This Week@WesternU, Jan. 2-6, 2012
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
Department of Physical Therapy Education News
Congratulations to Associate Professor Georgeanne Vlad, PT, MA, on her recent appointment for a three-year term to the Ethics Committee of the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA). Professor Vlad joins four other CPTA members on this committee that investigates and holds hearings on complaints of violation of ethical standards, makes disciplinary recommendations to the Judicial Committee of the American Physical Therapy Association, and develops educational programming regarding ethics.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Olivia Phung has been awarded a grant from Merck to conduct a systematic review evaluating the association between Sulfonylureas and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease. This is a six-month contract for a total of $25,000.
At the recently held ASHP Midyear Meeting, she also was one of the presenters during an hour-long CE on Oral Antidiabetic Drugs for the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes.
She also presented poster titled “Bisphosphonate use and the risk of atypical fractures: a meta-analysis” Llanos S, Lee S, Phung OJ.
Other faculty activities at ASHP included: Dr. Jackevicius represented us at the residency showcase and placement services; and Professor Klotz was at various meetings.
Dr. Megan Nguyen and Dr. Mark Nguyen presented a poster “Evaluation of extended infusion of piperacillin-tazobactam therapy.” Mai-Chi Hong, Mark Nguyen, Cathy Hirokawa, Megan Nguyen.
Different parts of the study were also presented as a poster at the IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) Meeting: Clinical implications of extended infusion of piperacillin-tazobactam therapy. Mai-Chi Hong, Mark Nguyen, Cathy Hirokawa, Megan Nguyen.
Congratulations to Dr. Fadi Khasawneh’s MSPS student, John Murad, for being ranked second among 38 applicants for the best abstract competition in the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Cardiovascular Pharmacology Division. He will give an oral presentation at the 2012 Experimental Biology Meeting in San Diego April 21-25, 2012, where he will be competing for the first prize award. This is a significant achievement because it is a nationwide graduate student competition.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
Veterinary Professor and parasitologist Dr. Malika Kachani has learned that the report resulting from team efforts during the last WHO International Working Group (WHO-IWG) meeting on Echinococcosis has been published and posted on the WHO website. Dr. Kachani was invited to the meeting as the chair of the WHO Neglected Zoonotic Diseases (NZDs) Working Group and as an international expert on NZDs and Echinococcosis. Dr. Kachani is listed in the appendix of participants and pictured in a photo on page 21 of the report. It is noteworthy that WesternU is again the only American university involved in this initiative.
Veterinary Professor and virologist Dr. Ellen Collisson represented our Avian Immunogenetics Group at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) NE-1034 Annual Technical Committee Meeting. The meeting was held at Cornell University in Uthica, N.Y. Oct. 28-30, 2011. The title of the presentation was: “Correlation of innate immunity Of B haplotype defined chicks with resistance to respiratory viral infection.” Our participants in this program from WesternU’s College of Veterinary Medicine are Drs. Suzana Tkalcic, Yvonne Drechsler, Maisie Dawes, Kris Irizarry, Miguel Saggese, and Ghida Banat. Dr. Jill Adler Moore from Cal Poly, Dr. Elwood Briles from Northern Illinois University and Dr. Calvin Keeler from the University of Delaware are collaborators with this team.
From University Advancement:
New Alumni Connection
The December 2011 edition of WesternU’s alumni e-newsletter, The Alumni Connection, is now available. This edition features the latest news on $182,000 raised for student scholarships, a new dean, campus events, and college-specific information. News for future editions can be e-mailed to Russel Heskin, director of Alumni Relations, at rheskin@westernu.edu.
