UMNews
Acclaimed Duke geneticists to join Miller School of Medicine
A genetics research team headed by Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance and Dr. Jeffrey Vance, a husband and wife team from the Duke University Center for Human Genetics, is joining the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to begin work on developing treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer and heart disease, according to an article in “The Sun Sentinel”.
Drs. Vance and Pericak-Vance are leaving Duke University with a team of about 20 researchers to establish a new Institute of Human Genetics at the medical school. The two are credited with the targeting of genes that contribute to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and heart disease, and the discovery of the major genes leading to Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration, respectively.
The Vances and their team will eventually be housed in a new research center that is currently undergoing construction at the medical school and will most likely be completed in a year. The team, which is scheduled to begin work in the first few months of 2007, will temporarily be housed in another biomedical research building until the new research center is completed.
Medical Wellness Center open to undergrad students
All students who have paid their Wellness Center fee also have access to the facilities at the new Medical Wellness Center. Facilities include fitness rooms and group exercise studios, therapy pool, indoor cycling and a spa area that offers massage, facial and manicure/pedicure services for a fee.
ELSEWhere
Dog therapies help Kent State U. students deal with death
Jackie Valley // Daily Kent Stater (Kent State U.)
(U-WIRE) KENT, Ohio – Their tears turned to smiles.
That is how Kathy Adamle, assistant professor in the College of Nursing and founder of Dogs on Campus Pet Therapy, described the students who participated in the pet therapy program following the deaths of two freshmen girls.
Victoria Hunt, a resident of Koonce Hall, died Oct. 1 in a car accident as she was on her way home to Orrville, Ohio. One week later, Elizabeth Faulkner, a resident of Clark Hall, was killed when a drunk driver hit the passenger side of the car she was riding in while she was in her hometown of Mount Gilead, Ohio.
This was the first time the pet therapy program, which began last year, has been used in response to a death, Adamle said.
During the visit with the affected students, Adamle said the dogs sat with individual students, put their heads in the students’ laps and licked the students’ faces.
The dogs, all certified by the Delta Society, an organization that promotes the use of therapy and service animals, know they serve a purpose, Adamle said, adding that the dogs showed a heightened sense of awareness when visiting the affected students.
She cited the human-animal bond as one of the reasons behind the success of such programs during times of stress or grief.
ETC
The BankUnited Center is releasing 500 specially-priced floor tickets to the Death Cab for Cutie concert on Nov. 20. These tickets will be available beginning Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. through Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. for $28 each at the BankUnited Center box office.