David Agus discusses health rules from new best-selling book

By Amy E. Hamaker

Don’t wear stilettos. Cultivate “om” in the office. Know your grocer. Smile.

David Agus, professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito discuss the rules for living a healthy life during a recent lecture in the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer series. Photo/Jon Nalick David Agus, professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito discuss the rules for living a healthy life during a recent lecture in the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer series.
Photo/Jon Nalick

These topics aren’t just good advice for living a happier life, but also a healthier one, according to David Agus, MD, professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Agus and Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA discussed Agus’ new book A Short Guide to a Long Life as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Jan. 15 in Mayer Auditorium.

The 208-page book groups 65 rules into two chapters titled “What to Do” and “What to Avoid,” followed by a chapter titled “Doctor’s Orders,” which offers advice on how to care for your health in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. The book recently sold out of its third printing, and is on the New York Times best-seller list.

Agus explained the differences between his first book, The End of Illness, and his new book. “The End of Illness was really a science book,” noted Agus. “This is more of a how-to book. I wanted to appeal to people who don’t know what to do to prevent disease.” Read More »

January 24th, 2014|Announcements|

Keck School to host 2014 Lasker Lectures

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation has selected the Keck School of Medicine of USC to host the 2014 Lasker Lectures featuring recipients of the 2013 Lasker Awards.

The Lasker Awards — among the most respected and coveted science prizes in the world — are given each year by the foundation for outstanding basic and clinical medical research discoveries and for lifetime contributions to medical science. The awards, which carry an honorarium of $250,000 in each category, were presented on Sept. 20, 2013, in New York City. Read More »

January 24th, 2014|Announcements|

New linear accelerator helps cancer patients at USC

By Amy E. Hamaker

The new Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator uses sophisticated imaging and respiration synchronization tools to visualize soft tissue during treatment and make changes accordingly. Photo/Ryan Ball The new Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator uses sophisticated imaging and respiration synchronization tools to visualize soft tissue during treatment and make changes accordingly.
Photo/Ryan Ball

In the fight to make cancer a disease of the past, Keck Medicine of USC has a new weapon. The Department of Radiation Oncology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC recently received a new Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator.

Used to perform external beam radiation treatments for patients who have cancer, linear accelerators deliver high-energy X-rays to the area of a patient’s tumor, destroying cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact. The new linear accelerator allows Keck Medicine of USC to offer the most cutting-edge intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) techniques available.

The system uses sophisticated imaging and respiration synchronization tools to visualize soft tissue during treatment and make changes accordingly. Its high-definition, multi-leaf collimator narrows the radiation beam with precision and allows physicians to provide larger doses of radiation to smaller places accurately. Treatment times are much faster. SBRT also will allow some patients, who would normally require a standard course of 30 to 40 radiation therapy treatments, to be treated in five or fewer treatments. Read More »

January 24th, 2014|Announcements|

KSOM Department of Surgery awarded $2 million NIH grant

By Ryan Ball

The Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Department of Surgery was recently awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join the Cardiothoracic Surgery Trials Network. The consortium of sites throughout the United States and Canada has been charged with the mission to develop, coordinate and conduct collaborative, proof-of-concept studies and interventional protocols to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes.

The grant money will provide infrastructure support over a five-year period as USC operates as one of the core sites in the network. Michael Bowdish, MD, assistant professor of surgery and director of the Keck School’s mechanical circulatory support program, serves as the principal investigator for the USC site. Bowdish will work with the other nine centers’ steering committees to decide which trials will be performed. The centers will then conduct the same four or five trials, working collaboratively from design to analysis of results and the publishing of papers. Read More »

January 24th, 2014|Announcements|

Ostrow School launches division of oral and maxillofacial surgery

The Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC has launched the new division of oral and maxillofacial surgery, which will provide students, residents and faculty of the Ostrow School access to unique educational, clinical and research opportunities in the field.

Announced by Ostrow School Dean Avishai Sadan, DMD, in November 2013, the division will encompass educational activities related to the Ostrow Advanced Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, located at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, and the Oral Surgery Clinic, located in the Norris Dental Science Center. Read More »

January 24th, 2014|Announcements|