June 2009
The School of Medicine hosted a reception honoring Richard F. Murphy, PhD for his years of service as Chairman of Biomedical Sciences Department on Friday, June 5 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. in the Medical Education Interactive area, Fourth Floor of Criss III. Effective July 1, 2009, Dr. Murphy began his retirement as Professor Emeritus.
May 2009
The department would like to congratulate BMS graduate student LeAnn Tiede on winning the Maurine Hamilton Award for an Outstanding Graduate Woman for 2009. She will receive a certificate, plaque, and a check in the amount of $500. She will be recognized at the College of Arts & Sciences Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 15, 2009.
April 2009
Announcement from Dean Zetterman:
I am pleased to announce that Dr. John (Jack) A. Yee has accepted the position of Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Creighton University School of Medicine effective May 1, 2009. Dr. Yee earned his PhD in Anatomy at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. Following an academic appointment at Texas Tech University School of Medicine, Lubbock, Texas, he joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences at CUSOM in 1990 and has served as the Head of the Division of Anatomy and as a Professor in the Department. Dr. Yee is a distinguished investigator in bone disease research and has received the Golden Apple Teaching Award form the Creighton University Medical Student Association in 5 separate occasions, most recently in 2008. In addition, he has been recognized by his peers for his outstanding educational efforts through receipt of the Distinguished Teacher Award from the faculty of CUSOM. Please welcome Dr. Yee to his new role.
Announcement:
Dr. Devendra Agrawl has been asked to Chair a panel of prestigious experts that the NHLBI will convene to review applications for RFA-OD-09-004 Recovery Act Limited Competition for NIH-Research and Research Infrastructure "Grant Opportunities". The topic will be Phase II Clinical Trials in Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep. Dr. Agrawal is asked to provide leadership across this very broad area of medical science and translational research.
Announcement to Establish an Office of the Associate Dean for Clinical & Translational Research in the School of Medicine at Creighton University:
Dr. Rowen Zetterman, Dean of the School of Medicine announces the appointment of Dr. Devendra K. Agrawal as the Associate Dean for Translational Research in the School of Medicine effective 1 April 2009. The mission of this newly created office will be to make CUSOM a research institution nationally and internationally renowned for cutting-edge multidisciplinary translational research programs in a manner that builds upon current science strengths to help bring about an era of personalized medicine. Dr. Agrawal will provide administrative and strategic plans that are dynamic and responsive to opportunity in order to develop a unique environment and to acquire new knowledge in the area of human health and identify themes as the basis for existing and new translational efforts.
Dr. Devendra K. Agrawal is a Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Internal Medicine, and Medical Microbiology & Immunology at Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE. He received his M. Sc. (Chemistry) in 1973 and the Ph.D. (Biochemistry) in 1978 from Lucknow University, India. He held the appointment as Clinical Biochemist at King George’s Medical College, Lucknow until 1980. He then joined Professor E. E. Daniel’s laboratory at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to pursue further studies in vascular smooth muscle cell pharmacology and physiology and was awarded the Ph.D. (Medical Sciences) in 1984. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Professor John H. McNeill from 1984 to 1985 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, after which he was appointed as Assistant Professor in 1985 at Creighton University in the Department of Internal Medicine with joint appointments in the Departments of Pharmacology and Medical Microbiology & Immunology. He was granted tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 1990 and then to Full Professor in 1997. Dr. Agrawal also received his MBA degree from Creighton University in 2004 followed by M.S. degree in Information Technology & Management from Creighton University in 2005.
Dr. Agrawal is a member of various distinguished societies. He has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Heart Association, Fellow of the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Dr. Agrawal has received many awards including the James M. Keck Faculty Development Award and Morris F. Miller Faculty Development Award by the Health Future Foundation, Young Investigator Award and Distinguished Research Career Award by Creighton University School of Medicine, Distinguished Faculty Award by HS-MACA, and Man of the Year Award by the India Association of Nebraska. He was a nominee of Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching by Medical Students of Creighton University School of Medicine. Dr. Agrawal has served in many prestigious grant panels of US Government and other countries. This includes VA Merit Review, many NIH Study sections, US Dept. of Defense grant panels, NIH-NIAID Special Emphasis Panel for Asthma Center Grants, US-Israel BSF Grant Committee, Research Frontiers and Biotechnology Programs, Science Foundation Ireland, Austrian Science Fund, and British Lung Foundation.
Dr. Agrawal is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Immunology and the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, and elected member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. He regularly reviews papers for many journals. Dr. Agrawal is the author or co-author of more than 198 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has published more than 220 research abstracts in peer-reviewed journals and presented his work in various national and international meetings. He also contributed 13 chapters in books. He has co-edited three books in the area of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Dr. Agrawal’s major research interests have been in the area of immunobiology of pulmonary and vascular diseases. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health State of Nebraska, and pharmaceutical industries.
According to Dr. Zetterman, the overall goal of the new office of Translational Research will be to identify research strengths and direction to facilitate interaction of basic science and clinical investigators leading to more productive collaborations in translational research. This will foster more rapid, efficient and productive translation of fundamental discoveries into better health care. Initiatives will entail collaboration of extant research units in order to greatly expand the recognition of the School and University. A key initiative will focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of diseases and resultant development of novel therapies. This office will coordinate with strategic recruitment of translational researchers to ensure their satisfaction and academic progress.
February 2009
In recognition of his abilities and accomplishments, Richard F. Murphy, Ph.D., Chairman of Biomedical Sciences, has been promoted to the rank of Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Sciences, effective July 1, 2009. The promotion was conferred at the President's Convocation on February 10, 2009 at the Harper Center. Dr. Murphy's dedication to science, teaching and the University has been evident since 1988. Dr. Murphy has spent much of his career studying, writing and lecturing on peptides, which in recent years has shown great promise for novel applications in medicine, biotechnology and surgery. Congratulations to Dr. Richard F. Murphy.
The Research Administrators Certification Council Board of Directors wishes to acknowledge the achievement of Jane Jellison, Admistrator of Biomedical Sciences, who has demostrated remarkable knowledge and competency in the field of research adminstration and earned the distinction of Certified Research Administrator (CRA). We are proud to have a qualified and certified research administrator working for our organization.