Artists celebrated in new research space

Dr. Khader Hasan explains his contribution to the research art.

The artists of the research illustrations that grace the walls of the Medical School’s new research space got a sneak peek of their work and the facility at an artists’ reception Monday.

“This building means we will continue our mission of research,” said Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo. “And what we have on the walls is extraordinary science and research.”

Ten winning research illustrations were chosen from dozens submitted to the Research Illustration Masterpieces contest earlier this year. The research illustrations were then enlarged to four-feet-by-four-feet panels, with five on the first floor, two on the second and third floors, and one on the fourth floor.

Dean Colasurdo thanked the researcher artists for their contributions: Brian Poindexter, Dr. Max Buja, Roger Bick, Dr. Thomas Merritt, Dr. Joseph Alcorn, Dr. Jacqueline Hecht, Vips Patel, Dr. Khader Hasan, Dr. Ponnada Narayana, Alejandro Vila, Dr. Ruth Heidelberger, Feng Pan, Dr. Steve Massey,  Lorenzo Morales, Dr. Andrew Bean, Eira Roth, Dr. Roman Skoracki, Michael Miller, Carmen Rios, Dr. Anshu Mathur,  and Dr. Michael Beauchamp.  He also thanked Leslie Holland, Roy Prichard, and Dr. Nancy McNiel for their assistance with the project.

Architect Kirby Keahey and Dr. Stanley Schultz visit about the art.

“The display on the wall of the artwork in the Medical School meant a lot to me and my colleagues who helped make it possible,” said researcher-artist Hasan. “I was impressed by the high quality and was happy to discuss the art with several colleagues who were interested. It was also rewarding and honorable to see and meet the current, ex, and interim Medical School deans at this event as this shows sincere appreciation to the researchers.”

Hasan’s illustration, “Diffusion Tensor Imaging Fiber Tractography of the Human Brain Central Nervous System White Matter” was based on data collected at the Medical School’s magnetic resonance facility.

“ The art shows the human corpus callosum, which is the largest interhemispheric commissure fiber tracts as they project to the cortices. The corpus callosum is being used in our research efforts to model the complex interplay between aging and disease,” Hasan explained.

In addition to the art from the research competition, more art exists in the space in the form of animal illustrations photographed by Jamieson Greaver and manipulated by Prichard for the Center for Laboratory Animal Medicine and Care’s vivarium.  Deanna Rybak, a former summer student from Augustana College in Rockford, Ill., also created art for the vivarium in the form of a multi-animal drawing, which was etched in metal for the facility and also is used by the center as its logo and can be seen on business cards and letterhead.

-D. Brown


For more Headlines, see Page 2 Stories   

Westney named division director of urology

Dr. O. Lenaine Westney

Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo has announced that Dr. O. Lenaine Westney will be the permanent director of the Division of Urology, Department of Surgery.  Westney has served in an interim role in this position for the last two years.

“Dr. Westney has done a solid job in the interim role, and I know that she will continue to excel. Dr. Westney will continue to grow her division and will expand her collaboration with the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Dr. Kevin Slawin at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center,” Dean Colasurdo said.

Westney, an associate professor of surgery and residency program director, recently was named to the C. R. Bard Inc./Edward J. McGuire, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Urology. Her clinical focus includes incontinence, neurourology, and complex urinary tract and pelvic reconstruction.

“Dr. Westney is one of only a few women in America to be appointed as Chief of Urology,” said Dr. Richard Andrassy, chair of the Department of Surgery. “She has developed a national reputation since assuming the interim position two years ago and has gotten the residency fully accredited. She is a busy clinician at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center and M. D. Anderson and is actively engaged in a number of clinical trials. I am sure that her academic star will continue to shine brighter every year.”

Coming to the Medical School in 1994 as a postgraduate student in urology, Westney received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed postgraduate work in general surgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey.

-D. Brown


For more Headlines, see Page 2 Stories

Hardwicke to Serve Two-Year Term as HANCB President

Dr. Robin Hardwicke

Dr. Robin Hardwicke, assistant professor of internal medicine, has been elected to a two-year term as president of the (HANCB).  Hardwicke, former president-elect, took office as president Nov. 12 after the annual Association of Nurses in AIDS Care Conference in Orlando.

“I feel strongly that individuals who provide care to HIV-infected patients be well-educated in the most current treatment regimens and understand the societal barriers that HIV-infected individuals face on a daily basis,” Hardwicke said. “Nurses, in particular, should be experienced in HIV care because the disease numbers and rates of transmission do not seem to be decreasing in our country, let alone in our city of Houston.”

The HANCB is a nonprofit organization that is responsible for the certification and recertification processes of professionals in the nursing field in order to promote competency of nurses caring for persons with HIV/AIDS.

“Hardwicke is a tireless advocate for HIV patient care, teaching and research,” said Dr. Philip Johnson, professor and director of the Division of General Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine.  “We are proud of her achievements.”

-N. Camarata

For more Headlines, see Page 2 Stories