This Week@WesternU, March 24-28, 2014
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/.
AAHPSA clinics
The Asian American Health Profession Student Association (AAHPSA) at WesternU will hold an OMM clinic at the Chinatown Senior Center in Los Angeles on March 26, 2014. The clinic is fully sponsored by the organization, precepted by Alan Cundari, DO, and Steven Lam, DO, and will provide general OMM care to its primarily Chinese patient population who would otherwise have limited access to this type of health care. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for WesternU COMP students to immerse themselves in the local community while practicing their OMM clinical skills.
On March 27, 2014, AAHPSA will hold its annual health fair at the Spring Adult Day Health Care Center in Rowland Heights, Calif. The clinic is fully sponsored by the organization and will provide multi-disciplinary care to the community. Preceptors will include Steven Lam, DO, David Redding, DO, Rebecca Moellmer, DPM, and Dr. Meador. With AAHPSA’s presence, the clinic will provide glucose screening, cholesterol screening, OMM evaluation, general physical screening, dental screening, podiatric care, and optic care to the community who would otherwise have limited to no access to health care. This clinic will provide opportunities for WesternU students to practice their respective profession’s clinical skills as well as the art of interprofessional teamwork.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
WesternU osteopathic medical students celebrate Match Day
With the opening of an envelope, more than 100 osteopathic medical students at Western University of Health Sciences learned where their futures would take them. WesternU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific celebrated Match Day March 21, 2014 on its Pomona, Calif. and Lebanon, Ore. campuses. Match Day celebrates medical students finding out what residency they will attend after graduation in May.
Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
Department of Physical Therapy Education News
The WesternU DPT program will be represented by eight students who are attending the 2nd Annual Student Conclave of the California Physical Therapy Association March 29-30 in San Marcos. Six DPT 2015 and two DPT 2016 students will have the opportunity to meet other physical therapy and physical therapist assistant students from across California for a variety of educational sessions and networking opportunities.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Congratulations to our post-doctoral fellows and their preceptors:
Dr. David Min and Transplant Fellow Dr. Don Vu published: Vu D, Sakharkar P, Shah T, Naraghi R, Yasir Q, Hutchinson I, Min DI. Association of Interferon-γ Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms with BK virus nephropathy in a HispanicRenal Allograft Recipients. Transplantation 2014;97:660-667 (March 27, 2014). Dr. Sakharkar graduated from the WesternU Outcomes Fellowship program as Dr. Law’s Fellow and is currently an assistant professor at Roosevelt University, Chicago.
Dr. Cynthia Jackevicius and Cardiology Fellow, Dr. Lingyun Lu published: Lu L, Krumholz HM, Tu JV, Ross JS, Ko DT, Jackevicius CA. Impact of the ENHANCE trial on the use of ezetimibe in the United States and Canada. Am Heart J 2014 (online ahead of print). This article was recognized by JAMA in its recent editorial.
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
Winter newsletter
Click here to view the Winter 2014 edition of the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences newsletter.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Open House
The College of Veterinary Medicine will hold its ninth annual Open House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5, 2014 along the campus’ Esplanade at 799 E. Second Street, Pomona, Calif. The Open House is a way for the College to reach out to the community and introduce WesternU and CVM. It also gives guests an opportunity to learn about the veterinary profession, pet care and animal awareness. Click here to read more.
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Jijun Hao recently published a cancer research paper titled “DMH1, a Small Molecule Inhibitor of BMP Type 1 Receptors, Suppresses Growth and Invasion of Lung Cancer” in the journal PLoS ONE. In this paper the authors reported that DMH1, a BMP signaling inhibitor previously developed by Dr. Hao in zebrafish model can significantly attenuate the migration, invasion and proliferation of human lung cancer cells. The authors further demonstrated that DMH1 can dramatically reduce the tumor growth of human lung cancer in a mouse xenograft model, suggesting that blocking BMP signaling with DMH1 or its analogs may offer a new approach to lung cancer treatment. This was a collaboration with multiple colleges including the College of Pharmacy and COMP.
Additionally, Dr. Hao has been notified that he has received two grants: Winn Feline Foundation awarded him $24,800 to support his project, “Generation of Disease Specific-induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Cats with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy,” and the Chinese American Faculty Association of Southern California (CAFA) and CAFA Scholarship Foundation awarded $2,000 to support his cancer project, “BMP Signaling and Chemoresistance of Prostate Cancer.”
Dr. Malika Kachani and her WesternU co-workers presented the preliminary results of their educational research on One Health at the AAVMC Annual Conference on One Health in Veterinary Medical Education, held recently in Alexandria Virginia. The title of their work/presentation was: “Impact of an Inter-professional Course on the Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Health Sciences Students on One Health.” Authors are Dr. Malika Kachani, Dr. Helen Engelke, Sorrel Stielstra and Dr. John Tegzes.
Dr. Kachani has been notified that a manuscript has been accepted by the Journal of Neuroendocrinology. The title of the manuscript is “Gonadal steroids differentially modulate the actions of orphanin FQ/nociception at a physiologically relevant circuit controlling female sexual receptivity.” Authors are Borgquist, A., Rivas, VM, Kachani, M., Sinchak, K., & Wagner, Ed.
Dr. Beth Boynton assisted in a STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) event held at Citrus College. The purpose of the event is to “plant” an idea in a young woman’s mind that might take root and grow so that she may consider going into the sciences-technology-engineering field in the future.
Dr. Suzana Tkalcic traveled to her homeland of Croatia to lecture at the University of Zadar. The title of her lecture was “Pathology of Domestic Animals” in a course on Diseases and Health Protection of Domestic Animals held recently at the University of Zadar in Croatia.
Drs. Spring Halland, Lyon Lee and Ohad Levi and 12 students recently participated in the enucleation of a horse in a field in Norco, Calif. The caretaker of the horse is a staff member of WesternU. The students were all members of the Student Chapter of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. They carried out, under close supervision of the faculty, many clinical procedures including tissue handling, suturing, IV catherization, bandaging, administering local or general anesthetics and assisted in anesthetic induction and recovery. Students participating were Liz Perry, Amanda Blake and Mailie Fanning (Class of 2015); Kristina Ridge, Randall Bryden, Lexi LaPorte, Kelsey Milich (Class of 2016); and Kathryn Slaughter, Rachel Williams, Kayla Ross, and Jackie Hofer (Class of 2017). According to those involved, “the patient is recovering nicely.”
Dr. Joe Bertone was a recent invited presenter at the World Equine Veterinary Association held in Guadalajara, Mexico. The presentations were: “False Colic” and “Medical Management of Abdominal Pain.”
Dr. Victoria Voith recently attended and chaired an Interdisciplinary Applied Animal Behavior forum in Tucson, Ari.
Dr. Diane McClure was a recent guest speaker at the Cal Aero Preserve Academy in the Chino Valley Unified School District. Seventh and eighth graders from Lyle S. Briggs Fundamental School were also in attendance.
From the College of Optometry:
Guest commentary
Dr. Robert Gordon wrote a guest commentary, “ACA helps eye health, but more must be done,” for The Sun of San Bernardino. The article was also picked up by several other media outlets. Click here to read the article.
From the Office of Human Resources:
Kudos on accomplishments
Congratulations to Human Resources for two successful implementations. PeopleAdmin Version 7 Upgrade and Bswift Benefits Portal Implementation were launched simultaneously to great success, two examples of using technology to enhance business processes.
From University Advancement:
Alumni mixer
WesternU held an Alumni Networking mixer at the Library Bar in Los Angeles March 19. Alumni from several classes and most colleges were represented. The lively atmosphere added to the mingling, everyone had a great time and the alumni said they appreciated the event being held near them and they looked forward to the next event.
Alumni news
The WesternU Alumni Association held a lunch on campus March 17 for the DO Class of 2015. About 200 class members enjoyed a pizza lunch in the HEC Recital Hall as they reconnected with one another after a few months apart for their rotations.
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