Inside Einstein
Elective Service — Dr. Susan Band Horwitz was elected to serve as one of the members of the AACR Nominating Committee for the 2012 to 2014 term. Founded in 1907, the AACR (American Association for Cancer Research), is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. Its membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. Dr. Horwitz is distinguished university professor and co-chair of molecular pharmacology at Einstein, as well as associate director for therapeutics for the Albert Einstein Cancer Center and the Rose C. Falkenstein Professor of Cancer Eesearch. She also is an AACR past president and currently serves as a member on the Council of Scientific Advisors.
TB Tested – Drs. Bill Jacobs and Paras Jain report their development of a new diagnostic tool for Mycobacterium tuberculosis Mtb) infection in a recent online edition of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. They generated the bacteriophage F2GFP10, an Mtb-specific virus, that injects its DNA and causes the bug to fluoresce 100-fold brighter than what can be achieved with existing tools. This exceptionally bright fluorescence allows, for the first time, Mtb detection at the low levels that are present in clinical sputum samples. It also proved to be very effective for rapid drug susceptibility testing of Mtb to several relevant antibiotics. Dr. Jacobs is professor of microbiology & immunology and of genetics and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Dr. Jain is an associate in microbiology & immunology.
Sweet Rewards – Dr. Meredith Hawkins has received the 2012 Junior Physician-Investigator Award from the American Federation for Medical Research (AFMR). The award recognizes young investigators that incorporate teaching and clinical medicine programs with outstanding scientific research. In addition to her investigations into nutritional regulation of the chronic inflammation in adipose tissue and the associated features of metabolic syndrome, she founded and directs Einstein’s Global Diabetes Initiative. Dr. Hawkins is professor of medicine in the Diabetes Research and Training Center.