Kim Vanuytsel, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, is one of 36 recipients of the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) 2024 Scholar Awards. She is one of nine investigators recognized as Basic/Translational Research Junior Faculty Scholars. The award supports early career scientists dedicated to careers in hematology research as they establish themselves as independent investigators. She will receive $150,000 for her research project, “Improving transplantation outcomes through manipulation of hematopoietic stem cell repopulating potential.”
Vanuytsel is a stem cell biologist with expertise in developmental hematopoiesis (the blood cell production process), sickle cell disease and hematopoietic stem cell biology. Her research is focused on developing tools and resources to better understand important concepts in hematopoietic development with the goal of translating this knowledge into the realization of the immense potential that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and hematopoietic stem cells hold for disease modeling and regenerative medicine.
“The ASH Scholar Award offers crucial support, resources and mentorship to emerging scholars during their transition from training to establishing independent careers as investigators in hematology. Through this award, ASH recognizes their remarkable contributions and acknowledges their potential to transform the field,” said ASH President Mohandas Narla, DSc, of New York Blood Center Enterprises. “For decades, ASH has paved the way for fellows and early career faculty to have a lasting impact on hematology. We congratulate this year’s recipients and are excited to see how they improve the lives of individuals living with blood disorders.”
Originally from Belgium, Vanuytsel obtained her PhD from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven in Belgium), developing a disease model for Fanconi anemia using human pluripotent stem cells. She then joined the laboratory of George Murphy, PhD, at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at BU and Boston Medical Center (BMC) for her post-doctoral work.
As a member of BMC’s Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, Vanuytsel is committed to finding better solutions for its large and diverse sickle cell disease patient population. Leading a research lab physically embedded within the CReM, her goal is to focus on issues at the intersection of stem cell biology, cell therapies and sickle cell disease. Her experience in these diverse but complimentary research fields, has equipped her with a unique perspective and skillset to make meaningful contributions to emerging cell therapies for sickle cell disease patients, and the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a whole.
ASH Scholar Awards are made possible through support from the ASH Foundation as well as from the corporate community, individual donors and funds committed by the Society. ASH is the world’s largest professional society of hematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood. For more than 60 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training and advocacy in hematology.
Shanshan Sheehy, ScD, assistant professor of medicine, studies whether perceived racism and structural racism increase the risk of stroke, and whether environmental injustice contributes to the disproportional stroke burden among Black women. Black Americans have a substantially higher prevalence of established stroke risk factors and are nearly twice as likely as White Americans to experience stroke. Disproportionate numbers of Black Americans have faced multiple life adversities, including racism, that are increasingly recognized as social determinants of health.
Ignaty Leshchiner, PhD and co-PI Stacy Andersen, PhD, both assistant professors of medicine, study nucleic acid biomarkers in blood compared to cerebrospinal fluid in neurogenerative disease and healthy brain aging in individuals with exceptional longevity. They use nucleic acid methylation patterns to identify the cell-of-origin of circulating molecules and characterize their genetic and epigenetic changes with age to develop blood-based monitoring techniques to study brain aging and disease.
Ignaty Leshchiner, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, is the 2024 Toffler Assistant Professor!
The Toffler Scholar Program was established by the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust to support promising young medical researchers, physicians and scientists working on early-stage, future-focused brain science with funding and a vital, relevant network through an internal competition at the school.
Alzheimer’s disease encompasses distinct subtypes that are challenging to detect and differentiate during an individual's lifetime, often limiting treatment strategies to symptom management. Dr. Leshchiner is profiling circulating nucleic acids in the blood to identify biomarkers of Alzheimer’s subtypes that are common in solid tissue, cerebrospinal fluid and blood to develop a blood-based assay to detect and monitor Alzheimer’s disease.
This year marks the first DoM DEIA Week. One of the goals of DEIA Week is to disseminate and celebrate current DEIA related initiatives occurring in DoM. To this end, we are hosting a DEIA Showcase to illustrate the ongoing work by faculty, staff, and trainees in the Department of Medicine in the areas of research, education, programming, patient care, and beyond. The Showcase will be held on Monday, March 18th in the Hiebert Lounge. The event will be broken up into three 1-hour sections (1st poster session 11:30AM-12:30PM, , 2nd poster session 12:30PM-1:30PM - lunch will be served).
While the impetus for the DEIA Showcase was to model the Evan’s Days Poster Session, we hope to include visual displays of a wide variety of work from a diversity of DoM faculty, trainees, and staff.
All submissions should have a clear basis in building, improving, and/or enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts. They can be professional development focused, trainee focused, patient focused, public health or community focused, or have a focus in another related space (e.g. research). You are encouraged to submit completed projects and those in process with results and conclusions to date.
The deadline February 5th by 11:59pm EST will remain firm, and any submissions received after the deadline will not be accepted. We anticipate notification of acceptance at least 4 weeks prior to the showcase.
Bias reduction training you have developed or given
Workshops you have given or participated in
New DEIA Programs you have worked on or implemented
Book clubs or discussion series focused on an aspect of DEIA
Educational seminars your section has sponsored
DEIA Committee initiatives you have spearheaded
And more!!!
Submission Rules
Submission portal will open on January 5th, and will close after February 5th, at 11:59 PM, EST.
Character Count: Limited to 1500 characters, not including spaces. Image size should be no larger than 2in high x 4in wide for publication purposes.
We encourage you to make submissions as informative as possible. They must be submitted in English.
All DoM faculty, fellows, residents, postdocs, graduate and medical students, and staff may submit abstracts.
Upon completion of your submission, you will receive an email confirmation.
Please be prepared to submit a poster/visual in PDF or PowerPoint format to accompany your abstract. We will reach out to you if your submission is accepted with more information on how to prepare your poster.
Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion to associate professor and clinical professor.
Clinical Professor
Robert Lowe, MD, Medicine/Gastroenterology, is a clinician-educator who has received numerous prestigious teaching awards, including almost every education award given by the medical school, as well as the university’s Metcalf Prize for Excellence in Teaching. He is considered to be a ‘go-to’ expert for primary care providers and other physicians when faced with complex liver or gastrointestinal diagnoses, as well as a deft provider in hospital-based internal medicine. He serves as a core faculty member in the Internal Medicine Residency and the GI Fellowship programs at Boston Medical Center, and is a member of the Clinical Competency Committee for both training programs. He is also the director of the Medical Educator Pathway, designed for internal medicine residents considering a career in medical education. Recently named assistant dean of medical education for clinical integration,Dr. Lowe has been a member of the Curriculum Redesign Committee and serves as co-chair of the Gastroenterology/Nutrition course and the Advanced Integration course in the new MD program curriculum. He is a member of the school’s Academy of Medical Educators and teaches in the Doctoring courses, in addition to serving as advisor to numerous medical students each year.
Associate Professor
Gemmae Fix, PhD, Medicine/GIM, is an applied medical anthropologist with postdoctoral training in health services research. An investigator at the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), a VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Innovation, based at the Bedford VA Medical Center, Dr. Fix’s research uses ethnographic, qualitative methods to advance the delivery of patient-centered care, particularly for marginalized or populations stigmatized for their behaviors, such as people living with HIV or patients who are at risk for lung cancer. She has led AHRQ, VA and DoD-funded studies examining patients’ experiences of care, patient-centered HIV care and the use of co-design methods to engage patients in the research process. Additionally, Dr. Fix is interested in the professional development of social scientists. She led the formation of the Medical Anthropologists and Social Scientists in Health (MASSH) interest group, which brings together anthropologists and allied social scientists working in applied health settings to promote professional development, research collaboration and educational opportunities. She serves as secretary to the Board of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Carl Streed, MD, MPH, Medicine/GIM,is a clinician-investigator who specializes in sexual and gender minority (SGM) health care. His work has influenced the health care management of LGBTQ+ communities both in Boston and nationally. His work validates methods of identifying transgender cohorts within administrative claims data, explores strengths and opportunities for improvements of current cardiovascular risk estimation tools as they relate to gender-affirming care and identifies gaps in current clinical practice knowledge of primary care clinicians and cardiologists as it relates to transgender and gender diverse populations. His research portfolio effectively bridges research methods, population health research, clinical practice and clinician education. Dr. Streed is the recipient of the Excellence in LGBTQ Health Award from the American Medical Association Foundation for his personal and professional pursuit of a more equitable and inclusive society, focused on elevating voices and redistributing power. He serves as President of the US Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Boston Magazine has published its annual list of “Top Docs,” and I’m pleased to share that many of our BMC clinician-faculty – across a variety of fields and specialties – are included on the list. Please join me in congratulating them on this achievement and for providing exceptional care to their patients and the community.
BMC’s “Top Docs” 2024
Top Docs are selected through a nomination process run by Castle Connolly for Boston Magazine.
Cardiac Electrophysiology
Robert Helm
Kevin Monahan
Cardiovascular Disease
Gary Balady
Sheilah Bernard
Robert Eberhardt
Ashvin Pande
Clinical Genetics
Jodi Hoffman
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Sara Alexanian
Sonia Ananthakrishnan
Alan Farwell
Shirin Haddady
Stephanie Lee
Elizabeth Pearce
Gastroenterology
Christopher Huang
David Lichtenstein
Robert Lowe
David Nunes
Geriatric Medicine
Heidi Auerbach
Lisa Caruso
Hollis Day
Won Lee
Hematology
Vaishali Sanchorawala
Infectious Disease Sabrina Assoumou
Internal Medicine
Melissa DiPetrillo
Warren Hershman
Angela Jackson
Susan Phillips
Jeffrey Samet
Carl Streed
Charles Tifft
Interventional Cardiology Claudia Hochberg
Anthony Litvak
Medical Oncology Gretchen Gignac Matthew Kulke Adam Lerner
Nephrology Laurence Beck Jasvinder Bhatia
Jean Francis Lauren Stern
Pulmonary Disease
John Bernardo
Finn Hawkins
Elizabeth Klings
Frederic Little
George O'Connor
Radiation Oncology Ariel Hirsch Minh T. Truong
Rheumatology
Andreea Bujor
David Felson
Eugene Kissin
Tuhina Neogi
Michael York
The DoM is looking to celebrate and share the stories of our uniquely diverse community. DoM Faculty, staff, and trainees are encouraged to submit artwork of any subject and any medium (paintings, photos, poetry, sculpture, needlework, etc.) for display during the inaugural DoM DEIA Week. The art will be displayed on Tuesday, March 19th in the Wilkins Board Room.
Security will be provided. Pieces should be framed if possible. More information will be provided to those who submit artwork.
We are delighted to announce the AY 24 Evans Junior Faculty Research Merit Awardees.
The awardees for AY 24 are: Tara Bouton, MD, MPH & TM (Infectious Diseases) and Simeon Kimmel, MD, MA (General Internal Medicine). These individuals were selected based on their very strong research accomplishments and exceptional promise as investigators! We had 21 very highly qualified applicants for the award! Although it was difficult to select awardees from such a talented pool of faculty, we can be assured that the number of highly talented junior faculty portends a very bright future for research in the Department of Medicine.
Please join us in offering congratulations to our outstanding AY 24 Evans Junior Faculty Research Merit Awardees!
The uptick has public health experts urging people to get vaccinated and do what they can to stop the spread of respiratory illnesses.
Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center and an associate professor at Boston University, said people are still not getting as severely ill when they contract COVID due to the degree of immunity many have through previous vaccinations or infections.
But still, she pointed to the ongoing deaths due to COVID in the United States, which have stayedabove 1,000 per weekfor the last few months across the country.
“That’s just too many, especially at a time when we have a vaccine that could prevent this,” Assoumou said. “And the reason why you want to get vaccinated right now is because, as we're learning, the virus is changing, and we also have what we call waning immunity. So the protection is waning.”
State datashowsthat about 18% of Massachusetts residents have gotten a recent COVID vaccine, and about 37% have gotten the flu shot.
Experts advised that the problem isn’t just about how severe the infection is upfront. COVID can turn intolong COVID,a wide-ranging set of health problems including brain fog and severe fatigue — some of which can be debilitating — that people can experience for months or even years after being infected. The flu, too, can bring about other long-term health complications.
“Probably the biggest argument around trying to avoid COVID, and even flu for that matter, is that there are higher risks for medical problems after you get these infections,” said Dr. Lou Ann Bruno-Murtha, the division chief of infectious diseases at Cambridge Health Alliance.
“It’s not just the infection itself: it’s that the inflammation caused by the infection puts you at risk for other comorbidities and problems down the road,” Bruno-Murtha added. “And certainly, long COVID is still a thing that we want to avoid — there's previously healthy people that are currently suffering from long COVID. So if you can avoid long COVID, or avoid having a cardiac complication after influenza, you're going to be well ahead of the game.”
New wastewater data shows the prevalence of the virus that causes COVID-19 has met or exceeded last year's levels after the holidays.
Courtesy of Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
“If you’re at high risk for complications from COVID, you could consider wearing a high-quality mask in indoor public settings and also trying to avoid crowds,” Assoumou said. “And if you’re sick, please stay home so that we can protect the community.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who test positive for COVID should isolate for at least five days and wear a high-quality mask if they have to be around others, at home or in public. But the CDC recommendscontinuing to isolateif symptoms persist past five days.
“The good news is RSV seems to have peaked and is subsiding. So that’s great news for our young children, neonates that are really at risk for that to be a really severe disease,” said Bruno-Murtha.
Some patients and even clinicians have been concerned about what has been described as a kind of viral rebound after the five-day Paxlovid treatment ends.
“So I really hope and I wish that we would get the word out, that if your health care professional thinks you're qualified, please take Paxlovid,” Assoumou said. “And I would not worry about rebound, because I would much more prefer to be at home with a stuffy nose than in a hospital because I did not take the Paxlovid.”
Both Assoumou and Bruno-Murtha emphasized that people can safely and conveniently get their flu shot and COVID shot at the same time, and that the current COVID vaccines are effective against the most prevalent variants circulating now.
“We are so fortunate in that regard,” Bruno-Murtha said. “Everything we know — the preliminary, even unpublished data — seems to show that for vaccines: really, really, truly miraculous.”
