Greg Rosencrance, M.D., Chair, Department of Medicine, Charleston Campus, was recently named the President & CEO and Chairman of the Board of West Virginia University Physicians of Charleston. For more information, click on the link.

Last month, Dr. James Brick, interim dean, School of Medicine, gave the annual State of the School address. To hear the speech, click on this link. To view the speech, click on this link.

WVU Doctor’s Day is scheduled at the end of the month. If you are a patient and would like to show your appreciation for your doctor, please visit this website.

Last month Nancy Nielsen, M.D., Ph.D., Member, School of Medicine Board of Advisors, was recognized as a WVU outstanding alumni for her contributions.

Interim Dean Brick lead a tour of Health Sciences Center facilities for 35 members of the State Medical Association recently. Accompanied by Dr. Scot Remick, Dr. Jamal Mustafa, Ms. Laura Roth, and Ms. Susan Arnold, the group toured the Cancer Center Addition, the Learning Center and Library facilities, and the new Erma Byrd Biomedical Research Building. Dr. Kevin Halbritter spoke to the group about Merlin, the new electronic medical record system.

“Go Red for Women” is an initiative of the American Heart Association. Wearing red is a reminder to women to take care of their health, particularly as it relates to heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women. To see WVU and the School of Medicine’s activities during February to increase heart disease awareness, click on the links.

Interim WVU President C. Peter Magrath discusses the University's outreach to both rural West Virginia and the world in his latest video message. Dr. Magrath talks about the WVRHEP program that School of Medicine students participate in and the Department of Ophthalmology’s program to help the blind. To see the video click on the link.

The CARDIAC (Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities) Project was given an award by the Monongalia County Medical Society commending Dr. Bill Neal for his efforts on behalf of children of West Virginia for his CARDIAC kids’ project, which will change the approach to childhood health screenings. For more information on this award click on this link.

WVU is on track to meet the federal government’s requirement of moving to electronic health records by 2014. At WVU Hospitals and the POC the second phase of the electronic transfer of records took place in January. For more information on this click on the link.

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

COMING

Kathrin Allen, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, as an assistant professor. Dr. Allen specializes in critical care.

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

Kenneth Mitchell, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, as an associate professor. Dr. Mitchell specializes in glaucoma.

Karthikram Raghuram, M.D., has joined the Morgantown Campus of the School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, as an assistant professor.

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

GOING

David Deci, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus of the Department of Family Medicine.

Joel Vogt, M.D., is leaving the Morgantown Campus of the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry.

The M.D. Degree Class of 2012 recently had their medical school Snow Ball. Click on the link to see photos from the event.

On June 8, 1997, the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Hematologic Malignancy Program received its certificate of accreditation with the National Marrow Donor Program.

The first student in the combined MD/PhD program graduated in 1996. The combined MD/PhD program has two students graduating this May.

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
Richard Vaughan, M.D., and Robert Gustafson, M.D.

Doctoral candidate wins 2 national awards

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) granted 4 more years of continuing accreditation to the Department of Orthopaedics residency program. Sandy Emery, M.D., is the Program Director and Cyndy Thompson is the Residency Coordinator.

Making it work – that’s an every day responsibility for the Health Sciences’ faculty, administrators and staff. Collectively, we appreciate the benefit which everyone’s labors provide to those who seek out the services provided here.

As a team, much is accomplished. As team members, we can find additional ways to extend the benefits. One option is to consider including a gift provision in your will or revocable trust when the time is right for estate planning.

The provision should be worded “to the West Virginia University Foundation for the benefit of the School of Medicine/Department of _____” to carry out your dream. You can specify that the gift fund will be endowed to last forever and provide annual income or can be used on an expendable basis to meet the greatest needs at that time.

Many support options are available, and the Development Office (304-293-3980) can assist you to make it work.

John Collins, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Neurosurgery, is one of many doctors at WVU Children’s Hospital working to save the lives of West Virginia children. He performed surgery to close the low-lying opening in the spine of a three day old child. For more information on this story click on the link.

Rebecca Schmidt, D.O., professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Nephrology, is part of a team of seven doctors and nurses who travel to clinics in rural areas throughout the state, providing specialized care that is not always available in rural areas. For more information, click the link.

The Women in Science & Health Award is sponsored by the Women in Science & Health (WISH) Committee and the Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (COEWH) which recognizes outstanding achievements by women at the Health Sciences Center. If you know a woman whose career achievements demonstrate excellence in research, education, mentorship, leadership or service, please send in a nomination on their behalf by March 13. To do so or for more information, click on the link.

Now through March 24 at 5:00 pm, abstracts for the 2009 Health Sciences Van Liere Memorial Convocation and Research Day are being collected. The Van Liere Convocation and Research Day will be April 28 and 29. For more information on the abstract deadline, click on the link.

The Office of Research and Graduate Education has selected a team led by Cancer Center researcher Bing-Hua Jiang, Ph.D., to receive the first internal Seed Grant for development of a NIH Program Project Application at the Health Sciences Center. For more information on this click on the link.

Andrew Bradlyn, Ph.D., and Carole Harris, Ph.D., professors, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, are sharing their newest study on the effectiveness of West Virginia state laws that require recess more often in public schools and mandate the sale of healthy foods to help improve students’ overall health. For more information on this study, click on the link.

Linda Vona-Davis, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Surgery, presented a poster at the 2nd AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/ Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved in Arizona on Feb 4-6, 2009. The title of the poster was "The Influence of Socioeconomic Disparities on Breast Cancer Tumor Biology and Prognosis." The article will be published in the Journal of Women's Health. David P. Rose, M.D., Ph.D., was a collaborator and co-author on the project.

The Department of Emergency Medicine and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, are teaming up to conduct a three-week study on influenza. For more information, click on the link.

The Department of Emergency Medicine has conducted a study about patients with stroke-like symptoms. Several faculty members and residents in emergency medicine presented their findings at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke conference last month. To find out what the results of this study are click on this link.