http://www.news.uic.edu UIC News Bureau Health and Medicine related news en-us Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:02:02 -0600 http://www.uic.edu/favicon.png http://www.news.uic.edu UIC News Bureau Health and Medicine related news http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2707&amp;fromhome=1 Stephen Campbell, professor and head of restorative dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was named Educator of the Year by the American College of Prosthodontists.<br /><br />The award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to prosthodontics, overall achievement in academic dentistry, and contributions to the sciences or health professions, was presented at the organization's annual meeting in San Diego.<br /><br />Campbell has long been a leader in prosthodontics, a dental specialty involving the aesthetic restoration and replacement of teeth, including bridges, crowns, caps, dental implants, dentures, partial dentures, teeth whitening and veneers.<br /><br />He was influential in modifying the certification program of the American Board of Prosthodontics, and most recently he played an integral role in revising the Commission on Dental Accreditation Standards as they relate to prosthodontics.<br /><br />Those changes will have a significant impact on the core education students receive while training to be dentists, Campbell said, and will strengthen their preparedness to provide the most appropriate care.<br /><br />"Over the past several years, prosthodontics has seen a great many changes, and we want to do what is best not only for our patients, but also our students," he said. One of the revisions in the standards was to ensure that all graduating students are competent in screenings for head and neck cancer.<br /><br />Campbell has also been instrumental in integrating an evidence-based dental medicine curriculum in the UIC College of Dentistry. The practice applies information from clinical studies to assess the quality of evidence, risks, and benefits of treatments for patients.<br /><br />"Dental education is preparing a new generation of practitioners who will have the skills to integrate the tools of evidence-based dental medicine into their clinical practice, to foster a commitment to their life-long learning and use it as a life tool," he said.<br /><br />Campbell has been at UIC for 17 years, and during that time he has been "an extraordinary leader not only in our college but nationally as well," said Bruce Graham, dean of the UIC College of Dentistry. <br /><br />"Steve has consistently encouraged our faculty and me to embrace significant innovations to improve the learning environment of our students," Graham said. "This award recognizes his tremendous contributions to the field of prosthodontics, and he truly sets the standard for excellence in dental education at UIC."<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2707&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:15:48 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2700&amp;fromhome=1 A new online registry will connect people interested in volunteering for clinical trials with researchers looking for subjects. The University of Illinois at Chicago is one of 51 institutions around the country and currently the only one in the Chicago area to participate in this first national, all-disease, volunteer recruitment registry.<br /><br />ResearchMatch.org, an initiative of the National Institutes of Health, is an online not-for-profit website where any interested person living in the U.S. may self-register as a potential research volunteer. <br /><br />Many clinical trials and research studies take longer than necessary or even close down due to difficulties recruiting appropriate participants, says Dr. Theodore Mazzone, director of UIC's Center for Clinical and Translational Science and principal investigator of the recently awarded Clinical and Translation Science Award to UIC. <br /><br />At the same time, many people interested in joining a study -- either because of a health problem or an interest in advancing medical science -- have no idea how to connect with researchers, he said. <br /><br />Anyone may register to be a potential research volunteer at the secure website. Researchers from a participating institution may apply to the site to recruit subjects for approved protocols. <br /><br />Once a volunteer has been identified as a potential subject for a study, the volunteer is notified and asked whether she or he is interested in being contacted by the researcher. Only when consent is obtained is the volunteer's contact information released to the researcher. <br /><br />ResearchMatch was designed by the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium, a national network of 46 medical research institutions working together to improve the way biomedical research is conducted across the country. <br /><br />"This is an exciting development for translational research at UIC and for improving access of our patients to cutting edge multi-center national clinical trials," Mazzone said. "Participation in ResearchMatch is just one of many benefits we have already experienced as a result of our participation in the national consortium of CTSA awardees."<br /><br />Anyone interested in registering as a potential research volunteer may do so by going to www.researchmatch.org?route=uic. The NIH plans to begin matching researchers to volunteers in January. <br /><br />UIC ranks among the nation's leading research universities and is Chicago's largest university with 26,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. <br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2700&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:28:08 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2698&amp;fromhome=1 The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a two-year, $1.2 million federal grant to develop a new method to identify the contents of botanical dietary supplements and how they work.<br /><br />The research, under the leadership of Guido Pauli, associate professor of pharmacognosy, will use nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry to more quickly and accurately identify the correct plant materials used for production and provide more reliable assays to ensure botanical quality and safety.<br /><br />The new methodology will initially test 10 of the top 20 most widely used botanicals. Among them are soy, red clover, garlic, ginkgo, Echinacea, St. John's Wort, ginseng, green tea and black cohosh. The approach, Pauli said, will be innovative to botanical reference standards and will transform the current system of identifying natural health products.<br /><br />"Our new approach to quality control will allow us to measure several parameters of herbal quality simultaneously," Pauli said. "This not only supports the more holistic approach of using botanical supplements, but can also become a protective measure for the consumer looking for products that are safe to use."<br /><br />Nearly one in 10 people use botanicals, and 40 percent of Americans -- and 12 percent of children under 18 -- use complementary and alternative medicine, according to the 2008 National Health Statistics Report. U.S. adults spent nearly $34 billion out of pocket on complementary and alternative medicine products, classes and materials, and on visits to complementary and alternative medicine practitioners in 2007, the report said.<br /><br />The grant is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, one of the National Institutes of Health. Pauli's co-workers at UIC include Shao-Nong Chen, Birgit Jaki and Marc Wang, research assistant professors; David Lankin, research associate professor; and Tanja Gödecke, post-doctoral fellow.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2698&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:04:56 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2696&amp;fromhome=1 Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a $4 million federal grant to develop new antibiotics to treat anthrax, tularemia and plague.<br /><br />Anthrax, tularemia and plague are caused by naturally occurring bacteria classified as "category-A" agents that could be used in bioterrorism and biowarfare.<br /><br />These microorganisms pose a risk to national security because they can be easily transmitted and disseminated, result in high mortality, have potential major public health impact and could cause panic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<br /><br />These infections can be treated with current antibiotics, but none is ideal, says Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead researcher on the two-year grant. Only one antibiotic, doxycycline, can be used to treat more than one of the three diseases, he said.<br /><br />Worse, it may be possible for terrorists to develop multi-drug resistant strains for all three diseases, Johnson said.<br /><br />"Our goal is to develop an advanced series of broad-spectrum antibacterial 'lead' compounds that are safe, efficacious and that can be taken orally," Johnson said.<br /><br />Anthrax infection can occur by absorption through the skin, by inhalation, or through the gastrointestinal tract. If left untreated, the disease can be fatal.<br /><br />Tularemia, or rabbit fever, has a low fatality rate if treated, but can be incapacitating. It can be contracted through contact, inhalation, ingestion of contaminated water, or by insect bites.<br /><br />Plague is caused by a bacterium found in rodents and their fleas in many areas of the world. The typical sign of the most common form of human plague is a swollen and tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. About 14 percent of plague cases in the U.S. are fatal, according to the CDC.<br /><br />Funding for the research is through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It is the largest grant UIC has received through the Act and is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health.<br /><br />Johnson's collaborators include Dr. James Cook, chief of infectious diseases in the UIC College of Medicine; Andrew Mesecar, professor in the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; and David Case, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a>. samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2696&amp;fromhome=1 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:37:08 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2694&amp;fromhome=1 <b>WHO/WHAT:</b> <br /><br />Walter Payton's family will be joined by "Da Bears" Superfan George Wendt and members of the Walter Payton Center Guild at a fund-raising gala to support gastrointestinal, liver disease, and transplantation programs at the University of Illinois Medical Center's Walter Payton Liver Center and the UIC College of Medicine.<br /><br />Former Chicago Bears players Steve McMichael, Jim Thornton, and Revie Sorey will also attend the gala.<br /><br />This year's theme, "Kickoff for the Cure: Saluting the Legacy of Walter Payton," commemorates the 10-year anniversary of the death of the beloved Chicago sports icon and heralds the formal announcement of the guild's plan to directly address the deadly disease of liver cancer.<br /><br />In 1999, Walter Payton was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disease which led to his demise from liver cancer.<br /><br />The incidence of liver cancer is expected to double in the U.S. over the next 10 to 20 years. This year alone 17,000 Americans will die of liver cancer and 26,000 will die of cirrhosis of the liver. While 17,000 people are waiting for a liver transplant, nearly 2,000 will die while waiting for a donor.<br /><br />This year the Guild has focused on a specific goal, in collaboration with UIC basic scientists, gastroenterologists, hepatologists, immunologists and surgeons, to cure liver cancer by 2020.<br /><br />At the gala guests will enjoy music and dancing courtesy of City Lights Orchestra. Silent and live auctions will include donations, gift and travel packages. Last year, more than 650 Chicagoans attended the event.<br /><br />In 1997, a group of concerned Chicago-area residents came together to improve the lives of family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues who were affected by gastrointestinal diseases such as hepatitis, liver cancer, fatty liver disease, colon cancer and peptic ulcer disease. The volunteers have worked since then to increase awareness of these diseases and raise funds to assist the work of UIC physicians and researchers. In 2009, the group of volunteers partnered with the Payton Estate to become the Walter Payton Center Guild.<br /><br />Mike Adamle, NBC-5 Chicago sports anchor, will emcee the event. Don Yaeger, co-author of "Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton," will be the featured guest speaker.<br /><br />For information about the Walter Payton Center Guild Gala, email laurenw@uic.edu or call (312) 996-0141.<br /><br /><b>WHEN/WHERE:</b><br /> <br />Saturday, Nov. 7<br />The United Club at Soldier Field<br />1410 S. Museum Campus Drive<br /><br />5:30 p.m. Event begins, interview and photo opportunities<br />7:45 p.m. Brittney Payton announces 2020 goal to cure liver cancer, speaks about her father<br />8:00 p.m. Don Yaeger honors Walter Payton<br /><br /><b>INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:</b> <br /><br />- Walter Payton's family -- Connie, Brittney and Jarrett Payton<br />- Kent Hammerstrom, guild president and group vice president, Bank of America<br />- Dr. Thomas Layden, guild director and head of medicine at UIC smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2694&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:12:36 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2690&amp;fromhome=1 Restricting daily calorie intake is a common plan to help obese and overweight people slim down to healthier weights. But the regime requires a daily 15 to 40 percent calorie reduction, which makes sticking to the diet hard for many.<br /><br />University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have found that a modified version of a plan called "alternate-day fasting" may be easier to abide and has the added bonus of improving cardio health. The findings appear in the November 1 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.<br /><br />"This diet has been around about 20 years, but its effect on weight loss hadn't really been studied," said Krista Varady, assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition, who led the UIC research team.<br /><br />The 10-week trial studied 16 clinically obese people -- 12 women and four men -- between the ages of 35 and 65 who all weighed more than 210 pounds, had kept their weight stable for the previous three months, and had body mass indexes of between 30 and 39.9. None was diabetic, had a history of cardiovascular disease, was taking weight-loss or lipid- or glucose-lowering medications, or smoked.<br /><br />The study was divided into three phases:<br /><br />The first two weeks, participants ate and exercised normally.<br /><br />Between weeks three and six, participants ate normal meals one day, then would fast the next. On fast days, participants ate the equivalent of a three-course lunch, prepared at UIC's Human Nutritional Research Center, that provided between 20 and 25 percent of daily energy needs. <br /><br />For the final four weeks, participants were counseled by dietitians on menu options, but essentially chose on their own what to eat, based on what they had learned about meal sizes and food choices.<br /><br />"We wanted to see if they could actually do it by themselves -- because what's the point of studying this diet if you have to feed people meals prepared at metabolic kitchens all the time?" said Varady.<br /><br />Weight loss ranged from 10 to 30 pounds; the researchers expected an average loss of only five pounds. Blood pressure and heart rate were also lowered, along with total cholesterol and circulating fat levels. <br /><br />Varady hopes now to study the effects of staying on the diet for at least six months, looking for evidence of self-motivation and to see if the diet helps in maintaining proper weight.<br /><br />"Why are some able to do it but others not? It takes about two weeks to adjust to the diet, after which people don't feel hungry on the fast day," she said.<br /><br />"We need to find out how long they can stay on this diet -- and if they go off it, do they automatically regain the weight?"<br /><br />Co-authors on the study are doctoral students Surabhi Bhutani and Monica Klempel, and Emily Church, clinical coordinator in physical therapy at UIC. The study was supported by UIC departmental funding.<br /><br />A podcast on this subject is available <a href="https://blackboard.uic.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/web/news/podcasts/PdCst68-Nov04%2709-Varady.mp3">here.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu"> www.uic.edu</a> francuch@uic.edu (Paul Francuch) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2690&amp;fromhome=1 Wed, 4 Nov 2009 09:17:11 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2687&amp;fromhome=1 Cardiologists at the University of Illinois Medical Center are using a new heart pump that can be inserted without the need for surgery and allows them to treat high-risk patients with a procedure to unblock their heart arteries.<br /><br />The recently FDA-approved device was used to assist in three angioplasty procedures at the Medical Center last week.<br /><br />Patients with the worst blockages are often the sickest, making it too dangerous to treat their coronary artery blockages with standard angioplasty or even with a bypass operation, says Dr. Adhir Shroff, assistant professor of cardiology at the UIC College of Medicine. <br /><br />Shroff and his partners, Dr. Mladen Vidovich, assistant professor of cardiology, and Dr. John Kao, assistant professor of medicine, performed these procedures using the Abiomed Impella 2.5 ventricular assist device, which has been used only about 1,000 times in the country. <br /><br />"Often these patients, who may have complicating conditions like cancer, renal failure, severe lung disease, or heart failure, are poor candidates for more invasive procedures like bypass surgery and are left with few options," said Shroff. "We only proceed with high-risk angioplasties after reviewing the patients with our heart surgeons."<br /><br />Angioplasty is done by threading a thin, flexible tube, or catheter, into the coronary arteries through a small opening in a leg artery. It is much less invasive than open heart surgery, but has been largely restricted to managing low- to middle-risk patients.<br /><br />The Impella heart pump makes it possible for cardiologists to offer the less invasive procedure to high-risk patients. "Our ability to continuously maintain blood flow will decrease complications during these high-risk cases where the patient had no other options to fix their heart arteries," Shroff said. <br /><br />The Impella system uses a narrow catheter, which is threaded up from the groin, through the ascending aorta, and into the left ventricle. From this position, the Impella pumps blood from within the heart into the aorta, supplementing the weakened pumping of the patient's heart. The pump itself is smaller than a number-2 pencil eraser. Although it provides a large portion of the heart's work, it is silent and virtually imperceptible to the patient.<br /><br />The Impella can be regulated during angioplasty to maintain blood flow, giving the physician the time needed to remove the blockage. If the patient needs further support, the Impella can be continued while the patient moves up to the ICU and until the heart is able to take on the task.<br /><br />"We have created a seamless transition from the cath lab to the ICU," Shroff said. "We could not have done this without the collaboration of everyone who sees these patients as they move through the hospital, from the emergency room to the cath lab to the ICU. This exceptional effort on everyone's part, especially Nursing Services and the Cath Lab staff, allows UIC to offer the best possible care for patients with heart disease."<br /><br />[Editor's note: An animation of the Impella at work is available on request.] jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2687&amp;fromhome=1 Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:17:57 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2689&amp;fromhome=1 Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received $1 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study the relationship between "fat taxes" and food consumption, diet quality and obesity.<br /><br />The funding for the two-year project was made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.<br /><br />The study will link state tax rates associated with restaurants and with specific sugar- and fat-laden foods and beverages (soda, candy, baked goods and chips) to individual survey data.<br /><br />Using multiple data sets from a 10-year period -- 1997 through 2007 -- the researchers will determine if differential tax rates equate to differences in consumption, diet quality and body mass index, or BMI, for children, adolescents and adults.<br /><br />The study will separately examine these relationships among low-income food stamp recipients and non-food stamp recipients.<br /><br />Previous economic studies suggest that food prices do change consumption. However, the researchers want to determine if, for example, consumers will seek out another high-sugar drink such as Kool-Aid if, say, soda is too expensive. If they do, then a tax on soda may reduce soda consumption but will not necessarily reduce weight, improve diet quality, or reduce overall sugar intake.<br /><br />"We want to know if this price sensitivity is just for a specific good, such as soda, or if it translates into changes in diet quality and weight outcomes," said Lisa Powell, senior research scientist at UIC's Institute for Health Research and Policy and principal investigator of the study. "It will help lay the foundation on the extent to which these taxes may be effective policy instruments to generate behavior change and potentially reduce obesity."<br /><br />Current fat-tax rates are fairly low, ranging, for example, from 0 to 7 percent for soda.<br /><br />Taxing soda is an easy target because it is clear there is not a lot of nutritional value, said Powell. But if you look at taxing all foods or beverages with a certain amount of sugar or fat, that might include a fortified cereal that could also be healthy.<br /><br />"Defining healthy and unhealthy when there are many different components to food can be difficult," she said.<br /><br />According to the researchers, the study is critical because Americans are increasingly consuming poor diets, which have contributed to a public health crisis with more than 17 percent of children and 32 percent of adults being obese.<br /><br />Powell's co-investigators at UIC are Frank Chaloupka, distinguished professor of economics and director of the Health Policy Center; Carol Braunschweig, associate professor of human nutrition; Jamie Chriqui, senior research scientist at the Institute for Health Research and Policy; and Euna Han, health economist at the Institute for Health Research and Policy.<br /><br />UIC ranks among the nation's leading research universities and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. <br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2689&amp;fromhome=1 Tue, 3 Nov 2009 14:57:50 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2685&amp;fromhome=1 Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago will use a $2 million federal grant to investigate why patients with sickle cell disease experience chronic pain -- and to develop drugs to treat it.<br /><br />The neurobiology of pain in sickle cell disease is poorly understood, said Z. Jim Wang, associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutics and lead researcher on the four-year study. Research has been conducted using several animal models, but the findings were limited, he said.<br /><br />In preliminary studies conducted at UIC, Wang and his team observed that CaMKII, an enzyme called a protein kinase that plays an important role in the generation and maintenance of opioid addiction, is a critical component leading to persistent pain. Several pain tests -- some that are employed in ongoing human studies of sickle cell disease using quantitative sensory testing -- will be used on mouse models, Wang said.<br /><br />Affecting more than 70,000 Americans, sickle cell disease causes red blood cells to become hard and pointed instead of soft and round. Sickle cell disease can damage lung tissue and cause excruciating pain and stroke. The blockage of blood flow caused by sickled cells also causes damage to most organs, including the spleen, kidneys and liver. About 2.5 million Americans have the sickle cell trait.<br /><br />UIC researchers will examine the expression and activity of CaMKII in mice carrying human sickle mutations and test the hypothesis that spinal CaMKII is a "molecular mechanism that promotes and maintains the manifestation of chronic pain in sickle cell disease," Wang said.<br /><br />Following the initial studies, Wang and his research team will conduct pharmacological studies using an FDA-approved oral antipsychotic prescription medication -- trifluoperazine -- that is found to be a CaMKII inhibitor that reduces inflammatory and neuropathic pain. The phase I work will be performed in humans with sickle cell disease, he said.<br /><br />Wang's coworkers include Diana Wilkie, professor of biobehavioral health science; Robert Molokie, instructor in medicine; and Joseph Desimone, director of the UIC Sickle Cell Center. The study is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2685&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:46:03 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2646&amp;fromhome=1 University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine researchers have identified the important role a protein plays in the body's first line of defense in directing immune cells called neutrophils toward the site of infection or injury. <br /><br />Their results are described online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<br /><br />Neutrophils are white blood cells that are activated by chemical cues to move quickly to the site of injury or infection, where they ingest bacteria. When alerted to infection, neutrophils move by changing shape, developing a distinct front and back, sending a "foot" out in front of them, and "crawling" toward the site of infection. <br /><br />Hoping to better understand the role of a protein called p55 or MPPI that they had previously identified as highly expressed in neutrophils, the UIC researchers bred the first mice that completely lacked this protein.<br /><br />The "knockout" mice had marked difficulty fighting infection and were slow to heal, according to Athar Chishti, professor of pharmacology and principal investigator in the study. <br /><br />Instead of forming a single large pseudopod, or foot-like extension, in the direction of the infection, neutrophils from the knockout mice formed a number of small extensions all around the cell, said Chishti.<br /><br />Neutrophils lacking p55 would follow a meandering path, wandering in circles. "It was as though the neutrophils had lost their sense of direction," said Brendan Quinn, graduate assistant researcher in pharmacology and first author of the study. <br /><br />Neutrophils are part of the body's innate immunity and its first line of defense, so the speed of the response is key to healing. "The neutrophils eventually get to the infection site, but they would get there late," Quinn said.<br /><br />The researchers also established how p55 wields its effect on neutrophils, demonstrating that although the cell's ability to reorganize its actin skeleton to produce pseudopods was undisturbed, a signaling lipid known to be important in establishing polarity, called PIP3, failed to localize on the leading edge of the p55-null neutrophils, instead diffusing throughout the cell. <br /><br />Further, the p55-null neutrophils had a marked reduced activation of another important signaling protein, Akt, which is believed to play an important role in many cancers. <br /><br />"This study offers clues to an important cell signaling pathway that is critical to cellular polarization processes in neutrophils and many other cells," said Chishti.<br /><br />Emily J. Welch, Anthony C. Kim, Anwar A. Khan and Shafi M. Kuchay of the department of pharmacology at the UIC College of Medicine and Mary A. Lokuta and Anna Huttenlocher of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, also contributed to the study. The work was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program Career Development Award.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2646&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:51:48 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2681&amp;fromhome=1 Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have shown that adult stem cells from bone marrow can prevent acute lung injury in a mouse model of the disease.<br /><br />Their results are reported online in the October issue of the journal Stem Cells. <br /><br />Acute lung injury (ALI) is responsible for an estimated 74,500 deaths in the U.S. each year. ALI can be caused by any major inflammation or injury to the lungs and is a major cause of death in patients in hospital ICUs. There is no effective drug treatment.<br /><br />In ALI, the layer of cells that forms the lining of the blood vessels surrounding the lung's air sacs is damaged, allowing fluid to leak in and fill the sacs. Repair of these breaks in the endothelium, or lining, is complicated by the fact that endothelial cells are long-lived, says Kishore Wary, UIC assistant professor of pharmacology and lead author of the study. Turnover of new cells takes as long as two to five years, and few of the precursor cells needed for replacement circulate in the body at any given time.<br /><br />"The stem cells that might be able repair the damage caused by ALI are simply not on hand," he said.<br /><br />Wary and his colleagues were able to identify progenitor stem cells in the bone marrow of mice that could prevent and treat experimentally-induced ALI. These progenitor stem cells, named Flk-1 and CD34 for the proteins on their surfaces, constitute a very small percentage of the stem cell population in the bone marrow, but the researchers were able to develop a way of culturing the cells that increased their numbers and their "stickiness."<br /><br />The stem cells stud their surface with molecules called integrins that allow the cells to stick to their targets and effect the repair. "Increasing this capacity for stickiness in our culture system was likely to make the stem cells more effective in repair," Wary said.<br /><br />When mice that had been injected with a compound that causes ALI were injected with the purified and cultured Flk and CD34 stem cells, the progenitor cells were able to repair the lung injury, prevent fluid build-up, and led to improved survival. <br /><br />The mouse disease model not only demonstrated that stem cell treatment is a promising therapy for ALI, Wary said, "but also provided us with the means to understand how these progenitor cells did their repair work. These therapeutic cells employed integrins to stick to the site of injury and turn on cellular and molecular repair machinery," he said.<br /><br />The researchers hope to explore the possibility of using stem cell therapy in human acute lung injury.<br /><br />The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Stephen M. Vogel, Sean Garrean, Yidan D. Zhao and Asrar B. Malik, all of the department of pharmacology in the UIC College of Medicine, also contributed to the study. jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2681&amp;fromhome=1 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:12:35 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2671&amp;fromhome=1 Dr. Dean Schraufnagel, professor of medicine and pathology in the section of pulmonary, critical care sleep and allergy medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, has been elected president of the American Thoracic Society. His term will begin next May. <br /><br />The society was founded in 1905 to improve care for tuberculosis patients and, with 15,000 members, is the world's leading medical association dedicated to advancing clinical and scientific understanding of pulmonary diseases, critical illnesses and sleep-related breathing disorders.<br /><br />"Dr. Schraufnagel has a strong national and international reputation as both an effective pulmonary physician and an innovative translational pulmonary scientist," said Dr. John W. Christman, chief of pulmonary, critical care, sleep and allergy at UIC. "His tireless and focused energy, enlightened wit, strong intelligence and determination will benefit the American Thoracic Society, one of our most influential professional organizations."<br /><br />Schraufnagel is a specialist in pulmonary disorders, including schleroderma, mycobacterial diseases, pulmonary vascular disease, bronchiectasis and sickle cell lung disease. In addition to his clinical interests, Schraufnagel's research interests include clinical and basic science investigations in pulmonary disorders.<br /><br />"My interest in mycobacterias began when I contracted TB myself during my fellowship," said Schraufnagel. This personal experience led to his interest in bronchiectasis, a relatively uncommon chronic lung disorder that has the effect of clogging airways with secretions and making breathing difficult. Bronchiectasis can be genetic as in cystic fibrosis, but it can also be caused by infection or other events and is associated with mycobacterias other than TB.<br /><br />Schraufnagel is on the board of directors of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. He was instrumental in the effort to have 2010 declared the Year of the Lung and is editing a book on respiratory disease, which he hopes will introduce the issues of lung disease and research to a wide audience.<br /><br />"This is a very exciting time in our field because we are really starting to understand the basics of lung disease," Schraufnagel said. "We can see cures coming, if not immediately, certainly in our children's lifetime."<br /><br />Schraufnagel received his B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After a residency in internal medicine at UIC and a respiratory and critical care fellowship at McGill University in Montreal, he returned to the UIC College of Medicine in 1981.<br /><br />In addition to the current book, Schraufnagel is the editor of three other books and author of many research and review articles on lung disease.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2671&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:17:40 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2665&amp;fromhome=1 Tanja Goedecke, a postdoctoral research associate in medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is one of six scientists in the country selected to receive a U.S. Pharmacopeia fellowship.<br /><br />Established in 1820, U.S. Pharmacopeia is an independent, not-for-profit organization composed of members representing academia, industry and government. It provides authoritative standards and information for medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements.<br /><br />During her year-long fellowship -- in which she will receive a $25,000 grant -- Goedecke will work to develop a process using nuclear magnetic resonance to identify the plant Angelica sinensis and control the quality of preparations made from it in one step. Currently several methods are used to identify the plant, but all require numerous stages, Goedecke said.<br /><br />There are more than 30 different species of Angelica, Goedecke said, and it is important to distinguish between them. "Each of the various species has different properties, and if not used properly, they can be detrimental to a person's health."<br /><br />Angelica sinensis, a dried root commonly referred to as dang gui, is widely used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat gynecological ailments, fatigue, mild anemia and high blood pressure. It is also used as an aphrodisiac. Angelica sinensis has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and sedative effects.<br /><br />Herbal dietary supplements play an important role in the U.S. marketplace, and new technology for quality control becomes an important field of pharmaceutical research, said Guido Pauli, associate professor of pharmacognosy. Goedecke's project is a "perfect fit with the goals and mission of the U.S. Pharmacopeia," he said.<br /><br />Goedecke joined the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research in 2006.<br /><br />"Tanja is a highly talented and self-motivated young scientist," Pauli said. "It's a pleasure to see how she develops her own ideas into innovative research concepts that integrate her broad pharmaceutical expertise." <br /><br />Earlier this year, Goedecke, who received her doctorate degree from Berlin's Freie Universitat, was one of 80 professors and graduate students from around the world to participate in the National Institutes of Health's dietary supplements research practicum in Bethesda, Md.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu.</a> samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2665&amp;fromhome=1 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:11:05 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2667&amp;fromhome=1 Parkinson's disease, a debilitating movement disorder, is usually controlled by using drugs that compensate for a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson's patients have a deficit of this important chemical because of degeneration in an area of the brain stem where it is made -- a structure called the substantia nigra.<br /><br />A team of researchers led by David Vaillancourt, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, hope that tests using functional and high-resolution structural brain imaging will reveal new clues about early Parkinson's disease. They've been awarded a two-year, $855,000 National Institutes of Health grant to do the work.<br /><br />"What's not well understood is how the structure and function of the basal ganglia, or other parts of the brain, are affected early on in the disease," said Vaillancourt.<br /><br />He and his colleagues will recruit 25 subjects with early signs of Parkinson's who haven't yet begun taking drugs to control the disease. Their study will compare findings to a control group matched for age, gender and handedness -- because all subjects will perform motor tasks with their hands while their brain is being imaged.<br /><br />The study will be the first into early Parkinson's to use functional brain imaging during gripping tasks designed to simulate everyday activities such as buttoning a shirt or blouse, or holding a cup.<br /><br />"Individuals will undergo a brain scan while they exert force using their hands against a device that measures how hard and how fast they squeeze," said Vaillancourt. "Functional brain imaging will be targeted at the basal ganglia, which is the part of the brain that underlies symptoms of Parkinson's disease."<br /><br />Vaillancourt's group wants to study what is happening before Parkinson's patients begin treatment with drugs such as levodopa that can change the way the brain functions. Pre-treatment brain scans may be useful to develop markers for screening and diagnosis.<br /><br />Those with Parkinson's will be imaged as soon as possible after volunteering and will begin treatment with anti-Parkinson's drugs afterward.<br /><br />"With Parkinson's, the brain must change over time, because it's a neuro-degenerative disease," Vaillancourt said. "This study will serve as the basis for trying to understand how the disease progresses."<br /><br />Cynthia Comella, professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center, will assist on the project. Imaging will be performed at UIC. Co-investigators at UIC include Daniel Corcos, professor of kinesiology; Deborah Little, associate professor of neurology and rehabilitation; and Jane Prodoehl, research assistant professor of kinesiology.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu"> www.uic.edu</a> francuch@uic.edu (Paul Francuch) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2667&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:56:29 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2505&amp;fromhome=1 Contrary to concerns that the human papillomavirus vaccine might promote promiscuity, a national survey of girls and young women found that the majority of respondents did not believe the HPV vaccine protected them against other sexually transmitted infections.<br /><br />The study, conducted by University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Chicago researchers, appears online and in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.<br /><br />The findings are reassuring in that girls and young women did not think that the vaccine provided benefits beyond protecting them from HPV, said Dr. Rachel Caskey, assistant professor of pediatrics and general internal medicine at UIC and lead author of the study. "We also found that they did not think that they could stop cervical cancer screening, or pap smears, which is critical."<br /><br />Researchers used a national sample, representative of the U.S. population, to conduct an online survey of more than 1,000 females ages 13 to 26.<br /><br />The data provide some of the first nationally representative estimates of both adolescents' and young women's adoption of the HPV vaccine, barriers to vaccination, and sources of information about HPV and the HPV vaccine, according to the researchers.<br /><br />Knowledge about the HPV virus itself ran the gamut, said Caskey. Some people knew absolutely nothing and a few people were moderately informed. Knowledge about the HPV vaccine, however, was better.<br /><br />"Messages about the vaccine are getting across, though they are not including messages about the virus itself," said Caskey.<br /><br />The HPV vaccine is likely to provide the greatest benefit to those who receive it prior to HPV exposure, but nearly 30 percent of the unvaccinated girls reported not getting the vaccine because they were not currently sexually active.<br /><br />The study found that the respondents' primary source of information about the HPV vaccine was advertisements for the vaccine, marketed as Gardasil (61 percent), healthcare providers (35 percent) and family members (31 percent).<br /><br />It is probably ideal when family and doctors can be the primary providers of information, said Caskey, but that is not realistic today due to the influence of the media.<br /><br />"Many girls are realizing, 'this is a vaccine I should get, it prevents cervical cancer, it doesn't protect me from other things, but I don't really know much about the virus,'" said Caskey.<br /><br />The researchers also found that cost was not a barrier for many participants, particularly younger girls.<br /><br />When asked about other participatory guidance topics, such as sex, alcohol, and drugs, less than half of the participants said their doctor ever talked to them about these issues. <br /><br />Arguably, said Caskey, these issues should be the main topic of conversation during a regular visit to a healthcare provider for girls and young women.<br /><br />Consistent with other studies about vaccine adoption, the researchers found that 30 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 9 percent of 18- to 26-year-olds reported receiving at least one HPV injection.<br /><br />Co-authors are Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau and Dr. G. Caleb Alexander at the University of Chicago.<br /><br />UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. <br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a><br /><br />[Editorial note: An extended interview as MP3 audio file is at <br /><a href="https://blackboard.uic.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/web/news/podcasts/PdCst67-Oct15%2709-Caskey.mp3">https://blackboard.uic.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/web/news/podcasts/PdCst67-Oct15%2709-Caskey.mp3</a>] smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2505&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:39:16 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2664&amp;fromhome=1 While gripping, lifting or manipulating an object such as drinking from a cup or placing a book on a shelf is usually easy for most, it can be challenging for those with neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's, or for people who had a stroke. For them, the tight gripping can cause fatigue, making everyday tasks difficult.<br /><br />A team of University of Illinois at Chicago physical therapists report this month in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair that persons with multiple sclerosis use excessive force when they are lifting objects. In an earlier finding reported in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology, they reported that regaining control and coordination may be as easy as applying a gentle touch to the affected hand from a finger of the opposite hand.<br /><br />"We studied how this light touch application changes the way people apply force to an object they want to grip," said Alexander Aruin, professor of physical therapy. The study compared eight adults with multiple sclerosis to eight without the disease, gender-matched and of comparable age. "In each case, the grip force required to lift an object decreased," said Aruin.<br /><br />He found similar results in an earlier study he did of people with arm weakness caused by a stroke.<br /><br />Why the simple light finger touch application works so well is not fully understood, but Aruin offers a hypothesis.<br /><br />"It could be due to auxiliary sensory information from the contra-lateral arm," he said. "When we use our second hand and touch the wrist of the target hand, available information to the central nervous system about the hand-object interaction may increase. Without the touch, the information needed to manipulate an object comes only through vision and sensory input from just the target arm and hand."<br /><br />Aruin and his colleagues tested subjects griping and lifting a variety of objects that they moved in several different ways, directions and velocities. The gentle finger touch always helped to reduce grip force, making the task easier.<br /><br />The UIC researcher said he and his colleagues plan to test the approach on those with other neurological and muscular diseases to examine the effects.<br /><br />"We look forward to developing training and rehabilitation procedures on how to use this," said Aruin. "We know that MS patients are prone to fatigue and muscle weakness. This finding may enable them to perform daily activities more independently to improve their quality of life."<br /><br />The papers' lead author was Veena Iyengar, a former master's student of Aruin's now at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL. Other authors were Marcio Santos, a former UIC postdoctoral fellow now at Santa Catarina State University in Brazil, and Michael Ko, a neurologist with Loyola University Chicago's medical center.<br /><br />The research was supported by a grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu"> www.uic.edu</a> francuch@uic.edu (Paul Francuch) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2664&amp;fromhome=1 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:43:15 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2656&amp;fromhome=1 The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing will host the 12th annual Power of Nursing Leadership Event Oct. 23 at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave.<br /><br />"Over the past 11 years, the Power of Nursing Leadership Event has been a place for nursing leaders to network, exchange ideas and celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues," said Mi Ja Kim, interim dean of the UIC College of Nursing.<br /><br />"The vision of this event is to showcase the impact of nursing leaders in shaping health care that will best be able to meet the needs of Illinois residents."<br /><br />The event is expected to attract nearly 600 people, and will feature Dr. Tray Dunaway as the keynote speaker. Dunaway, a proclaimed "dotsultant", shows health-care practitioners, businesses and organizations how to improve their connectivity with other "dots of health care" to improve profitability, enhance their reputation, increase "sales" in more dimensions than just financial gain, and to better serve patient needs.<br /><br />U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) will serve as the event's honorary chair.<br /><br />Beverly McElmurry, professor of health systems science in the UIC College of Nursing, is the recipient of this year's Illinois Outstanding Nurse Leader Award. McElmurry also serves as associate dean of the college's Global Health Leadership Office and directs the college's World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing Development of Primary Health Care.<br /><br />The award, said Kim, "honors the hard work, commitment and dedication necessary to serve the health care needs of the people of Illinois through supremely skilled leadership and the courage to break through barriers."<br /><br />Beginning this year, the award is named for Joan L. Shaver, former dean of the UIC College of Nursing, who was influential in shaping quality health care in Illinois and who started the event. The award will be presented by 2008 winner Sheila Haas, professor and former dean of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University Chicago.<br /><br />Registration for the Power of Nursing Leadership Event will begin at 10 a.m. For more information, visit <a href="http://web.nursing.uic.edu/pnle/">web.nursing.uic.edu/pnle/</a>.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2656&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:44:17 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2641&amp;fromhome=1 The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health has received a three-year, $3 million grant to prepare kids for careers in public health.<br /><br />The Health Careers Opportunity Program: Pathways to Health Professions, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will target disadvantaged students from elementary school through college for careers in the health professions. It is a part of the UIC Urban Health Program.<br /><br />UIC, in collaboration with Chicago State University, has formed partnerships with 20 K-12 schools located in health professional shortage areas on the south and west sides of Chicago. <br /><br />These areas lack credentialed public health professionals whose work can improve the health of entire communities and reduce infant mortality, according to Dr. Shaffdeen Amuwo, associate dean of the UIC School of Public Health and part-time project director of the grant. In disadvantaged communities, the absence of public health professionals also contributes to health disparities and access to quality health care.<br /><br />"The idea is to pique the student's interest in the health professions and give them the training to be more competitive to enter programs to become health scientists, professors in public health, and health practitioners," said Amuwo, a community health expert.<br /><br />Elementary, middle, and high school students in the program have access to education, research training, and mentoring opportunities through public health assemblies, curriculum, public health science clubs and academic enrichment programs throughout the year.<br /><br />"We provide a pathway to the health professions and encourage students to do well in the courses that matter most, such as writing, quantifying, mathematics and science," said Amuwo.<br /><br />The program also addresses challenges faced by inner-city students who are confronted with issues of violence, gangs and academic issues.<br /><br />Students in grades 6 through 12 are eligible to participate in a six-week intensive summer Public Health Institute and a 30-week Public Health Saturday College to enrich their academic experiences and skills in algebra, biology, writing and social development, and expose them to public health research.<br /><br />"We keep them off the street, put them in an academic environment, and expose them to people who are succeeding and people who look like them," said Amuwo.<br /><br />College students who have a specific interest in public health receive GRE preparations, work in labs, and are paired with alumni, professors, community, city, state and federal agencies to complete a 10-week summer internship as they prepare to enter graduate programs in public health.<br /><br />"Being in an urban area, being in a health professions shortage area, it allows us to say 'Look college students, you can be successful because there are many successful people from your own community.'"<br /><br />Most importantly, they must be willing to work in a health profession when they finish, said Amuwo.<br /><br />"In order to bring a child from an impoverished neighborhood to the level by which he or she can have a Ph.D, or M.P.H., or M.D., we need to expose them to opportunity, make sure they don't get shot, make sure that they don't commit crimes themselves, make sure they are protected, and make sure they are resilient," said Amuwo. "To that end, we also look for other funding opportunities to complement the project."<br /><br />UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. <br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a><br /><br />[Note: Photographs are available at <a href="http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/main.php/publichealth/">http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/main.php/publichealth/</a>] smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2641&amp;fromhome=1 Wed, 7 Oct 2009 14:10:48 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2659&amp;fromhome=1 <b>WHAT:</b> <br />Robotic surgical cases will be presented "live" during the first worldwide congress of the Clinical Robotic Surgical Association, led by renown University of Illinois at Chicago surgeon Dr. Pier Giulianotti, chief of the division of minimally invasive, general and robotic surgery at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago.<br /><br />Attendees from around the world will gather to share and learn new robotic techniques in general surgery, including applications for gastrointestinal, colorectal, vascular, transplant, endocrinology, oncology, bariatrics and hepatic-pancreatic-biliary surgery.<br /><br /><b>WHO:</b><br />The conference brings together international experts to discuss techniques, clinical results and new developments in clinical indications of robotic surgery. Experts will also discuss emerging technologies and clinical/economical research in robotic surgery.<br /><br /><b>WHERE:</b><br />Swissôtel Chicago<br />323 E. Wacker Drive<br /><br /><b>WHEN:</b><br />Oct. 9 and 10 <br /><br /><b>DETAILS:</b> <br />For additional information, visit www.clinicalrobotics.com smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2659&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:29:07 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2651&amp;fromhome=1 <b>WHAT:</b><br />UIC will participate in the American Heart Association's "Start!" Heart Walk on its own route. Walkers from the east and west sides of campus will walk a mile towards each other and meet in the middle at the UIC Pavilion.<br /><br />The UIC Walk is being held in conjunction with the larger AHA "Start!" Heart Walk on the lakefront at Grant Park and is UIC's way of thanking the AHA for contributing more than $21 million to its cardiovascular research programs since 1970. Last year, UIC's Heart Walk raised more than $41,000 for the AHA.<br /><br /><b>WHO:</b><br />Students, faculty and staff from the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Education on the east side of campus will walk west to meet walkers from the health sciences colleges and the medical center on the west. All will meet at the UIC Pavilion for a program that will include speakers and a free, healthy lunch, provided by Subway.<br /><br /><b>WHEN:</b><br />Oct. 9<br />Walk begins at noon<br /><br /><b>WHERE:</b><br />-West side walkers gather at 1740 W. Taylor St. <br />-East side walkers gather at the southwest Corner of Halsted and Roosevelt.<br />-UIC Pavilion destination is at 525 S. Racine Ave. <br /><br /><b>DETAILS:</b><br />"The annual East Meets West Heart Walk is an opportunity do something good for yourself, the university, and the American Heart Association, the largest private supporter of heart research at UIC," says Dr. Samuel Dudley, Jr., professor of medicine at UIC and chief of cardiology at the medical center. "Come join us!" jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2651&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 5 Oct 2009 11:58:40 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2648&amp;fromhome=1 <b>WHO/WHAT:</b><br />The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing will host a screening of the film, "Bevel Up: Drugs, Users, and Outreach Nursing."<br /><br />The award-winning documentary chronicles the work of the "street nurses" of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. "Bevel Up" follows a team of nurses as they reach out to youth, sex workers and street-entrenched men and women in the alleys and hotels of Vancouver's inner city.<br /><br /><b>WHERE:</b><br />UIC College of Nursing<br />845 S. Damen Ave.<br />Third floor lounge<br /><br /><b>WHEN:</b><br />Oct. 7<br />1:30 - 4 p.m.<br /><br /><b>DETAILS:</b><br />"Bevel Up" is directed by noted filmmaker Nettie Wild ("Fix: The Story of an Addicted City") and co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control outreach nurses.<br /><br />In the film, eight stories unfold. Barry, a drug dealer, is tested for HIV in an alley as he waits for customers. Lee, a sex worker and crack smoker, is treated for syphilis. Long Tran, whose father and grandfather were both opium addicts, shoots heroin after his blood test. Street nurse Caroline Brunt shows Long Tran how to inject safely, with the bevel up.<br /><br />Fourteen-year-old Rose is a new face on the streets of Vancouver. She has just tried heroin for the first time. "Wheels" undergoes a blood test from his wheelchair in Pigeon Park. Linda twists and turns on the sidewalk, refusing assistance and threatening to fall into incoming traffic as she "tweaks" from crack cocaine. Becky, a 20-year heroin user suffering from endocarditis and pneumonia, refuses to go to the hospital. Her daughter, Liz, is pregnant and addicted to crack cocaine.<br /><br />The stories are from Vancouver but could be about people anywhere, whether in Chicago, Caracas, Beijing or Ho Chi Minh City.<br /><br />British Columbia Centre for Disease Control outreach nurses will be in attendance at the screening, along with representatives from Chicago community organizations. A question and answer session will follow the screening.<br /><br />To attend, contact Linda Graham, UIC College of Nursing, at (312) 413-3695, <a href="mailto:lgraham@uic.edu">lgraham@uic.edu</a>. To learn more about the film, visit www.bevelup.com.<br /><br /><b>ADDITIONAL MEDIA CONTACT:</b> Roy Wadia, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, (604) 707-2402, roy.wadia@bccdc.ca samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2648&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 5 Oct 2009 11:58:14 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2601&amp;fromhome=1 <i>UIC Liver Disease Fundraiser Commemorates Chicago Sports Icon</i><br /><br />The Walter Payton Center Guild at the University of Illinois Medical Center will host its 10th annual fundraising gala Nov. 7 at Soldier Field in support of research, patient care and education.<br /><br />This year's theme, "Kickoff for the Cure: Saluting the Legacy of Walter Payton," commemorates the 10-year anniversary of the death of a beloved Chicago sports icon and heralds the formal announcement of the guild's plan to directly address the deadly disease of liver cancer. <br /><br />The incidence of liver cancer is expected to double in the U.S. over the next 10 to 20 years. This year alone 17,000 Americans will die of liver cancer and 26,000 will die of cirrhosis of the liver. While 17,000 individuals are waiting for a liver transplant, close to 2,000 people will die while waiting for a donor.<br /><br />"My father would be honored to know that so many people have come together to educate the public about liver disease and organ transplantation in his memory," said Brittney Payton. "The researchers and physicians at UIC are among the best in the country, and with support from the Guild, they will continue to play an exceptional role in the fight against liver cancer." <br /><br />In 1999, Walter Payton was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disease which led to his demise from liver cancer.<br /><br />"With the courage and character that defined his life, Walter fought his illness while bringing new attention to the necessity for medical research to better understand liver disease, the development of liver cancer and the need for organ donation," said Dr. Thomas Layden, Edmund F. Foley Professor and head of the UIC department of medicine.<br /><br />Today, the Walter Payton Center Guild continues his efforts by supporting gastrointestinal, liver disease and transplantation programs at the UIC College of Medicine and the Walter Payton Liver Center at University of Illinois Medical Center.<br /><br />This year the guild has focused on a specific goal -- to cure liver cancer by 2020. This will require the integrated efforts of UIC basic scientists, gastroenterologists, hepatologists, immunologists and surgeons.<br /><br />During the gala, guests will enjoy music and dancing courtesy of City Lights Orchestra. Silent and live auctions will include donations, gift and travel packages. Last year, more than 650 Chicagoans attended the event.<br /><br />In 1997, a group of concerned Chicago-area residents came together to improve the lives of family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues who were affected by gastrointestinal diseases such as hepatitis, liver cancer, fatty liver disease, colon cancer and peptic ulcer disease. The volunteers have worked to increase awareness of these diseases and raise funds to assist the work of UIC physicians and researchers. In 2009, the group of volunteers partnered with the Payton Estate to become the Walter Payton Center Guild.<br /><br />Mike Adamle, NBC-5 Chicago sports anchor, will emcee the event. Don Yeager, co-author of "Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton," will be the featured guest speaker.<br /><br />Attendees will include Connie, Brittney and Jarrett Payton; Kent Hammerstrom, guild president and group vice president, Bank of America; and Dr. Thomas Layden, guild director and head of medicine at UIC.<br /><br />For information about the Walter Payton Center Guild Gala, email <a href="mailto:laurenw@uic.edu">laurenw@uic.edu</a> or call (312) 996-0141. smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2601&amp;fromhome=1 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:31:36 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2640&amp;fromhome=1 Two health care experts from the University of Illinois at Chicago have been selected to receive the 2009 Jonas Salk Health Leadership Award from the March of Dimes Chicago chapter.<br /><br />Rosemary White-Traut, professor and head of women, child and family health science in the UIC College of Nursing, and Beena Peters, associate director of nursing at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, will receive the award during a Sept. 29 ceremony at the Chicago Marriott Michigan Avenue, 541 N. Rush St.<br /><br />The March of Dimes, a national organization dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality, gives the Salk Award to honor individuals who have exhibited leadership to ensure the health of mothers and babies. White-Traut is recognized in the research category, while Peters is honored in the health care management category.<br /><br />White-Traut's research focuses on at-risk infants. She is the developer of the ATVV intervention that provides auditory stimuli via female human voice; tactile, or physical stimuli via moderate-touch stroking; visual stimuli in the form of eye-to-eye contact; and vestibular stimuli as rocking. <br /><br />Included in White-Traut's research is the evaluation of physiologic, behavioral, and neuroendrocrine responses of clinically stable and brain-injured premature infants from the gestational ages of 33 to 36 weeks. Findings have shown that mothers who are taught and use ATVV interact better with their infants.<br /><br />The ATVV, White-Traut said, was also shown to improve feeding progression, neurobehavioral development, decreases length of hospital stay, and lowers the level of the stress hormone, cortisol. White-Traut and her research team are now testing a program entitled H-HOPE, which includes ATVV with the addition of home visits by nurse/community-advocate teams.<br /><br />White-Traut said many people were responsible for the award.<br /><br />"It takes a community of health care providers, mentors and philanthropists to support the development of clinical researchers," she said. "I'm indebted to all the clinical agencies that allowed me access to their patients, my mentors who have provided valuable feedback, my research team, and especially Irving Harris, who has supported the development of my program of research."<br /><br />Peters has served as an administrator for the women and children services, nursing finance, and payroll departments at the medical center since 2001. She is also director of the medical center's Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program training center and a clinical instructor in the UIC College of Nursing.<br /><br />The training center supports the growth and development of premature infants and improves the quality of their care and the support for their families. Peters helped establish the center in 2006. It was the first such center in Illinois and one of 18 internationally.<br /><br />Peters is a leader at the medical center in nursing finance and operations. She has been instrumental in developing an automated budget and staffing projection system for nursing services. A productivity system she developed helped to improve operational efficiency and provide better analytical tools for nursing managers.<br /><br />Peters joined the medical center's nursing staff in 1991 as a clinical nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit and became the unit's clinical nurse specialist and assistant unit manager. She also served as a clinical instructor in the UIC College of Nursing. Before moving into her current role, she was director of the NICU's patient care services.<br /><br />Peters said the decision to become a full-time administrator was difficult because she loved bedside nursing.<br /><br />"I got into finance and payroll because I love to work with numbers," she said. "But I also love mothers and children. I do miss bedside nursing.<br /><br />"It is an honor to be selected for the March of Dimes award. We have outstanding practitioners and clinicians who are committed to caring for those who need help. I work with a great team of health care professionals, and this award is an acknowledgment of the exceptional service they do each and every day."<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a>. samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2640&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:36:44 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2636&amp;fromhome=1 <b>WHAT:</b><br />"H1N1 Influenza: Preparing for a Pandemic." A panel of experts will discuss the public health system and preparations for a potential pandemic. <br /><br />The forum, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, is part of the Paul Q. Peterson Grand Rounds Lecture Series.<br /><br /><b>WHO:</b><br />Dr. Susan Gerber, associate medical officer, Cook County Department of Public Health<br /><br />Dr. Mark Dworkin, associate professor of epidemiology, UIC School of Public Health<br /><br />Matt Roberts, volunteer coordinator, Illinois Department of Public Health<br /><br /><b>WHEN:</b><br />Thursday, Sept. 24<br />3 - 4:30 p.m.<br /><br /><b>WHERE:</b><br />UIC School of Public Health Auditorium, 1603 W. Taylor St. smcginn@uic.edu (Sherri McGinnis Gonz&aacute;lez) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2636&amp;fromhome=1 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:02:45 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2622&amp;fromhome=1 As many as 40 percent of the more than 300,000 adults in the United States who have survived childhood cancer report symptoms such as pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, psychological distress or difficulty concentrating.<br /><br />Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a two-year $500,000 federal grant to examine how these symptoms are linked together. The study will use data from 7,100 survivors who are enrolled in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, the world's largest national cohort of childhood cancer survivors.<br /><br />Prior to 1970, most children who were diagnosed with cancer had slim chances of being cured, said Lorna Finnegan, assistant professor of health systems science in the UIC College of Nursing and principal investigator of the study. Today, five-year survival rates for many childhood cancers are close to 90 percent.<br /><br />The survivors, Finnegan said, are "at high-risk for experiencing chronic health problems, life-threatening conditions, other cancers, and disabilities that persist or arise many years after they complete cancer treatments."<br /><br />In the new study, UIC researchers will classify survivors into groups based on the clustering together of symptoms of pain, fatigue, problems sleeping, psychological distress, and difficulty concentrating.<br /><br />The long-term goal, Finnegan said, is to develop programs and therapies that match the needs of groups with troublesome symptom profiles.<br /><br />Finnegan and her colleagues have conducted a preliminary research study in 100 adult survivors of childhood cancers and developed the model for grouping survivors based on their symptoms that will be employed in the new study. The study appeared in the August issue of Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.<br /><br />The new study is funded by the National Cancer Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health. Finnegan's co-investigators include Richard Campbell, professor of biostatistics in the UIC School of Public Health; and Carol Ferrans, professor and associate dean for research in the UIC College of Nursing.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a>. samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2622&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:25:33 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2590&amp;fromhome=1 [Editors note: images available at <a href="http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/main.php/thulborn/">newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/main.php/thulborn/</a>]<br /><br />New images from the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine, the 9.4-Tesla MRI at the University of Illinois at Chicago, are opening radical new possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.<br /><br />"We are using the 9.4-T to develop a toolbox that allows us to see perturbations of tissue health at the very first sign of disease," says Dr. Keith Thulborn, director of the UIC Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. These tools, Thulborn said, will allow clinicians to gauge the health of the brain by showing the metabolic functioning of its tissue.<br /><br />Developing effective therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which damage the brain years before the appearance of clinical symptoms, depends on recognizing the beginning of the disease process and then measuring whether a particular intervention is working. <br /><br />"In medical practice today we have very sophisticated technology, but we are treating advanced disease," Thulborn said. "We are playing catch-up. The goal for medicine should be early intervention; to treat disease earlier.<br /><br />"Think of treating hypertension at age 25 instead of performing a heart transplant at 65."<br /><br />Working from 9.4-T images, Thulborn and his colleagues at the Center, assistant professors Ian Atkinson and Aiming Lu, have developed a new metabolic-imaging toolbox which has three components. Each measures a different "bioscale" -- a quantitative parameter that is measure of regional tissue health. (A bioscale is different from a biomarker, which is a yes/no indicator of disease.)<br /><br />The first bioscale is sodium concentration, a measure of tissue viability. Sodium is pumped in and out of living cells -- a cell no longer pumping sodium is dead. The 9.4-T scanner provides a picture of tissue, such as a tumor during therapy, that indicates whether the cells are dying long before the mass begins to shrink in size, which is the usual indicator of treatment success. <br /><br />"Clinical trials are often considered a success if, say, 60 percent of patients respond to a treatment," Thulborn said. "What if we could detect early in treatment, on an individual level, that 30 percent of patients show excellent response to treatment; 30 percent should perhaps combine this treatment with additional adjuvant therapy; and the non-responders should immediately receive other treatments?<br /><br />"This personalized care has the potential to greatly improve outcome by avoiding wasting time and expense on ineffective treatments."<br /><br />The second bioscale in the toolbox is oxygen consumption, a more dynamic measure of tissue health and viability than sodium, according to Thulborn. <br /><br />The third measure, phosphocreatine, gives a dynamic view of energy stores within the cell, telling whether the cell is metabolically stressed. <br /><br />The metabolic toolbox will offer a way to treat each person as an individual and intervene in brain diseases that are difficult or impossible to detect before decades of damage. <br /><br />"Without this magnet we wouldn't have gotten this far so fast," Thulborn said of the 9.4-T's 45-ton magnet, which has a magnetic field about 100,000 times stronger than Earth's. "It would have taken years and years to develop the insight and understanding to overcome the hurdles using the more widely available 3-T diagnostic MRI."<br /><br />But right now there are only four 9.4-T MRI machines in the world, and Thulborn recognizes that not everyone can be screened with these powerful magnets.<br /><br />"To have an impact on medicine our toolbox has to be widely available," he said. "We have used the 9.4-T's sensitivity to develop this new way to see the disease process. We will one day be able to interpret the less sharp images in more widely available diagnostic MRIs and extract the same information."<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2590&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:55:25 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2618&amp;fromhome=1 Dr. Dimitri Azar, B.A. Field Endowed Chair of Ophthalmologic Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, is the 2009 recipient of the Lans Distinguished Award from the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.<br /><br />The award is given to leaders in the field of refractive, cornea, cataract and lens-based surgery. It is named for Leedert J. Lans, a renowned ophthalmology researcher who defined the basics of refractive surgery -- surgery that corrects problems of visual acuity.<br /><br />Azar has made significant contributions to the treatment of corneal diseases and refractive surgery through sophisticated analysis and application of advanced optics. His research has resulted in better understanding of corneal wound healing, the applications and complications of laser keratectomy (corneal surgery), and the molecular organization of the normal and injured cornea.<br /><br />Azar became professor and head of ophthalmology and visual science at UIC in 2006, coming from the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He was named a University Scholar earlier this year. He has published more than 177 peer-reviewed articles, more than 185 other articles and book chapters, and well over 100 abstracts. He is the editor or co-editor of 14 books on cornea and refractive surgery.<br /><br />Azar has taught and mentored more than 80 research and clinical fellows in cornea, external diseases and refractive surgery and countless residents. In addition, he has pioneered novel approaches to ophthalmology continuing education -- developing the Illinois Eye Review, an annual course introduced in 2008.<br /><br />U.S. News and World Report ranked The Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary of the University of Illinois Medical Center one of America's Best Hospitals for Ophthalmology. <br /><br />The International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology is the leading organization for refractive surgeons, with members in more than 80 countries. The award will be presented at the society's gala at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's joint meeting Oct. 23 in San Francisco. <br /><br />UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. <br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2618&amp;fromhome=1 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:44:54 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2621&amp;fromhome=1 Dr. J. Regan Thomas, Francis Lederer Professor and head of otolaryngology - head and neck surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, has been named president-elect of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.<br /><br />Thomas will serve on the executive committee of the AAO-HNS for one year each as president-elect, president and immediate-past president.<br /><br />Thomas is a specialist in facial plastic surgery and reconstructive surgery and has been department chair since joining the UIC faculty eight years ago. He came to UIC from the St. Louis University Health Sciences Center, where he also served as chair. He has previously served as president of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.<br /><br />"Dr. Thomas is the kind of chair every academic medical center wants -- a great physician teacher and scholar who leads by doing, and he has built a nationally prominent ENT program," said Dr. Joseph Flaherty, dean of the UIC College of Medicine.<br /><br />UIC's department is the oldest department of otolaryngology in the country, and celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. It has been the home of groundbreaking invention and innovation in clinical and surgical techniques that have led to important developments in head and neck surgery, facial plastic surgery, diagnosis of ear disease, and treatment of hearing loss.<br /><br />"UIC has played an exceptional role in the history of the science of otolaryngology into the 21st century," said Thomas. "My goal has been to enhance our role in the education of the next generation of otolaryngologists -- clinically, didactically and in the area of research."<br /><br />Under Thomas' leadership, the department has created three endowed lectureships, and a number of patient outreach initiatives, including the Now Hear This Fund, dedicated to helping patients in need receive treatment and access to educational resources.<br /><br />The department has established an alumni organization that has brought together alumni from all over the country and was responsible for establishing the Bhatt Surgical Training Lab. The department maintains other laboratories and teaching spaces such as the Galter Temporal-Bone Lab and the Torak Vestibular Lab.<br /><br />With more than 12,000 members, the AAO-HNS is the world's largest organization representing specialists who treat the ear, nose, throat, and related structures of the head and neck.<br /><br />UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. <br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a> jgala@uic.edu (Jeanne Galatzer-Levy) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2621&amp;fromhome=1 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:44:00 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2625&amp;fromhome=1 The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy will mark its 150th anniversary with a gala celebration Sept. 26 at Chicago's Field Museum.<br /><br />Established in 1859, the College of Pharmacy stands as the oldest academic unit of the University of Illinois. The college enjoys a national reputation for excellence and has been ranked among the top colleges of pharmacy for scholarship, curriculum and the quality of faculty and students.<br /><br />To honor the college's sesquicentennial, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley proclaimed Sept. 26 as UIC College of Pharmacy Day.<br /><br />UIC researchers are internationally recognized leaders in alternative, complementary and traditional medicine; biotechnology and biodefense; cancer biology and therapeutics; drug discovery, development and delivery; infectious diseases; natural products; neuroscience; patient safety; pharmacoeconomics; genomics and pharmacogenomics.<br /><br />U.S. News and World Report ranks UIC seventh among the top 10 colleges of pharmacy in the nation. UIC ranks fourth among U.S. colleges of pharmacy in National Institutes of Health research funding.<br /><br />The college was established Sept. 12, 1859, by a group of prominent Chicago druggists whose goal was to improve the pharmacy profession and promote competent and ethical practices. They formed a society in downtown Chicago to offer formal training to supplement apprenticeship, said Dean Jerry Bauman.<br /><br />UIC is the third-oldest college of pharmacy in the United States with a continuous charter.<br /><br />"We are proud to celebrate our 150-year history, as well as our consistent legacy," Bauman said. "Throughout our history, we have produced leaders within our profession. Our graduates and faculty have led national pharmacy organizations, founded and led large pharmaceutical companies, discovered new drugs and established ways for patients to more safely use medicinals for their ailments.<br /><br />"Today, we strive to prepare pharmacists and scientists that continue to make noteworthy and important contributions to science and patient care."<br /><br />For more information on the UIC College of Pharmacy, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/">www.uic.edu/pharmacy/</a>. To learn more about the gala celebration, visit <a href="http://www.pharm150.com">www.pharm150.com</a> or call (312) 996-7785. samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2625&amp;fromhome=1 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:49:13 -0500 http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2584&amp;fromhome=1 Thousands of men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan sustained life-threatening injuries but were fortunate enough to return home alive.<br /><br />In a cruel twist of fate, some may have suffered accidental harm or even death from incorrect use of potent prescription medications for their pain and injuries.<br /><br />A robotic device that dispenses the proper dose of oral prescription medications to soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder and other conditions requiring risky medications is under study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Pharmacoeconomic Research and Milwaukee's Columbia College of Nursing. <br /><br />"The military has an increasing number of patients with combat-related injuries that may not allow them to strictly adhere to their medication regimens," said Daniel Touchette, UIC assistant professor of pharmacy practice, who serves as co-principal investigator on the project along with Jill Winters, professor and dean of Columbia College of Nursing. Some, he said, "are in transitional-care outpatient settings that do not have nurses or pharmacists to manage their medications daily."<br /><br />The study involves the use of an electronic medication management assistant, or EMMA delivery unit, designed to remotely deliver, manage and monitor a patient's drug therapy and adherence in the outpatient setting under the guidance of a physician, nurse case manager and pharmacist.<br /><br />EMMA is trademarked and manufactured by INRange Systems, Inc. It is the only one of its kind cleared for remote medication management by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Touchette said. <br /><br />The hope is that the system "will help ensure that these errors are minimized, while eliminating the need for labor intensive and inherently inaccurate practices of manually filling and reorganizing pill boxes," he said.<br /><br />"It also eliminates the need for patients to try to remember whether they have taken their medications as prescribed, as the system will remind them when a medication has been missed or already taken."<br /><br />More than 1.5 million preventable medication errors occur each year, according to the 2006 Institute of Medicine report, "Preventing Medication Errors."<br /><br />The study will be undertaken initially at the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital in California and the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Hospital and Polytrauma Facility in Tampa, Fla. The program may expand to include additional Department of Defense or VA sites.<br /><br />Dr. Mary Anne Papp of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee directed the development of EMMA for INRange Systems.<br /><br />"For many patients in the military and veteran's health care systems -- particularly those who are in transitional care between the Department of the Defense, the Veterans Administration and home setting -- taking medication properly, monitoring health care status and assessing health care providers becomes increasingly difficult," she said. <br /><br />"We believe patients who use the EMMA units, along with its documented adherence and medication reconciliation abilities, will have fewer drug-related problems, fewer medication-related hospital admissions and emergency room visits, fewer duplicate narcotic prescriptions, and a decreased number of narcotic tablets/equivalent doses, when compared to patients receiving medication reconciliation alone."<br /><br />The $1.35 million study is a congressionally funded grant administered by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, part of the U.S. Army Medical Research & Material Command at Fort Detrick, Md. Other researchers include Vicki Groo, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice at UIC, and Young-Ku Choi, biostatistician in the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy.<br /><br />For more information about UIC, visit <a href="http://www.uic.edu">www.uic.edu</a>. samhos@uic.edu (Sam Hostettler) http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Releases&amp;to=Release&amp;id=2584&amp;fromhome=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:50:08 -0500