This Week@WesternU May 27-30, 2014

WesternU graduates on the front lines of addressing health care needs

Health science professionals will be on the front lines as the Affordable Care Act takes full effect over the next few years, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said, and WesternU graduates in particular will have a mission to carry out the core values of the institution as they treat patients.

Solis’ message to graduates came during the first of five ceremonies comprising Western University of Health Sciences 33rd annual Commencement Exercises, held May 14-16, 2014 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Solis was the keynote speaker for the College of Allied Health Professions (CAHP) and College of Podiatric Medicine’s (CPM) ceremony, which kicked off the Commencement events on May 14.

Click here to read the full story and to view the Commencement slideshows.

We also recommend you experience WesternU’s Commencement ceremonies via “”Storify,”” which features posts from social media: https://storify.com/jkedit/you-are-on-the-front-lines

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

Kudos on accomplishments

Three COMP students presented their case reports at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 23rd Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress in Las Vegas, May 14-18.

Tashi Dhondup, OMS III, and Airani Sathananthan, MD, earned recognition for a poster titled “”Development of Graves’ Disease after Thyroid Surgery.””

Archit Patel, OMS III, Shadi Sharif, DO ’13, and Airani Sathananthan, MD, earned recognition for a poster titled “”Hypothyroidism with Antibody Interference in Thyroid Assay: A Case Report.””

Joia Adams, OMS I, Justin McAllister, DO ’12, and Airani Sathananthan, MD, earned recognition for a poster presentation titled “”Madelung’s Disease – An Unusual Case of a Rare Disease.””

Dr. Vicki Wedel of COMP and CDM participated in the Festival of Authors at International Museum Day at the San Bernardino County Museum May 18, 2014. She talked about her book, “”Broken Bones: Anthropological Analysis of Blunt Force Trauma.””

COMP Seminar Series

COMP will be holding its monthly seminar from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 29, 2014 in HPC, Bartlett Theater. The seminar will be streamed to Lecture Hall 1 in COMP-Northwest. Howard C. Shen, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Preventative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, USC, will be presenting “”Epigenomics-based Molecular Target Identification And Lead Compound Discovery Strategies For Developing Ovarian And Prostate Cancer Therapeutics.”” The COMP Seminar Series, which is open to everyone on campus, runs once a month from September to May. Lunch will be provided with RSVP by noon Wednesday, May 27 to thampton@westernu.edu in Pomona or mguerrero@westernu.edu in Lebanon.

From the College of Allied Health Professions:

Department of Physical Therapy Education News

Associate Professor Casey Chaney, PT, PhD, OCS, CSCS, and Joel Kim, DPT ’15, met with Assemblyman Chris Holden and his staff to discuss issues pertinent to physical therapy practice. The event was held in Pasadena and sponsored by San Gabriel Valley District of the CPTA in collaboration with the California Private Practice Group a Special Interest Group of the CPTA.

From the College of Pharmacy:

College of Pharmacy inspires students during annual Palomares Day

“”Congrats, you now know how to make toothpaste,”” Jesse F. Martinez, PharmD, FASCP, vice dean for Academic Diversity & Development in the College of Pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences, said to more than 20 Pomona area high school students.

Palomares Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) 10th-graders took a field trip to the WesternU College of Pharmacy Compounding Lab Wednesday, May 21, 2014. They came to learn firsthand how to compound non-medicated toothpaste during Palomares Day, which is annually organized by WesternU’s Latino Medical Student Association.

Click here to read the full story and to view a slideshow.

Kudos on accomplishments

Dr. Olivia Phung and her team presented the following posters on May 17, 2014 at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 23rd Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress, Las Vegas:

Raynold V Yin, Tanya Pham, Olivia J Phung. Metformin as adjunct therapy to insulin treatment in patients with type 1 diabetes does not significantly improve glycemic outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis. Dr. Yin is in an ambulatory care outcomes research fellowship with Dr. Phung. Dr. Pham graduated from WesternU in 2014.

Olivia J Phung, Bik-Wai Tai, Ernest Abbey, Jacob Arslanian, Swapnil N Rajpathak. Early combination treatment improves glycemic goal attainment in type 2 diabetic patients failing metformin monotherapy: a meta-analysis. Dr. Tai is completing his outcomes research fellowship this year with Dr. Law. Drs. Abbey and Arslanian graduated from WesternU in 2013.

Fadi Khasawneh, PhD, has been awarded a $140,000 grant by The American Heart Association for his project, “”Investigating the Role of The Transient Receptor Potential Channel 6 in Platelet Function.”” His percentile score of 1.47 percent was well below the payline percentile of 8.75 percent, evidence of the high caliber of the proposal. Dr. Khasawneh continues to show sustained research success as he is also currently funded through an NIH R15 grant and completing a grant from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program through the University of California, Office of the President. In total, Dr. Khasawneh has brought in $834,398 in research funds since July of 2010.

At the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists National Biotechnology Conference May 19-21, 2014 in San Diego, California, Zhijun Kevin Wang, PhD, moderated a sunrise session titled “”The ABCs of Fusion Peptides and Proteins”” and Jeffrey Wang, PhD, moderated a roundtable session titled “”The Future Directions of Antibody-Drug Conjugate Drug Discovery and Development.”” Both events were organized by Dr. Jeffrey Wang.

From University Advancement:

Humanism in the Health Sciences magazine has arrived

The new edition of Humanism in the Health Sciences magazine has arrived. The theme of the 2013-14 edition is “”Pulse of Life.”” Please pick up a copy in these campus locations: HEC first floor lobby, HPC Student Commons, BVCC Student Commons, Administration Building lobby, Student Affairs lobby and the Pumerantz Library. An electronic copy of the magazine is also available online at http://www.westernu.edu/communications-media

Humanism in the Health Sciences is written by students, alumni, faculty and staff, and edited by WesternU students. It is published annually and distributed free of charge. To request multiple copies of the current issue or copies of past issues (limited availability), please contact Debra Nelson, University Publications, at (909) 706-3466 or e-mail dnelson@westernu.edu.

Towne & Gown Golf Classic

WesternU invites everyone to an exciting day of golf to benefit the Towne & Gown Endowed Scholarship.

The Towne & Gown Golf Classic will be held Monday, June 16, 2014 at Red Hill Country Club, 8358 Red Hill Country Club Dr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Registration and lunch starts at 11 a.m. followed by a noon shotgun start. The Hole-in-One prize is a 2014 Chevrolet, sponsored by Mark Christopher Auto Center. Reception dinner and awards ceremony will follow the event.

Cost is $200 per golfer or $800 per foursome. Dinner for a non-golfing guest is available for a fee of $50. Proceeds will benefit the Towne & Gown Endowed Scholarship thanks to the generosity of T.F. Chen, DDS. Deadline to enter is June 9, 2014.

For more information or to sign up for the Towne & Gown Golf Classic, please contact Austin Braunwalder at (909) 469-8495 or abraunwalder@westernu.edu.

To view the website go to www.westernu.edu/golf.

Click here to view a brochure.

Helicopter Drop

Everyone is invited to join the Towne & Gown Golf Classic Helicopter Drop, whether you’re at the golf course or not. The helicopter team will dump numbered golf balls over a designated hole, and the owner of the ball that lands in the hole (or closest to the pin) will win the 50-50 cash prize.
Contact Austin Braunwalder at (909) 469-8495 or abraunwalder@westernu.edu for more information.

Click here to view the flier.

From the Pumerantz Library:

Research Mixer

Are you involved in research at WesternU? Do you know what other research is being performed on campus? Do you know how the library can help you in your research endeavors? All of these questions can be answered at the Pumerantz Library’s Research Mixer from 4 to 6 p.m. June 11, 2014 at the Pumerantz Library. For details please view the blog article.

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Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766

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