The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville



Dr. Carlson Receives AAOMS Presidential Achievement Award

K9 ProgramDr. Eric Carlson, with his wife Sue, receives the AAOMS Presidential Achievement Award.
educationEric R. Carlson, DMD, MD, FACS, Chair of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, received the AAOMS Presidential Achievement Award during the opening ceremony of the 96th Annual Meeting, Scientific Sessions and Exhibition of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). The award is presented in recognition of Dr. Carlson’s significant long-standing contributions to the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Dr. Carlson is currently Professor and Kelly L. Krahwinkel Endowed Chairman of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and directs the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program, the Oral/Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery Fellowship, and the Cleft and Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship.

Dr. Carlson has served as editor and co-editor of the pathology section of the "OMS Knowledge Update" home-study series and is the surgical oncology and reconstructive surgery section editor for the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He formerly served as the Chair of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Resident Review Committee.

Dr. Carlson received his dental degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He completed his oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and his fellowship in oral/head and neck tumor and reconstructive surgery at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital.



Academy of Scholars Awards Outstanding Resident Achievement

educationThe Academy of Scholars (AOS) has developed an award to recognize Outstanding Scholarly Achievement among residents. The inaugural awardees are Austin Bourgeois, MD, Radiology Resident, and Chandler Long, MD, Surgery Resident.

To determine awardees, AOS board members created a point system used to score research efforts including grants, publications, presentations, and IRB-approved ongoing projects; teaching achievements including teaching awards, presentations at educational conferences, invited lectures and teaching or administrative chief residents; patient care feedback including annual resident exams and The University of Tennessee Medical Center Guardian Angel program; and service through professionalism, service to charities and appointments on committees.

K9 ProgramDr. Bourgeois exemplified nearly all of the criteria including 4 grants, 9 publications, 15 presentations and 5 research awards. He also acted as Chief resident and taught at more than 16 conferences. He scored well on the In-Training exam, and he participated on one national committee and four local committees.

K9 ProgramDr. Long also strongly exemplified outstanding achievement including a grant, two publications, and several presentations. He performed consistently in the department, including his discussion in Grand Rounds and as a Chief resident. Other residents and students have recognized him as a teaching force. Dr. Long has been recognized as a patient advocate, and he has been involved in many local charities including serving Thanksgiving dinner annually at the Love Kitchen.

Potential resident candidates may be nominated by their chair or residency program directors through submission of a testimonial and the candidate's CV. Once the AOS receives a nomination, the board reviews candidate scores and a final selection is made. James Lewis, MD, AOS Chair, noted that eventually the AOS will develop two awards, one based solely on teaching, and the second being the Scholarly Achievement Award.

Dr. Lewis said, "Both awards are intended to recognize the residents’ scholarly, clinical and philanthropic dedication. As faculty we are inspired by the scholarly efforts of our residents and hopefully, vice a versa."




Cancer Research Symposium Promotes UT Collaborations

K9 ProgramJohn Bell, MD, Professor of Surgery and Director of the Cancer Institute, discusses the importance of sharing research.
discoveryThe University of Tennessee Cancer Community of Scholars held its second Cancer Research Symposium for Early Career/Assistant Professors in September. The symposium gave investigators from the UT Knoxville campus, the UT Institute of Biomedical Engineering, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, and the UT Graduate School of Medicine an opportunity to share their latest efforts in cancer research. With national research grants declining, the symposium also raised awareness for cancer research and the need for funding.

Speakers at the symposium included



Gift to UT Center for Advanced Medical Simulation Helps Keep Medical Clinicians Prepared

K9 Program(From left) Dr. Paul Huffstutter and Mike West in the UT Center for Advanced Medical Simulation
educationThe University of Tennessee Medical Center and the UT Graduate School of Medicine recognized the generous gift of $300,000 to the UT Center for Advanced Medical Simulation from Mike West and Back Porch Vista Capital Management. The unveiling of the plaque occurred on the anniversary of the Front Street Baptist Church bus accident. It provided the occasion to show how the Simulation Center is utilized for medical education throughout the region.

"In an emergency, great teamwork by a well-trained team saves lives," said Mike West, CEO of Back Porch Vista. "Access to great training is key. We are happy to help sponsor this resource and be better prepared if there's a tragedy like the bus crash a year ago."

When rapid and accurate assessment, along with the ability to resuscitate and stabilize is required, skills needed to manage critically injured patients must be instinctive. Such instincts are acquired through training and dedicated practice which is facilitated at the UT Center for Advanced Medical Simulation.

The Simulation Center, run by the UT Graduate School of Medicine and located on The University of Tennessee Medical Center campus, is the place where physicians, nurses, pharmacists and many other clinical staff - locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally - perfect their skills in treating and caring for not only critically injured patients but also for all patients. At the Simulation Center, new techniques are taught and practiced, surgeries are rehearsed, and medical teams use hands-on and realistic exercises of various life threatening scenarios in order to be prepared for whatever may occur.

"Continual improvement in patient care and safety through education, practice and assessment is the goal of the Simulation Center," said Paul J. Huffstutter, MD, Assistant Professor and Co-Medical Director of the UT Center for Advanced Medical Simulation. "Medical simulation is perhaps the most significant advance in the way we train and learn the practice of medicine during the last decade. Advanced simulation centers cannot excel without the philanthropic support exhibited by Mr. West and Back Porch Vista Capital Management, and we are extremely grateful for this type of support."


Collmann Endowment Gives Students Research Experience

UTGSM Dr. Scott Stevens(From left) Travis Potter, Casey Smith and Ben Pomy
discoveryMedical students spent their summer working in UT Graduate School of Medicine laboratories to learn bench research methodologies and how this research affects patient care through the I. Reid Collmann, M.D. Medical Student Educational Endowment. Former Dean I. Reid Collmann initiated the endowment to build a foundation for medical research within future physicians. This year, students from the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine and East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine participated in research related to type-1 diabetes dietary intervention; a method to inhibit the development of vascular disease; and an assessment of current treatment protocols for mothers and babies when mothers are diagnosed with unexplained fever during labor.

Travis Potter is a medical student at ETSU Quillen College of Medicine. He worked in the Vascular Research Lab under the direction of Deidra Mountain, PhD, and Stacy Kirkpatrick. His project focused on RNAi, or the use of short interfering RNA (siRNA) to degrade mRNA in the cytoplasm and transiently attenuate intracellular proteins, which shows promise in the inhibition of vascular pathogenesis. In this study various polymer classes were screened in vitro for their cellular toxicity and silencing efficiency compared to the laboratory's standard transfection methods. His aim was to establish polymeric carrier molecules for targeted RNAi in the treatment of vascular pathogenesis.

Ben Pomy is a medical student at the UTHSC College of Medicine. He researched under the direction of Michael Karlstad, PhD. His study addressed the possibility that a diet restricted in methionine would decrease diabetes frequency using the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse, a genetically susceptible autoimmune model. In his study, Pomy proposed using female NOD/ShiLtJ mice fed a commercially-available methionine-restricted (MR) diet for 12 weeks. To date, NOD/ShiLtJ female mice develop type-1 diabetes at a frequency of between 70-80% by 18 weeks of age. This made female NOD/ShiLtJ mice useful for testing the hypothesis that MR dietary intervention will suppress the islet inflammation that drives destruction of the pancreatic beta-cell.

Casey Smith is a medical student at the UTHSC College of Medicine who worked with Nikki Zite, MD, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her project was evaluating fever in labor. This was a retrospective review of all women delivering at The University of Tennessee Medical Center in the last three years that had a fever while in labor. Currently, if mothers are diagnosed with an unexplained fever, the mothers are assumed to have an infection. Then the baby has to start antibiotics, be taken away from the mother and undergo serial testing. Most of the mothers do not truly have an infection. The goal was to determine what markers are valuable in helping to diagnose babies that are truly at risk of infection and prevent so many babies from being separated from their moms during the critical first hour of life.


New Librarian Earns AHIP

UTGSM HLVI 2014educationKelsey Leonard, MSIS, Assistant Professor and Health Information Services Librarian at Preston Medical Library, was recently approved for membership in the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) at the Provisional Level.

AHIP is the Medical Library Association’s peer-reviewed professional development and career recognition credentialing program. AHIP promotes lifelong learning and exemplary professional performance by recognizing achievements in continuing education, teaching, publishing, research and other contributions to the profession. The credential denotes the highest standards of professional competency and achievement in the field of health care information.

Leonard joined Preston Medical Library, which is now encompassed by the new Health Information Center at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, in August 2014 as Assistant Professor. Prior to that, she was a graduate research assistant at Preston Medical Library while completing her graduate degree from UT. Leonard has been recognized and awarded for student achievement in her field, and she is a member to several library and health associations.


Fall Frontiers Features the New Health Information Center

Suzanne Brown, MDhealingWithin the walls of The University of Tennessee Medical Center and UT Graduate School of Medicine are skilled team members, physicians, residents and volunteers committed to providing the highest-quality medical services. In the Fall 2014 issue of Frontiers, learn more about the grand opening of the Health Information Center and the important benefits it offers the community. One year after a tragic bus accident in our community, read about those recovering patients and their reunion with the medical center team members who cared for them. Find out about three new fellowship programs offered by the Graduate School of Medicine to meet Tennessee's healthcare needs. Also, celebrate 30 years of service by LIFESTAR, the medical center’s aeromedical transport. These are just a few examples of the work accomplished every day at The University of Tennessee Medical Center and Graduate School of Medicine. Read the Fall 2014 issue of Frontiers.

Frontiers magazine is a publication of The University of Tennessee Medical Center and the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine available in print and online. Did you know you can now receive a sneak peek of Frontiers before the print version is available? Learn more.


Tenth Regional Diabetes Conference Discusses Evolving Guidelines

Suzanne Brown, MDeducationRegistration is open for the Tenth Regional Diabetes Conference: Evolving Guidelines for Diabetes Management. The conference will be held Saturday, November 8, at UT Conference Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

This year, the conference will address planning for cost issues with diabetes management; appropriate treatment regimens for hypertension and dyslipidemia in patients with diabetes; literature surrounding recent guidelines for management of dyslipidemia and hypertension; depression in diabetes; and new treatments. It is approved for AMA, AAFP and ACPE credits.

This course is designed for physicians practicing in primary care, emergency medicine and internal medicine. Physician assistants, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, nurses and allied healthcare professionals are also welcome to attend.

The Tenth Annual Diabetes Regional Conference is presented by the UT Graduate School of Medicine and Department of Family Medicine and is directed by Donald Keeble, MD.


Advance Features Research for the Future

Suzanne Brown, MDdiscoveryThe Summer 2014 issue of Advance Research Digest features research opportunities available to medical and undergraduate students that exposes them to bench research as well as teaches them how to impact patient care through invention. This issue also introduces Ralph Lydic, PhD, and Helen Baghdoyan, PhD, who are leading new research efforts through the Department of Anesthesiology and in collaboration with UT Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and UT Medical Center Brain and Spine Institute to study the brain and discover differences between consciousness and unconsciousness. Advance features a new laboratory created in Surgery's Division of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery. Also in this issue are research projects to improve patient outcomes from hospitalization as well as in dentistry. Read these stories and more in the Summer 2014 issue of Advance.

Advance is published twice yearly to spotlight research programs at the UT Graduate School of Medicine and explain how the work of the institution's researchers impacts healthcare in Tennessee and beyond. Join the Advance mailing list to receive Advance in the mail.

 

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