Feb. 6-10, 2023

WesternU College of Podiatric Medicine student creates nonprofit initiative to address access to health care

A Western University of Health Sciences College of Podiatric Medicine (CPM) student and her brother started a nonprofit organization for the same reasons they are pursuing a career in medicine – “to be good Samaritans.”

Second-year CPM student Sarah Seo (pictured right) and her brother David Seo started the Seomaritan Initiative in 2022 to help communities and underprivileged people improve their quality of life through better access to care.

COMP and COMP-Northwest news

WesternU COMP and COMP-Northwest were well represented at the 2023 Western Medical Research Conference (aka Carmel meeting) on Jan. 19-21, 2023. Drs. Hendrik Szurmant and Sebastien Fuchs helped nearly 50 students submit their abstracts in September and prepare for their presentation in December and during the winter break. Drs. Szurmant and Fuchs also traveled to Carmel to support the students.

Second-year COMP-Northwest student Ellese Lupori received the WSPR Abbott Nutrition Lowell Glasgow Student Research Award.

Second-year COMP student Nathaniel DeMarco received the WAFMR/WAP Student Subspecialty Award.

Read a list of the students who presented and were co-authors, as well as all the abstracts that will be published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, by clicking on the image above and the link below.

In response to one of the recent initiatives of Dr. David Connett, Acting Dean of COMP and COMP-Northwest, to establish the Neurosurgery Research Program, a group of collaborators published the following research article. This is the first article in a series of planned publications and development of NIH R01 grant applications.

Tye Patchana, Devendra K Agrawal, David Connett, David Baron, Dan Miulli: Immunomodulatory Effect of Electromagnetic Field in the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Biotechnology and Biomedicine 2023 February 1; 6(1): 32-41.

Dr. Devendra K. Agrawal from the COMP Department of Translational Research, in collaboration with investigators at other institutions, contributed to science with the following original research article published in PLoS ONE:

Liu M, Samant S, Vasa CH, Pedrigi RM, Oguz UM, Ryu S, Wei T, Anderson DR, Agrawal DK, Chatzizisis YS:

Co-culture models of endothelial cells, macrophages, and vascular smooth muscle cells for the study of the natural history of atherosclerosis.

PLoS One. 2023 Jan 20;18(1):e0280385. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280385. eCollection 2023. PMID: 36662769 Free PMC article.

CHS-Northwest news

CHS-Northwest Assistant Professor Anu M. Räisänen, PT, PhD, published a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.

This project was conducted at the University of Calgary Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre and the work was funded by the Alberta Health Services Bone & Joint Health Strategic Clinical Network Targeted Seed Grant Competition.

Räisänen AM, Galarneau JM, van den Berg C, Eliason P, Benson LC, Owoeye OBA, Pasanen K, Eliason P, Hagel B, Emery CA. Who does not respond to injury prevention warm-up programs? A secondary analysis of trial data on neuromuscular training programs in youth basketball, soccer and physical education. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 2023;53(2):94–102.

College of Pharmacy news

Dr. Kabir Lutfy has recently agreed to serve as the Section Editor-in-Chief for the Neuroscience of Pain section of the journal Brain Sciences. (Link)

Dr. Lutfy has also been serving as an Editorial Board Member for the Neuropharmacology section. (Link)

Congratulations to Drs. Ying Huang and Bradley Andresen, Research Assistants Francoise Congues and Ayaz Shahid, and their collaborators on their most recent poster presentation and publication.

Shahid A, Chen M, Lin C, Andresen BT, Parsa C, Orlando R, Huang Y. The β-Blocker Carvedilol Prevents Benzo(a)pyrene-Induced Lung Toxicity, Inflammation and Carcinogenesis. Cancers 2023 15(3), 583; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15030583.

Mengbing Chen is an MSPS alumni in Dr. Huang’s lab, and Carol Lin is part of the Class of PharmD 2024, 2022 University Summer Fellowship recipient.

Congues F, Huang Y, Andresen BT. Role of Intracellular Ca2+ in Neoplastic Transformation of Murine Epidermal Cells. UC Irvine 6th Annual Skin Symposium. 2023 January 20; Irvine CA. (Poster presentation)

Congratulations to Dr. Preshita Desai on her recent book chapter: Desai, P. (2022). Nanocarriers-Based Targeted Drug Delivery Systems: Small and Macromolecules. In Targeted Drug Delivery, Y. Bachhav (Ed.) https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527827855.ch3

Studio portraits Feb. 7

Public Affairs and Marketing is holding an open studio portrait day:

10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7

Please click on the link above and sign up for a timeslot that works for your schedule if you would like a new studio portrait. We will schedule additional portrait days for those who cannot come to the studio on this day.

This week’s CETL Staff & Faculty development opportunities:

Feb. 7: Quick & Easy Podcasting

Feb. 8: 20 MM |What Are Three Proven Ways to Manage My Online Discussion Board and Actively Engage Students?

Feb. 9: Webinar | Supporting Transformational Change with Design Strategy Tools

Feb. 9: 20 Minute Mentor -What is Ungrading how you can unleash your students potential

Congratulations to the Winter 2023 ABC Cohort!

Pictured left to right: John Andraos, College of Pharmacy; Renee Doss, College of Optometry; Jasmine An, College of Pharmacy; Tim Wood, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning; Mitchell Gosvener, College of Graduate Nursing; Mike Baello, College of Graduate Nursing; James Gonzales, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning; Jeremy Magana, College of Graduate Nursing; Anthony Sengul, College of Pharmacy; Julie Darnell, College of Pharmacy; Sarah Wolff, COMP-Northwest; Mayra Nunez-Frando, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

About ABC: Academic Boot Camp (ABC) is an intensive four-day seminar workshop for new WesternU Faculty focused on preparing clinicians to pursue excellence in the teaching and student learning. Applications for the Spring Cohort in Lebanon, Oregon are currently open. Click to learn more: https://cetl.westernu.edu/abc-23-oregon/