Welcome to the University of Michigan Medical School E-News, your source for quick and current news from the medical school community.

From the Dean's Office

Dean begins academic mission to China
The Dean and other members of the Medical School leadership team left recently on an academic mission to China. The Dean described the purpose of the trip and the importance of global involvement in a message to faculty shortly before the group departed. To read the message, visit www.med.umich.edu/u/medschool/globaluser/2009/china_aug19.htm

Research

• Monday, Monday, Sept. 21, 5 - 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 23, 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.

For the application and guidelines, visit the Web site .

Prostate cancer funding available
Application Deadline: Monday, Sept. 21
The Comprehensive Cancer Center is soliciting applications for funds available from the Prostate SPORE grant. Support of up to $50,000 is available for a 12 month period for projects attempting to understand the mechanisms involved in prostate cancer development or to find a prostate cancer treatment or cure. The application deadline is Sept. 21. For more information, call Jill Miller at 734-998-6761 or e-mail jsmiller@umich.edu.

Sept. 17 - 18: B Cell Biology and Transplantation Conference
We will convene a conference on the B cell biology of transplantation at the University of Michigan on Thursday, Sept. 17 and Friday, Sept. 18. Sessions will be held at Palmer Commons and the Biomedical Sciences Research Building.

The conference will bring together leading basic and clinical scientists to focus on this timely subject. Unfortunately, knowledge about the cellular basis of humoral immunity to transplantation is remarkably thin and few transplantation immunologists are trained in the fundamental biology of B cells.

This conference is sponsored by the University of Michigan Division of Transplantation and the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President of Research. For more information or to register, visit the Web site.

Education

Sept. 21: 2009 Herbert D. Doan Nanotechnology Symposium
The 2009 Herbert D. Doan Nanotechnology Symposium will take place at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, in the Biomedical Science Research Building Kahn Auditorium. The scientific sessions on nanomaterials and nanotechniques for biology will feature world famous experts, including:

• Gregory N. Tew, Ph.D., polymer science and engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Kathryn Uhrich, Ph.D., chemistry and chemical biology, Rutgers
• 2009 Doan Lecturer, Eric Betzig, Ph.D., group leader at the Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

For more information or to register, e-mail MINanotech@umich.edu or visit the Web site.

Date Change: MLearning Quiz Writing Workshop is now Sept. 15
If you've already registered for this workshop, please note that the new date is now Tuesday, Sept. 15, instead of Sept. 8. Seats are still available for this free workshop if you haven't registered.

If it is a challenge for you to write effective quiz questions, this workshop will help you discover how to write better questions. Learn when and when not to use multiple choice items. Find out how to analyze your quiz performance, question by question. The workshop will take place from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, in the MCHC Auditorium. For more information or to register visit the Web site. You do not need to re-register for this workshop if you already registered for the original date.

Please note: your participation in a short online survey prior to the presentation will be requested and new this year: Continuing Education contact hours. 1.0 contact hours with attendance at entire session.

Clinical

The Medpedia Project is now open to house officers and faculty members
Medpedia is a worldwide program for sharing and advancing medical knowledge. Michigan, Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley have partnered with Medpedia to develop this site.

Michigan is encouraging our faculty, fellows and house officers to become Medpedia contributors. Authors can write their own articles or contribute to those already written. All contributions are tracked by Medpedia and are credited to authors for inclusion in their CVs.

The Medical School sees Medpedia as a novel venue for our faculty and house officers to contribute to medical knowledge. Since contributors can choose their level of participation, Medpedia is a unique opportunity for busy clinicians as well as investigators to become recognized authors of a worldwide medical resource.

You can learn more about Medpedia at: www.medpedia.com/sign-up-information/professionals. If you have specific questions about Medpedia at UMHS, e-mail medpediaproject@umich.edu.

Clinical Simulation Center offers operation classes
Simulator operation classes are designed to teach learners how to use a human patient simulator. Classes cover the basic operation of three different computer controlled mannequin simulators:

• M.E.T.I. human patient simulator
• Laerdal SimMan/SimBaby
• Gaumard's Noelle

Classes will be held in small groups and cover the basic principles involved with powering up, functions, capabilities, proper usage and applications for each simulator.

For class dates and times, visit the Web site.

• Cardiopulmonary arrest training
• Airway management training
• Ultrasound guided vascular access

Other

Student Move-In next week; traffic/bus impact near medical campus
When U-M undergraduate students start moving in next week, traffic in parts of Ann Arbor and in the adjacent highways will be much heavier than usual, and traffic flow on several streets near the main medical campus will be altered. U-M Housing has created a Move-In Map that highlights the areas most affected.

Details about the impact around the medical campus are spelled out in the global message that went out on Thursday.

Additional information about Student Move-In 2009 is available on this Web site: www.housing.umich.edu/movein/staff.html .

Become a MHealthy wellness champion for your unit or department
MHealthy is now recruiting wellness champions to help spread the word and create excitement around its programs and living healthier, more active lives. Candidates should:

• Motivate other
• Share information about health and healthy activities on campus
• Organize activities in your department, such as lunchtime walk
• Participate in MHealthy programs

If this describes you, then sign up to be your department/ or unit's Wellness Champion. Visit www.mhealthy.umich.edu/involve, complete the membership application and register for a fall wellness champion regional meeting. This meeting is required for all wellness champions and will focus on how MHealthy can empower, motivate and support you in being the best wellness champion you can be. For your convenience, several dates, times and locations are available.

If you have any questions, please call Lisa Schneider at 734-975-3027 or e-mail mhealthy@umich.edu.

Donate to Food Gatherers at Medical Library
The pantry at Food Gatherers is running extremely low on canned goods and other non-perishable foods due to record numbers of hungry families, children and seniors in the area. Food Gatherers is calling on congregations, neighborhood groups, offices and individuals to collect canned food to restock the pantry.

The Health Sciences Libraries will be collecting non-perishable items through Friday, Sept. 4. A collection bin will be located on the 4th floor of the Taubman Medical Library. For questions or comments, e-mail hsloutreach@umich.edu or call 734-936-1394.

New Canton express bus service -- free trial through Sept. 4
The new commuter express bus service from Canton to U-M and Ann Arbor started on Aug. 24, and it includes a free trial of the service through Sept. 4.

If you live in the Canton area, please consider trying the service at no-charge. AATA is providing two morning trips and two afternoon return trips.

The Canton trip originates at Independence Park at 6:05 and 7:17 a.m. with arrivals on the Medical Campus within approximately 25 minutes. For more details, visit the AATA Web site .

Oct. 6: Connecting the Dots: Fourth annual U-M Work/Life Balance Conference
The University of Michigan Work/Life Resource Center is hosting its fourth annual "Connecting the Dots" conference in recognition of National Work and Family Month from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Four Points by Sheraton, located at 3200 Boardwalk, Ann Arbor. All university and health system staff members are invited to attend this full-day event, devoted to achieving and sustaining work/life balance. The keynote, Positive Psychology and Work-Home Balance, will be delivered by Christopher Peterson, Ph.D., a professor in the U-M Department of Psychology.

For more information or to register, visit the Web site . Early registration rate of $65 is available through Wednesday, Sept. 9.

See who's in the news!
M-News Now! is a Web page with timely information about members of the UMHS community who are in the news. See who is being interviewed or where their comments are being published at M-News Now!

News Releases
To see the latest news about Medical School research and other important Health System developments, visit the Newsroom at www.med.umich.edu/news.

Medical School FAQs
You can find answers to many of your questions pertaining to the U-M Medical School in one place. The FAQ page links to a variety of resources including information and support, educational programs, research and policy information. The site also lists useful U-M resources.

Seminars, lectures, colloquia and events for next week

Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009
12:10 p.m. Gifts of Art. Tad Weed, pianist, UH Main Lobby, floor 1

4 p.m. Pathology Research Seminar Series. Brad Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, will present "Telomere maintenance by recombination and chromatin-based mechanisms," in Med. Sci. I room 7234.