Newsmakers

Neurological Surgery Chairman to Lead National Association

Dr. H. Hunt Batjer, Chairman of Neurological Surgery, has been named President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) for 2015-2016.

He is also the current President of the Society of Neurological Surgeons and co-chair of the National Football League’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee. He is past Chair of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and past Chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee for Neurological Surgery.

With more than 9,000 members, the AANS is dedicated to advancing neurological surgery and the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spinal column, spinal cord, brain, nervous system, and peripheral nerves.

Dr. Batjer, who holds the Lois C.A. and Darwin E. Smith Distinguished Chair in Neurological Surgery, earned his degree from UT Southwestern Medical School, completed his residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and was a faculty member until 1995. He then served as Chairman of Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine before returning to UT Southwestern in 2012.

Anesthesiologist Bhoja to Hold Alumi Professorship

Dr. Ravi Bhoja, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, has been named holder of the Anesthesiology Alumni Professorship. Dr. Bhoja earned his medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine in 2003 before completing a residency at UT Southwestern. In 2014, Dr. Bhoja received a Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. In all, 96 faculty members from across UT System's 15 academic and health institutions were honored. The program was established in 2008 to recognize faculty who deliver the highest quality instruction in the classroom, laboratory, clinics, or online.

Society Honors Buchanan with Lectureship

The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) has named an annual lectureship in honor of Dr. George Buchanan, Professor of
Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, and holder of the Children's Cancer Fund Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Oncology and Hematology. The George R. Buchanan Lectureship has been established to ensure that future generations are aware of the outstanding contributions Dr. Buchanan has made to ASPHO and the field of pediatric hematology/oncology.

The award will annually recognize a national or international expert in pediatric hematology/oncology who has significant research, education, and clinical expertise; is recognized as an accomplished educator, committed mentor, and effective speaker; and an ASPHO member in good standing. The award will be announced in May at the ASPHO annual meeting in Phoenix and awarded for the first time in fall 2015.

Dr. Buchanan has been actively involved in the diagnosis and management of children and adolescents with blood diseases at UT Southwestern since 1977. He was instrumental in ensuring that Texas became the third state to adopt newborn screening for sickle cell disease in 1983. He is a national leader in investigator-initiated and multicenter collaborative research in many areas of hematology. He has had keen interest in training and mentoring young physician researchers and developing new treatment approaches for children affected with blood disorders and cancer. In 2014, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) released the first comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines for management of sickle cell disease from birth to end of life, based on recommendations developed by a nationwide team of experts co-chaired by Dr. Buchanan.

Dr. Buchanan received his medical degree from the University of Chicago in 1970, followed by a Pediatric residency at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Hematology-Oncology fellowships at Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School.

Gill Named VP of Society for Pediatric Research

Dr. Michelle Gill, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Immunology, and Internal Medicine, has been elected Vice President of the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR), a position with succession to the Presidency. SPR is a national organization founded in 1929 to foster the research and career development of investigators engaged in research related to the health and well-being of children and youth. A graduate of Louisiana State University Medical School with both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, Dr. Gill completed her residency in Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas, a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at UT Southwestern, and postdoctoral research training at Baylor Institute for Immunology Research in Dallas. 

Dr. Gill’s primary research interest is the investigation of how respiratory viruses such as rhinovirus and influenza promote airway reactivity and asthma in children. She also investigates the mechanisms underlying the role of allergens and IgE in viral-driven exacerbations of asthma.

Liu Elected to American Association of Microbiology

Professor of Physiology Dr. Yi Liu, Louise W. Kahn Scholar in Biomedical Research, is among 79 scientists from around the world elected in January as 2015 Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows are elected annually “through a highly selective, peer-review process based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.” They represent all areas of microbiology including basic and applied research, education, public health, industry, and government service.

Dr. Liu is senior author of a study on bread mold published in Nature last year that established a role for long non-coding RNAs in “tuning,” or regulating, an organism’s circadian clock and in controlling gene expression involved in the daily rhythms of life. Determining how circadian clocks work is crucial to understanding several human diseases, including sleep disorders and depression in which the clock malfunctions. The influence of a functional clock is evident in the reduced performance of shift workers and the jet lag felt by long-distance travellers.

Pathologist Sarode Named Holder of Childers Professorship

Dr. Ravindra Sarode, Professor of Pathology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been named holder of the John H. Childers, M.D. Professorship in Pathology. His research and clinical activities are in transfusion medicine and hemostasis, which are interdependent subspecialties. Knowledge of hemostasis provides an advantage in the management of patients with complex coagulopathy requiring blood component therapy. His clinical research interests include hypercoagulability, platelet function disorders and reducing unnecessary transfusions.

Dr. Sarode, a faculty member at UT Southwestern since 2000, earned his medical degree at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in 1981 before completing pathology and hematopathology residencies in India. In the mid-1990s, he also served a fellowship at the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin, and a pathology residency at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.