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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 18
May 4, 2007
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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW
Medicine Web site, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/Global/NewsAndEvents/somnews/index.htm
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This week’s news:
* Gov. Chris Gregoire visits UWMC Surgery Pavilion to sign broad array of health care and medical education legislation into law
* Vicki Mendiratta recognized by Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics for design of UW Ob/Gyn clerkship Web site
* Former UW and Harborview physician Nassim Assefi publishes her debut novel, Aria
* Faculty promoted to leadership positions at UWMC, VA medical center, and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
* T.D. Sadutshang, personal physician to the Dalai Lama, coming to UW next Friday, May 11, to discuss balancing Western medicine and complementary methods
* Office of Research Information Services offering classes on the System to Administer Grants Electronically (SAGE) ahead of June NIH application deadline
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GOV. CHRIS GREGOIRE SIGNS HEALTH-CARE LEGISLATION AT UWMC
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire visited the UW Medical Center on Wednesday, May 2, to sign several pieces of legislation on health care and education. Joining the governor in the UWMC Surgery Pavilion were a number of state legislators, as well as UWMC physicians, nurses, and health-care staff who witnessed her sign a broad array of health-care legislation into law.
The most prominent bill signed by Gregoire was based on recommendations from the state's Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Costs and Access; it aims to provide high-quality, affordable health care to state residents.
Gregoire was joined at the signing ceremony by Lisa Brandenburg, interim executive director of UWMC; Edward Walker, medical director of UWMC and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and other UWMC administrators and UW School of Medicine faculty members. Brandenburg welcomed the group and introduced former state senator Pat Thibaudeau, co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission.
The Blue Ribbon bill will establish a program to assist small businesses with health insurance, create health-record banks to connect providers and patients with their health information, expand health-insurance coverage to dependents up to age 25, and change rules for health-care reimbursement.
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MENDIRATTA RECEIVES AWARD FOR OB/GYN CLERKSHIP WEB SITE
Vicki Mendiratta, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, has been recognized by the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) for her work on the Ob/Gyn clerkship Web site. Mendiratta has received a 2007-8 APGO Web Site Award of Excellence for the clerkship Web site.
Mendiratta is the third-year clerkship director for Obstetrics and Gynecology, and designed the Web site for the department's clerkship. The Web site was noted by the APGO as one of the most comprehensive, well-organized, and user-friendly for Ob/Gyn medical students. The award is judged by the APGO's Undergraduate Medical Education Committee and the Web Site of Excellence Award Committee. The site can be viewed at:
http://depts.washington.edu/obgyn/clerkship/
Mendiratta may be reached at vmendira@u.washington.edu
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FORMER UW FACULTY MEMBER NASSIM ASSEFI PUBLISHES DEBUT NOVEL
Nassim Assefi, a former UW faculty member and Harborview physician, is launching the book tour for her debut novel at Seattle's Elliot Bay Books on Monday. Assefi left her position at the UW and Harborview in 2003 to do humanitarian work in Afghanistan, and is now a full-time writer. She volunteers in the Harborview Women's Clinic and is a UW clinical instructor of general internal medicine and of obstetrics and gynecology.
Assefi is a second-generation Iranian American. She graduated from Wellesley College and the UW School of Medicine, and completed her residency at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is an internist specializing in women's health and global medicine.
Assefi's novel, Aria, is being published this month by Harcourt. The novel focuses on a woman named Jasmine, a cancer specialist and single mother in Seattle who is estranged from her Iranian parents and heritage. Jasmine deals with the sudden accidental death of her young daughter, Aria, and finds little solace in the healing advice she has prescribed to her dying patients and their families.
The kick-off event at Elliot Bay Books is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Monday, May 7. For more information, visit http://nassimassefi.com/
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UW FACULTY PROMOTED TO LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT UWMC, SCCA, AND VA
Three UW medical school faculty members have recently been promoted within their departments or clinical institutions.
Constance Lehman, UW professor of radiology, has been appointed director of radiology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Lehman has previously served as director of breast imaging at the alliance, and in four years leading that section, she has helped it develop into one of the best in the nation. She has pioneered the use of MRI in diagnosing breast cancer. Lehman may be reached at lehman@u.washington.edu
William Grady, UW associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, has been appointed head of the Section of Gastroenterology at UWMC. Grady completed his residency here at the UW, and served on the faculty at Vanderbilt University before returning to the UW as a faculty member in 2004. He is an associate member of the Clinical Research Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Grady studies the molecular and cellular biology of gastrointestinal cancer, genetic and epigenetic alterations in cancer, and development of DNA-based tests to detect colorectal cancer. He may be reached at wgrady@fhcrc.org
Robert Richard, UW assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology, has been appointed head of the Section of Hematology at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Richard completed his fellowship in hematology at the UW, and a clinical research fellowship at the FHCRC. He studies gene therapy for sickle cell disease, protection of bone marrow during chemotherapy, and other areas of hematology. He may be reached at rrichard@u.washington.edu
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T.D. SADUTSHANG, PERSONAL PHYSICIAN TO THE DALAI LAMA, TO SPEAK HERE MAY 11
T.D. Sadutshang, the chief medical officer of Delek Hospital in northern India and the personal physician of the Dalai Lama, will speak at the UW at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 11, in Room K-069 in the Health Sciences Center. He will discuss finding a balance between Western biomedicine and traditional complementary medicine. Sadutshang will talk about integrating compassion into health and wellness, and also discuss issues such as food, faith, and karma.
The lecture is sponsored by the Organization for Holistic Medicine and the UW Department of Family Medicine.
Sadutshang was born in Tibet and spent his early life there, before attending Catholic school in Darjeeling, India. He attended medical school in Pondicherry, in southern India, and completed post-graduate studies in respiratory medicine in the United Kingdom and public health at Harvard University. He now works to address the health needs of Tibetan refugees living in Dharamsala, India.
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UW OFFERING ELECTRONIC GRANT CLASSES AHEAD OF JUNE 5 NIH DEADLINE
The UW Office of Research Information Services (ORIS) is offering classes on the government's new electronic grant application system, in advance of the National Institutes of Health June 5 application deadline.
The newest class, The Dos and Don’ts of Attaching Documents to eGC1s in SAGE, is being offered several times this month. Designed for researchers and research administrators, this two-hour, hands-on class provides practice in attaching documents to eGC1s in SAGE, the System to Administer Grants Electronically. It will also address questions about the types of files that can be uploaded into SAGE, and what their corresponding file types should be.
The next class is scheduled for May 11. To register online, visit:
http://www.washington.edu/research/oris/sage/training.php
For more information about arranging on-site training, contact ORIS Training Specialist Toyin Akisanya at ORIStraining@u.washington.edu or 206-616-9096.
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Justin Reedy, editor:
206-685-0382, jreedy@u.washington.edu
Online News is copyright 2007. All rights, including electronic
redistribution, are reserved.
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