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Message from the Dean: This is whyOHSU receives new endowment for medical school scholarshipsSoSE to become Department in SoMVision 2020 Update: OHSUMG and School of Medicine clinical integration Faculty Wellness Program launchedSearch Committees finalized for two Associate Dean positionsNew on-call rooms dedicatedSchool adopts Health Care Reform PrinciplesSt. Baldrick's Day: Going bald for cancer research Discovery Spotlight: Dr. Nguyen-HuynhUpdate: potential new clinical professorial seriesMay 29: New Faculty Refresher Course June 3: School Hooding Ceremony Pediatric Pain Management named national Center of ExcellenceDr. Trunkey is President-Elect of ASA Dr. Wang receives ASCO Young Investigator Award Seven faculty members recognized at 2008 Annual Professional Care Staff Meeting MD students accepted into NIH research programs ORPRN receives two awards Welcome new faculty
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April 2008
Message from Dean Richardson: This is why
 I have a true story to tell this month about an event that happened here in February. Sadly, the story starts with a terrible car crash and a young girl. When 12-year old Aimee arrived at OHSU, she was in very bad shape. The sedan she was riding in had been slammed by a truck. It took paramedics 30 minutes just to cut her out, so the clock was ticking before she even arrived at our doors.
The accident caused a rupture in Aimee’s aorta. For those of you familiar with clinical terms, you’ll recognize the seriousness of the injury. For others, suffice it to say that this type of trauma is life-threatening in itself, and it also hampers prompt treatment of other critical injuries. Along with the torn aorta, Aimee had suffered a ruptured spleen, abdominal trauma, broken ribs and damage to her brain.
Over the next four hours, a team of nearly 100 highly-trained, dedicated people at OHSU worked together to save Aimee – paramedics, interventional radiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, trauma physicians, angiographers, surgical residents and fellows, nurses, technicians, neurosurgeons, pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric nurses, ICU nurses and specialist transport teams.
Aimee survived and is now back at home with her family. She is already back in school. Her parents gave us permission to tell her story.
Periodically, we read about members of our community who are championed by the media or honored for their work – a new study, a high-profile patient, a quick response in a public situation. This is much-deserved recognition but sometimes we forget that incredible, life-saving, life-changing things happen here every day.
As Mark Silen, MD, Helen B. Tracy Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Surgeon-in-Chief, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, and one of the physicians involved that day in Aimee’s treatment, said: “You train, train and train again for these kinds of situations, none of which you can ever model or simulate exactly. Then a real-life situation suddenly stares you in the face, and it all comes together.”
While the teamwork and expertise of all our clinicians that day was exemplary, there is even more to Aimee’s story. The traditional surgical intervention for Aimee’s aortic injury would have required anti-coagulants to thin the blood. The resulting increase in bleeding would have dramatically worsened her other injuries, putting her life in further jeopardy.
A rapid decision was made. Two anesthetists, three interventional radiologists, two cardiothoracic surgeons and dozens of others turned an angiography suite into a full-blown operating theatre. The surgical team was prepped.
Rather than opening up Amy’s chest, the team accessed the femoral artery through a small incision in the groin and inched a stent-graft to the site of the aortic rupture through a catheter. This is a specially designed device that, when released in the aorta, opens to re-line the blood vessel. Within seconds, the stent-graft sealed over the torn aorta, allowing the team to progress to other critical care priorities.
OHSU has been instrumental in the development of stent-grafts and the multidisciplinary approach to their use in the treatment of ruptured aortas. This novel technique likely saved Aimee’s life. Situations like Aimee’s bring into stark relief the importance of and mutually beneficial relationship between clinical care and research, and the unique role OHSU plays in the health care landscape in Oregon. The intellectually-dynamic and collaborative environment here, catalyzed by the full continuum of basic science to translational research to clinical care, literally changes the world, one life at a time.
Our institution is defined by stories like this, and thousands more; many remain untold or are shared just between friends and close colleagues. This is true not only in the clinical realm but throughout our research and educational missions. All of you have prepared yourselves for years to contribute as much as possible to health and health care. You are why OHSU and the School of Medicine are special and unique in Oregon – your ability to bring an array of exceptional talent to the grave circumstances such as Aimee faced, your willingness to work as a team, and your ability to do so.
I am proud to be associated with each one of you. Not just for the exceptional talent you displayed in saving Aimee’s life that day in February – and all the other lives that you will help in the coming hours, days, and years – but for the commitment, professionalism and expertise you show every single day.
Best regards,
Mark Richardson
Dean
Pioneering alumna leaves multimillion-dollar legacy to endow scholarships for med students
 OHSU will receive more than $6 million for medical student scholarships from the estate of Mary Jane Stamm, MD, a pioneering OHSU School of Medicine alumna and respected California obstetrician who died last year at age 91. Stamm was one of only two female graduates in the University of Oregon (now OHSU) Medical School class of 1943 and later became the first female Ob/Gyn in her adopted hometown of Castro Valley, Calif. In keeping with the strides she made for women in medicine, Stamm’s gift will be used to promote diversity and expand educational opportunities.
Stamm delivered thousands of babies during her long career, and her devotion to young people followed many of them far beyond the delivery room. Over the years, and without fanfare, she awarded nearly a half-million dollars in college scholarships to students at Castro Valley High School. By endowing the Dr. Mary Jane Stamm Scholarship Fund at OHSU, her bequest will permanently preserve her legacy of commitment to both medicine and higher education.
“We are moved and honored by Dr. Stamm’s extraordinary generosity,” said Dean Mark Richardson. “Her gift will ease the financial burden of a medical education for a significant number of outstanding students, while helping us to achieve some extremely worthwhile objectives in the recruitment and retention of top students.”
Stamm’s friend and attorney James J. Phillips said her gift reflected a strong desire to help others follow in her footsteps. “It must not have been easy for Mary Jane in those early days,” he said, “yet she overcame the odds to achieve her dreams. She was very proud that her accomplishments opened doors to the medical profession for others over the years. It’s fitting that her legacy will create a permanent door to opportunity at her alma mater.”
School of Science & Engineering to become School of Medicine Department
The organizational details for the transition of the School of Science & Engineering into the School of Medicine were announced at a Town Hall on Friday, April 25. The Town Hall was led by President Joe Robertson, SoSE Dean Ed Thompson, SoM Dean Mark Richardson and OHSU Provost Lesley Hallick.
Planning for greater financial sustainability for SoSE began with the Vision 2020 strategic plan. The tort cap decision accelerated those plans. Effective July 1, 2008, the SoSE will become the Department of Science & Engineering in the School of Medicine. The department will consist of three divisions: Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Computer Science, and Environmental & Biomolecular Systems. Degrees currently associated with SoSE's three research departments will continue to be offered, subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Council. In addition, one current SoSE unit – Management in Science & Technology – will become a free-standing program within the School of Medicine's educational programs, and will shift focus from high-tech to bioscience and health care. The Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction will retain strong links with the new department, but will report to Provost Lesley Hallick and Vice President for Research Dan Dorsa.
Although the administrative cuts following from this transition are significant – the SoSE Dean's Office and Department of Graduate Education will be reduced by more than 80 percent by FY10, resulting in savings of approximately $1 million – the research and educational core of SoSE will remain strong and will be fully supported over the long-term. All current faculty contracts are being honored, and stable, long-term core funding for the newly formed department will come from SoSE's endowment. For full details of the transition: click here.
Vision 2020 Update: OHSUMG and School of Medicine clinical integration
Leaders in the School of Medicine and OHSU Medical Group have been working diligently to achieve the goals outlined for clinical integration, originally articulated in the Vision 2020 strategic plan. The schedule is for integration to occur on January 1, 2009. Throughout the planning process, OHSUMG members have received regular updates. Most recently, Integration Bulletin #10 (April 23) was sent to clinical faculty and staff and included information and perspectives from President Joe Robertson, Dean Richardson and OHSUMG President Neil Swanson. The Bulletin also reiterated the main reasons for clinical integration:
1) As an integrated practice, we reduce our liability. In the wake of the Oregon Supreme Court tort cap decision, we face new medical legal risk. Two separate legal entities providing patient care create two possible liability avenues. One practice entity not only reduces liability exposure, but also substantially reduces financial exposure and risk.
2) An integrated practice will allow us to meet proposed new requirements for the federal laws governing referral relationships (Stark III). Integration will also provide a more transparent and improved framework for funds transfers between the hospital and clinical practice by simplifying regulatory compliance.
3) An integrated practice better supports the ability of the dean and chairs to lead clinical faculty across all mission areas.
4) An integrated practice can facilitate more collaboration across missions, potentially enhancing patient care and providing a more dynamic professional environment for faculty.
5) In today's very competitive health care environment, the integrated practice can allow for clinical decision-making, planning and investment in a more nimble, responsive manner.
To continue reading Bulletin #10 or any communications associated with clinical integration: click here. Send your questions or comments to integr8@ohsu.edu.
Faculty Wellness Program launched
Over the last four years, more than 200 residents and fellows have received confidential coaching and counseling services for both professional and personal concerns through the OHSU Resident Wellness Program. Due to the program's success, many faculty members have asked about expanding it beyond residents and fellows. In response, this spring, Dean Richardson and Roy Magnusson, MD, Chief Medical Officer, offered to support an expansion of the program. The Faculty Wellness Program is open to all primary clinical and basic science faculty members although the focus will be on junior faculty. Here are the details:
Program start date: July 15, 2008 but accepting referrals beginning May 1, 2008
Focus: Junior faculty, but open to all primary faculty
Services: Coaching and counseling to address both professional and personal concerns
Staff: Sydney Ey, PhD, Mark Kinzie, MD, Mary Moffit, PhD
Hours: Flexible and after work (early evening) appointments are available
Cost: Free (no insurance will be billed)
Location: Private office on Marquam Hill (not in a clinical area)
Contact: Mary Moffit at moffitm@ohsu.edu or by pager (12047).
A note on confidentiality: no EPIC or any OHSU medical records are involved with the Faculty Wellness Program; all program records are confidential and secured in the program office. Information is not disclosed to any other OHSU individual or department, unless there is concern regarding danger to self or others or physician impairment.
Search Committees finalized for two Associate Dean positions
Dean Richardson charged the Associate Dean for Medical Education Search Committee on April 28. The initial work of the Committee is to review and finalize the position description and applicant criteria, and then begin to review and solicit CVs. The members are:
Karen Deveney, MD, Chair, Search Committee, Professor of Surgery; Carrie Phillipi, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Don Girard, MD, Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean for CME-GME; Don Houghton, MD, Professor of Pathology; Gary Ciment, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology; Nicole Gordon, 3rd year medical student; Norwood Knight-Richardson, MD, MBA, Associate Professor of Psychiatry; Office of the Dean Ex-Officio member: Ella Booth, PhD, MSB, Associate Dean for Planning, Administration & Diversity Affairs.
The Search Committee for the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies has also been finalized. The Dean will charge this committee on April 30. The members are:
Mary Stenzel-Poore, PhD, Chair, Search Committee, Professor and Interim Chair of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Peter G. Gillespie, PhD, Professor of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery; Svetlana Lutsenko, PhD, Associate Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Richard A. Maurer, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology; Tamara J. Phillips, PhD, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience; Katherine “Katie” Gilliland, 4th year graduate student, Behavioral Neuroscience; Office of the Dean Ex-Officio member: Nicole Lockart, Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs and Administration.
For information, please contact either Ella Booth or Nicole Lockart. Additional information on these recruitments will be forthcoming.
New on-call rooms dedicated
As part of the School’s commitment to enhance the educational experience for its students, new on-call rooms were recently opened up to provide a home-away-from-home location for students spending the night on Marquam Hill. Located in Sam Jackson Hall, the new rooms provide food storage and preparation facilities, computers, and a communal lounge area, along with 24 bunk beds.
The School of Medicine Alliance – one of the School’s longest supporting organizations – donated $13,500 to enhance the rooms with computers, better lighting, furniture and other elements. On behalf of the Alliance, president Kay Dawson presented a check to Dean Richardson at the dedication ceremony o April 7. “We are in awe of our medical students’ intelligence, encouraged by their enthusiasm, and inspired by their compassion for and dedication to their patients,” she said.
Pictured at right: SoM Alliance President Kay Dawson presenting the check to Dean Richardson.
School adopts Health Care Reform Principles
The OHSU School of Medicine has created and adopted a draft Statement of Principles on Health Care Reform. The purpose in adopting a principles statement is to show our support to the many groups now working on health care reform, including the Oregon Health Fund Board, and to share our perspective as the state’s only medical school. We are committed to joining others in developing policy and care delivery solutions that will improve access to high quality health care for all Oregonians.
The OHSU School of Medicine:
1) Supports universal access to a defined set of health care services for all children and adults that is paid for in ways that are not exclusively linked to employment.
2) Believes that a defined set of health care services in a universal access framework should include all health services that are demonstrably beneficial, including tertiary and quaternary health care, in order to guarantee equal access to care and to prevent continuation of inequities in the current system which ties delivery of care to economic status.
3) Believes that a geographically well-distributed health care workforce, accurately mirroring in capacity and diversity the population it serves, is critical to ensuring long-term quality and access in Oregon. Funding for recruiting, educating and keeping workforce skills current is also critical. Further, health care reform must find ways to utilize all providers to the full benefit/extent of their education and training.
4) Supports an aggressive focus on preventive health care to both improve quality and reduce costs, including promotion of and reward for healthy lifestyles.
5) Believes that the long-term viability of universal access depends on the full and equitable participation of all health care providers and systems (and the event of opting out by a provider or health care system should not disadvantage those electing to participate).
6) Supports a compassionate evaluation of end-of-life care and the adoption of health care delivery models that support end-of-life decision-making and options for patients and families.
7) Believes that quality health care is linked to outcomes transparency and that incremental improvements in standards of care require support for both evidence-based practices and mechanisms to incorporate real-time outcomes feedback in quality initiatives. However, leaps in health care quality and outcomes are also a result of discovery and innovation, and a reform proposal must find ways to reward and adopt innovations and discoveries.
8) Supports more effective deployment of information technology, including but not limited to portable electronic health care records.
Your comments on these principles are welcome and we have set up an electronic forum for that purpose: click here.
School residents, faculty member shave heads for cancer research
 Five members of the pediatric residency program and one faculty member teamed up in April to raise over $4,600 for the Portland chapter of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. St. Baldrick's is the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research, with volunteers shaving their heads in return for donations towards cancer research.
“There were certainly some double-takes from the kids I’ve seen this week,” said Dan Morrow, MD, a resident in the Pediatric Residency Program. “Participating in the event demonstrates our support for our pediatric cancer patients, and is a way to strengthen that bond between patient and physician that is an integral part of caring for the individual.”
Pictured in the “After” shot (l to r) are Brian Connelly (resident spouse); Hank Puls, MD, Matt Files, MD, Josh Kovach, MD, Scott Spencer, MD, Dan Morrow, MD, Dennis Chia, MD, Assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, and Shane Rogosin (resident spouse). Also participating were David Langton, HR coordinator for the Department of Pediatrics, and Sarah Connolly, pediatric hematology/oncology nurse.
Discovery Spotlight: Anh Nguyen-Huynh, MD, PhD
 Bench to bedside, and back again
Affecting roughly half a million Americans, Meniere’s Disease is a disorder of the inner ear, causing episodic attacks of vertigo, nausea and vomiting, tinnitus and fluctuating hearing loss. Meniere’s disease tends to afflict people over 40 years old. Anh Nguyen-Huynh, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, is focused on Meniere’s disease as both a clinician and researcher. An anecdote about a recent patient explains why.
“One of my patients enrolled in our clinical trial kept very detailed, reliable notes of his diet and activity,” he said. “From these notes, we were able to determine that his attacks typically occurred after he had eaten a high-salt meal or snack. While there is a generally-accepted correlation between attacks and a high-salt diet, his record-keeping prioritized a concrete line of enquiry that I was subsequently able to pursue in my lab.”
Meniere’s disease is particularly suited to simultaneous investigation in the clinic and lab, since it is not fully explained by genetic or environmental factors alone, but likely by a combination of genetics, pre-disposition and environmental influences or metabolic changes. Dr. Nguyen-Huynh's work is currently supported by the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI).
“The OCTRI framework supports me in examining a problem from every possible angle to make as many connections as I can between what I observe clinically and what I observe in the lab,” said Dr. Nguyen-Huynh.
Dr. Nguyen-Huynh’s research uses a technique developed in mice by John Brigande, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, which bypasses the risks and complexity of creating a fully transgenic animal by creating one with one transgenic ear. This supports greater flexibility in targeting or shutting down specific genes which may be implicated in hearing loss and other vestibular problems. Dr. Nguyen-Huynh uses this technique to test suspect genes obtained from patients with Meniere’s disease. Vestibular problems are identified by comparing the length of time a normal mouse and a genetically-altered mouse requires to navigate a maze or swim a specified distance. Eventually, the goal is to find these genes in humans.
“Even though my clinical interest is Meniere's disease, my research is really about how the inner ear works to give us hearing and balance,” said Dr. Nguyen-Huynh. “The exciting part about what I am doing is that I believe my results will be relevant to the study of any inner ear disorder. “
The OCTRI structure also supports study of patients in a clinical research setting, using diagnostic tests in a highly controlled environment to determine risk factors and efficacy of outcomes. Dr. Nguyen-Huynh’s involvement in the training available in the Human Investigation Program is a key guide to this evolving component of his work.
“OCTRI is privileged to support Dr. Nguyen-Huynh. He is an excellent example of the researchers that OCTRI is here to nurture,” said Eric Orwoll, MD, OCTRI Director. “His work is highly inter-disciplinary in nature, and OCTRI provides him and others the tools, the training and the support infrastructure to fully exploit the bench to bedside model, and to do research conducted simultaneously in basic and patient environments."
A native of Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen-Huynh received his medical degree and graduate medical education at Harvard, followed by a fellowship in Otology and Neurotology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He came to OHSU from Stanford in 2006, having identified OHSU as one of the few places that provided an opportunity to explore his research and clinical interests simultaneously.
Update: potential new clinical professorial series
As required by our regional accreditation body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), OHSU recently re-aligned faculty appointment and promotion policies university-wide. As part of this, an overarching policy was laid into place that allowed for the development of a clinical professorial series.The series would focus on faculty primarily engaged in contributions to the university through clinical practice and/or teaching, and includes rank designations of Clinical Instructor through Clinical Professor.
It is now up to the School of Medicine to determine if the actual implementation of a clinical series is desirable within the School, and if so, to move forward with its implementation. An initial assessment of the faculty’s interest in activating the clinical series was initiated at the 2008 All-Faculty meeting in February. The meeting featured a pro-con debate then subsequent electronic polling. However, results from that meeting did not reveal a consensus position.
Thus, no decision on adoption of the clinical series has yet been made. The Office of the Dean is in the process of developing a dedicated Web page to provide background and further survey faculty views on this topic. Please be on the lookout for an e-mail requesting your input on this topic in the near future.
May 29: Faculty Refresher Course – Opportunities for Success
The Office of the Dean is pleased to announce a new semi-annual faculty development series: the Faculty Refresher Course. This new offering (May 29, 3:00 - 5:30 pm) will emphasize opportunities for assistant and associate professors who seek to grow their careers at OHSU. OHSU leaders will emphasize "how to" strategies intended to empower faculty for success in their promotion, education, research and clinical activities. Advanced registration is requested. Contact Rod Taylor by phone (8-1457) or e-mail taylorro@ohsu.edu. Look for an e-mail soon with a full agenda.
Come one, come all: June 3 School Hooding Ceremony
The School of Medicine Hooding ceremony will be held at 9:00 am on June 3. Graduates from the School’s MD, MS and PhD programs will be hooded at the ceremony which also celebrates faculty teaching and student achievement across all of its programs. Faculty members are warmly invited to attend and to be part of the processional.
Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1000 SW Broadway
Details: Faculty participating in the processional will need regalia. Please arrive at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall by 8:15 am. A reception follows the event.
This is a School of Medicine ceremony only. Degrees are officially conferred by President Robertson at the OHSU Commencement ceremony held at 5:00 pm on the same day. Senator Ron Wyden will give the Commencement Address this year.
Regalia rental is offered through Royal-T again, for their ordering web site: click here. Regalia distribution on Marquam Hill will occur on the following dates/times:
May 21 & 22 - 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
May 28 - 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Old Library, Great Hall
Note: after April 28, a late fee of $15 will be charged. No Cap and Gown orders will be accepted after May 9. Questions? Contact Janna Roth (rothja@ohsu.edu) in the Dean’s office.
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