February 2024 Faculty Appointments and Promotions
Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion.
Professor
Michael Blower, PhD, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, studies RNA metabolism and RNA-chromatin interactions during mitosis and meiosis which has informed our understanding of mechanisms of chromosome mis-segregation, aneuploidy and cancer. Dr. Blower’s work has provided insights into transcriptional regulation during mitosis, gene expression during oocyte maturation, and removal of non-coding RNAs from chromosomes during mitosis. His lab uses an integrated experimental approach combining cell biology, biochemistry, genetics and genomics. Dr. Blower mentors PhD students and post-doctoral fellows and is a member of the PiBS graduate admissions committee, numerous dissertation advisory committees, his department FAP committee and student qualifying exam committees. He chairs his department’s seminar committee. He frequently serves as a grant reviewer for study sections at the NIH and international funding agencies (BBSRC in UK, Czech Science Foundation, European Research Council) and is an associate editor at Frontiers In RNA Biology.
Ivana Delalle, MD, PhD, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, conducts research bridging basic and clinical science to advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Her present focus, supported by the National Institutes of Health (~$ 4 million), is on novel, early and reliable biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease. She leads an international team of scientists harnessing the potential of biospecimens collected in large epidemiological studies in the U.S. and Germany to study non-coding RNA expressions in human plasma and brain tissue in combination with experimental models. A board-certified neuropathologist, Dr. Delalle is a clinician and mentor committed to the education of medical and graduate students, pathology residents and neuropathology fellows. She created and directed a Neuropathology Elective at Boston Medical Center (2009-2019), created and taught GMS PA910 Human Biospecimens for Research (2015-2019) and was a director of Neuropathology Service at Brown University’s teaching hospitals (2019-2023). In addition, she is a member of the Educational Committee of American Association of Neuropathologists and as an associate editor for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (2018-2020) and the Cerebral Cortex (2019-present).
Andrew Wilson, MD, Medicine/Pulmonology, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care, applies stem cell models and regenerative medicine to advance the understanding of and treatment for genetic causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). He has compiled a repository of AATD patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) which have been shared widely with researchers in academia and industry and oversees the Center for Regenerative Medicine/Framingham Heart Study repository of iPSCs and blood samples collected from Framingham Study participants. Dr. Wilson directs the Alpha-1 Center at BU and Boston Medical Center, one of the largest clinical centers for patients with AATD in the northeast, where he cares for patients with AATD and COPD and participates in multi-center studies to define the epidemiology of liver and lung diseases associated with AATD. In addition, he serves as the Scientific Director for the Alpha-1 Foundation.
Associate Professor
Maxine Krengel, PhD, Neurology, is a neuropsychologist who has been studying the longest running Gulf War veteran cohort, evaluating health symptoms, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological outcomes. Her focus in this area has helped shape the treatment of this vulnerable veteran’s group after war-related experiences and toxicant exposures. Her clinical work focuses on the fields of movement disorders and traumatic brain injury, as well as evaluating and treating patients with various forms of dementia and neurodevelopmental disorders. She has been teaching in the Behavioral Neuroscience program for many years, including the core Neuropsychological Assessment I course which she revised to include the theoretical background of neuropsychological assessment and the utility of neuropsychological tests for use as outcome measures in behavioral research. She has worked with a broad spectrum of learners in the BU/Boston Medical Center community, including psychology, behavioral neuroscience and medical students, and neurology residents.
Kelley Saia, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, studies substance use disorders in pregnancy to improve pharmacologic management during the antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum periods. She serves as medical director for Project RESPECT (Recovery, Empowerment, Social support, Perinatal care, Education, Community and Treatment), a long standing multi-disciplinary substance use disorder treatment program established in 2006 that cares for pregnant and parenting persons and provides rapid access to dignified and comprehensive perinatal addiction treatment. Dr. Saia’s research interests include advancing pharmacotherapy for treatment of substance use disorder in pregnancy, pharmacokinetics of fentanyl in pregnancy, ethics and efficacy of urine drug testing in pregnancy, peripartum pain management, breastfeeding safety, postpartum HCV treatment and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. Dr. Saia has expanded Project RESPECT to include legal services, legislative advocacy, and a groundbreaking postpartum initiative with the Department of Children and Families, which has markedly reduced foster care placements and increased postpartum treatment engagement. She collaborated with BU Law School faculty to create and implement the first Medical Legal Partnership designed to assist pregnant and parenting persons in recovery with integrated legal support services within a comprehensive medical home.
Clinical Associate Professor
Mark Katz, MD’02, Urology, specializes in genitourinary cancer. A Top Doctor in Boston Magazine for the past six years, he performs both minimally invasive (laparoscopic and robotically assisted) and complex open surgeries. Dr. Katz’s research focuses on cancer outcomes, racial and economic disparities, and clinical aspects of urologic surgery. He chaired the BMC Cancer Care Committee from 2015-19, and currently is director of BMC’s genitourinary tumor board and director of quality and safety for the department. He runs the fourth-year urology clerkship (sub-internship).
Susan White, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology, is director of BU’s Physician Assistant Program. Her research focuses on various issues in education, interprofessional education, social determinants of health and quality improvement. A curricular innovator, she created the Prenatal Care Workshop as an interactive experiential education for PA students. The curriculum was presented at the Annual Education Forum of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) in 2009. In January 2023, the Association of PAs in Obstetrics and Gynecology (APAOG) began to host the updated curriculum and now it is freely available as open-source education to all PA programs nationally. In addition to the curriculum in OBGYN, Dr. White also developed a curriculum in the Social Determinants of Health based on active learning, which has been presented nationally to both clinicians and PA educators. Dr White serves as co-investigator on a HRSA grant regarding inter-professional education and expansion of the primary care workforce.