Student Updates
Jeffrey Hutter, Dean of BU’s Goldman School of Dental Medicine, to Retire
Announcement comes as SDM is set to complete massive renovation this summer
Jeffrey Hutter, the dean of Boston University’s Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine since 2008, announced on Monday that he will retire as of March 31. The school, which has had only three deans in its nearly 60-year history, will fill the role with an interim dean until a national search can be conducted and a permanent replacement named.
Read more on BU Today.
Introducing: the BUSM IBIS
The Integrated Biomedical Imaging Suite provides a single location on Robinson 8 for a wide range of digital imaging microscopy applications to support research development and discovery on the Medical Campus.
The suite of rooms is tailored for optimal and safe use of the imaging instruments. The equipment includes a:
- Zeiss LSM 880 Microscope with Airyscan for fast and high-resolution imaging on live and fixed cells, a
- Zeiss LSM 700 Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope for imaging fixed and stained cells and tissue, and a
- Zeiss LSM 710 NLO Microscope for imaging sections of fluorescent tissue using multiphoton imaging methods and includes 3D reconstruction of biological tissue/cells.
Now being assembled in an adjacent room, to be available by April 2021, is a Jeol JEM-1400 FLASH 120 kV-Transmission Electron Microscope.
Future plans include tissue and cell histology services for imaging, and space for new imaging instruments, technology, and support. For more information, click here.
Art Days 2021, View the Virtual Gallery
Check out nearly 100 submissions!
Art Days is an annual art exhibition started by BU President and BUSM Dean Emeritus Aram Chobanian to support the continued growth of creative arts at BUMC. Now sponsored by the BUMC Provost’s Office, it is mounted by the students and faculty of the Creative Arts Society at BUSM. Amid the political and social climate of the US throughout the past year there have been multiple instances where our nation has banded together to fight against the inequities that plague various groups within our nation. The theme of this 31st annual Art Days is Antiracism. Through various art forms the creative community at BUMC has demonstrated their resolve to oppose racial hatred, bias and the oppression of marginalized groups while promoting allyship, continued education and discourse.
1/18 Celebrate the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, Jan. 18 | 2-3 p.m.
Please register for this Zoom meeting
All members of the BU Medical Campus are invited to a
special presentation commemorating the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Life of Service In Healthcare, And Why It’s Important In Today’s World
Guest Speaker: Louis W. Sullivan, MD, MACP
A 1958 graduate of BUSM and former faculty member who currently is a member of the BUSM Dean’s Advisory Board, Dr. Sullivan is the founding dean and first president of Morehouse School of Medicine (now president emeritus). He served as Secretary of Health and Human Services during the George H. W. Bush administration. He is chair of the board of the Washington, D.C.–based Sullivan Alliance to Transform America’s Health Professions. He also is author of The Morehouse Mystique: Becoming a Doctor at the Nation’s Newest African American Medical School (with Marybeth Gasman; Johns Hopkins University Press) and “Breaking Ground: My Life in Medicine (with David Chanoff; University of Georgia Press). He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Invocation by the Rev. Dr. Karen Coleman, University Chaplain, Marsh Chapel
Hosted by John Polk, MD, EdM, Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion, BUSM
COVID Publication Dashboard Available
BU researchers are working diligently to support the worldwide effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic. This live COVID publication dashboard displays the contributions of our researchers working rapidly inform the global community of important findings and data sets.
Submit Work for Art Days 2021
Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit artwork of any medium to the 31st annual BUMC Gallery for the Arts, sponsored by the Provost's Office. Art Days was started by Dean Emeritis Aram Chobanian to foster the support and growth of the creative arts at BUMC. The exhibition is mounted by the Creative Arts Society. To be placed on the "submit list" or if you have any questions, please contact Keith Tornheim, PhD, at tornheim@bu.edu.
In past years, the exhibition was displayed in Hiebert Lounge. However, this year that is impractical, and the exhibition will be online. Artwork (paintings, photos, poetry, sculpture, needlework, etc.) must be submitted this year as images online by Monday, February 1.
Specific instructions will be sent at a later date to those who respond to this announcement by emailing Keith Tornheim, PhD, at tornheim@bu.edu.
As announced previously, the theme for Art Days this year will be ANTIRACISM. Submissions not on the theme will be acceptable, but the thematic works will be highlighted and hopefully serve as a springboard for additional presentations/discussions.
Maximize Your LfA Experience: Tips & Tricks for Students & Faculty
Congratulations on finishing the first semester of the Learn from Anywhere (LfA) format successfully! While the feedback from recent faculty and student surveys was largely positive, there is always room for improvement. In response, BUMC-IT EdMedia’s Instructional Services team has compiled Tips & Tricks cheat sheets for both faculty and students on how to maximize your LfA experience. Take a peek now to plan steps you’ll take to enhance your experience in January.
Instructors: starting on Monday, Jan. 4, we again are offering LfA classroom overview training sessions if you’re new to the format, or need a refresher. Be sure to check out the 4-minute overview video on our homepage and/or feel free to request an in-person training session with our team. (Note: wait for confirmation that will depend on room availability and coordinating team schedules).
We also conduct group sessions (which always adhere to face covering and adjusted room capacity restrictions). If interested in a session for your program/department, please email edtech@bu.edu with your preferred timing, location, and number in your group. We’ll check room and team availability and confirm or offer alternatives.
Please contact Associate Director Jana Mulkern and/or Director Lucy Milne with questions.
Be well, stay safe, and we’ll see you in 2021!
12/17 Winter Storm Advisory
Boston University Medical Campus will be open Thursday, Dec. 17, but all classes and exams for BUSM, GMS and SPH will be held remotely.
BUSM Medical, PA and GMS students who are assigned to inpatient services or clinics are expected to be present, if possible. Students who are assigned to outpatient services should check with their course director and clinical site.
The Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine will follow normal school hours. Classes and exams will be held as currently scheduled, either in-person or remotely, unless otherwise notified by the Office of Academic Affairs. The Simulation Learning Center and Dental Treatment Centers, respectively, will be open for scheduled classes and patient care. GSDM students who are on externship should check with the policy at their respective externship site.
Please note: Chequers will be closed.
Prepare Your Workspace for Intersession
Please follow the guidelines below when leaving the Medical Campus for intersession.
Offices/Clinical/ Research Areas
- In offices, turn off all electrical devices (computers, monitor, lights, portable heaters, copiers, printers, coffee pots and lamps).
- Unplug holiday decorations.
- Remove any trash with food to common area containers.
- Close and lock windows.
- Lock office doors.
- Set back temperature of workspace (if not covered by Control Desk).
- Notify Control of any possible situations that may need attention during your absence.
- Notify Facilities if any special accommodations are needed during intersession.
Contact Control for any routine or emergency building issues.
Phone: (617) 358-4144, Email: CPO-FMO-BUMC-CONTROL-CENTER@bu.edu
Contact Public Safety for any access or possible safety issues.
Phone: (617) 358-4444
Center for Translation Neurotrauma Imaging Creates New Research Avenues for Neuroscience Community
The Center for Translation Neurotrauma Imaging (CTNI) at BUSM has revolutionized brain imaging and greatly enhanced neurotrauma research, thanks to a 4.9 million dollar Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) grant and new state-of-the-art equipment.
Housed in the core facility of the Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), the CTNI is led by co-directors Stephan Anderson, MD, and Lee Goldstein, MD, PhD, who were awarded a competitive grant from the MLSC to help revamp the CBI and build upon BU’s world-renowned chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) research.
“While the broader mission of the Center is to look at all the organs of the body, we do have a particular interest in problems of the brain, specifically those that lead to injury of the brain and long-term degenerative problems associated with the brain,” said Dr. Goldstein, associate professor of psychiatry, radiology, neurology, and pathology & laboratory medicine, who also co-leads the Biomarker Core at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “An area of focus is on neurotrauma and how it triggers CTE and exacerbates Alzheimer’s disease.”
In addition to their scientific focus, the Center serves the imaging needs of the scientific community, including academics from BU and beyond, corporate-sponsored research, as well as investigators who have a need for high-end human or animal imaging.
New & Improved Tools
The Center’s cutting-edge imaging tools includes a 3T Philips Ingenia Elition MRI, 9.4 Tesla Bruker BioSpec MRI, and a Verasonics Vantage 256 Ultrasound System.
The 3T Philips MRI provides unrivaled imaging quality as the human MRI clinical instrument. It features a 70 cm bore and full digital acquisition platform, as well as the most up-to-date software packages. The machine is able to acquire data incredibly quickly and efficiently.
“It has features that optimize the imaging of the brain. In addition to the brain, it can image every other part of the body,” explained Dr. Anderson, professor and vice-chairman for research in the department of radiology.
The 9.4T MRI from Bruker is ideal for imaging small animals, thanks to its high spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. Its cryogenically cooled surface coil is incredibly rare, and optimizes the machine for mouse brain imaging.
Additionally, the CTNI provides ultrasound capabilities with the highly flexible research platform, the Verasonics Ultrasound System.
Now, the Center is able to provide optimized brain and human body imaging that was not possible with the old CBI system, as well as a live animal imaging instrument with much more advanced capabilities.
“We’ve taken a quantum leap in the capabilities of the clinical system,” Dr. Anderson said. “So now we’re opening up new avenues for the neuroscience community to pursue.”
One-Stop Shop
Typically, revolutionary research instruments like the 3T Philips MRI and 9.4T Bruker MRI would be distributed among various centers focused on different arrays of diseases. Focusing on neurotrauma and neurodegenerative diseases in one general use facility places the CTNI apart from other scientific institutions, and right at the forefront of neurotrauma research.
“What we’ve done is paired state-of-the-art research imaging capabilities with world-class clinical, pathological, and research operation focusing in this area,” Dr. Goldstein said. “This is clearly the best facility in the world for doing this type of work.”
The CTNI is open for business to those looking for these advanced imaging capabilities, from researchers in biomedicine and neuroscience to software engineering and magnetic resonance physics.