Camouflaged nanoparticles (yellow) cloaked in the membranes of white blood cells rest on the surface of

an immune system cell (phagocyte, blue) without being recognized, ingested, and destroyed

METHODOLOGY

April 2013

A Newsletter of The Institute for Academic Medicine at The Methodist Hospital

Table of Contents

B y cloaking nanoparticles in the membranes of white blood cells, scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute may have found a way to prevent the body from recognizing and destroying them before they deliver

their drug payloads. The group describes its “LeukoLike Vectors”, or LLVs, in the January issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

“Our goal was to make a particle that is camouflaged within our bodies and escapes the surveillance of the immune system to reach its target undiscovered,” said Department of Medicine Co-Chair Dr. Ennio Tasciotti the study’s principal investigator.

Nanoparticles can deliver different types of drugs to specific cell types, for example, chemotherapy to cancer cells. But for all the benefits they offer and to get to where they need to go and deliver the needed drug, nanoparticles must somehow evade the body’s immune system that recognizes them as intruders. Systemically administered nanoparticles are captured and removed from the body within a few minutes. With this new membrane coating, they can survive for hours unharmed.

This work was funded by the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program. Read the full news release on our website.

Nanoparticles that look and act like cells

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International Workshop on Clinical Brain-Neural Machine Interface SystemsThe Methodist Hospital Research Institute and the University of Houston hosted the 2013 International Workshop on Clinical Brain Machine Interface Systems, a federally funded National Robotics Initiative Workshop.

The conference focused on ways to control machines with human brain activity for clinical care- like robotic legs for paraplegic patients that allow them to walk. Watch highlights of the demonstrations from RexBionics, Parker Hannifan Corp, NASA, UH, Purdue University, and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain. View the workshop website online.

METEOR

Clinical Trials Update

News in Brief

Inside the Institute

Education News

Funding

Awards

Welcome

Click to watch demonstration highlights

by David Bricker

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METEOR enters final phases of development and begins crunching ‘big data’ for pilot projectsThe Methodist Environment for Translational Enhancement and Outcomes Research (METEOR) project, led by Dr. Stephen Wong, was launched in July of 2012 to integrate data from systems throughout Methodist into one comprehensive clinical data warehouse of patient information. The goal is to make the deidentified population data accessible to support advances in research, hospital operations, and patient care.

The initial phase of the project, integration of HIS and MethOD data, will be complete in June of 2013 after integration of vitals, medications and orders. Dr. Wong’s team will then work with Methodist IT to move the system into production and make it accessible for use by trained professionals.

The team is also working on a user-friendly tool for clinicians called M-POD, that will allow physicians to directly access the records in METEOR. Pilot projects for creating web apps that allow tracking of diabetes and transplant surgery are also in development. The web apps and M-POD are expected to be complete in June.

The system will continue to grow over time, by incorporation of data from ancillary systems such as radiology, cardiology, and operation room systems. To understand the data needs for research, patient care and hospital operations, the METEOR team has launched multiple pilot projects. These projects will be used to test and improve the system before it enters production.

Drs. Nelda Wray & Carol Ashton, co-directors of the Center for Outcomes Research, are working with Dr. Osama Gaber, Linda Moore and surgery resident Dr. Stephanie Yi to develop electronic medical record data sets for two surgery pilot projects. One will assess which general (abdominal) surgery cases are associated with acute kidney injury. The second will assess which variables in patient care and health status contribute to the length of stay after transplant surgery. These projects are still considered pilot experiments because in this early stage of system development, some data that users expect to be available after integration of MethOD and HIS are not available, and must be integrated from ancillary systems. Linda Moore explains, “When we are trying to solve a problem using data, METEOR has been instrumental in helping us find the data we need.” Additional pilot studies are underway for cardiovascular surgery outcomes, the internal medicine residency program, SICU and bariatric surgery outcomes,

and the relationship between diabetic control and transplant surgery outcome. As each project is completed with integration of the necessary data systems into the METEOR data warehouse, the system grows in its ability to enable complex research and healthcare quality needs throughout Methodist.

The core development team for the METEOR project includes Dr. Steve Wong, Dr. Dan Robinson, Mamta Puppala, Dr. Shenyi Chen, and Dr. Jon Xue from the Department of Systems Medicine and Bioengineering at the Research Institute, Janie Connelly from MethOD, and Nitant Chakranarayan and Salman Ali from Methodist Business Intelligence.by Rebecca Hall, Ph.D.

Nelda Wray, M.D., MPH

Carol Ashton, M.D., MPH

Stephen Wong, Ph.D., PE

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Preclinical & Clinical Trials Support Update

The Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics (CCAT) Phase I clinical studies unit officially opened this month to conduct clinical trials. CCAT is centrally located in the Methodist Hospital on M6SE and includes a research unit that acts as a ‘store front’ for translational research support, and a clinical research unit that supports early phase and proof-of concept clinical trials.

The CCAT will be managed under the leadership of medical & scientific director Dr. Kapil Bhalla, and clinical trials nurse manager Resa Morris, RN, MSN, CCRP. Dr. Kapil Bhalla joined Methodist on April 1 as a medical oncologist for the Methodist Cancer Center and member of the Research Institute. His research laboratory is located within the cancer research program on the 9th floor of the Research Institute building. For more information about utilization of the Cockrell Center please contact Resa Labbe-Morris, ralabbemorris@tmhs.org.

The Academic Office of Clinical Trials provides leadership and administrative support for clinical trials operations. It provides new and experienced investigators with staff resources to maximize Methodist’s ability to conduct innovative clinical research.

Ms. Julie Van Raalte-Sicam, MT, MSHS joined the Research Institute as the director of the the AOCT in February. Ms. Van Raalte-Sicam has extensive experience in the clinical trials arena as a clinical research associate for Quintiles, associate director of clinical operations for Introgen Therapeutics, and senior clinical operations manager for Abbott Laboratories. Most recently she was the director for clinical operations & project management for CTNet where she launched the CTNet statewide network including staffing, policies & procedures, performance metrics and

partnerships.

Ms. Van Raalte-Sicam will guide the AOCT through the 2013 operational changes and goals:

• 2013 will bring about a renewed focus on the organization-wide roll out of our Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) to provide a streamline mechanism to track patient accruals, performance measures and research billing compliance.

• AOCT will begin an active role in promoting and supporting clinical research operations in our community hospital settings under the auspices of the Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics. This will provide a common branding to our clinical trial core support at our various facilities with the initial efforts being focused on our Cockrell Center at Sugarland and Cockrell Center at West Houston.

• The AOCT in conjuction with the administrative leadership of Terry Schuenemeyer, Dan Fraga, and Melanie Ihrig, will be establishing the ability to manufacture products and complex biologics within our cGMP facility on the 12th floor of the Research Institute building and provide Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) capabilities for pre-clinical studies in consultation with the FDA.

For more information, contact the AOCT at tmhriaoct@tmhs.org.

by Rebecca Hall, Ph.D.

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News in Brief Obesity makes fat cells act like they’re infectedDr. Willa Hsueh teamed up with her Methodist colleagues to understand how weight gain contributes to the development of Type 2 Diabetes. Dr. Tuo Deng, a postdoctoral fellow at the Research Institute, led the team as they began analyzing 44 biopsies from women with obesity using microarray analysis. They found that fat cells has elevated expression of genes involved in MHC class II antigen presentation and processing- central players in the inflammatory process that triggers and escalates Type 2 Diabetes.

For the first time, we understand that the fat cells are the instigators of the inflammatory process- and Dr. Hseuh hopes this knowledge can be leveraged to isolate the antigens involved and develop biomarkers that can predict who will develop Type II Diabetes, and potentially be used for a vaccine that blocks the inflammatory process that leads to Type II Diabetes. Read more on our website and in Cell Metabolism.

Methodist research experiments in spaceCarl Carruthers, research assistant in the Methodist Diabetes and Metabolism Institute, has experiments in space this month. He is collaborating with NanoRacks and Washington state-based Emerald Bio to run 5,000 microfluidic protein crystallization experiments on the International Space Station. The crystals are expected to be back on earth in May. Read more in The Boston Globe.

‘Bloodless’ lung transplants offer hint at surgery’s futureWhen one patient objected to the common practice of blood transfusion during transplant surgery on religious grounds, it took the skill and innovative approach to patient care of Dr. Scott A. Schein to get her the life-saving ‘bloodless’ surgery she needed. Read more in The New York Times.

Nanotechnology chips for cancer diagnosisInnovations such as the MS-Chip, which separates dangerous cancer stem cells from healthy adult cells, are ushering in a new age of oncology by providing cost effective and less invasive tools for cancer diagnosis than biopsy-based methods. Read more in Houston Chronicle.

Researchers targeted by pseudoacademiaSeveral recent publications caution researchers about doing due diligence on requests to participate in open access style journals and conferences. Read more in The New York Times and in Nature.

Nanotech’ed RNA drug reduces ovarian cancer tumors by 83 percent

Drs. Haifa Shen and Mauro Ferrari and collaborators at MD Anderson created silicon disc shaped nanoparticles that have been tailored to protect and deliver fragile, but highly effective, anti-cancer therapy. Read more online, in TMC News. and in Clinical Cancer Research.

One key gene lifts the roadblock to reprogramming adult cells to stem cells

Dr. Rongfu Wang, director of the Center for Inflammation and Epigenetics at the Research Institute, has identified a key gene that controls the generation of inducible pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. Read more on our website and in Cell.

2014 Federal science budget released

President Obama released his proposed 2014 science budget on April 10. It provides modest sequestration relief for the NIH with a 1.3% increase that includes $40 mil for the BRAIN mapping project and $41 mil for a ‘Big Data’ initiative. If approved, the NSF would receive a 10.8% increase, while the NIH National Nanotechnology initiative would be cut by 8.5%. You can read the entire proposal online.

by Krishna Suri and Rebecca Hall, Ph.D.

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Inside the Institute

Institute for Academic Medicine strategic planning update

The second phase of the Institute for Academic Medicine strategic planning process will kick off May 1-2. Between now and July, the committees will develop comprehensive 5-year plans for research and education in three areas: Precision Medicine; Introduced Biology: Protection & Regeneration; and Outcomes, Quality & Healthcare Performance.

Changes to the Department of Translational Imaging

Dr. Paolo Decuzzi was appointed as the interim chair of the Department of Translational Imaging this March. Dr. Ching Tung will become an affiliate member for TMHRI and is now focused on launching and growing a Molecular Imaging research program at our partner, Weill Cornell Medical College. The imaging cores have united under the name Translational Imaging Center to help staff find access to all our advanced imaging facilities including radioisotope production, and MRI, PET and preclinical imaging.

Office of Tech Transfer (OTT) research tool initiative

Have you invented the next GFP or Taq polymerase reagent? Licensing research tools can bring in revenue to you and your department, as well as save you time by centralizing distribution of popular tools to other researchers. OTT is looking for novel reagents such as cell lines, antibodies, DNA sequences, novel imaging probes, and mouse models that have broad appeal for researchers at other institutions. For more information contact OTT at OTT@tmhs.org.

ECHO core lab analyzes global data sets

The new ECHO core lab is a critical resource for cardiovascular research at Methodist that analyzes data for multicenter clinical trials. Methodist currently has a contract with Abbott Labs for $1.9M to perform analysis for them with this core facility. It receives imaging data from multiple studies, de-identifies it, and performs expedited analysis before returning the data to the customer.

New federal policies that affect your NIH grant submissions

The Office of Grants & Contracts has posted important updates to federal policies:• Update on sequestration: Non-

competing continuation awards are currently being funded at a level below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award

• New rules for what qualifies as post-submission materials

• eRA RPPR is now required for submitting SNAP & Fellowship progress reports

• Publications must be compliant with public access policies or your award will be delayed

• MyNCBI is now required to enter publications on your progress reports

Give your ideas a voice at Methodist

The Faculty Research Council would like to hear your ideas on how to improve administrative operations at the Research Institute and the Education Institute. Contact them by email at tmhrifacultyresearchcouncil@tmhs.org.

First patient study launched in the Translational Imaging Center

Dr. Sophie Fletcher is the principle investigator of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigating the neural correlates of voiding. The study was initiated Jan 18 in the TIC on the first floor of the Research Institute building. The purpose of this study is to look at brain activity during normal urination and compare it to brain activity during voiding (urination) dysfunction.

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Inside the Institute: Education News

Education Institute strategic planningThe Council of Chairs Education Committee has planned an education retreat for April 26 to define the current state of education at Methodist and begin planning key initiatives for the next five years. For more information, contact Tim Boone, Co-Director of the Institute for Academic Medicine.

Residency match day held at MethodistThe National Residency Match Program (NRMP) is a national, centralized process where residency candidates are interviewed and then selected on a “match” list by programs across the country. The Methodist Hospital residency and fellowship programs NRMP 2013 had a successful year. Of the 83 residents and fellows entering our programs, 33 attended Texas medical schools, 26 attended other U.S. medical schools, and 24 attended foreign medical schools.

First resident joins the Surgeon Scientist ProgramDr. Joseph Fernandez-Moure has received approval to enter the Methodist surgeon scientist program, as he pursues his research interests in stem cell characterization, and soft tissue and bone regeneration in the Department of Nanomedicine. Dr. Fernandez-Moure has been researching mesenchymal stem cell and nanoscaffold tissue engineering techniques with Drs. Brad Weiner and Barbara Bass, which was highlighted in a podium presentation at the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons conference in March.

Methodist Academy for Medical Science and Technology2013 Summer Internship Program begins June 3The Methodist Academy welcomes 65 undergraduate students from 30 institutions around the world. The students will work with one of 35 mentors participating in the program, which begins June 3rd and continues through August 9th.

Methodist Academy pairs with the Caring Teens ProgramThe Methodist Academy has teamed up with Volunteer Services’ Caring Teens Program to host the High School Volunteer Program this summer. Students can choose to volunteer for the entire summer, or for one of two sessions beginning in June or July.

TMC Postdoc Association Career Symposium on May 23The Methodist Postdoc Association will join other members of the National Postdoc Association in the Texas Medical Center for the TMC Postdoc Association Career Symposium on May 23 at MD Anderson. The keynote speaker is Michael Alvarez, Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at MD Anderson.

The Methodist Academy has movedThe Methodist Academy Offices have moved to the 9th floor of the Mary Gibbs Jones Building. Please contact Amy Wright for more information, aswright@tmhs.org.

Methodist researchers honored at AACR annual meeting

Drs. Karen Mann and Michael Mann were honored this month at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.. Dr. Karen Mann was selected to chair and present in the session on Current Concepts in Organ Site Research on April 9. Dr. Michael Mann was awarded the AACR-Millennium Scholar-in-Training Award and will present in the minisymposium on Genome Based Discovery in Human Cancer.

Karen Mann, Ph.D. Michael Mann, Ph.D.

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INSTITUTE QUICK FACTS

120 Million in Research Expenditirues Worldwide

1400 Credentialed Researchers

260Members Worldwide

500Trainees

50 Million in Total Funding

Inside the Institute: New Funding Awards & ApplicationsDepartment of Nanomedicine Ennio Tasciotti, $3,000 (1 yr), Boston Museum of Science Bruna Corradetti, $50,000 (1 yr), Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America FoundationApplications: Biana Godin Vilentchouk, Alessandro Grattoni, Ye Hu (5), Lidong Qin (2), Haifa Shen (2), Ennio Tasciotti (5), Xiaojun Xia, Chunying Yang, Arturas Ziemys (2)

Department of Systems Medicine & BioengineeringStephen Wong, $30,000 (1 yr), Virginia & LE Simmons Family Foundation Applications: Yubo Fan, Stephen Wong (2), Ming Zhan

Department of Translational ImagingApplications: Brian O’Neill, Paolo Decuzzi (2)

Cancer Research ProgramShanda Blackmon, $3000 (1 yr), Virginia & LE Simmons Family FoundationJenny Chang, $375,000 (5 yrs), Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced HealthMin Kim, $80,000 (2 yrs), American Association for Thoracic Surgery Applications: Timothy Boone, Jenny Chang (2)

Cardiovascular Disease Research ProgramTadashi Motomura, $100,000 (2 yrs), Optnics Precision Co., Ltd.Applications: Andrea Cordero, Homam Ibrahim, Chun Lin, Stephen Little, Henry Pownall (2), Dipan Shah, Miguel Valderrabano, Mark Davies

Inflammation & Epigenetics Research ProgramApplications: Xilai Ding, Rongfu Wang (2)

Diabetes and Metabolic Disease Research Program Applications: Willa Hsueh (2), Ke Ma, Paul Webb, Xuefeng Xia

Genomic MedicineApplication: Stephen Ayers

Infectious Disease Research Program Applications: Patricia Chevez Barrios, Muthiah Kumaraswami (3), James Musser, Roberto Rosato (2), Youli Zu

Neurosciences Research ProgramApplications: Stanley Appel, Santosh Helekar, Bryan Spann, Martyn Sharpe

Outcomes & Quality Research ProgramApplication: Carol Ashton

Transplantation Immunology Research Program Applications: Xian Li (2), Omaima Sabek

540 Thousand Sq Ft Research Space

800Clinical Protocols

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Inside the Institute: ICARE in Action

The Research Institute ICARE recommitment & volunteerism

Research Institute administration held an ICARE recommitment workshop on February 26, reinforcing our dedication to service for our faculty and staff, cultural sensitivity, and flexibility during the rapid changes and growth in our academic operations.

The Research Institute has been active in community service and outreach:• The Comparative Medicine group volunteered at the Houston Food bank• The Governance & Faculty Affairs group volunteered at the Houston SPCA

in February• Song Kim and the TMHRI Running Club organized a team to support Stride

for Stroke. • More than 30 faculty and staff volunteered for NanoDay (see below)• The Diversity Fair hosted by the Methodist Academy was held March 26,

celebrating the cultures of the UK and Italy

Dr. Steve Wong helped the Houston community understand Alzheimer’s

Dr. Wong gave an introduction and led a community discussion about Alzheimer’s and dementia for the movie ‘Away From Her’ on April 12, as part of the Science on Screen program by 14 Pews. The program creatively pairs screenings of classic, cult, and documentary films with lively introductions by notable figures from the world of science, technology, and medicine. Read more online and in Twitter.

NanoDay brings nanotech to Houston families

The Research Institute held their third annual NanoDay event on Saturday, April 6, engaging 140 kids and their families with the wonders of nanotechnology. Kids of all ages learned how nano helps our patients with hands on activities, questions for our ambassador nanoscientists, and a lively interactive presentation by Drs. Ennio Tasciotti and Mauro Ferrari. This exciting national science festival is held at 200 universities, research institutions and museums across the nation every year.

More than 250 people explored the tiny secrets of thin films, gummy capsules and hydrogels at our science stations. The kids also solved medical mysteries in our Cyber Café, hosted by Carlos Monroy from the Rice Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning. The educational video games were created by the Rice CTTL, who are also partnering with the Research Institute to develop a nanomedicine-based video game with a grant from the Boston Museum of Science.

The Research Institute thanks the Methodist Academy and their 30 volunteers that made this event possible. TMHRI NanoDay is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation through the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network.

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Upcoming EventsApril 17-19TEDMED Live 2013April 17-19Translational Science Meeting 2013April 17Quality Laboratory GCP for Clinical ResearchersApril 26Free Nutrition ConsultationsApril 29Natural Language Processing: Methods and Applications in Clinical ResearchApril 30-May 1 Applying to the NSF SBIR Phase I Program for First-Time ApplicantsMay 6 Neuron-specific Multi-functional Polymeric Micelle Nanotherapeutics for Neural RegenerationMay 6Molecular Pathways and Hemodynamic Forces in the Etiology of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Acute Aortic DissectionMay 13Human Research Protections - ConferenceMay 15 Data Management: Understanding Your Role in Answering the Research QuestionMay 20Multiscale Modeling of Biological SystemsMay 23Postdoctoral Association Career SymposiumNovember 9-13Society of Neuroscience Annual MeetingDecember 9Pumps & Pipes

VIew all upcoming events at: methodisthealth.com/tmhrievents

Awards & Accolades

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute is pleased to announce several award opportunities for faculty and staff. For more information, contact Mariana Pope in the Office of Governance & Faculty Affairs, mpope@tmhs.org

The award is designed to incentivize the faculty and staff who have demonstrated transformational academic achievements with new publications in high impact journals or transformational peer-reviewed grant awards with groundbreaking impact. Awardees:• Outstanding Peer Review Publications – Rongfu Wang, Ph.D.• Outstanding Peer Reviewed Grants – Stephen Jones, M.D.

Virginia and Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Scholars Award These awards are designed to support projects that demonstrate translational and clinical research potential. These awards provide funds to support the investigators’ research for development of their translational and clinical research endeavors. Awardees: • Swaminathan P. Iyer, M.D.• Daniel Y. Lee, Ph.D., M.D.• Tony Y. Hu, Ph.D.

Career Cornerstone Award

This award is for individuals who receive their first NIH grant in their career as PI or Multiple PI. To be eligible for this award, the recipients must be employed by TMHS and must be a member of TMHRI. TMHRI will also need to be listed as the primary institution for direct receipt of the NIH award. Awardees: • Jenny Henkel, Ph.D. (awarded posthumously)• Xiaofeng Xia, Ph.D.

Golfer’s Against Cancer Awards GAC has raised over $18 million (including matching funds and after expenses) and funded over 100 specific research projects at leading institutions around the nation focused on finding cures for a wide range of cancers. Awardees:• Melissa D. Landis, Ph.D.• Lidong Qin, Ph.D.

Rice Alliance Most Promising Life Science CompanyCongratulations to PancreatRX, one of the winners of the Rice Alliance Most Promising Life Science Company awards at the 2nd annual Texas Life Science Venture Forum. A student startup company based on Dr. Ching Tung’s technology, PancreatRX’s mission is to provide superior screening and targeted therapeutic technologies for pancreatic cancer patients.

TMHRI President’s Awards for Transformational Excellence

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Dr. Kapil Bhalla joins us as a medical oncologist for the Methodist Cancer Center, and member of the Research Institute with his laboratory located within the cancer research program on the 9th floor of the RI building. Dr. Bhalla will also serve as the medical & scientific director of the Research Institute Phase I clinical studies unit, the Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics. Dr. Bhalla will provide scientific leadership for the developing early phase clinical research endeavors at Methodist as the co-director for early phase clinical research under the auspices of the Research Institute Center for Translational Medicine.

New Research Institute Members

Wayne Chandler, Full Clinical Member, Infectious DiseaseBaiba Gillard, Assistant Research Member, Cardiovascular DiseaseLeland Hartwell, Full Affiliate Member, CancerMelanie Ihrig, Associate Research Member, Comparative MedicineStephen Jones, Assistant Clinical Member, Outcomes & QualityXian Li, Full Member, Transplant ImmunologyElebeoda May, Associate Affiliate Member, Infectious DiseaseAlvaro Munoz, Assistant Research Member, Tissue Engineering & Regenerative MedicineWeihua Zhao, Assistant Research Member, NeurosciencesYouli Zu, Full Member, Infectious Disease

Promotions

David Beers, Neurosciences, Research ScientistAmber Froehlich, Cancer, Clinical Trials ManagerHannah Kim, Nanomedicine, Project CoordinatorYoo-shin Kim, Translational Imaging, Research Associate IFransisca Leonard, Nanomedicine, Postdoctoral FellowTricia Lydick, Central Administration, Senior Executive SecretaryChunying Yang, Cancer, Research Associate IIBingnan Yin, Inflammation & Epigenetics, Research Assistant II

New Employees

AcademyDawn Dalcour, Project Coordinator

AOCTJustin Pokkamthanam, Financial AnalystJulie Sicam, DirectorFrancine Whittington, Clinical Research Nurse

CancerFelipe Amaya-Manzanares, Laboratory ManagerWarren Fiskus, Research ScientistSergio Granados-Principal, Postdoctoral Fellow III

Dr. Xian Li joins us from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Li now heads the Research Institute Transplant Immunology research program and is the scientific director for the Center for Immunobiology Research within the Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center. Read Press Release

Dr. John Cooke is the new chair of the Cardiovascular Disease research program and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Regeneration at MDHVC. Read the Press Release on our website.

Ms. Julie Van Raalte-Sicam, MT MSHS is our new director for the Academic Office of Clinical Trials. Julie joins us with a wide array of experiences in the clinical trials arena with Quintiles, Introgen Therapeutics, Abbott Laboratories, and CTNet.

A special welcome to our new faculty and staff

Catherine Logan, LVN Research CoordinatorJustin Newberg, Research Associate IJean Ching-Yi Tien, Postdoctoral Fellow Keri Watson, Research Assistant IIHeidi Weiss, Research Scientist

Cardiovascular DiseaseJeremiah Bosley, Sr. Clinical Research NurseVenus Ilagan, Sr. Research CoordinatorJames Owens, Financial AnalystAnna Rodriguez, Clinical Research NurseEmmanuel Tunley, Financial AnalystAyesha Williams, Project Coordinator

Cockrell Center for Advanced TherapeuticsZohra Huda, Sr. Clinical Research Nurse

cGMP Core Facility Queendy Qiang Yu, Research Associate I

Comparative MedicineTamika Davis, Vet Tech 1

Genomic MedicineJean Lin, Graduate Reseach Fellow

Infectious DiseaseValerie Brooker, Research Technician I

Welcome & Congratulations

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Editor-in-chiefRebecca Hall, Ph.D.Design & Coordination Michelle Shemon

A Newsletter of The Institute for Academic Medicine at The Methodist Hospital

Archives available online Intranet: Methodist Research Institute > Newsletter & Town Hall > TMHRI News Sharepoint Site

Images & Video Scott JonesMatt LandryPat Walsh

Contributing Writers David BrickerKrishna Suri Joanne Mitchell, Ph.D.

Trevor Burt Mariana Pope, JD

Welcome & Congratulations, con.

Tran Cao, Research Technician IILiliana Castillo, Research Assistant IJackie Oommen, Financial AnalystAndrea Wunsche, Postdoctoral Fellow

Inflammation & EpigeneticsPinghua Liu, Research Assistant II

NanomedicineMona Bisase, Program Project ManagerBruna Coradetti, Postdoctoral AssociateYi Guo, Postdoctoral Fellow Yu Huang, Research Associate IAlessandro Parodi, Postdoctoral AssociateMalisa Sarntinoranont , Affiliated Scientist IGianluca Storci, Postdoctoral Fellow Krishna Suri, Research Assistant IYuzhen Wang , Research Assistant IMatthew Ware, Graduate Research FellowAlma Zecevic, Scientific WriterHu Zhao, Graduate Research Fellow

NeurosciencesYuanfang Liu, Research Assistant I

Outcomes & QualityJennifer Taylor, Operations Manager III

Research ProtectionsDaniel Betancourt, Quality Assurance AnalystRoison Williams, Research Protections Analyst

Research TechnologyChristopher Colluro, Applications analyst II

Tissue Engineering & Regenerative MedicineAshley Torregrossa, Research Assistant I

Translational ImagingJianfu Li, Postdoctoral Fellow Zhiyi Liu, Postdoctoral Fellow

Transplant ImmunologyElizabeth Ernest, Financial AnalystWentao Liu, Postdoctoral AssociateXian Li, ScientistMinh (Mindy) Pham, Project SpecialistChenglin Wu, Graduate Research FellowXiang (Johnny) Xiao, ScientistPicheng Zhao, Postdoctoral Associate

Visitors

Cardiovascular DiseaseSama Alchalabi, Postdoctoral FellowLance Blau, Postdoctoral FellowAnnum Faisal, Undergraduate Research FellowKathleen Hurtado, VisitorTakeshi Sugaya Visiting ScientistKelly Willenberg, VisitorJedrek Wosik, Graduate Research Fellow

Genomic MedicineZhikang Chen, Postdoctoral FellowSilvania da Silva Teixeira , Postdoctoral FellowZongxian Jiao, Postdoctoral FellowXiaobo Lai, Graduate Research Fellow

Infectious DiseaseBrian McCall, Graduate Research FellowKosuke Miyai, Graduate Research FellowTruc Pham, Graduate Research FellowClaudia Maria Prospero Ponce, Postdoctoral Fellow

NanomedicineGiacomo Bruno, Graduate Research FellowFrancisca Cara, Undergraduate Research FellowDavid Savage, Graduate Research FellowJacopo Secco, Graduate Research FellowFrancesca Taraballi, Postdoctoral Fellow

NeurosciencesDylan Rosenfield, High School StudentZaid Kajani, High School StudentLisa Thompson, Graduate Research FellowJohn Waldron, Visiting Research Coordinator

Systems Medicine & BioengineeringQiong Huang, Graduate Research Fellow

Translational ImagingMatteo Fasano, Graduate Research Fellow

Transplant ImmunologyYanmeng Peng, Graduate Research Fellow