News Capsules Nov. 30, 2005
NEWS
Six research teams were awarded 2005 AHC Faculty Research Development grants of about $200,000 each. The program is designed to support new or expanding interdisciplinary and interscholastic research that is innovative and has a high potential for return. The research teams are:
- Carston R. Wagner (College of Pharmacy), Vitaly A. Polunovsky (Medical School), and Elizabeth A. Amin (Department of Chemistry);
- Stuart M. Speedie, Donald Connelly, Kevin Peterson (Medical School), Bryan Dowd, John Kralewski (School of Public Health), Bonnie Westra, and Connie Delaney (School of Nursing);
- Kylie J. Walters, Deanna Koepp (Medical School), Patrick E. Hanna, and Carston R. Wagner (College of Pharmacy);
- Linda L. Chlan (School of Nursing), Craig R. Weinert (Medical School), and Debra Skaar (College of Pharmacy);
- Alice A. Larson (College of Veterinary Medicine) and William C. England (Medical School);
- Har Ott, D.A. Taylor, Susan Keirstead (Medical School) and Anthony Tobias (College of Veterinary Medicine).
For details, including the roster of the review committee, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/research/funding/grantrecipients
A 1-year-old California condor is undergoing treatment for a broken wing at The Raptor Center. The bird was injured Nov. 4 near his home range on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. He is one of only four condors that have hatched and survived in the wild this year. "We're both thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to care for this magnificent bird," says Patrick Redig, director of the Raptor Center. For more, go to http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Three_weeks_of_the_condor.html
The nicotine vaccine NicVax appears safe, well-tolerated, and is a potentially effective method for helping smokers kick the habit, according to a study led by Dorothy Hatsukami, Medical School, psychiatry, and director of the Cancer Center’s Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. For more, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/nicotine112805.
Older women who receive radiation therapy for treatment of pelvic cancers have an increased risk of hip and other pelvic fractures later in life, according to a Cancer Center study led by Nancy Baxter, Medical School, surgery. The findings, along with an editorial about the study, were published in the Nov. 23, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. For more, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/pelvic112105.
Those trying to lose weight or avoid gaining weight, a School of Public Health study shows, should consider weighing themselves regularly. In her findings, Jennifer Linde, epidemiology, found that people who weighed themselves daily or weekly had better weight outcomes than those who weighed themselves less frequently. The study is published in the December issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine. For more, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/weighing111605.
A Wall of Honor has been installed in the second-floor concourse area of Moos Tower, honoring the members of the Academic Health Center Academy for Excellence in Health Research. The members are Dwight Anderson (School of Dentistry), Jay N. Cohn (Medical School), Apostolos Georgopoulos (Medical School), Ashley T. Haase (Medical School), Robert P. Hebbel (Medical School), Marc K. Jenkins (Medical School), Robert L. Kane (School of Public Health), Hon Cheung Lee (Medical School), Horace H. Loh (Medical School), and Philip S. Portoghese (College of Pharmacy). The academy is intended to serve as the highest recognition of excellence in AHC faculty research. The nominations deadline for 2006 inductees is Jan. 20, 2006. For more information, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/research/academy.
PEOPLE
The Lions 5M Hearing Foundation awarded seven individual grants for 2005 to faculty and residents in the Medical School’s Department of Otolaryngology totaling $132,550. Included in this amount was $66,000 to continue the Lions Newborn Hearing Screening Program for one more year while efforts are underway to have the state assume responsibility for this program. Recipients are Steven Juhn, Michael Hopfenspirger, Deirdre Michael, George Goding, and Frank Ondrey. Additionally, the Lions 5M Hearing Foundation voted to establish the Lions Children's Hearing Center, a multidisciplinary center based in the Department of Otolaryngology, with nearly $1 million in funding over five years.
Diane Anderson, Program in Occupational Therapy, received the Communication Award at the Minnesota Occupational Therapy Association (MOTA) state convention Nov. 12, 2005. The award was for her leadership in occupational therapy with children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and their families. Anderson will present the keynote address at the 2007 MOTA convention. Dana Frost, occupational therapy student, was awarded the MOTA scholarship for 2006.
Lynn Blewett, School of Public Health, health services research and policy, received a $1.49 million renewal grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the State Health Access Data Assistance Center. Michael Davern is the co-principal investigator.
Franz Halberg, Medical School, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, received his sixth honorary doctorate in October from Vladimir Mikhailovich Filippov, Rector of the People's Friendship University of Russia in Moscow. Halberg is also the subject of the profile "Father Time" in the November 2005 issue of Minnesota Medicine.
Alan Hirsch, School of Public Health, epidemiology, was elected to chair the national Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition that will create the latest public health education program supported by the National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Roberta Hunt, School of Nursing, and Jole Shackelford, Medical School, have been awarded 2005-06 Fulbright Scholars Program grants.
Robert Kane, School of Public Health, health services research and policy, received the Premio Enrico Greppi award from the Società Italiana di Gerontologia e Geriatria (SIGG) for dedicating his career to the improvement of the health and quality of life of elderly people worldwide. The award, given in memory of Professor Greppi, was presented to Kane in conjunction with his presentation, “The Future of Geriatrics,” at the SIGG annual meeting in Florence, Italy on Nov. 13.
Linda Perkowski, associate dean for educational and curricular development, Medical School, received the 2005 Servant Leadership Award from the Generalists in Medical Education at the organization’s 25th annual conference in November.
Mark Schleiss, Medical School, pediatrics, was the keynote speaker at the Asian Society for Pediatric Research Annual Meeting Nov. 24, in Tokyo. Schleiss spoke about the epidemiology and pathogenesis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Schleiss is the secretary-treasurer of the Society for Pediatric Research, U.S.A.
Soma Sen, Medical School, medicine, has received a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on enhancing, improving, and evaluating outcomes on comprehensive heart health care programs for high risk women. Anne Taylor, Medical School, medicine/cardiology, is the co-principal investigator. The study is a collaboration of the Women’s Heart Clinic in the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, and the University of Minnesota Deborah E. Powell Center for Women’s Health.
Mansur Taufic, whose research made possible the first successful open-heart surgery, passed away Nov. 16 in Adams, Minn. He was 90 years old. Taufic was a community surgeon in Austin for 30 years until his retirement in 1988. While at the Medical School’s Department of Surgery, his research made possible the first successful open-heart surgery on Sept. 2, 1952. He also participated in that historic operation, led by Dr. F. John Lewis. Services were held Nov. 20. For more, go to http://www.ahc.umn.edu/news/releases/surgery111805.
Beth Virnig, School of Public Health, health services research and policy, was chosen to be part of an Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Progress Review Group (PRG) for the National Cancer Institute’s collaboration with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The project aims to develop a national agenda for cancers affecting this population.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
AHC faculty, staff, and students are invited to welcome John Finnegan to the position of dean for the School of Public Health at a Nov. 30 reception hosted by Frank Cerra, senior vice president for health sciences. The event will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Northrop Auditorium atrium. http://www.sph.umn.edu/news/events/deanswelcome.html
Fill the Bus, an annual campus-wide clothing drive, takes place Dec. 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in front of Coffman Union. People can drop off donations of clothes, which will be distributed to those in need through Pillsbury United Communities. There will be entertainment throughout the day and, at 3:30 p.m., Susan Hagstrum, wife of President Robert Bruininks, will speak.
Ethical Issues in Obstetrics will be presented Dec. 1, 12:10 to 1 p.m., in the Mayo Auditorium, by Nancy Milliken, vice dean of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. Milliken is also the director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. The free event is sponsored by the Deborah E. Powell Center for Women’s Health. For more, go to http://www.womenshealth.umn.edu, send an e-mail to mailto:wmhealth@umn.edu or call 626-1125.
Physician/filmmaker Maren Grainger-Monsen will host her most recent film, Hold Your Breath, at the University on Monday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m., in Room 3-120 of the Molecular and Cellular Biology Building. The documentary explores the dramatic journey of Mohammad Kochi, a refugee from the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, and his encounters with American medicine. A discussion with the filmmaker follows. Grainger-Monsen is director of the Program in Bioethics and Film Center for Biomedical Ethics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The event is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, McKnight Special Events, and the Center for Medical Humanities.
Shop for the holidays and benefit nursing education. The School of Nursing Foundation is holding a one-day jewelry sale on Thursday, Dec. 8, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m., in the hallway across from the Outside In cafeteria, second floor concourse, Phillips-Wangensteen Building. Sales from antique and contemporary jewelry will benefit nursing education programs and scholarships.
Lessons Learned in the Wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: What We Know Now About Health Care Access is the first School of Public Health Roundtable for 2005-2006. It will be held Dec. 8, 9:30-11:30 a.m., in Coffman Memorial Union Theater. Speakers include Juliette "Tina" Stefanski, regional administrator and medical director from the Louisiana Department of Pubic Health and Hospitals, and members of the University’s Medical Reserve Corps. The session is free. Go to http://www.publichealthplanet.org for complete program details and online registration or call 626-4515 for more information.
MyU, the University's customizable Web portal, had nearly 58,000 users last month and nearly 10,000 users log in each day. In the Academic Health Center, medical students, nursing students, and medical residents have their own customized portal view. The portal is also being used by several of the Strategic Repositioning task forces. And there is a general view for faculty and staff. To explore the myU portal, go to http://www.myu.umn.edu. For more information, go to http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/The_digital_doorway_to_the_U.html
Bio-Medical Library News: Current Contents, a database brought to you by the University Libraries, will be replaced at the end of this calendar year. Those who have e-mail alerts through Current Contents may set them up in another database. The Bio-Medical Library will be offering workshops and assistance. More details are available at http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/admn/didyouknow/dykindex.html?75.
Effective Nov. 1, 2005, the Minnesota Medical Foundation (MMF) and the Medical School Dean’s Office will jointly administer the MMF grants program. Two significant changes have been introduced to simplify the grants administration and application process. First, the new deadline dates are Jan. 6, May 1, and Sept. 1. Second, the grant applications must be submitted electronically. Though submitted electronically, the GCD grants staff still needs to be involved in the application submission process. To view grant guidelines and to access an application form, please visit http://www.mmf.umn.edu/services/story.cfm?id=115.
The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health has posted online audio recordings and PowerPoint slides of its September conference: Building Healthy Communities for Children: The Physical and Social Environments. To access them, go to http://www.epi.umn.edu/mch/building/index.shtm
|
