This Week@WesternU, June 17-21, 2013

Towne & Gown Golf Classic

Western University of Health Sciences’ third annual Towne & Gown Golf Classic raised more than $34,000 – a new record – to benefit bright and deserving students.

T.F. Chen, DDS, underwrote the golf tournament that benefits student scholarships.

One hundred golfers participated in the scramble-format tournament on Monday, June 10, 2013 at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Click here to view a slideshow.

State tabs WesternU disability center to develop new material on Affordable Care Act

The Harris Family Center for Disability and Health Policy (HFCDHP) at Western University of Health Sciences has been awarded the sole contract statewide to analyze, revise and develop new materials and outreach efforts to help individuals with disabilities successfully navigate the California health care system under the Affordable Care Act.

HFCDHP will help California consumers with disabilities, seniors under Medi-Cal and duals projects like the Cal MediConnect Program and those using the Covered California exchange to have the necessary information to support their move to mandatory managed care and qualify for these three programs.

Click here to read the full story.

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

Kudos on accomplishments

Assistant Professor Vishwanath Venketaraman, PhD, and his team (including lab members and collaborators) published three articles in May 2013:

Morris D, Guerra C, Khurasany M, Guilford F, Saviola B, Huang Y and Venketaraman V (2013). Glutathione supplementation improves macrophage functions in HIV. Journal of Interferon and cytokine research. May 33 (5):270-9. A figure from this publication also appeared as cover art in the May 2013 issue of the journal.

Morris D, Khurasany M, Nguyen T, Kim J, Guilford F, Mehta R, Saviola B, Gray D and Venketaraman V (2013). Glutathione and infection. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta-General Subjects. May 1830(5):3329-49. This article was published in a special issue “Cellular functions of glutathione” released in commemoration with 125th anniversary of glutathione discovery.

Morris D, Gonzalez B, Khurasany M, Kassissa C, Luong J, Kasko S, Pandya S, Chu M, Chi A, Bui Q, Guerra C, Chan J and Venketaraman V (2013). Characterization of dendritic cell and regulatory T cell functions against M. tb infection. Biomedical Research International Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 402827. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/402827

Dr. Venketaraman was invited to serve as a reviewer on an NIH Special emphasis panel (ZAI1-LR-MJ1) that reviews U01 grants.

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Instructor Steven Snyder, PT, DPT, and 24 DPT students participated in the 44th Annual Special Olympics Summer Games recently held at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Snyder supervised students representing the DPT Classes of 2013, 2014, and 2015 in fitness screenings at the FUNFitness booth for the Healthy Athletes Program. They performed range of motion, strength, and endurance testing, alongside students and PT’s from USC, UCLA, and Chapman University. Two of the WesternU DPT students also worked with podiatry performing foot screenings at the Fit Feet booth.

Department of Health Science News

Dr. Tina Meyer, Chair for the Department of Health Science, spoke at Collaborating Across Borders (CAB) IV in Vancouver, BC, Canada on June 13, 2013. Her presentation was titled “Healthcare Administration: Are They Part of the Team?” Also in attendance as co-presenters were Drs. John Tegzes and Sheree Aston.

From the College of Pharmacy:

Kudos on accomplishments

Drs. Micah Hata and Emmanuelle Schwartzman are the recipients of a $20,000 Partners in E grant in the amount of $20,000 for the first year of a two-year award.

Partners in E was developed as an education and outreach program by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) with funding by the CA DHHS. The focus of the Partners in E program is to educate and deploy a pharmacy student workforce with the attitudes, knowledge, and skills required to identify and resolve barriers to e-prescribing. Pharmacy students will receive comprehensive classroom instruction on pharmacy informatics and specific e-prescribing issues from school or pharmacy faculty experts.

Dr. Cynthia Jackevicius and her former resident Dr. Noelle deLeon recently published an article that compares the use of Niacin for lowering lipid levels in the U.S. and Canada; prior to the two large trials (2011) that showed questionable outcomes with Niacin.

Jackevicius CA, Tu JV, Ko DT, de Leon N, Krumholz HM. Use of niacin in the United States and Canada. JAMA Intern Med 2013: Online ahead of print: June 10, 2013. Click here to view the article.

Dr. Jonathan Watanabe published the following papers: Kazerooni R, Watanabe JH, Bounthavong M. Association Between Statin Adherence and Cholesterol Level Reduction from Baseline in a Veteran Population. Pharmacotherapy. 2013 Jun 6. doi: 10.1002/phar.1305. [Epub ahead of print]. Dr. Mark Bounthavong, PharmD 2004, Health Outcomes Fellow 2007, was a co-author.

Ney JP, van der Goes DN, Watanabe JH. Cost-benefit analysis: intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring in spinal surgeries. J Clin Neurophysiol. 2013 Jun;30(3):280-6. doi: 10.1097/WNP.0b013e3182933d8f. PMID: 23733093 [PubMed – in process]

Dr. Karl Hess published a paper with his AE student, Dr. Olga Krymskaya PharmD 2013.

Olga Krymskaya, Karl Hess. Pre and Post Rabies Prophylaxis: Current Recommendations. Pharmacy Today. Click here to view the paper.

From the Patient Care Center:

Kudos on accomplishments

Erika Vitalez, of the Foot & Ankle Center at WesternU, recently completed advanced training and extensive testing to become certified as a Podiatric Medical Assistant. She adds this to her Orthopedic Technician certification.

The training and testing is conducted by the American Society of Podiatric Medical Assistants. This is a method of enhancing credibility in caring for patients and is recognized as the top credential for the podiatric medical assistant. The purpose of the ASPMA is to promote, foster, improve, sustain and advance the profession of Podiatric Medical Assistants. The ASPMA also plays a role in the advancement of the podiatric medical profession and to the improvement of public health. The ASPMA desires to promote honorable and friendly relations among its members; and to enlighten the public concerning all matters pertaining to the profession of the podiatric medical assistant. The ASPMA works cooperatively with all segments of the podiatric medical profession on achieving these purposes.

From University Advancement:

Kudos on accomplishments

WesternU Executive Director of Public Affairs & Marketing Jeff Keating ended his two-year presidency of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce during the chamber’s 125th annual Awards and Installation Dinner on Thursday, June 13, 2013 at Kellogg West Hotel and Conference Center at Cal Poly Pomona. Jill Reiff of Valley Vista Services became the 2013-14 president and Keating is now past president.

New Alumni Connection

The June 2013 edition of WesternU’s alumni e-newsletter, The Alumni Connection, is now available. This edition features the latest news from WesternU, including Commencement highlights, two successful golf tournaments that together raised more than $40,000 for student scholarships, and a new student housing complex breaking ground near campus, as well as upcoming events and college-specific information.

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