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This Week@WesternU, Jan. 23-27, 2012

by Rodney Tanaka

January 23, 2012

Read 4 mins

Announcements

New Provost/COO

Gary Gugelchuk, PhD, has been named provost and chief operating officer of Western University of Health Sciences, WesternU President Philip Pumerantz, PhD, has announced.

Gugelchuk, the university’s executive vice provost, succeeds Ben Cohen, DO, who asked that he be relieved of the Provost/COO duties so that he can focus on the University’s strategic planning process. Dr. Cohen will become Advisor to the President for Strategic Planning. The administrative changes will be effective Feb. 6, 2012. Click here to read the full story.

PCC on TV

The Patient Care Center is featured on Best Deals, a 30-minute consumer report TV show airing on KCAL Channel 9 TV and on www.BestDealsTVShow.com. They feature businesses all over Southern California offering unique products and services for our viewers. Click here to watch the video.

AudioPhile

More than 50 faculty, students and staff enjoyed an evening of classical, pop, blues, rock, metal, original music, spoken word and readings of poetry and creative writing on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 during the first “AudioPhile” in the Recital Hall of WesternU’s Health Education Center. Click here to view the story and slideshow.

Save the Date

The Towne & Gown Golf Classic, benefiting the University Scholarship Fund, will be held on June 18, 2012 at the Glendora Country Club, 310 Amelia Ave., Glendora, Calif. Noon shotgun start with reception and awards to follow. Sponsorship opportunities available. For information, e-mail abraunwalder@westernu.edu or sterrazas@westernu.edu.

Click here for more information.

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

Multiple Mini Interview

Grade point average and test scores are important in evaluating prospective students. But learning about their personality and ethics is also vital to finding the right fit at Western University of Health Sciences.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific has adopted a modified form of the Multiple Mini Interview, developed at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. Click here to read the full story.

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Department of Physical Therapy Education News

Twenty-five persons from the DPT program attended a Holiday Open House held last month at the Montclair office of California State Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod. Sen. Negrete McLeod represents the 32nd District, which includes Pomona. Associate Professors Dee Schilling, PT, PhD, and Sandy Stuckey, PT, PhD, MA, representing the DPT faculty, participated in the event along with the following students representing each of the three DPT classes: Stephanie Brog, Tamra Campbell, Erin Casselle, Anne Ellis, Joe Estes, Allison Fitzsimons, Joel Kim, Randy Larson, Kristen Lee, Lindsey Liggan, Lindsey Machado, Stacey May, Ashleigh Miller, Parichehr Mohtashamifard, Veronica Natividad, Van Ngo, Jennifer Northcutt, Raquel Ochoa, Kathy Reeves, Katie Swisher, Quoc Tran, Sahar Vafadar, and Heidi VanderWoude.

Department of Physician Assistant Education News

Congratulations to Dana Goldenberg, PA-S ’13, who was awarded a Hearst Foundation Scholarship for her community service contributions prior to PA school. Dana was happy to receive the award early last week.

From the College of Pharmacy:

Kudos on accomplishments

Congratulations to Dr. Kabir Lutfy and members of his laboratory, including MSPS alumni Khanh Nguyen and Andy Tseng, on their publication: Nguyen K, Tseng A, Marquez P, Hamid A, Lutfy K. The role of endogenous dynorphin in ethanol-induced state-dependent CPP. Behav Brain Res. 2012 Feb 1;227(1):58-63. Click here to view the article.

From the College of Veterinary Medicine:

Kudos on accomplishments

Veterinary Professor and parasitologist Dr. Malika Kachani was the sole U.S. academic scientist collaborating to create an interagency publication with three intergovernmental agencies: WHO, FAO and OIE. WesternU is the only American university involved in this initiative.

This publication is the culmination of efforts during the last WHO/FAO/OIE interagency meeting on Neglected Zoonotic Diseases and is 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. Since she was also the rapporteur, she was the one who compiled all the information for the report and submitted it to the WHO NZDs team leader. (UN publications are posted on the website and are also normally translated into five languages and distributed to the implementers and end-users all over the world through the Headquarters and the regional offices).

Soliciting funding from sources such as the Gates Foundation, the NIH, the USAID, the EU and others for neglected zoonotic diseases has been done mainly through this WHO NZDs organization and interagency working groups. Funding from the Gates Foundation, the NIH and the EU are currently supporting these efforts.

From the College of Optometry:

Kudos on accomplishments

First-year College of Optometry student Shirley De La Rosa Bright, OD ’15, is one of only 24 students nationwide selected for the U.S. Air Force Health Professions Scholarship program in optometry. Bright, who was selected from more than 100 applicants, is also the first optometry student at Western University of Health Sciences to receive a military scholarship. Click here to read the full story.

Infant vision

A recently released study shows that babies rely on visual clues as a vital component of learning speech.

The study, “Infants deploy selective attention to the mouth of a talking face when learning speech,” by David J. Lewkowicz and Amy H. Hansen-Taft of Florida Atlantic University, examined 4-12 month old English-learning infants and adults eye gaze while they watched and listened to a female reciting a monologue either in their native English or nonnative Spanish language. Click here to read the full story.

From the Pumerantz Library:

Library News

If you are an Android user, the library has an app for you. The Pumerantz Library app will allow you to search for a book, check our hours of operation, chat with a librarian and much more.

For more information about the app and how to download it visit the News and Events Blog.

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