WSU School of Medicine classes and meetings are cancelled for Thursday, April 27, at Scott Hall. Faculty, staff, and students should not report to Scott Hall. Minimal emergency power is running essential equipment. Researchers can access Scott Hall to check on their equipment.

The problem has been identified as a DTE Energy issue. The company is aware of the problem and is working on it. Estimates for power restoration are not definitive at this time.

All core networking for the medical campus is working and operational. Access to all systems and servers should be normal at this point. Although no further network interruptions are anticipated as the work to fix the electrical problem progresses, please be aware that given the nature of this issue, intermittent networking failures may occur.

The school will provide further details in an email message via the global all users list at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Due to today's power outage, Dean Mentzer's open house reception scheduled for 4 p.m., today, April 26, is cancelled. Thank you. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please join the Dean for a special forum at 4 p.m., May 18, in Scott Hall's Blue Auditorium, where he will present his vision for the School of Medicine.

To learn more about Dean Mentzer, please visit http://www.med.wayne.edu/news_media/2006/mentzer_meet.asp.

The WSU Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics will host another installment of its "Hot Topics in Molecular Medicine" seminar series this Friday, April 28 at 4 p.m., in Scott Hall's Jaffar Auditorium. Drs. Lawrence I. Grossman, professor of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, and Maik Huttemann, assistant professor of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, will discuss the role of energy in normal cell function and the pathology that follows when energy becomes limited.

The Hot Topics in Molecular Medicine seminar series, which was introduced in January, is dedicated to exploring exciting issues in the branch of medical research that reveals how genes influence -- and how they can sometimes be used to treat -- disease.

"Energy is the currency of life, and the old folk observation that someone is 'full of energy' as a measure of good health turns out to be right on the mark," Dr. Grossman said. "What has come to be appreciated is that the mitochondrion, the cellular organelle where 90 percent of energy is generated, is operating close to its design limits and is extremely prone to damage. Such damage has potentially disastrous consequences for both the organelle and the host cell."

More and more disorders, including chronic neurodegenerative diseases, stroke and heart reperfusion injury, diabetes, cancer and aging, are being associated to a greater or lesser degree with mitochondrial dysfunction.

Complimentary valet parking is provided at the University Health Center garage. A catered reception will immediately follow the lecture. For more information, please contact Mary Anne Housey at (313) 577-5323 or info@genetic.wayne.edu.

 

The Wayne State University School of Medicine community is invited to meet Dean Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., at an open house from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., April 26, in Elliman Building Atrium. Dr. Mentzer began his term as dean of medicine and senior advisor to the president for health affairs earlier this spring.

Dr. Mentzer is a nationally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon and medical school administrator with vast experience in medical education, research and clinical care. He was appointed by WSU President Irvin D. Reid and the WSU Board of Governors in November 2005 after a comprehensive one-year national search.

To learn more about Dean Mentzer, please visit http://www.med.wayne.edu/news_media/2006/mentzer_meet.asp.

Arsenic ranks first on the U.S. government's Priority List of Hazardous Substances, both because of its toxicity and its prevalence in the environment.  Wayne State University researchers have been collaborating with others for years to genetically create “arsenic-eating” plants that could be grown in polluted soil for clean-up. Until now, however, the arsenic sequestered from soil remained largely in the roots of the plant, making it difficult to harvest for safe disposal.

For the first time, researchers including Barry Rosen, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, have discovered a way to move the arsenic from roots to shoots, the next step in their quest for plants that can clean up arsenic. The payoff could be a new and effective tool in cleaning up thousands of sites where arsenic presents serious dangers to human health.

Dr. Rosen and his colleagues have published their findings in the April 4 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This and related studies were carried out in collaboration with Richard Meagher, Om Parkash Dhankher and Elizabeth McKinney from the department of genetics at the University of Georgia.

“We are continually exposed to arsenic, both from natural sources and from the use of man-made arsenical compounds in herbicides and pesticides. Exposure to arsenic produces a wide range of health effects, the most serious of which is as a carcinogen. There are high levels of arsenic in soil and in drinking water in the United States and elsewhere in the world, and cleaning up arsenic contamination is very expensive,” Dr. Rosen said. 

The most serious problems are found in West Bengal, India, and in Bangladesh. During the so-called “green revolution” of the ‘60s and ‘70s, the cultivation of rice in flooded fields became pervasive in those areas, and workers dug open wells through soil and rocks with naturally occurring arsenic. The result was widespread arsenic pollution in contaminated water.  The World Health Organization predicts that long-term exposure to arsenic could reach epidemic proportions, the PNAS paper reports. The WHO says a staggering 1 in 10 people in northern India and Bangladesh may ultimately die of diseases resulting from arsenic-related poisoning.

The new strategy employing genetic engineering is part of what researchers call phytoremediation, the cleaning of polluted soils through the use of plants that sequester poisons and make them less harmful. This has the potential to be used on millions of acres of arsenic-polluted lands worldwide. In their research reported in 2002 in Nature Biotechnology, Dr. Rosen and his collaborators inserted two unrelated genes from the bacterium E. coli called arsC and gshI into Arabidopsis , a model lab plant and small member of the mustard family. This allowed the plants to resist the toxic effects of arsenic and sequester three-fold more arsenic in their shoots than normal plants. Still this was too ineffective to allow planting of the transgenic plants on arsenic-polluted sites, since far more arsenic needed to be moved into the plant leaves for safe harvesting and disposal. 

In the recent PNAS report, the team identified a single gene, ACR2 , in the Arabidopsis genome as one that allows the plants to move sequestered arsenic in roots. By engineering plant lines with a silenced ACR2 gene, they discovered they could get 16-fold more arsenic in shoots than in natural wild-type Arabidopsis. This experiment identified the active mechanism for sequestering arsenic in roots.  It appears possible to create arsenic-eating plants using this new knowledge.

The PNAS article is titled “Hyperaccumulation of Arsenic in the Shoots of Arabidopsis Silenced for Arsenate Reductase 2.” Full text is available online at: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/short/103/14/5413?rss=1.

 

 

Ananda Prasad, M.D., Ph.D., WSU distinguished professor of medicine, has been invited to collaborate with the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center on a review for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on zinc as it relates to human health and the prevention and treatment of infectious disease.The review is intended to address the existing literature to answer some fundamental questions on the therapeutic uses of zinc.

Growth retardation, immune dysfunction and cognitive impairment of some of the major effects of zinc deficiency, which is a problem widely prevalent in the developing world and may affect nearly 2 billion people.

"I am personally very pleased because this is not only a recognition of my contributions, but also confirmation that the field of zinc has finally been recognized for its global importance in human health," Dr. Prasad said. "I am very hopeful that with the support of the Gates Foundation, I may be able to contribute towards the resolution of the zinc deficiency problem."

 

Former Detroit resident and WSU School of Medicine alumna Patricia Gussin will autograph and discuss her debut novel, "Shadow of Death," at local bookstores next week.

In 1967, Gussin was a first-year medical student at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Riots engulfed the city, and tremendous devastation ensued. Now, after an illustrious career practicing medicine and directing medical research as a worldwide vice president for a leading health-care company, Gussin revisits that harrowing time in "Shadow of Death," a forthcoming thriller hailed as a stunning debut novel.

“Anyone who lived in the Detroit area in 1967 will never forget the horror of the riots as the city burned for five days," Dr. Gussin said. "I think everyone remembers where they were when it happened and how they felt. I remember that time vividly – like the protagonist in Shadow of Death, I was a medical student with two small children. The book is not autobiographical but in some ways, I did experience what Laura experiences in the book: the scariness of Detroit at the time; the ongoing curfews; the palpable hostility.”

In "Shadow of Death," an Oceanview Publishing book, Gussin introduces Laura Nelson, a medical student, wife and mother struggling to strike a balance between her family and career. As the worst violence in the history of Detroit erupts around her, Laura's life changes in an instant when she becomes both a victim of a violent crime and a murderer. Laura is forced to make a split-second decision that will alter the course of her life.

Patricia Gussin graduated from the WSU School of Medicine as Dr. Patricia Stewart in 1971. Board certified in family medicine, she has practiced medicine and directed medical research in her role as worldwide vice president for a leading health-care company. "Shadow of Death" is her first novel. Proceeds of "Shadow of Death" will benefit the Wayne State University School of Medicine, in support of the Wayne First capital campaign.

 

Join fellow students, alumni and faculty for the beginning of a new tradition at the WSU School of Medicine. The James C. Hazlett, Jr., Memorial Golf Outing will be at 7 a.m., Saturday, May 6, at the Warren Valley Golf Club, in Dearborn Heights.

The event is designed to help build and strengthen relationships between the School's students, faculty, and alumni. Foursomes will be set up to group students with faculty and alumni whenever possible. However, friends and family are welcome; please submit any desired grouping preferences with payments.

Space will be limited to 120 golfers on a first-come, first-served basis. A banquet with barbeque will conclude the outing. Prizes will be awarded for best group, closest to pin and longest drive. There will also be a raffle for door prizes.

This event will go on, rain or shine; there will be no refunds. Eighteen holes with golf carts, breakfast and lunch is $55 per person. Golf club rentals will be available. Non-golfers may attend with $10 cost for food.

For more information, please email wsugolfouting@hotmail.com or contact Erik Olsen at (248) 396-1542. Please click here for a registration form.

The Detroit Medical Center's Board of Trustees recently voted to approve a nine-month agreement with Wayne State University and its Physician Group to continue its longstanding partnership for education and clinical care.

The agreement, which also has been approved by the governing boards of WSU and the WSU Physician Group, calls for an extension of existing contracts through the end of 2006. However, the new contracts exclude the services of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery faculty.

The relocation of the academic orthopaedic faculty and the affected residents is currently being evaluated. Wayne State University and the faculty physicians of University Orthopaedics will forge a bold new path consistent with the School of Medicine's vision for the continued expansion of graduate medical education and patient service s into the broader metropolitan community; this effort will build upon existing relationships with the hospitals of the Southeastern Michigan Center for Medical Education.

This action also provides an opportunity for the School of Medicine 's new dean, Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., M.D., to participate in future negotiations, which will be shaped by Dean Mentzer's institutional vision.

“I look forward to working together with the Detroit Medical Center as well as our other regional partners to find new opportunities to use the School of Medicine 's intellectual firepower in a broader way," Dean Mentzer said. "We're looking at all opportunities to partner with various health-care systems that bring a particular asset that's important to the medical school."

Just one year after the controversial death of Terri Schiavo, Wayne State University is launching a palliative care program to provide quality end-of-life care for terminally ill patients and their families.

Pain, suffering, death and loss are universal to the human condition, but are often not adequately addressed by the health-care community. Wayne State University 's newly established Center to Advance Palliative-care Excellence is an interdisciplinary group of health-care professionals that makes vital connections between living and dying. The group's philosophy is that excellent medical care involves healing and wholeness — and this can be achieved, even when patients die.

CAPE's grand opening, ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony will be next Wednesday, April 12, at 4 p.m. at Wayne State University 's Cohn Building, 5557 Cass Ave. The event is open to the public.

CAPE Director Robert Zalenski, M.D., WSU professor of emergency medicine, says that too often terminally ill patients feel that death is not an option: Doctors trained to save people are ambivalent about letting them go; families faced with the mortality of loved ones hear the word “hospice” and refuse to submit.

The CAPE mission is to integrate curative and palliative medicine. “The contemporary physician should be able to assess patients' needs and support their wishes regarding either time extension or the reduction of suffering, whether such decisions need to be made in the emergency department, ICU, medical ward or outpatient setting,” Dr. Zalenski said.

WSU faculty from the School of Medicine, College of Nursing and Department of Humanities are treating patients, counseling families and training health-care professionals to address issues of humanistic medicine, pain management, medical ethics, advocacy and end-of-life research.

“The research we do, the care we provide and the physicians we train will make a significant difference in the way that life, death and illness are experienced. We'd like to see that model extended throughout the medical community and the entire society to reverse our general avoidance of these difficult issues,” said Michael Stellini, M.D., CAPE 's associate director for clinical palliative care and assistant professor of internal medicine.

For more information on CAPE or its open house, please call (313) 745-4350.

 

 

WSU School of Medicine researchers led by Zhuo-Hua Pan, Ph.D., associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, have reported a new way to restore visual responses in blind mice. This National Eye Institute-supported research is published in today's issue of Neuron.

Vision normally begins when rods and cones, also called photoreceptors, respond to light and send signals to other retinal neurons, called inner retinal neurons (interneurons), and the optic nerve. These signals are transferred to the visual cortex of the brain where visual images are formed.

Unfortunately, in some genetic diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, rods and cones degenerate and die, leading to blindness. At present, no treatment is available for restoring vision once rods and cones have been lost.

Dr. Pan and his colleagues took an unprecedented approach to correcting this type of vision loss. Using a harmless virus, they introduced a gene encoded with a light-sensitive protein, called channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), from green algae into surviving inner retinal neurons in mice that were genetically bred to lose photoreceptors. They found that the introduced ChR2 protein made the inner retinal neurons become light sensitive. What's more, they found, the ChR2 protein persisted for long periods in these neurons, and the neurons generated signals that were transmitted to the visual cortex of the animals' brains.

“Our study demonstrates the feasibility of restoring visual responses in mice after they lose the light-sensitive photoreceptor cells,” said Dr. Pan. “It raises the possibility that this approach may be a potential strategy for the treatment of blindness caused by rod and cone degeneration in humans.”

“With this strategy, the investigators have made a paradigm shift in the field and opened the possibility of genetically modifying the surviving retinal interneurons to function as a replacement light-sensing receptor,” wrote John Flannery and Kenneth Greenberg of University of California, Berkeley, in a preview of the paper in the same issue of Neuron. “This publication is clearly a significant first step into this new field of re-engineering retinal interneurons as genetically modified ‘prosthetic' cells."

Dr. Pan and his colleagues said that further studies are needed to determine whether the light signals reaching the visual cortex can be perceived by the brain as usable vision. Also, they stated, a number of technical improvements will be required to better fit the need for vision restoration.

“This innovative gene-transfer approach is certainly compelling,” said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of vision research at the National Institutes of Health. “This is a clever approach that offers the possibility of some extent of vision restoration at some time in the future.”