UCLA PATHOLOGY AND LABORATORY...
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UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Spring Edition July 2015 | Page 1
Spring Newsletter—2015
Congratulations— Anatomic Pathology Staff
Congratulations to Pathology AP staff members for winning the CICARE Team award!
This award is given to teams of employees who are recognized by patients and peers for
their extra effort to fulfill our vision of healing humankind, one patient at a time, by im-
proving health, alleviating suffering, and delivering acts of kindness. Only 6 team awards
have been given in the last 4 years, so this is a true accomplishment for our staff and our
Department.
Thanks also to Dr. Sarah Dry for nominating our staff for this award. A few months ago, Dr. Dry received a thank you note from a
patient’s family and a letter from Dr. Eddie Garon, one of our Oncology colleagues, expressing thanks to Pathology staff for all
their hard work. The notes formed the basis for the nomination.
On behalf of the Department, I want to express my utmost thanks to all the AP Pathology Staff members, for your professional-
ism, hard work and dedication. We are proud to have you in our Department, and your recognition is well-deserved.
From Dr. Edward Garon: ―My staff and I would like to thank the Pathology Staff for their hard work, professionalism and great
clinical care that they provide to our Oncology patients. I realize that the Pathology staff is less visible to patients than the physi-
cians, nurses and clinical trial coordinators with whom they interact personally. For this reason, I am sending this note, and hope
that you can convey my thanks to these members of the Pathology staff.‖
From Patient: ―My son has been to other institutions, and it is rare for the Pathology team to be so accommodating and demon-
strates compassion. The pathology team at UCLA provided the original diag-
nosis for my son’s rare tumor, and you and your team
have been very supportive to our family behind the
scenes. With new methods for tumor testing we are
searching for a treatment to stop his tumor progres-
sion, and your team has been critical to our hope.
Thank you.‖
Inside this issue:
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS,
2
EVENTS AND DEPARTMENT
NEWS
3
NEW EMPLOYEES 4
PUBLICATIONS 5/6
U C L A P A T H O L O G Y A N D L A B O R A T O R Y M E D I C I N E
Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R
2015 Pathology Farewell Celebration
The 2014-2015 Pathology Farewell Reception and Dinner took place on June 3rd at the UCLA Faculty Center. Graduates were
honored on a beautiful Southern California evening which began with hors d’oeuvres and an art exhibit featuring faculty, graduate
and staff talent. Dinner and presentations followed, hosted by Department Chair, Dr. Jonathan Braun. | More information
Now up on the Department Website:
The 2015 UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Annual Report | Click Here
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Spring Edition July 2015 | Page 2
Awards and Recognitions
International Partnerships
The UCLA Health Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medi-
cine continues to make strides in its international collaborative lab
in China. With assistance from members of the Chemistry and Out-
reach laboratory services divisions, including Dr. Lu Song and Ofe-
lia ―Pia‖ Berina, staff in the Shanghai-based laboratory were metic-
ulously trained on instrument and assay validation. Recently, the
first set of live chemistry services for patient care was launched.
To date, the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has
spearheaded multiple successful onsite initiatives/visits through the
Shanghai lab including process improvement audits by Arnold
Scheer and Chris Khacherian, quality management system training
by Ann Shadler and local and regional partnerships leveraging ser-
vice agreements with UCLA by Drs. Scott Binder, Serge Alexanian,
Haodong Xu, and Jianyu Rao. This includes hospital systems in
Yancheng and Zhengzhou.
Earlier in the year, staff
members from Shanghai
underwent extensive training
in section-specific quality
management and technical
operations on-site at UCLA.
Read More
Team Spirit Award
Congratulations to the Santa Monica Lab on receiving a Team
Spirit Award! This award recognizes employees who work
seamlessly and enthusiastically together to inspire and provide
exceptional service in their area of specialty in the hospital
UCLA Excellence in Education Award
Congratulations to Dr. Elena Stark, recipient of the 2015 David
Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Excel-
lence in Education Award. This peer-reviewed
award recognizes outstanding dedication, inno-
vation, and sustained excellence in clinical and
classroom teaching. The recipients have distin-
guished themselves as exceptional educators.
The David Geffen School of Medicine at
UCLA is particularly pleased and grateful for
their contributions. Photos of Event
Congratulations to our CLS, Janet Hindler
who received an award from the Clinical
and Laboratory Standards Institute for her
work on developing the M45 document for
antibiotic resistance testing of fastidious
bacteria. | Read More
Congratulations Paula Mendoza on com-
pleting the Medical Interpreter Program
Qualification Course! This is an important
first step toward her experience as a Quali-
fied Interpreter.
Congratulations Ann on your 35 years of
Service at UCLA! This year's National
Hospital Week was celebrated during the
week of May 10 – 16, 2015.
Congratulations to Dr. Omai Garner who
was interviewed in CAP Today. Dr. Gar-
ner’s interview starts on page 63 of the May
2015 Edition. | Read More
Congratulations to our Clinical Microbiology
Fellow, Lieutenant Colonel Max Wu, who
will be continuing his duty as Chief, Infec-
tious Disease Labs at the Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany.
Congratulations to Dr. Elaine Reed and
her team, for being featured as the cover
article in Trends in Molecular Medicine. |
Read More
NGS Workshops
Congratulations to Dr. Xinmin Li and Clinical Microarray Core
(CMC) in finishing the 10th NGS workshop and special thanks to
our outstanding panel of lecturers/instructors lead by Drs. Wayne
Grody, Josh Deignan, Samuel Strom, Samuel, Ling Dong, Janice
Yoshizawa, Vanina Tomasian, Xiangming Ding, Fake (Frank) Li,
and Jamie Zhou! The workshop has triggered an extensive interest
in both UCLA and non-UCLA research/clinical communities and
received a large number of applicants. Due to space constrain, only
24 early registrants were accommodated, representing 11 different
Universities/Hospitals/Companies. The NGS workshop is consisted
of a combination of lectures, wetlabs, and data analysis/
interpretation. Due to the high demand, CMC has started hosting
genomics workshop at least once a year since 2008 and it has been
a huge success every
year. 100% of the par-
ticipants in our post-
workshop survey
ranked our workshop as
Outstanding/Excellent!
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Spring Edition July 2015 | Page 3
Department News
Continued...
Thank you to all Blood Bank bakers and the Blood Bank and Core Lab tasters/judges for making the 2015 Lab Week Blood Bank
Bakeoff Contest a smashing success! We had 9 delectable entries, ranging from homemade chocolate chip cookies to cheese rolls
to cake pops, red velvet cookies to peach upside down cake, and all the way to baked tilapia!
Here are the winners:
1st Place—Adolf M.
(Winner of a $25 California Pizza Kitchen card) Baked Tilapia
(Entry #9)
2nd Place—Janet B.
(Winner of a $15 Safeway/Vons gift card) Banana Pudding
(Entry #3)
3rd Place—Crystal D.
(Winner of a $10 Barnes and noble card)
Banana Cream Cupcakes
(Entry #5)
Like all superheroes, our physicians and clinical medical professionals, owe much of their effectiveness to
experts behind the scenes, who help them render the best diagnoses for their patients. We want to thank all
of our lab professionals, seen and unseen, during lab week and beyond, who take pride in their major role
in the healing of our patients, and the comfort of their families and friends. More Pictures
Lab Week Festivities
The Chase Child Life Program at Mattel Children’s Hospital, UCLA
Pathology employees participated in the 2015 Bruin Run/Walk benefitting the Mattel Children’s Hospital. Team Riley, was led
by Captains Leslie Chew and Tami Langevin (pictured on the Left). This program provides emotional support to patients and
their families to help them cope with the stresses of their illnesses and hospitalizations. Many staff and faculty who could not
participate in the 5k run/walk lent their support with generous donations. Baskets of gifts as well as monetary donations for the
hospitalized children were also presented by the Pathology Department staff (pictured on the Right).
We hope more will join us next year!
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Spring Edition July 2015 | Page 4
Welcome New Employees and Students
June 2015
Back Row
Alton Martin – CPT, SMH
Sabrina Jones – CLS, Brentwood
Annex
Eric Dee – CPT, RRH
Roshni Morar – HLT II, Cytolo-
gy
Sabrina Smulders – Adm. Nurse
II, Blood & Platelet Center
Jesse Lester De Guzman – CPT,
SMH
Sidney Wormsley – CPT, SMH
Kum Lam Chan – CLS, Molecu-
lar Diagnostics
Front Row
Melissa Lyon – Cytogenetic
Technologist, Cytogenetics
Sonia Valadez - CLS, SMH
May 2015
Back Row (L to R): Tan Nguyen, Mario Hakim, Andrew
Cottrell
Front Row (L to R): Tiffany Pham, Nichole Drew, Brian
Song, Grace Shin, Jason Gonzalez
July 2015 BACK ROW
Elizabeth Ejindu: Registry CLS, Blood Bank
Chulkyu Kim: Adm Spec, Brentwood Annex
Jose Solis: CLS Apprentice, Molecular Pa-
thology
Wael Boktor: CPT II, Support Services
Namesha Cavitt: CPT II, Santa Monica
Victoria Anikst: CLS Apprentice, Micro bio
Mikkiel Cheng: CLS Apprentice, Micro bio
Mike Esters: CPT II, Support Services
MIDDLE ROW
Laura Drzich: CLS Apprentice, Molecular
Pathology
Nicole Roberts: HLT, AP Santa Monica
Jewell Yap: CLS, Microbiology
Enedina Maliksi: CLS, Microbiology
FRONT ROW
Ollie Winn: SAO II, Clinical PhD Fellowship
Coordinator
Left to Right
Minhui Wang – Cytotechnologist, Cytology
Katherine Favela – CPT, Support Services
Imelda Giron – CPT, Support Services
Karine Gasparian – CPT, Support Services
Morgana Langston – Pathology Assistant Student
Amanda Elliott – Pathology Assistant Student
UCLA Class of 2015-2016: New Clinical
Laboratory Scientist Students
Watch their video:
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Spring Edition July 2015 | Page 5
One of the goals of the Pathology Research Alumni Committee is to highlight publications from our current and
recently former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and residents in the departmental newsletter. If anyone
has additional publications (newly published, first-author only) that should be highlighted, please contact Doug
Smoot ([email protected]).
PATHOLOGY RESEARCH ALUMNI COMMITTEE & PUBLICATIONS
-- Joshua Deignan, PhD, FACMG, Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory
Medicine, Chair, Pathology Research Alumni Committee
January—July 2015
GSRs:
Tara Teslaa – GSR (Michael Teitell lab)
Pluripotent stem cell energy metabolism: an update.
Teslaa T, Teitell MA.
EMBO J. 2015 Jan 13;34(2):138-53. doi: 10.15252/
embj.201490446. Epub 2014 Dec 4. Review.
Xin Rong – CMP Graduate (Peter Tontonoz lab)
Lpcat3-dependent production of arachidonoyl phospholipids is a key
determinant of triglyceride secretion.
Rong X, Wang B, Dunham MM, Hedde PN, Wong JS, Gratton E,
Young SG, Ford DA, Tontonoz P.
Elife. 2015 Mar 25;4. doi: 10.7554/eLife.06557.
Lynnea Waters – GSR (Michael Teitell lab)
LKB1 regulates germinal center formation and termination.
Waters LR, Walsh NC, Teitell MA.
Cell Cycle. 2015 Jun 1:1-2. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract
available.
Jennifer King – CMP Student (Dinesh Rao lab)
Langerhans Cells Maintain Local Tissue Tolerance in a Model of
Systemic Autoimmune Disease.
King JK, Philips RL, Eriksson AU, Kim PJ, Halder RC, Lee DJ,
Singh RR.
J Immunol. 2015 Jul 15;195(2):464-76. doi: 10.4049/
jimmunol.1402735. Epub 2015 Jun 12.
Jorge Contreras – CMP Student (Dinesh Rao lab)
MicroRNA-146a modulates B-cell oncogenesis by regulating Egr1.
Contreras JR, Palanichamy JK, Tran TM, Fernando TR, Rodriguez-
Malave NI, Goswami N, Arboleda VA, Casero D, Rao DS.
Oncotarget. 2015 May 10;6(13):11023-37.
Nicole Walsh – CMP Graduate (Michael Teitell lab)
LKB1 inhibition of NF-κB in B cells prevents T follicular helper
cell differentiation and germinal center formation.
Walsh NC, Waters LR, Fowler JA, Lin M, Cunningham CR, Brooks
DG, Rehg JE, Morse HC 3rd, Teitell MA.
EMBO Rep. 2015 Jun;16(6):753-68. doi: 10.15252/
embr.201439505. Epub 2015 Apr 26
Post Docs:
Ronik Khachatoorian - Postdoc (Samuel French lab)
Structural characterization of the HSP70 interaction domain of the
hepatitis C viral protein NS5A.
Khachatoorian R, Ruchala P, Waring A, Jung CL, Ganapathy E,
Wheatley N, Sundberg C, Arumugaswami V, Dasgupta A, French
SW.
Virology. 2015 Jan 15;475:46-55. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2014.10.011.
Epub 2014 Nov 25
Sandra Theimann – Postdoc (Linda Baum lab)
Assessing the roles of galectins in regulating dendritic cell migration
through extracellular matrix and across lymphatic endothelial cells.
Thiemann S, Man JH, Baum LG.
Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1207:215-29. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-
1396-1_14.
Beata Berent Maoz – Recent Postdoc (Kenneth Dorshkind lab)
The expansion of thymopoiesis in neonatal mice is dependent on
expression of high mobility group a 2 protein (Hmga2).
Berent-Maoz B, Montecino-Rodriguez E, Fice M, Casero D, Seet
CS, Crooks GM, Lowry W, Dorshkind K.
PLoS One. 2015 May 1;10(5):e0125414. doi: 10.1371/
journal.pone.0125414. eCollection 2015.
Thilini Fernando – Postdoc (Dinesh Rao lab)
LncRNA Expression Discriminates Karyotype and Predicts Survival
in B-Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Fernando TR, Rodriguez-Malave NI, Waters EV, Yan W, Casero D,
Basso G, Pigazzi M, Rao DS.
Mol Cancer Res. 2015 May;13(5):839-51. doi: 10.1158/1541-
7786.MCR-15-0006-T. Epub 2015 Feb 13.
Kimberly Thomas – Postdoc (Elaine Reed lab)
The perfect storm: HLA antibodies, complement, FcγRs, and endo-
thelium in transplant rejection.
Thomas KA, Valenzuela NM, Reed EF.
Trends Mol Med. 2015 May;21(5):319-29. doi: 10.1016/
j.molmed.2015.02.004. Epub 2015 Mar 20. Review.
Dhong Hyun Lee – Postdoc (Jonathan Said lab)
Synergistic effect of JQ1 and rapamycin for treatment of human
osteosarcoma.
Lee DH, Qi J, Bradner JE, Said JW, Doan NB, Forscher C, Yang H,
Koeffler HP.
Int J Cancer. 2015 May 1;136(9):2055-64. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29269.
Epub 2014 Oct 30.
Zhen Li – Postdoc (Jiaoti Huang lab)
p53 Mutation Directs AURKA Overexpression via miR-25 and
FBXW7 in Prostatic Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma.
Li Z, Sun Y, Chen X, Squires J, Nowroozizadeh B, Liang C, Huang
J.
Mol Cancer Res. 2015 Mar;13(3):584-91. doi: 10.1158/1541-
7786.MCR-14-0277-T. Epub 2014 Dec 15.
UCLA Pathology and Laboratory Medicine—Spring Edition July 2015 | Page 6
Newsletter Committee: Arnold Scheer, Daisy Castro, Bushra Yasin, and Khanh Andrews
Send us your suggestions for future newsletters at : Email [email protected]
Publications Continued
Ting-Hsiang Wu – Recent Postdoc (Michael Teitell lab)
Direct Nuclear Delivery of DNA by Photothermal Nanoblade.
Wu TH, Wu YC, Sagullo E, Teitell MA, Chiou PY.
J Lab Autom. 2015 Apr 21. pii: 2211068215583630. [Epub ahead
of print]
Yanjing Li – Postdoc (Jiaoti Huang lab)
Serum lipid profiles and aggressive prostate cancer.
Li Y, Liang C, Huang J.
Asian J Androl. 2015 Mar-Apr;17(2):336. doi: 10.4103/1008-
682X.143308. No abstract available.
Residents/Fellows:
Aaron James – Resident
Abnormal karyotypes in osteochondroma: Case series and litera-
ture review.
James AW, Tirado CA, Levine B, Dry SM.
J Orthop. 2014 Jan 30;12(2):70-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2013.12.015.
eCollection 2015 Jun.
An unusual complex karyotype in myopericytoma.
James AW, Chang L, Shrestha S, Tirado CA, Dry SM.
J Orthop. 2015 Jan 29;12(1):58-62. doi: 10.1016/
j.jor.2015.01.015. eCollection 2015 Mar
Diagnostically challenging epithelioid soft tissue tumors. James
AW, Dry SM. Surgical Pathology Clinics: Soft Tissue Pathology.
May 2015; In press. Invited Book Chapter.
Pericytes in sarcomas of bone Chang L, Nguyen V, Nguyen A,
Scott MA, James AW. Med Oncol. Jun 2015; Accepted for publi-
cation. Corresponding author.
hPSCs and NELL-1 synergistically enhance spinal fusion in osteo-
porotic rats. Lee S, Zhang X, Shen J, James AW, Chung CG,
Hardy R, Li C, Girgius C, Zhang Y, Stoker D, Wu BM, Peault B,
Ting K, Soo C. Stem Cells, May 2015; Accepted for publication.
Craniomaxillofacial sources of mesenchymal stem cells: A brief
review. Nguyen A, Nguyen V, James AW, Scott MA. Int J Or-
thop. May 2015; Accepted for publication. Co-corresponding au-
thor.
Pericyte antigens in perivascular soft tissue tumors Shen J,
Shrestha S, Yen YH, Asatrian G, Mravic M, Soo C, Ting K,
Dry SM, Peault B, James AW. . Int J Surg Path, May 2015;
Accepted for publication. Corresponding author.
Review of microRNA in osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma.
Chang L, Shrestha S, LaChaud G, Scott MA, James AW. Med
Oncol. 2015 May; 32(6): 613. Corresponding author.
Review of Pericytes in Tumor Biology. Scott MA, Shen J, Lam K,
Yen YH, Shrestha S, Mravic M, Asatrian G, Chung CG, Lugassy
C, Barnhill RL, Dry SM, Peault B, James AW. . Int J Orthop.
2015; 2(3): 155-159. Corresponding author.
Shino Magaki – Resident
Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by vault nanoparticles
expressing a chlamydial epitope.
Zhu Y, Jiang J, Said-Sadier N, Boxx G, Champion C, Tetlow A,
Kickhoefer VA, Rome LH, Ojcius DM, Kelly KA.
Vaccine. 2015 Jan 3;33(2):298-306. doi: 10.1016/
j.vaccine.2014.11.028. Epub 2014 Nov 24.
Valerie Arboleda – Resident
De novo nonsense mutations in KAT6A, a lysine acetyl-transferase
gene, cause a syndrome including microcephaly and global devel-
opmental delay.
Arboleda VA, Lee H, Dorrani N, Zadeh N, Willis M, Macmurdo
CF, Manning MA, Kwan A, Hudgins L, Barthelemy F, Miceli MC,
Quintero-Rivera F, Kantarci S, Strom SP, Deignan JL; UCLA
Clinical Genomics Center, Grody WW, Vilain E, Nelson SF.
Am J Hum Genet. 2015 Mar 5;96(3):498-506. doi: 10.1016/
j.ajhg.2015.01.017. Epub 2015 Feb 26.
Jianling Ji – Recent Fellow
DYRK1A haploinsufficiency causes a new recognizable syndrome
with microcephaly, intellectual disability, speech impairment, and
distinct facies.
Ji J, Lee H, Argiropoulos B, Dorrani N, Mann J, Martinez-Agosto
JA, Gomez-Ospina N, Gallant N, Bernstein JA, Hudgins L, Slat-
tery L, Isidor B, Le Caignec C, David A, Obersztyn E, Wiśnio-
wiecka-Kowalnik B, Fox M, Deignan JL, Vilain E, Hendricks E,
Horton Harr M, Noon SE, Jackson JR, Wilkens A, Mirzaa G, Sala-
mon N, Abramson J, Zackai EH, Krantz I, Innes AM, Nelson SF,
Grody WW, Quintero-Rivera F.
Eur J Hum Genet. 2015 May 6. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2015.71. [Epub
ahead of print]
Durga Cherukuri – Recent Fellow
Instability of a dinucleotide repeat in the 3'-untranslated region
(UTR) of the microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1)
gene in microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) colorectal carcino-
ma.
Cherukuri DP, Deignan JL, Das K, Grody WW, Herschman H.
Mol Oncol. 2015 Mar 5. pii: S1574-7891(15)00029-0. doi:
10.1016/j.molonc.2015.01.009. [Epub ahead of print]