News
$9 Million Grant Fuels Sickle Cell Study: BU team uses iPS stem cells to probe treatments, cures
BU researchers have developed a way to test treatments for sickle cell disease—a genetic disorder of the red blood cells—by working with stem cells grown from a small vial of patients’ blood. “It’s a clinical trial in a test tube,” says molecular biologist George J. Murphy, a School of Medicine assistant professor of medicine and a codirector of BU’s Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM). More
Free Infectious Diseases Symposium, Oct. 1, Register Now!
The Annual Infectious Diseases Symposium, “Inflammation in Disease Pathogenesis” will be held Saturday, Oct. 1. This symposium brings together researchers from regional institutions with an interest in inflammation and disease. Four outstanding speakers will present their work with sufficient time for discussion and informal interactions among participants. The goal is to facilitate collaborations within... More
Myron Nevins PERIO 67 Presents Schoolman Lecture
Myron Nevins PERIO 67 presented a lecture titled, “A Paradigm Shift from Autogenous Bone to Tissue Engineering,” on September 13. The lecture was attended by residents and faculty of the Department of Periodontology & Oral Biology, as well as GSDM alums and other faculty members. The lecture was part of the Department’s endowed annual lectureship, which... More
Visiting Professor Mary Jane England Touts Integrated Care at BUSPH Public Health Forum
Shoes and bras. Those were the two tangibles that Mary Jane England recalled about her time spent treating patients in state psychiatric institutions – long before she would go on to chair an Institute of Medicine committee charged with exploring ways that mental health and substance-use care could be improved. The men's shoes: Ordered... More
Foul Water and Fiery Serpent, Film Screening & Panel Discussion, Sept. 29
Boston University’s Center for Global Health and Development, and the Department of International Health are co-sponsoring the screening “Foul Water and Fiery Serpent” a new documentary following community health workers in Ghana and Sudan through the eradication of the disabling Guinea worm parasite. More
BUSM Lecture Honors Victim of 9/11 Tragedy
BUSM will present the 10th annual Sue Kim Hanson Lecture in Immunology at noon, Friday, Sept.16, in the School of Medicine’s Keefer Auditorium. The annual lecture honors Sue Kim Hanson, MA, and PhD ’02, a former researcher in BUSM’s Pulmonary Center. Hanson, her husband and their daughter were passengers on one of the airplanes that... More
New Translational Medicine Collaboration Opportunity
The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the Office of Technology Development (OTD) invite you to learn about a new translational medicine collaboration opportunity with BU and other leading institutions, sponsored by Pfizer Centers for Therapeutic Innovation. A Town Hall meeting with Pfizer representatives will be held on Wednesday Sept. 28, 11 a.m.-12 p.m., Hiebert... More
From Pests to Poisons: Basic Science, Epidemiology, and the Policy of Pesticides, Gijs van Seventer Doctoral Seminar Series Kicks Off
Pesticide science has been given the important task of providing human society the food, fiber and public health that it requires in an environmental sound, sustainable and affordable manner. One of the main challenges that we face in obtaining these goals is pesticide resistance. Join J. Marshall Clark, PhD, Professor and Director, Massachusetts Pesticide Analysis Laboratory, More
Attend the Annual Research Retreat Day Sponsored by Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Sept. 20
Researchers from both the Medical and Charles River campuses are invited to the Annual Research Day sponsored by the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research on Sept. 20. There will be presentations of innovative research and discussion topics such as the promotion of inter- and multi- disciplinary research at BU, new tools and approaches to... More
USSDA Students Stand Up for Veterans at Operation Stand Down
The 2011 Massachusetts Operation Stand Down was held on August 26 and 27, at the IBEW 103 in Dorchester. GSDM, under the leadership of CHP Oral Health Promotion Director Kathy Lituri, has volunteered at this event for several years running, but this year they collaborated with Dr. Al Filzer and Healthcare for the Homeless to provide the best services possible to the homeless veterans in attendance. The group screened 143 veterans over the course of the two-day event and provided denture cleaning and referrals for oral health issues when needed. More
BUSM Faculty Authors Book on Significance of Genes and Family History
BUSM Professor Aubrey Milunsky, MD, DSc, has penned a book focused on new DNA tests that have dramatically expanded the ability to avoid, prevent, diagnose, predict and treat many genetic disorders. He recounts the lessons learned from many families who benefitted from new advances in genetics, or could have, if they had only known. More
Postdocs Can Take Advantage of OPA Services Now
The Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) established the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) in January 2011. OPAs main objective is to coordinate non-research related training for postdocs and to provide opportunities to develop areas of professional development. The office strives to assist postdocs in their careers and to help improve their job satisfaction. More
BUSM Professor Deborah Anderson Awarded $13.3 Million Grant to Study Potential Treatments to Prevent STDs
Deborah Anderson, PhD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and microbiology at BUSM is co-leading a new study funded by a five-year $13.3 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Anderson will investigate the vaginal use of human monoclonal antibodies manufactured transiently in tobacco plants (called “plantibodies”) to prevent sexually transmitted... More
BU Will Seek Permission for Low-Level Research in NEIDL – Risk assessment will continue
Boston University will ask the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs later this month for permission to conduct lower-level biosafety research in its National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), located on the BU Medical Campus in the South End. More
Check Out the New Videos on the GSDM Experience!
Four new videos complete with interviews of students, faculty, staff, and researchers are available for viewing on the GSDM website. The videos were designed to give potential applicants a taste of the excellent educational experience available at GSDM, but are fun for everyone to watch. Keep an eye out for appearances by your friends, More
Addiction Expert Designated White House Champion of Change. BUSM’s Daniel Alford has a question for you: How often do you drink?
President Obama’s father was an alcoholic whose drunken driving killed a friend and put the elder Obama in the hospital with two broken legs. That unfortunate bit of history may help explain the White House’s interest in addiction, which includes honoring BU addiction expert Daniel Alford with a visit there on August 5. Alford (SPH’86, MED’92), More
Expanded Summer Program at BUSPH Gives Upward Bound Students Hands-On Exposure to Public Health
Data can seem distant and impersonal to students until those numbers represent African villagers killed by parasitic worms, or the levels of mercury found in fish bought at a Boston supermarket. These actual examples helped underscore the vivid reality of public health to students participating in Boston University's Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) program. For the... More
GSDM Externship Trio Gets the Word Out About Smoking
Three students recently went above and beyond to fulfill their externship community outreach requirement. The students—Sayed Al-Mousawi DMD 12, Amy Mann DMD 12, and Vera Chernomordik DMD 12—attended an outreach event in East Boston held in the Shaw’s parking lot. The event included volunteers from Boston University School of Medicine, The Family Van, and the Dana Farber... More
Summer Interns Educate Us at Symposium
Returning from a stimulating field trip to the Pfizer’s Research Technology Center in Cambridge, there was enough time to go back to the lab to finish experiments. In five days Johanna, Samanta, Vincent, Joshua, Chino, Jessica, Rachael, Maria, Derrius, Carlos and Jordan will present the results of an independent research project to an appreciative audience. More
BUSM Researcher Finds Gout Prevalence Swells in U.S. Over Last Two Decades, Increase in Obesity and Hypertension are Likely Contributors
A new study by Dr. Hyon Choi, professor of Medicine in the Section of Rheumatology and the Clinical Epidemiology Unit at BUSM, shows the prevalence of gout in the U.S. has risen over the last twenty years and now affects 8.3 million (4%) Americans. Prevalence of increased uric acid levels (hyperuricemia) also rose, affecting 43.3... More
GSDM Spreading Smiles Across the Atlantic
Volunteers from GSDM attended the 2011 World Summer Games in Athens, Greece June 25 -July 4. The group volunteered as part of Healthy Athletes® Special Smiles® initiative to provide oral health screenings, flouride treatment, mouth guards, oral hygeine instruction, and referrals to the athletes. Led by Senior Global Clinical Advisor of the Special Smiles® and... More
BUSM/BMC Researchers Awarded $3.5 Million Grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse
Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) were recently awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), to improve upon the “seek, test, treat, and retain” paradigm in Eastern Europe among HIV-infected Russian and Eastern European injection drug users (IDUs) in narcology (addiction)... More
BUSM's Spira Named BU Innovator of the Year
BUSM Associate Professor Avrum Spira has won the university’s 2011 Innovator of the Year award which recognizes a BU faculty member whose cutting-edge research and ideas lead to the formation of companies that benefit society at large. Spira’s research on lung cancer, Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD), and the effects of smoking on airway epithelial cell-gene... More
GSDM News: Ceremony Celebrates First Graduates of BUIDRE
There was an atmosphere of celebration and accomplishment for the 12 graduates and their families at the first graduation ceremony of the Boston University Institute for Dental Research and Education Dubai (BUIDRE), held on July 9, 2011. Graduates from the postdoctoral programs in endodontics, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontology, and prosthodontics wore traditional academic robes with hoods bearing the lilac color of dentistry and the red and white colors of Boston University (BU). The ceremony was held under the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. More
BUSM’s Department of Anesthesiology Producing Educational Materials on Malignant Hyperthermia
The Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the U.S. has selected BUSM’s Department of Anesthesiology to produce digital educational materials related to the diagnosis and treatment of malignant hyperthermia (MH), a potentially fatal condition. MH is a genetic condition that occurs when a patient is given certain types of anesthetics resulting in dangerously high body temperatures that may... More