AHC News Capsules 04/19/07
April 19, 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.
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One of the roles I particularly enjoy is sharing the vision for our future with groups of colleagues and partners both inside and outside the University. Today I have the pleasure of addressing the President's 21st Century Interdisciplinary Conference on Medical Device Policy and Planning. As part of my remarks I'm excited to share the new initiative on a Center of Excellence in Engineering and Medicine, two of the disciplines that distinguish this University. Watch for more details as we roll out this new Center.
– Frank B. Cerra
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
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After returning from a week-long Easter/Passover recess, the House and Senate have named members of the Capital Investment Conference Committee to iron out the differences between the two Capital Investment Bills. That's the legislation that would include the Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority. Conferees from the House are Representatives Alice Hausman, Lyndon Carlson, Gene Pelowski, Mary Murphy and Kathy Tingelstad. Conferees from the Senate include Senators Keith Langseth, Richard Cohen, Jim Metzen, David Senjem, and Betsy Wergin.
In other Capitol action, the Senate version of the Stem Cell Bill cleared both the Judiciary and Health Committees and will be voted on in the full Senate.
Travis Thompson (Medical School) has been selected to receive an Outstanding Community Service Award. The award honors members of the U community who have devoted their time and talent to make substantial and enduring contributions to improve public life and the well-being of society. Thompson is author of the book "Making Sense of Autism."
Jay Schrankler is the new executive director for the U's Office for Technology Commercialization. The office helps bring the U's discoveries and technologies to the public. Schrankler joins the University after more than 25 years at Honeywell.
Jizhen Lin, assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, was awarded a five-year $1.9 million NIH/NIDCD grant for his work Mucous cell metaplasia in pneumococcal otitis media.
Charles Christiansen, director of U's Center for Allied Health Programs, was chosen to receive the prestigious 2007 AOTA-AOTF Presidents' Commendation Award. This is given by the American Occupational Therapy Association and the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. To date, only 10 people have received this honor.
American
Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has selected the Medical School for an Achievement Award and named it a Top 10 school for producing family physicians. The Medical School will be recognized for this award Friday, April 27, during the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference in Chicago.
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.
Melanoma Monday is May 7. This free annual skin cancer screening will be 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the Dermatologic Surgery and Laser Center on the 4th floor of Phillips-Wangensteen. Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. No appointment is needed. Please call 612-624-9964 with questions.
It's National Library Week! The Health Sciences Libraries invite you to celebrate with a visit -- online or in person! Check out the new "my Library" tab on the MyU portal. AHC faculty, staff, and students can use the tab for information related to their discipline and for links to library services and resources. Visit http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/node/1347 .
Clean up every corner of the campus — even yours! Beautiful U Day is Thursday, April 19.
Mail boxes make a move. The U.S. mail boxes in third floor Mayo lobby have been moved. Two are now outside the main entrance of the Mayo Building and the parcel box is in the third floor B corridor by the cash machine.
Major infrastructure and road construction on the roads near the TCF Bank Stadium site (Oak Street, University Avenue, 6th Street and 23rd Avenue) will continue throughout the summer. As utilities are installed and portions of the boundary streets reconfigured, temporary lane closures, lane shifts and congested traffic will occur. Road access to Lions/MTRF and CMRR is expected to remain open. For construction updates, go to http://www1.umn.edu/stadium/const/070413.html
First floor corridor from Moos Tower to Mayo will be cleared of old equipment, construction materials and other debris. All items need to be removed no later than Monday, April 23. Anything left in the corridor after that date will be hauled to the Como Yard Re-Use Center and charged to the appropriate department. There will be no storage in this corridor effective April 23.
The Center for Lung Science and Health will host two directors from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a special scientific program Monday, April 30, 1-4:30 p.m. in Moos Tower 2-650. Elizabeth Nabel, director of NHLBI, and James Kiley, director of the Lung Division of NHLBI, will participate in the program with other lung experts from the Medical School.
What is the protocol when a clinical trial reveals an unexpected condition (in a patient) not related to the research variable? The conference "Managing Incidental Findings in Human Subject Research: From Imaging to Genomics" will present recommendations from an NIH-funded project to develop standards. Many national experts will speak, May 1, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center. Advance registration is encouraged. See http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/conferences/incidentalfindings.php.
Powell Center Women's Health Lecture Series: Nafis Sadik, special advisor for the U.N. Secretary-General and U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia, will speak on "Women and HIV/AIDS: International Social and Political Issues," Tuesday, April 24, 12:15 p.m.-1 p.m. in Moos Tower 2-520. If you have questions, contact 612-626-1125 or wmhealth@umn.edu. Sandwiches available for the first 30.
Distinguished Visiting Scholars Series in Health Disparities: Mona Fouad will speak on "Recruitment of Ethnic Minorities into Clinical Trials," Wednesday, May 9, noon-1 p.m., in Moos Tower 2-530. Fouad is professor of medicine in the Division of Preventive Medicine and director of Minority Health and Research Center at the University of Alabama.
Preeminent epidemiologist Mervyn Susser will deliver the School of Public Health's 2007 Gaylord Anderson Lecture, 4 p.m., April 26, at McNamara Center. Susser is Sergievsky Professor of Epidemiology Emeritus of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Faculty of Medicine.
"Health Outcomes and Loneliness"will be James Lynch's topic Monday, May 7, at 3 p.m., in the Mayo Memorial Auditorium. Lynch, an international expert on the health effects of loneliness, is being hosted by the Center for Spirituality & Healing for this annual Ruth Stricker Mind-Body Lecture.
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.
"Human Rights, the Burden of Disease and International Tobacco Control" is the topic for the annual School of Public Health Roundtable Series, April 27, 8:30 a.m.-noon, in Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center. Keynote speakers will be Carolyn Dresler, M.D., of the University of Arkansas and former head of the Unit for Tobacco and Cancer Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and Benjamin Mason Meier, J.D. L.L.M., an IGERT International Development and Globalization Fellow in Columbia University's Department of Socio-Medical Sciences. To register go to http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/cpheo/events/roundtable/Roundtable_042706.html.
First of new series to focus on neuroscience. The new AHC Office of Clinical Research - LifeScience Alley Breakthrough Series begins June 4-5 in the Continuing Education and Conference Center on the St. Paul campus. The conference will bring together 20 leading academic and industry experts in the treatment of psychiatric and movement disorders. The interactive program design will provide extensive networking and discussion opportunities. To view a detailed schedule and register, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/ocr/events/breakthroughseries/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 20 -- Anatomy of a Manuscript (Part 2)
April 27 -- Writing Effective Introductions and Abstracts (Part 3)
May 4 -- Responding to Reviewer Comments (Part 4)
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.
The schedule is now available for the 2007 Summer Public Health Institute. The institute will be held May 21-June 8 on the University's Twin Cities 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.
The Healthy Kids in Healthy Places Community Action Forum will focus on advancing a healthy weight in children. The forum is Wednesday, May 9, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., in the Continuing Education and Conference Center, on the St. Paul Campus. For information contact the Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach at cpheo@umn.edu or call 612-626-4515. To register, go to http://ustar.ahc.umn.edu/register_event.cfm.
The third annual Minnesota Cup contest seeks aspiring entrepreneurs with breakthrough business ideas. Winners will receive cash prizes, professional services and the opportunity to connect with Minnesota's top executives, investors and educators. Organizers of this contest, sponsored in part by the University, are asking Minnesotans to submit their breakthrough business ideas through May 25 online at http://www.breakthroughideas.org.
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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