UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Summer Edition September 2014 | Page 1
The Community-Partnered Competition
Inside this issue:
Summer Newsletter—September 2014
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS,
URBAN HEALTH
SCHOLARS
2
DEPARTMENT NEWS 3
NEW EMPLOYEES 4
PUBLICATIONS 5
The David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Health System invite you to enter an online competi-
tion to find five academic community-partnered research or service-learning projects that can have a
significant impact on community health outcomes.
Called "Helping U Help Your Community," the contest provides early support to community-partnered
academic research and service-learning projects that address the most critical health needs of Los Ange-
les residents in innovative and effective ways. The contest also aims to showcase UCLA faculty and
community partners who devote their careers to identifying creative solutions to some of the most chal-
lenging barriers to good health in the community.
For more information: Click Here
The 2013-2014 Pathology Farewell Reception and Dinner took place on June 11th at the UCLA Faculty Center. Once again,
graduates were honored on a beautiful Southern California evening which began with hors d’oeuvres and an art exhibit featur-
ing faculty, graduate and staff talent. Dinner and presentations followed, hosted by Department Chair, Dr. Jonathan Braun.
More Information.
2014 Pathology Farewell Celebration
U C L A P A T H O L O G Y A N D L A B O R A T O R Y M E D I C I N E
Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Summer Edition September 2014 | Page 2
Awards and Recognitions
Michael Fishbein, MD, is the recipient of the
2015 Society for Cardiovascular Pathology
Distinguished Achievement Award for his
work advancing understanding of cardiovas-
cular disorders.
Pathology Resident and Fellow Alumna, Judy
Melinek, MD, is author of the newly released
book titled ―Working Stiff Two Years, 262 Bod-
ies and the Making of a medical Examiner‖.
Read More
Dr. Romney Humphries is featured in the
August 2014 CAP Today, article, “Too Few
Studies to Steer Test Protocols for Pediatrics”
Read More
Urban Health Scholars
In July, UCLA hosted students in the Urban Health Scholars Program, a summer program for high school students sponsored by
the California Wellness Foundation and organized by the Social Justice Learning Institute (www.sjli.org). During the 5 week pro-
gram, 15 high school students came to UCLA over 6 days, hosted by Dr. Linda Baum and Dr. Omai Garner. One group of students
spent time with Dr. Garner in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, learning the basics of microbial pathogenesis and touring the
Brentwood lab. Another group of students spent time with Dr. Dawn Ward and Dr. Alyssa Ziman in the Ackerman Donor Center,
Component Processing and Blood Bank areas of Transfusion Medicine, where they met donors, followed a unit from donation
through processing, and learned the steps involved in blood typing and cross-matching. All students participated in a Career Day,
where representatives of various allied health fields spoke with them about the training required for various types of careers and the
types of jobs available in their fields. Elsa Tsukuhara from Pathology and Laboratory Medicine presented career paths for phlebot-
omists, Medical Laboratory Technologists and Clinical Laboratory Scientists. Jeff Davis from Respiratory Therapy described the
clinical settings in which Respiratory Therapists work and also gave the students an opportunity to perform intubation on a manne-
quin (see photos). Sergio Godinez and Patrick Hale from Radiology discussed the use of radiographic imaging in patient care, the
types of imaging modalities and the training required to work in the field. The students also spent a day with the Emergency Medi-
cal Technicians team at the UC Police Dept., where they received training in CPR. The students were excited to learn about the
different opportunities for a career in health care – as one student said ―I didn’t even know these careers existed!‖
US News and World Report features the UCLA
Clinical Genomics Center in their ―Best Hospi-
tals‖ 2015 Edition. The article includes inter-
views with Drs. Wayne Grody and Stanley
Nelson, and highlights the center’s remarkable
progress finding life-saving answers in pa-
tients’ genes. | Read More
Congratulations to our CLS, Robyn Shimizu
who will be awarded the 2015 American Soci-
ety of Microbiology, Scherago-Rubin Award!
Read More
Visit the UCLA Clinical Genomics Center
exhibit booth at these conferences.
www.nsgc.org/2014aec
www.amp.org/meetings/2014/
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Summer Edition September 2014 | Page 3
New Chemistry Instrument Implemented in the Laboratory
The Clinical Laboratories at Ronald Reagan, Santa Monica, and BURL implemented new
chemistry analyzers on July 16, 2014. These analyzers will run gen-
eral chemistry, immunoassays, and therapeutic drug monitoring tests
depending upon the test menu of each laboratory. Complete validation
of the analyzers took almost two years. This involved laboratory staff
working diligently to confirm the accuracy and precision of the ana-
lyzer results. Staff continue to maximize their proficiency with the
new instrumentation and workflow.
Traditionally, prostates are sectioned into many levels and quadrants to fit the tissue
into the commonly used cassettes. The submission of representative sections of
these quadrants results in the loss of much information and makes it impossible to
determine the number of tumors in the patient. With whole mount prostate sec-
tions, the number of tumors can be accurately and conveniently determined. As a
result, each tumor can be accurately graded and staged, and its localization within
the prostate can be accurately reported. This information is then used by radiolo-
gists to apply new modalities that improve radiologic diagnostic accuracy. The
poster presents a convenient method of whole prostate processing which has signifi-
cantly improved radiologic diagnosis of prostate cancer at UCLA.
A Method for Processing Whole Prostate
2014 NSH Annual Symposium/Convention in Austin, Texas
Saeedeh Shapourifar-Tehrani and Jill Squires
Seismic Celebration –THANK YOU!
Many of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine’s administrative, clinical, out-
reach, and some school functions are housed in the Center for Health Scienc-
es’ (CHS) South Tower A-Level. Built in 1951, the building was due for an
upgrade to reinforce the building's structure, enabling it to be resistant to seis-
mic activity. In July 2012, the CHS South Tower Seismic Renovation project
began with the construction of new concrete wall panels or ―shear walls‖,
which were designed to stiffen the original building and make it earthquake
resistant. As a result, there have been a multitude of interior improvements
while the building preserved its architectural integrity.
During this Seismic Renovation Project, Pathology CHS A-Level staff, faculty, and residents had to endure many challenges:
corridor and stairwell closures, relocation dominoes, noise and vibration issues, ventilation and utility outages (both planned and
unplanned), and even flooding. Everyone worked together daily to prevent this extreme turmoil from impacting on patient care. In
recognition of everyone’s supreme patience, collegiality, and teamwork during this long and challenging Seismic Project, Pathol-
ogy & Lab Medicine Leadership and Operations Management hosted a Seismic Celebration pizza party to celebrate that ―the
worst is over‖ and that the seismic work on the A Level South Tower is nearing the end. Also, the party served as the grand open-
ing of the new Pathology A Level lounge/break room in CHS AS-316.
A huge Thank You goes out to everyone for a job well done, and a special Thank You goes out to Steve Fulton and my very dedi-
cated Operations Management Team who worked continuously and
tirelessly, on a daily basis, to help mitigate all the challenging issues.
Written by: Sharon Higgins and Florgin Dela Luna.
Operations Management Team members (left to right): Maggie Griffin, Steve Fulton, Brad
Sollenberger, Sharon Higgins, Flo Dela Luna, Eric DeLeon, Andrea Ragoza, & Andrea Moore.
Department News
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Summer Edition September 2014 | Page 4
Welcome New Employees
August 2014
Klaris Avanessian – CPT II, Support Services
Pablo Gonzalez – HLT, Brentwood
Eunice M Kim – CLS, Brentwood
Cara Kulbacki – HLT II, Cytology
Jennifer Leung – Admin Spec., Finance
Samuel Rosenthal – CLS, Brentwood
Jay Jay San Miguel – HLT, Brentwood
Steve Smith – HLT, Brentwood
July 2014
German Ayala – Programmer Analyst II, IT
Christie Brown – CLS Apprentice, Molecular
Kazel Campbell – CPT II, Support Services
Valentina Christian – CPT II, Support Services
Carmen Curi Rios – CPT II, Support Services
Trung H Luu – CLS Apprentice, Molecular Pathology
Jammy Mata – CPT III, Support Services
Jason Murphy – Lab Aide II, Histology
Matthew Perera – CPT II, Support Services
Crystal Rodriguez – CPT II, Support Services
Noy Senevilay – CLS, Core Lab
Leimon Torres – CPT II, Support Services
Robin Vonderhaar – HLT III, Outreach
June 2014
Tyler Burdick – PA Student, Surgical Pathology
Colleen Harris – Admin Analyst, Clin Lab Business Office
Scarlett Guzman – HLT III, Path. Outreach
Phylis Lebourgeois – CLS, Microbiology
Gerard Medina – CPT, Support Services
Katherine White – PA. Student Surgical Pathology
Andrea Miller x71701
Role:
Handle Department Facilities Service Requests
(FSR’s), Telephone/Data Service Requests (TSR’s)
Back-up for Department keyed and non-keyed access
Laboratory and office moves and planning, Equipment
moves, space and utility planning for new equipment
Special projects support for Director of Operations
Brad Sollenberger x50349
Role:
Equipment Inventory Management and Recycling
Pathology Microscope Maintenance and Service Equipment moves, space and utility planning for
new equipment Special projects support for Director of Operations
New Staff Members within Operations Management
Ebenezer Abdella – HLT, Brentwood
Dylan Acogny – EHS Specialist, Ops. Mgmt.
Elton Hom – Manager, Student Aff.
Lisa Reynolds – AA Reporting Office
Lisa Rimlinger – PA, Northridge Hosp
September 2014
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Summer Edition September 2014 | Page 5
One of the goals of the Pathology Research Alumni Committee is to highlight publications from our current and
recently former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and residents in the departmental newsletter. If anyone
has additional publications (newly published, first-author only) that should be highlighted, please contact Doug
Smoot ([email protected]).
PATHOLOGY RESEARCH ALUMNI COMMITTEE & PUBLICATIONS
-- Joshua Deignan, PhD, FACMG, Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory
Medicine, Chair, Pathology Research Alumni Committee
February—May 2014
GSRs:
Maomeng Tong – GSR (Jonathan Braun lab)
Reprograming of gut microbiome energy metabolism by the FUT2
Crohn's disease risk polymorphism.
Tong M, McHardy I, Ruegger P, Goudarzi M, Kashyap PC, Harituni-
ans T, Li X, Graeber TG, Schwager E, Huttenhower C, Fornace AJ Jr,
Sonnenburg JL, McGovern DP, Borneman J, Braun J.
ISME J. 2014 Apr 29. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2014.64. [Epub ahead of
print]
Jonathan Jacobs – GSR (Jonathan Braun lab)
Immune and genetic gardening of the intestinal microbiome.
Jacobs JP, Braun J.
FEBS Lett. 2014 Mar 5. pii: S0014-5793(14)00181-1. doi: 10.1016/
j.febslet.2014.02.052. [Epub ahead of print] Review.
Lisa Kohn – CMP Graduate (Gay Crooks lab)
Human Lymphoid Development in the Absence of Common γ-Chain
Receptor Signaling.
Kohn LA, Seet CS, Scholes J, Codrea F, Chan R, Zaidi-Merchant S,
Zhu Y, De Oliveira S, Kapoor N, Shah A, Abdel-Azim H, Kohn DB,
Crooks GM.
J Immunol. 2014 Jun 1;192(11):5050-8. doi: 10.4049/
jimmunol.1303496. Epub 2014 Apr 25.
Airie Kim – CMP Graduate (Tomas Ganz lab)
Mouse models of anemia of cancer.
Kim A, Rivera S, Shprung D, Limbrick D, Gabayan V, Nemeth E,
Ganz T.
PLoS One. 2014 Mar 28;9(3):e93283. doi: 10.1371/
journal.pone.0093283. eCollection 2014.
Airie Kim – CMP Graduate (Tomas Ganz lab)
A mouse model of anemia of inflammation: complex pathogenesis
with partial dependence on hepcidin.
Kim A, Fung E, Parikh SG, Valore EV, Gabayan V, Nemeth E, Ganz
T.
Blood. 2014 Feb 20;123(8):1129-36. doi: 10.1182/blood-2013-08-
521419. Epub 2013 Dec 19.
Post Docs:
Ronik Khachatoorian - Postdoc (Samuel French lab)
The NS5A-binding heat shock proteins HSC70 and HSP70 play dis-
tinct roles in the hepatitis C viral life cycle.
Khachatoorian R, Ganapathy E, Ahmadieh Y, Wheatley N, Sundberg
C, Jung CL, Arumugaswami V, Raychaudhuri S, Dasgupta A, French
SW.
Virology. 2014 Apr;454-455:118-27. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2014.02.016.
Epub 2014 Feb 28.
Minh Thai - Postdoc (Heather Christofk lab)
Adenovirus E4ORF1-induced MYC activation promotes host cell ana-
bolic glucose metabolism and virus replication.
Thai M, Graham NA, Braas D, Nehil M, Komisopoulou E, Kurdistani
SK, McCormick F, Graeber TG, Christofk HR.
Cell Metab. 2014 Apr 1;19(4):694-701. doi: 10.1016/
j.cmet.2014.03.009.
Jayanth Kumar Palanichamy - Postdoc (Dinesh Rao lab)
miRNA dysregulation in cancer: towards a mechanistic understanding.
Palanichamy JK, Rao DS.
Front Genet. 2014 Mar 18;5:54. eCollection 2014. Review.
Residents/Fellows:
Aaron James – Resident
Clavicular and meningeal alveolar soft part sarcoma: An unusual case
and literature review.
James AW, Chang L, Levine B, Dry SM.
J Orthop. 2014 Jan 10;11(1):48-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2013.12.014.
eCollection 2014 Mar.
Aaron James – Resident Coincident liposarcoma, carcinoid and gastrointestinal stromal tumor
complicating type 1 neurofibromatosis: case report and literature re-
view.
James AW, Chang L, Genshaft S, Dry SM. J Orthop, Aug 2014, Ac-
cepted for publication.
Aaron James – Resident Muscle pouch implantation: an ectopic bone formation model. Meth-
ods in Molecular Biology.
Asatrian G, Chang L, James AW. 2014;1213:185-91.
Aaron James – Resident Roles of bone morphogenetic protein signaling in osteosarcoma. Int
Ortho
Nguyen A, Scott MA, Dry SM, James AW. Aug 2014, Epub ahead of
print.
Aaron James – Resident
Novel signaling pathways in osteosarcoma.
Nguyen A, Nguyen V, Pham D, Mravic M, Scott MA, James AW. Int
J Ortho. Invited Review, Accepted for publication.
Aaron James – Resident
High resolution X-ray: A reliable approach for quantifying osteoporo-
sis in a rodent model
Velasco O, James AW, Asatrian G, Ajalat M, Pritchard T, Novshadian
S, Murthy A, Bayani G, Zhang X, Ting K, Soo C. . BioResearch Open
Access. Epub ahead of print.
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Summer Edition September 2014 | Page 6
Newsletter Committee: Arnold Scheer, Daisy Castro, Bushra Yasin, and Khanh Andrews
Send us your suggestions for future newsletters at : Email [email protected]
In Memoriam
Dr. Lee Goodglick, a distinguished
translational cancer biologist, known
for his creation and leadership of the
CTSI/MED lecture series. Read More
Dr. Anthony Verity, a much admired
faculty member in neuropathology
who served as Section Head from
1982-1993. | Read More
Aaron James – Resident
Chapter 1, Safety assessments in mesenchymal stem cell implantation.
Frontiers in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research.
Asatrian G, Pan A, Scott MA, James AW. Invited Book Chapter. Jun
2014, Epub ahead of print. Corresponding author.
Aaron James – Resident
Human perivascular stem cell-based bone graft substitute induces rat
spinal fusion. Stem Cells Translational Medicine,
Chung CG, James AW, Asatrian G, Liang P, Chang L, Le K, Bayani
G, Pan A, Stoker D, Zhang X, Ting K, Peault B, Soo C. Jun 2014, Epub
ahead of print.
Aaron James – Resident
Editorial: Bone tissue engineering and regeneration. BioMed Research
International, Bone Tissue Engineering and Regeneration Special Edi-
tion
Levi B, Peault B, James AW. Jun 2014, Epub ahead of print. Corre-
sponding author.
Gregory Fishbein – Resident
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: status and challenges.
Fishbein GA, Schoen FJ, Fishbein MC.
Cardiovasc Pathol. 2014 Mar-Apr;23(2):65-70. doi: 10.1016/
j.carpath.2013.10.001. Epub 2013 Oct 8.
Michael Alberti – Resident
The Influence of Serum Separator Tubes on Mycophenolic Acid Con-
centrations Determined by HPLC.
Alberti MO, Fukuchi AM, Kelly KA.
Ther Drug Monit. 2014 Apr 8. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract avail-
able.
Atsuko Seki – Fellow
Sympathetic Nerve Fibers in Human Cervical and Thoracic Vagus
Nerves.
Seki A, Green HR, Lee TD, Hong L, Tan J, Vinters HV, Chen PS,
Fishbein MC.
Heart Rhythm. 2014 Apr 23. pii: S1547-5271(14)00460-3. doi:
10.1016/j.hrthm.2014.04.032. [Epub ahead of print]
Winnie Wu – Resident
Strong expression of chemokine receptor CCR9 in diffuse large B-cell
lymphoma and follicular lymphoma strongly correlates with gastroin-
testinal involvement.
Wu W, Doan N, Said J, Karunasiri D, Pullarkat ST.
Hum Pathol. 2014 Mar 13. pii: S0046-8177(14)00107-5. doi: 10.1016/
j.humpath.2014.02.021. [Epub ahead of print]
Jelena Brezo– Fellow
Phenotypic Variability in Waardenburg Syndrome Resulting from a 22
Brezo J, Lam C, Vilain E, Quintero-Rivera F. q12.3-q13.1 Microdele-
tion Involving SOX10. American Journal of Medical Genetics. 2014.
164(6):1512-1519.
Jenny Ji– Fellow
Microdeletion of 1p32-p31 involving NFIA in a Patient with Hypo-
plastic Corpus Callosum, Ventriculomegaly, Seizures and Urinary Tract
Defects
Ji J, Salamon N, Quintero-Rivera F. European Journal of Medical Ge-
netics: Eur J Med Genet. 2014 May-Jun;57(6):267-8.. PMID:24657733
Publications Continued
The 2014 Walford Lecture
Norman E. Sharpless, MD
Wellcome Distinguished Professor
Department of Medicine & Genetics
Director, The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
10:00 AM
Room: NRB Auditorium