Snapshots

George Adams, head of the University Medical School’s otolaryngology department  since 1989, died of cancer on April 8. Adams, known as a strong patient advocate and excellent teacher, was an expert in the research and clinical care of head and neck cancers. He led a medical group that developed treatment protocols for head and neck cancer surgery that continue to be used nationwide, said Robert Maisel, the interim department head. “His decision-making for his patients and his tenacity in attacking disease are what made him a wonderful physician,” Maisel said. Adams, who joined the Medical School in 1973, co-wrote seven medical textbooks and produced many other publications and recordings. In 2005, he was honored with the American Academy of Otolaryngology Presidential Citation. The Minnesota Medical Foundation is establishing an endowment in his name.

The Amplatz Chair of Radiology is being established to honor the creative genius of Kurt Amplatz, who is known for contributing a wealth of innovative techniques and devices to the field of interventional radiology and pediatric cardiology. Amplatz is probably best known for developing devices that treat the most common congenital holes in the heart. AGA Medical Corporation, the University of Minnesota Medical School, and the Minnesota Medical Foundation announced the permanently endowed chair in April. AGA Medical, cofounded in 1995 by Amplatz, donated $2 million for the chair’s initial funding. Amplatz, who retired in 1999, first came to the University in 1957. With his no-fanfare, energetic approach to problem-solving, he developed some of the “basic tools” of interventional radiology, including guide wires, sheaths, dilators, snares and filters that are used daily around the world. During his tenure, he published prolifically and, in 1995, was awarded the Society of Interventional Radiology’s Gold Medal.

The state legislature approved an on-campus, 50,000-seat stadium and, when the final gavel fell, it also had demonstrated strong support for the University’s academic vision. The House and Senate voted to fund key academic initiatives:

• Medical Biosciences Building—As part of $115 million for new projects, the Twin Cites campus will have a new biosciences research building next to the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research Building.
• The supplemental budget bill includes $15 million for the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics. This partnership is designed to fund joint research projects with Mayo Clinic to move Minnesota into the knowledge forefront of genomics and biotechnology.
• Support for the University of Minnesota-Rochester— Programs in Rochester received a $5-million shot in the arm, with most of the funding going to allied-health education. The Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority, which proposed $330 million for five new research facilities over the next ten years, did not pass, but is expected to receive strong consideration next year.

The University’s Center for Spirituality & Healing, in collaboration with Twin Cities Public Television, is offering an online tool for becoming active and personally responsible for individual health and wellness. This tool, My Health Planner, is a part of TheNewMedicine.org Web site http://www.thenewmedicine.org/. The site was launched in late March to coincide with TPT’s debut of the The New Medicine, a two-hour documentary on the movement in Western medicine to integrate the best of high-tech conventional therapies with healing modalities that address a person’s emotional, nutritional and spiritual needs. Those who sign up can set and track personal goals, receive valuable tips, and access the wisdom and inspirational messages of expert leaders in complementary therapies. All content in My Health Planner includes oversight and input from the staff of the Center for Spirituality & Healing, a national leader in integrative health-care education and research.

A new study from the Cancer Center shows that infants younger than a year whose parents  smoke at home and in the car inhale the secondhand smoke and have increased levels of cancer-causing chemicals in their urine. Tobacco researcher Stephen Hecht said, “There is no other way that the observed high levels of cancer-causing chemicals associated with tobacco smoke could get into an infant’s system other than by breathing in the cigarette smoke.” The chemical NNAL (4-(methylnitrosamino)- 1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol) was detectable in 47 percent of 144 infants exposed to secondhand smoke. “Some infants had levels of NNAL similar to levels found in adult smokers.” The study was published in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

The School of Dentistry will broaden its impact nationally as three of the school’s faculty assume top leadership roles in some of the profession’s most prestigious organizations. Photographed from left, James Swift, director of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, was named president-elect of the American Dental Education Association in March. Recently, Michael Rohrer, director of the Division of Oral Pathology and of the University’s Hard Tissue Research Laboratory, officially assumed the position of president of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Joining Swift and Rohrer in leadership roles, Nelson Rhodus, director of the Division of Oral Medicine and Diagnosis, was appointed president of American Academy of Oral Medicine on May 2.

Selwyn M. Vickers has been named head of the Medical School’’s Department of Surgery. Vickers will arrive in August from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he was professor of surgery and chief of gastrointestinal surgery. “He is a surgeon dedicated to the care of his patients, to collaborative scientific research partnerships, and to educating the next generation of surgeons,” said Deborah Powell, dean of the Medical School. Vickers is a leader in pancreatic cancer research and is principal investigator of a $4.5 million Pancreatic Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute. Vickers is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University where he earned his B.A. and M.D. degrees.