This Week@WesternU, Jan. 21-24, 2014

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

Kudos on accomplishments

Dr. Alan Cundari has been named a Gold DOC, a recognition program established by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation to give patients and their families an opportunity to pay tribute and thank physicians and other health care professionals who demonstrate exemplary sensitivity and compassion, as well as clinical excellence, in the care of patients and their families. Dr. Cundari was nominated by a longtime patient who, in her recommendation letter, cited his compassion, empathy, honesty and respect. Click here for more information about the Gold DOC program.

COMP alumnus Dale Carrison, DO ’87, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians.

Click here to read more.

Dr. Carrison was also featured in a Las Vegas Review-Journal article. Click here to read the story.

COMP student Tuyet Tran co-authored the article, “Community Member and Faith Leader Perspectives on the Process of Building Trusting Relationships between Communities and Researchers,” published this month in Clinical and Translational Science. Click here to view the article.

Affordable Care Act discussion

COMP-Northwest, in partnership with the Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of Oregon (OPSO), will hold the discussion “The Affordable Care Act and Implementation in Oregon,” from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21 in Heritage Hall B. The talk will be led by Josh Balloch, Vice President of Health Policy for PAC/WEST Communications. More information, including pre-registration information, is available on the OPSO website.

Donor Patient Memorial Service

Students will host a Donor Patient Memorial Service beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, in Lecture Hall 1, COMP-Northwest. The doors will open at 5 p.m. and a reception will follow the service. The ceremony serves as an opportunity to show respect and gratitude for those who provided the greatest gift by donating themselves to the advancement of medicine. All are welcome to attend.

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Department of Physical Therapy Education News

Congratulations to the Department of Physical Therapy Education for being ranked among the 10 Top Physical Therapy Schools in the country based on student ratings and reviews in three different categories. WesternU DPT ranked No. 4 for financial aid and ranked No. 7 for both faculty accessibility/support and also for graduate program value. To help prospective grad students better evaluate their options for education in physical therapy, Graduateprograms.com compiled and analyzed more than 40,000 ratings posted on the site by graduate students attending more than 1,200 different programs across the country. For more information, go to http://www.graduateprograms.com/top-physical-therapy-programs.

From the College of Veterinary Medicine:

Student Research Day

The Third Annual College of Veterinary Medicine Student Research Day brought together more than 70 of the best research minds in the College, both student and faculty, to present their results, discuss conclusions, and promote research here at CVM. Click here to read about the award winners and more from CVM Associate Dean for Research Dominique Griffon. Click here for a full list of students, their presentations and their mentors.

WesternU prof and colleague win gold award in Giant Panda Zoo Awards 2013

Dr. David Kersey, a College of Veterinary Medicine assistant professor of physiology who played a major role in the giant panda birth at Zoo Atlanta in July 2013, and his colleague, Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, chief veterinarian at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, have won a gold award in the web-based “Giant Panda Zoo Awards 2013.” ()

The two won gold in the “Panda Personality of 2013 ‘The Human’” category, according to results announced on Jan. 17, 2014 at Zoo Atlanta. Online voting was open to anyone worldwide from Dec. 13, 2013 to Jan. 14, 2014.

Click here to read the full story.

From the College of Pharmacy:

I am pleased to announce the initiation of a new collaborative research project titled “Development of a combination product, Tripterygium wilfordii extract-docetaxel oral formulation” between the Center for Advancement of Drug Research and Evaluation (CADRE), at the College of Pharmacy, Western University of Health Sciences, and Vita Green Biotechnology Company Ltd., of Hong Kong. The investigators of the project are Moses S.S. Chow, PharmD, Zhijun (Kevin) Wang, PhD, and Ying Huang, PhD. This project represents a unique concept of integration of Eastern and Western medicine by utilizing the Chinese medicine to exert a strong chemosensitizing effect when used in combination with the western drug resulting in overcoming chemotherapy resistance. Since chemotherapy resistance occurs in over 90 percent of metastatic cancer, the development of such a product can pave the way for new application of herbal products in resistant cancer in the future. To launch this project, an agreement has been reached in which Vita Green provides an initial funding of two years of preclinical research and development whereas WesternU contributes the know-how/ intellectual property toward this collaborative project. Any profit from future commercial success will be shared by both parties.

Congratulations to Moses Chow and his colleagues on this exciting research partnership.

Kudos on accomplishments

Associate Professor Roger Klotz talks about vaccines and influenza in a video by PrescribeWellness, “Dispelling the Myths of Influenza.”

Click here to view the video.

From the College of Graduate Nursing:

Kudos on accomplishments

Professor Quannetta T. Edwards, PhD, FNPc, WHNPc, FAANP, is a co-author of a recently published article titled “5-years later – Have faculty integrated medical genetics into nurse practitioner curriculum?” (with follow-up erratum of same name) in the December 2013 edition of International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 10(1): 245-254 (erratum 323-325).

From the College of Optometry:

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month

Did you know 2.7 million Americans have glaucoma, and only half of them know it? The National Eye Institute projects this number will reach 4.2 million by 2030, a 58 percent increase.

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. Glaucoma is called "the sneak thief of sight" since there are no symptoms in its early stages, but it can be detected before noticeable vision loss occurs, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation. Early detection and treatment can help save sight.

WesternU encourages people to visit its Eye Care Center, 795 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766, for a comprehensive dilated eye exam. You can also visit the website, http://www.westernupcc.com/eye.html, for Eye Care Center information.

Click here to read the full story.

From the Patient Care Center:

The Eye Care Center at Western University of Health Sciences has an enrollment counselor to help you and your family members obtain needed health care as a result of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

“GEM: Get Enrollment Moving” provides counselors through collaboration with Citrus Valley Health Partners.

Your visit with an enrollment counselor will take place at the Eye Care Center, which is housed in the Patient Care Center located at 795 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766.

Please call (909) 706-3953 to schedule an appointment for this free service.

From the Pumerantz Library

The study carrel chairs on the second floor of the library have been reupholstered. Stop by the library to study and try them out.

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Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766

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