Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., interim chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, and medical director of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, was named Health Care CEO of the Year by the South Florida Business Journal.  The 2008 Excellence in Health Care Awards were presented during a ceremony October 16 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale.

NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti and his son Marc hosted a sold out event, the 23rd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner, at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York, to benefit The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis. They were joined by sports heroes, philanthropic icons and business leaders who were out in full force to support paralysis research. The 2008 Great Sports Legend honorees were Jerry Rice, Andre Agassi, Scottie Pippen, Joe Gibbs, Helio Castroneves, Richard “Goose” Gossage, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Angelo Dundee and Gabrielle Reece. At the event, South Florida philanthropist Christine Lynn received The Buoniconti Fund Award, and sports broadcaster and Buoniconti Fund supporter Bob Costas was emcee. The evening raised more than $7 million for the spinal cord injury research programs at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the Miller School.

"This dinner and the support we continue to receive from the best of the best in sports, business, entertainment and philanthropy continues to raise my spirits and that of the researchers at The Miami Project," said an emotional Nick Buoniconti. "In turn, that support fuels research and raises the spirits of the millions worldwide who live daily with paralysis, because we know that, with clinical trials on the horizon, the day will soon come when they will be raised up from their wheelchairs to walk side by side with us again."

Pictured Above: Sports legends and honorees with Nick and Marc Buoniconti at the 2008 Great Sports Legends Dinner in New York.

To help faculty and staff make informed decisions during the Open Enrollment period, Benefits Administration has scheduled additional Open Enrollment information sessions at the Miller School this week and next. Take the time to attend a session and ask questions. A member of the Office of Benefits Administration will walk you through your 2009 benefits options and answer any questions you may have. Open Enrollment began yesterday (Monday) and will continue through Friday, November 7. Enroll online at myUM.  If you have any questions, visit www.miami.edu/benefits/ask and complete the online form. You may also review the Open Enrollment Web site at www.miami.edu/benefits/2009 for additional information.

The Benefits Fair will take place this Thursday and Friday at the Medical Wellness Center. Representatives from Aetna, the Medical Wellness Center and others will provide valuable information about your UMatter benefits. Raffle tickets for a chance to win fantastic prizes will be available at the fair and you can also take the opportunity to get a free flu shot. If you are interested in getting a flu shot, please review the flu shot vaccination statement at http://www.immunize.org/vis/2flu.pdf and complete the flu shot consent form at https://www6.miami.edu/health-safety/Flu/07FLUConsent.pdf.

Benefits Administration is sponsoring free mammography screenings for faculty and staff members over the age of 35 as part of the UMatter Wellness Programs. To be eligible, you must be an employee enrolled in one of the University-sponsored Humana health plans and have a recent (within the past 6 months) mammography prescription from a physician. You must not have a history or diagnosis of breast cancer or received a mammogram in the last 365 days.

A massage therapist will be on site, employees will receive healthy snacks and cancer prevention information will be distributed. Screenings will take place tomorrow (Wednesday), and Wednesday, October 29, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sylvester, suite 1038 and on Friday, October 31, at Sylvester at Deerfield Beach from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To schedule a free screening, call 305-243-5512 or for scheduling at Sylvester at Deerfield Beach, call 954-571-0152.

The Benefits Office will hold a final open enrollment information sessions for UMMG physicians on Wednesday, October 29, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. The session will provide updated information about the new 2009 health insurance plans.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has moved its private, clinical outpatient office, UHealth Psychiatry, from Dominion Tower to the third floor of the Mental Health Hospital Center located at 1695 NW 9th Avenue. The transition to the newly renovated location took place yesterday (Monday). 

The office provides a full-range of psychiatric and psychological services including psychotherapy and psychopharmacology, neuropsychological assessment, psychological testing, forensic psychiatry and psychology, and treatment for substance abuse. “Our practice has continued to grow beyond the physical limitations of the Dominion Tower office,” said Joseph Henry, M.D., assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the outpatient practice. “We are expanding our outpatient practice, increasing services and adding experts to our faculty. The department now inhabits almost the entire third-floor of the mental health hospital, making the facility much more conducive to user-friendly patient care.”

The Professional Development and Training Office has purchased access to HealthStream, an
extensive online contact hours library, for UM nurses. The library contains topics in critical care nursing, cultural competency, disease states, emergency nursing, career advancement, obstetrics, oncology, patient care basics, pharmacotherapy and special populations.

You will have unlimited access to this library until May 15, regardless of when you join the program. If you fail to complete any training within the first 90 days, your department will be charged a $35 fee. In order to receive contact hours credit, you must self‐report all trainings in ULearn by May 15, 2009. To gain access to this library, you must first complete two computer‐based learning modules through ULearn at http://ulearn.miami.edu. The modules are "Contact Hour Library-Module I" and "Contact Hour Library-Module II."

Access to the library is limited and will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Frost School of Music are proud to announce that they will begin musical performances at Sylvester. The program is made possible by generous support from the Ress Family Hospital Performance Project. The inaugural performance will take place at the Sylvester hematology/oncology and surgical oncology waiting area on Thursday, October 30, at 1:30 p.m. 

For more information, please contact Giselle Salzmann at 305-243-3663 or gsalzmann@med.miami.edu.  

The Office of Medical Development has teddy bears available to give to your patients when they come to clinic, courtesy of John K. Schulte and Frank Herbert, generous and longstanding friends of the University of Miami. The bears will provide comfort to your adult or pediatric patients when they need it most. Herbert and Schulte have maintained this tradition at the Miller School for the past few years and are convinced of the wonderful effect and power these bears have on our patients.

If you would like to give these bears to your patients, please contact Ana Bezanilla or Jennifer Rodriguez at 305-243-6256. 

The Miller School's class of 2010 will be selling holiday cookies. Packaged in decorative tins, they will make a thoughtful gift for the upcoming season, so be sure to place your order between November 10 and December 8. Orders can be picked up outside the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building from December 15 to 19.
 
Select from an assortment of cookies (snickers surprise, cookies and cream, chocolate dipped almond crescents, oatmeal, sugar cookies) or one specific type of cookie. Prices range from $10 to $15 for a dozen. Please e-mail your orders to Eileen Bernal at EMBernal@med.miami.edu no later than December 8 or stop by the table outside the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building the week of November 17 to place your order.

As the holidays approach, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety wants to remind you of some decorating do's and don'ts.

Do use UL listed decorative lights, decorations and ornaments, artificial holiday trees that are fire-resistant and place indoor trees away from traffic. Make sure to unplug all holiday lights when you leave the office for the day, and remove all decorations, displays, lights and/or ornaments after the holiday event or before the University’s annual holiday closure.

The National Institutes of Health has changed their policy for resubmitting or amending applications in an effort to fund high-quality applications sooner with fewer resubmissions. If you are applying for NIH funding here’s what the new policy means to you:

The Office of Research is now accepting internal submissions for the James & Esther King Biomedical Research Program, Team Science Program. The award supports broadly-based, multi-disciplinary research projects with well-defined major objectives or themes addressing the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or cure of tobacco-related diseases. The program goal is to increase grant applications and competitively position Florida institutions for high-level federal funding.

The Calder Library's annual book sale to benefit the UnitedWay continues this week. Books are deeply discounted at $1 to $5 each. The book sale will be held in the library lobby during regular library hours.

• 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.

Please join us for Pediatric Grand Rounds today (Tuesday) from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. Felix Ratjen, M.D., Ph.D., professor and division head of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, will present "Early Intervention in Airway Diseases."

The Developmental Center for AIDS Research will present Grand Rounds today (Tuesday) from noon to 1 p.m. at the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium. Ken Fields, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, will present "A Model System to Investigate Novel Mechanisms of Chlamydia-Mediated Activation of HIV." 

The Division of Hospital Medicine will present Grand Rounds by Joshua Lenchus, D.O., assistant professor of clinical medicine, today (Tuesday) from noon to 1 p.m. at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Central Building, second-floor auditorium. Dr. Lenchus will present a lecture titled "Overview of the Procedure Team."

For more information, please contact Karen Harvey at 305-243-1960 or Kharvey@med.miami.edu.

A memorial service for Edward “Ted” L. Chambers, M.D., a professor of physiology and biophysics at the Miller School for more than 40 years, will be held today (Tuesday) at 5 p.m. in the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, room 1301.
 
Scientifically, Dr. Chambers is best known for his research on fertilization and early development. He was ahead of his time in his awareness, starting in the late 1930s, of the importance of ion transport in these processes. He came to the Department of Physiology at the University of Miami School of Medicine in 1954.
 
Among his most significant accomplishments at UM was his creation of an informal collaboration between the basic sciences at the medical school and the Department of Biology at Coral Gables that led to an interdisciplinary NIH-funded Ph.D. program – the Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Program – a bedrock on which basic biological science grew at the University.
 
Dr. Chambers died on July 3, 2008 in Miami. He was 91.

The Department of Urology invites you to its Tumor Board Meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7 a.m. at Sylvester, conference room 1537. Medical, radiation and urologic oncologists and urologic pathologists will present cases and discuss urologic malignancies and treatment. This conference also gives residents an opportunity to apply system-based and practice-based methodologies to urologic patient care.

Please join us for Dermatology Grand Rounds tomorrow (Wednesday) from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 2090. Elizabeth Alvarez Connelly, M.D., assistant professor of clinical and pediatric dermatology, will present "A Review of the New Classification for Epidermolysis Bullosa."

For more information, please call 305-243-4472.

You are invited to attend a special seminar tomorrow (Wednesday) from noon to 1 p.m. at the Clinical Research Building, room 1179. Pascal Jean-Pierre, Ph.D., assistant professor of cancer therapeutic control in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, will present "Management of Cancer-Related Cognitive Dysfunction." 
 
Lunch will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. RSVP is not required. For more information, please contact Sheela Dominguez at SDominguez@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Anesthesiology will present Grand Rounds this Thursday from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium. John M. Murkin, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at London Health Sciences Center, will present "Cerebral Oximetry Improves Central Nervous System and Systemic Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery."

The Department of Neurological Surgery will present Grand Rounds this Thursday from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Roberto C. Heros, M.D., professor and co-chairman of neurological surgery, will present "Intracranial Dural Arteriovenous Fistula."

The Department of Orthopaedics will hold Grand Rounds this Thursday from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. Carlos Lavernia, M.D., chief of orthopaedics at Mercy Hospital's Orthopedic Institute, will present "Avascular Necrosis of the Hip – Diagnosis and Treatment."

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

The Department of Urology invites you to its case discussion and resident lecture this Thursday at 7 a.m. at the Professional Arts Center, room 309. The discussion will concentrate on diagnostic imaging and the surgical management of urologic patients. The resident lecture will be "Tubeless PCNL vs. Standard PCNL with a Nephrostomy Tube," presented by Miguel Castellan, M.D., and Jeffrey Gahan, M.D.

The Department of Neurological Surgery will present Grand Rounds this Thursday from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Visiting professor David Menon, M.D., from Cambridge University, will present "Multimodality Monitoring in the Neurocritical Care Unit."

For more information or to add your name to our educational announcement distribution list, please contact Ingrid Menendez at 305-243-6751 or nrstraining@med.miami.edu.

Please join us for Surgical Grand Rounds this Thursday at 8 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Camillo Ricordi, M.D., scientific director of the Diabetes Research Institute and professor of surgery and medicine, will present “Challenges in the Development of a Cell-Based Therapy for Diabetes.” Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to appraise pancreatic islet cell transplantation.

The Department of Otolaryngology will host Grand Rounds this Thursday from 8 to 9 a.m. at ACC East in Chandler Library, room 356. Simon Angeli, M.D., associate professor of otolaryngology, and David Neskey, M.D., resident, will present a lecture titled "Glomus Tumors."

UM's Area Health Education Center (AHEC), in collaboration with the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, the Office of Medical Education, and the Miami-Dade AHEC, will present a tobacco cessation provider course. The program will focus on the best practices for tobacco control and treatment, role of medications in tobacco addiction, and application of practical problem-solving skills and social support for treatment of tobacco addiction. The program will take place this Thursday and Friday at the Highland Professional Building, room 418 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Please contact Gladys Cordero at gcordero@med.miami.edu or 305-243-2847 for more information and to register.

Cancer Link is teaming up with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to cultivate the seeds of love as they help search for a cure. Please join us at the Seeds of Love luncheon this Thursday at Jungle Island's Treetop Ballroom, where guests will enjoy a reception, auction and fashion show featuring Mayda Cisneros Couture Collections. The event will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by a special luncheon at noon.

Tickets are $80 and all proceeds will go to Sylvester to support funding for breast cancer research, education, early detection and community outreach programs. For more information, visit www.sylvester.org.

Please join us for Pathology Grand Rounds this Thursday at noon at Holtz Children's Hospital, conference room 2034. Maria T. Perez, M.D., assistant professor of clinical pathology, will present a lecture titled "Anatomy of a Pathology Malpractice Lawsuit: My Personal Experience and Lessons Learned."

For more information, please contact Winnie Tang at 305-585-7017 or wtang@med.miami.edu.

The Division of Hospital Medicine will host Grand Rounds this Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. at University of Miami Hospital's Seminar Center. Shirin Shafazand, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, will present “Stop that Snoring: The Diagnosis and Management of Sleep Disordered Breathing.” After attending the lecture, participants will be able to review the signs and symptoms of sleep disordered breathing, discuss screening tools for obstructive sleep apnea, and highlight the health consequences of sleep disordered breathing.

As part of Decision '08 activities, the College of Engineering will be sponsoring two panel sessions and a poster session. The sessions will focus on two important issues that have been debated by the presidential candidates -- energy and health care. The event will be held this Thursday from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the McArthur Engineering Annex on the Coral Gables campus.   

The Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatology will present Grand Rounds this Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Medical Training and Simulation Laboratory, auditorium. Roberto Firpi, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida, will present "Management of HCV Post-OLT."

For more information, please contact Amar Deshpande at adeshpande@med.miami.edu.

Register today for the Third Annual Ventricular Arrhythmias Symposium. At the event, you will learn from top international experts in the management of ventricular arrhythmias and gain a detailed understanding of ventricular arrhythmia treatment in various disease states, including advances in non-pharmacological therapies such as implantable device therapy and catheter ablation. The scientific basis of new techniques and therapies, their clinical use and limitations will be also discussed.

The symposium will be held this Friday and Saturday at The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne. To learn more or to register, please visit www.vtsymposium.com.

Please join us for Neurology Grand Rounds this Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Clinical Research Building, room 988A. Keith Lyon Meloff, M.D., adjunct professor of pediatric neurology at the University of Western Ontario, will present "Tourette's Syndrome - Recent Approaches to Diagnosis and Treatment."

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences cordially invites you to Psychiatry Grand Rounds this Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. Robson Capasso, M.D., assistant professor of clinical psychiatry, will present "An Update on Diagnosis and Management of Sleep Disorders." Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to identify patients with sleep disorders and its association with psychiatric problems, and explain treatment options for patients with sleep disorders. 

This lecture is approved for continuing education credits for physicians, psychologists, social workers and nurses. For additional information, please contact Carmen Bou-Crick at 305-355-9073 or cbou@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will present a seminar by Roger Laine, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and chemistry at Louisiana State University. Dr. Laine will present "The Formosan Subterranean Termites: A Look at Biochemical Weaponry, Including Novel Ceramides, and the Design of a Few Chemical Retorts of Our Own."

The 12th annual Richard P. Bunge Memorial Lecture will feature James Salzer, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cell biology and neurology at New York University. Dr. Salzer will present "Axo-Glial Interactions that Direct Assembly of Myelinated Nerves." The lecture will be held this Friday at noon in the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium.

Lunch will be served at 1 p.m. For more information, contact the Neuroscience Program at neurosci@med.miami.edu or 305-243-3368. 

Richard Delany, M.D., a multiple board-certified integrative medicine physician from Massachusetts, will be lecturing at the Medical Wellness Center this Friday at 1 p.m. Dr. Delany will present "An Integrative Medical Approach to the Metabolic Syndrome & Alzheimer’s Disease"

To register, please contact Jason Torres at 305-243-4751 or Jtorres2@med.miami.edu.

Join us this Friday for a Sylvester Distinguished Lecture by John Schiller, Ph.D., senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute. Dr. Schiller will present a lecture on "HPV Vaccines for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer" at 1 p.m. in Sylvester, conference room 1301.

Lunch will be provided; RSVP is not required. For further information, contact Diane Dames at ddames@med.miami.edu.

The Department of Medicine invites you to a research conference on Monday, October 27, at noon in the Medical Training and Simulation Laboratory, conference room. William Harrington, Jr., M.D., professor of medicine, will present “Viral Associated Lymphomas.” 

Lunch will be served. For more information, e-mail Zurama Rodriguez at zrodriguez@med.miami.edu or visit http://www.med.miami.edu/medicine/x522.xml.

The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine will present Grand Rounds on Monday, October 27, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Lee Kaplan, M.D., chief of sports medicine and associate professor of clinical orthopaedics, will present "Articular Cartilage: What are the Current Treatment Options?" 

Sylvester will present a seminar by Deborah Heros, M.D., associate professor of clinical neurology, on Monday, October 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Wellness Community-Greater Miami. The presentation is titled "Chemotherapy Effects on the Nervous System."

For more information, please contact Carthy Thomas at 305-243-4071.

The Miami Institute for Human Genomics will present a lecture by Mayana Zatz, Ph.D., professor of genetics and director of the Center for the Study of the Human Genome at the Institute of Biosciences at the University of São Paulo. Dr. Zatz will present "Neuromuscular Diseases: From Gene Mapping to Pre-Clinical Research" on Tuesday, October 28, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium.

Lunch will be served after the lecture. For more information, please contact Nora Matelis at 305-243-8408 or nmatelis@miami.edu.

Please join us on Tuesday, October 28, at noon, in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium for a seminar by Shu Wu, M.D., assistant professor of clinical pediatrics. Dr. Wu will present a lecture titled "CTGF in Lung Development and Remodeling."

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

Genetic tests for specific maladies are known to raise ethical issues. These issues, including sharing results with patients and appropriate secondary use of data, are considerably magnified with the recent success of whole-genome sequencing. On Tuesday, October 28, Kenneth W. Goodman, Ph.D., director of the Bioethics Program, will present a Human Subjects Protections Program seminar on "Whole-Genome Sequencing: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues."

The event will be held from noon to 1 p.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. Please register at http://Ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, please send an e-mail to resedu@med.miami.edu.

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

The next session will be held on Wednesday, October 29, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Dominion Tower, room 1003. Space is limited. Please register at http://Ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, please send an e-mail to ResEDU@med.miami.edu.  

Please join us for Dermatology Grand Rounds on Wednesday, October 29, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 2090. Javier Alonso, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology, will present a lecture titled "My Best Cases."

For more information, please call 305-243-4472.

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center will host an oncogenomics seminar on Wednesday, October 29, from noon to 1 p.m. at Sylvester, conference room 1301. Brian Rabinovich, Ph.D., director of genetic engineering and molecular imaging and senior research scientist in the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, will present a lecture titled "Engineering a  Highly Optimized Firefly Luciferase for Imaging Mouse T Cells in Models Adoptive Immunotherapy of Solid Tumors."

Join us for "Party on the Patio" on Wednesday, October 29, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the University Restaurant and Patio located next to the Clinical Research Building. Admission is $15 and includes delicious Greek food, beer, wine and music. Proceeds will benefit the spinal cord injury research programs at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. 

For more information, please call 305-243-2267.

The Department of Neurological Surgery will present Grand Rounds on Thursday, October 30, from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Allan Levi, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurological surgery, will present "Hypothermia for Acute Cervical Complete Spinal Cord Injury – Results of a Phase I Study."

Steven P. Kalandiak, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedics, will present Orthopaedic Grand Rounds on Thursday, October 30, from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. Dr. Kalandiak will present "First Do No Harm - Recognizing an Inadequate Shoulder Film and Reading it Properly."

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

The Department of Neurological Surgery will present Grand Rounds on Thursday, October 30, from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Jonathan R. Jagid, M.D., assistant professor of clinical neurological surgery, will present "Deep Brain Stimulation in Traumatic Brain Injury."

Please join us for Surgical Grand Rounds on Thursday, October 30, at 8 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Eduardo Martinez, M.D., assistant professor of clinical surgery, will present: “Endovascular Repair of Complex Aortic Anatomy.” Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to review complex aortic anatomy and discuss new therapeutic approaches.

The Department of Otolaryngology will present Grand Rounds on Thursday, October 30, from 8 to 9 a.m. at ACC East in Chandler Library, room 356. Adrien Eshraghi, M.D., associate professor of otolaryngology, and Samuel Reyes, M.D., resident, will present "Otolaryngologic Aspects of Autism."

Join the Miller School's professor and interim chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Ewald Horwath, M.D., at Tropical Park on Saturday, November 1, for the 2008 Out of the Darkness Community Walk. The event, sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and co-chaired by Dr. Horwath, will raise funds for survivor and awareness programs, research and education to help prevent suicide and assist those affected by suicide.

Registration is free and everyone is encouraged to bring friends and/or family members. Please register online at www.outofthedarkness.org. Registration at the event will take place at 9 a.m. and the walk starts at 10 a.m. For more information, please contact Lorie Simmons at 561-392-7877.

The kickoff event of South Florida’s fall social season, the "In the Garden Gala" that benefits the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, is set for Saturday, November 1, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Grand Ballroom. The "In the Garden Gala" attracts nearly 1,000 philanthropic, community and business leaders from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties and raises more than $1.5 million for cancer research. A highlight of the gala is the presentation of the Caroline W. Halpern Award. This award will be given to an individual or family with a proven record of exceptional generosity through volunteerism in support of Sylvester. The award is named in memory of Caroline W. Halpern, a dedicated supporter of Sylvester, long before her battle with lung cancer. The 2008 Caroline Halpern W. Award will be presented to Joan and J. David Sheiner. 

This year’s gala is being chaired by the dynamic leadership of Lily and David Serviansky. In addition to a luxury silent auction at 7 p.m., the gala will once again feature Sylvester “Lifesaver Wishes.” Guests will have the opportunity to purchase a variety of research equipment and tools that are necessary to carry out leading-edge work in Sylvester laboratories. Individual tickets are priced from $500. Dinner and dancing begin at 8:30 p.m.

To learn more about underwriting opportunities, sponsorships, or to purchase tickets, please call 305-243-9088 or visit www.sylvester.org.

The sixth annual Luminare Awards Gala for UM's Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency will be held on Saturday, November 1, at the JW Marriott Hotel in Miami at 7:30 p.m. The event will honor medical professionals for their support and dedication to saving lives through organ donation and transplantation. WQBA-AM radio personality, Humberto Cortina, will DJ  the event, that will also feature world renowned flamenco dancers, fine food and drink, dancing and a silent auction.

Tickets are $100 per person. All proceeds will benefit the Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency community and donor family services programs. For more information, visit http://lifealliance.iviproductions.com.

The Center for Computational Science is pleased to announce Microsoft’s scalable and multicore computing strategist, Daniel Reed, Ph.D., as guest speaker for its first Distinguished Lecture. Dr. Reed will present a lecture titled “ManyCore, Clouds, Research and the Future,” which will address the ever-changing technologically advanced world of multicore processors, distributed sensors and software, virtual organizations and cloud computing infrastructure and how the new experimental and computational data affect data analysis, transport, visualization and collaboration.

The Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is conducting a series of research studies. Currently, we are conducting focus groups to understand how older adults are able to successfully use communication technology and the potential benefits and impact of communication technologies at work. If you speak English and are more than 18 years old, you might qualify for this study. If you want to learn more about CREATE, please call (305) 355-9200 and mention the “Communication Technology at Work” project. You will be paid for your time and effort.

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.