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Gregory Moore Receives Independent Investigator Award
The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) has awarded a prestigious Independent Investigator grant to Gregory Moore, PhD. Dr. Moore will receive a two-year $100,000 grant to study “In Vivo Neurochemical Effects of Mood Stabilizers Via Ultra High Field (12T) MRS.”

Dr. Moore is director of the Brain Imaging Research Division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences. He has already used the 12T magnet for lithium research and has successfully published critical findings about the brain’s ability to increase gray matter. NARSAD’s Independent Investigator Program provides support for scientists at the critical juncture between initiating independent research and achieving sustained funding.

National Science Foundation awards $1.8 million to Morris Goodman
The National Science Foundation has awarded Morris Goodman, PhD, a four-year, $1.8 million grant to study “Genomic Changes That During Human Origins Increased the Brain’s Cognitive Capacities.”

According to Dr. Goodman, professor of anatomy, adaptive changes in the expression and structures of brain functioning proteins may have been the crucial process responsible for humankind’s unrivaled cognitive abilities and complex mental behavior. As part of this study, he will use functional genomics and molecular phylogenetics to search for the underlying positively selected genomic changes.

He said, “Candidate genes will be analyzed in a series of anthropoid and prosimian primates to look for changes in the cis-regulatory elements that control expression of the genes and to determine whether the encoded proteins underwent bursts of rapid amino acid replacements during humankind’s ancestry. This work will characterize some of the important genetic changes that allowed the emergence of largebrained primates.”

Craig Giroux assists state in creating genetics plan
Dr. Craig Giroux, assistant professor in the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, has been appointed to serve on the Gene- Environment Interaction Working Group for the Michigan Department of Community Health. The state has a federal grant to create a state-wide genetics plan for community health and medicine. Dr. Giroux is the WSU representative among Michigan’s other universities and major health systems.

Visiting Professor to Discuss Diphtheria, April 14-17
Wayne State University’s Department of Immunology and Microbiology has been chosen by the Selection Committee of the American Society for Microbiology to host a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Visiting Professorship in the Mirobiological Sciences for the 2001-2001 academic year.

Randall Holmes, MD, PhD, professor and chair of microbiology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, will visit campus April 17-19, 2002. On April 17 at 4:00 pm, he will present a lecture called “Diphtheria: An Intoxicating Tale of Medicine, Public Health and Molecular Biology.”

For more information about the lecture, contact Dr. Matthew Jackson at (313) 577-1299 or mpjacks@med.wayne.edu.

U. S. News & World Report ranks two DMC hospitals among the best
Two hospitals affiliated with the Detroit Medical Center have been ranked among the best in the country in U.S. News & World Report’s 12th annual edition of “America’s Best Hospitals.” Harper University Hospital has been ranked 47 in neurology and the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan has been ranked 32 in rheumatology, moving up from its previous ranking of 39.

For more information, click http://www.usnews.com

Governor Engler appoints three to new Statewide Trauma Care Commission
Michigan Governor John Engler has appointed three individuals affiliated with Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center to a newly formed 15-member Statewide Trauma Care Commission. The commission will be responsible for assessing the status of trauma care in the state of Michigan.

WSU/DMC appointments include:
Dr. Brooks Bock, professor and chair of emergency medicine at WSU and DMC specialist in chief of emergency medicine, who has been appointed to represent health care professionals for a term expiring July 1, 2003.

Leslie Bowman, president, Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center, who has been appointed to represent hospitals for a term expiring July 1, 2003.

Dr. Scott Langenburg, director of trauma at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, who has been appointed to represent health care professionals for a term expiring July 1, 2003.

Detroit Receiving Hospital receives Press Ganey Award
Detroit Receiving Hospital has been named winner of the prestigious Press Ganey 2001 Compass Award for outstanding performance improvement in the inpatient 300-449 bed size category. This award is being given to acknowledge those organizations that demonstrate a commitment to using patient satisfaction data to improve the quality of health care.

Faculty publications sought for Scott Hall display
FRIENDS of the Wayne State University School of Medicine is continuing its drive to create a faculty publications display for Scott Hall. Donations from faculty of textbooks they have written or edited, or peer-reviewed journals (of which they were editor in chief or co-editor) are being sought. Please submit signed textbooks along with a one-paragraph biographical sketch to Caroline Brzuchowski in the dean’s office (1241 Scott Hall). Questions can be directed to Caroline via email cbrzucho@ med.wayne.edu. Also, be sure to stop by the display outside 1200 Scott Hall.

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