August 19, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsPediatric Neurosciences Sponsors Sixth Annual Women in Neuroscience Internship May Tun, Emanuela Ilboudo, Karen Ramos, and Rosario DeLeon, PhD WiNterns Karen Ramos, Emanuela Ilboudo, and May Tun Emanuela Ilboudo, Dave Clarke, MD, and May Tun This summer, 25 interns completed the sixth annual Women in Neuroscience (WiN) Summer Intensive internship program, supported by UT Austin’s Department of Neuroscience in the College of Natural Sciences and the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical School. WiN’s eight-week paid internship encourages high school seniors and college students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in neuroscience and neurology. WiNterns from Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Huston- Tillotson University, and UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences partner with faculty mentors, attend daily seminars to build professional development skills, gain clinical and lab experience, and present their research at the conclusion of the program. They also receive ongoing mentorship. Pediatric neuroscience faculty mentors this year included Audrey Brumback, MD, PhD (autism), Dave Clarke, MD (pediatric epilepsy), Rosario DeLeon, PhD (pediatric neuropsychology), and Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, MD, PhD (pediatric neurosurgery). E. Steve Roach, MD, taught a half-day course on biomedical writing. “Being able to speak to numerous health care professionals gave me great insight into all the rewards and challenges of their careers,” said WiNtern Karen Ramos. “I gained so much knowledge from asking questions and seeing them treat patients. In addition, seeing men and women from different ethnic backgrounds excelling in their specialty is motivating. Now I know I can do this!” For more information on WiN, visit www.neurowomen.org or follow the organization on X @helloNeuroWomen. Karen Ramos, Emanuela Ilboudo, OR nurse Shannon Neely, RN, and surgical technician Tracy Losoya
July 20, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsRoach Named to Distinguished Educators Academy Congratulations to E. Steve Roach, MD, Chief of UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Children’s, for being selected as a member of Dell Medical School’s Sue Cox, M.D. Academy of Distinguished Educators. The academy was created to recognize Dell Medical School’s most outstanding educators and educational leaders, to support the medical school’s growing community of teachers, and to foster excellence at the leading edge of medical education. Dr. Roach will be inducted at the annual Dell Med Educational Innovation, Research & Awards Symposium on October 2, 2023.
July 14, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsAutism Research Program Receives Additional NIH Grant The important role of genetics in autism development has become increasingly obvious. Many genes implicated in autism are so fundamental to basic neurobiology that species as diverse as worms and humans share them. After discovering that natural variability in autism-related genes correlates with alterations in worm social behavior, Audrey Brumback, MD, PhD, pediatric neurologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, and Jon Pierce, PhD, in UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences, hypothesized that these changes could provide a way to rapidly screen potential treatments for individuals with specific genetic causes of autism. Leveraging C. elegans as a minimum animal model, Brumback and Pierce can screen thousands of FDA-approved drugs to quickly and inexpensively identify personalized treatment for autism based on a patient’s genetic profile. They were recently awarded a three-year, $500,000 R01 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health entitled “High-Throughput Interrogation of Autism Risk Genes: From Molecules to Behavior” to uncover the molecular mechanisms by which autism genes influence worm social behavior. This new grant builds on another recent $1,500,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Functional Architecture of the Mediodorsal Thalamus.” For this work, Brumback’s team will use mice to map the structure and function of a part of the thalamus that is thought to affect conditions such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia. Read more about that grant here. Congratulations, Dr. Brumback!
March 6, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsResident Places Third in Texas Neurological Society Poster Competition Khushboo Verma, MBBS, PGY-4, and E. Steve Roach, MD, at the TNS 2023 Winter Conference Congratulations to pediatric neurology resident Khushboo Verma, MBBS, whose poster entitled “Imaging and Psychometric Evidence to Support the Clinical Dementia Grading” received third place in the Texas Neurological Society’s winter conference resident poster competition. Verma’s research explores the neural and behavioral basis of clinical dementia rating scales and proposes a computational model of dementia that explains most dementia-related variance observed in Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) PET imaging. She was the only Dell Med resident to receive a prize.
February 13, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsEdmond Named President-Elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Jane Edmond, MD, was recently named president-elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and will serve as AAO President in 2024. Edmond hopes to leverage her role as President to address the increasing staffing and physician shortages and to advocate for expanding access to ophthalmologic care locally and nationwide, in part by recruiting equity-driven residents to the field. Edmond has practiced pediatric ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology for 32 years. She is the director of the Mitchel and Shannon Wong Eye Institute at Dell Medical School, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, and a past president of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. She has served in many leadership roles within the AAO, including Trustee-at-Large from 2012 to 2017. Congratulations, Dr. Edmond!
February 10, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsRoach Receives Texas Neurological Society Lifetime Achievement Award E. Steve Roach, MD, and Texas Neurological Society President Eddie Patton, MD. Photo courtesy Jessica Alexander/jealexphoto.com. E. Steve Roach, MD, recently received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Neurological Society at the organization’s annual winter meeting in Austin. He was selected for his pioneering work on stroke in children, his contributions to the study of tuberous sclerosis and other genetic diseases, and his success as a medical editor. Roach is Professor of Neurology at Dell Medical School and Chief of UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Children’s. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Dr. Roach!
September 1, 2022, Filed Under: carousel, NewsPavitt Participates in American Academy of Neurology Leadership Forum Sara Pavitt, MD, Chief of the Dell Children’s Pediatric Headache Center, was selected as one of 30 American Academy of Neurology members to participate in the 2022 Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum. The annual forum, named in honor of AAN Board of Directors member Donald M. Palatucci, MD, trains neurologists to become advocacy leaders in their institutions and communities by building skills in action planning, media relations, and grassroots advocacy. “This transformative weekend taught me how to find my voice and use it to advocate for my patients and my profession,” said Pavitt. “It was a springboard to forming connections with state organizations and working on legislation to make change that will improve my patients’ lives.” “This transformative weekend taught me how to find my voice and use it to advocate for my patients and my profession.” Sara Pavitt, MD
