Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2008

Mentor: Marlyn J Mayo, MD
Department: Internal Medicine
Room number:J.5.130A
Mail Code: 9151
Phone number: 89117
E-mail: marlyn.mayo@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Functional Brain Imaging of Itching and Liver Disease

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 082007-096

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): N/A

Project Type : patient-based research

Brief Description of Project:

The goal of this project is to identify areas of the brain activated in patients who itch from liver disease. The student will be involved with patient recruitment and collecting data from functional MRI and SPECT scanning of patients with liver disease who do and do not itch. The data collected is intended to serve as preliminary data for an NIH grant application.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Medical Student Mentees
Sandra Saldana Doris Duke Fellow 2004-5
Melissa Darjean Medical Student 2005
Shana Elman Doris Duke Fellow 2006-7
Ben Cassel Medical Student 2007
All Med Students have presented abstracts at the UTSW medical student research forum. Below are only national/international meetings/publications.

Peer Reviewed Publications
Mayo MJ, Handem I, Saldana S, Jacobe H, Getachew Y, Rush J. Sertraline as a first-line treatment for cholestatic pruritus. Hepatology 2007, 45:666-674.

Abstracts
Saldana S, Frawley W, Combes, B, the PUMPS investigators, and Mayo MJ. Are Serial Liver Biopsies Useful in Assessing Disease Progression in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis? Gastroenterology 2005;128 Suppl 2 A-774.(DDW poster presentation).

Elman S, Mayo MJ, Jacobe, H. Development and Validation of the 5-D, a descriptive measure of pruritus. (poster presentation, Doris Duke National Meeting 2006)

Elman S, Gabriel VA, Chouteau W, Mayo MJ. The 5-D Itch Scale, A New Tool to Measure Post-Burn Pruritus. (oral presentation, American Burn Association Meeting 2007).

Elman S, Mayo MJ. New scale to measure pruritus: The 5-D.(poster presentation, International Investigational Dermatology 2008.