This Week@WesternU Aug. 28-Sept. 1, 2017
WesternU launching Center for Innovation
Western University of Health Sciences will host a special symposium and exhibition about future trends in health and education to launch the University’s new Center for Innovation on Wednesday, September 6, 2017.
The symposium will be from noon to 1 p.m. in WesternU Health Education Center Lecture Hall 1, followed by a technology exhibition from 1 to 3 p.m. showcasing virtual reality education technology, high-speed 3-D printing and scanning exhibits, augmented reality stations, the Microsoft Mixed-Reality platform – Hololens, and a gamification booth showing how game-based learning transforms passive learning into dynamic and engaging experiences.
Click here to read the full story. Click here to view the Facebook invitation.
Dr. Philip Pumerantz Distinguished Lectureship
You’re invited to the 9th annual Pumerantz Lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 in Health Education Center Lecture Hall 1, 701 E. Second St, Pomona, Calif. 91766.
The guest speaker is health care futurist, entrepreneur and inventor Nicholas Webb, LHD.
This lectureship, in honor of WesternU’s founder and president emeritus, is made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Elaine Sarkaria and the late Dr. Daljit Sarkaria of Orange, California.
The lecture is free and open to all, and will be live streamed to the COMP-Northwest campus. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend.
Click here for more information.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine
Kudos on Accomplishments
Associate Professor Dr. Mohammad Mir received the Provost’s Distinguished Scholar Award for the academic year 2016-17 during the Convocation Ceremony of Western University of Health Sciences at Fairplex in Pomona. The Provost’s Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes exceptional scholarly and research accomplishments and achievements, contribution to the research mission of the university, and a commitment to high standards of professional life by a faculty member. Nominations for this award are submitted by the faculty member’s, Dean or department/unit supervisor to the Academic Senate. After careful review of applications by the University’s Faculty Affairs Committee, the award recipient is announced and recognized during the annual Convocation Ceremony.
The recently funded R15 application of Dr. Mohammad Mir was highly rated and selected as the best application submitted to the NIH system. The application used by NIH is their public domain as an educational model for other researchers. The content of this application is made available to other researchers as a guide while preparing their applications for NIH system:
https://www.niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts/sample-applications#r15
Dr. Mohammad Mir served in the Emerging Infectious Diseases study section of the Department of Defense (US Army Medical Research and Material Command). The study section was tasked to review applications focused on novel approaches for diagnosis and treatment of emerging infectious diseases of potential interest to the US Department of Defense.
Dr. Mohammad Mir published a manuscript titled “Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) Nucleocapsid Protein Augments mRNA Translation.” The manuscript demonstrates a novel mechanism employed by the CCHFV to boost the translation viral mRNA in the host cell during the course of infection. This work has revealed a new target for the therapeutic intervention of this zoonotic viral disease, causing outbreaks with 30 percent mortality in more than 40 countries worldwide. The manuscript is available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28515298
Dr. Tracey MacNamara was recently mentioned in an article by Fox News Opinion (August 19, 2017) titled “Want to keep America safe? Train more veterinarians.” The article states that three-quarters of newly emerging human diseases can be traced back to animals, and highlights Dr. MacNamara’s fight to get someone to look at the crows dying from what was found to be West Nile Virus. Dr. MacNamara identified the first case of the virus in the Western Hemisphere.
Assistant Professors Jijun Hao and Gagandeep Kaur, along with Drs. David Clark, Lyon Lee, and Fanglong Dong were awarded funding from the Vet Cell Therapeutics to study stem cells in the treatment of canine atopic dermatitis.
Veterinary student doctor Won Kim, DVM 2019, was selected to give an oral scientific presentation on “Comparison of Microflora Populations in Conventional and Organic Broiler Populations” at the American Veterinary Medical Association Annual Meeting held recently in Indianapolis, Indiana. His mentor is Professor Teresa Y. Morishita; and his research collaborators include Associate Professor Brian Oakley, and two California poultry industry veterinarians, Drs. Corsiglia and Mountainspring. Won Kim’s research project was made possible through the financial support of the WesternU Office of Research and Biotechnology as Kim was a recipient the 2016 Summer Student Fellowship Grant. This is the first time a veterinary student from WesaternU CVM was selected to present an oral scientific presentation at the American Veterinary Medical Association Annual Meeting/American Association of Avian Pathologists Annual Meeting. CVM’s Office of Research provided travel support.
College of Dental Medicine
Kudos on accomplishment:
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Joel Laudenbach, DMD, who was recently published as follows:
Laudenbach JM. A Decision-Support Tool for Antibiotic Prophylaxis Before Dental Procedures in Patients With Prosthetic Joints. Expert Viewpoints, Medscape Dentistry, WebMD LLC.
(Published online April 10, 2017 at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/878211).
Laudenbach JM. Malignant potential of oral lichen planus/lichenoid lesions. Expert Viewpoints, Medscape Dentistry, WebMD LLC. (Published online May 31, 2017 at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/880491).
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Kudos on accomplishment:
Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, Professor of Medical Innovation, Technology & Research and Clinical Anatomy, has been developing a new ultrasound finger probe, which will save time and provide an efficient screening technique with patients involved with trauma. He hopes to transfer this to simulation technologies for all to benefit.
COMP Seminar Series
COMP will be holding its monthly seminar from noon to 1:00 p.m. Friday, September 15, 2017 in Compatriot’s Hall, HSC, Pomona, with live streaming to Eastmoreland in Lebanon. Michael Petrascheck, PhD, Associate Professor, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, will be presenting “Targeting Aging to Target Age-Related Disease.” The COMP Seminar Series, which is open to everyone on campus, runs once a month from September to May. Lunch will be provided with RSVP by noon Wednesday, September 13, to kking@westernu.edu. Click here to view the flier.
From the Pumerantz Library:
Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics and Culture
The Harriet K. & Philip Pumerantz Library is hosting the National Medical Library traveling exhibit “Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture” from Aug. 28, 2017 to Oct. 7, 2017. This exhibit explores the response to the AIDS epidemic since its 1981 appearance in the United States. The Opening Reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. The speakers will be Dr. Vishwanath Venketaraman, COMP; Dr. James Scott, College of Pharmacy; and the Reverend Tom Hostetler, Chaplain Hillcrest. For further information call Mary Helen Ellis at Ext. 5321.
The NAMES project AIDS Memorial Quilt was conceived as a celebration of the lives of people lost to AIDS. The Harriet K. & Philip Pumerantz Library and Lorraine Halverson of the College of Allied Health Professions are providing the opportunity for you to create a block for a loved one to be displayed in the library and then added to the Quilt project after the National Library of Medicine exhibit leaves our library.
If you wish to create a block contact Lorraine Halverson for supplies and guidance. lahalverson@westernu.edu or 909-469-5390.
