From the MCG Dean's Diary June 14, 2024...
Dr. Meghan McGee Lawrence receives National Institute on Aging grant to study crosstalk between tissues and how that changes with age
Here’s another example of the great teamwork that is an MCG hallmark. Bone biologist and interim chair of our Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy Dr. Meghan McGee Lawrence has received $2.4 million from the National Institute on Aging to study the crosstalk between bone, the adrenal glands, the muscle and fat in our bodies and how that changes as we age. As we all know, tissues don't function in isolation – everything in the body “talks” to everything else to keep people healthy across the lifespan. So, perhaps the best approach to understanding how that talk first happens, and then changes, as we age, would be by assembling a team with a wide variety of expertise? Lucky for us, when the NIA was looking for grant proposals that included such teams, we were at the ready…because of how well we collaborate here at MCG. I am beginning to sense a theme.
Dr. McGee Lawrence has assembled another great group that includes experts from our Adrenal Center, the Center for Healthy Aging and even the AU College of Allied Health Sciences to examine mineralcorticoid receptors, which are best understood as a key regulator of blood pressure, and have been studied extensively here in things like adipose tissue, our kidneys and cardiovascular tissue. Dr. McGee Lawrence and her team believe they are also implicated in the way stress hormones affect our skeleton. Key team members include Dr. Carlos Isales, director of the Center for Healthy Aging; again, Dr. Belin de Chantemele from the VBC; Dr. Wendy Bollag, a cell physiologist who is an expert in the biology of the adrenal gland; and Dr. Kate Kosmac, from the AU Department of Physical Therapy who is an expert in skeletal muscle. To quote Dr. McGee Lawrence here, the science we can all do together is so much better than the science we can do in silos, and that makes us all better. I could not agree more.
David Hess
Drs. Meghan McGee-Lawrence (left), Wendy Bollag (center) & Carlos Isales (right), Kate Kosmic (far right)
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence received the Notice of Award for an NIH S10 equipment grant, supporting the purchase of a ~$400K in vivo micro-computed tomography instrument that will be utilized by faculty and staff in CBA, DNRM, VBC, Medicine, and Oral Biology.
2024 MCG Faculty Awards Ceremony
The MCG Faculty awards ceremony was held Thursday, May 23, 2024 in the Lee Auditorium. CBA received the Outstanding Basic Science Teaching Award from the class of 2026 (left);
Dr. Brett Szymik, Associate Professor, AU/UGA Medical Partnership, Athens received the Educator of the Year Award from the class of 2027 (top).
Dr. Ming Zhang has received his new NEI R01 grant titled “Ocular MCMV Latency and AMD-like Pathology”. The innovative of this project is to determine the contribution of CMV latency to AMD-relevant ocular pathology and to identify potential therapeutic targets to treat age-related macular degeneration and its symptoms and is funded for four years.
Congratulations Dr. Zhang on this wonderful news.
Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence has received a Notice of Grant Award from NIH that her NIA U01 grant ($2.36M) will be funded (award total: $2,365,732).
The title of the grant is “Endogenous steroid hormones as mediators of interorgan communication with the musculoskeletal system.” Co-investigators on this award, brought together by the AU Adrenal Center, include Drs. Wendy Bollag, Carlos Isales, Eric Belin de Chantemele, and Kate Kosmac.
Congratulations on this fantastic news!
Dr. Menaka Thounaojam has been selected as the recipient of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship’s 2024 Mentor Excellence Award!
As an undergraduate research mentor Dr. Thounaojam has spent many hours advising and guiding students and these students have clearly noticed her efforts and are grateful for her mentorship.
Congratulations Dr. Thounaojam and thank you for all you do for our students!
We want to congratulate Husam Eldin Bensreti on his successful defense of his dissertation entitled “Endogenous Glucocorticoid Signaling During Skeletal Aging” on April 15, 2024.
A special thanks to Dr. Bensreti’s committee, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence (advisor), Dr. Wendy Bollag, Dr. Mark Hamrick, Dr. Jennifer Sullivan, Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemèle and Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez (reader).
Congratulations on a job well done!
Mark Hamrick, PhD, senior associate dean for research, received the Distinguished
Leadership and
Outstanding Service Award at the MCG State of the College Address from Dean Hess.
Hamrick, a bone and muscle biologist and an honored educator and scientist, has worked closely with Hess and other MCG research leaders to move the medical school toward the top 60 in National Institutes of Health funding. Among the nation’s medical schools, MCG currently is ranked 68th by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, with nearly $61 million in funding. That represents a 17% increase in funding over last year MCG was ranked 74th.
He also has worked with department chairs, 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.
His service has included his role as interim chair of the MCG Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy since last August. “Dr. Hamrick embodies what a leader should be – humble but persistent; someone who puts service about self,” Hess said. “His exceptional understanding of the inner workings and importance of research, paired with his relentless pursuit of broadening this medical school’s impact have been a true asset to MCG.”
Dr. Hamrick will retire at the end of the month.
We want to congratulate Anik Tuladhar on his successful defense of his dissertation entitled “PRKD1 (PKC-MU) Regulates the Formation and Repair of Plasma Membrane Disruptions (PMD) in Osteocytes” on January 25, 2024.
A special thanks to Dr. Tuladhar’s committee, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence (advisor), Dr. Graydon Gonsalvez, Dr. Mitchell Watsky, Dr. Mark Hamrick, Dr. Mykola Mamenko and Dr. Yutao Liu (reader).
Dr. Tuladhar will be starting as a postdoctoral fellow at AbbVie Inc. in Chicago, IL starting in March.
Congratulations on a job well done!
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.
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!
