This Week@WesternU, March 10-14, 2014

Data shows Pomona Health Career Ladder improves children, family’s lives

Compared to a matched sample of peers, students attending the Pomona Health Career Ladder (PHCL) during the 2012-13 academic year showed significantly better public school attendance, higher math scores on CST standardized tests, fewer and less severe disciplinary problems, and slightly higher GPAs.

Results also revealed better scores than expected for PHCL students (compared to peers) on the English Language Arts (ELA) exam by the end of the academic year. The data was prepared by WesternU’s Office of Institutional Research & Effectiveness (IRE). Click here to read the full story.

WesternU to hold Trends in Autism Conference April 12, 2014

The 13th annual Trends in Autism Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 12, 2014 at Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif.

The keynote speakers will be Chantal Sicile-Kira and Jeremy Sicile-Kira. Chantal Sicile-Kira is a leading author on autism and is the founder of www.autismcollege.com. She will sign books after the talk.

This event is open to health professionals, therapists, teachers, parents and adults with autism. Click here to view a flier. For more information, email face@westernu.edu. Visit WesternU’s Faculty for Autism Collaboration & Education (FACE) at http://www.westernu.edu/face/.

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

AOA President visits WesternU

The creation of a single graduate medical education accreditation system will bring tremendous opportunities, but osteopathic physicians (DOs) must continue to embrace the osteopathic philosophies that make them distinct, American Osteopathic Association President Norman E. Vinn, DO, told College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific students during his visit March 4, 2014.

Dr. Vinn is an osteopathic family physician from San Clemente, Calif., and is the founder of Housecall Doctors Medical Group, Inc., a home care network that provides onsite clinical services to more than 1,000 homebound elderly in Southern California. His father was a DO, and his daughter, Vanessa S. Vinn, is also an osteopathic physician. Dr. Vinn serves on the COMP Advisory Board and is a Western University of Health Sciences clinical professor.

Click here to read the full story.

Anatomist talks about Sasquatch locomotion for TV show

Elizabeth Rega, PhD, associate vice provost for academic development in the Office of Academic Affairs at WesternU, and associate professor of anatomy, was recently interviewed for an episode of a new television show about the Sasquatch, more commonly known as Bigfoot.

Rega provided scientific commentary on normal human locomotion for an episode of a show expected to be called “Monster Files.” Click here to read the full story.

Kudos on accomplishments

Dr. Vicki Wedel, FAAFS, of COMP/CDM was an invited speaker at the 20th Annual Redlands Chapter of the American Association of University Women “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Conference.” In attendance were 600 eight-grade girls from all over the Los Angeles metro area. Dr. Wedel gave a talk on “Bodies, Bugs, and Bones” to introduce the girls to careers in the forensic medical fields. Click here to read an article in the Highland News.

Dr. Wedel published an invited piece titled “On An Ethnography of Anatomy and Surgical Education” in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, one of the top 10 anthropology journals in the world. Click here to read the article.

Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, Professor/Vice Chair, Medical Anatomical Sciences, Family Practice, Neuromuscular Medicine, Lebanon, Ore., was invited and accepted to be one of the authors of a Nerve Injuries and their Repair text to be published in late 2014.

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Department of Physical Therapy Education news

Assistant Professors Bhavana Raja, PT, PhD, and Mary Hudson-McKinney, PT, DPT, MS, NCS, along with the DPT Class of 2015, attended the Los Angeles Abilities Expo, held Feb. 28 to March 2, as part of their coursework this semester so that they could learn firsthand about the variety of opportunities available for persons with a disability. The faculty and students, along with thousands of people with disabilities, their families, caregivers, seniors, wounded veterans and healthcare professionals, attended the Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For the past 30 years, Abilities Expo has been the one show dedicated to educating and improving the lives of Americans with disabilities, senior citizens, families, caregivers, healthcare professionals and professional therapists. It has been the nation’s foremost event for companies to demonstrate their products and services to the largest community of end-users and industry professionals, and more Expos are planned to take place during 2014 in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Houston, Boston, and San Jose.

From the College of Pharmacy:

Kudos on accomplishments

Dr. Cynthia Jackevicius recently published two articles:

The first article, published online, was based on work from a grant received from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Watson Anemia Investigator Development Research Award.

Jackevicius CA, Fan Cindy and Warner A. Clinical Outcomes of Erythropoietin Use in Heart Failure Patients with Anemia of Chronic Kidney Disease. Journal of Cardiac Failure. doi:10.1016/j.cardfail.2014.02.001

Co-author Dr. Cindy Fan is a WesternU grad who helped with part of the study during her AE with Dr. Jackevicius. Dr. Fan is currently doing her PGY1 residency at West LA VA. Co-author Alberta Warner is a VA cardiologist who is specialized in heart failure. Click here to read more.

The second article is a perspectives paper comparing the old and new lipid guidelines: Cynthia A. Jackevicius. How Do the 2013 Cholesterol Guidelines Compare With Previous Cholesterol Guideline Reports? Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. http://circoutcomes.ahajournals.org/content/early/2014/03/04/CIRCOUTCOMES.113.000769.full.pdf?papetoc

From the College of Veterinary Medicine:

Kudos on accomplishments

Dr. Jennifer Buur, veterinary associate professor, presented a webinar for the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association, “Maximizing Pain Control in Canine and Feline Patients,” on March 4.

Dr. Jijun Hao, veterinary assistant professor, published a stem cell research paper titled “Neurogegulin-1β induces embryonic stem cell cardiomyogenesis via ErbB3/ErbB2 receptors” in the Biochemical Journal. In the paper, the author reported a novel signaling pathway, Neuregulin-1β/ErbB3/p-CREB, which plays a critical role in pluripotent stem cell cardiomyogenesis. Particularly, the discovery that activation of CREB transcription factor is indispensable in Neuroregulin-1β-induced stem cell cardiomyogenesis may provide a novel approach for future stem cell-based therapy for cardiac repair.

From University Advancement:

Alumni news

On Monday, March 3, the WesternU Alumni Association hosted a lunch for the DVM Class of 2015, who were back on campus for a week between their clinical rotations. Several dozen class members were there to enjoy free pizza and catch up with their classmates.

From the Pumerantz Library:

Beginning March 10 and running until April 19, the Pumerantz Library is showcasing Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine. Read the blog for more details.

Dr. Wedel talk and book signing

The Pumerantz library is sponsoring a talk and book signing of Dr. Vicki Wedel’s new book “Broken Bones: Anthropological analysis of blunt force trauma,” to be held 4-6 p.m. March 13 in HEC Classroom A. For details please read the blog.

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