AHC News Capsules 03/21/07
March 21, 2007
NEWS CAPSULES
is a biweekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the Academic Health Center. Please send submissions to Jennifer La Forgia, lafor016@umn.edu.
News
-- Legislative Update
-- Headlines
People
Announcements
-- Updates
-- Lectures
-- Opportunities
I was disappointed to learn this week that the House did not include the Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority in its Omnibus Capital Investment Finance bill. Apparently they believe that funding one building at a time in the same old process is responding to the University’s needs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our ability to plan for recruitments and retentions and compete with other outstanding universities is based on predictability with space to house academic work. The old model means we’re constantly playing catch up for the needs of faculty who are here. The Facilities Authority provides the means to leap into the future and plan for growth in areas of excellence. We need the Senate to hear from us that the Facilities Authority is a key for our future success on behalf of Minnesota. To learn more about the Facilities Authority, go to http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/govrel/Biomedical_Sciences.pdf
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– Frank B. Cerra
The Senate approved $30 million for the U-Mayo Partnership over fiscal years 2008-2009. And, starting in 2010, the Senate recommended inclusion of $10 million a year for the partnership in the overall University budget. The House has not yet released projections for the U-Mayo bill.
In other action, although the House Capital Investment Committee did not include the Minnesota Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority in the Omnibus Capital Investment Finance bill, the Senate has the opportunity to include the Facilities Authority (in the omnibus bill) in a vote early next week.
Also, last week, the Senate Higher Education Committee moved forward the University’s appropriations bill that funds nearly all of the University’s request in the first year, and is $40 million below request in the second year of the biennium.
The Board of Regents’ Facilities Committee approved the schematic design for the Medical Biosciences Building planned for the East Gateway District, the area adjacent to the future TCF Bank Stadium. Construction will begin on the new building this November and completion is scheduled for 2009. It will house researchers in neuroscience (including Alzheimer’s) and infectious disease. The highly specialized nature of the building means it will cost $67.5 million, a record cost per square foot for U buildings.
During last week’s Match Day, fourth-year Medical School students learned where they will train in residency programs during the next phase of their medical education. Of the 225 medical students who will graduate this year, 112 of them (52.3 percent) placed in Minnesota residencies, with the majority continuing in University of Minnesota Medical School programs. (This is up from 51.6 percent last year.) Also of note: 42.3 percent of the class chose primary care specialties—family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and medicine-pediatrics. Other top specialties were emergency medicine (19 of the class matched), pediatrics (13), and obstetrics and gynecology (11).
A report prepared by the School of Public Health’s State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) raises new concerns for uninsured children in moderate-income families.
Whose Kids Are Covered? A State-by-State Look at Uninsured Children reports that nearly 9 million children in the United States are without health insurance and that two out of three uninsured kids (64 percent) live with adults who earn modest incomes (roughly $40,000 or less for a family of four). The report, released March 13, was prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Cover the Uninsured Week, which will be April 23–29.
Joseph Neglia (Medical School) has agreed to serve as interim head of the Department of Pediatrics, effective May 1. Neglia is section chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, holds the Albert D. and Eva J. Corniea Chair, and is a leader in the Cancer Center’s studies of long-term survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers.
Gunda Georg (College of Pharmacy) received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for “ Interdisciplinary Center for Male Contraceptive Research and Drug Development.”
Rosemary Kelly (Medical School) was awarded the Nina Starr Braunwald Award from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education for her research on cardiac revascularization.
Graduate student Emily Faivre (Cancer Center) is the recipient of the 2007 Medical School Roza Steer Breast Cancer Research Award from the Minnesota Medical Foundation. The $1000 award is presented for outstanding basic or clinical research in the field of breast cancer.
In his article “Unprepared for a Pandemic,” in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Michael T. Osterholm (School of Public Health) cautions that worldwide preparations for a pandemic are lagging.
The N. Bud Grossman Center for Memory Research and Care is the new name of the Medical School’s Center for Memory Research and Care, headed by Karen H. Ashe.
The AHC’s Office of Education announces the second annual Best Practices Institute: Excellence in Health Professions Education to be held May 17–18 on the U’s Minneapolis campus. The institute will provide faculty opportunities for skill-building in small group workshops, plenary sessions, lunch-hour panel discussions with deans from the six AHC schools and colleges, a student panel, and a show-and-tell poster and technology session. Visit http://www.BPinstitute.umn.edu to view a detailed schedule and to register.
Invite the neighbors! University of Minnesota Physicians will hold a grand opening for the new Smiley’s Clinic and is inviting Phillips and Seward neighborhood residents. The April 11 celebration will run from 3:30–7:30 p.m. at the clinic’s new location at 2020 E. 28th St. in Minneapolis. Clinic staff will offer a number of free health screenings at the event, including blood pressure screenings and blood sugar tests, as well as access to information about clinic services, including smoking cessation plans. The event will include refreshments and entertainment.
Past chair and current member of the Nobel Prize Committee on Medicine Carl Groth, M.D., Ph.D., will present on “Alfred Nobel, the Man and the Prize,” April 10 at 3 p.m. in the Mayo Auditorium. Dr. Groth, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, is a pioneer in kidney, pancreas, liver and islet transplantation. In 2006, he received the Medawar Prize from the Transplantation Society, the highest honor in the field. A reception honoring Dr. Groth will follow at 4 p.m.
“A Perspective on the Intersection of Science and Policy at the FDA” will be the topic when Scott Gottlieb, M.D., of the American Enterprise Institute, presents the final lecture in the 2006-07 Lunch Series on the Societal Implications of the Life Sciences. The lecture will be Thursday, April 12, 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m., in the Coffman Memorial Union Theater. It is free and open to the public. To reserve a lunch, please RSVP no later than April 6 to lawvalue@umn.edu or 612-625-0055. For more information, see http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/news_and_events/.
Clinical Research Conference: Daniel Mulrooney ( Medical School) will lecture on "Cardiovascular Disease in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer, " April 2, 8–9 a.m., in 2-101 Nils Hasselmo Hall.
“From Leviathan to Peer Review: Social Science and IRBs” by J. Michael Oakes (School of Public Health) will be the inaugural presentation in the new University Forum on Research and Professional Ethics series sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). This first lecture will be today, Wednesday, March 21, 4–5:30 in Walter Mondale Hall, room 25. For more information, go to http://www.research.umn.edu/events/research_ethics.html. This event qualifies as continuing education for investigators.
March 28 is Support the U Day at the State Capitol. Advocate for the U’s requests at the State Capitol, including proposals to establish the Minnesota Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority (go to http://www1.umn.edu/groots/background/index.php and click on the PDF for more info), to promote the U’s goals to become a top three public research university, and to recruit and retain top faculty. Students are encouraged to participate by joining a rally and, if they choose, by meeting with their legislators. Buses will run from the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses. For details and to register, go to http://www.supporttheU.umn.edu. If you need help presenting the U’s case, go to http://www1.umn.edu/groots/pdf/LegislativeAgenda07.pdf. For more, contact Emily Johnston, Grassroots coordinator, at john5091@umn.edu or 612-625-8739.
The AHC Translational Research Grant Program will fund three new grants with up to $200,000 over two to three years. Awards will go to new projects with no outside funding and preference will go to projects that create new collaborations. The goal is to move concepts developed at the University from basic research to clinical testing. The deadline for applications is May 18. Awards will be announced in July. For program and application details, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/research/funding/translational/home.html
“Taking Charge of Your Health” is the theme of the spring Mini Medical School to run Monday evenings, April 9–May 7, 6–8:30 p.m., in the newly renovated Mayo Auditorium. The series, organized in collaboration with the Center for Spirituality & Healing, will cover: diet and nutrition; relationships and family; stress mastery; and life purpose. The cost is $75. To learn more and register go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/minimed. If you have questions, email minimed@umn.edu
The SPH National Public Health Week Film Festival will be April 2–6 in the Mayo Auditorium. Screenings begin at 5:30 p.m. To learn more, go to http://www.sph.umn.edu/about/news/films/home.html. Students, staff, and faculty interested in helping at the festival should contact Anne-Marie Kruse at 612-626-9303 or krus109@umn.edu.
"Enhancing Student Learning: Conversations About Research and Practice" will be the topic of the April 23 teaching-and-learning conference sponsored by Academy of Distinguished Teachers, UMTC Center for Teaching and Learning, and UMTC Digital Media Center. The conference is free, but registration is required. To register, go to http://www.irr.umn.edu/adt/adtconference07/register.cfm. To learn more, go to http://www.adt.umn.edu/conference07 or contact Karen Zentner Bacig, kbacig@umn.edu or 612-624-5082.
The schedule is now available for the 2007 Summer Public Health Institute. The institute will be held May 21-June 8 on the Twin Cities University campus. Visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/institute for the complete three-week institute schedule, or to request a print catalog please call 612-626-4515 or e-mail cpheo@umn.edu.
Make sure you’re well connected! The librarians and staff of the Health Sciences Libraries (HSL) want to connect you with the quality information and services you need for teaching, research, service, and patient care. Learn more about their services, classes, and subject librarian liaisons through the Spring 2007 update about the HSL, available at: http://staff.lib.umn.edu/communications/email/deans/06fall/ahc
Learn how to write a winning grant. Designed for AHC faculty and research staff involved in clinical and translational research, this popular day-long workshop called “Write Winning Grants” offers detailed guidance on all aspects of grant writing and focuses on the National Institutes of Health. The workshop will be Thursday, April 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Metrodome ( West Bank) campus. The registration fee is $35. To register, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/ocr/writewinninggrants/home.html
Scientific Writing Development Series is a four-part program being offered by Office of Clinical Research for AHC faculty and staff. The Friday sessions from noon to 1 p.m. will be:
April 13 -- Tackling the Writing Process
April 20 -- Anatomy of a Manuscript
April 27 -- Writing Effective Introductions and Abstracts
May 4 -- Responding to Reviewer Comments
Locations include 1-450G Moos Tower (Twin Cities) and via polycomm in Duluth at 146 Med and 389 Pharmacy. Registration is required at https://intranet.ahc.umn.edu/ocr/writing/registration.html
Toast to the benefit of the U’s Department of Pediatrics. The University Pediatric Foundation will host its twelfth WineFest–A Toast to Children’s Health on May 11 and 12 at the historic Depot in Minneapolis. Proceeds will help scientists and physicians to generate new knowledge and translate it into cures and treatments at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview. For details and tickets, go to http://www.thewinefest.com or call 612-626-5720.
AHC News Capsules is a biweekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the Academic Health Center. Please send submissions to Jennifer La Forgia at lafor016@umn.edu.
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