David W. Niesel, PhD
Vice President and Dean
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Lawrence E. Ethridge Professor
GSBS Dean’s Report – Faculty Senate
November 10, 2014
The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) has selected Jose Barral, MD, PhD as the
recipient of the GSO Advocacy Award. Dr. Barral will be recognized for this significant
award at the GSBS Scholarship and Awards Luncheon on November, 21 at the San Luis
Resort Conference Center.
Selection of recipients for this year’s GSBS Scholarships used a new university-wide
approach to awarding scholarships managed by Enrollment Services. Joan Nichols, PhD,
the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the GSBS chaired the committee. The new
approach to evaluating students and making awards worked well and was efficient.
Some suggestions for improving the process even more are being gathered.
Brian Mann, a current graduate student (EXPT) with Alan Barrett, PhD has received a
prestigious CDC postdoctoral fellowship. He had previously been awarded a Kempner
Postdoctoral Fellowship. The Kempner Fellowship will now be awarded to the next
ranked postdoctoral fellow.
Dr. Anne Hudson Jones has been appointed interim program director of the Medical
Humanities Graduate Program (MEHU). Dr. Michelle Carter who had been in that role
has been appointed interim director of the Institute for Medical Humanities.
The GSBS participated in the SACNAS in Los Angeles, October 17 & 18th. Students and
faculty will also participate in the ABRCMS meetings in San Antonio, November 12-15th.
Dr. Clifford Houston of the GSBS is the director of this national meeting that attracts
more than 2000 students from underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in
careers in biomedical research.
There is a patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) certificate program in the GSBS
available for postdoctoral trainees. PCOR explicitly includes patient preferences and
priorities in all aspects of the research process: from design to dissemination. A
certificate focused on PCOR introduces post-docs to common PCOR issues and
methodologies and the advantages of assessing the effectiveness of care and informing
evidence-based practice and its unique challenges.
GSBS Dean’s Report – Faculty Senate
November 10, 2014
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Joan Nichols, PhD (M&I) was invited to present a TEDx keynote talk in Vienna, Austria on
Bioengineered Lungs in November.
Kyriados Markides, PhD and a team of PMCH faculty assembled a NIH application to
fund MD-PhD students who will work on aging in minority populations.
Jose Barral, MD, PhD attended the Fall American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology (ASBMB) Educational and Professional Development Retreat on September
19th-21st.
Medical Discovery News (www.medicaldiscoverynews.com) recently celebrated its 400
broadcast episode. It is now heard on >110 stations in 17 states.