This Week@WesternU 
Sept. 20-24, 2021
WesternU receives $2.5 million grant for NP, PA training

WesternU is introducing a program in October 2021 that will provide vital training to nurse practitioners and physician assistants after graduation, with an emphasis on providing substance abuse treatment in underserved areas.

Read more
www.westernu.edu
Drive-Thru Flu Vaccination Clinic

1-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24 in Parking Lot 17, WesternU Pomona.
Open to WesternU students, faculty, staff, and external community members.
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From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
CVM faculty members Young J. Kim, DVM, MS, Annika Linde, DVM, PhD, MPH, Tonatiuh Melgarejo, DVM, MS, PhD, and VSRP alumnus James C. Pohl, DVM '22, in collaboration with Alexander M. Reiter, Dipl.Tzt., DEVDC, DAVDC, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Janina A. Krumbeck, PhD, Aishani Prem, PhD, and Shuiquan Tang, PhD, of MiDOG LLC in Irvine, Calif., published a clinical research study investigating the bacteriome and mycobiome in feline oral health and disease. Oral health assessment of clinically healthy (CH) cats and cats affected by feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) were performed. Oral tissue surfaces of cats were sampled with sterile swabs and submitted for 16S rRNA and ITS-2 next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS). The study suggests the mycobiota may play a role in development of FCGS. Consequently, NGS should be considered as a part of future routine health assessments of cats with FCGS.
Krumbeck, J.A.; Reiter, A.M.; Pohl, J.C.; Tang, S.; Kim, Y.J.; Linde, A.; Prem, A.; Melgarejo, T. Characterization of Oral Microbiota in Cats: Novel Insights on the Potential Role of Fungi in Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis. Pathogens 2021, 10, 904.
From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:
The laboratory of Dr. Michel Baudry, in collaboration with a team of neurosurgeons at ARMC, published a new study reporting the identification of a novel blood biomarker for traumatic brain injury (TBI). This novel biomarker reflects the extent of brain activation of calpain-2 and of neuronal damage and will be extremely helpful for the therapeutic development of the selective calpain-2 inhibitors for the treatment of TBI. Clinical trials of the lead candidate, NA184, are scheduled to get initiated in fall 2022 by NeurAegis, Inc.
Wang et al. J Neurotrauma. 2021 Sep 9. doi:10.1089/neu.2021.0229. Online ahead of print. P13BP, a calpain-2-mediated breakdown product of PTPN13, is a novel blood biomarker for Traumatic Brain Injury.
The WesternU Alumni Association is featuring an Alumni Journey - Dr. Haviland’s Journey. To read the full story, visit the Alumni & Friends website. Click image above to view larger.
Welcome
Please welcome the following recent hires to WesternU:

WesternU Health: Marissa Espinoza Vazquez, Call Center Scheduler
COMP-Northwest: Kelsey Siegrist, Rotations Coordinator
University Medical Center: Orlando Mendez, Medical Assistant
From the College of Pharmacy:
Dr. Kabir Lutfy served as a member of the organizing committee for the International Narcotic Research Conference (INRC) Annual Meeting. The virtual meeting was held on July 12-14, 2021. Dr. Lutfy also moderated a talk session titled “Opioid Use Disorder."
Dr. Lutfy was invited to submit a special research topic to Frontiers in Psychiatry. His topic “Neurotransmitter Transporters and Neuropsychiatric Illnesses including Addiction” was accepted. Dr. Lutfy will serve as a Topic Editor. He is also a Review Editor for the journal. Link to Frontier in Psychiatry Research Topic
 
Congratulations to MSPS students Jenny Tran and Susan Ahmedyar for their first and second place award, respectively, at the City of Hope’s 5th Annual Biomedical Research Graduate Student Symposium - Poster Board Session.
Tran, who works in Dr. Arezoo Campbell's lab, received the first-place award for her poster titled “Melatonin Provides Cellular Protection in a Cell-Specific Manner." 
Ahmedyar, who works in Dr. Lutfy's lab, received the second-place award for her poster titled “Development of Depression-like Behavior and Alcohol Self-administration After Exposure to Repeated Variable Stress Mediated by Endogenous Dynorphin-kappa Opioid Receptor (DYN-KOR) System."
Dr. Cynthia Jackevicius and her team published:
"Prior Authorization, Copayments, and Utilization of Sacubitril/Valsartan in Medicare and Commercial Plans in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction." Aya F. Ozaki, Harlan M. Krumholz, Freny Vaghaiwalla Mody, Tien T. Tran, Quan T. Le, Mai Yokota and Cynthia A. Jackevicius
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Link to article.
Dr. Aya Ozaki is Dr. Jackevicius’ most recent fellow and a WesternU graduate, and Drs. Tien Tran, Quan Le and Mai Yokota are WesternU alumni who assisted with this study during their rotations at WesternU. Other co-authors include Dr. Freny Mody, a cardiologist and director of the heart failure program at Greater Los Angeles VA, and Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and leading cardiovascular outcomes researcher at Yale University.
WesternU in the news

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