Swine Influenza: The number of Swine Influenza A (H1N1) cases continues to rise in the United States. There have been 43,771 confirmed and probable cases in the United States, 243 of those in West Virginia at this time. For anyone who is interested in attending an international Swine Flu Conference this month, click on this link.

Click on the following links for more information.

( CDC Update | Respiratory Etiquette | Cover Cough )

The search for the new chancellor for the Health Sciences Center is well underway. Three candidates are in the process of visiting WVU. For the latest information on this search, click here.

On November 19, the Health Sciences Center campus will become a tobacco-free zone that will include all indoor and outdoor areas, as well as parking lots and sidewalks. For more information on this new policy, click on this link.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is offering Summer Sampler Courses for adults 50 and older. The program’s goal is to provide intellectually stimulating classes and discussions for older adults. For more information, click on this link.

The annual Women on Wellness (WOW) retreat took place in Fairmont on August 1. The retreat aims to inspire women to make changes that will impact their health and the health of their loved ones. Click on this link for more information.

Last month, WVU provided several health reports to the West Virginia community. Click on the following links: Skin Protection, Lyme Disease, Bike and Pool Safety, Headache Home Remedies, and Headache Preventive Medications.

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

COMING

Mohammed Almubarak, M.D., Kiran Bandaru, M.D., Manie Juneja, M.D., and David Tingler, M.D., have joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, as assistant professors. Dr. Tingler specializes in cardiology; Dr. Almubarak specializes in hematology/oncology; and Drs. Juneja and Bandaru are hospitalists.

Sarah Barker, M.D., and Meghann McGushin, D.O., have joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, as assistant professors.

Steven Bauer, M.D., has joined the Eastern Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, as an assistant professor.

Jason Honaker, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as an assistant professor.

Ryan Livengood, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, as an assistant professor.

Gary (Jamie) Miller, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, as an assistant professor. Dr. Miller specializes in the retina of the eye.

William Patten, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, as an assistant professor. Dr. Patten specializes in pediatric critical care.

Justin Petri, M.D., and Wanhong Zheng, M.D., have joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, as assistant professors.

GOING

Raymond Hinerman, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Otolaryngology.

Lisa Palmer, D.O., is leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Pediatrics.

Luis Teba, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Medicine.

The WVU Eye Institute recently received a four-year, $200,000 Challenge Grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) for the development of advanced research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases. This research is under the direction of Judie Charlton, M.D., chair, Department of Ophthalmology.

The West Virginia Healthy Start/HAPI (Helping Appalachian Parents and Infants) Project will receive $3.5 million over the next five years to help women on Medicaid achieve healthy pregnancies and maintain healthy families. For more information, click on this link.

John Barnett, Ph.D., chair, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology was recently awarded $402,875 by the NIH to continue his laboratory’s studies on the lifelong immune system impact of prenatal exposure to the herbicide, atrazine. More than 70 million pounds of atrazine are used in the U.S. each year, largely on corn and sugar cane crops. For more information on this, click on this link.

Bing-Hua Jiang, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology, was awarded three separate stimulus grants totaling more than $1.1 million over two years to fund the study of the biological effects of exposure to nanoparticles of tungsten carbide-cobalt. Nanoparticles – manufactured substances of extremely small size – are widely used in industry. For more information, click on this link.

Sharon Maas, M.D. Degree class of 2010, is one of 12 national winners of the AMA Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship. For more information on this scholarship, click on this link.

Last month the Gold Humanism Honor Society inducted its first class of medical school students from the class of 2010. This honor society recognizes students that excel in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service. For more information on the induction click on this link.

For more information on this new honor society click on this link.

To see photos from the induction click on this link.

Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) celebrated 15 years

Congratulations to the M.D. Degree class of 2006. For the most recent year in which scores are available, they registered a perfect 100% pass rate on the USMLE Step 3 examination. Across the United States and in Canada, the pass rate was 96 percent for medical school graduates taking the test for the first time. For more information on this pass rate, click on this link.

Congratulations to John Phillips, M.D., Program Director, and Serena Silvaggio, Program Coordinator, of the Pediatrics residency program, Department of Pediatrics, at the Morgantown Campus for earning a maximum 5 year re-accreditation from the ACGME.

Congratulations to Matthew Brunner, M.D., Program Director, and Scotti Matics, Program Coordinator, of the Medicine/Pediatrics residency program, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, at the Morgantown Campus for earning a maximum 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. This 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 essential. Many support options are available, and the Development Office (304-293-3980) can assist you.

Terrell Coffield, M.D., Class of 1975, and Brent Watson, M.D., Class of 1999, were honored at the 24th annual Magnolia High School Alumni Life Achievement Awards Banquet last month. For more information on the banquet, click on this link.

Alexandre C. D'Audiffret, M.D., associate professor, Department of Surgery, has volunteered to fill a slot in the surgery rotation of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, where many soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are treated. For more information on this volunteer effort, click on this link.

Mohammed Almubarak, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicine, specializes in general oncology as well as the treatment of lung cancer and benign hematology. His research interests include the use of nuclear medical imaging or PET scans in cancer treatment. Dr. Almubarak is the latest to join the team at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. For more information, click on this link.

Sanford E. Emery, M.D., chair, Department of Orthopaedics, has been appointed to serve as a director on the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He joins 19 other orthopaedic surgeons from around the country serving on this board. Previously, he worked with the board’s Spine Recertification Task Force and its Question Writing Task Force. For more information, click on this link.

Bingyun Li, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Orthopaedics, and a team conducted a study that has developed drug-delivery technology involving microcapsules, and a second technique, nanocoating, that has been shown to work in animal studies. For more information on this study, click on this link.

Uma Sundaram, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Department of Medicine, presented “Understanding Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: What Every Patient Needs to Know,” at the educational program on inflammatory bowel diseases recently. For more information, click on this link.

That in 1987 with James Stevenson, M.D., as medical director, the Chestnut Ridge Hospital (now Chestnut Ridge Center) opened as a psychiatric and substance abuse facility. Dr. Stevenson is currently the chair of the department of Behavioral Medicine & Psychiatry and is currently the School of Medicine’s longest serving chair.

In 2003, the Occupational Therapy program started offering distance learning that allows Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants to become Occupational Therapists.

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
Frederick Gabriele, M.D. and Charles Moore, M.D.