October 13, 2005
Health Sciences News Briefs
UW physicians featured on KING-TV Friday
UW Medicine physicians and researchers, including Dr. Mary-Claire King, will be featured in a KING TV “Cancer-Free Washington” special on breast cancer, scheduled for first broadcast on Friday, Oct. 14.
Richard Veith receives AACAP award
Dr. Richard Veith, professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is the 2005 recipient of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Best Chair Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions of a leader who has supported and promoted training and recruitment in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. A nomination letter supporting Veith for the award said that Veith brings dimensions of fairness, support, encouragement, and also high expectations. Veith will receive the award at the AACAP’s 52nd annual meeting in Toronto in mid-October.
Bruce Ransom receives research award
Dr. Bruce Ransom, the Warren and Jermaine Magnuson professor and chair of the Department of Neurology, has received an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants the awards annually to scientists and scholars with internationally recognized academic qualifications, to honor the research achievements of the award winner’s lifetime.
Ransom is an authority on glial cells, the brain’s ‘other’ cells, and was awarded this honor for his many contributions to understanding the functions of these cells. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the neuroscience journal GLIA and also co-editor of the definitive text in this field, Neuroglia (2nd ed.). Award winners are invited to reside in Germany and carry out research projects of their own choice in cooperation with German colleagues. Ransom will continue his studies on the physiology and function of specialized ion channels in astrocytes, called hemichannels. His scientific host in Germany is Dr. Helmut Kettenmann at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany.
Dentistry grad students hold conference
The School of Dentistry’s graduate students in orthodontics hosted the annual Graduate Orthodontic Resident’s Program, which brought participants from around the country to Seattle in early August. Events included lectures, a banquet and a picnic. This was the first time the event has been held on the West Coast.
Western Wash. Toyota dealers pledge $1 million to HMC
The Western Washington Toyota Dealers Association has pledged to donate $1 million to Harborview Medical Center over the next 10 years, the longest multiyear commitment ever made to the medical center. The contribution supports Harborview’s annual golf tournament and fundraising for charity care. This past year, Harborview provided $93 million in charity care, more than one-third of all charity care in Washington state. The association is a group of 19 independently owned Toyota dealers. The group launched its partnership with this year’s Harborview Classic, Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Golf Club at Newscastle.
Men sought for prostatitis study
UW researchers are looking for volunteers to help improve treatments for chronic prostatitis, a common condition that affects men of all ages and ethnic groups and causes chronic pelvic pain. To participate, volunteers must be 18 or older, have experienced pelvic pain and/or discomfort for at least six weeks, and have had symptoms that have bothered them enough in the past two years to seek medical help. Qualified participants will be asked to take a study medication or a placebo once a day, visit the UW Medical Center Urology Clinic four times over about three months, undergo a physical exam and fill out some questionnaires. For more information, call 206-598-6357.
