This Week@WesternU, Oct. 1-5, 2012
Care Harbor LA
Care Harbor LA, a four-day clinic at the Los Angeles Sports Arena offering free medical, vision and dental care, served thousands of Southern California residents who might otherwise not receive help. WesternU faculty and students contributed to this massive effort.
Services include free dental cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canals, eye exams, refractions, prescription glasses, medical exams and evaluations, podiatric evaluations, women’s health, screenings and immunizations. The event ran Sept. 27-30. Click here to read the full story and to view a slideshow.
WesternU studying prevalence of dry eye disease in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis
Western University of Health Sciences is seeking people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis to participate in a clinical study to determine how the disease affects your eyes.
Candidates for the study must be 18 or older. Evaluations will take place at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, 400 North Pepper Ave., Colton, Calif., and at WesternU’s Patient Care Center, 795 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. Participants will be compensated $25 at the end of the study.
This interprofessional study is being conducted by College of Optometry faculty members Jasmine Yumori, OD, FAAO, and Robert Gordon, OD, FAAO, DPNAP, and College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific faculty members Michael Finley, DO, and Dat Trinh, DO, with a research grant from Allergan Pharmaceuticals. Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Kudos on accomplishments
Associate Professor Glen Kisby, PhD, co-authored a publication published by Frontiers in Genetics. The paper is part of a Research Topic Area titled “Non-coding RNAs: Crossing the Aisle from Cancer to Neurodegeneration” that is being hosted by Dr. Peng Jin (Emory University). Click here to view the article.
Dr. Brion Benninger, MD MSc, Professor/Vice Chair, Medical Anatomical Sciences, Lebanon, was invited and accepted as a guest platform speaker at the 2013 Cranial Academy Symposium. Dr. Benninger has researched chronologically the history of cranial nerves and has done extensive contemporary research on the cranial nerves and published an article on a new category of peripheral nerves titled “Transitional Nerve: A New and Original Classification of a Peripheral Nerve Supported by the Nature of the Accessory Nerve (CN XI).” He continues to conduct research on cranial nerves at COMP-Northwest and in collaboration both nationally and internationally using retrograde neurotracers and immunohistochemistry.
Brion Benninger, MD, and John Mata, PhD, will be presenting research at the Oregon Bioscience Conference Oct. 9-10 at Marylhurst University in Portland. Dr. Benninger’s poster presentation is titled “Assessing a novel ultrasound finger ransducer vs. classic transducer during a common procedure – user and technical differences.” Dr. Mata’s poster presentation is titled “A cell spanning IKVAV expressing peptide for treatment of spinal cord injury.” Additionally, COMP-Northwest OMS II Rebecca Corbett will present her poster, “Teaching an Ultrasound Guided in Basic Procedure to First Year Medical Students Using a Novel Finger Transducer.” Dr. Benninger has mentored her throughout her research.
U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) visited with COMP-Northwest students over lunch on Thursday, Sept. 27. His visit was an opportunity for both first- and second-year students to ask questions of the congressman. Students asked about a variety of issues, including increasing federal financial aid, the future of Medicare and Medicaid, pharmaceutical regulation, among other topics. About 150 students, faculty and staff attended the event. After the open forum, Rep. DeFazio toured the COMP-Northwest campus.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Congratulations on the following post-doc achievements: Dr. Po Ying Fung, Dr. Mark Nguyen’s PGY1 Acute Care Resident, had the following abstract accepted for presentation at the ASHP Midyear meeting: “Continuous intravenous infusion of furosemide: is an electrolyte replacement protocol appropriate for all critically ill patients?” This study was from her Advanced Elective rotation, with coauthors, Dr. Mark Nguyen and Cathy Hirokawa.
Dr. Don Vu, Dr. David Min’s Transplantation/Pharmacogenomics Fellow, was awarded this year’s ACCP Immunology/Transplantation PRN resident/fellow award for his abstract titled: “Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) as rescue therapy for BK virus nephropathy.” He will present his abstract at the meeting.
Congratulations to members from Dr. Sunil Prabhu’s lab, along with Dr. Jeffrey Wang, on their most recent publication. The lead author, Dhruvit Sutaria is an MSPS alumnus from Dr. Prabhu’s lab and is pursuing a PhD at the Ohio State University. The project to study pancreatic cancer chemoprevention is NIH funded.
Dhruvitkumar Sutaria, Balagangadhar Karthik Grandhi, Arvind Thakkar, Jeffrey Wang and Sunil Prabhu, Chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer using solid-lipid nanoparticulate delivery of a novel aspirin, curcumin and sulforaphane drug combination regimen. International Journal of Oncology, online ahead of print, September 2012.
From the College of Graduate Nursing:
New AAMN Chapter
The American Assembly of Men in Nursing (AAMN) is a national organization that provides structure for nurses to meet and discuss factors that influence men in nursing. The primary objectives for AAMN are to encourage men to become nurses and join together with all nurses in strengthening and humanizing health care, to support male nurses and student nurses to grow professionally and increase their contributions in nursing, and to advocate men’s health issues at the local and national level.
Kyle Martin and Anthony Ngo, first-year Master of Science in Nursing Entry (MSN-E) students, have engaged in strategic planning for starting a local chapter of the AAMN for the College of Graduate Nursing (CGN) here at WesternU with Rod Hicks, PhD, APRN, FAANP, FAAN, Professor and Assistant Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program, serving as faculty adviser. Recently, the AAMN Board of Directors met and approved the chapter request and the Chapter will be formally recognized at the October national meeting. The local AAMN chapter will welcome any CGN student at WesternU, as well as other individuals with similar interests.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
Veterinary professor and parasitologist Dr. Malika Kachani presented “Dog Population Management for the Control of Zoonotic Diseases” at the First International Conference on Dog Population Management held in York, U.K. earlier this month. The main objective of the conference was to bring the public sector together with ecologists, economists and specialists in animal welfare, animal health and education.
Dr. Kachani has long-held interests in managing canine populations especially within communities where dogs can influence public health. Both reproduction control and canine wellness including parasite control have been topics of her research.
Veterinary anatomists Dr. Wael Khamas, Dr. Hrvoje Smodlaka and Dr. Jessica Leach-Robinson (DVM 2010) have published their scientific study titled “Skin histology and its role in heat dissipation in three pinniped species.”
This work was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Lauren Palmer from San Pedro Marine Mammals Center as well as CVM alumna Dr. Jessica Leach-Robinson who started the study when she was second-year student. This work was sufficiently exciting to cause the journal editor to waive publication fees and expedite its appearance in the journal and is now ranked “highly accessed.” The opportunity to conduct this study arises from college and university intramural funding and collaboration. Click here to view the article.
Veterinary assistant professor and physiologist Dr. David Kersey recently presented: “Validating thyroxine and triiodothyronine assays for use in measuring thyroid hormone metabolites excreted in the faeces and urine of the female giant panda,” at the 3rd annual meeting for the International Society of Wildlife Endocrinology in Vienna, Austria. This study was conducted in partnership with Copper Aitken-Palmer of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and with the assistance of CVM student Allison Rowland, DVM ’14. As this non-invasive thyroid evaluation is new in endocrinology, the talk received considerable attention from conference attendees. The citation of the article: Kersey and Aitken-Palmer (2012) Veterinary Medicine Austria, 99 (suppl. 1): TNa4.
Dr. Kersey was also reappointed as a Smithsonian Research Associate in recognition of his continued collaboration with the Smithsonian. This status affords him continued access to Smithsonian resources which thus far include establishing four WesternU CVM student summer internships at the Smithsonian; access to samples on giant panda thyroid endocrinology; and continued collaborative efforts with giant panda breeding facilities in China.
Veterinary assistant professor and small animal clinician Dr. Pedro Diniz has collaborated with Brazilian scientists to publish a scientific study titled “Molecular characterisation of Bartonella species in cats from São Luís, state of Maranhão, north-eastern Brazil.” Dr. Diniz has pursued a number of infectious disease agents in his professional career using PCR identification of the agents. The current work extends his prior studies of Bartonella and other zoonotic agents that began in the laboratory of Dr. Breitschwerdt. The most frequent Bartonella infection route to humans is through scratches contaminated with flea feces. Cat bites are a less likely route. The percentage of Bartonella spp-positive cats identified by PCR in the present study was lower than that in other regions of Brazil. Click here to view the article.
From the College of Optometry:
October 2012 News
Click here to read the latest news from the College of Optometry, including upcoming campus events and a grant from the Allergan Foundation.
From University Advancement:
Cardinal Health donation
The College of Pharmacy celebrated a new relationship with Cardinal Health that emphasizes the vital role of independent community pharmacists.
Cardinal Health is a top distributor of pharmaceutical and other medical supplies and equipment in the U.S., helping pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites focus on patient care while reducing costs.
The College of Pharmacy is one of eight pharmacy schools across the country to receive funding through the Cardinal Health Pharmacy Scholarship Program this year. The company has donated more than $2.1 million to 20 universities through the scholarship program since its launch in June 2011.
Cardinal Health representatives Bill Hayden and Andrew Grant presented a $125,000 gift to the College of Pharmacy on Sept. 20, 2012. Click here to read the full story.
Gift in Kind Donation to the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific
Albert Ridlovski, MD, has donated $156,000 of MLS Laser Therapy equipment, and a spirometer, to the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. Thanks to Dr. David Connett for arranging this donation to the University.
Alumni News
Fall is an especially busy time of year for alumni, students and faculty to gather at various professional conferences. At each of the conferences below, our invited guests include not only our constituents registered for the respective conferences, but also all WesternU alumni living in those particular areas.
• Sept. 14-15: More than 100 people stopped by our exhibit table at the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California’s Annual Fall Conference in Monterey.
• Sept. 22, Approximately 40 people attended a reception at the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of Oregon’s Annual Conference in Portland.
• Sept. 28: About 60 people attended a reception at the California Physical Therapy Association’s Annual Conference in Santa Clara.
Still to come this fall, there will be receptions during the California Academy of Physician Assistants’ Annual Conference in Palm Springs on Oct. 5, the American Osteopathic Association’s OMED Convention in San Diego on Oct. 9, and the American Academy of Optometry’s Academy 2012 in Phoenix on Oct. 26. Also during the OMED Convention in San Diego, there will be a 30th Reunion Dinner for COMP’s Charter Class on Oct. 7. And finally, there will be a dinner at the California Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists’ Seminar 2012 on Oct. 19, and a reception at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Midyear Meeting on Dec. 3, both in Las Vegas.
From the Pumerantz Library:
Your Vote, Your Voice
Are you registered to vote? The Nov. 6 general election is about a month away and the deadline to register is Oct. 22. If you need to register to vote come to the library’s 2nd floor and pick up a voter registration form. If you don’t have time to do that, go to the Your Vote, Your Voice website and click on “register to vote.”
Reserve your seat today
The library has four workshops scheduled for October. Topics include EndNote, WorldCat Local, Micromedex, and services for distance education students. Go to our workshop page for dates, details, and to register.
For details on this and other upcoming events read the Library News and Events Blog.
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