March 9, 2006
Health Sciences news briefs
Memorial service for Milo Gibaldi
A memorial service for Dr. Milo Gibaldi, dean emeritus of the UW School of Pharmacy, is planned at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 26, in Meany Hall on the Seattle campus. Gibaldi, who was dean from 1978 to 1995, died Jan. 13 in Chicago at the age of 67.
After stepping down as dean, Gibaldi remained at the UW as professor of pharmaceutics until moving to Chicago to be closer to family members. He continued his research, teaching and administrative work at Midwestern University. For more on his career, see the story in the Jan. 19 University Week here.
Everyone is welcome to attend the service, which will be followed by a reception. For more information, contact Cathy Johnson at pingpong@u.washington.edu or 206-616-4218.
“New medicine” comes to Town Hall
The PBS Documentary The New Medicine will be screened by Dr. James Gordon, author of Manifesto for a New Medicine, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21 at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave. Tickets are $5 at the door only.
The film, produced by Middlemarch Films, Inc. and Twin Cities Public Television, premieres on KCTS Channel 9 from 9 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, March 29.
The field of “mind-body medicine” as first popularized by Bill Moyers’ series, Healing and the Mind in 1993 has exploded both in prominence and acceptance, with the biggest growth occurring inside the medical establishment itself. Recent technological advances have demonstrated the physical connections between mind and body; as a result, mainstream providers have begun offering acupuncture and meditation alongside high-tech Western medicine, and medical school curricula have adopted skills associated with pre-modern medicine — listening, comforting, and encouraging the body’s own healing abilities.
The upcoming PBS documentary The New Medicine, hosted by the late Dana Reeve, explores this shift. The screening will be held as part of a conversation about care that integrates all aspects of health, mind, body, and spirit. The event is sponsored by the UW School of Medicine, Bravewell Collaborative, and Town Hall, whose members will receive priority seating.
Gordon is the founder and director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. and is a clinical professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He recently served as chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and was the first chair of the Program Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Alternative Medicine. Gordon integrates relaxation therapies, hypnosis, meditation, acupuncture, nutrition, herbalism, musculoskeletal manipulation, dance, yoga and physical exercise in his own practice of medicine and psychiatry.
Gordon’s two most recent books are Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative, Complementary and Conventional Therapies and Manifesto for a New Medicine: Your Guide to Healing Partnerships and the Wise Use of Alternative Therapies.
The New Medicine goes inside medical schools, health care clinics, research institutions and private practices to show physicians at work on the cutting edge of this new approach. By paying attention to a person’s cultural values and lifestyle, stresses and supports, these doctors acknowledge the important role that the patient can and should play in his or her own healing and health care.
“Physicians must broaden their paradigm of health and healing in fundamental ways to include an understanding that mind, body and spirit are inextricably related in every human being and all the more so in patients who are seeking their help,” said Dr. Ron Schneeweiss, professor of family medicine at the UW.
“The scientific evidence is accumulating that such an approach will optimize patient care by improving health outcomes and also the doctor-patient relationship. Patients are clamoring for doctors who are not only biomedically skilled but also open to a more integrative approach to care. The UW School of Medicine, along with other leading academic institutions in the USA, is implementing changes in the medical curriculum to prepare students to practice a more integrative medicine in their future careers.”
Run/walk will benefit Seattle schools
A run/walk event beginning at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, March 25, will benefit health and fitness programs in the Seattle Public Schools. The event is co-sponsored by UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics.
The Boardwalk 5K and Walk of Champions will begin at Husky Stadium. Special guests will include Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Superintendent of Schools Raj Manhas and members of the Seattle School Board. The run or walk will traverse the UW campus, while the non-competitive Walk of Champions will take place in and around the stadium. Dempsey Indoor will be host to a post-event celebration.
The cost of the event is $25 for advance registration and $30 for registration at the event. All participants will receive a custom-designed shirt.
Funds raised with this event will be used to purchase equipment for Seattle’s Physical Education Equipment Resource Center, which is a shared resource for everything ranging from archery equipment to roller skates.
The fundraiser is being put together by School Kids Come First, an organization that focuses primarily in the needs of underserved schools in the Seattle Public School District.
For more information and registration, see www.schoolkidscomefirst.com.
Faculty workshop on applied meditation March 28
A workshop for faculty from UW Medicine and the health sciences schools will bring Margo Adair, a well-known teacher and author, to campus. “Healing the Healer Using Applied Meditation” is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, March 28, in room 303 of South Campus Center.
The techniques and discussions will focus on using applied meditation as a healer and on teaching meditation to patients. There is no charge for the session but registration is required.
Faculty workshops are sponsored by the School of Medicine’s Office of Faculty Development and Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics. For more information, call 206-616-9875, or register at the Web site www.mebi.washington.edu/facdev.html.
Discussion groups on pharmaceutical industry
Local experts in pharmaceutical drug development, safety, cost and medical ethics will lead small discussion groups open to the public from 1:30 to 4 p.m., Saturdays, March 11 and 18, at the Hope Heart Institute in Seattle. Participation is free.
The discussions are being organized by the Forum on Science Ethics and Policy, a multidisciplinary group of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who want to generate dialogue about the role of science in society among scholars, policy-makers and the public. Funding is provided by the UW Office of Research and the Hope Heart Institute.
The discussions will explore specific topics, including drug development and safety monitoring. Discussion leaders include Drs. Mark Reider, Louis Garrrison and Kelly Fryer-Edwards, all from the UW, and others from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, ZymoGenetics, Bastyr University and the Food and Drug Administration.
For more information, visit http://www.fosep.org/forum2005/commdiscuss.htm or e-mail discuss@fosep.org.
