http://www.cbu.edu/

Caduceus Newsletter:  Summer 2008.03, July 

Dr. Stan Eisen, Director
Preprofessional Health Programs
Christian Brothers University

650 East Parkway South
Memphis, TN  38104

Home page:
http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/

Caduceus Newsletter Archives:
http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/Caduceus.html 

Table of Contents:
1.  Summer Research by Michelle Paul at Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  
2.    ==== AAMC STAT ====, News from the Association of American Medical Colleges, June 2, 2008 edition. 
3.  Received this week (mostly from the recent biennial NAAHP convention in Chicago)
4.  For those of you applying to health-related graduate programs and have NOT filled out an Evaluation Request Form, PLEASE DO SO NOW. 
5.  Marginalia:  Weekly food consumption in selected countries.  

 

1.  Summer Research by Michelle Paul at Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  

Identification of synergistic antimalarial drugs

 

As part of the Pediatric Oncology Education program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, I have been placed in the Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Department under the direction of Dr. Kip Guy, Ph. D. and Dr. Armand Guiguemde, PharmD, Ph. D.  The aim of my summer research project is to identify synergistic antimalarial drug pairs by a combination dosing approach using a high throughput cell based assay and a set of compounds from a library of 3160 bioactive drugs against Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four species of parasites that cause malaria.  Malaria is considered an orphan disease with more than 90% of the infections occurring in Africa and a death toll of approximately 1.5 to 2 million.  Due to the lack of financial incentive for drug development, the interest is very minimal in the pharmaceutical industry.  Chemoresistance to current treatments and the lack of new, affordable treatments is making the need for research aimed at identifying combination agents increasingly important, especially considering the expectation that no new single agents will go into the market again.

 

We are using two approaches in our attempt to identify synergistic drug pairs.  The first is based on a modified fixed ratio isobologram method.  This method involves mixing selected compounds at different ratios and determining the fractional inhibitory concentration based on both the IC50’s of the drugs in combination and alone.  Based on calculations, we can determine whether the compounds are synergistic, additive, or antagonistic in combination with each other.  Growth inhibition will be measured by the DNA content of the parasites in the red blood cells using two DNA binding fluorescent dyes.  Fluorescence is then measured by the EnvisionTM spectrophotometer.  The second approach uses a high throughput screening method that involves identifying compounds from St. Jude’s library of 3160 bioactive drugs that, when mixed with a single concentration of chloroquine, exhibit a substantial increase in activity.  Our measurements of the growth inhibition in this approach are based on an automated growth inhibition assay preformed in a BSL-2 deck using one of the robots of the CBT department at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Compounds that appear to have an increase in activity with chloroquine are then further examined with the modified fixed ratio method described in the first approach. 

 

One of the most important factors in malaria treatment options is cost, due to the economic status of the population affected by the disease.  Our hope is that one of these two approaches will yield a combination of two drugs that is synergistic with one another.  The possible benefits of a synergistic combination treatment are smaller doses (hopefully leading to fewer side effects) and more cost efficient means of treatment. 

 

Michelle Paul

Pediatric Oncology Education Program

Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

 

Here’s a picture of Michelle with “the robot”:

 

2.     ==== AAMC STAT ====, News from the Association of American Medical Colleges, June 2, 2008 edition. 

  == AAMC launches new debt management program

  == Nominations sought for resident community service award

  == Women in Medicine program seeks award nominations, poster submissions

  == NIH awards next round of clinical, translational research grants

  == On the move

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

AAMC launches new debt management program

 

The AAMC has launched a new debt management initiative called FIRST for

Medical Education. FIRST offers a full range of financial information,

resources, services, and tools for applicants, medical school students,

residents, advisors, and financial aid officers (FAOs). The program,

developed with input from the AAMC Group on Student Affairs Committee on

Student Financial Assistance and the Organization of Student Representatives,

aims to help medical school students expand their financial literacy, make

smart decisions about student loans, and manage their student debt wisely.

The FIRST program offers a Web site with a number of resources including:

"First Facts," short, informational sheets on a variety of financial aid

related topics; an FAO Lender Assessment Tool for financial aid

administrators to sort survey data based on loan industry-related criteria in

order to compare various loan programs; and a new Economic Hardship Deferment

Calculator for medical students and residents to estimate eligibility for

deferment. Future phases of FIRST will include streaming video, podcasts, a

comprehensive debt management curriculum and additional Web-based tools.

 

Information: Go to http://www.aamc.org/programs/first/

 

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Nominations sought for resident community service award

 

The AAMC Organization of Resident Representatives (ORR) is seeking

nominations for the 2008 Resident Community Service Recognition Award. This

annual award is given to a resident physician who has demonstrated a

commitment to community service above and beyond the rigors of residency

training to serve the needs of the community. Residents enrolled at any

AAMC-member institution are eligible for nomination. The award will be

presented at the association's annual meeting on Nov. 1. The award includes a

$1,000 contribution to the recipient's non-profit charity of choice.

Nominations are due June 30.

 

Information: http://www.aamc.org/members/orr/communitysvcaward.htm

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Women in Medicine program seeks award nominations, poster submissions

 

The AAMC Women in Medicine program is seeking nominations for the 2008 Women

in Medicine Leadership Award. The award recognizes individual and

organizational contributions to advancing women leaders in academic medicine.

Any member of the academic medicine community may nominate one individual or

organization for the award, which will be presented during the association's

annual meeting in San Antonio this fall. Nominations are due June 6.

 

Information: Go to http://www.aamc.org/members/wim/award.htm

 

The Women in Medicine program is also soliciting submissions of abstracts and

posters to be presented at the AAMC annual meeting. AAMC Women Liaison

Officers, faculty affairs professionals, directors of diversity programs,

leaders of professional societies, and other leaders in academic medicine are

encouraged to submit abstracts. Submissions are due June 6.

 

Information: Go to http://www.aamc.org/members/wim/08callforposters.pdf

 

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NIH awards next round of clinical, translational research grants

 

Fourteen research institutions have been accepted into the National

Institutes of Health's (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)

consortium. Together these institutions will receive $533 million over five

years as they work to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to

become patient treatments and to engage communities in clinical research

efforts. The 2008 awardees are: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of

Yeshiva University; Boston University; Harvard University; Indiana University

School of Medicine; Northwestern University; Ohio State University; Scripps

Research Institute; Stanford University; Tufts University; University of

Alabama at Birmingham; University of Colorado Denver; University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Texas Health Science Center at San

Antonio; and University of Utah. These recipients will join the 24

institutional members of the consortium.

 

Information: Go to http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/ctsa2008

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

On the move

 

Paul Rothman, M.D., has been named dean of the University of Iowa Roy J. and

Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, effective immediately. He has served

as head and professor of internal medicine at the UI Carver College of

Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics since 2004. He succeeds Jean Robillard,

M.D., who is stepping down from the deanship to focus on serving as UI vice

president for medical affairs.

 

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., will step down as director of the NIH's

National Human Genome Research Institute, effective Aug. 1. He has served in

this position since 1993, and now intends to explore writing projects and

other professional opportunities. Dr. Collins is credited for leading the

Human Genome Project, a public effort to sequence the human genome.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Academic Medicine Online

 

Biomedical research has unlimited potential to advance the science and

practice of medicine, but how do we best teach tomorrow's investigators to

identify and address the ethical, legal, and social implications of their

research? In two commentaries, Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the

department of bioethics at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical

Center, and Judith A. Salerno, M.D., executive director of the Institute of

Medicine, examine the issue of bioethics education in the June issue of

Academic Medicine.

www.academicmedicine.org

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

3.  Received this week (mostly from the recent biennial NAAHP convention in Chicago)

University of AlabamaBirmingham

·        DVD – The Art of Medicine, The Power of Science, describing the Medical Scientist Training Program at UAB.

Washington University in St. Louis

·        Viewbook 2008-09

Mercer UniversityGeorgia

·        Profile 2007-2008

·        College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Viewbook

 

4.  For those of you applying to health-related graduate programs and have NOT filled out an Evaluation Request Form, PLEASE DO SO NOW.

Please print the following form, fill it out, sign it, and then send it back to me:

---------------------"

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY

PREPROFESSIONAL EVALUATION REQUEST FORM

 

            In order to facilitate the collection of evaluations written on your behalf, please fill in the top half of this evaluation request form.

 

YOUR NAME________________________           UNIVERSITY ID #  899-                                

 

STREET ADDRESS___________________________      MAJOR _____________________

 

CITY, STATE  ZIP CODE                                            .

 

E-mail address                                                 

 

Telephone number where you can be reached                                                  

 

PROGRAM TO WHICH YOU ARE APPLYING__________________ 

 

Applicants to medical school:  AMCAS # _____________

 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and its amendments guarantee students access to their educational records.  Students, however, are entitled to waive their right of access concerning recommendations.  The following signed statement is the applicant's wish regarding this recommendation.  (Please check one box.)

           

            o I waive my right to inspect the contents of this recommendation.

            o I do not waive my right to inspect the contents of this recommendation.

 

Signature                                                                                  Date                                                    

 

Please write down the names (and addresses if they are off-campus) of people to whom you want evaluations sent.  (Do not fill in the "Date sent" or "date received" blanks.)

 

Name, e-mail address (& physical address if addressee is either off-campus or does not have e-mail)

Date Sent

Date Received

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please indicate the names and addresses of programs to which you plan on applying.  (Do not fill in the spaces in the grey columns.  Add more sheets if necessary.)

 

Name of program, Name of contact person, physical address of program.

Date Sent

If applying to medical school, have you received a secondary application?

Date ac-knowledged

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5.  Marginalia:  Weekly food consumption in selected countries

Very Interesting …

 What is eaten in one week!

 This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting e-mails I've ever received. Take a good look at the family size and diet of each country, the availability & cost of what is eaten in one week.

Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

 

 





United States : The Revis family of  North Carolina  (Sure hope most  American
families eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less junk food than this family.) 
Food expenditure for one week $341.98

 

 


Italy : The Manzo family of  Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11  

 

 

 

 

Mexico: The Casales family of  Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09  

 


Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27  

 


Egypt : The Ahmed family of  Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

 


Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55  

 


Bhutan : The Namgay family of  Shingkhey   Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03  

 
Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23  

 

 

 

Dr. Stan Eisen, Director
Preprofessional Health Programs
Biology Department
Christian Brothers University

650 East Parkway South
Memphis, TN 38104

E-mail: seisen@cbu.edu
http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/
Caduceus Newsletter Archives: http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/Caduceus.html