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Newswise PHILADELPHIA The University of Pennsylvanias Basser Research Center for BRCA has announced the Basser External Research Grant Program, a unique funding program for high impact translational cancer research projects aimed at advancing the care of people living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Penn Medicines Abramson Cancer Center, home to the Basser Center, will serve as steward of the $5 million grant to four research teams that demonstrate the potential for translation into clinical practice. The grant program is made possible by an additional $5 million donation from University of Pennsylvania alumni Mindy and Jon Gray, bringing their total giving to Penn to $30 million following their $25 million gift that established the Basser Center in 2012. The new awards are a unique effort among academic institutions, which typically utilize philanthropic gifts to further research conducted by their own scientists.

This generous award by the Grays will help expand the mission of the Basser Center by allowing us to support innovative researchers outside of Penn and widen the circle of those who are working to find new ways to prevent and treat cancers associated with BRCA mutations, said Susan Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Research Center and the Basser Professor of Oncology at Penns Abramson Cancer Center. There are many research teams doing exceptional work in BRCA1/2 research who are finding it difficult to compete for the shrinking pool of federal and foundation funding for biomedical research, and this program provides a new avenue to accelerate progress across the field.

Research grant applications are being accepted for projects in basic science, prevention, early detection, or targeted therapeutics relevant to the study of BRCA1/2. Two types of awards will be given to four promising innovative projects such as immunologic approaches to preventing cancer, novel therapies unique to tumor type, and new methods for early detection including:

Basser Team Science Award A $1 million, two-year ($500,000/yr), project will be awarded. The teams must have a minimum of two principal investigators and preference will be given to multi-institutional applications.

Basser Innovation Award Three $100,000, one-year, innovative idea projects will be awarded.

To date, more than 75 investigators have submitted letters of intent to apply for the grants. Applications are due on Friday, February 14, 2014. For more information, visit the Basser Research Center web site.

As the nations only center solely devoted to research into the prevention and treatment of BRCA-related cancers, the Basser Research Center for BRCA is uniquely positioned to help fund team science and original ideas, said Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, director of Penns Abramson Cancer Center. With these grants, we hope to support interdisciplinary multi-institutional teams that take cutting-edge, creative research with the greatest potential to change clinical approaches to individuals predisposed to cancer resulting from BRCA mutations.

The Basser Research Center was established in memory of Mindy Grays sister Faith Basser, who died of ovarian cancer at age 44.

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Penn Medicine's Basser Research Center for BRCA Announces External Research Grant Program

The Herald-Dispatch

Toril Lavender/ For The Herald-Dispatch Dr. Ali Oliashirazi is given the oath of office by Dr Charles Turner as Oliashirazi becomes the 2014 President of the Cabell County Medical Society during a dinner Thursday, January 9, 2014. at Erickson Alumni Center, Marshall University Foundation Hall.

The Herald-Dispatch

Toril Lavender/ For The Herald-Dispatch Dr. Ali Oliashirazi gives and address after becoming the 2014 President of the Cabell County Medical Society during a dinner Thursday, January 9, 2014. at Erickson Alumni Center, Marshall University Foundation Hall.

The Herald-Dispatch

Toril Lavender/ For The Herald-Dispatch Dr. Vivek Neginhal talks at the Cabell County Medical Society dinner Thursday, January 9, 2014. at Erickson Alumni Center, Marshall University Foundation Hall.

Jan. 10, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

HUNTINGTON -- Educating children on issues affecting their health is the idea behind a proposal presented Thursday to the Cabell County Medical Society.

Dr. Ali Oliashirazi laid out his plans for the Huntington Children's Medical Museum during his inaugural presidential address at the society's first meeting of the year at the Erickson Alumni Center at Marshall University.

"This is something that the whole community could benefit from," he said. "It could be many things. It could be a point of interest for people to come to Huntington and it could help us do population health management. It will have a lot of hands-on experiences for the kids."

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Doctor hopes to bring children's medical museum to the city

Clarice Olswold, 94

Memorial service for Clarice Olswold, 94, Amana, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Walford. She died Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, at St. Lukes Hospital, Cedar Rapids.

Per her wishes, her body was donated to the University of Iowa for medical research.

Family will receive friends after 1 p.m. at the church.

The Rev. Travis Borkosky will officiate at the service.

Inurnment will be in First Lutheran Cemetery at a later date.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, Walford.

Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo, is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at http://www.klosterfuneralhome.com.

Clarice Hilma Olswold was born Jan. 6, 1919, in Osage, the daughter of Clarence and Olga Brenden Kirkeby. She received her education in the Osage schools.

She married Clarence Olswold Aug. 16, 1941, in Osage. They made their home in Osage where her husband operated a plumbing business. In 1967, the couple moved to the Amana and Williamsburg area.

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IOWA COUNTY OBITUARIES – Week of Jan. 9, 2014

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Newswise Bethesda, MD Capt. (Dr.) Eric Elster, a Navy transplant surgeon and chair of the Norman M. Rich Department of Surgery at the F. Edward Hbert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences here, is among 18 experts named as members of a new committee to develop standards and policies for face and hand transplantation.

The Vascularized Composite Allograft Transplantation Committee was established by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nations organ transplant system. Vascularized composite allograft (VCA) involves transplanting multiple structures such as bone, muscle, blood vessels, ligaments, nerves and skin. While face and hand transplants are currently the most widely known VCA procedures, other types of VCA transplantation may be developed in the future.

The VCA Transplantation Committee will determine which organ combinations will be covered in policy, develop national standards and processes for VCA donor consent and recovery, develop a system to prioritize VCA transplant candidates for available organs, develop a national set of clinical data to be collected on VCA transplants, and establish institutional standards for hospitals that perform VCA transplants.

In addition to his duties as professor and surgery department chair, Dr. Elster is also director of the Surgical Critical Care Institute, a joint military and civilian program developing clinical decision support tools for critically ill patients, and a staff transplant surgeon at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He completed a solid organ transplantation fellowship at the National Institutes of Health and was then assigned to the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., where he directed a translational research program focused on the development of improved diagnostics and therapies for serious traumatic injuries, transplantation and advanced operative imaging. Elster was last deployed as a surgeon and Director of Surgical Services at the NATO Role 3 Military Medical Unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Society of University Surgeons, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and the Southern Surgical Association.

In addition to Elster, the other members of the VCA Transplantation Committee include:

Dr. Sue V. McDiarmid, University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center (chair) Dr. L. S. Levin, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (vice chair) Mr. Richard S. Luskin, New England Organ Bank (vice chair) Mr. Chad Waller, UNOS (liaison) Mr. Charles E. Alexander, The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland Dr. Gerald Brandacher, Johns Hopkins Hospital Dr. Warren C. Breidenbach, University Medical Center, University of Arizona Dr. Linda C. Cendales, Emory University Hospital Ms. Lindsay Ess, general public Dr. John J. Fung, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Dr. Christina L. Kaufman, general public Dr. David K. Klassen, University of Maryland Medical System Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, Johns Hopkins Hospital Dr. Marlon F. Levy, Baylor All Saints Medical Center Mr. Christopher J. McLaughlin, Division of Transplantation, HHS Dr. Kenneth A. Newell, Emory University Hospital Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, Brigham and Women's Hospital Ms. Kathy Schwab, Saint Marys Hospital (Mayo Clinic) Dr. Robert M. Veatch, general public Mr. Robert W. Walsh, Division of Transplantation, HHS

About the F. Edward Hbert School of Medicine, USU:

The F. Edward Hbert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences was established by Congress in 1972 to provide a cadre of career military physicians and leaders for the uniformed services. Medical students are active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care in addition to their regular medical school curriculum. A large percentage of the universitys more than 5,000 physician alumni are supporting operations around the world, offering their leadership and expertise. The F. Edward Hbert School of Medicine also has graduate programs in biomedical sciences and public health, most open to civilian and military applicants, and a robust research program that covers a wide range of areas important to both the military and public health. For more information, visit http://www.usuhs.edu. Learning to Care for Those in Harm's Way

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USU Department Chair, Navy Transplant Surgeon to Serve on National Face, Hand Transplant Committee

RIO BRANCO, Brazil Dr. Alberto Asael Reyes speaks Portuguese carefully when talking to his patients. He arrived in the Amazon region only recently from Cuba, and his accent remains strong. But in an area where there has long been no available physician, he often needs to introduce residents to new words and concepts.

"Rheu-ma-to-lo-gist," Vinicius, a thin, shy 11-year-old, utters slowly after meeting with Reyes. Though Vinicius has had severe fevers and heart problems since birth, no one had told him he needed to see one.

"No one would come here," says Maria Elena Brito da Silva, a teacher at the school down the road here in the outskirts of the city. "All the doctors stayed in their private practices in the city [center] making money."

These days, patients receive free consultations with Reyes, 41, at this outlying government-run health center, among the first of a group of about 11,000 Cuban physicians headed to Brazil.

Faced with a severe shortage, the government of left-of-center President Dilma Rousseff is importing 13,000 foreign doctors by May to serve the poor and those in inadequately served rural areas.

Proponents say Brazil's Mais Medicos (More Doctors) program, which has faced opposition from the country's Medical Assn., is already providing relief.

"They're being received very, very well by patients," says Marcia Corsini, who is coordinating the new arrivals at the City Hall in Rio Branco, capital of the state of Acre. "In truth, we could use more of them soon."

Brazil has seen a rapid increase in wealth during the last decade, and more than 40 million people have risen from poverty into the middle class. But as the country prepares to take the global stage as host of the 2014 World Cup, much of the population has not seen commensurate improvements in public services.

Brazil's Constitution calls for free care for all citizens who have no private plan, but in reality that remains little more than a promise. Neglected communities, long lines and bloody tragedies are often easier to stumble upon than an available doctor.

The government says Brazil has 360,000 active doctors and can use 160,000 more. Most doctors are concentrated in the richest areas: The state of Rio de Janeiro has more than three doctors per 1,000 residents, compared with less than one per 1,000 people in Acre, far away on the Bolivian and Peruvian borders.

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Brazil's president imports Cuban doctors to ease shortage

Feb. 26, 1922 Dec. 30, 2013

Rebecca Savage, a licensed practical nurse and the longest-standing member of St. John Baptist Church, died Monday in her Buffalo home. She was 91.

Born in Camden, S.C., the youngest of five children, the former Rebecca McCarley came to Buffalo at age six months. She was the daughter of Rev. Burnie C. McCarley, the founder of St. John Baptist Church.

She attended School 75, Hutchinson Central High School, the Fosdick-Masten School of Practical Nursing, and Sawyer Business School.

Mrs. Savage began working as a licensed practical nurse at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 1960 and took a medical retirement in 1972 due to failing health.

The mother of six, she took part in many activities at St. John Baptist Church and was a member the Bells of St. John Choir, the Pastor Chapman Support Group and the Senior Fellowship.

She also was a member of Paramount Chapter 57, Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star; the AARP and the Fosdick Masten Practical Nurses Alumni Association. She was a former commandress of Hadji Court 62, Daughters of Isis.

Her husband of 36 years, John Wesley Savage, died in 1975. She married Edward Brown in 1979. He died in 1989.

She is survived by two daughters, Rebecca Jones and Deana Vinson; two sons, Burnie and Gregory; 14 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held noon Monday in St. John Baptist Church, 184 Goodell St.

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Rebecca Savage, longest-standing member of St. John Baptist Church

Once a year, R. Gopalakrishnan, an eminent cardiologist based in Pittsburgh, visits India for pilgrimages. This year too, he landed in the city, but for a different kind of pilgrimage meeting his classmates and reminiscing about college days at the Madras Medical Colleges Golden Jubilee Reunion of the 1964 batch of MBBS and BDS students on the college premises on Saturday.

More than 100 alumni belonging to the 1964 batch of MMC along with their relatives, gathered at the college for a reunion sharing old memories and other developments since their previous get-together on the same premises in 2000.

I find it difficult to recognise many of my classmates here, but the idea of meeting them alone made me enthusiastic to attend the event, said well-built, grey-haired, K. Sadasivam, who flew in from Kuala Lumpur to participate in the meet.

The reunion had individual and group photo sessions of classmates for a commemorative mug, a thanksgiving session for teachers, and a lot of time spent in talking about days of yore.

But the most interesting part of the event was the four-hour-long slideshow where an old photograph of each student of the class was displayed, and they were introduced to the gathering, and asked to share memories as well as their current status.

When the emcee S. Nedunchezian, introduced T. Mangayarkarasi, a general practitioner, to the audience, she asked a question an answer to which had eluded her for 50 years: she wanted to know why her classmates used to shout frog whenever she entered the classroom. Immediately, 67-year-old S. Subash, one of the organisers, a gastroenterologist, quipped that it was because they thought her voice was like that of a frog. The audience burst into laughter.

Sharing an incident from their college days, D. Yogam from Salem said that when a group of his classmates that included Rajan Santosham, one of the organisers of the meet, and professor of thoracic surgery, Cancer Institute (Adyar), went for a film during their second year, Dr. Santosham was stopped at the ticket counter by the staff who asked him how could they bring a high school student to a cinema theatre.

Likewise, when Dr. T. Rajamanickam, another participant, tried to convince his professor to allow him to write his examinations despite low attendance in pathology, he was told by his professor that he should try writing one paper each year, instead of all in a single year, as that would give him more time to prepare for the examinations.

Except for a few doctors such as Dr. Santosham and C.S. Vijayashankar, senior cardio-thoracic surgeon, most of MMCs 1964 batch has settled abroad, mainly in the US and UK. However, after a year-long effort in which the internet played a key role, the organisers managed to contact the alumni and bring them together.

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When the air was thick with memories

The county Superintendent of Schools has resigned to take a job with a national organization dedicated to all children getting an equal chance for a quality education.

Robert Kelty announced his resignation Friday, but he will stay on until a new superintendent is picked by the countys Board of Supervisors. His new job will be for Teach for America as senior managing director of regional alumni support.

Its been an honor to be a public servant for effective government and an honor to fight for the social contract of public schooling, Kelty said, adding that his favorite part of the job has been when hes been able to deliver on that social contract.

His goal has been to reconcile the battle between the sides of setting of tax rates and advocating for superior schools in the county.

He said he has enjoyed engaging both sides of argument, and worked to come out on the side of: We both win when the kids win.

In a prepared statement, Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Ryan said, Robert has acted as a champion for our students, teachers and families in his relentless pursuit to ensure each has the tools needed to excel. Through his leadership, investment in our schools and families, and innovative ideas, Robert helped to expand educational outlets and programs throughout the county.

Among some of Keltys accomplishments:

Introduced special education services for preschoolers in Supai.

Started the KinderCamp kindergarten preparation program countywide.

Secured additional technology and Internet connectivity for the countys most rural schools.

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County schools superintendent Kelty set to resign

Our weekly feature called A Newsmaker You Should Know highlights achievements by just some of the many West residents whose accomplishments are noteworthy. Heres a recap of our West newsmakers for 2013:

Jason Adkins, a Heidelberg volunteer firefighter, fought a fire that destroyed his own home on First Street. Friends and neighbors pitched in to help his family.

Nick Andrews was recognized for his business success with the Penn State Beaver Outstanding Alumni Award. In 1977, he formed Andrews Industrial Controls Inc. in Carnegie.

Scott Baker, president of 5 Generation Bakers in McKees Rocks, presented a $300 check and a certificate for a one-year supply of Jenny Lee cinnamon swirl bread to Ada Fiscus of McKees Rocks, who purchased the 1 millionth loaf from the bakery.

Faith Beegle of Beaver Falls, a registered nurse at Heritage Valley Sewickley, was named a Heritage Valley Health System Cameo of Caring Awardee for her exceptional work in health care.

Steve Beuter, who had worked three years as an administrative assistant in Carnegie, was named the borough's manager in August. He followed Jeff Harbin, who retired in June.

Aaron Bibro, Robinson manager for four years, stepped down in April to accept a job as township manager of Hatfield, Montgomery County. He had been assistant manager for one year before becoming manager.

The Rev. Ed Bowen, former pastor of Crafton United Presbyterian Church, established a charitable fund as a permanent endowment to improve the playground at Crafton Elementary School.

Rhonda Brightwell, a registered nurse on the Level 2 Medical Unit at Heritage Valley Beaver, was honored for her passion for her profession at the 15th Cameo of Caring Awards. She has been at the Beaver facility since November 2006.

Sharon Loughran Brown, a career educator with about 30 years of experience as a teacher and principal, became principal of Our Lady of Grace School in Scott.

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Resume: Newsmakers you met in 2013 across the West

Editors Note: Sun Spots deadline is Friday at 5 p.m. for the next weeks paper.

JAN. 5

The Coffee County Training/Coppinville High School Alumni Association will meet Sunday, Jan. 5, at 5 p.m. at Coppinville Junior High School.

JAN. 11

Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc., Chapter 373, will hold its regular monthly meeting Saturday, Jan. 11 at 9 .m. at the Clayhatchee Community House. All members are encouraged to attend. For more information, call (334) 598-8804.

JAN. 14

The Enterprise Civitan Club meets Jan. 14 at Po Folks Restaurant on Boll Weevil Circle in Enterprise. The scheduled speaker is Harolynn Benjamin, director of Christian Missions Womens Center. Members planning to eat are encouraged to arrive no later than 5:30 p.m. for the 6 p.m. meeting. Visitors are always welcome and membership is open to anyone age 18 or older. For more information, call club president Pat Goodson at 347-5961 or club secretary Barbara Young at 347-2000.

JAN. 15

Public Service Commissioner Place 2 candidates Jonathan Barbee, Chip Beeker and Phillip Brownwill be sharing their goals for this office and their stand on using coal and other environmental questions at the Republican Women of Coffee Countys first meeting of 2014 on Jan. 15, from 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. at the Enterprise Country Club. Questions and answers will follow. All who are interested in hearing the candidates are welcome to attend. Call Jan White for more information at 464-3763.

ONGOING

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