For immediate release: August 2, 2007
Contact: Anne McMillin
Public Relations Specialist
For immediate release: August 2, 2007
Contact: Anne McMillin
Public Relations Specialist
Office-775.682.9254
Mobile-702.292.4247
amcmillin@medicine.nevada.edu
Three School of Medicine faculty members named “Healthcare Heroes” by Nevada Business Journal
RENO, Nev.—University of Nevada School of Medicine faculty made up one-third of the 10 healthcare professionals honored at the Nevada Business Journal’s second annual Northern Nevada Healthcare Heroes awards and banquet. William Murphy, Ph.D., Keith Brown, D.O. and Jamie Anderson were nominated by a committee of healthcare experts for their efforts in helping evolve northern Nevada into a budding, major medical region.
The awards, which were also presented to 10 southern healthcare professionals in a separate banquet in Las Vegas, were given to northern honorees at a banquet ceremony last night at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino. Proceeds from both banquets benefit students pursuing careers in healthcare education at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.
Murphy, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, was honored in the “Technology/Research” category for his efforts working with families affected by the Fallon leukemia cluster. Murphy is a nationally-recognized cancer researcher and is currently working with the Environmental Protection Agency to secure and distribute federal appropriations from U.S. Senator Harry Reid to further research on the cancer cluster. Recently, Murphy was invited to Washington, D.C. at the request of several national cancer societies to advocate for increased research funding from the National Institutes of Health. This summer he also addressed an Innate Immunology meeting in Crete to discuss his lab team’s research paper on the seemingly paradoxical effects of cancer immune therapies that was published earlier this year in the elite biomedical research journal Nature Medicine.
Brown, an associate professor of internal medicine and a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, was honored for his humanitarian work. He leads annual medical missions overseas to treat underserved patients. Last year, he led a group of 21 Reno area medical professionals and non-medical support personnel to Cambodia to provide primary care to people in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. It was his eighth international medical mission overseas in the past 17 years and his first to Cambodia. His next overseas mission is to the Philippines this fall and he will return to Cambodia in 2008. Brown is also a founding board member for the faith-based Hosanna Home for homeless women in Reno which is currently undergoing renovations thanks to generous donations from area businesses.
Anderson, director of the Division of Interdisciplinary Medical Education in the Office of Medical Education, was honored in the “Educator” category for her work overseeing the 12 required courses of undergraduate medical school education and the three senior electives courses. Included in that scope of work are Anderson’s two loves: student clinical rotations in rural areas of the state and patient care courses that incorporate community physicians to help teach students.
Other recipients were honored for their work in administration, care providing, community work, entrepreneurial efforts, innovation, non-profit and lifetime achievement at the awards dinner.
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969. The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, and Surgery, as well as five nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada. The school’s statewide faculty physician practice groups have a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.
The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.
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