AHC News Capsules 08/22/07
August 22 , 2007
NEWS CAPSULES
is a biweekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the Academic Health Center. Please send submissions to Jacob Portnoy at port0179@umn.edu.
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While preparing for an end of August vacation, I’ve experienced that familiar explosion of last minute projects that need attention before I unplug for two weeks. I find that burst of activity provides a remarkable focus of what truly is important to the operations of this Academic Health Center. The top priorities always involve people. Among those is the recognition deserved, and the support we must offer, to our colleagues who dropped everything to respond to the 35W bridge collapse on August 1. From students, to faculty, to organized emergency response teams, our efforts to prepare for response proved well worth the investment in time and resources.
We’re working to collect individual stories of response and can share the collection so far at http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/bridgestories/home.html. In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to an important seminar on September 5, entitled “Healers' Healing and Resiliency in the Aftermath of Disaster” (see below) that will provide a community-wide opportunity to reflect on work performed and its impact.
See you in September.
– Frank B. Cerra, M.D.
Sr. Vice President for Health Sciences
Responding to a disaster – how the University’s health professions helped after the I-35W bridge collapse
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Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)
The MRC provided assistance in two areas: the Mental Health Crisis Response Team provided assistance at University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview and at the Family Assistance Center. Eleven MRC members were deployed over the course of the response effort to provide mental health counseling for victims and families. The Mental Health Crisis Response Team is currently on standby status for any further needs. MRC members also staffed the medical aid station at the Family Assistance Center. Thirteen MRC members (six physicians and seven nurses) were deployed for this portion of the response effort. The Family Assistance Center closed on Saturday, Aug. 11.
- School of Public Health’s Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach (CPHEO)
CPHEO manages several educational grants which provide essential emergency training to various audiences on an ongoing basis. The interdisciplinary focus of the CPHEO ensures that health care workers, public health workers, and emergency responders have the depth and breadth of emergency training available. The groups involved in the training of the emergency responders for the bridge collapse include:
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School of Nursing
In addition to the nursing faculty who helped in the bridge recovery effort through the MRC, nursing faculty and students provided services through American Red Cross Disaster Health Services. Nursing professor and volunteer Carolyn Garcia activated the Disaster Health Services’ response to the disaster. Garcia directed a team of health volunteers, including nursing students, who focused on identifying and contacting all disaster victims in order to provide follow-up services.
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Providing the public with quality information
Numerous students and faculty members appeared on local and national publications and broadcasts describing their efforts to aid bridge collapse victims or offering strategies for dealing with the tragedy. Among the faculty members, Macaran Baird, M.D., M.S., Tai Mendenhall, Ph.D., and Joseph Clinton, M.D., were each interviewed by multiple news outlets.
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Healing the healers
Medical Reserve Corps member and Mental Health Crisis Response Team leader Tai Mendenhall Ph.D., will be presenting “Healers' Healing and Resiliency in the Aftermath of Disaster: Harnessing our Resources across Individual, Family, and Social Systems,” Sept. 5, noon-1:30 p.m., at McNamara Alumni Center. As first responders, medical and mental health personnel, and public health professionals serving immediately after a disaster make the transition to longer-term phases in recovery efforts, attention to these healers' own healing and resiliency is essential.
Robert Vince, Ph.D., (College of Pharmacy / Center for Drug Design) was inducted into the American Chemical Society’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame today at the group’s national meeting in Boston. This prestigious honor was awarded for outstanding contributions to medicinal chemistry through a combination of research, teaching and service. For more information, go to: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/vince081607/home.html.
Irving I. Gottesman, Ph.D., (Medical School) has been awarded the 2007 American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology. For more information, go to: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/gottesman082007/home.html.
Levi Downs, M.D., (Medical School) has been selected to co-lead the
Women's Cancer Program with Doug Yee, M.D. Downs will also serve as a program leader providing scientific leadership and organization in gynecology, oncology, and interaction with the Cancer Center.
Sharon Staton (College of Veterinary Medicine) has joined CVM as director of advancement, a new position that will provide strategic leadership for the implementation and management of an integrated development, alumni affairs, continuing education, and communications team. For more information go to: http://www.cvm.umn.edu/newsandevents/College_hired_advancement_director.html.
Michael Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H., (School of Public Health) was appointed to a state working group on preparedness for terrorism and disasters by Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Diane Treat-Jacobson, Ph.D., R.N., (School of Nursing) has a research study on Peripheral Arterial Disease featured on the American Heart Association Web site. For more information, go to: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3049633.
Go Local Launches
A new, free, Web-based resource called "My Health Minnesota -- Go Local," launched on Tuesday, July 31. The Web site makes it possible for Minnesotans to connect with health services, hospitals, care providers, nursing homes, support groups, and more within their local communities. The University of Minnesota Health Sciences Libraries, the Mayo Clinic Libraries and MINITEX Library Information Network jointly launched the new resource. To view the site, go to http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/local/minnesota/homepage.cfm?areaid=30.
Clarifying interdisciplinary centers
The Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost has released two policies developed to clarify the creation and organization of interdisciplinary centers, and the process of sharing indirect cost recovery across collegiate lines. These policies are in effect immediately. View the documents at: http://process.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/Policy/Interdisciplinary.cfm; and http://process.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/procedure/cost_proc4.cfm.
CIDRAP – Your trusted source for avian flu news
A new UNICEF training manual for media workshops on avian influenza recommends the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) Web site as one of the best online resources for avian flu news. CIDRAP is the only academic center on the list. See the training manual at: http://www.unicef.org/eapro/Low_resolution_PDF_file_18_July.pdf.
Center for Immunology lands large grant renewal
Investigators at the Center for Immunology have been awarded a competitive renewal of a National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases Program Project grant to study “Mechanisms of Peripheral Induction of T-Cell Tolerance.” The grant will provide nearly $7 million dollars 2007 through 2012. Medical School investigators carrying out projects under this grant include Kris Hogquist, Ph.D., and Matt Mescher, Ph.D., from Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Marc Jenkins, Ph.D., from Microbiology, and Dan Mueller, M.D., from Medicine.
“Collaborating across borders: An American-Canadian Dialogue on Interprofessional Education”
Join American and Canadian health professionals, educators, students, and policy makers for this three-day conference, Oct. 24-26, on the Twin Cities campus to learn about issues and trends in interprofessional education, practice and policy. Goals for the conference include showcasing best practices, outcomes, and lessons learned in linking interprofessional education to collaborative patient-centered practices. To volunteer, contact Jennifer Kertz at jkertz@umn.edu. For more information, go to http://www.ipe.umn.edu.
Deborah E. Powell Center to host women’s health research conference
The fourth annual Women’s Health Research Conference, hosted by the Deborah E. Powell Center for Women’s Health, will be held Sept. 17, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at McNamara Alumni Center. Nancy Fugate Woods, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., dean of the School of Nursing and professor in the Department of Family and Child Nursing at the University of Washington, is this year’s keynote speaker. For more information, or to register, go to: http://www.wmhealth.umn.edu.
Get current on issues in clinical research
The Academic Health Center, the Office of Clinical Research, and Mayo Clinical Trial Services are jointly sponsoring the conference "2007 Current Issues in Clinical Research" Sept. 18-19, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. This conference will focus on emerging trends and provide a comprehensive review of the responsibilities and process of clinical research performance. Regular registration is $550, but University faculty, research staff, and AHC students and trainees may attend for free. For more information and to register, go to: http://www.mayocts.com/research/.
“Frontiers in Proteomics & Nanomedicine”
This special symposium will be presented by the University of Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic and Karolinska Institutet, November 12-14, at Mayo Auditorium. For more information or to register, go to: https://cme.ahc.umn.edu/.
Improve your grant-writing skills
New AHC investigators and fellows currently involved in clinical and transitional research can now register for the seminar “Getting Started as a Successful Grant Writer and Academician,” Sept. 27, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., at the St. Paul Student Center. Registration is limited to the first 100 people, and the seminar fills very quickly. For more information go to: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/ocr/events/gettingstarted/home.html.
Why put it off? Register now for continuing medical education (CME)
Registration is open for fall 2007 CME courses. A preview of spring 2008 course offerings is also available. For more information go to: http://www.med.umn.edu/cme/.
Taste testers needed
Healthy men and women are needed to taste test high omega-3 bakery products for a research study. Volunteers will go to the General Clinical Research Center in the Masonic and Veterans of Foreign Wars building for a 10-minute session. Compensation is a 10-minute break spent eating baked goods. Call Elizabeth at (612) 626-5159 ext. 3 or e-mail bakerystudy@gcrc.umn.edu.
FACILITIES NEWS
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Larger gas supply installed
The installation of a larger gas supply for Moos Tower is complete. The work disrupted traffic on Delaware Street near Moos Tower last week. The larger gas line was necessary to increase the fuel supply for the Academic Health Center’s emergency generators.
TCF Bank Stadium Construction Update
Crosswalks and sidewalks
- West side of Oak Street between Sixth and Fourth Streets Southeast – Pedestrians should use the interior sidewalk closer to Mariucci Arena on the west side of Oak Street between Sixth and Fourth Streets Southeast rather than the sidewalk directly on Oak Street. The sidewalk directly on Oak Street will be closed for a few more weeks.
- University between Oak Street and 23rd Avenue Southeast – pedestrians should use the crosswalk at University Avenue and 23rd Avenue or the temporary crosswalk at University Avenue and new Oak Street.
Parking Lots
- The parking lot on the northwest corner of the stadium site will open to public parkers for state fair parking.
- University parking lots on the old ConAgra elevator site (north of Sixth Street and 23rd Avenue Southeast) will open to public parkers for state fair parking.
For more information on stadium construction including maps and webcams, go to: http://www1.umn.edu/stadium/construction.html.
TIME CAPSULE
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Building trivia
At the 1950 groundbreaking for the Mayo Memorial Building, how many stories tall was the building designed to be? For the answer go to: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/moore144/ahcarchives/2007/08/building_trivia.html.
Additional information about buildings on campus is located at the University Archives (http://special.lib.umn.edu/uarch/) in Andersen Library.
AHC News Capsules is a biweekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the Academic Health Center. Please send submissions to Jacob Portnoy at port0179@umn.edu.
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