HAPPY 10^TH ANNIVERSARY

Ten years ago, a K-12 school stood where the College of Medicine’s main buildings now stand. Some of our current students were in middle school. Then-PIMS Director Myra Hurt and her small army were working on an innovative medical school to address a physician shortage that most experts didn’t yet know our country had. And Florida legislators were locked in combat over whether that school was even needed, let alone likely to succeed.

In June, 10 years will have passed since Gov. Jeb Bush signed the measure authorizing the creation of the Florida State University College of Medicine. In 10 short years, this remarkable school has achieved much that’s worth celebrating – and the celebration will continue throughout the year.

Watch for news of upcoming events. A big to-do is being planned for the evening of April 9 (see more in the Alumni News section). Also, there are plans in the works for a special event in the fall, plus a series of service projects benefiting all of the cities in which we have regional campuses. Watch, too, for a new look in the atrium.

And read the fascinating story behind this medical school’s birth in the spring issue of FSU MED magazine.

PREMIER PAPER

Faculty of 1000 Biology is an online service that highlights and evaluates the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences, based on recommendations from more than 2,000 of the world's top researchers. Last year, these experts have concluded, one of the most interesting papers was written by Akash Gunjan, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

The paper was “Histone levels are regulated by phosphorylation and ubiquitylation-dependent proteolysis,” published in August 2009 in Nature Cell Biology. The co-authors were Rakesh Kumar Singh, Marie-Helen Kabbaj and Johanna Paik, all from the College of Medicine.

Gunjan’s discovery solves a mystery about proteins that play a vital role in transferring the human genetic code from one cell to another. It could lead to new ways to help the body fight cancer and other diseases.

For more than a hundred years, the best scientific evidence supported a belief that histones – responsible for packaging DNA inside the nucleus of cells – are highly stable proteins not rapidly degraded by the body. Yet researchers couldn’t explain why free histones, if they are not degraded as other proteins are, do not accumulate in large amounts within human cells.

Gunjan found evidence supporting his hypothesis that there actually are two pools of histones: one used in packaging DNA that is very stable and in some cases remains in the cell for more than a year, and the other made in excess by the cells to ensure that enough histones are available for packaging the DNA. Not having enough histones results in cell death. Those excess histones, Gunjan suggested, are rapidly degraded as are other proteins.

Paul Kaufman, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, evaluated the paper for Faculty of 1000 Biology and stated that it “provides insight into the regulation of yeast histone levels by phosphorylation and ubiquitylation.” He also noted, “This paper required a heroic series of immunoprecipitation experiments.”

For more about faculty research and other items, see Faculty News.

COLLEGE HONORED BY RETIREMENT HOUSING FOUNDATION

The College of Medicine has received the rarely given Rex Chapman Award, thanks to volunteer efforts at Lake Ella Manor by the Department of Geriatrics and our medical students. The award is given out by the Retirement Housing Foundation in honor of the late Rex Chapman, a longtime foundation leader. It recognizes outstanding service on behalf of others. Lisa Granville, M.D., associate chair and professor of geriatrics, and Ceola Grant, coordinator of academic support in the department, will accept the award for the college Feb. 26 in Long Beach, Calif.

This is a sampling from the nomination form: "The FSU College of Medicine medical students, staff and faculty truly went above and beyond not only providing volunteers but also assisting with supplies, food and a countless number of health presentations. This year alone we have benefited from over 80 volunteers from the FSU College of Medicine. It has not only improved the wellness programs but it has provided much needed companionship for our residents. We are very grateful for the FSU College of Medicine’s continued volunteer involvement."

NEW FACES

Richard Nowakowski, Ph.D., officially becomes professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences in March. Currently he is a professor of neuroscience and cell biology, the New Jersey Professor of Spinal Cord Research, and director of the Postdoctoral Career Development Program at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he joined the faculty in 1985. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and did postdoctoral work at Duke University and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. He has taught neuroscience to medical students for 20 years. His research focuses on stem cells and neurogenesis in the developing and adult nervous system and on the genetic basis of diversity in the mammalian brain. He is best-known for introducing the bromodeoxyuridine-based methods for measuring cell cycle and assessing cell proliferation. This method is widely used for stem cell studies in the brain. He has used mice in his research for many years and exploits the genetic diversity in inbred strains of mice to further his research goals.

Marshall Kapp,  J.D., M.P.H., is the director of the Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine & Law and a faculty member in both the College of Medicine and College of Law. The center explores educational, research and advocacy avenues for collaboration and cooperation between the medical and legal professions on behalf of the well-being of consumers who are both physicians' patients and attorneys' clients. Formerly, he served as the Garwin Distinguished Professor of Law and Medicine at Southern Illinois University Schools of Law and Medicine. He also is professor emeritus from Wright State University School of Medicine and served for more than 20 years as a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Dayton School of Law. He is the current editor of the American College of Legal Medicine’s Journal of Legal Medicine and serves on the editorial boards of several other major journals in the health law field. He has published and spoken extensively on topics in health law, medical ethics, and law and aging.

Laura Brock, M.S. in public administration and public policy, M.A. in religion, returns to the College of Medicine as our new director of external relations to help highlight our 10-year story. She previously was director of health affairs and special projects at the medical school before leaving to become part of outgoing FSU President T.K. Wetherell’s administrative team. More recently, Brock was senior staff director and chief legislative analyst for the Education Policy Council and the State Universities & Private Colleges Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. One of Brock’s primary objectives in her new role is to help develop a coordinated and strategic advocacy program that promotes the College of Medicine’s unique mission – among both public and private constituents, locally and at each of our regional campuses.

THE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE SHOW

Working with the Agency for Health Care Administration, The Florida Channel has produced a series of programs about medical education in Florida. Its story specifically focusing on the Florida State University College of Medicine is scheduled to air the week of Feb. 8 across Florida on all PBS stations and The Florida Channel. The program will air multiple times the week of the 8th on those channels.

In this region, the program will air Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. and again Sunday (Feb. 14) at 11 a.m. on WFSU. After the show airs, it also will be available online at WFSU.org. We will place that link on our Web site at the appropriate time.

RESEARCH FAIR

Our annual research fair is scheduled for Feb. 9 in the atrium. Senior Associate Dean Myra Hurt invites ALL researchers in the College of Medicine to present posters of their work: medical student researchers, graduate students, staff and faculty. Medical students on regional campuses are also invited to send posters for display.  "We will provide foam board and easels for all presentations," she said. "Medical student fellowship winners from 2009 will be among those presenting their work. We ask that presenters be with their poster during the noon hour. This serves as an opportunity for first-year med students to identify research projects of interest for an application for the 2010 Medical Student Research Fellowships in March. If you will be presenting a poster, please notify Wendy Zebrowski so we’re prepared with easels, etc. A light lunch will be served."