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Dr. Gary Kleiner Wins Micah Batchelor Award for Stem Cell Transplant Research

Gary I. Kleiner, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics and recipient of the 2009 Micah Batchelor Award.
Gary I. Kleiner, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics and the director of the Jeffrey Model Center for Primary Immune Deficiencies, is the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Micah Batchelor Award for Excellence in Children's Health Research. His winning research proposal is designed to make stem cell transplants an option for more children afflicted with hematologic disorders, primary immune deficiencies and cancer.

Kleiner, a specialist in pediatric immunology and allergy, plans to use the $300,000 that accompanies the award to test his hypothesis that using a combination of stem cells from a sick child's parents and unrelated umbilical cord blood from a bank will reduce the risks of, and barriers to, stem cell transplants, enabling more children to qualify for them.

"From a transplant standpoint, I think it will open up the doors to more children who are turned away,'' Kleiner said. "Currently, patients are not considered candidates because they don't have a suitable donor or because they have infections."

The late George E. Batchelor, a renowned aviation pioneer and philanthropist, established the award in 2004 in memory of his grandson, Micah, to recognize Miller School of Medicine investigators who are researching children's diseases at the Batchelor Children's Research Institute. Seeded with a $5 million endowment, it is one of the largest awards nationally for children's health research.

Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D., professor and chair of pediatrics, director of the Batchelor Children's Research Institute, associate executive dean for child health at the Miller School, and chief of staff of the Holtz Children's Hospital of the UM/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, lauded Kleiner for his winning proposal, "Engineered Cord Blood for Stem Cell Transplant," and the "outstanding, compassionate and innovative care" he and his team have been providing to children with acquired and congenital disorders since he joined the faculty in 2001.

"Dr. Kleiner's tireless and passionate work has given hope, improved quality of life and resulted in the survival of children with leukemia, lymphoma, bone marrow failure syndromes, and recurrent cancers by both established techniques and by pioneering research initiatives, such as the use of unrelated donor umbilical cord blood stem cells in patients who do not have a fully matched donor,'' Lipshultz said. "This has extended this life-saving therapy to many more patients who would otherwise not have been eligible for this curative approach.''

Kleiner, who expressed shock over the honor, said the combination transplant he is proposing - and has performed once - will shorten the time period stem cell transplant recipients are susceptible to infections, making more of them eligible to undergo the procedure.

"The problem with bone marrow transplants or stem cell transplants is, if you give chemotherapy or radiation, which you usually have to give to everyone, there is a time period called neutropenia when the patient's white blood cell count is zero,'' Kleiner explained. "It is a period when you are very susceptible to infection and more likely to die. With regular stem cell transplants the average time is 21 days, but with this type of transplant we hope this period will be reduced to 10 to 14 days. So the major advantage is people who are turned away for a transplant because the risk is too high may in the future be eligible.''

In all, nine researchers submitted award proposals, which were reviewed by three internal reviewers and 16 external reviewers. The judges evaluated the candidates in three areas: the quality of the scientific proposal; the importance of the research to the health of children; and the contribution of the individual researcher to the health of children.

"We had a world-class group of reviewers from around the United States who are experts in child health research,'' Lipshultz said. "Many commented on the number of outstanding proposals that were submitted. Virtually all of them scored well enough to have been funded on the first or second NIH submission, which indicates the quality of the work going on in the Batchelor Children's Research Institute."

Grand Rounds
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 8 a.m.
Pediatric Grand Rounds: “Update on Inflammatory Bowel Disease”
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12 p.m.
Cardiovascular Grand Rounds: “Predicting and Preventing Stroke”
Wednesday, December 02, 2009 7:30 a.m.
Plastic Surgery Grand Rounds: “Minimizing Scars and Keloids – Update”
Wednesday, December 02, 2009 11:45 a.m.
Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery Grand Rounds: "Catalyzing Health Care Transformation Via TeleHealth"
Thursday, December 03, 2009 6:45 a.m.
Anesthesiology Grand Rounds: "Controversies in Perioperative Pacemaker and Defibrillator Management"
Thursday, December 03, 2009 7 a.m.
Neurological Surgery Grand Rounds
Thursday, December 03, 2009 7 a.m.
Orthopaedic Grand Rounds: “Mobile Bearing Total Knee Replacement”
Thursday, December 03, 2009 7:30 a.m.
Surgical Grand Rounds/Barbara B. Williams Lecture: “Laparoscopic Liver Resection for Cancer”
Thursday, December 03, 2009 8 a.m.
Otolaryngology Grand Rounds: “Facial Reanimation”
Thursday, December 03, 2009 12 p.m.
Pathology Grand Rounds: “On Social Entrepreneurship – There is Life Outside of Pathology”
Friday, December 04, 2009 10 a.m.
Neurology Grand Rounds
Friday, December 04, 2009 12 p.m.
Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “Medical Errors Prevention, Part One”
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 8 a.m.
Pediatric Grand Rounds: “Facial Clefting and Reconstruction”
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 12 p.m.
Cardiovascular Grand Rounds
Thursday, December 10, 2009 7 a.m.
Orthopaedic Grand Rounds: "Proximal Opening Wedge Osteotomy of the First Metatarsal with Plate Fixation for Hallux Valgus"
Thursday, December 10, 2009 7:30 a.m.
Surgical Grand Rounds: “Malpractice Lawsuit Prevention”
Thursday, December 10, 2009 8 a.m.
Neurological Surgery Grand Rounds: “Neuropathology Review Conference”
Thursday, December 10, 2009 8 a.m.
Otolaryngology Grand Rounds: “Allergic Rhinitis”
Thursday, December 10, 2009 12 p.m.
Hospital Medicine Grand Rounds: “Understanding Enteral/Parenteral Nutrition - 2009”
Friday, December 11, 2009 10 a.m.
Neurology Grand Rounds: “Searching for New Approaches to Prevent Stroke”
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 8 a.m.
Pediatric Grand Rounds: "The Pathogenesis of Staphylococcus Aureus Pneumonia and the Role of Immunity"
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 12 p.m.
Cardiovascular Grand Rounds: “Chronic Kidney Disease: Can We Reduce Cardiovascular Risk?”
Thursday, December 17, 2009 7 a.m.
Orthopaedic Grand Rounds: “Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Arthritis”
Thursday, December 17, 2009 7:30 a.m.
Surgical Grand Rounds: “Percutaneous Treatment of Aortic Valve Disease”
Thursday, December 17, 2009 8 a.m.
Neurological Surgery Grand Rounds: “Neuropathology”
Friday, December 18, 2009 10 a.m.
Neurology Grand Rounds: “Movement Disorders of Childhood”
Friday, December 18, 2009 12 p.m.
Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “Culturally-Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia”
Friday, December 18, 2009 3 p.m.
Medicine Grand Rounds: “Clinical Pharmacogenomics in Clinical Practice”
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 8 a.m.
Pediatric Grand Rounds: “TB 2009: A Perspective From Chile”
Thursday, December 31, 2009 12 p.m.
Hospital Medicine Grand Rounds: “Thrombocytopenia in the Clinical Setting - 2009”
Events
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 11 a.m. Student Members of Physicians for Human Rights Commemorate World AIDS Day with Awareness Campaign
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12 p.m. Cell Biology and Anatomy Seminar: “Probing Mitochondrial DNA Structure with Mitochondria-Targeted DNA Methyltransferases"
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 4 p.m. Genetics and Genomics Seminar: “miRNAs, Morphology and Metastasis”
Wednesday, December 02, 2009 11:59 a.m. Gail F. Beach Memorial Visiting Lectureship: “Applications of Recurrent Brain-Computer Interfaces”
Thursday, December 03, 2009 7 a.m. Continuing Medical Education Course: "An Update in the Management of Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency"
Thursday, December 03, 2009 12 p.m. Microbiology and Immunology Seminar: "Hyperoxic Reversal of Hypoxia-Adenosinergic Immunosuppression in Lung Metastases"
Friday, December 04, 2009 12 p.m. Friday Noon Interdisciplinary Lecture Series/First Fridays Talks on Autism: "Toilet Training Individuals with Autism"
Friday, December 04, 2009 12 p.m. Neuroscience Center Seminar: "Control of Ion Channel Modulation, Synaptic Plasticity and Neuronal Circuits by Light"
Friday, December 04, 2009 12 p.m. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: “Nucleosome Dynamics During DNA Replication and Repair”
Saturday, December 05, 2009 7 a.m. Bascom Palmer Presents: “Retinal and Glaucoma Imaging 2010”
Saturday, December 05, 2009 7:29 a.m. Advances in Flexible Endoscopy Course
Monday, December 07, 2009 12 p.m. Microbiology and Immunology Seminar: "TNFRSF25 Robustly Expands CD4+Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells In Vivo"
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 9 a.m. DMAS/FRS Training Scheduled for December
Wednesday, December 09, 2009 9 a.m. The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis Seminar
Wednesday, December 09, 2009 12 p.m. Microbiology and Immunology Dissertation Seminar: “APRIL (TNFSF13) in Th1, Th2 and Th17 Responses”
Wednesday, December 09, 2009 12 p.m. Pediatric Clinical Research Forum: “Viral Time Bomb: Pediatric HCV in the State of Florida”
Thursday, December 10, 2009 10 a.m. The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis Hosts First Holiday Bazaar
Thursday, December 10, 2009 11:30 a.m. Israeli Health Care Reform Symposium
Thursday, December 10, 2009 12 p.m. Microbiology and Immunology Seminar: "Immunoglobulin Class Switch DNA Recombination and Somatic Hypermutation"
Thursday, December 10, 2009 12 p.m. Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Seminar: “Stem Cells and Cardiomyogenesis”
Thursday, December 10, 2009 12 p.m. NIH Update Meeting
Thursday, December 10, 2009 3 p.m. Department of Medicine Seminar
Thursday, December 10, 2009 4 p.m. Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., to Present the 10th Biennial Gross Lecture
Friday, December 11, 2009 12 p.m. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: "Recognition and Repair of UV-Induced DNA Damage in the Context of Chromatin"
Sunday, December 13, 2009 8:30 a.m. Walk/Run to Benefit the Diabetes Research Institute
Monday, December 14, 2009 12 p.m. Microbiology and Immunology Seminar: “Unraveling Confused CTL”
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 9 a.m. Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Dissertation Seminar: "Vav3 Potentiation of Androgen Receptor Activity in Prostate Cancer"
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 12 p.m. Cell Biology and Anatomy Seminar: "New Perspective for ORF Phage Display as an Efficient Versatile Technology of Functional Proteomics"
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 1 p.m. Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Special Seminar: "Androgen Receptor Corepressor NCoR is a Key Regulator of Androgen Receptor Action in Prostate Cancer"
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 4 p.m. Genetics and Genomics Seminar: "Next-Generation Sequencing: Novel Applications for Molecular Genetics"
Thursday, December 17, 2009 12 p.m. Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Seminar: “Early Detection of Melanoma by Olfactory Receptors”
Thursday, December 17, 2009 1:15 p.m. Department of Medicine Seminar: “HIV Persistence in the Face of HAART”
Friday, December 18, 2009 11 a.m. Neurology Clinicopathological Conference
Friday, December 18, 2009 12 p.m. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: "Common Variants in Innate Immunity Genes Influence Susceptibility to Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Three Populations"
Friday, December 18, 2009 1 p.m. Neuroscience Center Seminar: "Calcium, Selective Neurodegeneration and Protection in Parkinson's Disease"
Friday, December 18, 2009 3 p.m. Liberty City Toy Drive
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