AnnouncementsJuly 5, 2011Original text appeared July 5, 2011 Dean's Newsletter CASE WESTERN RESERVE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RECEIVES $2.5M NIH GRANT TO STUDY INTESTINAL INFLAMMATIONRenewal Grant to Examine Role of Novel TNF-like Factors in Disease InflammationCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestives and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to study intestinal inflammation. The five-year grant from the institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will enable the continued advancement of groundbreaking research, ultimately fueling the development of new treatments for conditions like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Fabio Cominelli, MD, PhD, the Hermann Menges, Jr. Chair in Internal Medicine, and, director of the Digestive Health Institute at University Hospitals Case medical Center, and, Theresa Pizarro, PhD, associate professor of pathology, are principal investigators of the grant Original text appeared July 5, 2011 Dean's Newsletter LAMANNA ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE FASEB AND SECRETARY OF THE ISCBFMJoseph C. LaManna, PhD, professor of Physiology and Biophysics in the school of Medicine with joint appointments in Neurology, Neurosciences, and Pathology, was elected president of the Federation of the American Society of Experimental Biology (FASEB). Lamana was previously serving as vice president of the FASEB before being elected president. FASEB is the nation's largest coalition of biomedical researchers, representing 23 scientific societies and over 100,000 researchers from around the world. FASEB is now recognized as the policy voice of biological and biomedical researchers. Its mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy. Lamana was also elected secretary of the International Society for Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (ISCBFM). He previously served as a board member. ISCBFM promotes the advancement of education in the science of cerebral blood flow and metabolism throughout the world. Original text appeared April 4, 2011 Dean's Newsletter SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RECEIVES $1.6 MILLION NCI GRANT TO STUDY HOW TUMOR CELLS EVADE IMMUNE SYSTEM DETECTIONThe School of Medicine has received a $1.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study how tumor cells avoid detection by the body's immune system, allowing cancer to develop and spread. The five-year National Institue of Health grant will enable researchers led by Alex Y. Huang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, pathology, and biomedical engineering at the School of Medicine, and a hematologist and oncologist at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital at UHCMC, to examine "immune tolerance." The process keeps tumor cells from being detected by the immune system. the study will also test whether modifying the environment in which tumor cell-immune cell interactions take place, using inflammatory chemokines, will activate unresponsive immune cells into fighting off cancer. The research will provide greater insight into the potential therapeutic utilities of inflammator chemokines, thereby providing a new direction for the development of immunotherapies that are capable of fighting cancer at the most basic cellular level, Dr. Huang says. Researchers will work to leverage the immune system's unique ability to generate immune memory to eradicate any future cancer cell development that is derived from a primary tumor. They will use an advanced imaging technique developed in Dr. Huang's lab, called intravital 2-photon laser scanning microscopy, to directly visualize tumor cell and immune cell interactions in real-time using basic research models. Original text appeared April 4, 2011 Dean's Newsletter NEW RESEARCH IDENTIFIES KEY MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS BEHIND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASEWen-Quan Zou, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and associate director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, and his co-workers recently provided new insight into a possible cause of memory loss in patients with Alzheimer's disease. In a manuscript published online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry on March 10, Dr Zou and his co-workers explain how the interaction of the amyloid beta42 (Aβ42) peptide with the prion protein (PrP) could be a key factor in the development of Alzheimer's. He led a team of researchers to demonstrate that Aβ binds preferentially to an insoluble form of PrP (iPrP) in the brain of individuals with Alzheimer's, identifying two types of Aβ binding sites on the human PrP molecule. The findings suggest that iPrP is the major PrP species that interacts with Aβ in Alzheimer's disease and that there may be several types of associations between the two molecules. These interactions are likely associated with the deterioration of memory and cognition, he says. Dr. Zou's laboratory previously identified iPrP in uninfected human brains, a form similar to that associated with transmissible prion diseases including Creutzfeldt-Jakob, a degenerative brain disease in humans, and mad cow disease and scrapie in animals. Original text appeared April 4, 2011 Dean's Newsletter RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY NEW BIOMARKER FOR CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASENeena Singh, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology , and her colleagues, have identified the first disease-specific biomarker for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), a universally fatal, degenerative brain disease for which there is no cure. The finding, published in the March 9th issue of PLoS ONE, provides a basis for developing a test to diagnose sCJD while patients are still alive. Presently, the only definitive diagnostic test for the disease requires brain tissue be obtained by biopsy or after death. In their study, Dr. Singh and her team found that levels of the iron-transport protein transferrin (Tf) are significantly decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with sCJD well before the end stage of the disease, potentially allowing for earlier diagnosis. The decrease in Tf is significant enough to distinguish sCJD from dementia of non-CJD origin with an accuracy of 80 percent, Dr. Singh reports. When combined with the currently used non-disease-specific biomarker T-tau, the diagnostic accuracy increases to 86 percent, suggesting that the two biomarkers represent separate disease processes, and complement each other as diagnostic biomarkers, Dr. Singh explains. Being a part of the sCJD disease process, CSF Tf is likely to be a more precise indicator of sCJD than the current tests, she says. Original text appeared February 7, 2011 Dean's Newsletter MARK SMITH MEMORIAL SERVICE: FEBRUARY 14, 2011An on-campus memorial service for Mark A. Smith, PhD, professor of pathology is scheduled for Monday, February 14, 2011, at 5:15 p.m. The service will be held in the Amasa Stone Chapel at 10940 Euclid Avenue (Euclid Avenue just west of Adelbert Road). Parking is available in lots on campus; please visit www.case.edu/maps/ for locations. A reception will follow in the first floor of Crawford Hall. For questions or additional information, please contact: Kathy malone at 216.368.3109 or kwm4@case.edu or Barbara Nicol at 216.368.5515 or bxn4@case.edu. Original text appeared February 7, 2011 Dean's Newsletter CLIFFORD V. HARDING, M.D., PH.D., APPOINTED CHAIR OF PATHOLOGYCulminating an extensive national search, Cliffor V. Harding, MD, PhD, accomplished researcher and pathologist in the fields of immunology, oncology, and infectious disease, has been named chair of the Department of Pathology at the School of Medicine and UH Case Medical center. Dr. Harding, who became the department's interim chair in May 2008, assumed his new post as department chair in late December. He has been a distinguished member of the School of Medicine and University Hospitals communities for nearly 18 years, as a noted researcher and active educator. he has a long-standing productive NIH-funded research program centered on the immunology of infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis and HIV infection. In his new role as chair, Dr. Harding will lead a rapidly growing department, building upon his accomplishments as interim chair, which included recruiting 12 new faculty members, enhancing collaboration across multiple university departments, and increasing external research funding by 30 percent. In addition to serving as chair, Dr. Harding is the director of the prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), the founding director of the Cliical and Translational Scientist Training Program (CTSTP), and the founding chair of the Immunology Training Program at the School of Medicine. Dr. Harding joined the School of Medicine in 1993 as an assistant professor of pathology with a secondary appointment as as assistant professor of oncology in the Division of General Medical Sciences. Original text appeared in the September 7, 2010 Dean's Newsletter. NEW SPORADIC PRION PROTEIN DISEASE IDENTIFIED BY NATIONAL PRION DISEASE PATHOLOGY SURVEILLANCE CENTERA new sporadic prion protein disease has been discovered. Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr), as it has been named, is the second type of complete sporadic disease to be identified since Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was reported in the 1920s. The landmark finding from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University is published in the August issue of Annals of Neurology. In 2008, Pierluigi Gambetti, MD, professor of pathology and director of the center, and Wen-Quan Zou, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and associate director at the center, with collaborators, reported the discovery of this novel disease, which affected patients who exhibit only one of the three types of the prion protein gene. In this follow-up study, they discovered that all three genetic groups can be affected by this novel disease which now joins sporadic CJD (sCJD) in displaying this feature. However, VPSPr is associated with an abnormal prion protein that exhibits characteristics very different from those of sCJD, as well as other prion diseases, suggesting that it may be caused by a different mechanism, perhaps more akin to other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. This finding may exemplify, for the first time, the possibility that the prion protein affects the brain with different mechanisms. Original text appeared in the September 7, 2010 Dean's Newsletter. SMITH RECEIVES TWO PRESTIGIOUS AWARDSMark A. Smith, PhD, professor of pathology was recently recognized with two prestigious awards. The first is the 2011 American Society for Investigative Pathology Outstanding Investigator Award, which recognizes mid-career investigators with demonstrated excellence in research in experimental pathology. The second is the 2011 Goudie Lecture and Medal, which is presented to a distinguished active scientist who is making seminal contributions to pathological science and the understanding of disease mechanisms. Original text appeared in the March 1, 2010 Dean's Newsletter. $200,000 AWAREDED FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH TO MARK SMITHThe Alzheimer's Association has awarded $200,000 over three years to Mark Smith, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology, for his project, "Xanthine Oxidase in AD: Mechanistic and Therapeutic Opportunities." This research grant award will examine whether inhibitors of xanthine oxidase warrant further study as potential treatments to slow or halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Original test appeared in the March 1, 2010 Dean's Newsletter. SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 2009 SCHOLARSHIP IN TEACHING AWARDS ANNOUNCEDOn February 11th, the annual Scholarship in Teaching Awards were presented to 30 faculty, residents, and medical students. The program is designed to recognize contributions to education in the preceding year and promote teaching as a scholarly activity. 2009 "Recognizing Educators" [...] Graduate Seminar Course Emphasizing Independent and Critical Thinking Neil Greenspan, MD, PhD Pathology—CWRU Derek Abbott, MD, PhD Pathology—CWRU Original text appeared in the January 4, 2010 Dean's Newsletter. CASE WESTERN RESERVE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCHER NAMED 2009 AAAS FELLOWMark A. Smith, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has been awarded the distinction American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. As part of the Section on Medical Sciences, Dr. Smith, who is also the executive director of the American Aging Association, was elected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of neurodegenerative disorders, particularly the role of oxidative stress and cell cycle alterations in Alzheimer's disease. Original text appeared in the June 12, 2009 edition of the Case Daily. Brian Cobb, assistant professor of pathology, received the 2009 Pfizer-Showell Travel Award at the annual meeting of the American Association of Immunologists in May. The award recognizes the professional promise of an early career investigator, and a single award is made each year. Award decisions are based on career progress and the submission of an outstanding abstract selected for presentation at the annual meeting. Cobb is the director of the AAI-John H. Wallace Program for Middle and High School Science Teachers, the 2005 scholar in the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation Scholars Program in the Basic Sciences, and a recipient of a 2008 New Innovator Award from the Office of the Director of the NIH. Learn more. |