This Week@WesternU, May 29-June 1, 2018
2018 Commencement
Congratulations to the nearly 1,000 graduates who earned their WesternU diplomas at Commencement ceremonies held in Pasadena, California May 23-25, 2018.
Click here to read about the first Commencement ceremony, and visit WesternU on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to see more photos and coverage of Commencement. Check WesternU’s home page later in the week for full coverage and photo galleries from all five ceremonies.
COMP-Northwest will hold its Commencement ceremony June 1 in Lebanon, Oregon. We encourage all WesternU faculty, staff, students and family members attending Commencement to join us on social media by tagging and mentioning us on Twitter and Instagram, and finding us on Facebook. Please use the hashtag #WesternU2018. Click here for more information about the Lebanon Commencement ceremony: http://commencement.westernu.edu/lebanon/
WesternU’s 8th Annual Towne & Gown Golf Classic set for June 11
Western University of Health Sciences invites the public to an exciting day of golf to benefit student scholarships. The 8th Annual Towne & Gown Golf Classic will be played Monday, June 11, 2018 at Glendora Country Club, 2400 Country Club Drive, Glendora, Calif. 91741. Registration and lunch starts at 11 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at noon. A dinner and awards ceremony will follow.
Click here to view a brochure.
Click here to visit the Towne & Gown Golf Classic website.
Helicopter Drop
Everyone is invited to participate in the Towne & Gown Golf Classic Helicopter Drop. Whether you’re at the golf course or not, you will be able to participate in this fun activity. 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 prize. The pricing to participate is as follows: $10 for one ball, $25 for three balls, and $75 for 10 balls. This is another exciting way to benefit the Towne & Gown Endowed Scholarship Fund. Contact Nathaniel Lastrapes at 909-469-5436 or nlastrapes@westernu.edu for more information.
Click here to view a flier.
Humanism in the Health Sciences
The 2018 edition of Humanism in the Health Sciences magazine has arrived. The theme this year is “Adapting.” Please pick up a copy from the magazine stands around campus, or contact Public Affairs for multiple copies. An electronic version of the magazine is available online at http://www.westernu.edu/publicaffairs/magazines/. The award-winning 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.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
New diabetes study
Click here to read about a new diabetes study. Contact Albert Medina, Research Coordinator, at 909-469-8626 or Airani Sathananthan, MD, at 909-706-3818 if interested.
Kudos on accomplishments
COMP Assistant Professor Jeremiah Scott, PhD, was lead author on a research article published in Journal of Human Evolution, “Dietary signals in the premolar dentition of primates.” Available online at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248418301258.
COMP Assistant Professor Sebastien Fuchs, MD, PhD, was elected as a Councilor of the Western Section, AFMR (American Federation for Medical Research). The term is effective through January 31, 2021. Click here for more information about AFMR.
COMP student Mitchell Zekhtser has been elected Western Regional Representative of the national AAEM/RSA Medical Student Council. (American Academy of Emergency Medicine Resident and Student Association). COMP alumna Faith Quenzer, DO ’15, was elected to a one-year term as an at-large board member. Click here to read the AAEM/RSA news release. Click here to visit AAEM/RSA website: http://www.aaemrsa.org/
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
David Jesse Sanchez, PhD, was awarded $423,000 in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through an R15 grant titled “Manipulation of Type I Interferon by HIV Infection.” This grant is based on the finding that HIV infection is able to persist in a person even though the human body has strong antiviral defenses though the Type I Interferon system. The overall goal is to better understand how HIV is able to continue replicating in the face of this innate immune response and look for molecular interactions that could serve as future drug targets. The health implications of these findings will be focused on developing new therapies that allow the immune system to stop HIV replication in individuals living with HIV.
Jeffrey Wang, PhD, along with Patrick Chan, PhD, Zhijun Wang, PhD, Chen Xie, PhD, Ying Huang, PhD, published a book chapter: Chan P, Wang Z, Xie C, Huang Y, Wang J. Antioxidant nutraceuticals and prostate cancer. In: Antioxidant Nutraceuticals: Preventive and Healthcare Applications. Cao C, Pathak S and Patil K (Eds). RCS Press, 2018, pp. 37-80. Link to Book.
Dr. Mark Nguyen presented a poster at the American Thoracic Society examining sedation in mechanically ventilated patients. Tanios MA, Nguyen HM, Park H, et al. Analgesia-First Sedation, Protocol-Directed Sedation (PS), or PS with Daily Sedative Interruption in Mechanically Ventilated Adults: A 3-Arm Pilot RCT (ANSED3 Trial). American Thoracic Society 2018 International Conference. May 2018, San Diego.
Drs. Emmanuelle Schwartzman, Patrick Chan, Micah Hata, and Anne Kugler were invited to provide a webinar titled “Finding the Right Fit During the Residency Interview” as part of ASHP Foundation Preceptor Residency Excellence Award. The webinar was well received with more than 120 online attendees.
An instrument developed by Dr. Anandi Law and her fellows to assess patient satisfaction with pharmacist clinical services was recently used by the University of Arizona to assess patient satisfaction with their telephonic MTM services. The tool was found to be reliable in both English and Spanish versions. The poster received an award as one of top three posters at PQA Annual Meeting (Pharmacy Quality Alliance). Patel M, Campbell P, Forbes S, Sakharkar P, Law A. Use of Patient Satisfaction with Pharmacist Services Questionnaire (PSPSQ) 2.0 in a Telephonic Medication Therapy Management Center. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 2018, 14(5):e6. Dr. Sakharkar is a former fellow of Dr. Law and is currently an Assistant Professor of Administrative Sciences at Roosevelt University, College of Pharmacy in Illinois.
