AY2022 Initiatives

Associate Deans’ Offices

Faculty Affairs – Hee-Young Park

    • BUMC Resources Meeting: Partnering with BU HR and the BU Medical Group (BUMG), Faculty Affairs will hold BUMC Recourses meetings in September 2021 and in Spring 2022 for newly hired faculty. Representatives from all BUSM Associate Deans’ Offices, Ombuds Office, Proposal Development Office and other major offices will give an overview of their services. Current BUSM faculty also are welcome to attend.
  • How to Get Promoted Workshops: Faculty Affairs Office and Faculty Development & Diversity Office will jointly host virtual workshops to review faculty promotion guidelines and criteria, followed by individual CV reviews. It will be held in September and December 2021 and spring 2022.
  • Faculty appointment for Boston Medical Center (BMC) Trainees: BMC residents and fellow who are in PGY 2 and above and teach BUSM students, will be offered BUSM faculty appointment at the rank of Clinical Instructor. This is the second year offering faculty appointment to BMC trainees.
  • Mentoring program for junior faculty: In order to support BUSM junior faculty toward their academic promotions, BUSM Faculty Affairs and Research Offices are collaborating with BUMG Professional Development Committee to rollout a program where interested junior faculty would be paired with senior faculty based on their needs with a goal toward promotion.
  • Appointment and Promotion Tracking (AdAPT) Rollout and Training: Faculty Affairs and BUMC IT will be launching a web-based system for faculty appointments and promotions. The first to rollout will be the Affirmative Action collection through AdAPT in the fall. The full website, which includes dossier submissions, will be available to departments to use later in FY22. There will be a training available to administrators to learn how to use the new web-based system before the launch.
  • Emerging Leadership Program: Faculty Affairs will host Emerging Leadership Program for BUMC. The two-day program includes key topics and workshops for faculty to learn and become familiar with leadership skills.

Development – Suzanne Maselli

  • Development plans to move forward with a hybrid model of in-person and virtual meetings and events to best connect with and engage our donors and constituents.
  • Foundation Relations will capitalize on emerging opportunities coming out of the pandemic, such as the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research, and research at the NEIDL supported by the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness.
  • We will highlight and raise support for all BUSM is doing to advance racial equity in medicine, whether scholarship support, curriculum initiatives, pipeline programs, or research.
  • Through gatherings across the country as well as on campus, we will engage alumni, parents and friends as we prepare for a new fundraising campaign.
  • We will install inaugural faculty in the Louis Sullivan MD and Jerry Brody MD Professorships in Medicine, as well as build support for junior faculty members.

Diversity & Inclusion – John Polk

  • Launch the Glossary for Culture Transformation, a collaboration of Boston University Graduate Medical Sciences, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston Medical Center, and Boston University Medical Group. We believe that establishing shared language is fundamental to broadening our understanding of one another and the world around us. We invite you to send your insights and reflections on the Glossary to wordsmatter@bu.edu. Our hope is for faculty, staff, and students to incorporate the Glossary into their creations and conversations at the Medical Campus.
  • Support BUSM students through Student Identity Groups.
  • Develop pathway for URG Junior Faculty Career Development.
  • Develop a BUSM Dashboard.
  • Develop Communication Network:
    • DIO Website
    • DIO Newsletter
    • DIO FaceBook Page
    • DIO Presence on Instagram
  • Develop initiatives that ensure that Professionalism & Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are aligned across the campus.

Graduate Medical Sciences – Deborah Stearns-Kurosawa

  • DEI Steering Group – this group of 21 faculty, staff and students is tasked with identifying, prioritizing and drafting recommendations to address DEI issues within GMS.  The group has representation from multiple stakeholders, including FirstGen, LGBTQ+, AAPI, BIPOC, researchers/educators and others.  The group meets monthly, is now led Professor Joe Zaia (Biochemistry) and is tasked with providing actionable recommendations for DEI issues.  Current major items on the agenda are drafting consistent GMS admissions guidelines (with OGC review) applicable to all GMS programs, updating GMS Mission and Value Statements, revamping and expanding GMS’s DEI web pages, and drafting a Mentee Training program to complement CTSI’s Mentor training program.
  • GMS Center for Graduate Achievement & Growth (temporary name) – this Center under development is designed to meet unmet scholastic and mentoring needs of under-represented students in GMS. It arose from Assistant Dean Davies (GMS, MSE) with assistance from Dr. Fadie Coleman (MSE) and DEI Steering Group recommendations. There is increasing awareness that some students need very early support and mentoring that may not be available at the program level for needs ranging from basic study skills to navigating the campus, Boston and graduate education expectations. Feedback from the DEI Steering Group and focus groups led to five under-represented group (URG) sectors and one for veterans/military for programming. Some programming will be inclusive for all groups and some will be targeted to a specific URG group(s). The initial rollout for the Center is planned for September with URG groups and programming added as the year unfolds. 
  • Optimization of GMS Marketing Strategies— phase 1 of the overhaul and re-branding for GMS web and social presence was completed for most GMS programs by spring 2020 during doctoral and master’s admissions cycles. GMS master’s program admissions for fall 2020 increased by ~20% overall, although we do not know how much the new web presence contributed to this increase.  Phase 2 will build on this success to implement a program in the upcoming year that will prioritize marketing strategies and search engine optimization to obtain both high level and granular analytics. This data will guide decisions in GMS Admissions for recruitment and nurturing practices, provide data-driven recommendations to individual GMS programs for recruitment strategies, and continue the optimization of the GMS web and social media presence.

Medical Education – Priya Garg

  • Complete the final year of preparation for a curriculum redesign that will begin with class entering in August 2022. Over the last four years we have made changes every year in the curriculum to move toward the 2022 curriculum. The changes in 2022 are focused on embedding health equity as a new competency, adding new instructional design methods which focus on increased application exercises in the classroom and small group learning. We also are developing new curriculum that will allow students to explore and work in a scholarly area of interest within curricular time. Our basic science and clinical faculty are working together to create new patient cases that will integrate material in the final 10 weeks to help students prepare for the board exams and the clinical years while revisiting material seen before in a more complex way. This work is being led by our Assistant Deans Molly Cohen Osher, Suzy Sarfaty and Rob Lowe.
  • We are continuing our anti-racism and inclusive pedagogy work by disseminating the educator guide we have created over the last year to all faculty, continuing to evolve cases used across the curriculum to be more inclusive. We are focusing on a pronouns curriculum this year to help create a more gender equitable environment when teaching.
  • We will be advancing our teaching in clinical reasoning by using new computer-based cases and exercises developed by Dr. Joseph Rencic with the New England Journal of Medicine in doctoring while studying its implementation.
  • Elizabeth Yellen, Assistant Dean for Affiliated Sites, is leading our preparation for expansion of clinical sites at St. Elizabeth’s, working closely with educational leaders and faculty.

Student Affairs – Angela Jackson

  • The Conversation Coalition (ConvoCo), a diverse group of students and faculty serving as an advisory group for Student Affairs, initiated by Dean Jackson to promote frank conversations and meaningful discourse on issues of activism, identity, social justice and campus climate. Through these monthly meetings the concept of how BUSM addresses “professionalism” with medical students was revised; the Student Code of Conduct was updated to better reflect our shared vision for our community. This year the SAO is rolling out Just Conversations, a series of facilitated monthly dialogues, with protected time and space for our community to process and hear one another on the important issues that may be challenging for members of our community.
  • Career Development and Community: The SAO, in collaboration with the MEO, is enhancing the advising role for the Academic Medical Educators, creating continuity for formal and spontaneous advising opportunities, including faculty development opportunities. Taking advantage of the return to in person activities, and leveraging virtual experiences, this year the SAO will further develop the emphasis on career exploration, networking and community building, providing opportunities for students to meet and connect with faculty. Current initiatives include lunch with OSA deans, Walk and Talks with Dean Jackson, Meet the Chairs, SCOMSA leadership talks, Field Specific Advisor sessions, Career Newsletters, Book Club, with new optional small group career planning seminars and patient discussions being rolled out. Student Affairs created and implemented a survey that we shared with the other schools on the medical campus, identifying a significant number of students experience food insecurity. COVID derailed our planning, but now we are getting back on track. One initiative already rolled out, is our food pantry pilot, located on A4 for easy medical student access.
  • Residency Application Process: Staying abreast of new developments and new challenges in the residency application process is critical to our students’ continued success in the Match. Virtual interviews are continuing, the new ERAS Supplemental Application was implemented by the AAMC with a short lead time, and specialties continue to create new requirements and the SAO has created new workshops and 1:1 sessions to support students.
  • Events: With the successful in person White Coat and M1 Orientation behind us, we are looking forward to an in-person White Coat ceremony for the current M2 class as they transition into their clinical year. We were unable to welcome the Class of 2024 with an in-person White Coat due to COVID, but are planning a celebration for the class as part of their Third Year Orientation in May 2022. We also are planning for an in-person Match Day celebration in March 2022 for the graduating class of 2022 at a University venue (that will have been reserved for a total of three years, but not yet experienced, due to COVID) large enough to include family, faculty, staff and friends to celebrate together. And of course, in person Commencement will hopefully be possible again.

Research – Andrew Taylor

  • Appoint an Assistant Dean for Research to work with Medical Education and Student Affairs to provide mentoring and resources for medical students interested in pursuing research.
  • In collaboration with Faculty Affairs and the BUMG Professional Development Committee, initiate a program to support BUSM junior faculty with mentorship and guidance for academic promotion.
  • Establish a bioinformatics and data science core to provide the expertise in data analysis needed by our researchers.

Basic Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Centers and Institutes

Basic Sciences

Anatomy & Neurobiology – Jennifer Luebke

  • Welcome three talented new Assistant Professors, Drs. Jean-Pierre Roussarie, Jeannine Foley and Tuan Tay, to the department, and ensure that their research and teaching programs are rapidly and effectively supported.
  • Ensure optimal consolidation and renovation of departmental laboratory and office space in support of our research and teaching faculty and our staff.
  • Play an important role in the design and implementation of the revised Medical School curriculum.
  • Continue to grow and ensure the excellence of our PhD program in Anatomy & Neurobiology and our five Master’s programs, which include: the Vesalius Master’s in Anatomy & Neurobiology, the Master’s in Biomedical Forensic Sciences, the Master’s in Biomedical Imaging, the Master’s in Forensic Anthropology and the Master’s in Healthcare Emergency Management.
  • Continue to strive for enhanced Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice among our students, faculty and staff, and to meaningfully contribute to these efforts at the School and University at large.

Microbiology – Ronald Corley

The Department looks forward to a busy year, centered around reconnecting our faculty, staff and trainees.

  • We plan on moving members of the department into new space in the X Building early in the fall, which will house the departmental office, new conference room facilities and research laboratories, bringing the department currently scattered in five locations into two (the X building and the NEIDL).
  • We hope to “rebrand” the department with a new name, which will be more in keeping with the focus of our research and educational programs.
  • Finally, we plan on recruiting new faculty following an international search.

Physiology & Biophysics – William Lehman

  • We plan to grow the department by recruiting new junior faculty members in areas of current departmental strength related to cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying health and disease with a particular focus on the structural basis of sensory processes, cardiac physiology, neurodegenerative disease, lipoprotein metabolism and protein biogenesis.
  • We also will prioritize revitalization of our educational mission by participating in and steering the new flipped classroom modality for teaching Medical Physiology.

Clinical Sciences

Anesthesiology – Rafael Ortega

  • Grow the Department‘s recently created research fund.
  • Continue developing and promoting faculty to the next academic rank.
  • Make the anesthesiology clinical experiences for our medical students an exemplary rotation and to attract more BU medical students to our specialty.

Dermatology – Rhoda Alani

  • Increase departmental federal research funding through individual and collaborative grants, with a special focus on our Center for Aging and Skin Health and novel Naked Mole Rat facility.
  • Recruit additional clinical and research faculty to expand areas of health disparities research, basic research on inflammatory diseases of the skin, research in skin cancers and wound healing, and clinical research and care programs in Hidradenitis Suppurativa.
  • Continue developing and promoting faculty to the next academic rank.
  • Continue with recognition for excellence in teaching to medical students in the pre-clinical and clinical programs.

Emergency Medicine – Christian Arbelaez

  • Over the next several years, we plan to reimagine and redesign emergency care, train the future generations and leaders of the frontlines, build a department known for social emergency medicine, and align with the health system’s population health and health equity initiatives.
  • Build on the current experiences of the BUSM students interested in EM to maximize their residency match rates and work on integrating EM into the third-year medical student education.
  • Frame and shape several fellowships in the areas of social EM, behavioral health & addiction, and population health & health equity administration that will serve as the academic engines of our department.
  • Recruit the best and brightest diverse leadership team and faculty to become an inclusive department reflective of the community served.
  • Expand opportunities for career growth, academic, and leadership development for our faculty members through the launch of our Academic Incubator Initiative.

Family Medicine – Stephen Wilson

The Department of Family Medicine continues to work to provide the best 7C care for our patients – 1st contact, comprehensive, complex, continuity, coordinated, contextual, centered-around-the-patient – which includes medical student education. As such we plan to:

  • Enhance and refine our work to advance health equity, including promoting research and scholarship opportunities to establish and find best practices.
  • Do continuous quality improvement of our MS3 clerkship and MS4 electives to optimize student and patient experience.
  • Explore the feasibility for more medical students to have the opportunity to participate in our global health work.

Medical Sciences & Education – Hee-Young Park

  • The BUSM Medicine & STEM (BUSM-MSP) Program for the Boston Public High School students is being implemented with funding from Vertex. BUSM medical students and GMS doctorate and master’s students will serve as instructors.
  • Educators’ Collaborative Lunch will be offered every fourth Tuesday of the month and the topics will focus on Inclusive Pedagogy and Educational Research.

Neurosurgery – James Holsapple

  • Hire complex spine surgeon (Dir Spine Surgery)
  • Continue human trial non-invasive ICP project with MIT (Holsapple)
  • Continue drug delivery research in collaboration with MIT (Upadhyay)
  • Restart Summer Program in Neuroscience (SPIN), previously on hold during COVID

Obstetrics and Gynecology – Aviva Lee-Parritz

  • Eliminate racial inequities in health outcomes in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
    • Data analysis to understand divers of racial inequities in key clinical outcome areas and create a plan of action to be executed over a two- to three-year period.
    • Increase diversity of faculty from current 20 percent URM to 30 percent URM.
    • Increase diversity in leadership positions within the department over next three years.
    • Increase the amount of new external grant applications that incorporate an equity lens.
    • Increase the amount of funded SEED grant (internal) applications that incorporate an equity lens.
    • Increase diversity in research teams within the department and in collaboration with other departments.
  • Reduce severe maternal morbidity by 20 percent.
  • Develop a culture of diversity, vitality and belonging.
    • Engage an expert for a year-long racial equity program focusing on racial equity that will include faculty, residents, and inpatient and outpatient staff, as well as key stakeholders from other departments (Family Medicine, Anesthesia).

Orthopaedic Surgery – Paul Tornetta III

  • Roll out a phone and text-based method of obtaining Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), an NIH-funded initiative to develop and validate patient-reported outcomes for clinical research and practice, which will allow us to track how patients are doing on a more regular basis than the standard clinic visit schedule. Our hope is that this will allow us to identify problems earlier and reduce the need for clinic visits as well.
  • Grow our service line to include foot and ankle surgery.
  • Increase our hand and arthroplasty services.

    Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery – Gregory A. Grillone

    • Welcome our sixth female and first URM faculty member in the Department.
    • Submit two NIH grant applications:
      • “Treatment of chronic cough/laryngeal hypersentivity with amitryptiline: randomized, placebo controlled, cross-over clinical trial”
      • “Molecular Endotyping of Chronic Airway Disease”
    • Develop a video to teach BUSM students how to perform an examination of the head and neck.

    Pathology and Laboratory Medicine – Christopher Andry

    • Teaching Mission
      • Med School syllabus transition and updated Immunology lecture.
      • Expanded Master’s program and introduction of a certificate program Path 2 Path
        Clinical Service.
      • Projecting a growth year, recently recruited faculty rounding out sub-specialty expertise in GU and GI pathology as well as neuropathology.
      • Expanded services to Community Health Centers.
      • Blood Bank and Transfusion services to support Sickle Cell disease.
      • In partnership with Cancer Center and Pharmacy, Next Gen Sequencing will be added to clinical repertoire.
      • Research
        • Expand Shipley Prostate Cancer biobank with supporting annotated data base.
        • Recruiting cycle for cancer biologists.

      Surgery – Jennifer Tseng

      Just a few years old, the Boston Trauma Institute (BTI), part of the Department of Surgery’s Section of Acute Care and Trauma Surgery, is a young organization that is just getting off the ground. The BTI has been actively establishing research collaborations across Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center and is poised to continue this trend. These initiatives include:

      • Further development of a comprehensive traumatic brain injury database in concert with colleagues in the Department of Neurology.
      • Collaboration with the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery related to facial injuries caused by substance abuse.
      • Collaboration with Boston Medical Center’s Violence Intervention Advocacy Program and Injury Prevention Center regarding patterns in violent deaths (effects of homelessness, substance use disorders, and gang-related violence).

      In addition, the BTI recently awarded its second-ever grant to Department of Surgery research resident Allan Stolarski, MD, who is investigating sepsis phenotypes and sepsis-related coagulopathies under the direction of Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Daniel Remick, MD.

      Centers and Institutes

      Amyloidosis Center – Vaishali Sanchorawala

      The Amyloidosis Center looks forward to continuing its commitment to training, education, research and advocacy to accelerate the development of scientific advances to benefit patients with amyloid diseases. The vision is to create a high-performing, future-oriented center with better and continued international recognition. We want to be the engine behind innovation in amyloidosis research and treatment – collaborative, mission driven, strategic and results-oriented. The goals for the upcoming year are focused on 3 main programmatic pillars of Excellence, Innovation and Collaboration.

      • Excellence: Center should focus on outstanding achievement relative to historical benchmarks
        • Research
          • Increase in federal, philanthropic and industry funding
        • Clinical performance
          • Improve patient satisfaction
          • Rapid and timely appointments for evaluation
          • Rapid and timely communication with referring physicians
        • Academic performance
          • Enhance publications records
          • Publish in high impact factor journals
      • Innovation: Center should foster new discoveries
        • Recruit basic science faculty or external advisor
        • Increase the number of industry sponsored research activities
      • Collaboration: Center should have effective means of communication and collaboration
        • Collaborate with other centers of excellence
        • Enhance external marketing
        • Annual newsletters to the patients, families and referring physicians

      Regenerative Medicine (CReM) – Darrell Kotton

      • >35 papers published in the past year with many focused on using stem cell-derived human organoids to define the pathophysiology and drug responses of cells to SARS-CoV-2 infections. This brought the total number of publications from CReM faculty to 189 over the past 8 years, with a mean relative citation ratio of 1.96.
      • Two grants focused on pathogen readiness and COVID-19 were awarded to CReM investigators and their NEIDL collaborating partner teams (Muhlberger and Saeed) in the first 3 months of the pandemic by the Massachusetts Consortium for Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR).
      • Over 50 press releases highlighting CReM discoveries, publications, awards and new grants, including pieces featuring the CReM in The New Yorker, Boston Herald, and NPR; view them.
      • The 12 faculty in the CReM led research initiatives, campus core facilities (such as the iPSC Core and the CReM’s bioinformatics core focused on single cell RNA sequencing), and served as an initial COVID-19 testing site for our hospital and campus, in collaboration with the Department of Pathology, early in the pandemic.
      • The productivity of the Center was recognized through numerous awards in the past year, including:
        • Evans Days research celebration awards for most abstract submissions for any Center or Section, and
        • First and second place prizes awarded to CReM trainees for top Basic Science Research Project in the annual Evans Days research celebration.
        • Training grants at BU where CReM faculty serve as PI or co-PI.
        • CReM Faculty in the past year led education initiatives on campus, leading the following campus training grants as PI or Co-PIs:
          • TL1 Regenerative Medicine Training Program (PI=Kotton; 6 predoc, 2 postdoc slots per year)
          • T32 Pulmonary (PI’s=Mizgerd/Kotton; 6 predoc and 6 postdoc slots per year)
          • R38 PRIME (PI’s=Ramachandran/Kotton; Promoting Research for Internal Medicine Residents; 1 slot per year)
        • CReM faculty lead 5 national research consortia, serving as PIs of 5 NIH U01 Grants that fund large Multi-PI/Multi-Institutional consortia:

        • A newly funded consortium grant, led by CReM faculty, focused on developing stem cell models of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was featured in this press release

        CTSI – David Center

        The BU CTSI will continue to prioritize the development and implementation of high-quality translational research focused on improving health, including, in light of the pandemic, preventing, diagnosing and treating COVID-19. We will further strengthen research infrastructure, expand inter-disciplinary collaborations, and provide resources, services, and mentoring, and training. We will fund rigorous studies that improve human health through our pilot and voucher mechanisms and through our various programs. For example:

        • Our Community Engagement Program will continue to work closely with our BMC partners to support and expand the incorporation of community and patient voice in research by investing in new community-academic partnerships.
        • In collaboration with BMC and with the BUSPH, our Informatics Program has been an active participant in the National COVID-19 Cohort Collaborative (N3C), submitting extensive deidentified clinical data about patients with COVID-19 from i2b2 via TriNetX to the N3C Enclave.
        • In collaboration with the BMC Center for Health Equity and the BU-CTSI has developed a project plan to establish “Data for Equity (D4E),” a next generation population-based data platform based on the OMOP Common Data Model supported by the OHDSI Health Services Research Collaborative. The vision for D4E is to provide a comprehensive data platform to support health services research, implementation science, machine learning and AI, and comparative effectiveness research by organizing rich data related to the social factors that individuals experience and the features of the places that they live.

          Genome Science Institute – Nelson Lau

          The pandemic has certainly stretched and challenged the BU Genome Science Institute (GSI) to respond, and we have maintained existing initiatives such as:

          • The annual research symposium
          • Monthly research seminars
          • Providing genomics analysis software programs, and
          • Supporting genetics and genomics graduate programs and masters summer internships in bioinformatics.

            In addition, the GSI supported the start of new genomics research efforts such as:

            • High-throughput sequencing runs on the latest Illumina NextSeq2000 apparatus in the BUSM Microarray and Sequencing Resource.
            • Supporting three organically developed BUSM genomics research efforts to better understand the biology of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus fueling the current global pandemic.

              The new GSI team looks forward to a future when physical interactions in new space may facilitate more collaborations in genomics and bioinformatics research projects. We look forward to increasing engagement with BUSM researchers for carrying out cutting-edge genomics on the BU Medical Campus.

              Military Health – Glenn Markenson

              • Submit an NIH grant looking into environmental/occupational exposures among military servicewomen.
              • Contribute to and help push forward the Boston Civilian Military Collaborative (BCMC) between Boston Trauma Centers and the Military Health System.
              • Disseminate information on military scholarships within the BU community, provide support for interested students, and increase the number of BU students who apply to these scholarship programs.
              • Develop initiatives to increase support for Faculty, Staff and Students who identify as Veterans.
              • Assist a team of BU investigators to apply for DoD funding.

              Pulmonary Center – Joseph Mizgerd

              In the Pulmonary Center, the most pressing priorities for the coming 2021-22 year are COVID related:

              • Keeping everyone safe.
              • Responding appropriately to changing COVID situations, whether things get better or worse.
              • Maintaining our morale and productivity despite the challenges of the pandemic. On the science front, we are assembling innovative teams of multidisciplinary researchers to make lung biology discoveries and fight pulmonary disease.

                Beyond that, we aim to build and grow the Center including increases to the number and diversity of our faculty and trainees.

                Shipley Prostate Cancer Research Center – Gerald Denis

                • Continue our biobanking and tissue microarray efforts. So far, we have recruited 100 specimens from 35 prostate cancer patients in a longitudinal study to develop biomarkers in our population at higher risk for tumor progression and metastasis, compared to other Boston area institutions (Gignac, Mahdaviani, Duffy, Andry).
                • We will continue biomarker development and analysis to generate preliminary data for a large-scale proposal to NCI that combines imaging, pathology and plasma markers (Wisco, Zhao, Burks, Lu, Andry, Katz, Heaphy).
                • Advance genetic and genomic profiling (including whole genome or exome sequencing) and telomere analysis of (i) prospective cohorts of 20 African American men and 20 non-African American men treated at BMC, and (ii) retrospective archival tumor cohort of 220 African American men treated at BMC and followed for outcomes (Flynn, Campbell, Grishok, Heaphy, Andry, Duffy, Lu); as well as integrate new postdoctoral fellow into the Heaphy lab (Mori).
                • Advance analysis of association of genomic profiling of prostate cancers from men with African and European ancestry (Campbell, Emili, Duffy, Andry) in collaboration with UCSF investigators, in new R01 from NCI.
                • Several prostate cancer publications are expected from the Denis lab in coming weeks, including a basic and translational science report on plasma biomarkers associated with tumor progression, and a team publication on emerging neuroendocrine signatures in clinical samples. A U.S. patent was just issued for development of exosomes as prostate cancer biomarkers. In addition, the Heaphy lab has published three high impact papers on prostate pathology over the last 10 months, and two more are in preparation.
                • We will continue to work with Departments that have recruiting funds, to identify talented junior faculty with outstanding publication and funding records to recruit as investigators. As well-curated biospecimens (plasma, tumor samples TMAs) and follow up data become better established, we will become competitive for these recruitments.
                • Momentum is building for team formation across pathology, basic science, medical oncology and biospecimen investigators to address urgent questions related to cancer disparities in our population. The emergence of enthusiastic teams with shared enthusiasm for the urgent problems, including investigators who have not worked together before this initiative began, is the most exciting and rewarding development of the last year and will continue into 2022.

                Slone Epidemiology Center – Julie Palmer

                • Apply for renewal of Black Women’s Health Study infrastructure grant.
                • Establish program of research in the epidemiology of multiple myeloma.
                • Develop research initiative on cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease in Black women.
                • Recruit additional faculty.