News for BCM Faculty, July 12 - 26, 2018
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Demisesquicentennial Salute: On this date in 1943, the College began classes in its new home in Houston. Dean Walter H. Moursund welcomed 129 medical students to the refurbished Sears, Roebuck and Co. store (pictured above) that would house the Baylor University College of Medicine through the war years. This commemorative website shows what a difference Baylor’s 75 years in Houston has made for the institution, its community and the Texas Medical Center.

Academic Council: For chairs and center directors who were unable to attend the Faculty Town Hall, President Paul Klotman, Senate Chair Oluyinka Olutoye, Clinical Dean James McDeavitt, Research Dean Adam Kuspa, Provost Alicia Monroe and COO Joe Doty reprised their presentations on the year’s activities at the July 9 meeting, You may watch videos of each mission leader plus an overview of operations and the financing of an academic medical center on the intranet.

• Dean Jennifer Christner presented an update on mistreatment in the learning environment at the School of Medicine and graduate medical education. Dr. Klotman asked the clinical chairs to work with Drs. Christner and Monroe to develop a plan to address disrespectful and unprofessional behavior exhibited by faculty members and residents.
• She also discussed the job description for GME program directors and said the GME executive committee must approve the appointment of program directors, per ACGME requirements.
• Dr. Olutoye introduced new Senate officers Dr. Kim Worley, basic sciences representative, and Dr. Manisha Gandhi, clinical sciences representative, who will be attending meetings of the Academic Council.

Faculty Kudos

Dr. Susan Blaney, professor and executive vice chair of pediatrics, has been promoted from deputy director to director of Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers. She assumes the position held since 1993 by Dr. David Poplack, who was named associate director of Global HOPE, the hospital’s pediatric hematology and oncology initiative in Botswana, Malawi and Uganda. Blaney, a member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, is vice chair of the Children’s Oncology Group, the clinical trial cooperative.

Dr. Raymon Grogan, senior faculty in surgery and section chief for endocrine surgery at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, was appointed to the Fellowship Accreditation Committee for the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. Grogan, who also serves on the AAES Research Committee, received the Paul LoGerfo Research Grant to study the relationship between the human microbiome and thyroid disease.

President Paul Klotman was honored in June with the Latino Learning Center's Humanitarian Award in the area of Philanthropy in the Health Professions in recognition of the College's community outreach efforts, including the response to Hurricane Harvey. The center is celebrating its 40th anniversary of serving as one of the principal Latino nonprofit organizations in the Greater Houston area.

Dr. Norman Sussman, associate professor of surgery in the division of abdominal transplantation, is featured in this week’s Meet Your Senator article on the faculty intranet portal. He represents the interests of the faculty at large on the Senate.

College Events

Breast Cancer Conversation: Dr. Matthew Ellis, professor, McNair Scholar and director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, hosts a community forum on “Treatments in Breast Cancer: What’s New?” The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center McNair Campus. Free registration is available online.

PA White Coats: Students in the Physician Assistant Program receive their white coats, signifying their transition from didactic courses to clinical training, in a ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday, July 20, in Cullen Auditorium.

Welcome Class of 2022: Entering medical students begin their Baylor experience Monday, July 23, with a two-day retreat at Artesian Lakes, followed by two days of on-campus orientation.

Faculty Opportunities

Educational Scholarship: The annual Academy of Distinguished Educators Showcase of Educational Scholarship is Baylor's premier venue for highlighting scholarship within medical education, using a peer-reviewed format. This year the showcase is set for Sept. 21. All Baylor faculty members are eligible to submit abstracts. The deadline is 5 p.m. Aug. 1. For more information or to apply, please go online.

Faculty Resources

Poll Everywhere: Dr. Sandra Haudek, assistant professor of medicine and a faculty senator, presents a faculty workshop on Poll Everywhere, the audience response system, 4 – 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, in Room N317, main Baylor. RSVP to Deborah Fernandez to attend. Please bring your computer to this interactive session.

Research Mentor Training: Faculty research mentors are invited to participate in a skill-building workshop on mentoring competencies including aligning expectations, maintaining effective communications, fostering independence and resilience and promoting professional development. Workshop activities are based on the mentor training curriculum of the NIH’s National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) but will be tailored to research mentors at Baylor. Four workshop dates in the fall are offered. To attend, please pick your preferred date by Aug. 1. For more information, contact Dr. Anna Marie Sokac, NRMN master facilitator of mentor training, or Dr. Sandra Haudek, director of peer coaching in the Office of Faculty Development.

Faculty Commons is heading to cooler climes for a summer break. Look for a new issue of your favorite BCM faculty e-newsletter on Thursday, July 26.

For a Good Cause

Free Yoga: The Office of Student Services, Doctors for Change and the Good Yoga Project offer a free Yoga class at noon Tuesdays at main Baylor. The July 17 session is in Room M319.01, the July 24 session is in Rayzor Lounge. Bring your own mat and wear comfy clothes, no RSVP is required.

Attention Clinicians: See Clinical Calendar

Clinical Seminars

Liver Disease: The 19th annual "Hot Topics in Liver Disease" conference is July 28 at the Houstonian Hotel. Co-program directors Dr. Prasun Jalal, assistant professor of surgery, Dr. Norman Sussman, associate professor of surgery, and Dr. John Vierling, professor of medicine and surgery, offer the latest information in cirrhosis and its clinical complications, non-alcoholic and alcoholic liver diseases and drug-induced liver injury, viral hepatitis, hepatobiliary malignancy and liver transplantation. CNE and CME contact hours will be provided. Register online.

Hematology-Oncology: Dr. Helen Heslop, professor and director of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, is an invited speaker at the sixth annual meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology, scheduled for Sept. 12 – 15 at the Hilton Americas, 1600 Lamar St. Topics will cover the latest advances in the pathophysiology and therapy of leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative neoplasms, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and related malignancies, plus exciting developments in basic research. More information and registration are available online.

Clinical Resources

FGP Website: The Patient Experience website has been updated with new resources, tools and tips to improve the delivery of healthcare as well as information on customer service training courses available to clinical employees. The intranet site also includes Faculty Group Practice quarterly patient satisfaction results and winners in the clinical recognition program.

Attention Researchers: See Research Calendar

Research Resources

Biodesign Workshop: Enventure hosts "Needs Screening: Stakeholder and Market Analysis" at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at TMCx, 2450 Holcombe Blvd. The free monthly workshop explores the biodesign medical innovation process, teaching new entrepreneurs how to evaluate a technology as the basis for starting a new business. More information and registration are available online.

Data Science Boot Camp: Rice University offers a week-long course Aug. 6 – 10 to get you up to speed on skills required to start leveraging the latest data analytics tools. Participants should have some previous exposure to basic probability, statistics, linear regression, matrix and vector notation, as well as some familiarity with R and Python programming languages. For more information and registration, please go online.

Tissue Engineering: Rice University hosts its 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 how Dr. Thomas Cooper, professor of pathology & immunology, molecular & cellular biology and molecular physiology & biophysics, and his lab are working to find the key to maintaining muscle mass as we age in this blog article. 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 July.

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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