Professional Notes: September 2020

09/08/2020

A round-up of awards, presentations, papers and the other professional achievements of SLU faculty, staff and students.

Faculty and Staff

A research group led by Richard DiPaolo, Ph.D., in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine, published a new study in Gastroenterology. The study provides information that is critical to understanding how chronic inflammation increases the risk of developing gastric (stomach) cancer.

About the Study

Stomach cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world, but what causes cells in the stomach to become cancer is unknown. The study was led by Kevin Bockerstett, an M.D./Ph.D. student working closely with fellow graduate student Scott Lewis in the computer science master’s degree program. The study provides transcriptional data on thousands of individual cells from healthy stomachs and stomachs with precancerous lesions that will be useful for researchers in future studies of gastric cancer, and identified an new biomarker (Gastrokine 3) that may be useful for identifying precancerous cells early, prior to cancer development.

The study provides important insight into the early steps in gastric cancer development as identifying pre-cancerous lesions is key to preventing cancer, and early diagnosis is central to curing cancer.

The group used a new technology known as single cell RNA sequencing to identify new cell types and new biomarkers during the early stages of cancer development. Studies were performed in mouse models of gastric cancer, and findings were confirmed in human tissue biopsies.

The study’s citation is: Bockerstett KA, Lewis SA, Noto C, Ford EL, Saenz JB, Ahn TH, Mills JC, DiPaolo RJ. Single Cell Transcriptional Analyses Identify Lineage-Specific Epithelial Responses to Inflammation and Metaplastic Development in the Gastric Corpus. Gastroenterology, Accepted, August 16, 2020.

Anthony Breitbach Ph.D., director of the Athletic Training Program in the Doisy College of Health Sciences, collaborated with Jason A. Muchow of Mercy Clinic in St. Louis, and David Gallegos of the Southwest Sport and Spine Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to publish a discussion paper, “Athletic Trainers Unique Clinical and Teamwork Skills Contribute on the Frontlines During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” in the special COVID-19 issue of the Journal of Interprofessional Care.

An excerpt from this article was featured as an infographic by the National Athletic Trainers' Association on its social media sites.

Hal Bush, Ph.D., of the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been invited as a regular contributor at Patheos, the largest and most successful website for religion and spirituality on the web. Bush is a specialist in American literature and spirituality, and his initial post combines his appreciation for 19th century literature and theology with reflections on the importance of spirituality right now through the metaphor of spiritual coffee.

A new book on Alaric the Goth by Douglas Boin, Ph.D., of the Department of History, was selected as a “2020 Summer Read” by the BBC History Magazine. Boin also recently joined former Emmy award winning comedy writer, former U.S. senator, and podcast host Al Franken to discuss the "uncanny parallels" between 410 A.D. and today.

Oluwatoyosi Owoeye, Ph.D., of the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, recently published an article, "Epidemiology of All-Complaint Injuries in Youth Basketball," in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.

Joseph Wheeler, M.D., of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Section of Hospital Medicine, recently published a new work, “Cogan's Syndrome: Clinical Presentations and Update on Treatment.” The citation is: Espinoza GM, Wheeler J, Temprano KK, Keller AP. Cogan's Syndrome: Clinical Presentations and Update on Treatment. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2020;20(9):46. Published 2020 Jun 16. DOI: 10.1007/s11882-020-00945-1

Timothy Wiemken, Ph.D., of SLUCOR, Ana Santos Rutschman, J.D., and Robert Gatter, J.D., both of the School of Law, contributed a post to Harvard Law School’s “Bill of Health” blog about face shields and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liz Chiarello, Ph.D., of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, published a piece in the Conversation about how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting people seeking treatment for addictions.

Katie Sniffen, project manager for research in SLUCOR, was named chair of the Missouri Athletic Trainers' Association's Council on Practice Advancement, and was invited to record an online continuing education presentation discussing the intersections of athletic training and public health for the state membership.

Kim Levenhagen, DPT, of the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, is serving as a representative from the Academy of Acute Care PT to the APTA COVID-19 Resource Panel Task Force. Her service has resulted in the creation of several resources for practitioners in the field related to the COVID-19 pandemic including:

A co-written report, “The Aerosol Generating Procedure,” as well as  series of webinars to respond to the needs from Outpatient to Inpatient shift and COVID 19, including:

• APTA Learning Center Series
• Productivity vs. Value: Why We Need to Change the Discussion, and How YOU Can! CEUs:  0.2 CEUs/2 contact hours/CCUs (including assessment)
• Arterial Blood Gases (0.1 CEU)
• Putting the Value Back in Lab Results (0.1 CEU)
• Tips on Drips- Integrating ICU Pharmacology into PT practice (0.1 CEU)

Other COVID-19 Related Webinars

• “New Models in Addressing Hospital Deconditioning and Physical Impairment to Establish a COVID-19 Hospital Throughput Framework,” partnered with the Johns Hopkins University, May 2, 2020.
• “Overview of Prone Positioning - Why It Works and Lessons Learned,” (0.2 CEU), May 9, 2020.
• “Physical Therapy Considerations for Inpatient Rehab with COVID-19,” (0.2 CEU), May 16, 2020.
• “COVID-19: Implications for Physical and Occupational Therapy in the Acute Care Setting - Putting Evidence into Clinical Practice,” May 23, 2020.
• “COVID-19 and Cancer Rehab: Meeting the Needs of Survivors During a Pandemic and Beyond,” partnered with Academy of Oncologic Physical Therapy, June 13, 2020.
• “Caring for Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Acute Care Perspective,” partnered with Academy of Pediatrics Physical Therapy, July 11, 2020.

The Adventures In Medicine and Science Program (AIMS) in the School of Medicine has been named to the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration’s Hall of Hall. The recognition is CILC annually to programs that have won the organization’s Pinnacle Award for ten years consecutively. The Pinnacle Award recognizes programs that have achieved excellence in distance learning.

Constance Wagner, J.D., of the School of Law, presented her research on "A Comparison of European Union and U.S. Approaches to Promoting Corporate Board Gender Diversity," at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools on Aug. 3.

Farzana Hoque, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Section of Hospital Medicine in the School of Medicine, received an invitation as keynote speaker at the Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference 2021 (HM21).

Hoque's talk on the leadership track is, “The Power of Emotional Intelligence for Frontline Healthcare Providers.” The conference will be held in Las Vegas, in May 2021.

Krishan Pandey, Ph.D., of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, gave a lecture, “SARS-CoV2: Biology and vaccine approaches,” at the Three Days International webinar, “Present and Future Strategies to combat emerging and re-emerging contagious diseases,” organized by the Department of Microbiology at the University of Burdwan, India, on Aug. 17.

Mark Rimar, director of web services in the Division of University Marketing and Communications (MARCOM), was interviewed by The EvoLLLution about institutions and best practices for governing their web presences.

Joseph Schaffer Ph.D., professor of criminology and criminal justice in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, was interviewed in Governing Magazine.

Students

Two students studying Russian in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures have received support from federal programs supported by by the Department of Defense – the Defense Language and National Security Education Office's Project GO and the Defense Intelligence Agency's Cooperative Education Program.

Junior Taylor Streff, an Air Force Cadet C/3C, AFROTC who is majoring in international relations with a minor in computer science, joined a select group of undergraduate and graduate students commissioned through the Army, Naval or Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) who were selected on the basis of academic merit, language experience, cultural sensitivity, leadership, diversity and commitment to the mission of Project Go to participate in an intensive Russian program for Summer 2020 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Benjamin Hopkins, a senior majoring in Russian Studies and theatre with minors in foreign service and Russian and East European Area Studies, was selected for the competitive CO-OP, open to talented undergraduate and graduate U.S. Citizens enrolled in a degree program and focusing on foreign area studies, legal, computer science, business administration, human resources, public administration, international relations, political science, chemistry, physics, biology, microbiology, pharmacology, toxicology, engineering or intelligence analysis related courses.

CO-OP provides a multi-semester internship opportunity in which Hopkins will work with other linguists while gaining experience in research and analysis related to the agency's foci, including providing military intelligence to the Department of Defense.

Elizabeth Blake, Ph.D., coordinator of the Russian Studies Program, noted Streff and Hopkins’s achievements and their contributions to SLU’s Russian program.