By Sara Reeve

USC Vice Provost Mitch Creemheld a series of informational and inspi-rational town hall meetings last week tobrief personnel at the USC UniversityHospital and USC Norris CancerHospital on plans for the future ofUSC’s new academic medical center.

Creem will become Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the two hospitals when USCcloses the deal to acquire the two hos-pitals in the coming weeks.

He explained to the first town hallgathering March 10 that, “This is allpart of a much bigger strategy to makeUSC a top academic research institu-tion. There are a lot of resources beingput into making this a top-tier academ-ic medical center.”

The series of hour-long presentationsand question-and-answer sessionsallowed personnel to participate in adiscussion about the hospital transitionand operational priorities. Creem’smessage: The hospitals and their staffsare beginning a new chapter that willsee new investments, fresh energy andimproved awareness of USC’s medicalexpertise.

Creem began the talk by emphasiz-ing how important current hospitalemployees are to the future of the med-ical center. “USC is looking to us, look-ing for our leadership, and our vision,and our direction, and our know-howto make this work,” he said.

One of the key strengths ofUniversity Hospital and Norris CancerHospital is the unused capacity forpatients, according to Creem. Many ofthe leading hospitals in the LosAngeles area, such as UCLA andCedars Sinai, have long waiting times

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 9 MARCH 20, 2008

See TOWN HALL, page 2

Hospital staff hear plans for new beginning

By Sara Reeve

The inaugural USC Women’sConference attracted close to 400Trojan women to the DavidsonConference Center at the UniversityPark campus on March 13.

Organized by the USC AlumniAssociation, the half-day conferenceconsisted of speakers, panel discussions

and presentations on a variety of issues,including work/life balance, genderpolitics, elder care and women’shealth.

“Hot Topics in Women’s Health,” apanel sponsored by the Doctors ofUSC, featured Keck School ofMedicine’s Helena Chui, LailaMuderspach and Leslie Saxon. The

physicians presented consumer-focusedinformation about cancer, heart diseaseand Alzheimer disease in a discussionmoderated by Jane Brust, associate sen-ior vice president, health sciences publicrelations and marketing.

Chui, chair of the Department ofNeurology and director of the USCAlzheimer Disease Research Center,

highlighted the burden that AlzheimerDisease places on women. According toChui, twice as many women as menbecome afflicted with the disease, a factdue primarily to women’s longer life-span.

“The symptoms are very slowly pro-gressive, and creep in like a silent epi-

USC Women’s Conference offers hope for future of disease treatment

By Meghan Lewitt

A study led by USC researchers found that men who tooka daily folic acid supplement of 1 mg daily had more thantwice the risk of prostate cancer compared with men whotook a placebo.

The finding came from a secondary analysis of theAspirin/Folate Polyp Prevention Study, a placebo-controlledrandomized trial to determine the impact of aspirin and folicacid on colon polyps in men and women who were at highrisk for the disease. The results appear in the March 10online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Folic acid (folate) is a B vitamin found in many vegetables,beans, fruits and whole grains. While evidence of its abilityto reduce neural tube defects in infants when taken by themother before or during pregnancy has been well document-ed, its effects on other conditions are unclear.

“We know that adequate folate levels are important in theprevention of several cancer types, cardiovascular and neuro-logical diseases,” said lead author Jane Figueiredo, assistantprofessor of preventive medicine at the Keck School ofMedicine of USC. “However, little has been known about its

USC study links supplements to a higher risk of prostate cancer

See CONFERENCE, page 2

See FOLATE, page 3

STRIKING A MATCH—The Keck School of

Medicine’s Class of 2009 tear into

envelopes on Mar. 19—”Match revealing

where they will spend their next three or

more years in training.

Clockwise from far left: Maria Reese cele-

brates her match at the rehabilitation

Institute of Chicago in physical medicine

and rehabilitation; Rebecca Wolk (left)

and Allyson Spence accept their

envelopes; Scott Somers shares the news

of his match at Loma Linda University

Medical Center’s radiology program with

his fiancée.

Pho

tos/

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for patients to see specialists,due to a lack of space. By re-examining current space uti-lization and needs, Creemplans to make as much roomavailable as possible forpatients as a strategy to com-pete with crowded LA hospi-tals.

“We have 140 emptybeds—what a wonderfulopportunity,” he said. “We’regoing to recapture and reclaimall of this space around us,and we’re going to thinkabout where our programs are,and how to populate them…And then we’ll take a breath,take a step back, and ask,‘What is best for our

patients?’ We have this oppor-tunity today to make betteruse of our facilities, and that’sexciting!”

Creem laid out a series ofplans and strategies, both forthe near future and long term.Immediate plans includemanaging information tech-nology and business systemsto ensure that the day-to-daybusiness of the hospitals cancontinue after completion ofthe sale. The hospitals alsowill switch from a calendarfiscal year to an academic one,to match up with the univer-sity’s calendar, which beginsJuly 1.

Longer-term goals includerenovation of inpatient and

surgical spaces.Many of the questions

Creem fielded from the audi-ence focused on practicaltransition issues facing hospi-tal staff, such as vacationaccrual, tuition reimburse-ments, wage disparity andreporting relationships.While some of the issues andpolicies are still being consid-ered and formed, Creemstressed that his goal is to cre-ate a better working environ-ment for staff and physicians.

“My goal is to get everyonemore excited about thischange—not less,” he said.“This is the beginning of anew era for us, for you and foryour staffs.”

demic,” said Chui. “And the risk of neural degenera-tion becoming manifest and symptomatic increaseswith time—it’s as though the rust starts to build up,mentally.”

Chui cautioned that while the number one risk forAlzheimer Disease is genetic, people should pay moreattention to what they can modify in their environ-ment and lifestyle. She recommended that peopleshould “stop smoking, limit alcohol intake, reduceweight, exercise regularly, reduce dietary fat and cho-lesterol, reduce sodium, and to exercise your brain,keep attending seminars at USC!”

Picking up on Chui’s proactive message,Muderspach, chair of the Department of Obstetricsand Gynecology, began her discussion of breast andgynecologic cancers on a positive note. “If you getcancer, you are not likely to die from that cancer,” shesaid. “You are more likely to be successfully treatedand cured, and then you have to face living with all

the diseases that the rest of us who don’t have cancerface: hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer’s.”

Muderspach gave an overview of four cancersprevalent in the United States and the world: breast,uterine, ovarian and cervical.

She highlighted the most common risks and symp-toms, as well as effective screening techniques that candetect the diseases at early stages.

Muderspach emphasized the importance of main-taining a family medical history, as many of these can-cers do have a genetic component.

“Now we say, you need to know not only about can-cer, but also about heart disease, diabetes, hyperten-sion, as well,” she said. “Because while cancer isincredibly scary, it is not what kills most women inthe United States.”

Chief of the Keck School’s division of cardiovascu-lar medicine Leslie Saxon began her talk by highlight-ing the dearth of female cardiologists in the UnitedStates. “Considering that nearly one-half of U.S. med-

ical students are now female, the fact that only 18 per-cent of first-year cardiology trainees are women iscause for concern” in part because women prefer to seefemale doctors, she said.

Career goals, family needs and societal pressure allcompete with one another and serve to limit theaccomplishments of women, according to Saxon.

She noted that interventional cardiologists finishtheir training around the age of 32—an age whenmany women are focused on family life.

“The term ‘balance’ is loosely defined, and should-n’t equal a [poor] commitment to work or home,” shesaid. “As women, we need to learn that it is OK to askfor things to make your life not only work, but alsomake it easier and more enjoyable.”

She ended her discussion with a challenge to theaudience to continue to strive for greatness. “We areeducated, powerful and rich, placing us in a uniqueposition to help,” said Saxon. “We need to stand forsomething bigger than ourselves.”

HSC Weekly is published for the faculty, staff, students and community of the Universityof Southern California’s Health Sciences Campus. It is written and produced by theHealth Sciences Public Relations and Marketing staff. Comments, suggestions andstory ideas are welcome via the contact points listed above. Permission to reprint articleswith attribution is freely given.

Assoc. Senior Vice Pres., Health SciencesPublic Relations and Marketing: Jane BrustExecutive Director of Communicationsand Marketing: Ina FriedEditor: Jon Nalick

Senior Vice President, UniversityRelations: Martha HarrisContributors: Eva Blaauw, VeronicaJauriqui, Meghan Lewit, Katie Neith, SaraReeve

Phone: 323-442-2830 Fax: 323-442-2832 Email: hscwkly@usc.edu Web: uscnews.usc.edu/hscweekly/ Next Issue: March 27

By Jon Nalick

The Pacific Center of Health Policy and Ethicswill host a workshop on April 8 on “WhatConscience Rights for Healthcare Workers?” featur-ing Laila Muderspach, associate professor and chairof Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Fr. Juan Velez, apriest and a physician board-certified in internalmedicine.

Alexander Capron, the Scott H. Bice Chair inhealthcare law, policy and ethics, Gould School ofLaw and Keck School of Medicine, will moderatethe event, which will be from noon to 1 p.m. at the

East Room of the Norris Medical Library basement.The event will discuss the Obama

Administration’s pledge to void federal regulationsapproved last year that aim to protect health careworkers’ “right of conscience.”

The stated aim of the regulation is to clarify andstrengthen existing provisions on professionals’ con-science rights in the face of cases of firing and otherdisciplinary measures against providers who objected,in particular, to any involvement in contraceptionand abortion.

Critics argue, however, that the new rule unjustifi-

ably broadens the scope of previous provisions andcould limit research and deny individuals in needaccess to essential health care services.

The Q&A panel will examine this issue, which hasramifications far beyond reproductive medicine:What does it mean to be a professional? How shouldthe moral and religious views of those who work inhealth care affect the rights and welfare of those whoseek such care?

To RSVP or for more information, e-mailpacificworkshops@hotmail.com. Additional informa-tion is also available by calling (818) 450-4720.

Ethics workshop to examine matters of conscience for, and rights of, health care workers

CONFERENCE: Forum explores key health challenges that American women face

TOWN HALL: Meeting focuses on hospitals’ transition and future

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

USC Vice Provost Mitch Creem meets employees of USC Norris and

USC University Hospital at a March 10 meeting focusing on plans for

those hospitals, which include include renovation of inpatient and

surgical spaces.

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By Katie Neith

More than 100 medical students packed in to the Aresty Auditorium on March 6 for aunique presentation of health care policy reports by their classmates.

The first Keck School of Medicine Medical Student Health Policy Forum was the cul-mination of the senior seminar series in Humanities, Ethics, Art and the Law (HEAL).

HEAL is part of the four-year program in medical humanities, arts and ethics, and isfocused on exploring ethical dilemmas and policy issues facing physicians.

At the beginning of the fall semester, seniors in the curriculum were broken into groupswhere they chose topics for their policy reports. Final reports, including a formal policy,were due Feb. 22.

The Health Policy Forum was made up of three groups who were chosen by a panel ofexperts in health policy as finalists to present their work to the entire Keck School commu-nity.

“Our students will soon be physicians who contribute to the crafting and implementa-tion of health policy—on a small scale, for example solo practice, or on a national scale,”said Pamela Schaff, assistant dean for curriculum and director of the program in medicalhumanities, arts and ethics at the Keck School. “This yearlong course has provided themwith some of the tools they will need to understand the ethical considerations required todevelop high-quality and effective policies.”

Groups presented on diverse policy topics, including human stem cell line research,resuscitation of very low birth-weight babies, and equal access to emergency services andhospital viability.

Using Powerpoint presentations, they outlined the goals or purpose of their policies, pro-vided background information and stated the main actions of the policies.

Based on the oral presentations, the group who presented on resuscitation of very lowbirth-weight babies was designated by the expert panel as winner of the Ehrenreich Awardin Health Policy Ethics. The students will receive a cash prize and be recognized in theSenior Award Ceremony at graduation this spring.

“We’re very proud of the policies they have developed, and commend the winning groupon their policy paper and presentation on the resuscitation of very low birth-weightbabies,” said Schaff.

role in prostate cancer. Our objectivewas to investigate the relationshipbetween folic acid supplements anddietary folate and risk of prostate can-cer.”

The study, conducted between 1994and 2006, found that aspirin reducedthe risk of colon polyps while folic acidhad a negative effect and increased the

risk of advanced and multiple polyps.The first analysis did not address the

impact of folic acid supplements onprostate cancer risk. Previous observa-tional studies have been inconsistent.Some studies suggest that increasedfolate in the diet or in supplementsmight actually lower the risk of prostatecancer, and others have suggested noeffect or even a potential harmful effect.

In the secondary analysis, researcherslooked at prostate cancer incidenceamong 643 men who were randomlyassigned to 1 mg daily folic acid supple-ments or placebo in the study and whoenrolled in an extended follow-up study.The estimated prostate cancer risk was9.7 percent at 10 years in men assignedto folate, compared with 3.3 percent inmen assigned to placebo.

By contrast, dietary folate intake andplasma folate showed a trend towardreduced risk of prostate cancer, althoughthe difference did not reach statisticalsignificance. It remains unclear whydietary and circulating folate amongnon-multivitamin users may be inverse-ly associated with risk, Figueiredo said.

“The synthetic form of folate, folic

acid, found in supplements is morebioavailable compared to folate fromdietary sources, and we know theamount of folate available is critical,”she said. “Adequate levels of folate maybe beneficial, but too much folate isunlikely to be beneficial.”

Alternatively, these results may bedue to chance, and replication by otherstudies is needed, she noted. “Thesefindings highlight the potentially com-plex role of folate in prostate cancer.The possibility of different effects fromfolic acid-containing supplements ver-sus natural sources of folate definitelymerits further investigation.”

The study was supported by theNational Cancer Institute and theNational Institutes of Health.

Save the Date

The USC Center for Liver Diseases will host its 14th annual symposium on Friday,

April 3, covering a variety of topics in a daylong event that begins at 8:30 a.m.

at the Hoffman Medical Research Building, Hastings Auditorium, Room 100. For

more information, call (323) 442-5571.

By Jon Nalick

To increase the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of theHealth Sciences Campus’ computing infrastructure andservices, four historically separate campus informationtechnology groups are consolidating.

The merger will combine the KSOMA (Keck Schoolof Medicine—Administration), CMG (USC Care),NORRISCCNT (Norris Comprehensive CancerCenter) and SURGERY domains into a single MED(Medicine) domain and Exchange e-mail group. Thisinitial project will merge about 2,000 user accounts intothe new domain by mid 2009.

A follow-up project will be to merge any remaining

Windows domains on campus into the MED domain.The USC University Hospital and the USC NorrisCancer Hospital will also have the option of joining thisinfrastructure at a later date.

The project is designed to achieve these crucial KeckSchool strategic goals:

• Provide a computing infrastructure that better sup-ports the new practice plan integration and businessreporting services that are being implemented nowthrough summer 2009.

• Consolidate redundant hardware, software and tech-nical support services to reduce costs and improve effi-ciency for Keck School faculty and staff.

• Permit integrated calendaring and e-mail collabora-tion across the entire Health Sciences Campus.

The Keck School has convened project groups to planand implement the integration and is working with USCInformation Technology Services to leverage theUniversity network’s Global Directory Services to deliverconsistent information for the users of the new MEDdomain.

This project is being led jointly by David Loor, KeckSchool director of information technology, JohnCasagrande of the Cancer Center, and Audrey Little ofUSC Care. For more information, contact David Loor atloor@usc.edu.

Health Sciences Campus to streamline its computer infrastructure and services

Medical student forum suggests policies to address tough health ethics issues

FOLATE: Study suggests that adequate levels are beneficial, but excess may not be

Medical student Gregory Henderson delivers the recommendations of a panel that examinedethical issues that arise in attempting to resuscitate extremely low birth-weight babies.

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Continued from page 1

By Jane Brust

The strengths of, barriers to andopportunities for enhanced clinicalresearch efforts at the Keck School ofMedicine were the subject of the day-long Clinical Research Retreat held oncampus March 14.

More than 80 faculty and staffattended the gathering hosted by DeanCarmen Puliafito and Vice Dean forResearch Elizabeth Fini, and organizedby Tom Buchanan, associate dean forclinical research, and Jon Samet, chair-man of the Department of PreventiveMedicine.

Among the key themes emerging inpresentations from five working groups:

• Communication among facultyshould be increased via enhanced Website functionality and promotion ofseminars and conferences.

• Infrastructure is needed to createopportunities for education and men-toring in the clinical research arena forstudents, post-graduate trainees, andfaculty.

• Faculty incentives should be consid-ered to reinforce an environmentfocused on clinical research.

• Core facilities should be expanded

to meet the emerging needs of investi-gators, including expanded animal facil-ities.

According to Samet, the opportuni-ties are many.

“USC’s location in Los Angeles, withthe diversity of our population and thebreadth of current clinical researchactivities, affords us great opportunity,”he said. “Now we need to ask, ‘How dowe address these?’ Do we use consult-ants? Do we consider lessons learned atother institutions?’”

Fini described the retreat as “energiz-ing.” She said, “This was an excitingday, and very timely, as many of theideas raised today will work their wayinto the Keck School’s strategic plan-ning process now under way.”

By Jon Nalick

The Teaching Assistant Fellows ofUSC will host a Town Hall Meeting onMar. 25 for an open discussion onimproving education and teachingthroughout the University.

All undergraduate and graduate stu-dents, administrators, and faculty andstaff members may attend the event,which will be from 4-7 p.m. in theMark Taper Hall of Humanities (TTH102) at the University Park Campus.

A panel of teaching assistant fellows,undergraduate fellows and faculty fel-lows will address concerns, field ques-tions and hear comments from atten-dees. Following the discussion, severalrooms on the first and second floors inthe Mark Taper Hall of Humanitieswill host breakout discussions led bymembers of the panel. Food will beprovided.

To RSVP for the event e-mailusccet@usc.edu.

HSC NEWSMAKERS Complete listing at: www.usc.edu/uscnews/usc_in_the_news/

On March 15, CNN featured a study co-authored by public health expert ThomasValente on the marketing of a new prescriptiondrug.

A March 13 Los Angeles Times article notedthat Los Angeles County+USC Medical Centerofficials have urged patients to seek primary andpreventive care at community clinics instead ofemergency rooms.

A March 12 Philadelphia Inquirer article fea-tured a study led by cancer researcher AxelSchonthal and colleagues which found thatgreen tea extract may counter the effectiveness ofthe anti-cancer drug Velcade, used to treat mul-tiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma.

A March 11 Science article quoted preventivemedicine expert Jonathan Samet about the

health hazards of ozone-generating vehicle emis-sions.

On March 10, the National Public Radioshow “Morning Edition” interviewed MichaelNichol of the USC School of Pharmacy aboutthe merger between drug giants Merck andSchering-Plough.

A March 10 U.S. News & World Report articlequoted preventive medicine expert JaneFigueiredo about a USC-led study which foundthat men who took folic acid supplements facedmore than twice the risk of prostate cancer asthose who didn’t take the supplements. TheBoston Globe, Bloomberg, Reuters Health,WebMD, the Globe and Mail (Canada), The Sun(U.K.) MedPage Today, CBC News (Canada)and ABC affiliate WLS-TV also covered thestudy.

Calendar of EventsMonday, Mar. 23

NOON. “HemophagocyticLymphohistiocytosis,” StratosChristianakis, USC. GNH 6441. Info:(323) 442-1946

NOON. NEPHSAP: Ca/Phas/Vita D/PTHin CKD,” Miroslaw Smogorzewski, USC.GNH 4420. Info: (323) 226-7307

NOON. Basic Science Seminar. “COUP-TFII, a Nuclear Receptor, in Angiogenesisand Tumorigenesis,” Sophia Tsai, BaylorCollege of Medicine. NOR 7409. Info:(323) 442-1144

1:30 P.M. “Metabolic Consequences ofDiabetes Mellitus Detecting CriticalBiomarkers,” Corinth Auld, MercodiaDeveloping Diagnostics. CSC 250. Info:(858) 405-4537

Tuesday, Mar. 24

9 A.M. Neurology Grand Rounds.“Therapeutic Aphaeresis for NeurologicalConditions,” Melanie Osby, HemaCareCorp. ZNI 112. Info: (323) 442-7686

11:30 A.M. CTSI Regulatory Affairs GrandRounds. “FDA Recent Trends andInitiatives in Medical ProductDevelopment,” Frances Richmond, USC.CHP 106. Info: (323) 442-3321

Wednesday, Mar. 25

8:30 A.M. “Contrast-Induced Nephropathy—Risks and Prevention,” M. Nadim, USC.GNH 11-321. Info: (323) 226-7923

NOON. “Renal Biopsy,” Michael Koss andVito Campese, USC. GNH 4420. Info:(323) 226-7307

4 P.M. USC Ctr. for Excellence in Research.“Obtaining Research Funding fromCorporate Sponsors,” Dennis Atkinson,USC. UPC: CUB 329. Info: (213) 740-6709

Thursday, Mar. 26

NOON. Cellular Homeostasis LectureSeries. “Life in the Fast Lane – RapidTraffic of Sodium Transporters MaintainsVolume and Blood Pressure Homeostasis,”Alicia McDonough, USC. MCH 156.Info: (323) 442-3121

4 P.M. The 2009 Donald I. FeinsteinDistinguished Lectureship. “Event-RelatedMyelodysplasia and Acute Leukemia,” JohnBennett, Univ. of Rochester Medical Ctr.NOR LG-501. Info: (323) 865-3913

Friday, Mar. 27

8 A.M. Pathology and Laboratory MedicineGrand Rounds. “Medico-Legal DeathInvestigation with Appropriate SceneInvestigation/Consultation,” LakshmananSathyavagiswaran, USC. NOR 7409. Info:(323) 442-1180

9 A.M. The 2009 Donald I. FeinsteinDistinguished Lectureship. “Anemia andthe Aging Population: The Interplay withthe Myelodysplastic Syndrome,” JohnBennett, Univ. of Rochester Medical Ctr.IPT C2J104. Info: (323) 865-3913

NOON. Pharmacology and PharmaceuticalSciences Seminar. “Development ofLiposome Aerosols for Lung CancerTherapy by Inhalation,” Carsten Ehrhardt,Univ. of Dublin. PSC 104. Info: (323)442-1902

Monday, Mar. 30

NOON. Basic Science Seminar. “EpigeneticRegulation of Gene Expression, DNARepair, Aging and Cancer,” Jessica Tyler,Univ. of Colorado. NOR 7409. Info: (323)442-1144

NOON. “Long-Term Follow-Up of RenalTransplant Patients,” Yasir Qazi, USC.GNH 4420. Info: (323) 226-7307

The HSC Calendar is online at www.usc.edu/hsccalendar

Town Hall meeting to examine ways to aid education

USC Health SciencesPublic Relations1975 Zonal Ave.KAM 400Los Angeles, CA 90033

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California

Notice: Deadline for calendar submission is 4 p.m. Monday to be considered for thatweek’s issue—although three weeks advance notice of events is recommended. Please note thattimely submission does not guarantee an item will be printed. Send calendar items to HSC Weekly,KAM 400 or fax to (323) 442-2832, or e-mail to eblaauw@usc.edu. Entries must include day, date,time, title of talk, first and last name of speaker, affiliation of speaker, location, and a phone numberfor information.

USC Health Now has moved Same great health information, now at a different, faster Web address! Come

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Retreat brings research into sharp focus

From left: Tom Buchanan, Jon Samet and ElizabethFini

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