For student Michael Avallone, this year’s freshman pinning ceremony was a reminder that he had successfully completed nearly a year’s worth of medical school studies and, although there was still a long distance ahead, he was on his way to joining the profession to which his father, a urologic oncologist, committed many years ago.

Members of the Cardiovascular Division, other divisions of UHealth and the Miller School gathered on March 4 for the annual Miriam Lemberg Visiting Professorship in Cardiovascular Disease Lecture. Eugene Braunwald, M.D., the Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and chairman of the TIMI Study Group at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was the speaker for the 17th annual lecture at the Lois Pope LIFE Center. Dr. Braunwald lectured on the topic "Emerging Insights into Antiplatelet Therapy."
 
The lecture was followed by a dinner at the Conrad Hotel where Dr. Braunwald was honored for his achievements. The dinner also marked the retirement of Louis Lemberg, M.D., the prolific cardiovascular physician and professor who is responsible for the endowment to the medical school in honor of his wife Miriam, for whom the lectureship is named.
 
Pictured above: Louis Lemberg, M.D., Eugene Braunwald, M.D., Joshua Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute and Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine; and Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D.

Participants enrolled in a 2008 Humana health care flexible spending account must incur health care expenses by this Sunday, March 15. The deadline to submit claims is Monday, June 15. The claim reimbursement form must be faxed to 877-369-5616.  You may only fax one claim form and its documentation per transmission. To download the Humana FSA claim reimbursement form click here.

Participants enrolled in a 2008 Humana dependent health care flexible spending account must file all dependent care claims by Tuesday, March 31. The claim reimbursement form must be faxed to 877-369-5616.  You may only fax one claim form and its documentation per transmission. To download the Humana FSA claim reimbursement form click here.

This is a reminder of the University’s policy for clinical research subjects enrollment. We track all subjects involved in clinical research protocols that test a drug, device or biologic and/or involve procedures, lab tests, and/or interventions on a patient. According to the policy, a principal investigator (or their designee) must submit a research subject enrollment/disenrollment form within 24 hours of subject consent or disenrollment from a study (for any reason other than the end of the study). You can submit the form at www.med.miami.edu/cris or by entering the subject’s enrollment status in Velos at velos.miami.edu.

Medical Information Technology has partnered with the Professional Development and Training Office to offer you MindLeaders® e-learning content via ULearn. The current offerings focus on Microsoft Office software. These self-paced courses are completely online and accessible from any computer.  Courses include: Introduction to Microsoft Office 2007, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Project, SharePoint and Visio.

At its meeting on Wednesday, February 25, the Faculty Senate passed the following legislation and President Donna E. Shalala approved:

Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths, but less than half of all eligible people undergo any type of colon cancer screening despite its well-proven success in cancer prevention.

Aetna members can save significantly on health care expenses by using UM physicians and facilities. UM has primary care physicians located across South Florida. With specialties from family medicine, to pediatrics and internal medicine, UM offers quality care to its patients. To download a list of UM primary care physicians, please visit www.miami.edu/benefits/2009/UMMGPCPs.pdf.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) Institutional Grant is providing funds for meritorious cancer research that cannot be readily supported through other funding mechanisms. The primary purpose of the ACS grant is to provide seed funds for the initiation of promising new projects or novel ideas by junior faculty members.

UM/Aetna medical plan members may contact UM’s on-campus Aetna claims representative for assistance with billing and claims issues at 305-243-7167. If you receive a bill for covered services from an Aetna provider you must do the following:

The Medical Wellness Center invites you to participate in guided Meditation Mondays classes from 1 to 1:30 p.m. every week.  This class is designed to aid in establishing a clear focus and healthy discipline for the achievement of success and personal satisfaction during the work week.

The Miller School commencement will be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, at the BankUnited Center on the Coral Gables campus. If you are part of the Dean’s administration or a faculty member, you must fill out the RSVP form whether you plan to attend commencement or not. Regalia is rented by the school and there is no charge, but you must fill out the name of your alma mater so the appropriate hood in the colors of your alma mater will be available. The regalia will be delivered directly to the Hurricane 100 Room at the BankUnited Center on the day of the ceremony.  Robing begins at 4 p.m. and the ceremony begins promptly at 5 p.m., so you must arrive on time for robing.

You’re invited to join more than 300 supporters who are expected to gather at Bongos Cuban Café this Sunday, to support the 2009 fundraiser for the Miller School’s Department of Urology. This year, the celebration to support the department’s Center for Urologic Research, Education and Diseases (CURED) will feature a Latin beat.

The Post-Doctoral Programs Office is now accepting abstracts for its first annual Post-Doctoral Fellow Research Day scheduled for Friday, May 22. Participating in this event will allow you to practice your presentation skills, share research and learn about the research of your post-doctoral colleagues.

Given the continuing economic turmoil and volatility of financial markets, many individual investors and retirement plan participants are worried and/or confused about their retirement plans. Many employees have been seeking guidance on sources of potential stability. There are a number of things you can do and we encourage you to schedule a meeting with a retirement consultant. Three of UM's approved retirement vendors will visit next week to help with financial questions about your retirement plan.

Do you ever wonder why your computer is slow sometimes? It may be because you are not the only person using it. Your computer might be part of a botnet or zombie network. A botnet is a term used to define a group of computers that are seized by malicious software and given instruction from cyber criminals called bot herders. Botnet software is designed to be inconspicuous so you are not aware that your machine has been compromised.

This is an evolution from the typical computer virus which has an immediate and obvious effect on your computer. Since new computers are often compromised within minutes of being connected to an unprotected Internet connection, it should be no surprise that some bot herders control hundreds of thousands of computers. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell if your machine has been taken over by this software, but there are some tell-tale signs such as an outbox full of e-mail you didn’t send or noise coming from your hard drive even when you are not using your PC.

To read more, including steps to protect yourself and the University’s information, please visit http://www.med.miami.edu/hipaa/public/x385.xml. If you have questions related to this or any other HIPAA privacy or security related issue, please contact the Office of HIPAA Privacy & Security at hipaaprivacy@med.miami.edu.

• 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.  Andrew Colin, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, and Mitra Shafieian, M.D., pediatric pulmonology fellow, will present "Clinical Approach to the Child with Pleural Effusion."

The Jay Weiss Center for Social Medicine and Health Equity will present Grand Rounds today (Tuesday) from noon to 1 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium. Michael A. Carrera, Ed.D., director of the Children’s Aid Society, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programs, will present "Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention: A Holistic Approach."

The Cardiovascular Division will present Grand Rounds today (Tuesday) from noon to 1 p.m. at the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education in the Broad-Bussel Auditorium located on the first floor of the Clinical Research Building. Donald G. Rosenberg, M.D., professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division at the Miller School, will present a lecture titled "Cardiac Pearls."

Please join us today (Tuesday) at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium for a seminar by Lawrence H. Boise, Ph.D., professor of  microbiology and immunology. Dr. Boise will present "The Cell Biology Behind Current Cancer Therapeutic Approaches."

For additional information, call 305-243-6691 or send an e-mail to naviles@med.miami.edu.

Join the Medical Wellness Center for "Almond Milk Making, Raw Food Demo and Tasting" today (Tuesday) at 12:15 p.m., presented by Chef Lisa Valle. At the event, in the center's educational classroom, participants will learn how to make the dairy-free milk, hear about the benefits of drinking almond milk, and receive new recipes in which various non-dairy milks can be used.

Join the American Medical Student Association's Diabetes Awareness Event in the Alamo Park today (Tuesday) from 2 to 4 p.m. Speakers include Camillo Ricordi, M.D., director of the Diabetes Research Institute; Jay Skyler, M.D., associate director of academic programs at the DRI; Ronald Goldberg, M.D., associate director of medical affairs at the DRI; Warren Kupin, M.D., nephrologist and professor of clinical medicine; and Kellie Rodriguez, M.S.N., director of patient education at the DRI. The event will also feature performances by the Music Ensemble for the Enrichment of Medicine (MEEM) and the Medical Organization Valuing Expressive Dance (MOVED), and there will be free sugar conscious food.

Please join us for a Pediatric Clinical Research Forum presentation by Charles Mitchell, M.D., professor of clinical pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, tomorrow (Wednesday) from noon to 1 p.m. at the Batchelor Children’s Research Institute, conference room 508B. Dr. Mitchell will present "Initial Results from IMPAACT Protocol P1041: A Prospective, Phase II/III, Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study to Determine the Efficacy of Primary Isoniazid (INH) Prophylaxis to Prevent Tuberculosis (TB) and Latent TB Infection (LTBI) Among HIV-1 Perinatally-Exposed Infants (Both Infected [HIV+] and Uninfected [HIV-]) in South Africa."

Join us for Medical Grand Rounds tomorrow (Wednesday) from noon to 1 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium. James Sowers, M.D., professor of medicine and physiology and pharmacology, vice chair for research in the Department of Internal Medicine, and director of the Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Division at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will present a lecture titled "Metabolic Syndrome – An Update 2009."

For more information, contact Cristina Flores at 305-243-6484 or cflores2@med.miami.edu.

Please join the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health for The National Hispanic Science Network's videoconference tomorrow (Wednesday) from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium.  Patricia Molina, Ph.D., professor and head of the Department of Physiology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) will introduce the videoconference topic "Alcohol-Drug Abuse; Risk Factors and Comorbidity for HIV/AIDS." Patricia Kissinger, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Tulane University Health Sciences Center and School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, will discuss data on interaction of drug abuse with HIV infectivity. Steve Nelson, M.D., Dean of the School of Medicine at LSUHSC, will present scientific evidence of alcohol-induced impact on disease progression obtained from preclinical studies. Dr. Molina and Peter Winsauer, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pharmacology at LSUHSC, will discuss the metabolic and behavioral consequences of alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS. Finally, Dr. Kissinger will discuss findings from epidemiological studies on HIV risk among Latino migrant workers. The session will conclude with a question-and-answer session.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6:30 p.m., the Medical Wellness Center will hold a kickoff event for its running team. Please stop by the Atrium to meet the team captain, Janelle Diaz, and get more information on the training and how you can participate. The team’s first race is the Corporate Run 5K.

Gregory Zych, D.O., Christine E. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Trauma, will present "Medical Malpractice." The presentation will take place this Thursday from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium.

For more information please contact Ledinaida Figueroa at lfigueroa@med.miami.edu.

Please join us for Surgical Grand Rounds this Thursday from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Jerrold Young, M.D., director of the Hernia Institute of Florida, will present "Chronic Pain After Inguinal Hernia Repair." Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to understand the definition, etiology and incidence of chronic pain after inguinal hernia repair.

This Thursday, the faculty of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology’s NHLBI Training Program in Cardiovascular Signaling will be hosting the second annual Cardiovascular Research Symposium on the Schoninger Research Quadrangle. The collaborative forum will provide outstanding opportunities to promote cutting-edge science in laboratories, clinics and classrooms across UM and the South Florida cardiovascular community.

Trainees, fellows and faculty are invited to present, discuss and interact with recognized leaders from basic science and clinical cardiovascular disciplines. The event will feature a keynote address by Jeffery Molkentin, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and a special presentation by Joshua Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the Miller School. Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., and James Potter, Ph.D., professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology, will present opening remarks.

For more information about the agenda and abstract submission, please visit www.uheartmiami.com/CRS.

Calling all UM employees over 55! The UM Center on Aging is providing lunch for employees who fall in this age group and are willing to spend some time discussing how modern communication technologies affect their work. The lunch and discussion will take place on Thursday, March 12, from noon to 2 p.m. in room 3208 at the Mental Health Hospital Center.

The Institute for Women’s Health will present its Multidisciplinary Grand Rounds this Thursday at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium. Shirin Shafazand, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, will present a lecture titled "Women and Sleep Disorders."

Please join us for a Pathology Journal Club meeting this Thursday at noon at Holtz Children's Hospital, conference room 2034. Pathology resident, Alexangel Santana, M.D., will present a lecture titled "Eradication of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia-Initiating Cells Through PML-RARA Degradation."

The Division of Hospital Medicine will present Grand Rounds this Thursday at noon at the University of Miami Hospital, Seminar Center. Efren C. Manjarrez, M.D., assistant professor of clinical medicine, and director of clinical operations in the Division of Hospital Medicine, will present "Improving Communication Across the Transitions of Care and Preventing a 'Voltage Drop' in 2009." By attending this lecture, participants will be able to review the Society of Hospital Medicine's practice recommendations for hospitalist handoffs and recognize the limitations of the literature in this area. The lecture is designed for family practitioners, emergency physicians, surgeons, internists, and hospitalists.

The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism will present Grand Rounds this Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Marc Lippman, M.D., professor and chairman of medicine, will give a lecture titled "Estrogenic Regulation of Breast and Breast Cancer."

The Miller School's Developmental Center for AIDS Research and the Division of Infectious Diseases presents its sixth annual HIV Symposium titled “Novel Interventions for HIV Infection.” The symposium will be held this Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Michael S. Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, Broad-Bussel Auditorium located on the first floor of the Clinical Research Building.

The Jay Weiss Center for Social Medicine and Health Equity and the National Cancer Institute Coastal Cancer Information Service would like to invite you to the third quarterly seminar on Cancer Disparities and Community Research this Friday at 10 a.m. in the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, conference room 1301. Matthew W. Kreuter, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of social work and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, and director of the Health Communication Research Laboratory, will present "Community-Based Communication Interventions to Eliminate Cancer Disparities."

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neurology cordially invite you to a joint lecture on "Advances in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease" this Friday from noon to 1 p.m. in the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Retter Auditorium. Richard Isaacson, M.D., assistant professor of neurology and medicine, and associate chair of education in the Department of Neurology, will discuss the latest evidence-based therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and review a multi-disciplinary pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment approach to the disease.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will host Nadia Dahmane, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. Dr. Dahmane will present "Transcriptional Regulation of Mouse Cerebral Cortex Growth" this Friday at noon in the R. Bunn Gautier Building, room 118.

Please join us this Friday at 1 p.m. at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, conference room 1301, for a Sylvester Distinguished Lecture by Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine, and consultant for the Division of Hematology at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Russell will present a lecture titled "Engineering the Host Range Properties of Oncolytic Viruses Using Cellular Mirco-RNAs."

Join us this Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium for the M.D./Ph.D. Annual Research Symposium & Neuroscience Seminar. Dennis Choi, M.D., Ph.D., vice president for Academic Health Affairs at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and executive director for the Comprehensive Neurosciences Initiative at Emory University, will present "Getting to Treatments for Brain Diseases."

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute invites you to the Retinopathy of Prematurity 2009 conference this Saturday at 8 a.m. in the Retter Auditorium. This one-day course on retinopathy of prematurity will update physicians involved in the care of premature babies with eye disease caused by prematurity. Physicians in ophthalmology and neonatal units involved in the care of these babies, as well as the nurses involved in this process, will benefit from attending this course. The program will feature the basic science of the disease and the new treatments available. It will also look at the complications of the disease and treatment, neonatal unit screening programs, digital photography, telemedicine and the medico-legal status of the disease.

Please join the Department of Microbiology and Immunology on Monday, March 16, at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, third-floor auditorium for the annual Enrique Cepero Memorial Lecture Series.  Lynn McCormick Matrisian, Ph.D., Ingram Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research, professor and chair in the Department of Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, and special advisor to the Office of the Director of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, will present a lecture titled "The Hills and Valleys of Biomedical Research: The Matrix Metalloproteinase Experience From a Professional and Personal View."

The federal government requires that the distribution of salary and wage to grants and contracts or other activities including teaching, patient care and administration must be based on payrolls that are documented in the Effort Certification Reporting System. The effort certification training is recommended for all new department administrators who are responsible for effort, defined as total time spent on university activities that an employee is compensated for. Although this class is for new administrators it is also recommended for all effort coordinators who would like a refresher course on the online Effort Certification Reporting System. The session will be held on Tuesday, March 17, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Dominion Tower, room 1003.

Please register for the training at http://ulearn.miami.edu or send an e-mail to Judy Mallon at jmallon@miami.edu.

The Cardiovascular Division will present Grand Rounds on Tuesday, March 17, from noon to 1 p.m. at the University of Miami Hospital, Seminar Center. Eduardo de Marchena, M.D., professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, chairman of the UM Medical Group, and director of the International Medicine Institute, will present a lecture titled "Percutaneous Mitral Valve Repair."

The Medical Wellness Center is offering the “2009 Hot 'n' Healthy Food Trends II” on March 17 at 12:15 p.m. in the educational classroom. Sabrina Candelaria, MP, RD, LD/N, will make the presentation in which participants will learn about the latest food trends surrounding natural and whole foods, whole grain cooking tips, and how to shop for sustainable foods. There will be sample tasting!

The Employee Assistance Program will offer a "Caring for the Caregiver" seminar on Tuesday, March 17, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Dominion Parking Garage, suite 155.  This seminar will focus on helping those who are, or know of someone, in the caregiver role prevent "caregiver burnout."  Caring for another person (whether an ill partner, elderly parent or developmentally challenged child) can be both physically and psychologically taxing. Participants will learn about issues affecting caregivers, strategies which help caregivers manage stress, and resources available to caregivers where they can get help.

Learn how to use the InfoEd Proposal Development System to prepare and submit your proposal electronically to the NIH. Join us for a hands-on workshop on Wednesday, March 18, from 9 a.m. to noon at Dominion Tower, room 1003. InfoEd streamlines the proposal development process. It is Web-based and accessible almost anywhere by Mac and PC users with no additional software. InfoEd populates agency forms, includes built-in agency validations, stores proposals in a secure environment and provides a database of all proposals submitted. This session will help participants create, route, submit and track proposals using the InfoEd System.

Please register at http://Ulearn.miami.edu. For more information, please send an e-mail to ResEDU@med.miami.edu.

DOCS Hurricane Response/Emergency Preparedness Team invites you to the second annual Medical Student Art Extravaganza on Wednesday, March 18, from noon to 4 p.m. in the Schoninger Research Quadrangle. On display and for sale will be original photography, paintings, sketches, crafts, jewelry and more. There will also be live music, a bake sale, and information about global humanitarian concerns. Enjoy an amazing afternoon with beautiful art for a good cause.  All proceeds will benefit the Red Cross for disaster relief.

Please join us for a Pediatric Clinical Research Forum presentation by Konda Mohan Reddy, M.D., pediatric endocrinology and metabolism fellow at Jackson Memorial Hospital, on Wednesday, March 18, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Batchelor Children's Research Institute, conference room 508B. Dr. Reddy will present "IGF Signaling Defect in Children Born Small for Gestational Age."

The Office of Technology Transfer and UM Innovation will host a seminar on Wednesday, March 18, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor conference room. Nicholas Zachariades, Ph.D., associate at Darby and Darby law firm, will present "From Idea to Patent to Profit: A Researcher's Guide to Building Intellectual Property." Dr. Zachariades will give an overview on intellectual property, patent protection, the role of the Office of Technology Transfer, rights of the inventor(s), assignments, and the importance of public disclosures.

Please join us for Surgical Grand Rounds on Thursday, March 19, from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Filho Jayme Oliveira, M.D., assistant professor of surgery, will present "HIV/AIDS: A Dental Perspective." Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to understand new updates about HIV/AIDS worldwide.

The UM Hemophilia Treatment Center will host a one-day symposium for primary care providers to address the challenges of bleeding disorders. Speakers will include Joanna A. Davis, M.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics and medical director of the Comprehensive Pediatric Hemophilia Treatment Center, along with several area and visiting physicians. The symposium, "Challenges for the Primary Care Provider: Coagulation Disorders and ITP," will be held on Thursday, March 19, from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Alexander All-Suite Oceanfront Resort in Miami Beach.

The symposium is free to UM and Jackson faculty, staff, voluntary faculty and former UM residents and fellows. For more information and for an online registration form, visit http://www.htcextras.org/symposium.html or e-mail Patrice Bravo at pbravo2@med.miami.edu.

Join us for a Sponsored Programs Roundtable brown-bag lunch series on "Resources Available to the Research Community." The presentation will be given by the Office of Research Transition Team on Thursday, March 19, from noon to 1 p.m., at the Dominion Tower, twelfth-floor conference room. The lecture will provide information regarding essential resources available to the research community.

The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism will present Grand Rounds on Thursday, March 19, at 1 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. James R. Sowers, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Missouri, will present "Mechanisms of RAAS Inhibition of Insulin Metabolic Signaling."

The Division of Gynecologic Oncology will present a nursing lunch-and-learn seminar on Friday, March 20, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Dominion Parking Garage, suite 155. Patricia Yali, ARNP, will present "Cervical Cancer and the HPV Vaccine: An Approach to Prevention." She will review treatment options for pre‐cancerous conditions, staging and treatment of invasive cancer and the HPV vaccine as the most recent prevention tool. This lecture is designed to educate participants in the role of pap screening and human papillomavirus (HPV) in the etiology of cervical cancer.

The Neuroscience Center will present a seminar by Kerry Ressler, M.D., Ph.D., investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and associate professor for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Emory University, on Friday, March 20, from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. Dr. Ressler will present "Molecular Mechanisms of Fear: From Mice to Men."

The Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases at the Miller School will host an educational research fair to increase awareness of Jewish genetic diseases. The event will take place on Saturday, March 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Temple Beth Am. Free carrier screenings will also be available to those who are between the ages of 18 and 44 and are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

For more information, please call Debbie Wasserman at 786-897-9587.

Please join us on Monday, March 23 at noon in the Medical Training and Simulation Lab conference room, for the Department of Medicine Research Conference Series. Peter Mundel, M.D., professor of medicine, and cell biology and anatomy, will present "The Role of the Podocyte in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Proteinuria."

Please join us on Monday, March 23, at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, room 3109, for a seminar by Maitee Urbieta, graduate student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.  She will present a lecture titled "Regulatory T Cells and Hematopoiesis in Transplantation."

Please join us for Rehabilitation Medicine Grand Rounds on Monday, March 23, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. David Gater, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Virginia Commonwealth University, and chief of spinal cord injury and disorders at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center, will present "Metabolic Dysfunction in Spinal Cord Injury."

The Cardiovascular Division will present Grand Rounds on Tuesday, March 24, from noon to 1 p.m. at the University of Miami Hospital, Seminar Center. Martin S. Bilsker, M.D., professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, director of the Echo/Doppler Laboratory and the Cardiology Outpatient Clinic at Jackson Memorial Hospital, will present a lecture titled "Three-Dimensional Echocardiography."

The Mary Bartlett Bunge Distinguished Women in Cell Biology Lecture Series will feature Susan L. Lindquist, Ph.D., a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  Dr. Lindquist will present her seminar titled "Protein folding mechanisms propelling rapid evolutionary change" on Tuesday, March 24, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. In addition, Dr. Lindquist will host a mentoring event titled "Yes We Can!  A Woman’s Perspective on a Life in Science" at 4 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium.

The Department of Orthopaedics will host Grand Rounds on Thursday, March 26, from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Mailman Center for Child Development, eighth-floor auditorium. Charles A. Popkin, M.D., fourth-year orthopaedic resident, will present "Successful Treatment of Osteitis Pubis with a Minimally Disruptive Surgical Technique."

For more information, please contact Ledinaida Figueroa at lfigueroa@med.miami.edu.

Please join us for Surgical Grand Rounds on Thursday, March 26, from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Zubin Panthaki, M.D., assistant professor of clinical surgery in the Division of Plastic Surgery, will present "Vascular Anomalies of the Upper Extremity-Evaluation & Management." Upon completion of this lecture, participants will be able to understand vascular anomalies of the upper extremity.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will host Thomas P. Burris, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at The Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Burris will present "Identifying Physiological Ligands for Orphan Nuclear Receptors" on Friday, March 27 at noon in the R. Bunn Gautier Building, room 118.

Slip on those Lucky Jeans and join emcee Colin Quinn and Lucky Brand Foundation founders, Gene Montesano and Barry Perlman, at the 2009 Miami Black Tie and Blue Jean Gala to benefit The Children First Fund at UM Pediatrics. Tennis star Venus Williams is the event's honorary chair and musical entertainment will be provided by the legendary Commodores. This year you will have the opportunity to directly touch the lives of children by bidding on items needed by our doctors to help the children they treat.

The Faculty Senate has awarded Anita Cava, J.D., co-director of UM Ethics Programs, with this year's Outstanding Teaching Award. The University community is invited to attend the ceremony and reception on Monday, March 30, at 4 p.m., at the School of Business Administration, Storer Auditorium on the Coral Gables campus.

Join us for a Sponsored Programs Roundtable brown-bag lunch series on "Vulnerable Populations in Research." The presentation will be given by Joey Casanova, education coordinator in the Human Subjects Research Office, on Tuesday, March 31, from noon to 1 p.m., at the Dominion Tower, twelfth-floor conference room. The lecture is designed to be interactive and is intended to inform researchers and any others who have an interest in research at UM about a broad range of subjects pertaining to human subjects protections. Seminars are presented on a monthly basis by experts who either work directly in the field or have experience in certain aspects of human subjects protections.

Please join us on Tuesday, March 31, at noon in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium, for a seminar by Karoline J.  Briegel, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Dr. Briegel will present a seminar titled "Transcription Factor LBH is a Target of the WNT Signaling Pathway and Implicated in Aggressive Basal-Type Breast Cancer."

Registration is now open for the inaugural Social Medicine Advocacy, Research and Training (SMART) Forum, hosted by the Jay Weiss Center for Social Medicine and Health Equity. The aim of the forum, which will take place on Friday, April 24, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium, is to encourage inter-disciplinary and community-based approaches for addressing health disparities. We encourage all University faculty, staff, and graduate students as well as community members to attend. The forum will address topics in health equity, social medicine, and public health and more.

The UHealth Atherosclerosis Center is proud to announce its first MIRS Cartagena. This international cardiovascular symposium will take place Thursday, April 30, through Friday, May 1 at the Hotel Hilton in Cartagena, Colombia. This two-day course will cover topics such as the latest technologies in the treatment of coronary artery disease, emerging technologies for the percutaneous treatment of structural heart disease, non-cardiac endovascular therapies, and will also include interactive cases.

Mark your calendars for the Institute for Women’s Health Research Day scheduled for May 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at University of Miami Hospital, Seminar Center. UM President Donna E. Shalala will present opening remarks and Vivian Pinn, M.D., associate director for research on women’s health and director of the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health, will present the keynote lecture.

General registration is free for the upcoming Health Research in the Americas V Conference, sponsored by the University of Miami Fogarty International Training Program in AIDS and TB and UNAIDS. The conference will focus on “HIV Prevention Across the Lifespan.” Presentations will cover prevention methodology among pediatric, adolescent, adult, and aging populations. It will also provide current HIV prevention information for clinicians, students, researchers and non-clinical health workers in order to address the increasing prevalence rates of HIV, and the need for clinicians and researchers to address prevention efforts among vulnerable and difficult to reach populations.

Former Miami Dolphin quarterback Don Strock continues his support for the Diabetes Research Institute by hosting the 26th annual Don Strock Diabetes Classic on Wednesday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Celebrities and sports stars who have joined Strock on the course in the past include Dan Marino, Kim Bokamper, Dwight Stephenson, Nat Moore, Jim Jensen and Bernie Kosar.

The Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute will hold its third annual Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute Symposium on Friday, May 15, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Retter Auditorium. This symposium brings together leading experts to discuss novel data on cutting-edge advancements in the field of stem cell research. Discussions from prominent keynote speakers include Evangelos Badiavas, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at the Miller School; Linzhao Cheng, Ph.D., associate professor of the stem cell program in the Institute of Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; W. Dalton Dietrich, Ph.D., Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair and professor of neurological surgery and scientific director of The Miami Project to Paralysis; Eli Gilboa, Dodson Professor of Microbiology and Immunology; Joshua M. Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute; Richard Jones, M.D., professor of oncology and medicine and director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program at Johns Hopkins University; Jane Lebkowski, Ph.D., senior vice president of regenerative medicine at Geron Corporation in California; Paul Schiller, Ph.D., research associate professor of medicine and biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School; and John Wagner, M.D., professor and clinical director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota. 

The 2009 International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) will be held at the Miami Beach Resort & Spa in Miami Beach October 4 through 7. The ICCH series is the largest gathering of researchers, educators and administrators from around the globe to focus on improving communication in healthcare. The multi-disciplinary nature of conference delegates encourages the integration of perspectives, theory, practice and innovation. Emphases of this year's conference are ethical issues in healthcare communication, patient safety as a communication issue and inter-cultural issues in communication. The international conference will feature Jozien Bensing, Ph.D., Michael Leonard, M.D., and William Branch, M.D., as the keynote speakers.

Please submit your oral, poster, workshop and/or interest group presentations by using the online submission Web site at http://submissions.miracd.com/icch2009/login.asp. The submission deadline is this Sunday, March 15. Authors will be notified of acceptance by May 30. For information on formatting your abstract submission, visit http://www.aachonline.org/downloads/FormatforAbstracts.pdf.

Early registration is encouraged as seating is limited. If you register before Monday, August 10, you will receive the early bird discount. To register now, fill out the form at http://www.aachonline.org/downloads/RegistrationForm.pdf.

For complete details and itinerary, please download the brochure at http://www.aachonline.org/downloads/ICCHEbrochure2009.pdf.

The Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child Clinical Psychology at the Mailman Center is currently enrolling participants for a research study that is validating a pediatric measure of acute stress disorder (ASD) in English and Spanish.  Participants are children between the ages of 8-17 who have experienced or witnessed potentially traumatic events such as car accidents, fires, frightening/painful medical procedures, and/or have been victims of community violence. Participants will be followed for 3 months after initial enrollment, will receive clinical referrals as needed and a thank-you gift certificate for their participation. For more information, please contact Dr. Anai Cuadra at 305-243-6562 or acuadra@med.miami.edu.

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