June 2009
Dean's Comments
One aspect of writing a monthly column for this newsletter is easy: finding good news to show readers that the School of Medicine is alive and well and growing stronger. Sometimes I choose to focus more on obstacles and concerns, which are there, to be sure, but highlighting accomplishments is a much more congenial task. So, here goes for June: three of “our people” have, once again, demonstrated what a critical role the University of Nevada School of Medicine plays in making our state a better place and enriching the academic medical environment here.
The School of Medicine with Kenton Sanders, Ph.D., as the lead investigator just renewed its Program Project Grant titled “Regulatory Mechanisms in Intestinal Motility.” The grant was renewed for more than $8 million for five years (through 2014) and supports the research of five project investigators in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology and three cores for support services. This award begins its 21st year of funding, and it is the longest standing award of this type in Nevada.
In a very different realm, an alumna of the School of Medicine, Annette Teijeiro, M.D., is being installed this month as the incoming president of the Clark County Medical Society. Dr. Teijeiro, an anesthesiologist in Las Vegas, graduated from our School in 1989. Besides being an outstanding clinician, she has been active in organized medicine in southern Nevada and earned the honor to be a leader of the physician community of Clark County. Leadership of the School of Medicine will be present at the installation and we all convey our pride and best wishes to Dr. Teijeiro.
We recently received the news that alumna Susan Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., most recently the president of product development for Genentech, was named as the new chancellor of the University of California in San Francisco by the UC Board of Regents. The official announcement from the University of California reads, “Born in Napa, one of seven siblings, the 51-year-old Desmond-Hellmann calls herself a ‘small-town girl’ at heart. She was raised in Reno, Nev., where time spent as a youngster in her father's pharmacy, listening to his daily chats with family doctors, first sparked her interest in a medical career. After earning a medical degree at the University of Nevada, Reno, she moved to UCSF as an intern." For us at the University of Nevada of School of Medicine, this is another cause for pride: One of our graduates has moved into administrative leadership of one of the nation’s premier academic centers.
Ole J.Thienhaus, M.D., MBA
Dean,
University of Nevada School of Medicine
Medical Education
Class of 2009 graduates, 51 join medical profession
Commencement ceremonies for the School of Medicine’s Class of 2009 were held May 15 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
The 51 graduating students celebrated completion of their medical education by receiving their academic hoods and reciting the Hippocratic Oath, which reaffirms their commitment to the medical profession.
Jackson Streeter, M.D., an alumnus from our Class of 1988 and founder and executive chairman of the San Diego-based biomedical engineering firm PhotoThera, served as the ceremony keynote speaker. Read more
Graduating student presents at AACE conference
Mara Zulauf, M.D., made a presentation of a clinical vignette at Nevada Chapter of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) meeting in April. Mara was the only School of Medicine student to enter and took first place in a field of five competitors. Her presentation was "Pheochromocytoma Presenting as Acute Pancreatitis."
Class of 2009 honored at annual award ceremony
Members of the Class of 2009 were honored May 14 at the annual awards ceremony. Faculty recognized the graduating class for their outstanding academic, humanistic and professional accomplishments.
In addition, several students from this year’s graduating class were inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society: Eryn Xavier, Cheryl Gustafson, Kamin VanGuilder, Suresh Raman, Mara Zulaf, Kerri Robbins and Joe Brown. Kevin Garnett and John Sutherland from the Class of 2010 were also inducted as was Dean Ole Thienhaus.
A complete list of all awardees can be found online.
Faculty
Faculty participates in AAMC Western Regional Conference
Melissa Piasecki, M.D.; Marin Gillis, Ph.D., Nicole Jacobs, Peggy Dupey, Ph.D.; Deborah Kuhls, M.D. and Cheryl Hug-English, M.D., made a panel presentation on “Professionalism Feedback for Students: Crafting the Conversation,” at the American Association of Medical Colleges Western Regional Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico this spring.
Gillis made poster presentations on “A New International Special Interest Group for Medical Education and the Arts” and “Arts in Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine,” at the same conference.
Faculty publish review article
Raymond Plodkowski, M.D., Quang Nguyen, M.D., Umasankari Sundaram, M.D., Loida Nguyen, Pharm.D., Diane L Chau, M.D. and Sachiko St Jeor, Ph.D., R.D. had a review article published in the April issue of Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, a peer reviewed, pubmed listed journal under the title "Bupropion and naltrexone: a review of their use individually and in combination for the treatment of obesity."
Koh earns NIH grant
Sang D. Koh, Ph.D., professor of physiology and cell biology, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant for $175,625 for his research project entitled “Functional and molecular identification of TREX-1 channel in myometrium in relati” which is a study designed to understand the molecular mechanism controlling the hormone that activates labor with a long-term goal of understanding and preventing preterm birth.
Pitani earns HIV credential
Sujatha Pitani, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in Reno, has earned the American Academy of HIV Medicine SpecialistTM/HIV Expert credential. She initiated a 24-month faculty trainee program in outpatient HIV medicine at the HIV Outpatient Program, Education and Services (HOPES) Clinic under the mentorship of faculty members Steven Zell, M.D. and Trudy Larson, M.D.
Back in October 2007, the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center awarded $5,000 to the School of Medicine’s Nevada AIDS Education and Training Center as part of the key minority clinician project.
These funds allowed the designation of Dr. Pitani as key physician educator. In this role, she participates in planning and conducting continuing education HIV programs for health care providers, and in HIV-related classes and projects for medical students and residents in the Department of Internal Medicine.
Call for submissions to gerontology meeting now open
The online abstract submission process for the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education’s annual meeting is now open through June 22. Read more
New hires, promotions, recognition
Office of Faculty Affairs and Development announces promotions
The Office of Faculty Affairs and Development announces the following promotions to be effective July 1:
Dean Burkin, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology, promoted to associate professor with tenure; Patricia Charles, Ph.D., Department of Internal Medicine, promoted to professor; Michael Daines, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, promoted to associate professor; Dayue Duan, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology, promoted to professor; Ray Plodkowski, M.D., Department of Internal medicine, promoted to associate professor; Robert Wang, M.D., Department of Surgery, promoted to professor; Richard Williams, M.D., Department of Family and Community Medicine, promoted to associate professor; and Wei Yan, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, promoted to associated professor with tenure.
Thanks also goes to members of the promotion and tenure committee: James Kenyon, Ph.D., committee chair and professor, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology; Christine Cremo, Ph.D., professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Amy Ellwood, MSW, LCSW, professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine in Las Vegas; David Fiore, M.D., associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine in Reno; Deborah Kuhls, M.D., associate professor, Department of Surgery; Barbara Scott, MPH, associate professor, Department of Pediatrics in Reno and Steven Zell, M.D., professor, Department of Internal Medicine in Reno.
Staff member earns national certification
Marilyn Starlings, nursing supervisor in Reno’s oncology division, passed her national certification test for oncology certified nurse. This certification signifies a nurse has developed specialty knowledge and met or exceeded requirements for practice in cancer care, has completed education in oncology nursing and has a tested knowledge of the specialty.
School Notes
Student, faculty recognized at 'Honor the Best' ceremony
Several School of Medicine faculty members and a graduating student were recognized last month at the University of Nevada, Reno’s annual Honor the Best awards ceremony.
Cynthia Brown, M.D., emerita, taught residents and medical students for more than 22 years in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Reno. A 1983 alumna who also completed her residency with the School of Medicine, Brown was the family medicine clerkship and electives coordinator for 16 years and the medical director of the Family Medicine Center for nine years. She served on numerous committees, most notably the third and fourth year coordinators' committee, curriculum committee, and student development committee.
Former Dean Robert Daugherty, M.D., emeritus, led the building of a statewide educational, research and clinical enterprise for the School of Medicine. His accomplishments during his 20 years as dean include developing the clinical campus in southern Nevada, building strong rural outreach programs and overseeing the development of residency programs across the state.
Wei Yan, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Cell Biology was honored as the Regents’ Rising Researcher Award for his work in spermatogenesis with its applications for male fertility and contraception. He discovered that small microRNAs are critical for gene regulation, a discovery that has broad applications for biology and medicine. His work has been published in the top-tier, international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and earned funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Eryn Xavier, M.D. ’09, earned honors as the Regents’ Scholar Award for Graduate Students. During her time as a student, she has volunteered with the Student Outreach Clinics, served as a Himalayan Health Exchange Medical Student Volunteer, volunteered with the Child Family Health International Medical Student program in Ecuador and earned the Department of Family Medicine’s senior scholar award.
School receives monetary donations
The School of Medicine has received several generous gifts from the community in the last several months to support various programs and departments on campus. Read more
School of Medicine to host ASPE conference this month
The School of Medicine will host the Association of Standardized Patient Educators annual conference June 21 through 24 in Las Vegas. The association is the international organization for professionals in the field of standardized patient methodology.
Division of Medical Humanities co-hosts reception to honor student-artists
The Division of Medical Humanities and Ethics and the Renown Medical Center healing arts program hosted an art reception May 12 for Seth Bellister, M.D. and Kyle Yamamoto, M.D., two artists in residence students who graduated last month. Yamamoto’s video journey through the four years of the undergraduate medical education process set to music was shown during the reception and Bellister’s paintings were also on display in the Pennington foyer.
Savitt Medical Library switches to summer hours
The Savitt Medical Library’s summer hours are now in effect. The library is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on weekends.
Pediatric residency alumni program launched
The University of Nevada School of Medicine will be holding its first annual meeting for alumni of its pediatric residency program. The meeting takes place on Saturday, June 13 at the Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Read more
Department forms partnership with Las Vegas school
The Department of Pediatrics in Las Vegas was recognized in the development and planning of the Matt Kelly Elementary School Health Center, through the efforts of Caroline Barangan, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, director of adolescent medicine and the pediatric residency community rotation. Read more
Health Literacy and Aging training series continues in June
The Nevada Geriatric Education Center continues is health literacy and aging faculty training series with a session on alcohol and drug abuse scheduled for June 8 from noon to 1 p.m. via statewide interactive video. Course objectives include the application of health literacy principles to alcohol and drug abuse cases to improve patient compliance and self-efficacy in geriatric care; networking and communicating with professionals from multiple fields and locating materials and resources to assist in addressing patient issues. Continuing medical education credit available. For more information and to register, contact Allan Froman by calling (702)671-2381.
Resident Research Days next week in Reno and Las Vegas
The School of Medicine will hold its annual Resident Research Days next week to showcase research posters by our residents. The Reno session will be June 3 at 1 p.m. in the Pennington foyer and the Las Vegas session will be held June 5 beginning at 11:30 a.m. in conference rooms E/F on the sixth floor of the 2040 building. Read more
Educational activities available this summer
The Seventh Annual Western Region Flex Conference, planned for June 10 and 11 at Harvey’s Resort at Lake Tahoe and the Nevada Public Health Association annual conference in Reno on Sept. 21 and 22 both offer education and/or continuing medical educational opportunities for those interested. Please call (775)784-4782 for registration details or additional information.
Sons of Italy donate to Savitt Medical Library
Two lodges from the Order of Sons of Italy in America continued their longstanding tradition of making a significant contribution to the Savitt Medical Library. Read more
CME offerings at Nevada Cancer Institute
Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas is offering the following continuing medical education opportunity at its office in June: Wadih Arap, M.D., professor of genitourinary medical oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, will be presenting the “Targeted Delivery and Molecular Imaging in Cancer and Obesity” lecture at noon on Friday, June 12. For more information and to register, call (702) 822-5163.
Status of LCME accreditation visit
Visit the School of Medicine Web site for an update on the progress of the LCME accreditation visit in 2009.
State job openings at the School of Medicine
Visit the University of Nevada, Reno Web site for a current list of state jobs at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.
In This Edition
Medical Education
Class of 2009 graduates; 51 join medical profession
Graduating student presents at AACE conference
Class of 2009 honored an annual awards ceremony
Faculty
Faculty members participate in AAMC conference
Faculty publish review article
Call for submissions to gerontology meeting now open
New hires, promotions, recognitions
Office of Faculty Affairs and Development announces promotions
Staff member earns national certification
School Notes
Student, faculty recognized at 'Honor the Best' ceremony
School receives monetary donations
School of Medicine to host ASPE conference this month
Division of Medical Humanities co-hosts reception to honor student-artists
Savitt Medical Library switches to summer hours
Pediatric residency alumni program launched
Department forms partnership with Las Vegas school
Health literacy and aging training series continues
Resident Research Days are next week in Reno, Las Vegas
Educational activities available this summer
Sons of Italy donate to Savitt Medical Library
CME offerings at Nevada Cancer Institute
Past Editions 2008
March, April, May/June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Past Editions 2009
Inside Nevada Medicine is a service of the Office of Health Science Communications, University of Nevada School of Medicine and is published monthly. Faculty, staff, residents and students are encouraged to submit items of school-wide interest to Editor Anne McMillin for publication. Deadline is the 20th of the month prior to publication. Copyright 2009 University of Nevada School of Medicine.