This Week@WesternU, Nov. 7-11, 2016
A Tribute to Caring
WesternU held its annual fundraising gala “A Tribute to Caring” on Nov. 5, 2016 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif. Click here to view the video, “Dreams into Action,” shown during the event. Check out ATC posts on WesternU’s social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And look for a full story and photo slideshow later this week on WesternU’s home page and linked in next week’s edition of This Week@WesternU.
Be The Match Walk+Run in Long Beach
WesternU is forming a team for the “Be The Match Walk+Run” event on Saturday, November 19, 2016 at Marina Green, 386 E. Shoreline Drive, Long Beach, California 90802.
Be The Match Walk+Run is a walk and run event for people of all ages and fitness levels, which includes a 5K, 1K and Tot Trot. The event unites communities nationwide determined to help patients with diseases like leukemia and lymphoma. The money raised will help patients with uninsured expenses, support marrow transplant research and add more potential marrow donors to Be The Match Registry®, giving more patients hope for a cure. At more than 13.5 million strong, the registry is the largest and most diverse listing of potential marrow donors in the world. There will also be a Be The Match Registry® drive at the Long Beach Walk+Run event where individuals can enter the registry.
Come out and walk, run, join the registry, and have fun on Nov. 19 and help save lives. If you cannot make it to the run/walk, any donation can help. Join the WesternU team or donate at: http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/WesternUTeam.
College of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Marie Davies, PharmD, MS, BCACP, got involved with Be The Match after being a match for an 11-year-old boy with Fanconi’s anemia in bone marrow failure. She donated her stem cells to him on July 18, 2016. This little boy lives in England and through the great work that the Be The Match Registry® does, they were able to find a match all the way in Southern California. She organized this WesternU team to promote the Be The Match Registry and to help others like the recipient of her stem cell donation.
Health Career Ladder receives $25,000 Walmart Foundation Community Giving grant
The Walmart Foundation contributed $25,000 to Pomona Health Career Ladder (PHCL) during Saturday’s academy, investing in the community and in the future of health care professionals.
A check presentation was held Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 during the beginning of the “Forensics” PHCL and American Indian Health Career Ladder academy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. It was the second workshop of the academic year. Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Click here to read the latest accomplishments from the College of Pharmacy.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Clinical research study
Do you or someone you know have Type 1 Diabetes? Do you currently take two types of insulin to manage your Type 1 Diabetes? If so, consider participating in an important Clinical Research Study comparing two different types of basal (long-acting) insulin.
Qualified participants include those who are/have:
– Between the ages of 18 and 70 years of age with type 1 diabetes mellitus,
– Experienced at least one low blood glucose level (hypoglycemia) with symptoms
– Receiving at least 1 year treatment with insulin, and
– Willing to return to clinic for regular site visits and have phone contact between appointments.
Qualified participants will receive investigational study drug and study related medical visits and procedures at no cost while participating in the study as well as compensation for your time. Visits will occur at the Patient Care Center on campus. (approved by WesternU IRB# 16/IRB/017 and Chesapeake IRB)
To learn about how you can participate please contact:
PI- Dr. Airani Sathananthan 909-706-3818 or asathananthan@westernu.edu
Research Coordinator- Dr. Cesar Ochoa 909-469-8412 or cochoa@westernu.edu
Medical Anatomy Center news
Click here to read the latest from the Medical Anatomy Center.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Suzana Tkalcic was recently honored by acceptance into the Croatian Academy of Medical Sciences – a Croatian honorary society of human medicine. The honor was based on Dr. Tkalcic’s merits in comparative pathology and her contributions for the past seven years to the Jurak Symposiums of Comparative Pathology where she also established One Health Award to stimulate team work research between human and veterinary medicine. The induction ceremony will take place in December in Zagreb, Croatia. Dr. Tkalcic is one of three new members from outside of Croatia for 2016.
Dr. Tkalcic is also co-author on an article written by her PhD mentee in Australia that was just accepted for publication in Zoo Biology. “A Retrospective Analysis of Mortality in Captive Pygmy Hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) from 1912-2014.” Gabriella L. Flacke, Suzana Tkalcic, Beatrice Steck, Kristin Warren and Graeme B. Martin.
Dr. Miguel D. Saggese attended the 4th Neotropical Raptor Conference held in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, recently. While there, Dr. Saggese made a podium presentation on “An Argentine-Chilean collaboration to identify and register Cinereous Harrier (Circus cenereus) nesting sites.” Dr. Saggese also gave one of the raptor researcher skill courses scheduled the first day of the conference: “Handling, Management and Taking Biomedical Samples in Raptors” intended for all those who handle birds of prey, both in the field and in captivity, and who need to take biomedical samples in these birds for research or medical purposes. Dr. Saggese was also moderator for the session about Raptor Conservation and Management.
Immediately after the event finished, Dr. Saggese attended the 2016 Raptor Research Foundation Annual Conference in Cape May, New Jersey. He presented a podium talk about Raptor Handling and Restraining. He also attended the Board of Directors meeting for the RRF, of which he is the current president, and moderated the session about “Methods and Techniques in Raptor Research.”
From the College of Optometry:
An Inspirational Evening with Tom Sullivan
6-9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 in the Health Education Center. Learn about InfantSEE, a no-cost public health program developed by The AOA (American Optometric Association) Foundation and the Allergan Foundation. Click here to view a flier.
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Fanglong Dong, in collaboration with a neuroscience team at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (Drs. Berry, Davis, and Miulli) and COMP medical student Peymon Mohamadi, has an oral presentation accepted at the Southern CA Chapter of the American College of Surgeons annual conference. Mohamadi P, Berry J, Dong F, Davis J, Miulli D. Differences in Morbidity & Mortality from Traumatic Subdural Hematoma Due to Ground Level Falls While On Anticoagulation. January 20-22, 2017; Santa Barbara, Calif.
Dr. Dong, in collaboration with Drs. Barnes, Ochoa, and Pumerantz and COMP medical students, has an oral presentation accepted at the 2017 Western Medical Research Conference. Their study focused on type II diabetes patients. Mohammad A, Dong F, Dupre A, Nwaokoro M, Ochoa C, Barnes E, Pumerantz A. Determining if there is an association between clinical measures and the number of severe co-morbidities in patients with type 2 diabetes. January 26-28, 2017; Carmel, Calif.
Dr. Dong, in collaboration with Dr. Neeki and COMP medical students, including the first author, had an oral presentation at the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Medicine annual meeting. Their study focused on type II diabetes patients. Toy J, Neeki MM, Dong F, Vara R, Wong D, Jabourian N, Jabourian A, Seiler K, Pennington TW, Schulz-Costello K, Mistry J. Efficacy and safety of Tranexamic Acid (TXA) in prehospital traumatic hemorrhagic shock; outcomes of the Cal-PAT study. November 2 – 5, 2016, San Francisco.
From University Advancement:
Giving Tuesday
Annual Giving is proud to announce that on November 29, 2016, WesternU will be participating in #GivingTuesday for the third time. WesternU’s #GivingTuesday is an annual fundraising event that takes place on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving to give you and the entire WesternU community – alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends – the chance to come together for one day and support WesternU by giving a little back.
Come and join us on campus on November 29, 2016 for refreshments at our giving booth and to make your donation in person. We will be on the Esplanade (outside HEC) 7:30-9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exciting news and events leading up to #GivingTuesday. We encourage you to like, share, retweet and repost – help us make this campaign a success.
Alumni news
On Monday, Oct. 31, the Alumni Office hosted lunch for members of the DVM Class of 2017, who were back on campus last week. About 100 students enjoyed pizza and cookies as they reconnected with one another after being spread across the country for rotations the past several months.
WesternU Connect Surpasses 1,000 Users and Celebrates One Year!
November 4, 2016 marked the one-year anniversary of the full implementation of WesternU Connect, a web platform that allows WesternU students to securely connect with alumni for professional networking and career advice. Just a few days before that milestone, the platform achieved another milestone, with its 1,000th user (Katherine Baldwin, DVM ’17) joining the site on October 31. More than half the site’s users are alumni, who are eager to share their experience and expertise with current WesternU students. These alumni represent more than 40 health care specialties, and every graduation year and degree program from WesternU. For more information about WesternU Connect, please contact Russel Heskin at rheskin@westernu.edu or Ext. 5230.
