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MD, PhD grad receives highest honors  by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations To look at Justin Turner, one sees a rather ordinary guy—a tall, thin, unassuming fellow  with an easy grin and a jovial demeanor. But inside this 29-year-old is the circuitry of brilliance and extraordinary cognitive skills that have led to groundbreaking cellular investigations and shed light on how certain heart and renal diseases occur.   Dr. John Raymond congratulates Dr. Justin Turner on his distinguished Graduate of the Year honors.  His accomplishments earned the Blacksburg, Va., native, the Distinguished Graduate of the Year from MUSC’s College of Graduate Studies. Turner, M.D., Ph.D., received the award, in part, due to his work to understand how G protein-coupled receptors regulate the activity of sodium hydrogen exchangers (NHE-1).    “My research detailed the way in which cell surface receptors activate the sodium exchanger, which is a requirement for cell growth and proliferation,” Turner said. “In other words, this is an important basic pathway that can contribute to abnormal physiological processes such as heart failure, hypertension and renal failure.”   John R. Raymond, M.D., vice president for academic affairs and provost, was perhaps Turner’s greatest supporter, and applauded his research: “The significance of Justin’s work is very high,” Raymond wrote in nominating Turner. “NHE-1 is expressed in every cell in the body…Therefore; Justin’s novel observations have already had a significant impact on the field.”   Many of his papers have been published in top medical and scientific journals, including Circulation and The Journal of Biological Chemistry; he has also been a Presidential Scholar (2003), and received a Monbusho Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to study at the University of Tokyo in Japan. His research also was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association.   Meanwhile, medical research was not Turner’s first love. It was mechanical engineering. But as an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, his interest shifted. “I found I was more interested in biology and medicine,” Turner said. “I liked the challenge.” So he earned a degree in biomedical engineering  at Vandy, magna cum laude, where he also became a loyal—and forgiving—fan of Commodore football.   In 1998, Turner came to MUSC and entered the Medical Scientist Training Program, during which he would earn both his M.D. and his Ph.D. The first two years he focused on medical school, then spent four years on his Ph.D. as a bench lab researcher; then he spent two years in clinical medicine.   During his stint in the lab, he studied under  Raymond, who ultimately nominated Turner for the graduate studies honors.   “I truly enjoyed working with Justin in the laboratory, as he was fearless in acquiring new techniques,” Raymond wrote. “He was a clear and independent thinker who functioned at a high intellectual and scientific level; he was a fantastic collaborator, and an energetic leader in the laboratory.”   Raymond said he considers Turner one of the best laboratory investigators with whom he has ever worked, and “he is also one of the most pleasant and interesting people that I have known,” Raymond added. “He is quite an extraordinary individual who will clearly be successful in his career and in life.”   Turner is multidimensional. He’s the son of a psychiatrist who also graduated from MUSC. Turner is a triathlete and fisherman who also once ranked high in Virginia as an amateur tennis player. A former foster dad for rescued golden retrievers, he prefers the Washington Redskins to the Baltimore Orioles—which is important because after graduation he will begin a surgical residency in  otolaryngology, head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.   When he comes back to Charleston to speak to the new Graduate Studies students in August, which would be customary for such a top MUSC graduate, Turner will have another set of perspectives that will reflect his working career. Turner said he does not know what he will say to the new students. He knows he faces long hours in Baltimore, but hopes his schedule allows time to fish on the Chesapeake.   While the bachelor admits his goals may be more simply expressed if he were married, he conceded that for sure: “I just look forward to learning more about the profession I’ve chosen. … Otolaryngology has a good combination of opportunities in clinical care and the operating room. It is a field with many diverse medical issues and problems; everything from hearing loss to oral cancer and sinus infections. And the patient population varies from young to old. There are also a lot of opportunities for research. …And, I want to fish and hang out with my dog.”     Friday, May 19, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. 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