MONTREAL An external review done of the admissions process for the faculty of medicine at McGill University concludes that the faculty has taken a defensible path with changes it has made to how students are selected and in its emphasis on diversity, but also hints at the frustration and unhappiness the new direction has sparked among some of McGills traditional stakeholders.

That frustration may have translated into a decline in donations as the universitys financial vulnerability, particularly in light of seeking alumni and potential donors, is mentioned no less than seven times in the 13-page report.

The review which was commissioned last spring, conducted last fall and made public this spring makes recommendations about how the faculty should improve the way it communicates its message and on the process surrounding admissions.

It suggests that the assistant dean of Admissions, Equity and Diversity, Dr. Saleem Razack, should not also serve as chair of the admissions committee or chair of the multiple mini interview (MMI) review committee to avoid the appearance of combining roles that should be entirely separate.

However, the review doesnt make recommendations about the admissions process itself namely, the criteria used for selection purposes, the way the MMIs are conducted or how the CV and narrative required by applicants should be assessed.

When asked about that, Razack said the reviewers were very happy with the way the process runs. He also said that all of the recommendations are being studied with a goal of implementing them, but while he probably will soon step down as chair of the MMI review committee, he couldnt give a clear answer about the admissions committee.

But one recommendation that likely wont be implemented any time soon was the one to increase the number of interviews of applicants, because it is more palatable to be rejected after an interview. Razack said while he would love to grant more interviews, it also requires more resources and may not be feasible.

A story in The Gazette last summer described a palpable frustration among many in the urban anglophone community who believe the facultys increasing emphasis on diversity has put them at a disadvantage. They believe that such selection criteria as empathy, intelligence and dedication have been replaced with a growing emphasis on parental income, skin colour, language and rurality.

And with only about eight to 10 per cent of applicants getting in to medical school these days, a spot at a prestigious school like McGill is a little like winning the lottery hence the fierce debate surrounding the admissions process.

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Frustration over med school admissions at McGill

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Newswise Today, the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) along with notable national experts review the cause and end of life issues surrounding the death of one of the most prominent figures of the 20th Century: former First Lady and leading womens and civil rights advocate Eleanor Roosevelt as part of the 21st Annual Historical Clinicopathological Conference.

The Historical Clinicopathalogical Conference, established in 1995, has evaluated more than 20 historical figures including Joan of Arc, Alexander the Great and Vladimir Lenin among others. The 2007 conference focused on treatment outcomes for President Abraham Lincoln, had he suffered the same injury today, to determine if the historical diagnosis, treatment and outcomes would have been different with the use of modern knowledge and technology.

The Historical Clinicopathological Conference is sponsored by the SOM and the Medical Alumni Association. Additional notable participants in this years conference include Daniel Sulmasy, M.D., Ph.D., the Kilbride-Clinton Professor of Medicine and Ethics at the University of Chicago, and Christopher Brick, M.A., editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers documentary history series.

Known as an avid supporter of civil liberties and the assertion of the rights of women, Roosevelt, the subject of this years conference developed a reputation as a tireless worker who was rarely ill. Her attending physician at the time of her death, Dr. A. David Gurewitsch, gave a diagnosis of aplastic anemia and conducted test upon test, driving the First Lady to beg for a hastened end to her life. Experts from UM SOM are now re-evaluating her diagnosis due to the wide range of symptoms she exhibited and her generally excellent health, while also reviewing and considering the end of life and right to die issues that surrounded the final period of her life.

Along with her husband, Eleanor Roosevelt remains one of the twentieth centurys most iconic figures. In 1999 the Gallup organization drew on more than six decades worth of public opinion data to rate FDR the sixth most admired person of the previous hundred years, and ERas she often signed letters to close friends and associatesthe ninth.

Unfortunately, Eleanor Roosevelts role in history remains poorly understood, in good part because period scholarship has tended to downplay or overlook entirely the remarkable years of public service and achievement that followed her husbands presidency, said Christopher Brick, M.A., an editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers documentary history series. With concerted effort, however, the records that document this final phase of Eleanor Roosevelts life and career are coming to light, and as this years Clinicopathological Conference demonstrates, they bear great relevance not just to her time, but our own as well.

Leading the evaluation of the former First Lady is Philip A. Mackowiak, M.D., M.B.A., Clinical Professor of Medicine and the Carolyn Frenkil and Selvin Passen Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who is also a 1970 graduate of the medical school. Dr. Mackowiak is well known for his evaluation of other historical figures and the clinical pathology of their deaths, including a recent evaluation of William Henry Harrison. He is also the author of Diagnosing Giants: Solving the Medical Mysteries of Thirteen Patients Who Changed the World.

Identifying the ailments and deaths of key historical figures helps us to understand the narration of socio-political events and environments, said Dr. Mackowiak. Sometimes the truth is more fantastic than the myth. Gaining this understanding helps us unlock the past by discovering ways the future, and the technology we possess today, can help more accurately tell the story of significant historical figures.

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Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's Cause of Death and End of Life Issues Examined During 21st Annual Historical ...

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Newswise ANN ARBOR, Mich. A painter recovering from burns over 80 percent of his body. A young girl getting cancer treatment tailored to her DNA. A team of scientists working to cure heart rhythm disorders. A doctor probing the origins of Alzheimers disease. A medical student on the cusp of a promising career.

The faces and stories of these extraordinary people show why the University of Michigan Health System has earned its national reputation for excellent patient care, research and education.

Now, theyre illustrating how donations of all sizes can help transform health care and biomedical science well into the future. Those gifts can come from patients and their families, from U-M faculty, staff and alumni, and from families, philanthropists and businesses that believe in the Health Systems ability to create the future of medicine through discovery.

A new web site, http://www.medicineneedsvictors.org, features the stories of some of these remarkable patients, professionals and students and information on giving.

More than 46,000 donors have already contributed to the Health Systems Victors for Michigan campaign to support medical research, patient care and medical education. With its $1 billion goal, it is the Health Systems most ambitious fundraising effort ever, and is a significant portion of the $4 billion university-wide Victors for Michigan fundraising campaign that kicked off last November.

The fundraising effort will have a profound impact on the care of seriously ill or injured children and adults, on medical discoveries made by scientific teams, on the careers of current and future doctors and medical scientists, and on UMHS facilities where care, discovery and learning happen.

According to Richard Rogel, the U-M alumnus and major donor who chairs the UMHS campaign, Everyone here has a passion, a goal they want to achieve, a way to make the world a better place. Its tremendous. We have top researchers, great administrators, fabulous students all dedicated to saving lives. This is Collaboration University. Ive seen it in action, and everybody can be a part of it. This campaign is just the beginning of what we can accomplish together.

UMHS campaign co-chair and major U-M donor A. Alfred Taubman says, By investing in research and supporting the people who can push the boundaries of medicine, we will save lives. And by expanding U-Ms capabilities as one of the nations top translational research institutions, we will help drive a resurgence in the Michigan economy, establishing the region as a global epicenter for the biomedical sector.

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Medicine Needs Victors: $1B UMHS Fundraising Effort Supports Medical Research, Patient Care & Education

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30-Apr-2014

Contact: Ron Najman ron.najman@downstate.edu 718-270-2696 SUNY Downstate Medical Center

A team of researchers from SUNY Downstate Medical Center (SUNY Downstate) and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) has found that deficiencies in hyaluronan, also known as hyaluronic acid or HA, can lead to spontaneous epileptic seizures. HA is a polysaccharide molecule widely distributed throughout connective, epithelial, and neural tissues, including the brain's extracellular space (ECS). Their findings, published on April 30 in The Journal of Neuroscience, equip scientists with key information that may lead to new therapeutic approaches to epilepsy.

The multicenter study used mice to provide the first evidence of a physiological role for HA in the maintenance of brain ECS volume. It also suggests a potential role in human epilepsy for HA and genes that are involved in hyaluronan synthesis and degradation.

While epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disordersaffecting approximately one percent of the population worldwideit is one of the least understood. It is characterized by recurrent spontaneous seizures caused by the abnormal firing of neurons. Although epilepsy treatment is available and effective for about 70 percent of cases, a substantial number of patients could benefit from a new therapeutic approach.

"Hyaluronan is widely known as a key structural component of cartilage and important for maintaining healthy cartilage. Curiously, it has been recognized that the adult brain also contains a lot of hyaluronan, but little is known about what hyaluronan does in the brain," said Yu Yamaguchi, MD, PhD, professor in the Human Genetics Program at Sanford-Burnham.

"This is the first study that demonstrates the important role of this unique molecule for normal functioning of the brain, and that its deficiency may be a cause of epileptic disorders. A better understanding of how hyaluronan regulates brain function could lead to new treatment approaches for epilepsy," Yamaguchi added.

The extracellular matrix of the brain has a unique molecular composition. Earlier studies focused on the role of matrix molecules in cell adhesion and axon pathfinding during neural development. In recent years, increasing attention has been focused on the roles of these molecules in the regulation of physiological functions in the adult brain.

In this study, the investigators examined the role of HA using mutant mice deficient in each of the three hyaluronan synthase genes (Has1, Has2, Has3).

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Researchers reveal new cause of epilepsy

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IU president to visit med school site Tuesday

Following is a list of some of the medical research grants awarded to scientists in the area.

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

The scientist Azad Bonni, M.D., Edison Professor of Neurobiology.

Two grants Totalling $3.6 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The study Looking at factors that regulate the development of brain cells and their branches.

The scientist Laura J. Bierut, M.D., the Alumni Endowed Professor of Psychiatry.

The grant $2.8 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The study Nicotine dependence to smoking cessation: Sequencing common to rare variants.

The scientist Linda J. Sandell, Ph.D., the Mildred B. Simon Research Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and professor of cell biology and physiology.

The grant $2.7 million from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

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In the lab: Research roundup

Harvards smallest school, the School of Dental Medicine, aims to raise $8 million in the Universitys capital campaign, the School announced at its campaign launch at the Harvard Club of Boston last Thursday.

The Schools goal represents about .001 percent of the University-wide goal of raising a record-breaking $6.5 billion by 2018. The University launched its campaign last September, following a three-year quiet phase of selecting priorities and gauging donor interest.

Wanda Mock, the Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Relations at the Dental School, said that the Dental Schools involvement in the larger University-wide campaign helps to draw more awareness to [our] whole campaign than if we were just to have a campaign on our own.

According to the Dental Schools website, its campaign funds will be distributed across two priorities: $6 million toward boosting financial assistance for student scholarships and fellowships and $2 million toward supporting local and global public oral health programs.

We want to attract the best and the brightest students, but we dont have the funds to be able to offer many of them a competitive financial aid package, Mock said. Because of their debt burden many of our students are unable to follow their passion.

More than 75 percent of Harvard dental students per year typically receive financial assistance through a combination of federal, private, and school funding. Tuition at the school is currently $54,200 per year, but total costs can rise as high as $100,000, according to the Schools website.

On its campaign webpage, the School has listed a set of requirements for prospective donors. To establish a named, endowed scholarship or fellowship, a donor must contribute a minimum of $250,000, while a named laboratory requires a donation of $500,000. The website also lists required donation levels to create named professorships, named spaces in the schools Research and Education Building, and an endowed fund for dental students.

Many other schools at Harvard, including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Business School, and the Divinity School, have also launched their campaigns. The Medical School and Kennedy School of Government still have yet to launch a campaign.

Staff writer Steven H. Tenzer can be reached at stenzer@college.harvard.edu.

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Dental School Aims To Raise $8 Million in Capital Campaign

MANOA, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

University of Hawaii-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple is proposing to eliminate six to eight mostly-vacant dean and director positions and consolidate departments to save more than $1 million a year.

Under the preliminary proposal, the UH's School of Travel Industry Management, founded in 1966, would be merged into its next door neighbor on the Manoa campus, the Shidler College of Business.

The travel industry dean's position is vacant, after the UH Board of Regents balked at a $250,000 salary for a new candidate.

Apple wants to have the business dean oversee both departments and use that money to hire more faculty or lower tuition.

"What I'd like to do is try to find a way to consolidate units more so that we have fewer of those executive managerial salaries," Apple said. "And that the people who are running various organizations are from within, people who are already on our payroll."

Students at the travel industry school Hawaii News Now spoke to at midday Tuesday had varying opinions on the idea.

"I really like being separate because it is a different entity," said Christian Gutierrez, a junior travel industry management major from Austin, Texas. "It's a different type. It's hospitality. You're more of a people person instead of just with numbers and just with business."

Chris Almendar, a senior travel industry management major from Santa Barbara, Calif., liked the idea of a merger.

"When there's so many courses that overlap and so many instructor and we're so close already. I don't see why they don't just merge them," Almendar said.

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Manoa chancellor proposes eliminating exec. jobs, saving $1M+ a year

Bangalore, April 28:

Indian Institute of Management Bangalores (IIM-B) alumni meet Anusmaran will be held on May 4 at the IIM-B campus in Bangalore. This years meet, spread across 15 cities around the world, is likely to see the participation of over 8,000 IIM-B alumni.

The Bangalore Chapter will host three panel discussions on Entrepreneurship and Disruptive Thinking on the IIM-B campus as part of the event.

The other IIM-B chapters where panel discussions and entrepreneurship is the theme are: Chennai Chapter (May 3); USA East Coast Chapter (May 17), where Ashish Pandey (PGP02), CEO, Altisource Residential Corporation, will address the alumni; Kolkata Chapter (May 10), where C S Ghosh, Chairman & MD, Bandhan Group, will speak.

Rakesh Godhwani, Head Alumni and Development IIM-B, said Anusmaran is a perfect example of how we can leverage the gold mine of knowledge that the alumni of IIMB possess. Learning from each other is undoubtedly our way forward.

Harish Mittal, President of IIMBAA Bangalore Chapter, Founder and Managing Director at Camellia Clothing Ltd, said Bangalore is the new haven for entrepreneurs and we have seen tremendous energy among IIMB alumni in the city to learn from one anothers entrepreneurial experience.

For the Bangalore Chapter event panellists on the Start Up Track include Saumil Majumdar (PGP95), Co-Founder & Managing Director of EduSports; Manu Indrayan (PGP94), Founder of 612 Ivy League; Sanjay Anandaram, (PGP91), Entrepreneur, Investor, Advisor and Mentor, Ojas Venture and Founding Partner of JumpStart; K Ganesh (IIMC),Chairman and Co-Founder Portea Medical; Meena Ganesh (IIMC), CEO & Managing Director, Portea Medical; and P C Musthafa (IIMB PGSEM07) Co-Founder, ID Fresh Food.

Panelists on Join the Entrepreneur include Subhash Dhar (PGP92), CEO, Enterprise Nube Services; Atul Shinghal (PGP93), CEO Probe Equity Research; Sudhakar Varanasi (IIT KGP and PhD IISc), Chief Mentor, Emergent Institute; Anju Maudgal Kadam (IIMB MPWE 2010), Founder and Director Web TV.in; and Professor Ramya Ranganathan (IITM & IIMA and PhD London School Of Business), IIMB faculty.

Panelists on Social Change Agents include A Vaidyanathan (PGP83), Founder & Managing Director, Cleantech Consultants and HMX Systems; Mainak Chakraborty (PGP10), Co-CEO, Green Power Systems; Poonam Bir Kasturi (NID Ahmedabad 86), Industrial Designer, Facilitator, Entrepreneur and Mentor at Founder Industree Crafts and Playnspeak and Pioneer of the Daily Dump Project; Shridhar Venkat (NMIMS), Executive Director, Akshaya Patra Foundation; Ramesh Swamy (REC Bhopal), CEO, Swamy Group of Companies; and Suresh Bhagavatula (PhD Netherlands), Assistant Professor, NSRCEL at IIMB.

(This article was published on April 28, 2014)

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IIM-B alumni meet to be held in 15 cities

Apr. 27, 2014 @ 08:27 AM

HUNTINGTON Sixteen Marshall alumni and one club were honored at the Marshall University Alumni Associations 77th annual Alumni Awards Banquet on Saturday in the Memorial Student Centers Don Morris Room on Marshall Universitys Huntington campus.

The banquet capped Marshalls 2014 Alumni Weekend, scheduled to coincide with the annual Green and White Game.

Following is a list of the award winners honored at this years banquet:

National awards

Distinguished Alumnus Award: Dr. Eric R. George

George is a hand surgeon practicing medicine in Louisiana. A native of Huntington and a graduate of Huntington East High School, he received his medical degree from Marshall. His practice, the Hand Center of Louisiana, treats NFL players and key players in the oil and gas industries, among other businesses, and is the largest in the Gulf South region. He owns a luxury hospital, the Omega Hospital, and several ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics and assisted living centers.

Alumnus Community Achievement Award: Karen Williams

Williams is a native of Charlestons west side. She attended Glenwood Elementary, Woodrow Wilson Junior High and Stonewall Jackson High School. She has been the national and state chairwoman of the Association for Developmental Education, on the board and an active member of Kanawha County International Reading Association, on the Board of Directors and a clinician of the Literacy Volunteers of Kanawha County, charter member of the Charleston District Outreach Ministries Tutor Training, a member of the National Dropout Prevention Network and the Kanawha County Literacy Coalition.

Distinguished Service Award: Charles C. Lanham

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Banquet honors individual alumni, club