the Full Issue - Saint Louis University
Transcription
the Full Issue - Saint Louis University
GrandRounds Spring 2012 Saint Louis University School of Medicine Biochemistry Beyond the Microscope Clarity of Purpose Bone Marrow Transplant Rebuilds From the Dean | This issue of Grand Rounds highlights some of the School of Medicine’s newest directions in research and reminds us that the school has a rich tradition in investigation and discovery. Dr. Edward A. Doisy’s Nobel prize-winning work with vitamin K in the 1940s is Saint Louis University’s most visibly rewarded work and had far-reaching clinical impact. During the past 20 years, Dr. Bill Sly’s work on inherited lysosomal storage disorders and Dr. Duane Grandgenett’s work on integrase enzymology in AIDS are among many examples of outstanding research at SLU. Recently joining this renowned group of researchers is Dr. Enrico Di Cera, a successor to Dr. Sly. As you will read, Dr. Di Cera’s career has included a focus on the biochemistry of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors — a link to Dr. Doisy’s legacy. Specifically, Dr. Di Cera has investigated the impact of protein structure and engineering on biological activity and is a leading proponent of using structural biology to unravel the complexities of protein-protein interactions. Using sophisticated new X-ray diffraction technology that SLU purchased for him, Dr. Di Cera and other faculty are determining how the three-dimensional architecture of proteins affects their biology and clinical impact. You’ll also read about Dr. Pete Ruminski and his team of 12 former Pfizer scientists who are providing the school with new opportunities to have an impact on the health of disadvantaged populations worldwide. The SLU Center for World Health and Medicine (CWHM) is pursuing the repurposing of commercial drugs to treat diseases such as childhood diarrhea, malaria, TB and sickle cell anemia. These are diseases that attack vulnerable, disadvantaged people in many parts of the world but have no commercial potential for drug development. New CWHM contracts with One World Health (and funded by the Gates Foundation) and universities in China, South Africa, India and Canada attest to the potential impact of this work. The CWHM, Dr. Di Cera’s team and the many SLU basic scientists in other groups and departments are focused on research that we believe will have clinical impact and will change lives for the better. I hope that soon you will have the opportunity to visit SLU and appreciate this work and our research facilities firsthand. Grand Rounds is published biannually by Saint Louis University Medical Center Development and Alumni Relations. Grand Rounds is mailed to alumni and friends of the School of Medicine. Philip O. Alderson, M.D. Dean|Saint Louis University School of Medicine Vice President|Medical Affairs Schwitalla Hall M268 1402 S. Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63104-1028 On the cover A surface representation of prethrombin-1, an inactive precursor of thrombin, revealed by molecular graphics of diffraction data obtained by X-ray crystallography. The technique enables researchers to visualize the 3-D architecture of important proteins and unlock their mechanism of action.|page 7 Grand Rounds Editorial Board Philip O. Alderson, M.D. Edward J. O’Brien Jr., M.D. ’67 Cheryl Byrd magazine Contributors Coordinator and Writer|Marie Dilg|SW ’94 Designer|Dana Hinterleitner Laura Geiser|A&S ’90|Grad ’92 Nancy Solomon Carrie Bebermeyer|Grad ’06 Sara Savat|Grad ’04 Photo and illustration Credits Tracey Baird|Cover, 1, 6-8 Steve Dolan|4-5, 7, 10-14, 18-19 and back cover Kabance Photo|18 Ashley Pitlyk|Bus ’10|A&S ’10|16-17 Alumni Executive Board President| Edward J. O’Brien Jr., M.D. (’67)| St. Louis Mary Agne, M.D. ‘88| Belleville, Ill. Anne T. Christopher, M.D. ‘94| St. Louis James T. Merenda, M.D. ‘82| St. Louis Duane H. Moore, M.D. ‘02| St. Louis Joan M. Pernoud, M.D. ‘74| St. Louis Thomas A. Schneider, M.D. ‘58| St. Charles, Mo. Keith M. Starke, M.D. ‘81| St. Louis Jane Willman Turner, M.D. ‘92, Ph.D. ‘91| St. Louis Spring 2012 Vol. 10 No. 1 Saint Louis University School of Medicine Terrence A. Tyrrell, M.D. ‘73| Belleville, Ill. Peter Kong-Woo Yoon, M.D. ‘81| St. Louis © 2012, Saint Louis University All rights reserved Living up to the Doisy Legacy Through strong recruiting efforts and advanced technology, the department of biochemistry and molecular biology nurtures the next generation of research stars | page 6 Philip O. Alderson, M.D. Dean | Saint Louis University School of Medicine Vice President | Medical Affairs GrandRounds For more information about the magazine or to submit story suggestions, please contact 314 | 977-8335 or [email protected]. Flu Fighters Med students teach children when it’s OK not to share | page 10 Infusion of Ideas Hemotology and oncology director emphasizes a customer-service approach in rebuilding the bone-marrow transplant program | page 12 Poised for Discovery Center for World Health and Medicine puts SLU on the global map with preventive health care initiatives. Targets include malaria, TB and sleeping sickness | page 14 Match Day See where members of the Class of 2012 will continue their training | page 16 Living the Mission Alumni give back by giving sight | page 19 Vital Signs | page 2 Alumni Pulse | page 18 Profile of Philanthrophy | back VitalSigns John Morley to Direct Endocrinology Endocrinologist and geriatrician John Morley, M.D., has been named director of the division of endocrinology. Morley has directed the division of geriatrics since he joined SLU in 1989 and has served as acting director of endocrinology since 2006. In announcing the appointment, Adrian Di Bisceglie, M.D., chair of the department of internal medicine, said the divisions of endocrinology and geriatrics will remain separate but may jointly develop educational and research initiatives. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the SOM’s geriatric medicine program among the 15 best programs in the country. Under Morley’s leadership, the division of endocrinology will focus on becoming a center for diabetes care with an emphasis on the use of insulin pumps, Di Bisceglie added. The division also will develop centers for obesity and managing thyroid cancer. An expert in treating and studying endocrine disorders as well as in geriatrics, Morley is internationally recognized for his work on male hypogonadism or low testosterone. He is a leading researcher in the field of appetite regulation, hormones and muscle strength and diabetes in older people. Morley has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology. His scientific papers have been cited more than 40,000 times, and he has 99 papers cited at least 100 times. He serves on the executive board of the Aging Male Society and is vice president of the Society for Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Wasting Disorders. Construction to Begin This Fall on New Outpatient Clinic Saint Louis University is moving forward with plans to construct a new state-ofthe-art facility for SLUCare, the University’s physician practice, in Midtown St. Louis. SLU’s new outpatient Ambulatory Care Center will be located on the site of the former Pevely Dairy industrial complex at Grand Boulevard and Chouteau Avenue, across the street from the University’s Edward A. Doisy Research Center. SLU purchased the site last year. The modern facility will provide a wide variety of medical services and outpatient procedures to hundreds of thousands of patients – both adults and children – each year. “This important project will strengthen our ability to deliver top-notch health care in the heart of the city, including to those in need,” said University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. The estimated cost of the project is $73-$80 million. After some demolition work on the site is completed, the University expects to begin construction of the new facility this fall, with an anticipated opening date in 2014. Researcher Aims to Ease Chemotherapy Pain Noted pain researcher Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., is examining the way two particular molecules are involved in the development of pain caused by chemotherapy drugs. Salvemini, an associate professor of pharmacological and physiological science, is using a $126,500 grant from the Mayday Fund to determine how Salvemini these molecules might be used to manage or prevent chemotherapyinduced peripheral neuropahty (CIPN) and to develop new therapies to eliminate or limit symptoms. CIPN is one of most common causes of dose reduction and discontinuation of what is otherwise a lifesaving therapy. Researchers believe that a solution to CIPN not only would dramatically improve quality of life for sufferers, but also would save lives by allowing cancer treatment to continue at optimal levels. Accompanied by chronic neuropathic pain, CIPN is an effect of widely used antitumoral agents in several classes of drugs, including the taxane (e.g., paclitaxel), platinum-complex (e.g., oxaliplatin), vinca alkaloids (e.g., vincristine) and proteasome-inhibitor (e.g., bortezomib) classes. Because oncologists may be forced to limit doses to manage side effects, CIPN reduces the success of chemotherapy drugs. “Until recently, we haven’t had a strong understanding of how anti-tumor drugs are causing this pain, and so we haven’t been able to develop effective therapies to stop it,” Salvemini said. “Now, however, we have discovered that two critical pathways are involved in the development of chemotherapy-induced pain, the peroxynitrite pathway and the ceramide to sphingosine-1-metabolic pathway.” “Because anti-sphingosine1-phosphate therapies are already clinically available, this research has the potential to make a significant impact in alleviating human suffering soon,” Salvemini said. Should initial stages of the current study prove successful, Salvemini will conduct a proof-of-concept study in partnership with the Saint Louis University Cancer Center. Progress Toward Genital Herpes Vaccine According to a SLU-directed study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, an investigational vaccine protected some women against infection from one of the two types of herpes simplex viruses that cause genital herpes. The vaccine was partially effective at preventing herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), but did not protect women from herpes Belshe simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). There were less than half of the cases of genital herpes caused by HSV1 – 58 percent fewer – in women who received the investigational vaccine compared to women who received the control vaccine. “There is some very good news in our findings,” said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the SLU Center for Vaccine Development and lead author of the study. “We were partially successful against half of the equation. The findings point us in the direction toward making a vaccine that works on both herpes simplex viruses.” There is no cure or approved vaccine to prevent genital herpes infection, which affects about 25 percent of women in the United States and is one of the most common communicable diseases. The clinical trial of an investigational genital 3 herpes vaccine was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), along with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The trial was conducted with more than 8,000 women between the ages of 18 and 30 at 50 sites in the United States and Canada. Researchers found that two or three doses of the investigational vaccine offered significant protection against genital herpes disease caused by HSV-1. However, the vaccine did not protect women from genital disease caused by HSV-2. Researchers are conducting laboratory tests on serum obtained from study participants as they continue to study why the A Few Words About Ethics The Anticipatory Corpse: Medicine, Power, and the Care of the Dying, is the title of a new book by Jeffrey P. Bishop, M.D., Ph.D., director of SLU’s Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics. According to the book’s publisher, the University of Notre Dame Press, Bishop argues that something has gone amiss in the care of the dying by contemporary medicine and in the country’s social and political views of death. In The Anticipatory Corpse, Bishop, holder of the Tenet Endowed Chair in Health Care Ethics, argues that viewing people as machines in motion has become epistemologically normative for medicine. The dead body is subtly anticipated in medical practices of exercising control over the suffering person, whether through technological mastery in the intensive care unit or through the impersonal, quasi-scientific assessments of psychological and spiritual medicine. Citing examples from organ donation rules in the United States, to presidential bioethics commissions attempting to define death, Bishop’s book explores the historical, political and philosophical underpinnings of medicine’s care of the dying and, finally, the possibilities of change. A review in the Journal of the American Medical Association called The Anticipatory Corpse a compelling read and a groundbreaking work in philosophy and bioethics. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s religion and ethics page editor named Bishop’s book the most influential religion and ethics books of 2011. vaccine protected women from genital disease caused by HSV-1 but not HSV-2. One hypothesis, Belshe said, is HSV-1 is more easily killed by antibodies than is HSV-2. This means that the vaccine antibodies might work better against HSV-1 and result in protection from HSV-1 but not HSV-2. James M. DuBois, Ph.D., D.Sc., director of the Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics, has been named co-editor of a new medical journal that explores current issues in bioethics through personal stories and narratives. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics seeks to put a face on ethical debates about health care, human research and health policy. DuBois said the personal narratives are what set the journal apart from other bioethics journals. These personal stories address the experiences of patients, research participants, health care workers and researchers. “We invite people to tell us their stories in their own words. In contrast to most qualitative research, they are the authors, and they get to choose which 2,000 words they want to tell,” DuBois said. “This is a socially important project; we’re giving a voice to people who have typically not had a voice in these important ethical debates.” The first issue, which was published last fall, featured 13 different patient experiences with psychiatric hospitalization, as well as two commentaries from ethicists with personal experiences with psychiatric hospitalization. The editorial board for Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics is comprised of leaders in the fields of clinical ethics, narrative bioethics and qualitative research. The journal is published by the Johns Hopkins University Press and is available electronically through Project MUSE. Inquiries or submissions to the journal should be emailed to [email protected]. Grand Rounds Saint Louis University School of Medicine Pediatricians Aim to Dispel Vaccine Myths Expanding the Mission Casa de Salud, a clinic for the health and wellness of immigrants in the St. Louis community that is supported by SLU, has expanded to more than double its original size. The 4,000 square-foot addition to Casa’s facility at Chouteau and Compton avenues features five new exam rooms, three mental health consult rooms and a multipurpose room for community events. The expansion comes less than two years after the clinic opened its doors to serve uninsured and underinsured Latino immigrants. Casa Executive Director Jorge Riopedre said the expansion was needed due to overwhelming demand for care. He said Casa’s patient volume has increased more than 70 percent from a year ago. He expects that number to increase further as community outreach expands and trust continues to build within the immigrant population. Casa serves immigrants in six Missouri and two Illinois counties. The Casa expansion included a larger reception area to accommodate more patients and larger exam rooms to allow for extended family members to be present for office visits, such as this one in which fourth-year medical student Neeta Shenai (left), and medical assistant Angelishia Gathright, check Luisa Asencio’s vital signs. VitalSigns The expansion was made possible by Saint Louis University and the Billiken Construction Crew. Atelier 3 Design drafted the expansion pro bono. Two SLU pediatricians are leading a Missouri State Medical Association statewide effort to change the way doctors respond to parents’ fears of vaccines and to raise awareness about the importance of getting children vaccinated. Ken Haller, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, and Anthony Scalzo, M.D., professor of toxicology and pediatrics, co-authored the article, “I’ve Heard Some Things That Scare Me: Responding With Empathy to Parents’ Fears of Vaccinations,” which was published in the January/February 2012 issue of Missouri Medicine, the journal of the Missouri State Medical Association and is the centerpiece of the campaign. In the article, Haller and Scalzo examine the science of vaccinations as well as the messages parents receive from the media, from well-intentioned but poorly informed anti-vaccine advocates, and even from doctors that can lead parents to be wary of immunizations for their children. Haller said that physicians have not always been the best advocates for vaccine safety. Too often they have dismissed parents’ fears and accused them of not caring enough to do the right thing for their child. Until physicians do a better job of recognizing that it is normal and even healthy for parents to have fears about their child, he says, physicians will not be seen as trustworthy, and parents will continue to put their faith in those who oppose vaccines. “We want to encourage pediatricians to go beyond the science Haller around vaccines – which is unequivocally on our side – and express our own fears about Scalzo the clear and present danger that these diseases present to babies and young children. Parents and physicians want the same thing – to keep children safe and healthy. But we can only do that if our fears are based in reality,” Haller said. Virologist Receives Outstanding Scientist Award The Academy of Science of St. Louis has granted its Fellows Award to Govindaswamy Chinnadurai, Ph.D., professor at SLU’s Institute for Molecular Virology, for outstanding achievement in science. The award is one of eight presented in April at the 18th annual Outstanding Scientist Awards dinner, which honors top scientists and engineers in the St. Louis region. Chinnadurai has made groundbreaking contributions to the study of cancer, leading to a greater understanding of how normal cells are converted into cancer cells. With research consistently funded by the NIH, Chinnadurai Chinnadurai has invested 38 years in understanding the molecular mechanisms that human adenoviruses use to replicate in infected cells and to transform normal cells into cancerous ones. “An important rule in research is to stick with one or two intellectual problems and see where they take you,” Chinnadurai said. “That’s what I’ve done, and it’s taken us closer than ever to finding a cure for cancer.” William Sly Captures National Award for Research The Association of American Medical Colleges honored William S. Sly, M.D. (’58), professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, with its 2011 Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences. Given to one recipient a year, the award Sly recognizes outstanding clinical or laboratory research by a medical school faculty member related to health and disease that has contributed to the substance of medicine. During the course of nearly five decades, Sly has worked to solve some of genetics’ most daunting mysteries. For thousands, this has meant new treatments for once crippling or fatal diseases. 5 Currently the inaugural holder of the James B. & Joan C. Peter Endowed Chair, with a joint appointment as professor of pediatrics, Sly continues the research that has earned him international recognition for his work on lysosomal storage diseases. Before arriving at SLU, Sly served for two decades as director of the division of medical genetics and professor at Washington University School of Medicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of many awards and honors including the 1991 Passano Award (co-recipient); 1999 Coriell Medal and the Peter H. Raven Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis. He is the author of more than 360 peer-reviewed journal articles and coauthor of “The Molecular and Metabolic Bases of Inherited Disease.” Endowed Chair Honors James Kimmey The School of Public Health’s first endowed chair has been named after James R. Kimmey, M.D., MPH, the former president and chief executive officer at Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH). A generous gift to SLU from MFH helped establish the James R. Kimmey Endowed Chair in Public Health. Kimmey is the first president and chief executive officer of MFH and had been executive vice president and vice president for health sciences at SLU. The surprise announcement was made in November as business associates, friends and family gathered to honor Kimmey and celebrate his retirement from MFH, an organization he led since its inception. “I am very touched by the establishment of a chair at SLU in my honor,” Kimmey said. “Public health is a critical component in any community’s quality of life and has been important to me throughout my career. It is important that this school’s outstanding faculty and students Kimmey continue to be part of the community discourse to improve public health, which impacts us all, regardless of our socioeconomic status and where we live in the community.” Kimmey served in various leadership roles during his 14year tenure at SLU. Among them, he was the founding dean of SLU’s School of Public Health, which remains the only school of public health in Missouri and the only school of public health at a Jesuit university. Kimmey left SLU in 2001 to lead the newly formed MFH. He has rejoined the University as an executive-in-residence in the School of Public Health. Grand Rounds Saint Louis University School of Medicine Dr. Enrico Di Cera pictured with an image of the collapsed conformation of the active site region of prethrombin-1, an inactive thrombin precursor. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology When he joined SLU in January 2010, Enrico Di Cera, M.D., knew he was signing on to lead a department with a storied history. Lives Up to the Doisy Legacy Biochemistry at SLU was first led by Nobel Prize winner Edward Doisy, and his legacy remains apparent in the many buildings on campus named after him. In addition to the department itself – officially the Edward A. Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Doisy’s name can be seen at the new Doisy Research Center, where the department is located, as well as the Doisy College of Health Sciences and Doisy Hall. When Di Cera arrived, he joined career scientists such as William Sly, M.D., former chairman of the department, who discovered the inherited disorder now known as Sly Syndrome and whose work led to the release of a woman unjustly convicted of murder (see sidebar on page 9), and numerous investigators whose work continues to advance the understanding of the molecular basis of cardiovascular disease and cancer. “I came to SLU for the opportunity to lead the department and impact the direction of its research,” Di Cera said. “It’s a privilege to continue the legacy of chairs Doisy, Olson and Sly.” Building on this foundation, Di Cera turned his attention to the future, and with strong recruiting efforts, brought on several well-credentialed new faculty members. Along with new talent, the acquisition of cutting edge equipment, and existing partnerships with the Cancer Center and the recently formed Center for World Health and Medicine, the department is primed to continue in the tradition of Doisy. “I have great hopes for the young people in our department,” Di Cera said. “We have this group of investigators with complementary expertise here at SLU equipped with new, stateof-the-art technology positioned to address important problems in biology. We’re investing in the context of what is medically relevant, and so, down the road, I hope to see this knowledge translate to clinical benefits.” by Carrie Bebermeyer Grand Rounds 7 New Coming on board from Yale University, Washington University in St. Louis, the National Institutes of Health and Trieste, Italy, are new primary faculty Di Cera recruited to continue to push the boundaries of achievement for the department. Last year, Alessandro Vindigni, Ph.D., brought his DNA repair and genome stability work to SLU from Italy. Vindigni uses a combination of cellular, biochemical and structural approaches to study the enzymatic activity and function of the RecQ helicases, a family of enzymes that play a key role in chromosome stability. RecQ helicases have attracted considerable interest in recent years for their connection to cancer and premature aging. Frances Yap, Ph.D., a new recruit who joined SLU in September from the NIH, studies ribosomes and the development of antibiotics, looking specifically at the consequences of arrested translation, or “ribosome stalling,” for controlling gene expression. Her work aims to help in the development of more effective antimicrobial drugs. Joining SLU later this spring will be Susana Gonzalo, Ph.D., from Washington University, who studies DNA repair and telomere biology. Yoonsang Cho, Ph.D., a structural biologist from Yale, will come on board to study proteins involved in inflammation. As testimony to the quality of these new recruits, all of them bring significant funding to SLU and new lines of investigation. Adding to the cadre of new investigators is Vindigni’s wife, Yuna Ayala, Ph.D., who is studying TDP-43, a key protein linked to neurodegeneration. Di Cera’s new vision for the department also brought key expertise in protein biochemistry and computational biology to strengthen the new emphasis on X-ray structural biology. David Wood, Ph.D., from Pfizer was recruited as manager of the protein facility to specifically assist researchers with the production and scale-up of reagents for X-ray crystallization and other biophysical studies. A world-class computational biologist, Dave Gohara, Ph.D., formerly at Harvard and Washington University, brings to the department unique expertise in high performance computing and software development. X-ray Crystallography faces As they seek information at a scale beyond the reach of a microscope, biochemists and molecular biologists turn to X-ray crystallography to provide a partial picture of the molecules they are studying. The resulting data help scientists visualize the proteins and nucleic acids that represent the building blocks of cells. Thanks to new X-ray crystallography equipment at SLU, the department has state-of-the art tools to “solve the structures” of a number of important proteins. “Structural biology, and X-ray crystallography in particular, offer a necessary complement to the investigation of macromolecules in solution,” Di Cera said. “‘What does it look like?’ is the first reaction to a new protein structure, as years of speculation come to an end when the spatial architecture of the protein is finally revealed. With the new knowledge comes the opportunity to design new drugs that interfere with protein function. “This is how structural biology benefits research in a medical school by bridging efforts in the basic sciences, clinical research and drug design.” From Doisy to Di Cera Blood Clotting Beyond buildings, Doisy also left a research legacy with his work on vitamin K and its essential role in the synthesis of blood clotting proteins. Di Cera’s own research focuses on the structure and function of thrombin, a key vitamin K-dependent bloodclotting protein. Blood clotting performs the important function of stopping blood loss after an injury. However, when triggered in the wrong conditions, clotting can lead to debilitating or fatal conditions such as heart attack, stroke and deep vein thrombosis. Before thrombin becomes active, it circulates throughout the blood in the inactive zymogen form prothrombin. When the active enzyme is needed, for example after a vascular injury, the coagulation cascade is initiated, and prothrombin is converted into an active enzyme that causes blood to clot. Di Cera’s work is showing promise on two fronts. In previous laboratory research, Di Cera re-engineered thrombin to act as an anticoagulant, stopping blood from clotting and opening the door to the development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of thrombosis, the presence of blood clots in blood vessels, which is responsible for nearly a third of all deaths in the United States. Now, preparations are under way for a Phase I clinical trial. In a second success, Di Cera has “solved” the structures of key thrombin precursors. While researchers have an understanding of the structure of active thrombin, very little was known about its zymogen forms. Using the new X-ray crystallographic equipment, Di Cera’s team revealed for the first time the molecular structure of the zymogen forms of thrombin prethrombin-1, prethrombin-2 and more recently prothrombin, thereby unraveling how the mature enzyme is generated. Surface “This information is very basic and very representation important,” Di Cera said. “We now know what of prethrombin-1 showing how prothrombin, prethrombin-1 and prethromfragment-2 docks bin-2 look like and what is the mechanism on the catalytic that converts these inactive zymogens to the domain mature enzyme thrombin. Our efforts have benefitted from access to the state-of-the art robotic and X-ray crystallography equipment now available to the department.” Looking to the Future Di Cera emphasizes that success requires a combination of talent and resources and therefore depends on perfect alignment between the research community and administration. The stage now is set for the department to nurture another generation of rising stars. In thinking about the future, Di Cera has high hopes for his faculty. “I would like to see our new faculty unravel the molecular mechanisms governing the systems they study,” Di Cera said. “I would like to see them benefit from the human and technical resources that SLU has to offer and bring the knowledge they garner from their studies to practical fruition in the clinics.” Yet, challenges remain. “Success must be sustained over time,” he said. “And that requires continued expansion of the pool of competitive faculty, more graduate students and synergism between basic scientists and clinicians.” Coordination of efforts and a clever use of existing resources is the key. Di Cera’s eye on the future does not stop with new faculty recruits. In one more nod to the illustrious first chairman of the department, the Edward A. Doisy Graduate Research Scholarship has been created to invest in future scientists. “We started this scholarship to attract graduate students who are top notch,” Di Cera said. “We’ve committed funds to this. Right now, it’s a small contribution, but it’s an important start.” For more information about the Edward A. Doisy Graduate Research Scholarship, please contact the School of Medicine Office of Development at 314-977-3287. 8 Grand Rounds 9 Past Chairmen Following Edward A. Doisy’s retirement as chairman of biochemistry and molecular biology in 1965, Robert Olson, M.D. a distinguished physician and nutritionist, became chairman of the department. During his nearly two decades in that role, Olson nurtured expansion of research within the department, and successfully campaigned for the integration of nutritional science into clinical medicine. Olson died in August 2011. Upon Olson’s retirement in 1984, William Sly, M.D., a physician and molecular geneticist, was recruited as chairman. Sly’s many contributions to the study of inborn errors of metabolism have received international recognition and resulted in numerous awards, including election to the National Academy of Science, and, this year, the Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2011 Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences. In 1973, Sly described the first case of mucopolysaccharidosis VII, a rare genetic condition that now bears his name. Sly syndrome can cause bone defects, mental retardation and premature death. This year, a pharmaceutical company is beginning a Phase I clinical trial testing an enzyme replacement therapy for the disorder. Over the course of nearly five decades, Sly has worked to solve some of genetics’ most daunting mysteries. For thousands, this has meant new treatments for once crippling or fatal diseases. And for one wrongly convicted woman, it meant her freedom. While watching an episode of television’s Unsolved Mysteries involving a woman charged with poisoning her son, Sly noted that the type of urine test used to convict her could not rule out an inherited metabolic disorder with similar symptoms to poisoning. On a hunch, Sly and department colleague, James Shoemaker, M.D., independently conducted more tests, and the results pointed conclusively to a genetic disease. Sly presented this new evidence to the prosecution and, largely thanks to the analysis, the charges were dismissed. Sly continues the research that has earned him international recognition for his work on lysosomal storage diseases. Kung Flu Fighters The second-year medical students were playing to a tough crowd. Mr. Aman’s first graders just came in from recess on an unseasonably warm February afternoon and were not ready to settle down. Getting the 6 and 7 year olds to sit crossed-legged on the colorful alphabet rug took a little wrangling. Before one more student could get up and ask for another drink of water, medical student Jessica Bjorklund jumped in. “Does anyone know what the flu is?” she asked. A few hands go up. “Does anyone know what happens when you get the flu?” More hands go up and the war stories start flying. The most “ewws” go to the girl who threw up on her brother. Once Bjorklund establishes that the first graders at Bel-Nor Elementary know what the flu is, she and the other SLU students get to the real reason for their visit today: helping the first graders protect themselves from the virus. Xiaoxi “Jessica” Ouyang teaches Mr. Aman’s students how to properly wash their hands. Medical Students Take Flu Prevention to a Whole New Level by getting vaccinated, covering their sneezes, Bjorklund is co-founder of a student-led washing their hands and staying home to rest community education project called the if they do get sick. SLU Flu Fighters. The fighters are mem“Sometimes during the first couple of bers of the Infectious Disease Interest years of medical school you find yourself Group (IDIG) created by medical students wondering why you spend so much time who share an interest in communicable studying. Why are you doing all of this diseases. As part of their service mission, work?” said second-year student and fellow the Flu Fighters travel to area schools with Flu Fighter, Xiaoxi “Jessica” Ouyang. “I rean interactive flu prevention program they member why when we’re in the community. developed. I’m reminded of the reasons I decided to They teach elementary students how to become a doctor.” prevent the spread of flu by sneezing and coughing into their elbows and then practice A Passion for Mission the “chicken wing sneeze” with the class. Here are just some of the School They demonstrate how quickly the flu can of Medicine interest groups: and Medicine spread by covering the hands of two students The Infectious Diseases Interest Group is Allergy with lotion and glitter. Those two students one of more than 50 groups developed by Anesthesia “high five” other students who, in turn, share SLU students around their common interAsian Pacific American Medical their pencils with still more students. Within ests. Some groups are specialty based, such Student Association a couple of minutes, the entire class has glitas surgery, pediatrics or geriatrics. Others, Cardiac Care tered palms. The program ends with a trip to like IDIG, are theme based. The School of Continuity of Care the bathroom for a lesson on hand washing. Medicine has interest groups focused on Doctors for Diversity “The challenge for us was breaking our child abuse prevention, HIV prevention and Ethics message into bite-size pieces,” Bjorklund diversity in medicine. Interfaith said. “You spend so much time during your Most groups are led by second-year stuLatter Day Saints first years of medical school memorizing dents with support from first-year students Military Medical Students medical terms that you sometimes forget who assume leadership during their second Music and Medicine how to speak in a way that’s understandable year. Each group has a faculty adviser. Oncology to others, especially kids. A 6 year old isn’t Participation is voluntary, but nearly all Ophthalmology going to understand contagious.” firstand second-year students are engaged Partners in Pregnancy Hieu Do, another Flu Fighters co-founder, with one interest group or another. Some Running Club was drawn to the project by the opportunity groups honor their mission by hosting inforSports Medicine to teach at any level. mative lectures and luncheons on campus. Strides for Kids “Working with little kids is good experiOthers go into the community to educate in Student Wellness ence,” he said. “They’re our future patients, schools and agencies. Tar Wars and if you can’t communicate with your “We encourage students to become active patients, you can’t really help them. I also outside the classroom,” said Stuart J. Slavin, have some interest in academic medicine. I value any chance to M.D. (’83), M.Ed., associate dean for curriculum and professor learn how to stand in front of a room and teach.” of pediatrics. “It’s a way for students to enrich their lives and the Mr. Aman’s students were especially receptive to an animated, lives of others. It’s also a great way for them to pursue their pashigh-energy music video of kids who were “kung flu fighting” sion or find a passion they never knew they had.” Public Health Recognized for Flu Campaign A partnership between the SLU School of Public Health and the St. Louis County Department of Health to help the health care workforce fight the flu won an award from two regional public health groups. The Missouri-Illinois Public Health Officials and the local chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Immunology (APIC) recognized the “No Flu for You” campaign and research project with its 2011 “Partnership Award for Outstanding and Dedicated Service in Preventing Disease.” The School of Public Health and St. Louis County collaborated on research that examined whether health care workers received the H1N1 influenza vaccine and the seasonal flu vaccine. They then designed a web-based campaign and associated products to inform an array of constituents — national and local policy leaders; employees of professional organizations; health care workers; and government officials — on why employees should get vaccinated against influenza. They also included a framework to develop policy-based vaccination campaigns. Grand Rounds 11 aninfusion IDEAS Friedrich Schuening earned his medical degree from the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 1976. During his residency, he saw a news story about the first bone marrow transplant (BMT) in his country performed on a patient with acute leukemia. Fascinated by the procedure, Schuening decided to join Germany’s first BMT program at the West German Cancer center in Essen, Germany. of The director of hematology and oncology is working to put SLU’s bone marrow transplant program back on the map When Friedrich Schuening, M.D., began performing bone marrow transplants in Germany 30 years ago, patients had to be kept in protective isolation. They spent three months in laminar air flow units with minimal human contact. Everything — their food, newspapers, pajamas — had to be sterilized. Lab draws were conducted through thick plastic curtains, and if Schuening wanted to see his patient he would have to prep as though he were going into surgery. “If someone had told me that one day these precautions would not be necessary and a patient could receive their bone marrow transplant in a normal clinic, I would say that sounded rather crazy,” he said. “Yet, here we are.” Not only are the extreme precautions no longer necessary for many patients, Schuening is leading the way in making bone marrow transplants and follow-up care as safe and comfortable for patients as possible. He is establishing a bone marrow transplant clinic on the second floor of Saint Louis University’s Cancer Center where patients can receive their treatments and go home or stay in nearby patient housing until their treatment course is finished. It is the only clinic of its kind in the midwest area. “Because we have better treatment modalities and better knowledge of the side effects of transplant, we can make treatment easier on the patient,” Schuening said. “And most patients would rather sleep in their own bed than a hospital bed, that’s for certain. They prefer to come 12 to the clinic on a daily or every-other-day basis, get their treatment and go home. You may need to be admitted if you develop complications, but most patients will do just fine.” The outpatient transplant clinic is one of many patient- and family-centered changes Schuening has undertaken since joining Saint Louis University School of Medicine in May 2011 as director of the division of hematology and oncology. FS A customer-service approach is important because you’re dealing with a patient’s health, their life. If you make them wait or if you make a referring physician wait, they will find help elsewhere. Another change we made concerns lab work. When I came to SLU, the turnaround time from when a patient’s blood was drawn to the time we got the white cell and platelet counts from the lab was somewhere between one to two hours. That, obviously, was unacceptable because a physician needs those numbers before he or she can determine whether the patient can undergo transfusion or chemotherapy that day. We’ve worked hard on the problem, and now our turnaround time is no more than 20 to 30 minutes. There are a lot of supposed little things that make a big difference. I’m also proposing we establish a central cancer center access number where a nurse, educated in the areas of cancer treatment, takes phone calls and connects patients to the most relevant person, whether it’s a physician or the clinic for an appointment. GR What attracted you to the position at SLU? FS I like a challenge. In the mid ’90s, SLU had one of the largest bone marrow transplant programs in the country for patients with a number of diseases, including many forms of leukemia, lymphoma, anemias and some solid tumors. When the director left, the program regressed, and I like the idea of rebuilding and improving it. GR Where do you begin? FS It begins on the ground floor. So we’re developing standard operating procedures and treatment protocols based on what has been successful for me at other institutions over the years. We’re recruiting transplant faculty, and I expect by the end of this year we will have doubled the size of our current faculty. We’re also establishing with SLU Hospital what we call a mid-level provider team comprised of transplant-trained nurses and physician assistants who will be the backbone of the transplant program and will multiply the effectiveness of the physicians. GR What else will it take to put SLU back on the map? FS We are accredited already for autologous transplants and are awaiting accreditation for allogeneic transplants. We’ve exceeded the number of allogeneic transplants required for accreditation, so we’re optimistic. It gives referring physicians and patients another reason to call us. We also want to increase our referral base for phase one clinical trials, studies in which investigational drugs that have not yet achieved FDA approval may improve the outcome for patients who have exhausted other options. GR Why is it important for SLU to rebuild its transplant program? FS St. Louis is a large enough city to support two programs, ours and the one at Barnes. There is no other program like ours in Missouri, and we’ll draw from western Illinois because we are closer than Chicago. Many people, especially those in rural areas, aren’t eager to drive to Chicago and be stuck in tremendous traffic when they can come here. Also, the incidence of cancer is growing as the population ages. Most cancer diseases are diseases of the older patient. The median age of leukemia is the mid 60s. Solid tumors, breast cancer, lung cancer, blood diseases all are becoming most prevalent in the older population. GR You wasted no time in making some immediate changes to the program. What do you envision in the long run? FS When you look on the outside of this building it says Saint Louis University Cancer Center, but the facility has a long way to go to before it becomes a true cancer center. For it to be a cancer center, patient care must be concentrated in this building. It should be one-stop shopping for our patients, where they can see their surgical oncologist, their radiation oncologist and their medical oncologist not only in the same building but on the same day if necessary. We will get there. And we need to market our efforts. On one of my first visits to St. Louis I was taking a cab from the airport and I saw all these billboards along the freeway promoting the cancer center at Barnes but none for SLU. That’s changing. I’ve been traveling with representatives from the different hospital marketing teams to visit oncologists in private practice so they can put a face to the name. I give them my private cell number because I want them to have access. Easy access is critical. GR What do you enjoy most about your job? FS Let me give you an example. One of my patients underwent a bone marrow transplant late last year, and he was very sick. He spent part of his time in the intensive care unit. His main wish was to be home by Christmas and we were able to discharge him on Christmas Eve. That’s worth more than any salary I could ever earn. Because the procedure was so new and no textbooks existed yet, the only way Schuening could learn was to study with the physicians who pioneered the method. That led him in 1984 to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where the first bone marrow transplants in the United States were performed in the late 1960s. After spending more than a decade there conducting research on BMT and gene therapy, the University of Wisconsin-Madison hired Schuening to lead its transplant program. The annual number of procedures doubled under his four-year leadership. In 1999, Schuening went to Vanderbilt University, where he was director of hematology and the BMT program. At Vanderbilt, Schuening worked with neurologists who were interested in treating spinal cord injuries with regenerative medicine. He also worked with cardiologists to study how bone marrow cells could be used to repair damaged heart muscle. Schuening is continuing his multi-disciplinary research at SLU. Grand Rounds 13 CWHM Team: »Peter Ruminski 3 (Executive Director) »Dave Griggs 8 » » (Director of Cell and Molecular Biology) Jon Jacobsen 16 (Director of Chemistry) Brian Bond 15 (Director of Pharmacology) Bryan Anthony 12 Jessica Bjorklund 9 Mary Campbell 2 Marv Meyers 14 Jon Oliva 11 Mike Prinsen 13 Megh Singh 5 Fran Sverdrup 7 Deena Tajfirouz 6 Matt Yates 10 Ying Yu 4 Lena Zhang 1 14 12 16 15 13 11 7 9 8 6 10 3 2 1 5 4 Poised for Discovery In this section of Grand Rounds we usually feature profiles of individual School of Medicine researchers who are leaders in their particular concentration. In this issue, however, we focus on a team of specially trained scientists dedicated to the discovery and development of safe, effective and affordable therapies for neglected diseases in the developing world, as well as rare and orphan diseases. Transformational Drug Hunters When pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. announced in 2009 that it was closing its research center in Chesterfield, Mo., Peter Ruminski felt he had to act quickly or see a team of talented scientists scatter to the four winds. “We had a team of researchers with more than The Targets Malaria Sickle cell disease Diarrhea Pulmonary fibrosis Worm parasites Retinal diseases Chagas disease Sleeping sickness Tuberculosis 200 years of combined experience in translating basic science discoveries into clinically useful drug candidates,” said Ruminski, a former Pfizer scientist who worked on a range of biological targets including oncology, inflammation, anemia, metabolic disease and immunology. “Our team possesses the entire range of skill 14 sets necessary for drug discovery — from medicinal chemistry and structure-based drug design through in vitro and in vivo pharmacology.” Ruminski proposed that these team members redirect their specialized skills, training and extensive pharmaceutical experience toward developing compounds for diseases that the big pharmaceutical companies typically don’t explore because they lack significant commercial opportunity. These would include neglected diseases, such as malaria and childhood diarrhea in developing countries; as well as orphan diseases such as sickle cell disease and pulmonary fibrosis. “We would use our skills to look for new drugs with new mechanisms of action for diseases that have few, if any therapeutic options,” Ruminski said. “For example, some parasitic diseases are treated with older drugs that often have side effects worse than the disease itself. And pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal disease that lacks any effective therapy.” Ruminski thought SLU would be a good fit for this novel drug discovery team not only because he earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from SLU in 1975, but because the University strives to improve the health of those most in need. “Our team’s mission is aligned with the overall mission of SLU,” he said. Joel Eissenberg, Ph.D, associate dean for research, was at the table when Ruminski made his pitch to School of Medicine faculty. “The idea of creating a core of around 15 industryexperienced drug hunters who represent all key areas of drug development is transformative,” Eissenberg said. “They even have considerable expertise in patent protection. No other university has a center like this.” With a $5 million, two-year investment from SLU and $5 million in donated equipment from Pfizer, the Center for World Health and Medicine (CWHM) was founded on the third floor of the Edward A. Doisy Research Center in 2010. Embedded Part of Eissenberg’s job since then has been to network the center into the School of Medicine so that basic scientists and clinicians who have been sitting on ideas for drug development can avail themselves of the CWHM’s expertise. The center’s team leaders have academic appointments in basic science departments and attend faculty meetings. It did not take long for the School of Medicine’s basic scientists to tap their skills. The center’s scientists regu- larly provide expert consultations with faculty interested in drug screening and the development of lead compounds for improved efficacy and drug-like qualities. They have established numerous collaborative projects with faculty in the departments of biochemistry and molecular biology; molecular microbiology and immunology; internal medicine and pediatrics. A Bigger Piece of the Pie Another benefit of embedding the CWHM within the School of Medicine, Eissenberg said, is that it can enhance the school’s ability to attract grant money. “The expertise and equipment the center brought to the medical school have enabled researchers to write several grant proposals that a year ago were not possible due to lack of intellectual or material resources,” he said. “Pediatrics, for example, was able to submit a grant proposal to study neonatal testing for (the inherited metabolic disorder) mucopolysaccharidosis because of the sophisticated mass spectrometers Pfizer donated. In these days of tight grant dollars, anything that gives you an edge is a good thing.” He also expects the center’s presence will help the school retain and attract highly qualified faculty and become a magnet for medical students, who are offered research electives with the CWHM. Creating Leverage In addition to collaborating with the School of Medicine community, the center is making connections across campus. Because many children in impoverished regions of the world succumb to disease in large part due to severe malnutrition and lack of clean water, the CWHM is aligning with the SLU School of Public Health in attempt to improve health outcomes in impoverished areas not only with potential drug therapies but also with mechanisms for clean water, better sanitation, proper nutrition and education. “We can have a sense of fulfillment by developing a new drug therapy for a neglected disease, but if our ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes and save the lives of children, then we have to look at the whole picture,” Ruminski said. Also within the past year, the CWHM has established several significant global collaborations with individual disease experts throughout the world and is: Partnering with and has received funding from the Institute for One World Health to develop anti-secretory therapies for acute childhood diarrhea. Partnering with the Drug Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, to synthesize and repurpose known clinical compounds for diseases that affect the poor in developing countries, including new therapies for malaria and TB. Partnering with China’s Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (the equivalent to the National Academy of Sciences in the United States) on a new target for the treatment of malaria. Collaborating with Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia on advancing Grand Rounds 15 promising therapies for two orphan retinal diseases: familial exudative vitreoretinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity, both of which can lead to severe vision malfunction and blindness. “Leveraging these partnerships is the reason we can tackle several diseases,” Ruminski said. “The center itself may have a limited number of scientists, but combining our pharmaceutical expertise with this global network of disease experts and institutions that we have established creates a powerful engine for new therapeutic opportunities. We have created a network of mutually beneficial relationships.” Hedging Your Bets The CWHM is rapidly attracting international attention for its mission and capabilities. The next step is attracting philanthropic support. Ruminski spends a good deal of his time presenting the center’s mission to philanthropic organizations. He points out to potential donors that investing in the center is investing in a global network, and because of the scope of diseases it is tackling, such philanthropy can make a difference in the timely discovery of a new therapy for those in need. “If we combine good science with good hypotheses and aim at several targets, something is going to hit,” Ruminski said. “Donating to our center increases your odds of being part of something that will improve the health and well-being of the world’s most vulnerable patients.” »For more information about SLU’s Center for World Health and Medicine, go to cwhm.org. Anesthesiology Emergency Medicine Nathaniel Brown Peter Anaradian University of Colorado School of Medicine-Denver Christopher Der Cedars-Sinai Medical Center-Calif. Ashton Dykert University of Southern California Jonathan Feldstein New York University School of Medicine Alison Goldberger Mt. Sinai Hospital-N.Y. Stephen Gregory Duke University Medical Center-N.C. Seth Hanley Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education-Ariz. Bradley Kelsheimer University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Kathleen Knapp Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education-Ariz. Edward Kuntz Saint Louis University School of Medicine Vincent Lin University of California-Irvine Medical Center Neil Malhotra Rush University Medical Center-Ill. Nicholas Meier Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals Jack Ruff Jackson Memorial Hospital-Fla. Gregory Smith University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals Dermatology Grant Ghahramani University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Chi Tran University of Kansas School of Medicine-Kansas City Nicholas Uffelmann Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Affiliated Hospitals University of Nebraska Affiliated Hospitals Emily King UIC/Illinois Masonic FMR Ryan McDowell Timothy Oh Huntington Memorial Hospital-Calif. Mitesh Patel Sean Cavanaugh Nicholas Moore Saint Louis University School of Medicine Kevin Cullison Tina Toosky Kaiser Permanente-Los Angeles Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital Grant Gerdelman Saint Louis University School of Medicine Natalie Hoover Loma Linda University-Calif. Semeon Krits Saint Louis University School of Medicine Sean Nguyen University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals Christopher Schultz University of Connecticut Health Center David Sprowls Saint Louis University School of Medicine Michelle Storkan Saint Louis University School of Medicine Family Medicine Jessica Anewalt Mountain Area Health Education Center-N.C. Michael Barker Idaho State University Brooke Benson Trident Medical Center-S.C. Nicholas D’Angelo Jackson Memorial Hospital-Fla. Cox Medical Centers-Mo. Mercy Hospital St. Louis Contra Costa Regional Medical Center-Calif. Internal Medicine Max Bastow Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital-Colo. Kirsten Brandt Stanford University Programs-Calif. Matthew Champion New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center Lucy Cho Rush University Medical Center William Croskey Kaiser Permanente-San Franciso Alon Dor University of Massachusetts Medical School Jeffrey Dueker Oregon Health and Science University Tim Dunn Stanford University Programs-Calif. Christopher Force University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio Tana Gegen Maine Medical Center Matthew Hoegh University of Colorado School of Medicine Wei-Hsien Hou Kavya Reddy Evan Sacolick Boston University Medical CenterMass. Jennifer Schmidt Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals Solmaz Shayan Abbott Northwestern-Minn. Trevor Smith University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals Tukisa Smith SUNY Health Science CenterBrooklyn Meera Sridharan Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education-Minn. Stuart Thomas Kaiser Permanente-San Francisco Humza Waheed University Hospitals-Columbia, Mo. Kathryn Ward David Grant-Travis AFB-Calif. Saint Louis University School of Medicine Internal Medicine/Psychiatry Lindsey Enoch University of California Davis Medical Center Yulian Khagi Temple University Hospital-Pa. Elizabeth Harleston Mercy Hospital St. Louis Carolinas Medical Center McLeod Regional Medical Center-S.C. Daniel Jones University of Colorado School of Medicine Aleksandr Lanis Loma Linda University-Calif. University of Texas Medical SchoolHouston Michael Talerico Amir Orandi Michael Moritz Saint Louis University School of Medicine Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Pamela Frazzini Otolaryngology Christina Gonzalez Saint Louis University School of Medicine University of Texas Medical SchoolHouston Rush University Medical Center-Ill. University of Colorado School of Medicine-Denver Kara Konys Case Western/MetroHealth Medical Center-Ohio Alison Masud Madigan Army Medical Center-Wash. Lopa Pandya University of Chicago Medical Center Tiffany Perry Maricopa Medical Center-Ariz. Stephanie Pickett Barnes-Jewish Hospital Claire Schultz University of Colorado School of Medicine-Denver Jordan Stevens Louisianna State University School of Medicine-New Orleans Sinai Hospital-Baltimore Brianna Whittemore University of Arkansas-Little Rock Aubrey Zimmermann University of Missouri Kansas City Programs Edward Yap Jaya Badhwar University of North Carolina Hospitals Daniel Mitzel Dina Galperin University of Colorado School of Medicine MATCH 2012 Winnie Lau Stanford University Programs-Calif. Patrick Nicholson University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals Komal Rastogi Baylor College of Medicine-Houston The Redbird Club at Busch Stadium was packed with friends, family and fourth-year SLU medical students at the 2012 Match Day event. The annual event pairs medical students with residency locations in an emotion-filled celebration. Ohio State University Medical Center Peter El Masry Ophthalmology Neurology Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals Larry Ngo Shahin Manoochehri Kevin Mak University of Southern California Nicole Meschbach Vandana Vangimalla Sarah Gebauer Jessica Grass Scott Ballmann Vanderbilt University Medical Center Amanda Thomas Neurological Surgery New York-Presbyterian HospitalWeill Cornell Medical Center Kanika Mathur Eileen DuFaux University of Texas Medical SchoolHouston Saint Louis University School of Medicine Indiana University School of Medicine Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Gabriel Dunn Mark Hwang Stella Lee Elizabeth Alabi University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals Saint Louis University School of Medicine Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners-Mich. Obstetrics and Gynecology Duke University Medical Center Michelle Boyce University of Kansas School of Medicine-Kansas City Reena Gupta Tulane University-La. Zachary Seagrave Stroger/Cook County HospitalChicago Catherine Thuruthumaly Barnes-Jewish Hospital Jill Zaveri Rush University Medical Center-Ill. Orthopaedic Surgery Jessica Degnan Georgia Health Sciences University Einstein/Montefiore Medical CenterN.Y. St. Louis Children’s Hospital David Johnson Duke University Medical Center-N.C. Annie Ko Robert Peterson Saint Louis University School of Medicine Ashley Schaffer Kaiser Permanente-Los Angeles Jackson Memorial Hospital-Fla. Arsalan Siddiqui Kaveh Karimnejad University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Piscataway Richard Tsai Priya Kesarwani Rebekah Soto University of Connecticut Health Center Alexander Limjuco Laura Stabin Jeffrey Steitz Michael Um University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital-N.Y. West Virginia University School of Medicine University of Louisville School of Medicine Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical University of Florida College of Medicine-Shands Hospital New York University School of Medicine Childrens Hospital-Oakland, Calif. Tatyana Vayngortin Childrens Hospital-Los Angeles Anne Marie Amacher Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Nam Ku Kevin Jiang Barnes-Jewish Hospital UCLA Medical Center-Calif. Rebecca Linn Loyola University Medical Center-Ill. Psychiatry Michael Nguyen University Hospital-Cincinnati Lacey Winchester Vanderbilt University Medical Center-Tenn. Matthew Colburn Monica Mitcheff Northwestern McGaw/NMH/ VA-Ill. Neeta Shenai UPMC Medical Education-Pa. Pediatrics Nima Sheth Kyleen Carpenter University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals University of Illinois College of Medicine-Chicago Brandon Smith Kimberly Eisenstein Einstein/Beth Israel Medical CenterN.Y. Dana Fuchs Matthew Taylor Phoenix Childrens Hospital University of Minnesota Medical School Erica Glenn Childrens Hospital-Oakland, Calif. Neal Hartman Phoenix Childrens Hospital Megan Jacobs Childrens Hospital-Oakland, Calif. Sarah King Childrens Hospital Philadelphia Anna Marie Labaro Advocate Christ Medical Center-Ill. Gloria Lehmann St. Louis Children’s Hospital Cristina Lilagan Baylor College of Medicine-Houston Johns Hopkins Hospital-Md. Surgery-General Elizabeth Bassett Harbor UCLA Medical Center Dustin Carpenter New York-Presbyterian HospitalColumbia University Medical Center Scott Hardouin University of Missouri Kansas City Programs Bret Johnson University of Texas Southwestern Medical School Rush University Medical Center Antonio Lozada University of Kansas School of Medicine-Kansas City Melissa Ruhlman University of Nebraska Affiliated Hospitals Tracy Sambo St. Joseph Hospital-Ill. Jeffrey Scott Washington Hospital Center-D.C. Marcos Teran St. Joseph’s Hospital-Ariz. Transitional Year Christopher Allen Naval Medical Center-San Diego Radiation Oncology Sahaja Acharya Urology Radiology-Diagnostic University of Kansas School of Medicine-Kansas City Barnes-Jewish Hospital Serena Chacko Case Western/University HospitalsCase Medical Center-Ohio Benjamin Frederick Travis Dum Daniel Sackman Oregon Health and Science University University Hospitals-Columbia, Mo. Vascular Surgery Rahul Garg Thomas Loh University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Piscataway Far Left | Lopa Pandya (left) poses with friends Pooja Merai and Sreeya Yalamanchali. Lopa matched with the University of Chicago. She will specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. Right | Jeff Steitz (left) celebrates with brothers Kevin, Tim (Law ’10) and David all showing their SLU pride in matching Billiken ties. Jeff will be an ear, nose and throat specialist at the University of Louisville. Justin Winn Alex Li Northwestern McGaw/NMH/ VA-Ill. Stanford University Programs-Calif. Barnes-Jewish Hospital Grand Rounds 17 Methodist Hospital-Houston AlumniPulse for sick children abroad, including those injured in the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Members of the Class of 1951 at the Saint Louis Woman’s Club. Scenes from Reunion 2011 A record number of alumni returned to the Medical Center in October for Reunion 2011. They were drawn, perhaps, by the opportunity to tour the newly opened Health Sciences Education Union and nearby Medical Center Stadium. More than 225 alumni attended the annual Alumni Reunion Dinner in the Wool Alumni Merit Award William Sears, M.D. (’66) Sears received the award for exemplifying the Jesuit ideals of leadership and service through his more than 35 years of caring for sick children. Sears has a private practice in San Clemente, Calif., and is an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of CaliforniaIrvine School of Medicine. He has written more than 40 books on children, been a guest on more Sears than 100 television shows and is a consultant for national parenting magazines. He also has cared Kabance Photo School of Medicine Pioneer Award Dean Emerita Patricia L. Monteleone, M.D. (’61) Monteleone was recognized for outstanding contributions to her profession and for blazing a new path for others to follow. A compassionate pediatrician, Monteleone held several leadership positions within the School of Medicine before being appointed dean in 1994. She managed tremendous growth during her tenure, including the establishment of the Saint Louis University Liver Center, the Clinical Simulation Center, the Center for Outcomes Research, the Clinical Trials Center and formation of the SLUCare Monteleone physician practice. Research funding increased substantially during her leadership years, and she oversaw construction of the Edward A. Doisy Research Center. Following her retirement in 2008, the University dedicated Monteleone Hall on Grand Boulevard in honor of her years of service. Kabance Photo Ballroom at the Busch Student Center and, for the first time, the Alumni Association presented three Although retired after more than 30 years of practicing internal medicine, Fogarty continues to serve his community as a volunteer physician at Casa de Salud, a health Fogarty center for uninsured immigrants in St. Louis (see Casa de Salud expansion story on page 4). Before that, Fogarty volunteered at La Clinica, a health center serving the Latino community. The American College of Physicians Missouri Chapter has honored Fogarty three times for his volunteerism. In 2009, the Institute for Family Medicine recognized Fogarty for making significant and unselfish contributions to the health care of the disadvantaged. Fogarty’s commitment to service goes beyond St. Louis. He also volunteers annually on medical missions to Guatemala. Fr. Lawrence Biondi greets medical alumni at the Reunion Dinner. Don’t forget Reunion 2012 Oct. 18-20 celebrating the classes of 2007, 2002, 1997, 1992, 1987, 1982, 1977, 1972, 1967, 1962, 1957, 1952 and earlier. alumni awards. To view more photos from the 2011 Med Reunion, visit the Image Galleries section of the School of Medicine website at medschool.slu.edu/alumni. Alumni Association Community Service Award William Fogarty, M.D. (’60) Members of the Class of 1991 gathered at Scape American Bistro. From Your Alumni Association President Top | Chen, Doisy and Jones take a break between back-to-back surgeries Bottom | Edward Doisy III, M.D., performing one of several Mission Cataract surgeries. Edward J. O’Brien Jr., M.D. (’67) Greetings, fellow alumni. We had another successful year at the medical school. Our seniors recently experienced the famous match process and are about to embark on training in their chosen specialties. Students in the first- through third-year classes move on with great expectations and enthusiasm. Our Alumni Association has scheduled another busy year of hosting local and national receptions. Refer to the schedule in this section of Grand Rounds or go online. For classes of years ending in 2s and 7s, watch for mailings regarding your reunion: Oct. 18-20. There will be an excellent program of receptions, visitations, tours and CME. In addition, your specific class will host events. We urge all members of the 2 and 7 reunion classes to become involved. Volunteer as a class agent or organizer, engage a classmate with a phone call or email, but above all return to the Medical Center in October. This past reunion was a resounding success, with those who had not been back to the campus O’Brien in several years amazed at the improved appearance and new construction of research, teaching and recreational facilities. Recognized in this section of Grand Rounds are the medical school’s award winners for 2011.The School of Medicine is proud of our awardees, who are outstanding examples of graduates living the mission. Living the Mission Clarity of Purpose For 40 years Kenneth Barker hauled across the country just about every dry commodity he could fit in his semi – electronics, cereal, canned goods, paper products. For half of those years his wife, Luanne, was his co-pilot. Their business took a hit when the economy slumped, but they managed to make a living until the summer of 2011, when Kenneth developed cataracts in both eyes. “I figured my driving days were done,” said Barker, of Litchfield, Ill. “I’m self employed with no insurance. We had enough money saved to fix one eye, but not both.” Luanne was calling agencies and looking for help online when she came across Mission Cataract, an annual event offered by Illinois Eye Surgeons (IES) in Maryville, Ill. One Saturday each fall, IES ophthalmologists, technicians and staff donate their time to restoring vision to patients who otherwise could not afford cataract surgery. Edward Doisy III, M.D. (Res ’76), started Mission Cataract in his private practice 20 years ago and brought the program with him when he joined IES last year. On his own, Doisy performed seven-to-eight free cataract surgeries as part of the annual mission, but with the larger practice group, he and the other IES surgeons were able to perform 28 in 2011. The surgeons choose patients based on financial need and the severity of vision loss. Patients have traveled from as far away as Wisconsin for the free surgery. “It’s an exhilarating day,” Doisy said. “We’re getting people back to work, back to a more normal lifestyle and they’re very thankful.” Making the most of the practice’s one operating room, Wen Chen, M.D. (Res ‘75), began performing surgeries at 6:30 a.m. followed by Doisy and then IES managing partner, Michael P. Jones, M.D. (’03), who participated in Mission Cataract for the first time. Grand Rounds Saint Louis University School of Medicine “We’re the largest eye-care provider in southern Illinois,” he said. “While there are benefits that come with that, there also are responsibilities. We have an obligation to give back to the community. We see it as our mission to take care of patients who can’t afford surgery. In this case, it’s life-changing surgery. They’re literally blind today and can see tomorrow.” Jones, who also works as a consultant for the ophthalmic pharmaceutical firm Alcon, waived his consulting fees in exchange for donated supplies. “Mission Cataract is an expensive day, and it wouldn’t be possible if Alcon didn’t donate all the lenses and equipment,” he said. Jones also believes in giving back to the School of Medicine. Throughout the year he lectures at SLU and accepts SLU residents into his practice. He invited two residents, Chris Pole and Jennifer Thompson, to take part in Mission Cataract surgeries in 2011. They spent the morning observing surgical styles and the afternoon performing surgery. “It’s a win-win situation,” Jones said. “The residents get exposure to high-volume cataract surgery they otherwise wouldn’t get in an academic practice, and our patients benefit from their skill. The residents also get to experience the high of giving back, which is something you hope will stick with them throughout their careers.” As for Kenneth Barker, his surgery went well and he was back on the road with a full load three days after Mission Cataract. 19 John H. Gladney, M.D. 1922-2011 John H. Gladney, M.D., professor emeritus of otolaryngology, died in November at the age of 89. Dr. Gladney practiced medicine in St. Louis for 37 years as a private physician and faculty member in the School of Medicine. He was a trailblazer, both in the field Gladney of otolaryngology and at SLU. Dr. Gladney was one of the first African American otolaryngologists in the United States post-WW II, the first African American to lead a department of otolaryngology in the country and the first African American chair of a basic science or clinical department in the medical school. Mark Varvares, M.D., holder of the Donald and Marlene Jerome Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, said that Dr. Gladney fought prejudice to obtain proper education and medical training in the segregated South, and to practice in the Midwest. He found support at SLU, where he became an advocate for under-represented minorities. His legacy lives on through the Gladney Diversity Award, an annual award given to fourth-year medical students who have contributed to the promotion and advancement of diversity within the School of Medicine. “Dr. Gladney has been a mentor and role model for so many community physicians of many cultures, black and white. He will be greatly missed for his wonderful personality, academic achieve- ments and influences on SLU and the medical community as a whole,” said Michael Railey, M.D., associate dean multicultural affairs. Robert K. Dorton, M.D. (’65) 1933-2011 Robert K. Dorton, M.D., a former clinical professor of internal medicine, died in December at the age of 78. Dr. Dorton’s medical career started and ended at the School of Medicine. He completed his residency and a postdoctoral research fellowship at SLU in 1965. He taught at SLU for nearly 40 years. He was honored by the Missouri Medical Society and the American College of Physicians for his service to the University. “One of the most notable things about Dr. Dorton was his involvement and commitment to Saint Louis University,” said Raymond Slavin, M.D., clinical director of allergy and professor of internal medicine at SLU. “He was a very busy community physician, yet he remained involved at SLU throughout his career, and even after he retired from private practice. He was a dedicated and effective teacher. In addition to serving as a preceptor for third-year medical students, he taught physical diagnosis. He was just terrific, loyal as can be.” Dr. Dorton was well known in the community. He had a successful private practice and served as president of the medical staffs at St. Mary’s Health Center and the former Deaconess Hospital. He also served terms as president of both the St. Louis Internist Club and the St. Louis Society of Internal Medicine. Dermott Smith, M.D. (’49) 1924-2012 Dermott Smith, M.D., professor emeritus of psychiatry and director of undergraduate psychiatric education, died in January at the age of 87. Dr. Smith had been a longtime employee, who joined the University in 1958 as assistant dean of the School of Medicine and assistant professor of psychiatry. A teacher who was known for his compassion, Dr. Smith became professor emeritus of psychiatry and human behavior in 1993. “He was a prince of a guy. I don’t know of a single colleague who didn’t love Dermott Smith,” said Raymond Tait, Ph.D., vice president for research and Smith professor of psychiatry. “He was respected by all, and no one ever questioned whether he had the interests of others at heart. Dermott was a master at finding win-win solutions for what appeared to be meddlesome problems. The world is a better place for having had him in it.” George Grossberg, M.D., director of the division of geriatric psychiatry and one of Dr. Smith’s students who became a colleague, said Dr. Smith recognized the power of helping patients in emotional distress. “He was inspirational and loved doing what he was doing,” Grossberg said. “He influenced many medical students to become psychiatrists because they saw how much he cared for patients and how much he did to help patients in emotional distress. He focused his energy on teaching and clinical care.” Dr. Smith was modest and humble, led by example and was dedicated to the profession of psychiatry, Grossberg said. Dr. Smith won every teaching reward in the department, multiple times. “He really was extremely loyal to SLU and the medical school. He was the kind of person that the chair could always count on to take on any delicate task in the department,” Grossberg said. “He was a wonderful human being and never had a bad thing to say about anyone.” Dr. Smith discovered his love of psychiatry while in the military during World War II, when he was sent to counsel soldiers who had suffered severe emotional trauma on the battle front, Grossberg said. Manuel R. Comas, M.D. 1935-2012 Manuel R. Comas, M.D., an obstetrician/gynecologist and medical school administrator from 1975 to 1998, died in March at the age of 76. Dr. Comas was a key member of the School of Medicine administrative team, serving as associate dean for admissions and students from 1980 to 1998. He held previous administrative positions at the medical Comas school: associate and assistant dean for students and post-graduate trainees and financial officer for student loans and scholarships. William Mootz, M.D., assistant dean for curriculum and professor of internal medicine, said Dr. Comas was warm and positive, helping medical students with any of their struggles — from finding a residency to dealing with a difficult family problem. 20 Grand Rounds Saint Louis University School of Medicine “He was a great student advocate, always working to help students succeed in their careers,” Mootz said. Dr. Comas went out of his way to assist students who were not accepted to SLU’s medical school in strengthening their applications so they might get into medical school in the future, Mootz said. He also was one of the principal architects of the SLU Medical Scholars Program, a highly selective program that places incoming freshmen who know they want to become doctors, on an early-admissions track for SLU School of Medicine. markyourcalendar In Memoriam James ‘Wendell’ Davis, Ph.D. 1927-2011 James “Wendell” Davis, Ph.D., died in December at the age of 84. Dr. Davis taught and conducted research for 40 years as a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. After 30 years of teaching, he launched a second career at SLU. He led the creation of the Office of Environmental Safety, which he directed for nine years until retiring in 1997. Dr. Davis was recognized around campus for his trademark red lab coat, which he wore when responding to environmental safety issues. “Dr. Davis was an excellent mentor, warm and caring to all of his staff, and very fair,” said Mark Haenchen, who was hired by Dr. Davis as a radiation safety officer in 1992 and currently is director of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety. “He led by example. He trusted his staff to function independently but was always helpful if you needed him. He stayed in touch after his retirement, including after he and his wife Dottie relocated to Maine.” School of Medicine Alumni Events April 21 Health Resource Center Auction April 26 John H. Gladney, M.D., Diversity Award Reception April 29 Pediatrics/Alumni Reception – Boston May 18 School of Medicine Precommencement June 18-20 Aug. 5 Oct. 18-20 New Resident Orientations and Welcome Barbecue White Coat Ceremony Medical Alumni Reunion Weekend Continuing Medical Education Programs July 20-22 Aug. 9-1119th Annual Advanced Techniques in Cervical Spine Decompression and Stabilization Sept. 7-8 Sept. 28-30 Oct. 5-6 Oct. 11-13 Impact of Fiber Dissection for Intrinsic Brain Tumor Surgery Oct. 19-20 Reconstructive Surgery of the Larynx and Cervical Trachea Oct. 25-28 Endoscopic Ear Surgery and Advanced Otology Workshop Nov. 8 -10 Innovative and Advanced Techniques in Lumbar Spine Surgery Nov. 15-18 Hair Restoration Surgery Nov. 30-Dec. 2 Cosmetic Blepharoplasty and Fundamentals of Face Lift New Techniques in Minimally Invasive and Robotic Colorectal Surgery Advanced Techniques in Facial Rejuvenation Upper Abdominal and Bowel Surgery Cadaver Course Craniofacial Surgery and Transfacial Approaches to the Skull Base information on alumni events, please contact the Alumni Relations For Office at 314-977-8335 or visit medschool.slu.edu/alumni/. For information on the CME programs, please call the SLU School of Medicine continuing medical education office at 314-977-7401. Show your school colors See updates and details about Practical Anatomy and Surgical Education www.clubcolors.com/slu Workshop programs at medschool.slu.edu/cme/. Haenchen described Dr. Davis as a man of integrity who had a strong work ethic and embraced golf in retirement. Dedicated to the future success of the Office of Environmental Safety, Dr. Davis orchestrated a phased retirement so he was available to mentor Haenchen in guiding the Davis office, which provided a smooth transition. Recruited to Saint Louis University in 1957 by Edward A. Doisy, Ph.D., Dr. Davis was part of the academic team that taught nearly every course offered by the biochemistry department to graduate students. Sam J. Merenda, M.D. (’39) Robert Donley, M.D. (’42) Thomas Simon, M.D. (’45) Eugene Hall, M.D. (’46) William McPhee, M.D. (’47) Lawrence Patterson, M.D. (’47) David Utz, M.D. (’50) Daniel Loehrer, M.D. (’51) Jefferson Edwards, M.D. (’52) Paul Revare, M.D. (’54) Adolph Wood, M.D. (’55) James Marsh, M.D. (’56) Donita Sullivan, M.D. (’56) William Wagner, M.D. (’57) William Gedney, M.D. (’58) Martin Fundenberger, M.D. (’60) Donald G. Spalding Jr., M.D. (’60) Hideo Kageyama, M.D. (’61) Charles Wieland, M.D. (’61) David Kramp, M.D. (’62) Robert Skinner, M.D. (’62) Daniel Stechschulte, M.D. (’62) Charles Brown, M.D. (’63) Susan Chung, M.D. (‘64) Neal Jewell, M.D. (’68) John Alexander, M.D. (’70) Donald Nakonechny, M.D. (’71) Michael Yanik, M.D. (’74) Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID St. Louis, MO Permit No. 134 One N. Grand Blvd., Salus 609 St. Louis, MO 63103 Address Service Requested Giving really does change lives. “I want to ensure that someone who has the ability to be a physician has the opportunity to be graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.” Though the amounts and the reasons may vary, there’s one thing all gifts have in common: Together they make a world of difference to Saint Louis University. Make your gift by using the envelope enclosed in this issue of Grand Rounds or online by visiting giving.slu.edu. If you’ve already made a gift to SLU, thank you. Please visit giving.slu.edu/igive and tell us your reason for giving. Dr. Robert R. MacDonald (’61)