Congratulations, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence!
The Office for Faculty Success and your peers have selected you as an “AU/MCG Woman Who Inspires" for our 2023 Women In Medicine Month Campaign. We are grateful for your enthusiastic contributions to the educational, research, and service missions of MCG. Your dedication to your science and learners is inspiring!
Today, you have been tweeted on our MCG Office for Faculty Success Twitter account to amplify and celebrate you. The tweet is below. We will also feature all women selected for this September in an end of month email to MCG faculty.
Thank you for everything you do. You represent the very best at MCG, and I am personally proud to have you as a colleague.
Great News!Dr. Mitch Watsky has just received a Notice of Grant Award from NIH that his NEI R01 grant will be funded. The title of the grant is “Soluble epoxide hydrolase and epoxide fatty acid involvement in corneal injury after ammonia exposure: Mechanisms of injury and potential therapeutics using sEH inhibitors and biostable EpFA mimics.” Dr. Bruce Hammock (UC Davis) is also a co-investigator.
Congratulations Dr. Watsky on this outstanding news!
Dear CBA colleagues, I am delighted to announce that Frederick Baker successfully defended his PhD thesis on July 19, 2023 and has fulfilled the requirements for the PhD degree. Dr. Baker’s thesis was titled: Proximity biotin labeling reveals the interactions and mechanisms of the EGL-BICD-Dynein complex in the drosophila egg chamber.
The considerable efforts of his mentor, Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez are gratefully acknowledged along with the contributions of his committee members (Drs. S. Kwon, N. Lambert, M. McGee-Lawrence, S. Smith) and his reader Dr. P. Langridge. Congratulations Dr. Baker and best wishes in your future endeavors!
Dear CBA colleagues, I am delighted to announce that Theresa Akoto successfully defended her PhD thesis on July 13, 2023 and has fulfilled the requirements for the PhD degree. By a unanimous vote from her committee, she has been awarded the PhD degree “With Distinction”!
Dr. Akoto’s thesis was titled: Biomechanical and genetic factors contributing to keratoconus pathogenesis. The considerable efforts of her mentor, Dr. Yutao Liu are gratefully acknowledged along with the contributions of her committee members (Drs. A. Estes, M. Hamrick, S. Smith, M. Watsky) and her reader Dr. M. McGee-Lawrence.
Congratulations Dr. Akoto and best wishes in your future endeavors!
Dear CBA colleagues, I am delighted to announce that effective July 1, 2023 four of our CBA colleagues will be promoted and/or tenured. This complex process began last year, requires considerable effort in preparation and reflects significant scrutiny by multiple committees before it is approved at the level of the President and the Provost. The award of promotion and tenure are reserved for those whose performance in exemplary. - Dr. Sylvia Smith
Please join me in congratulating these four outstanding colleagues:
Dr. Yutao Liu
promoted to Professor
Dr. Xingjun Fan
awarded tenure
Dr. Sangho Kwon
promoted to Associate Professor and awarded tenure
Dr. Man Livingston
promoted to Research Scientist
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Robert Mackin, associate professor in the Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and a medical educator at the AU/UGA Medical Partnership in Athens, who received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Basic Science Teaching at the MCG faculty award ceremony on July 13, 2023.
Wonderful accomplishment Dr. Mackin! We appreciate all that you do for our medical students.
Dear CBA colleagues, please join me in congratulating Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez and Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence who received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Graduate School at the Scientific Integrity Ceremony, Friday June 9th.
Drs. Gonsalvez and McGee-Lawrence have been dedicated mentors for a number of CBA graduate students and have distinguished themselves as excellent teachers in a number of graduate school courses. We congratulate them and appreciate the recognition that they bring to our department!
Congratulations to them both!
Effective June 1, 2023, Dr. Yutao Liu has been appointed to the Editorial Board of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS). IOVS is a key journal for basic vision science research. This is a great accomplishment.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Liu!
Congratulations to Dr. Yutao Liu!
Effective June 1, 2023, Dr. Yutao Liu has been appointed to the Editorial Board of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS). IOVS is a key journal for basic vision science research. This is a great accomplishment.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Liu!
We are delighted to share with you that our colleague Dr. Yutao Liu was recognized with the Graduate School Distinguished Service Award at the annual graduate school awards ceremony held on Wednesday April 12, 2023.
This award recognizes Dr. Liu’s significant contributions to the missions of the Graduate School including his considerable investment of time and energy toward enhancing recruitment of students for the PhD Biomedical Sciences program.
Thank you Dr. Liu for your commitment to graduate education at our university!
Today the annual awards ceremony for The Graduate School was held on the Summerville Campus. Three of our CBA students received awards!
Please join me in congratulating:
Husam Bensreti (Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence laboratory) received the Excellence in Research Award, Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy.
Phylicia Allen (Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez laboratory) received the Excellence in Research Award, The Graduate School.
Theresa Akoto (Dr. Yutao Liu laboratory) received the Excellence in Research Award, James & Jean Culver Vision Discovery Institute.
We are very proud of this well-deserved recognition and congratulate these students and their mentors!
Dr. Anna Edmondson has been elected to the Board of Directors for the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE)! IAMSE is comprised of faculty from across the globe. They meet annually to share innovative ideas related to the education of medical students and other health science learners. Dr. Edmondson is Director of Medical Gross Anatomy and Development and Director of Musculoskeletal-Skin Module, MCG Pre-clerkship Curriculum. She has an excellent background in the anatomical sciences and is very well suited to represent MCG in this prestigious capacity.
Congratulations Dr. Edmondson!
Dr. Mark Hamrick and Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence have received notice from NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal/Skin Diseases that their Multi-PI grant entitled “Novel mechanisms of muscle and bone loss with HIV infection, antiretroviral therapy and aging” will be funded for the next 5 years. This grant award is particularly note-worthy as it represents the collective efforts of our CBA colleagues along with Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele (VBC), Dr. Huidong Shi (Georgia Cancer Center) and Dr. Rodger MacArthur (Department of Medicine). This effort underscores the importance of collaboration across campus.
These fine scientists and clinicians are to be congratulated for their achievement!
Sincere Congratulations!
Dr. Yutao Liu has just received a Notice of Grant Award from NIH that his NEI R01 grant will be funded for the next 5 years! The title of the grant is “Estrogen and its receptor in intraocular pressure regulation.” Other colleagues at Augusta University who are co-investigators on the award are Drs. Bollinger, Xu, Bosomtwi and Smith.
Congratulations to all!
Dr. Ming Zhang has renewed his grant with the Retina Research Foundation. The grant studies the role of RIP kinase 3 in the development of AMD-like pathologies during cytomegalovirus latency.
Congratulations Dr. Zhang!
Dr. Yutao Liu has been notified that his R21 grant entitled “MIR182 and Ocular Hypertension” has been approved for funding by the National Eye Institute! The R21 funding mechanism supports high-risk, high-impact research projects. Dr. Liu and co-investigator Dr. Xingjun Fan are working together on this project and we wish them great success as they pursue this new line of work!
Congratulations Dr. Liu!
Dr. Jian-Kang Chen has been notified that his Intramural Grants Program proposal has been approved for funding. Dr. Chen will be using these funds to support his studies of Pik3c3 in diabetic nephropathy.
Congratulations Dr. Chen!
I am delighted to announce that Dr. Yutao Liu has received a notice of grant award from NIH for his role as a consultant on an NEI funded R01 entitled “Role of Cellular Memory in Glaucoma”! The truly special part of this award is that the PI on the grant is none other than our own former graduate student Dr. Samuel Herbert, (State University of New York) which makes this collaboration particularly special.
Congratulations Dr. Liu and thanks for your work with our former trainee!
The McGee-Lawrence laboratory studies the roles of epigenetics, hormone signaling,
and mechanobiological changes in skeletal degeneration during aging and in the context
of exercise. The overarching goal of the laboratory’s research program is to understand
mechanisms involved in the maintenance and regeneration of bone structure and biomechanical
strength, and uncovering the integrative physiological mechanisms by which the skeleton
interacts with other body systems like fat and muscle. This program emphasizes epigenetic
and mechanobiological therapeutic targets for skeletal treatment, mechanical competence
of tissue, and pathways involved in skeletal communication.
The laboratory is currently funded by the NIH (NIA) and NASA, and has recently completed
research projects funded by the NSF and American Diabetes Association. Currently funded
research projects are aimed at defining the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor
(and other nuclear hormone receptors) in bone remodeling cells during aging, understanding
crosstalk between tryptophan metabolites, histone deacetylases, and the SDF-1 (Cxcl12)
axis in mesenchymal stem cells and osteoblasts with age, and testing the contributions
of novel osteocyte mechanosensation mechanisms in the processes of osteocyte mechanotransduction
and survival, bone maintenance, and skeletal adaptation.
Dr. McGee-Lawrence is also the PI of the “Functional Outcomes” core for an MCG/Augusta
University Program Project (P01) grant funded by the NIA. In this role, she oversees
and facilitates data collection from an array of techniques including bone and muscle
histology and histomorphometry, biomechanical testing of tissues, DXA and microCT-based
analysis of hard and soft tissues, and analysis of circulating markers and metabolites.
The laboratory is happy to offer guidance or training on any of these techniques,
including static and dynamic musculoskeletal histology/histomorphometry (methylmethacrylate-embedded,
cryofilm-supported, and paraffin-based histology techniques, and the use of digital
histomorphometry software), RNAscope staining of decalcified and non-decalcified tissues,
mechanical testing, and microCT-based analysis of calcified and contrast-enhanced
soft tissues.
Congratulations to Dr. McGee Lawrence and her great lab members!
Three graduate students (PhD candidates) in CBA have been recognized by The Graduate School of Augusta University during the Values Week: Theresa Akoto representing our value of Excellence, Frederick Baker representing our value of Collegiality, and Husam Bensreti representing our value of Inclusivity.
CBA is proud of the accomplishments of all of our graduate students! Thank you for being such terrific ambassadors for our program!
Dr. Jaenisch - 2022 Dr. G. Lombard Kelly lecturer
Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch, Professor of Biology at the Whitehead Institute, Institute of Medicine, Department of Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA delivered the 5th Dr. G. Lombard Kelly Lecture in the Department of Cellular Biology on Thursday, November 3, 2023. Dr. Janeisch’s seminar was titled “Genomic integration of SARS-CoV-2 in humans and bats". Dr. Jaenisch’s laboratory is renowned for its expertise in cloning mice and in studying the myriad factors contributing to the success and failure of cellular reprogramming. Recently, his lab has been using the iPS cell system to study diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and autism. Dr. Jaenisch is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the International Society for Stem Cell Research. He was honored with the Boehringer Mannheim Molecular Bioanalytics Prize in 1996, received the first ever Gruber Foundation Genetics Prize in 2001, won the Robert Koch Prize for Excellence in Scientific Achievement in 2002, and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2015. He was the recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Science in 2011. In 2014 he served as president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
We were most honored to have Dr. Jaenisch as our 2022 Dr. G. Lombard Kelly lecturer. The credit for this highly successful visit is due to our CBA graduate students, led by Frederick Baker and Husam Benzreti. They organized the visit of Dr. Jaenisch, ensuring that he had time to meet with students as well as several faculty members on campus. Frederick, who is in the lab of Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez and Husam from Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence’s lab, were guided in their efforts by Dr. Xingjun Fan, Director of the CBA seminar series and by Dr. Yutao Liu, Director of the CBA PhD program. The administrative details were ably overseen by Mrs. Heide Andrews.
Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez
Dr. Mitchell Watsky
Dr. Thomas Gale
Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez, Dr. Mitchell Watsky and Dr. Thomas Gale have been selected to receive an Exemplary Teaching Award for the 2021/2022 academic year!
The award is given to recognize faculty (and residents) who have made a significant contribution in either undergraduate or graduate medical education at MCG in the past year. Selection is based on learner evaluations, number of learners or teaching activities, and input from course directors and academic leadership. Faculty awardees include campus and community faculty from all of MCG’s campuses and from the clinical and basic sciences.
Congratulations to our colleagues for this recognition of commitment to teaching quality and curriculum advancement.
Graduate student, Anik Tuladhar (McGee-Lawrence’s lab) received a 2022 (ASBMR) American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Award for his presentation “Prkd1 (PKC-mu) regulates the formation and repair of plasma membrane disruptions (PMD) in osteocytes”. Congratulations Anik!
Dr. Ariel VanLeuven, Assistant Professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy at the AU/UGA medical partnership, has been selected by the Office for Faculty Success and her peers as an “AU/MCG Woman Who Inspires" for the 2022 Women In Medicine Month Campaign.
Congratulations Dr. VanLeuven!!
The program project (PO1) grant entitled, “Age Induced Impairment of Nutrient Signaling Results in Bone Loss” has been renewed for 5 years of additional funding from the National Institute on Aging.
Dr. Carlos Isales (Neuroscience/Regenerative Medicine) is the PI of this award, which includes CBA faculty members Dr. Mark Hamrick and Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence. Other MCG faculty colleagues who are participating include Dr. Sadanand Fuzele, Dr. Wendy Bollag, Dr. Xingming Shi.
The program project is a model of collaboration and interactive projects/investigators. So glad that the extraordinary efforts of so many have been fruitful!!!
Congratulations to our CBA colleagues Dr. Hamrick (Head of Project 3) and Dr. McGee-Lawrence (Head of Project 4 & Core B) and to their teams!!
Dr. Ellen LeMosy has been invited to serve as a member of the Inclusion and Outreach Committee (IOC) for the Society for Developmental Biology. Dr. LeMosy has accepted this invitation and will serve a 3-year term. The IOC oversees special symposia that address topics related to recruitment and retention of a widely diverse community of developmental biologists across the country and across academic levels.
Congratulations Dr. LeMosy!
Dr. Xingjun Fan has received a notice of grant award from NIH to support his pioneering studies of the ocular lens. The five-year R01 is supported by NEI and is entitled “Mechanisms of lens epithelium fibrosis and its relevance to posterior capsule opacification.”
Congratulations to Dr. Fan and his team! We are proud of your success.
Dr. Shannon Barwick, Assistant Professor has been selected to participate in the Anatomical Society’s Anatomy Training Programme co-sponsored by the American Association for Anatomy (AAA). Part of the program is independent study conducted at the participant’s home institution and complemented by an intensive residential school conducted at Cambridge University, UK in July. The AAA selected Shannon for this program and will provide the support for her participation.
Congratulations Shannon!
CBA is delighted to share fantastic news that Hannah Youngblood, has successfully defended her thesis entitled “Effects of estrogen on trabecular meshwork regulation of intraocular pressure” and her committee voted unanimously to award the PhD “with distinction.” This is a wonderful achievement and we are very proud of Hannah’s accomplishments! Hannah’s next career move is to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA.
Please join me in recognizing and thanking the members of Hannah’s committee for their commitment to our educational mission: Dr. Yutao Liu (major advisor), committee members: Dr. Mark Hamrick, Dr. Kathryn Bollinger, Dr. Xingjun Fan, Dr. Patricia Schoenlein and thesis reader: Dr. Ming Zhang.
Congrats to Hannah for all of her accomplishments and to her thesis advisor and committee members as well!
I am very pleased to announce that effective July 1, 2022, Dr. Patricia Schoenlein
will be promoted to the rank of Professor. Dr. Schoenlein is a major contributor to
the educational mission of MCG and is actively engaged as the director of Histology-Pathology
component of the Pre-clinical curriculum. She also leads CBL groups, contributes to
medical gross anatomy, and mentors students in her laboratory. Her contributions to
MCG and CBA are highly valued.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Schoenlein on her well-deserved promotion!
I am delighted to share with you the great news that Emily Parker, has successfully
defended her thesis entitled “The role of fibro-adipogenic progenitor cells (FAPS)
in muscle disuse atrophy” and her committee voted unanimously to award the PhD “with
distinction.” This is a wonderful achievement and we are very proud of Emily’s accomplishments!
Emily has accepted a faculty position at Augusta University and will be close by at
the Summerville Campus!
Please join me in recognizing and thanking the members of Emily’s committee for their commitment to our educational mission: Dr. Mark Hamrick (major advisor), committee members: Dr. Carlos Isales, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence, Dr. Sadanand Fulzele, Dr. Yao-Liang Tang and thesis reader: Dr. Yutao Liu.
Congrats to all!
Please welcome our newest faculty member, Dr. Shannon Barwick, Assistant Professor
of Cellular Biology and Anatomy. Shannon is a 2022 graduate of our program (PhD Biomedical
Sciences, Cellular Biology and Anatomy). She joined our faculty June 2, 2022. Shannon
will be actively involved in the education mission of the department including teaching
medical students and allied health students in the anatomical sciences.
Welcome aboard Shannon!
Dr. Shaoyong Su (GPI) and Dr. Yutao Liu have been informed that their proposal submitted to the Intramural Grants Program (IGP) titled: “Plasma neuron-derived exosome protein profile and cognitive impairment in middle age” has been approved for funding.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Su and Dr. Liu!
Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez has received a Notice of Grant Award from NIH for his studies “Molecular mechanisms underlying the establishment of cell polarity”. The award funded by NIGMS (National Institute of General Medical Sciences is for 5 years and falls under the funding mechanism known as a MIRA (maximizing investigator’s research award) – or R35. It is equivalent in support funding to an R01, but provides research support for an investigator’s laboratory, not just a specific project.
This is a wonderful tribute to the excellent science ongoing in Dr. Gonsalvez’ laboratory.
Congratulations to Graydon and his team!
Dr. Zheng Dong’s NIH R01 studying “Acute Kidney Injury in Diabetes” has been approved for continued funding by NIDDK. Dr. Dong’s grant actually started in 2001 and with the funding continued through this award cycle, it will be supported for more than 25 year! Congratulations to Dr. Dong and his highly engaged research group.
In addition, Dr. Dong has been notified that an instrumentation grant will be awarded through the Veteran Administration. The grant is a shared instrumentation grant that will allow purchase of a Single-Cell Sequencing system.
Great work Dr. Dong and congratulations to your team!
Dear CBA colleagues,
The MCG Faculty awards ceremony was held Thursday, May 26, 2022 in the Lee Auditorium. It was truly a great day of recognition of the teaching contributions of our department!
Our colleague Dr. Gaddy was selected for the MCG Basic Science Teaching Award! Two colleagues (Dr. Manuel and Dr. Guillot) were honored with Educator of the Year Awards! And our Department received the Outstanding Basic Science Teaching Award from the class of 2024!!! Congratulations to all CBA faculty for your contributions to the educational mission!
All of these great achievements signal that it is time to have an ice cream social! One is being planned for the near future – stay tuned!
Please read about our colleagues below!
Dr. Thom Gaddy was selected to receive the MCG Distinguished Faculty Award for Basic Science Teaching! Thom is associate professor in the Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and medical educator at the AU/UGA Medical Partnership in Athens, GA. His teaching responsibilities include facilitating CBL and teaching cell biology and histology in the large group setting. His scholarship activities revolve around undergraduate medical education curriculum design, developing effective learning materials and studying pedagogies that promote self-directed learning. Thom is an outstanding teacher and we are very proud of his accomplishments and recognition! Congratulations Dr. Gaddy!
Dr. Morganne Manuel was selected by the Class of 2024 for Educator of the Year for the Augusta Campus. Morganne is an assistant professor and teaches medical gross anatomy, serves as module co-director for two modules, oversees CBL and is involved in teaching allied health students gross anatomy as well. Dr. Gerard Guillot was selected by the Class of 2025 for Educator of the Year for the Augusta Campus. Jerry is associate professor and a very talented anatomist and lecturer. He has been a CBL leader and played a key role in the 4th year selectives that are being developed. We have been fortunate to have Dr. Guillot as a colleague and wish him the best in his future endeavors. Congratulations Dr. Manuel and Dr. Guillot!
Dear CBA colleagues,
I am very pleased to announce that CBA graduate student Shannon Barwick, who defended her thesis on April 21, 2022, has been notified by the Graduate School Dean that her dissertation has been accepted by the Graduate School and that she has successfully completed all of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree.
Shannon’s dissertation was entitled: “Activation of a molecular chaperone (sigma 1 receptor) in a murine model of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.” The faculty members who served on Shannon’s thesis committee were Drs. Liu, Hamrick, Gonsalvez, Saul and Smith. Dr. M. Zhang served as the reader.
Congratulations Shannon and many thanks to your committee members!
Sylvia
The awards ceremony for The Graduate School was held April 19, 2022 at the Summerville campus amphitheater. Two CBA faculty members were recognized for their contributions. Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence received the Inaugural Mentoring Award and Dr. Sylvia Smith received the Distinguished Research Award. Congratulations to our CBA colleagues for this recognition!
The awards ceremony for The Graduate School was held at the Summerville campus amphitheater. I am delighted to share that two of our CBA graduate students, Theresa Akoto and Frederick Baker received awards.
Theresa, who is mentored by Dr. Yutao Liu, received the Ji Cheng memorial award for excellence in research.
Frederick, who is mentored by Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez, received the CBA/Excellence in Research Award!
Husam Bensreti and Dima Alhamad (PhD students Meghan McGee-Lawrence lab) were just selected for the 2022 ASBMR Student Cohort program.
This selective program will feature a year-long series of mentoring, networking, and educational opportunities promoting career development, along with free society membership for a year.
We are excited for the opportunity this will provide to Husam and Dima!
Dr. Ellen LeMosy has been selected to serve as a mentor for two CURS students for the summer of 2022. The students will work with Dr. LeMosy on a project entitled “Learning how extracellular matrix functions in face and neck development.” The CURS program provides stipends for students and covers some of the reagents needed to perform the proposed study.
Congratulations Dr. LeMosy!
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Mark Hamrick along with CAHS assistant professor Dr. Deborah Jehu on their new grant supported by the Intramural Grants Program (IGP) titled: “The effects of exercise on executive function in older adults living with dementia.”
This is terrific news and a great collaboration between MCG and CAHS!
Added 1/26/2022
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ming Zhang who has been notified that his application titled “The roles of RIP kinase 3 in the development of AMD-like pathologies during cytomegalovirus ocular latency” will be funded by the Retina Research Foundation.
Congratulations Dr. Zhang!
Added 1/14/2022
We are delighted to announce that four CBA faculty have been selected by the medical students for the MCG exemplary teaching awards for AY2020/21! Please join me in congratulating Drs. Jerry Guillot, Morganne Manuel, Meghan McGee-Lawrence and Carol Nichols for this distinction. They epitomize excellence and commitment to medical education and we are very proud of them.
Dr. Jerry Guillot
Dr. Morganne Manuel
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence
Dr. Carol Nichols
Congratulations and thanks to these dedicated colleagues for a great start to 2022!
Added 1/07/2022
CBA News 2021-2020
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Jerry Guillot and colleagues for their recent notification that the American Association for Anatomy will fund a program entitled “Portfolios of People: Advancing Anatomical Representation Together – POP AART”. POP AArt aims to address a lack of anatomy teaching visual supplements that are representative of human diversity. Dr. Guillot will work with colleagues in Washington DC, Virginia, and California on this exciting project, which launches in January 2022.
Added 1/31/2021
CBA is delighted to announce that Dr. Yutao Liu has been notified by the Associate for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology that he has been approved for the honor of ARVO Silver Fellow for his exemplary contributions and dedication to ARVO! This distinction recognizes enthusiasm and commitment to the values and goals of the association!
Congrats to our newest ARVO fellow (FARVO)!!!
Added 12/15/2021
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Jerry Guillot and colleagues for their recent notification that the American Association for Anatomy will fund a program entitled “Portfolios of People: Advancing Anatomical Representation Together – POP AART”. POP AArt aims to address a lack of anatomy teaching visual supplements that are representative of human diversity. Dr. Guillot will work with colleagues in Washington DC, Virginia, and California on this exciting project, which launches in January 2022.
Added 12/7/2021
Congratulations to Shannon Barwick, graduate student in Dr. Sylvia Smith's lab. Shannon presented her 3 minute thesis (3MT) entitled "Saving Vision: Enabling patients too clearly see their dreams" to the USG Board of Regents on November 9, 2021 in Atlanta. This is great recognition for our graduate program and our department.
Learn more about the presentation here.
Added 11/10/2021
Photo: From left: Teresa MacCartney, acting chancellor of the USG; Shannon Barwick, PhD student at Augusta University; Brooks A. Keel, PhD, president of Augusta University; and Sachin Shailendra, chair of the Board of Regents, pictured at the board meeting Nov. 9. [Rod Reilly/Georgia Gwinnett College]
On Monday, Nov. 1, there was a Research Retreat at the Cyber Center. The gathering was to analyze where we were with NIH funding and how to achieve greater success in securing NIH grants. Many sessions were conducted, one of which was a session about cores and their critical role for our mission. Dr. Joe Miano sent a survey to users to learn their opinions about the cores. He wanted to learn what worked well and cores that needed improvement. I am delighted to share news that our two CBA cores have garnered “TOP” marks for customer satisfaction and quality. The EM/Histology core and the Cell/Tissue Imaging core were singled out for amazing contributions to the research mission on our campus. Please join me in acknowledging the terrific members of our “CORE” giver teams: Donna Kumiski, Libby Perry, Brendan Marshall, Tania Green and Kristen Carver in our EM/Histo core and Rachel Cui, Michael Yu, Hannah Neiswender and Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez (director) Cell/Tissue Imaging
Thank you for a job well done!
Added 11/5/2021
Congratulations to Dr. Xingjun Fan for his $750K award entitled "The Pathogenic role of disrupted glutathione homeostasis in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)” which is supported by the James Fickel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund. This funding will lead to new discoveries and we are very pleased to celebrate Dr. Fan’s success!
Added 11/4/2021
Dr. Morganne Manuel, Assistant Professor, has been selected as a fellow of the 2022 MCG Teaching Development Seminar Series (formerly the Teaching Scholars Fellowship). Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition of your commitment to medical Education!
Added 10/18/2021
Dr. Carol Nichols has been elected to the position of Secretary for the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE)! Congratulations on this international recognition for our deserving colleague and our institution!
Added 10/18/2021
The 2021 Kelly lecture was presented on October 14, 2021 by Dr. Krzysztof Palczewski,
Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine and Irving H. Leopold
Chair of Ophthalmology, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California,
Irvine California. Dr. Palczewski, a member of the National Academy of Medicine is
best known for his discovery of the crystal structure of rhodopsin. His lecture was
entitled “Treatment of an inherited retinal disease in a mouse model by in vivo base
editing.”
The Kelly lecture, established in 2017, honors the legacy of former Anatomy professor
and department chair, Dr. G. Lombard Kelly. The lecture is organized annually by graduate
students in the Cellular Biology and Anatomy PhD program. The students select and
invite the speaker and oversee all aspects of the visit. This year, Shannon Barwick
and Hannah Youngblood were the coordinators of Dr. Palczewski’s visit. All CBA graduate
students had the opportunity to meet with this outstanding scientist. Through this
endeavor our students demonstrate eagerness to learn and to conduct meaningful research,
continuing the tradition and legacy of Dr. Kelly. Dr. Xingjun Fan is the faculty coordinator
of the CBA seminar series and guided the students in organizing the visit.
Added 10/14/2021
Dr. Carol Nichols has been selected as an “MCG Woman Who Inspires" for the 2021 Women In Medicine Month Campaign. She is honored for her thoughtful leadership and mentorship in the evolution of the MCG curriculum, vastly improving the educational experience of our students and junior educators! The Women in Medicine Month campaign is sponsored by the MCG office for faculty success.
Added 9/7/2021
CBA graduate student Hannah Youngblood, Dr. Yutao Liu’s lab, has received a Travel Award for the ISER/BrightFocus Glaucoma Symposium, Oct 6-9 at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Hannah will present her research “Estrogen Signaling in Intraocular Pressure Regulation.
Good luck at the meeting Hannah!
Added 8/16/2021
CBA graduate student Anik Tuladhar, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence’s lab, has been selected to receive a Travel Fellowship to attend the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Meeting in San Diego in October 2021. Anik will present his abstract: Tuladhar A., McGee W.A., Yu K., Hamrick M.W., McGee-Lawrence M.E. Prkd1 is critical for repair of plasma membrane disruptions (PMD) in osteocytes. ASBMR 2021 Annual Meeting, Abstract ID #A21023817. San Diego, CA; American Society for Bone and Mineral Research; 2021.
Good luck at the meeting Anik!
Added 8/16/2021
CBA graduate student Shannon Barwick, from Dr. Sylvia Smith's lab, has been selected to receive a Travel Fellowship to attend the XIXth International Symposium on Retinal Degenerations (RD2021) and the BrightFocus Macular Fast TrackSM, which will be in Nashville, Tennessee from September 27, 2021 to October 2, 2021. Shannon will present her research “Activation of Sigma 1 Receptor attenuates degeneration in the Rho P23H/+ mouse model of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.”
Good luck at the meeting Shannon!
Added 8/16/2021
Effective 1 July 2021, Dr. Anna Edmondson, Professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, has been named Director of Curriculum Operations for MCG. In this new role, Dr. Edmondson will work closely with leadership of the Office of Academic Affairs to oversee the redesigned, complex, integrated pre-clerkship curriculum. Dr. Edmondson was selected for her new role owing to her excellent organizational skills and strong commitment to our medical students. In addition to her new duties, Anna will continue to oversee medical gross anatomy and to direct the skin-musculoskeletal module.
Added 7/8/2021
Dr. Jing Wang has been promoted to Research Scientist effective July 1, 2021. Dr.
Wang is a long standing member in Dr. Sylvia Smith's lab.
Congratulations on your promotion Dr. Wang!
Added 7/1/2021
Dr. Barbara Mysona has been promoted to Research Scientist effective July 1, 2021.
Dr. Mysona is a long standing member in Dr. Kathryn Bollinger's lab.
Congratulations on your promotion Dr. Mysona!
Added 7/1/2021
Dr. Eve Gallman, Associate Professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy at our Athens
partnership campus, has been notified that she has been nominated for the 2021 Outstanding
Reviewer Award for the journal Medical Science Educatore.
Congratulations on this award Dr. Gallman!
Added 6/9/2021
Dr. Yutao Liu, vision scientist and human geneticist in our Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, is the Basic Science Research Distinguished Faculty Award recipient. This expert in dissecting diseases like the progressive, double vision inducing keratoconus, and glaucoma, is a prolific, inspired and extremely well-funded scientist and generally great citizen of MCG and internationally.
To read more about Dr. Liu's achievement, visit the Deans Diary
Added 6/1/2021
Congratulations to our CBA colleague Dr. Gerard "Jerry" Guillot! Dr. Guillot was selected
to receive one of the Educator of the Year awards. The excellent educator award honoree
was nominated by the students from the MCG class of 2024.
To read more about this wonderful achievement, visit the Deans Diary
Added 6/1/2021
Congratulations to our CBA colleague at the AU/UGA partnership campus, Dr. Robert
Mackin.
Dr. Mackin was selected to receive one of the Educator of the Year awards. The excellent
educator award honoree was nominated by the MCG AU/UGA partnership students, class
of 2024.
To read more about this wonderful achievement, visit the Deans Diary
Added 6/1/2021
Congratulations to Ms. Linda James, our assistant dean for student diversity and inclusion, who has received the inaugural Champion of Diversity Award! She is director of the now 50 + year-old SEEP pipeline program for high school and college students and director of the Igniting the Dream of Medicine Conference. Most recently, Ms. James helped start and is co-advisor of Black Men of the Medical College of Georgia. She is a member of the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, a voting member of our Admissions Committee and co-advisor to the Student National Medical Association. She first joined us as a research assistant in 1986, we lost her (their win) to Paine College for about 16 years, then she came back in 2004 as director of SEEP and Diversity Outreach. Class of 2023 student Gina Dominguez Castillo says it well: “All my interactions with her are always ones of support and encouragement.” For these reasons and about a million more Ms. James is the inaugural recipient of our Champion of Diversity Award.
Added 6/1/2021
Congratulations to Dr. Ellen LeMosy! She was nominated by her student Brooklyn Zwinklis
for the High Five My Faculty Award. This
award goes to a faculty member who has mentored one or more undergraduate students
in research or scholarship. This is a way
for students to recognize and give thanks to undergraduate research mentors who have
positively impacted their lives.
Added 5/5/2021
We are delighted to share the good news that graduate student Mackenzie L. Hagan successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “The role of Sptbn1 in osteocyte mechanosensation and downstream bone adaptation” on April 22, 2021. Her work was mentored by Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence and her committee members were Drs. Graydon Gonsalvez, Mark Hamrick, William Hill and Mitchell Watsky. Dr. Yutao Liu served as a reader for the thesis. We are very proud of Mackenzie’s accomplishments and wish her the best in her future endeavors.
Added 5/5/2021
Congratulations to Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence! She was nominated by her student Victor Piedra for the High Five My Faculty Award. This award goes to a faculty member who has mentored one or more undergraduate students in research or scholarship. This is a way for students to recognize and give thanks to undergraduate research mentors who have positively impacted their lives.
Added 5/5/2021
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence has been named as one of the recipients to receive the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship’s 2021 Mentor Excellence Award! Considerable effort is expended in mentoring talented undergraduate students and we are very proud of the work of our colleagues in this important endeavor.
Added 5/5/2021
Congratulating Shannon Barwick, PhD student in Dr. Sylvia Smith's lab, won first prize
in the “3MT” competition on Thursday, April 22, 2021! The “3MT” refers to a three-minute
thesis presentation. The Graduate School launched this five years ago and graduate
students have the opportunity to compete. The idea of being able to present your (80,000+
word) thesis work in only 3 minutes started at Queensland University (Australia) and
has been adopted by more than 900 universities. We are very proud that two CBA students
were in the top five 3MT finalists: Hannah Youngblood & Shannon Barwick.
Thank you for representing our department so well!
Added 4/26/2021
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence was recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Graduate School. Dr. McGee-Lawrence oversees a robust research laboratory, mentors several students, has directed/participated in several graduate school courses. She is the Director of the Molecular Cell Biology Core course, which has consistently been very highly evaluated by first year students and offers an excellent foundation for studies in biological sciences.
Congratulations Dr. McGee-Lawrence!
Added 4/21/2021
We are delighted to share with you the recognition for several students at today’s graduate research day awards ceremony: Frederick Baker (Gonsalvez lab) was the recipient of the Cellular Biology/Anatomy Excellence in Research Award; Hannah Youngblood (Liu lab) was the recipient of the James and Jean Culver Excellence in Vision Research Award; Shannon Barwick (Smith lab) was the recipient of the Graduate School Excellence in Research Award. Congratulations to these awardees and to all of our students for participating in Graduate Research Day and for the high quality of the work you are conducting.
We are very proud of you!
Added 4/21/2021
Dr. Mark Hamrick's newly announced cluster hire in inflamm-aging and brain aging research has been recognized by the Augusta Chronicle.
Read more about this exciting research here.
Congratulations Dr. Hamrick!
Added 4/21/2021
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence has been appointed as a standing member of the NIH Skeletal Biology Development and Disease (SBDD) study section for a 4 year term.
Congrats Dr. McGee-Lawrence!
Added 4/13/2021
Dr. Ellen LeMosy has been named as one of the recipients to receive the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship’s 2021 Mentor Excellence Award! Dr. LeMosy is pictured here with CURS students Brooklyn Zwinklis (far left) and Helena Blackburn (far right). Considerable effort is expended in mentoring talented undergraduate students and we are very proud of the contributions Dr. LeMosy has provided to this important endeavor.
Congratulations Dr. LeMosy!
Added 4/13/2021
Dr. Jing Wang, Assistant Research Scientist (Smith lab), has been notified that her competing renewal of her Knights Templar Eye Foundation application (Sigma 1 Receptor and Retinopathy of Prematurity) will be funded beginning July 2021!
Great work Jing!
Added 4/13/2021
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence has been named as one of the recipients to receive the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship’s 2021 Mentor Excellence Award! Considerable effort is expended in mentoring talented undergraduate students and we are very proud of the contributions Dr. McGee-Lawrence has provided to this important endeavor.
Congratulations Dr. McGee-Lawrence!
Added 4/13/2021
Terrific recognition for Dr. Wanling Xuan, stem cell biologist in the Vascular Biology Center, for her new RO1. Dr. Mark Hamrick, bone and muscle biologist in the MCG Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and Senior Associate Dean for Research, is Co-Investigator. Both were recognized for their research on stem cell therapy on the Augusta University Jag home page. Read more about this exciting research here.
Congratulations Drs. Xuan and Hamrick!
Added 3/17/2021
Hannah Youngblood, PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Yutao Liu, was invited to attend Augusta University’s Virtual Research University Day at the Capitol. This event, which was held virtually on March 16th, 2021, featured institutional leaders (Dr. Keel and Dr. MacKinnon) as well as several Georgia legislatures.
Congratulations Hannah on being selected for this honor!
Added 3/17/2021
CBA is pleased to announce that Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence's amazing research is being
featured in the Augusta Chronicle!
NASA grant aids AU professor's research on bone loss, potential repair
Tom Corwin
Augusta Chronicle
As the NASA Rover Perseverance approaches Mars for a touchdown later this month, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence of Augusta University is studying ways to make the same flight easier for humans one day. But her research might also apply to aging and perhaps even make exercise more productive. McGee-Lawrence has a $750,000 grant from NASA to study a basic problem that would plague astronauts during such a long mission: the lack of gravity would lead to bone loss. Humans form and reshape their bones constantly in response to gravity and other forces and one of the key cells for doing that are osteocytes, long cells nestled into the matrix of bone, she said. "The osteocytes are the managing cell population in the skeleton," said McGee-Lawrence, an associate professor in Cellular Biology and Anatomy. "They do a great job of sensing what is around them and telling everyone else what to do. The osteocyte population senses what is going on and then they tell the osteoblasts how much bone to build and the osteoclasts how much bone they should break down so that the tissue has the ability to adapt and has the best possible structure to withstand the loading it experiences on a routine basis. Basically, it tells everyone what to do so that the tissue is the right shape and size to do the job it needs to do." Adapting bone is important as a response to the environment so that the skeleton has just the right amount of bone needed, she said. "Bone is a very metabolically expensive tissue," McGee-Lawrence said. "It’s heavy and it takes a lot of work to maintain it." One of the ways, and there are many, that bone responds to forces like gravity is possibly through small tears in the osteocytes, known as plasma membrane disruptions. McGee-Lawrence has early work in mice that shows these form routinely in response to gravity and normal activity. Normal cells can easily heal these tears in about 10-30 seconds but they appear to be a signal to the other cells to do the necessary work. The NASA grant is to explore if the opposite will prove true, that the lack of gravity or force causes fewer of these disruptions or interferes with their repair. "We think of repair rate almost like a thermostat where you can speed it up or slow it down and in doing so control the magnitude of the downstream response of that cell," McGee-Lawrence said. A previous study shows that repair rate is out of tune in older osteocytes, which may contribute to bone loss in aging, she said. Her work is building on what is already known to happen in skeletal muscle, that these tears happen in muscle cells and the lack of gravity appears to impair their repair rate, McGee-Lawrence said. "That then is our jumping off point for this project: does bone behave in the same way as muscle?" she said. "And if so, can some of the therapeutic approaches that have been applied to muscle apply to the skeleton?" That would be important to NASA, McGee-Lawrence said. "Both bone and muscle are lost during space flight," she said. "Trying to find ways to prevent that bone and muscle loss or recover it once it has occurred is pretty important in the context of long-term space flights. If you send an astronaut to Mars, you want them to maintain their bone and muscle mass during space flight so when they land you don’t want them to all of a sudden start suffering a lot of fractures and muscle injuries. You want to be able to help them recover whatever they may have lost on that journey, whether they are returning to Earth or maybe some day landing on Mars." Those insights could also help with what happens to people during disuse, such as prolonged bed rest or spinal cord injury and thus could be relevant long before those space flights become possible, McGee-Lawrence said. "NASA gives you interesting problems to pursue that not only advance space travel but come up with novel solutions to problems we face every day here on Earth," she said. "If we can find ways to make bone and also muscle more sensitive to mechanical loading, one goal is maybe you could get some of the same benefits of exercise with a less strenuous exercise program. You can see how that would also be greatly applicable to life here on Earth. Who wouldn’t want to get stronger bone and muscle with less exercise than you would need to otherwise?"
Congratulations Dr. McGee-Lawrence on this fascinating venture!
Added 2/10/2021
Heartfelt congratulations to Drs. Graydon Gonsalvez, Carol Nichols, and Patricia Schoenlein in addition to our AU/UGA Medical Partnership, Drs. Thom Gaddy, DeLoris Wenzel and Brett Szymik. All have been selected to receive the MCG Exemplary Teaching Award for their teaching efforts in academic year 2019/2020. The award is given to recognize faculty who have made a significant contribution in either undergraduate or graduate medical education at MCG in the past year.
Congratulations to all!
Added 2/9/2021
Dr. Ellen LeMosy will be hosting two students this year through the Summer Scholars Program. They will be working with Dr. LeMosy on a project titled "Extracellular Matrix Tinagl1 in Craniofacial Development and Wnt Signaling." Dr. LeMosy has been mentoring undergraduate student researchers for a number of years and just this past year, one of her trainees (Ms. Brooklyn Zwinklis) was awarded funds from the Provost/Student Research Program. Ms. Zwinklis was one of only two undergraduate students receiving this competitive program vetted through the Department of Medicine's Translational Research Program.
Congrats Dr. LeMosy!
Added 1/21/2021
Dr. Barbara Mysona, Assistant Research Scientist, has been notified that she will receive an IGP (intramural grants program) award for her project entitled: “Role of astrocyte-endothelial interactions in von Hippel-Lindau disease.”
Congratulations Barbara and best wishes for a fruitful project!
Added 1/21/2021
CBA is pleased to announce that Dr. Yutao Liu, Associate Professor, has been selected to receive one of three grants awarded in the Pilot Grant Program in Aging Research. His project investigates the role of arginase 1 and 2 in age-related eye pressure regulation.
Congratulations Dr. Liu! Another terrific start to the New Year!
Added 12/16/2020
CBA is pleased to announce that Dr. Yuqing Huo, Professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and member of VBC, has been selected for a pilot grant to conduct metabolic analyses of aortic vascular cells of aged mice with aortic aneurysm via scRNSseq approach.
Congratulations Dr. Huo!
Added 12/16/2020
CBA is pleased to announce that Dr. Qingqing Wei, Assistant Professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, has been awarded an NIH R01 from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Her project entitled "The regulation and function of long non coding RNA in ischemic AKI: Role of GSTM3P1."
Congratulations Dr. Wei! A terrific start to the New Year!
Added 12/15/2020
Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the 2020 Augusta University Research Institute (AURI) research awards!
Congratulations to everyone on these exceptional achievements!
Added 10/29/2020
Dr. Mark Hamrick, George G. Weiss Research Professor and Regents' Professor, has been appointed Senior Associate Dean for Research at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. In his new position, Hamrick will work closely with MCG Dean Dr. David Hess and other MCG research leaders to develop a plan to move MCG toward the top 50 in National Institutes of Health funding. Among the nation’s medical schools, MCG currently is ranked 73rd by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, with nearly $48 million in funding. However, research funding grew to over $65 million last fiscal year, which should move that ranking to somewhere in the 60s. He will work with MCG department chairs and center and institute directors to recruit and retain new federally funded research faculty and identify and develop new research collaborations across MCG departments, other AU colleges and with university and industry partners across Georgia and beyond.
Congratulations Dr. Hamrick!
Added 10/20/2020
CBA is pleased to announce that Dr. Patricia Schoenlein was selected by the MCG Class of 2023 as the recipient of the Educator of the Year Award! This is truly an honor – to have our student learners select one of our faculty for this distinction. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Schoenlein for her accomplishment!
Congratulations Dr. Schoenlein!
Added 10/20/2020
