This Week@WesternU, Dec. 3-7, 2018
#GivingTuesday
Together, we made a difference! Thank you for helping raise more than $8,000 for WesternU on #GivingTuesday! Your generous contributions will benefit the lives of our students, and in turn will make the world a better place. Thank you to all who contributed!
Click here to watch a #GivingTuesday video on Facebook.
Volunteers with Type 2 Diabetes needed for WesternU study
COMP Professor Vishwanath Venketaraman, PhD, is the Principal Investigator for a study on glutathione (GSH) restoration effects of oral liposomal GSH (LRG) treatment in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) for a three-month period of time. Glutathione, a natural antioxidant has been shown to improve immune responses against known pathogens such as tuberculosis. Eligible study subjects are T2DM positive individuals between 21 to 65 years old with HbA1c levels between 7-10. Blood will be drawn three times (pre-screening, before, and after the study). Blood draws take about 10-15 minutes. Study supplements could possibly cause headaches, a minor level of digestive or intestinal discomfort, but we expect this to be of minimal or undetectable discomfort. There might be a mild pricking pain associated with the blood draw (50 ml).
Volunteers will receive $100 cash for their complete participation in the study. This compensation will be paid in four installments of $25.
Click here for complete information.
For more information, contact Dr. Venketaraman at 909-706-3736 or vvenketaraman@westernu.edu.
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
Kudos on accomplishments
Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Christina Goode, PhD, gave an invited presentation at CSU Dominguez Hills on “Educational Pathways for Biomedical Scientists.”
GCBS Assistant Professor Jerome Lacroix, PhD, gave an oral presentation at the international meeting “Force-Gated Ion Channels” at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 19, 2018. This biennial meeting covers the latest findings in the field of mechanically-gated channels in hearing, touch, pain, proprioception, vascular remodeling, bone growth and osmosensation. The work presented by Dr. Lacroix, titled “Identification of the Binding Site of a Piezo1-Selective Small Molecule Agonist,” includes the participation of College of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Dr. Yun (Lyna) Luo, Post-Doctoral fellow Dr. Alper Ozkan, Research Associate Dr. Wesley-Botello Smith and MSPS student Han Zhang. This intercollegiate work will help the design of molecules that could treat various conditions including tumor invasion, certain forms of anemia and malaria.
GCBS Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Alper Devrim Ozkan in Dr. Jerome Lacroix’s group has received a travel award to attend the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, to be held in March 2019. He will present on force sensitivity and selectivity in the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1, and show proof-of-concept work about a fluorescent sensor that is activated by shear flow but not other mechanical forces.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Janice Hoffman presented a seminar at a special session for the International Conference on Brain Stimulation in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Harry Sarkissian is her current PGY-1 resident.
Sarkissian H, Hudson-McKinney M, and Hoffman-Simen J. An Innovative Leadership Model for Dementia Care Teams. International Conference on Brain Stimulation, Tokyo, Japan.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
CVM Associate Professor Babak Faramarzi was invited to present lectures on equine podiatry and biomechanics at the college of veterinary medicine, University of Munich in Germany.
CVM Professor Ana Alcaraz was the keynote speaker of the First International Seminar/Workshop on Gross and Microscopic Veterinary Pathology. The course was organized by the Colombian Association of Veterinary Pathologists (ACPAVET) with the sponsorship of the C.L. Davis-S.W. Thompson Foundation. The event was held at the National University in Bogota, Colombia, Oct. 24-25. Dr. Alcaraz lectured on veterinary education and cognitive diagnostic errors, as well as one of her favorite topics: diagnostic pathology. The course had 120 attendees, including pathologists, veterinary students and practitioners representing Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador and the five regions of Colombia.
From the Pumerantz Library:
At Home and Over There: American Women Physicians in World War I
The Harriet K. & Philip Pumerantz Library is hosting the AMWA – American Medical Women’s Association – traveling exhibit “At Home and Over there: American Women Physicians in World War I” through Dec. 7, 2018. This exhibit honors the American women physicians who served in Europe during World War I despite being turned down by the United Sates Army Medical Corps based on the fact “it hadn’t been done”.
For further information call Mary Helen Ellis at Ext. 5321
