By Amy E. Hamaker
The foremost mission of the UniHealth Foundation, an independent private health care foundation founded in 1998, is to support pacesetting programs that positively impact health in the communities it serves. Two recent grants from the foundation totaling $1.1 million will help support vital programs at USC that are making a real difference to the Health Sciences Campus community and its patients. … Read More »
By Sara Reeve
How many high school students voluntarily give up many of their Saturdays just to go to school? Every year, more than 185 Los Angeles students do just that, in the USC Med-COR program, funded in part thanks to the USC Good Neighbors Campaign.
USC’s staff, faculty and friends can pledge to help organizations that improve the community by promoting better health and educational opportunities in the areas surrounding both the Health Sciences and University Park Campuses.
The 2013 USC Good Neighbors Campaign kicked off on Oct. 1 and runs through the end of the month. Begun in 1994, the USC Good Neighbors Campaign encourages USC faculty and staff to contribute a portion of their paychecks to support programs through grants from USC Neighborhood Outreach (UNO) and United Way. … Read More »
By Alison Trinidad
Hearing loss among children is a major challenge for pediatricians and parents. According to the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities, children who are hard of hearing often find it much more difficult to learn vocabulary, grammar and word order.
No single treatment is the answer, however. To offer patients and their families comprehensive clinical care backed by innovative research, Keck Medicine of USC recently opened the USC Center for Childhood Communication on the campus of John Tracy Clinic, 806 W. Adams Blvd., in Los Angeles. Pediatric audiology and speech pathology specialists began seeing patients on Oct. 1.
The new center provides audiology and speech language pathology services to children with hearing loss from birth to adulthood, including access to national clinical trials and state-of-the-art rehabilitative care. The center builds on the world-renowned clinical and scientific expertise of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Keck Medicine of USC. … Read More »
By Celine Petrossian
Hands-on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for adults and children was among the many offerings for the community at the Sept. 28 event.
(Photo/Paul Edward Robison)
More than 700 members of the Foothills community joined the wide array of cardinal-and-gold-themed festivities at the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital Wellness Celebration on Sept. 28 on the USC-VHH campus. The event celebrated the new affiliation of the two organizations.
“I’m terribly in favor of the new partnership,” said Sunland resident Bob Pinkston, who attended the event with his wife Diane. “I love USC. Verdugo Hills has been a great hospital and the association with USC is a step up. All of my three children were born at this hospital.” … Read More »
By Ellin Kavanagh and Cristy Lytal
Removing tumor cells with a magnet? It may sound strange, but researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and their colleagues recently explored whether this technique can create better outcomes for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, which carries a less than 50 percent chance of survival for children who are diagnosed. … Read More »
By Leslie Ridgeway
Based on a new study, USC environmental health researchers have advice for drivers who want to reduce their exposure to harmful traffic pollutants: The car ventilation choice you make can be effective in reducing exposure to on-road particle pollution.
Scott Fruin, DEnv, assistant professor of preventive medicine, and Neelakshi Hudda, PhD, research associate in the environmental health department of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, recently conducted the first systematic measurements of in-vehicle exposure that included a full range of car types and operating conditions, and for all types of particulate pollution. … Read More »
By Amy E. Hamaker
Keck Hospital of USC was recently awarded the Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care program designation by insurers Blue Shield and Blue Cross for the quality of its cardiac care program.
The Blue Distinction Center designation was designed to provide transparent data on the quality of medical providers to patients whose employers are national and who are insured by Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. … Read More »
By Kukla Vera
USC Professors Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, of the USC School of Pharmacy and Lon Schneider, MD, MS, of the Keck School of Medicine of USC are principal investigators of a newly funded study from the National Institutes of Health, aimed at testing promising drugs for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
The USC project, “Allopregnanolone Regenerative Therapeutic for MCI/Alzheimer’s: Dose Finding Phase 1,” is the first clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of using allopregnanolone (Allo), a natural brain steroid, in treating mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, as part of an intensified national effort to find effective interventions for the degenerative brain disease. … Read More »
By Tania Chatila
Ajay Vyas, JD, has been promoted to deputy health-care compliance officer, effective Sept. 3. In his new role, Vyas is responsible for the day-to-day management and oversight of the compliance programs for Keck Hospital of USC, USC Norris Cancer Hospital, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital and the Keck Medical Center of USC.
He is also the compliance plan provider for USC Care Medical Group, the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy and the USC School of Pharmacy. … Read More »
Laboratory members often go far beyond promoting discovery. They promote a stronger Keck Medicine community by raising funds and sharing award-winning images. … Read More »
By Tania Chatila
The two hospitals of Keck Medicine of USC will welcome its new chief medical officer on Oct. 1, with the appointment of veteran physician leader Stephanie Hall. Hall currently serves as chief medical officer of LAC+USC Medical Center, a position she has held since 2006.
As CMO for Keck Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, Hall will report to hospitals’ CEO Scott Evans. She will provide critical oversight of clinical initiatives, and will play an active role in ensuring the delivery of safe, quality, efficient care to patients, while also representing the interests of faculty physicians. … Read More »
By Cristy Lytal
For the millions of people around the world who suffer from incurable diseases and injuries, Stem Cell Awareness Day is a time for hope.
In honor of the occasion, USC Stem Cell is joining institutions and educators from around the world in hosting a series of public events to raise awareness and celebrate this promising field of medicine in partnership with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). … Read More »
By Tania Chatila
William Gorenstein
William M. Gorenstein, CPA, has been appointed chief financial officer for Keck Medicine of USC, leading financial operations for the entire medical enterprise, and playing a key role in managing the system’s financial accountabilities, sustainability and long-term fiscal goals.
“This is a new role for our Keck Medicine senior team and one that is crucial to our journey forward, especially as we expand our system’s reach through ongoing investments and strategic partnerships,” said Tom Jackiewicz, MPH, senior vice president and CEO for USC Health, to whom Gorenstein reports. … Read More »
By Josh Grossberg
There were too many young patients, too far away. So instead of bringing them to the doctors who could help them, the doctors decided to make a house call.
That house call meant a team of plastic surgeons from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) traveled 7,500 miles to Jordan, where they operated on dozens of children with physical deformities too complicated to be treated by doctors at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman. And the team paid for all of it out of their own pockets.
More than 80 complex cases were reviewed the first clinic day. In all, the team of surgeons operated on 44 kids in four days, including a 10-hour facial bipartition procedure. … Read More »
Runners raced out of the starting gate at the 4th Annual LA Prostate Cancer 5K, held on Sept. 15 on the University Park Campus. Dubbed the “‘Stash Dash,” the event was held to raise money to help turn the page on the fight against prostate cancer. … Read More »
By Leslie Ridgeway
Despite decades of efforts to control its use, tobacco continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. USC is one of 14 academic institutions designated to receive significant funding to contribute to a new, first-of-its-kind regulatory science tobacco program intended to support tobacco product regulations.
The Keck School of Medicine of USC Department of Preventive Medicine will receive $20 million over five years, establishing one of 14 Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) in Los Angeles. … Read More »
By Sara Reeve
When NBA center Jason Collins came out as a gay man on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, he became a cultural icon — the first openly gay athlete playing a major American team sport.
During the first of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture series, Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, interviews NBA player Jason Collins on his coming out as an openly gay athlete.
(Photo/Steve Cohn)
“I am definitely not alone,” said Collins. “Statistically speaking, there are [gay athletes] in all sports.”
In a wide-ranging discussion with Keck School of Medicine of USC Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA. Collins discussed his coming out process, a phone call with President Barack Obama, on being a role model and his future in the NBA. … Read More »
By Leslie Ridgeway
Keck School Board of Overseers member Deborah Lanni is a presenting sponsor at the 40th year celebration gala for the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Philanthropist and Pasadena resident Deborah Lanni has pledged $250,000 as a presenting sponsor to support the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is celebrating its 40th year with a gala celebration this fall.
The event, titled “40 Years of Progress — Discovering New Cures” will take place Friday, Oct. 11, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Westin Bonaventure hotel. Award-winning comedian and actor Martin Short will emcee, and there will be special musical entertainment.
The goal of the event is to raise more than $1 million for cancer research at USC Norris while looking back on breakthroughs and successes and looking forward to the future of cancer research. … Read More »
By Jon Nalick
As any courier knows, delivering a package on time is just part of the equation. But it also has to be delivered to the right place.
The same is even more true inside a human cell, where timely, accurate deliveries of chemical messages, proteins and fuel mean the difference between life and death for the cell—and between health and disease for the body as a whole.
The winners of this year’s Meira and Shaul G. Massry Prize are a trio of scientists — James Spudich, PhD, Michael Sheetz, PhD, and Ron Vale, PhD — who have deciphered how cells deliver key molecular components to the right place at the right time. … Read More »
Young adults are the future of health care, and nowhere is that more evident than on USC’s Health Sciences Campus. … Read More »