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This Week@WesternU, Jan. 11-15, 2016

by Rodney Tanaka

January 11, 2016

Read 4 mins

From the College of Veterinary Medicine:

WesternU veterinary dean honored for public policy advocacy
Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Phillip Nelson, DVM, PhD, is the recipient of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) 2016 Senator John Melcher, DVM Leadership in Public Policy Award.

The award, established in 2007, is given to current or former faculty, staff, or students at an AAVMC member institution to recognize leadership in public policy that advances veterinary medical education and success in advocating for veterinary medical education on a national or international scale.

Dr. Nelson has been very active in the AAVMC’s advocacy efforts, serving on numerous committees, including the Advocacy Committee. Through the AAVMC, he has participated in “Hill” visits for more than a decade, developing relationships with governmental decision makers and lobbying Congress to address pressing issues such as the Veterinary Medical Student Loan Repayment Program.

Click here to read the full story.

Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Gagandeep Kaur has been nominated for the SAVMA Teaching Excellence Award. The nomination has been submitted by CVM students for consideration by the official SAVMA Committee. The teacher that is selected will receive an all-expense trip to the 2016 SAVMA Symposium in Ames, Iowa, where s/he will be presented with the award at the closing gala.

CVM student Sarah Mercer-Bowyer, DVM ’17, participated in a study on the NYC Carriage Horses to ascertain their stress level while working as compared to when they are on “vacation.” She presented her study at the 2015 American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Convention. According to Mercer-Bowyer, the conclusion was that “the results of our study indicate that the carriage horses’ lifestyle is not negatively impacting their well-being. When you look at these findings alongside the impeccable care these horses receive, it becomes clear that this is not an equine welfare issue.” The report was recently published in the Paulick Report.

 

From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:

Kudos on accomplishments
Associate Professor Fanglong Dong, PhD, submitted a poster that won first place from the American College of Physicians – Minnesota Chapter and was also presented at the joint meeting of 15th International Thyroid Congress & 85th Annual Meeting of the ATA. The title is: The Effect of Implementing Gene Expression Classifier to Improve Management in Thyroid Nodule Cytology with ‘Indeterminate’ Diagnosis.

This study aimed to assess whether the implementation of AGEC was associated with decreased proportion of surgical recommendations and lower financial cost. The major finding is that surgical recommendation for patients with “indeterminate” finding decreased from 81.5% to 50% (p=0.011), before and after AGEC implementation, respectively. This potentially may also have decreased the rate of morbidity and complications linked to thyroid surgery. The collaborators were: JP Abeykoon MD, Luke Mueller MD, F Dong PhD, E Ablah PhD MPH, G Elhomsy MD, R Mortada MD. Dr. Abeykoon is a resident at Mayo Clinic.

 

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

Kudos on accomplishments
COMP Chair of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences and Associate Dean for Basic Sciences and Research Nissar Darmani, PhD, has written a paper that was published in Neuropharmacology: “Thapsigargin-induced activation of Ca2+-CaMKII-ERK in brainstem contributes to substance P release and induction of emesis in the least shrew.” Weizia Zong, Seetha Chebolu, Nissar A. Darmani. Neuropharmacology 103 (2016) 195-210. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26631534

COMP Assistant Dean of Interdisciplinary Professional Education and Department Chair/Assistant Professor, Department of Social Medicine & Healthcare Leadership Gail Singer-Chang, PsyD, MA, MS, PPS, gave an invited guest panel presentation at last week’s Osteopathic Medical Education Leadership (OMEL) conference in Texas. The theme was “Incorporating Osteopathic Identity Across the Professional Continuum.” Her presentation was titled, “Professional Identity in Osteopathic Medical Education: The Need for a New Core Competency?”

Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, Professor of Medical Innovation, Technology & Research and the Executive Director of the Medical Anatomy Center, published “The Importance of the Saphenous Nerve in Ankle Surgery” in the Journal of Anesthesia and Analgesia. This research integrated a clinical issue, point of care ultrasound and stereostructural anatomy revealing evidence the saphenous nerve block near the ankle can provide valuable pain relief. Dr. Benninger continues his clinical and research collaborations with Stanford colleagues and in particular Dr. Jean-Lois Horn.

 

From the College of Pharmacy:

Kudos on accomplishments
Congratulations to Dr. Sheryl Chow for the following publications and presentations:

Chow SL and Hoeben B.  Peripheral Artery Disease. In: Chisholm-Burns MA, Schwinghammer TL, Wells BG, Malone PM, Kolesar JM, DiPiro JT, eds. Pharmacotherapy Principles & Practice, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2016. In press.

Fajardo F, Heywood JT, Patterson JH, Adams KA, MD, Chow SL.  A focus on nesiritide in recent congestive heart failure trials.  Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2015;13(7):743-751.

Lanfear DE, Abbas R, Padhukasahasram B, Gupta R, Langholz D, Wilson W, Tang W, Williams K, Sabbah H, Chow SL.  Genetic factors influencing b-type natriuretic peptide mediated production of cyclic guanosine mono phosphate and blood pressure effects in heart failure patients  J Cardiovasc Trans Res. 2015; 8:545-553.

Dr. Chow gave the following presentations at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida:

Poster presentation: Gandhi PU, Chow SL, Rector TS, Krum H, Gaggin HK, McMurray JJ, Zile M, Komajda M, McKelvie RS, Carson PE, Januzzi JL, Anand IS.  The Prognostic Value of Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein 7 in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction: Results From Irbesartan in Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction (I-PRESERVE) Trial. Circulation. 2015;132:A14299.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/132/Suppl_3/A14299.short

Invited presentations: The Role of Biomarkers in Heart Failure, Nov. 9, 2015  (1.5 CME). Pharmacologic Effects of digoxin: Beyond inotropic effects, Nov. 10, 2015 (2.0 CME).

Dr. Chow gave three presentations at the Hawaii Heart Failure Symposium through UCSD School of Medicine: Acute Heart Failure, case discussion faculty. The Nuts and Bolts of NoACs: Clinical discussion of Illustrative Cases, presenter and moderator. Safety of Alternative Medicines for treating heart failure, presenter.

 

From University Advancement:

COMP endowment
Western University of Health Sciences received a generous gift of $10,000 from Thomas L. Horowitz, DO ’82, and Mrs. Peggy Ann Horowitz, to complete the endowment of the COMP Class of 1982 Scholarship.

WesternU View
The latest edition of the WesternU View magazine is here! Click here to read WesternU View magazine and WesternU’s other publications online.

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