Student Updates

BUMC Teams with BAHEC’s Youth to Health Careers (Y2HC) Summer Program

In an effort to introduce Boston students entering grades 9-12 to the various pathways in medicine, dental medicine, biomedical research, public health and other allied health careers, Boston University (BU) is partnering with the Boston Area Health Education Center (BAHEC) for an intensive six-week summer enrichment program. BU Medical Campus (BUMC) is leading the collaborative partnership effort by serving as a host site for the program and has arranged for a wide range of health sciences related activities in labs and classrooms across the Charles River and Medical campuses.

“We hope this partnership will expand and improve the racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity of healthcare professionals across the city of Boston through increased mentorship opportunities, academic enrichment and college preparation, as well as exposure to and engagement in the health sciences, biomedical and scientific disciplines,” said BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean Karen H. Antman, MD. Beginning Monday, July 10, approximately 60 students will spend their mornings immersed in math and science courses including algebra, chemistry, calculus, biology and physics. Faculty, staff and students from the university designed hands-on participatory activities and lessons that cover brain anatomy and dissection, genetic counseling, mental health counseling, dental medicine, human physiology, nutrition, public health, occupational therapy and college preparedness.

Afternoon activities include campus tours including the College of Engineering EPIC (Product Innovation Center) and the Photonics Center. BAHEC students will attend biomedical research related seminars, measure the PH of their own saliva and learn about the biology of Sickle Cell Disease. They also will learn about cutting-edge research to develop vaccines and therapies to fight against pathogens.

The outreach efforts between BAHEC and BUMC are led by an interdisciplinary team, including Hee-Young Park, PhD, Professor and Chair of Medical Sciences & Education and Assistant Dean of the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences; Valeda Britton, JD, Executive Director of Community Relations; and Lynese Wallace, MPH, Manager of Diversity & Inclusion for Division of Graduate Medical Sciences.

“Boston University is committed to providing educational and experiential opportunities, particularly in the areas of health sciences and biomedical research, to pre-college students from the surrounding communities. As a part of this mission, BUSM historically has donated its teaching classrooms for the Youth to Health Careers (Y2 HC) Summer Enrichment Program managed and overseen by BAHEC. This year members of the Charles River and Medical Campus communities worked-together to implement a program that would allow BAHEC students to be exposed and experience a wide range of health sciences and biomedical research career opportunities," added Park.

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CReM Stem Cell Researcher is Innovator of the Year

Those who know ancient history—the first decade of the 21st century—recall that embryonic stem cell research was a combustible issue, with supporters cheering the potential to create new tissues from stem cells and opponents decrying the destruction of human embryos that it required. A breakthrough arrived in 2006, when a Japanese researcher developed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), adult cells that behaved like embryonic stem cells and had an amazing ability to develop into muscles, skin, nerves, and almost any other cell type. Two years later, a second breakthrough, this one by Gustavo Mostoslavsky, a School of Medicine associate professor of gastroenterology, produced a tool that made it simpler and more efficient to generate iPS. BU patented his tool, called STEMCCA, and he says that it’s been adopted by more than 700 laboratories worldwide for making iPS.

That contribution to the field has earned Mostoslavsky this year’s University Innovator of the Year award. The Technology Development office presents the award to a faculty member whose research yields inventions or innovations benefiting society. Mostoslavsky will receive the award at BU’s annual Tech, Drugs, and Rock ’n’ Roll networking event connecting BU researchers and Boston entrepreneurs.

“I was humbly surprised and happy,” he says, when Gloria Waters, vice president and associate provost for research, emailed him the news. “Sometimes it is easy to lose perspective when we get busy on the many tasks of running a lab—grant writing, mentoring, budget, and so forth—so I guess it is nice, once in a while, to just stop and enjoy the moment, enjoy what we have done so far, and even better, if on the way we have helped many others succeed.”

One way Mostoslavsky has helped others succeed—the way that makes him most proud, he says—is to have cofounded, in 2010, BU’s Center for Regenerative Medicine, which he codirects. The center, which pursues stem cell research with an emphasis on lung, blood, and gastrointestinal tract diseases, practices open source biology: sharing its discoveries with scientists around the world for free rather than patenting them. In 2013, CReM moved into its own physical quarters on Albany Street on the Medical Campus.

“I am delighted to see Dr. Mostoslavsky’s colleagues choose him for this award,” says Waters. “STEMCCA has dramatically improved the efficiency with which new stem cells can be generated to treat disease. His success in patenting a tool that has become industry-standard, at the same time as he and the codirectors of the CReM have become renowned for their open source biology, serves as a model to students and other researchers of how to advance science through sharing, at the same time protecting important intellectual property.”

This article originally appeared in ‘BU Today’ on Tuesday, July 11 and was written by Rich Barlow.

BUMC Student Financial Services Names Director

Meagan Hardy Smith has been appointed director of BUMC Student Financial Services, effective Tuesday, Aug. 1.

Hardy comes from Boston College, where she has spent 15 years building her financial aid career. While at BC, she managed a team of 10-12 staff members and most recently she took a leadership role in developing, implementing and maintaining the ProSAM student information system. In this role, she worked to automate business processes for graduate students.

She holds a master's degree in administrative studies and a bachelor's degree in marketing.

Davidson Hamer Receives Distinguished Alumni Award from Larner College of Medicine

The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont recently announced its Medical Alumni Association Achievement Award winners, including Davidson Hamer, MD, a 1987 UVM graduate who serves at Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Boston Medical Center.

The Distinguished Academic Achievement Award is presented to alumni in recognition of outstanding scientific or academic achievement.

Hamer is board-certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases with particular interests in tropical infectious diseases, travel medicine, maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), emerging diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. He has more than 25 years of field research experience on malaria, pneumonia, neonatal and child survival, maternal health, micronutrient deficiencies, and HIV/AIDS in resource-limited countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South America. His MNCH research has yielded evidence used by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and Ministries of Health in Africa to change health policies, guidelines, and program implementation.

In addition to his continued research on MNCH, which currently includes a focus on stunting and early childhood development, Hamer has served as the principal investigator since 2014 for GeoSentinel, a global surveillance network of 66 sites in 30 countries that uses returning travelers, immigrants, and refugees as sentinels of disease emergence and transmission patterns throughout the world

Rev. Julian A. Cook Visits Medical Campus

On Monday, July 3, Rev. Julian A. Cook, assistant director for the Thurman Center at Boston University, toured the Medical Campus. The Thurman Center is dedicated to providing programs, events and experiences to students designed to encourage the creative exchange of ideas, thoughts, beliefs and opinions. Rev. Cook met with BUSM Associate Dean, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Rafael Ortega, MD, to continue exploring areas of potential collaboration between the Thurman Center and the Medical Campus. Rev. Cook also serves as Senior Pastor at Roxbury’s historic St. Mark Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, the oldest black congregational church in Boston.