Michelle Nuss, M.D., has been appointed Vice President of Medical Staff Affairs for the Hospital and Interim Associate Dean for Hospital Affairs effective July 1. Dr. Nuss has assumed these responsibilities while Kevin Halbritter, M.D., serves as Interim Chair, Department of Medicine. Dr. Nuss will also continue to serve as the program director for the Categorical Internal Medicine residency programs.

Last month Fred Butcher, Ph.D., interim vice president for WVU Health Sciences, announced that R & V Consultants’ services had been terminated at the Health Sciences Center Campus. To read the Outline for Interim Report presented to WVU President Mike Garrison on May 16 by R & V, click here. If you would like to read Dr. Butcher’s response to the report, click here. More information is available at this site.

Michael S. Garrison will complete his service as President of WVU on September 1, 2008. For more information click on the link.

The Center of Excellence in Women’s Health is sponsoring a ‘Women on Wellness Retreat’ on July 26 in Fairmont, WV. To see the flyer for this retreat, click here. To see the schedule for this retreat, click here.

The Eye Institute is sponsoring Summer Institutes through their WVU Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Projects. The camps, held in June and July in various areas of the State, are staffed with members of the Department of Ophthalmology. For more information on these camps, click on the link.

If you would like to become an organ donor or change your organ donation status, you can now register online. Click on the link for more information. If you would like to donate your body to WVU’s Human Gift Registry click on the link for more information.

Medical Students are collecting the recycling bins in the HSC on Fridays. Contact Jeff Richmond jrichmo4@mix.wvu.edu for more information.

Project MUSHROOM is looking for volunteers to help with street rounds every other Tuesday evening beginning at 6:45 pm. The next street rounds will take place on July 8th. To sign up, click on the link. If you cannot attend after signing up, please contact Holly Turner.

COMING

Ehab El Akkary, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Surgery, as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Akkary specializes in General Surgery.

Greg Barretto, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Pediatrics, as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Barretto specializes in Neonatology.

Jay Bringman, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as an Associate Professor. Dr. Bringman specializes in Maternal Fetal Medicine.

Matthew Ellison, M.D., David Marshall, M.D., Bijal Neal, M.D., and James Sadler, M.D., have joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Anesthesiology, as Instructors.

Mayada Issa, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Medicine, as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Issa specializes in General Internal Medicine.

Hollynn Larrabee, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Emergency Medicine, as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Larrabee will also serve as the Residency Director for Emergency Medicine.

GOING

Walter Byrd, M.D., and Vanessa Urban, M.D., are leaving the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry.

Patricia Miller-Canfield, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Pathology.

Robert Hoeldtke, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Medicine.

Shubhangi Chitnis, M.D., and Wikrom Karnsukal, M.D., are leaving the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Pediatrics.

William Rose, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Rose was the Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program.

Barbara Ducatman, M.D., Chair, Department of Pathology, was recently recognized as the 2008 recipient of the Women in Science and Health Excellence (WISH) Award. For more information on this award, click here. To see photos from the event click here.

Thaddeus Herzog, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, has been selected to participate in the ‘Spicy Debate—Contemplating Change: The Pros and Cons of the Transtheoretical Model for Understanding Changes in Substance Use.” This debate will take place in November at the National Conference of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse in Washington, D.C.

Penny Klinkhachorn, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, was recently appointed to the review panel on MedEdPortal, the AAMC sponsored venue for online publication of educational materials.

Nic McFadden, S.A., P.A., Surgical and Physician Assistant, Department of Neurosurgery, was recently chosen as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. For more information on this distinction, click on the link.

Konrad Nau, M.D., Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, Eastern Division, is quoted in an article on herald-mail.com about Clostridium Difficile (C.Diff). City Hospital and Jefferson Memorial Hospitals see on average about three cases of C. Diff a month. For more information on C. Diff click on the link.

Cindy Thompson, Orthopaedics Residency Coordinator, recently became certified by Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education (TAGME). Cindy is the second WVU residency coordinator to be TAGME certified.

Stephen Wetmore, M.D., Chair, Department of Otolaryngology, attended the 8th International Conference on Cholesteatoma and Ear Surgery in Antalya, Turkey, last month. Dr. Wetmore was invited to participate in this conference and provided an hour long instructional course entitled, “Migraine-Related Dizziness,” and chaired a panel symposium entitled, “Avoiding Complications in Ear Surgery."

That in 1992 Mountaineer Doctor TeleVision (MDTV) was established with the support of Senator Robert C. Byrd.

That it was not until 1965 that WVU began developing a bachelors degree in Physical Therapy, the first program of its kind in West Virginia.

Can you guess who these two faculty members are?

(Click Images to enlarge)

The answers will appear in next
month’s issue.

Last month’s faculty members were
John Linberg, M.D. and Judie Charlton, M.D.

Lan Guo, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, is the principal researcher on a study that involved tumor samples from 269 breast cancer patients. Dr. Guo’s study is helping doctors have a better understanding of the different types of cancer and create an individualized treatment plan for every patient. For more information on this study, click here.

The Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center has been re-verified as a Level One trauma center by the American College of Surgeons’ (ACS’s) Committee on Trauma. The trauma center is one of 100 ACS-verified trauma programs in the nation and is one of 21 level two pediatric trauma centers in the nation. For more information on this re-verification, click on the link.

WVU received full accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) last month. To date the AAHRPP has accredited 129 organizations representing more than 550 entities, which includes 42% of the nation's research-intensive universities, 36 % of U.S. medical schools and 52 % of Department of Veterans Administration.

Tomorrow's results are created by today's dreamers. Many dream of a way to help the School of Medicine grow in the future. Some find that a good way to accomplish that is to set up an income-producing gift for retirement income that will later provide support for the School.

Using cash, stocks, corporate bonds or mutual funds, it's easy to build up more retirement security while also receiving an income tax deduction. The income can begin at any age chosen by the donor. The best part is choosing how the remaining funds will benefit the School after the income payout ends.

Learning more about this support option happens when you call the Development Office at 304-293-3980. They can assist you to make it work.

Last month the Department of Otolaryngology presented department awards at their annual alumni conference.

The winners are:

Outstanding Teacher Award from the Residents
Mark Armeni, M.D.

Service Award
Jeanette Morency, Otolaryngology Residency Coordinator

Sobisca S. Hall Award (for research) First place: Scott Oxley, M.D.
Second place: Hassan Arshad, M.D.

Touma Foundation Award
Jamey Cost, M.D.

Scott Davis, M.D., Class of 1995, recently joined the Holzer Clinic Lawrence County Campus on Ohio 7 in Proctorville. Dr. Davis also completed his residency at WVU in internal medicine. For more information on Dr. Davis’ recent appointment click on the link.

Ranya Habash, M.D., Class of 2001, was recently named the Outstanding Young Ophthalmologist in Florida by The Florida Society of Ophthalmology (FSO). The FSO serves more than 500 Ophthalmologists in Florida.

Jeffrey Jones, M.D., Class of 1976, was recently elected chief of staff at Battle Creek Health System. His two-year term began on July 1, 2008.

Ellen Shaw de Paredes, M.D., Class of 1978, is the recipient of the 2008 School of Medicine Alumnus Award. Dr. de Paredes will be accepting her award during alumni weekend: October 10 and 11 of this year.

The Graduate Medical Education staff, program coordinators, and others at the WVU School of Medicine welcomed the new residents last month. They started their residency programs July 1. If you would like to see photos from the new resident orientation, click on the link.

Clayton Caswell, Ph.D. student, has recently been accepted to the American Society for Microbiology’s Kadner Institute at the University of Colorado. Clayton’s papers on flesh-eating bacteria research helped him gain entrance into this institute. For more information on this, click on the link.

Vicki Kalira, M.D. Degree class of 2009, Charleston Division, has been selected the Region Chair for Region V of the AMA. Vicki is the first Region Chair from West Virginia.

The M.D. Degree class of 2009, Charleston Division, has been raising money for Manna Meal and the Ronald McDonald House through their softball and basketball tournaments.

The M.D. Degree Class of 2010 had their orientation for the third year of medical school last month. To see photos from the Morgantown Campus click here. You can view photos from the Eastern Campus by clicking here.