Steven Mittelman

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has appointed Steven Mittelman as director of the new Diabetes and Obesity Program at The Saban Research Institute.  Mittleman also serves as assistant professor of pediatrics, physiology and biophysics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

The Diabetes and Obesity Program has evolved in response to the huge burden that childhood obesity places on patients and the community and represents an alignment of Children’s Hospital’s clinical and research programs. … Read More »

By Hope Hamashige

Pam Corley accepts her award from James Gordon.
Photo/Gradimages

After devoting more than 30 years to USC, Pamela Corley retired in 2013 from her post at the Norris Medical Library. For her contribution, the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy honored her with the Division Tribute award at its commencement ceremony on May 17.

“Her official title is information specialist,” said James Gordon, chair of the division, of Corley, who was the liaison for the division at the Norris Medical Library. “That title, however, does not begin to express who Pam Corley is, and what she does. I like to think that her real title should be information therapist.’” … Read More »

As part of her class “Disaster, Conflict and Global Health,” USC Institute For Prevention Research lecturer Kathleen West took her Keck School of Medicine Master of Public Health students on an unusual field trip on April 17.

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By Leslie Ridgeway

Some are the first in their families to graduate from college or earn an advanced degree. Some are parents bringing their small children along while they conduct research, or fitting in classes while working full-time. They come from varied backgrounds with one common purpose — to help others with the education they received from the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Yohualli Balderas-Medina Anaya, Kathleen Ruccione, Claradina Soto and Shantal Villalobos earned degrees at the MS, PhD and MPH commencement ceremonies on May 15 at the USC Health Sciences Campus. … Read More »

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship recently named seven USC students to its 2013-14 class of Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows. … Read More »

Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock — a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair — researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day.

The study, which appeared May 20 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that mice lost 85 percent of their hair if they received radiation therapy in the morning, compared to a 17 percent loss when treatment occurred in the evening. … Read More »

By Josh Grossberg

The frequency of childhood infections is a determinant of adult height, according to a new study recently conducted by a team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC led by Wendy Cozen, professor of preventive medicine and pathology, and conducted by Amie Hwang, post-doctoral fellow.

The study, published in the April issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, is important because increased height is positively associated with some types of cancer, including breast cancer and lymphoma, and negatively associated with cardiovascular disease and stroke. … Read More »

Photo courtesy Los Angeles County Medical Association

At a recent Los Angeles County Medical Association mayoral roundtable focusing on health care are, from left: Donald Larsen, … Read More »

By Amy E. Hamaker

Glen Miller could never have guessed that a 15-year-old X-ray from a snowmobile accident would lead him to the USC doctor who would change his life.

Excellent care and kind treatments prompted Glen Miller and his wife Wendy to help establish the Glen and Wendy Miller/Inderbir Gill Kidney Cancer Research Program.
Courtesy Glen Miller

“Other than a busted ego, I was basically fine after the accident,” said Miller, CEO of Diversified Financial Management Corp. and one of the founders of the Glen and Wendy Miller Family Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation located in Bannockburn, Ill.

The X-ray became important again, years later when Miller’s doctor found a growth on his kidney after prostate problems. “You can see the growth on the old X-ray, although the emergency room staff hadn’t been looking at my kidneys at the time,” he said. … Read More »

As USC celebrates the 40th anniversary of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Weekly will run in each issue through the end of the year items highlighting key moments in the history of the institution.

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By Mike McNulty

With one touch last summer, what was just another day in the life of a Trojan graduate student suddenly became something much more.

Caryn Roach … Read More »

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By Josh Grossberg

It’s such a dreaded thing that people often refer to it only by its initial — the C word.

But at the Festival of Life on June 1, the letter stood for a lot more than cancer. There was also courage, care and mostly, celebration.

Festival participant Laurie Miller signs the Festival of Life scroll.
Photo/Lisa Brook

Hundreds of cancer survivors and their families gathered in the Harry & Celesta Pappas Quad on the Health Sciences Campus to commemorate their success in beating back the disease and to show others that they can do it too. … Read More »

The American Thoracic Society awarded its highest recognition, the Edward Livingston Trudeau Medal, to Jonathan M. Samet, professor and Flora L. Thornton Chair in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, at its annual meeting May 19. … Read More »

By Josh Grossberg

For patients and visitors to USC Norris Cancer Hospital, the effect of new photographs in the lobby can be subtle, but for the man who took the photographs, they can bring some calm to people during a very stressful time in their life.

USC Norris cancer patient Jim Martellotti displays one of his photos in the lobby of the cancer hospital.

It is a situation Jim Martellotti knows well. Not only did he take three of the framed photos strategically located in hospital’s lobby and seating areas, but he’s also a longtime cancer patient.

When the lifelong shutterbug heard the hospital was looking to decorate the lobby and some upper floors after a renovation, the 65-year-old Martellotti knew he wanted to be part of it. … Read More »