News Capsules 06/28/06

NEWS

Researchers from the School of Public Health have shown that drinking coffee—especially decaffeinated—may lower a person’s risk for type 2 diabetes. The study, which appeared in the June 26, 2006 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, shows postmenopausal women who daily consume more than six cups of coffee (particularly decaffeinated) have a 33 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than women who do not drink coffee. “The risk reduction associated with coffee is independent of factors such as weight and physical activity,” said lead author Mark Pereira, School of Public Health. “There appears to be great potential for coffee to help reduce the risk of diabetes.”

The U of M Office of Emergency Response has changed its name to the Department of Emergency Management to better reflect its campus role. The Department of Emergency Management has responsibility for planning for and responding to campus emergencies as outlined in the Emergency Operations Plan. As part of that plan, other departments have unique responsibilities related to emergency preparedness and response. To view the Emergency Operations Plan go to http://www1.umn.edu/prepared/pdf/EOP_0604.pdf . The Academic Health Center has responsibility for preparedness and response activities related to public health emergencies on campus.

PEOPLE

Raj Suryanarayanan, College of Pharmacy, was named the William and Mildred Peters Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutics. He succeeds Professor David J.W. Grant, who died in December.

Patricia Ferrieri, Medical School, was appointed to the recently established Chairman’s Fund Endowed Professorship in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. 

AHC Seed Grants recently were awarded to 15 faculty members—13 from the Medical School and two from the School of Dentistry. These one-year grants of up to $25,000, which are designed to encourage innovative research projects, have been highly successful in generating external research funds. From the 58 applicants, a review panel selected the following 13 from the Medical School: Michel Sanders, Deanna Koepp, Jeffrey Gralnick, Stephen Katz, Naoko Koyano-Nakagawa, John Ohlfest, Jeffrey A. Simon, Gulin Oz, Irina Nesmelova, Stephen Ekker, Nancy Raymond, Susanta Hui, and Phillip Rauk.  And, the following two from the School of Dentistry: Walter Bowles and Rajaram Gopalakrishnan. The projects funded range from Latino mental health to gene therapy for Parkinson’s. Four of this year’s awards are being funded by the Tessman Medical Research Fund and one is being funded by the Harold Soine Alzheimer’s Research Fund. In previous years, the AHC Seed Grant program has yielded financial returns on investment of more than 500 percent.

Christine Mueller, School of Nursing, was named Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies for 2006-2007.

Kirsten Ness, Cancer Center, will begin receiving $625,000 in funding from the American Cancer Society on July 1. Ness will use the grant to study the physical limitations and impact on quality of life that may result when children are diagnosed and treated for brain tumors.

Dorothy Hatsukami and Jean Forster, of the Cancer Center and School of Public Health, presented at the National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference on Tobacco Use Prevention, Cessation, and Control in Bethesda, Maryland.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The groundbreaking for the U of M’s new Equine Treatment and Research Center will be Aug. 9.  The $14 million, state-of-the-art facility will be built in the northeast section of the St. Paul campus and is scheduled for completion in fall 2007.  For more information, see http://www.cvm.umn.edu/newsandevents/EquineCenter.html

The Bio-Medical Library is offering classes over the summer. They include RefWorks, SciFinderScholar, interprofessional research, PowerPoint, and an overview of the new library Web site.  For more information or to register, visit the workshops page at http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/workshops/bymonth.

Xcel Energy will sponsor lawn bowling to benefit the University’s Raptor Center from 2 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, at Brit’s Pub. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about the event, call 612-624-4745 or visit http://www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/news/RaptorBowl.html. 

The U of M Children’s Hospital, Fairview and the Department of Pediatrics will host the International Society for Research on Aggression (IRSA) for its 17th biennial meeting July 25–29 at Coffman Memorial Union. Adrian Raine’s keynote address, “Lombroso’s Legacy: Violence, Brain Mechanisms, and Moral Responsibility,” on Thursday evening July 27 will be open to the public. For more information, go to: http://www.israsociety.com/2006meeting .

The School of Nursing is teaming up with Allina Hospitals & Clinics to present a one-day (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) conference, “Health Informatics: Changing the World of Health Care,” Tuesday, August 22, at the McNamara Alumni Center. The conference is designed to show those in health care how they’re impacted by the electronic medical record. Register by August 1 to receive a discount. For more information go to http://www.cme.umn.edu 

The Annual Women's Health Research Conference is Monday, Sept. 11, 9 a.m.– 3 p.m., at the McNamara Alumni Center. Dr. Susan Wood, former Assistant Commissioner for Women's Health and Director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Women's Health, will give the keynote address "Women's Health, Emergency Contraception and the FDA." Online abstract and poster submission information and regulations are available at http://www.womenshealth.umn.edu

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced its 2007 Summer Stipends competition. A pre-proposal must be submitted to the Graduate School's Research Support Services office by Monday, July 10. The deadline for applications is October 2.  For more information go to http://www.research.umn.edu/opportunities/limited_applications/ or call the Graduate School's Research Support Services office at 612-625-2356 or email: facgrant@umn.edu