Sections of this page:
News from the Executive Vice Chancellor's Office
News from the School of Medicine-Kansas City
News from the School of Medicine-Wichita
News from the School of Nursing
News from the School of Allied Health
News from the Office of Primary Care
News from the Kansas Cancer Institute
News from the History and Philosophy of Medicine
News from the Intercultural Center
As part of the $161 million Kansas Crumbling Classrooms Act, which Gov. Bill Graves signed into law last May, several projects are already underway at KU Medical Center. KU Medical Center will receive $19.4 million, which will pay for more than 200 renovation and construction projects, the largest of which is the new nursing-education facility, for which $8.6 million of the state funding has been earmarked. In Orr-Major, four large teaching labs have been modified to create eight smaller rooms. The rooms will have Internet access, 27-inch multisync monitors, video playback machines and access to the closed-circuit television system and three satellite dishes. New furniture has been placed in another classroom, and plans call for a podium and multimedia system to be installed as well. New conference tables and chairs will go in two additional Orr-Major classrooms, which also will be painted. Three classrooms in Miller Building &emdash; in pediatrics, hearing and speech, and special education &emdash; will undergo various aesthetic improvements, such as new paint, new carpet and lighting modifications. In the Student Center updates to the Kansas Room include new wallpaper, a new motorized screen and enhanced lighting. The student lounge also will be converted into a classroom.
The next CenterNet conference will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 12 in the Clendening Amphitheater. There will be two presentations. Steven Stanhope, PhD, director of the biomechanics laboratory in the rehabilitation medicine department at Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, will discuss "Looking into the Future: The Role of Neural Prediction in Maintaining Upright Posture." Richard Hodes, MD, director of the National Institute on Aging, will discuss "Regulation of Telomere Length and Telomerase Expression in Human T Cell Development and Activation."
Norge Jerome, PhD, professor emeritus of preventive medicine, has been named acting associate dean of minority affairs at the KU School of Medicine. She will concentrate on the recruitment and retention of minority students at the KU School of Medicine. Jerome earned her bachelor's degree in nutrition and dietetics magna cum laude in 1960 from Howard University, Washington, and her master's in experimental foods and human nutrition in 1962 and doctorate in anthropology and nutrition in 1966 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She joined KU Medical Center in 1967. In 1981, she received more than $1 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (A.I.D.) for a six-year nutritional anthropology research project in Egypt. From 1988 to 1992 while on loan to the federal government, she was responsible for nutritional programs in 46 countries as director of the office of nutrition at the U.S. A.I.D. Five years ago, she returned to KU Medical Center full time and continued as director of the community nutrition division in the department of preventive medicine.
The department of physiology has changed its name. In keeping with the mission of the department to teach and carry out research from the level of the gene to the whole organism, its name is now the department of molecular and integrative physiology.
Lawrence Sullivan, PhD, professor of molecular and integrative physiology, received a new, one-year $100,000 total costs grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for "Induction of C1 (-) Secretion by Channel-Forming Peptides."
The KU School of Medicine-Wichita received a $20,000 gift from two subsidiaries of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County (MSSC), the MSSC Medical Review Foundation and WPPA Inc., through the Kansas University Endowment Association. The donation will be used to purchase individual pagers for all third- and fourth-year medical students.
James Early, MD, clinical associate professor of preventive medicine, received a 15-month, $35,000 grant from Merck and Co. Inc. for "Identifying Determinants of Behavior Change in Patients With High Risk Lipid Profiles: The Development of a Screening Tool and Behavioral Change Guide."
George Lucas, MD, professor of surgery, has been elected chair of the board of councilors for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
Doren Fredrickson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of preventive medicine, presented "The Epidemiology and Clinical Links, Adult Literacy and Health" at the Kansas Adult Education Association legislative luncheon Jan. 22 in Topeka. He also was a featured speaker for the Jan. 28 National Child Abuse Conference in San Diego, and he published "Immunization Compliance Among Public vs. Private School Children" in the February 1997 issue of the Journal of School Health.
The Sigma Theta Tau Delta Chapter will hold its general membership meeting March 13 in Lied Auditorium. The reception will be at 5 p.m. in the Hixson Atrium. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Stephania Bell, MS, PT, assistant clinical professor of physical therapy education, presented "Case Study: Differentiation Between L5 Nerve Root Compression and Anterior Compartment Syndrome" at the Feb. 13-16 American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting in Dallas. Janice Loudon, PhD, PT, ATC, assistant professor of physical therapy education, was one of the contributing authors for this presentation.
Jeff Struchtemeyer has joined the staff of KU Hospital as patient representative in the patient affairs office. Prior to joining KU Hospital, he worked on the consumer marketing and feedback team at Twentieth Century Mutual Funds. His job there involved working with shareholders to compile suggestions and resolve complaints. He holds a master of liberal arts degree from Baker University and an undergraduate degree in hotel and restaurant management. His responsibilities include working with patients in the hospital to resolve complaints or problems, managing the patient satisfaction survey and overseeing five volunteer patient representatives.
The KU School of Medicine's Primary Care Physician Education (PCPE) initiative has named Ann Polich, MD, medical education director for southwest Kansas. In this half-time position, she will be responsible for identifying and supporting teaching sites, ensuring that the designed curriculum is being delivered, coordinating regional premed student activities and assisting communities in recruiting primary-care providers. She will work closely with Ann Westbrook, RN, director of the Southwest Area Health Education Center, as well as with St. Catherine Hospital and area medical facilities. After serving as chief resident of internal medicine at Creighton University, Omaha, Polich began an internal medicine practice at the Garden Medical Clinic in Garden City. Last year, she was appointed medical director of Southwest Developmental Services. She will continue to work at Garden Medical Clinic and be on staff at St. Catherine Hospital.
David Morrison, PhD, Kansas Masons Professor of Cancer Research, attended the Fourth International Congress on the Immune Consequences of Trauma Shock and Sepsis March 4-8 in Munich, Germany. He presented a lecture and chaired several symposiums.
The next Kansas Cancer Institute Research Round Table Seminar will be at noon March 18 in Lied Auditorium. Wenhao Xu, PhD, associate director of the KU Medical Center Transgenic Mouse Institutional Facility, will present "A Simplified View of the Transgenic/Gene-Targeting Technology," subtitle "TG or GT: What Can We do at KUMC?"
The next Center on Aging Research Seminar will be from 4 to 5 p.m. March 25 in 5030 Robinson. Paul Hankwitz, MD, FACP, Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Division, Kansas City, Mo., will discuss "Life Insurance and Medical Underwriters." Refreshments will be served.
Nancy Hulston, MA, KU Medical Center archivist, will present the next Hixon Hour. She will discuss "Medical Education on the Frontier in the 1870s" at 5 p.m. March 20 in the Clendening Amphitheater. A 4:30 p.m. reception in the Clendening Library Foyer will precede the lecture.
The next Multimedia Education Group meeting will be from noon to 1 p.m. March 17 in 1025 Orr-Major. Susan Barton and Sue White of the Kansas Regents Network will address distance education via desktop video conferencing (DVC) using TELENET 2. TELENET 2 is a statewide DVC network operated by the Kansas Regents Network and is located on the Kansas State University campus. All faculty and staff are welcome. For additional information see the group's Pulse site at http://www.kumc.edu/service/acadsupt/mmeg/mmeg.html or call Kim Shaw, ext. 7361.
The next International Film Series presentation will feature "The Joy Luck Club" March 20 in Sudler Auditorium. Regional foods will be served at 4 p.m., and the film will start at 5 p.m. C.C. Cheng, MD, professor of pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutics, will be the discussion facilitator. The film presentation is part of the group's celebration of Women's History Month.
The Kansas Corporation Commission has announced that the new area code for northern Kansas will be 785. It will cover all of northern Kansas except the Kansas City area, which will keep the 913 area code. The new code will take effect at 12:01 a.m. July 20. The 785 area will stretch from the eastern tier of counties north and south of Kansas City, Kan., and Overland Park, westward to the Colorado border. It will include Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, Salina, Hays and the rest of the cities that have been in area code 913. The 316 area code which covers southern Kansas, will remain the same. The new boundaries of 913 will include all of Wyandotte, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami and Linn counties, most of Atchison County and parts of Jefferson and Anderson counties.
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