Alan Pollack, M.D., Ph.D., a Miller School alumnus who is now a leading physician/scientist at Philadelphia’s Fox Chase Cancer Center, is joining the University as the new chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Miller School. He will oversee clinical and research teams at UM/Sylvester and serve as chief of service at Jackson Memorial Hospital. 

In the continuation of a cutting-edge series of clinical trials researching the use of stem cells to treat heart disease, Miller School of Medicine physicians and scientists announced on April 16 that for the first time a patient underwent a procedure that could hold the key to repairing damaged heart tissue, a potential life-saver for the millions of people suffering from heart failure.

The study's leader, Joshua M. Hare, M.D., F.A.C.C., the Miller School's chief of the Cardiovascular Division and director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, said following the patient’s triple bypass surgery on April 14, mesenchymal stem cells, or a placebo, were injected directly in the patient’s heart. For more on this story, click here.

Frequently, the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine uses the lawns of the Schoninger Research Quadrangle to make important announcements or launch significant medical school programs. On April 15, the quad was again the place where UM made the official unveiling of UHealth, the University of Miami Health System, and announced the Society of Health Champions Annual Fund for University of Miami Hospital.

The Office of Communications would like to announce the relaunch of its newsletter formerly known as Scrip. The new name of the newsletter is Med. The first issue of Med will begin circulating this month.

Retirement planning is something we should all pay attention to during our career. Now is the time to start planning for your future. Choosing and managing a retirement investment plan is a challenging prospect for most people. That’s why the University offers a free UMatter benefit called LTSave. This benefit helps guide you through the many investment options offered by the University to create a personal investment plan. LTSave will help you set retirement goals, select plan investments and determine if your current savings and investment plans are on target for your retirement, at no charge.

To learn more about the LTSave investment program or to schedule a personal appointment, please contact the UM representative Yona Munro at 305 284-4556 or ymunro@LTSave.com. You may also visit the LTSave Web site through myUM at www.miami.edu/myUM. 

Summary Annual Reports are annual financial reports that most benefit plans must file with the Department of Labor. Benefits Administration has made the Summary Annual Reports available to you as required by federal regulations. View them online at http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,2340-1;57143-2;61394-3,00.html.

The 2008 Summary Plan Descriptions for faculty and staff are now online. The Summary Plan Descriptions is a document containing the most important facts of each benefit including terms and conditions of participation, how services and benefits are calculated, when benefits become vested, and how to file a claim for benefits. Benefits described include health care, dental, long-term and short-term disability, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, retirement plans, tuition remission and appeals procedures. Benefits Administration has made the Summary Plan Descriptions available to you as required by federal regulations. If you would like a paper copy sent to you via interoffice mail or if you have any questions, visit www.miami.edu/benefits/ask and complete the online form. 

Humana is working to correct errors in its medical claim processing system. These errors have affected claims made from January 1 through March 7. Humana will be reprocessing all affected claims once the system is updated, and your provider will be notified of your correct member responsibility. You will likely receive a revised bill from your provider reflecting a new amount. If you have received an Explanation of Benefits from Humana or a bill from a provider that you believe is incorrect, please e-mail the information to Jose Candelaria at jcandelaria@miami.edu or fax it to 305-284-4568.

Mark your calendars and join Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., as he presents the opening remarks at the 2008 Integrative Medicine Symposium and Expo at the Medical Wellness Center on Tuesday, April 29. The event, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., is sponsored by the Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine and the Medical Wellness Center; it will be open to medical students, faculty and staff.

At the event, Stanley Wasman, L.L.B., L.L.M., J.D., will present "Law, Medicine and the Technology of Language" from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Medical Wellness Center, room A. Throughout the day, there will also be sessions featuring acupuncture researchers and clinicians, whole food nutritional supplements and laser research. In addition, a wide variety of acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, meditation and aroma therapy demonstrations will take place. A limited selection of vendors displaying products currently used in integrative medicine will also participate in the Expo. For more information or a complete schedule of events, please visit http://wellness.med.miami.edu/x219.xml.

The Institute for Women’s Health has launched a new Web site with a number of useful features for health care professionals and researchers interested in women’s health. Some of the features include "Hot Topics in Women’s Health," a continuing series in which Erin Marcus, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., associate medical director, interviews experts from UM about current issues in women’s health; and "Find a Collaborator in Women’s Health," a database of approximately 50 researchers from throughout the university who conduct research related to women’s health, where you can search for a potential collaborator or mentor by research interests. The Web site also features upcoming conferences and events, links to resources for the latest statistics on women’s health, and sites with information on policies affecting women’s health.

Please visit the new Web site at http://womenshealth.med.miami.edu for further details.

• 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.
• We are unable to include attachments.
• Please use URL addresses in your announcements rather than hyperlinks.
• Event announcements should include the time, date, location, speaker, topic and cost if applicable. All events should have a contact phone number or e-mail address for further information. We will run event announcements for three weeks only.
• Information must be written in paragraph form. PDFs, Publisher files and flyers are not accepted.
• Human Subject recruitment announcements must be IRB approved.
• Events to be listed should be either held on the medical campus, sponsored or hosted by the Miller School of Medicine, or affect all or most of the employees on the medical campus.
• Please be sure to e-mail items to e-Update at update@med.miami.edu. Submissions to other e-mail addresses run the risk of being missed.

UM/Sylvester's Well Being/Being Well conference featuring renowned mind and body expert Deepak Chopra and UM President Donna E. Shalala, will take place today. Ticket holders will be able to customize their day by choosing several breakout sessions to learn the latest about a wide variety of topics ranging from genetics, cancer prevention and clinical trials, to the power of mind over matter and men’s and women’s health. Many sessions will feature UM/Sylvester’s top physicians and scientists, providing the latest information and resources.

Travel Management will host its annual Travel Fair today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Be sure to participate in the raffles to win exciting prizes such as airline tickets, hotel stays and dinners at local restaurants. The fair will also feature authorized travel agencies, hotels, car rental companies and other UM vendors.

For additional information, please contact Travel Management at 305-284-1087 or travel@miami.edu. You may also visit the Web site at www.miami.edu/travel.

The Division of Hospital Medicine has recurring Grand Rounds every second and fourth Tuesday of each month in the JMH Central Building, second-floor auditorium at noon. The lectures are accredited for continuing medical education and lunch is provided on a first-come basis. The next scheduled lecture will be held today. Jose Romano, M.D., associate professor of clinical neurology at the Miller School will present "Acute Stroke Management." The presentation will review stroke epidemiology, the concept of ischemic penumbra, and blood pressure and glycemic treatment. It will also discuss thrombolysis eligibility and other interventions for acute stroke management. 

For more information, contact Henry Michtalik, M.D. at hmichtalik2@med.miami.edu or visit www.cme.med.miami.edu.

Please join us today at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium for a seminar by Se-Jin Lee, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Lee will present a lecture titled "Regulation of Muscle Growth by Myostatin."

For more information, please contact Nilcer Aviles at 305-243-6691 or naviles@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will present a seminar by Stephan Zuchner, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Miami Institute for Human Genomics. Dr. Zuchner will be presenting "CMT2A and Beyond: The Genotypic and Phenotypic Spectrum of Mitofusin 2." 

The event will take place today at noon in the R. Bunn Gautier Building, room 118. If you would like to meet with the speaker, please contact Dr. Richard Myers at rmyers@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine will host Grand Rounds tomorrow from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Daniel Kantor, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, will present "Research Updates in Multiple Sclerosis Treatment."

A continental breakfast will be served at 7 a.m. For further details, please contact Coretha Davis at 305-585-1431. The department offers one continuing medical education credit for attending.

Maria Valero-Martinez and Sofia Aymerich will present an InfoEd Proposal Development System Hands-On Workshop tomorrow from 9 a.m. to noon at the Louis Calder Memorial Library, electronic classroom.

At the workshop, you will learn how to use the InfoEd Proposal Development System to prepare and submit proposals electronically to the NIH. InfoEd streamlines the process, is Web-based and accessible almost anywhere by Mac and PC users without additional software.

An additional session will be held on Tuesday, May 13, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Louis Calder Memorial Library, electronic classroom. Please note that you may only attend one session.
Register through Ulearn at http://Ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, please contact Sofia Aymerich at saymerich@med.miami.edu.

The Cardiovascular Division will present a seminar by Rakesh Kukreja, Ph.D., Eric Lipman Professor of Cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Kukreja's lecture, "Cardioprotection with Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitors," will take place tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. at the Clinical Research Building, conference rooms 1380 and 1381.

Janine Babulski from Applied Precision will visit the Miller School for a demonstration on DeltaVision and personal DV live-cell digital deconvolution fluorescence microscopy imaging systems. This presentation is designed for anyone interested in imaging live fluorescent cells. The presentation will also discuss the ongoing commercialization of the OMX (optical microscope experimental) microscope platform.

This presentation is hosted by UM/Sylvester's Analytical Imaging Core Facility. Please contact George McNamara, Ph.D., at gmcnamara@med.miami.edu or 305-243-8436, if you have questions or would like to meet one-on-one with the speaker. 

There are more than 22 million family caregivers in this country, and two-thirds of family caregivers work full or part-time. The challenges of combining work and caregiving can be stressful and difficult for caregivers and employers. UM's Center on Aging and the Employee Assistance Program invite you to a special program on caregiving. Designed for all UM faculty and staff who are caring for elderly or ill family members, the program will discuss important issues such as balancing personal care with care for others and managing feelings of guilt. The program will also highlight some available resources at UM and in the community.

The event will take place tomorrow from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the BankUnited Center, Hurricane 100 Room.

Lunch will be provided, and reservations are required. To RSVP, send an e-mail to spurcell@med.miami.edu or call 305-355-9081.

UM/Sylvester will host Mei-Yi Wu, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, for a seminar tomorrow from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Medical Training and Simulation Laboratory, auditorium. Dr. Wu will present "Studies of Genomic Imprinting Lead to Chromatin Modification Genes Involved in Malignancy and Male Fertility."

The Sponsored Programs Education Workshop is a required institutional program for all key personnel listed on proposals. The goal is to educate key personnel with the fiscal and compliance issues of pre- and post-award management. The workshop covers the most recent information on the grant process from finding funding opportunities to closing an account. The workshop will review the principal investigator's role and responsibility for administering sponsored projects, explain established policies and procedures, and provide an overview of the central support services available to the investigator.

The next Orthopaedic Grand Rounds will be held this Thursday at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium from 7 to 8 a.m. Kathryn S.E. Cheah, Ph.D., professor and chair of biochemistry and director of the Faculty of Medicine Centre for Reproduction, Development and Growth at the University of Hong Kong, will present "Understanding Degenerative Disk Disease Through Genetics and Genomics." Dr. Cheah will present a second lecture titled "The Genomics of Intervertebral Disk Herniation" at noon in the seventh-floor auditorium at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, on the same day.

For more information, please contact Ledi Figueroa at lfigueroa@med.miami.edu or 305-243-6725.

The Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology will present a lecture by Kerry Burnstein, Ph.D., professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology at the Miller School, this Thursday at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 6018. Dr. Burnstein will present "Vav3, a Versatile Modulator of Androgen Receptor Activity in Prostate Cancer."

For additional information, please contact Nivia Machin-Gonzalez at 305-243-1078.

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology will host Maria Carolina Pilonieta to present "Transcriptional Regulation of Virulence Genes in Enterotoxigenic E. Coli and Shigella Flexneri by Members of the AraC/XylS Family" for her Ph.D. dissertation. The lecture will take place this Thursday at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 3109 and again at 2 p.m. in the McKnight Vision Research Center, seventh-floor conference room.

Join us for a seminar by Guochang Fan, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and cell biophysics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, this Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Clinical Research Building, conference room 1179. Dr. Fan will present "HSP20 and MicroRNAs320: Novel Regulators of Cardio Protection." 

For more information, contact Grisel Bisbal at 305-243-7999 or gbisbal@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology will present a seminar by Robert Mittler, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Mittler will present "CD137 (4-1BB) Multifaceted Regulation of Immune Function" this Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 3109.

Please join us for a Microbiology and Immunology Seminar by Meta J. Kuehn, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry at Duke University. Dr. Kuehn will present "Outer Membrane Vesicles: A Stress Response Pathway Involved in Bacterial Virulence" this Friday at 11 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 3109.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences invites you to Psychiatry Grand Rounds with Jeremy Lazarus, M.D., speaker of the American Medical Association House of Delegates and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Lazarus will present "Environment of Medicine: Current and Future." Participants will be able to examine current and future trends in the American health care system, explain various approaches to health system reform and appraise the efforts of organized medicine in health system reform.

The lecture will take place this Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. This lecture will provide one continuing medical education credit or one continuing education unit to physicians, psychologists, social workers and nurses. No pre-registration is required. For additional information, please contact Carmen Bou-Crick at 305-355-9073, cbou@med.miami.edu or visit the Web site at http://cme.med.miami.edu.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will host Patrick A. Limbach, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati, for a seminar this Friday at noon in the R. Bunn Gautier Building, room 118. Dr. Limbach will be presenting "Studying RNA and RNA Protein Complexes by Mass Spectrometry."

The Faculty Senate is proud to recognize Mark T. O'Connell, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education and Bernard J. Fogel Chair in Medical Education, as the recipient of the 2008 Faculty Senate Outstanding Teacher Award. Additionally, Paul Dee, director of intercollegiate athletics, was selected for the Faculty Senate Special Achievement Award. All faculty members are invited to attend the award ceremony and reception on Monday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium.

Jeffrey P. Brosco, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics and director of clinical services at the Mailman Center for Child Development, will present a human subjects protections seminar on Tuesday, April, 29, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Mailman Center for Child Development, room 3023.

The social authority of medicine and science is a critical component of the subject-researcher relationship and the historical origins of that social authority may surprise contemporary researchers and health care providers. This interactive seminar explores how the history of modern medicine in the United States continues to impact our research and clinical endeavors.

To attend this seminar, please register at http://Ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, contact Sofia Aymerich at saymerich@med.miami.edu.

Please join us for a special seminar by Susan Hester, Ph.D., from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on Wednesday, April 30, from noon to 1 p.m. at UM/Sylvester, conference room 1301. Dr. Hester will present "Do Tumorigenic Conazoles and Phenobarbital Induce Mouse Liver Tumors by the Same Mechanisms? Results From Transcriptomic Studies."

The Miami Institute for Human Genomics will host a seminar series on "Advancing Genomics Through Innovation" on Wednesday, April 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium

Feeling a little nervous about your baby's shots? If you've ever wondered why your baby needs so many immunizations, considered omitting some of your baby's vaccines or worried about vaccines and their alleged link to autism, then this session is for you. J. Mark Saunders, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the Miller School, will discuss these topics in his lecture titled "Childhood Immunizations and Your Baby." He will also be available to answer your questions. A light meal will be provided in addition to free diapers and wipes.
 
The event will take place on Wednesday, April 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Pediatrics South. For more information, please call Aja Cole at 305-270-3495.

UM/Sylvester will host the ninth annual Zubrod Memorial Lecture and Cancer Research Poster Session on Thursday, May 1, in honor of its founding director, Charles Gordon Zubrod, M.D. This lecture is held in association with the annual cancer research poster competition. The goal of the event is to provide a competitive stimulus for creativity in research and an opportunity for the exchange of ideas. Faculty, fellows, residents, medical students, post-doctoral trainees and graduate students are encouraged to participate by attending the lecture, presenting a poster, or by viewing the posters of their colleagues. The event will begin with a poster viewing from 8 to 10:30 a.m., followed by an award ceremony from 11 to 11:30 a.m., then oral presentations from 11:30 a.m. to noon at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Diagnostic Treatment Center, second-floor conference center. There will also be a lecture, "Modeling Cancer in the Mouse," presented by Tyler Jacks, Ph.D, investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and David H. Koch Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Research from noon to 1 p.m.

The Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute will host Yao-Liang Tang, M.D., Ph.D., research assistant professor at Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences in California, for a lecture on Thursday, May 1. Dr. Tang will present "Enhancing Cardiac Stem Cell Homing via Hypoxia Preconditioning" from noon to 1 p.m. at the Medical Training and Simulation Laboratory, auditorium. 

For more information, contact Grisel Bisbal at 305-243-7999 or gbisbal@med.miami.edu.

Show the rest of Miami-Dade County your Hurricane spirit by joining Team UM for the 2008 Miami Mercedes Benz 5K Corporate Run/Walk on Thursday, May 1. The event takes place at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami starting at 6:45 p.m. This year you can save paper and $5 by registering online. The department that registers the most participants will win an office pizza party compliments of Pizza Hut.

Participating in the Corporate Run is a great way to show your UM pride, share a good time with your co-workers and get some exercise. Family and friends are also eligible to join Team UM. Miller School faculty and staff who are interested in participating or have any questions should call 305-243-7600 or send an e-mail to cjohnson7@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Dermatology will present its SunSmart Sprint, a 5K run/walk to benefit melanoma awareness, research and care on Saturday, May 3, at Crandon Park, 4000 Crandon Park Boulevard, Key Biscayne. The race will begin at 7 a.m.

The cost for general registration is $20 and $15 for students if completed by 5 p.m. on April 25. Registration after April 25 is $25 for all participants. The department will offer free skin cancer screenings at the event. All proceeds will go to the Department of Dermatology for melanoma research.

The Department of Neurological Surgery will host its eighth annual Hubert L. Rosomoff Research Day on Saturday May 3, from 8:25 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium.

The event will showcase research by the Department’s residents, fellows and faculty. This year’s visiting professor will be Kim Burchiel, M.D., F.A.C.S., John Raaf Professor and chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Burchiel is a renowned authority on the neurosurgical treatment of pain and will deliver two lectures. All interested members of the University community are invited to attend. For further information, call 305-243-6751.

Aventura Mall will be hosting a premiere fashion show and event to benefit the Department of Pediatrics' Children First Fund on Sunday, May 4, at 11:30 a.m. The show will take place on the first level of the mall at Center Court. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be provided by Grand Lux Café.

In an effort to enhance the collaborative research between the medical and engineering faculties, the Deans of the Miller School and the College of Engineering, are launching a series of half-day Collaborative Research Exchange Forums (CREFs). 

Patricia Atkinson, Maria Valero-Martinez and Sofia Aymerich will present an interactive InfoEd informational session on Wednesday, May 7, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium.

The top 10 best practices in InfoEd will be revealed. Also, you will discover some shortcuts and see how InfoEd can streamline your proposal submission and hear from those who have used it. Come share your tips, enjoy refreshments and prizes. Please register through Ulearn at http://Ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, please contact Sofia Aymerich at saymerich@med.miami.edu.

The Oncogenomics Core and UM/Sylvester's Analytical Imaging Core Facility will host Dave Krizman from Expression Pathology to present the latest techniques in laser microdissection of cells and tissue for mRNA isolation or proteomics profiling.

After the presentation, the Analytical Imaging Core Facility will hold an open house from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Diabetes Research Institute, room 6025. At the open house, a laser microdissection demonstration will take place. Please contact George McNamara, Ph.D., at gmcnamara@med.miami.edu or 305-243-8436, if you have questions or would like to meet one-on-one with the speaker. 

Jennifer Marks, M.D., is currently recruiting patients ages 18 or older, who are obese with impair glucose tolerance and have hypertension, for participation in a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of an angiotensin receptor blocker for protection against endothelial dysfunction. Patients must be non-smokers who are otherwise in good health. Those who are interested should contact Dr. Jorge Mejia-Galvis at 305-243-6573.

e-Update is a service of the Office of Communications at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.
To view current and past issues, visit http://e-update.med.miami.edu.
The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action University.