Thomas receives national safety award

Dr. Eric Thomas

Recognizing his more than 13 years at the forefront of patient safety, Dr. Eric Thomas, associate professor of internal medicine, has received the 2007 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Research.

Established in 2002 by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and the Joint Commission, the awards honor the memory of John M. Eisenberg, M.D., former director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a member of the founding board of directors of the NQF, and an advocate for health care quality improvement. The awards recognize major achievements of individuals and organizations in improving patient safety and quality.

“In the field of health care quality and safety, the Joint Commission and National Quality Forum are two of the most influential organizations in the United States,” Thomas said.  “Furthermore, John Eisenberg was universally respected and admired for his work to improve health care delivery. It is therefore a great honor to receive this recognition. The award is also an acknowledgment of the outstanding mentors and collaborators I’ve worked with, and of the support I’ve received from UT and the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.”

As principal investigator of the Medical School’s Center of Excellence for Patient Safety Research and Practice, a $7 million program project grant funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Thomas has studied the cause and effects of medical errors and applied the methods from aviation safety to the health care arena.

“Dr. Thomas’ broad-based patient safety and quality research activities have focused on the epidemiology of errors and adverse events, teamwork, incident reporting, measuring and improving cultures of safety, claims file analysis, pediatric patient safety, geriatric patient safety, and organizational learning,” wrote the awarding committee. “His work has been featured in leading quality and safety journals and other peer reviewed publications, and his expert opinion and research findings have been relied upon by the Institute of Medicine, the World Health Organization, and the Institute for Healthcare Excellence, among others.”

Thomas’ work in patient safety spans all areas of the Medical School’s mission -- serving as principal investigator or co-investigator on 18 grants; creating clinically applicable tools, such as a safety culture survey; and educating and mentoring others to conduct patient safety research.

Dr. Ken Shine, vice chancellor for health affairs of the UT System, who nominated Thomas for the award, wrote, “He has made a significant and lasting contribution to improving patient safety and quality.”

 -D. Brown


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Byrne receives national neuroscience education award

Dr. John Byrne

In honor of his outstanding contributions to research, education, and a distinguished career in the neurosciences, Dr. John Byrne, chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, has received the Association for Neuroscience Departments and Programs (ANDP) Award for Neuroscience Education.

Since 1991, the ANDP has bestowed the Award for Education in Neuroscience to an individual in recognition of exemplary education that shapes the discipline of neuroscience. Such recognized figures as author Dr. Oliver Sacks and Dr. Donald Kennedy, editor in chief of Science, have received this notable award.

“It is a real honor to be among such distinguished people,” said Byrne, holder of the June and Virgil Waggoner Chair.

Byrne was nominated by Dr. Jack Waymire, Levit Family Professor of Neuroscience, with a letter of support from mentor Dr. Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000. “I did my graduate and post-doctorate work with Dr. Kandel at NYU and Columbia,” Byrne added.

Kandel wrote that Byrne was a “superb scientific leader” and a “remarkable educator.”

“Jack is, without doubt, the most thoughtful and effective biophysicist in the country working on problems of behavior,” Kandel wrote. “Beyond that, he is also a remarkable administrator and an outstanding scientific leader. He has built one of the best centers in the world for the study of learning and memory in Houston.”

Kandel’s letter cited Byrne’s educational activities, including training 21 graduate students and 29 postdoctoral fellows, organizing Brain Awareness Week activities for the public for 12 years, and as director of the Neuroscience Research Center, creating the Distinguished Lecture Series, bringing 27 of the country’s leading scientists to the UT Health Science Center as guest speakers.

“We are impressed with your efforts to communicate with the lay public and with students, and delighted that you have produced an online textbook in neuroscience. These are remarkable and valuable contributions to neuroscience education,” wrote the awarding committee.

The online textbook has been in the works five years, according to Byrne. Two of the four sections are online and may be found here http://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/index.htm

“It’s not just a dry textbook, it has a lot of animation and interactive material, and it’s gotten a tremendous response all around the world. It’s accessible not just for medical students but also for undergraduates,” he explained.

The ANDP is an organization of more than 250 member departments and programs from academic institutions in North America.  Since 1981, this group has assessed the nature of neuroscience training and fostered information exchange and enhancement of education in this discipline.

“Historically, neuroscience wasn’t a discipline of its own, but now there are neuroscience majors at colleges and universities,” Byrne said, adding that the field is highly multidisciplinary, involving physiology, psychology, engineering, neurobiology, and physics.

Byrne will receive the award Nov. 3 at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting.

-D. Brown

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Houston Surgeons Restore Mobility, Big Smile For Guatemalan Woman with Rare Benign Tumor

Eva Nidia Carias and her mother

These days, Eva Nidia Carias' smile is bigger than ever – thanks to a pair of Houston doctors, including an orthopaedic surgeon at the Medical School.

Seven years ago, Carias, 22, was diagnosed with a giant cell benign tumor inside her thigh bone that prevented full mobility. To make matters worse, the complex surgery she desperately needed is not available in her country of Guatemala.

Dr. Brian Parsley, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, first noticed Carias during a recent mission trip with “Faith In Practice,” a non-profit, interfaith mission organization that provides care to the poor in Guatemala through short-term surgical, medical and dental mission trips and health education programs.

Parsley wanted to help Carias, but he couldn’t do it alone.

"Dr. Parsley approached me about a case of a young woman from Guatemala with a giant cell tumor of the right distal femur, and asked me if I would help," said Dr. Rex Marco a visiting associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. "I had seen cases like this before, and sometimes the tumor is so big the leg needs to be amputated. We needed to bring her in for further examination."

Marco worked with Parsley to review images of the tumor and find the best solution for Carias – which they determined would be to remove the tumor and replace her distal femur with a metal prosthetic.

"We called Biomet, the company that supplies the prosthetic parts, and they agreed to supply the entire implant," Marco said.  "They donated a special implant that continuously compresses against the bone, which helps prevent loosening of the implant."

With the help of the Houston surgeons, Faith In Practice, Consul General of Guatemala José Barillas-Trennert and Continental Airlines, Carias and her mother flew to Houston, where her surgery was performed free of charge this month at Foundation Surgical Hospital.

"Dr. Parsley brought Eva's X-rays and information in to see if we could help," said Ellen Peterson of Faith In Practice. "We had done charity like this in the past case-by-case through our affiliation with the medical community, but it's not common that it involves taking the patient to another county."

Carias was filled with emotion when she arrived in Houston.  "I've always been happy. I've never cried – never felt sorry for myself, even when others made fun of me. I know God made me like this for a reason. It is a miracle that I was brought here to Houston," Carias said in Spanish.

Eva's mother has shared her daughter’s pain for many years.  "For (the first) 15 years of her life she had not gone to see the doctor," Carias’ mother, Rosalinda Garcia Castillo said in Spanish. "I was so happy to hear of this wonderful thing that was going to be done for my daughter. May God repay all of these wonderful people."

"The surgery went very well. We were able to save the knee with her soft tissue," Marco said. "Before the case, she had limited motion, and thankfully we were able to save the muscle and cover the implant. The operation didn't need any additional plastic surgery."
The implant from Biomet, Inc. valued at about $18,000, is expected to last 10 years or more, Marco said.

Carias will soon be able to put her full weight on the extremity, but her doctors plan to keep the area still or immobilized during the initial recovery process. When she leaves the hospital after a week, she next will begin rehabilitation.

Carias and her mother will be returning to Guatemala by the end of the month, where Eva will be able to live with full mobility and take a much more active role in the life of her own daughter.

“My daughter is so healthy – she is the greatest joy in my life. Miracles are possible," Carias said. "My biggest dream is to see my daughter grow up. I'm so thankful, and may God repay these wonderful angels."

-N. Wong Camarata

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