The poster winners included:

• Jennifer Abrams, first place graduate division;
• Lauren Uroda, second place undergraduate division;
• Desmond Jackson, first place undergraduate division;
• Jonathan Michaux, second place undergraduate division; and
  
• Monique Lewis, first place graduate division

First place winners received $100 and second place winners received $50.

The Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity is a research program working to increase the number of African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders in the biomedical sciences.

The McNair Scholars Program works to prepare students to enter graduate school, with a goal of scholars achieving a doctorate degree within 10 years of graduating from Wayne State University. The program is named after Ronald E. McNair, who died on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.

The Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program recruits, supports and mentors underrepresented minority students who earn doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Four experts from the Karmanos Cancer Center and the Wayne State University School of Medicine will discuss the benefits of state-of-the-art surgical procedures available to cancer patients that result in quicker healing, minimal scarring and overall faster recovery. They are Michael Cher, M.D., chief of Urology at Karmanos and professor of Urology and Pathology at the School of Medicine; Robert Morris, M.D., chief of Gynecologic-Oncology and assistant professor at the School of Medicine; Madhu Prasad, M.D., co-chief of Surgical Oncology and associate professor at the School of Medicine; and Jeffrey Triest, M.D., assistant professor of Urology for the School of Medicine.

The procedures that will be discussed will include:

• the daVinci Surgical System, a sophisticated robotic platform that allows doctors to perform complex procedures;
• microwave ablation, the use of microwave energy to heat and destroy tumors;
• cryotherapy, needle-based freezing to destroy tumors; and
  
• laparoscopic surgery, a surgical technique using small incisions.

There will also be a demonstration of the daVinci robot. Guests can test drive the system themselves and learn how this innovative technology helps in the fight against cancer.

“Robot-assisted surgery offers greater precision and greater vision of structures inside the body so we can perform much more precise surgery,” Dr. Cher said.

To register for the free session call (313) 576-8041 or email thomasc@karmanos.org. Refreshments will be served.

“This is spectacular news for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and those battling cancer,” said Karmanos President and Chief Executive Officer John C. Ruckdeschel, M.D. “This recognition helps validate the innovative, cutting-edge research being done here at the Karmanos Cancer Institute that will help us bring even the deadliest forms of cancer under greater control.”

Dr. Ruckdeschel also serves as associate dean of Cancer Affairs and professor of Medicine and Oncology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He will serve as the principal investigator for the project.

Under the terms of the governmental contract, $2,127,000 will be released from Aug. 20 to Sept. 19, 2009. Another $2,545,000 will be received during the same period the following year.

The NOMIC is developing technology that will allow for the diagnosis of human cancer by defining oncogene signatures that characterize cancers in individual patients. Oncogenes are the mutated forms of genes that cause normal cells to grow out of control and become cancer cells. The center will provide imaging technology capable of greatly improving the detection of genes that cause cancer, as well as measure the treatment response.

Dr. Ruckdeschel described this as a new frontier in cancer biology that brings with it the possibility of patient-specific treatments, with greater effectiveness and reduced toxicity.

The funding was spearheaded and supported by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Oakland County).

“We are extremely grateful to Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and Congressman Joe Knollenberg, who have helped make these funds possible,” Dr. Ruckdeschel said. “Thanks to their determination, tenacity and resolve, we are receiving these funds to support cutting-edge cancer research. It provides the underpinning to help us develop a molecular diagnostic method to create specific and personalized cancer treatments. This clearly is good news for those facing a cancer diagnosis.”

The intellectual and technical advancements as well as the research gained in the NOMIC will be shared with military hospitals not only in this nation, but worldwide. This will allow the United States military to globally provide state-of-the science cancer care to military personnel, veterans and their families.

The program links research training with medical training, combining the Ph.D. curriculum with medical school curriculum. Students also receive training in clinical and translational science.

Students in the program practice medicine and conduct research simultaneously -- true clinician-scientists. The program allows them to take their training from "bench to the bedside," translating their research findings to the practice of medicine.

The combined training provides a “unique perspective in understanding the pathohysiology of the disorder, along with the wherewithal on the actual treatment,” which a single degree by itself would not allow, explained Ambika Mathur, professor of the Department of Pediatrics, and director of the M.D./Ph.D. Program and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. “A Ph.D. degree alone would not provide students with the ability to translate their research findings to actual treatment of the patient at the bedside and to understand the intricacies of the clinical aspects of the disease mechanisms.

“The graduates play an important role because of the training they have received in the bench-to-bedside conceptualizations, as well as their training in clinical and translational science in the M.D./Ph.D. program,” Dr. Mathur said. “We are one of a handful of programs across the country to offer a formal graduate certificate in Clinical and Translational Science tailored specifically to our M.D./Ph.D. students. This is important because such training provides the means for these graduates to truly understand the entire spectrum of disease, from diagnosis, management, researching and devising new treatment modalities at the laboratory bench, and finally translating such clinical treatment to the patients at the bedside, more effectively than clinicians who have not been trained in such a fashion.”

Most graduates of the program, Dr. Mathur said, are “well able to juggle the demands of both research and clinical practice, and have made excellent clinicians and scientists.”

And per National Institutes of Health demographics, she added, M.D./Ph.D. graduates are more successful at obtaining research grants than their M.D. counterparts.

As part of their training, the students in the first Ph.D. year must submit individual fellowship applications to the NIH or other national agencies. The program’s share of securing these fellowships has been very encouraging, Dr. Mathur said, especially given an environment in which funding is difficult to come by. Of the current six F30/31 individual fellowships in the School of Medicine, four are held by students in the M.D./Ph.D. program.

Students in the program who are recipients of NIH and other national individual fellowships include:

John Lillvis: $196,365 (NIH F30)

Tom Beaumont: $164,013 (NIH F30)

Dan Barkmeier: $20,000 (Epilepsy Foundation)

Lesley Lawrenson: $96,258 (Department of Defense)

Anna Vlina-Toth: $116,577 (NIH F31) and a grant from the American Heart Association. Ms. Valina-Toth also received the Student Health Professional Award ($1,500) from the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks, a not-for-profit medical membership society with the mission of improving the health and life expectancy of ethnic minority populations worldwide.

Recently graduated student Josh Dilworth received the 2008 Frank B. Walker, M.D., Endowed Memorial Prize, which recognizes academic achievement and leadership in the study of scientific research. He also received clinical honors in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Surgery, Internal Medicine and Radiation Oncology.

Mark Pankonin, who also graduated this year, received the 2008 Frank B. Walker, M.D., Endowed Memorial Prize and the Dr. A. Ashley Rousuck Award in Internal Medicine. Mr. Pankonin also held the National Institutes of Health F30 fellowship as a student and received more than $110,000 as part of that award.

Dr. Mathur said the School of Medicine plans to continue capping the number of new students admitted to the program each year at four to maintain the high standard of quality training. Twenty-one students are now enrolled in the program.

The School of Medicine program was formalized in 2004. A similar program has been in existence since 1988 with the financial assistance of the Wayne State University Medical Alumni Association. Dr. Mathur was appointed the first permanent director in 2004. The university and the School of Medicine have recently placed new emphasis on the program in the form of financial and administrative support.

The winners are:

 The winning posters were selected by faculty judges. Four awards were granted. Each winner received a travel grant valued at $1,000.

Those participating in the first ever Postdoctoral Scholars Research Day also heard a keynote address by Thomas Waldschmidt, Ph.D., the Clement T. and Sylvia H. Hanson Family Professor of Immunology. Dr. Waldschmidt, of the University of Iowa, spoke on “The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Adaptive Immunity: Insights from a Mouse Model of Chronic Ethanol Intake.”

About 270 high school and college students, accompanied by their parents, attended Med Ed Prep 2008 to discover the recommended path to a medical education at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. For many, the event will prove the gateway to a medical career and the answer to a looming physician shortage in Michigan.

Tom Roe, M.D., associate dean of Undergraduate Medical Education, and recent School of Medicine graduate Jessica Kado, M.D., welcomed the students and their parents to Scott Hall the evening of Aug. 21.

Dr. Kado noted that the school “never has a shortage of eager doctors to help you.” Her experience at WSU -- and the school’s reputation -- has been recognized nationwide, she said.

Silas Norman Jr., M.D., assistant dean of Admissions, stressed one the school’s main missions: service to the community.

“Many of you already know of the excellence of this institution. We will also teach you how to be of service to the community,” said Dr. Norman, who noted that one of every three physicians in southeast Michigan named to the annual “Best Doctors” compilation graduated from WSU.

“We provide in this region the majority of care for the uninsured and the underinsured. You will become a part of that safety net. We will need you to become compassionate as well as physicians,” Dr. Norman said.

Ron Spalding, chief administrative officer of Academic and Student Programs, provided an in-depth look at the School of Medicine’s future, showing a video of the new Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Medical Education Commons now under construction and a new research building the school plans to build. Many of the students in the audience, he said, will be the first to be taught in the new Mazurek Medical Education Commons.

“The building will house our modern medical library, which will be at the forefront of libraries,” Mr. Spalding said. “The $30 million raised for the building was donated by alumni and associates, so that speaks a lot about the commitment to the School of Medicine.”

Dawn Yargeau, program specialist in the Office of Admissions, took the students through a planning process and advised them on courses they should consider during their undergraduate studies as they prepare for medical school. Rather than delve heavily and exclusively into the sciences, she advised, students should take English and humanities courses, as well as a course in critical reasoning, to provide a more well-rounded education. An oral communications class, Mrs. Yargeau said, will assist students during their interviews for medical school.

Medical students will find demand in plenty of specialties in clinical practice, education and research, said Lawrence Schwartz, M.D., a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Academic and Student Programs. “We baby boomers are getting older and we want everything to work, and we’re going to want you to take care of that,” he said. “Our students go everywhere and do everything.”

Kimberly Jobe, 20, of Detroit, said she is strongly considering the School of Medicine for a medical education. She remains unsure of a medical field, but that’s fine, said Dr. Schwartz, who said new medical students should keep an open mind about specialties.

Garrett Sauter, 19, of Dearborn, attends Vanderbilt University. He said Med Ed Prep was helpful, and said he will definitely apply to the School of Medicine. The son of Gehring Sauter, M.D., a graduate of the School of Medicine, said he wants to pursue a career in emergency medicine.

Jill Slater was atypical of the majority of the attendees. Mrs. Slater, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the School of Medicine’s Department of Physiology, already has a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from WayneState University. She explained that she attended Med Ed Prep because she believes she will receive similar questions from her future students.

Dr. Chaturvedi, who has been a member of the association for 10 years, will begin his two-year term in January. He now serves as vice president.

He has served on the organization’s executive committee the last four years.

"It is a privilege to lead this renowned organization, which has been led by many renowned neurologists over the past few decades," Dr. Chaturvedi said.

As president, Dr. Chaturvedi will lead the association in its advocacy and educational missions, bringing improvements in care to patients with neurological disorders in Michigan.

U.S. Congressman John Conyers (D-Detroit) helped conduct a town hall meeting on health care reform Aug. 18 at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Representative Conyers moderated a conversation titled “Access to Health Care,” which featured a panel of experts who discussed problems and possible solutions to the growing number of under- and uninsured residents in America.

“Wayne State University School of Medicine has continued to be a forum where we have been able to explore the issue of how we deliver health care in America,” said Representative Conyers. “We are looking at a problem that has grown more complicated, more difficult and more challenging than ever before. Our goal is to enlarge the size of this conversation and invite more doctors, members of the community and legislators to participate”

In addition to Representative Conyers, panelists included John Flack, M.D., M.P.H., Chair of Internal Medicine; Herbert Smitherman, M.D., Assistant Dean of Community and Urban Health; Ramona Benkert, Ph.D., Associate Professor at WSU College of Nursing; Susan Steigerwalt, M.D., Former President of Physicians for a National Health Program; and David Ivers, Secretary-Treasurer of the Metro Detroit American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

“For some of us, the health care system works very well, but, for those who fall between the cracks of the Medicaid system, there is no access to health care – only to emergency rooms,” explained Dr. Flack. “This access is not just an urban problem or a Detroit problem but a national problem.”

“Right now we have no national solution and no consensus on what to do,” said Dr. Smitherman. “It’s not just about universal coverage. It’s about organizing the primary care infrastructure in order to address everyone properly.”

To view a video of the event, please visit the streaming media website.

David Benjamins, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and Neurology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been named a 2008 Health Care Hero by Crain’s Detroit Business for his work in assisting developmentally disabled children and their families.

The business publication awarded Dr. Benjamins honorable mention in the Physical Achievement category.

His specialty is pediatric neurology, and he cares for children at the Detroit Institute for Children.

“Dr. Benjamins has been an outstanding neurologist serving the Detroit community for decades,” said Bonita Stanton, M.D., professor and Schotanus Family Endowed Chair of Pediatrics, pediatrician-in-chief of the Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Michigan and the Wayne State University School of Medicine. “He has focused his career on providing top quality, accessible care for all children in need of neurologic services. With his quiet and warm demeanor, he has served the community selflessly, and has been an extraordinary role model and mentor for the many medical students, residents and fellows who have trained with him.”

He served as the medical director of the Detroit Institute for Children from 1985 to 1990, and remains on the staff there. The mission of the institute, which was founded in 1904, is to care for children with physical or developmental disabilities and neurological or behavioral special needs “so that the children can maximize their potential within their families and the community.” The institute offers a variety of services and programs.

Dr. Benjamins, who completed his undergraduate studies at Albion College and received his medical degree from Wayne State University in 1965, is now laying the groundwork for the establishment of a new developmental clinic for children with neurological impairments. He and the institute are developing funding for the clinic, which would be the only one of its kind in Detroit.

Once the new clinic is established, Dr. Benjamins, whose subspecialty interests include learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, hyperactive disorder and cerebral palsy, would direct the facility.

Dr. Charles Whitten, M.D., associate dean emeritus of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, died Aug. 13. He was 86.

“Dr. Whitten was a pioneer in the field of medical education,” said Robert Frank, M.D., executive vice dean for the School of Medicine. “He founded the post baccalaureate program at Wayne State University School of Medicine, which was a national model for the inclusion of under-represented minority students in schools of medicine. Dr. Whitten revolutionized the curriculum at our School of Medicine, and was a personal mentor to many of our current medical educators.”

The post baccalaureate program led to Wayne State University leading the nation’s 125 medical schools (exclusive of Howard and Meharry) in the total number of African-American graduates from 1981 to 1997. One-third of them had entered through his program.

In addition to developing the post baccalaureate program in 1969, Dr. Whitten formed the Sickle Cell Detection and Information Center, the most comprehensive community program in the country, and facilitated the creation of the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease.

As chief of Pediatrics at Detroit Receiving Hospital, he was the first African-American physician to head a department in a Detroit hospital.

Dr. Whitten, who served more than 40 years as a member of the School of Medicine faculty, served 16 years as associate dean for Curriculum before entering semi-retirement in 1993 as professor and dean emeritus.

“Dr. Whitten was best known for his pioneering work in sickle cell anemia screening and development of novel educational tools for teaching children and families with sickle cell anemia,” said Yaddanapudi Ravindranath, M.B.B.S., professor of Pediatrics and the Georgie Ginopolis Chair for Pediatric Cancer and Hematology at the School of Medicine, and co-director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology for Children's Hospital of Michigan. “His forceful advocacy paved the way for the routine newborn screening for sickle cell anemia in Michigan and later in the United States.”

Dr. Ravindranath said Dr. Whitten’s lobbying efforts on behalf of children with sickle cell anemia also helped push the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to set up the comprehensive sickle cell center program. A pivotal contribution in toxicology was Dr. Whitten’s work at Children's Hospital of Michigan on acute iron poisoning and strategies for its treatment, which developed the standard of care to date.

“We are very saddened by his death but take pride in his many legendary contributions in the care of children,” Dr. Ravindranath said. “Dr. Whitten represented Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine and the city of Detroit with great dignity and wisdom. We will miss him.”

Dr. Whitten received the School of Medicine’s inaugural Pathfinders in Medicine Award in 2000 for his contribution to equality and diversity in the medical community. That same year, Meharry Medical College named him its Alumnus of the Year.

The Black Medical Association has established the Charles F. Whitten Lifetime Achievement Award, which is presented annually. The first award went to Dr. Whitten. The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America presented him with a Legacy Award for his 21 years of service in that organization’s leadership. He also was honored with a Special Recognition Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges for his pioneering efforts in medical education and treatment.

Funeral and service information will be provided when it becomes available.

Patricia LoRusso, D.O., director of the Phase I Clinical Trials Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor of Internal Medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, was named a Crain’s Detroit Business 2008 Health Care Hero for advancements in healthcare.

"I am very honored to receive this prestigious award," said Dr. LoRusso. "Bringing new cancer treatments to patients fulfills a lifelong dream. My patients are true heroes. Being able to give them hope is an extremely rewarding part of my job."

The business publication noted that Dr. LoRusso works tirelessly to bring promising new anti-cancer treatments to patients. She developed the Phase I program at Karmanos, one of only 14 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded Phase I programs in the country, and the only such program in Michigan.

"Patricia LoRusso is an inspiration in the field of medicine," said John C. Ruckdeschel, M.D., president and chief executive officer of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. "Her accomplishments as a physician-researcher have raised the bar for others to reach. She is extremely dedicated to improving the lives of others through her work, and I could think of no one else more deserving."

For patients with advanced cancer who have exhausted conventional treatments, Dr. LoRusso's program brings them their last, best hope: tomorrow's drugs today.

Dr. LoRusso has been integrally involved in the early clinical development of five of the last nine cancer drugs to become commercially available.

“Patricia LoRusso is a brilliant, hard-driving and compassionate physician-scientist who does very impressive cutting-edge research,” said John Flack, M.D., M.P.H., Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine for the School of Medicine. “She truly deserves this honor. We are very proud of her and are highly pleased that her clinical and research excellence has been so prominently recognized.”

Dr. LoRusso is recognized as an international expert in early phase clinical research. She has been awarded prestigious grants from the NCI and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and serves as Co-Chair of the NCI's Investigational Drug Steering Committee. She has also served on both the Education and Scientific committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Scientific Committee of the American Association for Cancer Research, and as a parent member of the NCI’s Quick Trials Clinical Subcommittee.

Dedicated to serving the community in which she was born, Dr. LoRusso gives cancer patients in Michigan access to as many novel agents as possible in hopes of granting them the best chance of improving their condition. Her goal is to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients.

A member of the American Osteopathic Association and the American Association for Cancer Research, she has won numerous awards, including the 1999 Heroes of Breast Cancer and the 2004 Bennett J. Cohen Educational Leadership Award for Medical Research.

Dr. LoRusso received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit and her doctor of osteopathy degree from Michigan State University. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Riverside Osteopathic Hospital in Trenton, and completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Wayne State University and Harper Hospital.

To learn more about Alpha-Fibe FBCx, the all natural, soluble "smart fiber," visit http://www.fbcx.org.

Membership in the Society of Neurological Surgeons is one of the highest honors a neurosurgeon can receive. Only eight neurosurgeons were elected this year.

Founded in 1919, the Society of Neurological Surgeons, also known as the “Senior Society,” is the American society of leaders in neurosurgical residency education and is the oldest neurosurgical society in the world. Membership is limited to 200 active members, which include academic department chairs, residency program directors and other key academic practitioners.

The society is charged with continuing to develop the field of neurological surgery and education, ensuring that patients with nervous system disorders receive the highest possible care and supporting research in the neurosciences. Active members should hold an important or responsible post in neurosurgery carrying with it responsibilities for graduate, undergraduate or postgraduate teaching in a university or clinic setting. Excellence in the practice and study of surgery of the nervous system must be demonstrated by prospective members.

“I am very proud of this achievement,” Dr. Guthikonda said. “It is an honor for me and for our department to be part of such an elite group.”

During the Aug. 9 ceremony, attended by family and friends, class members received the short white coat that marks them as medical students during the four years they will attend the School of Medicine, and pledged a form of the Hippocratic Oath.

“We’ve chosen a great group of people to become School of Medicine graduates,” Robert Frank, M.D., vice dean, told the students and their families. “For every student here, 10 others applied. We are committed to our students and we are fully committed to their success.”

In addition to the United States, the 290 members of the Class of 2012 come to the School of Medicine from Albania, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Eritrea, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, South Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Palestinian National Authority, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Yemen.

Gregory Zemenick, M.D., president-elect of the School of Medicine Alumni Association, told the students they were entering a “special school.”

"You’re going to be changed, your family is going to be changed and the world will be changed because of this school and your efforts,” said Dr. Zemenick, of the Class of 1971. “The Wayne State University School of Medicine is dedicated to people.”

Dr. Zemenick told the students that they are now members of the alumni association, and that their memberships will extend five years after they graduate. “Reach out to us when you need help and remember that you will help support those who come after you.”

Stanley Winokur, M.D., of the Class of 1968, presented each new student with a copy of his book, “Grandfathered In: A Memoir.” The retired oncologist said he realized, after his career, how much he missed with his family while devoting his life and energies entirely to medicine. With the birth of his grandchildren, he said, he has gained a second chance. He hopes his book will share the lesson of balance between a medical career and family.

“I feel like I’m home,” Dr. Winokur said. “I’m grateful to the great people who taught me here, and I’m grateful to all the patients who entrusted their well-being to me. They taught me to be a better human being.”

Josianne Abboud, 22, of Warren, who sought Dr. Winokur’s autograph after the ceremony, is considering a career in obstetrics/gynecology or internal medicine.

“I’m very excited to start and so happy to be here,” said the University of Michigan graduate.

Her mother beamed as she snapped photographs of her daughter with Dr. Winokur. “I’m so proud and so happy,” said Nazira Abboud, originally from Lebanon.

Jacqueline Cartier, 22, of Royal Oak, is continuing a tradition of medicine started by her mother, Susan Cartier, M.D., of the Class of 1977. Ms. Cartier completed her undergraduate work at the Stern School of Business in New York.

“I wanted to go into business, but then finally decided I wanted to go into medicine,” she said.

Seeking a business education ensured that Ms. Cartier wasn’t coerced into going into medicine, her mother joked. “She’ll be a very good doctor,” Mrs. Cartier said.

“We’re very proud of her; she worked very hard,” said her father, John Cartier.

Students also were invited to become active in the Friends of Wayne State University School of Medicine by President Martha Braun, who presented the School with a check for $1,000 to help defray the cost of the new white coats donned by students that morning.

M. Safwan Badr, M.D., the associate chairman of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, has been named executive vice president and chief medical officer of the Detroit Medical Center.

Dr. Badr, also division chief for Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, will begin his new role Aug. 26.

In this new capacity, he will work with School of Medicine Dean Robert M. Mentzer Jr., M.D., and the School leadership, as well as DMC senior management and the system’s private medical staff.

“This will span several critical areas, including patient safety, continuous quality improvement, physician credentialing and graduate medical education,” Dr. Badr explained. “I will also facilitate the development of innovative clinical programs that builds on the rich talent and expertise of our physicians.”

“I am delighted that Dr. Badr has accepted the CMO role at the DMC,” said Valerie Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., vice dean of Hospital Operations and Clinical Affairs for the School of Medicine. “He will be in a unique position to integrate best practices from WSU academic physicians with DMC private physicians in order to take patient care quality and safety to the next level. I look forward to working closely with him in this exciting new role.”

U.S. Congressman John Conyers (D-Detroit) will conduct a town hall meeting on health care reform on Aug. 18 at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Conyers will moderate the conversation on “Access to Health Care” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Graduate Classroom 2268 at Scott Hall, 540 East Canfield, Detroit. A panel of experts will present the problems and possible solutions to the growing number of under- and uninsured residents in America. Audience participation will be encouraged.

For more information and to register, visit https://events.wayne.edu/rsvp/access-to-health.

Discoveries by a Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher may head off a potential health crisis in much of the world’s staple grain crop.

An article in a recent edition of Science Magazine details how findings by Barry P. Rosen, Ph.D., may lead to a strain of rice resistant to leaching arsenic from the ground and water in which it is cultivated.

Recent findings have discovered increased arsenic levels in rice and rice products, including rice bran and rice crackers. While experts have not announced a direct link between rice with elevated levels of arsenic and illness, arsenic is known to have adverse health effects on humans.

Research led by Dr. Rosen, professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine, discovered a family of proteins called aquaglyceroporins moved toxic arsenic across plant cell membranes. A group at the University of Copenhagen, building upon Dr. Rosen’s findings from 10 years ago, identified a subfamily of those proteins. Those researchers will study the possibility of engineering plants that would resist the intake of arsenic. However, they face the obstacle of plants’ inability to discern between arsenic and nutrients essential to growth, such as boron and silicon. Dr. Rosen is working to engineer the family of proteins to develop plants that can distinguish between arsenic and other elements necessary to plant growth, blocking one but allowing the uptake of the others.

Dr. Rosen and Zhu Yong-Guan, of the Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences in Beijing, China, also plan to develop “transgenic” rice, a plant containing a bacterial enzyme that would neuter arsenic compounds, rendering them into a less-harmful form. The approach, Dr. Rosen explained, would result in harvested rice grains with lowered arsenic levels. Field testing of this strain will soon begin in China.

“This shows us how toxic elements such as arsenic enter the food chain,” Dr. Rosen said. “But it also gives promise to the possibility that food plants such as rice could be made safer by genetically modifying them to exclude arsenic while still accumulating boron and silicon.”

The testing and development of contaminant-resistant rice strains have obvious implications for the world’s population. Rice is the main crop and food for approximately 3 billion people. Rice provides more than one-fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans, according to Bruce D. Smith, author of “The Emergence of Agriculture.”

China and India, countries with burgeoning populations, are the top two growers of rice, respectively, while the United States ranks 11th in rice production, according to the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization.

The U.S. is 12th in rice consumption worldwide, at 3.9 metric tons annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By comparison, China and India consume 135 and 85 million metric tons of rice annually.

To read the full article in Science Magazine, visit http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5886/184.

Robin A. Hanks, Ph.D., will use three new National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research grants totaling $2.4 million to develop a more reliable measuring standard of fatigue among people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to improve the lives and health of such patients.

“These grants are important not only to further the science regarding outcomes after traumatic brain injury, but also because all of the research projects focus on improving recovery after brain injury, whether it be improved neural recovery, better diagnostic prediction of outcome with neuroimaging or better understanding and diagnosis of fatigue, but also the factors that help persons with brain injury be resilient and strong in their recovery and return to the community,” said Dr. Hanks, chief of Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology for the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan and associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

The first grant, for $181,077, will develop a new measure of subjective fatigue among TBI patients. Fatigue is one of the most commonly reported symptoms by such patients, and may be a source for other issues attributed to TBI. However, current standards – there are as many as 30 -- complicate the development of fatigue estimates, the documentation of the history of development of post-injury fatigue, and the design and evaluation of treatment, Dr. Hanks explained.

“This gap in knowledge is the lack of evidence supporting a specific fatigue scale, of the over 30 that have been used for clinical and/or research purposes, which is psychometrically sound, efficient and useful in individuals with TBI to assess treatment interventions and the natural history of fatigue following TBI,” she said.

Dr. Hanks’ research is designed to address this gap. She will evaluate the consistency of a variety of factors to identify a sound measure of fatigue. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has partnered with the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan to develop a new fatigue scale, which will lead to improved studies and treatment plans for those with TBI.

A second grant of $593,000 will be used to investigate the relationships among strengths of character, structurally-imaged estimates of white matter damage in frontal brain regions, psychological resiliency and outcomes including satisfaction with life and community integration among TBI patients.

Eighty participants will undergo magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive and psychosocial evaluation at six months to two years post-injury. Dr. Hanks expects to find that white matter damage in the ventromedial area of the brain “will show inverse associations” with self-reported resiliency. She anticipates that self-reported strengths of character (bravery, kindness, humor and spirituality) will show stronger positive associations with life satisfaction and community integration than other self-reported strengths of character, and that these relations will also hold true for resiliency among people with TBI.