Upcoming Distinguished Scientists Seminar
Intramural Grants Program- Round 2
Request for Applications
We are pleased to announce a second opportunity for the 2023-2024 College of Medicine Intramural Grants Program. This funding supports basic, clinical or translational research in the College that is expected to lead to extramural grants support. 

The deadline for submission is March 1st at 5p.m.  It is anticipated that awards will commence in April.

See the program announcement or IGP web page for more details and required submission materials.

Applications must be submitted via InfoReady.
Upcoming "Nuts and Bolts"
Grants Development Seminars
January 25, 2024
Talking to your biostatistician
Madhuri Mulekar, PhD, Professor and Chair, USA Department of Math and Statistics

February 8, 2024
Navigating clinical trials
Stefanie White, Director, Clinical Trials Office


Meetings are held by Zoom – click HERE for the registration link

Announcing COM Dean's Predoctoral Fellowship 2024-2025
Internal Submission Deadline: Friday, March 15, 2024

Cycle: May - April

Discipline/Subject Area: Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) Graduate Program

Eligibility: Eligibility is limited to students in good academic standing who have completed the BMS Graduate Program core curriculum.
Current awardees may apply for a second year of funding.

Description:
  • The Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine (COM) is soliciting applications for the Dean's Predoctoral Fellowship. Up to three one-year fellowships will be awarded to eligible students in the Basic Medical Sciences (BMS) Graduate Program.

  • Awards cover the student's stipend, individual health insurance, and includes $5,000 to support travel and other expenses for awardees to present their work at a national or international conference, or to attend an extramural course or workshop.

  • Applications must be submitted on or before Friday, March 15 by 5 PM. Awards are expected to begin in May.
New Faculty, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is pleased to announce its newest faculty, Michael R. Elliott, PhD, who joins us from the University of Virginia as Associate Professor. Dr. Elliott's research focuses on innate immunity, macrophage biology, and cancer immunotherapy. His laboratory will be based at the Mitchell Cancer Institute. With his vibrant, extramurally funded research program and wealth of experience in education, we are excited to welcome Dr. Elliott and look forward to his contributions to the research and education missions at USA Whiddon College of Medicine.
Call for Proposals - 2024 Medical Student Summer Research Program
We are pleased to announce the launch of the 2024 Medical Student Summer Research Call for Proposals for the 51st Annual COM Medical Student Summer Research Program!

The Medical Student Summer Research Program is an 8-week program (May 29 through July 26, 2024) that pairs medical students with faculty sponsors. A fact sheet is attached with additional information about the program.
 
We are accepting proposals via the InfoReady platform. If you are interested in hosting a medical student this summer, please submit a project proposal.
  
The deadline for receipt of proposals via InfoReady is Monday, February 19th, 2024.

Please contact Skye Andrade (skyeandrade@southalabama.edu) or Dr. Robert Barrington (rbarrington@southalabama.edu) if you have any questions.
New Frederick P. Whiddon
College of Medicine Building Update
The demolition of the Alpha East and South, originally scheduled for late January, is now set for early February, so please be prepared for noise and potential disruption in that area. The bidding process to select a general contractor for the project will commence around mid-February. This will be followed by a contract award period that could take a couple of months, since the contract has to be routed through both USA and the Governor’s office. The contractor will mobilize onsite once the contract is fully executed.
Recent Awards
Jonathon Audia, PhD
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
The Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence factor ExoU activates pyroptosis
$400,400 total funding over a two-year period from the National Institutes of Health (R21 research grant).
The following investigators have each been awarded $100,000 in funding over a two-year period from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama:

Simon Grelet, PhD
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Mitchell Cancer Institute
Targeting the nerve-cancer crosstalk to prevent breast cancer metastasis

Santanu Dasgupta, PhD
Department of Pathology, Mitchell Cancer Institute
Circulating mitochondrial DNA for the detection of breast cancer progression and recurrence

Chandrani Sarkar, PhD
Department of Pathology, Mitchell Cancer Institute
Adipocyte and lymphatic endothelial cell crosstalk in breast cancer

Ajay Singh, PhD
Department of Pathology, Mitchell Cancer Institute
Unfolding a novel mechanism for endocrine resistance in breast cancer
Recent Publications from COM Researchers
Anand S, Vikramdeo KS, Sudan SK, Sharma A, Acharya S, Khan MA, Singh S, Singh AP. From modulation of cellular plasticity to potentiation of therapeutic resistance: new and emerging roles of MYB transcription factors in human malignancies. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2023 Nov 10. doi: 10.1007/s10555-023-10153-8. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37950087.

Khan MA, Acharya S, Anand S, Sameeta F, Pramanik P, Keel C, Singh S, Carter JE, Dasgupta S, Singh AP. MYB exhibits racially disparate expression, clinicopathologic association, and predictive potential for biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer. iScience. 2023 Nov 19;26(12):108487. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108487. PMID: 38089573; PMCID: PMC10711386.

Bernicker E, Averbuch SD, Edge S, Kamboj J, Khuri FR, Pierce JY, Schiller J, Sirohi B, Thomas A, Moushey A, Phillips J, Hendricks C. Climate Change and Cancer Care: A Policy Statement From ASCO. JCO Oncol Pract. 2023 Nov 27:OP2300637. doi: 10.1200/OP.23.00637. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38011607.

Brandon A, Joshi T, Ahmed Z, Tahir M, Phung T, Pierce JY, Knowles K. A Rare Presentation of Lichen Sclerosus Involving the Vaginal Canal After Radiation Therapy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. Cureus. 2023 Oct 15;15(10):e47077. doi: 10.7759/cureus.47077. PMID: 38021954; PMCID: PMC10644119.

Vukadin L, Park B, Mohamed M, Li H, Elkholy A, Torrelli-Diljohn A, Kim JH, Jeong K, Murphy JM, Harvey CA, Dunlap S, Gehrs L, Lee H, Kim HG, Lee SN, Stanford D, Barrington RA, Foote JB, Sorace AG, Welner RS, Hildreth BE 3rd, Lim SS, Ahn EE. A mouse model of ZTTK syndrome reveals indispensable SON functions in organ development and hematopoiesis. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Nov 19:2023.11.19.567732. doi: 10.1101/2023.11.19.567732. PMID: 38014320; PMCID: PMC10680872.

Zhang PL, Mahalingam VD, Metcalf BD, Al-Othman YA, Li W, Kanaan HD, Herrera GA. Punctate IgG staining particles localize in the budding ballooning clusters of reactive foot processes in minimal change disease. Ultrastruct Pathol. 2023 Dec 14:1-7. doi: 10.1080/01913123.2023.2292590. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38098281.

Hawryluk EB, Moustafa D, Barry KK, Bahrani E, Reusch DB, Brahmbhatt M, Chen L, Coughlin CC, Gerami P, Haddock E, Hook K, Humphrey SR, Kao PC, Kruse LL, Lawley LP, Mansour D, Marghoob AA, Nguyen J, Phung TL, Pope E, Raisanen T, Robinson S, Rogers T, Schmidt B, Tran G, Travis K, Wolner Z, London WB, Eichenfield LF, Huang J. Risk Factors and Outcomes of Melanoma in Children and Adolescents: A Retrospective Multicenter Study. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2023 Nov 29:S0190-9622(23)03238-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2023.10.067. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38040338.

Singh N, Eickhoff C, Garcia-Agundez A, Bertone P, Paudel SS, Tambe DT, Litzky LA, Cox-Flaherty K, Klinger JR, Monaghan SF, Mullin CJ, Pereira M, Walsh T, Whittenhall M, Stevens T, Harrington EO, Ventetuolo CE. Transcriptional profiles of pulmonary artery endothelial cells in pulmonary hypertension. Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 18;13(1):22534. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-48077-6. PMID: 38110438.

Ransom KV, Traylor MK, Batman GB, Mulekar MS, Hill BD, Nelson AR, Keller JL. Arterial stiffness mediates the association between age and processing speed at low levels of microvascular function in humans across the adult lifespan. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2023 Dec 1. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00662.2023. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38038715.

Menger RP, Dunn GP. Letter: Answering Our Nation's Call: A Solution for Military Neurosurgery Wartime Readiness Through Civilian Collaboration. Neurosurgery. 2023 Nov 21. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000002774. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37988060.
Research Resources
Please be reminded of the searchable databases for Faculty Research Interests and COM/MCI Research Equipment. Both are valuable resources for COM researchers and are updated regularly. To make additions and/or changes to these databases, contact Skye Andrade in the Office of the Associate Dean for Research at skyandrade@southalabama.edu.