• Most of you probably know little about the work of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory (NSPHL). You should, because the lab scientists and technicians are literally working around the clock to protect you and all Nevadans from a wide range of potential infections, food-borne illness, and unsafe water, as well as providing emergency response to biological and chemical terrorism, and testing every Nevada baby for more than 30 hereditary diseases.
• On December 26, our beloved UNR Med Advancement and Engagement Content Marketing Manager, Roseann Langlois, suffered a brain aneurysm and passed away unexpectedly.It is a tragedy to be writing these words. For Roseann, our colleague and teammate, and for me, our jobs revolve around words. A million words cannot bring her back. Words seem so feeble in moments like these. The passing of one of our most lively and fit colleagues is illogical. It is a tragedy, but also an honor to share this tribute to Roseann - our colleague and friend, a mother, daughter, sister, fitness teacher, healthy lifestyle advocate, LGBTQIA ally, public relations student mentor, shelter volunteer, and so much more.
• As 2019 comes to a close, the memories still linger of so many milestones and markers of success for the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. We celebrated our 50th anniversary, the unveiling of our clinical practice plan University Health, the continued growth of our educational programs, successful competition for several major research and training grants and the expansion of our clinical footprint. All of these examples contribute to the community’s growing need for health care, the expansion of medical education and our training pipeline and new community partnerships.
• The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) has named Mark Pandori, Ph.D., as director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory (NSPHL) and associate professor in UNR Med’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
• Residents, physicians, faculty, administrators, medical assistants and staff gathered at 8 a.m., Monday, Nov. 25, to witness UNR Med history in the making: the grand opening of University Health Internal Medicine Multispecialty Care at 6130 Plumas St., in Reno.
• Welcome to a new era and a new strategic priority for the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. I am proud to announce the launch of University Health, the clinical arm of UNR Med. While we have always managed small clinical practices in support of our teaching mission, we are now developing a higher profile as a community-based source of primary care, with a new brand, new offices and a new commitment to outstanding patient-centered care.
• The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) is expanding its clinical enterprise to improve access to quality care for Nevadans while enhancing medical education. As part of its clinical expansion into the northern Nevada community, UNR Med has launched a new clinical practice under the name, University Health. The practice was formerly known as Integrated Clinical Services (ICS) Practice Plan.
• More than 700 northern Nevadans heard how our dependency on our devices is literally consuming much of our lives from New York Times best-selling author Adam Alter, Ph.D. Alter, a psychologist and researcher, was the featured keynote speaker at tonight's University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine 2019 Healthy Nevada Speaker Series.
• Approximately 40 northern Nevada high school girls were equipped today with power tools, pins, clamps and rods that enabled them to saw through artificial bone during mock surgery sessions while learning the basics of orthopedic surgery and engineering concepts at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med).
• The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) Office of Statewide Initiatives, Nevada State Office of Rural Health and Nevada Rural Hospital Partners hosted CEOs and clinicians from nearly 15 rural Nevada communities at a Rural Health Day event today to address the challenges and solutions to the statewide shortage of primary care doctors and specialists. The health care leaders discussed ways to reduce the disparities in rural access to care.
• 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.
