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Roy Baynes, MD, PhD, professor of internal medicine and oncology and director of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Center for Cellular Therapy and the Stem Cell Transportation Program recently spoke at the commencement ceremony for the St. Clair County Community College Nursing Program.

Ramon Berguer, MD, PhD, professor of surgery, delivered the XII Annual Conrad Jobst Lecture at the University of Michigan. He spoke about “Epistemology, Nostrums and Surgical Ingenuity in Carotid/Vertebral Disease.”

Christine Caon, RN, research assistant in the Department of Neurology, presented a study titled “Combination Therapy With Glatiramer Acetate and Intravenous Methylprednisilone in Patients at High Risk of Secondary Progression” at the European Committee on Therapy and Research in Multiple Sclerosis. Co-authors included Marina Zvartu-Hind, MD, neuroimmunology fellow, Moen Din, MD, neuroimmunology fellow, Alex Tselis, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology, Robert Lisak, MD, professor and chair of neurology, and Omar Khan, MD, associate professor of neurology.

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD, associate professor of neurology and interim director of the WSU/DMC Stroke Program, was reappointed to the steering committee of the WASID study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for stroke prevention. He was also appointed to the publications committee of the African American Stroke Prevention Study, also funded by the NIH.

William Coplin, MD, associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery, was appointed the local principal investigator for the DEFUSE study. WSU is one of five sites in the United States conducting this National Institutes of Health pilot study to evaluate whether new MRI techniques can help select patients for thrombolytic treatment for stroke.

Robert N. Frank, MD, professor of ophthalmology, has been granted a $65,000 Senior Scientific Investigator Award by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB).

Edwin George, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, presented a paper at the Society for Neuroscience meeting. The study, titled “Acrylamide Toxicity Is Delayed in C57BL/WLD Mice,” relates to the mechanisms involved in the development of toxic neuropathies.

Mark Gorman, MD, assistant professor of neurology and director of the neurosonology laboratory, was elected vice-chair for metro Detroit’s Operation Stroke, an American Stroke Association initiative.

Susan Hendrix, DO, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, participated in the Smithsonian/Department of Health & Human Resources Office of Research on Women's Health Mini-Med School. She talked about "Women and Their Doctors and Health Care.”

Bradley Jacobs, MD, assistant professor of neurology, received a grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health for stroke screening of women. The study examines how much information on stroke and stroke prevention is provided to women by ob/gyn physicians.

In addition, he was appointed local principal investigator for the MASCOTS study. (Michigan is one of only four states in the country chosen to supply information for the Senator Paul Coverdell Stroke Registry, which aims to profile acute stroke treatment patterns in the United States.)

Peter Karpawich, MD, professor of pediatrics at WSU and director of Cardiac Electrophysiology Services at Children's Hospital of Michigan, was appointed to the Physician's Advisory Board, National Republican Congressional Committee.

Karen Krajewski, assistant professor of neurology, presented a study titled “The Charcot Marie Tooth North American Database” at the meeting of the Peripheral Nerve Society. Co-authors were J. Garbern, J. Kamholz, R. Lewis, T. Foroud, J. Gray and M. Shy.

Omer Kucuk, MD, professor of internal medicine and oncology, presented new data at the Fourth International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease Conference. He discussed the role of soy consumption and its influences on the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.

Richard Lewis, MD, professor and associate chair of neurology, presented “Spike Triggered Averaging Demonstrates Motor Unit Loss in Both Proximal and Distal Muscles in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease” and “Electrophysiological Features of Inherited Demyelinating Neuropathies: A Reappraisal in the Era of Molecular Diagnosis” at the meeting of the Peripheral Nerve Society.

Jun Li, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, presented a study titled “The Distal Slowing in Hereditary Neuropathy With Pressure Palsies Is Not Solely Due to a Distal Myelinopathy” at the meeting of the Peripheral Nerve Society. Co-authors were K. Krajewski, M. Shy and R. Lewis.

Robert Lisak, MD, professor and chair of neurology, was a visiting professor of neurology at the University of Bergen in Norway, where he spoke on “Mechanisms of Action of Immunomodulatory Agents in Multiple Sclerosis.” He also was a visiting professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, where he spoke about “Cytokines and Schwann Cells,” and at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he spoke on “Myasthenia Gravis.”

In addition, the journal Nature Immunology listed a paper co-authored by Dr. Lisak as a classic paper in autoimmunity. The article is called “Isolation of Myelin Basic Protein-Reactive T-Cell Lines From Normal Human Blood.”

Dr. Lisak chaired a satellite symposium on “New Insights Into Glatiramer Acetate and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis” at the World Federation of Neurology. At the same meeting, he gave presentations on “Immunologic Mechanisms of Action of Glatiramer Acetate in Multiple Sclerosis” and “Inflammatory Cytokines Inhibit and Reverse Ongoing Cyclic AMP-Induced Expression of Myelin Galactolipids by Schwann Cells.”

At the International Congress of Neuroimmunology, Dr. Lisak gave a presentation on “Inhibition of Schwann Cell Death Induced by Transforming Growth Factor-Beta Plus Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha by Caspase Inhibition”and he co-chaired a session on “MS and EAE Therapy and Pathogenesis.”

Jeffrey Loeb, MD, PhD, assistant professor in neurology and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, presented a paper at the Society for Neuroscience meeting. The study is titled “Neurotrophic Factors Promote the Rapid Release of Neuregulin From Cultured Neurons.”

Kenneth Maiese, MD, professor of neurology, anatomy/cell biology, and member of the Toxicology Center, presented several papers at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Studies presented by Dr. Maiese and his research partners include:

“The Tyrosine Phosphatase SHP1 Is a Principal Determinant for Cerebral Endothelial Cell Development and Survival”
“Nicotinamide Prevents Endothelial Cell Injury Through the Modulation of Mitochondrial Membrane Integrity and Cysteine Protease Activity”
“Erythropoietin: A Principal Modulator of Ischemic Cerebrovascular Endothelial Cell Programmed Cell Death”
“Erythropoietin Prevents Ischemic Neuronal Apoptosis Through the Serine-Threonine Kinase AKT1 and Cytochrome c Release”
“Vascular Protection by Group 1 Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors is Downstream From AKT1 and P38 Activation”
“Loss of Mitochodrial Membrane Integrity Initiates Apoptotic Membrane Phosphatidylserine Exposure and DNA Degradation”

Mary Nies, PhD, RN, professor of community medicine, has been appointed associate dean for research and doctoral programs at Wayne State University’s College of Nursing.

Samia Ragheb, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, presented a study titled “Exogenous Cytokines Do Not Restore Glatiramer Acetate-Induced Proliferation in Long-Term Glatiramer Acetate Treated Patients” at the World Congress of Neuroimmunology. Co-authors included Kevin Gostenik, now a Year I medical student, and Robert Lisak, MD. Dr Ragheb also presented a paper titled “Effect of Glatiramer Acetate Therapy on Cytokine Production in Multiple Sclerosis” at the Seventh International Congress on Immunology.

David Rosenberg, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinics annual research forum at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Rosenberg is holder of the Miriam L. Hamburger Endowed Chair for Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Research at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University.

Michael Shy, MD, professor in neurology and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, presented a study titled “Mutations in MPZ Cytoplasmic Domain Abolish Adhesion and Reveal Role for pkc Mediated Phosphorylation in PNS Myelination” at the meeting of the Peripheral Nerve Society. Co-authors were J. Lilien, J. Balsamo and J. Kamholz.

He also presented a paper titled “Novel Classes of Proteolipid Protein Mutations Are Associated with PNS and CNS Diseases.” The first author of that study was James Garbern, MD, PhD, assistant professor in neurology and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics. Co-authors included O. Boespflug-Tanguy, R. Lewis, K. Krajewski and J. Kamholz.

Dusunka Skundric, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, presented a study titled “Differential Regulation of MCP-1 During EAE in Relapsing and Non Relapsing Mice” at the World Congress of Neuroimmunology. Co-authors included R. Dai, J. James and R. Lisak.

Robert Sokol, MD, distinguished professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is editor for ACOG Update, a series of audiotapes on topics relevant to ob/gyn practitioners. In addition, he was profiled in Rochester Medicine as one of more than a dozen medical school deans who graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Tara Washington, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and clinical chief of radiation oncology at the Karmanos Cancer Institute’s Sinai-Grace Radiation Oncology Center, has been appointed to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute board of trustees.

Craig Watson, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, authored the lead article in the July 24 2001 issue of the journal Neurology. The article is titled “Volumetric MRI, Pathological and Neuropsychological Progression in Hippocampal Sclerosis.”

Dr. Watson presented a study titled “Cellular Compartmentalization of the Phosphorylated Eukaryotic Translation-Initiating Chapter 2 and Nitric Oxide Synthase in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Resulting From Hippocampal Sclerosis” at the 126^th annual meeting of the American Neurological Association. Co-authors were Drs. Theodor Petrov and Jose Rafols.

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