The University of Toledo received today the decision from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for Physician Assistants (ARC-PA) to reinstate accreditation for UT’s Physician Assistant Studies Program.

Statement
“We are pleased the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for Physician Assistants has decided to reinstate accreditation of our Physician Assistant Studies Program, effective immediately. During this probationary period, we will work with ARC-PA to demonstrate how our program, curriculum and processes meet or exceed current standards.

This is good news for our students, whose success remains our top priority. The University is committed to providing a high-quality physician assistant education and training program. We will continue our work to enhance the quality of our PA program.”

Letter from the President
UT President Sharon L. Gaber sent a letter to campus this afternoon. It is available online here.

“History of Cancer Research: Why Patients Are Still Dying for a Cure” will be discussed Thursday, Oct. 12, at 5 p.m. in Health Education Building Room 110 on UT’s Health Science Campus.

Dr. Azra Raza, Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine and director of the Myelodysplastic Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, will deliver the ninth annual S. Amjad Hussain Lecture in the History of Medicine and Surgery.

Her research focuses on myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. In 1984, she started a tissue repository that now contains 60,000 samples from thousands of patients.

“This repository has helped my colleagues and me define the molecular and genetic milestones that must be covered for pre-leukemia cells to cross over into leukemia cells,” Raza said during a 2016 TEDx talk in New York. “It will also help us define potential therapeutic targets that could be used to intercept the disease before it is too late. This work will likely apply to the evolution of other cancers as well.”

She was part of President Barack Obama’s the Cancer Moonshot Program.

“Cancer is slated to become the leading cause of death in the coming decade, with one in two men and one in three women suffering from the disease at some point in their lives,” she said during the Tedx talk. “Over the next 10 years, the number of new cancer cases in the United States will increase by 42 percent, and the number of cancer survivors will rise from 15.5 million to 20.3 million. During the same period, the number of oncologists will increase by only 28 percent.”

Raza’s research has appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Blood, Cancer, Leukemia, and Cancer Research. In 2012, she was a Hope Funds for Cancer Research honoree. Two years later, Raza received the Distinguished Services in Field Research and Clinical Medicine Award from Dow Medical College.

This annual lecture was created in honor of Hussain, professor emeritus of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, and humanities, and columnist for The Blade. The free, public event is designed to highlight Hussain’s interest in many diverse fields, including the history of medicine.

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences will recognize first-year medical students during its official White Coat Ceremony 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 3 in Nitschke Hall Auditorium.

The ceremony, held during the week of orientation, welcomes medical students to the college and prepares them for undertaking a medical career. Highlights of the event include a welcome from the dean of the college, a keynote address on humanism in medicine and the presentation of white coats and recitation of the Medical Student Pledge of Ethics.

Dr. Christopher Cooper, executive vice president of clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, will officiate the ceremony in which 175 medical students will receive their white coats. More than 75 percent of the new students are Ohio residents and about 20 percent are from northwest Ohio.

“This traditional ceremony really underscores the foundation of the medical profession for first-year medical students,” Cooper said. “The white coat serves as a symbol of their achievement of being selected to medical school. Secondly, it reiterates their commitment to professionalism, continuing education and their service to others through medical care.”

The annual ceremony will conclude orientation week for the medical students. In addition to College of Medicine and Life Sciences, UT’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences holds a white coat ceremony for third-year PharmD students and the UT College of Health and Human Services presents white coats to first-year physical therapy and occupational therapy doctorate students and respiratory care students in their junior year, which is the first year of their professional program.

Ohio Sea Grant released today its 2017 update on the statewide Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative documenting two years of progress seeking solutions for harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie.

The University of Toledo, situated on the western basin of Lake Erie, is one of the lead universities in the initiative, which consists of ten Ohio universities and five state agencies and is funded by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and matching funds from participating universities.

Dr. Tom Bridgeman

The 54-page report features a variety of important research activity underway by members of the UT Water Task Force to protect the public water supply and public health, including:

• Early warning system for toxic algae in Lake Erie’s Maumee Bay by Dr. Tom Bridgeman, professor in the UT Department of Environmental Sciences, and Dr. Ricky Becker, associate professor in the UT Department of Environmental Sciences;
• Developing methods to help water treatment plant operators make decisions on lake water pumping rates according to time of day and weather conditions in order to reduce exposure to algal toxins at the Lake Erie water intake, also by Bridgeman and Becker;
• Transport and fate of cyanotoxins in drinking water distribution systems, such as pipes and storage tanks, by Dr. Youngwoo Seo, associate professor in the UT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering;
• Investigating alternative biological filtration for algal toxin removal in water treatment through better understanding of microcystin-degrading bacteria, also by Seo;
• Investigating the influence of potassium permanganate treatment on algal cell integrity and toxin degradation, also by Seo;
• Developing microcystin-detoxifying water biofilters to upgrade water treatment filters with friendly bacteria through the discovery of enzymes and pathways responsible for microcystin degradation, by Dr. Jason Huntley, associate professor in the UT Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology;
• Studying the accuracy of ELISA, the standard test measuring harmful algal toxins, in comparison to a more time-consuming but reliable method, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), by Dr. Dragan Isailovic, associate professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry;
• Developing lab tests for detecting microcystin exposure through biological samples and measuring how much remains inside the body, also by Isailovic;
• Evaluating the ability of commercially available home purification systems to remove algal toxins from tap water, by Dr. Glenn Lipscomb, professor and chair of the UT Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering;
• Reconsidering recommended healthy exposure limits by studying the impact of algal toxins in experimental models of pre-existing liver disease, by Dr. David Kennedy and Dr. Steven Haller, assistant professors in the UT Division of Cardiovascular Medicine;
• Studying health effects of recreational and work exposure to harmful algal blooms through fishing, swimming or boating, by Dr. April Ames and Dr. Michael Valigosky, assistant professors in the UT Department of Occupational and Public Health; and
• Creating an online database to help inform public about harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, by Dr. Patrick Lawrence, UT geography professor and associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters.

Ohio Sea Grant, which manages the statewide Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative, is soliciting proposals for a third round of funding to continue the efforts underway to address toxic algae in Ohio’s Great Lake.

Participating universities include UT, The Ohio State University, Bowling Green State University, Central State University, Defiance College, Heidelberg University, Kent State University, Sinclair Community College, University of Akron and University of Cincinnati. UT and OSU serve as leaders of the university consortium.

To view the full report, go to http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/p/ib57m/view.

For Ohio Sea Grant’s news release, go to http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/news/2017/gz884/habri-report-year-2.

The UT Water Task Force, which is comprised of faculty and researchers in diverse fields spanning the University, serves as a resource for government officials and the public looking for expertise on investigating the causes and effects of algal blooms, the health of Lake Erie and the health of the communities depending on its water. The task force includes experts in economics, engineering, environmental sciences, business, pharmacy, law, chemistry and biochemistry, geography and planning, and medical microbiology and immunology.

Water quality is a major research focus at UT. With $12.5 million in active grants underway, UT experts are studying algal blooms, invasive species such as Asian carp, and pollutants. Researchers are looking for pathways to restore our greatest natural resource for future generations to ensure our communities continue to have access to safe drinking water.

Researchers and students help to protect the public drinking water supply for the greater Toledo area throughout summer algal bloom season by conducting water sampling to alert water treatment plant operators of any toxins heading toward the water intake. UT’s 28-foot research vessel and early warning buoy enable UT to partner with the city of Toledo and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor the health of Lake Erie and provide real-time data.

Smoking cigarettes leads to fibrosis in the kidneys and heart and accelerates kidney disease, according to research at The University of Toledo.

“Smoking is bad for the kidneys and heart together,” said Dr. Christopher Drummond, post-doctoral fellow in the cardiovascular division of the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “Tobacco and nicotine increase the formation of injury or scarring called fibrosis. That reduces cardiac function, so your heart isn’t operating as efficiently. It also makes it so your kidneys can’t filter toxins from your blood as effectively.”

Dr. Christopher Drummond

His research titled “Cigarette Smoking Causes Epigenetic Changes Associated With Cardiorenal Fibrosis,” which was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and done in collaboration with the University of California at San Diego, was recently published in the journal Physiological Genomics.

“The results of this study are a public health concern because a significant portion of the U.S. population suffers from kidney disease and heart-related side effects,” Drummond said. “When you smoke, you’re speeding up the development of kidney disease.”

An estimated 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

Drummond exposed two groups of rats to cigarette smoke five days a week for four weeks. One group had chronic kidney disease. The other group had normal renal function. Drummond compared those two groups with two control groups of rats – one with chronic kidney disease and one with normal kidney function – that were kept in a room with no smoke.

“We designed and built a system to expose rats to a constant concentration of smoke from cigarettes,” Drummond said. “Those were lit and the animals inhaled around five cigarettes worth of combustible smoke a day.”

In the smoke groups, researchers found a decrease in the genetic material called microRNA associated with slowing or preventing fibrosis in the organ tissue.

Smoking alone drove the rats into renal dysfunction, according to Drummond. Also, blood pressure increased, the heart enlarged and scar tissue developed in the heart muscle and kidneys.

“If you are concerned or have a preexisting condition, quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do to improve your health,” Drummond said.

Drummond is currently investigating the effects of e-cigarettes on the kidney and heart.

The University of Toledo is one of seven Ohio universities participating in a project designed to optimize career outcomes for minority students who choose to pursue doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

With $3.1 million in support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Northern Ohio Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (NOA-AGEP) was created to increase the number of underrepresented minority students completing STEM doctoral degrees and prepare them for entry into the professoriate.

The NOA-AGEP project is led by Case Western University with UT, Bowling Green State University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, the University of Akron and Youngstown State University serving as contributing members.

UT will receive $288,164 to support its role in the program.

La’Nese Lovings, chemistry; Cora Lind-Kovacs, professor and associate chair of chemistry and biochemistry; Maura Graves, cell and molecular biology; W. Scott Crawley, assistant professor of biological sciences; Tomer Avidor-Reiss, associate professor of biological sciences; David Baliu-Rodriguez, chemistry

“Collaborating with the other universities to develop this project over the past four years has laid a solid foundation for the networking and mentoring of the AGEP Scholars selected to participate in this program,” said Dr. Patricia Komuniecki, the initial primary investigator of the grant who retired this year as vice provost for graduate affairs and dean of the College of Graduate of Studies “Each university will contribute to the project in its own unique way, sharing its strengths with the other participating members. UT will host all the NOA-AGEP participants next spring at the annual Midwest Graduate Research Symposium.”

Thirty students across northern Ohio have been selected to participate. Six new doctoral students were selected as AGEP Scholars at UT and enrolled in the cohort with the start of the fall 2016 semester.

The 42-month research project entitled, “Collaborative Research: Northern Ohio AGEP-T: A Racially and Ethnically Inclusive Graduate Education Model in Biology, Chemistry and Engineering” will explore best practices for supporting the cohort through a variety of activities.

“We are studying a model that includes a variety of mentoring, networking, diversity and professional development activities designed to optimize the academic success of our scholars and explore pathways into the professoriate,” said Dr. Susan Pocotte, associate dean for Academic Affairs and current principal investigator of the grant. “Through this program, NOA-AGEP is developing best practices and creating new benchmarks that provide support for underrepresented minority students and can be expanded to the entire graduate community.”

The AGEP scholars have received tuition scholarships and will receive stipends for completing training activities and attending mentoring workshops. Each has been paired with a professor who serves as a mentor in the student’s field of study.

Shermel Sherman, molecular medicine; Kandace Williams, professor, associate dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Graduate Program and director of cancer biology track; Ethel Tackie-Yarboi, medicinal chemistry; Isaac Schiefer, assistant professor of medicinal and biological chemistry

“I think the mentoring relationship is going to be the most valuable part of the program for me,” said Ethel Tackie-Yarboi, second year doctoral student in medicinal chemistry.  “I’m still fine-tuning my educational pathway and now I don’t feel like I have to go it alone. I have a dedicated faculty member to guide me through the process and help me explore my options.”

Students also will participate in professional development training activities throughout the length of the program.

“We will teach them how to build relationships and network in their field,” said Teresa Green, COGS graduate academic services specialist and site coordinator for NOA-AGEP. “They will also receive coaching to hone their writing and publishing skills in preparation for grant writing and research reporting, which are important skills to develop in those considering a career in the professoriate.”

These relationships have already proven invaluable to the program’s participants.

“Chemists spend a lot of time alone in the lab,” said La’Nese Lovings, first year doctoral student in chemistry.  “NOA-AGEP has given me the opportunity to meet other students and introduced me to other disciplines. We share our research, question each other’s methods and debate our work. I’m looking forward to meeting other researchers in the chemistry field when we attend conferences.”

Lovings will present her research, “Synthesis and Characterization of Al_xSc_2-xMo₃O₁₂ Using Non-Hydrolytic Sol-Gel Methods” at the Louis Stokes Midwest Center of Excellence Conference and the National Organization for Professional Development of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers.

“I am excited to share my work and to learn from others,” she said. “I am hopeful that the connections I make will lead to lifelong mentorship opportunities and give me a multitude of people to and share ideas with as I move forward in my career.”

Chronic kidney disease affects nearly 25 percent of the adult population in the United States. It is closely associated with cardiovascular disease and can lead to a patient requiring dialysis or kidney transplant.

Dr. Steven Haller, Dr. David Kennedy and
Dr. Jiang Tian

Researchers at The University of Toledo are researching the connection between the kidney and heart in an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms, which can help develop new treatments to improve patient outcomes.

A recent study entitled, “Attenuation of Na/K-ATPase Mediated Oxidant Amplification with pNaKtide Ameliorates Experimental Uremic Cardiomyopathy,” was published in “Scientific Reports” earlier this month.

UT researchers, in collaboration with Marshall University and New York Medical College, identified a peptide that could reduce kidney disease related cardiac fibrosis in mice, which could potentially lead to the development of new treatment options for patients diagnosed with kidney disease.

“We know patients with kidney disease often develop cardiac fibrosis, which is a condition where their heart tissue becomes damaged and scarred,” said Jiang Tian, associate professor of medicine and lead co-author of the study. “Cardiac fibrosis was previously thought to be untreatable, but this new discovery shows promise for reversing or preventing the condition.”

The research builds upon pioneering work by co-author Dr. Zijian Xie, director of the Marshall Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, who discovered a new function of the Na/K-ATPase during his tenure at UT. Xie found that the Na/K-ATPase can mediate cell signaling in addition to its role in regulating the potassium and sodium level in each cell of the body.

The research team subsequently learned that dysfunction of kidneys signals the body to produce steroids that bind to the Na/K-ATPase, but that a long term “off-target” effect of this causes scarring to develop in the heart.

“We discovered that these sodium-potassium pumps don’t just move sodium and potassium around, but they are multitasking proteins that are involved in other functions as well,” said David Kennedy, assistant professor of medicine and co-author of the study. “It’s like finding out your car is a spaceship and you didn’t even know it.”

When the team introduced a peptide called pNaKtide in a mouse model with kidney disease, the associated cardiac fibrosis was reduced.

“We are excited about these findings and will further explore the possibility to use this peptide as a therapeutic treatment for cardiac fibrosis,” Tian said.

In a related UT study, Dr. Steven Haller, assistant professor of medicine discovered use of the immunosuppressant drug Rapamycin also helps in reducing cardiac fibrosis in animal models with kidney disease.

“Given that we now know Na/K-ATPase signaling is known to initiate events that leads to cardiac fibrosis, we can look at ways to interrupt this sequence,” he said. “Rapamycin inhibits an enzyme implicated in the progression of many different forms of kidney disease and we now know it also regulates a pro-fibrotic steroid which binds the Na/K-ATPase and causes fibrosis.”

The study, “Rapamycin Attenuates Cardiac Fibrosis in Experimental Uremic Cardiomyopathy by Reducing Marinobufagenin Levels and Inhibiting Downstream Pro-Fibrotic Signaling,” was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The human body’s relationship with bacteria is complex. The microscopic organisms can help us live a healthy life or harm us by causing myriad diseases.

Researchers have long been fascinated by bacteriology, the study of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. Dr. F. G. Novy, a world renowned bacteriologist and former dean of the University of Michigan Medical School, is credited for putting the field of bacteriology on firm scientific foundations. He investigated how microbes survive in nature, spread in the environment and cause disease in animals.

Novy’s work and accomplishments in this field of science will be the focus of the Eighth Annual S. Amjad Hussain Visiting Lecture in the History of Medicine and Surgery at The University of Toledo.

Dr. Powel Kazanjian

Dr. Powel Kazanjian, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of history at the University of Michigan, will present a lecture entitled, “The Origins of Bacteriology in America: Life and Works of Frederick Novy” at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2 in the Health Education Building Room 100 on UT’s Health Science Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

“Novy was an organic chemist who is known as the father of bacteriology. He was instrumental in the understanding of how microorganisms cause disease,” said S. Amjad Hussain, professor emeritus of thoracic cardiovascular surgery and humanities and former member of the UT Board of Trustees. “His work helped to define bacteriology as a distinct discipline in America and laid much of the groundwork for studying the interactions between bacteria and the human body.”

Kazanjian was selected to speak at this year’s lecture by a committee that included Hussain, Howard Newman, retired associate vice president of development; Dr. Steven Selman, professor emeritus of medicine; and Dr. Peter White, professor emeritus of medicine and Dr. Thomas Sodeman, division chief of gastroenterology at the University of Toledo.

“Dr. Kazanjian is well respected as an expert in the field of infectious diseases. He has written nearly 100 research publications,” Hussain said. “His interest in the history of bacteriology, epidemics and sexually transmitted diseases fits nicely with the goals of our lecture series.”

Hussain said researchers and physicians are continually building on historical concepts in medicine to find new ways to cure disease.

“When penicillin was discovered in the 1940s, we thought it was the silver bullet,” he said. “What we learned in time is that microorganisms are vigilant and have learned how to develop resistance to available antibiotics, therefore we are continually on a quest to find and develop new antibiotics.”

Nearly 70 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, putting them at risk for heart attack, stroke and heart failure. And one third of those individuals with hypertension also will eventually develop kidney disease.

Researchers at The University of Toledo are taking steps to better understand the relationship between high blood pressure and kidney disease to better treat those patients.

Dr. Steven Haller

“Dr. Christopher Cooper, dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, served as the principal investigator of the Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL) clinical trial, which determined the best treatment options for renal artery stenosis, or blockage in the renal arteries of the kidney. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to renal dysfunction in this disease remain largely unknown,” said Dr. Steven Haller, assistant professor of medicine. “We knew that the protein Cd40 played an important role in inflammation and clotting in the body, but had not yet identified how it contributed to renal fibrosis.”

Renal fibrosis is a progressive condition that is the direct consequence of the kidney’s limited ability to regenerate after injury. The scarring of the kidney tissue results in a loss of function which can potentially lead to life-threatening kidney failure.

“My team collaborated with Dr. Bina Joe in UT’s Department of Physiology and Pharmacology to develop a rat model to explore the role of Cd40 in this scarring,” Haller said. “We found that by interrupting this protein, the rats had a significant reduction in renal fibrosis and demonstrated an improvement in renal function”

These results mean that the Cd40 protein not only contributes to inflammation, but also may contribute to renal fibrosis and can be considered as playing a critical role in the development of hypertensive renal disease, he said.

“It has been an exciting project to be a part of,” Haller said. “I have enjoyed collaborating with the other experts we have within UT’s Center for Hypertension and Personalized Medicine to take an interdisciplinary approach to research in our quest to learn more about disease and developing preventative and therapeutic treatments.”

While medications and human trials are still several years away, Haller and his colleagues plan to take the next steps in exploring the most effective and safest ways to interrupt Cd40 and reduce renal fibrosis.

The results of the study were presented in a paper entitled, “Targeted Disruption of Cd40 in a Genetically Hypertensive Rat Model Attenuates Renal Fibrosis and Proteinuria, Independent of Blood Pressure” and were published in Kidney International in August.

University of Toledo medical students will have the opportunity to personally thank the sponsors of their scholarship awards.

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences will hold its annual Scholarship Awards Dinner Thursday, Oct. 6 in the Mahogany Room of the Radisson Hotel on Health Science Campus. A reception will begin at 5 p.m. with dinner and the awards program to follow.

“This event is one of the highlights of our year,” said Dr. Christopher Cooper, executive vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “It provides an opportunity for our students to meet the sponsors of their scholarships and put a face to the individuals who have invested in their success.”

119 scholarships totaling $1,102,632 have been awarded to UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences students this fall.

“Medical students can expect to accumulate nearly $200,000 in educational costs,” Cooper said. “These scholarships help to reduce the indebtedness incurred by our students, and we are extremely grateful for the support in easing this financial burden.”

Fourth-year medical student Megan Mooney, who is the recipient of the UT and ProMedica Better Together Scholarship, will serve as the student speaker.

“Receiving this scholarship has helped me beyond words,” Mooney said. “Not only has it supported me financially and educationally, I feel like the sponsors of my scholarship have become part of my personal support system. It has inspired me to think about how I can pay it forward and serve others in the future.”

“Our students benefit tremendously from the generosity of our scholarship donors,” UT President Sharon L. Gaber said. “Their financial support means our students can continue their studies without bearing the full weight of their educational expenses and can focus on becoming the next generation of physicians. We express our heartfelt gratitude for their continued support.”