USA Biomedical Library Promotes Disaster Preparation and Awareness

The University of South Alabama Biomedical Library will partner with two local public library systems to host two community events in an effort to help coastal citizens prepare for disasters – particularly those involving severe tropical weather.

On June 5, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., USA will co-host a Hurricane Preparedness: Community Day Event at the West Regional Branch of the Mobile Public Library at 5555 Grelot Rd. On June 26, 2010, they will co-host another Hurricane Preparedness: Community Day Event at the Fairhope Public Library at 501 Fairhope Ave.

Both events will feature local exhibitors from each county’s public health departments, area first responders, local media outlets, representatives from the USA Coastal Weather Research Center, the USA emergency medical services education department and others. Additionally, representatives from participating groups will staff information booths at both the Mobile and Fairhope events.

The day-long events will include information about hurricanes from weather professionals, interactive talks and demonstrations on cutting-edge communication technologies, safe pet evacuation, first aid, coping with storm-related life interruptions, and other general disaster preparedness information.

Deitra Tate, the weekend/WeatherPlus meteorologist from WPMI-TV, will be a celebrity reader for the children’s story hour at the Mobile Public Library West Regional Branch on June 5 at 11 a.m. Later that day, Alan Sealls, chief meteorologist for WKRG-TV, will present “How Many Hurricanes?” at 2 p.m. at the same location.

On June 26 at 1 p.m., Dr. Bill Williams, director of the USA Coastal Weather Research Center, will present “Hurricanes Past, Present, and Future” at the Fairhope Public Library event.

Community Day is part of “Ready America,” a nationwide effort initiated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, encouraging Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, schools and communities. The goal of the USA Biomedical Library’s two events is to promote libraries as active partners in a community’s emergency advance planning, response and recovery.

Both Community Day events are funded by an award the USA Biomedical Library recently received from the National Network of the National Libraries of Medicine Southeast/Atlantic Region.

For more information, contact Justin Robertson, associate librarian at the Baugh Biomedical Library at (251) 460-7045.

"Women's Health: Beyond Babies"

The May Med School Café lecture will feature Dr. Nicole Brooks, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. Her lecture, titled “Women’s Health: Beyond Babies,” will take place May 26, 2010, at the Chandler YMCA at 951 Downtowner Blvd. in Mobile. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at noon.

Dr. Brooks, a specialist in urogynecology, will lecture on the physical changes that take place in women following their “child-bearing” years. During her talk, Dr. Brooks will outline the benefits and risks of hormone replacement therapy; provide information on preventing osteoporosis; discuss sexual health for women in their 40s and beyond; and treatment of urinary incontinence.

The Med School Café lecture and lunch are provided free of charge, but reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations, please call Kim Barnes at (251) 460-7770 or e-mail kebarnes@usouthal.edu .

Med School Café is a free community lecture series sponsored by the USA Physicians Group. Each month, faculty from the USA College of Medicine share their expertise on a specific medical condition, providing insight on the latest treatment available as well as promising new research.

Alabama's 2005 Professor of the Year to Speak at COM

The next Distinguished Scientist Seminar will be presented by Dr. Guy Caldwell on May 20, 2010 at 4 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building (MSB) auditorium.   His lecture is titled “Traversing a Wormhole to Combat Parkinson’s Disease.”

Dr. Caldwell is an associate professor in the department of biological sciences at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, in 1986 and his Ph.D. in cell, molecular and developmental biology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1993. Subsequently, he completed postdoctoral fellowships from the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke at Columbia University in New York.

In 2001, Caldwell was named a Basil O'Connor Scholar of The March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation for his research into the molecular basis of childhood birth defects of the brain. This work included establishing a new animal model for epilepsy.

Using a worm known as C. elegans, the Caldwell lab discovered that a protein called VPS41 prevented dopamine-producing neurons from dying. In humans, the death of dopamine neurons leads to tremors, slowness of movement and rigidity associated with Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Caldwell was selected as the 2005 Alabama Professor of the year in recognition of his dedication to undergraduate education.

For more details on Dr. Caldwell’s research, please visit: http://www.ua.edu/academic/professorofyear/vitae.html .  For additional information, please contact Natalie Kent at 461-1548 or visit: http://www.southalabama.edu/com/dss.shtml .

COM Spring Faculty Assembly Meeting

The USA College of Medicine Spring Facutly Assembly meeting is scheduled for May 19, 2010, at 4 p.m. in the Second Floor Conference Room (Richard Room) at USA Medical Center.  For additional information, contact Dr. Todd Standley at tstandley@usouthal.edu .

Class of 2010 Commencement Exercises

COM Class of 2010 Drs. Casey Cockrum (left) and Christina Cochran (right) smile as they walk into the USA Mitchell Center on May 8, 2010, for the University of South Alabama Spring Commencement.  Dr. Cockrum will continue her residency training in the combined medicine-pediatrics program at USA.  Dr. Cochran will join pediatric residency program at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

Left to Right:  Drs. Gregory Culpepper, Megan DeShazo, Margaret Ege, James Frost, Talia Gates and Cassidy Koonce stand as graduates march into the USA Mitchell Center last Saturday.