AHC News Capsules 07/18/07

July 18, 2007

NEWS CAPSULES is a biweekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the Academic Health Center. The remaining summer publication date is August 22. Please send submissions to Jacob Portnoy at port0179@umn.edu.

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Although we're in full planning mode for the 2008 legislative session, our attention is on this week's action in Congress. The U. S. House of Representatives is debating the very important Labor Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill. We are closely following funding for the National Institutes of Health, Title VII and VIII health professional education funding, and funding for graduate medical education that flows to our hospital partners.

I want you to pay close attention to two specific issues. First, there will be an attempt to strike language that would require principle investigators to submit their published scientific articles resulting from NIH funded research to NIH's PubMed central within 12 months of publication. This is an important priority of NIH Director Elias Zerhouni. The University agrees with Zerhouni because it's critical that our work be available to the public as quickly as possible. Second, we understand that "human behavioral research" or other similar types of grants may be attacked as wasteful or inappropriate. We know how important this research is, and fundamentally, there should be no legislative intervention into what NIH funds, or does not fund. Right now we have no way of knowing if this will happen or which grants may be singled out. As soon as we hear about any specific grants being targeted, we will be in touch.

– Frank B. Cerra, M.D.
Sr. Vice President for Health Sciences

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HEADLINES —

University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview ranks among top hospitals
Nine specialty areas rank in the top 50 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 rankings. The specialty areas are: cancer, digestive disorders, ENT, endocrinology, gynecology, heart/heart surgery, kidney disease, neurology/neurosurgery, and respiratory disorders. For more information go to: http://health.usnews.com/sections/health/best-hospitals/.

New Leadership

• University of Minnesota Medical School -- Duluth campus has new head
  Gary L. Davis, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and 32-year faculty member of the University of Minnesota Medical School -- Duluth campus, has been named its new chief academic officer by Medical School Dean Deborah Powell. For more information go to: http://www.med.umn.edu/duluth/NewsReleases/Davis_appointment.html.

• Yueh appointed head of Department of Otolaryngology
  Bevan Yueh, M.D., M.P.H., will lead the Department of Otolaryngology. Yueh, a native of Minnesota, returns from the University of Washington where he was a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, director of the Clinical Outcomes Unit, and an affiliate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

AHC Academy for Excellence in Research – 2007 Inductees

• Bruce Blazar, M.D.
• Mary Story, Ph.D., R.D.
• Karen Hsiao Ashe, M.D., Ph.D.
• Eric Newman, Ph.D.

Academy members have contributed to the quality of the University of Minnesota through sustained, nationally and internationally recognized health-related research. For more information on the Academy go to: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/research/academy/home.html.

New web site to transform how Minnesotans find health information
The University of Minnesota Health Sciences Libraries, the Mayo Clinic Libraries, and MINITEX Library Information Network have partnered to create Go Local, a database of health services and resources in the state of Minnesota. Go Local helps users find quality information about health issues, access statewide health services, and connect with local hospitals, care providers, nursing homes, and other resources. For more information, attend the launch event on July 31, 3 p.m., at McNamara Alumni Center or go to: http://hsl.lib.umn.edu/golocal/.

CAHP to offer occupational therapy degree program in Rochester
The University of Minnesota's Center for Allied Health Programs (CAHP) will begin offering its Master of Occupational Therapy degree to students at the new University of Minnesota, Rochester University Square campus beginning in September 2007. This program offering is the first to be implemented in Rochester under the banner of the CAHP..

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Carole Bland, Ph.D., has been appointed assistant dean for faculty development within the Faculty Affairs office of the Medical School. Bland will promote an improved faculty culture along the lines recommended by the University’s faculty culture task force report.

Charles A. Dietz, Jr., M.D., FACR, (Medical School) has been inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Radiology (ACR). The formal induction took place at the ACR’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Nicole Lynch, (School of Nursing) was appointed to a four-year term to the State Advisory Council on Mental Health by Governor Tim Pawlenty. For more information go to: http://www.governor.state.mn.us/mediacenter/pressreleases/appointments/PROD008184.html.

Manoj Monga, M.D., (Medical School) has been awarded the Arthur Smith Innovator's Award by the Endourology Society.

Mark W. Mahowald, M.D., (Medical School) and Carlos Schenck, M.D., (Medical School) are the recipients of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s (AASM) William C. Dement Award for 2007. For more information go to: http://www.hcmc.org/pr/pr2.asp?nrID=124.

Kylie Walters, Ph.D., (Cancer Center) has received a $703,000 grant from the American Cancer Society to study why some people are more susceptible to environmental chemicals that put them at higher risk for bladder cancer. For more information go to: http://www.cancer.umn.edu/news/releases/2007/acswalters.html.

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UPDATES —

A vision for funding the future
Senior Vice President for Health Sciences Frank B. Cerra delivered "Finding the Money to Manage the Mission: A Fiscal Year-End Wrap Up" on June 28. This new, all-AHC meeting was designed to share a fiscal snapshot at the beginning of the 2007-2008 fiscal year. To watch the presentation or view the slides go to: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/about/cerra/documents/07fiscalwrap/home.html.

Search underway for next Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine
A search committee chaired by John Finnegan, dean of the School of Public Health, and Jody Lulich, professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, met for the first time today. Cerra set spring 2008 as a goal to complete the recruitment and selection process.

Briefing on new financial system for 21st Century AHC task force leaders
Beth Nunnally and Terry Bock briefed AHC Center/Institute directors on the Enterprise Financial System, or EFS, project last week. The briefing included offers to help and a call for engagement in the transition process, which is targeted to be completed by July 2008. “This change is not optional,” said Cerra. “This change will happen to everybody on all campuses and is designed to improve the way we manage financial risk across the institution.”

Payne-Phalen Living at Home/Block Nurse Program receives national praise
The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) highlighted the Payne-Phalen Living at Home/Block Nurse Program in its quarterly electronic newsletter for bringing practical innovations and methods to a health care challenge. For information on the program go to: http://www.blocknurse.org/payne/.

New clinic taking appointments
Fairview Maple Grove Medical Center phone lines are now open for appointments. The number is (763) 898-1000. Physicians will begin seeing patients on Monday, July 23. For more information go to: http://maplegrove.fairview.org/index.asp.

MSRS contribution rate going up
A bill passed by the 2006 Minnesota State Legislature included a pension provision to build up Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS) funding by increasing from the current rate of 4 percent to 5 percent over 4 years. Beginning with August 1 paychecks, civil service and bargaining unit employees will contribute 4.25 percent of their salaries and the University will contribute 4.25 percent to the MSRS. For more information go to http://www.msrs.state.mn.us/info/Legislat.htmls.

OPPORTUNITIES —

Learn more about the new Medical Devices Center
Attend an information center about the Medical Devices Center, a part of the new Institute for Engineering in Medicine. The center’s director, Art Erdman, Ph.D., along with Jeffrey McCullough, M.D., director, Institute for Engineering in Medicine, will discuss what the Medical Device Center offers to University faculty, what it will do for interdisciplinary research and how others can get involved. There are two sessions scheduled:

• July 24, 8-9 a.m., 2-101 Nils Hasselmo Hall
• July 30, 4-5 p.m., 2-101 Nils Hasselmo Hall

The Institute for Engineering in Medicine is a new initiative jointly sponsored by the Medical School and Institute of Technology.

Register now for Fourth Annual Women's Health Research Conference
The Deborah E. Powell Center for Women's Health will present, "Hot Topics in Mature Women's Health," September 17, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at McNamara Alumni Center. The keynote address at this year's conference is "The menopausal transition: What we are learning about menopause and healthy aging" by Nancy Fugate Woods, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., dean, School of Nursing, University of Washington. For more information go to http://www.wmhealth.umn.edu/wmhlth/profed/upcoming2/research07.html.

Hear about the power of knowledge in the economy
Tor Dahl, adjunct faculty member in the School of Public Health, will deliver “The Knowledge Economy: Peace and Prosperity through Productivity” July 31, 12:45-1:15 p.m., at the annual conference of the World Future Society in Minneapolis. For more information go to http://www.wfs.org/2007main.htm.

Are you unhappy with your smile?
Are you willing to invest some weekend time as a patient to receive high quality cosmetic dentistry at greatly reduced fees? If your answer is yes, contact Kris Frischmon in Continuing Dental Education in the School of Dentistry at e-mail: frisc052@umn.edu and give us your name and daytime phone number. Kris will call you to set-up a screening appointment beginning in August. For more information go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/smile/.

FACILITIES NEWS —

TCF Bank Stadium Construction Update

• Driving lanes on University and Washington Avenues near Huron Boulevard will continue to be affected this week. The University will continue to work with the City of Minneapolis to improve signal timing in this area.
• Construction of a University parking lot on the old ConAgra elevator site (north of Sixth Street and 23rd Avenue Southeast) has started.
• Lots 33 and 37 northwest of Oak Street and Sixth Street are open.
• The Gopher 1 lot on the northwest corner of the stadium site will be completed on August 1, 2007, and open to the public for State Fair parking. The rest of the Huron Boulevard Parking complex is permanently closed.

For more information go to http://www1.umn.edu/stadium/construction.html.

TIME CAPSULE —

In the year 2000
In 1968, an article discussed what type of doctor would be needed by the year 2000. It concluded that it would not be the physician "assigned to care for passengers and crew of an interplanetary space ship" but instead will receive an education which ?will enable them to: understand abilities of other specialists and health professionals in order to make effective use of their skills.?

Forty years later, the need for physicians with a broad-base medical education still exists as is evident from the new program Minnesota's Future Doctors. However, the emphasis is now on filling the need for specific communities with what the program creators refer to as doctors with "cultural competencies." To see the 1968 article, go to: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/moore144/ahcarchives/2007/06/the_future_doctor_past_present.html.

Time Capsule Trivia
After which Academy Award-winning actor was research laboratory space named in the Phillips-Wangensteen Building? For the answer go to:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/moore 144/ahcarchives/2007/07/building_trivia_1.html.

AHC News Capsules is a biweekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the Academic Health Center. The remaining summer publication date is August 22. Please send submissions to Jacob Portnoy at port0179@umn.edu.