Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items December 2015 – January 2016

  • Announcements:
    • Congratulations are in order to the following Department of Pathology members: BRAVO!
      • Chris Andry, MPhil, PhD; for being appointed Chair of the Boston University Research and Clinical Connection Subcommittee until December 2017, BRAVO!
      • Abigail Brown, MFS, MLS (ASCP): for being appointed a Voting Member of the Boston University Research and Clinical Connection Subcommittee until December 2017, BRAVO!
      • Shinichiro Kurosawa, MD, PhD; for being appointed a Voting Member to the Boston University Laboratory Safety Committee Space / Infrastructure Subcommittee until December 2017, BRAVO!
    • On December 3, 2015 Daniel Remick, MD gave a talk “Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Augments Host Defenses against Pathogens” at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg
    • Daniel Remick, MD was invited to serve as the opponent for Sara Svahn at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden on December 4, 2015. The title of Sara’s thesis was “Effects of dietary fatty acids on the immune system”. Scandinavian countries have a tradition of bringing in an outside expert to ensure that the thesis work has sufficient rigor and depth. This outside member of the committee has the title of opponent. At the two hour defense, the opponent presents background information about the topic of the thesis, in this case sepsis. The student then presents for about 40 minutes, which is then followed by an hour of questioning by the opponent. Sara Syahn, PhD, successfully Defended
    • Chloe Habib and Leah Persky, both students in the Masters in Nutrition Program, joined the Nikolajczyk Lab as of January 2016
    • The Residency Program had an ACGME Site Visit in January to review our program. The Department has been working diligently since last spring to increase the teaching curriculum for the residents. One of the issues identified through the survey in 2015 was lack of scholarly opportunities. The Department will be launching a series of paper writing workshops this spring and all the residents will be invited.
    • The College of American Pathologists (CAP) performed their unannounced Site Visit on January 27, 2016. Seventeen inspectors from the Lifespan System in Rhode Island spent the day thoroughly reviewing both Anatomic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. The lab inspection went very well with only a few deficiencies identified. This outstanding inspection result was due to the hard work by the pathology faculty and staff in the months leading up to the preparation. BRAVO
  • PUBLICATIONS ACCEPTED:
    • Thurmond P, Yang JH and Azadzoi KM entitled “LUTS in pelvic ischemia: A new concept in voiding dysfunction” — Accepted for publication in AJP – Renal Physiol
    • Ding Y, Francis J, Kalish J, Deshpande A, Quillen K. Recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis resistant to plasma exchange, and improvement after surgical repair of arteriovenous fistula aneurysms. Clinical Kidney Journal [in press]
  • PUBLICATIONS PUBLISHED:
    • Zhifeng Huang, William M. Marsiglia, Upal Basu Roy, Nader Rahimi, Dariush Ilghari, Huiyan Wang, Huaibin Chen, Weiming Gai, Steven Blais, Thomas A. Neubert, Alka Mansukhani, Nathaniel J. Traaseth, Xiaokun Li,  Moosa Mohammadi. Two FGF Receptor Kinase Molecules Act in Concert to Recruit and Transphosphorylate Phospholipase Cγ. Molecular Cell, December 10, 2015. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276515009028
    • Lawreen Connors, PhD and Colleagues Publish Findings in ATTRwt Amyloidosis Cohorthttp://www.bu.edu/amyloid/2016/01/22/connors-and-colleagues-publish-findings-in-attrwt-amyloidosis-cohort/
      • Data on the largest cohort of ATTRwt amyloidosis patients yet reported (n=121), referred to our institution over a 20-year observational period, were recently reported in the prestigious heart journal, Circulation.  The publication, entitled “Heart failure due to age-related cardiac amyloid disease associated with wild-type transthyretin:  a prospective, observational cohort study,” was authored by Dr. Lawreen H. Connors and colleagues from the Amyloidosis Center at Boston University.  These data establish the natural history of ATTRwt, provide statistical basis for the design of future interventional clinical trials, and highlight the need for more sensitive diagnostic tests and disease-specific treatments for this disease.  For more information, see Circulation, 133:282-290, 2016.
    • Ozturk S, Papageorgis P, Lambert AW, Wong CK, Thiagalingam A, Abdolmaleky HM, Cohen HT, and Thiagalingam S, 2016. SDPR functions as a metastasis suppressor in breast cancer by promoting apoptosis. SDPR functions as a metastasis suppressor in breast cancer by promoting apoptosis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 113(3): 638-643. http://www.pnas.org/content/113/3/638.full.pdf?with-ds=yes

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