Produced by the Office of Communications // August 30, 2012

Davis named director of Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

Dr. Brian Davis

Dr. John Hancock, executive director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine, has named Dr. Brian Davis director of the IMM’s Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine.

The center includes 15 primary or cross-appointed faculty members, with plans to grow. It also is home to the Sen. Lloyd and B.A. Bentsen Center for Stroke Research, which has specific emphasis on discovering stroke therapeutics.

“We are grateful to have such community support and recognition for the work that we do,” Davis said about the Bentsen Center, which recently provided its second round of funding to individual faculty as Bentsen Investigators.

Davis is holder of the Annie and Bob Graham Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Biology. He received an A.B. in physics, summa cum laude, from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology, where his theoretical research focused on neutrino oscillations and tests of time reversal invariance. He was one of the first investigators to demonstrate the absence of HIV infection in blood stem/progenitor cells of HIV-infected individuals. Furthermore his laboratory reported cloning of the complete cDNA and genomic sequences encoding the CD34 protein that identifies all human blood stem/progenitor cells. He served as an associate professor at UTMB, and was president and CEO of a start-up biotechnology company, Gene-Cell. He also was the senior scientist and director of scientific affairs and operations at the Institute for Inherited Diseases Research.

Davis' research is focused on gene editing in stem cells utilizing homologous recombination and/or DNA repair processes to restore an endogenous mutant gene sequence to the corrected normal sequence in autologous stem cells obtained from patients with inherited genetic disease. This work is directed toward development of stem cell-based therapeutics for lung (e.g., Cystic Fibrosis) and blood (e.g., Primary Immunodeficiency) diseases.

— Darla Brown, Office of Communications, Medical School

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UT Physicians offers free vein screenings

Dr. Sheila Coogan

UT Physicians is offering free vein screenings to assess the risk of venous disease.

The screenings are under the direction of Dr. Sheila Coogan, board-certified vascular surgeon and assistant professor of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery.

Appointments are required for the screenings, which take about 10 minutes and will be held Sept. 15 and 22 at Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital, 18955 N. Memorial Dr., Suite 360, Humble, and Oct. 6 and 20 at UT Physicians at Bellaire, 700 West Loop South, Suite 520. Screenings will be held each day from 9 a.m.–noon.

To make an appointment at the Humble location, please call 713.486.1510. To make an appointment at the Bellaire location, please call 713.486.5175.

The medical group practice of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, UT Physicians offers the most advanced technologies with a personalized touch from its flagship location in the Texas Medical Center and at a growing number of clinics throughout the greater Houston area.

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Medical students elected to TMA leadership roles

Three Medical School students recently were elected to leadership positions in the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Medical Student Section.

At the May TMA meeting in Dallas, David Savage, fourth-year MD/PhD student, was elected statewide chair of the TMA Medical Student Section for a one-year term.

As chair, Savage will lead the TMA-MSS Executive Council, provide guidance to the presidents at each of the state medical schools, and run the next three statewide meetings in Austin and San Antonio.

Sandra Iacob, a third-year medical student, was elected vice chair of the TMA-MSS, and Bill Doetsch, also a third-year medical student, was elected AMA delegate co-leader.

With more than 4,800 members, the TMA-MSS section helps shape the future of medicine as members participate in the TMA and American Medical Association policy-making process and serve in slotted seats on boards, councils, and committees. The TMA created the group in the 1970s to gain a student perspective among members and provide future physicians with a voice in TMA policy.

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History of medicine series begins Sept. 5

The John P. McGovern, M.D., Center for Humanities and Ethics is hosting a History of Medicine lecture series that is open to all members of the Medical School community.

The lectures are held from noon–1 p.m. on approximately the first Wednesday of each month from September–May in the Onstead Auditorium in the Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences.

• Sept. 5
  “The History of the Doctor-Patient Relationship,” Dr. Thomas Cole, McGovern Chair in Medical Humanities, and Director, McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, UT Medical School
• Oct. 3
  “Dehumanization, the Symbolic Gaze, and the Production of Biomedical Knowledge,” Dr. Jason Glenn, assistant professor, Institute for the Medical Humanities, The University of Texas Medical Branch
• Nov. 7
  “Lessons from the History of Medical Social Media and Reality TV,” Dr. Kirsten Ostherr, Associate Professor of English, Rice University
• Dec. 5
  “Robert Butler, Aging’s Visionary,” Dr. Andrew Achenbaum, professor of history and social work, University of Houston
• Jan. 9
  “The Role of Nurses in the Euthanasia Program and the Medical Experiments of Nazi German,” Susan Benedict, D.S.N., R.N., FAAN, director, global health, and professor, UT School of Nursing
• Feb. 6
  “John Morris Sheppard, Texas Senator: ‘Progressive’ or Advocate for ‘Socialized’ Medicine,” Dr. Stephen Greenberg, dean of medical education, Baylor College of Medicine
• March 6
  “John Shaw Billings and the National Library of Medicine,” Dr. Bryant Boutwell, John P. McGovern Chair of Oslerian Medicine, UTHealth
• April 3
  “The History of Polio,” Dr. David Oshinsky, Jack S. Blanton Chair in History, and Professor of History, UT Austin
• May 8
  “The History of Torture: Man’s Inhumanity to Man,” Dr. Robert Rakel, professor emeritus, Baylor College of Medicine

No RSVP or registration is required and lunch is available for the first 60 attendees.

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Dawn arrives

The sun is barely out, yet the workday begins at the Medical School.

— Dwight C. Andrews, Office of Communications, Medical School