Swine Influenza: The number of Swine Influenza A (H1N1) cases continues to rise in the United States.  There have been 27,717 confirmed and probable cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) in the United States, 114 of those are in West Virginia at the time this message was written.

Click on the following links for more information.

( CDC Update | Respiratory Etiquette | Cover Cough )

Robert W. Hull, M.D., associate professor, Department of Medicine, is the newest member of the WVU Heart Institute. For more information on Dr. Hull, click on this link.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has named West Virginia University School of Medicine one of the nation’s Top 10 medical schools whose graduates choose family medicine careers. For more information on this top 10 ranking, click on this link.

Last month the Center on Aging hosted its annual Summer Institute on Aging. The institute provided a variety of information, courses, and training relevant to West Virginia over four days. For more information on the institute, click on this link. For information on aging and the common diseases of aging, click on this link.

The WVU Eye Institute is having summer camps that help children with low vision and blindness to learn skills for independent living while having fun. For more information, click on this link.

The School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and the WVU College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences are all sponsors of Camp NEW You, a camp designed to help children learn healthy habits for living. Camp NEW You was held last month and about 20 children and their families attended. For more information, click on this link.

The Grassroots Grant Program has announced the winners of the 2009 grants. The nine organizations that are receiving the grants are CASA for Kids , Compeer of Monongalia County, Inc., In Touch & Concerned, Marion County Family Resource Network, Mental Health Association of Morgantown, Milan Puskar Health Right, Inc., On Eagles’ Wings Therapeutic Riding Camp, Stepping Stones, and the West Virginia Family Grief Center. For more information on the grant and the programs, click on this link.

The Reproductive Physiology Program will host its first reunion in over a decade in July. The program’s faculty and students have achieved national and international recognition in the fields of reproductive biology, endocrinology and others. Graduates are active in many industries and areas throughout the world. For more information on this, click on this link.

Last month, WVU provided several health reports to the West Virginia community. Click on the following links to see the health reports for heart attacks, impella heart pumps, cyberchondria, and food-borne illness.

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

The Department of Ophthalmology will be offering community eye screenings at the Harless Community Center in Gilbert, WV on Thursday, July 9. Interested medical students are invited to participate in learning to assess visual acuity, pupil reaction, ocular motility, visual fields, and intraocular pressure. For more information or to register to participate, contact Karen Blaney at blaneyk@wvuh.com or 304-598-6967.

COMING

Neal Gaither, M.D., has joined the Eastern Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, as an assistant professor. Dr. Gaither specializes in cardiology.

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

Lydia Obleada, M.D., and Faraz Qureshi, M.D., have joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, as assistant professors.

Yesim Yilmaz Demirdag, M.D., Neelam Konnur, M.D., and Alia Rai, M.D., have joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, as assistant professors. Dr. Demirdag specializes in pediatric allergy and immunology. Dr. Rai specializes in pediatric cardiology.

Chong Kim, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, as an assistant professor.

GOING

Ehab Abdallah, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry.

Uwe Blecker, M.D., Sophie Lanciers, M.D., and Lisa Palmer, D.O., are leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Pediatrics.

Edward Doyle, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Community Medicine.

Beverly Epstein, M.D., and John Ward, M.D., are leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Orthopaedics.

Ralph Harding, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Anesthesiology.

Raymond Hinerman, M.D., and Paul van der Sloot, M.D., are leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Otolaryngology.

Joshua Kotouc, M.D., and Laura Levoy, M.D., are leaving the Morgantown Campus, Department of Emergency Medicine.

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

Sarah Hardy, M.D., and Adam Lorenzetti, M.D., Class of 2009, are featured in an article in The Journal because of their international rotation in Costa Rica. Drs. Hardy and Lorenzetti traveled to Costa Rica in their fourth year of medical school to help the children of the country. For more information, click on this link.

Clay Marsh, M.D., Class of 1985, has been named to lead the OSU Medical Center’s research program. Dr. Marsh will direct the Medical Center’s program for personalized health care. For more information click on this link.

Robert Nerhood, M.D., Class of 1969, was recognized last month by The West Virginia Perinatal Partnership for his service to the care of West Virginia babies. To see the program click on this link.

Suzanne Powell, M.D., Class of 1988, was recently appointed Chair of the Pathology Residency Review Committee. For more information click on this link and go to page 5.

WVU researchers have been studying the relationship between lung cancer death rates and frequency of smoking by patients. The study has found that patients who smoked two packs a day had a 58% higher risk of their lung cancers returning or spreading compared with non-smoking patients. For more information on this study, click on this link.

WVU and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Health Effects Laboratory Division, will be working together to strengthen research ties between the organizations. For more information on this increasing partnership, click on this link.

George Kelley, D.A., professor, and Kristi Kelley, research instructor, both Department of Community Medicine, have been conducting a study on the cost of “couch potatoes” . Physical inactivity costs over $1.3 billion annually. For more information on this study, click on this link.

Bei Wu, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Community Medicine, is the principal investigator on a $1.3 Million NIH funded grant researching a link between gum disease and memory loss, with some preliminary results. Dr. Wu will be working with researchers from Duke and the University of Michigan along with Richard Crout, D.M.D., Ph.D., professor, WVU School of Dentistry. For more information on this study, click on this link.

The M.D. Class of 2010 elected their new class officers last month. To see the new officers, click the link.

Cards of Hope kicks off its 18th year

Congratulations to Stanley Zaslau, M.D., Program Director, and John Hunt, Program Coordinator, of the Urology residency program, Department of Surgery, at the Morgantown Campus for earning a 3 year re-accreditation from the ACGME.

Congratulations to the Charleston Campus’s Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry residents who rank 1st in national testing in psychodynamics.

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 essential.

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.

Stephen Bush, M.D., chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Charleston Campus, has been working with CAMC’s da Vinci surgical robot since 2007. The da Vinci robot helps cut down on the patient's recovery time because it is not as invasive as regular surgery. Click on this link for more information.

Mark Cucuzzella, M.D., associate professor, Department of Family Medicine, Eastern Campus, has been giving seminars for runner and walkers to share the importance of exercise and its health benefits. For more information on this story, click on this link. Dr. Cucuzzella has also given some free physicals at the Eastern Campus. For more information on the physicals click on this link.

Alan Ducatman, M.D., chair, Department of Community Medicine, discusses the effects of climate change on West Virginians. For more information, click on this link.

Todd Goldberg, M.D., associate professor, Department of Medicine, Charleston Campus, was featured in the June issue of National Assisted Living Focus for his work at the Ridgemont at Edgewood Summit, in Charleston, W.Va. To read the article, click on this link.

Janet Graeber, M.D., associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, was recognized last month by The West Virginia Perinatal Partnership for her service in caring for West Virginia babies. To see the program click on this link.

Hollyn Larabee, M.D., Program Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, has been selected by the National Board of Medicine Examiners to participate in the Subinternship Item Harvest Project for emergency medicine and/or hospital-based care. She was recommended to the NBME by SOM Chief Executive Proctor, Norman Ferrari, M.D.

Rolly Sullivan, M.D., professor, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, is quoted in The Huffington Post concerning “chasing the future.” For more information, click on this link.

Scot Remick, M.D., director, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University, is heading the International Working Group of the National Cancer Institute’s AIDS Malignancy Consortium to help prepare for the increasing number of cancer patients in Third World Nations. For more information, click on this link.

Ian Rockett, Ph.D., professor, Department of Community Medicine, has been studying suicide data. The research has found that fewer than 10% of death certificates for suicides typically include a diagnosed mental illness. Extensive studies have suggested that the real prevalence may be close to 90%. For more information on this study click on this link.

Joe Matusic, M.D., assistant clinical professor, Department of Pediatrics-Charleston Campus, is letting patients know that Epsom salt can reduce the itch that comes from mosquito bites, bee stings, mild sunburn, poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. For more information click here.

Congratulations to the four of the senior radiology residents who have passed their American Board of Radiology Oral Exam and are now board certified radiologists.

Jagan Akella, M.D., internal medicine resident1997-2000 and cardiology resident, 2001-2004, Department of Internal Medicine, recently completed the first atrial fibrillation cardiac ablation pressure in Bradenton, Florida. For more information on this procedure click on this link.

That it was in 1999 that the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute was created by US Senator John D. Rockefeller, IV in honor of his mother who died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, but it was not until 2009 when the Institute’s own building was completed.

The Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy program requires 12 to 16 weeks of off campus training before students can graduate. The rotations can be completed in the United States or another designated country. Most of the WVU students choose a Mid-Atlantic state, but some choose a Mid-Western state.

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
Heather Clawges, M.D. and William Neal, M.D.