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This Week@WesternU, May 23-27, 2016

by Rodney Tanaka

May 23, 2016

Read 4 mins

Commencement

Please visit WesternU on social media, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and search for the hashtag #WesternU2016, for coverage of WesternU’s Commencement ceremonies in Pasadena May 18-20. A story and photo galleries will be posted on WesternU’s website soon.

 

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Kudos on accomplishments
Department of Physician Assistant Education Instructor Miguel Medina, PA-C, published a case study in the current Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants titled, “What is causing this man’s persistent low back pain?” May 2016; Volume 29  Issue 5: 62-64. Brian Tessier, MS, PA-C, PA Program Academic Coordinator and Assistant Professor assisted with the manuscript.

 

From the College of Pharmacy:

Kudos on accomplishments
Jeffrey Wang, PhD, was invited to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health (NCCIH/NIH) “Training and Education” review meeting on July 28, 2016. The meeting will focus on fellowship, career development, and Institutional Training Grant and Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) applications. The purpose of these programs is to support the career development of pre-doctoral and postdoctoral students, to provide support and “protected time” for a supervised career development experience in biomedical, behavioral or clinical sciences leading to research independence and to stimulate research in educational institutions that have not been major recipients of NIH support that will expose students to meritorious research projects.

 

From the College of Veterinary Medicine:

Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Babak Faramarzi received his second extramural grant from Arabian Horse Foundation supporting his equine podiatry research focusing on foot-surface biomechanics and force distribution. Previously his lab, for the first time, studied equine foot-surface biomechanics and force/pressure distribution in response to routine farriery. The study was accepted and presented at the prestigious Veterinary Orthopedic Society (VOS) conference last year. The new study will specifically examine the impact biomechanics at different regions of the equine foot.

 

From the College of Graduate Nursing:

Kudos on accomplishments
CGN alumna Barbara Huggins, DNP ’15, will present her dissertation, “Medical Hospitalization of Patients with Comorbid Mental and Medical Illnesses: The Effects of Additional Education Among Nurses,” at the STTI European Regional Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands. The conference, taking place June 6-8, has the theme “Leadership in Nursing Scholarship, Practice and Education: How to Impact Nursing as a Caring Profession Globally.”

 

From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:

Kudos on accomplishments
GCBS Dean Michel Baudry, PhD, in collaboration with faculty in COMP and the College of Optometry, published a recent study in Neurobiology of Disease, titled “Calpain-1 and calpain-2 play opposite roles in retinal ganglion cell degeneration induced by retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury.” The co-authors of the paper are Yubin Wang, Dulce Lopez, Pinakin Gunvant Davey (CO), D. Joshua Cameron (CO), Katherine Nguyen, Jennifer Tran, Elizabeth Marquez, Yan Liu, Xiaoning Bi (COMP) and Michel Baudry. The paper can be viewed at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996116301012.

Dr. Baudry also published a manuscript in Neuropharmacology titled “A calpain-2 selective inhibitor enhances learning & memory by prolonging ERK activation. The co-authors are Yan Liu, Yubin Wang, Guoqi Zhu, Jiandong Sun, Xiaoning Bi and Michel Baudry (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26907807).

Dr. Baudry presented results from his laboratory on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) at the 6th Annual TBI Conference in Washington, D.C., May 11-12. The poster was titled “Protection against TBI-induced neuronal death with post-treatment with a selective calpain-2 inhibitor in mice” and was co-authored by Dr. Yubin Wang (GCBS) and Dr. Xiaoning Bi (COMP).

Dr. Fanglong Dong, in collaboration with Dr. Lisette Jacobson, had a paper accepted in the journal of Pregnancy and Child Health. Their study analyzes the health assessment of women during pregnancy in Kansas. The major finding is that education for fetal movement is minimal. Findings indicate that this rural population is at risk for pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes leading to an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. Jacobson LT, Duong J, Grainger, DA, Collins TC, Farley D, Wolfe M, Dong F, & Anderson B.  Health Assessment of a Rural Obstetrical Population in a Midwestern State.  Pregnancy and Child Health.  2016.  (in press)

Dr. Dong, in collaboration with first-year College of Dental Medicine student Rita Hsu, and CDM Assistant Professor Yawen Peng (PI), also presented a poster at the Table clinic during the 2016 California Dental Association Presents Convention in Anaheim, Calif. May 13, 2016. The study analyzed routine home oral hygiene activities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as compared with typically developed (TD) children. The major findings were that the ASD group experienced more difficulties with their home oral health care, which created additional barriers for the prevention of oral diseases among the ASD group.

 

From the Medical Anatomy Center (MAC):

Kudos on accomplishments
Brion Benninger, MD, MSs, Professor of Medical Innovation, Technology & Research and Clinical Anatomy, will chair the Research Committee for the Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons (AMOPS). Dr. Benninger has conducted and presented several studies specific to military medicine at international conferences. He has developed technology with Department of Defense grants. He looks to continue mentoring a very active Military Student Research group here at WesternU and collaborate with other institutions.

 

From the Pumerantz Library:

Stacked!
Click here to view the latest issue of Stacked!, the Pumerantz Library Newsletter.

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