Newswise Brooklyn, NY (October 24, 2013) Five SUNY Downstate Medical Center faculty members have been awarded Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP) fellowship awards. The awards are part of a New York State Department of Health program that is designed to help train young physicians as clinical researchers, advance clinical and translational research in diseases that are common among New Yorkers, and increase the extent of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to researchers in New York State. The awards to Downstate and its hospital affiliate partners total $1,800,000.

The success of our faculty members in competing for these ECRIP awards reflects the importance of our role as the only academic medical center in Brooklyn, said John F. Williams, Jr., MD, EdD, MPH, FCCM, president of SUNY Downstate. We are not only doing innovative cutting-edge research at our main Downstate campus but, equally important, collaborating in innovative clinical research with other teaching hospitals in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Moreover, this award highlights one of the key parts of our mission to train the next generation of clinical researchers.

ECRIP provides funding for community-related research specific to an institution's service area. It is an open and flexible program allowing institutions to hire fellows in any subject that represents a strategically important area of growth for the institution. The program was redesigned this year to create large team-based Center Awards at medical schools and equivalent biomedical institutions for advanced, well-funded clinical and translational research, and to continue small Individual Awards to clinical researchers at teaching hospitals throughout New York State.

Individual Awards will provide 19 institutions with $150,000 each to train one or two ECRIP fellows over two years. Center Awards will provide 12 institutions with $1,197,766 each to train a team of six ECRIP fellows over two years on important clinical themes. Both Center and Individual Awards are intended to enhance the ability of recipient institutions to compete for research funds from NIH and other sources.

SUNY Downstate faculty members have received a total of five ECRIP awards for clinical projects at SUNY Downstate's onsite teaching hospital, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and four of the campus's teaching hospital affiliates Brooklyn Hospital Center, Lutheran Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center, and Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center.

The ECRIP Center Award at Downstates University Hospital of Brooklyn involves microvascular disease in successfully treated HIV disease in women. SUNY Downstate is a participant in the NIH multicenter Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), which has carefully followed a large cohort of women with HIV who were successfully treated with Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).

During recent years it has become widely recognized that many successfully treated HIV patients develop a premature or "accelerated" aging phenomenon. Especially common is an unusual variant of arteriosclerotic disease characterized by the early onset of heart attacks, cognitive impairment, and neurovascular diseases among women in their early 40's. The ECRIP Center Award will enable Downstate to initiate a major study of the neurological and cardiovascular aspects of this new condition, with intent to improve its early diagnosis and treatment.

The project leader is Deborah R. Gustafson, PhD, professor of neurology. The team of collaborating investigators includes Alison Baird, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and physiology and pharmacology; Howard Crystal, MD, professor of neurology; Jack DeHovitz, MD, MPH, distinguished service professor of medicine; Jason Lazar, MD, MPH, professor of medicine; and Steven Levine, MD, professor of neurology and emergency medicine.

The four ECRIP Individual Awards are as follows:

At the Brooklyn Hospital Center, Randall L. Barbour, PhD, professor of pathology and surgery, is principal investigator of a clinical research project utilizing near infra-red scanning as an innovative method of non-invasive imaging for precise detection of breast cancer in women.

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Five SUNY Downstate Faculty Members Given Empire Clinical Research Investigator (ECRIP) Awards

Written by Betsy Abraham Thursday, 24 October 2013 00:00

Homecoming is full of traditionsfootball games, floats, parades, dances. But this year marks the start of a new tradition for Westbury. This year, the Westbury School District, along with the Village of Westbury, will present its first Alumni of Distinction award, given to an exceptional graduate. The inaugural award is dedicated to the late J. Alfred Cannon, a renowned physician who dedicated his life to community service.

Cannon graduated from Westbury High School in 1946. He was dearly loved by his classmates, and voted junior as well as senior class president- an amazing accomplishment at a time when less than one percent of the student population was African American.

Not only did Cannon excel academically and socially, but also athletically. He lettered in several sports, including football, basketball and track and field. His exploits won him numerous awards and he was the recipient of a full scholarship to Columbia University where he was an acknowledged talent on the football field and in the classroom.

After undergraduate school he entered Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1954. He then went onto UCLA Medical Center and completed his residency in psychiatry.

While in medical school, Cannon engaged in a myriad of health and welfare pursuits, passionate about giving back to the community. He was innovative as well as talented in writing grants and raising money. He founded the Central City

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Honoring A Legacy

By Prachiti Dalvi

The School of Medicine held the third Clinical Science Day on Friday, October 18th during Duke Medical Alumni Weekend in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center. The half-day event brings together faculty, alumni, and students to discuss the cutting edge clinical research taking place in labs across Dukes campus. The day started out with residents and fellows from a variety of clinical departments participating in a poster competition, followed by fifteen minute presentation by several key clinicians on campus.

Osteoarthritis causes a wearing away of the articular cartilage. (Image credit: http://images.rheumatology.org/viewphoto.php?albumId=77030&imageId=2897682)

Dr. Louis DeFrate from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery is interested in finding a new way to overcome osteoarthritis, a disease that has the potential to affect everyone as they age and is expensive to treat. Obesity increases the risk of osteoarthritis significantly by increasing strain on cartilage in between bones, or articular cartilage. DeFrate is focused on understanding how motion affects how the joints work. There is very little data on how obesity affects cartilage deformation, said DeFrate. This information is key to treating osteoarthritis effectively.

Dr. Kimberly Blackwell, who was on TIMEs 2013 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, discussed her research on HER2+ breast cancer tumors. These tumors, affecting 20% of breast cancer patients, are aggressive in coming back and reduce survival rate. The treatment Blackwell and her team have developed consists of an antibody specific to the tumor, loaded with an anticancer toxin. In general, cancer treatments focus on killing the cancer more than you kill the patient, says Blackwell. However, this new treatment is able to increase survival rates without many of the unpleasant side effects of other cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Blackwell has been able to get two cancer-fighting drugs approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

Duke surgeons implanting the bioengineered vein. (Picture credit: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/07/2944111/duke-surgeon-conducts-first-us.html)

Vascular surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Lawson discussed his success with implanting a bioengineered blood vessel into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease. The technology designed by Lawson and colleagues involves cultivating donated human cells in a tubular apparatus. Any antibodies that may trigger an immune response are removed and then implanted into the patient. The first implantation took place in Poland in December. The first surgery in the United States took place in June at Duke. Lawson worked closely with Laura Niklason, MD, PhD, a former Duke faculty member who is now at Yale. Lawson and Niklason have worked together to found Humacyte, a spin-off company that makes these bioengineered vessels commercially available. Initially, researchers are interested in implanting these veins in kidney dialysis patients and seeing if they are beneficial. However, ultimately, researchers want to make readily available and durable grafts for heart bypass surgeries to treat blocked blood vessels in the limbs.

All researchers echoed the sentiment that the culture of collaboration and mentorship at Duke is unparalleled.

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Clinical Sciences Day: Collaboration, Mentorship Lead to Science Successes

Emily Hudspeth, a senior at Wake Forest University, writes about her inspiration from Professor Paul Pauca at the Wake Will campaign that was rolled out Friday. (Wesley Young/Journal)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Wake Forest University and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on Friday announced a campaign to raise and invest $1 billion over the next five years, providing more money for scholarships, endowments and building improvements.

To give a little razzle-dazzle to the rollout, the university held a celebration on Manchester Plaza that featured food for students and guests, interactive exhibits to show off university highlights, and the showing of a promotional video in the darkened portion of a big tent that had students guessing what was up all week.

The campaign, called Wake Will: The Campaign for Wake Forest, is the largest fundraising effort the university has ever carried out. Of the money raised, $600 million will be earmarked for the university and $400 million for the medical center.

Wake Forest University President Nathan Hatch said the effort has been under way since 2010, when the campaign was in a quiet phase that focused on major donors, including $80 million contributed by university trustees. Now that the campaign has gone public, Hatch said, the university will try to involve everyone connected with the Wake world of alumni, students, faculty and others who care about the university.

The fundraising on the university side has reached $315 million, while Wake Forest Baptist has raised $133 million on its side. Once the medical center reaches 50 percent of its $400 million goal, officials said, the medical center will roll out its own part of the campaign.

University officials said the campaign is needed because the university is competing against other universities that have far more money. They said that the university does not now have the money it needs to both preserve what is best and make improvements in the areas lagging behind.

Unfortunately, capital does make a difference in the students we can admit, the student experience, faculty recruitment and retention and our national ranking, officials said on the website devoted to the drive.

The university plans to earmark more than $190 million for student scholarships and debt relief, more than $130 million for endowed faculty chairs, professorships and other resources, and more than $280 million to upgrade buildings and faculty and student programming.

Hu Womack, an outreach and instruction librarian at Wake Forest, was pumped up about $12 million that would be spent to make improvements at the library: construction of a new entrance to give students better access, a larger special collections area, more study spaces and study rooms.

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University, medical center announce $1B fundraising campaign

DANVILLE With a camera and studio at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Danville High graduate Dr. Marty Makary can be answering questions on cable television news shows about Obamacare and be prepping for surgery within 10 minutes.

I can be speaking about a salmonella outbreak as I did last week or some type of public health issue, he said Saturday. The networks have been great to schedule this around my work with patients.

Makary a medical commentator for CNN and Fox News about four years, and who has appeared on ABCs 20/20 and NBCs Rock Center profiling his research received the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award from the Danville High School Alumni Association on Saturday in the Danville Primary School.

Among those attending the ceremony for Makary, 42, who performed the first laproscopic pancreas islet transplant operation in the United States, were his parents, Dr. Adel and Nadia Makary, of Danville. His father recently retired as chief of hematology at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, and his mother worked in the travel industry.

Makary, who lives near Washington, D.C., said he was flattered to be honored by the alumni association.

I thank so many different people and groups that shaped me through the years, he said of family, friends, church, high school teachers and fire and ambulance departments.

The 1989 Danville graduate served as an emergency medical technician with Danville ambulance and as a volunteer with the East End Fire Company while in high school, where he was student body president. While he did well in school, he said he wasnt among the Top 10 in his class.

Makarys first book for a general audience, Unaccountable: What Hospitals Wont Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care, was on the New York Times best-seller list after debuting last fall.

His work, published by Bloomsbury Press and opening one step higher than Steve Jobs book, was named Library Journal Book of the Year for 2012.

He is also a guest host on C-Span Book TV for health books.

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Surgeon: TV shows have patience

In an economy thats still fighting toward recovery, medical technology students have something to smile about.

Growing opportunities in the health care field have created a demand for laboratory sciences professionals, particularly medical technologists who use their knowledge of applied biology and chemistry to help diagnose, treat and monitor diseases by performing diagnostic lab tests on patients.

Students who graduate from the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences with a BS in medical technology have found jobs with annual starting salaries of approximately $50,000. Some employers from outside Western New York also provide moving allowances and/or sign-on bonuses as added incentives.

Theres a real graying of the medical technology profession, says Carol Golyski, clinical assistant professor and director of the medical technology program in the Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Because the average age of practicing laboratory professionals is around 50, there is much demand for young workers right now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be more jobs than graduates in this field through 2018.

A report published in March 2013 by the Center for Health Workforce Studies states that a shortage of personnel is the biggest reason hospitals cant find clinical laboratory technologists and technicians. The report also projects a 9 percent increase in employment between 2010 and 2020.

According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) in New York, six out of nine laboratory departments surveyed reported that more than 10 percent of employees planned to retire within five years. And while New York requires approximately 640 new laboratory professionals every year, the state is producing only 237 graduates annually.

In 2012, the same shortage provided UB medical technology graduates with a 100 percent success rate in landing jobs in their field. The results of an informal survey of the graduates of 2013 are just as promising. Of the 21 out of 25 alumni who responded to the survey, 20 graduates found employment as a medical technologist16 in Western New York, three elsewhere in New York and one in Colorado

UB medical technology graduates also exceed the national first-time pass rate for the ASCP Board of Certification examinations, says Golyski.

Last year, UBs Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences began working to address the shortage of lab science professionals by developing a partnership with the ASCP to boost funding for state clinical lab science programs.

There is wide recognition of the current demographic challenges in the field and that they are only going to get worse, says John Tomaszewski, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, who hopes to double the number of students in these programs in five years.

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UB medical technology graduates fill job shortage

MILLEDGEVILLE Georgia Military College will host its Alumni Weekend on Friday and Saturday at the Milledgeville campus. Some of the weekends events include a golf tournament; GMC Prep vs. Lincoln County football game; the Alumni Parade featuring the 135th Corps of Cadets with guest speaker LTG Claude M. Mick Kicklighter, USA (Ret.), JC '52; the presentation of the 2013 Alumni Awards; a dance with entertainment by The Grapevine; and several opportunities for tours of GMCs campus.

One of the highlights of the weekend will be the honoring of a select group of individuals with Georgia Military College Alumni Awards. The recipients of these prestigious awards are selected annually from submitted nominations.

This years award recipients are George D.N. Coletti, D.M.D. (Distinguished Alumnus Award), Robert Bob Seymour (Alumni Achievement Award), Patricia Thompson (GMC Service Award), Ike Thomas (Community Service Award) and Ellen Goodrich (Honorary Alumna Award).

These five extraordinary people are representative of the fine character and countless acts of excellence displayed by the alumni and friends of Georgia Military College. GMC is fortunate to have been a part of the lives of each of these fine people. The contributions of the 2013 Alumni Award recipients have, without a doubt, made the world a better place.

For additional information, registration and ticket details, contact Earlene Hamilton, GMC Alumni Development coordinator at 478-445-0205.

Distinguished Alumnus Award

George D.N. Coletti, D.M.D.

HS 57, JC 59

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni whose lives have embodied the ideals of GMC including discipline, moral character and learning, whose accomplishments have made a conspicuous and positive impression on those who will follow their lead, and whose lives are examples of extraordinary accomplishment.

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GMC Alumni Weekend honors alumni

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 15, 2013

American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine, member of the Manipal Global Education Group with campuses throughout Asia, has entered into an affiliation agreement with the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University (FIU HWCOM) a U.S. medical school accredited by Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), located in Miami, FL.

The agreement allows qualified AUA students to enroll in the FIU HWCOM Clinical Clerkship Certificate Program. AUA students who successfully complete their core clinical rotations at FIU HWCOMs affiliated teaching site will receive a HWCOM transcript and a HWCOM Certificate of Completion.

This groundbreaking affiliation between FIU HWCOM and AUA was made possible because of both institutions commitment to foster global medical education, said AUA Co-Founder and President Neal Simon. Florida International University has been a leader in international education and the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine by establishing a clinical clerkship certificate program for AUA students has taken a leadership position in international medical education, while also providing an opportunity for medical students of all nations, who study medicine at AUA, to complete their core clinical rotations.

The Clinical Clerkship Certificate program at HWCOM will provide an augmented academic and clinical experience for AUA students, said AUA Vice President of Global Medical Education & Executive Dean, Clinical Sciences Dr. Peter Bell. The addition of a transcript and certificate from FIU HWCOM will further improve the resumes of our students.

"The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine is committed to growing an international presence and this affiliation with the American University of Antigua and Manipal University is but the latest example of our commitment to this effort," said FIU HWCOM Dean and Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. John Rock.

Two of his colleagues, FIU HWCOM Associate Dean for International Affairs Dr. Eneida Roldan and FIU HWCOM Associate Dean for Community and Clinical Affairs Dr. Fernando Valverde, concurred.

"As Associate Dean for International Affairs, I am very happy that our international partnerships continue to grow as is the case with the American University of Antigua and Manipal University, said Dr. Roldan.

"We hope that this partnership will help enhance our clinical network and collaboration with our international affiliates of the American University of Antigua and Manipal University, said Dr. Valverde.

About American University of Antigua

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American University of Antigua Signs Landmark Clinical Clerkship Agreement with Florida International University

Parker S. Dorman, a urologist in the Washington region for more than 30 years, died Sept. 23 at Asbury Methodist Village retirement community in Gaithersburg. He was 91.

The cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said his son, Thomas Dorman.

Dr. Dorman practiced urology in Washington and Chevy Chase with his father and brother from 1955 until his retirement in 1987. He served on the clinical faculty at Georgetown University medical school and was head of residency training at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

Parker Sturgis Dorman, a native Washingtonian, was a 1940 graduate of the old Western High School. He was a 1944 graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts and a 1947 graduate of the University of Maryland medical school. Five years later, he received a masters degree in medical science from the University of Pennsylvania.

He served 13 years in the Navy Reserve and was on active duty as a physician in 1950 and 1951.

Dr. Dorman was a past president of the mid-Atlantic section of the American Urological Association and the Southern Society of Urological Surgeons. He also served on the board of Bethesda Cares, an organization that helps the homeless. His other memberships included the Kiwanis Club, Bethesda United Church of Christ and Amherst College Alumni Association.

He lived in Rockville for 33 years before moving to Bethesda in 1991 and to Gaithersburg in 2004.

A daughter, Anne Hope, died in 2011. Survivors include his wife of 69 years, Janet English Dorman of Gaithersburg; five children, Thomas Dorman of Portland, Maine, William Dorman of Takoma Park, Joan Davis of Seattle, Deborah Kirk of Woodstock, Conn., and Janet Bruce of Brookneal, Va.; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.

Megan McDonough

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Parker S. Dorman, urologist

(PRWEB) October 11, 2013

Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles School of Business is named again as one of the best in the country by The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2014 edition of its book The Best 295 Business Schools.

We are very pleased to once again be selected by The Princeton Review, said School of Business Interim Dean John Navin. The fact that this list is based on students ratings of their educational experience is a sound acknowledgement of the quality of education we provide our students.

According to Robert Franek, Princeton Review senior vice president-publisher, We recommend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as one of the best institutions a student could attend to earn a business school degree.

We chose the schools we profile in this book based on our high regard for their academic programs and our reviews of institutional data we collect from the schools. We also solicit and greatly respect the opinions of students attending these schools that rate and report on their experiences at them on our 80-question student survey for the book.

The Best 295 Business Schools: 2014 Edition has two-page profiles of the schools with write-ups on their academics, student life and admissions. In the profile of SIUE, The Princeton Review editors describe the school as: exceptional and convenient, and located close to a metropolitan area.

SIUE students in the publication are quoted as saying, Most of my professors still consult in their respective industries. They are very current on business trends and developments. Additional comments from students about faculty included, They seem to truly care about students learning and being able to apply information in the real world, and that faculty know how to communicate their information to their students effectively.

In a Survey Says . . . sidebar in the profile, The Princeton Review lists good peer network, solid preparation in general management, communication, interpersonal skills and doing business in a global economy as topics that students it surveyed were in most agreement about pertaining to the University. The 80-question survey asked business school students about their school's academics, student body and campus life, as well as about themselves and their career plans.

The Princeton Review tallied lists based on its surveys of 19,000 students attending the 295 business schools. The survey asked students to rate multiple attributes of their schools, including their professors and fellow classmates. The Best 295 Business Schools is one of more than 150 Princeton Review books published by Random House. The line includes The Best 169 Law Schools and The Best 167 Medical Schools, plus guides to graduate school admission exams and application essays.

The Princeton Review is also known for its guides to colleges and to standardized tests, its classroom and online test-prep courses, tutoring, and other education services. Headquartered in Framingham, Mass., The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University, and it is not a magazine.

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Princeton Review Tabs SIUE School of Business Among Nation’s Best