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Pumerantz Library

Library Services for Alumni -- Checkout Materials
Alumni may borrow up to three circulating items for a two-week period with one renewal. You must present a Western University Identification Badge to borrow materials. If you no longer have a Western University ID badge, you may have a new one printed, or you may present a photo ID and library staff will verify alumni status. For a complete list of all services available to alumni at the Harriet K. and Philip Pumerantz Library, please visit www.westernu.edu/bin/library/alumni-services.pdf.

From the Archives -- October 16, 1984
In this photo, participants in COMP's second Brief Internship for Policymakers pose with certificates awarded to them at the end of the one-day program. The program was designed to give political, business and professional community leaders a unique behind-the-scenes look at osteopathic medical education and its health care delivery system. Left to right: Charles Trapp, President of Valley Chevrolet; President Pumerantz; Barbara Williams, Branch Vice President of Great Western Savings and Loan; Ora Lampman, Pomona City Administrator; and James Kostoff, Pomona City Councilman.

University Archives
The University Archives serves as the official memory of the University, identifying and preserving documentation of continuing significant and historical value of the University. The Archives are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please contact University Archivist Olivia Solis for more information at (909) 469-5304 or osolis@westernu.edu.

The WesternU Advi$or -- A Gift That Keeps On Giving and Giving
Wouldn't it be nice to make a gift to WesternU or one of its colleges or programs that "keeps on giving and giving?" There is a way to do this through an endowed gift. An endowment may be created using cash, a gift of stock or other asset, a will bequest, or a gift of an IRA. If you would like more information on the benefits of these various types of gifts, please contact Gift Planning Administrator Olive Stephens at (909) 469-5211 or by sending an e-mail to ostephen@westernu.edu.

Jobs for Alumni: Interested in finding a new job or just seeing what is out there? Check out the job postings for alumni at the Alumni Career Resources Center.

Share Your News and Revise Personal Information: Have you recently married, started a new job, had a baby, or received a fantastic promotion? Update WesternU on your achievements so that we can share them with your fellow classmates. Please send any news to alumni@westernu.edu.

Did You Know?:
* The University has a web page where you can find current and past issues of WesternU View and Humanism magazines, as well as past brochures, ads and videos? Check it out here.
* The WesternU Alumni Association has always supported current students, but a recent change in approach has individual classes and student clubs now applying to the Association for financial support of fun, social events that build community and enhance the student experience as well as career-oriented events that bring experienced alumni back to campus. Such activities build student affinity toward the University and help raise awareness of the Alumni Association.
* WesternU has a web site dedicated to providing the latest information and links to additional resources regarding the H1N1 Influenza.

Suggestion Box: The Office of Alumni Relations would like to hear your views about alumni services at WesternU. If you have any thoughts about alumni events, participation, or would like to propose ideas, please contact us at (909) 469-5274 or alumni@westernu.edu.

News from the Colleges
Osteopathic Medicine (COMP)
Allied Health Professions -- HS, PA, PT (CAHP)
Pharmacy (COP)
Graduate Nursing (CGN)
Veterinary Medicine (CVM)
Dental Medicine (CDM)
Optometry (CO)
Podiatric Medicine (CPM)

College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

Two OPSC-Sponsored State Bills Signed into Law
Loan Repayment (SB 606): Osteopathic physicians will soon be eligible to participate in the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program, which was previously available only to MDs. The bill provides for the repayment of student loans up to $105,000 for physicians practicing in medically underserved areas of the state. DOs, like MDs, will pay an additional $25 upon licensure or re-licensure to support the funding of the program. The remainder of the funding (up to $1 million annually) comes from health insurance plan fines and penalties.

Practice Information (SB 620): OPSC will be required to collect practice information from osteopathic physicians to provide a better picture of the state's physician workforce. Information such as board certification, practice status (full time, part time), cultural background and foreign language proficiency of licentiates will help determine where physicians of specific specialties are needed.

NMM/OMM Department News
The Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine has changed its name to Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (NMM/OMM) to reflect the name of the specialty as designated by the American Osteopathic Association Board of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. All of the department's faculty are board certified in NMM/OMM as well as another specialty.

Within the department, there is now a Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation chaired by Marcel Fraix, DO '03, who is in the process of developing an osteopathic PM&R residency as well as a PM&R clinic in Pomona.

A specialty faculty clinic will be opening in January 2010 on the WesternU campus, and will be accepting referrals of patients with refractory mobility, pain and organic or functional problems.

The Merger: MDs and DOs in California, a book written by Department Chair Michael Seffinger, DO, on the history of the DO-MD relationship in California from 1896-2008 was recently featured at osteopathic meetings in Chicago and Monterey, and a review of the book will soon appear in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. The book can be ordered online from WesternU's bookstore. Dr. Seffinger is already working on a sequel to this book on the re-birth of osteopathic medicine in California since 1974. If you played a significant role in the history and development of the osteopathic profession in California in the past 25 years, and would like to archive and preserve your personal historical documents or be interviewed for this new book, please contact Dr. Seffinger.

Faculty News
Professor Lony Castro, chair of obstetrics-gynecology, was the featured columnist in the Health section of the August 24 Los Angeles Times, with her piece focusing on the importance of the physical exam.

Assistant Professor of Anatomy Matt Wedel and several colleagues have started the Open Dinosaur Project to involve the public in observing or assisting with their work. Dr. Wedel also appeared in "The Next Extinction," the September 24 episode of the Animal Planet series "Animal Armageddon."

The neuroendocrine physiology lab headed by Associate Professor of Physiology Edward Wagner has published a manuscript in the European Journal of Pharmacology titled, "Estrogen rapidly attenuates cannabinoid-induced changes in energy homeostasis," that is co-authored by Brian A. Kellert, DO '11; Mike C. Nguyen, DO '11; Cara Nguyen, DVM '13; Que H. Nguyen, DO '08; and Edward J. Wagner (P.I.).

Dirk Foley, director of COMP's Northwest Track program, recently spoke to a Lebanon, OR, business group about the COMP Northwest campus taking shape in that community.

Alumni News
WesternU alumni rank among the top doctors in the region, and Kyle Nelson Smart, DO '01, was honored as the featured physician in the article "Meet the I.E.'s Top Doctors," part of Inland Empire Magazine's September 2009 issue. The article lists or showcases several WesternU graduates among the 37 specialties and 369 top doctors in the Inland Empire area, which covers the Pomona Valley as well as San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Todd Meyer, DO '97, is a Board certified ENT surgeon in Wisconsin as well as the owner and Medical Director of All-American Allergy Alternatives, which allows primary care providers the opportunity to blood test for allergies and allow for treatment with allergy drops instead of allergy shots. Dr. Meyer started exploring allergy drops for active duty Navy and Marine members that were not deployable to combat environments because of the restrictions of having allergy shots in the field.

Upcoming Events and Conferences
* Dinner with the Docs: Wednesday, January 20, 6-8 p.m. on campus. COMP alumni are invited to talk informally with OMS I and II students about their careers over dinner. RSVP by January 14 to compstudentaffairs@westernu.edu or (909) 469-5505.
* Save the date for the OPSC Convention in Palm Springs, February 10-14; the ACOFP Annual Convention in Las Vegas, March 18-21; and the COMP CME Conference on campus, April 24.

College of Allied Health Professions
Health Sciences Education
Physician Assistant Education
Physical Therapy Education

Department of Health Sciences Education

New Faculty Profile
The Department of Health Sciences Education would like you to meet one of the latest additions to our Adjunct Faculty, Teresa Hamilton, RN. Teresa received her BS and MS from CSU Fullerton and is in the process of obtaining her PhD in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. It is Teresa's hope to add to the body of nursing knowledge by studying patient populations using qualitative methods. The methodology that Teresa is exploring in her research centers on the "Theory of Humanbecoming" advanced by Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, RN, in the area of nursing practice and philosophy.

Teresa's first introduction to the Master of Science in Health Sciences degree program occurred when she decided to pursue her PhD and required a particular prerequisite class that WesternU offered. Upon completion of that course, she was offered the position of Assistant Professor and Director of the Skills Lab at California Baptist University, College of Nursing in Riverside. With the little free time that Teresa has, she is busy "chauffeuring" her children to their various activities. Teresa has two boys and one girl ranging in ages from 9 to 16. Teresa is also very involved in her church where she has led the songs each Sunday morning for the past 21 years. Recently, her children gave her a guitar which she is now learning to play. She hopes to be able to accompany the worship songs at church. Teresa's new guitar also provides some relaxation in her busy life as a wife, mom, nurse and professor.

Teresa is an engaging teacher who challenges MSHS students to examine their beliefs and to formulate potential solutions for complex healthcare issues affecting people in America today. In her class, HSCI 5130 Foundations in the US Healthcare System, students learn how public health data drives healthcare policy, finance and organizational changes. Measures of quality and costs are applied to acute, chronic and long term care environments. Students learn how they, as members of the healthcare workforce, relate to the many issues germane to the delivery of health care in a variety of economic systems.

Teresa began her formal nursing career in 1991 serving as a staff nurse in general medicine including medical, surgical and oncology units at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange and Corona Regional Medical Center. In 1996 Teresa changed her clinical focus and served in critical care and telemetry at St. Bernadine Medical Center in San Bernardino, and Vencor Hospital in Ontario. In 2001 Teresa joined the Kaiser Foundation working in post anesthesia. Later, she served as the Population Care Manager providing for patients with chronic kidney disease. Teresa's professional affiliations include the International Consortium of Parse Scholars, Sigma Theta Tau International, Upsilon Beta Chapter, the American Association of Nephrology Nurses, the National Kidney Foundation and the CSUF Nursing Honor Society. Teresa has held many positions within the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Executive Board since 2001. Please join the College of Allied Health Professions in welcoming Adjunct Professor Teresa Hamilton to the Department of Health Sciences Education.

Department of Physician Assistant Education

PA 20th Anniversary Celebration
Keep your calendars open for the evening of Friday, January 29, 2010, for a reception celebrating the PA Program's 20th Anniversary. Save the date cards will be sent out to alumni, who are invited back to campus to see the new PA skills lab and the new buildings recently added by the University.

20 for 20
In honor of the PA Program's 20th anniversary, alumni will be invited to contribute $20 each for a new PA Scholarship - The Physician Assistant Profession Alumni Scholarship Award. The scholarship will be given to a graduate who has the potential to be an outstanding alumnus and who has represented the University in a positive manner as a student. The goal of the scholarship is to help defray the cost of becoming a working PA after graduation (i.e. board costs, licensure fees, DEA fees, etc.). More news will be coming - stay tuned.

Student News
Western University students were represented at the last CAPA conference as student Ambassadors. Five first-year PA students were selected as ambassadors. Although we did not win the CAPA Challenge Bowl, our team did very well. WesternU was represented by second year students Shamim Remtulla, Natalie Dorwin, and Karen Buldoc. Congratulations to all the first and second year students that represented Western at CAPA's annual conference.

First year PA students have conducted vision screenings at a Claremont middle school. Over 300 eighth grade students were screened. Screenings will continue in the local Claremont elementary schools over the next several months.

Alumni News
Nearly 100 WesternU alumni attended this fall's CAPA Conference in Palm Springs and dozens attended the reception hosted by the WesternU Alumni Association. Alumni from the PA classes of 1994 to 2009 were joined at the reception by current faculty members and students.

Deniece O'Leary, MSPA '04, is now an assistant professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. She will provide education to McMaster's Charter PA Class.

Faculty News
WesternU faculty members and alumni Nancy Nielsen-Brown, MSHS '02; Ryan Junsay, MSPA '03; Janelle Macasieb, MSPA '08; and Tina Boykin-Mowery, MSPA '06, provided a workshop for PA students at the CAPA convention on how students should present to attendings and preceptors. The workshop was well received.

PA Program Chair Roy Guizado, PAC '94, MSHS '97, participated in a published round table discussion regarding physician assistants in orthopedic practice.

Preceptor Profile
Meet Joline Yeager, PAC '97, MSHS '02, and a PA student preceptor since 1998. Joline began her career as an urgent care physician assistant after she took the boards but quickly made a career change and moved to Children's Hospital of Orange to join the pediatric neurology department for the next four years. When her supervising physician was offered a position in Bangor, ME, he asked her to join his new team. It was a hard decision for Joline to make. She decided to take the opportunity so she could gain the experience of setting up a new program. After living in the east for three years, she returned to Southern California and joined the Pacific Coast Hematology/Oncology Medical Group working with Drs. Glen Justice and Marsha Fink.

She now enjoys being with her four year old granddaughter, Hailey Mae. Joline and her husband, Michael, enjoy traveling and they have visited Glazier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Zion National Park. She also enjoys weaving and finally has the time to pursue her craft. She has made scarves for the Cancer Foundation's auctions and recently has expanded her weaving skills to include wire weaving for artistic wall hangings.

Joline enjoys teaching and working with the PA students. She helps them with their clinical knowledge and experience, but she also teaches them the art of medicine so they will be well-rounded students and a good prospect for hiring after graduation. She takes the time to talk to them about their career expectations and the field of study that best suits them. She finds that many of the students graduating now are hoping to start their careers in specialty fields.

Joline chose her own specialty field to specifically work with Drs. Justice and Fink so she could combine her background with her compassion for healing. She is privileged to be able to work with her patients and to get to know their families. The families often see her and other members of the group as their internal medicine providers. The group is able to use research medications for their patients through the trials their research department monitors. The group may have as many as ten trials going on at one time. Miracles do happen in the practice. One patient with pancreatic cancer lived 15 years longer than predicted. There was the child able to grow and graduate from high school after being told she would not be able to reach that dream. As a provider you go through the journey with the patients. You laugh with them and you cry with the families. Our practice gives them more time to be with their family.

In her years of practice, Joline has seen the PA profession grow and gain respect from other professionals and hospital staff. We are looked at more as partners in the health care profession now. There have been changes in the profession over the years but none of the changes have affected the way we interact with our patients.

The biggest changes for Joline have come from her training and her experiences. Both have taught her coping techniques so she can do what she needs to do and still connect with her patients.

Department of Physical Therapy Education

CPTA Annual Meeting
Department of Physical Therapy Education alumni, faculty and students participated in the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA) Annual Conference held recently in Pasadena, CA. This two-day event was attended by more than 800 professionals from throughout the state. As a sponsor of the conference, the WesternU logo was imprinted on the official conference tote bag given out at registration. In addition, the department had a booth, staffed by Associate Chair Georgeanne Vlad, in the exhibit hall to promote WesternU and the Advanced Standing (transitional) DPT degree for current physical therapists. Several alumni from both the entry-level and from the transitional program came by the booth and enjoyed the alumni reception at the Sheraton Hotel which was hosted by the WesternU Alumni Association.

The CPTA Annual Conference Task Force included Dr. Casey Chaney, who was in charge of moderators; Dr. Sandy Stuckey, who was in charge of student volunteers; and Dr. David Selkowitz served on the CPTA Education Committee. Faculty moderators at the conference included Drs. Mary Hudson-McKinney, Casey Chaney, Janet Konecne and Ginny Dunn. In addition, Dr. Hudson-McKinney gave a presentation on "Fall Risk and Prevention: the Ups and Downs of Clinical Research" as part of the California Research Special Interest Group CPTA pre-conference retreat. Students from each of the three entry-level DPT classes of 2010, 2011 and 2012 attended the conference and had the most student representation of all PT schools in the state with almost 50 of them volunteering their time in a variety of roles.

At the 2009 CPTA Awards and Recognition Luncheon, WesternU had two faculty recognized with prestigious acknowledgments. Dr. David Selkowitz received the award for Best Research Podium Presentation for his presentation at the conference on "Determining Exercises that Target the Gluteal Muscles while Limiting Activation of the Tensor Fascia Lata: An EMG Assessment using Fine Wire Electrodes," as well as the Clarence W. Hultgren Service Award, which was created to acknowledge and honor individuals who have provided exceptional service to the CPTA and its members. Adjunct Associate Professor Dr. Mary Bailey-Long was awarded the Charles M. Magistro Service Award for "consistent, valuable and exceptional service resulting in a significant and positive effect on the CPTA and the APTA in the time period immediately preceding the award."

Alumni Clinical Instructors
The PT department is always looking for quality clinical education opportunities and is eager to have even more alumni involved in their clinical education program. Please contact Director of Clinical Education Georgeanne Vlad at gvlad@westernu.edu or (800) 249-9133, or Sandy Stuckey, Associate Director of Clinical Education at (909) 469-5309 or sstuckey@westernu.edu, if you are interested and able to participate as a Clinical Instructor at your clinical facility. The department continues to recruit for clinical placements for 2010 and would be happy to hear from you!

Alumni News
Sam Abdelghani, DPT '06; Mike Espinosa, DPT '08; and Elissa Nelson, DPT '08, recently became Credentialed Clinical Instructors from the Clinical Instructor Education and Credentialing Program of the American Physical Therapy Association. Sam works for California Childrens Services of Riverside County at the Moreno Valley MTU; Mike works at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego; and Elissa works at Head to Toe Pediatric Therapy in Santa Ana.

Marijean Piorkowski, DPT '04, served as the course co-instructor for the two-day Clinical Instructor Education and Credentialing Program from the American Physical Therapy Association which was recently held in Loma Linda.

Faculty News
Associate Professor Georgeanne Vlad recently taught the two-day Clinical Instructor Education and Credentialing Program from the American Physical Therapy Association. The course was held on the Loma Linda University campus for 54 participants. As a credentialed trainer, she teaches several courses throughout Southern California each year with the next course scheduled for November 7-8 in Placentia. If you are interested in becoming a credentialed CI, or you have already earned this CI designation, please let her know. Through her attendance at this two-day course, WesternU Associate Professor Sandy Stuckey became a Credentialed Clinical Instructor.

Department Chair Dee Schilling attended the three-day Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association held recently in Philadelphia, PA. This annual meeting for faculty in physical therapy education was attended by persons nationwide and addressed recent developments in both the academic and clinical education arenas.

Student News
Three DPT '10 students were featured in the August 2009 edition of the "Student Assembly Pulse," a news publication sponsored by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) for physical therapist and physical therapist assistant students and faculty liaisons. Patty Lepe wrote an article featured on page 1 entitled "Collaborating Together: Interdisciplinary Learning and Sharing," which highlighted the many opportunities students have to interact with each other here at WesternU. Carlene Allan and Betty Chen were also featured along with Lepe in a page 3 photo with the APTA President taken during a student mentoring reception at the recent national House of Delegates event in Baltimore.

Staff News
The Department recently welcomed Carrie Rogers to the role of Office Coordinator.

Department of Physical Therapy Education Information Sessions
Do you know someone who is interested in physical therapy? The Department of Physical Therapy Education is offering information sessions this fall to inform prospective students about curriculum, admissions process, and facilities. For more information, visit the University's Prospective Student web site.

Save the Date
APTA Combined Sections Meeting in San Diego, February 17-20.

College of Pharmacy

College of Pharmacy Receives Generous Donations
* The Target Campus Grant funds awarded $50,000 to the College of Pharmacy as a Target Leadership School at Western University of Health Sciences. This award will support the establishment of a Multi-purpose Professional Development Laboratory.

* AmerisourceBergen's Good Neighbor Pharmacy (GNP) donated a bone density machine worth more than $13,000 on August 12. The machine screens for osteoporosis by measuring density of the heel bone.

Faculty News
Assistant Professor Arbi Nazarian received an NIH-R03 grant award titled, "The effects of acetaminophen on the rewarding properties of hydrocodone in rats."

Assistant Professor Sheryl Chow has been elected to a two-year national leadership position to serve as the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Cardiology Practice and Research Networks Chair-Elect/Chair starting this month.

Associate Professor Maria Lambros received a $40,000 grant award from the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation titled, "A 3-Dimensional Human Cell Culture Model as a Replacement of Animal Models in the Study of Mucositis." The project hopes to develop an artificial human oral mucosa model in order to test herbs and drugs for treatment of mucositis in cancer patients. This work is a collaborative effort between Drs. Moses Chow, Ying Huang, Doreen Pon and Maria Lambros from the College of Pharmacy and Drs. Cyrus Parsa and Robert Orlando from COMP.

Associate Professor Jeff Wang received a $10,000 contract award from City of Hope to study the solubility and stability of COH-29, a potential anticancer drug currently being developed at City of Hope. Dr. Wang also recently published a book chapter in collaboration with colleagues at USC: "Modifying the physicochemical nature of biodrugs by reversible lipidization" in Biodrug Delivery Systems: Fundamentals, Applications and Clinical Development.

Assistant Professor Mark Nguyen recently published his work in collaboration with Dr. David Pham and our volunteer faculty Dr. Tom Saito: "Making an impact: students improving patient care."

Dr. Patrick Chan has joined the COP faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Pharmacy Practice and Administration Department with a focus in clinical pharmacokinetics.

Drs. Gollapudi Shankar and David Pham were appointed to the CPhA Policy Committee for 2009-10, and Dr. Cynthia Jackevicius was appointed to the ACCP Awards Committee for 2009-10. These appointments mark high levels of achievement and help to represent WesternU College of Pharmacy in the leadership of these important professional societies.

Dr. James Scott has been elected to the Steering Committee for the California/Hawaii Chapter of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. He is part of the team that will present the ongoing and progressive work by HIV pharmacists to increase the presence and equality of pharmacists within this group.

Dr. SiuFun Wong was instrumental in producing an instructional video on "Investigational Agent Handling" that is being widely used as a resource in Oncology.

Dr. Janice Hoffman and the WesternU students' Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) team were featured in the September 2009 edition of the PLS newsletter, The Laurel. Dr. Hoffman is National President-elect of PLS, which is the Pharmacy Leadership Society.

Student News
Jamie Ky, PharmD '11, is the inaugural recipient of the Joseph H. Beckerman Memorial Scholrship. Jamie was presented the award at the CSHP Seminar earlier this month, along with the CSHP Student Leadership Award.

WesternU's Gamma Sigma Chapter of The Rho Chi Society, the academic honor society in Pharmacy, has won the 2009-10 Chapter Project Proposal Award for their submission, "Health Fair Booth on Emergency Preparedness for People with Chronic Illnesses." The health fair project has two parts to it: A CE and an outreach (the health fairs). This is designed to help patients with serious medical needs increase their chances for survival if they can't get any medical attention (such as what happened with Hurricane Katrina). The project targets the following disease states: diabetes, asthma, kidney failure/dialysis, and CHF. The chapter will receive a plaque and $500, and will be recognized at the Rho Chi Annual Meeting/Award Presentation on March 14, 2010, in Washington, DC.

Upcoming Conferences
* ASHP Mid Year Meeting in Las Vegas, December 6-10... Register for the meeting by October 21 to get the early registration rate and plan to join us at the WesternU Dinner on December 7!
* CPhA Outlook Convention in Long Beach, February 4-7
* APhA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, March 12-15

College of Graduate Nursing

Faculty News
Associate Professor Dawn Stone has been selected from hundreds of applicants for an advanced educational program Developing and Sustaining Cultural Competency in Graduate Nursing Education course, which will be held December 4, 2009, in Santa Barbara. This educational grant is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Her expertise will be an added resource for the university.

Save the Date
CANP Educational Conference in Anaheim, March 25-28, with a WesternU alumni reception on Friday, March 26.

College of Veterinary Medicine

Student Commons Dedicated
On August 27, WesternU celebrated the generous contributions of the Naimoli family with the dedication of the Banfield Veterinary Clinical Center Student Commons in their honor. Vince Naimoli, founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team and a new member of the WesternU Board of Trustees, was on hand with his wife Lenda for the dedication.

Faculty News
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded a National Leadership Grant of $100,000 to a team from the College to improve the breeding programs of captive endangered species. Faculty members and co-principal investigators Margaret Barr, Kristopher Irizarry and Janis Joslin will develop a strategy for using genetic analysis to maximize the breeding of snow leopards to enhance species diversity and robustness.

Veterinary pathology professor Dr. Tracey McNamara presented the keynote address at the first "Research in Avian Diseases Conference," held on campus last month. Dr. Miguel Saggese, veterinary microbiologist and raptor specialist on our CVM faculty was instrumental in bringing this meeting to our campus. The excellent program of international importance offered more than 20 presentations, including special presentations and an extraordinary list of speakers.

Professor Victoria Voith was quoted in an Associated Press article published in several newspapers around the world about dogs' fear of thunder. Dr. Voith also received a $30,000 gift from the National Canine Research Council to support her research on Dog Breed Identification.

Veterinary anesthesiologist Dr. Lyon Lee has participated in a retrospective record review evaluating a local anesthetic combination protocol for a common canine ophthalmological procedure (the conjunctiva flap). The paper, titled "Combination Auriculopalpebral Nerve Block and Local Anesthesia for Placement of a Nictitating Membrane-to-Superotemporal Bulbar Conjunctiva Flap in Dogs," was published in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association. The published work is the result of an international collaboration between Western University of Health Sciences and veterinarians at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. The success of a local anesthetic procedure is considered a time- and cost-saving approach to canine ophthalmologic treatment.

Dr. Wendell Cole and Dr. Josep "Pep" Rutllant-Labeaga presented "How We Teach Theriogenology in a Problem-based Learning Format" at the Educators Forum during the annual meeting of the American College of Theriogenologists in Albuquerque, NM, in August.

In the face of threats from zoonotic disease, USDA Avian Influenza Cooperative Agriculture Program has awarded a team of WesternU faculty investigators a grant aimed at educating families who keep backyard poultry flocks in the Inland Empire. The education effort will inform poultry owners about the hazards of avian influenza and appropriate responses to reporting and managing diseased flocks. The $83,915 grant is for two years of community outreach activity that will bring visibility for WesternU into our Inland Empire communities.

Veterinary professor and pathologist Dr. Tracey McNamara has been invited to serve on the External Advisory Board of the EU-funded Wildtech Consortium project. (WildTech: Novel technologies for Surveillance of Emerging and Re-emerging Infections of Wildlife). The goal of this ambitious and visionary project is the development of pan-European surveillance for known/novel diseases of wildlife. Dr. McNamara has earned this recognition by devoting a significant part of her career to disease surveillance strategies in the U.S. following the West Nile Virus outbreak she helped to identify.

Dr. Joe Bertone has collaborated with researchers at the Equine Research Center, California State Polytechnic University to conduct a study of Sports Massage Effects on Stride Parameters in Horses. The results of the study have been accepted for presentation at the Eighth International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology, being held in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2010.

Veterinary microbiologist Dr. Miguel Saggese presented a paper titled "Health Status of Argentine Crowned Eagles (Harpyhaliaetus coronatus)" to the Association of Avian Veterinarians Annual Conference held in Milwaukee, WI, in August. Besides his research interest in raptor health and rehabilitation, Dr. Saggese has been active in the Association of Avian Veterinarians and now serves as Chair for the AAV Scholarship Committee. In this role he oversees the selection of award winners from among veterinarians and veterinary student applicants worldwide.

Associate Professor David Clark, chief of staff at the on campus Banfield – The Pet Hospital, has published a continuing education article describing the diagnosis and treatment of potassium abnormalities in veterinary patients in Banfield's bi-monthly publication.

Assistant Professor of Equine Dentistry Elizabeth Schilling presented a paper last month titled "A practical approach to sedation and pain management in the equine dental patient" at the 18th European Congress of Veterinary Dentistry in Zurich, Switzerland, hosted by the European Veterinary Dental Society and the European Veterinary Dental College.

Assistant Professor Paul N. Gordon-Ross, Director of Clinical Relations, presented a paper last month at the conference of the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies presented in Cape Town, South Africa. The presentation, titled "Problem Based Learning as Applied in Three Distinct Settings: High School Science Students, Pre-service Teachers, and Veterinary Education," supported the conference theme "Rethinking Curriculum Studies Today." The abstract of this presentation is published in the Book of Abstracts for this conference by the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies.

Veterinary internist Dr. Linda Kidd and veterinary microbiologist Dr. Peggy Barr collaborated with Dr. Breitschwerdt from North Carolina State University to publish an invited Continuing Education article discussing the inter-species linkage between wild and domestic animal diseases spread to humans with the flea as the intermediate host. The paper, titled "Opossums, Cats, Fleas, and Zoonotic Disease," was published in the Clinician's Brief by the North American Veterinary Conference. Clinician's Brief has been voted Most Useful Publication in Veterinary Medicine & Best Publication for Diagnostic & Treatment Information.

Laboratory animal veterinarian Dr. Diane McClure has collaborated with colleagues at Stanford University to publish their evaluation of methods for humane euthanasia of frogs. "Good Death" is the intended meaning of euthanasia, and although we avoid sacrifice of any life when possible, there are circumstances that make euthanasia the best option for veterinarians. Among their important findings is the discovery that a common infant teething anesthetic is highly lethal when applied to the skin of the frog.

The USDA Avian Influenza Cooperative Agriculture Program has awarded veterinary virologists Dr. Ellen Collisson (as PI) and Dr. Yvonne Drechsler (as Co-Inv) the second year funding in the amount of $37,918 for the CD8+ T cell studies on a grant in collaboration with Auburn University. The grant is titled "Protection of chickens against avian influenza by a non-replicating adenovirus vaccine." The first and second year awards now total $71,898.

Upcoming Conferences
* North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, January 16-20
* Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas, February 14-18

College of Dental Medicine

Dr. Rick Valachovic, Executive Director of the American Dental Education Association, referenced WesternU in considering the role new dental schools can play in promoting best educational practices in his recent article, "Opportunities Abound for New Dental Schools. How Will We Seize Them?" that appeared in his organization's monthly newsletter.

Faculty News
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Andrews recently had an article, titled "Concurrent Human Papillomavirus-Associated Tonsillar Carcinoma in 2 Couples," published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Assistant Professor Bradley S. Henson has had two papers and one book chapter published: "The diagnostic value of salivary biomarkers for periodontal disease" in Periodontology; "Salivary microRNA: Discovery, Characterization, and Clinical Utility for Oral Cancer Detection" in Clinical Cancer Research; and "Salivary Diagnostics" in Methods in Molecular Biology.

Assistant Professor Vicki Wedel received a grant from the Forensic Sciences Foundation for her Determination of Season at Death Using Dental Cementum Increment Analysis project.

College of Optometry

Founder's Day
The College of Optometry hosted their first Founder's Day event on Saturday, September 26 for their inaugural class of students and their families. Dr. Donald Studt welcomed the guests with his inspirational speech titled, "Good vision is more than seeing 20/20... It is seeing without effort" and received the Founder's Award for his contributions to the optometric profession. Dean Elizabeth Hoppe presented eight students with awards and scholarships, including the VOLK Optical Lens Award, Wal-Mart Optometry Scholarship, Richmond Products Scholarship, Founding Optometry Faculty Scholarship, and Founding Dean Scholarship. The presentations ended with a special performance by local high school students from the School of Arts & Enterprise. The remaining activities for the day included vision screenings (to show off the students' newly acquired skills), a donor vendor fair and lunch.

Students "See" Infants for First Time
With toys in hand, four first-year WesternU optometry students, with the help of Assistant Professor Jasmine Yomuri, got their first experience at examining the eyes of infants last month, as the College of Optometry provided free vision screenings to nine infants at Prototypes in Pomona as part of the American Optometric Association's InfantSee Program.

College of Podiatric Medicine

Faculty News
Aksone Nouvong, Chair of Podiatric Medicine, Surgery and Biomechanics, was invited to present at the Orange County Podiatric Medical Association on September 26. She spoke on her research finding evaluating microcirculation with hyperspectral imaging and also on foot and ankle trauma compartment syndrome. Dr. Nouvong also had her article, "Evaluation of diabetic foot ulcer healing with hyperspectral imaging of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin," accepted for publication in next month's Diabetes Care.

On September 11-13, 2009, Dean Lawrence Harkless attended the Tennessee Podiatric Medical Association Physician's Program meeting in Tennessee, where he lectured on evidence based wound care. The meeting was attended by more than 150 podiatrists from the state of Tennessee.

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