This Week@WesternU, Oct. 3-7, 2011
Special Guest Lecture
Western Diabetes Institute presents: Adrian V. Vella, MD, professor of medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism and Nutrition, Mayo Clinic. “Diabetes and its Complications: from Genes to Disease,” noon Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011 in HEC – Lecture Hall II. Lunch will be served to the first 200 attendees. Please RSVP by Oct. 3 to Carla Kavanaugh at 909-469-8447 or ckavanaugh@westernu.edu. Sponsored by a grant from The Endocrine Society’s Visiting Professorship in Endocrine Pancreas Preservation. Program supported by Merck. Click here to view a flier. Click here to read more.
Big Read
WesternU is joining the city of Pomona and other sponsors to once again bring the joy of books to the public. This year, the Pomona Big Read pays homage to detective fiction, highlighting Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.”
The kick-off event for the fifth annual Pomona Big Read will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7 at WesternU’s Health Education Center, 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. and will feature a Classic Noir panel moderated by “Los Angeles Noir” author Denise Hamilton. Raymond Chandler biographer Judith Freeman, Ross Macdonald biographer Tom Nolan, and Julie Rivett, granddaughter of “The Maltese Falcon” author Dashiell Hammett, will join in this tribute to noir literature. Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Glen Kisby’s manuscript “Is Neurodegenerative Disease a Long-Latency Response to Early-Life Genotoxin Exposure?” has been accepted for publication in a special issue of the International Journal on Environmental Research and Public Health titled “Advances in Environmental Neurotoxicology” in late October.
Matt Wedel of COMP and CPM was profiled on HowToSmile.org, an online collection of educational activities in science and math. The profile includes links to hands-on activities that explore the properties of the skeleton, using chicken bones. http://howtosmile.org/blog/posts/hunting-dinosaurs
Marek Malecki, MD, PhD, was an invited speaker at the 2nd International Annual “Single Cell Analysis Summit” Sept. 29-30, 2011 at the South San Francisco Conference Center, San Francisco delivering the lecture “Liquid Biopsy of Ovarian Cancer: Issuing Diagnosis and Planning Therapies of Ovarian Cancers Based Upon Genome Sequencing and Gene Expression Profiling of Single Cells From Peritoneal Fluid and Blood.” He was also was a Distinguished Faculty and Session Chairman at this professional, international conference.
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
Department of Physician Assistant Education News
Last week the California Academy of Physician Assistants (CAPA) held its annual conference in Palm Springs. WesternU was represented in every aspect of the conference including providing leadership, guest speaking, and students. Every year a student challenge bowl is held that test teams of PA students in their medical knowledge. WesternU’s team, composed of second-year students, made it to the finals, taking third place. Congratulations to team members Sarah Broome, Megan Ward and Reid Lancaster.
Congratulations to three first-year PA students who have just received word that they are receiving National Health Services Corp (NHSC) Scholarships for their PA education. The recipients are Karen Wong, Natasha Ohta, and Victoria Bayliss.
Department of Physical Therapy Education News
Department of Physical Therapy Education alumni, faculty and students participated in the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA) Annual Conference recently held in Long Beach. This two-day event was attended by more than 1,200 professionals from throughout the state. As a sponsor of the conference, the WesternU logo was imprinted on the official conference tote bag given out at registration. In addition, the department had a booth in the exhibit hall to promote WesternU and the Advanced Standing (transitional) DPT degree for current physical therapists. More than 100 alumni, faculty, and students enjoyed a reception hosted by WesternU Alumni Relations. Students from each of the three entry-level DPT classes of 2012, 2013, and 2014 attended the conference with many of them volunteering their time in a variety of roles. Professor David Selkowitz, PT, PhD, OCS, DAAPM, gave a podium presentation on “The Influence of Patellofemoral Pain on Hip Muscle Activation During Therapeutic Exercise: A Pilot Study Using Fine-Wire Electrodes,” and Associate Professor Georgeanne Vlad, PT, MA, gave a podium presentation on “Empathy Among Healthcare Professions Students.” Associate Professor Dayle Armstrong, PT, DPT, MS, and Professor Donna Redman-Bentley, PT, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, College of Allied Health Professions, had a poster presentation on “Effectiveness of Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Index (PEDI) in Measuring Differences in Capability and Performance Between Children with Sensori-Motor Disorders, Physical Disability and Typically Developing Children.”
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Assistant Professor Roger Klotz and Assistant Professor Micah Hata were featured on the ASHP website newsletter, Intersections, for their anticoagulation services in a community pharmacy setting. Their efforts and persistence have paid off in terms of reimbursement and recognition. Click here to read the story.
From the College of Graduate Nursing:
DNP Presentations
Several Doctor of Nursing Practice students will give presentations at the Sigma Theta Tau Odyssey Conference on Oct. 21. Click here to view the full list.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
Veterinary Professor and dairy operations expert Dr. Jim Reynolds was recognized with the “Award for Excellence” by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners at their annual meeting. This national award recognizes outstanding performance and contribution to food animal practice and veterinary medicine. He is regarded as the guiding light for animal welfare issues for AABP and bovine practice veterinarians. This award also recognized his contributions to the education for decades of veterinary medical students, numerous veterinarians and agricultural producers. He has done great things and has greatly advanced food animal practice worldwide.
Veterinary Professor and microbiologist Dr. Peggy Barr presented on behalf of her collaborators a poster describing the ongoing snow leopard genomics project at the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) conference held in Atlanta, Sept. 12-17, 2011. In addition to Dr. Barr, authors included Dr. Kris Irizarry, Dr. Janis Joslin from the CVM, and grad student Ms. Valerie Kendall from GCBS, Dr. Katherine Mitsouras from COMP, and two external collaborators, Dr. Todd Mockler (Oregon State University) and Dr. Jay Tetzloff (Superintendent, Miller Park Zoo, Bloomington, IL). Click here to view the poster.
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Aynun Begum from Dr. Doug Ethell’s laboratory presented her work on Alzheimer’s disease at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Toronto, Ontario, in June 2011. The presentation was titled, “Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells to Mature Dendritic Cells in a Therapeutic Model for Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Ms. Harpreet Sidhu from Dr. Doug Ethell’s laboratory presented her work on the Autistic spectrum disorder Fragile X Syndrome at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Toronto, Ontario, in June 2011. The presentation was titled, “Fragile X Subject-derived iPS Cells as a Source for Human Neurons with Clinically-relevant FMR1 Mutations.”
Dr. Doug Ethell presented work from his laboratory on an early diagnostic for Alzheimer’s disease at the International Brain Research Organization Meeting in Florence Italy on July 14, 2011. The presentation was titled, “Development of an In Vitro Test for b-Amyloid-Specific T cell Responses.”
Dr. Doug Ethell gave a platform presentation on an emerging hypothesis for Alzheimer’s disease at Association International Conference in Paris, France on July 16, 2011. The talk was titled, “Zebrafish Model of Vascular Changes in Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Dr. Doug Ethell and one of his post-doctoral fellows, Dr. Aynun Begum, presented some of their work on Alzheimer’s disease at the Annual Investigator’s Meeting of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine on Sept 15, 2011. The presentation was titled, “H9-derived Dendritic Cells for the Isolation and Characterization of b-Amyloid-specific CD4+ T cells from Clinical Blood Samples.”
