Spring 2013

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• January 10, 2013 - Kjell Lindgren, MD

  "Learning to Fly"

  Kjell Lindgren, MD
  Astronaut, NASA/Johnson Space Center

• January 17, 2013 - PMCH Graduate Student Organization Meeting

  TBA

• January 24, 2013 - David Reyes, MD, MPH, MS

  "The Public Health Response to Climate Change"

  David Reyes, MD, MPH, MS
  Aerospace Medicine Resident
  PMCH, UTMB Health

  Climate change is the single biggest threat to the health of millions of people in the US and around the world. Public health planning and preparation will reduce the adverse impacts of climate change on the survival, health and well being of at-risk populations. Populations at special risk from climate change include the very young, the elderly, persons with chronic disease, the poor and the homeless. Proper planning and adaptation measures at the local and state level can reduce the health impacts of heat waves, wildfire, air pollution, infectious disease and extreme weather on vulnerable populations. Pragmatic efforts will create positive changes even beyond the climate change label. Current facts about climate change, the health impacts, obstacles to change and the public health response will be presented.

• January 31, 2013 - Timothy A. Reistetter, PhD, OTR

  TBA

• February 7, 2013 - No Seminar

  NO SEMINAR WILL BE HELD ON FEBRUARY 7, 2013

• February 14, 2013 - Paul Reidy

  "Update on Clinical Trials: Effects of a Protein Blend on Human Muscle Protein Synthesis and Muscle Growth"

  Paul Reidy, M.Sc.
  Doctoral Student, Rehabilitation Science
  Muscle Biology Laboratory
  Dept. of Nutrition and Metabolism, UTMB Health

  I am testing a new treatment to improve muscle growth and strength by targeting basic molecular mechanisms of muscle growth using a novel type of protein blend supplement following exercise.
  My goal is to determine an optimal protein beverage to consume following exercise in an effort to enhance muscle growth and strength in humans. This talk will discuss the results (thus far) of a completed and also an ongoing clinical trial designed to examine the above aim. Although these results will be of immediate benefit to the field of sports nutrition, the ultimate goal is to apply these findings to clinical populations associated with muscle loss.

• February 21, 2013 - Carlos Mendes de Leon, PhD

  "Local social hierarchies and health in older adults"

  Carlos F. Mendes de Leon, Ph.D.
  Professor, Epidemiology
  University of Michigan School of Public Health

  This presentation will focus on the health effects of relative position within local social hierarchies. Despite a well-established association between health and socio-economic position, or other markers of social class within a large population, much less is known about the role of social hierarchies at much smaller levels of social organization, such as schools, work places, or neighborhoods. Using data from a large, population-based study of older adults in Chicago, I will present data on neighborhood social status and depressive symptoms. Neighborhood social status is conceptualized in terms of two criteria, one emphasizing socio-economic resources (income) and the other social reputation (number of neighbors visiting your home). In multi-level regression analysis, both markers of neighborhood social status were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. The gradient effect on depressive symptoms was three times steeper for the marker of social reputation than for income. Additional analyses indicate that these markers may also be associated with decline in basic physical functions and mortality. These findings suggest that a person’s relative position in a local social hierarchy is associated with poorer mental health and decline in physical health.

• February 28, 2013 - Katrina Lambrecht, JD, MBA

  "Transforming Regional Health Through Collaboration: The Medicaid 1115 Waiver explained"

  Katrina Lambrecht, JD, MBA
  Vice President and Chief of Staff
  Office of the President, UTMB Health

  This seminar will explain what the Medicaid 1115 Waiver is, including some history behind what prompted the proposal of the waiver in Texas. Description of the Regional Healthcare Partnerships, supplemental payment pools, and what the waiver means for Texas hospitals and other providers, as well as UTMB’s role as anchor for Region 2 and as a performing provider will also be explained.

• March 7, 2013 - Lawrence Panas

  "Temporal Trends in Mortality for Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the Southwest United States"

  Lawrence Panas
  Graduate Assistant, Sociomedical Sciences
  PMCH, UTMB Health

  Panas will present the central components of his dissertation proposal: a multiple decrement analysis of mortality in the Southwest United States, cohort life tables for Hispanics and Whites living in Texas, and multiple decrement life tables for similar populations across multiple regions in Texas and California. The goal is to dis-aggregate cause-specific mortality to understand how Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites experience mortality transitions through time. He seeks to 1) understand how shifts in mortality patterns across the life space effect Hispanics and non-Hispanics and 2) determine how location influences health trends through time. The majority of this talk will focus on discussing preliminary results of the multiple decrement life tables and mortality decompositions for Hispanics and Whites in the years 1990 and 2000.
  

• March 14, 2013 - Angela Hewlett, MD, MS

  "Lessons in Biopreparedness: Research Initiatives in the Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit"

  Angela Hewlett MD, MS
  Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
  Associate Medical Director, Nebraska Biocontainment Unit
  University of Nebraska Medical Center

  The Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit (NBPCU) is a high-isolation hospital unit located within The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. It is one of only a few biocontainment patient care units in the United States and is the largest with a 10-bed capacity. The NBPCU is an environment that maximizes the safety for healthcare workers and the community at large. The unit is designed to handle patients with highly infectious diseases, whether acquired in a bioterrorist attack, in a laboratory accident or as a naturally occurring infection. In addition to providing medical care, the unit also has an active outreach and research programs. Research projects related to the NBPCU will be discussed in this presentation.

• March 21, 2013 - Canceled - NO SEMINAR

  NO SEMINAR WILL BE HELD ON MARCH 21, 2013

• March 28, 2013 - Carwyn Sharp, PhD, CSCS, RSCC

  "The Changing Role of Exercise Intensity for Clinical Populations: Are We Too Fearful of High Intensity Exercise?"

  Carwyn Sharp, PhD, CSCS, RSCC
  Education Director
  National Strength and Conditioning Association

  While the role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of various acute and chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes is well documented, the implementation of a high intensity exercise program for clinical populations is regarded by many practitioners with concern. The efficacy of high intensity interval training (HIIT - >80% maximum aerobic capacity) to elicit improvements in athletic performance has been documented for 100 years and is regarded as integral to both endurance and anaerobic sport performance. In athletes, HIIT has been shown to significantly improve various markers of cardiac, pulmonary, and muscular system and tissue function. However, due to the strenuous nature of this training, the perceived risks of HIIT for at risk or known clinical population’s, has traditionally been regarded as too great. Contrary to this, researchers in recent years have not only demonstrated HIIT can be implemented safely in these individuals but also that HIIT significantly improves functioning in chronic stroke survivors, heart failure patients, and other clinical populations. The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the emerging and successful role of HIIT and outline the specific exercise protocols used, to provide a platform for discussion on the practical use of HIIT in clinical populations.

• April 4, 2013 - Bruno P Granwehr, MD

  "HIV Screening in Cancer Patients"

  Bruno P Granwehr, MD
  Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases
  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

• April 11, 2013 - Donna Ramirez, PhD, MA & Janine Ahern, MBA

  "Dissertation Funding"

  Donna R. Ramirez, PhD, MA
  Research Development Coordinator
  
  Janine F. Ahern, MBA
  Grants and Contracts Specialist III

  The goal of this presentation is to familiarize pre-doctoral students and their mentors with the various funding opportunities available to them through different funding sponsors (i.e., federal agencies, professional academic organizations, non-profit and for-profit private organizations) and how to locate them.
  
  The format for this presentation will be informal and interactive, allowing ample opportunity to ask questions. This presentation is intended to act as a primer for fund-seeking – the presenters encourage interested students and/or their mentors to contact them to discuss more specific strategies tailored to their needs. Handouts and resource materials will be made available following the presentation.

• April 18, 2013 - Anne Clark, CIP

  "Unlocking the Mystery of the IRB"

  Anne K. Clark, CIP
  Director, Human Research Protection Program
  UTMB Health
  

• April 25, 2013 - PMCH Graduate Student Organization Meeting

  TBA