Society of America. Discussions are ongoing and he would appreciate feedback from other GSA members and College faculty.

Dr. Angelle Sander, associate professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation, is featured in this week’s Meet Your Senator article on the faculty intranet portal. She represents Baylor faculty at Memorial Hermann - The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research on the Senate.

College Events

Faculty Awards Day: Cheer for your peers today at the omnibus awards ceremony encompassing the Clark Faculty Service Award, Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Excellence Awards, Barbara and Corbin J. Robertson, Jr. Presidential Award for Excellence in Education, John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher Award, Faculty Awards for Excellence in Patient Care, and Ben and Margaret Love Foundation Bobby Alford Award for Academic Clinical Professionalism. See the list of winners online. The event is set for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17, in Cullen Auditorium, main Baylor, with a reception to follow.

Bike to Work: National Bike to Work Day is tomorrow, May 18. Participants who bike to the main campus tomorrow may use the showers in the gym after 8 a.m. by using the code "BiketoWork2018." If you would like to provide feedback for future bike to work initiatives, please complete the BCM BeWell survey.

Houston Rockets: Friday, May 18, is Houston Rockets Day at the College in support of the team as it continues the series against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Based on dress codes within departments, you are welcome to wear Houston Rockets attire. Take a photo of yourself and your colleagues showing your spirit and send it to Anna Kiappes by 2 p.m. Friday to be featured on Baylor’s social media channels. Remember to include names and departments with photos.

Commencement 2018: The ceremony for graduating M.D. and Ph.D. students starts at 6:30 p.m. May 29 at Jones Hall. Doors open at 5 p.m. Graduation is an important event at the College and faculty members are encouraged to attend and support their students. Additional events scheduled for May 29 are the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Brunch, 10 a.m. in Rayzor Lounge, and the Military Commissioning Ceremony, 1 p.m. in DeBakey Library & Museum.

Faculty Opportunities

Curriculum Committee: The nominations period for the Medical School Curriculum Committee has been extended until Friday, May 18. Interested faculty members from all disciplines are encouraged to consider applying for this important leadership role. The Curriculum Committee has the integrated institutional responsibility for the overall design, management and evaluation of a coherent and coordinated curriculum. For more information, please see the announcement.

Health Equity Research Summit: The Center of Excellence in Health Equity, Training and Research (COE) invites poster presentation proposals from Baylor faculty, staff, trainees and affiliate hospital team members in all departments, centers and schools for the annual COE Summer Research Summit June 19. Posters should highlight innovative research that will contribute to the promotion and improvement of minority health and the elimination of health disparities. To submit a project for consideration, please e-mail an abstract to healthequity@bcm.edu by May 31. See the announcement for detailed instructions.

Faculty Resources

Faculty Career Coaching: Faculty Development now offers one-on-one sessions with experienced senior faculty coaches. These sessions are designed to provide guidance on career progression, readiness for academic promotion, development of award portfolios, academic writing and educational research and evaluation. Contact the Office of Faculty Development at (713) 798-7285 for scheduling.

Volunteer Time Off: Did you know that Baylor employees are eligible to take one regularly scheduled workday per fiscal year (July 1-June 30) for participating in community service activities? Find out more about volunteer opportunities online.

For a Good Cause

Arthritis Walk: Meet up with the BCM Walkin' Warriors for the Walk to Cure Arthritis at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at Jones Plaza, 600 Louisiana St. Dr. Melvyn Harrington, associate professor of orthopedic surgery, chairs the Houston Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, which is sponsoring the one- or three-mile walk. Dogs are welcome. Register or donate online.

OCD Walk: Join Baylor's OCD program team in raising awareness of obsessive compulsive disorder at the 1 Million Steps 4 OCD Walk on June 2 at Stude Park. Proceeds from the event will benefit the International OCD Foundation. To donate or register, go online.

Attention Clinicians: See Clinical Calendar

Clinical Seminars

Psychiatry Seminar: Dr. Raag Airan, assistant professor of radiology at Stanford University, speaks on "Noninvasive neuromodulation using ultrasonic drug uncaging" at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 22, in room E4-120 at the Jamail Specialty Care Center on the McNair Campus. His research is focused on developing methods to interrogate and treat the brain, principally through the use of focused ultrasound and ultrasound-mediated focal drug delivery.

Geomedicine: Dr. Abi Oluyomi, assistant professor of medicine – environmental health service, in partnership with colleagues in the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at UTHealth School of Public Health, presents a comprehensive introduction to geomedicine and the use of geographic information system, or GIS, applications in the healthcare field, 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. June 1 in Room M321, main Baylor. The course is designed for healthcare professionals with primary roles in clinical care and research with little or no previous training in this area. Register online.

The Tropical Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology CME Conference, set for Sept. 10 – 15 at the College, is designed to train physicians for surgical practice in tropical, remote and resource-limited settings around the globe. Sessions will use tissue and model-based simulations to prepare participants for a wide range of emergent and essential surgical procedures. Participants will receive 43 CME credits and either a Certificate of Completion or a Diploma in Tropical Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology. Register online by June 1 to attend.

Call for LOIs

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is now accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) for the 2018 Psychosocial Grants. Funding is set to begin in February 2019. These grants offer opportunities for talented early career and established investigators to conduct innovative and clinically relevant research that addresses the psychosocial and behavioral health outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer and their families. Guidelines and submission information are available online. The LOI deadline is June 11.

Attention Researchers: See Research Calendar

Research Seminars

Neuroscience Seminar: Dr. Richard Mooney of Duke University speaks on "From Song to Synapse: Neural Mechanisms of Vocal Learning" at 11 a.m. Friday, May 18, in Room N315, main Baylor.

Gene Regulation Therapeutics: The Therapeutic Innovation Center (THINC@BCM) hosts its first symposium to further the understanding of diseases of gene regulation, especially RNA and chromatin biology, with academic and industry leaders including keynote speakers Dr. Arthur Sands, CEO of Nurix, and Dr. Richard Young of the Whitehead Institute and MIT. The event is May 31 – June 1 at Onstead Auditorium, 6767 Bertner Ave. Register online.

Research Resources

Postdoc Research Stipend: The Selection Committee of the T32 Research Training in Infections and Immunity (Dr. Robert Atmar, director, and Dr. Mary Estes, co-director,) is seeking applications for one post-doctoral research stipend available July 1. To obtain an application, please email ID@bcm.edu or lalfred@bcm.edu. Completed applications only should be sent as a single pdf file to Dr. Atmar by May 21. Notifications of award receipt will be made by May 28.

Reproducible Research: The Gulf Coast Consortia offers the first of its Rigor and Reproducibility Program targeted modules, the R and RStudio Workshop, 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. June 6 at the Rice University Bioscience Research Collaborative. More information and registration are online.

Tissue Engineering: Rice University hosts the 26th annual short course, Advances in Tissue Engineering, Aug. 8 – 11 on its campus. Dr. James Dennis, Benjamin Ford Kitchen Professor of Orthopedics, is a guest speaker at the course, which surveys the latest technologies in the world of patient-specific therapeutics, from cellular treatments to 3D printing and biofabrication of complex tissues. Register online.

From the Labs: Read commentary on the 2018 DeBakey Research Award winners’ scientific contributions in this blog post. You can receive 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.

Funding Opportunities: See the Office of Institutional Diversity, Inclusion and Equity’s list of funding opportunities for research on healthcare disparities and social determinants of health. The Office of Research offers a list of privately funded awards currently accepting applications for May.

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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