News
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
BUSPH Researchers Link Dust on Office Surfaces with Workers' Exposure to Banned Flame Retardants
Flame retardants now banned internationally as organic pollutants are widespread in Boston offices, and the chemicals' concentrations in office dust are linked to traces found on workers' hands and in their blood, a new BU School of Public Health study has found. More
Journal of Dental Research Highlights Work of GSDM Trackman Lab
The July edition of the Journal of Dental Research published research by Professor Dr. Philip Trackman titled, “Loss of Basement Membrane Integrity in Human Gingival Overgrowth.“ This study extends findings that were published earlier this year in the American Journal of Pathology which detail evidence obtained for epithelial to mesenchymal transition contributing to the pathology... More
Yum! GSDM Indulges in Sweet Treats
The Ice Cream Social was held on a beautiful sunny Wednesday afternoon at GSDM. Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter hosted students, staff, and faculty as they made their own sundaes and congregated in groups on the benches outside the Dental School. “What a great day for ice cream!” said Dean Hutter. “Everyone at the School is very... More
BUSM's Levine Elected Chair of ABIM's Subspecialty Board on Geriatric Medicine
BUSM’s Professor Sharon Levine, who also serves as associate dean of Academic Affairs, has been named Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Subspecialty Board on Geriatric Medicine. She becomes the subspecialty board’s representative to ABIM’s Board of Directors. Levine has been a member of the Subspecialty Board on Geriatric Medicine... More
BMC Conducts High Rates of Thyroid Testing in Pregnant Women, Study Finds
A recent study completed by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) demonstrates that BMC conducts a high rate of thyroid function testing in pregnant women. The retrospective study, which is currently published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, showed that if BMC had not done... More
California Alumni Open Their Homes to GSDM Family
Two BU alumni couples in California hosted events at their homes this month. The Dean and Mrs. Hutter and fellow alumni gathered for spectacular views and reminiscing about the School. “With nearly 700 GSDM alumni in California we have begun to focus on building a robust complement of alumni programs in the region,” said Dean Jeffrey... More
Instructional Building Lobby Construction Update
Just a month into the renovations that began Monday, May 23, both the interior and exterior of the BUSM Instructional Building, also known as the L-building, are changing. Please note that pedestrian traffic has been completely re-routed around the old entrance. Demolition of the front stairs is complete. A drill rig has completed the work on... More
School of Medicine Receives LCME Reaccreditation
BU President Robert Brown and School of Medicine Dean Karen Antman received notification from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) that the School of Medicine has been reaccredited for the next eight years. The LCME is the only nationally recognized accrediting body for all medical education programs in the U.S. leading to the medical education... More