Dear PACCM Family:

It seems that winter is finally taking it’s

final bow and spring is approaching!

Yet even during those long winter

months, our Division continued to thrive

a s e v i d e n c e d b y s o m a n y

accomplishments from our faculty and

trainees. I am thrilled to share these

with you. Memorable highlights in this

issue include a multi-divisional Winter

Party, our PACCM research retreat, our

successful fellowship match, and ongo-

ing contributions from our research

team.

We have also been overwhelmed with

many letters, notes, and emails from

both colleagues and patient families re-

garding our outstanding clinical faculty

and staff. We are so proud to work

among these compassionate and caring

individuals!

As we look forward to warmer weather,

we also look forward to sharing your

future successes and celebrations.

Enjoy!

Rama Mallampalli, MD

April 13, 2018

Volume 5, Issue 1

The PACCM Insider

Inside this issue:

Winter Holiday Party 2

Provost’s Inaugural Lecture 2

In the News 3

New Chair, Environmental &

Occupational Health

3

Patient Sarcoidosis Event 3

Selected Publications 4-5

Promotions & Appointments 6

New Hires 6

Mechanical Ventilation Book 6

Clinical Stars 7

2017 Excellence in Patient

Experience Certificate

7

Transplant Awareness 7

Grants, Award, and Notable

Mentions

8

Upcoming Events 9

Fellows Research Retreat 10

68th Lindau Nobel Laureate

Meeting Participant

11

Parker B. Francis Awardee 11

Fellows 11

Fellows Match 11

Celebrations 12

-Contributed by Matt Morrell, MD Faculty Spotlight

A Note from the Chief...

Silpa Kilaru has been a vital member of the PACCM faculty

since 2012 as an Assistant Professor. After medical school

training at the Ohio State University, she completed her

housestaff training, fellowship, and served as Chief Fellow at

Georgetown University Hospital where she displayed her

talents as a superb clinician educator. Silpa was heavily

recruited as a transplant pulmonologist prior to joining

PACCM. She has emerged as a leader in the lung transplant

program, recently taking on important responsibilities in

fellow lung transplant education within the Division. Over

the years, she has successfully mentored numerous fellows

and internal medicine residents in her outpatient clinic

where she has received outstanding reviews as a clinician

educator. Her transplant outpatient clinic is highly sought

after by trainees due to the time and dedication that she spends in trainee education.

Silpa also has a clear passion for patient care. She is cherished by her transplant

patients who have provided wonderful feedback on her compassionate care. She

currently has a five-star rating on the UPMC Physician website and has exceptional

comments on the Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey. In 2017, she received the

Award for Excellence in Patient Experience by the Wolff Center at UPMC. Silpa has also

“stepped up to the plate” for the Division in the transplant clinical operation with a high

volume of patient responsibilities serving as an invaluable clinician. We are

indeed very fortunate to have her as a member of PACCM !

Silpa Kilaru, MD

Page 2 The PACCM Insider

Winter Holiday Party

On February 22, approximately 330 people from PACCM, the Vascular Medicine Institute, and the division of Cardiology

joined together to celebrate collaborations and friendships after the new year.

The Music Hall Foyer within the Carnegie Museum

provided an elegant backdrop to a festive event.

Provost’s Inaugural Lecture

Anuradha Ray, PhD

Anuradha Ray, PhD, presented “Immune Networks & Metabolism in the Balancing Act

Between Immune Tolerance & Asthma” as part of the Provost’s Inaugural Lecture series on

March 1. The Provost’s Inaugural Lecture series invites University of Pittsburgh faculty

members to give a lecture marking their recent appointments to endowed chairs.

Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 3

In the News

Kavitha Bagavathy, MD

Effective May 1, Sally Wenzel, MD will accept the role of Chair of Environmental and

Occupational Health in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Although she will be missed on a daily basis, Dr. Wenzel will continue to keep an

appointment with PACCM, as well as be the acting Director of the newly expanded

Asthma Environmental Lung Health Institute. Dr. Wenzel succeeds Dr. Bruce Pitt, an

iconic leader and visionary at this institution who has been an integral colleague with us

in PACCM. We anticipate that Dr. Wenzel will be highly successful in spearheading

exciting initiatives, synergizing science jointly with our Division, and building on the rich

tradition of excellence that exists within Environmental and Occupational Health.

New Chair of Environmental & Occupational Health

Sally Wenzel, MD

Patient Sarcoidosis Event

Over 100 patients and caregivers attended a special patient

sarcoidosis event on Saturday, March 3.

The Simmons Center co-sponsored the day with the Foundation for

Sarcoidosis to help educate and support those affected by this

disease.

Dr. Kavitha Bagavathy appeared on UPMC Health Talk on WKST radio on Feb 13. Dr.

Bagavathy discussed inpatient critical care services available at UPMC Jameson during

the broadcast. The audio is now online here.

Dr. Sally Wenzel and the Asthma Institute were included in a recent USNews article,

regarding a patient who traveled back and forth from Chicago to receive their outstand-

ing care.

Dr. Wenzel was also included in a Post-Gazette article regarding a recent study which

identified a key protein in the cell-death pathway. (Cell. 2017 Oct 19;171(3):628-641)

Dr. Wenzel is a lead investigator on the study, along with Dr. Hülya Bayir (Children’s

Hospital) and senior author, Dr. Valerian Kagan (Environmental and Occupational

Health).

Ringer KP, Roth MG, Garey MS, Piorczynski TB, Suli A, Hansen

JM, Alder JK. Comparative Analysis of Lipid-Mediated CRISPR-

Cas9 Genome Editing Techniques. Cell Biol Int. 2018 Feb 19.

[Epub ahead of print]

Alder JK, Hanumanthu VS, Strong MA, DeZern AE, Stanley SE,

Takemoto CM, Danilova L, Applegate CD, Bolton SG, Mohr DW,

Brodsky RA, Casella JF, Greider CW, Jackson JB, Armanios M.

Diagnostic utility of telomere length testing in a hospital-based

setting. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Feb 20. [Epub ahead of

print]

Qu Y, Olonisakin T, Bain W, Zupetic J, Brown R, Hulver M, Xiong

Z, Tejero J, Shanks RM, Bomberger JM, Cooper VS, Zegans ME,

Ryu H, Han J, Pilewski J, Ray A, Cheng Z, Ray P, Lee JS. Throm-

bospondin-1 protects against pathogen-induced lung injury by

limiting extracellular matrix proteolysis. JCI Insight. 2018 Feb

8;3(3). [Epub ahead of print]

Bain W, Lee JS. Ventilator Circuit Trash May Be a Research

Treasure. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2018 Jan 11. [Epub

ahead of print] No abstract available.

Barbash IJ, Rak KJ, Kuza CC, Kahn JM. Hospital Perceptions of

Medicare's Sepsis Quality Reporting Initiative. J Hosp Med.

2017 Dec;12(12):963-968.

Bednash JS, Mallampalli RK. Targeting Deubiquitinases in Can-

cer. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1731:295-305

Bon J, Zhang Y, Leader JK, Fuhrman C, Perera S, Chandra D,

Bertolet M, Diergaarde B, Greenspan SL, Sciurba FC. Radio-

graphic Emphysema, Circulating Bone Biomarkers, and Progres-

sive Bone Mineral Density Loss in Smokers. Ann Am Thorac Soc.

2018 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Bueno M, Brands J, Voltz L, Fiedler K, Mays B, St Croix C, Sem-

brat J, Mallampalli RK, Rojas M, Mora AL. ATF3 represses PINK1

gene transcription in lung epithelial cells to control mitochondri-

al homeostasis. Aging Cell. 2018 Jan 24. [Epub ahead of print]

Potoka KP, Wood KC, Baust JJ, Bueno M, Hahn SA, Vanderpool

RR, Bachman T, Mallampalli GM, Osei-Hwedieh DO, Schrott V,

Sun B, Bullock GC, Becker-Pelster EM, Wittwer M, Stampfuss J,

Mathar I, Stasch JP, Truebel H, Sandner P, Mora AL, Straub AC,

Gladwin MT. NO-independent sGC Activation Improves Vascular

Function and Cardiac Remodeling in Sickle Cell Disease. Am J

Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2017 Dec 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Chen K, Kolls JK. PTENtiating CFTR for Antimicrobial Immunity.

Immunity. 2017 Dec 19;47(6):1014-1016.

Rochon ER, Corti P, Gladwin MT. Hemoglobin α in Pulmonary

Endothelium: Ironing Out Nitric Oxide Signaling. Am J Respir Cell

Mol Biol. 2017 Dec;57(6):639-641.

Maron BA, Brittain EL, Choudhary G, Gladwin MT. Redefining

pulmonary hypertension. Lancet Respir Med. 2017 Dec 18.

[Epub ahead of print]

Willen SM, Gladwin MT. What is the role of screening for pulmo-

nary hypertension in adults and children with sickle cell dis-

ease? Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2017 Dec

8;2017(1):431-434.

Gladwin MT. Cardiovascular complications in patients with sick-

le cell disease. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program.

2017 Dec 8;2017(1):423-430.

Selected Publications Maron BA, Wertheim BM, Gladwin MT. Under Pressure to Clarify

Pulmonary Hypertension Clinical Risk. Am J Respir Crit Care

Med. 2017 Dec 7.

Groetzinger LM, Miller TJ, Rivosecchi RM, Smith RE, Gladwin MT,

Rivera-Lebron BN. Apixaban or Rivaroxaban Versus Warfarin for

Treatment of Submassive Pulmonary Embolism After Catheter-

Directed Thrombolysis. Clin Appl Thromb Hemost. 2018 Jan 1.

[Epub ahead of print]

Khalid F, Rehman S, Gupta S. Eighty-five-year-old man with mo-

saic attenuation on chest imaging. BMJ Case Rep. 2018 Jan

13;2018. No abstract available.

Kitsios GD. Translating Lung Microbiome Profiles into the Next-

Generation Diagnostic Gold Standard for Pneumonia: a Clinical

Investigator's Perspective. mSystems. 2018 Mar 13;3(2).

Olonisakin TF, Lee JS. Fighting Bacterial Pathogens in the Lung:

Platelets to the Rescue? Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2018 Mar;58

(3):282-283.

Lennox AT, Coburn SL, Leech JA, Heidrich EM, Kleyman TR, Wen-

zel SE, Pilewski JM, Corcoran TE, Myerburg MM. ATP12A pro-

motes mucus dysfunction during Type 2 airway inflammation.

Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 1;8(1):2109.

Hensley MK, Levine A, Gladwin MT, Lai YC. Emerging Therapeu-

tics in Pulmonary Hypertension. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol

Physiol. 2018 Feb 1. [Epub ahead of print]

Alvarez RA, Miller MP, Hahn SA, Galley JC, Bauer E, Bachman T,

Hu J, Sembrat J, Goncharov D, Mora AL, Rojas M, Goncharova E,

Straub AC. Targeting Pulmonary Endothelial Hemoglobin α Im-

proves Nitric Oxide Signaling and Reverses Pulmonary Artery

Endothelial Dysfunction. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2017 Dec;57

(6):733-744.

Ensor CR, Iasella CJ, Harrigan KM, Morrell MR, Moore CA, Shi-

gemura N, Zeevi A, McDyer JF, Venkataramanan R. Increasing

tacrolimus time-in-therapeutic range is associated with superior

one-year outcomes in lung transplant recipients. Am J Trans-

plant. 2018 Mar 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Tipton L, Müller CL, Kurtz ZD, Huang L, Kleerup E, Morris A, Bon-

neau R, Ghedin E. Fungi stabilize connectivity in the lung and

skin microbial ecosystems. Microbiome. 2018 Jan 15;6(1):12.

Lim SH, Morris A, Li K, Fitch AC, Fast L, Goldberg L, Quesenberry

M, Sprinz P, Methé B. Intestinal microbiome analysis revealed

dysbiosis in sickle cell disease. Am J Hematol. 2017 Dec 23.

[Epub ahead of print]

Gingo MR, Nouraie M, Kessinger CJ, Greenblatt RM, Huang L,

Kleerup EC, Kingsley L, McMahon DK, Morris A. Decreased

Lung Function and All-cause Mortality in HIV-Infected Individu-

als. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2018 Jan 9. [Epub ahead of print]

Alcántara C, Patel SR, Carnethon M, Castañeda S, Isasi CR, Da-

vis S, Ramos A, Arredondo E, Redline S, Zee PC, Gallo LC. Stress

and Sleep: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/

Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study. SSM Popul

Health. 2017 Dec;3:713-721.

Petrov ME, Weng J, Reid KJ, Wang R, Ramos AR, Wallace DM,

Alcantara C, Cai J, Perreira K, Espinoza Giacinto RA, Zee PC,

Sotres-Alvarez D, Patel SR. Commuting and Sleep: Results From

the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sueño

Ancillary Study. Am J Prev Med. 2018 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of

print]

The PACCM Insider Page 4

Holguin F, Moughrabieh MA, Ojeda V, Patel SR, Peyrani P,

Pinedo M, Celedón JC, Douglas IS, Upson DJ, Roman J. Respira-

tory Health in Migrant Populations: A Crisis Overlooked. Ann Am

Thorac Soc. 2017 Feb;14(2):153-159.

Matthews KA, Patel SR, Pantesco EJ, Buysse DJ, Kamarck TW,

Lee L, Hall MH. Similarities and differences in estimates of

sleep duration by polysomnography, actigraphy, diary, and self-

reported habitual sleep in a community sample. Sleep Health.

2018 Feb;4(1):96-103. Epub 2017 Dec 13.

Doarn CR, Latifi R, Poropatich RK, Sokolovich N, Kosiak D, Hosti-

uc F, Zoicas C, Buciu A, Arafat R. Development and Validation of

Telemedicine for Disaster Response: The North Atlantic Treaty

Organization Multinational System. Telemed J E Health. 2018

Jan 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Banno A, Reddy AT, Lakshmi SP, Reddy RC. PPARs: Key Regula-

tors of Airway Inflammation and Potential Therapeutic Targets in

Asthma. Nucl Receptor Res. 2018;5. Epub 2017 Dec 11.

Ioja S, Singamsetty S, Corey C, Guo L, Shah F, Jurczak MJ,

McVerry BJ, Shiva S, O'Donnell CP. Nocturnal Hypoxia Improves

Glucose Disposal, Decreases Mitochondrial Efficiency, and In-

creases Reactive Oxygen Species in the Muscle and Liver of

C57BL/6J Mice Independent of Weight Change. Oxid Med Cell

Longev. 2018 Feb 4;2018:9649608. eCollection 2018.

Coons JC, Bunner C, Ishizawar DC, Risbano MG, Rivera-Lebron

B, Mathier MA, Chan SY, Simon MA. Impact of four times daily

dosing of oral treprostinil on tolerability and daily dose achieved

in pulmonary hypertension. Pulm Circ. 2018 Jan-Mar;8(1):

2045893217744512.

Carr LL, Jacobson S, Lynch DA, Foreman MG, Flenaugh EL,

Hersh CP, Sciurba FC, Wilson DO, Sieren JC, Mulhall P, Kim V,

Kinsey CM, Bowler RP. Features of Chronic Obstructive Pulmo-

nary Disease as Predictors of Lung Cancer. Chest. 2018 Feb 13.

[Epub ahead of print]

Rennard SI, Merrill D, Tal-Singer R, Sciurba FC. The St. George's

Respiratory Questionnaire Appendix to the Food and Drug Ad-

ministration Draft Guidance on COPD: Why a Small Step Forward

Is So Important. Chest. 2017 Nov;152(5):914-916.

Shah FA, Singamsetty S, Guo L, Chuan BW, McDonald S, Cooper

BA, O'Donnell BJ, Stefanovski D, Wice B, Zhang Y, O'Donnell CP,

McVerry BJ. Stimulation of the endogenous incretin glucose-

dependent insulinotropic peptide by enteral dextrose improves

glucose homeostasis and inflammation in murine endotoxemia.

Transl Res. 2017 Nov 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Strock SB, Alder JK, Kass DJ. From Bad to Worse: When Lung

Cancer Complicates Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. J Pathol.

2017 Dec 27.

Peker Y, Strollo PJ Jr. A meta-analysis of positive airway pres-

sure treatment for cardiovascular prevention: why mix apples

and pears? Evid Based Med. 2017 Nov 18. [Epub ahead of

print]

Luyster FS, Strollo PJ Jr, Thunström E, Peker Y. Long-term use of

continuous positive airway pressure therapy in coronary artery

disease patients with nonsleepy obstructive sleep apnea. Clin

Cardiol. 2017 Dec 14. [Epub ahead of print]

Suber T, Mallampalli RK. An Emerging Role for Megalin as a

Regulator of Protein Leak in Acute Lung Injury. Am J Respir Cell

Mol Biol. 2017 Nov;57(5):504-505.

Haque MM, Tejero J, Bayachou M, Kenney CT, Stuehr DJ. A

Cross-Domain Charge Interaction Governs the Activity of NO

Synthase. J Biol Chem. 2018 Feb 2. [Epub ahead of print]

Choi S, Haghighi B, Choi J, Hoffman EA, Comellas AP, Newell JD,

Wenzel SE, Castro M, Fain SB, Jarjour NN, Schiebler ML, Barr

RG, Han MK, Bleecker ER, Cooper CB, Couper D, Hansel N, Kan-

ner RE, Kazeroni EA, Kleerup EAC, Martinez FJ, O'Neal WK,

Woodruff PG, Lin CL. Differentiation of quantitative CT imaging

phenotypes in asthma versus COPD. BMJ Open Respir Res.

2017 Nov 9;4(1):e000252. eCollection 2017.

Dunican EM, Elicker BM, Wenzel SE, Meyers DA, Bleecker ER,

Phillips BR, Mauger DT, Gordon ED, Woodruff PG, Peters MC,

Fahy JV; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Severe

Asthma Research Program (SARP). Mucus plugs in patients with

asthma linked to eosinophilia and airflow obstruction. J Clin

Invest. 2018 Feb 5. [Epub ahead of print]

Albano GD, Bonanno A, Moscato M, Anzalone G, Di Sano C, Ric-

cobono L, Wenzel SE, Profita M. Crosstalk between mAChRM3

and β2AR, via acetylcholine PI3/PKC/PBEP1/Raf-1 MEK1/2/

ERK1/2 pathway activation, in human bronchial epithelial cells

after long-term cigarette smoke exposure. Life Sci. 2017 Nov

22. [Epub ahead of print]

Click B, Anderson AM, Koutroubakis IE, Rivers CR, Babichenko

D, Machicado JD, Hartman DJ, Hashash JG, Dunn MA, Schwartz

M, Swoger J, Barrie Iii A, Wenzel SE, Regueiro M, Binion DG.

Peripheral Eosinophilia in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel

Disease Defines an Aggressive Disease Phenotype. Am J Gastro-

enterol. 2017 Nov 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Leng S, Diergaarde B, Picchi MA, Wilson DO, Gilliland FD, Yuan

JM, Siegfried JM, Belinsky SA. Gene Promoter Hypermethylation

Detected in Sputum Predicts FEV1 Decline and All-cause Mortal-

ity in Smokers. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2018 Feb 13. [Epub

ahead of print]

Zank DC, Bueno M, Mora AL, Rojas M. Idiopathic Pulmonary

Fibrosis: Aging, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Cellular Bioener-

getics. Front Med (Lausanne). 2018 Feb 5;5:10.

Cai J, Wei J, Schrott V, Zhao J, Bullock G, Zhao Y. Induction of

deubiquitinating enzyme USP50 during erythropoiesis and its

potential role in the regulation of Ku70 stability. J Investig Med.

2017 Nov 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Zhao J, Minami Y, Etling E, Coleman JM, Lauder SN, Tyrrell V,

Aldrovandi M, O'Donnell V, Claesson HE, Kagan V, Wenzel S.

Preferential Generation of 15-HETE-PE Induced by IL-13 Regu-

lates Goblet Cell Differentiation in Human Airway Epithelial

Cells. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2017 Dec;57(6):692-701.

Luo X, Xue L, Xu H, Zhao QY, Wang Q, She YS, Zang DA, Shen J,

Peng YB, Zhao P, Yu MF, Chen W, Ma LQ, Chen S, Chen S, Fu X,

Hu S, Nie X, Shen C, Zou C, Qin G, Dai J, Ji G, Su Y, Hu S, Chen J,

Liu QH. Polygonum aviculare L. extract and quercetin attenuate

contraction in airway smooth muscle. Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 15;8

(1):3114.

Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 5

Promotions and Appointments

Bill Chen, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Conferral of Tenure

Page 6 The PACCM Insider

New Hires

Michael Dorff, MHA - UPP Division Administrator for PACCM

Benjamin Crandall, RPSGT - Sleep Manager, UPMC Presby, Monroeville & Mercy

Sleep Labs

Brittany Manning - Fellowship Coordinator

Jacob West-Roberts - Bioinformatics Engineer (Methé lab)

Kristine Cihil -- Lab Manager (Mallampalli)

Ritchie Koshy -- Clinical Research Coordinator (McDyer)

Rachel Nettles - Lab Specialist (Morris)

Qiang Zhang - Health Sciences Research Fellow (X. Wang)

Jiadi Luo - Visiting Scholar (K. Chen)

Jia Liu - Visiting Scholar (Y. Zhao)

Sue Dong - Visiting Scholar (Y. Zhao)

Micaelan Jean Valesky - Research Coordinator (S. Patel)

Kaitlin Bocian -Lab Technician (Rose)

Annabel Ferguson - Research Technician (K. Chen)

Mark Rath -- Lab Specialist (Alder)

Michael Dorff, MHA UPP Division Administrator, PACCM

Ron Poropatich, MD

Director, Center for Military Medicine

Research, Health Sciences

Kristen Veraldi, MD, PhD

Acting Chief of Staff

Butler VA

Welcome to all the new members of our PACCM Family!

by John W. Kreit (Author)

Mechanical Ventilation (Pittsburgh Critical Care Medicine)

April is designated as Transplant Awareness Month.

This past week, a new ExVivo machine has been on

display in the Presbyterian and Montefiore Hospital

lobbies, on a rotating basis.

Clinical Stars

Page 7 Volume 5, Issue 1

Transplant Awareness

2017 Excellence in Patient Experience Certificate

Michael Donahoe, MD

Silpa Kilaru, MD

John Kreit, MD

Jared Chiarchiaro, MD

Roy Semaan, MD

Silpa Kilaru, MD was recognized by patient’s family for

wonderful treatment of lung transplant patients as well as

those waiting for transplant.

Roy Semaan’s work and attitude are often complimented

by patients, especially the veterans. Thanks to Dr.

Semaan, we have been able to expand our services and

offer excellence to our veteran population.

Will Holmes (Sleep Center) was selected as a 2018

Presbyterian Above & Beyond Honorable Mention Winner!

The UPMC Above and Beyond Awards are a recognition of

staff commitment to excellence in customer service.

These winners are selected by the Presbyterians Executive

team from all of the nominees throughout the last 12

months.

In 2016, Peggy Stoeff, CRNP and Betsy Ellenberger, CRNP

were recognized as PACCM awardees for their exemplary

patient care. That exceptional care was again recently

acknowledged by a family for the comfort and compassion

that Peggy and Betsy provided to a family member during

her final days of illness.

Kristen Veraldi, MD, PhD was recently praised by a patient

who traveled from Chicago for a consultation as a second

opinion and commented that the visit was one of the best

interactions with a medical professional ever received.

Kudos to Deborah Piontek and Shawn McCurdy for their

knowledge and professionalism in executing the quality

pulmonary rehab program in the CLC and lung transplant

program. Thanks also to Kayla Kline’s dedication as a

therapist. Many lung disease patients in the United States

have no access to a pulmonary rehabilitation program, but

Dr. Mike Donahoe has been at the forefront to maintain

support of the program here at UPMC.

Joy DeLuna, MD received an Above and Beyond

nomination in November 2017 for patient care. Dr.

DeLuna developed a comprehensive, easy-to-read flow

chart of a patient’s complicated antibiotic regimen.

Georgios Kitsios – K23: Microbiome-based Diagnosis of

Pneumonia in the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Bill Chen— R35 Award: Systematic Investigation of Protein

Ubiquitination in ARDS.

Xingan Wang won the Competitive Medical Research Fund

Award for 2018 for a project entitled: “Biological Repair of

Extended-Criteria Donor Lungs with Ex Vivo Lung

Perfusion (EVLP)-Based Therapy in a Mouse Lung

Transplant Model.”

Divay Chandra (left) was

selected to receive an AFMR

Scholar Award for his

outstanding work, “Inhibition

of the SCFFBXO3 E3 Ligase

as a Novel Anti-Inflammatory

Therapy for Atherosclerosis”,

featured at the 2018 Eastern

Regional Meeting on March

16, Philadelphia.

Belinda Rivera, Mark Gladwin and Michael Risbano

presented “From Dusk til Dawn: A case based evolution of

an acute PE to CTEPH”, at the AHA meeting in Los Angeles

in November 2017. Mark Gladwin and Mike Risbano

chaired the session, Belinda was an invited speaker. The

session will be podcasted on the AHA website.

Sally Wenzel was invited to participate as speaker at the

Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2017

during the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series, featuring the

world's most eminent scientists, who speak on the highest

-impact research and policy issues in science and

medicine today.

Sally Wenzel was also invited to participate as speaker at

the Menkes Lectureship on January 11, 2018. The Harold

and Marilyn Menkes Memorial Lectureship in lung health

and disease was established at the Bloomberg School,

whereby a leading pulmonary scientist would be invited to

the School to interact with students, fellows and faculty.

Daniel Kass was invited to join the editorial board of the

European Respiratory Journal, as well as to serve on Lung

Injury, Repair and Remodeling Study Section for

February 2018.

Grants, Awards, & Notable Mentions

Page 8 The PACCM Insider

Belinda Rivera Lebron received an invitation to chair a

Bayer advisory board in Puerto Rico for CTEPH Feb 22-23,

2018.

Jessica Bon Field was invited to be a Peer Reviewer for

the AHA Career Development Award – Organ Basic

Sciences.

Barbara Methé participated in a comprehensive science,

operations, management and informatics review of the

Department of Energy’s (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI)

in Walnut Creek, California in December 2017. This panel

helps to evaluate the JGI for its current value to science,

its operational efficiency, and to determine guidance on

their future efforts.

Yutong Zhao received an invitation to serve as a member

of Editorial Board for the two journals, AJP-Lung and

Cellular Signaling.

Kathy Lindell was accepted as one of the first ATS Fellows

and will be recognized at the International Conference in

May.

Kathy Lindell was also nominated for service on the

Pulmonary Board of the American Board of Internal

Medicine. This board oversees initial board certification

and periodic recertification of pulmonologists in the Unit-

ed States.

Frank Sciurba has agreed to join the local ALA advisory

board and will provide invaluable COPD and University of

Pittsburgh representation.

Kelly Tatone and Nick

Bonfiglio (right), from

the Asthma Institute,

participated in a

University of Pittsburgh

fitness challenge by

climbing steps at the

Cathedral of Learning!

Upcoming Events

Page 9 Volume 5, Issue 1

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS COMING SOON - In conjunction with the

2018 Pittsburgh International Lung Conference. Be ready to submit

when portal opens! An email notification will be sent soon!

2018 PACCM AWARDS - An email will be sent soon for your chance

to nominate an outstanding co-worker, mentor, educator and more.

The annual Fundamentals of Bench Research Course is scheduled

for July 16-27, 2018 and registration is open to all clinical fellows

and physician scientists at the Instructor level in the University of

Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Details for registration can be found on the PACCM website.

Faculty Alumni, Patty George, invites you to participate in the Fifth

Annual PHenomenal Hope 5K on April 21, 2018 – North Shore.

Keep up with weekly divisional conferences by visiting the

PACCM Web Calendar!

Clicking on an event will expand to show speaker information.

The 2018 Fellows Research Retreat was held on February 5-7, beginning in our BST 1295 conference room before moving

to Seven Springs Mountain Resort.

Our fellows had the opportunity to interact with Dr. Lynn Schnapp, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of

Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy & Sleep Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. PACCM trainees and third

year fellows presented brief overviews of their current research before Dr. Schnapp rounded out the afternoon by giving a

lecture on the extracellular environment.

Once at Seven Springs, faculty provided overviews of the resources available to the fellows, as well as summaries of the

individual Centers of Excellence within our Division.

The annual rivalry continued during the bowling competition on Tuesday evening.

Congratulations to our 2018 Bowling Champions: (Below) Captain: Michael Dorff

Joe Pilewski, MD, Janet Lee, MD,

Jennifer Newitt, MD, and Chris O’Donnell, PhD,

Page 10 Volume 5, Issue 1

Fellows Research Retreat

Craig Riley, MD taught a recent Pulmonary STEP Review course and

received high accolades regarding his enthusiasm and ability to explain

difficult concepts in multiple ways.

Dan Dunlap, MD received a shout-out from the UPMC Presby/Shadyside

nurses for his compassion and advocacy for patients.

Fellows

It’s a Match!

The following seven outstanding

new people will be joining our

fellowship program in July:

Priya Borker

Beth Israel Deaconess

Christopher Franz

Mt. Sinai

Ioannis Konstantinidis

Mt. Sinai

Taylor Lincoln

Palliative Care Division

Kevin Misner

UT Southwestern

Kaveh Moghbeli

University of Pennsylvania

Niall Prendergast

Washington University, St. Louis

Page 11 Volume 5, Issue 1

Please join us!

Fellows Welcome

Luncheon

July 5, 2018

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

BST 1295

Parker B. Francis Award

Congratulations to Marc Gauthier, MD, a 2018

Parker B. Francis awardee!

This highly competitive program is designed to

provide support to new investigators who are

beginning careers in pulmonary science.

Marc Gauthier, MD

Tolani Olonisakin, a third year student in the

MSTP program and a researcher in Dr. Janet

Lee’s lab, has been selected as one of the

students around the world to participate in the

68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting taking

place from June 24 - 29, 2018 in Lindau,

Germany. Once every year, about 30 Nobel

Laureates convene in Lindau to meet the next

generation of leading scientists, 500-600

undergraduates, PhD students, and post-doc

researchers from all over the world. The Lindau

Novel Laureate Meetings foster the

exchange among scientists of different

generations, cultures, and disciplines.

68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Participant

Tolani Olonisakin

Fellows Did You Know…

Previous issues of the

PACCM Insider

can be found online here!

Be sure to notify us of all newsworthy items!

• New Grants

• Honors & Awards

• Promotions & New Appointments

• Special Presentations/Seminars

• Engagements/Marriages/Births

• Share photos of your colleagues!

Send info to: dobranskyta@upmc.edu

@PACCMPITT

Like us on Facebook!

BIRTHS

Congratulations to all of our growing PACCM

families!

Luca Maximous Rindos was welcomed by parents,

Stephanie and Noah, on December 22, 2017.

Marta Bueno and Jesus Tejero welcomed son, Lucas

Samuel, on January 4, 2018.

Mabel Claire was welcomed by parents, Eleanor and

Shane Valenzi, on January 20, 2018.

Adam and Bethany Fitch welcomed daughter, Elise

Amora, on February 17, 2018.

Hania Ali was welcomed by parents, Faraaz and

Kehkeshan Shah, on February 22, 2018.

Anna Marie Chekan welcomed her second grandson,

Benjamin Milan, on March 27, 2018.

Celebrations

@PACCM Follow us on Twitter!

Above: Benjamin Milan Chekan, with grandmother, Anna Marie

www.dom.pitt.edu/PACCM

Editor-in-Chief: Rama Mallampalli, MD

Deputy Editor: Keven Robinson, MD

Senior Editor and Creative Designer: Terri Dobransky

Above: Elise Amora Fitch, with parents, Adam and Bethany

Above: Hania Ali Shah, with dad, Faraaz

Right: Mabel Claire Valenzi

Below: Lucas Samuel Tejero Bueno

Right: Luca Maximous Rindos with

parents, Stephanie and Noah