Boston University Medical Campus
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• Dr. Nader Rahimi has been awarded an Ignition Award from the Office of Technology of Boston University for development of humanized blocking monoclonal anti-IGPR-1 antibody for the treatment of human Lung Cancers. The provisional patent also has been filed for this novel technology.
• Please give a warm welcome to our new students
  • Jessica Allen; PhD Candidate
  • Lujain Al-Sowaimel, MA Candidate
  • Laura Anthony, MA Candidate
  • Mostafa Belghasem, PhD Candidate
  • Chad Mayer, MD/PhD Candidate
  • Caitlin Miller; PhD Candidate
  • Timothy Norman, MA Candidate
  • John Veltre, MA Candidate
• The summer has a flurry of activities going on with students interning from high schools and colleges in several pathology labs!
  • The Office of Summer Term’s program, Research Internship in Science and Engineering (RISE), once again offered rising high school seniors the opportunity to participate in basic science research for six weeks.  Forty-three students are places throughout the BU community and several were place in the Pathology and Immunology Departments:
    • Tim Elton in the Remick Lab hails from Detroit Country Day School, High School in Detroit, Michigan
    • Dave Sperber in the Remick Lab arrives from Bergin County Academies High School, Hackensack, New Jersey
    • Christopher Ng in the Kurosawa Lab comes from Monta Vista High in Cupertino, CA
    • Sharath Reddy was in the Cruikshank Lab, she is from Sacramento High School in California
  • These experiences culminated in a Poster Presentation on the Charles River Campus

	Mentors Jackie Bouchard and Ritu Moitra, PhD Candidates with RISE Students, Dave Sperber and Tim Elton
	RISE Student Christopher Ng, Kurosawa Lab Members:  Caitlin Leibowitz, PhD Candidate and Danielle Day, Lab Technician
	Dave Sperber, RISE Student explaining his poster research

• John Kim, PhD in the Remick Lab had junior Fay Feghali from Phillips Academy, who did a project entitled: “Optimization of bronchoalveolar lavage to minimize the variation of total cell numbers in a mouse model of asthma”
• Dr. William Cruikshank also had Patrick Memari from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania. Patrick was here on a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Award granted through his college. Patrick’s project was entitled; “”Loss of Pro-IL-16 induces apoptotic resistance in T cells”
• At the recent American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting , in Atlanta, Georgia (July 23-28th), Dr. Martin Kroll gave several presentations, including:
  • What Does It Take to Achieve Good Precision?  Enhancing Laboratory Operations Through Analytical Quality and Informatics
  • Biological Variation:  The Often Forgotten Source of Variation in Laboratory Test Results
  • Advantages and Challenges of the HIV Ag/Ab Combo Test
  • Dr. Kroll also presented at a roundtable on Laboratory Management

• On behalf of Dr. Debbie Stearns-Kurosawa:  Please welcome Josh Brand to our Pathology Department.  Josh is a graduate of Tufts University (undergrad and Master’s program) and will be working as a full-time technician in the Kurosawa lab.  He’s a native of Miami, FL , teaches break dancing and has the good sense to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Dr. Maria Panchenko, PhD was awarded a 5-year NIH grant; RO1 DK087910-01A1: “Histone Acetyl Transferase HBO1 in kidney epithelial cell cycle”

Abstracts Accepted:

• Abstract accepted for publication in The EMBO Journal; MICRO-RNA-34C IS A NOVEL TARGET TO TREAT DEMENTIAS by Zovoilis , Agbemenyah, Agis-Balboa , Stilling , Rao , Edbauer , Farinelli , Delalle , Schmitt, Falkai , Bahari-Javan, Burkhardt , Sananbenesi and Fischer
• Abstract accepted for poster presentation at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Dermatopathologists in Seattle, Washington; October 2011. “Expression of gelatinases (MMP-2, MMP-9) and gelatinase activator (MMP-14) in actinic keratosis and in in situ and invasive squamous cell carcinoma”  Marier Hernández-Pérez, MD; Mohamad El-hajahmad, MHCM; Meera Mahalingam, MD, PhD, FRCPath.
• Abstract accepted to American Journal of Pathology “Diesel Exhaust Particulates Exacerbate Asthma-like Inflammation by Increasing CXC Chemokines” Jiyoun Kim, Sudha Natarajan, Louis J. Vaickus,  Jacqueline C. Bouchard, Dominic Beal, William W. Cruikshank, and Daniel G Remick

Publications: PUBLISHED

• Resident Stephen Hammond, MD had a recent paper published: Daichi Hayashi, Stephen Hammond, Ali Guermazi; “Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: multimodality imaging features with pathological correlation;” Japanese Journal of Radiology Mar 2011;29: 85-91
• Recent publication from Kurosawa Lab:  Stearns-Kurosawa DJ, Collins V, Freeman S, Debord  D, Nishikawa K, Oh S-Y, Leibowitz CS, Kurosawa S.   Rescue From Lethal Shiga Toxin 2-induced Renal Failure with a Cell-Permeable Peptide.  Pediatric Nephrology, 2011, in press (PMID: 2160390)
• Dr. Sandra Cerda has a paper published: Soucy G, Wang HH, Farraye FA, Schmidt JF, Farris AB, Lauwers GY, Cerda SR, Dendrinos KG, Odze RD. “Clinical and pathological analysis of colonic Crohn’s disease, including a subgroup with ulcerative colitis-like features,” Modern Pathology 2011 Aug 12. doi: 10.1038/modpathol.2011.120. [Epub ahead of print] Mod Pathol.

Publications ACCEPTED:

• Sudha Natarajan, Jiyoun Kim, Jacqueline Bouchard, William Cruikshank, Daniel Remick. “Pulmonary Endotoxin Tolerance Protects against Cockroach Allergen-induced Asthma-like Inflammation in a Mouse Model.” Accepted for publication in International Archives of Allergy and Immunology
• Michael H. A. Roehrl, Marier Hernandez, Shi Yang, Thomas G. Christensen, Claudio Morera, and Julia Y. Wang “Helicobacter Heilmannii Gastritis in a Young Patient with Pets” Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (2011, in press)
• Azadzoi K, Chen B, Radisavljevic Z, and Siroky Mike: “Molecular Reactions and Ultrastructural Damage in the Chronically Ischemic Bladder” has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Urology

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• Supraja Narasimhan PhD, successfully defended her thesis “The Role of the Constitutively Active Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Mammary Tumor Progression” on July 11th
• Dr. Susan Winandy has received an R03 grant from the NIH entitled “Generation of Ikaros conditional knockout mice”!
• Parul Agnihotri, rising 2nd year PhD Candidate in the Winandy Lab has been awarded a position on the ITP training grant
• Shinichiro Kurosawa, MD, PhD was invited to the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis meeting in Kyoto, Japan to give a talk describing the role of sepsis in the lethal complications of B.anthracis infections, and an oral abstract presentation describing the lab’s recent observations with treating infections from Shiga toxin-producing E.coli
• Dr. Barbara Nikolajczyk was involved in field work for the “One Health” Project in Ecuador the first two weeks in July, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian FUCOBI Foundation.  This work involved collecting samples from coastal residents to query relationships between blood levels of environmental pollutants and the astonishing rate of type 2 diabetes in the poor of Ecuador. The project included presentation of Dr. Nikolajczyk’s BUSM type 2 diabetes work at three Ecuadorian Universities: Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, Universidad Tecnica de Machala (Machala), and Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (Guayaquil). Establishment of a Memorandum of understanding between BU and the FUCOBI Foundation in 2011 will provide BU students opportunities for joining the project for field work experience as soon as summer 2012.
• Dr. Daniel Remick chaired the advocacy presentations at the Association of Pathology Chairs annual meeting. The invited speaker was Dora Hughes, M.D., Counselor to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Dr. Hughes spent two hours at the meeting, presenting the federal government’s perspective on health care reform and how it would impact the field of pathology.

Publications: PUBLISHED

• Resident Stephen Hammond, MD had a recent paper published: Daichi Hayashi, Stephen Hammond, Ali Guermazi; “Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: multimodality imaging features with pathological correlation;” Japanese Journal of Radiology Mar 2011;29: 85-91
• Recent publication from Kurosawa Lab:  Stearns-Kurosawa DJ, Collins V, Freeman S, Debord  D, Nishikawa K, Oh S-Y, Leibowitz CS, Kurosawa S. Rescue From Lethal Shiga Toxin 2-induced Renal Failure with a Cell-Permeable Peptide.  Pediatric Nephrology, 2011, in press (PMID: 2160390).

Publications ACCEPTED:

• Sudha Natarajan, Jiyoun Kim, Jacqueline Bouchard, William Cruikshank, Daniel Remick. “Pulmonary Endotoxin Tolerance Protects against Cockroach Allergen-induced Asthma-like Inflammation in a Mouse Model.” Accepted for publication in International Archives of Allergy and Immunology
• Maristela L Onozato, Stephen Hammond, Mark Merren, Yukako Yagi  Paper: “Evaluation of a completely automated tissue-sectioning machine for paraffin blocks.” Accepted for publication in Journal of Clinical Pathology August 2011 (collaboration of Dr. Stephen Hammond and the MGH digital pathology group)

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• Laboratory Medicine’s New Facilities at 670 Albany Street had a very successful Open House Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st. The event was attended by more than 70 people including Kate Walsh, Boston Medical Center’s President and CEO; Boston University Medical Center’s Dean Karen Antman as well as many distinguished guests and BMC/BUSM colleagues. Attendees were treated to informative, interesting tours of the facility and refreshments to celebrate the seamless transition.  Congratulations for a job well done!

Click Here for more photos from Open House

• Zach Hunter, PhD candidate was an invited speaker for the Complete Genomics Users Group Meeting in San Francisco (Paired Tumor Normal WGS Studies in Waldenstrom’s Macroglobbulinemia) in June 2011
• Congratulations on passing the Qualifying Exams!
  • Philip Bondzie
  • Evan Chiswick
  • Clarissa Koch
  • Jed Mahoney
  • David Stepien
• Thank you to all faculty members who assisted with the qualifying exams, with a SPECIAL Thank You Dr. Bohdana Burke
• BU Pathology is receiving national press for Dr. John (Jiyoun) Kim’s piece: “Herbal Medicine Treatment Reduces Inflammation in a Murine Model of Cockroach Allergen-Induced Asthma;” Jiyoun Kim1PhD, Sudha Natarajan1 PhD, Hyunsu Bae2 MD, PhD, Sung-Ki Jung2 MD, PhD, William Cruikshank3 PhD and Daniel G Remick1 MD published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Please take a look at the BUMC front page;  Science Daily; and The European Lung Foundation;
• Michael Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., was invited to give a lecture on Systems Pathology at the Cancer Center of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, in June 2011
• Dr. Roehrl is also an invited speaker at the Molecular Diagnostics for Personalized Medicine Conference in Hannover, Germany, in October 2011
• Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD will be traveling to Ecuador the first 1/2 of July for field work on the One Health Project run by the FUCOBI Foundation, based in Ecuador.  The goal of the project is to assess relationships between industrialization, industrial pollution, and the astonishing rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes among the local Ameridians (native population).  The project is in year 2 of a ten year pan, and anyone interested in joining the group next year is encouraged to get in touch with Dr. Nikolajczyk directly; bnikol@bu.edu
• Dr. Karen Quillen has been appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee for Blood Safety and Availability for a 4-year term beginning June 7, 2011. This Committee reports to the Secretary of HHS on major issues regarding the safety and availability of blood in the country, and also on organ transplantation.
• Heather Cohen, 5th year PhD candidate was informed that her abstract has been accepted for poster presentation during the 12th International Workshop on Scleroderma Research 2011 at Trinity College Cambridge, United Kingdom July 24-27, 2011. Heather’s poster is titled: “Fli1 is Involved in Bleomycin-induced Lung Fibrosis and Inflammation”
• Dr. Martin Kroll has been appointed as a member to the FDA’s Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Toxicology Devices Panel
• Dr. Kroll also recently completed a CAP SAM, self-assessment module.  Every year newly board-certified Pathologists must earn at least 10 of these credits. Continuing education credits are required for maintaining board certification

Publications ACCEPTED:

• Azadzoi K, Yalla S, and Siroky M: “Human Bladder Smooth Muscle Cell Damage in Disturbed Oxygen Tension” has been accepted for publication in the Urology Journal
• Dr. Michael Roehrl and others from the Pathology Department had the following accepted for publication: Roehrl MHA*, Alexander MP, Hammond SB, Ruzinova M, Wang JY, O’Hara CJ. Eosinophilic myocarditis in hypereosinophilic syndrome. American Journal of Hematology 2011; 86: 607-608. *Corresponding author
• Paper accepted (Dr. Michael Roehrl showed by X-ray diffractometry that the pulmonary crystals were indeed calcium oxalate monohydrate/whewellite): Hall NH, Conley K, Berry C, Farina L, Sigler L, Wellehan JFX, Roehrl MHA, Heard D. Computed tomography of granulomatous pneumonia with oxalosis in an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) associated with Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 2011 (in press).

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• Dr. Carl O’Hara is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Stanley L. Robbins Award for 2011.
  • The Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching is given each year at graduation to the outstanding educator at the School of Medicine.  The award was established in recognition of the excellence in teaching and devotion to students exemplified by Dr. Stanley L. Robbins, former Chair and Professor of Pathology at BUSM. This award serves to acknowledge the importance of teaching skills and commitment to students and education at BUSM. This is a once in a lifetime award!
• Michael H. A. Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., has been invited by the German Scholars Organization (GSO) to a conference in Berlin, Germany, in June 2011. A small group of scientists from around the world with close ties to Germany will meet leaders from German politics (including the President and Cabinet Ministers), business, and academia to discuss strategies and policies to promote and grow top-level research and innovation in Germany and Europe

• Congratulations to this year’s Russek Award recipients in the Department of Pathology:
  • First Prize- Jillian Richmond, Cruikshank Lab
  • Second Prize- Srimathi Srinivasan, Rahimi Lab
  • Honorable Mention- Rituparna Moitra, Remick Lab
  • Dr. Barbara Slacks says: Congratulations to the award winners, and thanks to everyone who submitted abstracts for the poster session.

• June is PhD Qualifying Exams Month! This year May 31st will be the written part of the exam, June 8th and 9th the oral portion will take place. There are 5 students who will be taking their qualifying exams this season: Philip Bondzie, Evan Chiswick, Clarissa Koch, Jed Mahoney and David Stepien. The faculty working with this group of candidates is: Drs. Krzysztof Blusztajn, Bohdana Burke, Ivana Delalle, Nader Rahimi, Daniel Remick, Jackie Sharon, Barbara Slack, Jay Mizgerd and Susan Winandy. Good Luck to all! Thank you to Dr. Bohdana Burke again for her continuing excellent efforts coordinating the Qualifying Exams!
• The American Board of Pathology has invited Dr. Martin Kroll to serve as a member designate on the Test Development and Advisory Committee on Chemical Pathology for 2012
• Caitlin Leibowitz, 1st year graduate student in the Kurosawa Lab was awarded a research grant from the Boston University Mallory Research Fund for her project entitled: Establishment of mouse models for Escherichia coli infection and Shiga toxin type-2 challenge for studies that address systemic Shiga toxin distribution and organ damage in vivo.   Caitlin is finishing her first year of graduate studies in the Pathology Department and this award reflects her outstanding talent and passion for scientific research.
• Srimathi Srinivasan, 3rd year PhD candidate in the Rahimi Lab has her abstract accepted for poster presentation in Gordon Research Conference. The title of her poster is “The PDCL3/CCT chaperonin complex regulates angiogenesis through the generation of functional VEGFR-2″ held June 19-24 2011 in New Hampshire
• Srimathi Srinivasan, 3rd year PhD candidate in the Rahimi Lab has also been awarded a travel award by Boston University GMS office for her work to be presented at Gordon Research Conference, June 19-24 2011 in New Hampshire
• Carmen Sarita-Reyes, MD has let me know that the abstract titled “Intrauterine Death in the Second and Third Trimester of Pregnancy Associated to Umbilical Cord Hypercoiling and Hypocoiling” was accepted for CAP 2011. Authors: Opoku Adjapong, Sandra Cerda and Carmen D. Sarita-Reyes

Publications ACCEPTED:

• Michael Roehrl, MD has a paper accepted: Roehrl MHA* and Farraye FA. Capillary “Esophageal hemangioma in a patient with systemic sclerosis and gastric antracl vascular extasia”. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy 2011 (in press). *Corresponding author. (Journal IF: 6.713)
• Resident, Dr. Miriam Alexander has a paper accepted for publication in the American Journal of Kidney Disease: “Crescentic Renal Alpha Heavy Chain Deposition Disease: A Report of Three Cases with Review of Literature” M. Alexander, S. Nassr and H. Rennke
• Dr. Lija Joseph has a piece accepted for publication in Circulation: Shenouda SM, Widlansky ME, Chen K, Xu G, Holbrook M, Tabit CE, Hamburg NM, Frame AA, Caiano TL, Kluge MA, Duess M-A, Levit A, Kim B, Hartman M-L, Joseph L, Shirihai OS, Vita JA. “Altered mitochondrial dynamics contributes to endothelial dysfunction in diabetes mellitus.” Circulation (in press).

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• 34th Annual SHOCK Society Meeting 2011, June 11-14; Norfolk, Virginia
  • David Stepien, 2nd year MD/PhD candidate in the Remick Lab will be presenting a poster Traumatic Brain Injury Impairs the Immune Response to Early Onset Pneumonia
  • Kendra Iskander, Surgical Resident and Remick Lab member will be presenting orally at this year’s 34th Annual SHOCK Meeting.  The title of her talk is “SHORTER DURATION OF POST-OPERATIVE ANTIBIOTICS IN PERITONITIS-INDUCED SEPSIS DOES NOT INCREASE INFLAMMATION OR MORTALITY”
  • Catherine Valentine, MD will be giving an oral presentation at the shock meeting entitled ‘Costimulatory Expression Profiling in Septic Shock’
  • Rituparna Moitra, 3rd year PhD candidate in the Remick Lab will give an Oral Presentation at SHOCK titled “PRE-EXISTING ANTIBODIES MEDIATE SEPSIS SURVIVAL”
  • Rituparna Moitra, 3rd year PhD candidate in the Remick Lab received the following:
    • Dr Moitra, It gives me great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as a finalist for the New Investigator Award at the annual meeting of the Shock Society for your work titled ‘PRE-EXISTING ANTIBODIES MEDIATE SEPSIS SURVIVAL’.  This comes with a $350 prize collected at the meeting.  You will be presenting your paper in a session with 4 others, and the Awards Committee will select the best among these for the award.  The Award will consist of listing the name of the winner with past luminaries in the Archives of the Society as well as a $600 check and winner’s plaque in lieu of the $350 finalist prize….

• The Kurosawa Lab has two abstracts accepted for the annual Shock Society meeting:
  • DJ Stearns-Kurosawa, Valta Collins, Scott Freeman, Diann Henthorn, Shinichiro Kurosawa.  “Rescue of nonhuman primates from lethal Shiga toxin-2 with a cell permeable peptide.”  34th Annual Conference on Shock, The Shock Society, Norfolk, Virginia, June 11 – 14, 2011.
  • Sun-Young Oh, Danielle Day, DJ Stearns-Kurosawa, Shinichiro Kurosawa.  “Shiga toxins trigger endoplasmic reticulum stress responses in human endothelial cells.”  34th Annual Conference on Shock, The Shock Society, Norfolk, Virginia, June 11 – 14, 2011

• Laboratory Medicine moved into it’s new facilities at 670 Albany Street – 7th floor on May 1st!
• Michael Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., has been invited as a speaker at Institute for International Research’s 4th Annual Biorepositories Conference from September 19-21 in Boston, MA
• Jillian Richmond, PhD, successfully defended her thesis “Subversion of Host Immunity by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis: Inhibition of PI3K/AKT by Mannose Lipoarabinomannan Hinders Th1 cell Migration and Promotes Soluble TNF Receptor Production” on April 1st
• Patrick Tylek completed his Master’s thesis project in the Kurosawa Lab studying “”EGF Effects on Intestinal Epithelial Cells Against Shiga Toxin”
• Martin Kroll, MD gave a presentation entitled “Immunoassays on Architect Systems” at the Northeast Regional Medical Laboratory Conference in Boxborough, MA. on April 12, 2011
• Martin Kroll, MD also presented the poster: “The Spontaneous Vertical Movements Seen During Fixation Are Chaotic” MI Rosenberg, V Punia, R Bitra, M Kroll.  2538-A65at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2010 Annual Meeting. May 2-6, 2010,  Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, Florida
• Nancy S. Miller, MD has been elected to serve as a Local Councilor for the Northeast Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (NEB-ASM), for a 3-year term to start July 1, 2011

Publications ACCEPTED:

• Martin Steffen, MD had a paper accepted in Molecular Medicine; “Pre-stroke proteomic changes in cerebral microvessels in stroke-prone, transgenic[hCETP]-hyperlipidemic, Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats”Agnes Bergerat, PhD, Julius Decano, MD,, Chang-Jiun Wu, PhD, Hyungwon Choi, PhD, Alexey Nesvizhskii, PhD, Ann Marie Moran, MS,, Nelson Ruiz-Opazo, PhD,, Martin Steffen, MD PhD*, Victoria L.M. Herrera, MD*
• Chief Resident, Dr. Marier Hernandez-Perez has a paper accepted for publication in the American Journal of Dermatopathology: Hernández-Pérez M and Mahalingam M. “MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES IN HEALTH AND DISEASE: Insights from Dermatopathology”
• The Kurosawa Lab has the following accepted for publication: Stearns-Kurosawa DJ, Collins V, Freeman S, Debord  D, Nishikawa K, Oh S-Y, Leibowitz CS, Kurosawa S. “Rescue From Lethal Shiga Toxin 2-induced Renal Failure With A Cell-Permeable Peptide,”  Pediatric Nephrology, 2011, in press
• The Remick Lab has an article accepted for publication: “Herbal Medicine Treatment Reduces Inflammation in a Murine Model of Cockroach Allergen-Induced Asthma;” Jiyoun Kim¹PhD, Sudha Natarajan¹ PhD, Hyunsu Bae² MD, PhD, Sung-Ki Jung² MD, PhD, William Cruikshank³ PhD and Daniel G Remick¹ MD in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Publications-PUBLISHED:

• Dr. Marier Hernandez-Perez current Chief Resident has a paper coming out in the May edition of the International Journal of Dermatology: Paniz-Mondolfi AE, Pérez-Alvarez AM, Lundberg U, Fornés L, Reyes-Jaimes O, Hernández-Pérez M, Hossler E. “Cutaneous lepidopterism: dermatitis from contact with moths of Hylesia metabus (Cramer 1775) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), the causative agent of caripito itch”. International Journal of Dermatology 2011 May;50(5):535-541
• Dr. Mary Jo Murnane has a paper is coming out in Human Pathology this month: Mary Jo Murnane, Ph.D.; Jinquo Cai, M.S.; Sania Shuja, M.D., Ph.D.; David McAneny, M.D.; John B Willett, Ph.D.     Active MMP-2 Activity Discriminates Colonic Mucosa, Adenomas with and without High Grade Dysplasia and Cancers.  Human Pathology 42:688-701, May 2011

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• Experimental Biology Conference 2011: April 9-13; Washington DC
  • Jackie Bouchard, 4th year PhD candidate will be presenting a poster at this year’s Experimental Biology Conference.  The title is “Binge drinking rapidly triggers asthma-like pulmonary inflammation in cockroach-allergen sensitized mice.”  It will be presented in the poster session entitled “Inflammation and Immunopathology” Sunday, April 10, 2011
  • Dominic Beal, 3rd year PhD Candidate will be presenting orally at this year’s Experimental Biology Conference.  The title of his talk is “Acute alcohol exposure alters the lymphocyte profile in cockroach-allergen (CRA) induced allergic mice.”  It will be presented in the oral session entitled “Inflammation and Immunopathology” on Saturday, April 9, 2011
• Joel Henderson, MD was invited to attend the Boston University Medical Campus Emerging Leaders Forum, March 23 and 24 at the Wellesley College Club
• The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine recently invited medical students to participate in a creative educational project incorporating basic science content into the clinical years. Over 30 students applied for the project award and the students listed below were selected to participate. Three are MD/PHD students with specific interest in medical education; each student is awarded 500 dollars from a recent grant obtained by the department from the American Society of Investigative Pathology. Dr. Carl O’Hara, Dr. Lija Joseph from our department and Dr. Kitt Shaffer from the Radiology Department will be mentoring the students. If any faculty has an interest in participating in this project please let Drs. Joseph or O’Hara know. The cases will be incorporated into the radiology rotation in BUSM 3.Congratulations to the following medical students!!
  • • Anna Sofia Qvarfordt Eisenstein
    • Alexander James Gallan
    • Anunita Garg
    • Sandra Hsu
    • Hillary Ann  Johnston-Cox
    • Paul Romesser
    • Lev Vaisman
    • Bjorn Kristian Watsjold

• Dr. Mark Flomenbaum was appointed Scientific Program Director and Moderator for the Semiannual Meeting of the National Association of Medical Examiners, held in conjunction with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in late February.  The theme of the program was “The Negative Autopsy”.  Dr. Flomenbaum also delivered the first presentation
• Martin Kroll, MD was interviewed for an article on Cardiovascular Markers which appeared in the March issue of CAP Today
• Nader Rahimi, PhD was invited to join the editorial boards of two recently launched journals “ISRN Vascular Medicine” and “World Journal of Biological Chemistry”
• Welcome to postdoc Sudha Natarajan, PhD who is newly working in the ITP Program within the Remick Lab. Sudha is a graduate from the Remick Lab out of the University of Michigan
• Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD was awarded a Boston Nutrition Obesity Research Center Pilot & Feasibility Program pilot grant entitled: “The Role of T cells in the Transition to Type 2 Diabetes”
• Dr. Nikolajczyk will also serve as Chair of a block symposium at the Annual American Association of Immunologists meeting in San Francisco May 13-17
• Martin Steffen, PhD and his team presented a poster about their project which aims to reduce the number of prostate biopsies: “Proteomics Of Peripheral Leukocytes In Patients With Elevated Serum Levels Of Prostate Specific Antigen” Martin Steffen, Agnes Bergerat, Mark Katz, David Wang, and Richard Babayan” at the Innovative Minds in Prostate Cancer Today (IMPaCT) Meeting, March 9–12, 2011. Orlando, Florida. According to Dr. Steffen this would alter, but not necessarily reduce billing by pathology :) (fewer slides to read, but a new test to administer and interpret)
• Michael Roehrl, MD attended the National Cancer Institute Biospecimen Symposium (NCI BRN) in Bethesda, Maryland March 28 & 29, 2011. While there he chaired two Round Tables: “Ultra-Rapid Biobanking at Boston Medical Center” and “Biobanking for Next-Gen Proteomics and Metabolomics Research in Pathology.”
• Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD and Madhu Bogdan, PhD candidate in the Nikolajczyk Lab received a Laboratory Travel Award to attend the American Association of Immunologists Meeting May 13-17 2011 in San Francisco. It’ll pay 100% for both!

Publications ACCEPTED:

• Mostafa Belghasem, graduating Masters student and Dr. Joel Henderson recently finished writing a book chapter on “Kidney Structure and Physiology” for the CRC Handbook of Biomedical Engineering, 4th Edition.  It will be published in September 2011
• Joel Henderson, MD has a publication accepted: Wyss HM, Henderson JM, Byfield FJ, Bruggeman LA, Ding Y, Huang C, Suh JH, Franke T, Mele E, Pollak MR, Miner JH, Janmey PA, Weitz DA, Miller RT. “Biophysical properties of normal and diseased renal glomeruli.” Am J Physiol Cell  Physiol. 2011 Mar;300(3):C397-405. PubMed PMID: 21123730
• Dr. Nader Rahimi’s team has the following accepted for publication, this includes Sri Srinivasan, a current 3rd year PhD student: Meyer RD, Srinivasan S, Singh AJ, Mahoney JE, Gharahassanlou KR, Rahimi N. “PEST Domain Tyrosine and Serine Phosphorylation Controls Ubiquitination and Downregulation of VEGFR-2.”  Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2011
• A second accepted publication from Dr. Rahimi, PhD: Boucher I, Kehasse A, Marcincin M, Rich C, Rahimi N, Trinkaus-Randall V. “Distinct Activation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor by UTP Contributes to Epithelial Cell Wound Repair.”  American Journal of Pathology, 2011
• Michael Roehrl, MD has an article to be published in April 2011issue of Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.: Roehrl MHA, Lantz D, Sylvester C, Wang JY. “Age-Dependent Reference Ranges for Automated Assessment of Immature Granulocytes and Clinical Significance in an Outpatient Setting.”

Publications-PUBLISHED:

• Dr. Martin Kroll received a letter about a SAM-eligible education piece that he wrote, that read in part, “On behalf of the CAP Council on Education and the CAP SAM Committee, I would like to thank you for authoring the Archives Applied, SAM-eligible activity for your journal article titled, “Multiple Patient Samples of an Analyte Improve Detection of Changes in Clinical Status.” I am happy to advise you that this activity was released February 24th.”

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• The Installation of the First Nancy Bucher, MD Assistant Professorship of Susan Winandy, Ph.D. was held on the afternoon of Thursday, February 3, 2011. Among those in attendance at the installation were Dean Karen Antman, Dr. Linda Hyman, Associate Provost, Division of Graduate Medical Sciences; Richard Gamber, Dr. Bucher’s cousin; Dr. Daniel Remick, Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine as well as many BUSM faculty and students This was followed on Friday, February 4th with the Fifth Annual Nancy Bucher MD Seminar with Guest Speaker, George Michalopoulos, MD, PhD Chair and Professor of Pathology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Michalopoulos gave an outstanding lecture on the liver, and included a photograph from a conference that he and Dr. Bucher attended in the 1990s. A reception for Dr. Bucher was held at the conclusion of the seminar.

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• Notice received by Madhu Bogdan, 4th year PhD Candidate in Barb Nikolajczyk’s Lab: “We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the 2011 St. Jude National Graduate Student Symposium.  From the 1285 students invited to apply for the 2011 NGSS, you are one of 42 students selected by a faculty review committee to attend this event.  Congratulations on your admission to the 2011 class of the St. Jude National Graduate Student Symposium!” The Symposium is from March 28-April 1 this year in Memphis, Tennessee
• Madhu Bogdan, 4th year PhD Candidate in Barb Nikolajczyk’s Lab has been accepted to give an oral presentation at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) conference in San Francisco May 13-17th: “The Role of the Immune System in Type 2 Diabetes”
• Michael H. A. Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., has been invited to lead two Round Table Discussions at the upcoming National Cancer Institute Biospecimen Research Network Symposium in Bethesda, MD, from March 28-29, 2011. The topics are “Ultra-Rapid BioBanking for Next-Gen Pathology Research” and “High-Quality BioBanking Drives Metabolomics and Proteomics for Personalized Medicine”
• Resident Dr. Katherine Downey was the recipient of the 2010 CAP Foundation Resident Research Grant
• Michael H. A. Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., has been invited to serve as an Associate Editor of the new “Journal of Integrated OMICS”
• Daniel Remick, MD was just elected to be a Councilor-at-Large for the American Society of Investigative Pathology

Publications-PUBLISHED:

• Sam Thiagalingam, PhD had the following paper published on Feb. 1, 2011. “Smad4 inactivation promotes malignancy and drug resistance of colon cancer.” Papageorgis, P., K-h. Cheng, S. Ozturk, Y. Gong, A.W. Lambert, H. Abdolmaleky, J-R. Zhou and S. Thiagalingam. 2011. Cancer Res. 71(3): 998-1008.  Kuanghung Cheng, also an author, is a former Pathology graduate student.

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

• Boston Medical Center/Boston University Presentations at the 2011 USCAP Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, February 26-March 4, 2011: ACCEPTED ABSTRACTS:
  • “PRE-DISSECTION REVIEW OF ULTRASOUND REPORT INCREASES ACCURACY OF GROSS THYROID TUMOR MEASUREMENTS” Luisa Watts, Lyndsey Emery and Antonio de las Morenas
  • Luisa Watts, Mariam Alexander, Hao Wu, Stephen Hammond, Katherine Downey, Yanelba Toribio and Michael Roehrl: “SYSTEMATIC PREDIAGNOSTIC REVIEW OF ENDOSCOPY REPORTS SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCES RESIDENT PERFORMANCE DURING SLIDE PREVIEW”
  • Roehrl MHA, Wang S, and Wang JY. Tissue Metabolomics by High-Resolution 1H NMR Spectroscopy: Discovery of Cancer-Specific Metabolomic Biomarkers
  • The reliability and accuracy of immuno-gold electron microscopy for subtyping amyloid; correlation with laboratory studies and clinical setting. Dehua Wang M.D., John Lee M.D., Pamela T Soo Hoo,  Carl J O’Hara M.D.
  • Dr. Joel Henderson has a poster  and the topic stems from a collaborative project he is working on with the Kurosawa Lab: “Distinct histopathologic changes elicited in baboon kidneys after challenge with Shiga toxin type 1 or 2 from enterohemorrhagic E. coli ” Joel Henderson, Shinichiro Kurosawa and Deborah Stearns-Kurosawa
  • Dr. Antonio de las Morenas has an abstract with Dr. Luisa Watts. Dr. Watts will be presenting a QC-type project on Thyroid nodules.
  • Poster Accepted: Title: KIT in Atypical Acral Nevi – an immunohistochemical and genetic Appraisal Elizabeth Park, Shi Yang, Andrew Emley, Kristen Decarlo, Joanna Richards and Meera Mahalingam. Dermatology and Pathology Department, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston MA

Announcements:

• Dr. Barbara Nikolajczyk has been appointed scribe-elect for The Obesity Society
• Dr. Christian Weber has been appointed to the following Editorial Boards
  • World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology
  • International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
  • Advances in Molecular Imaging

• Dr. Barbara Nikolajczyk got notification that her R21 “The role of B cells and B cell toll-like receptors in periodontal disease” will be funded.  Yeah!
• Farewell Luncheon for Dr. Mary Jo Murnane in Celebration of her 27 Years of Service at BUSM

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Publications: ACCEPTED

• Dr. Martin Kroll had the following manuscript accepted for publication. P. Srisawasdi, S. Chaloeysup, Y. Teerajetgul, A. Pocathikorn, S. Vanavanan, M Kroll.  Estimation of small dense LDL cholesterol from calculated and direct LDL-cholesterol. American Journal of Clinical Pathology.  2011, in press
• Zach Hunter, PhD candidate had the following article Hyperphosphorylated paratarg-7: a new risk factor for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance of the IgM type (IgM-MGUS) and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. Grass S, Preuss KD, Wikowicz A, Terpos E, Ziepert M, Nikolaus D, Yang Y, Fadle N, Regitz E, Dimopoulos MA, Treon SP, Hunter ZR, Pfreundschuh M. Blood. 2011 Jan 10. [Epub ahead of print]
• From Dr. Nancy Miller just ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION in the JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY (JCM): Holtzman C, D. Whitney, T. Barlam, N.S. Miller. Assessment of the impact of PNA FISH for rapid identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci in the absence of antimicrobial stewardship intervention.
• Dr. Adam Lerner’s manuscript was accepted for publication: Vanden Borre P, Near RI, Makkinje A, Mostoslavsky G and Lerner A. BCAR3/AND-34 can signal independent of complex formation with CAS family members or the presence of p130Cas. Cellular Signaling, in press.
• Accepted for publication in Journal of Clinical Microbiology (JCM): Miller, N.S., D. Rogan, B.L. Orr, D. Whitney.  Comparison of BD BACTEC™ Plus Blood Culture Media versus VersaTREK® REDOX Blood Culture Media for Detection of Bacterial Pathogens in Simulated Adult Blood Cultures Containing Therapeutic Concentrations Of Antibiotics
• Recently accepted for Dr. Michael Roehrl:

1. Wang, Lee, Yan, Rho, and Roehrl. Dermatan Sulfate Interacts with Dead Cells and Regulates CD5+ B-Cell Fate: Implications for a Key Role in Autoimmunity. American Journal of Pathology 2011, in press
2. Rho, Zhang, Murali, Roehrl, Wang. Human Proteins with Affinity for Dermatan Sulfate Have the Propensity to Become Autoantigens. American Journal of Pathology 2011, in press

Publications-PUBLISHED:

• Recent Publications of Dr. Christian Weber, secondary path faculty:

1. H. Christian Weber: Gastrointestinal Regulatory Peptides.  Current Opinions in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Obesity 2011: 18 (1):33-34
2. Ishita Deb Majumdar and H. Christian Weber: Biology of Mammalian Bombesin-Like Peptides and Their Receptors. Current Opinions in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Obesity 2011: 18(1):68-74

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• Dr. Nader Rahimi will be guest speaker at Tufts University School of Medicine in the basic science Grand Round Lecture Series on January 27th.  The title of his lecture is: “Angiogenesis meets Ubiquitination”.
• Jackie Bouchard, PhD Candidate in the Remick Lab has been selected to receive an ASIP Trainee Travel Award.  Her award comes with a stipend of $500.  The award will be presented to Jackie at the ASIP Membership Business Meeting and Awards Presentation on Monday,  April 11, 2011 in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center
• Sandra Cerda, MD has two abstracts accepted for Digestive Disease Week 2011, May 7-10 in Chicago, Illinois:
  • “Adenoma-like DALMs in Crohn’s Disease:  A Clinical, Pathologic, and Outcome study”
  • “Hyperplastic and Serrated Polyps in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Clinicopathologic and Outcome Study”
• Mostafa Belghasem, MA Candidate in the Henderson Lab will be teaching a mini-histology series, as a volunteer, next semester 2011 to GMS students taking the PA600 course. He will assist students with no human histology background to have a better understanding of their pathology lectures and help them excel in future courses. The idea has been highly supported and approved by Dr Tom Christensen and Dr Chris Andry
• News from the Microarray Core: The Microarray Core Facility directed by Dr. Yuriy Alekseyev announces the price reduction, effective immediately. The new prices are listed here:    For example, the full price for our most popular product, Affymetrix Gene Array 1.0 ST (over 28,000 well annotated genes, Human, Mouse or Rat) is now $470.00 (was $575.00). The miRNA array is now $340.00 (was $410.00). These prices include full processing and basic analysis. We hope that this change will make our services more affordable and will help you to apply the power of whole genome approach to your project
• Alyson Mangini PhD successfully defended her thesis  “The Role of Type I Interferons in T helper Cell Inflammatory Responses in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus”on December 17, 2010
• Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD attended the AAMC Mid-Career Women’s Leadership Conference Dec 10-14 in Scottsdale, Arizona
• Gerald Denis (PI) and Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD (Co-PI) have been awarded a DOM Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC)  award entitled “Obesity, Cancer and Inflammation”
• Michael H. Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., has been invited as a faculty for a session entitled “Systems Pathology: An Introduction to Omic Approaches in Personalized Medicine” at the October 2011 Annual Meeting of the ASCP (American Society of Clinical Pathology) in Las Vegas
• A Note received by our own Dr. Martin Kroll:
  • Dear Dr. Kroll, I recently read the little piece you did on thromboelastography in the December issue of the Clinical Laboratory News.  One of our clinical lab folks cut it out and gave it to me.  I needed to learn a little more about this testing, and your article did the trick. I never liked coag-related stuff, which makes it that much harder to learn, but even I understood TEG after reading your article.  Thank you for a painless learning experience.
    Best, A physician from Arkansas (Name withheld for privacy purposes)

Publications-PUBLISHED:

• Michael H. Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., has been invited to contribute a book chapter entitled “Cancer Stem Cells” to the forthcoming 2nd edition of the textbook “The Molecular Basis of Human Cancer” (Springer) to be published in late 2011

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine News Items

Announcements:

• During the recent ASCP Meeting and the Resident Research Symposium Award 2010 in San Francisco, CA our resident Marier Hernandez-Perez M.D’s project “PREDICTION OF FINAL GRADE IN ADENOCARCINOMA OF ENDOMETRIUM USING P53, KI-67 AND ZEB1 IMMUNOSTAINS IN PREOPERATIVE BIOPSIES” was in the 10 finalists and received a Honorable Mention from the judges.  She did this project with Dr. Antonio de las Morenas.
• The College of American Pathologists has appointed Dr. Martin Kroll as a Representative LIAISON to the ISO TC 212 Working Group 2 on Reference Systems
• This year Martin Kroll, MD has been serving on the Editorial Board of the journal entitled:  Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders
• Michael H. Roehrl, M.D., Ph.D., will be the Course Director of a newly developed postgraduate course offered by the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP).The new USCAP Short Course entitled “Systems Pathology: An Introduction to Omic Approaches in Modern Personalized Pathology” will be offered during the annual meetings of the USCAP, starting with the spring 2012 Vancouver meeting
• Manisha Mehta, MD, first year pathology resident was awarded $4,500 from Mallory Research Fund to study the role of Immunoglobulin containing and Proline rich Receptor-1(IGPR-1) in lung cancer (this novel gene recently identified in Dr. Nader Rahimi’s lab)
• Welcome to New Faces:
  • Konstantine Spirin, PhD joined the Panchenko Lab November 1st; his expertise is in the area of chromatin biology and genetics
  • Nick Robertson in the Winandy Lab
  • Patrick Tylek a Masters Student in the Kurosawa Lab

Publications-PUBLISHED:

• Jillian Richmond, 4th year PhD candidate in the Cruikshank Lab had an article published: “Interleukin-16 as a Marker of Sézary Syndrome Onset and Stage;” Jillian Richmond, Marina Tuzova, Ashley Parks, Natalie Adams and Elizabeth Martin, et al.Journal of Clinical Immunology, Online First™, 27 September 2010

Publications-ACCEPTED:

• Michael Roehrl, MD and resident, Yani Toribio, MD has a paper in press: Toribio Y, Roehrl MHA. The Nasolabial Cyst – A Non-Odontogenic Oral Cyst Related To Nasolacrimal Duct Epithelium. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine 2010, in press
• Dr. Martin Kroll’s article “Thromboelastography:  Theory and Practice in Measuring Hemostasis,” will be published in the December 2010 issue of Clinical Laboratory News
• Paper in press: Roehrl MHA, Alexander M, Hammond S, Ruzinova M, Wang JY, O’Hara C. Eosinophilic Myocarditis in Hypereosinophilic Syndrome. American Journal of Hematology 2010
• Dr. Nader Rahimi and Dr. Rosana Meyer had a paper accepted for publication in Oncogene. Rosana D Meyer, Deeba Husian and Nader Rahimi: “c-Cbl inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth by suppressing activation of PLC-gamma 1”
• Dr. Mary Jo Murnane has a paper in press: Active MMP-2 Activity Discriminates Colonic Mucosa, Adenomas with and without High Grade Dysplasia and Cancers” by Murnane, MJ, Cai J, Shuja S, McAneny D and Willett JB  is In Press the Journal Human Pathology
• Dr. Martin Steffen has a manuscript accepted in Nucleic Acids Research: COMBREX:  A project to accelerate the functional annotation of prokaryotic genomes. Richard J. Roberts*, Yi-Chien Chang, Zhenjun Hu, John N. Rachlin, Brian P. Anton,, Revonda M. Pokrzywa, Han-Pil Choi, Lina L. Faller, Jyotsna Guleria, Genevieve Housman, Niels Klitgord, Varun Mazumdar, Mark G. McGettrick, Lais Osmani, Rajeswari Swaminathan, Kevin R. Tao, Stan Letovsky, Dennis Vitkup, Daniel Segre, Steven L. Salzberg, Charles Delisi, Martin Steffen*, and Simon Kasif*