• Ten years ago, the average person could look at a photo and concentrate for 12 seconds. Today, our attention span has dropped to eight seconds. A goldfish can focus for nine. What gives? Professor, researcher and New York Times bestselling author Adam Alter, Ph.D., attributes our shrinking attention span to the advent of so-called addictive tech items like the iPhone and iPad (items that are-not coincidentally-prohibited in the homes of the same innovators who brought them to market).
• The University of Nevada, Reno has partnered with the Boston-based reagent company Kerafast to help scientists worldwide gain access to the research tools developed in the University’s laboratories. The program streamlines the process of transferring biomaterials among different research institutions, furthering the materials’ contribution to scientific progress.
• Following a collaborative recruitment between the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and Carson Tahoe Health, Lorrel Toft, M.D., F.A.C.C., a cardiovascular critical care physician and researcher, has been recruited as an associate professor for UNR Med’s Department of Internal Medicine as well as a cardiologist on staff with Carson Tahoe Health.
• We have a crisis in medicine and medical education. We see seemingly daily reports on the deteriorating state of the mental health and well-being of medical students, residents and physicians. There is much we don't know, and much we could criticize about the general state of research in this field, but the data are clear that something serious is threatening the fundamental values of the medical profession.
• A research team at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med), under the direction of Wei Yan, M.D., Ph.D., AAAS Fellow, department of physiology and cell biology, received a $7 million grant award from the Fertility and Infertility Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The grant will fund a new National Center for Translational Research in Reproduction and Infertility (NCTRI), making UNR Med one of only eight centers in the country and the first such center to focus on sperm epigenomics.
• New research from the University of Nevada Reno, School of Medicine (UNR Med) and the University of Maryland School of Dentistry finds evidence that points to physical differences among groups of people with schizophrenia.
• Most people have had traumatic experiences that impact who they are and how they respond to their lives. And, most people do fine in life without addressing these traumas with professionals. Losses due to death or relationships ending for any reason, natural disasters, betrayals, assaults, murders, shootings, intentional and accidental traumas all are impactful and shape who we are as people.
• Northern Nevadans who are uninsured, underinsured or without a social security number can receive free medical care this Saturday, September 21 at an upcoming University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) Rural Outreach Clinic in Yerington, Nevada. UNR Med offers free clinics in a continuing effort to assist the region's medically uninsured with needed health care services.
• The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) Sanford Center for Aging received a five-year, $3.2 million federal grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, to provide primary care professionals training and other resources to assist with addressing the complex needs of older Nevadans.
• By the time you read this, I will have had the privilege of delivering my 9th State of the School Address on Sept. 9 at the Basin Street Club in Mackay Stadium. The achievements I highlighted that night—and the programs to which we have committed for our future—represent our past, present and future choices.
• Strategic growth, transformation as a northern Nevada-based school of medicine engaged with its communities and partners, and expansion of clinical services and research were themes at this year’s University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine State of the School Address.
• The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) announces senior educational and academic leadership roles. Timothy Baker, M.D., will serve as the new senior associate dean for academic affairs; Melissa Piasecki, M.D., previously executive associate dean and senior associate dean for academic affairs will take on an expansion of her role as executive associate dean, and Lisa Calvo, M.D., will serve as interim associate dean for medical education.
• Growing up Mexican-American, Diana Padilla did not know any physicians who shared her cultural background. Now entering her fourth year at the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, Padilla and fellow UNR Med students and members of the Latino Medical Student Association are helping to bridge that gap by mentoring bilingual northern Nevada high school students exploring careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) health care.
• This month, it was our great honor to welcome the medical student Class of 2023 to UNR Med through MedFIT, which provides students the opportunity to meet their new classmates and mentors while preparing or the academically rigorous learning environment of a medical school.
• The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine welcomed incoming medical students with a white coat ceremony today at the Joe Crowley Student Union Milt Click Ballroom on the University campus, during which students received their first white coats on their journeys to becoming physicians.
• Northern Nevadans who are uninsured, underinsured or without a social security number can receive free medical care this August and September 2019 at upcoming University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) Student Outreach Clinics. UNR Med offers the free clinics in a continuing effort to assist the region's medically uninsured with needed health care services.
• Toward the end of their second year of medical school, our students are required to take one of the major steps that defines the process of becoming a physician, Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. The daylong exam is a major source of stress for medical students across the country, and for good reason: The results can define an aspiring doctor's career trajectory.
• The Certificate in Gerontology from the Sanford Center for Aging has been unanimously voted to “Program of Merit” status by the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.
• With the first year of classroom medical education under their belts, the inaugural 24 Physician Assistant (PA) Studies Program students at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) received their first white coats, officially transitioning to clinical training during a white coat ceremony held on the University campus today. The milestone marks the beginning of the students’ clinical journey toward becoming physician assistants.
• True to the old adage, “An apple a day,” more physicians are integrating nutrition into their practice, empowering patients to take charge of their long-term health. Medical schools are taking notice, incorporating nutritional education before students enter clinical practice.
• Northern Nevadans who are uninsured, underinsured or without a social security number can receive free medical care this July and August 2019 at upcoming University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) Student Outreach Clinics.
• Amelia Lane has joined the Advancement and Engagement department at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) as assistant director of development.
