There has never been a better time to be a nurse, and incoming Western University of Health Sciences College of Graduate Nursing (CGN) students are “ready to do nursing well.”

CGN held its white coat ceremony on Aug. 19, 2023, in Pomona, California, bringing together a variety of students - some earned a bachelor’s degree in another field and are learning the nursing profession for the first time. Others are working nurses furthering their education. Some want to be family nurse practitioners, while others want to be psychiatric critical care nurses.

“Nursing lends a sense of beyond self by respecting humanity, having integrity, and valuing the essence of the human spirit. Students, the world needs advanced practice nurses, and you are entering nursing school at the perfect time,” said CGN Dean Mary Lopez, PhD, MSN, RN. “Although your educational journey may be difficult at times, nothing compares to the fulfillment of improving the lives of others. Congratulations on earning your white coat and learning about the great profession called nursing.”

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Western University of Health Sciences College of Graduate Nursing students beginning classes today, Aug. 28, 2023, are receiving $1.3 million in scholarships and stipends. 

Twenty Master of Science in Nursing – Entry (MSN-E) students will receive scholarships from the Strategically Transforming and Advancing Nursing Diversity (STAND) grant. CGN received a $1.64 million Strategically Transforming and Advancing Nursing Diversity (STAND) grant from HRSA to provide scholarships to underrepresented minority nursing students as well as supportive services to help them succeed. 

Sixty-two Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) students are receiving support from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) Psychiatric Education Capacity Expansion (PECE) Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Grant Program. CGN received a $7,912,000 grant from the HCAI in 2022. 

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WesternU President Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA, hosted a Gratitude Luncheon on Aug. 15, 2023 on the HEC Esplanade.

Dr. Farias-Eisner greeted each table and personally thanked employees for their hard work and dedication to the University. The tables had "thank you" messages written in different languages.

Click to view the slideshow.

Congratulations to COMP Lifestyle Medicine (LM) Track students Lexi Martin Lavell and Moorea Maguire, who will present their original research, “A Comparison of Medical Students' Perceptions of Health Status to their Lifestyle Medicine Track Peers,” in Denver, Colorado at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) annual conference live poster sessions in October.

Faculty mentor Melanie Barbee, RDN, CDCES, is a Diplomat of the ACLM and will be joining the LM students for their presentation. Honorable mention to the contributions by Crystal Rivera and Dr. Juan Ramirez. We are proud of our LM students’ efforts to support the well-being of their peers throughout the rigors of medical school.

Pictured above, left to right: Lexi Martin Lavell, Moorea Maguire, Melanie Barbee and Crystal Rivera presenting their poster at the 2023 COMP Longitudinal Tracks Symposium in April 2023.

Drs. Anu M Räisänen and Christina Gomez from the CHS-Northwest Department of Physical Therapy Education–Oregon recently collaborated with an international team of experts to publish a scoping review that will inform the implementation of injury prevention strategies in military settings.

Bullock G, Dartt CE, Ricker EA, Fallowfield J, Arden N, Clifton D, Danelson K, Fraser JJ, Gomez C, Greenlee TA, Gregory A, Gribbin T, Losciale J, Molloy JM, Nicholson KF, Polich J-G, Räisänen AM, Shah K, Smuda M, Teyhen DS, Allard RJ, Collins GS, de la Motte S, Rhon DI. Barriers and facilitators to implementation of musculoskeletal injury mitigation programmes for military service members around the world: a scoping review. Injury Prevention. August 23, 2023 (online first). doi: 10.1136/ip-2023-044905.

Congratulations to Dr. Lyna Luo from the College of Pharmacy and her Co-PI, Dr. Jerome Lacroix from COMP, on being awarded an R01 Renewal grant.

Drs. Lacroix and Luo have been awarded a total of $1,476,258 for their multi-PI NIH R01 renewal titled "Pharmacological modulation of mechanosensitive Piezo ion channels."

Previous R01 funding (2019-23) led the WesternU team to identify structural bases for Piezo1 modulation by mechanical force and small molecules. These important discoveries were published in high-impact journals, including Nature Communications, PNAS, Cell Report, and Communications Biology.

This R01 renewal (2023-27) will leverage this structural knowledge to rationally design new modulators that may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for a diversity of diseases such as malaria, cancer, hypertension and lymphedema.

Public Affairs and Marketing is holding an open studio portrait day:

9 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28

Please click on the link above and sign up for a timeslot that works for your schedule if you would like a new studio portrait. We will schedule additional portrait days for those who cannot come to the studio on this day.