Pathology and Laboratory Medicine New News – July 2016

 Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items – July 2016

  • Announcements:
    • Dhay Kamel, one of our recent resident graduates and our new Cytology Fellow, just passed her AP & CP exams successfully! She is now board certified; CONGRATULATIONS Dhay!!
    • Martin Steinbuck, PhD (Susan Winandy Lab) successfully defended his Thesis, “NOVEL T-CELL RECEPTOR MEDIATED MECHANISMS OF NOTCH ACTIVATION AND SIGNALING” on July 18th, 2016, BRAVO!!
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    • Newly implemented Departmental Teaching Awards were given at this year’s Castle Graduation Dinner in June, however some recipients were unable to attend the dinner and were presented their awards at alternate times.
    • The committee-driven criteria for the student awards are; collegiality, sharing with fellow-students, knowledge, skills, kindness; Leadership, positive attitude, problem solving, initiatives for improvements; Growth in professional skills, aptitudes and attitudes over the year and being a good team worker, helping others, as well as guiding juniors. The measures for the faculty awards were based on student feedback
    • Bestowed to:
    • On the Research-Side:
      • Mostafa Belghasem, MD, PhD: The Excellence Award 2016 (Student/Resident Award) (given at a Henderson Lab meeting)
      • Krzysztof Blusztajn, PhD: Residents Teaching Award 2016 (Faculty Award) (presented at a recent Faculty Meeting)
    • Tim Norman’s, PhD Candidate (Alan Fine Lab) F31 application from NHLBI titled “Origin, maturation, & regeneration of pulmonary lymphatic endothelium” scored in the 14th percentile. Tim wants to thank Drs. Carter Cornwall, David Atkinson, Andy Henderson, Chris Gable and Chelsea Epler for their help through BU’s Best Grant Writing Seminar
    • Annual Association of Pathology Chairs Meeting, San Diego, CA; July 2016:
      • Daniel Remick, MD gave a talk at the Pathology Leadership Academy in San Diego on July 11, 2016, “Unique Leadership Challenges in the Research Mission”
      • Remick also, organized a workshop at the 2016 Association of Pathology Chairs Meeting in San Diego, “Biorepository Management Workshop”.
      • In addition Remick moderated the Research Committee session at the Association of Pathology Chairs in San Diego, “You Won’t Believe Your Eyes – 21st Century Optics in Pathology”
      • Carmen Sarita-Reyes participated in the course offered by the Association of Pathology Chairs titled “Pathology Leadership Academy” in Coronado, CA July 11-12 2016. This course was offered to only 50 participants selected by their respective Chairs
      • Erin Brooks, MD, University of Wisconsin; David Kindelberger, MD, Boston University; Carmen D. Sarita-Reyes, MD, Boston University presented a Discussion Group titled “Strategies for Maximizing Early Medical Student Exposure to Pathology” at the Association of Pathology Chairs national meeting in San Diego, CA on July 13th 2016.
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  • Dr. Carmen Sarita-Reyes shared that our fellow Brandon Hayse completed our first Boston University School of Medicine Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Fellowship from May 23rd – July 8th 2016 that is offered to 1st year medical students at BUSM. We wanted to thank the department for their support. 
  • Jacquelyn Sikora Hanson, PhD Candidate (Lawreen Connors Lab)presented a poster at the International Symposium on Amyloidosis in Uppsala, Sweden on July 5 entitled “Transthyretin and retinol-binding protein serum concentrations are prognostic and survival indicators in wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis.” The authorship was the following: Jacquelyn LS Hanson, Clarissa M Koch, Marios Arvanitis, Gloria G Chan, Frederick L Ruberg, Tatiana Prokaeva, Lawreen H Connors
  • Jacquelyn Sikora Hanson also received a Travel Award from GMS to attend the International Symposium on Amyloidosis in Sweden
  • Additional Posters/Presentations from the Connors Lab at the XVth Amyloidosis Symposium in Sweden, July 2016, include:
    • ALBase:  an updated and improved platform to study immunoglobulin light chain sequences. A Bhutkar, B Spencer, G Chan, LH Connors, T Prokaeva
    • Proteomic blood profiling in inherited (ATTR-FAC) and acquired (ATTRwt) forms of transthyretin-associated cardiac amyloidosis. GG Chan, CM Koch, LH Connors
    • Serum proteomic variability associated with clinical phenotype in familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRm). LH Connors, CM Koch, GG Chan
    • Retinol-binding protein 4, a natural binding partner of transthyretin, is an indicator of differing pathobiologies in ATTRm and ATTRwt cardiac amyloidosis.  LH Connors, CM Koch, GG Chan
    • Histological characterization of localized amyloidosis tissues.  HL Cui, LH Connors, T Prokaeva, M Skinner, CJ O’Hara
    • Transthyretin and retinol-binding protein serum concentrations are prognostic and survival indicators in wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt). JLS Hanson, CM Koch, GG Chan, T Prokaeva, LH Connors
    • Quantitation of tissue amyloid by novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging T2 relaxation sequences. N Hua, JE Ward, V Shibad, G Yee, LH Connors, H Jara, DC Seldin, JA Hamilton
    • AL amyloidosis cell model expressing patient-derived immunoglobulin light and heavy chains. ES Klimtchuk, TB Prokaeva, BH Spencer, LH Connors
    • Heavy light chain test quantifies clonal plasma cell disease in patients with AL amyloidosis and low serum free light chain burden.  T Prokaeva, B Spencer, F Sun, N McConnell, RM O’Hara, DC Seldin, LH Connors, V Sanchorawala
    • A new and unusual transthyretin mutant, duplication of TTR codons 51 and 52 (Glu51_Ser52dup), associated with severely aggressive familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy. B Spencer, JL Berk, E Klimtchuk, P SooHoo, T Prokaeva, LH Connors
    • Cytogenetic abnormalities in patients with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis. H Yameen, JM Sloan, C Varga, JC Lee, CJ O’Hara, V Sanchorawala
    • Familial wild-type transthyretin cardiomyopathy.  MD Benson, JL Berk, LH Connors
  • Barb Nikolajczyk will serve as Lead Organizer for the FASEB Conference “Immunological Aspects of Obesity” held in Big Sky Montana July 31- Aug. 5
  • Barb Nikolajczyk, PhD also presented “Defining Inflammation in Human Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes” at the San Antonio Health Sciences Center Department of Microbiology and Immunology in July 2016.  Dr. Liz Leadbetter, an alum of the BUSM PhD program, hosted the speaker visit
  • Publications: ACCEPTED:
    • Huihong Xu, MD, and Daniel G. Remick MD; “Pathology – A Satisfying Medical Profession” has been recently accepted by Academic Pathology Journal
    • Samar Hafida, Tooraj Mirshahi, and Barbara S. Nikolajczyk,The Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Inflammation: Quenching the Fire of Obesity? In Press at Current Opinion in Endocrinology and Diabetes for Oct. 2016 publication
  • Publications: PUBLISHED: