School of Medicine: Department of Medicine

Spotlighting Success

Imperiale, Kahi published in Annals of Internal Medicine

Congratulations to Division of Gastroenterology professors Charles Kahi and Thomas Imperiale. Their work, "Colonoscopy and Colorectal Cancer Mortality in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System: A Case–Control Study" was just published in Annals of Internal Medicine. In this study using national VA–Medicare data, colonoscopy was associated with significant reductions in CRC mortality among veterans and was associated with greater benefit for left-sided cancer than right-sided cancer.

Rohr-Kirchgraber receives AMWA leadership award

Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, Barbara F. Kampen Scholar in Women's Health and Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Internal Medicine, will be honored for her leadership at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Medical Women's Association. The Bertha Van Hoosen Award is given to physicians who demonstrate execptional leadership and service to women and physicians and students through the AMWA. In nominating her, Rohr-Kirchgraber's local and national leadership efforts along with her mentorship skills were cited. Learn more about the award from the AWMA.

Sotto elected to national leadership posts

Sylk Sotto, Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Diversity has been elected to leadership post of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine as Board Member and President-elect of the Administrators of Internal Medicine. She will serve as President-elect for the 2018-19 year, President in 2019-20, and Past-President in 2020-21. Dr. Sotto currently serves as Council Member of AIM and AAIM’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. AIM has over 1300 members in the US and Canada.

Kovacs elected to national leadership posts

Q.E. and Sally Russell Professor of Cardiology Richard Kovacs has been elected to leadership posts of the American College of Cardiology. Kovacs will serve as Vice President for the 2018-19 year and as President in 2019-20. Kovacs' selection follows a long line of Krannert Institute of Cardiology faculty members in leadership posts, including Douglas Zipes. Dating back to 1949, the ACC's mission is to improve cardiovascular health through education, research, quality care and health policy.

Torke tapped as associate chief

Alexia Torke, MD, has assumed duties as Associate Division Chief for General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. Dr. Torke is an Associate Professor of Medicine, and Associate Director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at the Regenstrief Institute. In her new role, she will be responsible for assisting with faculty recruitment and retention, promotion and tenure efforts, and representing the division at meetings with health system leaders and other partners. Learn more about her background here

Education

• Stephanie Stahl, Shalu Manchanda, and Notch Sigua wrote a Patient Education Handout for the ATS which was published in the Blue Journal in December

Grants

Clinical Pharmacology

• Eric Benson, MD, PhD, Assistant Research Professor of Medicine in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine was recently awarded a K08 clinical investigator award titled “Exosome Kinetics in Vivo: Cell Type and Drug Specific Effects” from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. This award began on September 15, 2016 and will run through August 31, 2020. The purpose of the proposed study is to discern the kinetics of circulating exosomes between different cell types and after drug treatments, so that the exosomes may be better used as biomarkers.    

Infectious Diseases

• The role of the urethral microbiome in idiopathic urethritis in men” NIAID 1 R01 AI116706-01A1Co-PIs David Nelson, Batteiger

• Dr. Rajiv Agarwal- R01 Entitled “ChLorthalidone in Chronic Kidney Disease (CLICK) Study”- $2.9M over 5 years- Started 12/15/15. This double-blind, two-center, placebo-controlled, randomized trial will test the hypothesis that chlorthalidone will improve BP among subjects with advanced CKD and poorly controlled hypertension. The results of this trial will allow the safe and effective use of chlorthalidone among people with CKD and hypertension.
• Dr. Pierre Dagher- new VA Merit- “Protective pathways in sepsis-induced renal injury”- Projected start in April 2016 Endotoxin preconditioning leading to tolerance is a natural model of protection against sepsis and sepsis-induced renal failure. This grant investigates the mechanisms involved in endotoxin tolerance in order to identify novel therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat the devastating consequences of sepsis.
• Dr. Ranjani Moorthi- New K23- “Longitudinal Assessment of Skeletal Muscle Physiology in Dialysis Patients”- $796,000 over 5 years- Started 8/1/15 Patients new to dialysis have poor muscle strength and mass. With normal aging there is loss of muscle and slower walking speed. Similarly, these changes are accelerated in dialysis patients. In this proposal we address whether the process of loss of skeletal muscle loss is due to decreased building of new muscle. We will also characterize dialysis patients that are at higher risk for muscle or function loss, so that therapies can be designed to reverse or block this process.
• Dr. Mike Eadon- New K08- “Acute inhibition of renal gene expression to prevent nephrotoxicity”- $670,000 over 5 years- Start date of 7/1/16 Acute kidney injury is a common unintended consequence of prescribed medications that causes marked increases in mortality, hospital stay, and medical expenditures. Drug-induced kidney toxicity not only contributes to acute kidney injury, but also results in discontinuation of or delay in treatment of malignancy and other life threatening conditions. This proposal aims to test whether siRNA gene expression knockdown can be used as a molecular therapeutic to prevent drug-induced acute kidney injury.

Awards

Infectious Diseases

• Tuan Tran, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases was recently awarded a K08 award titled “Defining clinical and sterile immunity to Plasmodium falciparum infection using systems biology approaches” from the National Institutes of Health. This award begins on April 1, 2017 and will run through March 31, 2022. The purpose of the proposed study aims to identify predictors and mechanisms of malaria immunity that aid the development of future malaria vaccines.

• Sharon Moe, division chief of the IU School of Medicine Division of Nephrology, and Naga Chalasani, division chief of the Division of Gastroenterology have been elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP).. The association is a nonprofit organization that dates back to 1885 and has over 1,300 active members. Researchers who have attained excellence in advancing basic and clinical science through experimentation and discovery are nominated for membership. 

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