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

Oct. 29: Attend Dean Woolliscroft's office hours program
Since beginning the "office hours" program, Dean Woolliscroft has met informally with many faculty, staff and students who have provided him with valuable comments and suggestions on how to enhance our efforts and make a great school even better. Faculty, staff and students are invited to stop by with their creative ideas and innovative solutions from 4 - 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Domino Farms Lobby M, room 2100.

Oct. 29 and Nov. 5: Faculty Town Hall on global engagement
A Faculty Town Hall Meeting to share vision and hold a discussion concerning the Medical School's global engagement. The meeting will take place from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in University Hospital Ford Auditorium.

A second Town Hall meeting will take place from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Towsley Center Sheldon.

Oct. 26: Allen S. Lichter, M.D., Professorship in Radiation Oncology
James O. Woolliscroft, M.D., dean of the Medical School, cordially invites you to the Monday, Oct. 26, inauguration of the Allen S. Lichter, M.D., Professorship in Radiation Oncology and the installation of Benedick A. Fraass, Ph.D., as the first Lichter Professor. The ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. in the Biomedical Science Research Building D. Dan and Betty Kahn Auditorium. For more information, e-mail Gina Jennings or call 734-998-7597.

Oct. 28: Anne B. Young Collegiate Professorship in Neurology
James O. Woolliscroft, M.D., dean of the Medical School, cordially invites you to the Wednesday, Oct. 28, inauguration of the Anne B. Young Collegiate Professorship in Neurology and the installation of Roger L. Albin, M.D., as the first Young Professor. The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. in Palmer Commons Forum Hall. For more information, e-mail Dawn Bednarski or call 734-998-7622.

Staff award winners announced
These awards recognize outstanding achievements and exceptional performance of Medical School staff. A staff selection committee reviews nominations submitted from across the School, and the Dean selects the Administrator of the Year, Professional Staff Member of the Year and Support Staff Member of the Year. For this year's Staff Award recipients: www.med.umich.edu/medschool/faculty/facultyawards/current.htm.

Research

Nov. 11: NIH Comes to Michigan
From new leadership to ARRA funding programs to enhanced peer review, there are significant changes on-going at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2009 and 2010. We invite you to participate in any of three different sessions being held Wednesday, Nov. 11, to hear from NIH program staff about what is happening at NIH and learn how to take advantage of these changes and new funding opportunities:

• 10 - 11:30 a.m. - NIH Funding for Academic Institutions: Ch ch ch changes… (sponsored by Michigan’s University Research Corridor)
• 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Meet One-on-One with NIH (15 min meetings, sponsored by Biotechnology Business Consultants)
• 5 - 7 p.m. - NIH Funding for Life Science Companies and Entrepreneurs: SBIR/STTR and Beyond… (sponsored by BioArbor)

For details on locations and how to register, please visit the Web site.

Oct. 28: From Fitness to Fatness: Where To From Here?
The Department of Anesthesiology and the Michigan Metabolomics and Obesity Center will feature a lecture by John A. Hawley, Ph.D, FACSM, professor and head, Exercise Metabolism Group, School of Medical Sciences, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia. Hawley will present "From Fitness to Fatness: Where To From Here?" at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Med. Sci. II South Lecture Hall.

Education

Oct. 27: Realizing the Potential of Lean Thinking in Health Care (Lean Thinker's Series)
Professor Daniel T. Jones is chairman of the Lean Enterprise Academy, UK and co-author with Jim Womack of the classic book "Lean Thinking." Jones will share experience from healthcare organizations in the UK and beyond who have begun to apply lean methods to problems ranging from improving access to reducing hospital-acquired infections. Jones will describe how the fundamental idea behind lean thinking -- managing and supporting the horizontal processes that create value for customers/patients -- can be applied to reduce delays for patients, wasted effort for staff and unnecessary costs. He will explain how local improvement efforts must be lined up in a systematic way to "Make Hospitals Work", i.e., achieve hospital-wide improvements that are sustainable over time.

This Lean Thinker's Series will take place from noon - 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the Towsley Center Dow Auditorium. This event is sponsored by the Michigan Quality System as a Quality Month activity.

Oct. 28: Learn how to use Confluence, a wiki for the Health System
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Medical School Information Services will be hosting several training sessions about its wiki, Confluence, at the West Lecture Hall in Med Sci II. Confluence is a wiki, which is an enterprise-wide web-based tool available for online collaboration. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop to follow along. Both first time and advanced Confluence users are encouraged to attend.

There will be an introduction at 2 p.m., followed by a basic training session from 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. and an advanced training session from 3:45 - 4:30 p.m. An open Q&A style session will take place from 4:30 - 5 p.m. Even if you aren't using Confluence currently, throughout the training we will be showing highlights of how the UMHS is already taking advantage of this powerful web 2.0 tool.

For details check out the Confluence Web page: www.umms.med.umich.edu/confluence/display/demo/Confluence+Training.

Clinical

Weekly Joint Commission Quizlette
This week's step toward continuous readiness: Test your knowledge of Hazard Communication.

1. Material Safety Data Sheets are one way to find information about hazardous chemicals used at UMHHC. Another way is by referencing the department:

A. Critical Incident Plan
B. Standard Operating Procedures
C. Fire Safety Plan
D. Unique Chemical Inventory

2. To determine if a product is hazardous:

A. Read the container label
B. Access the MSDS
C. Call Safety Management Services
D. All of the above

ANSWERS

Administrative

Please help say "farewell" to Nancy Hobbs
Nancy Hobbs, event planner extraordinaire, is starting the journey into the next phase of her career.  After working on campus, then Medical Development, and finally, in the Dean's office, Nancy will leave us on Oct. 30. Please join us for a farewell event in Nancy's honor from 1 - 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, in 4234 Medical Science Building I, Pathology seminar room (down the hall from the Admissions department). The Dean will make remarks at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Other

Oct. 23 - 30: Road Closure Alert -- East Medical Center Drive and East Hospital Drive near Children's and Women's Hospital project
The second crane that has been in use during the early stages of construction of the C. S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital project needs to be moved. To move it safely, a portion of East Medical Center Drive and East Hospital Drive near the construction project will be closed from the evening of Friday, Oct. 23 until the end of the workday on Friday, Oct. 30.

Details about the road closing and the impact on buses, pedestrian traffic and staff drop-off locations were provided in a recent global message. A map of the area that highlights the temporary changes can be found at www.med.umich.edu/construction.

Oct. 23 - 26: Simpson/Mott parking structure to be closed Friday evening to Monday morning
In preparation for moving the second construction crane, entrances to the Simpson parking structure -- also known as the Mott structure or the M-22 lot -- will be barricaded beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. Anyone whose shift ends at or later than 6 p.m. on Friday, October 23 should not park in the Simpson structure. They should park in Taubman structure (M-18 lot) instead. Anyone parked in the structure prior to 6 p.m. will be allowed to exit, but the structure must be totally vacated by 6 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. 

The AVI system will be programmed to allow all Simpson structure parkers to use the Taubman parking structure during the weekend. They will be able to return to the Simpson structure at 6 a.m. on Monday October 26. Gold parkers in the CVC lot (M-85) should use the upper entrance and travel to the lower level gold spaces.

Important update about current limited H1N1 flu vaccine supply
On Thursday, Oct. 22, an important update about the availability of the H1N1 flu vaccine supply was sent to all UMHS faculty and staff. Flu activity in our area has risen sharply in recent days, sending hundreds of patients to our clinics, emergency departments and inpatient units. But supplies of the H1N1 flu vaccine are extremely limited and are trickling in from manufacturers at a much slower pace than was originally anticipated. Until vaccine supplies improve, some patients and staff are being prioritized for injected or inhaled vaccine differently from the general H1N1 vaccination order that was announced previously.

See the global message that was sent out on Thursday afternoon about this change: www.med.umich.edu/i/prmc/globaluser/oct/flu4.htm.

For the latest details on the vaccine and other flu-related issues at UMHS, visit the UMHS Influenza (Flu) Information Web site: www.med.umich.edu/u/flu.

Call for funding applications for Innovative Healthcare Idea Commercialization, U-M Frankel Fund
Application Deadline: Nov. 1
The Frankel Commercialization Fund is a student-run pre-seed investment fund at the Ross School of Business that aims to identify breakthrough ideas and accelerate their commercialization.

Our goal is to increase the number of successful commercial ventures coming out of the U-M and local areas. We are looking for innovative ideas in the healthcare field. Our fund typically invests between $50,000 - $80,000 in each opportunity. We also bring expertise, mentorship, contacts and an advisory board consisting of executives with health care, information technology and early-stage company formation experience.

The Frankel Fund will be reviewing applications in two rounds this year, with the first round deadline on Nov. 1 and the final deadline around Jan. 5, 2010.

To learn more about the fund and to download an application, visit www.frankelfund.com. For more information, e-mail ffquestions@umich.edu. Applications can be e-mailed to frankelproposal@umich.edu.

Windows 7 at Computer Showcase
Eligible U-M staff can now purchase Windows 7 for their personal computers at the discounted price of $20 (tax included). The Showcase is also offering great prices on select MacBook Pros and last generation iPods, as featured in our Halloween Sale through Friday, Oct. 30. Shop now while supplies last. For more information, visit the Web site.

UMHS Child Care Center offers school-age care for elementary-aged children
The UMHS Child Care Center, located at 2601 Glazier Way, is proud to offer school-age care for elementary-aged children again this year. We will offer care on the days when Ann Arbor Public Schools are closed. Information, including registration forms, is now available on our Web site at www.med.umich.edu/ccc. Any family affiliated with UMHS is welcome to enroll. We will continue enrollment until each day is full. For more information, call 734-998-6195 or e-mail robekris@umich.edu.

Seminars, lectures, colloquia and events

Basic Science Seminars

Clinical Seminars

Major Events and Conferences

Student Seminars and Thesis Defense