Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics
News 2002 - 2003
Med School Bound!
Congratulations to Dr. Fowler's excellent employees!
Medical Research Technician Jordan Downing has been accepted to the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Ft. Worth, and Graduate Student Kamran Omidvar has been accepted to TTUHSC School of Medicine!
Way to go and best wishes from Physiology!
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Gy�rke Wins Chancellor's Award
Congratulations once again to Dr. Sandor Gy�rke! Dr. Gy�rke is a recipient of the Chancellor�s Council Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research. He will be among those honored at a Holiday Dinner at the Lubbock Country Club on Dec. 12.
Congratulations, Dr. Gy�rke!
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Finckbone New Masters!
Congratulations to VelvetLee Finckbone, Master's Candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies, who successfully defended her Thesis on Nov. 3rd.
VelvetLee's work is titled: Temporal Expression of Nonapoptotic Caspase 3-Positive Cells in the Developing Rat Cerebellum, and she is currently working in Dr. Jean Strahlendorf's lab.
Great work Velvet!
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Drs. Lutherer and Janssen Earn Dean's Awards!
Congratulations to Dr. Lorenz Lutherer, who was chosen to be this year�s recipient of the Dean�s Educational Innovation Award. Also, congratulations to Dr. Herb Janssen, who was selected to be the recipient of the Dean�s Teaching Award for Basic Sciences. These two awards will be bestowed at the School of Medicine General Faculty meeting on Nov. 18. Physiology is fortunate to have these two educators on our teaching team!
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Dr. Gy�rke is Achievement Award Winner!
On Thursday October 30, Dr. Sandor Gy�rke will be honored for his contributions and achievements at TTUHSC when he receives the President�s Research Achievement Award for the School of Medicine/Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty Awards Convocation.
Congratulations Dr. Gy�rke on this well-deserved honor!
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Congratulations to Graduate Student Rebin T. Titus, who successfully defended his Masters thesis on Wednesday, Sept. 24. His work is titled, �Age-Dependent and Hypoxic-Ischemic Changes in Akt-Protein Kinase B Activation in Rat Hippocampus.� Rebin�s mentor is Dr. John C. Fowler.
Great job, Rebin!
Our Newest Physiologist!
Lee and Lulayne Ferris and big sister Lydia welcomed Nathan James Ferris to their family on July 14.
Congratulations to the Ferris family from your Physiology family!
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Gy�rke Grant Award
Dr. Sandor Gy�rke was recently awarded a grant from the NIH.
This grant will support Dr. Gy�rke�s work on �Ryanodine Receptor Channels in Heart Failure.�
Congratulations, Dr. Gy�rke!
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Weddings Bells
Congratulations to Research Instructor Serge Viatchenko-Karpinski and his bride Dina, who works in the Cell Biology Department! They were married July 3 in Las Vegas.
Best wishes always Serge and Dina!
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Andrew Lovering, New Ph.D.!
Congratulations to Graduate Student Andrew Lovering, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis on Thursday, June 26. His work is titled, �The effect of hypoxia on sleep, breathing and medullary respiratory neurons in the cat.� Andy�s mentor is Dr. John M. Orem.
Way to go, Andy, and best wishes for your future success!
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Orem's Party
Some pictures of the Orem's party are available on the website.
Thanks to the Orems for this fun party!!!!!
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Nathan Grant Award
Dr. Richard Nathan was recently awarded a grant from the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate. This grant will support Dr. Nathan�s work on �Mechanisms of ischemia-induced bradycardia in the rabbit sinoatrial node.�
Great work, Dr. Nathan!
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Swift Defends Master Thesis!
Congratulations to our new �Master of Biology,� Luke Swift, from Dr. Sarvazyan�s lab!
Luke defended his thesis May 2 at TTU. The focus of his work involved reducing the volume of trans uranic and low level radioactive cotton-based laboratory waste slated for long term storage/disposal at the WIPP site in southern New Mexico. He completed the work at Los Alamos National Lab in 1999, and finished the written thesis and defense this semester. The title of his work is: Enzymatic Degradation of Cellulosic Wastes, and Dr. Caryl Heintz was his major advisor.
Way to go Luke! Why don�t you take some time off to celebrate!
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Student Research Week Winners!
The 15th Annual GSBS Student Research Week was held March 24-28, 2003.
Congratulations to Physiology�s award-winning students:
Rebin Titus (Dr. John Fowler�s lab) was awarded 1st place in the Masters Student category. His presentation title: �Ischemic changes in AKT/protein kinase B activation in young and old rat hippocampus.�
VelvetLee Finckbone (Dr. Jean Strahlendorf�s Lab) was awarded 2nd place in the Masters Student category. Her presentation title: �Spatial and Temporal Expression of Nonapoptotic Caspase 3-Positive Cells in the Developing Rat Cerebellum.�
What a great showing, Students!
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Gonzales Awards
Joaquin Gonzales placed 3rd in the Biological & Life Sciences Category of the TTU/GSPGA Student Research Day with a poster titled, "The effect of heavy exercise on the oxygen cost and muscle activity during moderate exercise." Joaquin will be honored at a formal reception in April.
You�re on a roll Joaquin! Congratulations and keep it coming!
Joaquin has also been selected by a committee at the Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences Department of TTU to receive the Doris Horton Endowed scholarship for the 2003-2004 academic school year. Joaquin will be recognized at a luncheon in April for receiving this prestigious award.
Joaquin Gonzales received two awards during the recent meeting of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine:
1) First place in the Doctoral Student category for his presentation/poster entitled, "Effect of prior heavy exercise on oxygen cost and muscle activity during moderate exercise".
2) First place in the Student Research Development Award for his submission entitled, "The role of nitric oxide and exercise training modality on the intracardiac blood velocity profile and post-occlusive reactive hyperemia responses".
Joaquin is studying in our joint Physiology / Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences (HESS) program. What an impressive showing, Joaquin!
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Duran Award
Congratulations to Marie-Jos�e Duran (Pressley Lab). Marie-Jo was chosen to receive a "Young Investigator Award" from the American Physiological Society. She will be honored at a banquet to be held during the Expreimental Biology meeting in San Diego in April.
Way to go, Marie-Jo!
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Gy�rke Promotion
February 28, the Board of Regents approved Dr. Sandor Gy�rke's promotion to full professor.
The promotion will be effective Sept. 1.
Congratulations, Dr. Gy�rke!
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Supporting Student Scholars
Physiology's own Rebin Titus is featured in the 2003 TTUHSC Supporting Student Scholars Campaign brochure. Physiology employees support this campaign through the "Friends of Physiology" fund, which helps provide, in part, for the educational/research training of our fine Graduate Students.
Thanks for the great publicity, Rebin!
Dr. McGrath Pays a Visit
Physiology recently welcomed Dr. James J. McGrath, who happily left the ice and cold of North Carolina behind to come to Lubbock and participate in teaching the Medical Physiology course. We enjoyed the time spent with our Professor Emeritus, and look forward to seeing him next year.
Thanks for your help Dr. McGrath!
Good-Bye Nancy Larson
Nancy Larson retired from the Dept. of Physiology on February 7, 2003 after 20 years working in the Texas Tech System. Nancy's looking forward to traveling and watching movies!
Have fun Nancy. We'll miss you!
Medical Scholars
It's off to TTUHSC Medical School for Callenda Hacker from the lab of Dr. Raul Martinez-Zaguilan!
Also, from the Lutherer laboratory, Ben Harvey was accepted to Medical School at Texas Tech by early admission and Michael Nash (SABR Student last summer) was accepted to UT-Galveston.
Congratulations to all and good luck from everyone in Physiology!
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Welcome Home Pressleys!
Welcome back to Lubbock to Physiology employees Tom and Beth Pressley. Tom and Beth were in Poitiers, France from August through December 2002. Tom was teaching and assisting with summer internship plans at the University of Poitiers.
Bienvenuey'all!
Dr. Fowler Receives Funding
Dr. John Fowler recently received a grant funded by the Administration on Aging through the Institute for Healthy Aging Grants Program. This competitive grant awards almost $50,000 in funding from September 2002 through August 2003, allowing research into Stroke and Neuroprotective Mechanisms in the Aged Brain.
Aiding Principal Investigator Fowler in his research will be co-PIs Jean Strahlendorf, also from Physiology, and Simon Williams and Curt Pharr, both from the Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry.
Congratulations, Dr. Fowler!
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Our Newest Physiologist!
Graduate Student Andy Lovering and his wife Sandee welcomed the newest addition to the Lovering family on December 16, 2002.
Congratulations and best wishes to all!
Young Einsteins-Lubbock AJ Paper
Congratulations to Andy Lovering and Ben Harvey, this year's recipients of the ARCS Scholarship.
All the money raised by ARCS goes directly into scholarships, meaning that expenses are handled by the members through dues.
Ben Harvey, who plans to attend medical school, practice medicine and do research, is a senior biology major at Tech. He researches cerebellar control of cardiovascular and respiratory functions and plans methods of confirming heart failure in lab animals. (Lutherer Lab)
Andrew Lovering, a doctoral student in physiology at the Tech Health Sciences Center, plans to enter a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in respiratory neuroscience and eventually become a professor at a major university or medical school. He has researched high altitude physiology. (Orem Lab)
Young Einsteins Article
Cover Article-Circulation Research September 2002 Issue
Congratulations to Dmitry Terentyev, Serge Viatchenko-Karpinski, H�ctor H. Valdivia, Ariel L. Escobar, Sandor Gy�rke! Their article was featured on the cover of Circulation Research (Volume 91, Number 5, September 6, 2002).
Entitled: Luminal Ca2+ Controls Termination and Refractory Behavior of Ca2+-Induced Ca2+ Release in Cardiac Myocytes
Article
Physiology Departmental Library
5A173 (corner office) has been designated as the Departmental Library. Current journals have been placed there for use by faculty, staff and students. Refreshments have been made available, but contributions to maintain them are needed. A jar has been place there for your convenience. Enjoy!
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2002 Distinguished Alumni Award Presented
On Friday, September 13th, Dr. Robert M. Lust was awarded the 2002 TTUHSC Distinguished Alumni Award from GSBS. Dr. Lust is Professor and Chair of the Physiology Dept. at East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, NC. He received his Ph.D. May 1981 from the Dept. of Physiology and completed his Post Doctoral research in the Dept. of Medicine, Cardiology Division in August 1984.
Congratulations Dr. Lust!
10th International Conference on Na, K-ATPase and Related Cation Pumps
The laboratory of Dr. Thomas Pressley attended the 10th International Conference on Na, K-ATPase and Related Cation Pumps held in Elsinore, Denmark in August 2002. Congratulations to Dr. Sandrine Pierre, who was awarded 1st place "for preparing the best of 145 posters at the Conference in terms of scientific quality, visual display and communication"! Dr. Pierre's poster was titled: Structure/function analysis of Na,K-ATPase alpha 1 and alpha 2 central isoform-specific regions reveals their involvement in regulation by protein kinase C; by Pierre, S, Duran, M-J, Carr, DL, and Pressley, TA.
Way to go Sandrine!
Welcome New Employees
Please welcome the following new employees to our Physiology family.
Jothy Thomas, Volunteer, Undergraduate Student at TTU
Mukundan Desikan, Research Assistant
Jothy and Mukundan will be working with Dr. Raul Mart�nez-Zaguil�n and his staff.
Welcome to the Physiology family.
School of Medicine Seed Grant Awards for FY03
Richard Homan, M.D., Dean, School of Medicine and Vice President for Clinical Affairs and Barbara Pence, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research, announce the recipients of the School of Medicine Seed Grant Program for FY 2003.
Richard Nathan, Ph.D.
�Mechanisms of Ischemia-Induced Bradycardia in Rabbit Sinoatrial Node�
Congratulations, Dr. Nathan!
Welcome, First Year Graduate Students
The Dept. of Physiology welcomes its new first year graduate students.
Richard Bliss
Joaquin Gonzales
Carlo Manno
Kamran Omidvar
Anton Smirnov
Send Off for French Students
The Dept. said good bye to the French SABR Summer Interns. The students returned home to Poitiers, France.
SABR French Summer Interns
Matthieu Chosseler (Pressley Lab)
Jimmy Fraigne (Orem Lab)
Yamina Kebir (Mart�nez-Zaguil�n Lab)
Francois Laharrague (Pressley/Carr Lab)
Christine Le (CBB-Beale Lab)
Welcome Summer Employees
The Dept. of Physiology welcomes its new summer employees.
Lee Franks, Advanced Research Program with Dr. Raul Mart�nez-Zaguil�n
Tobi McMillian, Advanced Technology Program with Dr. Lorenz Lutherer
Steven Hamilton, HHMI Student Assistant with Dr. Ariel Escobar
Bobbak Mansouri, Clark Scholar with Dr. Jean Strahlendorf
Mohammed Attaya, Clark Scholar with Dr. Raul Mart�nez-Zaguil�n
Kamran Omidvar, Medical Research Tech III with Dr. John Fowler
SABR Summer Interns
Matthieu Chosseler (Pressley Lab)
Jimmy Fraigne (Orem Lab)
Yamina Kebir (Mart�nez-Zaguil�n Lab)
Michael Nash (Lutherer Lab)
Francois Laharrague (Pressley/Carr Lab)
Orem Part of Search Committee
Texas Tech University System Chancellor David R. Smith, M.D., announced on June 7 the appointment of an 11-member committee to advise him on the search for a new president for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
John Orem, Chair of Physiology, will participate on this committee, which hopes to receive input from Texas Tech students, staff, faculty and alumni, as well as members of the community.
News Release
Lukyanenko Heading to Baltimore
Good-bye and good luck to Research Assistant Professor Valeriy Lukyanenko and his family. The Lukyanenkos are moving to Baltimore, MD, where Dr. Lukyanenko will be working at the Medical Biotechnology Center, Institute of Molecular Cardiology at University of Maryland (UMBI)
We wish you well in your future endeavors!
Lovering and Harvey Awarded Scholarships
Congratulations to Graduate Student Andrew Lovering and HHMI Student Ben Harvey. Both have received a scholarship from the ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation, which is a national volunteer women's organization dedicated to helping the best and brightest U. S. graduate and undergraduate students by providing scholarships in natural sciences, medicine and engineering.
Recipients must have a university grade point average of 3.5 or above and be part of a department that is in the scientific or technical disciplines.
Way to go Andy and Ben!
Thomas Pressley Outstanding Teacher!
Students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences program have voted Dr. Thomas Pressley�Outstanding Teacher of the Year�. The award is designed to honor those faculty members considered to possess the following characteristics:
Knowledge of material
Enthusiasm for subject matter
Demonstrated interest in learning
Flexible teaching methods to accommodate different learning styles
Patience and empathy with students
Demonstrated belief that teaching is an active process.
Dr. Pressley will be presented his award at the Annual Awards and Installation Banquet for students and their guests.
This is the third year in a row that a Physiology faculty member has won the award (Dr. John Orem was honored in 2000, and Dr. Narine Sarvazyan in 2001).
Congratulations to HESHAM ATTAYA, a new Barry M. Goldwater Scholar!
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarshipand Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of the Foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.
According to Julie Isom of the TTU/HHMI Program, this prestigious scholarship is awarded to no more than four students at any individual U.S. university. There were about 300 given nationally in 2000. The Texas Tech record is unparalleled in the state of Texas for the last 6 years. HHMI Fellows continue to dominate the award list from Texas Tech. This scholarship awards the students with up to $7,500.00 for tuition, room and board.
Hesham's name is listed under "Texas" 2002 Scholars.
W e are very proud of you, Hesham!
Lee Gervitz Newest Ph.D.!
Leon M. Gervitz successfully defended his dissertation on Thursday, March 21, 2002. His work is titled: "Adenosine and Blood Flow Regulatory Mechanisms in Hippocampal Ischemia". His mentor is Dr. John Fowler.
The Department congratulates our newest Ph.D.!
Chua-Tuan, HHMI Fellow
Jenny Chua-Tuan, Student Assistant in the laboratory of Raul Mart�nez-Zaguil�n, has been selected to be a recipient of an HHMI fellowship.
Congratulations, Jenny!
Student Research Day Winners!
The 14th Annual Student Research Day was held the week of March 4, 2002.
Congratulations to the following award-winning members of the Department of Physiology:
Sowmini Oomman( Dr. Strahlendorf�s Lab) was awarded 3rd place in the GSBS (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences) category.
Her presentation title: �Non-Apoptotic Expression of Active Caspase-3 in Developing Rat Cerebellum.�
Hesham Attaya(Dr. Mart�nez-Zaguil�n�s Lab) was awarded 2nd place in the undergraduate category.
His presentation title: �Human Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Cells Express Plasmalemmal Vacuolar Type Proton ATPase (pmV-ATPase).�
William Henne( Dr. Strahlendorf�s Lab) was awarded 3rd place in the undergraduate category.
His presentation title: �A Subcellular Analysis of the Endonuclease CPAN (CAD) in Response to AMPA-Induced Excitotoxicity.�
Sandrine Pierre( Dr. Pressley�s Lab) was awarded 1st place in the Postdoctoral Fellows/Residents category.
Her presentation Title: �Alpha Isoform-Specific Regulation of Na,K-ATPase Transport Activity by Protein Kinase C: Role of the Central Isoform-Specific Region (ISR).�
Dr. John Orem - Murray Professor
At the March meeting of the Board of Regents, Dr. John Orem received the Grover E. Murray Professorship. Murray Professorships, the highest honor the TTU Health Sciences Center may bestow on members of its faculty, are granted to professors in recognition of the attainment of national and/or international distinction for outstanding research or other creative scholarly achievements.
Congratulations to Dr. Orem!
Dr. Narine Sarvazyan Promoted
The Texas Tech Board of Regents voted in favor of Dr. Narine Sarvazyan's tenure (effective immediately) and promotion to Associate Professor (effective Sept 1, 2002).
The Dept. of Physiology sends congratulations to Dr. Sarvazyan for this well deserved recognition of her research and academic achievements!
Dr. Arutunyan Promotion
Dr. Ara Arutunyanh as been promoted to the position of Visiting Professor. Dr. Arutunyan works in the laboratory of Dr. Narine Sarvazyan.
Congratulations, Araik!
Hesham Attaya - Med School Here He Comes!
Hesham Attaya, Student Assistant in Dr. Martinez-Zaguilan's lab, has been accepted to the TTUHSC School of Medicine for the year 2003, through the Honors College early acceptance program.
Congratulations Hesham!
Dr. Khanna Passes Boards
Dr. Apurv Khannahas received his Board Certification in Nephrology. Dr. Khanna practices in the TTUHSC Dept. of Internal Medicine, and is conducting research in the Department of Physiology in collaboration with Dr. Thomas Pressley. Congratulations Dr. Khanna!
Back to Top| Contact Information: |
| Cindy Rolfe, Administrator |
| Department of Cell Physiology |
| Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center |
| 3601 4th Street at Indiana Avenue |
| Lubbock, TX 79430-6551 |
| 1-(806)-743-2520 |