NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

NYU Langone Medical Center announced today that Steven L. Galetta, MD, has been appointed the Philip K. Moskowitz, MD Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology, andLaura Balcer, MD, MSCE, has been appointed vice chair of the department. The appointments are effective November 1, 2012.

A nationally recognized leader in neurology and medical education, Dr. Galetta joins NYU Langone from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) where he is the Ruth Wagner Van Meter and J. Ray Van Meter Professor of Neurology, vice chair of the department, and director of the Division of Neuro-Ophthalmology. During his tenure at Penn, Galetta led the Department of Neurology residency program for an unprecedented 23 years. He also leads the neuro-ophthalmology fellowship program and serves as associate dean of admissions of the medical school.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Galetta as chair of neurology, said Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO at NYU Langone. As one of todays leading clinical neurologists, he brings a depth and breadth of experience and expertise in neurology, neuro-ophthalmology, and program development, making him the ideal chairperson to lead our already stellar department to even greater heights.

Often noted for his abilities as an educator, Dr. Galetta has received nearly 50 awards including the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, Penns highest teaching award. In 2004, he was also honored for his role as an educator by receiving the American Neurological Associations Distinguished Neurology Teacher Award, granted to only one teacher in the U.S. each year, as well as the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Additionally he received the Palmer Parker Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Dr. Galetta was the recipient of the Louis Duhring Outstanding Clinical Specialist Award at Penn in 1998. His areas of expertise include research and advances in the treatment of double vision, multiple sclerosis (MS), neuro-ophthalmology, and optic nerve disorders.He is a prolific researcher and has authored more than 200 original papers, as well as 113 editorials and serves on the editorial boards of Neurology and the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology. Additionally, he served as president of the Philadelphia Neurological Society in 2004.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Dr. Galetta received his undergraduate degree from Penn in 1979, and in that same year received the Class of 1915 Award, which is presented annually to the senior male student-athlete who shows outstanding athletic, academic and leadership qualities. Additionally, in 2005 he was inducted into Penn Athletics Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in both lightweight football and track during his undergraduate career. Dr. Galetta received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1983.He completed his neurology residency training at Penn and his neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Florida.

It is an honor to join NYU Langone, and I am delighted to return to my roots in New York City, said Dr. Galetta. I am eager to begin this next chapter of my career and to lead NYU Langones already world-class Department of Neurology in delivering exceptional patient care, advanced scientific research, and quality graduate education.

The principal investigator for several notable clinical trials that examine strategies and potential roles for early therapy in MS, Dr. Galetta is also an outstanding mentor, inspiring his trainees to become physician-scientists in neurology and neuro-ophthalmology. In fact, Dr. Galetta introduced one of his first neuro-ophthalmology fellows, Dr. Balcer, to MS as an area for vision research. Since then, they have been teammates and collaborators for over 20 years at Penn, where she serves as a professor of neurology and division chief for MS since 2004, leading a diverse group of physician-scientists, clinicians and staff. She will now join Dr. Galetta in steering the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone.

Dr. Balcer was one of the first epidemiologists within the field of neuro-ophthalmology. She is an established clinical investigator whose teams work has focused on the development of visual outcome measures for MS. Dr. Balcers research, through collaborative efforts with researchers from several other leading institutions, first identified structure-function correlations in the visual pathway that now allow the measuring of axonal and neuronal loss in patients with MS and optic neuritis. She has co-authored more than 150 publications, and is the principal investigator for NIH and foundation grants totaling more than $1 million.

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Steven L. Galetta, MD, Appointed Chair of the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center

PHOENIX, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Creighton University 's School of Medicine Regional Campus at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Arizona opens its doors today as 42 future physicians attend their first classes.

The new regional campus of the medical school is a partnership between Arizona's oldest teaching hospital and the nationally recognized Omaha-based university. Prior to this launch, the two organizations had enjoyed a more informal relationship for many years. Now, the two have expanded their commitment and established a fully operational regional campus of Creighton's School of Medicine.

Students, who began their medical school studies in Omaha, will complete the last two years of their medical education In Phoenix. The new regional campus becomes the second allopathic medical school in Arizona offering a Doctor of Medicine, M.D., degree.

"This is a game changer for the medical industry in Arizona," said Patty White, president and CEO of St. Joseph. "For St. Joseph's, the new regional medical school campus underlines our commitment to academic excellence and patient care. Together with Creighton, we are creating the medical professionals of the future."

"This affiliation is transformational and strengthens both institutions. It expands student educational opportunities, allows for the vital recruitment of more students as our country struggles with physician shortages, creates collaborative research opportunities and leverages the faculty and administrative expertise from both organizations," said Creighton President Timothy R. Lannon, S. J.

Creighton School of Medicine was established in 1892 as part of the Catholic, Jesuit institution. Creighton graduates practice medicine in all 50 states. Last year the school had more than 6,206 applications for 126 openings. In 2012, Creighton matched 97 percent of its graduating students with their specialties of choice.

2-2-2 Arizona's Newest Medical School Opens 2-2-2

The new Arizona regional medical school campus is the latest chapter in St. Joseph's long history as a teaching hospital. Academic affairs at St. Joseph's began in 1936 with the hospital's first intern class of eight trainees. Today St. Joseph's sponsors 10 graduate medical residency programs with more than 200 graduate medical residents and 12 specialty fellowship programs. More than 150 residents and 240 medical students from Arizona and around the U.S. come to St. Joseph's annually for training from their home programs.

"We will be offering an environment that allows these students to excel in the practice of compassionate medicine while learning from some of the best doctors in the nation," says James Balducci, M.D., and associate dean of the campus.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said that the partnership between Creighton and St. Joseph's is "fantastic news not only for Arizona's medical students, but for the State as a whole. With the new Phoenix campus, Arizona is one step closer to becoming a national and international destination for medical care and research innovation."

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Arizona's Newest Medical School Opens

KALAMAZOO, MI Leaders of the Western Michigan University medical school announced Thursday the future downtown Kalamazoo campus will be named the W.E. Upjohn Campus for the founder of The Upjohn Co.

Last December, MPI Research announced it would donate a building near the northwest corner of Portage and Lovell streets to WMU for the medical school.

The more than 300,000-square-foot building was part of the downtown campuses of pharmaceutical companies Upjohn, Pharmacia and then Pfizer, and has been known as Building 267. It is slated to undergo renovations and a small expansion starting later this summer, and is scheduled to be ready for use by August 2014 for the opening of the medical school.

W.E. Upjohn founded what became The Upjohn Co. in 1886 and was its president for 43 years.

"This property represents the beginning of the greatly expanded Upjohn campus, which included this building throughout the life of the company," William U. Parfet, the great-grandson of W.E. Upjohn who is now chairman and CEO of MPI Research, said in a statement released from WMU. "It only makes sense to our family that this would be the headquarters for the WMU School of Medicine."

The medical school, being developed by WMU in partnership with Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare, is awaiting accreditation. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education recently granted the school "candidate medical school" status. According to a statement from WMU, the committee is planning a preliminary accreditation visit to the campus.

WMU last year announced it had received a $100 million gift for the school from anonymous donors.

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Western Michigan University medical school building to be named after W.E. Upjohn

Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, MA Organisms employ a fascinating array of strategies to identify and restrain invasive pieces of foreign DNA, such as those introduced by viruses. For example, many viruses produce double-stranded (ds)RNA during their life cycle and the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism is thought to recognize this structural feature to initiate a silencing response.

Now, UMass Medical School researchers have identified a mechanism related to RNAi that scans for intruders not by recognizing dsRNA or some other aberrant feature of the foreign sequence, but rather by comparing the foreign sequences to a memory of previously expressed native RNA. Once identified, an "epigenetic memory" of the foreign DNA fragments is created and can be passed on from one generation to the next, permanently silencing the gene.

A remarkable feature of this RNAi-related phenomenon (referred to as RNA-induced epigenetic silencing, or RNAe), is that the animal carries a memory of previous gene expression. This memory of active genes serves as an "anti-silencing" signal, which protects native genes from RNAe and under some circumstances appears to adopt foreign genes as self. These findings, described in three studies (including a study by Eric Miska and colleagues of the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge and Wellcome Trust, UK) published online yesterday and to appear in the July 6 issue of Cell, provide new insights into how identical organisms can have the same DNA sequence but opposite patterns of gene expression and thus dramatically different phenotypes.

"If a worm modulates gene expression by carrying a memory of the genes it expressed in previous generations, perhaps other organisms (including humans) can as well. If so, mechanisms of this type could have an important impact on evolution," said Craig C. Mello, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and distinguished professor of molecular medicine and cell biology. "The RNAe mechanism could accelerate evolutionary change by increasing heritable phenotypic variation (without the need for DNA mutations). There is growing evidence that many organisms can track and respond epigenetically to gene expression patterns. Our findings provide insight into a whole new level of sophistication in the recognition and memory of gene expression programs."

Dr. Mello and colleagues knew that when a foreign piece of DNA encoding the green fluorescent protein, or GFP, was inserted into the small roundworm C. elegans, some of the worms would silence the newly introduced DNA while others would express the GFP gene. They then explored a role for RNAi in the decision to silence or express GFP. RNAi is a process whereby cells modulate the activity of their genes. In RNAi-related phenomena, Argonaute proteins interact with and use small RNAs as little genetic guides to recognize target nucleic acids through base-pairing interactions.

Based on their findings, Mello and colleagues posit a model comprised of three separate Argonaute systems that work together to scan, identify and silence foreign DNA, while protecting the expression of normal genes. In this system, an Argonaute called PRG-1 (Piwi) bound to piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) is responsible for scanning molecules of RNA as they leave the nucleus of the cell and determining if they are indigenous to the organism or foreign. If PRG-1 and its piRNA cofactors identify a foreign sequence, it initiates (or activates) the second Argonaute system, known as WAGO, which turns the genetic material off so it can't be expressed.

Once the DNA is identified as foreign and silenced, an epigenetic memory is created that silences the foreign gene from one generation to the next. While the inheritance of this memory requires further exploration, the authors showed that successive generations of C. elegans are unable to express the foreign DNA even if the corresponding piRNA is absent.

"It appears that piRNAs are responsible for the initial scanning and identification of foreign nucleic acids," said Darryl Conte Jr., PhD, research assistant professor of molecular medicine and one of the co-authors on the Cell papers. "Because the foreign DNA in successive generations is being silenced, even in worms that don't have the piRNA, the information necessary for silencing is being passed on epigenetically and independently of the initial scanning done by the piRNA complex in the previous generations."

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UMass Medical School researchers discover a new role for RNAi

Amid protests in a student-led petition, the Perelman School of Medicine announced its new plan for promoting diversity on Tuesday.

The online petition which has received over 800 signatures from students, faculty and other supporters criticizes the Medical School administration for eliminating the Office for Diversity and Community Outreach. Perelman for Diversity, a student group that formed in mid-June in response to this decision, also formally submitted a letter to the administration on June 25.

The next day, Senior Vice Dean for Education Gail Morrison issued a letter to all medical school students outlining the Medical Schools plans to restructure its diversity and inclusion programs.

She announced that intensive care specialist Horace Delisser had been appointed to the new position of Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion within the Academic Programs Office, and emergency room physician Iris Reyes had been named Associate Dean for Student Community Outreach. In addition, Morrison stated that a new faculty Council on Diversity and Inclusion, headed by Neurology professor Roy Hamilton and Psychiatry professor Benoit Dube, would begin working with the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid and the Office of Student Affairs starting July 1.

In the letter, Morrison also wrote that Karen Hamilton and Hilda Luiggi who worked in ODCO for a combined 30 years would be stepping down from their positions.

A tradition of support

Founded in 1968 as the Office for Minority Affairs, the ODCO was the first minority support office in the country. Responsible for minority student recruitment and retention as well as mentoring programs for college, medical and high school students, Hamilton and Luiggi also provided advising and support to all minority student groups within the Medical School.

In the petition, students wrote that this move would negatively affect the generations that follow because for many, the warm and welcoming environment uniquely provided by these individuals [was a] major contributing factor in their decisions to attend Perelman. The students also felt the manner in which Hamilton and Luiggis departure was announced was without explanation and with only a months notice before the ODCOs planned dissolution.

According to a Medical School student who wished to remain anonymous because she is involved with the petition, news of ODCOs elimination reached some minority student groups in mid-June. On June 20, the Medical School Government notified student group leaders of a meeting with Morrison on July 3 to give feedback on the decision.

Medical School spokesperson Susan Phillips explained that Hamilton and Luiggi are not physicians, and that Reyes and Delisser who are both active clinicians would be a significant advantage for students that need support in their career at Penn.

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Students petition Medical School to reinstate diversity office

by Ken Alltucker - Jun. 27, 2012 06:59 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center today adds a new designation: medical-school campus.

The Phoenix hospital becomes a campus for Creighton University's School of Medicine as the initial class of 42 students begins its studies.

The students, who completed their first two years of instruction at Creighton's main campus in Omaha, Neb., will finish their third and fourth years at St. Joseph's. A second class of 42 students will follow next year, giving the Phoenix hospital a constant rotation of 84 third- and fourth-year medical-school students studying in class and roaming the hospital floors on clinical rotations.

The arrangement fulfills St. Joseph's long-sought goal of being a medical-school campus for a Jesuit Catholic university. Creighton, which has long sent medical-school students to St. Joseph's for one-month rotations, pursued the arrangement to expand west with a new campus for its expanded medical school.

Both St. Joseph's and Creighton University touted the relationship as a boon for metro Phoenix's burgeoning medical-education industry and a potential source of future doctors.

"We looked at our long-term commitment to education, improving the health of this community and educating our future health-care providers," said Linda Hunt, area president for San Francisco-based Dignity Health, which owns St. Joseph's Hospital. "We are really excited about the students being here."

Five years ago, metro Phoenix did not have an "M.D." medical school. The University of Arizona College of Medicine opened its Phoenix campus in 2007. Creighton University becomes the region's second allopathic medical school granting doctor of medicine, or M.D., degrees. And Mayo Clinic is ramping up its planning for a branch of Mayo Medical School that expects to open on Mayo's Scottsdale campus in 2014.

The UA College of Medicine this summer will welcome its largest-ever class of 80 students, up from 48 students per year. UA expanded its class size with this summer's opening of the new copper-clad Health Sciences Education building at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.

The building will allow the addition of three lecture halls, an anatomy lab and a simulation center as well as administrative offices for medical-school staff. The 268,000-square-foot building will also host Northern Arizona University's physician-assistant and physical-therapy programs.

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Phoenix St. Joseph's Hospital to host 3rd-, 4th-year Creighton medical-school students

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

(HFMA ANI Booth # 1661) Avantas, a leading provider of strategic labor management technology, services and strategies for the healthcare industry, today announced that Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and its associated Medical Group has selected its consulting services and solutions in an effort to improve labor performance across the entire university-based enterprise.

Penn State Hershey will partner closely with Avantas to ensure efficient operations across the entire organization while optimizing its largest expense, labor, through the implementation of Avantas proven Healthcare Enterprise Labor Management (HELM) methodology. As a large, educational health system, our labor management issues are incredibly complex and represent a very large cost for the enterprise, said Sherry Kwater, Chief Nursing Officer, Penn State Hershey. After careful consideration, we chose Avantas because we believe that implementation of its HELM model will help us achieve efficiencies and cost-savings across our entire enterprise including 58 practice sites within The Medical Group; all while continuing to provide high quality patient and family centered care to the residents of central Pennsylvania.

This implementation will be rolled out across three distinct phases, the first of which is currently underway. During this phase, Avantas labor management experts will provide in-depth analysis of the health systems labor workforce and operational practices. This includes identifying utilization trends, designing strategies based on demand information, outlining the workforce demographic, identifying trends in staff dissatisfiers and quantifying high-margin opportunities. Subsequently, Avantas will work with Penn State to re-design its resource plan and integrate proprietary, customized predictive analytics. We are excited that our HELM approach to labor management that we have been touting for years is finally becoming an accepted industry model, as evidenced by recent market demand for our consulting services and technology, said Chris Fox, Senior Vice President of Growth and Innovation, Avantas. When a premier academic medical center like Penn State Hershey invests in Avantas at this level, it is great validation of the value of our model.

HELM represents a disruptive innovation for the healthcare industry, challenging organizations to rethink what is possible with regard to labor management in all departments. The approach is comprehensive and sophisticated combining the science of workforce planning, demand forecasting, operational best practices, and a complete set of scheduling and staffing tools. Avantas has leveraged unique client experiences across large, multi-site healthcare organizations to detail effective methodologies that help them rise above departmental silos and implement a consistent and effective way to integrate labor across the enterprise.

To learn more about Avantas and its industry leading labor management solution and services, please visit booth # 1661 at HFMAs 2012 Annual National Institute at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center in Las Vegas June 25 & 26.

About Penn State Milton S. Hersey Medical Center

Founded in 1963 through a gift from The Milton S. Hershey Foundation, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is one of the leading teaching and research hospitals in the country. The 491-bed Medical Center is a provider of high-level, patient-focused medical care. The Medical Center campus also includes Penn State College of Medicine (Penn States medical school), Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, and Penn State Hershey Childrens Hospitalthe regions only childrens hospital. The Medical Center campus is part of Penn State Hershey Health System, which also includes the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation Hospital, and other specialty facilities.

About Avantas

Avantas is an Omaha, Neb.-based company devoted to serving the healthcare industry. Its proprietary scheduling and productivity solution, Smart Square, is the only comprehensive labor management platform developed by healthcare professionals for healthcare professionals. Additionally, its consultation services provide its clients tailored best practice labor management strategies designed to drive substantial and sustaining cost and quality improvements across the enterprise. For more information, please visit the Avantas website at http://www.Avantas.biz.

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Penn State Hershey Medical Center Selects Avantas for Healthcare Enterprise Labor Management Solution

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) A proposal to change higher education in New Jersey has cleared another legislative hurdle, paving the way for final passage on Thursday.

The far-reaching plan combines Rowan University and Rutgers' Camden campus in a quasi-merger and breaks up the University of Medicine and Dentistry, allocating its medical/dental school to Rutgers and its South Jersey osteopathic school to Rowan. The bill makes Rowan a research university, a designation that allows for more funding and greater autonomy in awarding contracts and soliciting bids. UMDNJ's money-losing teaching hospital, University Hospital, would continue to operate as a nonprofit. University Hospital in Newark is the state's largest charity care provider.

The proposal has rocketed through the Legislature this month despite objections from the academic community, ongoing concerns about University Hospital's viability and unanswered questions about its costs. It was advanced unanimously Monday, though several of the legislators who approved it expressed reservations about the bill as it's currently drafted.

Gov. Chris Christie proposed a version of the higher ed restructuring in January, and it has the backing of powerful South Jersey Democrat George Norcross III. Christie imposed a June 30 deadline for the framework for the overhaul to be in place, but it's unclear whether the governor supports all the changes the bill has undergone.

The 100-page proposal morphed again Monday, as 50 pages of amendments were distributed. One allows the deal to be killed if it jeopardizes the osteopathic school's accreditation. Another requires the state to adequately fund University Hospital so it continues to provide safety-net health care. An amendment added Thursday requires Rutgers to accept all of the deal, or none of it. A change added Monday shields the university from medical malpractice claims initiated before the merger.

However, no one knows how much it will cost.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski described the costs as "one of the imponderables of this legislation." He said the figures would come within the year as groundwork for the merger is being laid.

The Assembly Budget Committee heard more than two hours of testimony mostly from opponents before recessing for six hours while the latest changes were drafted. The panel returned to session about 9:30 p.m. and voted a half hour later to forward the bill to the full Assembly. Both houses are set to take final tallies on the legislation Thursday.

Dudley Rivers, vice chairman of the Rutgers Board of Trustees, said the bill poses enormous opportunity and equally onerous risks, many of which could be mitigated if the bill were tweaked further.

For example, he said a provision transferring Rutgers-Camden's property to a new joint governing board would force Rutgers to refinance $950 million in debt at a cost of $155 million. That one-time cost could be eliminated, he said, if the clause transferring Rutgers-Camden's assets is removed from the bill.

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Medical school students oppose university merger

CAMDEN Cooper Medical School of Rowan University will hold a grand opening July 24 and welcome its charter class on Aug. 13.

We move into the building in July, and we have our class of 50 set, said Dr. Paul Katz, founding dean of CMSRU on Wednesday. We have a really great group that matches our mission. We had 2,900 applicants and interviewed a little more than 300. We wanted to make sure we got the right 50 students, students who understand our school and what were about.

Katz said 72 percent of the students are residents of New Jersey, 28 are women, 22 are men and 24 percent are underrepresented in medicine, which is twice the national average.

Our mission has been diversity and inclusivity, said Katz. We also have a significant percentage of students who are disadvantaged. The typical metrics are comparable to all students admitted at MD-granting schools, so its a very competitive group. We also have a lot of students with interesting life experiences which will contribute to learning. A fair number of our students are not coming directly from college. Some are coming from other careers, others from graduate schools and others from a unique array of experiences.

Katz said CMSRU did not have any applicants from the city of Camden, though he believes that will change for next year.

The grand opening, he said, will mostly serve to thank everyone who has participated in the medical schools progress. The orientation for students will begin on their first day.

College to medical school is a big jump, said Katz. Youre taught differently, and there are different expectations. When they walk into the medical school, they will be considered professionals and will be judged on what they do and how they act 24/7.

During the orientation, Katz said CMSRU staff will talk to students about what it means to be a physician and the responsibility that comes with the position.

Physicians have the ability to enter peoples lives in ways most occupations do not, he said. We expect them to understand their patients needs, that they come from many different places and that they must be understood beyond the nature of their illness.

Katz said he and the staff have emphasized, and will continue to emphasize, to the students that there will only be one charter class.

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Cooper Medical School of Rowan University set to open

by MARK WIGGINS / KVUE News and photojournalist JUSTIN TERRY

kvue.com

Posted on June 22, 2012 at 8:54 PM

Updated yesterday at 10:02 PM

AUSTIN -- The project to create a new medical school and teaching hospital at the University of Texas has been championed by State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and UT president Bill Powers, both of whom sat down with KVUE Friday to explain their vision.

"The estimates indicate that it would be about 15,000 jobs and roughly $2 billion in economic activity," said State Sen. Watson, who has been spearheading the effort since 2011. "That's an enormous boom to our economy."

Both say the project would improve health care quality and access in Central Texas, and Powers believes such an improvement could provide added incentive for businesses and business leaders to move to Austin.

"They look at health care," said Powers. "They want to be in places that are on the cutting edge and have robust health care systems, and by improving the health of Central Texans, and really Texans, it will have an impact on the economy in that way too."

Proponents of the project say the need stems from a shortage of doctors and specialists in Austin, as well as an interest in expanding medical research already in place at UT.

"What we don't have are the clinical trials, the place to make that research translational, that can work with the medical community," explained Powers, who says the project will help tie together various research arms and university assets in a practical environment.

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State Sen. Watson, UT's Powers make case for med school

By Bloomberg News - 2012-06-24T16:00:00Z

China, where 260 million people suffer from cancer, diabetes and other diseases, is in a hurry to bolster its medical services. Investors are ready to help.

The latest is Carlyle Group LP-backed Concord Medical Services Holdings Ltd. (CCM), which last week completed a deal for a 52 percent stake in Changan Hospital, a 1,000-bed facility at the eastern end of the Silk Road. The acquisition comes three months after China announced it wants 20 percent of its hospital beds privately owned by 2015. Other investors in China include Kuala Lumpur-based IHH Healthcare Bhd. (IHH), Asias biggest hospital operator, which plans to build a hospital in Shanghai, to add to seven clinics it owns in Shanghai and one in Chengdu.

The push for private hospitals in China is part of a broader drive to improve care in a country where 95 percent of people had health insurance as of 2011. Chinas medical services market is growing 18 percent annually and projected to reach 3.16 trillion ($500 billion) in 2015, accountancy firm Deloitte China said.

Chinas gross domestic product has grown by leaps and bounds, but the quality of medical care has lagged far behind, said David Chow, chairman of Harvest Medical Investment and Operation Group, a Taiwanese private equity firm thats planning to buy stakes in mainland hospitals this year. The potential for Chinas hospitals to improve is massive, both in the overall number of beds and the fees charged for each bed.

As of last year, China had 3.7 million hospital beds, up 54 percent from 2005. Besides an increase in the proportion of beds run by private operators -- it was 12 percent last year -- the government wants at least one or two hospitals in each of its 2,853 counties by the end of 2015, according to an outline of the countrys health-care policies.

Annual revenue from private hospitals in China may reach 2.4 trillion yuan ($377 billion) by 2015, said Yvonne Wu, national life science and health care industry leader at Deloitte China in Shanghai.

The targets could translate to 400,000 new private hospital beds over the next few years, said Roberta Lipson, chief executive officer of hospital operator Chindex International Inc. (CHDX)

U.S- and European-owned companies previously had a hard time entering the Chinese hospital market and tended to invest instead in clinics and diagnostic centers. They have only been able to independently invest in hospitals since Jan. 30, when the government took the industry off a so-called restricted list that required non-Chinese investors to have a local partner and capped foreign ownership at 70 percent.

Chindex, based in Bethesda, Maryland, started Chinas first foreign-owned hospital in Beijing in 1997, six years after commencing negotiations with the government, Lipson said. It took only a year to obtain a license to operate Chindexs latest hospital, in the port city of Tianjin, she said.

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China Medical Services Market Seen Hitting $500 Billion

The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences was named the most popular medical school in the country in a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report released today.

OSU Center for Health Sciences is dedicated to serving rural and underserved Oklahoma and our students embrace that mission, said Howard Barnett, president of OSU-Tulsa and OSU-CHS. As we work to combat the physician shortage in Oklahoma, it is a testament to our College of Osteopathic Medicine that students recognize the quality medical education they receive from OSU and the vast difference our physicians make in the communities.

OSU-CHS tied with the University of Kansas Medical Center for the top slot of the 10 Most Popular Medical Schools. The rankings are based on the percentage of students accepted by the school who make the decision to attend and enroll in classes. The percentage of students accepted to those who enrolled at OSU-CHS was 85.7 percent in 2011. CHS also experienced an increase in enrollment over the previous year.

Other schools rounding out the top 10 include the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Washington School of Medicine, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, University of Nevada-Reno School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.

To view the complete ranking, visit http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2012/06/19/10-most-popular-medical-schools-2.

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OSU-CHS named most popular medical school in the U.S.

In only a few years, thousands of commuters headed to jobs and classes will arrive daily at a redesigned Metro Rail station serving as a hub for the new University at Buffalo medical school and a teeming Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Thats the vision that officials from UB and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority presented Thursday as they pledged cooperation toward integrating the current Allen/Medical Campus Metro Station into the new medical school complex.

This is a statement that we are committed to working together to come up with the best plan that meets the interests of transportation in Western New York and serves the interests of the medical school so we can make a determination of where we go, said Dennis R. Black, UBs vice president for university life and services.

The idea, the officials said, is to implement plans long on the drawing board to move the current medical school from the South Campus into a new building of at least seven stories over the Allen/Medical Campus Station.

The move aims to provide a viable transportation alternative that will mitigate the need to park even more cars on a burgeoning medical campus, while adding a touch of the urban vitality common to subway corridors in bigger cities like New York or Toronto.

The $350 million project is vital to moving workers, students, patients and visitors in and out of a neighborhood expected to become one of the citys major employment centers, UB officials said.

Its an urban setting, and it has to allow for patient and visitor access, Black said. If everybody who came there brought their own car, wed have to have a structure almost as tall as the HSBC building.

Thats not real, its not environmentally friendly, and it would be incredibly costly, he added. And we have alternatives.

Black and a contingent of UB officials, including Robert G. Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, presented their ideas to NFTA commissioners Thursday. They noted the Allen/Medical Campus Station will remain essentially unchanged below the surface and along the rail line when the project is completed in 2016.

But the surface portion will serve as the cornerstone of the new medical school building, leading to a glass atrium covering an extended Allen Street for pedestrian traffic into the rest of the medical campus. Black said planners also will study the potential for shops and restaurants as part of the atrium.

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Downtown medical school tied to subway

The foundation will give $7.5 million for start-up costs and a $7.5 million dollar-for-dollar endowment challenge grant to each of the medical school's two partners - the University of Tulsa and the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa.

This gift is not only the largest in the history of the foundation but also equal to about half of the total donations in the foundation's history, said Trustee R.H. Harbaugh.

Mary K. and John T. Oxley, who established the foundation in 1985, were Tulsans "through and through" and would be "very proud today to hear of this new commitment," Harbaugh said. "We look forward to working with you to make Tulsa a more healthy, happy and productive community."

TU President Steadman Upham, OU President David Boren and OU-Tulsa President Gerard Clancy presented Harbaugh and Oxley Foundation Program Officer Konnie Boulter with white lab coats as symbolic gifts to mark the commitment.

The announcement at the Wayman Tisdale Specialty Health Clinic attracted a large crowd of local leaders, including Mayor Dewey Bartlett, Tulsa Metro Chamber President Mike Neal, state Rep. Jabar Shumate, regents and trustees from OU and TU, and several Tulsa physicians.

Boren said the gift marks a "transformational moment" for the area.

The new school will train primary-care physicians to treat underserved areas, especially poor parts of Tulsa.

Forty percent of the city's population live in an area with only 4 percent of the city's physicians, and north Tulsans on average have a life expectancy seven years shorter than their south Tulsa neighbors, Boren said.

"We really felt a moral imperative ... to do something about it, and that's what we celebrate today because we're going to create a future far different from our present course," he said.

For decades, OU has been graduating physicians at its Tulsa school. The students spent their first two years of medical school studying pure science at Oklahoma City's OU Health Sciences Center and the second two years in clinical instructions in Tulsa.

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Oxley Foundation makes $30 million commitment to Tulsa medical school

University of California, Davis, medical school professor Michael Wilkes doesn't shy from controversial positions, or criticism of the university where he teaches.

That's how how First Amendment free speech rights work.

That's also how academic freedom works, a bedrock principle that criticism and open competition among ideas are the "surest safeguard of truth," wrote the American Association of Universities in 1953.

But First Amendment and academic freedom principles are under challenge at the medical school.

When Wilkes penned an op-ed column in 2010, he received a document on letterhead from legal counsel, requested by UC Davis School of Medicine Dean Claire Pomeroy, saying the university could potentially sue him for defamation for hurting the reputation of the university.

That is outrageous and calls for action by Chancellor Linda Katehi.

Just what drew that overwrought response from the medical school?

Wilkes, a recognized expert on prostate cancer, co-authored an op-ed piece with a USC professor. Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, it said prostate screening not only may do no good, it may be harmful and lambasted a UC Davis men's health seminar advertising "Prostate Defense Begins at 40."

The authors labeled the seminar an "infomercial endorsement" of prostate screening: "We can't say why UC Davis offers this course that ignores scientific evidence, but we wonder whether it just might have to do with money."

Wilkes has been outspoken in questioning marketing by medical industries in Bee columns, too.

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Editorial: Davis medical school was way out of bounds

University of California at Davis medical school Professor Michael Wilkes doesn't shy from controversial positions, or criticism of the university where he teaches. That's how free speech rights work.

That's also how academic freedom works, a bedrock principle that criticism and open competition among ideas are the "surest safeguard of truth," in the words of the American Association of Universities in 1953.

But First Amendment and academic freedom principles are under challenge at the UC Davis medical school.

When Wilkes wrote an op-ed column in 2010, he received a document on letterhead from legal counsel saying the university could potentially sue him for defamation for hurting the reputation of the university. The dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, Claire Pomeroy, had requested that the letter be sent to him.

That is outrageous and calls for action by Chancellor Linda Katehi.

So what drew that overwrought response from the medical school?

Wilkes, a recognized expert on prostate cancer, co-authored an op-ed piece with a USC professor. Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, it said prostate screening not only might do no good, it might actually be harmful -- and lambasted a UC Davis men's health seminar advertising "Prostate Defense Begins at 40."

The authors labeled the seminar an "infomercial endorsement" of prostate screening: "We can't say why UC Davis offers this course that ignores scientific evidence, but we wonder whether it just might have to do with money."

The proper response by supporters of screening would be to write their own columns -- or write a letter rebutting the claims.

An investigation by a committee of the UC Davis Academic Senate found that the medical school's letter on potential legal action -- before any "full and fair assessment" of the facts -- was a "blatant threat" and aimed "to stifle legitimate public debate."

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Our View: UC medical school goes out of bounds

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.

Medical schools are aiming to increase enrollment by 30 percent by 2015 to combat projected physician shortages. For schools to reach this goal, they must entice prospective students not only to apply, but to enroll once accepted.

[See photos of the most popular medical schools.]

And if medical school enrollment was a popularity contest, the Center for Health Sciences at Oklahoma State University and the University of Kansas Medical Center would split the top prize. Both schools achieved a yieldthe percentage of accepted students who opt to enrollof 85.7 percent in 2011 and increased their enrollments over the previous year.

A total of 110 ranked medical schools provided acceptance and enrollment data for the 2011-2012 school year. The 10 most popular medical schools posted yields of 74 percent or greater.

[Learn about alternate routes to a medical education.]

While Oklahoma State and Harvard Medical School are new to the most popular medical schools list, the other schools on the list trumpeted high yields last year. Six of the schools increased their yields from the 2010-2011 school year, but only four of the 10 most popular medical schools increased the number of students they enrolled.

Budget concerns could be behind the stagnant enrollment. Fifty-two percent of medical schools surveyed by the Association of American Medical Colleges said the economy could inhibit their ability to maintain enrollment levels, much less increase them, according to a May 2012 survey.

[Find information on paying for medical school.]

The University of Washington School of Medicinethe highest ranked primary care program among the most popular medical schoolsonly enrolled three more students in 2011 than in 2010, despite sending out more acceptance letters, dropping its yield from 79.4 percent to 76.8 percent. Harvard Medical School upped its yield in 2011, but enrollment stayed steady at 165 new students. The UW School of Medicine earned the top spot in U.S. News's 2013 ranking of best primary care programs and Harvard was the No. 1 ranked medical school for research.

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10 Most Popular Medical Schools

The Cleveland Clinic's plans to join forces with Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is good news for both institutions, and should be a worthwhile step toward increasing the number of primary care physicians in Northeast Ohio.

The philosophical underpinnings of osteopathy -- treating the whole body rather than focusing on specific symptoms of illnesses -- lend themselves particularly well to practice in such primary care categories as family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics.

And the need for primary care doctors is expected to become acute within a decade. Some trackers of medical trends say the nation eventually will have 45,000 fewer primary care doctors than it needs.

Plain Dealer editorials express the view of The Plain Dealer's editorial board -- the publisher, editor and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the newspaper.

Talk about the topic of this editorial in the comments below.

Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

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The medical school extension campus that OU and the Clinic are establishing at Southpointe Hospital in Warrensville Heights is expected to enroll its first 32-student class in 2015.

Maybe that sounds like a drop in a bucket and still 45,000 jobs shy of what the country will need, but the hope is that the experience and connections that the students develop in this region during medical school will make them more likely to stay and help keep Northeast Ohio from becoming one of those dreaded "underserved areas."

Benefits will accrue much sooner to city and state coffers, to the tune of more than $700,000 a year in additional tax revenues. Mayor Brad Sellers is understandably enthusiastic.

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Medical school extension will help building up primary care in Greater Cleveland: editorial

Public release date: 19-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, MA Longtime collaborators Victor R. Ambros, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, were awarded the 2012 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research today by Johnson & Johnson for their co-discovery of microRNA, tiny molecules that are now understood to play a powerful role in gene expression and regulation. The award was announced during an event at the Biotechnology Industry Organization International Convention in Boston.

The award was created by Johnson & Johnson to honor the legacy of one of the most passionate, creative and productive scientists of the 20th century, Dr. Paul Janssen (1926-2003). The legacy of Dr. Paul as he was known in the scientific community continues to inspire the company's commitment to developing innovative solutions for unmet medical needs. Dr. Paul's work led to breakthroughs in several fields, including pain management, psychiatry, infectious disease and gastroenterology. Four of the drugs discovered by Dr. Paul and his team remain on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines.

This is the second time in six years that a UMass Medical School scientist has been recognized by the Janssen Award selection committee. UMass Medical School professor Craig C. Mello won the inaugural Janssen Award in 2006.

"Victor is one of the great pioneers of microRNAi and an integral member of an exceptional community of RNA researchers here at UMass Medical School. Together, these faculty are advancing the world's understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms and furthering the field of biomedical sciences," said Chancellor Michael F. Collins, MD. "We are delighted to see Victor recognized with this remarkable award from his colleagues and fellow scientists."

"Victor's pioneering discovery of microRNA occurred at a time when the field was not mentally prepared to understand its full significance. We now know that microRNAs have key functions in a variety of human diseases, ranging from hyperlipidemia (high blood cholesterol) to cancer," said Terence R. Flotte, MD, executive deputy chancellor, provost, and dean of the School of Medicine.

Since the discovery of microRNAs in 1993, these regulatory molecules have been implicated in a wide range of both normal and pathological activities including embryonic development, blood-cell specialization, muscle function, heart disease and viral infections. Their discovery has opened new fields of research and has implications for the development of new therapeutic treatments and diagnostic tools.

Working independently, Dr. Ambros and Dr. Ruvkun led the groups that identified the first microRNA and the first microRNA target. Dr. Ambros' lab yielded the discovery of the first microRNA and Dr. Ruvkun's lab identified how that microRNA regulates its target messenger. Working together, they demonstrated that the microRNA inactivates its target through direct, base-pairing interactions. MicroRNAs have been linked to cancer and identified as regulators of numerous other developmental events in both plants and animals. As a result of this discovery, researchers are now exploring microRNAs for use in diagnosis and prognosis as well as potential therapies.

"We are honored to join the distinguished list of past awardees of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research," said Ambros, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor in the Program in Molecular Medicine at UMass Medical School in Worcester, MA. "It is a testament to the wisdom of private and government patrons that fundamental research such as ours was supported over the years, and that it is paying off in new understanding of disease processesand possibly in cures for patients."

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UMMS researcher Victor Ambros, Ph.D., named co-recipient of 2012 Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

SAN DIEGO, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Medical Marijuana Inc. (MJNA) a leading cannabis and hemp industry innovator, is pleased to announce the appointment of the CanCHEW Bio-technologies executive team Dr. George Anastassov, Dr. Philip A. Van Damme and Lekhram Changoer to its Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Committee.

Dr. George E. Anastassov, Director

George E. Anastassov, MD, DDS, graduated with BA Degree, Fine Arts School, Sofia, Bulgaria in 1981, followed by MD Degree, Medical Academy, Higher Medical Institute Sofia, Bulgaria, and a DDS Degree, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York In 1990.

Between 1988 and 1991 held Clinical Extern positions at the, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Bellevue Hospital Centre, New York. Clinical Assistant, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Microsurgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, and Clinical Extern, at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Bellevue Hospital Centre, New York.

Operating in private practice between 1990 1993 and with a longer term private practice role between 1991 1999 at East Village Dental Group. New York, N.Y. Dr Anastassov additionally executed various post doctoral education positions notably; A Fellowship in Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery. (Professor H.P.M. Freihofer), The Catholic University, St. Radboud Hospital, Nijmegen, the Netherlands 1994. Chief Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Montefiore Medical Centre, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York between June 1995 and June 1996. Followed by a further Fellowship in Craniofacial and Base of Skull Surgery, at the department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wilhelms University, Munster, Germany between June 1996 and June 1997.

Eventually returning to a variety of Hospital appointments in the US between 1997 - 2007: including Associate Director, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Elmhurst Hospital Centre, Queens, N.Y. Assistant-Attending, Department of Dentistry, The Mount Sinai Hospital. New York. Consultant in Maxillofacial Surgery, Bronx VA Hospital Centre, Bronx, N.Y. 1997 - present, and three additional ongoing roles, Attending, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Elmhurst Hospital Centre, Queens, N.Y. Attending, Department of Dentistry, the Mount Sinai Hospital. New York, N.Y. Attending Surgeon, Department of Otolaryngology/ Head and Neck Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Centre, New York. Visiting Professor, Department of Crania-Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wilhelm's University, Munster, Germany. Associate Clinical Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Editorially, Dr. Anastassov is presently active as Editorial Consultant 'The Journal of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Radiology'. Editorial Board Member 'International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery' Since 2000. And also Editorial Board Member 'Folia Medica' and Editorial Consultant - 'Head and Face Medicine'.

Dr. Anastassov was granted Fellowship to the American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in 2000 and Fellowship to the American College of Dentistry in 2005, and with Chairman appointments during the First International Congress of the Cleft Lip and Palate Foundation "Cleft 2000", Chairman, Facial Aesthetics Section. XV Congress of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery. Edinburgh, UK, September 5-9, 2000 and Chairman, Aesthetic Surgery. XVI Confidential Executive Summary_Sanammad_25102010 14 Congress of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery. Munster, Germany, September 3-7, 2002.

Dr. Anastassov holds 9 US & European Professional Society Membership: including a certified member of American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, additionally with 43 journal publications and 75 international guest lecture's to his credit.

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Medical Marijuana Inc. Advisory Committee and Board of Directors Update