June 13, 2008 - Dr. Douglas R. Shanklin will be our speaker for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine annual Michelson Lecture. The lecture will be held on Friday, June 13, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. in the Cancer Research Building auditorium.

May 7, 2008 - Dr. Lawrence M. Pfeffer has been invited to serve as a member of the Innate Immunity and Inflammation Study Section, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health (NIH), for the term beginning July 1, 2008 and ending June 30, 2011.  Membership on a study section represents a major commitment of professional time and energy as well as a unique opportunity to contribute to the national biomedical research effort. Study sections review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on the applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in their fields of science. He has been nominated because of his demonstrated competence and achievement in his scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of his research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

April 23, 2008 - Dr. Andrzej Slominski has been awarded a prestigious Aaron B Lerner Lectureship in recognition of his contribution to pigment cell biology.  He will receive the award on May 12, 2008 during joined meetings of the International Pigment Cell Society and Melanoma Research Society in Sapporo, Japan.  Title of his lecture is "Neuroendocrine activity of the melanocyte".

April 23, 2008 - Dr. Antonio Martinez-Hernandez recently had a paper published in the Annals of Hepatology entitled "Sarcoidosis mimicking primary sclerosing cholangitis requiring liver transplantation".   Pamela Sylvestre, MD, (Methodist/DPG), one of our Residency Faculty, also was an author.  The complete citation is:  Tombazzi C, Waters B, Ismail MK, Sylvestre PB, Martinez-Hernandez A, Riely CA. Sarcoidosis mimicking primary sclerosing cholangitis requiring liver transplantation. Ann Hepatol. Jan-Mar;7(1):83-6, 2008.

March 27, 2008 - Blazej Zbytek, MD, PhD, a PGY-2 UT-pathology resident, has recently published a paper in Journal of Investigative Dermatology. The project was directed by Andrzej Slominski, MD, PhD and post-doctoral fellows in our Department, Zorica Janjetovic, MD and Michal Zmijewski, PhD were engaged in its execution. The full citation is: Zbytek B, Janjetovic Z, Tuckey RC, Zmijewski MA, Sweatman TW, Jones E, Nguyen MN, Slominski AT. 20-Hydroxyvitamin D3, a Product of Vitamin D3 Hydroxylation by Cytochrome P450scc, Stimulates Keratinocyte Differentiation. Journal of Investigative Dermatology advance online publication 27 March 2008; doi: 10.1038/jid.2008.62.

March 18, 2008 - A “Breakfast for Champions” was held at our department in recognition of the many individuals who do a lot to sustain and improve our training program.   Over 25 individuals from UT and affiliated institutions were chosen as Champions by the faculty and residents.  Those included administrative, technical, and clerical staff, as well as faculty members of the UT Allied Health.   The food was delicious and plentiful and the conversation was lively and stimulating.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and appreciated the “Thank You” from the program.  “It's really nice to know that the residents and faculty do appreciate our efforts.  Thanks for making me feel that I matter”, said Cindy Lazar, Surgical Pathology Lab Supervisor.  “I believe the Breakfast was a successful event.  I was able to meet people that I work with on a regular basis but had never met face-to-face”, said Chasse Green, the new Residency Program coordinator.  “It is nice to be appreciated even though I don't help out in order to be appreciated”, said Leslie Ingram, IT Analyst.  For more photos, click here.

March 1, 2008 - Dr. Wei Li (PI) and Dr. Andrzej Slominski (co-investigator) have been awarded a grant from the National Cancer Institute for $109,000 per year entitled "Discovery of novel cytotoxic agents for advanced melanoma”.  The major goal of this project is to improve the efficacy against melanoma of these thiazolidine compounds through extensive syntheses and biological testing, as well as to understand their mechanism of action.

March 1, 2008 - Four residents and one fellow from our program attended the CAP Residents Forum spring meeting in Denver, CO, which was held in conjunction with the 97th USCAP annual meeting.   Andre Thompson, MD, chief resident, and Chris Morgan, DO, chief resident elect, were our two delegates to the forum.  Anand Datta, MD, PhD, PGY-3 resident, presented 2 posters at the USCAP. 

The Executive Committee of the CAP Residents Forum includes nine members; two of which are UT trainees.  Jackie Granese, MD, our Dermatopathology fellow, serves as the current Chair of the Residents Forum and presided the meeting in Denver.  The executive committee also included our PGY-2 resident, Erin O’Sullivan, MD, the Alternate Delegate to the CAP House of Delegates. 

As part of our commitment to organized medicine, our program has traditionally been highly supportive of residents' involvement in national meetings of the CAP, AMA, and other medical societies.  This gives our residents the opportunity to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in Pathology and to network with other physicians from all over the United States, and also to attend some of the high-quality seminars held at those meetings.

February 21, 2008 - Dr. Lawrence Pfeffer has a manuscript entitled "Bioinformatic Analysis Reveals cRel As A Regulator Of A Subset Of Interferon Stimulated Genes" accepted for publication in the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research.

October 25, 2007 - The American Society for Microbiology and the American Academy of Microbiology have selected Vickie S. Baselski, Ph.D. to receive the 2008 TREK Diagnostic ABMM/ABMLI Professional Recognition Award.  She will receive the award and the ASM General Meeting Awards Dinner in June 2008 in Boston MA.  Congratulations, Dr. Baselski!

October 18-21, 2007 - Several of our residents and fellows attended the 44th annual American Society of Dermatopathology meeting in Baltimore, MD, and presented posters.

September 2007 - Five residents attended the CAP 2007 Resident’s forum.  The two delegates were Andre Thompson, MD, and Chris Morgan, DO.  Amanda Mullins, MD presented two posters.  We are proud to announce that Jackie Granese Bergren, MD, was elected Chair of the Resident’s Forum and Erin O’Sullivan, MD, was elected Alternate Delegate to the CAP House of Delegates.

August 14, 2007 - Everyone enjoyed the "Watermelon Cutting".  The melon was almost 24 inches long.  We followed autopsy protocol, of course, and have the pictures to prove it.