Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Jahnigen News     Jayakrishna Ambati, MD     Larissa Rodriguez, MD     Expanded Information about Jahnigen Scholars Available on the Website Save the Date     2008 Section for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties Annual Meeting Publication     Supplement to New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research: An Agenda for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties News of Interest     IOM Releases Report Addressing Growing Shortage of Healthcare Providers Trained to Care for Older Patients; AGS President To Testify At Senate Hearing on Workforce Issues Tomorrow     Amendment Would Increase NIH Funding in FY 2009; Study Finds that Years of Flat Funding Put Medical Research at Risk, Discourage Young Scientists     Report: A Broken Pipeline? Flat Funding of the NIH Puts a Generation of Science at Risk'     'Geriatric Education for Various Surgical Disciplines: Is there any commonality?' by George Drach, MD     'Fighting Bedsores With a Team Approach' GSI in Professional Literature

The New York Times Business Section featured an article based on a study Jayakrishna Ambati, MD (2003 Scholar) completed concerning RNA interface. The study, 'Sequence- and target-independent angiogenesis suppression by siRNA via TLR3' was originally published in Nature on March 26. Read Dr. Ambati's abstract Novel Mouse Models of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

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Larissa Rodriguez, MD, 2002 Jahnigen Scholar
reports that Dr. Ariana Smith, a Clinical Fellow in Dr. Rodriguez's program, was awarded a fellowship by The Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA . She is currently appointed to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Fellowship Program (January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008), which provides funding for stem cell research. Read Dr. Rodriguez's abstract Autologous Adipose Derived Stem Cells for the Reconstruction of the Atrophic Aging Female Urethra: Tissue-Engineering Techniques for the Treatment for Stress Urinary Incontinence.

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Expanded Information about Jahnigen Scholars Available on the Website
We have expanded the Jahnigen Scholars webpages to provide more information about the Scholars and their projects.

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2008 Section for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties Annual Meeting
The 2008 Section for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties will present its annual educational program on Saturday, May 3, 2008, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC. Please direct any questions to Elizabeth Haranas at eharanas@americangeriatrics.org.

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Supplement to New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research: An Agenda for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties
We are pleased to announce the upcoming publication of the Supplement to New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research: An Agenda for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties. The first edition of New Frontiers was a pioneering effort by a collaboration of surgical and related medical specialists and geriatricians to outline a research agenda specifically aimed at improving care for older patients being treated by specialists in the surgical disciplines and the related medical fields.

After the success of the first edition, GSI specialty and geriatrician leaders and Jahnigen Scholars collaborated on a supplement to the agenda. The supplement to New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research: An Agenda for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties aims to refine the original research agenda, identifying those items which have been resolved, noting those that still need further research, and adding items where emerging science suggests the need.

The first edition of New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research: An Agenda for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties is online in its entirety, and can be found through the New Frontiers tab on our homepage http://www.americangeriatrics.org/specialists/. The supplement will be available at the same URL in April.

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IOM Releases Report Addressing Growing Shortage of Healthcare Providers Trained to Care for Older Patients; AGS President To Testify At Senate Hearing on Workforce Issues Tomorrow
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its long-awaited report concerning the readiness of the nation's healthcare workforce to meet the needs of an aging society yesterday. The report, "Retooling for an Aging America; Building the Health Care Workforce", concludes that the future workforce "will be woefully inadequate in its capacity to meet the large demand for health services for older adults if current patterns of care and of the training of providers continue." The number of older Americans will nearly double to 70 million by 2030, the report notes, when youngest of the baby boomers will have reached retirement age.

AGS President Todd Semla, Pharm D, will testify tomorrow on behalf of the AGS at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing that focuses on preparing the nation's healthcare workforce to care for the rapidly growing number of older Americans. The Committee plans to webcast the hearing.

The IOM report, which echoes and builds on findings from AGS' 2005 "Caring for Older Americans: The Future of Geriatric Medicine" report, notes the severe shortage of geriatrics healthcare professionals and calls for a wide range of sweeping initiatives to increase recruitment into geriatrics and ensure that all healthcare providers who care for older adults are adequately trained to meet their unique healthcare needs. Many of the recommendations parallel AGS' priorities. Full story

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Amendment Would Increase NIH Funding in FY 2009; Study Finds that Years of Flat Funding Put Medical Research at Risk, Discourage Young Scientists
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would get an additional $2.1 billion in funding in 2009 as part of a budget resolution amendment the Senate adopted yesterday -- just days after experts from the nation's leading research institutions warned that years of inadequate NIH funding were threatening the nation's status as a leader in biomedical research and discouraging young researchers.

The Senate voted 95-4 in favor of the amendment, offered by Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA). It would provide an additional $2.1 billion to NIH for increased research and discovery in the life sciences. The NIH's FY 2008 budget totals $29.5 billion.

Congressional budget resolutions are non-binding documents that set aggregate spending and revenue targets for the fiscal year, which begins October 1, and outline broad policy goals. See Related Story.

Days before the vote on the Senate budget resolution amendment, experts from seven leading research institutions, including Harvard and Duke, told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that insufficient NIH funding was jeopardizing the nation's standing in biomedical research. The group's newly released report finds that, while Congress doubled the budget for NIH research between 1998 and 2003, funding has remained flat for the last five years -- eroding the agency's ability to award grants.

Fewer researchers are receiving grants and younger scientists are being passed over, according to the report. Difficulties winning first-time funding for research are forcing many young scientists to look to the private sector for work instead of dedicating themselves to work in university labs, testified Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard University. "We may be creating a climate where [the United States'] position as the primary destination for the best and brightest researchers from around the world may be challenged," she warned. Full story

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George Drach, MD, authored an article in the Arizona Geriatrics Society's journal titled 'Geriatric Education for Various Surgical Disciplines: Is there any commonality?'. This brief article provides a concise account of the current state of education in geriatrics in surgical programs, and initiatives taken by the AGS to address the growing need to expand and improve education in the surgical specialties.

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'Fighting Bedsores With a Team Approach' was published in the New York Times on February 19, 2008. Drawing heavily on research published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the article describes the importance of treating pressure ulcers with a collaborative effort by all nursing home staff, from physicians to laundry staff.

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• Bazarian JJ, Zhong J, Blyth B, Kavcic V, Zhu T, Peterson D. Diffusion Tensor Imaging Detects Clinically Significant Axonal Damage After Mild TBI. Journal of Neurotrauma. 2007;24(9):1447-59. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Celnik P, Hummel F, Harris-Love M, Wolk R and Cohen LG. Somatosensory Stimulation Enhances Learning of Functional Tasks after Stroke. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2007 Nov;88(11):1369-76. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Cherr GS, Zimmerman PM, Wang J, Dosluoglu HH. Patients with depression are at increased risk for secondary cardiovascular events after lower extremity revascularization. Journal of General Internal Medicine. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Dosluoglu HH, Attuwaybi B, Cherr GS, Harris LM, Dryjski ML. The current management of ischemic heel ulcers and gangrene in the endovascular era. Amer J Surg 2007:194;600-605. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Dosluoglu HH, Kittredge J, Cherr GS. Use of cryopreserved femoral vein for in situ replacement of infected femorofemoral prosthetic artery bypass. Vasc Endovascular Surg 2008:42;74-8. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Gerten KA, Richter HE, Burgio KL, Wheeler TL, Goode PS, Redden DT. Impact of urinary incontinence in morbidly obese women versus women seeking urogynecologic care. Urology. 2007 Dec;70(6):1082-5. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Gerten KA, Richter HE, Wheeler TL 2nd, Pair LS, Burgio KL, Redden DT, Varner RE, Hibner M. Intraabdominal pressure changes associated with lifting: Implications for postoperative activity restrictions. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2007 Dec 7. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Groban L, Ferrario CM, Ganten D, Diz DI. Transgenic Rats with low brain renin-angiotensin system activity due to glial deficiency are protected against heart failure late in life. J Card Fail 2007.
  
  
• Hwang U, Morrison RS. The geriatric emergency department. J Amer Geriatr Soc. 2007;55:1873-1876. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Kortebein P, Ferrando A, Lombeida J, Wolfe RR, Evans WJ. Effect of ten days of bed rest on skeletal muscle in healthy older adults. JAMA, 297(16):1772-4, 2007. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Kortebein P, Bopp MM, Granger CV, Sullivan DH. 'Outcomes of inpatient rehabilitation for older adults with debility.' Am J PM&R. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• SK Law, YH Sohn, D Hoffman, K Small, AL Coleman, J Caprioli. Optic Disc Appearance in Advanced Age-Related Macular degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol 2007 Jul;138(1):38-45. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Marzetti E, Groban L, Wohlgemuth SE, Lees H, Lin M, Jobe H, Giovannini S, Leeuwenburgh C, Carter CS. Effects of short-term GH supplementation and treadmill exercise training on physical performance and skeletal muscle apoptosis in old rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2007 Nov 14; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18003794 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Pinto JM, Thanaviratananich S, Hayes MG, Naclerio RM, Ober C. A Genome-Wide Screen for Hyposmia Susceptibility Loci. Chem Senses. 2008 Feb 2; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18245794. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Riall TS, Eschbach KA, Townsend CM, Nealon WH, Freeman JL, Goodwin JS. Trends and disparities in regionalization of pancreatic resection. J Gastrointest Surg 11:1242-1251, 2007. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Taylor JA, Voznesensky O, Kuchel GA, Hegde P, Claffey K, Tsimikas J, Leng L, Bucala R and Pilbeam C. Null Mutation for Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) Is Associated with Less Aggressive Bladder Cancer in Mice. BMC Cancer 2007, 7:135 (24Jul2007). Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Terrell KM, Miller DK: Critical review of transitional care between nursing homes and emergency departments Annals of Long-Term Care 2007;15:33-38.
  
  
• Wheeler TL, Richter HE, Greer WJ, Bowling BB, Redden DT, Varner RE. Predictors of Success with Postoperative Voiding Trials after a Midurethral Sling Procedure. 2008 Feb;179(2):600-4. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  
• Wheeler TL, Gerten KA, Richter HE, Duke AG, Varner RE. Outcomes of Vaginal Vault Prolapse Repair with a High Uterosacral Suspension Procedure Utilizing Bilateral Single Sutures. Int J Urogyn 2007 Oct; 18 (10):1207-13. Read abstract in PubMed ®

• Yamaleyeva LM, Pendergrass KD, Pirro NT, Gallagher PE, Groban L, Chappell MC. Ovariectomy is protective against renal injury in the high-salt-fed older mRen2.Lewis rat. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2007 Oct;293(4):H2064-71. Epub 2007 Jul 13. PMID: 17630347 [PubMed - in process]. Read abstract in PubMed ®
  
  

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