Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D., fourth from left, professor of pediatrics, medicine, pathology, microbiology and immunology, and cell biology and anatomy, and WMC Health hosted a symposium, "Diagnosis and Management of Common Childhood Neurological Problems: A Guide for Pediatricians," on January 9. The symposium provided an overview of the neurological problems encountered in outpatient, urgent care and emergency room settings with emphases on presentation, evaluation, current and novel treatment approaches and return to normalcy. The faculty included, from left: Wendy Silver, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics; conference planner Connie Leonick, R.N., M.S.N., CPNP; Michael Tobias, M.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery; Monica McHenry, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, associate professor of speech-language pathology; Ronald I. Jacobson, M.D., clinical associate professor of pediatrics; Suzanne Braniecki Matteo, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; Nathan E. Millard, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics; and Michael S. Tenner, M.D., professor of radiology.

Zvi G. Loewy, Ph.D., adjunct professor of microbiology and immunology, who is also professor and chair of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences at Touro College of Pharmacy, was the invited keynote speaker at the International Dental Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 29. His seminar "Edentulism and its Impact on Systemic Health" presented research on the relationship between the microbial flora in the oral cavity and its correlation with the incidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Dr. Loewy's laboratory has demonstrated that there is a relationship between tooth loss and the incidence of COPD and that edentulous patients are at a statistically greater risk for COPD as compared to dentate individuals. In collaboration with colleagues at UCLA, Dr. Lowey's laboratory has developed novel surface chemistries that can modulate the distribution of microbes in biofilms. Respiratory pathogens are selectively killed and replaced by commensal microbes.

Luis F. Riquelme, Ph.D.,CCC-SLP, BCS-S, associate professor of clinical speech-language pathology, was a guest on blog talk radio, Voice Aerobics, hosted by Mary Spremulli. He discussed "We're Talking About Dysphagia, including: Effects of DBS on Swallowing in PD."