August News

Message from Dean Richardson - Maintaining Momentum

Silo-busting. Interdisciplinary. Sustainable. Collaborative. Integration. These and similar words are popular lately – within academic medicine and national research circles, generally, and at OHSU and the School of Medicine, specifically.

Sometimes, such popularity can have the effect of diminishing the power and diluting the meanings of words. However, in our case, the continued strong emphasis on these words – and the actions they prescribe – is an indicator of their importance to our future.

I encourage everyone to embrace them, say them again and again, teach them, and evaluate your departments and units – at every level – in the context of their core meanings. I see evidence that these conversations are beginning throughout the School; new partnerships, integrated programs and interdisciplinary initiatives are being discussed and announced with increasing frequency.

Maintaining this momentum is key to meeting the goals formulated for Vision 2020, the strategic framework for OHSU that will also guide the School of Medicine's future.

We can't know exactly what OHSU – much less the rest of the world – will look like in the year 2020 but we can envision our preferred future. Vision 2020 states that by the year 2020 OHSU will have partnered to make Oregon a national leader in health and science innovation.

A national leader. This means that people within Oregon and throughout the entire country will look to us as a model of how we reorganized ourselves in ways that catalyzed, promoted and supported health and science innovations to demonstrably improve human health. We will be known for our success at integrating and collaborating to focus our resources on the health care challenges of our time.

An ongoing necessity involved in moving our complex and dynamic institution toward Vision 2020 is to reduce costly redundancy and inefficiency, positioning us to take nimble advantage of and invest in new opportunities destined to help us meet our strategic goals.

To do this, we must respond realistically to our financial challenges. Internally, some of our programs do not have sustainable funding sources – sources which must be identified and secured. Another internal issue is the expanding costs associated with a decade of deferred maintenance. And externally, we may face new costs associated with possible changes to the tort cap law and federal legislation affecting payments to teaching hospitals.

I want to emphasize strongly that our financial picture is not a primary impetus to integrate, partner and prioritize although it does contribute to a sense of urgency about the timing of our evolution. But we are not changing because of financial pressure; rather we are changing to better meet and help resolve today's complicated health care challenges and to, in the end, improve human health and well-being.

The School of Medicine has a crucial role to play in helping realize the health outcomes of Vision 2020. I encourage every department, unit and faculty member within the School to take time to aggressively evaluate the status quo and help us reorganize for the future. From these efforts we will find ways to formally integrate Vision 2020 with the School's existing strategic plan and subsequent planning efforts.

Together, we will achieve the goal of Vision 2020 to partner to make Oregon a national leader in health and science innovation.

Best regards,

Mark Richardson
Dean

Patricia Hurn, PhD, named Associate Dean

Patricia Hurn, PhD, has been named associate dean for faculty development and faculty affairs. In this role, Dr. Hurn is responsible for creating, implementing, and continuously improving an integrated system for faculty development, recruitment, retention, evaluation and reward.

"I am pleased that Dr. Hurn has accepted this leadership role in the School," said Dean Mark Richardson. "Her enthusiasm, dedication and innovative thinking will be an asset as we seek to enhance our faculty development programs. Faculty support is an important strategic objective of the School and university."

Dr. Hurn is professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology and Peri-operative Medicine. She also holds secondary appointments in physiology and pharmacology, and in neurology.

"I have always worked with one foot in the basic science world and one foot in the arena of clinical medicine," said Dr. Hurn. "That is a key perspective I will bring to my role as associate dean."

Within the School, Dr. Hurn chaired the Faculty Engagement Committee as part of the strategic planning process and currently heads the Faculty Retention Committee. For OHSU, she is chair of a working group for a Presidential initiative on interdisciplinary collaboration and is a member of the OHSU Strategy Planning for Research Committee. As director of the OHSU Research Center for Gender-Based Medicine, Dr. Hurn is spearheading an interdisciplinary research collaborative of clinician-scientists and basic scientists.

Dr. Hurn is recognized internationally as an expert in cerebrovascular physiology and gender biology. She has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1993, and she is currently investigating the mechanisms by which estrogen, progesterone and other gonadal steroids provide neuroprotection against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Dr. Hurn is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the American Physiological Society.

Dr. Hurn holds a doctorate in physiology from Johns Hopkins and completed postdoctoral studies in biomedical engineering. In 1993, she launched her academic career at Hopkins and served on the faculty in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine until she joined the OHSU in 2003.

"With Vision 2020 and the School's proactive emphasis on faculty development, I believe there is a real commitment to supporting faculty members in innovative ways. It is a great time to be part of the School of Medicine," said Dr. Hurn.

Sonia Buist, MD, profiled in Lancet

The following is excerpted from a LANCET profile on Sonia Buist, MD, professor of medicine, physiology and pharmacology, public health, and preventive medicine in the School of Medicine. Dr. Buist's full profile, a 12-country research article, and review on COPD are published in the latest issue of Lancet.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) doesn't get much sympathy, or a lot of research funding, says Sonia Buist, one of the world's leading experts on this increasingly burdensome but still poorly understood condition. In the developed world, Buist points out, COPD is almost exclusively a smoker's problem, and hence considered to be "self-inflicted."

Little research has been done on risk factors beyond smoking, and there is no drug to stop progression of the disease. "There are lots of important and unanswered questions," says Buist.

Buist's investigation of the worldwide prevalence of COPD, called the BOLD Initiative, covered in this week's Lancet, "may well end up being her most important scientific contribution," says her long-time colleague Philip C. Hopewell, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Hopewell also points to Buist's determined efforts to launch the Methods in Epidemiological, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR) programme. Since 1994, more than 300 scientists, chiefly in Latin America, have learned to do respiratory epidemiology through the course, with many publishing original research in top-tier journals. The first MECOR course in Africa begins this month, in Malawi, and courses are planned next year for Turkey and India.

"The idea is that you are training people to do basic epidemiological and clinical research to quantify the burden of disease in their environment and to come up with interventions that are appropriate to their environment," Buist explains.

Please read the full profile and accompanying articles at www.lancet.com.

Report: new student demographics

Of the 120 new OHSU medical students starting classes in late August, 84 are from Oregon (70 percent). More medical students are female (65 students) than male, mirroring a national trend. One student has earned a doctorate degree, 15 have earned masters degrees, with the remainder entering medical school after earning an undergraduate degree. Seventy undergraduate institutions are represented in the new class. The mean age is 26 years old. Twenty-one students were previous applicants.

Of the 175 new students entering the Graduate Studies program in the School of Medicine this year, 135 are Oregon residents (77 percent). The program enrolled 18 international students from Russia, Slovakia, Japan, China, Jordan, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Jamaica and India. Similar to the medical class, more students are female (115) than male in the graduate studies entering class.

Dean Richardson, Dr. Cooke charge students at White Coat Ceremony

The White Coat Ceremony marks the entry of new students into the profession of medicine. This year's ceremony was held at the Newmark Theater in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.

Dean Mark Richardson welcomed the new students, spoke about the symbolism of the White Coat, and the challenges facing health care that will peak during the careers of these physician-students. The Dean's White Coat Speech is available online: click here.

For the first time, the J.S. Reinschmidt, MD, Lecture was held in conjunction with the White Coat Ceremony. The speaker was Molly Cooke, MD. A professor of medicine, she also holds the William G. Irwin Endowed Chair as Director of the Academy of Medical Educators at University of California, San Francisco.

School participating in city-wide disaster drill October 16

OHSU is participating in the U.S. Homeland Security TOPOFF drill Tuesday, October 16. TOPOFF is designed to prepare the "top officials" of government and communities to effectively respond to a terrorist attack. Portland is one of only three locations nationwide selected to participate.

The drill will simulate detonation in Portland of a dirty bomb – a radiological dispersion device designed to explode and spread radioactive contamination. The simulation will "cause" traumatic injuries and radioactive contamination.

This is primarily a clinical, public safety and communications drill. The drill will engage people at all levels of government, local fire, EMS, police, search-and-rescue, public health, hospitals and private sector. OHSU Hospital will participate, as will all other city hospitals. Over the coming weeks, you will receive more information about the drill and response protocols. Please watch for it.

School partners with Egyptian institute in biomedical informatics

An agreement establishing a joint graduate certificate program in biomedical informatics between the School's Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE) and the Information Technology Institute (ITI) of Egypt was formally signed this month. Ten students are expected in the first cohort this fall, with 20 to 30 in subsequent years. The ITI graduated 500 students in a number of programs this past year.

Cairo students will enroll in the on-line courses that DMICE currently offers in its web-based biomedical informatics distance learning program. Program elements include the use and implementation of electronic health records, telemedicine, medical knowledge resources and health care-related search engines. Faculty in Cairo will teach the non-medical course components, primarily covering information technology. All instruction will be in English.

"This is the first program in which we have joined with a partner institution to offer a joint certificate," said William Hersh, MD, DMICE chair. "We see this as a model to engage in other international collaborations to disseminate knowledge of this important field more widely."

Pictured: Representatives of the School of Medicine and ITI of Egypt at the signing ceremony in Portland.

Discovery spotlight: Cheryl Maslen, PhD

Genetics has fascinated Cheryl Maslen, PhD, since the very earliest stages of her academic career. Lately, her focus has been on the Down syndrome (DS) population as a potential avenue to uncovering genetic factors causing heart defects in the general population.

Dr. Maslen is a professor of Medicine and Molecular Genetics in the School of Medicine. She is also associate director of the OHSU Heart Research Center.

One in every 100 children is born with a heart defect. In the past, there were few options for these children. Now, the dramatic success of surgical interventions has resulted in an emerging adult population living with heart defects.

"While the hole may be surgically repaired in the infant, the underlying genetic defect remains," said Dr. Maslen. "As this new adult population increases, we need to better understand the genetic basis of the disease to be able to help these families."

Down syndrome individuals – whose condition is the result of being born with three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the normal pair – are 2,000 times more likely than the general population to develop an atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD). Dr. Maslen's research showed that mutations of the CRELD1 gene occur in about five percent of DS individuals with a complete AVSD, and appear to play a role in development of AVSD in the general population.

CRELD1 – on chromosome 3 – encodes a cell surface protein that may function as a cell adhesion molecule that is, in turn, key in embryonic development. Previous studies in the Maslen lab showed that CRELD1 mutations are a likely genetic risk factor for defects in the walls separating the heart's chambers.

Dr. Maslen has recently branched off in a novel direction, building on the infrastructure and patient recruitment of DS individuals for the heart research. Funded in part by a grant from the Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute, better known by it acronym, OCTRI, the new research focuses on cognitive issues.

"These kids have a broad range of mental ability – some can hold jobs and even advance through high school," said Dr. Maslen. "We want to understand why that is from a genetic perspective."

The pilot study will clinically classify the DS population based on cognitive ability and then perform a genetic analysis to characterize this variability.

"Once identified, these genetic sources of variability may become therapeutic targets for improving the lives of these individuals, and perhaps for people with other conditions that manifest cognitively," said Dr. Maslen.

Dr. Maslen is also a principal investigator in a NIH-sponsored initiative to build a national program dedicated to the study of thoracic aortic aneurysm, a commonly occurring and often deadly cardiovascular condition. The National Registry of Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Related Conditions (GenTAC) consist of five regional clinical centers. Dr. Maslen directs the Northwest Center, the only in the western U.S.

In recognition of her distinguished work, Dr. Maslen received the Richard T. Jones, MD, PhD, Distinguished Alumni Scientist Award in 2007. The award honors a graduate from the OHSU School of Medicine's Masters or PhD programs. Dr. Maslen received her doctorate in 1987 from what was then the Department of Medical Genetics.

Coming soon: 2007 faculty survey

The second annual Faculty Survey will be e-mailed to all School of Medicine faculty members in September. The results from this survey are used to inform decision-making about new programs and initiatives to support faculty development, retention and satisfaction. The results will be posted on the School's Strategic Planning web site, click here, as they were last year, and an analysis of trends will be provided. The survey is essential for the Dean's office to better understand faculty views and informs the School's strategic direction. Please respond in a timely fashion.

New faculty welcome, orientation events

Fall New Faculty Welcome – September 20

Dean Mark Richardson and the School of Medicine Alliance cordially invite faculty members and their guest to the Seventh Annual Fall Faculty Welcome. This is a festive event to welcome the School's newest faculty members.

Time: 6:00 to 8:00 pm
Location: Waverly Country Club
Please RSVP to Alison Dillon at dillonal@ohsu.edu by September 14th

New Faculty Orientation – September 27

The School of Medicine's Fall New Faculty Orientation session is an opportunity to learn more about OHSU, and specifically about resources and opportunities for advancing your career in research, teaching and/or clinical service in the School of Medicine. All faculty members are welcome.

Time: 1:15 to 5:00 pm
Location: UHS B860 (University Hospital 8th Floor)
Contact: Sharon Anderson, MD, at anderssh@ohsu.edu

School launches new community calendar

The School of Medicine is "beta" testing an events calendar on our home page on behalf of the university. This new tool provides a way to announce and publicize events within the SOM community. Please check out the Upcoming Events link: click here. To add your event, contact Kathleen McFall, mcfallka@ohsu.edu.

Community outreach opportunity: judges for minority research conference

The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), the largest multidisciplinary student conference in the United States, is seeking program directors, faculty members and postdoctoral scientists to review abstracts for acceptance into the conference and judge poster/oral presentations at the conference. Onsite judging will be in Austin November 7-10 during the conference; abstracts will be judged via e-mail starting September 13.

A limited number of travel subsidies are available to first-time judges and a registration discount is available for returning judges. Deadline for travel subsidy application is October 5. Please click here or call (202) 942-9228 for more information on how to volunteer for this great opportunity.

Faculty mentors wanted

Students of the School's chapter of LGBT People in Medicine are seeking faculty mentors to advise students and/or help to create a sense of community for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) medical students. LGBT People in Medicine is an American Medical Student Association advocacy committee dedicated to fostering a safe and supportive environment for LGBT medical students, facilitating the inclusion of LGBT health in medical school curriculum and advocating for patients. Mentors are invited to contact Laurie Mecham in the School's Diversity Affairs Office (494-1681; mechaml@ohsu.edu).

Dr. Eisner named to Scientific Advisory Board

Al Eisner, PhD, research associate professor of Ophthalmology and senior scientist of OHSU Neurological Sciences Institute has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of Breast Cancer Action, a San Francisco-based organization providing information about breast cancer and advocating to reduce its impact. Dr. Eisner's research addresses effects on the eye and visual system from medications that affect hormonal response, including those used for preventing breast cancer recurrence. Dr. Eisner's comments on the side-effect profiles of these medications were solicited recently for an article published in Lancet Oncology.

Dean's office awarded Spirit Mountain grant to support diversity recruitment

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund has awarded a $50,000 grant to the School of Medicine Diversity Achievement Program. The program aims to significantly contribute to the diversity of the physician workforce by providing opportunities to disadvantaged and minority students from Oregon. The program is directed by Ella Booth, PhD, associate dean of administration, planning and diversity in the School of Medicine.

The School's program has two components: Recruitment and Post-Baccalaureate Conditional Acceptance. During the recruitment phase, speakers and workshops help participants better prepare for careers in the health sciences, discuss health disparity issues and connect with mentors. The Post-Baccalaureate Conditional Acceptance component offers tailored instruction to prepare disadvantaged students with undergraduate degrees for medical school admission.

The Spirit Mountain grant will support the Recruitment component. The funds contribute to the outreach sessions that will offer admission overviews, cultural competency training workshops, MCAT preparatory courses, academic advising, personal statement writing workshops, research internships, and clinical precepting opportunities.

OCTRI announces Pilot Project funding

Five projects were chosen for funding this round, each of which fits Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute's (OCTRI) focus on novel translational research. Congratulations to these scientists. For more information about them and their projects, as well as additional funding opportunities, visit the new OCTRI website: click here.

Johnson, Eric, PhD, Investigator, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPCHR): The use of angiotension Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs) and chronic kidney disease (in collaboration with Sharon Anderson, MD, OHSU; Jason Deville, DO, OHSU; David Smith, PhD, RPh, KPCHR; and Micah Thorp, DO, MPH, KPCHR).

Owen McCarty, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, OHSU: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (in collaboration with David Jacoby, MD, OHSU; Jonathan Lindner, MD, OHSU; José López, MD, University of Washington; David Motto, MD, PhD, University of Iowa; Adam Munday, PhD, University of Washington; and Sandra Rugonyi, PhD, OHSU).

Kathryn Schuff, MD, Associate Professor of Endocrinology, OHSU: 3-Monoiodothyronamine: a novel thyroid hormone metabolite with a potential role in thyroid hormone regulation of metabolism (in collaboration with Mary Samuels, MD, OHSU; and Thomas Scanlan, PhD, OHSU).

Gary Thomas, PhD, Senior Scientist, Vollum Institute, OHSU: Role of PACS-2 in colorectal cancer (in collaboration with Garth Anderson, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Christopher Corless, MD, PhD, OHSU; Charles Lopez, MD, PhD, OHSU; Motomi Mori, PhD, OHSU; Doug Runckel, MD, Kaiser Permanente; Brett Sheppard, MD, OHSU; Melissa Wong, PhD, OHSU; and Huihong You, PhD, OHSU).

Kerri Winters-Stone, PhD, Associate Professor and Scientist, School of Nursing, OHSU: Comprehensive fall risk assessment in breast cancer survivors (in collaboration with Stephen Chui, MD, OHSU; Alvin Eisner, PhD, OHSU; Fay Horak, PhD, PT, OHSU; Shiuh-Wen Luoh, MD, PhD, OHSU; Lillian Nail, PhD, OHSU; Nancy Perrin, PhD, OHSU; and Devon Webster, MD, OHSU)

GME resident perceptions study selected for conference

Staff of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) program in the Dean's office will present a poster entitled, "A Systems-based Practice Approach to Institutional Oversight and the ACGME Competencies" at the joint Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education/American Board of Medical Specialties conference in September.

The study reviewed OSHU residents' responses to a required national survey that asked about their perceptions of the balance between the education they receive and the work they do in their residency programs. The responses were averaged and more than 40 percent of the entire cohort believed that imbalances exist. An internal resident task force was then recruited to review the findings and develop recommendations for program improvement (in progress).

Authors on the poster are Clea English, MPH, associate director, research and development, Donald Girard, MD, associate dean, Elizabeth Bower, MD, MPH, assistant dean, and Kristen Wessel, PhD, director of education.

Welcome new faculty

Welcome to new faculty joining the School in July (in order of effective date):

Kristine Dziurzynski, MD, Instructor, Neurological Surgery

Kenneth Guappone, MD, Research Assistant Professor, Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology

Timothy Joslin, MD, Instructor, Family Medicine

Susan Rowell, MD, Instructor, Surgery

Brian Chan-Kai, MD, Instructor, Ophthalmology

Mauricio Chavez MD, Instructor, Ophthalmology

Sherwin Cho, MD, Instructor, Neurology

Irene Hsu-Dreseden, MD, Instructor, Ophthalmology

Hall McGee, MD, Instructor, Ophthalmology

Scott Witherspoon, MD, Instructor, Ophthalmology

Jessica Miller, MD, Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Peri-Operative Medicine

Robin Jackson, MA, Instructor, Pediatrics

Tan Attila, MD, Instructor, Medicine

Megan Aylor, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics

Willscott Naugler, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine

Joseph Pinter, MD, Associate Professor, Pediatrics

Charlotte Dai Kubicky, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Radiation Medicine