This Week@WesternU, Feb. 9-13, 2015
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
WesternU symposium features top neuroscientists
Top neuroscientists from around the world will convene at Western University of Health Sciences February 28, 2015 for a symposium, “From Molecules to Mind.” The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 in the WesternU Health Education Center, Lecture Hall 1, 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766. The symposium will be live-streamed to WesternU’s Lebanon, Oregon campus.
Click here to read the full story. Click here to visit the symposium website.
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Standley and his team published a paper describing the regulation of NMDA receptor trafficking in neurons: Hong, X., Avetisyan, M., Ronilo, M. and Standley, S. SAP97 blocks the RXR ER retention signal of NMDA receptor subunt GluN1-3 through its SH3 domain. BBA, 1853: 489-499, 2015.
Dean Baudry and his laboratory published a paper demonstrating the requirement for rapid local synthesis of RhoA in hippocampal synaptic plasticity, further illustrating the opposite roles of calpain-1 and calpain-2 in synaptic plasticity. Briz, V., Zhu, G., Wang, Y., Liu, Y., Avetisyan, M., Bi, X. and Baudry, M. Activity-dependent rapid local RhoA synthesis is required for hippocampal synaptic activity. J. Neurosci. 35: 2269-2282, 2015.
The abstract by MSBS student Anna-Marie Kelemen and her adviser, GCBS Assistant Professor PJ Lin, titled “Misfolded Proinsulin Presenting an Unpaired Thiol is Recognized and Targeted for ERAD by Specific Lumenal Components in the ER,” has been selected for an oral presentation at the Meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) in Boston March 30, 2015.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
WesternU CVM Professor among first AAVMC Public Policy Fellows
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Veterinary Medicine Assistant Professor Suzie J. Kovacs, MSc, PhD, is an inaugural selection of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ (AAVMC) new Public Policy Faculty Fellows Program. Kovacs joins Sarah Allison from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine as the first two fellows selected for this prestigious international program. They were chosen based on their demonstrated and potential leadership in advocacy and government. Click here to read the full story.
WesternU Pet Health Center open for business
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is now operating the WesternU Pet Health Center at 611 E. Second Street, Pomona, California, 91766. The center previously operated as a Banfield Pet Hospital as part of a 10-year affiliation agreement with Banfield. The WesternU Pet Health Center is providing the same services. CVM is planning a grand opening in summer 2015. The College is committed to developing a primary care facility that focuses on preventative health. WesternU will make further announcements as the grand opening approaches. Business hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The center is closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. Please call 909-865-2433 to make an appointment or to learn more about the WesternU Pet Health Center.
From the College of Optometry:
Kudos on accomplishments
California Lions Friends in Sight and College of Optometry third and fourth-year students went to Tijuana, Mexico Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2015 for vision screenings held by California Lions Friends in Sight. For the past four years this organization has made multiple trips down to Mexico to provide eye exams and is joined by a small group of WesternU Lions students. This trip to Tijuana was special as it was the largest for WesternU Lions history with a group of seven College of Optometry students plus one faculty member (Dr. Castellanos) joining. The students who attended this year are: Jean Sugimoto, Mary Hoang, Amy Nguyen, Clarissa Ayala-Prieto, Naul Paz, David Ardakani, and William To. They were also joined by students and faculty from Xochicalco School of Optometry (Mexico) and volunteers from all over the country. This year, 956 patients were seen in a day and a half, beating last year’s record of 881. Of the 956, 55 needed no prescription, 39 need to be made at the optical lab and 862 received recycled eyeglasses. 83 patients needed referrals for advanced treatment. A very special ‘Thank You’ to Dr. Van Dusen and his team (California Lions Friends in Sight) for hosting the trip and Dr. Don Egan for his equipment donation. Click here for photos from the trip.
eyeGENE
The WesternU Eye Care Center is now participating in eyeGENE. The National Ophthalmic Disease Genotyping and Phenotyping Network (eyeGENE) is a research venture created by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in response to promising scientific discoveries in genetics. eyeGENE aims to advance studies of eye diseases and their genetic causes by giving researchers access to DNA samples, clinical information, and patients looking to participate in research studies and clinical trials.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Kudos on accomplishments
Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, Professor & Executive Director, Medical Anatomy Center (MAC), Lebanon, Oregon, will serve on the Medical Board for Sonivate, a company responsible for developing the world’s first ultrasound SonicEye finger probe. Dr. Benninger continues to play an important role in research and development of the SonicEye novel ultrasound finger probe. They have recognized Dr. Benninger’s enthusiasm for medical ultrasound and the skill sets he integrates as an invaluable clinical anatomist, innovative medical educator and reverse translational researcher. He has presented SonicEye finger probe research with both Fukuda-Denshi and SonoSite ultrasound systems in several different countries regarding its uses in civilian and military healthcare.
Dr. Benninger and David Horn, clinical anatomy researcher in Benninger’s lab, were recently selected to the Google Glass Northwest development team by Dan Tidwell, developing engineer and chair of the Google Glass Northwest development team. Dr. Benninger and Horn have been piloting several Google Glass projects, which many were first conducted at the MAC.
Louise Muscato, PhD, Assistant Dean and Course Director at COMP-Northwest, will be presenting “Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum: When Old Becomes New,” at the Joint AACOM & AODME 2015 Conference this April in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. More information on the conference can be found here.
Last week was COMP-Northwest’s Expanding the Osteopathic Concept (EOC) Week for second-year students. A number of guest specialists from Colorado to Washington spent the week in Lebanon working with OMM faculty and fellows to expand students’ knowledge and skills in OMT.
Dianna “Di” Lacey was appointed to Assistant Vice President, Oregon campus last week. Di brings 30 years of executive leadership and clinical experience to this role, most recently serving as the Director of Strategy, Innovation & Development for PeaceHealth’s corporate office in Vancouver, Washington and previously as Vice President of Regional Fund Development. Di earned her degree in Allied Health Sciences at Oregon Institute of Technology in 1985. She received national board certification in both radiology and mammography in 1985, and national board certification in diagnostic sonography in 1991. Di will be instrumental in providing executive level support as the chief administrator/advisor for the VP of Oregon Campus Operations.
From the Pumerantz Library:
Nature.com Complete
The Pumerantz Library has recently added a subscription to Nature.com Complete. This subscription has added 35 new e-journal titles to our collection. Titles include; Cell Research, Eye, Evidence Based Dentistry, Nature Medicine and many more.
Dr. Bert Davidson Medical Bookplate Exhibit
The University Archives currently has a digital collection titled Ex Libris: Medical Bookplates.
Be sure to check out this and other archive digital collections.
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Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766
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