The GSO NewsVolume 2, Issue 1, September 2010

www.mcg.edu/gradstudies/students.htmMedical College of Georgia Graduate Student Organization

The GSO News 1

Inside this Issue

Welcome Back from the GSOPresident

2010/11 GSO Officers

26th Annual Graduate Research Day

Student: Aisha Cobbs

Student: Irfan Ali

Faculty: Dr. Jennifer Sullivan

Student Accomplishments

Feature Article: Medical Illustration

GSO Fundraiser

2010/11 GSO OfficersColleen Carey

In addition to the GSO president’s wel-

come note, the GSO officers would also

like to take the opportunity to briefly in-

troduce themselves. Here we provide you

with some basic information about the

work we do at MCG and highlight the

goals each one of us is eager to achieve

within this academic year.

Welcome Back from the GSO President

Dear fellow graduate students,

It’s once again that time of the year - a

new academic term has just begun and

we have a lot planned for you. Last year

we were able to establish many new things

for MCG’s graduate students while at the

same time also maintaining well-appreci-

ated GSO traditions and even reviving

old ideas. In doing so, we were able to

meet our goals of improving the overall

communication among the graduate stu-

dent body, connecting students from dif-

ferent programs, combining GSO’s and

SGA’s efforts for the benefit of all MCG

students, and establishing new relation-

ships with other schools within the Uni-

versity System of Georgia. As a result of

these team efforts, we are able to look

back on a very active and successful past

year for our organization!

1

1

2

4

4

5

6

7

9

While we begin the new academic year

with presenting the 1st edition of the

GSO Welcome Handbook to the new

incoming classes of graduate students

(which can be found at http://www.mcg.

edu/gradstudies/students.htm), we also

plan to extend our focus on the more up-

per level students by a variety of means.

One such goal of doing so is through in-

viting guest speakers to talk about profes-

sional career opportunities, because one

can never start planning the future too

early! Lastly, I’d like to encourage you

to keep an eye out for announcements

from your organization. Thanks to your

help, input, and participation, GSO has

become one of the most influential and

well-respected student organizations at

MCG and together we can keep it that

way! On behalf of the GSO and my fel-

low officers I wish you all a very success-

ful year and look forward to seeing you

at many of the upcoming events we have

planned.

Samuel Herberg

GSO President

phot

ogra

phy

by D

r. Pa

tric

ia C

amer

on

…to“Officers”, pg. 2

The GSO News 2

...from “Officers”, pg. 1

President Samuel Herberg:

3rd year Cellular Biology & Anatomy

PhD student in Dr. William Hill’s lab,

research interest in stem cells for tissue

regeneration. Goal(s) for this year: “To

further improve the overall recognition

of GSO campus-wide by representing

our organization at the highest level of

student leaders while also making sure

that our services reach the more than

500 graduate students by acting as their

point person. Ultimately, I wish for GSO

to become an invaluable part of every

graduate students’ intellectual and social

experience at our institution.”

Vice president Katie Spitler:

2nd year Biomed PhD student in Dr.

Clinton Webb’s lab, research interest

“using dietary supplementation to im-

prove hypertension.” My goals are “to

help organize a new lecture series featur-

ing speakers that will talk about job op-

portunities that are out there after some-

one gets a PhD.”

Secretary Paramita Pati:

3rd year BIOMED PhD student in Dr.

Dan Rudic’s lab, research interest is in

the role of the circadian clock in hyper-

tension and regulation of the circadian

clock in the vasculature. Goal for this

year: “To provide official correspon-

dence and distribute information related

to GSO. Also, to work with the

Colleen Carey

As one of the longest-standing tradi-

tions and highlights of the academic year

within the School of Graduate Studies,

Graduate Research Day provides an op-

portunity for both students and postdocs

to share with the campus the outstand-

ing work that is being conducted here on

campus. As expected, the 26th annual

Graduate Research Day held in March

2010 proved to be an impressive display

of progressive and innovative projects

from all participants. This year over 100

postdoctoral fellows and graduate stu-

dents showcased research in biomedical

sciences, biostatistics, health informatics,

medical illustration and nursing.

This year, Sir Salvador Moncada (MD,

PhD, DSci, FMedSci, FRS) a world re-

nowned scientist and Professor of Ex-

perimental Biology and Therapeutics

at University College London, United

Kingdom was the invited guest speaker.

Dr. Moncada earned his Doctor of Phi-

losophy in Pharmacology at the Royal

College of Surgeons at the University of

26th Annual Graduate Research Day: Students, trainees and post-doctoral fellows shine London and Wellcome Research Labora-

tories under Sir John Vane. While there

he solved the mechanism of action of as-

pirin, which was published in three clas-

sic papers for which he received a PhD in

1973. Dr. Moncada then went on to play

a central role in the discovery and devel-

opment of prostacyclin as a medicine for

cardiopulmonary bypass operations and

pulmonary hypertension.

In 1985 Dr. Moncada began investiga-

tions that lead him and his team to

identify the newly described, “endothe-

lium-derived releasing factor” or EDRF

and his lab made one of the first break-

throughs that later enabled EDRF to be

identified as nitric oxide. To date, his

work still continues to elucidate new

mechanisms in endothelial cell biology

and explore new therapies in cardiovas-

cular medicine. Dr. Moncada is an excel-

lent speaker and his talk was enjoyed by

all who attended.

The staff of GSO News would like to congratu-late all participants for their hard work as well as to specifically acknowledge the winners of

this years awards. (Next page)

O

phot

ogra

phy

by D

r. Pa

tric

ia C

amer

on

…to“Officers”, pg. 5

The GSO News 3

O v e r a l l E x c e l l e n c e i n B i o m e d i c a l R e s e a r c h - F i s h e r S c i e n t i f i c A i s h a C o b b s

J i C h e n g M e m o r i a l A w a r d f o r E x c e l l e n c e i n B i o m e d i c a l R e s e a r c h

C h a i t a n y a P a t w a r d h a n

L o w e l l M . G r e e n b a u m A w a r d f o r R e s e a r c h E x c e l l e n c e i n P h a r m a c o l o g y S c o t t W e b s t e r

R . A u g u s t R o e s e l M e m o r i a l A w a r d f o r R e s e a r c h E x c e l l e n c e i n

B i o c h e m i s t r y M a r y Z i m m e r m a n

V i r e n d r a B . M a h e s h A w a r d f o r R e s e a r c h E x c e l l e n c e i n

E n d o c r i n o l o g y L i m o r R a z

E x c e l l e n c e i n R e s e a r c h A w a r d

G r a d u a t e N u r s i n g - A n n e t t e B o u r g a u l t P u b l i c H e a l t h - J u l i a n e M o n k o

C e l l u l a r B i o l o g y a n d A n a t o m y - M o a t a z E l k a s r a w y M o l e c u l a r M e d i c i n e - B u r l e s ( R u s t y ) J o h n s o n

N e u r o s c i e n c e - C h r i s t i n a W i l s o n P h y s i o l o g y - K a t h r y n S p i t l e r

U G A C l i n i c a l & E x p e r i m e n t a l T h e r a p e u t i c s - R o s h i n i P r a k a s h V a s c u l a r B i o l o g y - I r f a n A l i

S c h o o l o f G r a d u a t e S t u d i e s ( 6 ) S a u r a b h A g g a r w a l , M e l a n i e K i n g , M o h a m e d S a l e h , F r a n k

S p r a d l e y , W a r a r a t K i t t i k u l s u t h , B r a n d o n H a l l

E d u c a t i o n a l M u l t i m e d i a A w a r d - M e d i c a l I l l u s t r a t i o n N a t h a n i e l K l e i n

E x c e l l e n c e i n P o s t d o c t o r a l R e s e a r c h A w a r d s – I n t e r n a t i o n a l &

P o s t d o c t o r a l S e r v i c e s O f f i c e P o s t e r P r e s e n t a t i o n - D i n g X i e

O r a l P r e s e n t a t i o n - E r i c B e l i n d e C h a n t e m e l e

I n t e r n a t i o n a l G r a d u a t e E x c h a n g e T r a i n e e A w a r d T a o W a n g

M C G / U G A S t u d e n t E x c h a n g e A w a r d - M C G / U G A C o l l a b o r a t i v e

W i n n e r – T i f f a n y N g u y e n H o n o r a b l e m e n t i o n – R u s t y J o h n s o n

2 0 1 0 G r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h D a y

A w a r d W i n n e r s

The GSO News 4

Aisha CobbsParamita Pati

Aisha Cobbs is a fifth year Biomedical

Sciences PhD student in the department

of Physiology. She is doing her disserta-

CURRENT STUDENT SPOTLIGHTtion research in the laboratory of Dr. Ad-

viye Ergul where she is investigating how

diabetes alters the cerebrovasculature

and how this affects stroke outcome. Re-

garding her choice of lab, Aisha said her

advisor’s mentoring style seemed like a

good fit, and she was also very interested

in doing diabetes and stroke research.

Originally from Conyers, GA, Aisha de-

cided to attend MCG because she “was

impressed with the faculty and the facili-

ties, and MCG seemed like a place where

she could develop as a scientist.” Dur-

ing her time at MCG, Aisha has won a

number of national and regional awards.

She shares authorship on several publica-

tions, and is the first author on a pub-

lication currently under review. When

asked what her most rewarding experi-

ence here has been, she said, “Traveling

to conferences and being awarded my

own grant funding for every year that I

have been at MCG.”

Outside of school, she spends time with

her husband and family and on the week-

ends they usually go to the movies, out to

restaurants, or travel. Aisha said, “I try

to strike a balance between my personal

life and school life. I pace myself in the

lab and try not to give into my worka-

holic tendencies. I like going to the

Riverwalk and Thurmond Lake when I

need some peace and quiet.” Also, she

and her husband are expecting their first

child soon.

Aisha’s advice for current students is

not to be discouraged when experiments

don’t seem to go as planned, and she sug-

gests using the experience as an opportu-

nity to take a fresh look at the problem,

and that usually it is a minor detail that ...to “Aisha”, pg. 8

Mohammed Irfan AliNamita Hattangady

Mohammed Irfan Ali has been a student

of Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. in Dr.

David Stepp’s laboratory in the Depart-

ment of Vascular Biology. He recently

defended his thesis in July 2010. His dis-

sertation project investigated whether

improving the metabolic perturbations

associated with the insulin receptor in

obesity, via the protein tyrosine phopha-

tase 1B (PTP1B) gene deletion, has a

role in improving cardiovascular func-

tion. Irfan joined Dr. Stepp’s laboratory

to continue research in the field of his

interest since his undergraduate days.

Irfan was raised in Missouri; his moth-

er is of Yemeni decent and his father is

from India. As for his decision to join

MCG he says simply that the deluge of

Katrina made him relocate to MCG from

the Louisiana State University Health

Sciences Center, New Orleans. Irfan has

a number of achievements to his credit

at MCG. He is the first author on two

publications that are currently in press

and he shares authorship on several oth-

ers. Irfan has been a recipient of several

honors such as invitations for oral pre-

sentations, competitive awards and the

American Heart Association Pre-Doctor-

al Fellowship from 2008-2010. Irfan cites

his article in Circulation Research, the

completion of his dissertation and the

friendships of colleagues he has acquired

as some of his most rewarding experienc-

es at MCG. He is grateful to MCG for

the opportunities it has provided him.

Irfan has involved himself in various

activities, including running for the of-

fice of President of the GSO. He is also a

family man and enjoys spending quality

...to “Mohammed”, pg. 8

phot

ogra

phy

by M

oata

z E

lkas

raw

y

phot

ogra

phy

by M

oata

z E

lkas

raw

y

In future issues the ‘Current Student Spot-light’ will continue to highlight current gradu-ate students throughout each department in the School of Graduate Studies with regards to their current research. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured please email us at GSO@mcg.edu with ‘Student Spotlight’ in the subject line.

The GSO News 5

FACULTY SPOTLIGHTJennifer SullivanParamita Pati

Jennifer Case Sullivan is a core faculty

member in the Vascular Biology Cen-

ter, with her primary appointment in

the Department of Pharmacology. The

research program in her laboratory is fo-

cused on studying the mechanisms that

contribute to the observation that men

tend to develop hypertension and renal

disease at a younger age compared to

women and with greater severity. The

model that is studied is the ‘Spontane-

ously Hypertensive Rat’ which displays

a sexual dimorphism in blood pressure

and renal injury similar to that seen in

people. Current studies are focused on

the role of the nitric oxide/nitric oxide

synthase pathway, the renin-angiotensin

system, and inflammation.

Dr. Sullivan was born in Watertown, NY

but from the age of three lived in Clav-

erack, NY. She obtained her B.S. at the

State University of New York at Geneseo,

and then earned her M.S. and Ph.D. at

Albany Medical College in Albany, NY.

Dr. Sullivan decided to come to MCG

in 2000 to do a postdoctoral fellowship

with Dr. Jennifer Pollock because her

goal was to learn molecular biology with

a focus on nitric oxide.

When asked what her most rewarding

experience at MCG has been, Dr. Sulli-

van says, “There are really 2 things that

I most enjoy about MCG. First, is the

other faculty that I am fortunate enough

to collaborate with. We have amazing

faculty here at MCG and the collabo-

rations that I have established over the

years are part of what makes my job so

fun. Interacting with other people that

love science and appreciate what we get

to do everyday makes my research pro-

gram better and my experience in science

more fulfilling. Second are the students.

I have worked with students at all levels

since coming to MCG and part of what I

enjoy most about my job is being able to

introduce students to science. Whether

it is an undergraduate in my lab for the

STAR program, a graduate student, or

post-doctoral fellows, sharing with them

my passion for science and watching

them begin to ask their own questions is

amazing.”

Dr. Sullivan’s advice for current students

is to “Keep a positive attitude, believe in

your strengths and skills but know when

to turn to others for help.” Outside of

school, she spends time with her hus-

band and two daughters who are aged

five and seven. Regarding her strategy

for “survival” she says the following: “to

keep a positive attitude in the face of the

unavoidable disappointments that a ca-

The ‘Faculty Spotlight’ will continue to highlight current faculty from departments within the School of Graduate Studies with re-gards to their current research and accomplish-ments. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured please email us at GSO@mcg.edu with ‘Faculty Spotlight’ in the subject line.

...to “Sullivan”, pg. 8

phot

ogra

phy

by M

oata

z E

lkas

raw

y

phot

ogra

phy

by D

r. Pa

tric

ia C

amer

on

...from “Officers”, pg. 2

other officers to further the goals of the

organization so that we can better serve

our members.”

Treasurer Davies Agyekum:

3rd year Molecular Medicine student in

Dr. Steffen Meiler’s lab. My research in-

terest include the development of thera-

peutic agents for treatment of the genetic

disorder of sickle cell disease. Goals for

this year: “To provide good oversight of

finances of GSO ensuring that we can

continue to provide the many amenities

our student body has come to enjoy.”

Social Chair Colleen Carey:

3rd year Genomic Medicine PhD stu-

dent in Dr. Jin-Xiong She’s lab. Research

interest include the use of genomic pro-

filing techniques for the identification of

biomarkers of disease prediction, preven-

tion and therapeutic treatment. Goals

for this year: “To continue the increase

amount of social events provided for the

graduate students as well as to further in-

crease the interaction among all graduate

programs on campus.” O

Deeksha Gambhir, Roshini Prakash, Rui Wang, Anil Bhatta, Juan Mo Not Pictured: Rebecca Nalloor

SGA Representatives

The GSO News 6

The GSO News would like to congratulate the following individuals on some recent accomplishments!Folami Lamoke2nd year Biomed PhD student in Dr.

Manuela Bartoli’s lab. Folami attended

the 2010 Annul Meeting for the Associa-

tion for Research in Vision and Ophthal-

mology (ARVO). The title of her talk

was “Implication of the Small-G Protein

Rac-1 in Amyloid Beta-Induced Oxida-

tive Stress and Retinal Cells Toxicity” in

a session entitled ‘Hot Topics and Novel

Concepts in AMD Research’. She was

also the recipient of a travel award award

from the National Eye Institute (NEI).

Krystal BrinsonAttended the Experimental Biology

Conference and presented the following

poster “Chronic angiotensin II (Ang II)

increases renal oxidative stress in male

Paramita Pati Recently attended

and presented at

the Society for

Research on Bio-

logical Rhythms

2010 meeting

from May 22-May

26. The title of

her poster was

“Blunted hyper-

tensive response

to L-NAME in Bmal1-KO mice”.

Mohamed Saleh Mohamed has been busy! He’d like to

share with us his accomplishments this

past year including a first author poster

presentation entitled “Differential Ef-

fects of Endothelin A and B Receptor

Antagonism on Diabetes-Induced Pro-

teinuria, Glomerular Permeability, and

Inflammation” and a first author Oral

presentation entitled “Free Radical Scav-

enging Decreases Endothelin-1 (ET-1)

Excretion and Glomerular Permeability

During Diabetes”.

Beth Richter Beth has chosen to share some pictures

with the GSO News!

MCG Alumni, Aisha Walker and Rachel

Novak attended Beth’s hooding ceremo-

ny this year.

A group of graduate students out for

May First Friday/Graduation night.

Ahmed El-AwadyAlso attended EB and presented a poster

entitled “A new mechanism explaining

the sustained effect of Bone Morphoge-

netic Protein-2 (rhBMP-2 during recon-

struction of segmental bone defects”.

A big congrats to the now 2nd year Biomedical Science PhD students for completing their first year course work! Photography by Moataz Elkasrawy

O

spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR),

but not in female SHR”.

Tiffany Nguyen A recent gradu-

ate, was selected

as the MCG win-

ner of the MCG/

UGA Student Ex-

change Award for

Excellence in Bio-

medical Research.

This award is

designed to recog-

nize and reward excellence in biomedical

research by graduate students and to pro-

mote interaction between the Medical

College of Georgia and the University of

Georgia (Athens). Each year two awards

are presented, one to an MCG graduate

student and one to a UGA graduate stu-

dent. Nominees are in their advanced

stage of biomedical research and are eval-

uated on the overall scientific merit and

quality of their work, mastery of their

scientific field, and verbal presentation

skills.

The GSO News 7

Feature Article: Illustrators attend Portland, Oregon MeetingSteve Harrison

Students and Faculty from MCG’s De-

partment of Medical Illustration attend-

ed the 65th annual meeting of the As-

sociation of Medical Illustrators (AMI)

in Portland, Oregon, from July 27 to

August 1, 2010. The international meet-

ing’s program focused on continuing

education topics for the contemporary

medical illustrator in the areas of basic

medical science, surgery, media technol-

ogy, and business related issues. Nearly

300 professionals and students attended

the conference, which was held on the

Portland State University campus.

Centerpieces of the annual meeting are

the medical illustration Salons of Profes-

sional and Student medical and fine art.

More than 250 pieces of medical artwork

were entered in the Salons, with MCG

alumni winning thirteen of the forty

judged awards in print media, anima-

tion, and textbook illustration categories

of the Professional Salon. In the Student

Salon, Douglas Walp (Class of 2010) was

awarded a Certificate of Merit for his ani-

mation, “Kidney Physiology: Reabsorp-

tion in the Proximal Tubule,” and Paul

Kim (Class of 2011) received an Award of

Excellence in Instructional Line Illustra-

tion for his surgical series, “Superficial

Parotidectomy.” Mr. Kim’s illustration

also won the prestigious Orville Parkes

Award for Best of Show in the Student

Salon. The Parkes Award is named in

honor of the former Chairman of the

Department of Medical Illustration

from 1949-1974.

The conference featured one day of

workshops and three days of plenary

and concurrent sessions by leaders in the

fields of medical illustration and anima-

tion. Sessions covering topics in

clinical medicine, surgery, and bio-

medical research were largely presented

by faculty members from the Oregon

Health Sciences University. Other than

the salon awards, several MCG alumni

received recognition during the Awards

Banquet on Saturday, July 31. Michelle

Reinke (Class of 2010) was recognized as

a scholarship award recipient by the Ves-

alius Trust for Visual Communication in

the Health Sciences. William Westwood

(Class of 1972) was honored by the Asso-

ciation of Medical Illustrator’s Lifetime

Achievement Award, its highest honor to

acknowledge a medical illustrator whose

life, work, and accomplishments have sig-

nificantly contributed to the profession

and fellow illustrators. Mr. Westwood

has had a distinguished professional ca-

reer including stints on the board of gov-

ernors and as President of the AMI. He

owns his own medical illustration busi-

ness in Albany, New York, and prior to

that was on the medical illustration staff

at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Special recognition was given to the first

student of medical illustration at MCG,

George Lynch (1924-2009). Excerpts

from a videotaped interview with Mr.

Lynch highlighted his illustrious career

as an illustrator at Duke University and

as Biocommunication Director at Bow-

man Gray (Wake Forest) School of Medi-

cine. A remastered copy of Mr. Lynch’s

award winning filmograph, “A Brief

History of Medicine” was aired at the

Awards banquet. Nine members of the

MCG Medical Illustration Class of 2011

attended the AMI meeting in Portland,

with support from the School of Gradu-

ate Studies. The MCG Medical Illustra-

tion Graduate Program is one of four

accredited programs of its kind in the

United States.

2nd year Medical Illustration students at AMI awards banquet in Portland Oregon. Photography by Delia Dykes

O

The GSO News 8

can be easily remedied. When asked how

she feels about the preparation MCG has

given her, she said the following: “I feel

confident in my ability to solve problems

and think critically. I also believe that I

can successfully compete for grant fund-

ing as an independent investigator. My

mentor has also helped me sharpen my

scientific communication skills by en-

couraging me to write and review jour-

nal articles, give oral presentations, and

submit grant applications.” As far as her

future career goals, Aisha would like to

ultimately pursue a career as a clinician

scientist. The GSO wishes her the best

for the future!

...from “Aisha”, pg.4

O

time with his wife and children. Irfan is

an instrument rated pilot and a musician

as well. He plays the viola, the guitar and

is currently teaching his daughter to play

the violin.

His advice to students is “Choose a men-

tor based on how you feel around him/

her; do not look at the project first”.

He suggests preparing the presentation

first, while writing the thesis, as it pro-

vides a good outline to one’s thoughts.

To relax and unwind, he recommends

visiting Clark’s Hill Lake and Walton

Way Deli! After a short postdoctoral po-

sition with Dr. Sean Didion, Irfan plans

to complete his Medical Degree at the St.

George’ University School of Medicine.

The GSO wishes Irfan all the best in his

endeavors!

...from “Mohammed”, pg.4

O

...from “Sullivan”, pg.5 reer in science presents (paper rejected,

grants triaged) I count on my friends and

colleagues in science both at MCG and at

other institutions. Surrounding yourself

with people that know you and support

you is always a good thing.” For the fu-

ture, she plans to continue to “do good

science” and stay funded. The GSO

thanks Dr. Sullivan for sharing her story

with us! O

S c h o o l o f A l l i e d H e a l t h S c i e n c e s A l u m n i A s s o c i a t i o n S c h o l a r s h i p s

A m b e r M c C a l l M o a t a z E l k a s r a w y

B r a n n A l u m n i S c h o l a r s h i p

C o l l e e n C a r e y P a r e s h C h o t h e

2 0 1 0 A l u m n i S c h o l a r s h i p

A w a r d W i n n e r s

The GSO News 9

Contact Information

Websitehttp://www.mcg.edu/gradstudies/students.htm

Facebook GroupStudents of MCG GSO

EmailGSO@mail.mcg.edu

Newsletter Staff

Layout Design Chief EditorJoshua Bird Colleen Carey

EditorsNamita Hattangady Samuel Herberg

Paramita Pati

Feature ArticleSteve Harrison

AddressGraduate Student Organization

School of Graduate Studies

Medical College of Georgia

1120 15th St. CJ 2201

Augusta, GA 30912-1500

GSO FundraiserThe Graduate Student Organization will be selling

peel off cards for only $10 while they last!

For more Information please contact Colleen Carey or

Renee Bozard at gso@mcg.edu

*Local Merchants

*Only $10

*Buy one get one

free coupons

*Support MCG’s

Graduate Student

Organization

*Coupons good through

December 2011!