This Week@WesternU, Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2015
WesternU President Emeritus to receive Upland honor
The Upland City Council will honor Western University of Health Sciences President Emeritus Philip Pumerantz, PhD, for his 38 years of service to the community.
The council will present Dr. Pumerantz, an Upland resident, with a plaque at its meeting today, Sept. 28, 2015 at Upland City Hall, 460 N. Euclid Ave. Upland, Calif. 91786.
Click here to read the full story.
WesternU to hold Casino Night
Western University of Health Sciences will hold a Casino Night at 7 p.m. Saturday, October 24, 2015 in the Meritage Room of the Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, California 91768.
Casino Night is a university-wide event that will bring together the entire campus for a night to connect with alumni, faculty, staff and students. All proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships will go directly toward student scholarships.
To purchase tickets, please click here. For more information about this event, please visit our website at www.westernu.edu/casinonight or contact Austin Braunwalder at 909-469-8495, abraunwalder@westernu.edu, or Danielle Katayama at 909-469-5436, dkatayama@westernu.edu.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
National osteopathic council meets at WesternU
The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s (AACOM) Educational Council of Osteopathic Principles (ECOP) met at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific for the first time in more than 20 years Sept. 24-26. ECOP brings together the chairs of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (NMM/OMM) departments from osteopathic colleges nationwide to work on matters that concern the curriculum and the profession. Click here to read the full story.
Kudos on accomplishments
Brian Loveless, DO ’02, was the Conference Chair for the Fall Conference of OPSC in Monterey September 11-13. Conference speakers included Doug Dengerink, DO ’02, Kyle Homertgen, DO ’06, Kaveri Patel, DO ’00, Amelia Eastman, DO ’07, and Harsha Degohare, PT, PhD.
Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, Professor of Medical Innovation, Technology & Research, and Clinical Anatomy, Executive Director, Medical Anatomy Center, hosted and participated as teaching faculty to the Oregon AAID MaxiCourse (American Academy of Implant Dentistry). Dr. Benninger performed cone beam CT scans on all the donors and rendered their scans into 3D images for the participants to view on the Sectra Visualization table during the course. This is the first time this has been done for any implant course world-wide. Dr. Benninger continues to conduct disruptive innovation for physicians attending CME courses at COMP-Northwest and St. Charles Health Care, residents from Samaritan Health Services, and students from COMP-Northwest.
From the College of Pharmacy:
WesternU researcher explores link between diabetes, pleasurable effects of nicotine
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Pharmacy Associate Professor Arbi Nazarian, PhD, received a $466,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate how the pleasurable effects of nicotine are altered in persons with diabetes.
Nazarian’s study, titled “Insulin mechanism of diabetes-evoked enhancement of nicotine reward,” combines two health conditions – diabetes and nicotine/smoking.
Click here to read the full story.
Cardinal Health continues to support WesternU’s aspiring independent pharmacists
Cardinal Health has donated $100,000 to Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Pharmacy to provide scholarships to students pursuing careers in independent pharmacy.
Cardinal Health is a top distributor of pharmaceutical and other medical supplies and equipment in the U.S., helping pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites focus on patient care while reducing costs. The company initially gave the College of Pharmacy (COP) a $125,000 gift in 2012.
Click here to read the full story.
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Jaejin An published the following: Zheng C, Rashid N, Koblick R, An J. “Medication Extraction from Electronic Clinical Notes in an Integrated Health System: A Study on Aspirin Use in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation.” Clinical Therapeutics. Volume 37(9), 2015: 2048-2058. Click here to read the article.
This paper reports on an algorithm method developed to identify OTC aspirin use in atrial fibrillation. This method was found to accurately identify aspirin use based on information from the clinical notes; it could serve as a valuable tool to evaluate medications not easily searchable through structured medication databases.
David J. Sanchez, PhD, MSPS Alumnus Thomas A. Dizon and their collaborative team at UCLA’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology and the UCLA AIDS Institute, published the following:
Sanchez DJ, Miranda D, Jr., Marsden MD, Dizon TMA, Bontemps JR, Davila SJ, Del Mundo, LE, Ha T, Senaati, A, Zack J, Cheng G. Disruption of Type I Interferon Induction by HIV Infection of T Cells. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(9):e0137951. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137951. Link to Article
Dr. Peter Oelschlaeger’s lab members Mohammad Faheem, PhD, (Postdoctoral Fellow) and Joon S. Kang (Cal Poly Pomona master student), along with their collaborators presented posters at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) 2015 in San Diego:
Faheem M, Khan A, Danishuddin M, Azim SK, Khan AU. Designing novel non-beta-lactam inhibitors against CTX-M-15 type beta-lactamase and evaluation of their inhibitory action (C-153)
Kang JS, Ai N, Welsh WJ, Oelschlaeger P. Searching for metallo-beta-lactamase inhibitors using virtual screening (C-1118)
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Ellen Collisson recently returned from a trip to Africa. She visited rural poultry projects and the Malawi agricultural efforts of providing hybrid poultry and dairy cattle to village rural farmers. The animals, whether poultry or cattle, are cross-bred between the more disease-resistant African animals and more productive European breeds. The animals are thriving and contributing to a healthy increase in protein for the village diet. The project also seems to be having a tremendous positive effect on the economics of the previously-referred to subsistence farmers in Malawi.
In Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Collisson attended the World Veterinary Poultry Association meeting and presented a poster: “Microphages are Key Players in B Haplotype Associated Enhanced Adaptive Immunity to Avian Influenza Virus.” Dr. Yvonne Drechsler and Ms. Lisa Griggs were also involved in the research that generated the poster. Dr. Collisson also gave Dr. Drechsler’s podium talk on their collaborative studies, along with Drs. Kristopher Irizarry, Maisie Dawes, and Suzana Tkalcic all from the College of Veterinary Medicine, along with Dr. Calvin Keller of the University of Delaware. The podium talk was on the genetics of poultry that are associated with providing resistance to disease in poultry: “RNA Sequencing Elucidates Large-Scale Temporal Dysregulation of Gene Expression in B19 versus B2Haplotype Activated Macrophages.”
Dr. Lyon Lee and his collaborators recently presented a research abstract at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ACVAA) held in Washington D.C. The title of the research abstract was “Cardiopulmonary effects and efficacy of an intramuscular alfaxalone-dexmedetomidine-hydromorphone (ADH) combination in dogs undergoing orchiectomy.” Collaborators include fourth-year veterinary student Austin Stein, Dr. Campbell from the Animal Medical Center of Los Angeles, as well as Drs. Forster, Clark, and Levi from CVM. Austin Stein represented the authors at the meeting and presented the research data during the poster sessions. He had the unique distinction of being the only DVM student presenter at the Poster Session and was able to effectively answer the questions he received from the participants, including the veterinary representative for Jurox, the manufacturer of alfaxalone.
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
Kudos on accomplishments
A Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences team published the following: Victor Briz, Yan Liu, Guoqi Zhu, Xiaoning Bi and Michel Baudry. “A novel form of synaptic plasticity in field CA3 of hippocampus requires GPER1 activation and BDNF release.” Journal of Cell Biology. Published September 21, 2015. Click here to read the paper.
GSBS organized with the Keck Neuroscience Program and the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery at ARMC a Neuroscience Symposium Saturday, September 26, 2015 in HEC.
From University Advancement:
Alumni news
The Office of Alumni Relations hosted a reception during the California Physical Therapy Association’s Annual Conference in Pasadena Sunday, Sept. 27. More than 50 WesternU alumni, students, faculty, staff, and guests joined Interim President Gary Gugelchuk for complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks in the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel. Pictures from the event can be found at http://westernu.smugmug.com/WesternU-Alumni/CPTA2015.
Four more receptions are scheduled for next month:
Oct. 9 – California Academy of Physician Assistants’ Annual Conference in Palm Springs: https://westernu-capa.eventbrite.com
Oct. 9 – American Academy of Optometry’s Academy 2015 Meeting in New Orleans: https://westernu-aao.eventbrite.com
Oct. 9 – California Society for Health-System Pharmacists’ Annual Seminar in San Diego: http://2015-cshp-reception.eventbrite.com
Oct. 19 – American Osteopathic Association’s OMED Convention in Orlando: https://westernu-omed2015.eventbrite.com
From the Pumerantz Library:
National Medical Librarians Month
October is National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM). To celebrate NMLM the librarians of the Pumerantz Library want you to be prepared for the zombie apocalypse. To help you get prepared we have the following displays and events planned:
Zombie Survival Prep improvised defense weapons display – all month long, Museum.
10 C’s of Survival display – all month long – second floor stairwell.
On campus interlibrary loan office delivery – all month long.
Screening of Zombieland, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in the library’s fourth floor conference room. Please register.
We will also offer the following training sessions in the library’s J and K Virtual Reality Learning Center for faculty, staff and students. Each class has a limit of 20 participants.
Noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 8. Please register
5-6 p.m. Oct. 14. Please register
Noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 20. Please register
Our perennial favorite events will make a comeback:
Fine Free Friday – Oct. 16 (this is only for new fines, current outstanding fines don’t count).
Halloween photo contest, take a picture in your Halloween costume with the library in the background and submit with the following #PumerantzHalloween on Oct. 30-31 @pumerantzlib or Facebook.
Halloween “trick or trick” at the library first and second floor desks – Oct. 30-31.
If you have any questions please contact 909-469-5323 ask for Reference or email reference@westernu.edu for more information.
