This Week@WesternU Sept. 2-5, 2014
Bringing Transparency and Access to Drug Formularies
A panel of experts will convene at Western University of Health Sciences Sept. 8, 2014 to talk about how residents can select the best health insurance for their prescription medication needs.
California Sen. Norma Torres, the California Biotechnology Foundation (CBF) and the California Partnership for Access to Treatment (CPAT) are holding a complimentary luncheon seminar to discuss health insurance exchange drug formularies in California.
The seminar is designed to educate health care advocates, providers and consumers about insurance plan options, and provide tools for more transparency to help patients select the plan that best meets their health and budget needs.
The seminar will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, 2014 in Trendle Hall, Rodney P. Wineberg Center at WesternU, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766. Parking is available in Lot #17 (click here to view a map).
Click here to read the full story.
WesternU names COMP alumnus Rob Warren Chief Medical Officer of its medical centers
Western University of Health Sciences has named Rob Warren, DO ’01, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of its medical centers in Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga.
Warren recently completed a Health Care Executive Master of Business Administration from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.
He will serve as CMO for the Medical Center at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona and the Medical Center at Western University of Health Sciences, Rancho Cucamonga, and for future locations as they’re developed.
Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
WesternU alumnus at epicenter of Ebola outbreak
WesternU alumnus Adolfo Granados, DO ’00, is stationed in West Africa, mentoring medical officers with the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Ministry of National Defense (MOD) to support their efforts and provide assistance to battle the Ebola outbreak.
Click here to read the full story.
AOF Honors 2014
The American Osteopathic Foundation will hold its Board of Directors Meeting and Honors 2014 event on Oct. 24, 2014. Among the honorees will be WesternU students and alumni:
Bishal Bhandari, OMS II – Welch Scholars Grant, $2,000 award
Adam Vester, spouse of Amber Vester, DO – Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award
Sarah J. Wolff, OMS III – Student Director, Board of Directors of the AOF
COMP alumnus Joel E. Abbott, DO – Outstanding Resident of the Year Award, $5,000 Award
Kudos on accomplishments
John T. Pham, DO, was recently appointed to the Bureau of Osteopathic Education for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). As a member of the Bureau, Dr. Pham will help advance osteopathic medicine and strengthen osteopathic culture. Dr. Pham is the Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine and the Chair of the Admissions Committee at COMP-Northwest.
Dr. Nissar Darmani, Associate Dean for Basic Medical Sciences and Research, and colleagues from the Department of Basic Medical Sciences published the following article in PLoS One: Serotonin 5-HT3 Receptor-Mediated Vomiting Occurs via the Activation of Ca2+/CaMKII-Dependent ERK1/2 Signaling in the Least Shrew (Cryptotis parva). Zhong W, Hutchinson TE, Chebolu S, Darmani NA. PLoS One. 2014 Aug 14;9(8):e104718. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104718. eCollection 2014.
COMP Seminar Series
COMP will hold its monthly seminar from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, 2014 in Compatriots Hall, HSC. The seminar will be streamed via Lync to Eastmoreland in Lebanon. Mihai Covasa, PhD, COMP Associate Professor, BMS, will present “”The WORLD within: gut microbiota, the new player in obesity.””
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, Sept. 10 to
amathieu@westernu.edu (Pomona) or mguerrero@westernu.edu (Lebanon).
Click here for a flier.
COMP-Northwest News
COMP-Northwest was in attendance at the 2014 Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of Oregon (OPSO) Annual Primary Care CME Conference, held Aug. 15-17 in Portland. Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, and student researchers, Katherine Fisher, DO, and Edward Goering, DO, gave presentations at the event. Several staff members from the Oregon campus also attended and worked at the COMP-Northwest booth. COMP-Northwest faculty member and OPSO president, Derrick Sorweide, DO, presided over the conference.
The countdown to COMP-Northwest’s inaugural commencement is in full swing. Only 275 days remain until the June 5, 2015 commencement in Lebanon.
Alaska Airlines has partnered with WesternU offering discounts for students, family, employees and alumni. Travelers to the
OMED Conference, scheduled for Oct. 25-29 in Seattle, can receive 7 percent off airfare when using the WesternU promo code. Contact
Thomas A. Fox for further details.
COMP and COMP-Northwest are now on Twitter, with a combined total of more than 100 followers. The colleges can be found under @COMP_Pomona and @COMP_Northwest. The colleges are also on Instagram under the same handles.
From the College of Graduate Nursing:
WesternU nursing student helps secure $1.24 million grant for NAHN to recruit more Hispanic nurses
Western University of Health Sciences College of Graduate Nursing student Angelica Millan is the principal investigator of a $1.24 million grant to increase the number of Hispanic nurses nationwide.
The National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) received a five-year, $1.24 million Science Education Partnership Award grant from the National Institutes of Health to support its Hispanic Role Models in Health Careers program.
Click here to read the full story.
Kudos on accomplishments
The College of Graduate Nursing was well represented during the 25th International Nursing Research Congress held in Hong Kong from July 24-28 and sponsored by the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Honor Society of Nursing. The five-day conference focused on “”Engaging Colleagues: Improving Global Health Outcomes.”” CGN had four presentations during this international conference:
Quannetta T. Edwards, PhD, FNP-BC, WHNP-BC, FAANP; Ivy Tuason, MSN, FNP-BC & Ruth Trudgeon, MSN – Symposium titled “”Engaging Inter-professional Teams: Promoting Community and Global Health Initiatives for Education, Practice, Research and Policy.”” This symposium was part of a collaborative project with Louise Muscato, PhD, Assistant Dean for Medical Education, COMP Northwest, and Maryam Othman, MD, MPH Director, Division of Global health and Community Health, COMP, Pomona, that entailed the integration of population/community and global health in Master’s and Doctoral Education in nursing and in osteopathic medicine).
Ivy Tuason, MSN, FNP-BC, Ruth Trudgeon, MSN, Stephanie Cornett, BS (Student, MSN program) – Podium Presentation titled: “”Innovative Community Placements: Enhancing Students’ Experiences with Diverse Populations.””
Quannetta T. Edwards (Poster co-author/presenter) “”Integration of Genomics into Nursing Curriculum.””
Ivy Tuason (Poster co-author/presenter) “”From Novice to Expert: Becoming an Academic Nurse Educator.””
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
WesternU to host softball games against the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team
The Physical Therapy Department at Western University of Health Sciences will host a double-header softball game against the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team (WWAST) on Oct. 4, 2014.
Gates open at 3 p.m. Games will be at 4 and 7 p.m. at San Manuel Stadium, 280 South E. St., San Bernardino, California – home of the Inland Empire 66ers minor league baseball team.
Click here to read the full story.
Department of Health Sciences News
An excellent continuing education event will be presented by the Southern California Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) board members at WesternU. The lecture will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4 in the Health Professions Center (HPC), Bartlett Theater. The cost is $20 for SOPHE members and $25 for non-members. Sign-up today with the link provided below and tell all of your friends and fellow Health Science colleagues of this great opportunity.
Departmentof Physician Assistant News
Twelve first-year PA students recently screened approximately 500 eighth-graders at El Roble Middle School in Claremont, California. PA students, who just completed their education module in eye and vision assessment, provided vision screenings as students registered for school. For one PA student, it was a reunion of types, as the PA student attended El Roble many years ago.
U.S. Army Reserves Capt. Ann Schultz, MS, PA-C, was called up to active duty. She will serve her country at a military base in Texas, providing health care to soldiers and their families. We wish her the best until she returns next year.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
WesternU student makes the most of summer months with Morris Animal Foundation research grant
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) second-year student Melanie Sailor was one of 25 veterinary student scholars nationally to be awarded a Morris Animal Foundation summer research grant for 2015.
The Morris Animal Foundation Veterinary Student Scholars Program encourages veterinary students to pursue research careers, providing students with summer stipends to focus on a project of their own design, while working with a mentor at their respective veterinary colleges, according to the Morris Animal Foundation.
Click here to read the full story.
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Tracey McNamara has been asked to participate in a Delphi Exercise about how the U.S. government should characterize and prioritize biological threats. This study is being conducted by the START National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism and the UPMC Center for Health Security. The study is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate and Chemical and Biological Defense Division.
From the Pumerantz Library:
Four humors
The Pumerantz Library will have on exhibit “”And there’s the humor of it: Shakespeare and the four humors”” from Aug. 4 to Sept. 12, 2014. This traveling exhibit by the National Library of Medicine details how the four humors – blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm – influenced The Bard’s plays. For more information please view the
Library’s news and events blog.
From University Advancement:
Win $50 for saying what “”The WesternU Way”” means to you
Please join WesternU on social media and answer the question “”What does the ‘WesternU Way’ mean to you?”” for a chance to win one of three $50 Visa gift cards. We will highlight a select number of responses in the WesternU calendar.
Click here for more information.
Click here to view a poster.
Alumni networking mixer in La Jolla
About 25 alumni from several WesternU colleges attended an alumni networking mixer at La Jolla Brewing Co. Our energetic alumni enjoyed great food and drinks as they rekindled their relationships while others met new friends from across colleges representing classes from 1985 through 2014. The next alumni networking mixer will be held in October.
Advancement News
Socialize and network with WesternU alumni, students, faculty, and staff at one or more of the University’s receptions taking place this fall at various professional conferences. (You do not need to be attending the conference to attend one of these receptions.)
– Saturday, September 20, 5:00-7:00 p.m., at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in the Palazzo Hotel during the Vision Expo West Conference in Las Vegas, Nev.
– Saturday, September 27, 5:30-7:00 p.m. at COMP-Northwest following the Oregon-ACOFP Primary Care Seminar in Lebanon, Ore.
– Friday, October 10, 6:30-9:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel during the California Academy of Physician Assistants’ Annual Conference in Palm Springs, Calif.
– Friday, October 24, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Oakland Marriott City Center during the California Physical Therapy Association’s Annual Conference in Oakland, Calif.
– Monday, October 27, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Space Needle during the American Osteopathic Association’s OMED Convention in Seattle, Wash.
– Saturday, November 1, 8:00-10:00 p.m. at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square during the California Society for Health-System Pharmacists’ Seminar in San Francisco, Calif.
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Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766
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