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This Week@WesternU, Oct. 7-11, 2013

by Rodney Tanaka

October 7, 2013

Read 5 mins

Pumerantz Lectureship to be held Oct. 24, 2013

The fifth annual Dr. Philip Pumerantz Distinguished Lectureship at Western University of Health Sciences will feature Louis W. Sullivan, MD, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) as keynote speaker.

The Pumerantz Lecture will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013 in Lecture Hall II of WesternU’s Health Education Center, 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766. The lecture will be streamed live to COMP-Northwest’s Lecture Hall II.

Click here to read the full story.

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.; at WesternU’s Patient Care Center, 795 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif.; and at Inland Rheumatology & Osteoporosis Medical Group, 1238 East Arrow Highway, Upland, Calif. 91786.

Participants will be compensated $25 at the end of the study.

Participants will undergo a medical evaluation, take a blood test to measure the levels of inflammation in their body, and then receive an extensive evaluation of their tear layers and the front surface of their eyes. These assessments can be completed in one visit or separately.

Participants will not receive treatment, but they will receive free testing, and the information will be shared with their rheumatologist eye care practitioner.

For more information, please contact Natalia at ntembonicaraballo@westernu.edu or Dr. Yumori at jyumori@westernu.edu.

Click here to view a flier. Click here to read the full story.

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

Kudos on accomplishments

Michelle Hovorka, MS, Instructor of Anatomy at COMP-Northwest, published the following article in Anatomical Record (Hoboken): “Microscopic clusters of sensory neurons in c1 spinal nerve roots and in the c1 level of the spinal accessory nerve in adult humans.” Click here to view the abstract.

John E. Mata, PhD, COMP-Northwest BMS Associate Professor of Pharmacology, has been invited to speak at the First POLARIS Workshop from Oct. 7-9, 2013, in Porto, Portugal. Additionally, Dr. Mata was invited to present at Term Stem 2013, an international conference on tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy, which will also be held in Portugal from Oct. 10-12. Dr. Mata will give an oral presentation on “A cell spanning IKVAV expressing peptide for treatment of spinal cord injury” at both conferences. More information on the conferences can be found at http://www.termstem.org.

COMP Assistant Professor Marcel Fraix, DO, FAAPMR, gave a presentation at OMED in Las Vegas at the AOA Annual Research Conference regarding the ongoing OMT/VRT (Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment/Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy) study taking place at WesternU. Click here to view the program. Click here to read more about the study.

From the College of Graduate Nursing:

CHOC Walk

WesternU’s National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) is organizing a team and raising money for the CHOC Walk in the Park Oct. 13, 2013. The 5K walk through Disneyland and California Adventure raises money for Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). College of Graduate Nursing students have been rotating through CHOC for their clinicals and preceptorships, and they want to give back to CHOC and the community by fundraising and supporting such a great cause.

To donate, please visit: http://choc.convio.net/goto/WesternUNursing.

For additional information, please visit http://choc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=2013CHOCWalkhome.

Click here to view a flier.

From the College of Pharmacy:

NAPLEX results

College of Pharmacy Class of 2013 graduates had a first-time pass rate of 99.21 percent on the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX). Graduates must pass the national board exam to become licensed pharmacists. The state pass rate for first-time candidates is 97.64 percent. The national pass rate is 96.57 percent.

Kudos on accomplishments

Dr. Sunil Prabhu and his collaborators published the research article “A Novel Combinatorial Nanotechnology-Based Oral Chemopreventive Regimen Demonstrates Significant Suppression of Pancreatic Cancer Neoplastic Lesions” in Cancer Prevention Research, the premier journal in cancer prevention with a five-year impact factor of 5.12. This work is a result of combined efforts of former MSPS student Karthik Grandhi, current postdoctoral fellow Dr. Arvind Thakkar, and co-investigator Dr. Jeffrey Wang.

This article was singled out by the journal editors for invited commentary from two major research institutions, Johns Hopkins University and Rutgers University. It is also noteworthy that Dr. Prabhu has recently established a collaborative venture with Johns Hopkins University stemming from ongoing research in cancer prevention using nanotechnology and combination chemopreventive strategies.

Full citation: “A Novel Combinatorial Nanotechnology-Based Oral Chemopreventive Regimen Demonstrates Significant Suppression of Pancreatic Cancer Neoplastic Lesions” B. Karthik Grandhi, Arvind Thakkar, Jeffrey Wang, and Sunil Prabhu, Cancer Prev Res October 2013 6:10 1015-1025; Published Online First October 2, 2013; doi:10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-13-0172 http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/current

Dr. Peter Oelschlaeger and MSPS Student Alec LaCuran published the following article: Yang-KW, Feng L, Yang SK, Aitha M, LaCuran A, Oelschlaeger P, Crowder MW. New β-phospholactam as a carbapenem transition state analog: Synthesis of a broad-spectrum inhibitor of metallo-β-lactamases. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 2013, 23 (21): 5855-5859. DOI 10.1016/j.bmcl.2013.08.098 Link to Article

From University Advancement:

Advancement News

Vision Service Plan (VSP) has provided the College of Optometry $61,526 in vouchers this year for vision care services for low income and uninsured patients. VSP has committed nearly $100,000 for 2013.

Kim-Anh Nguyen, OD, owner of 20/20 Optometry, Inc. in Westminster, Calif., signed a pledge to establish the Dr. Kim-Anh Nguyen Endowed Scholarship. In addition to funding the scholarship during the next few years, Dr. Nguyen is immediately providing a $1,000 scholarship annually. Dr. Nguyen wishes to support a student(s) who have demonstrated volunteerism in underserved communities.

M&S Technologies continues its support of the College of Optometry by providing students their popular vision testing software in 2013 with a value of $193,000. M&S has partnered with the College since its opening with total support of $907,000.

Organogenesis of Canton, Mass., is the leading manufacturer of regenerative wound management products and has agreed to sponsor the College of Podiatric Medicine’s Tuesday Morning Academic Teaching Conference with a $10,000 grant.

Karen Wrubel, DPM, FACFAS, immediate past president of the California Podiatric Medical Association, established a $1,000 annual scholarship in the College of Podiatric Medicine.

Paul Scherer, DPM, and Aaron Meltzer, DPM, have established the Sherer/Meltzer Biomechanics Endowed Fellowship in the College of Podiatric Medicine. Dr. Scherer and Dr. Meltzer of ProLab Orthotics in Napa, Calif., also underwrite the annual Donor Dinner in Napa held during the Learning in the Vineyards Podiatric Conference.

From the Patient Care Center:

Backpack giveaway

As children head back to school after the summer break, the Eye Care Center (ECC) at Western University of Health Sciences reminds parents that good vision is critical to learning.

The ECC is giving away a limited number of backpacks filled with school supplies as an incentive to bring your child in for a comprehensive eye examination. Click here for more information.

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

909-623-6116

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