Office of Medical Education

MD/PhD Program Press

 2012 Spring Newsletter

Download the 2012 Spring Newsletter in PDF format.

          2012 Press

Bréart B, Ramos-Perez WD, Mendoza A, Salous AK, Gobert M, Huang Y, Adams RH, Lafaille JJ, Escalante-Alcalde D, Morris AJ, Schwab SR. Lipid phosphate phosphatase 3 enables efficient thymic egress. J Exp Med. 2011 Jun 6;208(6):1267-78.

Selim S, Sunkara M, Salous AK, Leung SW, Berdyshev EV, Bailey A, Campbell CL, Charnigo R, Morris AJ, Smyth SS. Plasma levels of sphingosine 1-phosphate are strongly correlated with haematocrit, but variably restored by red blood cell transfusions. Clin Sci (Lond). 2011 Dec;121(12):565-72.

Chang A, Dutch RE. Paramyxovirus fusion and entry: multiple paths to a common end. Viruses. 2012 Apr;4(4):613-36.

Chang A, Masante C, Buchholz UJ, Dutch RE. Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) binding and infection are mediated by interactions between the HMPV fusion protein and heparan sulfate. J Virol. 2012 Mar;86(6):3230-43.

Latimer CS, Searcy JL, Bridges MT, Brewer LD, Popović J, Blalock EM, Landfield PW, Thibault O, Porter NM. Reversal of glial and neurovascular markers of unhealthy brain aging by exercise in middle-aged female mice. PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e26812.

Reimer JM, Latimer CS. Ultrasound findings in horses with severe eyelid swelling, and recognition of acute dacryoadenitis: 10 cases (2004-2010). Vet Ophthalmol. 2011 Mar;14(2):86-92.

Silva SR, Bowen KA, Rychahou PG, Jackson LN, Weiss HL, Lee EY, Townsend CM Jr, Evers BM. VEGFR-2 expression in carcinoid cancer cells and its role in tumor growth and metastasis. Int J Cancer. 2011 Mar 1;128(5):1045-56.

Silva SR, Zaytseva YY, Jackson LN, Lee EY, Weiss HL, Bowen KA, Townsend CM Jr, Evers BM. The effect of PTEN on serotonin synthesis and secretion from the carcinoid cell line BON. Anticancer Res. 2011 Apr;31(4):1153-60.

Fulkerson Z, Wu T, Sunkara M, Kooi CV, Morris AJ, Smyth SS. Binding of autotaxin to integrins localizes lysophosphatidic acid production to platelets and mammalian cells. J Biol Chem. 2011 Oct 7;286(40):34654-63.

Lefta M, Wolff G, Esser KA. Circadian rhythms, the molecular clock, and skeletal muscle. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2011;96:231-71. Review.

Kleinman ME, Kaneko H, Cho WG, Dridi S, Fowler BJ, Blandford AD, Albuquerque RJ, Hirano Y, Terasaki H, Kondo M, Fujita T, Ambati BK, Tarallo V, Gelfand BD, Bogdanovich S, Baffi JZ, Ambati J. Short-interfering RNAs induce retinal degeneration via TLR3 and IRF3. Mol Ther. 2012 Jan;20(1):101-8. doi: 10.1038/mt.2011.212.

Holler CJ, Webb RL, Laux AL, Beckett TL, Niedowicz DM, Ahmed RR, Liu Y, Simmons CR, Dowling AL, Spinelli A, Khurgel M, Estus S, Head E, Hersh LB, Murphy MP. BACE2 expression increases in human neurodegenerative disease. Am J Pathol. 2012 Jan;180(1):337-50.

Simmons CR, Zou F, Younkin SG, Estus S. Evaluation of the global association between cholesterol-associated polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease suggests a role for rs3846662 and HMGCR splicing in disease risk. Mol Neurodegener. 2011 Aug 25;6:62. Gu R, Lei Z, Broster L, Wu T, Jiang Y, Luo YJ. Beyond valence and magnitude: a flexible evaluative coding system in the brain. Neuropsychologia. 2011 Dec;49(14):3891-7.

Cai L, Wang Z, Ji A, Meyer JM, van der Westhuyzen DR. Scavenger Receptor CD36 Expression Contributes to Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Cell Death in Diet-Induced Obesity. PLoS One. 2012;7(5

2011 Winter Newsletter
Download the 2011 Winter Newsletter in PDF format.

          2011 Press

Caitlin Latimer – a 3rd year graduate student in the MD/PhD program.  Was awarded a pre-doctorial T32 training grant for

Nature Medicine, which has published some 3,000 articles since its inception, has chosen Romulo Albuquerque’s article entitled “Alternatively spliced vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 is an essential endogenous inhibitor of lymphatic vessel growth” as one of its 30 “Classic Articles”:

http://www.nature.com/nm/classics/index.html

Zachary Fulkerson, a third-year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, along with other contributors, published “Structural basis of substrate discrimination and integrin binding by autotaxin” in Nature.	Romulo Albuquerque, Ph.D., a fourth-year medical student in the M.D./Ph.D. Program, and other contributors, were recognized by Nature Medicine, which has published some 3,000 articles since its inception, by choosing the 2009 article entitled “Alternatively spliced vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 is an essential endogenous inhibitor of lymphatic vessel growth” as one of its 30 “Classic Articles.”
Scott Silva, a fourth year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program was the first author on a publication entitled: “The Effect of PTEN on Serotonin Synthesis and Secretion from the Carcinoid Cell Line BON.” published in Anticancer Research, 31: 1153-1160, April 2011.	Christopher R. Simmons, a third year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, along with other contributors, has an article in press in Molecular Degeneration entitled “Rheumatoid arthritis-associated polymorhpisms are not protective against Alzheimer’s disease.”
Jason Meyer, a second year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, along with other contributors, published “Scavenger receptor SR-BI in macrophage lipid metabolism" in Atherosclerosis, 2011 Apr8.	Andre Chang, a third year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, has been awarded a $500 student travel grant to attend the 2011 American Society for Virology 30th annual meeting at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, July 16th to 20th to present his abstract.

          2010 Press

Students in the M.D./Ph.D. Program Continue to Excel
Throughout 2010, students in the M.D./Ph.D. program have been published in a combined total of 52 publications, including six manuscripts and 11 meeting abstracts. Additionally, ten students in the program have received extramurally-funded grants. The three most recent student publications include:		— Jason Meyer, a secondyear graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, along with other contributors, published “Contribution of Surface Localization to Platelet Activation by CD154 Antibodies and Introduction of a Novel Approach for Studying Immune Complex Activity,” in Thrombosis Research.
— Jim Butler, Ph.D., a fourth-year medical student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, along with other contributors, published "Sex Specific Parent-of-Origin Allelic Expression in the Mouse Brain" in Science. Please note: This article was the highest-ranked article in neuroscience and related areas in the past 30 days for the Faculty of 1000 evaluations (http:// f1000.com/4979957).		— Scott Silva, a fourth-year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, along with other contributors, published “VEGFR-2 expression in carcinoid cancer cells and its role in tumor growth and metastasis,” in International Journal of Cancer. Originally published in the Dean's Newsletter October 2010 - News of Note (page 5)

Research Award Highlights
Zachary Fulkerson, a thirdyear graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, was awarded an F30 predoctoral M.D./Ph.D. trainee award for “Regulation of Lysolipid Signaling by Autotaxin Integrin Interactions on Platelets.” This award is designed to facilitate training in both research and clinical practice and will support him throughout the remainder of graduate school and medical school. "I am fortunate to have mentors who push me to not only publish but to obtain my own funding,” he said. “Going through the process of writing and submitting this proposal has provided me with immeasurable benefits I will carry with me throughout my career."		Abdel Salous, a third-year graduate student in the M.D./ Ph.D. program, was awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship from the Great Rivers affiliate of the American Heart Association (AHA) to investigate the "Role of Lipid Phosphate Phosphatases in Vascular Metabolism and Signaling of Bioactive Lipid Phosphates." "I am fortunate to be a recipient of this highly competitive pre-doctoral award to investigate understudied yet clinically relevant basic science questions related to cardiovascular disease,” he said. “I consider this award a testament to the commitment of the College of Medicine Dean’s Office, the M.D./ Ph.D. Program, and my research mentors, Dr. Andrew Morris and Dr. Susan Smyth, to create an educational environment conducive to the training of future physician-scientists." Originally published in the Dean's Newsletter August 2010 - Research Award Highlights (page 4)
Mellani Lefta, a third-year graduate student in the M.D./ Ph.D. program, was awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association for "Contribution of the circadian clock gene, Bmal1, in the development of dilated cardiomyopathy." "I would like to thank my mentor, Dr. Karyn Esser, for her guidance and the MD/PhD program for their continuous support."

2010 Summer Newsletter
Download the 2010 Summer Newsletter in PDF format.
This is the Program's first newsletter. We plan to publish two per year.

MD/PhD Program Brochure
Download the MD/PhD program Brochure in PDF format.

Zachary Fulkerson Serves as GRS Conference Chair
The Hemostasis Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar,
held in conjunction with the Hemostasis Gordon Research Conference
July 24-25, 2010
Waterville Valley, NH

Andres Chang Awarded Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

Andres Chang, a second year graduate student in the M.D./Ph.D. program, was recently awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship for “Role of Endocytosis and Intracellular Trafficking on Human Metapneumovirus Fusion and Entry.” This pre-doctoral fellowship was awarded by the Great Rivers Affiliate of the American Heart Association (AHA) ...Read more

          2009 Press

Romulo Albuquerque Featured in Article:
MD, PhD, MPH, MBA –
What's With All These Letters?
Eight years after completing a doctor of dental surgery degree, Romulo Albuquerque is looking to add two more degrees to his title – a doctor of medicine and a doctor of philosophy. A graduate of the University of Pernambuco-Brazil, Albuquerque is one of 20 current students pursuing a combined degree in the UK College of Medicine MD/PhD program... Read more

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