SACS reaccreditation process under way

Although an on-site review will not be conducted until April 2010, the path to reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) already is well trod.

In fact, the process of reaccreditation started in 2006 with preliminary planning and the appointment of a leadership team for the UT Health Science Center. Dr. Maximilian Buja, executive vice president of academic affairs, is leading the SACS process with the help of Dr. Bryant Boutwell, associate vice president for accreditation and international programs.

Buja and Boutwell have been educating each school and various organizations within the schools about the process and what will be required. The two addressed the Medical School’s Faculty Senate and Administrative Council in recent months.

The Commission on Colleges of SACS is the recognized regional accrediting body in the 11 U.S. southern states, and reaffirmation of accreditation takes place every 10 years.

“SACS is important because it helps us in our planning and evaluation processes and allows us to develop creative, forward-thinking approaches to student learning,” Buja said.

The site visit team will review compliance with core requirements, comprehensive standards, and federal requirements, as well as evaluate the institution’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).

“The QEP is a creative opportunity to collaboratively develop an innovative solution to improve student learning outcomes. A topic, budget, and a plan must be ready so this project can be initiated,” Buja said, adding that input from all types of constituents will be obtained before selecting a final project.

Several members of the Medical School are staffing the various teams to help the process of reaccreditation.

“We appreciate everyone’s contributions to our reaccreditation. This is definitely a group effort and will require the input and expertise of many,” Buja said.

For more information, see http://www.uth.tmc.edu/sacs/

-D. Brown

Mercer, Ko named to Mayfield positions

Two faculty members at the Medical School recently have been named to endowed positions established by Development Board member Jack Mayfield Jr.

Dr. David Mercer is the holder of the Jack H. Mayfield, M.D. Chair in Surgery and Dr. Tien Ko is the holder of the Jack H. Mayfield, M.D., Distinguished Professorship in Surgery.

Mayfield created three endowed positions in honor of his late father, including the Jack H. Mayfield, M.D., Distinguished University Chair in Surgery, which is held by the chair of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Richard Andrassy.

Andrassy said the three endowments will supplement research that, in turn, can attract grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also noted that endowments allow faculty more freedom to not only teach but also to learn.

“The future of academic medicine will most likely be directly tied to endowments supporting the Medical School faculty. NIH funds are harder to get, state dollars have decreased, and reimbursement for clinical work has decreased,” Andrassy said. “Time spent on academic endeavors, research, and teaching are frequently inadequately funded or not funded. Endowments allow some time away from clinical work to pursue scholarly activities.”

Mercer is vice chair of the Department of Surgery and chief of general surgery and trauma and critical care. He joined the faculty of the Medical School in 1993, and received his M.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School. He completed postgraduate training at Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, including two residencies, an internship, and a research laboratory fellowship. He also completed a fellowship at the Pediatric Heart Institute of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

He said it is “an honor and a privilege” to be named holder of the Jack H. Mayfield, M.D. Chair in Surgery.

“The Department of Surgery at UT Houston has been fortunate to have endowed chairs to support the leaders of the department and their mission to educate the next generation of physicians and physician scientists; to train our future surgeons; to provide state-of-the-art care to our patients that suffer from surgical disease; and to generate new knowledge and innovations such that translation of these discoveries results in improved outcomes,” he said.

“Certainly the Jack H. Mayfield Chair facilitates our mission and enables us to embark upon novel avenues of discovery that ordinarily might not be possible in light of recent changes in NIH funding and declining reimbursements. For me personally, the chair allows funding of junior faculty and residents to support their involvement in both clinical and basic research by diminishing, at least in part, the expenses associated with participation in such activities”, he added.

Ko is vice chair of the Department of Surgery for the Harris County Hospital District and is chief of surgery and LBJ Hospital. He received his M.D. from the University of California School of Medicine and completed an internship and residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois. He completed a research fellowship at The University of Texas Medical Branch and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the Medical School in 2007.

-D. Brown, W. Mohon

Researcher looks to nanoparticle to
stop pre-term labor

What if pre-term labor could be staved off by a nanoparticle that affects only the mother and not the baby in utero?

This is the scenario that Dr. Jerrie Refuerzo, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is pursuing through a recent K12 grant from the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS).

The CCTS K12 program supports the training and career development of medical fellows, instructors, and assistant professors conducting clinical or translational research. Refuerzo received three years of funding for this collaborative research – her mentor is Dr. Mauro Ferrari, professor and director of nano medicine at the Institute of Molecular Medicine. Refuerzo is one of five recipients of such funding this year.

Presently, indomethacin is given to stop pre-term labor in women who are at risk to deliver a severely premature baby at 24-30 weeks or to halt labor within 48 hours of delivery.

“Indomethacin is effective, yet can only be used for a brief period of time. After more than 48 to 72 hours of use, it can cause adverse fetal effects, such as decreasing the amniotic fluid and constriction of the ductus arteriosus – one of the fetal vessels,” she explained.

Refuerzo is working on creating a multi-stage system that would deliver the drug to the mother without crossing the placenta, and thus harming the fetus. “We wanted to use a drug in use already that we could improve for patients,” she said.

The first step is to create a nanoparticle at 1.6 microns in diameter – objects less than 100 nanoparticles tend to cross the placenta. The second stage is to develop a liposome to encapsulate and deliver the indomethacin to the pregnant uterus.

“The liposome has more potential entering the clinical arena as liposomes are already in use for heart patients, cancer patients, and for antibiotics,” Refuerzo said. “We need more data on the nanoparticle – targeting it where we want it to go.”

Refuerzo will collaborate with Ferrari on the nanoparticle and with Dr. Judith Smith, research collaborator in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Dr. Karen Uray, from the Department of Pediatric Surgery, testing the protocols in models.

“There are a lot of collaborators working to put the pieces together, but I think three years is enough time to generate the preliminary data we need,” she said.

-D. Brown

Innovations in Health Science Education

The UT System Fifth Annual Innovations in Health Science Education Conference will be Thursday, Oct. 2, through Friday, Oct. 3, at the Commons Center of The University of Texas J. J. Pickle Research Center in Austin. The twin themes for this year's program are: Simulation in Healthcare Education and Patient Outcomes in Healthcare Education. Admission is free but registration is required. For more information: http://www.utsystem.edu/academy/hse/conference.htm.

 

Sept. 11 blood drive today

There is still time to help save lives during the Medical School’s annual Sept. 11 blood drive today. The drive is open 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. and is being held on the ground floor in the Leather Lounge.

Welcome back

Students, faculty, and staff are making their way back to Webber Plaza, which is new and improved after a lengthy construction period.