Made in Minnesota How We Can Meet Our State’S Need for Family Physicians
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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL SPRING 2017 PAGE 8 Made in Minnesota How we can meet our state’s need for family physicians 14 Scientists interpret the 18 Mentor program adds diversity 22 Can a new device make more brain’s complex connections to the physician pipeline donor hearts available? PAGE 18 Extending the pipeline With support from a U medical student mentor, %&$%0 %,,)012!"+10/&+)&ț)"ƞȜ+!*) Mohamud are on the path to medical careers. The Medical Bulletin is published twice a year For more information or to update University of Minnesota Foundation by the University of Minnesota Foundation. your address, please contact: 200 Oak Street SE, Suite 500 Minneapolis, MN 55455–2010 Editor Design and Production Meredith McNab, editor Meredith McNab Woychick Design give.umn.edu 612-625-0657 or 800-775-2187 Managing Editor Printing and Distribution [email protected] The University of Minnesota is an equal Nicole Endres Sexton Printing opportunity educator and employer. © 2017 University of Minnesota Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed on recycled paper using at least 10% postconsumer waste. Please recycle. Medical Bulletin SPRING 2017 8 Made in Minnesota Though it trains more family medicine physicians than any ,1%"/-/,$/*&+1%" ,2+1/6Ǿ1%",#*201Ɯ$%11,(""- its hard-won system in place 14 Interpreting the brain’s complex connections The Lifespan Human Connectome Project launches 8 phase two of the national brain mapping initiative 18 Extending the pipeline A U mentoring program helps put high school students from diverse backgrounds on the path to medical school 22 Heart in a box A clinical trial at the U of M may help surgeons make *,/""ƛ& &"+120",#!,+,/%"/10+!"+"Ɯ1-1&"+10 waiting for a transplant ALSO IN THIS ISSUE MORE ONLINE 14 2 Medical School News Visit medicalbulletin.umn.edu 1,Ɯ+!4"Ȓ,+)6 ,+1"+1+! 6 Global Outreach the online edition of the New course promotes Medical Bulletin. a global outlook, right here 27 Alumni Connections 28 Alumni Spotlight Go green How Togo native Laamy Email us at [email protected] Tiadjeri, M.D., came to to receive the Medical Bulletin call Willmar home by email instead of as a paper copy. 30 Scholarship Winner Kathryn del Valle PHOTO: BRADY WILLETTE BRADY PHOTO: embraces her elderly patients’ perspective 22 34 In Memoriam 36 A Look Back The Wangensteen’s centuries-old artifacts FIND THE MEDICAL BULLETIN ONLINE AT: medicalbulletin.umn.edu teach future doctors timely lessons Cover illustration by Ross Bruggink Medical School News Advancing our mission Accomplishments and ambitions. The Medical Bulletin is students from diverse Thank you for backing brimming with both. backgrounds with our greatest ambitions. In this issue, for example, you will read about Macaran medical student Baird, M.D., M.S., outgoing head of the Department of mentors (page 18). Family Medicine and Community Health. The department, Our colleagues’ achievements advance our mission, PHOTO: SCOTT STREBLE SCOTT PHOTO: which has thrived under Dr. Baird’s leadership, is currently too, and I am pleased to congratulate John Wagner, M.D., ranked third by the National Institutes of Health and is pediatrics professor and executive medical director of the the U.S. leader in training family medicine physicians. Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant program, who in Despite its success, however, the program requires greater February received a lifetime achievement award from the support to meet our state’s growing need for family physi- Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium. cians (see story, page 8). Finally, I want to introduce Chainbreaker, a bike ride to Recently, StartClass ranked our Medical School No. 20 support the Masonic Cancer Center and cancer research out of 174 medical schools nationally, based on admission across the University (see page 5). The August 11–13 event standards, rankings such as U.S. News & World Report’s, is modeled after Ohio State University’s Pelotonia ride, Brooks Jackson, M.D., M.B.A. student resources, and research funding. Innovative longi- which has raised more than $130 million in eight years. tudinal clerkships, competency-based education, and new I know we can be just as successful, and I will be riding. pipeline programs have made our school stronger and Will you? Visit chainbreakerride.org to register. helped to improve our standings. Find out how one pro- Thank you for backing our greatest ambitions. M|B gram feeds the physician pipeline by pairing high school U cancer drug increases survival in dogs, shows potential for humans A University of Minnesota study evaluating a HSA is a cancer of the blood vessels. eBAT new homegrown drug is resulting in improved was selected for this study because it simulta- survival rates for dogs with a cancer called neously targets the tumor and its vascular hemangiosarcoma (HSA). system, Vallera says. Canine HSA is a common, aggressive, The drug was given to 23 dogs of various incurable sarcoma. It is remarkably similar breeds with HSA of the spleen. These dogs to angiosarcoma, which affects humans. received three treatments of eBAT after sur- Both cancers typically spread before diagno- gery to remove the tumor but before conven- sis, and the survival time for those affected tional chemotherapy. The drug treatment by these cancers is extremely short, even improved the dogs’ six-month survival rate with aggressive treatment. Only 50 percent to about 70 percent. Five of the 23 dogs lived U veterinarians Jaime Modiano, V.M.D., Ph.D., and of humans diagnosed with angiosarcoma more than 450 days. Antonella Borgatti, D.V.M., M.S., with patient Valky live longer than 16 months, and fewer than The results were published February 13 50 percent of dogs with HSA will survive in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. four to six months after diagnosis. “This is likely the most significant advance make a case for translating this drug into clini- The study tested a drug called eBAT, in the treatment of canine HSA in the last cal trials for human cancer patients. developed by Medical School professor three decades,” says study coauthor Jaime “This drug was invented here at the Univer- and Masonic Cancer Center member Daniel Modiano, V.M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the U’s sity of Minnesota, developed here, manufac- Vallera, Ph.D. “eBAT was created to specifi- College of Veterinary Medicine and a Masonic tured here, tested here, and showed positive cally target tumors while causing minimal Cancer Center member. results here,” Modiano says. “We would also damage to the immune system,” he says. These results, combined with the similarities like this drug to achieve positive outcomes for between HSA and angiosarcoma in humans, humans here.” M|B 2 MEDICAL BULLETIN SPRING 2017 Leaders assume new roles MEDICAL SCHOOL SHAILEY PRASAD, Brooks Jackson, M.D., M.B.A. M.D., M.P.H., associate PHOTO: BRADY WILLETTE BRADY PHOTO: Dean professor in the Depart- Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D. ment of Family Medi- Executive Vice Dean cine and Community Health and associate director of the North John Andrews, M.D. Memorial Family Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education Medicine Residency Program, assumed the Bruce Blazar, M.D. Vice Dean for Clinical Investigation role of executive direc- Bobbi Daniels, M.D. tor of the Center for Global Health Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs and Social Responsibility on April 1. U team pinpoints potential target Robert Englander, M.D., M.P.H. In his new position, Prasad will help Associate Dean for Undergraduate for Alzheimer’s treatments to strengthen the Academic Health Medical Education Center’s global partnerships and Tucker LeBien, Ph.D. Medical School researchers have identified a potential increase opportunities for faculty, Vice Dean for Research target for treating Alzheimer’s disease. The study provides students, and staff to collaborate with Dimple Patel, M.S. insight into what may be causing the disease and one colleagues worldwide. He will continue Associate Dean of Admissions day could help find an to oversee the Metropolitan Physician Mark Rosenberg, M.D. By reducing levels of effective treatment. Associate Program, a nine-month urban Vice Dean for Medical Education Karen Hsiao Ashe, M.D., a naturally occurring preceptorship program, at North Memo- Clifford Steer, M.D. Ph.D., founding director of enzyme, it may be rial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. Associate Dean for Industry Partnerships the University’s N. Bud possible to recover Grossman Center for Mem- SAMUEL C. DUDLEY PHOTO: BECCA BEETS BECCA PHOTO: ory Research and Care and a memory deficits or Paula Termuhlen, M.D. Jr., M.D., Ph.D., will Regional Campus Dean professor of neurology, and even restore cognition. join the Medical School her team homed in on the Raymond Christensen, M.D. faculty on May 31 as Associate Dean for Rural Health protein tau as the likely culprit about 12 years ago. Although director of the Depart- Alan Johns, M.D., M.Ed. it’s normally part of a healthy body, tau changes and clumps ment of Medicine’s Associate Dean for Medical Education, together irregularly in people who have Alzheimer’s disease. Cardiovascular Divi- Curriculum, and Technology In the new mouse study, the team looked for a mecha- sion, director of the Catherine McCarty, Ph.D., M.P.H. nism that could be affecting tau and found that caspase-2, a Lillehei Heart Institute, Associate Dean for Research naturally occurring enzyme, may be to blame. The research- and holder of the Fred Robin Michaels, Ph.D. ers also discovered that tau accumulates in neurons when Associate Dean of Student Affairs C. and Katherine B. and Admissions caspase-2 “cuts” healthy tau at a particular point. Andersen Foundation Chair in Adult By reducing levels of the enzyme or preventing it from Clinical Cardiology.