Miller School of Medicine assistant professor Joy Lincoln, Ph.D., has been named the fifth "Stop Heart Disease Researcher of the Year."
 
Lincoln, who joined the Miller School a year ago as assistant professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology, focuses her research around embryonic heart development. She has been looking into how heart valves form, what genes regulate normal heart development and whether these genes are important or involved in heart valve disease.

If you missed the chance to get a flu shot at the Benefits Fair, flu vaccines are still available at no cost to employees, students, volunteers and contract workers. Vaccinations will be given Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Employee Health Office, Dominion Tower, suite 405, and from noon to 2 p.m. at the Medical Wellness Center, Clinical Research Building. No appointment is necessary. Please e-mail Sandra Chen-Walta at schen@miami.edu for more information.

As part of Jackson Health System's campus-wide security measures, effective immediately the Division of Public Safety will close the roll-down gates on the south side of the Park Plaza West garage (the Ronald McDonald House side) every night at 11. The gates will remain closed until 5 the following morning. During these lockdown hours, all vehicular traffic must enter and exit the garage from the north entrance (SunTrust side).

At the Park Plaza East garage, the pedestrian corridor into the building will be locked down at both the east and west entrances every night at 11. These entrances will remain closed until 5:30 the following morning. Once these gates are locked there will be no access for patrons or staff through the interior of the corridor. The northeast elevator (by the Jackson Memorial Foundation) will also be locked down once the roll-down gates are locked. If you need to exit the garage during these hours, please exit through the glass door adjacent to the northeast elevator and use the southwest elevators. 

These measures are being put in place to reduce vandalism and prevent unauthorized people from loitering in these areas and will be instrumental in maintaining a safe and secure environment for employees, visitors and patrons.

The Professional Development and Training Office now has access to an extensive contact hours library for University of Miami nurses. This library contains topics in the following areas: critical care nursing, cultural competency, disease states, emergency nursing, career advancement, obstetrics nursing, oncology nursing, patient care basics, perioperative nursing, pharmacotherapy and special populations.

Open enrollment ends this Friday at midnight. If you are currently enrolled in a 2007 University Humana medical plan, you must either elect or decline medical coverage via myUM, or you will be placed in the CoverageFirst 1500 plan effective Jan. 1. Enroll today by visiting www.miami.edu/myUM.

Please be advised that effective immediately, Pharmed Group Inc. is no longer able to supply the University with medical or surgical supplies. Two alternative vendors are McKesson General Medical and Cardinal Health Ambulatory Care. 

The Louis Calder Memorial Library in collaboration with the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the University libraries is pleased to present "Dive Into the Past: An Exhibit on the Little Salt Spring Archaeological Site." This exhibit represents part of an ongoing, collaborative effort between the University of Miami and Sarasota County archaeologists to inform the public about Little Salt Spring, which has been owned by the University since 1982. Fossils and artifacts found there show traces of the earliest humans in Florida and North America. The exhibit will be on display on the first floor of the Louis Calder Memorial Library through Nov. 20.

By joining the Research Listserv you will receive information about funding, sponsored programs education opportunities and Office of Research Information Management initiatives. It can also facilitate information sharing with other administrators and staff  throughout the entire UM research community.

To register, please send an e-mail to resinfo@med.miami.edu with the subject line "Subscribe to Research Listserv." For more information, please visit the Office of Research Information Management at www.med.miami.edu/orim.

The NW 12th Avenue Bascule Bridge Replacement Project is still underway and some important changes will take place in November. Please visit the alerts section of the Department of Security's Web site at http://security.med.miami.edu/security/alerts.htm for complete details. You can also view the Miami-Dade County weekly traffic advisory, which announces road closures and traffic delays countywide.

• University Compliance (anonymous hotline): 866-YOURCALL
• Billing (anonymous hotline): 305-243-HELP or 877-415-HELP
• Research Integrity and Compliance: 305-243-6415
• Financial Improprieties: 305-284-2605
• Privacy Office/HIPAA: 305-243-5000 or 1-866-366-HUSH
• University Ombudsperson: 305-284-4922

Any University of Miami employee reporting or deciding whether to report activity that may be in violation of a law, rule, or regulation is protected against retaliation by the Whistleblower Protection Statement. For more information, visit the Office of Compliance site.

• Please note that submissions are due no later than 5 p.m. Thursday for publication on Tuesday.
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The Miller School United Way will be hosting a free Halloween pancake breakfast today from 8:30 to 10 a.m. in the Schoninger Research Quadrangle. Please join Dean Pascal Goldschmidt, M.D., and fellow faculty and staff for breakfast and find out more about the United Way campaign. Donations will gladly be accepted to support the United Way efforts of the Miller School.

AIG VALIC will present "Financial Planning Strategies For Doctors," a seminar that focuses on estate, retirement, tax and investment planning. The seminar will be held today from 8:30 to 11 a.m. in Dominion Parking Garage, suite 155. To register, please call Brad Baumgartner with AIG VALIC at 786-205-5617.

Guest speaker Robert S. Rosenson, M.D., professor of internal medicine and director of lipoprotein disorders and clinical atherosclerosis research at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, will present "Treating Lipoprotein Subclass Abnormalities in the Metabolic Syndrome: New Opportunities for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction." The lecture will take place today from noon to 1 p.m. on the eleventh floor of the Clinical Research Building in room 1179A.

Join us today for a discussion about deception in research from noon to 1 p.m. in the Mailman Center for Child Development, third-floor conference room. Jay Sosenko, M.D., professor of medicine and assistant provost for research standards at the Miller School, will examine the pros and cons of "Deception in Research Involving Human Subjects." The IRB and institutional policies regarding deception will also be examined. 

The Louis Calder Memorial Library announces its annual book sale benefiting the United Way, starting tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Book prices will range from $1 to $5.

The first three days of the sale will take place on the library patio. After the first three days, the book sale will continue in the library's first-floor lobby.

Please join us for a seminar, "Metabolic Control Through LRP130: Implications for Diabetes and Obesity," presented by Marcus P. Cooper, M.D., instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

"Dealing with Difficult People" is a course that is designed to strengthen communication skills, teach individuals how to evaluate the impact of their own actions and determine how to handle difficult situations with other people. The course will be offered tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. in Dominion Parking Garage, suite 155. Individuals must complete a corresponding online computer based-learning module prior to enrolling in the course. To register for the session, please visit http://ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, call 305-243-3090.

Music Ensembles for the Enrichment of Medicine is designed to showcase the musical talents of medical students at the Miller School. Their monthly concert series is kicking off tomorrow with a Halloween concert featuring pianists, guitarists, a choir and many other talented musicians. Bring a lunch and enjoy an hour of entertainment. Everyone is invited and admission is free. Get there early though, as space is limited. For information, please contact Dan Cushman at dcushman@med.miami.edu.

The Pediatric Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program at the Miller School will host a unique research conference, "Issues and Controversies in the Use of Piglets as Models of Pediatric Brain and Spinal Cord Injury," this Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Batchelor Children’s Research Institute, fifth-floor conference room.

The Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology will feature Markus A. Rüegg, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Dr. Rüegg will present "Regulation of Dendritic Spine Morphogenesis and Synapse Formation by Copine Family Members" this Thursday at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, conference room 6018. For additional information, please contact Nivia Machin-Gonzalez at 305-243-1078.

The Sponsored Programs Education training team cordially invites you to join them this Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Batchelor Children's Research Institute, Baxter Conference Room for a fun game of "Research Administration Jeopardy" and a thought-provoking discussion of policies and procedures that may affect your research project.

Mavara Mirza-Agrawal, M.D., assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and medical director of the Pediatric Mobile Clinic, will give an overview of the Pediatric Mobile Clinic. This presentation will examine the clinic's efforts to redress health disparities in underserved areas. The lecture will be held this Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, room 3023.

Lunch will be provided.  Please RSVP to Wanda Castro at 305-243-4466 or wcastro@med.miami.edu.

This Friday, Anthony Poteete, Ph.D., professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, will present "Replisome Invasion Model of Phage Lambda Red-Mediated Recombination," at noon in the R. Bunn Gautier Building, room 118. This seminar is provided by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. To meet the speaker please e-mail Richard Myers at rmyers@med.miami.edu.

Wei Li, Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology, cell biology and anatomy, will discuss "Retinal Pigment Cell Phagocytosis and Retinitis Pigmentosa" in the Retter Auditorium at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8. Lunch will be served at noon.

Please join us for Orthopaedic Grand Rounds on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 a.m. in the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium.

Robert A. Pedowitz, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair in the Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, will present a lecture on "Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair: Clinical Considerations and Fixation Challenges." 

This presentation is sponsored by the Department of Orthopaedics. For more information on this lecture, please contact Ledi Figueroa at lfigueroa@med.miami.edu or 305-243-6725.

The Miami Institute for Human Genomics presents "From Whole Genome Scans to Phenotype: Unraveling Inflammatory Diseases" on Thursday, Nov. 8, at noon in the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. The lecture will be given by David A. Hafler, M.D., Jack, Sadie and David Breakstone Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Do you have a co-worker, friend or family member you wish would stop smoking? "Adopt" them for a day and get a free lunch. The Great American Smoke-Out is a nationwide event designed to encourage smokers to kick the habit for one day.

At the University of Miami, the event will be conducted as an “Adopt a Smoker for a Day” program. UM employees can adopt a friend, family member or co-worker who smokes and treat them to lunch. Along with the feast, participants will receive information to help them prepare for the Great American Smoke-Out on November 15 with practical tips for quitting successfully.

Quit kits loaded with substitutes for smoking such as stress balls, Slinkys and chewing gum will be distributed at the luncheon and participants will learn how to provide support for their friends without nagging them.
This year, the medical campus luncheon will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from noon to 1 p.m., at the Medical Wellness Center.

In past years, this event has been successful in motivating smokers to participate in the University’s national award-winning 6-week BeSmokeFree Program and kick the habit for life.

Please join us for a Sponsored Programs Education Workshop, a required institutional program for all key personnel listed on proposals, presented by Sofia Aymerich on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 3 to 5 p.m. on the Coral Gables campus in the Fred C. and Helen Donn Flipse Building, fifth-floor conference room. 

The purpose of this workshop is to educate key personnel about fiscal and compliance issues of pre and post award management. Topics will include finding funding opportunities, closing an account, the roles and responsibilities of the principal investigator, established policies and procedures and an overview of the central support services available to the investigator.

Setting personal goals is a vital part of accomplishment and helps with personal and business planning. This Leadership Academy course will help emerging leaders identify their values, set principle-based goals and develop an appropriate action plan to achieve these goals. The course will be held on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Dominion Parking Garage, Professional Development and Training Office, suite 155.

You must complete the corresponding online computer based learning module prior to enrolling in the course. To register for the session, visit http://ulearn.miami.edu/ and follow the instructions to log on. For more information, please call 305-243-3090.

Are you using animals for your research projects? Did you know that you need to have approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee? Join us for a roundtable discussion that will cover the steps for submitting your protocol through the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee on Thursday, Nov. 15, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Fred C. and Helen Donn Flipse Building, fifth-floor conference room. Ellen Kapsalis, Ph.D., associate director of the IACUC, will present "Routing a Protocol through the IACUC."

Please register at http://ulearn.miami.edu/. For questions, please contact Sofia Aymerich at saymerich@med.miami.edu.

The XXIX Inter-American Course in Clinical Ophthalmology will be held Sunday, Nov. 18, through Wednesday, Nov. 21, at the Intercontinental Hotel and Resort located at 100 Chopin Plaza in downtown Miami. 

This course is designed for practicing ophthalmologists in Latin America and the Caribbean. The course material, which will be presented with simultaneous English and Spanish translation, will emphasize practical approaches to select clinical problems. In addition, more than 50 commercial exhibitors will participate in an accompanying trade show.

Early registration is scheduled for Saturday, November 17, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Intercontinental Hotel. For more information, please call 305-326-6110 or e-mail curso@med.miami.edu.

Delegation is a management approach that allows staff to use and develop their experiences to a greater potential. Delegating is an excellent way to motivate staff so their full potential is realized with on-the-job opportunities. A seminar on delegation will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Dominion Parking Garage in the Professional Development and Training Office, suite 155.

Team building is a method of building positive business relationships, helping colleagues face challenges together, developing new and innovative ideas and improving the decision-making process. "Team Building for Supervisors" is a Leadership Academy course that has been developed to help supervisors increase the effectiveness of their teams to achieve top levels of operational and relational performance through collaboration and mutual respect.

The course will be held on Thursday, Nov. 29, from 9 a.m. to noon at Dominion Parking Garage in the Professional Development and Training Office, suite 155. You must complete the corresponding online computer-based learning modules prior to enrolling in the course. To register for the session and complete the online modules, visit http://ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, please contact Fredricka Williams at 305-243-3090.

The Department of Pediatrics is honored to host Carol Flexer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of audiology, from the University of Akron, for a full-day conference on auditory brain development. During her presentation "Auditory Brain Development: The Key to Listening, Language and Literacy," Dr. Flexer will examine the auditory basis of phonemic awareness, reading fluency and literacy development. She will also describe informal instructional strategies for facilitating listening and literacy in infants and children and discuss the resources available to professionals working with families. Please join us on Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Retter Auditorium.

The Miami Winter Symposium on Regulatory RNA in Biology and Human Health will be held Saturday, Feb. 2, through Wednesday, Feb. 6, at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa. 
 
RNA interference is widely adopted as a powerful approach for experimental knockdown of gene expression. At this symposium, a wide group of researchers working in RNA interference, X chromosome inactivation and naturally occurring antisense transcripts will look at our current understanding of the mechanisms of action and biogenesis of small regulatory RNAs, and how this is being applied to create a new generation of therapeutics and diagnostics.
 
The poster session short reports deadline is Monday, Nov. 5. For instructions on how to prepare your two-page short report for the symposium, please e-mail Sandy Black at sblack@miami.edu. Oral presentations will be selected from the short reports received. Additionally, there will be a poster competition for students and post-docs.  Posters will be judged and winners will be selected each day of the symposium. Visit the Web site for details at www.miami.edu/mws.

The symposium is sponsored and organized by the University Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Foundation, Inc., UM/Sylvester, Nature Publishing Group and Scripps Florida.

The Islet Cell Transplant Center at the Diabetes Research Institute is recruiting subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus to participate in research studies that involve transplantation of islets, the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. For more information and eligibility criteria, call the department at 305-243-5321 or view the clinical trials section of the Web site www.diabetesresearch.org.

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