UTTN is Awarded Two Prestigious Grants
The UT Telehealth Network has been awarded two separate grants from Health and Human Services. The grants total over $2.1 million and will focus on training health providers to respond to Bioterrorism threats as well as improving the reach of existing Telehealth services. MORE >>

 

Sherry S. Brewer, JD, Named as GSM Compliance Officer
Sherry S. Brewer, J.D., has recently joined the Graduate School of Medicine as the first compliance officer for the school. Recent regulatory changes and increased federal focus on human subject protections in clinical research, as well as the injection of HIPAA challenges into the research arena, led to a decision to create this new position. The Compliance Officer’s primary responsibilities will be in the area of Human Subject protection, including development, oversight and review of policies related to human research, serving as an educational resource for the IRB and all research personnel, and performing in-house audits of open protocols. Brewer will report to the GSM Dean’s Office as well as the UT Health Science Center Compliance Office in Memphis. She received her law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law and has experience in private and public practice as well as serving as a consultant for HIPAA compliance.

New Faculty Resource!
The Preston Medical Library, UTGSM has joined with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Hodges) Library and the Health Sciences Library (Memphis) to support an institutional membership to Biomed Central. BioMed Central is an independent publishing house committed to providing immediate free access to peer-reviewed biomedical research.

Statistical Consulting Center Supports UTGSM Researchers
Are you drowning in data? UT's Statistical Consulting Center's mission is to help UT students, faculty, and staff enhance the quality of their research by working together to effectively apply analytical methods, especially statistics. To make an appointment, contact Bob Muenchen at 974-5230. MORE >>

Dr. Eleftherios Xenos, Fellow in Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, has been awarded the 2003 Frederick A. Coller Surgical Society Jobst Award for resident vascular research. Dr. Xenos' abstract, "Covered stents for injuries of the subclavian and axillary arteries" was presented at the 49th Clinical Meeting of the society in Asheville, NC last month.

Dr. Ricky Owers, Resident, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology recently presented at the scientific session of the Tennessee Section of the American Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) Meeting in Nashville. The presentation was entitled, "Lack of thrombopoetin potentiation of platelet collagen activation as an early predictor of pre-eclampsia." Doctors Tara Horn and Vicki Young also attended the conference.

Fund & Friend Raising
by Jeff Elliott,
Director of Development & Alumni Relations

Grateful alumni and patients are among the two best pools for prospective donors to benefit specific departments within the UTGSM. Do you have them? If so, are you interested in seeing if there might be interest in charitable gift giving possibly even benefiting your department or program? The Office of Development & Alumni Relations exists to be of service. Our goal is to inform and educate prospective donors in the belief that once they become friends, their funds will soon follow. MORE>>

 

Editorial Staff:
Alison Lockett, Connie Littleton, Sherry Brewer
James Neutens, PhD
©2003 The University of Tennessee
Graduate School of Medicine
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Townsend named Distinguished Clinical Scientist of the Year
The Academy of Molecular Imaging has named David W. Townsend, Ph.D., (Professor of Medicine and Radiology, and Director of the Cancer Imaging and Tracer Development Program), as Distinguished Clinical Scientist for 2004. The award is given annually to those who have made major contributions to the development and enhancement of PET/molecular imaging as recognized by his/her colleagues. The society also recognized Sanjiv "Sam" Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D., as the Distinguished Basic Scientist of the Year. AMI President Michael Phelps will present the Distinguished Scientist Awards at the next AMI Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, March 27-31, 2004. The awardees will each receive a $20,000 cash prize, and will speak at the Annual Meeting.

 

Wetzel Named to NIH Study Section
Ronald B. Wetzel, Ph.D., (Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Director of the Amyloid and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Laboratory) at UTGSM,
has accepted an invitation from the National Institutes of Health, to serve as a member of the Neurodegeneration and Biology of Glia Study Section, Center for Scientific Review. Members are selected by the NIH based upon their research accomplishments, publications, achievements and honors. Dr. Wetzel's participation in the NIH peer review process of grant applications is in his words, "a way of giving back to the system for the success of my programs."

 

UTGSM Faculty Members Lead Speakers at CASW Annual Meeting
Dr. Alan Solomon (Professor of Medicine and Head of Human Immunology and Cancer Program) and Dr. Ron Wetzel, (Professor of Medicine and Director of the Amyloid and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Laboratory) were the lead speakers at the annual meeting of the Counsel for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW). This year's meeting was hosted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee. This meetings brings distinguished scientists together with journalists to discuss seminal developments in science, medicine and technology that are likely to make news in near future. Dr's. Solomon and Wetzel topic of discussion was "Untangling Amyloids"


Mastering Q&A Sessions
by James J. Neutens, Ph.D.

Dr. Blank finished his excellent presentation but went “blank” when the chairman asked a question he couldn't answer. Everyone wanted to help but didn’t know what to do. In another part of the hospital, Dr. Jones invited questions after her presentation but the audience just sat there like the proverbial bump on a log. In both instances the problem wasn’t the presentation, it was the question and answer session.

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for and conduct an effective Q&A:
Tip #1. Anticipate potential questions.
To avoid Dr. Blank’s problem you might want to practice your talk in front of others and encourage them to ask tough questions. Practice answering out loud. Also, put yourself in the shoes of your audience…what would you ask.MORE>>

 

Clarification of September 2003 Scope: Noha Kabil, DDS, conducted a joint fellowship with the Department of General Dentistry at UTGSM and the Department of Pathology at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.

If you have news or an event to announce via this newsletter and/or the GSM Web site, please submit your story.