GSBS CLASS NOTES

1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s

Deaths

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1960s

Gilbert A. Castro (Microbiology and Immunology ’66) was appointed vice president in academic affairs after serving as interim executive vice president for both research and academic affairs at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at Houston since January 2003. He will continue to develop collaborative opportunities with the satellite programs in Brownsville and El Paso. Dr. Castro is also professor of integrative biology and pharmacology at UTHSC Houston, and has been named to the External Advisory Council for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The council is comprised of leaders in research fields central to the institute’s mission and advises management on strategic issues and programmatic effectiveness.

Mary E. Guinan (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biology ’69) accepted a position as chief executive officer of the Nevada Public Health Foundation in Carson City, Nevada.

Linda-Jane Irwin (Pharmacology and Toxicology ’67 and SOM ’67) completed a master of medical sciences degree in May 2003 as part of a joint program with UTMB and Texas A&M at Galveston. She studied dolphins in Galveston and has recently moved to Volcano, Hawaii, where she is writing several articles based on her Galveston work. She expects to get involved with humpback whale and/or dolphin research in Hawaii. Although Dr. Irwin is retired from UTMB, she is only semi-retired from her specialty, and plans to do some part-time contract work in neurology.

1970s

Gailen Marshall (Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics ’79 and SOM ’84) was promoted to professor of medicine and pathology at the University of Texas Houston Medical School. He remains the division chief in allergy and clinical immunology, an assistant course director in immunology, and a member of the steering committee for immunology in the UT-Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He recently received a research grant from Genentech and Novartis to further define the mechanisms of action of Omalizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against IgE used in the treatment of allergic asthma. He has also received an NIH grant to study the effects of complement components on T cell activity in asthma. Additionally, he is studying the impact of social status on health by examining the effects of a laboratory psychological stressor on the endocrine and immune responses of asthma subjects from upper versus working class people. On a personal note, his wife, Liz, has become the web master for the departments of radiology, anesthesiology and surgery at UT-Houston. His daughter, Sarah, is attending UT-Houston and has completed the first year of her M.D./Ph.D. program. His son, Jonathan, is a junior at Texas A&M with a double major of philosophy and microbiology. His youngest daughter, Rebecca, is a theater arts major at the University of Houston.

Ben G. Raimer (Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics ’70 and SOM ’74) was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the May 2003 commencement ceremonies. Dr. Raimer currently serves as vice president for community outreach at UTMB.

1980s

Thomas J. Anastasio (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics ’86) is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. The department is part of a Beckman Institute. He was selected for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2000–2001, and is a principal investigator on two grants—one with the National Science Foundation and another with the Office of Naval Research. The research in his lab focuses on computational neuroscience using computers to model the way in which the brain combines information from multiple senses and learns new motor skills. He was invited to present at the First International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering in Capri, Italy, in March 2003. His topic was, “Modeling Multi-Sensory Enhancement in the Corticotectal System With Applications to Multi-Sensor Devices.” He trained at UTMB with Manning Correia and said, “I learned more there with him than I ever learned anywhere else. It was a great experience.”

Craig Brestrup (Medical Humanities ’89) is executive director (part-time) of the Association of Sanctuaries, an organization that accredits animal sanctuaries around the country. The sanctuaries protect farm animals, unreleasable native species, unadoptable dogs and cats, roadside zoo refugees and animals no longer needed for research. Dr. Brestrup also does organizational development and fundraising consulting with nonprofit animal protection organizations.

Dat D. Dao (Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics ’83) was appointed director of the Life Sciences Group at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) in The Woodlands, Texas, in 2001. His current research focus is genetic susceptibility and genetic resistance of oncogenic human papillomavirus in cervical cancer and its prevention. Dr. Dao joined HARC in 1993 as a research scientist in the DNA laboratory, and within three years became its head. In his position there, he has remained dedicated to DNA chip development. Prior to joining HARC, he served on the faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, and was an associate director of its molecular diagnosis laboratory. Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the UT-Houston Health Science Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. During his tenure at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Dao was an assistant professor of biology in the Hematopathology Program and concurrently helped develop, and became technical director of, the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory. He was the 1996 recipient of The Retina Research Foundation's James M. Barr Award for Outstanding Retina Research in the Greater Houston Area and was awarded the Stephen C. Silverthorne Memorial Award for Excellence in Research by UTMB in 1984. Dr. Dao lives in Clear Lake, Texas, with his wife, Vi Truong, a project manager with the NASA Johnson Space Center, and their children Tiffany, 16, Jeremy, 9, and Zachary, 8.

Michael Fons (Microbiology and Immunology ’89) is executive director of business development for Vical in San Diego, California. Vical is a gene therapy company with a focus on development of plasmid-based vaccines for infectious disease. They are working on a CMV vaccine and an Anthrax vaccine. CMV is a virus Dr. Fons studied with Tom Albrecht, a professor of microbiology at UTMB, so he is very happy to be able to contribute the knowledge he gained at UTMB toward the development of a commercial vaccine. Dr. Fons and his wife, Susan (School of Allied Health Sciences ’92), recently bought a house on 5.5 acres with a large avocado orchard. Last year it produced 29,000 pounds of avocados. They are looking forward to lots of guacamole when the fruit ripens in January. Although they spent 20 years in Texas, he thinks they will stay in California for a long time. He says, “It is hard to find a better climate or more beautiful scenery than in San Diego.”

Kevin Gerhart (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biology ’82) moved to San Diego, California, in 1990 after finishing a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Stanford University. He is currently the acting chief of the Veteran’s Administration Spinal Cord Injury Center and an assistant professor of neurosciences at the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Gerhart also has a private practice at the Sharp Rehabilitation Center there.

Gary Hals (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics ’88) graduated from Southwestern Medical School in 1993. He completed a four-year residency in emergency medicine in 1997 and joined the faculty at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Hals and his wife have four children: Daniel, 18, Emily, 14, Michael, 6, and Stephanie, 3. Daniel attends Clemson University, majoring in engineering, and Emily is in her first year of high school. The Hals’ celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in June 2003 and planned a trip back to Texas to re-visit their old stomping grounds.

Christine A. Livingston (Neuroscience ’87) is an assistant professor in the neurosciences group in the Department of Basic Biomedical Sciences at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. As at UTMB, she is a member of both the graduate and medical faculties. Her research is similar to her work in Galveston: the neural basis of visual ocular motor control in alert, behaviorally trained non-human primates. Her teaching responsibilities are also similar. She will contribute to the basic medical neurosciences course for first-year medical students and will present a graduate course on sensorimotor integration. Dr. Livingston also participates in two neuroscience journal clubs and is helping to develop an advanced systems neuroscience course for graduate students. In her opinion, the advantages in South Dakota are many, but most importantly include a much smaller medical class, a smaller institution and less bureaucracy. She accepted her current position because she feels the neuroscience group is small, but active, it’s well funded, and it is in the process of growing and developing. Being able to contribute significantly to the growth and development of an active neuroscience research program and graduate training program is attractive to her professionally. Dr. Livingston said that she has lived much farther north in the past, so the weather does not bother her, though she does miss the heat and humidity. Yes, she actually liked Galveston summers! She also reported that the societal and behavioral differences she is witnessing in South Dakota are significant; instead of tourists there are lots of corn and soybeans. She is living very close to the Missouri River—a special comfort to her, since she grew up as a “river rat” on the St. Louis riverfront and the Missouri.

Mostafa Nokta (Microbiology & Immunology ’86) is director of the AIDS and Oral Manifestations of Immunosupression Program in the Division of Basic and Translational Sciences, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

1990s

John T. Bakos (Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics ’93 and SOM ’92) is in private practice in Lincoln, California. He reports that, in terms of hours and reimbursement, the medical climate in California is not the best and that he may be entertaining a move to Texas or Oklahoma. He purchased a small horse ranch where his children, ages 16 and 14, are doing wonderfully and have lots of room to play with their dogs and run around. Old friends can email him at jbakos@psyber.com.

Mingang Chen (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biology ’98) is a research scientist in the Department of Pathology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He appreciates the well-designed training he received at UTMB and thanks all of the people in his department that helped him earn his Ph.D.

Margaret Das (Microbiology and Immunology ’98) is doing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Signal Transduction at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Christopher Eddleman (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics ’99) is finishing up medical school at Texas Tech School of Medicine in Lubbock, Texas, where he is class vice-president and director/coordinator of student research outreach, an informative initiative for medical students interested in basic and clinical research. He matched in neurological surgery at Northwestern University in Chicago—his number one choice for his residency position—and began working at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago in July 2003. He knows he is going to need lots of warm clothes, but is excited about being in Chicago.

Ting-Lin Kao (Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics ’95 and SOM ’95) is working as a physician in private practice in Camarillo, California. She married Sam Lee, a computer consultant working in Thousand Oaks, California. They reside in Camarillo.

2000s

Beth Ferrell (Preventive Medicine and Community Health ’03) will be doing a practicum year in occupational medicine through UT-Houston School of Public Health starting in July 2003. After that she will seek employment as an occupational medicine physician in the Houston area.

Ernest Han (Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biology ’00) is doing his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Brown University School of Medicine, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island. He is working on a study investigating prognostic factors that influence five-year survival and progression-free interval in women with epithelial ovarian cancer. They hypothesize that women under 45 years of age have increased five-year survival and progression-free interval as compared to those over 45.

Hanlin Liu (Preventive Medicine and Community Health ’02) accepted a position as an occupational medicine consultant for ExxonMobil (Americas) Corporation in Baytown, Texas.

Kathleen Marriott (Experimental Pathology ’01) transferred to the St. Louis area after graduation along with her husband, Scott. While in St. Louis, she worked as a senior microbiologist at the Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company and was responsible for overseeing the cell culture and microbiological testing of all of the cell culture products that Sigma produced. Recently, her husband was offered a position as a corporate accounts manager with VWR in the Columbus, Ohio, area, and as Ohio natives, they decided to make the move back home. Dr. Marriott is now working at Battelle Memorial Institute as a principal research scientist for the medical research and evaluation facility. She is a study director for contract proposals working with biohazardous agents, specifically agents that are important for biodefense and bioterrorism. Battelle is one of the few organizations that has the capability of doing large-scale animal testing against level-three biohazardous agents as well as chemicals. Currently, the facility is working on contracts to develop a new and improved Anthrax vaccine and a new vaccine against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis. They also have several contracts to perform studies on botulinum toxin, ricin, Yersinia pestis, as well as all of the major chemical warfare agents, such as mustard gas, Sarin and VX. Battelle is a non-profit research institution, and thus Dr. Marriott reports that this is not entirely corporate research, but not quite academic research either. She says the environment is similar in some aspects to an academic research institution. As part of her work Dr. Marriott writes proposals, designs studies from start to finish, and presents data at national meetings. At Battelle, in addition to all work being done under Good Laboratory Practice guidelines, the work is also tightly documented and scrutinized by the FDA, the EPA, and other regulatory offices. One of Battelle’s most noteworthy accomplishments is developing xerography technology, which was eventually spun off into the Xerox Company. On a side note, she and her husband have one daughter, Lillian June Marriott, born in September 2001.

Rangaraj Selvarangan (Microbiology and Immunology ’00) completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in clinical and public health microbiology at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He worked on several projects to develop rapid molecular assays to detect yeasts, molds, bacteria and parasites from clinical samples. These assays are currently being used for laboratory diagnosis of infection in patients hospitalized at the affiliated medical centers in Seattle. In November 2002 he assumed the position of deputy director of the Mississippi State Public Health Laboratory in Jackson, Mississippi. One of his immediate responsibilities was to set up a new molecular diagnostics division to rapidly detect agents of bioterrorism and other pathogens of public health importance.

Mark Shirtliff (Microbiology and Immunology ’01) is an assistant professor in the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University. He, along with his students and collaborators, has been using 2D gel electrophoresis, microarray analysis, reporter systems, and knockouts to identify biofilm specific genes and their products. They are using these specific products to design vaccines that protect against staphylococcal biofilm infections using three animal models. In addition, they are developing tagged monoclonal antibodies against biofilm specific proteins for a rapid, sensitive, and specific diagnosis of endocarditis, prosthetic implant infection, deep abscess, and osteomyelitis. Lastly, they are utilizing a novel gene knockout system to determine the relative importance of genes that had upregulated expression in a biofilm as determined by microarray analysis. Dr. Shirtliff recently accepted an assistant professor position at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore where he will continue his research on staphylococcal biofilms. He reports that Montana will be REALLY hard to leave...he’s an avid skier and has just learned to fly fish, so he will miss the Big Sky country!

Osamu Tokumaru (Preventive Medicine and Community Health ’01) has been a medical officer of the Japanese Space Agency since graduation from UTMB. He recently received an entry-level faculty position in the physiology department at Tokyo Women’s Medical University.

Deaths

Richard W. Homan (Medical Humanities ’01) died in Dallas, Texas, on March 8, 2003. His work focused on health care ethics and his thesis was entitled, “In Search of a Comprehensive Health Policy Metaphor.” His advisor was William Winslade, Ph.D., J.D.

Lynn M. (Weidner) Kochersperger (Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics ’86) died November 11, 2000, of breast cancer. She is survived by her husband, Michael, and four children.

Patricia Hilliard Robertson (Preventive Medicine and Community Health ’03) died May 24, 2001, in a plane crash in Texas. Her M.M.S. was awarded posthumously in May 2003. Her husband, Scott Robertson, accepted the degree in her behalf.