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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 33
Aug. 24, 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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW Medicine Web site, visit: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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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN:
Genome Sciences Education Outreach Program one of many wonderful summer programs in the UW School of Medicine
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This week’s news:
* Raye Maestas honored in National Library of Medicine exhibit recognizing outstanding women physicians
* UW-led Institute for Translational Health Sciences holding day-long interdisciplinary research symposium on Sept. 11
* UW surgeons author JAMA editorials discussing follow-up treatments for abdominal infection
* Lisa Brandenburg, acting executive director, leaving UW Medical Center to take executive position at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle
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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
Dear Colleagues:
It is a challenge to summarize the many and diverse activities that comprise UW Medicine. Statistics and capsule descriptions don’t do justice to the richness of our community. Nevertheless, I offer the attached annual report to the Washington State Medical Association (http://tinyurl.com/3bl4pm) as a review of key activities and accomplishments of the past year.
Last summer, I wrote to you about some of the School of Medicine’s special summer educational programs. The Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program (R/UOP) and the Medical Student Research Training Program (MSRTP) give preclinical medical students first-hand experience with health care in underserved communities and intensive research opportunities, respectively. The U-DOC Program and Summer Medical Dental Education Program are enrichment programs offered by the Office of Multicultural Affairs to encourage underrepresented high school and college students to consider careers in health-care professions.
Another exceptional summer program is based in the Department of Genome Sciences. The Genome Sciences Education Outreach Program (GSEOP) (http://chroma.gs.washington.edu/outreach/) has a long history of working with schools throughout the state and region to bring leading-edge science to teachers and students in K-12 schools. This program, led very capably by Maureen Munn and Megan Brown, works from the premise that rapid advances in medicine and biology, especially information from the Human Genome Project, deem it more important than ever for citizens to understand science in order to make informed decisions. The Outreach Program works to prepare society for these challenges and opportunities by developing and implementing curricula in science and ethics.
The program’s current major activity is a multi-year project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse called StarNet: Investigating the Effects of Genes and Environment on Smoking Behavior. This project involves high school students and teachers in performing authentic genetic research and in considering related bioethical issues. Participating students carry out the entire curriculum in their classrooms, with different research roles during the three phases.
Teachers from participating schools spend a week on the UW campus each summer to learn the curriculum for the upcoming year; a smaller group also collaborates in developing the curriculum. In July, 21 teachers from throughout the state attended this year’s workshop; another five teachers worked with the project staff on developing the data analysis curriculum.
Last year, students from pilot classrooms helped to design the epidemiological study for detecting association of genetic and environmental factors with smoking behavior. Students participated in writing the study questionnaire, selecting the genes to be genotyped, and optimizing the protocol used to genotype genes that are potentially associated with nicotine addition. The next step, to be completed by StarNet staff, involves obtaining IRB approval, recruiting adult research subjects, collecting DNA samples, and administering the study questionnaire.
The students will complete phase two of the project, genotyping the subjects, in the upcoming school year; data analysis and discovery will be completed the following year. In addition to performing research, the students complete selected curricula that intensively examine one relevant area. One curriculum, for example, involves learning about influences on smoking behavior, and another examines the science and ethics of research on smoking behavior.
I applaud the Department of Genome Sciences for taking on this ambitious project. Science and medicine cannot move forward without involved citizens. Projects like StarNet also provide the opportunity to stimulate interest among high school students in a career in science or medicine. I can’t think of a more worthy undertaking.
Sincerely,
Paul G. Ramsey, M.D.
CEO, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
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RAYE MAESTAS HONORED IN EXHIBIT RECOGNIZING WOMEN PHYSICIANS
A recent news item in the School of Medicine Online News listed several UW faculty who had been honored in Local Legends, a National Library of Medicine online exhibit honoring women physicians in rural and urban areas around the country. Local Legends is a companion gallery to Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians, an exhibit at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md.
Raye Maestas, UW associate professor of family medicine, was inadvertently left off of the Local Legends exhibit and was not mentioned in the Online News article. She is honored in the Changing the Face of Medicine exhibit, and her profile was recently added to the Local Legends online exhibit, at the following site:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/locallegends/Biographies/Maestas_Ramoncita.html
Maestas heads the Denali College faculty in the School of Medicine Colleges Program. She earned her medical degree from the UW medical school and completed her residency at Providence Hospital in Seattle. Her work is focused on care for underserved communities, cross-cultural medicine, prevention of domestic violence, and medical student education.
The Local Legends online exhibit, which includes several UW faculty, can be found at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/locallegends/
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TRANSLATIONAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIP HOLDING SYMPOSIUM SEPT. 11
The Institute of Translational Health Sciences, a new partnership between the UW and affiliate institutions like Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is holding its first symposium next month.
The day-long event, Utilizing Saliva in Translational Research: Current Clinical Applications and Future Proteomic Directions, will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 11, in Turner Auditorium, Room D-209 in the UW Health Sciences Center. The gathering is aimed at encouraging interdisciplinary research across local institutions and promoting collaboration between clinical and basic-science researchers.
The event will include presentations from John Yates of the Scripps Research Institute and Eleni Kousvelari of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health. Several other researchers from the UW and other local institutions will speak at the symposium. The symposium is free, and includes lunch for attendees. RSVP is required.
For a full list of speakers or to register for the symposium, visit:
http://www.nwiths.org/events.htm
For any other information, contact Havivah Schwartz at havivah@u.washington.edu
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UW SURGEONS FEATURED IN JAMA EDITORIALS ON PERITONITIS TREATMENT
Two UW faculty members and a fellow are authored editorials on peritonitis, a type of abdominal infection, in this week's issue of JAMA.
The editorials accompany a study that compares surgical options for severe peritonitis, which can be very dangerous for patients and can lead to long hospital stays. The study compared two different types of follow-up treatment for patients who have had surgery already for peritonitis: surgery on demand, performed when patient condition suggests it; and planned surgery, which calls for follow-up surgery every 36 to 48 hours until the infection is gone. The researchers found that the on-demand method may have some advantages over the planned surgery regime, though their findings were not statistically significant.
E. Patchen Dellinger, UW professor and vice-chair of surgery, wrote an accompanying editorial arguing that the planned surgery treatment method may not be the best in all cases. He further suggests that surgeons should focus on more accurate and sensitive methods for determining when a patient will need follow-up surgery.
Farhood Farjah, a fellow in the UW Department of Surgery, and David Flum, UW associate professor of surgery, penned an accompanying editorial about the methods used by the team studying peritonitis treatment methods. They argue that this type of research, known as a superiority trial, will help researchers who will study peritonitis follow-up treatments in the future. They further argue that the results suggest that on-demand treatment of peritonitis may have better outcomes and save health care resources compared to planned treatment.
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LISA BRANDENBURG ACCEPTING POSITION WITH CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Lisa Brandenburg, acting executive director of UW Medical Center, will be leaving to accept a position at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. She will become the senior vice president/chief administrative officer at Children's Hospital, where she will be responsible for facilities and property acquisition, human resources, and strategic sourcing, as well as assisting with execution of the organization's strategic plan.
Brandenburg has served as acting executive director since last year, and was a finalist in the UWMC executive director search process until she withdrew to accept the position at Children's Hospital. She has worked at UWMC for 17 years, including time spent leading UWMC's participation in the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
Brandenburg will be recognized at an event on Sept. 14; details about the event will be announced soon.
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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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