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Dr. Ellen Magenis Honored

Dr. Magenis is the former director of the OHSU Clinical Cytogenetics Laboratory. In addition to her clinical work, she has made major research contributions to the field of genetics. The Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics recently honored her many accomplishments with a portrait unveiling. full story

 

Jone Sampson, M.D., Richard Weleber, M.D., and Robert Steiner, M.D. Top Doctors 2012

Drs. Jone Sampson and Richard Weleber were nominated among the medical community for their excellent work in Clinical Genetics and Dr Steiner was nominated for his advances in Pediatrics. Read the full list

Robert Steiner, M.D. named Deputy Editor for Genetics in Medicine

Robert Steiner, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular & Medical Genetics, was recently named Deputy Editor for the journal Genetics in Medicine (GIM), beginning January 2012. Read the full story

Awards

Mushui Dai, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics received a grant from the National Cancer Institute. This grant aims at examining the molecular and biochemical mechanism underlying the regulation of the p53-MDM2-MDMX pathway by the deubiquitinating enzyme Otub1, whether Otub1 possesses tumor suppressor function, and whether it is deregulated in human cancers.

Dr. Susan Hayflick, Chair of the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics is part of an international consortium of scientists that was awarded a 5.2 million euro grant to study NBIA (Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation), a rare neurological disorder. Read the TIRCON press release.

Betsy Ferguson, Ph.D., Associate Scientist in Neuroscience at The Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), Associate Professor in Molecular and Medical Genetics and Kathleen A. Grant, Ph.D., Head of Neuroscience at ONPRC and Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience in the School of Medicine are part of an OHSU-led Consortium that won a $21 Million Grant to study the mechanisms that link stress, anxiety, and alcohol intake awarded by The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Read the full story.

Paul Spellman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular and Medical Genetics, awarded research grant from the Anna Fuller Fund for his laboratory's work pioneering the use of genomic technologies to understand tumor development and to more effectively deploy targeted therapeutic agents.

Andrea DeBarber, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, OHSU Phys Pharm was awarded an NIH KL2 Career Development Award, 2011-13. Bob Steiner, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular and Medical Genetics has served as her mentor fostering professional development and growth.

Jamie Fitzgerald, PhD and Michael Sussman, MD,  were awarded a 2-yr Shriners Hospital for Children Clinical Research Grant to investigate the genetics of Clubfoot using next generation sequencing.

Recent Publications

Fletcher AL et al. Observations regarding retinopathy in mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiencies. Mol Genet Metab 2012 May; 106 (1): 18–24.  PMID: 22459206 PubMed

Rai MF, Hashimoto S, Johnson EE, Janiszak KL, Fitzgerald J, Heber-Katz E, Cheverud JM, Sandell LJ. Heritability of articular cartilage regeneration and its association with ear-wound healing. Arthritis Rheum. Published online Jan 24, 2012. PubMed

Lovely RS, Yang Q, Massaro JM, Wang J, D'Agostino RB Sr, O'Donnell CJ, Shannon J, Farrell DH. Assessment of genetic determinants of the association of γ' fibrinogen in relation to cardiovascular disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2011 Oct;31(10):2345-52. PubMed

Alexander KS, Madden TE, Farrell DH.Association between γ' fibrinogen levels and inflammation. Thromb Haemost. 2011 Apr;105(4):605-9. Epub 2010 Dec 21. PubMed

Behrend AM, Harding CO, Shoemaker JD, Matern D, Sahn DJ, Elliot DL, Gillingham MB. Substrate oxidation and cardiac performance during exercise in disorders of long chain fatty acid oxidation. Mol Genet Metab. 2012 Jan;105(1):110-5. Epub 2011 Oct 1. PubMed

Zhang X, Farrell AS, Daniel CJ, Arnold H, Scanlan C, Laraway BJ, Janghorban M, Lum L, Chen D, Troxell M, Sears R. Mechanistic insight into Myc stabilization in breast cancer involving aberrant Axin1 expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 1. [Epub ahead of print]  PubMed

Sengle G, Tsutsui K, Keene DR, Tufa SF, Carlson EJ, Charbonneau NL, Ono RN, Sasaki T, Wirtz MK, Samples JR, Fessler LI, Fessler JH, Sekiguchi K, Hayflick SJ, Sakai LY. Microenvironmental regulation by fibrillin-1. PLoS Genet. 2012 Jan;8(1):e1002425. Epub 2012 Jan 5. PubMed

Kotchey NM, Adachi K, Zahid M, Inagaki K, Charan R, Parker RS, Nakai H. A potential role of distinctively delayed blood clearance of recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 9 in robust cardiac transduction. Mol Ther. 2011 Jun;19(6):1079-89. Epub 2011 Mar 1. PubMed

Sun XX, Challagundla KB, Dai MS. Positive regulation of p53 stability and activity by the deubiquitinating enzyme Otubain 1. EMBO J. 2011 Nov 29. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2011.434. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed