The University of Louisville Geriatrics Symposium, sponsored by the Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging, is a regional resource for up-to-date training and information regarding the care of older adults. The annual event is part of Optimal Aging Month during September and will be held Friday, Sept. 18, from 7:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. at the Founders Building on UofL’s Shelbyhurst campus, 312 N. Whittington Parkway.

This year’s event is titled “Maximizing Independence for Optimal Aging.” Cost to attend is $150 for physicians; $125 for all other health care professionals; and $35 for medical residents and students. Continuing education credit is available. Registration is available on the conference website.

The world’s population, including in the United States, is aging at an exponential rate. Currently there are only 7,162 allopathic and osteopathic certified geriatricians in the United States. This translates to one geriatrician for every 2,620 Americans over 75 years old.

The projected increase in the number of older Americans is expected to change this ratio to one geriatrician for every 3,798 older Americans in 2030. Due to the projected shortfall of experts in geriatrics to provide for the rapidly aging U.S. population, it is necessary for all providers to have some exposure and ideally expert training in geriatrics principles in order to fulfill the increasing need to provide care for older adults.

The University of Louisville Annual Geriatrics Symposium is a daylong event that  offers an interdisciplinary audience immersion in geriatric training skills. The symposium presents the most updated skills training and theories on varied topics related to the care of the geriatric patient. It is designed for a broad multidisciplinary audience including physicians, nurses, dentists, nurse practitioners, social workers, long-term care professionals, in-home care providers to elders and anyone involved in the care of elder Americans.

Speakers include:

• David Morris, Ph.D., Interim Chair and Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Belinda Setters, M.D. , Director, Mobile Acceptable Clinical Evidence Unit  and Transitional Care, Robley Rex VA Medical Center, Louisville
• Kathy Shireman, R.N., Director of Clinical Services, Episcopal Church Home, Louisville
• Demetra Antimisiaris, Pharm.D., Associate Professor, UofL Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Christian Furman, M.D., Vice Chair, Geriatric Medicine and Professor, Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, UofL Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine, and Interim Medical Director, UofL Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging
• Amelia R. Kiser, M.D., Assistant Professor, UofL Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine, Glasgow, Ky.
• Mike Mansfield, D.M.D., Assistant Professor, UofL Department of General Dentistry and Oral Medicine
• Benjamin Mast, Ph.D., Vice Chair and Associate Professor, UofL Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
• Laura Morton, M.D., Assistant Professor, UofL Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine
• Daniela Neamtu, M.D., Assistant Professor, UofL Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine
• Gustavo Oliveira, D.D.S., Assistant Professor, UofL Department of Dentistry and Oral Health
• Mary Romelfanger, R.N., Associate Director, UofL Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging

Romelfanger is course director of the conference. For more information, visit the conference website.

_{Posted 09-16-15}

Political strategist Donna Brazile will be a featured speaker at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators Inc. (NAMME), hosted by the University of Louisville Sept. 16-20. The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Louisville, 311 S. 4th St.

Brazile will address the group at the Friday, Sept. 18, breakfast session beginning at 8 a.m. She will speak on “Health Care Reform and the Future Health Care Provider or Why Diversity Matters.”

For conference attendees, the cost to attend Brazile’s address also is included in the conference registration fee. Participants may register as either single-day or full-conference attendees, and both members and non-members of NAMME may attend the annual meeting. The 2015 Annual Meeting registration fee schedule is available on the NAMME website.

NAMME is a national organization dedicated to developing and sustaining productive relationships as well as action-oriented programs among national, state and community stakeholders working to ensure racial and ethnic diversity in all of the health professions. NAMME also seeks to provide critical guidance and professional development opportunities for individuals dedicated to these efforts and the students they serve.

The five-day conference includes panel discussions, lectures and workshops on a variety of topics related to increasing diversity among the nation’s health professions. The event also features a College Student Development and Recruitment Fair where students can learn about health professions education at colleges and universities from throughout the United States.

About Donna Brazile:

Veteran Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile is an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, television political commentator, Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee and former interim National Chair of the Democratic National Committee, the former chair of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute and the first African-American woman to manage a presidential campaign.

Aside from working for the full recovery of her beloved New Orleans, Brazile’s passion is encouraging young people to vote, to work within the system to strengthen it, and to run for public office. Since 2000, Brazile has lectured at over 150 colleges and universities across the country on such topics as “Inspiring Civility in American Politics,” “Race Relations in the Age of Obama,” “Why Diversity Matters,” and “Women in American Politics: Are We There Yet?”

She first got involved at the age of nine when she worked to elect a City Council candidate who had promised to build a playground in her New Orleans neighborhood; the candidate won, the swing set was installed, and a lifelong passion for political progress was ignited. Brazile worked on every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2000, when she became the first African-American to manage a presidential campaign.

Author of the best-selling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics, Brazile is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a syndicated columnist for Universal Uclick, a columnist for Ms. Magazine and O, the Oprah Magazine, and an on-air contributor to CNN and ABC, where she regularly appears on ABC’s This Week.

In August 2009, O, The Oprah Magazine chose Brazile as one of its 20 “remarkable visionaries” for the magazine’s first-ever O Power List. In addition, she was named among the 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian magazine, Top 50 Women in America by Essence magazine, and received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s highest award for political achievement.

She is currently on the board of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the National Democratic Institute, the Professional Diversity Network, the National Institute for Civil Discourse, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the BlackAmericaWeb.com Relief Fund Inc.  She also serves as Co-Chair for Democrats for Public Education.

Brazile is founder and managing director of Brazile & Associates LLC, a general consulting, grassroots advocacy and training firm based in Washington.

In patients with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, antidepressants can increase incidents of depression and mood cycling. Rif S. El-Mallakh, M.D., director of the Mood Disorders Clinical and Research Program at the University of Louisville, along with Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., of Tufts University and other researchers, conducted the first randomized clinical trial that analyzes how modern antidepressants affect patients with rapid-cycling (RC) bipolar disorder (BD). The results are published in this month’s issue of Journal of Affective Disorders.

In the trial, the authors tracked patients with BD following an acute depressive episode. They found that rapid-cycling patients who continued antidepressants following initial treatment for the episode experienced three times the number of depressive episodes the following year as those who discontinued use of antidepressants. RC patients who continued antidepressants were episode-free 52 percent of the time, while RC patients who discontinued antidepressants were episode-free 64 percent of the time.

Patients are considered rapid cycling in bipolar disorder if they experience at least four episodes within a 12-month period. In the United States, approximately 25 percent of bipolar patients are considered rapid cycling.

The research was conducted within the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) study, in which patients were classified as either rapid cycling or non-rapid cycling. Patients in both groups received standard mood stabilizers.

“Whether or not antidepressants cause rapid cycling in BD is a controversial issue,” the authors said in the article. “Antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed class of medication in BD. If they cause or worsen rapid cycling, found in about 25 percent of patients with BD, this presents a major public health problem. Safely and effectively treating rather than exacerbating mood episodes in the most severely ill among this patient population is a priority.”

Physicians and researchers have debated for years about whether antidepressants should be used over long periods of time for patients with bipolar disorder.

El-Mallakh, professor of psychiatry in the UofL School of Medicine, has published articles on several situations in which continued use of antidepressant medications potentially was detrimental.

In a 2008 article in Journal of Affective Disorders, El-Mallakh described a condition he attributed to long-term antidepressant use which he called “antidepressant-associated chronic irritable dysphoria” (ACID). In the article, El-Mallakh cited a number of patients who took antidepressants for long periods of time and subsequently developed a consistent state of low mood, irritability and sleep disturbance. These symptoms were relieved when the patients discontinued antidepressants.

In a 2011 article in Medical Hypothesis, El-Mallakh analyzed data on patients whose depression initially improved with antidepressants, but later worsened. He hypothesized that some patients experienced a condition he called “tardive dysphoria,” in which antidepressants lose their effectiveness and may actually induce depression with long-term use.

“Antidepressants are useful medications, and you don’t know if someone will be rapid cycling when you begin treating them. However, if someone has rapid cycling, you want to avoid using these drugs because the medication will probably increase mania, cycling and depression,” El-Mallakh said.

The University of Louisville Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging’s Optimal Aging Month continues this week with a healthy cooking demo and participation in community walks.

The institute will host a healthy eating demonstration at Aposento Alto Food Pantry, 2093 Midland Trail in Simpsonville, at 4:45 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11. The program will feature information, recipes and demonstrations on ways to make healthy eating fun and flavorful for the entire family.

On Saturday, Sept. 12, the institute will participate in two community walks: the Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s and the Kentuckian Rural Diabetes Coalition Community Walks.

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s begins with registration and check-in at 8:30 a.m. at the Great Lawn at Waterfront Park in Downtown Louisville, 231 Witherspoon St. For information and to register, visit the Walk to End Alzheimer’s website.

The Kentuckian Rural Diabetes Coalition Walks will take place at several venues: Clear Creek Park in Shelby County; Shepherdsville City Park in Bullitt County; and Henry County Recreational Park. Registration and check-in will be at 9:30 a.m. with the walks getting underway at 10 a.m. For information, visit the coalition’s Community Walks website.

For information about Optimal Aging Month and the Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging, contact the institute at 502-852-5629.

As concerns over the availability and side-effects of fossil fuels increase, scientists look for renewable energy sources to satisfy the modern world’s insatiable appetite for power. But are renewable energy sources up to the task?

Mahendra Sunkara, Ph.D., director of the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research at the University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering, will discuss the need for renewable energies and challenges associated with them at the next “Beer with a Scientist” event. Those in attendance will learn what renewable energies are, how they are used and, most importantly, how they will save our planet for future generations.

Sunkara’s research interests include discovery of new materials, solar cells, Li Ion batteries, production of hydrogen from water and growing large crystals of diamond, gallium nitride and bulk quantities of nanowires.

The program begins at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16 at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

The Beer with a Scientist program began in 2014 and is the brainchild of UofL cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D. Once a month, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer, other beverages or menu items is not required but is encouraged.

Organizers add that they also encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

For more information and to suggest future Beer with a Scientist topics, follow Louisville Underground Science on Facebook.

It is never too early for medical researchers to begin obtaining funding for their work.

Heather Clair, a student in the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has secured a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help fund her research and education. The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, an F30 fellowship from the NIH, is designed to support highly promising predoctoral students in a dual-doctoral degree training program such as the M.D./Ph.D. to increase the pool of highly trained clinician-scientists in biomedical research.

Clair won the grant in consultation with her mentor, Matt Cave, M.D., associate professor of medicine at UofL with expertise in liver disease and transplantation. Clair and Cave have designed a research plan to study of the effects of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the liver. Clair will be investigating how synthetic organic chemicals change the programming of the body’s cells.

“We believe that PCBs are one of the factors leading to liver disease and other types of metabolic dysfunction – maybe diabetes, cardiovascular disease or obesity,” Clair said.

Clair earned a master’s degree in biotechnology and worked in laboratories and other settings for a number of years, including lab work at UofL. After talking with medical students who shared their enthusiasm for working with patients, Clair decided to add clinical work to her professional palette and applied to the School of Medicine.

“I wasn’t ready to leave research, however, so I applied to the M.D./Ph.D. program. When I got in, it was like winning the lottery – I get to do two things I love at the same time,” Clair said.

Earning a grant from the NIH is a precocious accomplishment for a student, preparing her to obtain grants as a professional researcher.

“Just writing the grant was a tremendous learning experience,” Clair said. “When I go back to write a K award or an RO1 as an independent investigator, I will have already done it once. It also gives me the opportunity to show the NIEHS and the NIH that I can do what I said I was going to do.”

Students in the M.D./Ph.D. program study medicine for two years, followed by three to four years of doctorate-level biomedical research, finishing off with the final two years of medical school. Upon completing the program, the physician-scientists have fulfilled the requirements for both an M.D. and a Ph.D. degree and are ready to care for patients and conduct biomedical research at the doctorate level. The UofL program has 13 students, with enrollment having been as high as 22. The school receives between 80 and 100 applications each year for the two to three positions available.

“These are the best medical students and the best graduate students. Having a group of students this bright at UofL helps in every possible way with the educational process,” said Donald Miller, M.D., Ph.D., director of the M.D./Ph.D. program at UofL and director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.

In the past 12 years, 10 students at UofL have been awarded F30 grants, including nine In the M.D./Ph.D. program and one in the D.M.D./Ph.D. program at the School of Dentistry.

“These grants raise the visibility of the university,” said Brian “Binks” Wattenberg, Ph.D., assistant director of the M.D./Ph.D. program. “When study sections – expert scientists in a specific area who review the grant applications – see the quality of the applications that are coming from UofL, they start to recognize this is a substantial, high quality institution.”

Funding from an F30 grant typically adds more than $100,000 to the institution over a period of three to five years. This allows existing funds to support additional research activities in the mentor’s lab or to assist other students at the School of Medicine.

“These grants release funds from the principal investigator whose lab they are in to support other activities,” Wattenberg said. “And if the grant pays for part of the medical school tuition, that money can be used for other students. Every dollar we get in from the outside helps everyone.”

One of the previous grant-winning students, Janelle Fassbender, M.D., Ph.D., was mentored by Scott Whittemore, Ph.D., in neurobiology and presented a dissertation on "Improving Functional Recovery Following Spinal Cord Injury by Therapeutically Targeting the Vasculature.” After receiving her degrees in 2012, Fassbender completed a preliminary year of residency in general surgery and is back at UofL serving as a medical resident in ophthalmology.

Other graduates from UofL’s M.D./Ph.D. program who received F30 awards have gone on to residency positions at Washington University in St. Louis, Yale University and Icahn School of Medicine at The Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

Success in receiving the grants reflects on the quality of the research being done at UofL and the mentors.

“As funding gets more and more competitive, it’s very important that we turn out people who have good training, good science and can compete for grants, and I think this program does that,” Miller said.

Monica Ann Shaw, M.D., M.A., vice dean for the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has received the Kentucky Medical Association’s Educational Achievement Award for 2015.

The award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions and achievements in the area of medical education. David Bensema, M.D., immediate past president of the KMA, presented the award to Shaw during the organization’s annual meeting on August 29.

“Throughout her tenure, Dr. Shaw has been committed to changing the way medical students are educated,” Bensema said. “Her passion and dedication to the growth and development of future physicians are keystones of the KMA Educational Achievement Award criteria.”

As principal investigator on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant, Shaw developed and implemented an interdisciplinary palliative care curriculum for medical students that serves as a national model for successful palliative care education. Since 2010, Shaw has served as co-investigator on a five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute for which the team has developed, implemented, and evaluated a mandatory, interprofessional palliative oncology curriculum for medical, nursing, social work and chaplaincy students. Shaw is a 2014 graduate of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine^® (ELAM^®) program. She joined the University of Louisville in 1995.

“Dr. Shaw has devoted her career to medical education. She is an exceptional teacher, physician, and mentor. She remains passionate about medicine and palliative care. She was the first clerkship director to include a reflective writing requirement for students to encourage them to focus on the patient’s story and to foster more humanistic patient care,” said Jesse Roman, M.D., chair of the UofL Department of Medicine, in nominating Shaw for the award.

Established in 1851, the Kentucky Medical Association is a professional organization for physicians throughout the Commonwealth. The KMA works on behalf of physicians and the patients they serve to ensure the delivery of quality, affordable health care.

“Saving the Lives of Adolescents and Adults: New Developments in Understanding Suicidal Behavior” will be presented at the next “Building Hope” lecture sponsored by the University of Louisville Depression Center.

The program will begin at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Second Presbyterian Church, 3701 Old Brownsboro Rd. Admission is free.

Co-sponsored by the Louisville Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the program will provide participants with information on new developments in understanding suicidal behavior and approaches to treatment and interventions for suicidal individuals.

The speaker will be David Goldston, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, in the Department of Psychiatry’s Division of Child & Family Mental Health & Developmental Neuroscience at the Duke University School of Medicine. He also serves as director of the Duke Center for the Study of Suicide Prevention and Intervention.

The University of Louisville Depression Center is Kentuckiana’s leading resource for depression and bipolar disorder treatment, research and education. It is a charter member of the National Network of Depression Centers, a consortium of leading depression centers that develops and fosters connections among members to advance scientific discovery and provide stigma-free, evidence-based care to patients with depressive and bipolar illnesses.

For more information, contact the Depression Center at 502-588-4450.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is the leader in the fight against suicide. It funds research, offers educational programs, advocates for public policy and supports those affected by suicide. Headquartered in New York, AFSP has 75 local chapters, including Louisville, with programs and events nationwide.

Take a walk in the park.

Meet for a cup of coffee.

These simple social interactions can make a world of difference to patients with Parkinson’s Disease and to University of Louisville medical students who will have the opportunity to see what daily life is like for individuals with the disease.

The Parkinson’s Buddy Program, a unique new partnership between the UofL School of Medicine and the Parkinson Support Center, has matched 25 “buddies” from the first-year class of medical students with patients served by the center. In the first program of its kind for Parkinson’s patients, the pairs are participating in a year-long program designed to give the patients social interaction and allow them to share their stories with the medical students, who in turn gain first-hand knowledge about living with a nervous system disorder.

The program kicks off Thursday, September 3 when the buddy pairs will meet for the first time from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, 1640 Lyndon Farm Ct., #100 in Louisville. (Editor’s note:  Members of the media are invited to attend.)

Student-patient pairs then are encouraged to meet on their own about once a month for a board game, lecture or exercise class to share their stories and enjoy time together. Kathrin LaFaver, M.D., Raymond Lee Lebby Chair for Parkinson’s Disease Research in the Department of Neurology at UofL, said the exchanges will give the students a deeper understanding of how patients cope with the disease.

“This program will educate medical students on Parkinson’s and neurological disease and help them understand the day-to-day issues faced by individuals living with Parkinson’s,” LaFaver said.

Allie Hanson, assistant director of the Parkinson Support Center, proposed the idea for the program as a way to improve the wellbeing of patients served by the center.

“The patients will be able to share their stories, plus the meetings will reduce some of the social isolation that people with Parkinson’s can experience,” Hanson said.

In addition to meeting with their patient buddies, students will keep a journal reflecting on their experience after each buddy meeting. Students also will attend hour-long mentoring sessions each month with LaFaver, the director of the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Clinic at UofL Physicians. The seminars will provide additional medical information and inform the students about research and career opportunities in neurology and movement disorders.

Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic and progressive brain disorder of the central nervous system. The motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain. Dopamine is the chemical that sends messages to the part of the brain that controls movement and coordination. The loss of dopamine causes neurons to fire without normal control, leaving patients less able to control their movement. Patients are also frequently suffering from so-called “non-motor” symptoms including loss of smell, constipation, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox are notable individuals living with Parkinson’s Disease.

The Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging at the University of Louisville has established September as “Optimal Aging Month” with several events planned. The month’s activities kick off Sept. 9 with the Optimal Aging Lecture Series designed to explore the science of aging.

Robert Friedland, M.D., professor of neurology, will present “Gene Therapy, Diet and the Biology of Neurodegeneration” at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, at The University Club, 200 E. Brandeis Ave.

Admission is $17 per person and includes lunch. Reservations are required online. For information, call 502-852-8953 or email ann.burke@louisville.edu.

Holder of the Mason C. and Mary D. Rudd Endowed Chair in Neurology, Friedland is a clinical and research neurologist devoted to the study of brain disorders associated with aging. His work has focused on clinical and biological issues in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

Friedland has authored or co-authored more than 200 scientific publications and has current research funding from the National Institute on Aging as well as several foundations, institutes, corporations and families. He has had more than $1 million in research funding to support his work every year since 1985.

Use of irreversible electroporation (IRE) doubles the survival time for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer say researchers at the University of Louisville in a paper in the September edition of the Annals of Surgery (http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/2015/09000/Treatment_of_200_Locally_Advanced__Stage_III_.10.aspx).

“The appropriate and precise use of IRE in appropriately selected patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer can result in a median overall survival close to 24 months, which is nearly double the survival rate with the best new chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy,” said Robert Martin, M.D., Ph.D., director of surgical oncology at UofL.

IRE uses ultra-short but strong electrical fields to create holes in cell membranes, ultimately leading to cell death. The main use of IRE lies in tumor removal in regions where precision and conservation of the basic cellular matrix, blood flow and nerves are of importance.

In the study, 200 patients at six sites throughout the United States received IRE following chemotherapy. The patients were followed for up to seven years following their initial diagnosis and initiation of treatment. The average survival time for patients was close to two years.

IRE is commonly performed as an open surgery with an incision of about six to eight centimeters. This allows for better visualization for probe placement, as well as combined tumor removal as dictated for individual patients. This commonly requires a five- to seven-day hospital stay and a two- to three-week recovery for the patient to get back to their baseline quality of life

Pancreatic cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers and is expected to climb from the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States to the second by 2020. Ninety four percent of pancreatic cancer patients will die within five years of diagnosis, and 74 percent of patients die within the first year of diagnosis.

“This study demonstrates that IRE, in conjunction with standard-of-care, may substantially prolong the survival rates of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer,” Martin said. “While additional research is needed, ablation may represent an addition to the current standard of care for Stage III pancreatic cancer patients whose only treatment options until now have been chemotherapy or a combination of chemo-radiation therapy.”

Patients in the study were seen at UofL James Graham Brown Cancer Center, a part of KentuckyOne Health, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, the Cleveland Clinic, Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Swedish Medical Center in Denver and Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Atlanta.

Martin initially reported these finding at the American Surgical Association annual meeting in April 2015.

Two golf tournaments in September will benefit the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center, a part of KentuckyOne Health.

The 7^th Annual Don Happel Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, Sept. 12, at Eagle Creek Golf Course in La Grange, Ky., and the 5^th Annual Hammertime Golf Scramble will be Monday, Sept. 14, at Iroquois Golf Course in Louisville.

About the Don Happel Tournament

The Happel Tournament tees off at 8:30 a.m., Sept. 12, with a shotgun start. The tournament is a scramble and has payouts for the 1^st, 2^nd and “Lucky” 13^th” holes. Cost is $300 per team of four and each player can purchase two red tees for $10. Hole sponsorships are available for $50 each.

The Eagle Creek Golf Course is located at 2820 S. Highway 53, La Grange. Since the tournament’s inception, it has raised almost $18,000 for the cancer center, helping to provide education, transportation and other non-clinical services.

Registration deadline is Aug. 29. For details, contact Bret Happel at 502-253-2207 or Cindy Hall at 502-767-3752.

About the Hammertime Golf Scramble

The Hammertime Scramble benefits the Larry Smith Lung Cancer Fund at the cancer center and will start at 1 p.m.  on Aug. 14. The event features a putting contest, long drive contest, silent auction, door prizes and the chance to win a new car. Individual fee is $75 and a team of four is $300. Sponsorships range from $100 to $3,500.

The Iroquois Golf Course is at 1501 Rundill Road, Louisville. The tournament is affiliated with the UofL Alumni Association. The tournament’s goal is $50,000 to help fund a new cancer screening van that will provide cancer screenings to underserved populations across Kentucky.

For details and to register, go to the tournament web page or contact Linda Dame at linda.dame@louisville.edu.

About the James Graham Brown Cancer Center

The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is a key component of the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center. As part of the region's leading academic, research and teaching health center, the cancer center provides the latest medical advances to patients, often long before they become available in non-teaching settings. The JGBCC is a part of KentuckyOne Health and is affiliated with the Kentucky Cancer Program. It is the only cancer center in the region to use a unified approach to cancer care, with multidisciplinary teams of physicians working together to guide patients through diagnosis, treatment and recovery. For more information, visit our website, http://browncancercenter.louisville.edu.

The chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University will present the 2015 Leonard Leight Lecture at the University of Louisville.

Robert Harrington, M.D., will speak at noon, Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the 16^th Floor Conference Center of the Rudd Heart and Lung Center, 201 Abraham Flexner Way. Admission is free.

The Leonard Leight Lecture is presented annually by the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. For 30 years until 1996, Leight was a practicing cardiologist in Louisville and played a major role in developing cardiology services and bringing innovative treatment modalities in heart disease to Louisville.

The Leonard Leight Lecture series was established in 1994 and is made possible by gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Kurt Ackermann and Medical Center Cardiologists to the Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation.

About Robert Harrington, M.D.

The Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine at Stanford since 2012, Harrington is an interventional cardiologist and experienced clinical investigator in the area of heart disease. At Stanford, he leads a department of 220 faculty members in 14 divisions.

Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, Harrington spent five years as the director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, regarded as the world’s largest academic clinical research organization. The institute has conducted studies in 65 countries while building diverse research programs in clinical trials and health services research. He joined the faculty at Duke in 1993.

As a clinical investigator, he has worked primarily in the area of acute ischemic heart disease, or heart disease resulting from restricted blood flow to the heart muscle. He has established clinical research collaborations that involve investigators from around the world.

“My science has progressed from the focused study of thrombosis to using more broadly the tools of clinical science to answer clinical questions while finding new and innovative ways to design clinical trials and use clinical data to improve the care of patients,” Harrington said. “Society needs academic centers to step up and figure out how we are going to deliver health care while also advancing science and educating the next generation of clinical leaders.”

Harrington is a native of Massachusetts. He has an undergraduate degree in English from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. He received his medical degree from Tufts University in 1986 and completed an internship, residency and served as chief resident at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He trained in general and interventional cardiology as a fellow at Duke.

He has served as an associate editor of the American Heart Journal, an editorial board member of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and one of the editors of the 13th edition of Hurst's the Heart, a leading textbook in cardiovascular medicine. He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians as well as a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, the American College of Chest Physicians and the European Society of Cardiology. He is a member of the board of trustees for the American College of Cardiology.

Several units at the University of Louisville will join together with groups from throughout Louisville and the United States to commemorate the end of World War II.

“Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive! 70^th Anniversary of the End of WWII” will be held Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15 and 16.

With the surrender of Japan on Aug. 14, 1945, the Second World War came to a close. Activities for the 70^th Anniversary are planned throughout the United States. The website www.spiritof45.org provides more information.

“As time goes on, we lose more and more of the people whose service, both in the theater of war and on the home front, protected our freedoms during the dark days of World War II,” said University of Louisville President James R. Ramsey. “That is why the University of Louisville is honored to take part in commemorations such as Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive.

“We must never forget what our Greatest Generation sacrificed so that we can all be free.”

In Louisville, Saturday’s commemoration will take place at the Vintage WarBirds Hangar 5 at Bowman Field, 2700 Gast Blvd. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., exhibits, demonstrations and entertainment will evoke memories of Louisville during World War II. Vintage military equipment, vehicles and aircraft will be on display, along with other historical exhibits. Attendees who remember the war will have the opportunity to record their WWII memories for future generations. Entertainment will be provided by the Ladies of Liberty, a three-woman singing troupe that performs 1940s hits in the style of the Andrews Sisters. Admission is free.

From 6 to 10 p.m. in the same location, a “Canteen Dinner and Dance” will be held, also featuring the Ladies of Liberty and the Don Krekel Orchestra performing big-band hits of the period. Admission is $45 per person.

Sunday, Aug. 16, is “Honor Flight Night” at VFW Post #1170, 107 Evergreen Rd. in Middletown. The Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to making it possible for veterans to travel to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War memorials.

Kentucky’s Bluegrass Chapter of Honor Flight will honor those World War II veterans who are unable to make the trip. Dinner will feature a video showing the 2015 D-Day Honor Flight on June 6 to the World War II Memorial. Admission for veterans and their guests is free.

Honor Flight Night is sponsored by the Office of the President at the University of Louisville. Participating in Saturday’s events will be UofL’s Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging, School of Dentistry, Kent School of Social Work and Department of History. Other sponsors include the Frazier History Museum, the Kentucky Historical Society, Jean Frazier and a variety of military and veterans organizations.

For information on Saturday’s events, contact the local Spirit of ’45 office, 502-387-4412 or Dell Courtney, dellcourtn@aol.com.

The countdown to “Splat Out Cancer” has officially begun. After months of preparation, the large-scale fundraising event dedicated to raising $1 million for the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center (JGBCC) is set to kickoff Aug. 29 on the corner of Sixth and Market streets in downtown Louisville.

With the goal of 1,000-plus balloons being launched from catapults in one day, the “Splat Out Cancer” team is preparing to use over 50 gallons of Benjamin Moore’s Aura^® Exterior paint to create one of the largest community-generated works of art in Louisville history.

“You get to do good and be bad,” said Jerry Preyss, CEO of Scoppechio, the Louisville-based ad agency that created and is overseeing the execution of Splat Out Cancer. “For $25 bucks you get to launch a balloon filled with paint and see it splat against a giant wall. And nobody gets arrested. Now how much fun is that?”

Currently the JGBCC has over 165 cancer trials in process, and nearly a third of those are new, groundbreaking treatments developed by JGBCC researchers.

“We rely heavily on philanthropic dollars to move many of our most promising drugs and therapies into human clinical trials,” said JGBCC Director Donald Miller, M.D., Ph.D. “The money from this event will be used exclusively to accelerate research projects to the clinical trials. One million dollars can help transfer multiple projects out of the lab into a Phase 1 clinical stage trial.”

“We have a sense of urgency at UofL,” said UofL President James R. Ramsey. “We need to take translational research to the clinic to improve the quality of life for people with cancer. The support for Splat Out Cancer will enable us to take the research to the clinic and move forward. We are proud to be part of this initiative and the work being done at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center.”

“Every dollar donated by sponsors, groups and participants goes directly to reaching the goal of $1 million. And besides the activities on the 29^th, there will be other components to this program to raise the $1 million,” Preyss added.

Event sponsors include Benjamin Moore Paints, the Yum! Brands Foundation, KFC, Interapt, Outfront Media, KentuckyOne Health, Humana, LG&E-KU, Onco360, Old National Bank, NPC Internatonal and Babs and Lee Robinson.

“We are so thankful for the generous involvement and donations from our sponsors and, particularly, Benjamin Moore,” said Scoppechio Founder and Executive Chairman and UofL Board of Trustees Member Debbie Scoppechio. “As a four-time cancer survivor, this initiative hits home for me. In fact, I believe one of the reasons I’m alive today is because of the work being done at the JGBCC.”

With nine Benjamin Moore retail locations in the Louisville area, the paint maker is playing a critical role in Splat Out Cancer with its expertise, donated paint and coordinated fundraising efforts in all Benjamin Moore area stores.

The festivities begin at 11 a.m. at Sixth and Main with inaugural splats by local figures, James Graham Brown Cancer Center doctors and cancer survivors. Decked out in a lab coat and goggles, groups and individuals will be able to splat throughout the day from one of three giant balloon launchers that will target a framed canvas on the wall of 539 W. Market St. Other activities include a kid’s area splat wall, photo wall, food trucks and booths with information and fun giveaways. Local celebrities, mascots and Louisville sports teams representatives also will be in attendance.

The film production company 180 Degrees Film will shoot throughout the day for an upcoming documentary about Splat Out Cancer. The company's “Cancer Confessions” booth also will allow people the opportunity to share their personal cancer story.

Individuals and groups who preregister with donations on SplatOutCancer.com also will receive a commemorative t-shirt.

“The Louisville community is extraordinary in the way it supports the great sports teams at the University. At the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, they are doing championship work in the field of cancer research. It’s important to support them too and bring visibility to what they are doing to beat cancer. We are looking forward to seeing a lot of people on the 29^th,” Preyss said.

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As the manager of the Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC) at the University of Louisville, Tim Gornet has collaborated on numerous exciting and groundbreaking research and medical applications. Most recently, the center created a three-dimensional model of a child’s defective heart to allow the surgeons to plan and prepare for his surgery.

At the next “Beer with a Scientist” event, Gornet will discuss more potential applications for 3D printing in medicine, scientific research and advanced manufacturing.

The program begins at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 26 at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

The Beer with a Scientist program began in 2014 and is the brainchild of UofL cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D. Once a month, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer, other beverages or menu items is not required but is encouraged.

Organizers add that they also encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

For more information and to suggest future Beer with a Scientist topics, follow Louisville Underground Science on Facebook.

A new combination vaccine may reduce the number of injections required to keep infants and toddlers up to date with the United States infant immunization schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a phase III trial reported in the August 2015 issue of Pediatrics, the vaccine was determined to be effective, safe and well-tolerated. Gary S. Marshall, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Louisville, was the principal investigator of the multi-center trial and first author of the report.

The hexavalent vaccine combination, known as DTaP5-IPV-Hib-HepB, is aligned with the recommended immunization schedule and is expected to protect children against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and hepatitis B. The trial, coordinated at UofL, included nearly 1500 children in multiple centers across the United States.

The long list of immunizations in the recommended immunization schedule can lead to deferred injections and limit the addition of new vaccines. Depending on which vaccine combinations are used by an individual medical practice, this new vaccine combination may mean an infant receives 1 to 4 fewer injections.

“It has gotten complicated because there are so many vaccines, which is good news because there are fewer sick children. Having combination vaccines is more good news – it makes things simpler without compromising protection,” Marshall said. “Hopefully, this vaccine combination will improve coverage rates. Studies show that when you use combination vaccines, more kids get vaccinated on time and by two years of age more are fully protected. When you make it easier, you get better coverage.”

A similar hexavalent vaccine has been available in Europe for more than a decade and has resulted in more timely immunizations.

The report in Pediatrics, entitled “Immunogenicity, Safety, and Tolerability of a Hexavalent Vaccine in Infants,” indicates that children who were given the new vaccine developed immunity to the listed diseases equivalent to that received from an existing immunization regimen. The children experienced a slightly higher rate of redness at the injection site and slightly higher rate of self-limited fever following the injections, as compared with the established regimen. Children receiving both the new vaccine and the established regimen were followed for serious adverse health events for six months following the final dose, with no safety signals raised in either of the two groups.

The new vaccine is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration. After approval, the vaccine will be available for incorporation into the routine childhood schedule.

“Once it is licensed, we can take pride in having brought this new vaccine to the pediatric community and having done our part to simplify the routine immunization schedule,” Marshall said.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE:  Dr. Marshall has been an investigator on clinical trials funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur, and he also has received honoraria from these companies for service on advisory boards.

Registration is now open for the 15^th Annual Geriatric Health Care Symposium, “Maximizing Independence for Optimal Aging,” presented by the University of Louisville Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging.

The symposium will be held 7:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18, at the Founders Union Building of UofL’s Shelby Campus, 9001 Shelbyville Road.

Keynoting the event will be David Morris, Ph.D., interim chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A licensed physical therapist and known nationally for his expertise in physical therapy for seniors, Morris will speak on “Fitness for Life.”

Other sessions at the symposium include “Google Glass in Rural Nursing Homes and Home Health,” “Preventive Care in Older Adults,” “Polypharmacy 2.0 – Antipsychotic Meds,” “Maximizing Oral Health,” “Update on Dementia” and more.

Faculty include Amelia Kiser, M.D., Laura Morton, M.D., Christian Furman, M.D. and Daniela Neamtu, M.D., all from the UofL Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine; Demetra Antimisiaris, Pharm.D., UofL Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Mike Mansfield, D.M.D., and Gustavo Oliveira, D.M.D., UofL School of Dentistry; Belinda Setters, M.D., Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Benjamin Mast, Ph.D., UofL Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences; and Anne Veno, R.N., Episcopal Church Home.

Continuing education credits are available through the UofL Department of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development for physicians, nurses, physical therapists and dentists. Continuing education credit for social workers is in process, and the program is pending approval by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Registration before Aug. 15 qualifies for early bird discounts. Registration before Aug. 15 is $125 for physicians; $35 for students; and $100 for all others. Valid identification is required to qualify for registration categories.

To register and for more information, go to the symposium website.

Four-year-old Evander Conroy is visiting Louisville this summer from his home in Sydney, Australia to continue therapy designed to help him gain the ability to walk. Evander is receiving Locomotor Training (LT) with University of Louisville researcher Andrea Behrman, Ph.D., director of the Kosair Charities Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery, a clinical services division of UofL’s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC).

To make this trip to Louisville even more special, Evander will be the first child to utilize a newly developed locomotor treadmill designed specifically for children. Previously, Behrman and her team had to adapt adult devices to fit Evander and other children who come from around the world for the therapy.

Helping make the visit possible is the Crawford's Kid program, created by the Todd Crawford Foundation to Cure Paralysis, which provides funds to help cover the family’s expenses related to the trip to Louisville. Evander, the second “Crawford's Kid,” will spend five weeks in Louisville receiving booster LT therapy and participating in research to better understand the muscle activity contributing to his progress for sitting, standing and stepping.

Evander’s spine was damaged by a malignant tumor present in his chest cavity at birth, and his family was told he would spend his life in a wheelchair. However, his mother, Clare, met Behrman at a spinal cord injury conference in Australia and learned about LT, an activity-based rehabilitation approach Behrman provides at Frazier Rehab Institute, a part of KentuckyOne Health, in Louisville. Evander previously came to Louisville for therapy with Behrman in 2013 and again in 2014, and has experienced significant progress. Through the therapy, Evander has been able to move his legs and take independent steps.

The Todd Crawford Foundation grew out of efforts to assist Crawford following his own injury in 2002. Crawford was 22 years old and had just graduated from college when he suffered a spinal cord injury that left him in a wheelchair. His family and friends organized fundraisers to help during his physical rehabilitation. Crawford, who earned an MBA from UofL, is president of Crawford Designs and continues the fundraising events, including the 5K Run, Walk or Roll. Funds from the events support Crawford’s Kids and other programs affiliated with KSCIRC, as well as spinal cord awareness and advocacy organizations.

“We are able to help financially assist these kids coming to Louisville because we have a large group of wonderful people who come to our events and support our mission. For this, we are continually grateful,” Crawford said.

The new treadmill is the result of a collaborative effort of Behrman and her colleagues in the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and others throughout the university, especially from the UofL Speed School of Engineering. Funding for the development of the prototype came from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Additional funding from the Coulter Foundation will be used in this collaborative effort throughout the university to move this device forward to commercialization as a clinical unit for use in pediatric rehabilitation.

About Locomotor Training

Andrea Behrman, Ph.D.,is a professor in UofL’s Department of Neurological Surgery and director of the Kosair Charities Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery. Her research focus is to develop and test therapeutic methods that promote recovery after spinal cord injury in children and adults. Behrman has found that early, intensive therapy harnesses the damaged system’s remarkable capacity to change. With intensive, specific therapies capitalizing on this plasticity of the spinal cord and nervous system, children like Evander Conroy who were never expected to get better are getting better. While intensive activity-based therapy does not always lead to fully independent walking, evidence shows it improves mobility, functional skills, quality of life and overall health.

When Mary Osborne and some of her classmates toured the James Graham Brown Cancer Center (JGBCC) and research facilities at the University of Louisville, she had a lot of questions. The sophomore at Central Hardin High School was fascinated by the research and treatments that Brian Clem, Ph.D. described for the students.

“When we got to ask him questions. I basically ended up grilling him about what he was doing,” Osborne said.

Clem, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at UofL and a researcher with JGBCC, appreciated her curiosity and encouraged her to apply for the Summer Research Intern Program sponsored by JGBCC for high school students.

“Mary asked me probably 30 questions on that tour. Her interest and enthusiasm stood out,” Clem said. “I definitely requested to have her as an intern.”

The 2015 Summer Research Intern Program provided 14 high school students from the Greater Louisville area with the opportunity to work in a University of Louisville medical research lab under the guidance of some of the top cancer researchers in the nation. Each student is assigned one of the Cancer Center’s research faculty as a mentor and works in that researcher’s lab for eight weeks. JGBCC has hosted the program for the past 13 summers as a way to reach out to the area’s budding scientists.

“I love science and I love that there never is really an answer to everything. There is always another question,” said Osborne, who hopes to pursue a career in medicine or science. “We can find treatments for cancer, but we want to find treatments for individual people. Every cancer is different.”

Many of the students in the program aspire to careers in medicine or research, and having spent a summer working in a medical lab and with an established researcher is an impressive point on the student’s resume and college applications. Another student in the program, Kyle Bilyeu, graduated from Louisville’s Trinity High School this spring and has been working with John Eaton, Ph.D., and Chi Li, Ph.D., this summer. He sees the program as a chance to get ahead on the path to becoming a clinical oncologist.

“This experience is invaluable. This introduction puts me ahead of everyone as I progress through my career goals,” said Bilyeu, who will enroll at UofL this fall as an undergraduate.

The program also gives UofL the chance to introduce the University’s vibrant research community to bright, curious students from the local area like Osborne and Bilyeu.

“UofL and the Cancer Center are trying to get high school students interested in science,” Clem said. “We want to highlight what UofL has to offer in terms of research to keep them in the city instead of going elsewhere for their education. Plus, it gets my foot in the door with them. If I find a really good student, I like to have them come back.”

Clem says that the researchers also benefit from having the young students in the lab.

“They bring a lot of different dynamics to the lab during the summer. It reinforces your teaching and mentorship ability,” Clem said. “High school students are inexperienced in the science background and knowledge necessary to work in the lab. You have to start from scratch. It is amazing to see how they progress in their knowledge base and ability to grasp new ideas and gain hands-on experience.”

Clem said one of the most difficult lessons for a high school-age student is understanding that experiments don’t always work the first time.

“The students get a crash course in the ups and downs of things not working and troubleshooting. They realize that research isn’t about everything working; 80 to 90 percent of it is about why stuff isn’t working,” Clem said.

The high school students presented posters representing their summer research work on Thursday, July 30 in the lobby of the Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building, along with undergraduate summer research students from other programs.