Ahmed Raslan president-elect of NANS
Ahmed M. Raslan, M.D., FAANS, professor of neurological surgery and vice chair for clinical affairs and chief of the Division of Functional Neurosurgery, has been selected as president-elect of the North American Neuromodulation Society, or NANS.
“This is a testament to Dr. Raslan’s leadership in the functional neurosurgery space and his commitment to education,” said Nate Selden, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery.
NANS links patients, physicians and health care professionals, scientists, engineers and industry to advance neuromodulation, drive multidisciplinary collaboration, enhance therapy awareness and inspire innovation to transform patients’ lives.
Adult congenital heart disease fellow earns grant
Hidemi Kajimoto, M.D., first-year adult congenital heart disease fellow in the OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Institute, has been awarded the 2023 Advanced Adult Congenital Heart Defects Fellows Grant. The $5,000 medical training grant from the Heartfelt Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the treatment experience for congenital heart defect, or CHD, patients and their families, will help support Kajimoto’s medical training in cardiology and critical care skills.
“I am honored to receive this grant to continue on my path of improving care for CHD patients,” Kajimoto said. “I recognize that the CHD patient population is ever-growing, and I look forward to using this funding to further my research and learning in cardiac magnetic resonance studies of systemic right ventricle patients.”
Kajimoto is the second recipient of the award, created to further the development of specialized cardiologists in hospitals throughout the country.
Marie Cowan Promising Early Career Investigator Award
Quin Denfeld, Ph.D., RN, FAHA, was selected to receive the Marie Cowan Promising Early Career Investigator Award by the American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing.
In honor of Cowan’s enduring legacy of scientific excellence and mentorship, the award is given to a junior investigator each year who demonstrates the scientific excellence and spirit of innovation exemplified by Cowan’s work. Denfeld received the award at the organization’s 2023 Scientific Sessions.
National Medical Fellowship scholarship
Tyria Heath, M.S., OHSU M.D. class of 2027, was awarded a $5,000 renewable scholarship through the National Medical Fellowships’ inaugural Future Clinicians Scholarship Program.
The award is conferred to 50 underrepresented health profession students who show leadership in the early stages of their careers, and a commitment and interest in research to better understand and address health disparities in medically underserved communities.
“I am an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican tribe and member of the Menominee tribe in Wisconsin,” Heath said. “The odds say I am not supposed to be in this field, which is why this scholarship is so important to me. It tells me I do belong, and not only that, but I also have people who are here to support me through it. I cannot thank you enough for the honor of earning this scholarship.”
Scholars receiving this prestigious award come from a range of backgrounds that are underrepresented in medicine and will enter into a robust network of current and future health equity leaders.
Anand Jagannath to receive honor from National Academic Internal Medicine Group
Anand Jagannath, M.D., M.S., hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, has been selected by the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, or AAIM, as the recipient of the 2024 CDIM Early Career Medical Student Educator Award. This award recognizes innovation and excellence in medical student education by a member at the instructor or assistant professor level.
This award will be presented to Jagannath at the Academic Internal Medicine Week 2024, held April 14-17, in Columbus, Ohio. The Alliance’s annual spring conference draws more than 4,000 faculty and administrator leaders from departments of internal medicine in U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals.
“This year’s Alliance Awards celebrate the commitment of our members in the academic internal medicine community. Dr. Jagannath’s distinction, as recognized by his peers, is a testament to his outstanding contributions. We're grateful for his valuable input and dedication to our community,” said AAIM President and CEO Polly E. Parsons, MD, MACP, FCCP, ATSF.
AAIM promotes the advancement and professional development of its 12,000 members who prepare the next generation of internal medicine physicians and leaders through education, research, engagement, and collaboration.
OHSU faculty, leaders speak at AAMC
The Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, annual meeting, “Learn, Serve, Lead,” was a success — and especially accessible to OHSU School of Medicine members this year, because it was held in Seattle on Nov. 3-7. Among the highlights were sessions that OHSU faculty members and leaders were invited to lead, including:
“Why Doesn’t (or Does) My Leader Care About This?”: When Leaders are Asked to Make Public Statements, featuring OHSU President Danny Jacobs, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, and John Raymond, M.D., president and CEO, Medical College of Wisconsin.
“Ensuring a Safe and Inclusive Research Training Environment Throughout the Academic Medical Center,” featuring Allison Fryer, Ph.D., professor of medicine and associate dean for graduate studies, OHSU School of Medicine, along with national colleagues and students.
“I was excited and honored to represent the Graduate Research Education and Training — known as GREAT — section of the AAMC at Learn, Serve, Lead,” Fryer said. “I was invited to describe OHSU’s initiatives to support graduate students through mentorship training of our faculty. I am reminded how extraordinarily creative OHSU faculty are each time I’m invited to describe initiatives we have come to view as ‘status quo,’ but that are highly novel to others.”
“Examining Systems and Structures: Innovations Across MedEd for American Indians and Alaska Natives,” co-presented by Erik Brodt, M.D., a member of the Ojibwe tribal nation, associate professor of medicine and assistant dean of Native American Health in the OHSU School of Medicine, and director of the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence; and Amanda Bruegl, M.D., a member of the Oneida/Stockbridge-Munsee Nations, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine and assistant director of education initiatives for the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence; along with regional colleagues.
Exhibitors, poster sessions and meetings at the conference included:
Nels Carlson, M.D., professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation and assistant dean of continuing professional development in the OHSU School of Medicine, directed the joint Graduate Medical Education Continuing Professional Development, or CPD, Networking Breakfast and Business Meeting. As CPD section chair and member of the Group on Educational Affairs’, or GEA, steering committee, Carlson also presented at the GEA Knowledge Sharing and Business Meeting.
Lalena Yarris, M.D., M.C.R., professor of emergency medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, was an exhibitor for the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. Yarris serves as deputy editor of the journal, which is requesting articles related to climate change and graduate medical education. Click here for more.
“Diversifying the Next Generation of Doctors Career Fair & Workshops,” featuring Christina Uh, M.S., a member of the Mayan/Navajo nations, outreach and recruitment manager, and Jeremiah Wistrom, MPA, communications coordinator, both from the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence in the OHSU School of Medicine. They shared the work of the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence and hosted a photo booth in which students shared, “What they hope to bring to the future of medicine.”
“Funding Opportunities Designed to Promote Antiracist Change Across a Health Sciences University,” featured a poster of a JAMA paper by OHSU School of Medicine’s Constance R. Tucker, M.A., Ph.D., lead author and vice provost of educational improvement and innovation, Elizabeth Lahti, M.D., FACP, assistant professor of medicine and director of narrative medicine, and Patricia A. Carney, Ph.D., M.S., professor of family medicine.
Upcoming defenses
Tyler Franklin, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
"Strangers in a strange land: bacteria provide mechanistic insight into eukaryotic ubiquitination"
Jason Kent, Cell and Developmental Biology
"Novel models and methods for functional characterization of disease-relevant SDHA variants"
Ryan Doan, Neuroscience Graduate Program
"Dock1 acts cell-autonomously in Schwann cells to regulate the development, maintenance, and repair of peripheral myelin"
Sierra Smith, Neuroscience Graduate Program
"Clathrin Mediated Endocytosis in Alzheimer’s Disease – Using Biomarkers to Uncover Disease Mechanism"
Isabel English, Cancer Biology
"Bridging the Gap Between Pre-Clinical Models and Clinical Trials Using a Novel MYC-Driven Mouse Model of Pancreatic Cancer and 3D-Bioprinting"
Meghan Fallon, Biomedical Engineering
"The effects of topographical micropatterning on acute thrombosis and endothelial cell (patho)physiology"
Patrick Flynn, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
"Bloodlines matter: mutations in AML have consequences for the immune system"
Alec Peters, Cell and Developmental Biology
"The hyaluronidase CEMIP is elevated during inflammatory demyelination and inhibits oligodendrocyte differentiation"
Kate Bowie, Biomedical Engineering
"Investigating the human microbiome in prostate health and disease: examining low-microbial biomass human samples"
Katie Blise, Biomedical Engineering
"Quantifying the single-cell spatial landscape of cancer"
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology honors Marina Wolf, Bita Moghaddam
Marina Wolf, Ph.D., professor of behavioral neuroscience, was presented with the ACNP 2023 Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award for her outstanding contribution to neuropsychopharmacology by mentoring and developing young scientists into leaders in the field at the 63rd Annual Meeting, Dec. 3-6.
Wolf is a preeminent neuroscientist who pioneered studies on the role of neuronal plasticity in drug addiction. She received her Ph.D. in pharmacology from Yale in 1986 and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Cell Biology, Sinai Hospital of Detroit. Her lab has been continuously funded by NIH/NIDA since 1992, which has resulted in 117 primary papers and more than 30 invited reviews. She has been a champion of promoting women in science, both within her lab and more broadly.
More than half of her former trainees are women, and some have already risen to positions of leadership in their respective fields. She has received several noteworthy honors and awards including the Society for Neuroscience Julius Axelrod Prize, ACNP Paul Hoch Distinguished Service Award, and NIDA Senior Scientist and Mentorship Award.
Click here to watch Wolf’s acceptance video.
Bita Moghaddam, Ph.D., professor of behavioral neuroscience, was presented with the ACNP 2023 Dolores Shockley Diversity and Inclusion Advancement Award for promoting diversity and inclusion within the fields of basic, clinical or translational neuroscience. She was presented with the award at the 63rd Annual Meeting, Dec. 3-6.
Moghaddam received her B.S. in chemistry from Avila College and her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. She is the Ruth Matarazzo Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience in the OHSU School of Medicine.
Her work on neural circuits in the developing adolescent brain, mechanisms of actions of ketamine and antipsychotic drugs, and application of computational approaches have contributed to the understanding of how anxiety, addiction and psychosis may develop. Dr. Moghaddam has received multiple awards including the ACNP’s Efron award, CINP’s Paul Janssen award, Career Development and MERIT awards from the NIMH and a Fogarty Senior Fellowship award.
Moghaddam has trained over 30 predoctoral and postdoctoral scientists, more than 25% of whom have been members of underrepresented groups.
“This award is special because it's named after one of my heroes, Dr. Dolores Shockley,” Moghaddam said in her acceptance video.
Two OHSU faculty contribute to book
Congratulations to Peter M. Schulman, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, and Eric C. Stecker, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, for the publication of their co-authored chapter in the 8th edition of Kaplan’s Cardiac Anesthesia: Perioperative and Critical Care Management.
The textbook provides a comprehensive overview of cardiac anesthesia and is considered to be an authoritative source on this subject matter. The title of their chapter is “Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices.”
Three learners receive scholarship
Congratulations to Amy Colagiovanni, Brian Prigmore and Ally Bray for being named the inaugural recipients of the Colville Sports Medicine Scholarship. Formed as a collaboration between OHSU Orthopaedics and Family Medicine, this annual scholarship provides three learners with support and encouragement for a career in sports medicine by enabling them to attend a national sports medicine meeting.
Amy Colagiovanni is a first-year family medicine resident at OHSU Hillsboro. “My passion for sports medicine and family medicine grew throughout my experiences with the OHSU Sports Medicine faculty and fellows during medical school,” Colagiovanni said. “My goal is to complete a sports medicine fellowship after residency and work with athletes of all ages. This funding will support my continued efforts to stay involved in the sports medicine community, such as continuing scholarly work related to sports medicine and attending the annual AMSSM conference.”
Brian Prigmore is a third-year medical student interested in orthopedic surgery. His research has focused on osteochondral allograft transplantation, a complex surgical procedure, on which his mentor, Dennis Crawford, Ph.D., M.D., professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation in the School of Medicine, is a leading expert.
Because of the scholarship, Prigmore had the opportunity to give a podium presentation to the world’s leading experts in osteochondral allograft transplantation surgery at the International Cartilage Restoration Society congress meeting in Sitges, Spain. There, he shared the research findings of Crawford’s and his work, which has led to additional research opportunities in partnership with the orthopedic sports medicine department at The Ohio State University.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to the committee members — Drs. Jackie Brady, Ryan Petering, Jen Devoe and Darin Friess — for selecting me to receive this scholarship,” Prigmore said. “It’s a huge honor, and I’m incredibly grateful and humbled to be considered a worthy recipient of this award.”
Ally Bray is a third-year resident at OHSU's new community-based Hillsboro Family Medicine Residency. “I’m applying for a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship this year, with the ultimate goal of being able to provide comprehensive primary care to an active community,” Bray said. “The Colville Scholarship will allow me to travel to academic conferences this year to present research I've been working on for the last few years. I am so grateful to have received this award and excited for the future of Sports Medicine in Oregon!”
The scholarship is named after Mark Colville, M.D., a respected and longtime sports medicine physician in Portland. He was an OHSU faculty member in the division of orthopedics from 1986 to 1996, where he taught orthopedic sports medicine and arthroscopy.
“It is a great honor to be chosen as the namesake for this award,” Colville said. “Providing the best possible health care for athletes was my passion and the greatest joy in my medical career. This scholarship will provide educational opportunities for young physicians who will be the next leaders in sports medicine.”