Tom Scalea and Jerry Strauss

Every year, the medical school honors two alumni for their outstanding achievements during Reunion Weekend. This year, Dean of Medicine Jerry Strauss, M.D., Ph.D., bestowed the awards at the Grand Opening Gala of the McGlothlin Medical Education Center.

“As we mark the 175th anniversary of the founding of our medical school, the support of our alumni has never been more important,” Strauss said, noting how fitting it was to celebrate the school’s alumni in this milestone year. “ It is our alumni and their accomplishments, after all, that have advanced the School of Medicine’s reputation.”

David Whitehead and Jerry Strauss

This year, the Class of 1978′s Tom Scalea was named Outstanding Medical Alumnus. For more than 15 years, he has served as physician-in-chief of the University of Maryland’s R Adams Crowley Shock Trauma Center. In this role, he oversees the nation’s first and only integrated trauma hospital. In addition to working with the Air Force to provide essential care to wounded troops, Dr. Scalea has also traveled internationally with his team to Haiti and China to offer help in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes.

The Caravati Service Award went to the Class of 1973′s David Whitehead who also completed his family medicine training on the MCV Campus. He went on to establish his own family practice office with a fellow 1973 classmate and served the community of Harrisonburg for 30 years. After retirement, Dr. Whitehead returned to Richmond and has contributed to the success of the medical school through his work on the Admissions Committee, as an assistant clinical professor of family medicine and as a member of the Continuing Medical Education Committee.

Kurt F. Hauser, Ph.D.

Kurt F. Hauser, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and toxicology, accepted the Wybran Award from the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology at its 19th Scientific Conference on April 6 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Wybran Award is the highest honor bestowed by SNIP in recognition of the very best scientific contributions that have resulted in the preservation and expansion of the field of neuroimmune pharmacology.

The award carries the name of Joe Wybran, a renowned scientist whose work integrated the fields of neuroimmunology, drugs of abuse and immunity to infection. He was killed in 1989, and afterward the award was created to memorialize his scientific prestige in the field and serve as a remembrance of his contributions that underpin SNIP.

In an announcement to the medical school’s faculty, Dean of Medicine Jerry Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., commended Bush for her work as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s CME, a position she has held since 2008, during which she also served as Chair of Legal Medicine. Prior to her appointment as CME, Bush served for more than 18 years as Deputy Chief ME in the Tidewater District.

“I know that she felt it was her duty to speak on behalf of victims of crime,” Strauss said. “It was a responsibility that she carried with skill, energy and compassion. I am profoundly grateful that she also felt it her duty to support our educational programs. Perhaps that commitment had its start in her own medical training.” Bush earned her medical degree from the VCU School of Medicine in 1984 and stayed on the MCV Campus to complete residency training in pathology and legal medicine. She also earned a master’s degree in biology from the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences.

Her tenure as chair and chief will end immediately, as she has pressing family responsibilities that require her attention. Bush will transition to the role of an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner for the Central District Office until her planned retirement in 2014. William Gormley, M.D., Ph.D., will take over as Acting Chief Medical Examiner while the Virginia Department of Health recruits Bush’s successor.

“I am grateful that Dr. Bush has agreed to stay on with the medical school in an adjunct faculty position and has offered her consultation and support to our school in her new role as Assistant Chief ME,” Strauss said. “Please join me in thanking her for her service to our school and to the Commonwealth and in wishing her well.”

Bird watching is such a popular pastime around the world that an entire website — www.xeno-canto.org — is dedicated to sharing the recordings of bird songs and sounds captured by casual birders and dedicated ornithologists alike.

Darrell L. Peterson, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was the first to record and share the sound of the elusive Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii). Uploaded to Xeno-Canto in 2002, his file includes a sonogram as well as a sound recording of this nearly undetected North American bird.

“They’re sneaky,” says Peterson, who has been a bird enthusiast since 1966. “The Great Dismal Swamp is one of the greatest places in the United States to see one and I’ve taken people from all over the world there.”

Peterson credits his youth in Lexington, Mo., for his interest in biology. “I spent my formative years with my grandparents on a farm. Outdoor stuff is what you did back then — you played outside.”

As a biologist, he considers himself a “lab person” but he says an interest in fieldwork has always been with him. “I’ve always liked biology in general, but to tell you the truth, what triggered the bird thing, I guess, is that they’re relatively easy to see unlike fish where you have to go underwater. Reptiles are kind of sneaky, but everybody can see birds.”

In October 2012 Peterson was recognized with VCU’s Billy R. Martin Award for Innovation, for inventing a test for equine infectious anemia (EIA) that delivers rapid results for the contagious disease, which is caused by a virus similar to HIV in humans and for which there is no treatment.

“Receiving an award named after Billy Martin, and thereby being in some way compared to him, is a great compliment,” Peterson said. Martin, who died in 2008, was the former chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the School of Medicine.

Peterson’s research interests are in the structure and function of viral proteins with current major emphasis on proteins of the hepatitis B virus, several retroviruses and influenza viruses.

Combining personal interests with professional work may be a dream for some, but for Peterson, the two are a natural fit.

“I work on hepatitis viruses and we’re using some bird proteins for vaccine development,” he said. “Sera from birds is used to screen for hepatitis viruses. Say, if I wanted to go to Iceland, I could screen samples from colonial nesting birds or eggs from their colonies and possibly find some useful bird hepatitis viruses for our research.”

Peterson’s travels have taken him all over the world to capture the songs of birds. “I started recording them in the early 1970s. Back then I used a reel-to-reel tape recorder with a parabolic microphone shaped like a satellite dish, then I went to minidisk recordings.”

Today’s digital devices make it easy to move around, edit and store large amounts of recordings, he explains. And with 450 species of birds in Virginia alone, Peterson needs plenty of space for his recordings and notes.

Peterson draws a clear correlation between his hobby and profession. “Research is about identifying things and collecting data,” he says. The same can be said of traveling the world in search of a sneaky songbird.

Priscilla Mpasi

The Class of 2014’s Priscilla Mpasi has been elected as national vice-president of the Student National Medical Association. She will serve a one-year term during the 2013-2014 academic year.

The SNMA held the national election for its officers at the annual conference in Louisville, Ky., on March 31. Priscilla was one of three candidates vying for the post of national VP.

“After three long, grueling days of speeches and Q&A sessions, my name was called,” Priscilla said. “I actually won. I am still in shock and I have not had much time to process as I had to come right back to my surgery rotation and focus on being a medical student. I am so excited and honored to represent our institution in this way on the national level.”

The SNMA is the oldest and largest student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of color. Priscilla has served as president of the VCU School of Medicine’s chapter during the 2011‐2012 school year and as a regional officer with the national organization this year.

Priscilla will work alongside the national president to execute the national agenda in its commemoration year entitled “50 years: Diversifying the Face of Medicine.” As vice-president she will serve as an executive member on the board of directors, directly oversee all the national committee programs and initiatives and attend regional and national conferences to speak out on health disparities and the importance of equality in healthcare access.

Priscilla is the first nationally elected executive officer in SNMA from VCU. In 2003-2004, two faculty members were appointed national committee officers: Sala S. Webb, M.D., assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry, and Veronica Ayala-Sims, M.D., assistant professor of infectious diseases.

Abrahm Behnam, Class of 2016

Before entering medical school, Abrahm was a biomechanics research engineer at the National Institutes of Health. “I spent off-hours shadowing the medical director of my section during her clinical rounds.”

His director, Katharine Alter, M.D., is a pioneer in using ultrasound to guide chemodenervation procedures. Chemodenervation uses neurotoxins to paralyze a muscle or group of muscles to treat patients with hypertonia, movement disorders and a variety of other conditions. Alter had a medical teaching atlas underway to introduce the procedures for clinicians, and Abrahm offered his help in capturing basic patient photography and videos to illustrate the concepts.

As Abrahm began the project, he learned that three types of images would be featured: clinical, anatomical and ultrasound. All related to one another but demonstrated different perspectives on the procedure. Abrahm suggested it would be helpful to combine the images to highlight the anatomical obstacles involved with deep injections. The authors welcomed his suggestion and devoted a 70-page chapter to his illustrations.

Abrahm’s illustration of an ultrasound-guided injection in the neck is featured on the text’s cover.
Used with permission: Alter, K.A., Hallett, M., Karp, B., & Lungu, C. (2012). Ultrasound-Guided Chemodenervation and Neurolysis: Reference Manual and DVD Procedure Atlas. New York, NY: Demos Medical Publishing, LLC.

“The combined image includes a clinical photograph with anatomical illustrations superimposed specific to the photograph’s perspective and to bony landmarks of the patient’s anatomy,” Abrahm explains. “Each photo-illustration has a series of anatomical illustration layers that can be peeled off layer-by-layer to view deeper anatomy.”

Abrahm’s chapter, Muscle Layers and Injection Points Atlas, provides detailed pictorial reference of eight areas of the body from the side of the face to the lower leg. The illustrations guide clinicians in planning and performing chemodenervation procedures by showing the relationship and orientation of individual muscles and surface anatomy to help identify optimal injection sites. Clinicians can interactively scroll through muscle layers using an accompanying DVD featuring 68 animations that the editors have described as a stunning visual roadmap.

“When planning chemodenervation procedures many practitioners find visualizing complex 3 D musculoskeletal anatomy challenging,” said Alter, who is medical director of the Functional and Applied Biomechanics Section of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the NIH. “Abrahm’s images provide clinicians with a user friendly pictorial reference guide of the relevant musculoskeletal anatomy. It reveals details about the orientation of and overlapping nature of target muscles. In the short time that the text has been in print we have received a lot of positive feedback about this section of the atlas from clinicians.”
As a self-taught graphic designer, Abrahm’s previous experience was limited to creating logos and t-shirts for various clubs and societies. He now hopes to keep his newly discovered skill alive by working on more medical illustration projects.

Enrique Gerszten, M.D., FCAP

The newly published Atlas of Paleopathology: Autopsies in South American Mummies is a synthesis of more than 40 years of excavating and examining mummified remains. The work was initially launched by the National Geographic Society and later assumed by the Department of Pathology.

“One of the most significant findings in our work was that tuberculosis, long believed to have originated in Europe, was prevalent long before the arrival of the Spanish,” said Enrique Gerszten, M.D., FCAP, emeritus professor of pathology. “We were able to document the tubercle bacilli in both soft tissues and bones.”

Along with Dr. Gerszten, the atlas’ other authors include:

• Marvin J. Allison, Ph.D., emeritus professor of pathology
• Brianna E. Maguire, B.S., graduate student in biological anthropology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces
• Peter C. Gerszten, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, professor of, neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Marvin J. Allison, Ph.D.

The Atlas was published by the College of American Pathologists, a medical society with more than 18,000 physician members who specialize in diagnosing disease. The CAP is the world’s largest organization composed exclusively of board-certified pathologists. Paleopathology combines knowledge from the fields of archeology, anthropology, and pathology, and the atlas’ numerous images represent those fields’ investigation of pre-Colombian civilizations from the regions that are today Peru and Chile. It covers topics including:

• Mummies and artifacts
• Diseases of the skeletal system
• Diseases of soft tissues
• Tumors
• Intentional cranial deformation
• Paleoneuropathology and trephination

For more information and to order a copy of the Atlas of Paleopathology, visit www.cap.org/cappress.

Tony Kuzel, M.D.

As Tony Kuzel, M.D., was finishing his family medicine residency in Chicago, Ill., he started looking for the right medical center where he could begin his career. He heard exciting developments were happening on the MCV Campus and wrote Fitzhugh Mayo, M.D., chairman of what was known then as the Department of Family Practice, to ask about job opportunities. Mayo saw something special in Kuzel’s letter and encouraged him to apply for a faculty position at the department’s site in Fairfax.

The position was a good fit, and Kuzel joined the faculty. In his nearly 30-year career at the School of Medicine, Kuzel has appreciated the groundwork Mayo laid for family medicine and the elder physician’s guidance.

Fitzhugh Mayo, M.D.

“I learned what incredible accomplishments Dr. Mayo had as the first chair of family medicine,” Kuzel said. “He was a part of the group that told the Virginia General Assembly that we had a crisis in primary care. He was a pioneer for reestablishing the discipline.”

Throughout the time the two physicians spent together on the MCV Campus, Kuzel continued to learn from Mayo. In 2003, Kuzel followed in his mentor’s footsteps and was named chairman of what is now the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health.

As the School of Medicine prepared to open the new McGlothlin Medical Education Center, a state-of-the-art training facility for medical students and residents, Kuzel reflected on how Mayo’s contributions have helped the school and health care in Virginia progress. Inspired by these accomplishments, he made a $10,000 gift to the medical school’s campaign in honor of Mayo. Typically donors at this level are recognized with their name inscribed on the building’s donor wall, but Kuzel elected to have Mayo’s name appear instead of his own.

“It is clear that this medical school understands the need for primary care is especially important,” Kuzel said. “Since he was so committed to ensuring that Virginians would have access to quality primary care, it is only fitting to have his name on the wall.”

John E. Nestler, M.D.

The Virginia Chapter of the American College of Physicians honored John E. Nestler, M.D., with the 2013 Laureate Award at its Annual Meeting and Clinical Update held March 1-2 in Richmond. Nestler, who is the William Branch Porter Professor of Medicine and chair of Department of Internal Medicine, was honored for his distinguished service to the community and chapter.

He is a distinguished scholar and internationally recognized expert on the effects of insulin on polycystic ovary syndrome, a common condition related to diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. In the 1980s, Nestler was among the first scientists in the world to suggest that insulin was an important reproductive hormone.

His pioneering work to induce ovulation through the use of such insulin-sensitizing drugs as metformin has led to the common use of metformin to treat infertility in women with PCOS, as well as to address their high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In a 1998 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Nestler’s research team was the first to publish findings of the combination therapy of metformin and clomiphene to promote ovulation.

He is the principal investigator on two National Institutes of Health grants, and his honors include the school of medicine’s Outstanding Research Achievement Award and Distinguished Mentor in Clinical Sciences Award. He has authored more than 100 original publications and edited three books.

Nestler, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, is a former chief medical resident at MCV Hospitals. He has served as chair of the department since 2009. He was vice chair from 2003 to 2009 and was chair of the Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism from 1997 to 2009.

Louis J. De Felice, Ph.D.

Louis J. De Felice, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, will be honored by the Biophysical Society with its Emily M. Gray Award on Feb. 4 in Philadelphia at the Society’s annual meeting.

The Emily M. Gray Award is given for significant contributions to education in biophysics. De Felice was selected for his enduring and multifaceted efforts to encourage the development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics through outreach and education. As this year’s awardee, he will present the keynote Emily M. Gray Lecture at the Student Symposium at the annual meeting.

De Felice, who also serves as assistant dean of graduate education in the medical school, was honored in 2012 by the School of Medicine with its Distinguished Mentor Award. Throughout his career, De Felice has been dedicated to advocating for students who come from disadvantaged or non-traditional backgrounds, and encouraging students who are uncertain they can achieve their dreams.

Krasnodara Cameron was a mother of two and several years out of the classroom when she first met De Felice in 2009. She was interested in pursuing a research career but unsure of her ability to re-enter school and balance her home life. She enrolled as a Ph.D. student and joined De Felice’s lab in 2011, and can now report that “because of his encouragement and amazing mentorship, I am already a co-author to a manuscript published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, a first author to a manuscript submitted for publication and I have presented our work in six regional and national meetings.”

Arun Sanyal, M.D.

Arun Sanyal, M.D., professor and chair of the Division of Gastroenterology, will receive the Ranbaxy Research Award in the field of Medical Sciences – Clinical Research at a ceremony in New Delhi on Feb. 4.

Sanyal, who holds the Charles M. Caravati Distinguished Professorship in Gastroenterology, is well-known nationally and internationally for his highly productive and well-funded work in non-alcoholic liver disease. S. K. Sarin, M.D., director of New Delhi’s Indian Liver and Biliary Institute nominated Sanyal for the award to recognize Sanyal’s progress in understanding the disease’s pathogenesis and treatment.

Sanyal is also a highly accomplished mentor and teacher, currently guiding the careers of several junior faculty members as well as serving as principal investigator on an NIH-funded training grant in digestive disorders at the medical school.

Ranbaxy Science Foundation is funded by Ranbaxy Corporation and works with the Indian government to promote research and science in India. This year’s four honorees will be presented with their awards by the vice president of India.

Charles (Chuck) V. Clevenger, M.D., Ph.D.

Charles (Chuck) V. Clevenger, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the incoming Chair of the Department of Pathology. Jerome F. Strauss, III, M.D., Ph.D., announced the appointment, noting that Clevenger will assume the position on July 1, 2013, and will begin his transition in a series of visits over the coming months.

Clevenger is currently the Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research in the Department of Pathology at Northwestern University, where he leads a vigorous NIH-funded translational research program on breast cancer. He is credited with major discoveries on the role of prolactin signaling in mammary cancers and has brought forward innovative therapeutic approaches based on his research. At Northwestern, he has served as co-leader of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Research Laboratories and the leader of the Women’s Cancer Research Program.

Clevenger currently serves as a member of the editorial board for Breast Disease and formerly served on the editorial boards of Endocrinology and the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. He has received awards from the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Pfizer Outstanding Investigator Award from the American Society for Investigative Pathology among others.

David S. Wilkinson, M.D., Ph.D.

Clevenger earned his B.S., M.D. and Ph.D. in tumor cell biology program from Northwestern. He completed his residency training in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as well as fellowship training in cytopathology.

Since 1993, David S. Wilkinson, M.D., Ph.D., has led the Department of Pathology as professor and chair. While research indicates the average tenure of a U.S. Department Chair is about 8 years, Wilkinson has served a remarkable 20 years. Under his leadership, the department has been reputed for its clinical excellence and pioneering work in molecular diagnostics.

Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D.

Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., delivered the annual Mark Keller Honorary Lecture at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md. in November.

Kendler is the Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry in addition to serving as a professor of human genetics and the director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. A top psychiatric geneticist, he is one of the most internationally cited researchers in behavioral medicine.

Psychiatric News’ Dec. 21 edition covered Kendler’s presentation, in which he discussed susceptibility to alcohol use disorders. The newspaper reported Kendler’s hypothesis that “The seven DSM-IV criteria for alcohol use disorders reflect not a single set of risk genes but actually three distinct sets of genes.”

The VIPBG’s studies of twins have helped to understand the interplay of genes and the environment on alcoholism and other disorders. His work has been repeatedly honored, including the Jean Delay Prize by the World Psychiatric Association and as one of Virginia’s Outstanding Scientists in 2012.

Read Psychiatric News’ coverage of Kendler’s talk.

Louis J. De Felice, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, recently offered perspective on the drug in a news article published in the Dec. 19 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

De Felice is one of a trio of MCV Campus researchers studying the combined activity of the two main active ingredients in bath salts: Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and mephedrone. He told the JAMA interviewer: “MDPV is more potent than cocaine almost by a factor of 10, and when it binds to dopamine transporters, it doesn’t let go when you take the drug away, which is unlike cocaine.”

De Felice is pursuing NIH-funded research on bath salts in collaborations with Pharmacology and Toxicology’s Steve Negus, Ph.D., and Richard A. Glennon, Ph.D., chairman of the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Read the JAMA article: A Trip on “Bath Salts” Is Cheaper Than Meth or Cocaine But Much More Dangerous.

Christopher Woleben, M.D.

Christopher Woleben, M.D., is accustomed to fourth-year students knocking on his door with questions about how to spend the first few months of the fourth-year. Should they take off time to study for the national boards? Or perhaps devote the time to an away elective at the medical center where they’d like to train in their favorite specialty?

In a departure from the normal one-on-one conversations, he recently answered those questions for the benefit of the more than 80,000 medical students across the United States.

The AAMC called on his expertise for the winter 2013 edition of its Choices newsletter. The newsletter is distributed electronically to students nationwide as part of the AAMC’s Careers in Medicine program. His answers appear in an Ask the Advisor column, Planning Your Fourth Year.

A graduate of the medical school’s Class of 1997, Woleben is now associate dean for student affairs at his alma mater. He explains that students need to plan wisely to maximize their chances of successfully matching to the training program of their choice. One part of that is “prioritizing the limited time available at the beginning of the fourth year,” he says.

Woleben has created the medical school’s own four-year advising program, called Careers in Medicine at VCU, which helps medical students select their paths in medicine and develop career planning skills that will assist in them in residency and beyond.

“According to surveys of our students, approximately 65 percent change their minds during medical school about the medical specialty they want to pursue,” Woleben says. “The goal of Careers in Medicine is to help students find their fit with the specialty that best suits them. We have done very well with our residency match statistics over the years, and I would like to think the program has made some impact on the success of our students.”

This is the fifth year the program has been in place. Over that time, Woleben has collaborated with the AAMC’s Jeanette Calli, who directs the AAMC’s national Careers in Medicine program, as well as Anita Navarro, a research analyst with the AAMC program. As a result of their past work, they asked Woleben if he would be interested in writing the column for the winter edition.

Ed Ray, M.D., founding chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease

When Alpha A. “Berry” Fowler, M.D., arrived on the MCV Campus in the mid-70s, Ed Ray, M.D., was just stepping down from his more than 20-year tenure as the founding chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease. Ray, a specialist in tuberculosis, stayed on faculty and became a mentor to the younger Fowler, who had just earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia and had come up to Richmond for internal medicine residency training.

Today, Fowler sits in the Pulmonary Disease Division’s chairman seat that Ray once held. “He was the first pulmonologist here and was a legend,” says Fowler. “He was an inspiration and one of the reasons I chose pulmonary medicine as a specialty.”

Ray was one of MCV’s first bronchoscopists. He was known across Virginia for his use of the Jackson rigid bronchoscope to examine patients’ airways for foreign objects, bleeding or inflammation. Over the years, Ray assembled an unusual collection of objects retrieved from patients’ airways, including a peach pit and a compass, coins from the late 1940s, buttons and even a belt buckle.

The use of the rigid bronchoscope which Ray pioneered at MCV fell out of favor for the most part in the 1960s when the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope was introduced into clinical medicine.

“What is old is new again,” says Fowler. “Dr. Ed Ray was one of the first physicians in Virginia to use the rigid endoscope. However, today, decades later, the rigid bronchoscope is being used once again. Pulmonologists at MCV employ rigid bronchoscopy, performing at least two or three procedures each week.” Importantly, if Ray were practicing today, he’d be referred to as an interventional pulmonologist, based upon the tools he used and the techniques he pioneered at MCV.

During a tour of the MCV Campus, the Class of 1976′s Gaylord Ray and Wes Shepherd, M.D., H’03, director of interventional pulmonology, look through the collection of objects Ray’s father had retrieved from patients’ airways during his tenure as the founding chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease.

Ray’s contributions were recently remembered when his son, Gaylord Ray, of the School of Medicine’s Class of 1976, returned to the MCV Campus. He met with Fowler and other Pulmonary Division faculty when he toured the division facilities, the operating room, the Medical Respiratory Intensive Care Unit and the simulation center where medical students and pulmonary trainees gain procedural experience. He says he was impressed with what he saw of the strides the division has made under Fowler’s direction. “The department is in good hands, and my father would be quite proud to see the training, but, in particular, the quality of the division.”

He learned from the director of interventional pulmonology, Ray “Wes” Shepherd, M.D., H’03, that the division’s interventional pulmonology program marked a milestone when it accepted its first fellow in July 2011. There are only 12 interventional pulmonology fellowship programs in the United States, each taking just one fellow per year. And, just this past year, the Interventional Pulmonology Service reached another milestone, performing over 1,000 interventional procedures.

Over lunch, Gaylord Ray shared stories about his father with division faculty members and with his son Chris, who was also on hand. Chris followed in his family’s footsteps onto the MCV Campus and is now president of the medical school’s Class of 2015. “It was important to me to have my son Chris attend the lunch. I see many of my father’s qualities coming out in him, particularly the compassion and thoughtfulness.”

Gaylord W. Ray, M’76, H’79, with his son Christopher C. Ray, president of the medical school’s Class of 2015. They are holding the 1897 diploma awarded to Gaylord’s grandfather, A. Chambers Ray, by the University College of Medicine, a predecessor to MCV. Gaylord Ray’s late father, Ed Ray, is also connected to the medical school: he completed his housestaff training in 1944 and went on to be named the founding chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease.

Now retired from his practice as an emergency medicine physician, Gaylord Ray has chosen to honor his father’s contributions by establishing an endowed fund that will benefit the Interventional Pulmonology Service. Fowler hopes former trainees of Ed Ray may increase the fund through their own gifts honoring the influence he had on their careers.

“The Interventional Pulmonology Service greatly appreciates Dr. Ray’s desire to honor the legacy of his father,” said Shepherd. “I hope that the attributes that Dr. Ray admired in his father live on today in our interventional pulmonology program.”

Shepherd also appreciated hearing Ray’s stories from the 1950s and 60s. “I have already told several of my rigid bronchoscopy partners about Dr. Gaylord Ray’s childhood experience assisting our first pulmonary chair!”

The Class of 2015′s Audrey Le interviewing a survey participant in La Hicaca, Honduras.

At the local government’s request, both students researched some of the region’s key health issues.

Le chose to study indoor air pollution, and she looked into many potential causes, including fuels used for cooking, home construction and stove placement. She discovered that where families place their stoves can greatly affect their home’s air quality.

“We will be taking Audrey’s results back to the ministry of health and community leaders when we meet with them in January 2013,” said Michael Stevens, M.D., M.P.H., who, along with Gonzalo Bearman, M.D., M.P.H., was one of the students’ primary research mentors. “Her findings have implications for how stoves are positioned within kitchens.”

Arquiette set out to determine if the water filters distributed by HOMBRE are successful in eradicating bacteria and preventing diarrheal illness. Although the water samples Arquiette collected from the filtered sources were not bacteria free, she found limited occurrences of E. coli, a bacteria commonly linked to a host of illnesses. She also determined that the individuals who used filters reported fewer cases of diarrhea. The findings showed that HOMBRE’s water filter program is a success and provided support for a continuation of the program.

The Class of 2015′s Jaclyn Arquiette with a poster detailing her water filter research.

“Throughout this experience, I feel that I have really learned the unparalleled role public health plays in a community’s collective health,” Arquiette said of the experience. “Even the most basic measures, such as providing clean drinking water, play an astronomical role in the quality of one’s health.”

Because of the impact of their work, both students were asked to share their findings at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Conference in Atlanta, Ga. Le and Arquiette attended the November conference to present their abstracts.

“It was truly inspiring to be part of a gathering of students and academics from all corners of the world who shared a passion similar to my own for global medicine,” Le said. “It was equally interesting to be able to learn about some of the many other ongoing research projects within the field.”

Read more about the school’s ongoing relief work to Honduras.

Curtis Sessler, M.D.

Curtis Sessler, M.D., was elected as president-designate of the American College of Chest Physicians at CHEST 2012, the annual meeting of the College, held Oct. 20 – 25, in Atlanta. He will begin his one-year presidency in October 2014. The ACCP represents more than 18,500 members who treat chest diseases in the United States and more than 100 countries throughout the world.

Sessler completed his fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine on the MCV Campus in 1985 and holds the Orhan Muren Professorship of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He serves as director of the Center for Adult Critical Care as well as medical director of Critical Care and the Medical Respiratory ICU.

Sessler has been an active fellow of the ACCP for 24 years, serving as a leader of the organization and on the editorial board of its journal, CHEST.

Read more about Sessler’s accomplishments.

He could hardly believe it when he got the news. When the call came letting Akeem George know that he was chosen to receive the L.D. Britt Scholarship, George was thrilled and filled with pride.

First-year student Akeem George at the medical school’s White Coat Ceremony

“My ears were ringing over the phone,” said George, a Virginia Beach native and first-year School of Medicine student. “Dr. Britt actually called me to tell me I was chosen. I called my family right after, because they have sacrificed so much to get me here.”

George was selected as the Class of 2016′s recipient of the Britt award, a $10,000 scholarship given to a minority student from Hampton Roads that is renewable for each of the four years of medical school. Many of the past Britt Scholars have been students at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and George is the first student from the MCV Campus to be chosen by the scholarship committee.

Britt told George that he was selected because of his academic success and remarkable commitment to community service. As an undergraduate student at VCU, George was a leader in his service fraternity. He also volunteered at Richmond’s Fan Free Clinic and in his hometown at the Beach Health Clinic. Despite juggling the heavy course load of a first-year medical student, George now spends hours each week mentoring a 12-year-old boy in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond.

The Britt scholarship was particularly meaningful to George because of his respect for L.D. Britt, M.D., the scholarship’s namesake, and the award’s connection to his hometown.

“I am from the Hampton Roads community, and Dr. Britt is a pillar in our community. He is a role model for young men like me,” George said. “I thought it was cool that he is a nationally renowned surgeon and could practice anywhere, but he chose to come back to Hampton Roads and serve the community that supported him.”

George was honored by the scholarship, as well, because he said he views it as Hampton Roads’ investment in his future. It’s an investment he doesn’t take lightly. Inspired by Britt’s example and motivated by his desire to serve, George plans to return to Virginia Beach to practice medicine. He hopes to be a surgeon who makes a difference for generations to come.

“The scholarship will greatly ease the trouble and distraction of growing debt so that I can focus on my studies, my family and my community. It is a generous gift, and I am reminded that it is an investment in my future. I know that it is my role in the future to give back to my community as a physician.”

Bruce Spiess, M.D.

School of Medicine professor Bruce Spiess, M.D., has received national attention for his testimony in the recently released documentary, “Primum Non Nocere: First – Do No Harm.” The film, which recommends significant reductions in the number of blood transfusions performed, was featured in the New York Times the week it premiered.

Although transfusions were widely adopted starting with World War I, the film suggests that sufficient research was never conducted to verify the safety of the process. Spiess and the other researchers contend that blood has a short shelf life, and can spread diseases and the donor’s DNA to the recipient, making transfusions more dangerous to patients than previously realized. To combat the threat to patient health, the film recommends decreasing transfusions and encouraging the technique of the bloodless surgery.

An international leader in transfusions and operating room safety, Spiess is the director of the VCU Blood Utilization Committee and VCU’s Practicing Excellence in Transfusion Therapies.

Louis J. De Felice, Ph.D.

As legislators work to ban its active ingredients, the designer drug with the misleading name remains easy to acquire. Though poison control centers are seeing an uptick in reports of the strange behaviors characterized by the use of the drug known as bath salts, not much has been understood about its effect on the brain.

With the support of a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institute for Drug Abuse, MCV Campus researchers are studying the synthetic drug. Physiology and Biophysics’ Louis J. De Felice, Ph.D., Pharmacology and Toxicology’s Steve Negus, Ph.D., and Richard A. Glennon, Ph.D., chairman of the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry, have teamed up to combine their expertise.

Steve Negus, Ph.D.

The two main active ingredients in bath salts are Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and mephedrone. The researchers presented findings at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, and submitted for peer review, that show mephedrone likely acts like methamphetamine by releasing dopamine into the brain while the MDPV acts like cocaine by preventing dopamine from being absorbed back into the brain.

“It’s like a double punch,” says De Felice. “It’s as if a person were to take methamphetamine and cocaine at the same time but staggered for maximum effect.”

As the behavior of those who take the drug makes headlines, the researchers’ work has caught the attention of national media outlets. The researchers have been featured on programs including:

Richard A. Glennon, Ph.D.

• PBS News Hour interview and story
• ABC World News with Diane Sawyer
• Voice of America
• The Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Virginian-Pilot
• Medical Xpress

With the Canadian government’s recent ban on MDPV, the work also attracted notice from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. De Felice spent a June afternoon on back-to-back long-distance phone calls, immersed in more than a dozen live radio interviews with cities stretching from the east coast to the west coast of Canada.

You can learn more about the phenomenon in a written and video On Topic report produced by VCU’s communication office.

Kathryn Shaia

A national conference that typically celebrates the research of residents and fellows selected Kathryn Shaia, a third-year medical student, to present her research findings. Shaia was one of only two medical students invited to speak at the University HealthSystem Consortium Annual Conference. She shared results of her study that showed how transitional care programs can reduce hospital readmissions rates by assigning a nurse practitioner to provide in-home services after discharge.

“Because this session targets residents and fellows, Kathryn’s selection is exceptional,” said Alan Dow, M.D., the School of Medicine’s assistant dean of clinical curriculum, who helped Shaia prepare for the conference.

Shaia was mentored by internal medicine professor Peter Boling, M.D., and initially submitted her research for a poster presentation. But, after reviewing her work, conference organizers asked her to give a more detailed 15-minute oral presentation.

From 2002 to 2009, the VCU Medical Center’s internal medicine service readmission rate was 17.3 percent. At the conference, Shaia shared research showing that a hospital transitional care program dropped the 30-day readmission rate to 7.23 percent for the patients who participated.

“We know that far too many patients are readmitted to the hospital within a month of discharge,” Dow said. “Kathryn’s project showed that having a nurse practitioner provide case management and medical services at a patient’s home could reduce the rate of readmissions to the hospital. Her work suggests this intervention could lead to higher quality care at less cost.”

As Shaia continues her journey to becoming a physician, she is looking to find the field of medicine that suits her best. But, she said, the findings from research projects like this will shape her perspective throughout her career.

“Prior to medical school, I received my M.H.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill, and I have always been interested in looking at healthcare from a systems perspective in addition to an individual patient perspective,” she said. “I am currently undecided as to what type of medicine I will practice, but I know that I will implement quality improvement initiatives in whatever field I choose.”

The national organization of Alpha Omega Alpha recognized School of Medicine student Kate Pearson’s research on Honduran health care in its recent online publication. Pearson, now a third-year medical student, was awarded the 2011 Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship and used the funding to investigate the barriers to providing medical care to different parts of Honduras.

Kate Pearson

Pearson’s research focused on three different Honduran communities. Though they are near each other, one of the communities is suburban, and the other two are rural. All three locations are aided by the Honduras Outreach Medical Brigada Relief Effort (HOMBRE), a yearly medical mission trip organized by first-year School of Medicine students.

After a year of research, Pearson found a heavy burden for the remote communities in trying to access healthcare. Challenges include cost, facility overcrowding, transportation and distance to the clinic. In January 2012, her findings were presented to the local government in Yoro, Honduras.

“I was both excited and nervous to have the findings presented, knowing that it could permanently shape future trip planning,” Pearson said. “I was confident in our findings, though, and felt very empowered that the work has allowed us to tailor the mission to provide care to the most needy communities.”

In addition to sharing the results with the Honduran people, Pearson was first-author on a manuscript of her work published in the International Journal of Family Medicine. She now has completed the research fellowship, but remains focused on finding ways to provide excellent patient care as she pursues her career in medicine.

“The experience has continued to motivate me both in pursuing research and in my medical education. It continues to remind me how valuable a medical education is — and how a small community and a small team of thoughtful health professionals can come together to make powerful change.”

In late August, Pearson was interviewed by the AOA about her fellowship experience. The interview as well as her abstract are online.