University news

VCU celebrating 40th anniversary

The year 1968 marked an important turning point in the histories of the Medical College of Virginia and the Richmond Professional Institute as they merged to become Virginia Commonwealth University. This year, we are celebrating VCU’s 40th anniversary and the important milestones that have helped shape who we are today as well as our vision for tomorrow.

To mark this anniversary, the university will celebrate with two special events in October. Details will be provided in a future issue of the E-Xpress.

In addition, state Sen. Donald McEachin presented two resolutions in April to VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., and VCU Rector Tom Rosenthal that were passed by the General Assembly. The resolutions commend VCU on the occasion of its 40th anniversary in 2008 and officially designate July 1, 2008, as Virginia Commonwealth University Day in Virginia. VCU alumni are encouraged to wear black and gold to commemorate the official anniversary.

VCU breaking new ground in Qatar

(From left) VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Ph.D., vice president of education for the Qatar Foundation, and Tom Rosenthal, VCU rector, help break ground for an expansion of the university’s building in Education City, Qatar.

Virginia Commonwealth University President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., Tom Rosenthal, VCU rector, and other dignitaries recently traveled to the Middle East for several events, including the seventh Commencement at VCU’s School of the Arts in Qatar.

While in Qatar, the university broke ground for an expansion of its building in Education City. The new space, which will be an LEED Silver-certified environmentally friendly design, will expand the offerings available to Qatar students. The plans call for a master’s degree in design as well as the construction of a large library and more facilities to support the growing needs of the student population. Currently, students can pursue bachelor’s degrees in graphic design, fashion design or interior design.

The ceremony marked a new era for VCU and Qatar as a center for design excellence, said VCUQatar Dean Allyson Vanstone. The dean also welcomed Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Ph.D., the Qatar Foundation vice president for education, who spoke about the prosperous relationship between VCU and the Qatar Foundation.

“Today, our student body has grown to just under 200, and we have more than 35 faculty members,” said President Trani. “In addition, we have made a smooth transition from an all-female student body to a co-ed student body this past year.”

As the first institution to come to Education City 10 years ago, VCU established its campus with 35 students and six faculty members. Today, VCUQatar has nearly 200 alumni.

Kuwaiti alumni meet with VCU officials

VCU dignataries meet with Dentistry alumni in Kuwait City

VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., and David C. Sarrett, D.M.D., M.S., associate vice president for Health Sciences, Academic Affairs, attended a reception in Kuwait with VCU alumni.

During a trip to the Middle East for events in Qatar, VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., and David C. Sarrett, D.M.D, M.S., associate vice president for Health Sciences, Academic Affairs, also paid a visit to Kuwait.

More than 70 Kuwaitis are now alumni of Virginia Commonwealth University, mostly from the School of Dentistry. Dr. Trani and Sarrett enjoyed a reception with 23 alumni from dentistry and the schools of Mass Communications and Education.

“Dr. Trani and I were greeted by some of our proudest VCU graduates anywhere in the world! It was a very special evening indeed,” Sarrett said. “Meeting with our alumni in Kuwait also provided a wonderful opportunity to build on VCU's strong partnership with their country.”

The involvement of these alumni showcases VCU’s growing reach, said Gordon McDougall, assistant vice president for University Alumni Relations, and highlights the importance of building a strong alumni relations program.

“Alumni attending the reception indicated great interest in remaining active in the life of their university and plans are under way to establish an international alumni chapter in this important area of the world,” McDougall said.

Massey researchers make strides in leukemia therapy

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have discovered that a combination of novel anti-cancer compounds can kill chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, cells previously resistant to conventional forms of therapy.

CML is a cancer of the bone marrow caused by a specific genetic abnormality and is one of the more common forms of leukemia. Imatinib mesylate, or Gleevec, is a highly effective anti-cancer agent that has revolutionized the course of therapy for patients with CML. It works by inhibiting the activity of a mutant protein, known as Bcr/Abl, which is responsible for the disease. Despite initial success, however, patients eventually become resistant to imatinib mesylate, often through the development of further mutations in the Bcr/Abl protein.

According to Steven Grant, M.D., Massey’s associate director for translational research, co-leader of the cancer center’s cancer cell biology program and senior author of the study, resistance to imatinib mesylate prompted the search for newer agents that are active against the mutated forms of Bcr/Abl.

“Theoretically, this combination could improve upon the results of Bcr/Abl kinase inhibitors administered alone, particularly in the case of imatinib-resistant disease,” said Grant.

Further preclinical studies are underway to test this hypothesis.

VCU partners with W&M on health initiatives

(From left) Professor Larry I. Palmer, director of the Health Policy and Law Initiative, Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, VCU President Eugene Trani, Ph.D., and interim William & Mary President Taylor Reveley, J.D., help make the announcement.

The presidents of the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University have announced a signature collaboration to address one of the most difficult issues facing U.S. communities today — health policy.

The VCU-William and Mary Health Policy and Law Initiative will bring together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines at the two institutions to conduct research, provide public service and offer joint degree programs that focus on solving topical problems in health policy, law and bioethics.

“This is a new form of inter-institutional collaboration in Virginia,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D. “As public institutions of higher education, we are pooling the resources of two major universities to leverage our strengths in public policy, health and law to help solve a major problem.”

Faculty and students from VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the VCU School of Medicine and the William and Mary School of Law will work together in the initiative, the ultimate goal of which is to establish a Center for Health Policy and Law.

The initiative’s first service-learning project is a Veterans Disability Clinic — a pilot program set to launch in January 2009 — that will involve William and Mary law students helping veterans with disability claims and other legal matters, while students from the VCU Department of Psychology will provide counseling, assessments and referrals to community agencies and medical providers.

The initiative will be housed at the Theater Row Building, close to VCU’s MCV Campus in downtown Richmond, and at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at William and Mary.

Former Arts dean DePillars dies

Murry N. DePillars, Ph.D., who served the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts for nearly 25 years, died May 31 at his home in Richmond at age 69.

DePillars served as dean of the VCU School of the Arts from 1976 until 1995, following five years as assistant dean. He cultivated a fertile period of development at the school, which emerged as one of the largest arts schools in the country under his leadership.

“The School of the Arts grew in very significant ways during the many years Murry DePillars served as dean,” said Richard Toscan, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of the Arts.

Murry N. DePillars, Ph.D.

DePillars was known as an enthusiastic supporter of a wide range of art forms at VCU and a booster for his students.

“Murry was a warm and gracious leader, and his focus was always on the students and how we best could serve them,” said Joseph Seipel, senior associate dean for academic affairs and director of graduate studies in the School of the Arts. “He was a strong and vocal advocate for the School of the Arts and led us through the majority of our formative years as a school during the 1970s and 1980s.”

DePillars also was a “painter of considerable talent,” Toscan said. DePillars’ retirement from VCU allowed him more time to devote to his painting.

DePillars’ paintings have been exhibited in such venues as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the National Civil Rights Museum. He was a central member of Chicago’s African-American Arts Movement in the 1960s and was a longstanding member of AfriCobra, an organization of black artists.

His painting “From the Mississippi Delta, 1997” is in the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. In 2002, the Hampton University Museum exhibited 42 of DePillars’ pieces that spanned more than 40 years of his artistic career.

DePillars earned an associate degree from Kennedy-King College, a bachelor’s degree in art education, a master’s degree in urban studies from Roosevelt College and a doctorate in art education from Penn State. He also served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

DePillars was awarded the title of professor emeritus upon his retirement from VCU and later received the Presidential Medallion, which honors extraordinary commitment in learning and commitment to the mission of VCU.

Heart transplant pioneer dies

Richard R. Lower, M.D., who helped develop the techniques for transplanting a human heart and performed the ninth transplant in the U.S., died May 17 at his home in Twin Bridges, Mont. He was 78.

Lower was a professor emeritus at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and former chair of the division of cardiothoracic surgery.

He came to the VCU Medical Center — then the Medical College of Virginia — in 1965 from Stanford University Medical Center, where he and colleague Norman Shumway, M.D., had been conducting research on cooling and resuscitating the heart. The two performed many successful canine heart transplants before Lower was recruited to VCU.

In Richmond, Lower and his team continued to refine their surgical and post-operative techniques and nearly performed the first heart transplant in the world, but a blood incompatibility issue kept them from operating.

On May 25, 1968, Lower performed the first heart transplant in Virginia — just the 16th in the world. While the patient’s survival was short, it led to a landmark change in the legal definition of brain death, a decision that would forever benefit future transplant recipients.

Lower retired from VCU in 1989 and moved to Montana where he operated a cattle ranch. A true lover of the outdoors, he originally wanted to attend Cornell University Forestry School but chose medicine at the urging of his friends.

Before pursing his surgical career, his passion had been family practice medicine. Until recently, Lower had returned to Richmond and was volunteering as a general practitioner at the Cross Over Ministry clinic, helping underinsured and uninsured patients.

“Dr. Lower was a giant in the field of cardiac surgery internationally and was one of the cornerstones of the VCU Medical Center,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., president and chair of the VCU Health System board of directors. “His tireless efforts as a clinician, researcher and teacher exemplify the mission of our academic medical center.”

VCU Jazz offers new CD

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Jazz Studies Program has released its sixth recording in 25 years, “A Joyful Noise.”

The CD is the first to be recorded entirely live and features the Jazz Orchestra I, a small jazz ensemble, the Faculty Jazz Septet and guests Wycliffe Gordon on trombone and Steve Wilson on sax.

The first eight selections were recorded live in Chicago at The Midwest Clinic, an international music conference, in December 2007. The other two selections were recorded at VCU’s Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall in October 2007.

“A Joyful Noise” is available at Plan 9 Records, CDBaby.com and at VCU Jazz concerts.