The Wang Lab

• “The coordination of chromatid separation and spindle elongation by antagonistic activities of mitotic and S-phase CDKs,” co-authored by Liang, Richmond and Wang, published by PLoS Genetics.
• “A series of beta-carboline derivatives inhibit the kinase activity of PLKs,” written in collaboration with the lab group of Shuyi Si from China, published by PLoS One.
• “Identification of anti-tuberculosis agents that target ribosomal protein interactions using a yeast two-hybrid system,” also written in collaboration with Shuyi Si’s lab, published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
   

Associate Professor Branko Stefanovic, Ph.D. (pictured at left), was invited to be the Kasha Award Lecturer at Florida State’s Institute of Molecular Biophysics structural biology seminar in April. His lecture was “Liver Fibrosis: Understanding the Molecular Mechanism and Finding a Cure.”

Assistant Professor Jose Pinto, Ph.D., received a First-Year Assistant Professor Award from the university's Council on Research and Creativity.

Associate Professor James Olcese, Ph.D., has received a $10,000 R13 conference grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to support the FASEB Summer Research Conference on “Melatonin Biology: Actions and Therapeutics.” Olcese is co-chair of the conference, in Niagara Falls.

A 2012 paper on which Biomedical Sciences Chair Richard Nowakowski, Ph.D., was a co-author was selected to appear in a virtual issue of European Journal of Neuroscience titled “Disorders of the Nervous System.” The paper was “An integrated approach to design novel therapeutic interventions for demyelinating disorders.”

Associate Professors Choogon Lee and Jamila Horabin, both Ph.D.s, have received planning grants from the university's Council on Research and Creativity.

Associate Professor Daniel Kaplan, Ph.D. (pictured at right) was awarded a National Science Foundation supplement that is part of a $774,000 grant for his project “Roles of Sld2 and Sld3 in the Initiation of DNA Replication.”

Kaplan and Assistant Scholar Scientist Irina Bruck, Ph.D., co-authored “Cdc45-ssDNA interaction is important for stalling the helicase during replication stress,” scheduled for April publication in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Kaplan was invited to be a guest presenter of that paper at March’s Keystone Conference in Alberta.

Assistant Professor Hussam Jourdi, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Mohamed Kabbaj, Ph.D., have had the paper “Acute BDNF treatment upregulates GluR1-SAP97 and GluR2-GRIP1 interactions: Implications for sustained AMPA receptor expression” published by PLoS One.

The Cappendijk Lab has recently had a paper accepted for publication. The paper, “Nicotine kinetics in zebra finches in vivo and in vitro,” has been accepted for release by DMD Fast Forward. The paper has been released online. The co-authors from FSU are Assistant Professor Susanne Cappendijk, Ph.D., and graduate student William Perry.

The Blaber Lab has had several recent publications:

• “Clinical significance and novel mechanism of action of kallikrein 6 in glioblastoma,” co-authored by Professor Michael Blaber, Ph.D., and lab manager Sachiko Blaber, e-published by Neuro-Oncology.
• “Kallikrein-related Peptidase 6,” co-authored by Michael Blaber, published in Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes.
• “Protein Design – A Vast Unexploited Resource,” co-authored by Liam Longo and Michael Blaber, currently in press to be published by Journal of Proteins and Proteomics.

Read about Blaber’s research that offers clues to the origins of life on Earth.

Professor Pradeep Bhide, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Jinmin Zhu, Ph.D., have had their paper “Examining the nature of the comorbidity between pediatric attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder” published by Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.

Bhide also was co-author of “Structural, Genetic, and Functional Signatures of Disordered Neuro-Immunological Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” which was published by PLoS One.

Read about the $1 million gift given to Bhide’s Center for Brain Repair.


DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL SCIENCES
Associate Professor Jon Appelbaum, M.D., was one of two faculty members selected for induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He was chosen by the GHHS students in the Class of 2013.

Professor Robert Watson, M.D., was recognized for serving as a peer-reviewer for the journal Academic Medicine for 2012. Watson is executive associate dean for administrative affairs.

Read about the death of Professor Ed Valenstein, M.D.


DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE AND RURAL HEALTH
Professor Gail Bellamy, Ph.D., was an invited panelist for the Feb. 15 Morrill Celebration organized by the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. The topic was “Land Grant Colleges and Rural Health: The Legacy of the Morrill and Smith Lever Acts.” Bellamy is director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Center for Rural Health Research and Policy.

Bellamy also was invited to give plenary presentations at two recent National Rural Health Association events. One was “Meeting Rural Healthy People Needs,” at February’s 24th Annual Policy Institute in Washington. The other was December’s “Rural Healthy People 2020: New Rural Health Priorities and Strategies Identified Through the National RHP 2020 Survey” in Asheville, N.C.

Associate Professor Suzanne Harrison, M.D., and her team received plaques in the Florida TaxWatch 2013 Prudential-Davis Productivity Awards competition for their innovative and cost-saving initiative involving strategies to prevent officer-involved domestic violence.

Senior Associate Dean Alma Littles, M.D. (pictured at right), was profiled in FP News, a publication of the Florida Association of Family Physicians, and in Your Health magazine, published by the Tallahassee Democrat.


DEPARTMENT OF GERIATRICS
Professor Alice Pomidor, M.D., was the moderator for an April 16 “Life Beyond Driving” workshop at the 2013 Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities in Denver. Pomidor previously consulted on the development of the “AMA Physicians’ Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers,” and she just finished a book chapter about driving for “Primary Care Geriatrics, 6th Edition.”

To learn more about the Department of Geriatrics’ activities, read its research newsletter for the spring semester.


DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Debra Bernat, Ph.D., received a grant (R03) from the National Cancer Institute to examine factors that contribute to higher rates of smoking among youth in rural areas.

Assistant Professor Angelina Sutin, Ph.D., received a First-Year Assistant Professor Award from the university's Council on Research and Creativity.


ORLANDO REGIONAL CAMPUS
Pediatrics Clerkship Director Joan Meek, M.D., spoke at the Second Annual Conference of the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative in Tampa. The topic was “Instituting Baby-Friendly Practices at Maternity Facilities.” Meek, the College of Medicine’s associate dean for graduate medical education, is editor-in-chief of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ “New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding.” She’s also an expert on educational objectives and skills for physicians with respect to exclusive breast milk feeding in addition to other baby-friendly practices being implemented in maternity facilities across the nation.
 
Debra Andree, M.D., clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, was appointed chief of pediatrics at Community Health Centers, a medical facility that offers affordable care to patients in Central Florida.

Don Eslin, M.D., clinical associate professor of pediatrics, was named chair of pediatrics at Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital.

Clinical Associate Professor Mark Weatherly, M.D., was one of two faculty members selected for induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He was chosen by the GHHS students in the Class of 2013.


OFFICE OF GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION
Julie DeCesare, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and program director for the College of Medicine’s OB-GYN program, has been named chair of the District XII Committee on Healthcare for Underserved Women by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The committee identifies problems in access to women’s health care, in particular obstetric and gynecologic services, and develops and implements solutions that involve the college and obstetrician-gynecologists at the national, state and community level.

Read the latest GME newsletter.