This Week@WesternU, July 16-20, 2012
Announcements
FamilyCare Health Plans to donate $2 million to COMP-Northwest
FamilyCare Health Plans Inc. will give $2 million to the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific–Northwest for scholarships supporting osteopathic medical students interested in primary care.
“Rising student loan debt and tuition cost is becoming more of a barrier to prospective students considering medicine as a career choice, especially in primary care,” said COMP-Northwest Executive Associate Dean Paula Crone, DO. “This extremely generous donation will directly impact students and open up opportunities and options they previously didn’t have in the Northwest.” Click here to view the full story.
Pet store fish provide clue to how Alzheimer’s disease may start
WesternU scientists report that studies with zebrafish have provided an important clue to understanding how Alzheimer’s disease begins.
In the online edition of PLoS ONE, Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences Associate Professor Doug Ethell, PhD, and College of Optometry Assistant Professor Joshua Cameron, PhD, FAAO, report that an Alzheimer’s-linked peptide, amyloid-beta, causes aberrant blood vessel branching in the brains of young zebrafish. This mechanism may explain confusing results from recent clinical trials for Alzheimer’s and provide important insights for prevention of this disease.
Click here to read the full story. Click here to view the article: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039598
Business of the Year
Assemblywoman Norma Torres has named WesternU as the 61st Assembly District Business of the Year for Pomona.
Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Brion Benninger, MD MSc, Professor/Vice Chair, Medical Anatomical Sciences, COMP-Northwest, took his five research students (four first-year COMP-Northwest students and one University of Oregon undergraduate student) and 10 research projects to the International conference held by the American Association of Clinical Anatomists, July 9-13. Dr. Benninger gave two platform presentations (one was about a novel grading scale used to assess training students in the anatomy donor-cadaver-patient lab and the other was about a novel way of teaching anatomy integrating medial line themes and pathology with the body’s architecture), moderated a “Pearls in Anatomy” symposium and defended two posters, on a novel terminology of the femoral artery and the other introducing medical students to the accessory navicular and other clinically relevant foot pathologies that often cause problems for emergency and family physicians.
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
Department of Physical Therapy Education News
Professor David M. Selkowitz, PT, PhD, OCS, DAAPM, was an invited speaker for a recent meeting of the Greater Los Angeles District of the California Physical Therapy Association. Dr. Selkowitz gave a presentation on “Electrotherapy – NMES for Strengthening: Evidence-Based Decision-Making” to an audience of about 40 persons at Glendale Memorial Hospital.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. David Pham passed the certification examination for diabetes educators and has been granted The Certified Diabetes Educator® ("CDE" ®) credential. This demonstrates that a certified health care professional possesses distinct and specialized knowledge, thereby promoting quality care for persons with diabetes. He joins Dr. Schwartzman as a fellow CDE.
Dr. Eric Gupta published an article in Cardiology Today, titled “ Determining best cholesterol-based surrogate marker for lowering CHD.”
Dr. Mark Nguyen was lead author of a recent publication:
Nguyen HM, Schiavoni A, Scott KD, Tanios MA. Implementation of sepsis management guideline in a community-based teaching hospital – can education be potentially beneficial for septic patients?
Int J Clin Pract. 2012 Jul;66(7):705-10.
From University Advancement:
Kudos on accomplishments
Kevin Sweeney has been promoted to Senior Director of Development working with Optometry, Podiatric Medicine and now Graduate Nursing.
