Kevin Halbritter, M.D., has been appointed the Interim Chair of the Department of Medicine by Jim Brick, M.D., Interim Dean of the School of Medicine. Dr. Halbritter also serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer for Merlin.

This past April, the School of Medicine Dean’s Awards for Excellence were held. To see who the winners are click here.

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

COMING

Uwe Blecker, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Pediatrics, as a Professor. Dr. Blecker will serve as GI section chief.

Michael Mascia, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Division of the School of Medicine, in the Department of Anesthesiology, as an Associate Professor. Dr. Mascia specializes in critical care.

Julian Bailes, M.D., Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, and James Mills, M.D., a resident in the department, were invited guests of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command and Department of Defense Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office at Fort Detrick, Maryland last month. Drs. Bailes and Mills presented their laboratory results showing the potential treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or concussion, the role of omega-3 fatty acids, and possible ameliorating strategies for brain damage secondary to blast injuries and improvised explosive devices.

Myra Chiang, M.D., Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Charleston Division, was honored last month as the Distinguished Professor of Special Care to Children in a Pediatric Sub-Specialty at the Charleston Division.

Mark Cucuzzella, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, was quoted in The Martinsburg Journal about a forum recently held at the Eastern Division’s Health Sciences Center on childhood obesity in West Virginia. Click here for more information on this forum.

Stephanie Frisbee, M.S., Research Instructor, Department of Community Medicine, has been working with WVU researchers on blood tests and additional data assembled during a study on C8’s impacts on the residents near the DuPont Company’s Washington Works plant. For more information on this study click here.

An endowed chair was established last month in the name of Ludwig Gutmann, M.D., Professor, Department of Neurology. To read more about this endowment click here.

Richard Ham, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Geriatrics, was quoted in an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on the region’s first Geriatrics Trauma Institute. For more information on this article click here.

Clark Hansbarger, M.D., Dean, Charleston Division School of Medicine, was recently honored at the West Virginia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics and was presented with an award for outstanding service to West Virginia’s children.

Thomas Hogan, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, section of Hematology/Oncology, has been named Cancer Liaison Physician. Dr. Hogan joins a network of some 1,600 volunteer physicians who represent their facilities’ cancer programs in close alliance with the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons. For more information on this appointment click here.

Hollynn Larrabee, M.D., will be the next Residency Program Director for the WVU Department of Emergency Medicine effective July 1, 2008. Dr. Larrabee has been the Assistant Residency Director at the University of Cincinnati.

Arif Sarwari, M.D., WVU Department of Medicine, recently received the Herbert S. Waxman Outstanding Medical Student Educator Award from the American College of Physicians. This award is only presented once a year to one individual. For more information on this honor click here.

Rolly Sullivan, M.D., Professor, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, was featured on healthin30 website’s radio show on nicotine addiction. Click here to listen to the radio show. Dr. Sullivan also has an article on nicotine addiction featured on the same website. Click here to read the article

Kimberly Williams, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Community Medicine, is gearing up for her study on yoga and lower back pain. Click here for more information.

Several members of the Department of Community Medicine faculty co-wrote an article titled “Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Not On Tobacco Program for Adolescent Smoking Cessation”. To read the article click here.

That it was American sculptor, Milton Horn, who created the Pylons as a visual history of the healing arts for West Virginia University Medical Center. The Pylons represent the history of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy and are made of white Georgia marble.

That the original plasters that Milton Horn created of the Pylons were donated to the Charleston Division of School of Medicine where they have been on display in the lobby since 1982.

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
Mark Polak, M.D. and Terry Schwartz, M.D.

Robert Bossarte, Ph.D., Injury Research Scientist, Center for Rural Emergency Medicine, published a paper titled “Injury, Violence, and Risk among Participants in a Mass Gathering of the Rainbow Family of Living Light”. To find out more information on this study click here.

Frank Reilly, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, co-wrote an article titled “Head and Neck Radiology” that was featured on the heal central website. Dr. Reilly wrote this article with Jeffery Altemus, Allison Davis, Mahesh Kamsala, and Saritha Reddy. To read the article click here.

Ian Rockett, Ph.D., Associate Chair, Department of Community Medicine, Henry Taylor, M.D., M.P.H., and Bethany McCunn, Department of Community Medicine, recently completed a study on the aging population. For more information on this topic please click here.

John Rogers, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, section of Hematology/Oncology, is the Principal Investigator of a new study at WVU involving Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to see if it is effective in determining progression of small cell lung cancer. For more information on this new study click here.

The WVU Eye Institute recently received $25,000 in grants from two foundations, the Ross Foundation and the Alcon Foundation, Inc. The grants will help the Eye Institute deliver programs to benefit young West Virginians and the doctors who treat them. For more information click here.

Pediatrics and Occupational Medicine have both received accreditation for an osteopathic track in their residency programs. Mel Wright, D.O., will be the Pediatrics Program Director and Carl Werntz, D.O., will be the Occupational Medicine Program Director.

Congratulations to Konrad Nau, M.D., Program Director, and Christine Therrien, Program Coordinator, of the Family Medicine residency program at the Eastern Division on earning a 5 year re-accreditation from the ACGME.

Congratulations to David Baltierra, M.D., Program Director, and Christine Therrien, Program Coordinator, of the Geriatric fellowship program at the Eastern Division on earning a 5 year re-accreditation from the ACGME.

As you know, health-related services continue to be a determinant of quality of life around the world. That fact makes the educational process ever more important.

Private support for the School of Medicine is also ever more important. Many understand this and feel that a valuable way to accomplish their own charitable goal is to include a gift provision in their will or revocable trust.

It's easy to do -- providing the wording of "to the West Virginia University Foundation for the benefit of the School of Medicine ['s Department of __________ ]" to your attorney is the way to make it work.

Advancing the mission of the School of Medicine is truly important. Many support options are available, and the Development Office (304-293-3980) can assist you to make it work.

Jessica Oswald, Masters in Public Health, class of 2008, was recently featured on the WVU today website for being a national and world wakesurfing champion, and a philanthropist. To read more about Jessica click here.

Last month the School of Medicine held its annual Awards Convocation ceremony. Students and Faculty from all three campuses were honored at this event.

The M.D. degree classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011 have selected class officers for the next academic year.

The Medical School class of 2009, Charleston Division, raised money for Manna Meal, which is a charity that feeds the homeless of Charleston.

The Radiology Interest Group, Charleston Division, sponsored a 3-on-3 basketball tournament that raised money for the Ronald McDonald House.

The Medical School class of 2011 recently raised $540 for the National MS Society in honor of Dr. Richard Dattola.