October 28, 2009
Former Chair Vittorio Defendi Designated Professor Emeritus of Pathology in Honor of His Service
Vittorio Defendi, M.D., was recently designated Professor Emeritus of Pathology for his tremendous service to the department. To commemorate thirty-five years of his service to the Department of Pathology and to NYU School of Medicine, the Department hosted a tribute in Vittorio Defendi's honor on Friday, November 6.
Dr. Defendi's multiple and wide-ranging contributions continue to this day. His wit, style and collegiality are apparent to all who have had the pleasure of working with him. He succeeded Chandler Stetson as Chair of the NYU Department of Pathology in 1974 and served in this capacity until 2002. Dr. Defendi is a distinguished viral oncologist who has presciently pursued research on the carcinogenic properties of human papilloma virus. He has been a member of the Wistar Institute, American Cancer Society Professor, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Cellular Physiology.
Vittorio Defendi also served as Director of the Cancer Center of New York University School of Medicine for almost two decades. Throughout his career, Dr. Defendi was a strong proponent of graduate and medical education, particularly emphasizing the interface between cancer, immunology, and disease pathogenesis. In 2008 the Vittorio Defendi Fellowship in Pathobiology was established in his honor to acknowledge Dr. Defendi's lifelong service to science, the Department of Pathology, and graduate education. The annual fellowship is awarded to a Pathobiology training program graduate student in recognition of his or her extraordinary promise and achievement in understanding the pathologic basis of disease.
Previously, Dr. Marjorie Zucker (1919-2006) was designated Professor Emerita of Pathology in 1992.
October 27, 2009
Department of Pathology Faculty Members Recognized During Dean’s Honors Day
On Tuesday, October 27, 2009, eight Department of Pathology faculty members were honored at the Dean's Honors Day with appointments or promotions conferred upon them.
Ruth S. Nussenzweig, Doc. en Med., Ph.D., (Hon. '04), the C.V. Starr Professor of Medical and Molecular Parasitology, and Victor Nussenzweig, Doc. en Med., Ph.D., (Hon. '04), the Hermann M. Biggs Professor of Preventive Medicine, both received the honorary title of Master Researcher in recognition of their extraordinary research achievements throughout their careers. Ruth and Victor Nussenzweig were honored "as world leaders in the study of tropical and parasitic disease" for the "indelible mark they have left on medical research." As was noted in the ceremony, "the husband-and-wife research team has, since the 1960s, been leaders in malaria research, and their groundbreaking discoveries have paved the way for the development of a human malaria vaccine of proven efficacy that is now undergoing extensive trials in Africa."
The following Department of Pathology faculty members were promoted:
Catarina E. Hioe, Ph.D., to Associate Professor of Pathology.
Ellis Jacobs, Ph.D., to Associate Professor of Pathology.
Peng Lee, M.D., Ph.D., to Associate Professor of Pathology.
David Polsky, M.D., Ph.D., to Associate Professor of Dermatology and Pathology.
Jane Skok, Ph.D., M.S., to Associate Professor of Pathology.
Philip M. Tierno, Ph.D., to Clinical Professor of Microbiology and Pathology.
October 14, 2009
Department of Pathology Resident Wins Cytology Award
Department of Pathology Resident Rena Yu, MD, was the recipient of this year's Sixten Franzén Award for the Best Work in Fine Needle Aspiration offered through the European Federation of Cytology Societies. Her work "Thyroid biopsy: What is the measure of success?", submitted by Drs. Jerry Waisman, Rena Yu, Aylin Simsir, and Joan Cangiarella, was recognized at last month's 35th European Congress of Cytology in Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr. Yu is a graduate of SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and a fourth-year resident in the Department of Pathology. She plans to pursue a Cytopathology Fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco next year.
The award is named after Sixten Franzén (1919-2008), who was an internationally renowned cytopathologist at the Karolinska Institute and Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, and a pioneer in the field of aspiration cytology. As part of its mission, the European Federation of Cytology Societies organizes an annual congress in order to promote and disseminate the most recent innovations in the field of cytology, as well as to provide professional training for scientific and technical cytologists and to advance diagnostic skills for residents.
October 6, 2009
Dr. David Levy Named New Associate Dean for Collaborative Science
The Vice Dean for Science and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Vivian Lee, announced today that David E. Levy, PhD, the Dr. Louis A. Schneider Professor of Molecular Pathology and Professor of Microbiology, has accepted the newly created position of Associate Dean for Collaborative Science as part of the ongoing efforts to enhance and solidify the research enterprise opportunities and possibilities at NYU Langone Medical Center and will lead the new Office of Collaborative Science in this function.
Anne Crozat, PhD, will assume new responsibilities as the Director of Collaborative Science Administration, in addition to her position as Administrator for Science and Education in the Department of Pathology.
In the announcement, Dr. Lee outlined the importance of the Office of Collaborative Science to help lead NYU Langone Medical Center into a new era of core facilities and shared resources and to meet the needs of research faculty at the School of Medicine.
As Dr. Lee states, the Office of Collaborative Science will be responsible for evaluating and overseeing core facilities; technology expansion and development for core facilities; facilitating core facility utilization; consensus building among technology stakeholders; developing strategies for cost-effective technology implementation; coordinating off-site collaborative and outsourced technologies; and the strategic and innovative development of science resources. In addition, Drs. Levy and Crozat will work with the Science Strategy Committee to address and coordinate needs for faculty recruiting; facilitate the growth of the scientific enterprise through technology utilization, particularly through augmentation of junior faculty and core facility director development; and focus on student, trainee, and junior faculty development.
Dr. Levy has been a member of the Department of Pathology since 1988, where he also serves as Vice Chair for Science. Throughout his career, Dr. Levy has been a strong proponent of graduate education and has worked tirelessly as an advocate for basic science. He has also been instrumental in coordinating research across departments and academic training programs. The Chair of the Department of Pathology, Dr. David Roth, noted that Dr. Levy is a well-known and highly respected figure in the scientific community, both within and beyond the institution, and is therefore ideally suited for this newly created position. “I am confident that Dr. Levy will use his substantial talents and impressive energy to continue to improve the research infrastructure of the Medical Center,” said Roth.
October 5, 2009
Department of Pathology Research Funded by NIH Stimulus Grants
To date, New York University School of Medicine has been awarded more than $30 million in research grants for 86 projects through NIH "stimulus" funds. Among the researchers are 17 members of the Department of Pathology who received well over $6 million in funds, including two of the highly competitive NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research. The following projects by Department of Pathology members will receive support through the 2009 NIH Recovery Act:
Associate Professor of Pathology, Jorge Ghiso, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute on Aging for Cerebral Amyloidosis and Dementia.
Associate Professor of Pathology, Catarina Hioe, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on the CC Chemokine Secretion to Protect Antigen-Specific CD4 T Cells from HIV.
Associate Professor of Pathology, Phillipe Nyambi, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on the Viral Evolution and Humoral Immune Response to Dual HIV-1 Infection.
Associate Professor of Pathology, Jane Skok, PhD, receives funding through a Challenge Grant from the National Cancer Institute on the Spatiotemporal Control of Recombination by the RAG Proteins and ATM. In addition, Dr. Skok receives funding through a Research Project Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences on the Co-Ordination of Recombination and Allelic Exclusion At Igh and Igk Loci.
Associate Professor of Pathology, David Zagzag, MD, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke on Intranasal Drug Delivery to Inhibit Glioma Angiogenesis and Invasion.
Mary Collins, a graduate student in Molecular Oncology and Immunology (Adrian Erlebacher, mentor), receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on the Dendritic Cell Migration and Function in the Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Uterus.
Pathology faculty members in other Institutes and Departments receiving Stimulus Grants:
Professor of Medicine, Pathology and Dermatology, Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, receives funding through a Challenge Grant on the Immunosuppressive Pathways in Acute HIV Infection. In addition, Dr. Bhardwaj receives funding through a MERIT award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Induction of immunity by Non-Replicating HIV-1.
Irene Diamond Professor of Immunology and Professor of Pathology, Mike Dustin, PhD, receives from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on the Physiological Chemistry of Integrin Function.
Professor of Pathology, Brian Dynlacht, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences on the Role of the pRB Family in Quiescence and Differentiation.
Jeffrey Bergstein Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology and Microbiology, Joel Ernst, MD, receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Evasion of CD4+ T Cells in Vivo.
Associate Professor of Pathology, Jane Hubbard, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences on the Control of Onset of Meiosis in C. Elegans.
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Michelle Krogsgaard, PhD, receives funding from the National Cancer Institute on the Biophysical Analysis of T-Cell Discrimination among Classes of Self-Ligands.
Associate Professor of Pathology and Medicine, Juan J. Lafaille, PhD, receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the Characterization of Lymphocytes that Suppress EAE.
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Irma Sánchez, PhD, receives funding from the National Cancer Institute for the Investigation of the Function and Regulation of ERK3.
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Pathology, Derya Unutmaz, MD, receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on the Immunobiology of Regulatory T Cells in HIV Infection.
Professor of Neurology, Pathology and Psychiatry, Thomas Wisniewski, MD, receives funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke on Therapeutic Approaches for Prion Disease.
Professor of Urology and Pathology, Xue-Ru Wu, MD, receives funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases on the Role of Tamm-Horsfall Protein in Urinary Tract Defense.
September 25, 2009
Department of Pathology Faculty Member Explains Pathology Report Procedures for Breast Cancer
Associate Professor of Pathology Baljit Singh, M.D., and his colleague from the NYU Cancer Institute Dr. Deborah Axelrod, a breast surgeon, recently described the team work between pathologists and surgeons during breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in a video interview on the Beet.TV website that is available to the general public. The video is intended to provide information on how surgeons and pathologists work in concert to help women with breast cancer.
Dr. Singh explains the intricate collaboration between the surgeon and the pathologist when examining the characteristics of a tumor and outlines the variables that factor into the pathology report. In particular he explains the importance of analyzing the rim of normal tissue or the “margins” that mark the evidence of healthy tissue around the tumor. These margins indicate whether or not the cancer has been removed completely. Given the importance of the potential for breast conservation after surgery, this overview may be of particular interest to women who would like to understand the options before and after a lumpectomy procedure.
Beet.TV offers its visitors the opportunity to learn about medicine, with a principal focus on women's health issues, through video interviews with prominent physicians from the nation's leading medical institutions. The video with Dr. Singh was also syndicated in the Huffington Post. Dr. Singh recently also participated in the Oncotype DX Virtual Tumor Board web conferences offered by Genomic Health, which provides a forum for discussion of actual patient case studies (focused on tumor characteristics making adjuvant decision-making difficult) and current best practices in diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with early stage breast cancer.
July 14, 2009
Cancer Research Faculty Position at NYU Department of Pathology
The Department of Pathology at NYU School of Medicine seeks an established investigator in cancer biology, broadly defined, to synergize and complement the strong basic and translational research activities of the Department. Current cancer research in the Department runs the gamut from basic studies of oncogenes, tumor suppressors, genomic integrity, and the cell cycle to applied and translational projects investigating novel approaches to cancer therapy, including biologics, small molecules, and vaccines, with a strong emphasis on both mouse models and human studies and the interface between cancer and immunology. We are particularly interested in adding to our strength in cancer stem cells, epigenetics and chromatin structure, and the impact of inflammation on the carcinogenic process, but all areas of modern cancer biology will be considered.
Newly renovated research space is available within the Department, including access to attractive and competitive startup funds commensurate with the needs and qualifications of the applicant. Appointments can be made at the Assistant, Associate, or Professor level. The Department of Pathology is situated in the Medical Science Building, central to all research activities at the NYU Langone Medical Center. As the largest basic science department at NYU School of Medicine, the Department of Pathology has faculty interactions with investigators throughout the Medical Center, including the NYU Cancer Institute and Clinical Cancer Center, the Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, the Smilow Research Laboratories, Tisch Hospital, Bellevue Hospital Center, the VA Medical Center, and NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases. The Department is also home to two vibrant PhD and MD/PhD training programs, including one of the nations top-ranked cancer biology graduate programs, as well as to a research-oriented pathology residency program. Comprehensive research core facilities support the Department's scientists, including facilities for in vitro and in vivo microscopy and imaging, proteomics, genomics, flow cytometry, RNAi screening, experimental histopathology and tissue banking, and bioinformatics.
Located in the heart of New York City, NYU Langone Medical Center is dedicated to making world-class contributions that place service to human health at the center of an academic culture devoted to excellence in research, patient care, and education. We are committed to bringing together outstanding basic scientists and clinical researchers to foster collaborative, multidisciplinary investigation, inspiring new ideas and discoveries; and translating scientific advances more swiftly into new ways of diagnosing and treating patients and preventing disease.
Interested applicants should send a current curriculum vitae, research plan, and names of potential referees to Ms. Andrea Hines at Andrea.Hines@nyumc.org
New York University is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to excellence through diversity and strongly encourages applications from all qualified candidates, including women, veterans, minorities, and individuals with disabilities.
June 24, 2009
Pathology Researcher Receives NIH Funds for Human Microbiome Project
Assistant Professor of Pathology and Medicine Zhiheng Pei, MD, PhD, will receive $1 million NIH funding for the phase 1 study of a pilot demonstration project on microbiome and esophageal cancer as part of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), one of the research initiatives outlined in the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research as a New Pathway to Discovery.
The Human Microbiome Project is intended to enable a comprehensive characterization of the totality of microorganisms and their genomes in the human body. Dr. Pei's work focuses on the type of cancer linked to heartburn due to gastroesophageal reflux diseases, the fastest rising malignancy in the United States. The recent increases in this cancer cannot be explained by any known environmental or host factors. He postulates that gastroesophageal reflux alters the esophageal microbiome and chronic exposure to an abnormal (altered) microbiome is carcinogenic. Initial research has shown that patients carrying particular types of microbiomes are more likely to have the early stages of esophageal adenocarcinoma than those who do not. Dr. Pei's team will sample the oral cavity, esophagus, and stomach to study the relationship between the microbiome from these body sites and esophageal cancer.
The research group of Dr. Pei is one of 15 teams selected by the NIH to conduct pilot demonstration projects on behalf of the Human Microbiome Project, along with Dr. Martin J. Blaser, the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine, chair of the Department of Medicine, and professor of microbiology, who is conducting another HMP study on the evaluation of the cutaneous microbiome in psoriasis.
June 19, 2009
2009 Department of Pathology Residents Day
The Twenty-First Annual Pathology Residents' Day Lecture "Metabolic Liver Disease in Man and Mouse" was delivered on June 18, 2009, by Milton Finegold, M.D., Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, in honor of the sixteen Department of Pathology graduating residents and fellows.
The festivities also included awards presented by the Director of the Residency Program, Dr. Michael Bannan. Professor of Pediatric Pathology Alba Greco, M.D., and Assistant Professor of Pathology Daisuke Nonaka, M.D., were co-recipients of the 2009 Attending of the Year in Anatomic Pathology Award. Clinical Associate Professor Bruce Hanna, Ph.D., received the 2009 Attending of the Year in Clinical Pathology Award. Robert Lin, M.D., a Hematopathology Fellow in the Department, was selected by his peers as the Pathology Fellow of the Year.
Please join us in extending our warmest congratulations to the award recipients and our best wishes to all of our departing residents and fellows!
June 9, 2009
Department of Pathology Faculty Members on 2009 List of New York’s Best Doctors
Jonathan Melamed, M.D., Associate Professor of Pathology, and David Zagzag, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology and Neurology, have been selected as two of New York's "Best Doctors" in New York magazine's twelfth annual Best Doctors survey. The honor to be ranked as one of the top 1,107 physician specialists in the metropolitan area is based on an extensive process of peer review conducted among medical professionals in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
This is Dr. Melamed's fifth consecutive year to be included in the list. Along with many other duties, Dr. Melamed serves as the director of the prostate cancer tissue bioresource at NYU and the urologic pathology service in the Department of Pathology. His research work focuses on studies of new markers on human tissue using tissue microarrays and his clinical interests are in the early pathogenesis of prostate cancer and in diagnostic modalities that assist in surgical pathology.
Dr. Zagzag is director of the microvascular and molecular neuro-oncology laboratory and the director of the human brain tumor bank at NYU Langone Medical Center. His research specialties include the pathology of the nervous system and mechanisms of cerebral vasculogenesis and angiogenesis.
Drs. Melamed and Zagzag are among more than 100 physicians affiliated with the NYU Langone Medical Center and its hospitals to be included in New York magazine's annual list of best doctors in the New York metropolitan area.
June 5, 2009
A Warm Welcome to Our New Pathology Residents and Fellows
The Department of Pathology is pleased to welcome our newest colleagues! We will be hosting a welcome breakfast for all incoming 2009 residents and fellows, open to all departmental residents, fellows, faculty, and staff. Please come and join us on Wednesday, July 1, from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. in the Skirball 5th Floor Conference Room. There will also be a welcome reception for new residents and fellows on Monday, July 20, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. in the Smilow Ground Floor lobby. All departmental residents, fellows, faculty, and staff are invited to attend.
May 14, 2009
Pathology Residents Day 2009 is Thursday, June 18
This year's Pathology Residents' Day is Thursday, June 18—a day to celebrate our graduating residents! The Twenty-First Annual Pathology Residents' Day Lecture "Metabolic Liver Disease in Man and Mouse" will be delivered by Milton Finegold, M.D., Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, at 4pm in the Skirball 3rd Floor Seminar Room, in honor of our six graduating PGY-4 residents and ten graduating clinical fellows. The six residents who are currently in their fourth post-graduate year have been accepted to the following 2009-10 positions and programs:
Alice Laser will continue with a Cytopathology Fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Jordan Laser will continue with a Molecular Genetics Pathology Fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Jonathan Ralston will continue with a Dermatopathology Fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Virginia Richards will work at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia and begin a Forensic Pathology Fellowship in July 2010.
Huihui Ye will continue with a Genitourinary Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.
Samiah Zafar will continue with a Hematopathology Fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Please join us in extending our warmest congratulations to all of our residents for their successful placements and our best wishes for their future careers!
April 20, 2009
Department of Pathology Professor Selected as Teacher of the Year
Once again, the Teacher of the Year is from the ranks of our Department. The NYU School of Medicine Class of 2011 selected Assistant Professor of Pathology Amy Rapkiewicz as Teacher of the Year. Dr. Rapkiewicz taught the modules Host Defense and Mechanisms of Disease both in lectures and in small-group sessions. She also set up a number of online learning modules that proved very successful for students. In the nomination as Teacher of the Year by the class, Dr. Rapkiewicz was commended for her extraordinary ability to provide insightful, interesting, and exciting lectures and for her dedication as an outstanding mentor to medical students. The Class of 2011 also praised her as one of the few professors who take the perspective of medical students into account by focusing on the truly important aspects of relevance to medical students rather than a survey of the facts in their lectures. In past years, medical students recognized Drs. David Roth and David Zagzag with this great honor.
By coincidence, Dr. Rapkiewicz was also recently featured in the New York Times multi-media series "One in 8 Million" in her capacity as director of pathology and autopsies at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan.
March 26, 2009
Iannis Aifantis Selected as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced today that Dr. Iannis Aifantis, Associate Professor of Pathology, is among the 50 top scientists who will be appointed as the first Early Career Scientists of the Institute in September 2009. Each HHMI Early Career Scientist will receive a six-year appointment to the Institute and, along with it, the freedom to explore his or her best ideas without worrying about where to find the money to fund those experiments. The new research initiative is intended to provide much-needed support to some of the nation’s best junior faculty at a critical stage in their careers. This honor establishes Dr. Aifantis, who joined the Department of Pathology in 2006, as one of the foremost and most outstanding young scientists in the country.
The 50 successful appointees were selected from a pool of over 2,000 applicants on the basis of their potential for significant research productivity and originality. They are expected to use HHMI’s investment of approximately $200 million into this new initiative as an opportunity to move in new directions, including some with a high degree of scientific risk that would be unlikely to be funded by other organizations. Like HHMI Investigators, the Early Career Scientists will have the freedom to explore and, if necessary, change direction in their research. They are granted the flexibility to follow their scientific lines of inquiry and take risks rather than relying on specific research grants for predefined projects.
Dr. Aifantis has made majors strides toward the understanding and the development of new treatments for T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, a common form of leukemia in children. He recently discovered a molecular door by which T cells, the soldiers of the immune system, slip into spinal fluid and the brain after they become malignant. Blocking this process could save thousands of lives each year. Dr. Aifantis is now testing hundreds of potential drugs that might slam that door shut and prevent malignant T cells from reaching the nervous system. At the same time, he is learning what goes awry in blood stem cells that transform into leukemic T cells. Such insights may provide new opportunities to combat deadly blood cancers.
Before joining NYU, Dr. Aifantis worked under the direction of Dr. Harald von Boehmer, both as graduate student at the Necker Institute in Paris and as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. After the completion of his post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Aifantis established his own laboratory in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. In 2006 he was recruited to join the NYU Department of Pathology’s translational research efforts as a faculty member of the Program in Immunology because of his promise to become an international leader in the fields of hematopoiesis and leukemia. With this appointment, Dr. Aifantis has become the third HHMI appointee from the NYU Department of Pathology, following Dr. Dan Littman, the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology and Professor of Pathology and Microbiology, and Dr. Michele Pagano, the May Ellen and Gerald Jay Ritter Professor of Oncology and Professor of Pathology.
Photo: David B. Roth
March 19, 2009
A Warm Welcome to the 2009 Entering Class of Pathology Residents
The NYU Department of Pathology is excited to welcome the eight members who will be entering the Pathology Resident Training Class in July 2009 from a very strong pool of applicants:
Ali Chaudhri, M.D., State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
Christopher Hale, M.D., Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Xiangtian Kong, M.D., Beijing Medical University
Fumiko Konno, M.D., Drexel University College of Medicine
Amanda Krausert, M.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Lili Lee, M.D., State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
Qinghu Ren, M.D., Beijing Medical University, Ph.D., University of Rochester
Marianna Shvartsbeyn, M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine
We were very impressed with the outstanding caliber of this year's entering pathology residents. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to our future colleagues!
March 12, 2009
Professor of Pathology wins Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology Award
Dr. Jerry Waisman, Professor of Pathology, was chosen as this year's winner of the annual Yolanda Oertel Interventional Cytopathology Award given by the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology Meeting in Boston. The award acknowledges the contribution of a pathologist to the promotion of a fine needle aspiration service and to the training of individuals in the fine needle aspiration technique. Dr. Waisman founded the fine needle aspiration service at NYU in the 1980s after a sabbatical in the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, were he studied the technique of fine needle aspiration. He has since trained numerous residents and students in the technique.
March 9, 2009
Department of Pathology Vice-Chair for Science Comments on New Embryonic Stem-Cell Policy
The Vice Chair of Science in the Department of Pathology and the Dr. Louis A. Schneider Professor of Molecular Pathology and Professor of Microbiology, David E. Levy, Ph.D., offered his perspective on President Barack Obama's decision to revert the ban on stem-cell funding for a news report by WCBS New York on March 9, 2009. In the news feature Dr. Levy noted that stem cells provide a "very promising road to better understanding human disease and potentially very innovative treatments." He continued, "there is a huge amount of potential but we don't know when or how that will be realized... what we do know is that if we can't do the research, if we can't do the basic investigation, we can never translate that into therapies for human disease."
A video of the news broadcast can be viewed on the WCBS 2 New York web site.
Dr. Levy was also interviewed by WNYC New York on the same topic.
March 4, 2009
Special Announcement for all Pathology Faculty Members: NIH Challenge Grant Proposals
Important Announcement for all Department of Pathology Faculty
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act or ARRA) is a Federal public law passed by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009. The Recovery Act makes supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes.
As part of the Recovery Act, NIH has designated at least $200 million in FYs 2009 - 2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research, to fund 200 or more grants, contingent upon the submission of a sufficient number of scientifically meritorious applications.
This new program will support research on Challenge Topics which address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that will benefit from significant 2-year jumpstart funds. Challenge Areas, defined by the NIH, focus on specific knowledge gaps, scientific opportunities, new technologies, data generation, or research methods that would benefit from an influx of funds to quickly advance the area in significant ways. The research in these areas should have a high impact in biomedical or behavioral science and/or public health.
The Department of Pathology urges all faculty members to submit possible challenge grant proposals by the ARRA deadline of April 27, 2009. For more information see:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/challenge_award/
The Challenge Grant Applications Omnibus is available as a PDF:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/challenge_award/Omnibus.pdf
The NYU Langone Medical Center Office of Science and Research also has a page on their website devoted to up-to-date information on the stimulus (ARRA).
March 2, 2009
Pathology Research Track Resident Selected for New Translational Training Program Fellowship
Lauren McVoy, M.D., Ph.D., a 2nd-year resident in the Clinical Pathology/Research Track and a Chief Pathology Resident is one of the first recipients of the inaugural Physician-Scientist Training Program or PSTP fellowship established at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. McVoy was selected for an Intra-Residency or Fellowship by the PSTP Committee on the basis of her promising interdisciplinary work as a specialized research track resident. Residents in the research track offered by the NYU Department of Pathology prepare for a career in experimental pathology by developing independent investigative skills in combination with diagnostic competency. The competitive PSTP fellowship adds at least one funded year to the period required for Board eligibility, so that clinical trainees can devote a minimum of 18 months to uninterrupted research with at least 90% protected time for research. The Physician-Scientist Training Program fellowship is intended to increase the cadre of translational researchers at NYU and allow for interdisciplinary approaches involving its faculty members while enhancing their productivity. Dr. McVoy's clinical interests are in microbiology. For her research, she plans to focus on in vivo analyses of antigen presentation and CD4+ effector T cell activation in mice infected with M. tuberculosis under the mentorship of Dr. Joel Ernst, the Jeffrey Bergstein Professor of Medicine and Professor of Pathology and Microbiology. The Ernst Laboratory was the first to characterize a T cell receptor transgenic mouse with specificity for a peptide antigen of M. tuberculosis and continues to lead the field in studies of antigen-specific CD4+ T cell activation and immune evasion in tuberculosis.
February 12, 2009
Stem Cell Research by Department of Pathology Faculty Receives Continued Support
A number of investigators from the NYU Department of Pathology are among those who will continue to receive support through research grants by the New York Stem Cell Science foundation or NYSTEM. NYSTEM was established to support stem cell research and its revolutionary clinical and promising therapeutic potential in the State of New York. Under the direction of Ruth Lehmann, Ph.D., the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Cell Biology and Director of the Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology, the Kimmel Center received more than $5 million in funded 2008 NYSTEM applications and RFA-IIRP grants for projects related to stem cell research. The following members of the Department and their laboratory groups are part of the collaborative efforts funded at the Kimmel Center: Dr. Eva Hernando, Assistant Professor of Pathology, for the study of cell of origin and cancer stem cell of melanoma; Dr. Jane Hubbard, Associate Professor of Pathology, for stem cell niche formation in the C. elegans gonad, and Dr. David Levy, Dr. Louis A. Schneider Professor of Molecular Pathology and Vice Chair for Science and Professor of Microbiology, for derivation and characterization of dendritic cell lineages from hematopoietic stem cells. This support builds on a previous $1 million grant by NYSTEM to the Kimmel Center for the development of stem cell research, which included individual funds designated for the labs of Department of Pathology faculty Iannis Aifantis, Eva Hernando, Jane Hubbard, and David Levy, and core equipment funds for Peter Lopez, among 36 other researchers in the "NYU Stem Cell Group" from various programs and departments at the NYU School of Medicine and the NYU Langone Medical Center.
January 28, 2009
USCAP Gives High Ranking to NYU Department of Pathology for Scientific Abstracts Accepted
In the most recent ranking for the number of first-authored scientific abstracts accepted for presentation by the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) at their upcoming annual meeting, the NYU Department of Pathology has again been included in the top 30 of all institutions from which submissions were received. In preparation for their March 2009 meeting in Boston, the USCAP received a record of almost 2,800 scientific abstracts from over 430 different medical school programs and academic institutions. This represents an increase of 16% from last year's record submissions, so the Academy noted that the cut-off score for acceptance of the blinded peer-reviewed abstracts was remarkably high. The USCAP is one of the oldest pathology societies in North America and is generally viewed as the premier academic society of anatomic, surgical, and diagnostic molecular pathology. The scientific offerings from the annual meetings are also published in the two journals of the Academy, Modern Pathology and Laboratory Investigation, both part of the Nature Publishing Group.
January 9, 2009
Department of Pathology Staff Member Celebrated With NYU Langone Employee Recognition Award
The NYU Department of Pathology is proud to announce that staff member Andrea Hines, Executive Assistant to the Chair since 2005, has been honored with an Excellence Award from the NYU Langone Employee Recognition Program. The award celebrates employees who, through their consistently superior performance, have made outstanding contributions to their department, to the programs of the Medical Center, or to the overall mission and values of NYU Langone Medical Center. The qualities for which Andrea Hines—or Andy, as she is known to almost the entire Department of Pathology—was praised in the nomination submissions are: her outstanding commitment to professional responsibility, her leadership by example, and her positive attitude and work ethic. As the Chair of the Department of Pathology, Dr. David Roth, noted, "Andy Hines stands out as the perfect example of the competence and professionalism we need to achieve the goals established by this institution." A special ceremony by NYU Langone Medical Center senior leadership for all the recipients of this year's Individual Excellence Awards will be held on Thursday, January 15, in Schwartz Lecture Hall, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. All are invited to attend.
