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Dean's MessageRep Wu announces stimulus bill at OHSUOb&Gyn Chair Search CommitteeAnnual faculty evaluationsDiscovery Spotlight: Dr. Lahvis Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Lutsep Education Spotlight: Dr. Grady-WelikyBlack belt in neurosurgeryTalent in abundanceMulticultural Conference feeds pipeline Global health trainingVice-Chairs for Ob & Gyn announcedBSIP awards three investigatorsDrs. Brehm and Liskay receive AAAS honorDr. Thomas honored for diversity effortsWelcome new faculty
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February 2009
Message from Dean Richardson: the example from our students
 On Wednesday, Feb. 25, a dozen School of Medicine students got up at the crack of dawn to travel to Salem to tell a committee of lawmakers what they valued about OHSU. A cross-section of our programs was represented – graduate studies, MD, MD/PhD and physician assistant. The students were taking part in the public testimony associated with the review of OHSU’s budget during each legislative session.
I have heard from everyone who was at Salem that day that our students were terrific. They talked about the quality of our educational programs, the commitment and excellence of our faculty, the important connection between the graduate studies program and the vitality of the research mission, the health value of future physicians and scientists studying side-by-side, and how, for some of the MD and PA students, our focus on rural medicine and primary care was what attracted them to OHSU. As we all do, I commend our students for their involvement in Salem this month and appreciate the many other ways they are engaged in enhancing our community.
One point that strikes me about this student group was how much more powerful the collective message to our legislators must have been because, together, they personified all of our missions, indirectly providing a “big-picture” view of how those missions interact in the School of Medicine. Given the size and complexity of the School of Medicine, it can be a challenge for people to appreciate that big picture view. That challenge exists internally, too. On a day-to-day basis, an individual student, faculty member or even an entire program or department might have a hard time seeing beyond their immediate slice of the School of Medicine.
From my perspective, however, I see the effect of working together and across missions every day and I am continually impressed by the way we come together for the benefit of health at every level – mission, department, program, faculty and student.
And now, we are demonstrating the importance of working together as we collectively face the challenges presented by the global economic downturn. Most recently, every department contributed to covering our $8 million shortfall for fiscal year 2009. Some of the resulting decisions and actions, including job losses, were painful, but we met the tough challenge and it was an extraordinary collective accomplishment.
Now, two other goals related to the economic downturn are in our future. First, we must respond in a coordinated and timely manner to the new opportunities presented in President Obama’s stimulus package, known formally as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Many elements of that package, including new funds for NIH, NSF and for health care information technology, may be important for School of Medicine faculty members and programs.
Second, we are in the process of developing response plans to cover what will be another OHSU budget shortfall in fiscal year 2010 due to the economic downturn. We are at the early stages of this planning and I will share details as soon as I can. But I know that by working closely together across all mission areas, we will succeed in making the right decisions to ensure we emerge from the global economic downturn a stronger and more focused institution – an institution where our faculty members will continue to pursue and reach their goals in a thriving professional environment and our students will continue to realize their educational dreams.
Thank you for all that you do every day for the School of Medicine.
Best regards,
Mark Richardson
Dean, OHSU School of Medicine
President, Faculty Practice Plan
OHSU hosts Rep. Wu’s press conference announcing $20 billion for Health IT in stimulus bill
 On Feb.19, Congressman David Wu announced the passage of his health information technology (IT) legislation as part of the federal stimulus package at a press conference hosted by OHSU. William Hersh, MD, Chair of the Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology in the School of Medicine, and OHSU President Joe Robertson were part of the press conference.
Congressman Wu has been a long-time champion of health IT workforce training and Dr. Hersh has worked closely with him on this topic for several years. In fact, the relevant legislation introduced by Congressman Wu was named after an on-line course developed at OHSU in partnership with the American Medical Informatics Association called 10x10 (“ten by ten”), referencing its ambitious goal to train 10,000 people in basic medical informatics by the year 2010. Congressman Wu’s “10,000 Trained by 2010 Act” passed the House of Representatives in 2007, but did not receive further action until recently when it was included in the economic recovery legislation.
The economic recovery package allocates nearly $20 billion to improve the computerization of health care. Of that, $2 billion is set aside for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, which will spend a portion of the funds on workforce training.
"In Oregon, we have national leaders working in all areas of health IT," said Congressman Wu at the press conference, "and the state is home to institutions of higher education that are developing the curriculum necessary to create a highly skilled health IT workforce and train current health care professionals in the latest technology. Health IT is a ready-made economic stimulus that will be especially effective here in Oregon."
"Although the primary goal of using this technology is to improve human health, health care, public health and biomedical research, we cannot lose sight of the high-skill, high-paying jobs that its implementation provides," said Dr. Hersh during the press conference.
Photo: Dr. Bill Hersh, Representative Wu and Dr. Jody Petit from the Certification Commission for Health IT
For information on the stimulus package, go to www.recovery.gov
Search committee formed for new chair for Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
The Search Committee for a new Chair for the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology has been formed. In recognition of the importance of this national search and resulting recruitment to all OHSU missions and the greater Oregon community, the committee is co-chaired by two community members and includes faculty and administrators from across OHSU. Formal announcements describing the position will be circulated soon. The committee members are:
Durlin E. Hickok, MD, MPH, Co-Chair, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, ProteoGenix
Mary D. Wilcox, JD, Co-Chair, Secretary, OHSU Foundation Board of Trustees
Kevin G. Billingsley, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Head of Division of Surgical Oncology
Cynthia Grueber, MHSA, Chief Operating Officer, OHSU Healthcare
Nicole Lockart, MBA, Assistant Dean, Faculty Affairs & Administration
H. Stacy Nicholson, MD, MPH, Professor and Chair of Pediatrics
Richard L. Stouffer, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Senior Scientist, Head of Division of Reproductive Sciences, Oregon National Primate Research Center
New performance appraisal tool will support annual faculty evaluations
Faculty evaluations are essential to professional development, to the promotion and tenure process and to decisions related to compensation. Historically, evaluations in the School of Medicine have been conducted based on policies within each department and/or related to academic rank. Last year, Dean Richardson instituted a new school-wide requirement that every faculty member receive an annual evaluation by their chair or other department/division leader. In turn, the annual evaluations of chairs by the Dean will include consideration of how well that requirement has been met.
To support the annual faculty evaluation process, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Patti Hurn, PhD, led a faculty and department administrator task force to develop a standardized School of Medicine Performance Appraisal Tool. The tool was developed with considerable input from departments so that evaluation tools or components already in use were incorporated. No department is required to use the appraisal tool if another process already in use is preferred, however, many chairs, division chiefs, center heads and other leaders, as well as department administrators, have received training on the tool and intend to adopt it.
The tool incorporates self-evaluation, peer review and one-on-one meetings between a faculty member and the evaluator. There are four main sections. The first is a record of the faculty member's time and effort across missions. The second evaluates leadership qualities independent of mission. The third section is a report of progress on previously agreed upon goals and identifies new goals. The last section assesses progress toward promotion.
Questions? Check with your department administrator for more information or contact Associate Dean Patti Hurn.
Discovery Spotlight: Garet Lahvis, PhD – research links empathy to genetic programming
 A research team led by Garet Lahvis, PhD, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, recently showed that a natural strain of mice known as B6 is capable of empathy toward other mice because of distinct genetic differences. Empathy, as originally defined, refers to an emotional experience that is shared among individuals. The B6 mice were able to learn from others when an environmental cue, a tone, could predict another’s distress.
The Lahvis team also found that the heart rates of B6 mice changed similar to heart rates in children when they feel empathy. This discovery may help scientists isolate the genes that contribute to autism. Importantly, although there are many knockout mouse strains that are relevant to autism, the inability to detect distress in others is a feature of the autism diagnosis, and researchers have not been previously able to study knockout mice for this empathic ability.
“We are particularly interested in the genetic basis for empathy, a capability that may be impaired in certain forms of autism,” Dr. Lahvis said. “If this helps us locate the genes that influence empathy in mice, we also may be able to identify the genes that contribute to autism in humans. This ultimately could influence the development of drugs to treat autism, schizophrenia and mood disorders.”
Earlier research shows the B6 strain is among the more gregarious strains of mice because of genetic influences. Specifically, several mouse strains, including B6, prefer environments that have been associated with companionship versus environments that have been associated with social isolation. That prompted Dr. Lahvis and his team to study the way B6 mice react when they sense that another strain of mice is distressed or fearful. The results demonstrate that the B6 mice are capable of “feeling into” – or detecting – the emotional distress of fellow mice, which is a core aspect of empathy. Dr. Lahvis and his team are now trying to isolate the particular genes that give the B6 mice this capability.
The research is published in the online edition of the journal the Public Library of Science.
For more information and a video from OHSU: click here.
Photo: Dr. Lahvis in his lab
Faculty Spotlight: Helmi Lutsep, MD – clinical training improves outcomes for stroke patients
 The latest “OHSU image campaign” features advertisements for neuroscience services, generally, and Helmi Lutsep, MD, Professor, Department of Neurology, specifically. The campaign is designed to educate the Oregon public about OHSU; the advertisements highlight the Oregon Stroke Center and the pioneering research that led to a breakthrough clot-removing technique.
In addition to outreach in Oregon, Dr. Lutsep and her colleagues are actively involved in improving stroke treatment outcomes throughout the country and world. Recently, she took advantage of an invitation to present her research and to conduct clinical training in Estonia about OHSU’s breakthroughs.
In Estonia, as in the United States, intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the standard of care for stroke patients, who are treated with doses of recombinant tPA to break up blood clots. Using protocols researched and implemented at the Oregon Stroke Center, Dr. Lutsep led her Estonian colleagues through treatment algorithms that incorporate intra-arterially placed catheters to retrieve clots using mechanical devices, or to deliver tPA directly to the site of the clot to disburse it in situ. These advances in treatment extend the window of effectiveness from three hours, using intra-venous therapy, to as many as eight hours using the intra-arterial method. Key to effective adoption of this new protocol is clinical and general education, and public outreach about the new window of time it affords stroke-sufferers.
“Estonia is far in advance of the U.S. in its application of technology,” says Dr. Lutsep. “This willingness to embrace new technology, added to the already high standard of first-response and follow-up stroke care in Estonia, makes me confident that this is the optimal time for them to successfully adopt and benefit from the standards we have pioneered and researched at OHSU.”
Dr. Lutsep, who places great value on her Estonian heritage and speaks Estonian, sees her visits there as a form of paying back. “My father came to the U.S. from Estonia when the country was annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II. It is now my turn to give back some of the benefits that his move has conferred on me.”
If you missed the advertisements (you must be at an OHSU workstation):click here.
Photo: Dr. Lutsep (center) on the neurology ward of Tartu University's clinical building. Also pictured: Tartu University neurologists Sulev Haldre, MD (left) and Janika Kőrv, MD, PhD (right)
Education Spotlight: Tana Grady-Weliky, MD – educating the 21st century physician
Incoming Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education Tana Grady-Weliky, MD, discussed “Educating Physicians for the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities” at a lecture in the OHSU Auditorium on Feb. 3.
Introducing Dr Grady-Weliky, Dean Richardson said, “We all know the practice of medicine is poised for significant change. Through education, the next generation of physicians will move our health care system away from one which is rooted in disease and episodic care toward one that is based on health, well-being and preventive care. We are fortunate Dr. Grady-Weliky has chosen to bring her expertise, experience and creativity to address the challenges and opportunities of our future.”
Dr. Grady-Weliky focused her presentation on the importance of recognizing faculty engagement and expertise in the education mission – particularly during this time of scarce resources, on adapting the curriculum to reinforce the six areas of ACGME competence (medical knowledge, professionalism, interpersonal and communications skills, patient care, practice-based learning/improvement and systems-based practice) and working more effectively to recognize and address the signs of stress that lead to burnout in students, residents and faculty.
As a demonstration of the roles of peer-to-peer learning, innovation and humor in teaching, guests at the lecture combined in a small group study exercise to define and compare the qualities they most sought in a physician, and also discussed part of a “Seinfeld” episode in which the character Kramer, surrounded by medical students, volunteers for a standardized patient exercise.
Dr. Grady-Weliky concluded with a quote from William Ostler: “The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head.” She spent time discussing her presentation and answering questions from students and faculty at an informal reception following the presentation.
AAMC Reporter features black belt of Shirley McCartney, PhD
 The “Backpage” of the January issue of the Association of American Medical Colleges Reporter featured the aikido expertise of Shirley McCartney, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. The article is reprinted below:
Shirley McCartney, PhD, tightens her black belt and takes center stage. Her opponent quickly grabs her, but she responds by causing him to lose his balance and brings him to the floor. A group of awestruck young students watch the following series of seemingly choreographed grabs and throws, hoping they too will eventually be able to perform these moves.
If McCartney, 43, an assistant professor in the neurological surgery department at Oregon Health and Sciences University, makes the Japanese martial art of aikido look easy, it is only because she has been studying it for more than 20 years. She started aikido in her native Scotland when she needed a break from her rigorous course load, and hasn't stopped since. She now holds a fourth degree black belt.
"I really like throwing people around," McCartney jokes. "It's a physical activity I can do my whole life. A 70-year old woman still comes and trains with us."
When McCartney moved across the Atlantic to Portland, Ore., she quickly found a dojo, or studio, in which to practice. Soon she began teaching aikido to adults, where her dedication to the martial art became very apparent.
"I was pregnant and asking grown men to punch me," she laughs.
McCartney eventually moved over to teaching children, a challenge she says is very rewarding. "Kids are like a fresh canvas, they're young and full of energy, and so receptive to what you're teaching," McCartney said. "You get to see changes in them so much faster than adults."
McCartney's enthusiasm for aikido rubbed off on her family, as her husband and son both picked up the hobby almost 10 years ago. Last summer, her family went to Tokyo, Japan, to train at the aikido world headquarters and then toured throughout Japan and Hong Kong.
"Training there was a lot of fun," McCartney says. "It is such a large dojo and a very calming environment. Unlike the rest of Japan, which is busy, busy, busy."
Photo: Dr. McCartney at work
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Talent in abundance: noontime concert features six students
 Six students from the School’s MD and Physician Assistant programs set aside the books for an hour on Feb. 18 to perform Bach, Rachmaninoff and Klengel for OHSU colleagues and employees. Loton Shippey, a first-year student in the MD program, performed two of his own compositions – one for solo guitar and one for piano and cello. Fellow first-year MD student Mark Munoz joined him for the performance.
“In addition to providing a productive avenue to articulate my feelings during tough times, music helped inspire me to be open to new ideas I might have been closed to otherwise,” said Shippey. “Music also helped me realize how crucial it was for me to find a career that I felt passionately for, and it became obvious by my sophomore year in college that for me, medicine was the only career that could fulfill that goal.”
Mark Munoz also joined classmates Michelle Bar (piano) and Emily Weimer (violin) for Klengel’s gentle but rarely-performed Kindertrio.
Also taking part in the program were first-year MD program student Alissa Greenbaum and first-year Physician Assistant student Jill Christie, who gave virtuoso solo performances of Rachmaninoff’s “Polichenelle” and the Gigue from Bach’s Partita No. 1 respectively.
The concert was part of the free Noontime series sponsored by the Foundation for Medical Excellence, the School of Medicine and OHSU Healthcare.
Photo: clockwise from left, Jill Christie and Alissa Greenbaum; Loton Shippey and Mark Munoz; Emily Weimer, Mark Munoz (again) and Michelle Bar
Multicultural Conference feeds pipeline
On Feb. 2, the annual OHSU Annual Multicultural Health, Science & Engineering Career Conference offered informational sessions for high school and undergraduates about OHSU degree programs and resources.There were student panels, clinical experiences, tours and a visit to the simulation lab. Latasha Williams, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, was the keynote speaker. “There is a growing diversity community at OHSU that provides a network of support and will continue to encourage others to join and be a positive influence on our surrounding community,” Dr. Williams said.
New course meets physician demand for global health training
A 2007 survey showed that many Oregon physicians hesitate to volunteer for international medical missions because of their perceived lack of training in infectious disease, tropical medicine, public health, malnutrition, trauma care and management of childhood illness. OHSU’s new program, Physicians Training in Global Health, addresses this concern. This ten-week, two days a week, course was launched in the fall of 2008 to train physicians for medical opportunities overseas and for disaster relief. Experts speak on everything from AIDS to arboviruses, from malaria to meningitis, from trachoma to TB, and from dysentery to dengue fever.
Another concern raised by physicians who want to volunteer overseas is: “I’ve been a specialist my whole career and am out of touch with primary care.” For this reason Physicians Training in Global Health also incorporates primary care training in family medicine, emergency medicine, obstetrics and pediatrics. Trainees get one-on-one clinical training under the supervision of OHSU faculty physicians serving as preceptors. Additional primary care training is offered at free medical clinics in the Portland area.
The course targets physicians who are approaching retirement or are semi-retired, because these practitioners may have more time to volunteer overseas. Six physicians completed the pilot program last fall and several hundred others have expressed interest in the course. Physicians Training in Global Health is offered through OHSU’s Global Health Center. For more information or for the course curriculum, contact Andy Harris, MD, Course Director, andyharrismd@comcast.net, or Cate Bishop, Global Health Center Coordinator, bishopca@ohsu.edu.
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