John K. Niparko, MD, has been appointed to the position of president of USC Care Medical Group. Niparko will serve a two-year term, which began on July 1. He succeeds Edward Crandall, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine, who also served a two-year term. … Read More »
James Hur (right), a student from Harvard-Westlake School, describes his research on healing radiation wounds at the USC Early Investigator High School (EiHS) & USC CIRM Science, Technology and Research (STAR) Colloquium and Poster Presentation on August 2. … Read More »
By Josh Grossberg
Pacemakers and defibrillators are fairly common life-saving devices these days, but when Rahul N. Doshi, MD, was getting his start in the medical profession, they both relied on fairly rudimentary technology. A self-described tech geek, Doshi knew the field of electrophysiology was on the cusp of great change, and he wanted to be part of it.
As the new director of electrophysiology at the Keck Medical Center of USC, Doshi will help guide the future of this exciting field that is advancing in ways he couldn’t have imagined.
“It’s a relatively new and fast-growing sub-subspecialty of cardiovascular medicine,” he said. “It’s very different from what the interventional cardiologists do. They look at arteries and pipes; I look at the heart’s internal wiring.” … Read More »
By Josh Grossberg
Students from across the country came to Los Angeles in July to get some real-world advice on careers in health care from staff at the Keck Medical Center of USC.
The USC Diversity in Healthcare Leadership Initiative connects students interested in health industry jobs that are not directly clinical. To do that, attendees focused on topics including administration and policy.
Nearly 60 health professionals attended a continuing medical education event about multidisciplinary approaches to treating lung cancer, hosted by the Keck School of Medicine of USC. … Read More »
The Emergency Department at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles was selected for the Lantern Award, a national honor from the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) in recognition of the department’s outstanding performance in patient care, research and leadership.
(Courtesy ENA)
The department was chosen along with eight other emergency departments across the country from an applicant pool of 38 departments. The association then reviewed the extensive submissions.
“This acknowledgement reflects Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Department’s efforts in leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research,” added Alan Nager, MD, MHA, associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and director of Emergency Medicine and Transport at CHLA. “The application was filled with examples of the superb care and innovation contributed by our team.” … Read More »
(Photo/Elisabeth Rutledge)
This embryonic mouse at day 10.5 has a special glow thanks to the fluorescent labeling of its neurofilaments, which are major structural element of neurons. The picture by Elisabeth Rutledge, a PhD student in the lab of Andrew McMahon, PhD, won the July 2013 Image of the Month contest at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.
By Amy E. Hamaker
Amyloid fibers, abnormal protein aggregates, have been associated with more than 20 serious human diseases, including neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.
However, Ansgar Siemer, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute within the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is working on some amyloid fibers that can actually be necessary for long-term memory in fruit flies and other organisms.
Siemer will have the chance to research how this is possible thanks to a recent three-year award from the Whitehall Foundation. … Read More »
Mongolia’s economic growth rate in 2012 was 12.3 percent — one of the highest in the world — but that same growth has caused rapid urbanization. These changes have resulted in serious health problems that Mongolia currently lacks the capacity to address. International support has come from volunteers, including a team of physicians and health-care professionals from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).
For the last 15 years, David Warburton, MD, professor developmental biology program in the Department of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and part of the Saban Research Institute of CHLA, has been volunteering in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaan Baatar and the surrounding Gobi Desert.
Recently, Warburton and his colleagues received a five-year, $1.25 million grant from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences to continue their research on air pollution and to build capacity among child health experts and government agencies in Mongolia. … Read More »
Based on a comprehensive study that included more than half the U.S. Asian-American and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) populations, a team of scientists led by members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) has produced the first-ever analysis of national cancer incidence trends among 11 Asian-American and NHOPI groups.
The researchers examined rates and trends from 1990 through 2008, using data collected by 13 registries of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program. The groups studied in detail include Asian Indians/Pakistanis, Chinese, Filipinos, Guamanians/Chamorros, Japanese, Kampucheans (Cambodians), Koreans, Laotians, Native Hawaiians, Samoans and Vietnamese. … Read More »
Ruth K. Peters, ScD (nee Ruth Ann Kloepfer), died from complications of progressive supranuclear palsy on July 20. She was 69. … Read More »
(Photo/Christine Tam)
Hundreds of people joined in a demonstration in proper hand hygiene given by members of Keck Medical Center of USC at a health fair on July 28. The … Read More »
By Amy E. Hamaker
Big changes are coming to the Health Sciences Campus neighborhood as part of the USC HSC Master Plan. As part of the community, USC recently invited neighborhood residents to add their input to the process.
Two special workshops on implementation of the HSC Master Plan and streetscape were held for community members on Aug. 3 and Aug. 8 at Hazard Park. The events were co-sponsored by the LA-32 Neighborhood Council and the office of Councilmember José Huizar.
Approved by university trustees in 2011, the Master Plan guides future campus growth for academic, research and clinical space over the next 25 to 30 years. Boundaries include Valley Blvd. (north), Soto St. (east), Zonal Ave. (south) and Mission Rd. (west). … Read More »
John Ferrelli
John Ferrelli has been appointed to the position of chief administrative officer (CAO) for USC Norris Cancer Hospital, effective Aug. 1. Ferrelli will be responsible for managing and coordinating the administrative, fiscal and operational activities of USC Norris Cancer Hospital.
“The CAO is a new position for our cancer hospital, and one that will be key in ensuring continued growth of inpatient and outpatient cancer services in and beyond the Health Sciences Campus,” said Scott Evans, PharmD, MHA, CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital.
By Cristy Lytal
Three newly assembled research teams within USC Stem Cell, the regenerative medicine initiative at USC, will take steps that could lead to future stem-cell based therapies for certain forms of deafness, bone defects and pediatric leukemia.
The teams are the winners of USC’s Regenerative Medicine Initiative (RMI), a University-wide program kick-started by $1.2 million in funding from the office of Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Each RMI Award provides up to $200,000 per year for two years to multi-investigator research collaborations that harness the full potential of USC-affiliated faculty members. … Read More »
By Leslie Ridgeway
Thomas McAfee, MD, dean of clinical affairs at UC San Diego Health Sciences, has been appointed the CEO of the newly forming Keck Medicine of USC Medical Foundation. He begins his new role on Sept. 3.
The development of a community medical foundation intended to add primary and specialty practices into the Keck Medicine network was a key initiative identified as part of the clinical enterprise-wide strategic plan. … Read More »
USC physicians continued to make impressive gains this year in an annual ranking of doctors in the San Gabriel Valley.
In all, 345 USC physicians have been included in Pasadena Magazine’s 2013 roster of “Top Doctors,” up from 273 last year and 170 in 2011. The doctors represent 34 different specialties, including oncology, radiology, neurology, orthopaedic surgery, ophthalmology and cardiology. They comprise nearly one-third of the magazine’s entire roster. … Read More »
By Josh Grossberg
Becoming a doctor requires years of attending lectures, watching PowerPoint presentations and reading stacks of thick textbooks filled with charts and graphs.
But at some point, young students and physician residents at Los Angeles County + USC will have to put down the heavy tomes and pick up a scalpel or a needle holder to begin the work of helping to make patients better.
To help them reach that goal as skillfully as possible, the Department of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC provides them with a variety of simulation options to teach procedural based skills. This provides the opportunity to practice — and practice some more — before they ever touch a patient. Now, students and young physicians can hone their skills in an environment that is safe, but also real enough to mimic the stress of a real-life situation. … Read More »
Pancreatic cancer is among the most lethal of all cancers, but the least funded for research. According to American Cancer Society estimates, more than 45,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013, and nearly 38,500 will die. The incidence of this cancer has been slowly increasing over the past decade.
The Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, now in its 15th year, funds projects and programs designed to improve patient care, treatment and, ultimately, survival rates. In its quest to discover the biologic mechanisms of pancreatic cancer, the Hirshberg Foundation recently provided $25,000 to the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is the foundation’s first gift to USC. … Read More »
A frightened 39-year-old woman with young children was referred by a friend to the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital because of recurrent lung cancer. A multidisciplinary team, including a radiologist, pathologist, surgeon and oncologist, evaluated her case.
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Stephen Gruber (left) and Legacy Circle member Jim Bonorris at the Legacy Circle luncheon
Photo/Steve Cohn
Within a week, the woman came to USC Norris, where a lung cancer expert performed minimally invasive robotic surgery. The pathologist performed molecular profiling of her tumor to determine which targeted drugs would be helpful to her.
When USC Norris Director Stephen B. Gruber, MD, MPH, visited the woman the day after surgery, “she was sitting up in bed laughing with her husband and eating ice cream,” he said. … Read More »