A P U B L I CAT I O N O F N O R T H E A S T O H I O M E D I CA L U N I V E R S I T Y • V O L 17.1 S P R I N G 2 016
VOL 17.1 SPRING 2016 Northeast Ohio Medical University is a communitybased, public medical university with a mission to improve the health, economy and quality of life in Northeast Ohio through the medicine, pharmacy and health science interprofessional education of students and practitioners at all levels. The University embraces diversity, equity and inclusion and fosters a working and learning environment that celebrates differences and prepares students for patient-centered, team – and population-based care.
OF WHAT LEGENDS ARE MADE…
I
n the health sciences, we take great ownership of the work needed to bring health and wellness to the public. As academics, researchers and practitioners who are determined to study, teach and research; to improve health; and to prevent and cure disease, we are unified in our pursuit of wellness in which practitioner and patient are aligned. A century ago, the legendary scientist Marie Curie wrote that the ultimate impact of any scientific discovery could be measured by its benefit to humanity. At NEOMED, advancing the health sciences begins with creating pathways to help our youth explore and address the health concerns in their communities. In this issue, 18-year-old Gillian Seibel explores a traditionally male-dominated field in “Women in Bioscience?” while the “Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Man” demonstrates the impact of a researcher whose curiosity was planted on his family’s farm. An awakened awareness of the responsibility to heal the whole patient is the subject of the essay “The Unexpected in Front of Us,” a riveting recollection of life as a third-year medical student as told by NEOMED alumna Nina Vasavada, M.D. These personal stories reflect all things NEOMED: commitment to community and serving the underserved; emphasis on primary care and diversity; pathways for youth and interprofessional training of students; life-changing research; and an Education for Service program in which students return to and serve their communities. With such advancements, it is hard to imagine life 100 years ago, when life expectancy was 30 years less. The photo essay “Vital Force” provides some insight. Dr. Stanley W. Olson, our beloved founding provost of NEOMED who passed away on February 13, 2016, grew up in that long-ago era. Born 102 years ago, he spent the first half of his 80-year career serving, caring and innovating. Over the next 40 years, he helped develop NEOMED into a model for health care training, built around a vision of patient-centered, population-based care. From knowing Dr. Olson, I now understand what the legendary Jackie Robinson meant when he said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Such impact is of what legends are made.
Jay A. Gershen
02 I G N I T I N G
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
Ignite magazine (Spring 2016, Volume 17, No. 1) is published twice a year by the Office of Public Relations and Marketing, 4209 St. Rt. 44, P.O. Box 95, Rootstown, OH 44272-0095 Email: publicrelations@neomed.edu Jay A. Gershen, D.D.S., Ph.D., President NEOMED Board of Trustees: Daisy L. Alford-Smith, Ph.D. Paul R. Bishop, J.D. Carisa E. Bohnak, Student Trustee Sharlene Ramos Chesnes Joseph R. Halter, Jr. J. David Heller, CPA, Chair Robert J. Klonk, Vice Chair Chander M. Kohli, M.D. Richard B. McQueen Douglas W. Snyder, Student Trustee
Editor: Elaine Guregian Contributing Editors: Dana Goehring; Roderick L. Ingram, Sr.; Gillian Seibel; Jared F. Slanina Publication Design: Scott J. Rutan Illustrations: Cover, Alexandra Meluch, design student for Glyphix in the School of Visual Communication Design, Kent State University; Christopher Darling, assistant professor of illustration, KSU School of Visual Communication Design; Douglas Goldsmith, assistant professor of illustration, KSU School of Visual Communication Design; Brandon Mahone, design student for Glyphix in the KSU School of Visual Communication Design; David Szalay, associate professor, Myers School of Art, The University of Akron Photography: Mike Cardew, Ken Love, Phil Masturzo As a health sciences university, we constantly seek ways to improve the health, economy and quality of life in Northeast Ohio. The Accent Opaque paper used for this magazine has earned a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and a Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification. Strict guidelines have been followed so that forests are renewed, natural resources are preserved and wildlife is protected. Ignite was printed by Printing Concepts in Stow, Ohio, using soy inks. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the editors. Copyright 2016 by Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio 44272
04
DEPARTMENTS 16 BENCH TO BEDSIDE
22 HEALTHY AGING
18 ALUMNI AT WORK
23 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
20 BIOSCIENCE PIPELINE
24 CLASS NOTES
FEATURES
10
04 PORTRAIT OF THE SCIENTIST AS A YOUNG MAN NEOMED researchers like Jason Richardson, Ph.D., are discovering links among degenerative diseases and teaming up to study them. 08 PHOTO ESSAY Jeffrey Susman, M.D., says a collection of artifacts reminds him of a doctor’s responsibility to treat the whole patient — and to keep a sense of humor.
Bone marrow cells Photo: W. Ben Smith
ON THE COVER – If a medical researcher looked at the slide at left, they might see the potential for a cure. When Alexandra Meluch looked at it, she saw the potential for art. Meluch, a design student at NEOMED partner Kent State University, created the art on this cover — proving again that when diverse perspectives meet at NEOMED, great things happen.
10 DEFENDING AGAINST INFECTION Watanakunakorn Chair Ping Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., knows why bacterial infections spin out of control in alcoholic patients. He’s looking for ways to stop the process. 14 THE UNEXPECTED IN FRONT OF US Nina Vasavada, M.D. (’97) reflects on the dangerous disconnect that can keep patients from getting the care they need.
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
03
FEATURE
JASON RICHARDSON: PORTRAIT OF THE SCIENTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
S
BY ELAINE GUREGIAN
ee the boy standing in a vast field, holding an umbrella aloft in one hand and shading his eyes with his other hand as he looks up? As if connected to the figure, the plane above follows him straight down the row of cotton, billowing out a smoky plume. The plane smoothly follows the boy – known as the marker – as he steps over to the next row, and the next, until each row has been crop-dusted. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, that was Jason Richardson, who grew up helping on his family’s farms in Louisiana and Mississippi. A couple of decades later and with an impressive list of credentials after his name, Jason Richardson, Ph.D., M.S., DABT, has lost most of his southern accent, but he still introduces himself as a country boy. Today, he explores the relationship between genetics and environmental toxins – such as pesticides used by farmers – in neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Richardson’s timely Illustration: David Szalay
research has taken him to top institutions and last summer, landed him a leadership role at Northeast Ohio Medical University. In August, Dr. Richardson became a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the founding director of NEOMED’s newly organized Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging research focus area, which encompasses the study of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and glaucoma. He brought a heavy research suitcase with him to NEOMED, packed with grant funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research. Dr. Richardson is continuing his own research to discover the ways in which environment and genetics combine in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. “Our hope is to understand the environmental factors that contribute to neu-
rodegenerative disease and how they interact with individual genetic susceptibility,’’ he says. “This is important, because you can modify environmental factors, but you can’t modify your genetics, at least not quite yet. The Holy Grail is, how do you identify people early on? By the time patients exhibit severe enough symptoms to go the doctor and get diagnosed, there is often little recourse. If we knew what some of the environmental factors were, we could not only remove them but use them to identify people at risk earlier, and potentially intervene to stop the progression of the disease.’’
COMMON THREADS At first glance, it might seem odd that glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s diseases would be lumped together. Dr. Richardson explains that they benefit from a collaborative approach to study because of their shared features: • All three diseases are complex, with multiple factors that contribute to the
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
05
cause – meaning that not every patient exhibits the same symptoms or progresses at the same rate. • All of these diseases are associated with aging, which means that patients often suffer from a number of ailments, often requiring a variety of medications and treatments. • It’s not fully understood why people develop these diseases.
“
Wood Johnson Medical School and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. His toxicology training came into play in his work as Deputy Director and then Director of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology – one of the oldest and most respected pharmacology and toxicology programs in the country. At Rutgers, as anywhere else for re-
Collectively, NEOMED’S group of neurodegenerative disease researchers can make a far bigger impact than any of us as individuals. – Jason Richardson, Ph.D., director of the Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging research area
MAKE THE CONNECTIONS Dr. Richardson says he tells NEOMED students to take the opportunity to learn from multiple sources and pay attention to the connections. Experience with running a hatchery on one of the world’s largest catfish farms for 80 hours a week during the last two summers of high school provided him with the skills he needed to set up an aquatic toxicology lab at what is now the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Even though he departed from his initial choice of a pharmacy major – at that time, it seemed to him that pharmacists only dispensed medicine – the pharmacology training and the toxicology training he pursued have all added up to particularly qualify him to study topics like the effect of environmental toxins (say, the DDT in crop chemicals) or the Gulf War Syndrome. A big man with a steady gaze, Jason Richardson speaks fast, as if there weren’t enough time to cover all of the interesting topics in the world. He said in a recent conversation that as an undergrad at Northeast Louisiana University, “I played too much – all I wanted to do was be in the lab.’’ Dr. Richardson identified a pas06 I G N I T I N G
sion for toxicology, and he found his way to the lab of Dr. Janice Chambers at Mississippi State University, where he finished his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees and met his wife, Terrilyn Richardson, Ph.D. A chance meeting led to his next step, a pivotal one. During a national convention, Dr. Gary Miller, from the Emory School of Public Health, saw Richardson’s poster presentation on the effects of pesticides – a
topic relevant to a Gulf War project Dr. Miller was working on – and invited him to come work with him. With some trepidation, Dr. Richardson accepted. “I’m this small-town kid, coming into this ivory tower place. Emory is one of the top 20 neurodegenerative places in the world. Coming in, I thought ‘I’d better be prepared for this.’ But it was just the opposite. Everyone went by first names, no titles. It was a defining moment in time for me, at this newly formed center for degenerative disease. What I saw at that center was that all the labs were open. If you didn’t collaborate, you weren’t part of the Center.’’ His “flat-out exciting’’ three years at Emory connected him with researchers who have moved around the country but remain close friends and long-distance colleagues today – one more layer of connectivity for Dr. Richardson, who was drawn to the collaborative culture at NEOMED. The final key step before Dr. Richardson came to NEOMED was being recruited to Rutgers University, where he served as a faculty member at Robert
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
searchers, patience was a prerequisite. The passage of time is an ever-present issue for Dr. Richardson. Developing and approving a drug takes more than 10 years from start to finish, and more than 90 percent of new drugs fail. “We don’t have that much time,’’ he says with a combination of impatience and determination. In an effort to hasten progress, NEOMED researchers are looking at ways to repurpose drugs used in other situations with the hope of stopping the progression of disease. Dr. Richardson tells his students that you don’t know how all of your experiences will add up to shape your work – but you can be sure that they will. His path now is certain: To lead NEOMED researchers in thwarting neurodegenerative disease.
A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION A first impression that appealed strongly to Dr. Richardson was NEOMED’s culture of collaboration. He is working to further develop NEOMED as a hub, facilitating research on neurodegenerative disease and aging among both regional
and national partners. “This is absolutely critical to bringing the top science to the problems of neurodegeneration, because researchers from different backgrounds and scientific interests bring new ideas to old problems,’’ says Dr. Richardson. NEOMED researchers cross-pollinate each other’s work in numerous ways: Work on neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction in glaucoma by Samuel Crish II, Ph.D., and Denise Inman, Ph.D., is naturally synergistic with research on Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, in which neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction both contribute to neurodegeneration. Christine Dengler-Crish, Ph.D., investigates early neurodegenerative changes in Alzheimer’s disease that are associated with bone loss and mood disturbances – two risk factors that may predict susceptibility to Alzheimer’s. Rebecca German, Ph.D., explores swallowing problems among people with Parkinson’s disease. Fayez Safadi, Ph.D., researches bone loss during neurodegeneration and the potential ways that a protein identified in bone could be used to stop brain inflammation. For Dr. Richardson, an additional attraction of NEOMED’s Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging focus area was that it is one of the only research groups of its type to be predominantly based out of a pharmacy school. This lays the groundwork for research to progress past basic science and be translated into direct patient care. For example, Terrilyn Richardson, Ph.D., came to NEOMED from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where she oversaw preclinical studies of drugs. Moses Oweyumi, Pharm.D., Ph.D. leads a program on drug delivery. “Both of these areas are key,’’ says Dr. Richardson, “because they create a pathway bringing basic science findings out from the lab and into clinics, where they can help the people suffering from these devastating diseases.’’
NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE AND AGING RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS ON THE NEOMED CAMPUS AND BEYOND REGIONAL COLLABORATIONS: Cleveland Clinic, Kent State University and the University of Akron NATIONAL COLLABORATIONS: Duke University, Emory University, Rutgers University and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
1
3
5 1. Denise Inman, Ph.D. 2. Moses Oweyumi, Ph.D. 3. Christine Dengler-Crish, Ph.D. 4. Jason Richardson, Ph.D. 5. Terrilyn Richardson, Ph.D. 6. Samuel Crish II, Ph.D.
2
4
6
PHOTO ESSAY
Jeffrey Susman, M.D., is dean of the College of Medicine, professor of Family Medicine, vice president of Health Affairs and Community Health at NEOMED — and an avid collector.
VITAL FORCE
BY ELAINE GUREGIAN PHOTOS BY PHIL MASTURZO
Why do you collect? Part of the appeal is in looking at the history and where we have come from: looking at the many false starts and the things that we thought were true that turned out not to be. I think it guards against the hubris that physicians seem to acquire. We could benefit from recognizing we only know what we know. The medicines we know today may be considered the poison of the future. To treat colic, babies were given Mrs. Winslow’s Syrup, an elixir containing senna, rhubarb, anise and morphine. People used everything from cocaine to marijuana and got addicted to these medications, much like today’s problems with opioids. Medicine and science is in constant evolution. Sometimes what is being touted as the latest and greatest falls out of favor. Think about leeches. For wound debridement today, we’re going back to them! What about your photographs and books? The pictures of children in Honduras and the Amish in farm fields, as well as 08 I G N I T I N G
the photographs collected by the Farm Security Administration during the Depression, reflect my interest in public health and community health. They are all about the personal side of medicine and they remind us that the thing that doctors offered patients back then was just to be there. It wasn’t that they had cures or prevention for diphtheria or anything like what we have today. The collection reflects my interest in the impact of the arts and humanities upon medicine. You’ll find books like The Doctor Stories by William Carlos Williams. You’ll also find the lived experience of being a health care provider in Michael Crichton’s Five Patients (his second book after The Andromeda Strain). We need to be respectful of the patient’s experience and mindful of our reaction to the joy, pain and suffering of others. We have been given a sacred trust by patients, but that privilege also carries burdens – like when a patient is dying or a child has been born with an egregious problem.
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
It seems that the collection also reflects your interest in mental health. At NEOMED we want to train our young physicians to see the whole person. These pictures and mementos are all reminders that we have a greater responsibility: people’s lives hinge on our ministrations and our support. If you are going to take this career on, you should have some seriousness. But also have a sense of humor! I like the picture of the man clamping his head to show he has a headache, or looking at his tongue to see if he needs a tonic. Lumbago, dropsy – there are a lot of old-timey words in the advertisements. Back then, the words on the bottles were supposed to be part of the mystique: only the initiated would know what they meant. Today, our culture is more about empowering people to take part in their own health care. Are there more items at home? Yes, my wife is pretty tolerant. She collects vintage costume jewelry.
1
2
1. Aspirin is one medication that has withstood the test of time. 2. Early purveyors of alleged cures had a sure winner with the name “Vital Force.’’ 3. The term “safe’’ was used loosely. Many elixirs contained morphine, cocaine or marijuana.
3 6
4. “Moses Brought before Pharaoh’s Daughter,” William Hogarth etching after a painting of 1746, for the Foundling Hospital, London. The print is a gift from Dr. Susman’s parents. 5. Belief in the efficacy of herbal remedies has risen and fallen in various eras. 6. These ceramic vessels are reproductions distributed as gifts by pharmaceutical companies.
4
5
FEATURE
DEFENDING AGAINST INFECTION Alcoholics are two to three more times as likely to develop deadly infections.
W BY ELAINE GUREGIAN
hy are alcoholic patients more susceptible to bacterial infections that spin out of control? Alcohol suppresses production of white blood cells in the bone marrow. Without enough white blood cells to fight against infection, alcoholic patients are prone to pulmonary infections (such as pneumonia) and blood stream infections (such as septicemia). Clinical observations have been persuasive: Alcoholics are two to three times more likely to develop pneumonia, because their immune systems are compromised, says Watanakunakorn Chair and Professor of Integrative Medical Sciences Ping Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Zhang is working to develop therapies that treat infections before they deteriorate into life-threatening illnesses, such as sepsis or septic shock. His current research focuses on bacterial infections in people who consume excessive amounts of alcohol. Promisingly, his findings could also help people with other unhealthy conditions or diseases in which the immune system is compromised. Stakes are high. In response to a bacterial infection, white blood cells (particularly neutrophils) are activated and recruited into the site of infection to fight against invading bacteria. This immune reaction is critical for protection of the host – that is, the patient. During an immune reaction, the immune cells (such as neutrophils) are first in the line of defense, but they have a short-lived lifespan and need to be replenished. That’s where blood precursor cells come in, says Dr. Zhang. “Imagine a country that has a military force. When the country is invaded, soldiers are sent to defend it. Casualties occur in the battlefield. Replacements and reinforcements are needed to continue the sustained response in order to defend the country. Blood precursor cells, including hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells, will generate more replenishing immune cells,’’ he explains. Dr. Zhang’s research tests how alcohol changes the body’s normal response to a bacterial infection such as bacteremia. Specifically, he is testing how alcohol disrupts the regulation of blood precursor cell function, interrupting the process of generating a new supply of immune cells. The answers offer hope against bacterial infections for people whose immune systems are compromised. Across from Dr. Zhang’s office overlooking the central NEOMED courtyard is one large, well-equipped lab area. Nearby in the 88,000-square-foot Research and Graduate Education Building, there is generous lab space in multiple rooms for a full bench research setup, along with a separate room housing the BD FACSAria Fusion flow cytometer and its computerized operating system. Dr. Zhang says that his group has everything it needs to incubate bacteria; culture cells; isolate and analyze specific cell types; and determine molecular signaling interactions. With their setup at NEOMED, “We can compete at the frontier,’’ says Dr. Zhang. “The cutting-edge technology we have for research at this university allows us to compete with scientists in top-ranked universities anywhere in the world.’’ 10 I G N I T I N G
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
“
Imagine a country that has a military force.When the country is invaded, soldiers are sent into defend it. Casualties occur in the battle field. Replacements and reinforcements are needed to continue the sustained response in order to defend the country. Blood precursor cells, including hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells, will generate more replenishing immune cells.” – Watanakunakorn Chair and Professor of Integrative Medical Sciences Ping Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
11
WHY NEOMED?
W
atanakunakorn Chair and Professor of Integrative Medical Sciences Ping Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., calls his recruitment to NEOMED a lucky coincidence. He was working at Michigan State University and came to the campus to give a seminar hosted by Min Yu, Ph.D., and William Chilian, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Integrative Medical Sciences at NEOMED. Dr. Chilian studies the role of stem cells in cardiovascular repair, and the two scientists quickly saw the synergy that they could achieve by collaborating. While Zhang was strongly attracted to the University’s team approach to research, he also had a make-or-break requirement: a specialized, state-of-the-art flow cytometer, the 12 I G N I T I N G
BD FACSAria Fusion machine. Sounds expensive, and it is; but it also has an unparalleled ability to analyze and sort cells, making it a critical piece of equipment for Dr. Zhang’s research. NEOMED’s promise of the cytometer sealed the deal, and in April 2015, Dr. Zhang moved to Rootstown to become the first Watanakunakorn Chair and Professor of Integrative Medical Sciences. His wife, Xin Shi, M.D., associate professor of Integrative Medical Sciences, is a key collaborator on the research team, with extensive experience in operating the FACS (fluorescent-activated cell sorter, or flow cytometer) machine and analyzing results. The research could not happen without her contribution, says Dr. Zhang.
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
T
rained in China and the U.K., Dr. Zhang held post-doctoral fellowships and faculty appointments at Louisiana State University prior to his most recent position as a professor and director of surgical research at Michigan State University. His research on immune defense has been continuously funded for 15 years by the National Institutes of Health. At NEOMED, the M.D./Ph.D. shares his expertise with students through an Infection and Immunity course for M2s and P2s. At the national level, Dr. Zhang serves as the chairman of the Merit Review Subcommittee for Surgery Research Grant Proposals at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and has been a board member for several study sections at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Zhang is also the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine. Dr. Zhang and Dr. Shi live in The Village, an apartment complex at NEOMED. They have one daughter, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and sometime actress, who has appeared on the CW’s Gossip Girl television show and currently lives in Baltimore.
Photos: Mike Cardew
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
13
FEATURE
THE UNEXPECTED IN FRONT OF US BY NINA VASAVADA, M.D. (’97)
I
pick up the manila chart from the rack outside the examination room and read the chief complaint, “Headache.” It is a Thursday afternoon, a few weeks into my thirdyear medical student internal medicine rotation. The newness of it all and the breadth of disease processes still overwhelm me. I tap on the door twice and open it, cautiously and apologetically. I suspect that many patients are politely tolerating my novice and amateur inquiries until they can see the attending physician; their consultant, confidante, and dare I say, friend. The patient is a young woman, just a few years older than me. She notes the frequent onset and worsening duration of migraine headaches, and has been requiring high dose pain medicines to provide relief. I ask questions which might be pertinent to a neurological illness, and conduct a focused exam. We come up with a satisfactory plan for her chronic headache management. I step out of the room while the attending physician speaks to her alone. Soon after, she thanks us as she leaves the office. I muse at how straightforward the case was, and then go pick up the next patient chart. Friday is another pleasant yet busy workday full of varied clinical dilemmas. Having no major responsibilities other than my own education, I enjoy a relaxing weekend studying at my favorite coffee shop and spending time with my equally responsibility-free roommates. It is truly a wonderful phase of life. Monday quickly passes, filled with simple and complex medical challenges. At the end of the day, I sit down at the nurses station to navigate the tidal wave of
14 I G N I T I N G
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
Illustration: Christopher Darling
new facts and illnesses. The attending physician energetically and emphatically barrels through his dictations; then, he unexpectedly pauses. His demeanor and expression shift to a somber and pale sadness. He passes the day’s newspaper to me. I gleefully take it, looking for a literary reprieve from detailed and fact-filled medical texts that require intense concentration. My heart sinks as I read the article that he points out. It is the obituary of my young patient with chronic headaches whom I had only met five days prior. She had died over the weekend, the victim of traumatic domestic violence. I contemplate if her office visit was a cry for help, a hope that somehow a discussion of violence would have changed the course of her too-quickly ended life. I learn that her office visit was similar to prior visits, during which the recurrent conversation of abuse and advice of potential options for leaving the harmful situation had been discussed in detail but not heeded. I am devastated by the unforeseen abruptness of her death. I take the article, and reexamine my short visit with this patient over the next few days. I save the obituary in a file folder, dwell on the tragedy for a short while longer, then continue the daunting task and workload of a third-year medical student in midst of introduction into clinical medicine. Several years later, as a young, energetic, medical fellow, night call came with a combined sense of dread and adventure. On a fairly typical call night, I heard my pager chime, and learned that there was an emergency consult from the detention area of the public hospital emergency room. A young man, barely an adult, was diagnosed with severe life-threatening kidney injury. As I drove into the hospital parking lot, I considered the expected possibilities. Perhaps he had an overwhelming infection, a new diagnosis of a worsening long-term illness, or an ingestion of a recreational or environmental toxin. I prided myself on what I thought
was a thorough and complete differential, arrived to find the young man, and started the medical interview. He looked disheveled, traumatized, but appeared to have been healthy prior to this illness. He reported no recent fevers or illnesses, no prior known diseases, no toxic ingestions. “Truck surfing,” he stated, rather plainly. He neither made eye contact nor volunteered other information. I gathered from the emergency room team that he had been competing with a friend to see who could hold on longer to the side exhaust stack of a moving semi-truck traveling on the highway. When the truck driver realized this, he applied the brakes, and the young man fell at full speed onto the asphalt concrete highway. The young man suffered intense trauma, with resultant severe muscle breakdown and kidney failure. He required intensive care for several days. Afterwards, he recovered, with normal kidney function and no long-term physical injury to remind him of his extremely poor judgment in recreational activity. I wondered what motivated him to carry out such a dangerous action. Was it depression, ambivalence about his future, or simply impetuous and foolish decision making? I reflected how unexpectedly fortunate this young man was, to walk away from such intense trauma with minimal physical wounds, whereas similar situations have resulted in dramatically worse outcomes. In clinical practice now, I find myself in a marginally comfortable space. Somewhat at ease with recurring patterns of health and disease, but still regularly caught off guard by new presentations of illness, unexpected complications, and diagnoses that were only remotely considered. The disconnect is often between the provider, who wants better clinical outcomes, and the patient, who may seek higher quality of life, better sexual function and energy to complete the work day without medication side effects. Several patients have explained that part of the joy of taking a vacation is taking a “vacation” from their
medications. Medication holidays, such as missing diuretic doses so as to not interrupt Thanksgiving visits, make for predictably busy office and hospital services after the holidays have passed. It is remarkable how expectations for plans of care differ greatly between provider and patient. It has been 19 years since I was that third-year medical student reading my young patient’s obituary. I recently found her news article in a file folder, stored with an assortment of evaluations, presentations and buried under current life souvenirs of preschool hand-prints and treasured stick figure drawings of family members holding hands. I reflect upon the horrific circumstances of her death, the years of joy and personal growth that violence stole from her. I had only focused on what I expected, the organic and neurological causes of headache with a narrow differential. Sometimes recognition of the unexpected is too much to bear. These varied experiences show me that there is always a third entity in the physician-patient relationship. It is the subjective, personal part of health care, the underlying struggles that each patient brings into the equation. These distinct and unseen concerns have a significant impact on the need for patient support, delivery of health care and patient outcomes. My professional aim is to recognize that the hopes, fears, and concerns of patients do not automatically get discussed in between blood pressure, glucose control and blood chemistry results, yet they play such a pivotal role in the overall effect of care. My goal is to recognize that in every patient encounter, the unexpected is right in front of us. NEOMED alumna Nina Vasavada, M.D., is an assistant clinical professor with the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the University of Louisville. This essay was published in the July 2015 issue of Louisville Medicine.
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
15
BENCH TO BEDSIDE
THE DIRTY DOZEN
I
BY RODERICK L. INGRAM, SR.
n the past year alone, three major food pathogen outbreaks have infected dozens of people. These breakouts of E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria have raised concerns about meat and produce, or dining in restaurants in general. So, in a recent conversation with Gary Niehaus, Ph.D., professor of physiology at NEOMED, I asked him: What can consumers do to stay out of harm’s way? Dr. Niehaus is up on new methods of detection, prevention and treatment, given his role as chief scientist of Crystal Diagnostics, LLC, which responded to food pathogen outbreaks years ago by developing faster, highly reliable processes to detect pathogens. The Crystal Diagnostics MultiPath System™ was developed jointly by a research partnership between Kent State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University and launched in October 2011. The technology uses liquid crystals to detect multiple harmful pathogens in food in a single test, offering significant time savings over the most common testing methods. Crystal Diagnostics recently signed an agreement with Hardy Diagnostics for national distribution of the System. RI: Why do these pathogens keep resurfacing? GN: There are dozens of pathogens out there. Some of them come from viruses and others from bacteria. And we keep learning about and discovering more, like the Zika virus. RI: So how do they differ? GN: Zika, for example is mosquito-borne, but the major pathogens, like the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria, are food-borne. RI: Just those three? GN: Those are the major ones. And all are fecal bacteria. RI: Does that mean what I think it does? GN: Well, you can get food-borne pathogens from a variety of places – from raw meat to beach water, but quite simply, much can be prevented from washing one’s hands. In fact, most pathogens are transferred due to a lack of thorough hand washing with a cleansing agent. RI: Even if the food is bacteria-free, someone can transfer pathogens from their own hands to food, people and other items? GN: Yes. So to avoid passing along pathogens, you have to wash all 12 parts of your hands – 8 fingers, 2 thumbs, the palms and the backs. RI: Sort of like the dirty dozen, huh? GN: I guess it’s really 14 parts, but yes…sort of. 16 I G N I T I N G
SIMPLE SCIENCE: WATCH OUT FOR THE DOZEN
DIRTY
Ring Fingers They vow eternal cleanliness
Middle Fingers Carriers for dirty words
Index Fingers Always pointing at someone else Pinkies They swear to be sanitary
Thumbs These hitchhikers will catch a ride with anything
Palm
of your hands These smooth-talkers convince you they don’t need washing
Back hand(ed) They aren’t as they appear on the surface
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
NEWS FROM THE REDIZONE BY ELAINE GUREGIAN
I
n the bright orange hallways of the REDIzone®, NEOMED faculty and early-stage life sciences companies are commercializing their discoveries, thanks to $10 million in funding raised for more than a dozen onsite and virtual clients since the private-public partnership launched in 2014. Every day in the REDIzone, life-changing therapies progress on the path from researcher’s bench to patient’s bedside.
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS: • BioMendics recently received $6 million in angel funding to develop novel wound therapy treatments. • EP Technology, LLC, a spinoff of GoJo Industries, successfully demonstrated the ability of their atmospheric plasma technology to be used as a new tool for vaccine delivery. • NEOMED faculty member Fayez Safadi, Ph.D., launched GPN Therapeutics, Inc., in November 2015 to commercialize his bone regeneration peptide, osteo activin. • The REDIzone successfully mentored NueVue Solutions, Inc., in acquiring a $25,000 Great Lakes Innovation & Development Enterprise (GLIDE) Innovation award. • The REDIzone helped Micro Datastat, a pharmacy automation company, obtain a $25,000 Great Lakes Innovation & Development Enterprise (GLIDE) Innovation award and enter the JumpStart mentoring program. The company is developing a medication dispensing system designed to prevent medication errors and free the pharmacist to do more clinical activities. • The REDIzone supported professors Jianxin Bao, Ph.D. and Hui Li, Ph.D., in their Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-Up Fund award of $50,000 in new funding, along with $50,000 in university matching funds. The award is to commercialize their cell-specific delivery vehicle for gene therapies.
Photo: Ken Love
ORGAN ON CHIP
F
ailing faster doesn’t sound like a good option, unless you are a drug researcher. Most new drugs fail in clinical trials, even after appearing to have promise in preclinical trials. An innovative way to find out more efficiently if they’ll pass muster is an advance that will save time and money – and get the best new medicines to patients sooner. As a winner of the prestigious 2016 i6 Challenge, a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce for startup creation, innovation and commercialization, NEOMED will receive a $498,282 grant for the University’s project proposal, “Accelerating Pharmaceutical Commercialization: A Rural Proof of Concept Center for Economic Development.” The organ-on-chip project allows researchers to observe functions and responses of a human organ through a computer chip with an engineered environment where human cells are grown and cultured. This allows for drug testing that advances only the most promising candidates to the rigorous steps of clinical trials. NEOMED and the REDIzone will distribute the chip, free of charge, to selected small-to medium-sized businesses in Northeast Ohio. Using the chip will allow companies to more efficiently test new drugs, boosting the regional economy.
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
17
ALUMNI AT WORK
Ami (left) and Amit Majmudar
NEOMED GRAD PRACTICES POETRY
W
BY ELAINE GUREGIAN
riting poetry is “more exhilarating than exhausting’’ – like a good game of racquetball, says NEOMED graduate Amit Majmudar, M.D. (’03). He believes that words can change lives. As Ohio’s first poet laureate, appointed by Gov. John Kasich in December 2015, Dr. Majmudar plans to use poetry for just that purpose. In his new post, he’ll be expected to provide a minimum of 10 public readings or events annually in urban and rural settings across the state. He plans to mix poetry with music or visual art. He’ll start with 10 students or so from the most disadvantaged school districts in Ohio, mentoring some of them himself and connecting the rest with fellow poets. His goal is to publish student poetry online in a literary journal. “First, your own school district thinks you have talent, and then a recognized poet thinks you have talent: I believe that it can be a life-changer for a kid from the inner city to have someone who believes in them,’’ Dr. Majmudar says. Dr. Majmudar (pronounced MAZH-moo-dar) doesn’t have to give up his day job as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist in Columbus for his two-year appointment as poet laureate. When he was at NEOMED, he pragmatically chose radiology because he foresaw that its regular hours and lack of on-call emergencies would allow him to continue writing. “I’m like a shift worker,’’ he says. However, he acknowledges that managing the two positions plus family life with seven-year-old twin sons and a two-year-old daughter is possible because of his supportive wife, Ami (“like my name, but without the t’’) . 18 I G N I T I N G
A child of Indian immigrants who were primary care physicians, Dr. Majmudar credits his parents for letting him learn to manage his own time when he was a teenager growing up in Northeast Ohio. Although Amit earned a Doctor of Medicine degree at NEOMED in 2003 (after his sister, Shilpa, a 1999 graduate), his parents also let him follow his bliss. “When I was 17 years old, I wrote this giant book of poetry and my parents paid to have it published. They couldn’t relate to my obsession and they didn’t really read my poetry, but they supported me and they are over the moon that I am poet laureate now,’’ he says. The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly and Poetry Magazine are among the publications that have featured Dr. Majmudar’s poetry. The New York Times and Ohio’s acclaimed Kenyon Review have published his essays and literary criticism. Poetry filled a need in the physician back when he was a medicine student. Dr. Majmudar remembers entering the William Carlos Williams poetry contest and studying with Delese Wear, Ph.D., professor of family and community medicine, as highlights of his NEOMED education. He believes that the key to good psychological health is for students ‘’to have something outside your syllabi, anatomy lab and anxiety about grades. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a sport or religion or something else. Outside interests make you well rounded, a person of the world,’’ he says. For him, “school was work and poetry was play.’’
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
DOTHEAD
BY AMIT MAJMUDAR
Well yes, I said, my mother wears a dot. I know they said “third eye” in class, but it’s not
RETURN TO NEOMED Joseph Zarconi, M.D. (’81), professor of internal medicine, savors the memory of the day in 2014 when he connected Dr. Majmudar with students for a two-hour book discussion in their Clinical Epilogue and Capstone Course. The topic was Dr. Majmudar’s Partitions, built around the true story of the volatile political division in 1947 of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan. The story is told from the perspective of a fictional doctor who is determined to treat all patients – regardless of racial, ethnic, religious or cultural background – and suffers for his tolerance. Toward the end of that session, the guest author was asked to read his poem “Dothead” aloud to the students via video screen. Dr. Zarconi recalls, “His face was beet red and his veins were bulging out. He was so angry, so emotional, so evocative. The students were stunned by it. It was a tremendous opportunity for them to see poetry enacted.’’
an eye eye, not like that. It’s not some freak third eye that opens on your forehead like on some Chernobyl baby. What it means is, what it’s showing is, there’s this unseen eye, on the inside. And she’s marking it. It’s how the X that says where treasure’s at is not the treasure, but as good as treasure. — All right. What I said wasn’t half so measured. In fact, I didn’t say a thing. Their laughter had made my mouth go dry. Lunch was after World History; that week was India — myths, caste system, suttee, all the Greatest Hits. The white kids I was sitting with were friends, at least as I defined a friend back then. So wait, said Nick, does your mom wear a dot? I nodded, and I caught a smirk on Todd — She wear it to the shower? And to bed? — while Jesse sucked his chocolate milk and Brad was getting ready for another stab. I said, Hand me that ketchup packet there. And Nick said, What? I snatched it, twitched the tear, and squeezed a dollop on my thumb and worked circles till the red planet entered the house of war and on my forehead for the world to see my third eye burned those schoolboys in their seats, their flesh in little puddles underneath, pale pools where Nataraja cooled his feet. From Amit Majmudar’s new collection, Dothead: Poems Originally published Aug. 1, 2011 in The New Yorker
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
19
BIOSCIENCE PIPELINE
WOMEN IN BIOSCIENCE?
I
BY GILLIAN SEIBEL
t seems like our parents, our teachers and other adults expect us to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives. But how is a high school student supposed to know? When I first heard about a Women in Bioscience conference in Columbus, I thought that a majority of it would be focused on the different careers in bioscience, a career field I could never see myself in – despite the fact that I am a female high school senior attending Bio-Med Science Academy at Northeast Ohio Medical University. I was gladly surprised to learn that the conference wasn’t just about bioscience, but about all of the factors that play into building a career. My favorite panel was the very first panel, Talent and Mentoring. The panel of women discussed their career stories and talked about the people who really impacted them. Each panelist was filled with words of wisdom for young women looking to have careers they wanted. Panel speaker Deanne Nowak, Ph.D., dean of institutional and curriculum research at Gilmour Academy, told us, “It’s okay to not know what you want to do, but you 20 I G N I T I N G
can’t be paralyzed.” As a young woman applying to college who is exploring her career options, I found this message to be greatly important. Other panelists, Annie Kerr (a communications specialist at MentorcliQ, a company that facilitates mentoring) and Marla Phillips, Ph.D., director of Xavier Health at Xavier University, reminded the women in the room to “Do your best and be proud of it” and that “There’s time, you don’t have to rush.” The idea that I don’t have to know what I want to do and that I don’t have to rush really resonated with me. I certainly don’t know what I want to do, and the pressure I feel from the adults in my life to choose one career right now is so frightening. It’s refreshing to hear that I don’t have to be certain of what I want to do, but I have to build experiences that at least give me an inkling of what direction I want to head in. Encouragement to explore career options is especially important to young women. Not that long ago, women couldn’t even work in science. Bioscience and other scientific fields are relatively new career fields for us. I think this fright-
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
ens some young women because they don’t want to be the only female working in a male-dominated field. It’s scary being the only girl. I know, because I’ve been in situations where I was the only female in a male-dominated group. But you can’t let the gender of your peers hold you back. The acknowledgment of the inequality of men and women at the conference truly made it a memorable experience, although it was hard to sit still with all the energy I got from the discussions. By not moving around I felt very confined, which counteracted my excitement about being bold and open in my career choices. I encourage every woman who is interested to look into attending the next BioOhio Women in Bioscience conference. I wish I could, too, but I’ll be off at college building the foundation for my career. Gillian Seibel is a high school senior in the first graduating class of the Bio-Med Science Academy on the Northeast Ohio Medical University campus, where she is also an intern in the Office of Public Relations and Marketing.
Illustration: Brandon Mahone
Four years ago, the nation’s first Science,Technology, Engineering and Math + Medicine high school on a medical university campus opened at NEOMED.This spring, the Bio-Med Science Academy will proudly celebrate its first graduating class of 44 seniors. Among them is Gillian Seibel Seibel, who wrote the following article as an intern in the NEOMED Office of Public Relations and Marketing.
A
sk a class of high school students to design superheroes and what do you get? How about ninth-grader Nathan Maggot’s creation: White Wolf, a superhero who has telepathic powers and super speed? For two or three weeks each December, students at NEOMED’s Bio-Med Science Academy are given the opportunity to take fun and unusual elective classes during what’s known as Accelerated Term. Science of Superheroes was just one of the many classes offered this year. Instructor James Martell, who teaches 11th-grade physics at Bio-Med Academy, challenged his Science of Superheroes class to use a basic knowledge of physics and other sciences to determine if there was any scientific foot to stand on to defend their character’s superhero powers. To make things even more interesting, the students took the superheroes they had created and matched them up on a fictitious dating site. Invitations for the weddings were created, followed by the news that the super couples would be having super babies. Here’s where the science comes in: Each pair of students decided what super traits were dominant and recessive, using Mendelian genetic inheritance probabilities. Next, they calculated the chance of their super babies inheriting their parent’s traits. Ninth graders Carson Torres and Tommy Boyden chose to test their classmates’ superpower capabilities. They challenged their peers to exercise their minds by using telepathy to send images to their friends. Few were successful, and after receiving some helpful tips on how to be more telepathic, students attempted the exercise again. Torres and Boyden concluded their presentation by asking the class to discuss whether telepathy is really possible. The Science of Superheroes was a fun two-week break from everyday school, but it was more than that. Tenth-grader Brynne Mann says that by taking the BY GILLIAN SEIBEL class, she learned about physics, genetics and how he Academy’s STEM curriculum is the perfect fit science relates to superheroes. This form of indirect for a CyberPatriot club, a national program sponsored learning makes it possible for students to better retain by the U.S. Air Force and one of the biggest clubs what they’ve learned. By learning about science through at Bio-Med, with 23 students. The club isn’t only for the techsuperheroes, students have learned how to apply scinologically inclined. Eleventh-grader Alexandra Wooldredge ence to their everyday lives. With this knowledge, there says most of her team doesn’t want to pursue a career in is no question that the students in Science of Supertechnology, but instead just want to learn about how to make heroes now have super science skills. their own devices more secure. She adds, “You can learn a lot about how to secure your own computer and things like teamwork and perseverance by working with four people for six hours on challenging computer problems.”
HACKING FOR GOOD
T
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
21
HEALTHY AGING
COULD POMEGRANATE JUICE BE THE ANSWER? BY ELAINE GUREGIAN
22 I G N I T I N G
P
ainful joints and degraded bones are familiar to anyone aging with osteoarthritis. Tariq M. Haqqi, Ph.D., a researcher and professor of anatomy and neurobiology at NEOMED, believes that pomegranate juice could offer a solution and eventually, perhaps an alternative to surgical joint replacement. He has identified natural products in pomegranate juice that have a protective effect of suppressing an inflammatory response in cartilage. The takeaway from Dr. Haqqi? Drinking pomegranate juice early in life, while you’re participating in sports and other activities, may protect against later inflammation, which degrades cartilage. The key is to start drinking the juice early and regularly, before pain begins. For those people whose osteoarthritis has progressed to the stage where cartilage is already extensively damaged, antioxidants can’t reverse the condition – but there’s still an upside. Drinking pomegranate juice along with the drugs that your physician prescribes can help to minimize the gastrointestinal discomfort that is often a side effect of the medicine. Drink up: your gut will thank you.
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
Illustration: Douglas Goldsmith
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
T
he addition of an apartment complex known as The Village at NEOMED has made it possible for NEOMED students to live right on campus. Which raises the question: What to cook for dinner? Executive Chef Xavier Smith is a pro at creating dinners for hundreds at the NEOMED Education and Wellness (NEW) Center, which serves as a gathering place for students and a mixed-use facility for conferences as well as public and private events. Now, he has dreamed up a recipe that goes together fast, with seasonings that will perk up a regular study night. The chicken is best prepared with the fresh sage and shallots, but if you can’t find them, don’t let that stop you. Just substitute one tablespoon of dried sage and half a cup of onions. Firm apples like Red Delicious and Granny Smith work the best; softer varieties like Cortland will turn mushy. As for the maple syrup – we’re in Northeast Ohio. It can’t be far away!
Xavier’s Maple-Glazed NEOMED Chicken Serves 4-6 Ingredients: 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced 2 teaspoons kosher salt for the glaze 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil 1 red apple and 1 green apple, cored and cut into wedges 8 shallots, sliced lengthwise ¼ cup fresh sage (torn) ½ cup chicken broth ¼ cup maple syrup ¼ cup apple cider vinegar 1. Pat the chicken dry and season all over with salt. Heat a large, heavy skillet over high heat and add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the diced chicken and cook until golden brown on each side (about five minutes). 2. Add apples, shallots and sage to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium-high temperature. Transfer the chicken to a plate and continue to cook the apples and shallots until they are golden brown (about two minutes). Meanwhile, make the glaze: Mix the chicken broth, maple syrup, vinegar and salt in a small bowl. Add the mixture to the skillet and bring to a boil until reduced by half (about two or three minutes). Return chicken to the pan and cook until chicken is cooked through. 3. Garnish with microgreens or green onions sliced diagonally. Delicious served with brown rice or on its own.
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
23
CLASS NOTES
1981
Laurel McCourt, M.D. began a second career as a hospital surveyor for The Joint Commission in 2004, while continuing to practice medicine. She continued to do both until 2008, when she left active practice and increased her survey responsibilities. In 2014, Dr. McCourt transitioned to the consulting division of The Joint Commission, Joint Commission Resources, where she now serves as a consultant for hospital and ambulatory accreditation. In this role, she also participates in nationwide speaking engagements and webinars on various topics to help organizations with their accreditation and standards compliance.
1982
Dennis Wright, M.D. was inducted into the Akron General Society of Distinguished Physicians at the organization’s 36th Annual Fellowship Dinner Sept. 18, 2015.The Society was established in 1979 to recognize members of Akron General’s Medical Staff for outstanding service to Akron General Medical Center and the community. Inductees are selected by their peers for excellent patient care, research, medical education and community involvement. Dr. Wright has been on staff at Akron General for more than 25 years, including as chief of vascular surgery service since 1995 and as executive medical director of the Heart & Vascular Center since 2010.
24 I G N I T I N G
1983
John Bastulli, M.D. was inducted into the Society of St. Luke at the St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland in recognition of his exemplary service to the hospital and community.
1984
Mark Boschert, M.D. is a founding partner at Utah Gastroenterology, where since 1993 he has specialized in transplant hepatology and esophageal motility. He and his wife Maureen live in Salt Lake City and have three children. David DeMarco, M.D. began a new position as an assistant professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in September 2015. Rev. Dr. DeMarco’s position combines teaching, clinical medicine and spiritual ministry.
1990
Steven Lepsky, M.D. was named Regional Medical Director of Community Hospitals of Emergency Medicine for University Hospitals of Cleveland.
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
1994
Gary Pinta, M.D. serves as a physician with Pioneer Physicians Network. He also serves as president of Ohio Independent Collaborative, a new statewide collaborative of five of Ohio’s independent physician groups designed to allow them to better compete with the state’s health care giants. In an interview with Crain’s Cleveland Business, Dr. Pinta commented, “We’ll fight and do our best to stay out there and do things the way our patients like us to do them and in a way we like to do them.”
Lynette Rennecker, M.D. was a practicing hospitalist at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio from 2009 to 2015, when she returned to the Chicago area. In August 2015, she joined The Springs of Monarch Landing in Naperville, Illinois. As the medical director, she divides her time between independent living residents at Monarch Landing and residents of The Springs, which provides assisted living, memory support, rehabilitation, and long-term skilled care.
1996
David Giammar, M.D. joined Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine, Ohio as its newly added fourth general surgeon. He has advanced certifications in colon and rectal surgery, as well as being fellowship-trained in surgical critical care and trauma. Ronald Braun, M.D. serves as an associate professor for the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology, specializing in perioperative medicine.
2002
Lauren Giammar, M.D. joined Mariner Medical Clinic in Superior, Wisconsin, in August 2015 as a family physician.
2004
Gregory Beddell, M.D. is completing a head and neck oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
2008
Charles Spirtos, M.D. (’08) and Jeanine Awad, M.D. (’14) were married Sept. 26, 2015 in Youngstown, Ohio. Dr. Awad is a resident physician in emergency medicine at Akron General Medical Center and Dr. Spirtos is a nuclear radiologist at Cleveland Clinic Regional Radiology in Akron.
1997
David Mallamaci, M.D. serves as the community medicine chairperson for Aultman Hospital.
2005
Erica Bellamkonda, M.D. (’05) and Venkatesh Bellamkonda, M.D. (’06) welcomed their second son, Ronin Gage, on June 26, 2015. Ronin and big brother Asher Rohan (age two) are the first Bellamkondas to be born and raised as Minnesotans.
1999
William P. Hartmann III, M.D. began work as a staff psychiatrist at the Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason, Ohio in July 2015. He also serves as an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at NEOMED.
2000
Sumit Bhatla, M.D. welcomed a baby girl, Evie, who turned three months old on Feb. 4.
2006
See Venkatesh Bellamkonda, M.D. (’06) under 2005
2010
Michael P. Miladore, M.D. and Cherri Lyn Monty were married on May 30, 2015 at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown, Ohio. The afternoon ceremony was followed by a reception at Tippecanoe Country Club in Canfield. The couple now resides in Williamsville, N.Y. Dr. Miladore also began a hand and upper extremity fellowship at the University of Buffalo in August 2015.
2011
Alexandria Howard, M.D. completed a fellowship in academic medicine at NEOMED and is currently affiliated with University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
NORTHEAST OHIO MEDIC AL UNIVERSITY
25
CLASS NOTES
SAVE the DATE
2012
Adam Dalia, M.D. is finishing his anesthesiology residency at The Ohio State University and will continue his education with a cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital. He served on a medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic in November 2015, during which he administered anesthesia for underserved patients needing otolaryngological surgery. Dr. Dalia serves as chair of the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists Resident Component and was selected to join the National Society of Anesthesiologists in Washington, D.C. in May 2016. He will serve a month-long rotation to help advocate for expanded anesthesia care to underserved and rural patients both in Ohio and across the country.
Peter Hsu, M.D. is pursuing a master’s degree in public health. Upon completion of a residency in pediatrics, he will begin a fellowship in hematology/oncology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.
MoNika Sauber, M.D. completed the Heritage Valley Family Medicine Residency Program in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Following her residency in August 2015, she joined Heritage Valley Medical Group’s Sewickley Primary Care practice in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, where she provides comprehensive care to adult patients.
2014
See Jeanine Awad, M.D. (’14)
under 2008
2015
Anish Pattisapu, M.D. (’15) and Anokha Padubidri, M.D. (’15) were married on May 30, 2015. The couple now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, where they are completing their intern years at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Casey Perkowski, M.D. and his wife, Kourtney, welcomed their third baby girl, Kinley Grey, on Nov. 9, 2015. Kinley was born at Aultman Hospital and joins big sisters Piper and Bella. Dr. Perkowski also recently completed the Aultman family medicine residency and has joined Union Physician Services, an affiliate of Union Hospital in Dover, Ohio. 26 I G N I T I N G
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
TAKE CONTROL! A SYMPOSIUM TO ADVANCE RESEARCH ON PARKINSON’S DISEASE WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016 | 8 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. NEOMED Education and Wellness (NEW) Center | 4209 St. Rt. 44 | PO Box 95 | Rootstown, Ohio 44272
EVENTS THIS YEAR THAT ARE ADVANCING INNOVATION AND RESEARCH WITH OUR SHINE ON CAMPAIGN NORTHEAST OHIO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY ////// HOSTS
////// AS CONVENORS OF A SUMMIT FOR INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA PARTNERS IN RESEARCH
“MEDICAL RESEARCH: THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH” Moderated by Susan Dentzer, president and CEO of The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation
JUNE 6, 2016 | 11 A.M.-3 P.M. | NEOMED EDUCATION AND WELLNESS (NEW) CENTER
Non-Profit Organization
4209 ST. RT. 44, PO BOX 95 ROOTSTOWN, OHIO 44272
U.S. Postage PAID Rootstown, Ohio 44272 Permit No. 4
S h i n e O n N e o m e d . c o m