UT Medical School seniors meet their match

For medical students, selecting the area of medicine they ultimately want to practice often comes down to one defining moment.

Darrell Wilcox’s commitment to preserving life and health began as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger on the battlefield, and his decision to become an anesthesiologist was confirmed years later as he watched his mentor comfort a patient who desperately needed surgery.

Allison Boyle’s decision to specialize in the care of patients with brain injuries was shaped by a devastating stroke her mother suffered in 2007.

Breaking his nose while surfing led Chad Whited to the UT Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery clinic. Breaking his nose again during a skiing accident clinched his choice to become an ear, nose, and throat specialist.

These students, along with approximately 200 fellow seniors at the Medical School, came a step closer to fulfilling their career ambitions March 19 when they participated in Match Day.

Match Day, an annual event coordinated by the National Resident Matching Program, is its own defining moment as seniors at every medical school in the country simultaneously open envelopes to reveal where they will do their residencies.

This year, more than 16,000 U.S. allopathic medical school seniors competed alongside close to 15,000 graduates of osteopathic or foreign medical schools for approximately 24,000 residency positions.

“Match Day often shapes the remainder of our students’ medical careers in a way that no other single subsequent event can,” said Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo. “I am confident the training and values they have received at the Medical School have laid a strong foundation and will serve them in the next step of their chosen profession.”

Internal medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, and pediatrics were among the top picks for residency training for this year’s graduates.

- M. Raine

Patients who wake up with stroke may be candidates for clot-busters

Giving clot-busting drugs to patients who wake up with stroke symptoms appears to be as safe as giving it to those in the recommended three-hour window, according to Medical School researchers.

The results of the study “Thrombolytic Therapy for Patients Who Wake Up With Stroke” are published in the March issue of Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.

“The results of our study serve as the only published material of patients who woke up with ischemic stroke symptoms and were treated with thrombolytic therapy,” said Dr. Andrew Barreto, lead author and assistant professor of neurology. “It stands as the only support for the safety of stroke treatment in wake-up stroke patients.”

Stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by a blockage or a rupture in an artery, depriving brain tissue of oxygen. It is the third-leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. According to the American Stroke Association, nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year — one every 40 seconds. On average, someone dies of stroke every three to four minutes.

According to protocol from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, thrombolytic medications such as intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) should be given to patients with a blockage within three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms.

Approximately 25 percent of patients with a blockage, called an ischemic stroke, wake up with their symptoms. That could place them outside the three-hour window; therefore, they are not normally given tPA, except under an off-label, compassionate-care exemption.

“The offer of compassionate tPA treatment was made by the treating stroke neurologist,” Barreto said. “Usually these were younger patients with moderate to severe disabling strokes who had no other treatment options.”

The researchers compared 174 patients who were treated with tPA within the three-hour, standard-of-care window with 46 wake-up stroke patients who received off-label thrombolytic therapy. The two groups experienced similar rates of excellent outcomes and favorable outcomes.

In addition, wake-up stroke patients treated with thrombolytic therapy have higher rates of excellent and favorable outcomes than wake-up stroke patients who did not receive it, according to the research.

Barreto said further studies will need to occur to verify the results.

“An indication for treatment of thrombolytic therapy will only come after large, randomized, blinded/controlled clinical trials are conducted,” he said. Barreto and senior author Dr. Sean Savitz, assistant professor of neurology, are currently working with other stroke centers to create collaboration and set up such a trial.

Other study researchers from the Medical School’s Department of Neurology are Dr. Hen Hallevi, research collaborator; Dr. Anitha Abraham, clinical research fellow; Dr. Nicole Gonzales, assistant professor; and Dr. James Grotta, professor and chair.

-D. Mann Lake

COP meeting set for April 14

The UT Police Department encourages all employees, students, faculty, and staff to participate in the Community on Patrol (COP) Program. The primary function of the COP program is to exchange ideas and share information. The goal of this program is to make our community a safer place by increased communication between the University Community and their Police Department. Timely information is a key factor in effective crime control.

The COP program involves members of the community — COP representatives — who serve as information resources to their areas.

As a COP representative, one would:

• Distribute Crime Alert Bulletins to your area
• Attend the COP program meetings

COP representatives meet three times per year to discuss crime trends and related matters, crime prevention tips and techniques, and community safety and security issues.

The spring 2009 COP meetings begin in mid-March, and the meeting at the Medical School is set for 11 a.m., April 14 in MSB G.100.

The meeting also will address recognizing and preventing workplace violence. Watch the preview video.

For UTPD news and information, visit UTPD News. For additional information, contact the UT Police Crime Prevention component at 713.563.7794.

Kirkendall Lecturer to speak on “TTP: Long Journey from Bedside to Bench”

Dr. Joel Moake, J.W. Cox Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering at Rice University professor and associate director, will present the Walter M. Kirkendall, M.D., Endowed Lecture March 31.

Moake will speak on "Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Long Journey from Bedside to Bench,” at noon in room 2.103 of the Medical School.

He specializes in fundamental studies of platelet function, and his laboratories focus on the molecular events associated with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Moake is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He has been listed in Best Doctors in America consistently since 1995 and is one of a small number of physician-members of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

13th Annual Human and Molecular Genetics Symposium Friday

The UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston Program in Human and Molecular Genetics presents its 13th annual symposium at 9 a.m. Friday, March 27. It will include student and faculty presentations, a keynote speaker, an HMG alumna speaker, and a student poster session.

Presentations of note are:

• 10:30 a.m., Dr. Julia Krushkal, assistant professor of Preventive Medicine and Center of Genomic and Bioinformatics at the University of Tennessee, will present “Bioinformatic analysis of genome, sequence, and expression information: an application to bacterial data.”
• 4 p.m., Dr. Brian Popko, Jack Miller Professor of Neurological Disorders; director, Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy; Associate Chair for Research, Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago, will present “ER stress modulates the response of oligodendrocytes to inflammation.”

All presentations are located in the Medical School Building, 5th Floor Art Gallery.

Read the full symposium schedule PDF document.

A day of brain