In the News

March 2008

Half of Medevac Patients Not Seriously Injured
The Annapolis Capital - March 31

In recent years, about half the patients transported by state police helicopters to a trauma center are not seriously injured; they are treated for nonlife-threatening injuries and released within 24 hours. "We have said as a medical society 'We will overtriage, we will bring people here who don't need to be here, rather than miss someone,'" said Thomas M. Scalea, MD, professor at the School of Medicine and physician-in-chief at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.
www.hometownannapolis.com

In Treasury Plan, a Reluctant Eye Over Wall Street
The New York Times - March 30
Austin-American Statesman -March 30
Statesman.com - March 30

The Bush administration is proposing the broadest overhaul of Wall Street regulation since the Great Depression. But the plan, to be unveiled on Monday, has its genesis in a yearlong effort to limit Washington's role in the market. "The Fed oversaw this meltdown," said Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law who was a senior official of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the Clinton administration. "This is the equivalent of the builders of the Maginot line giving lessons on defense."
www.nytimes.com
www.statesman.com

Law School Rankings Released
The Daily Record - March 31

The University of Baltimore School of Law moved up a tier while the University of Maryland School of Lawýs ranking dropped slightly, according to the latest U.S.News & World Report law school rankings released Friday.
www.mddailyrecord.com

The Business Album: Harris Honored For Starting Outreach
The Daily Record - March 29

The Business Album, a weekly column that appears each Saturday, featured photos of Jesse J. Harris, PhD, former dean of the School of Social Work and founder of the Schoolýs 15-year old community outreach service when he was honored at the anniversary celebration, held at the American Visionary Art Museum on March 6.
(To read a copy of this story, please contact the Communications Office at 6-7820 or respond to this e-mail.)

US Plans Biggest Shakeup of Wall Street Watchdogs in 80 Years
The Guardian - March 31
Bloomberg TV news, 7:20 a.m. - March 31

The Bush administration is proposing the broadest overhaul of Wall Street regulation since the Great Depression. But the plan, to be unveiled on Monday, has its genesis in a yearlong effort to limit Washingtonýs role in the market. "Overall, this system is designed to attack problems as they occur rather than to prevent problems." said Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law who was a senior official of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the Clinton administration. ýThis is the equivalent of the builders of the Maginot line giving lessons on defense.ý
www.nytimes.com

Greenebaum Cancer Center Benefits from Cheryl Crow Concert
The Washington Post - March 27

The Columbia-based Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults raised more than $200,000 at a benefit concert recently featuring singer Sheryl Crow. More than 390 people, including Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and Cancer Fund founder Doug Ulman, now president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, attended the event. Funds will be spread among three of the organization's projects including the Young Adult Patient Navigation Program at the Greenebaum Cancer Center at the University of Maryland.
www.washingtonpost.com

Maryland Technology Development Corporation Awards Tech Transfer Grants
Washington Business Journal - March 27

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation has awarded $224,000 in grants to three startup technology companies. Among the winners is Traxion Therapeutics Inc., which is based in Baltimore and focusing on developing drugs to treat for neuropathic pain. The company is working with the University of Maryland, Baltimore and pain researchers at the Dental School
www.gazette.net

Natural Sugar Tagatose May Help Diabetes Patients Control Blood Glucose
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 27

In the hunt for better treatments for the growing and related epidemics of diabetes and obesity, researchers may have uncovered an unlikely drug: Tagatose, a natural, low-calorie sugar that has been used to sweeten such things as orange juice and candy in Europe. "The idea of sugar as a treatment is provocative," said Thomas Donner, MD, an endocrinologist and diabetes researcher in the School of Medicine.
www.baltimoresun.com

Physicians Group Protests Hopkins Use of Pigs; UM Uses Simulators
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 27

Taking aim at one of the last bastions of live-animal training for medical students, a physicians' group that champions animal rights has called upon the Johns Hopkins University to stop using live pigs to teach operating room techniques. Calling the practice inhumane and unnecessary, the Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine notes that Hopkins is one of just two top-tier medical schools still convening live-animal labs. The University of Maryland School of Medicine relies completely on simulators and virtual reality techniques. In a suite of operating rooms stocked with these devices, students practice such techniques as removing gall bladders and inserting breathing tubes. Many of the devices train students in laparoscopic techniques, in which surgeons view their work on video screens. "Medical school is not about technical skills - it's about cognitive abilities," said Bruce Jarrell, MD, vice dean for research and academic affairs.
www.baltimoresun.com

Wellmobile Coming to Seat Pleasant
The Washington Post - March 27
The Prince Georges Gazette - March 27

The city of Seat Pleasant will soon begin to reap the benefits of the Governorýs Wellmobile, a health clinic on wheels that travels to municipalities where residents have limited access to health care facilities. Services are free to residents and employees; the program is sponsored by the School of Nursing.
www.gazette.net
www.washingtonpost.com

Baltimore Albert Schweitzer Fellows
The (Baltimore) Examiner - March 26

The Baltimore Albert Schweitzer Fellows, a group that includes students from all seven schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and led by the School of Social Work, are hosting a candlelight vigil for homicide victims in McKeldin Sqaure at the Inner Harbor on March 27, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
(To read this story, contact the Communications Office at ext. 6-7820, or respond to this e-mail.)

Licensing To Kill
The (Baltimore) City Paper - March 26

One of the biggest complaints about American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) from those who use it is that, for an organization that behaves in a quasi-governmental mannerýdemanding licenses, leveling penalties (by way of the court system, at least)ýit has the transparency of the KGB. To many artists, ASCAP's royalty distribution scheme has little rhyme or reason beyond it being tilted in favor of known pop artists. As Robert Suggs, JD, a professor at the School of Law specializing in copyright law, observes, "Very, very few musicians make their living off their ASCAP royalties. "If you are an independent artist, the odds of being on commercial radio tend toward zero. "Copyright is analyzed as an economic phenomena, [and] the health of copyright is based upon the gross revenues of the record labels, movie studios, etc.," Suggs says.
www.citypaper.com

Sniffing Beats Smoking Pot Among Young Teens
WBFF-TV, Ch.45, 6 a.m. - March 26
WBFF-TV, Ch.45, 10 p.m. - March 25

Sniffing solvent is more popular than smoking marijuana for teenagers looking to get high, according to a new report from the University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research. Inhalants are the most popular type of drug among children 12 to 13, the study found. ýLacquer thinner, paint solvents, and other corrosive chemicals can dissolve the fat needed to keep brain cells and kidneys functioning, and are some of the most dangerous substances that can be inhaled for a buzz,ý said Anthony Tommasello, PhD, MS, director of the Office of Substance Abuse Studies at the School of Pharmacy. To view a video of the story using Real Player, click on this web link:
media.umaryland.edu:8080

U.S.. Agency Vows To Back AIDS Study
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 26

With AIDS vaccine plans in disarray after trials of the most promising candidate collapsed, the head of the federal agency that oversees AIDS research renewed the government's commitment to the development of a drug to prevent the wasting disease. Earlier this week, Robert Gallo, MD, a professor at the School of Medicine and director of the School's Institute of Human Virology and co-discoverer of the virus that causes AIDS, compared the outcome of the Merck studies to the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Gallo defended his comments yesterday, saying that he made the comparison because both situations involved huge sums of government funding and major failures. "I wanted to foster this kind of discussion because I knew we were going to be attacked, and sure enough we're getting attacked," he said, referring to calls for an end to vaccine research.
www.baltimoresun.com

Boomers' Hope: That The 'Kids' Are All right
USA Today - March 21

Around the kids, they're nothing if not supportive. But a growing number of baby boomer parents are freaking out inside. They don't want to let on to their adult children that they're getting worried, but these parents are sharing their concerns at work, at the gym, at the grocery store or anyplace they can commiserate: Their offspringýpost-college degreed and in their mid- to late 20sýstill haven't a clue about what to do with their lives. These young adults aren't slackers; they often have jobs to pay the rent and are seemingly on their own. But one of parents' biggest worries is whether their close relationships with their children may have stifled their self-sufficiency. After a circuitous career path, now 29, Todd Hesel, of Parkville, Md., will graduate from the School of Law in May and plans to practice environmental law.
www.usatoday.com

First Viable Fetus Law Trial
WBFF-TV Ch 45, 10 p.m. - March 24
WBFF-TV Ch 45, 6 a.m. - March 25

For the first time, Marylandýs viable fetus law is being used in the murder trial of David Miller in Baltimore County. The law allows prosecutors to charge Miller with the death of his girlfriend who was seven months pregnant when she was shot and killed in a car last June at the Parkway Crossing Shopping Center. Andy Levy, JD, an adjunct professor at the School of Law, was interviewed about the importance of the case. A video of the story can be viewed using Real Player by clicking on:
media.umaryland.edu:8080

Humanizing the Mediation Process Can Work Wonders
The Daily Record - March 21

"People coming to mediation often have tried repeatedly to resolve their conflict or dispute without success. For them to be able to resolve it within the mediation room, some thing or things have to change. It may be how they had gone about addressing their conflict or not addressing their conflict; how they had negotiated or not negotiated; how they had dealt with emotional barriers or created emotional barriers; whether they had identified mutual goals or only their own goals; and so forth. Some change is necessary. The mediator, however, does not seek to change people, but rather fosters the opportunities or creates the environment where change can take place. And, with the assistance of the mediator, the parties do manage to make necessary changes,ý writes Louise Phipps Senft, JD, an adjunct professor at the School of Law and founder of the Baltimore Mediation Center.
www.mddailyrecord.com

Maryland Public Interest Law Project Auction This Week
The Daily Record - March 24

The annual goods and services auction by the Maryland Public Interest Law Project (MPLILP) later this week has a lofty goal: to raise enough money to provide a grant to any School of Law student who wants to work 10 weeks this summer at a public interest law firm. This year, meeting that goal may take a little extra effort. "We've always tried to give a grant to anyone who wants one," said Claire Pierson, a second-year law student and co-chair of MPILP's publicity effort. "But this year we want to increase the grant from $4,000 to $5,000 for the fellowship." On top of that, applications for the grants are up over last year. "So it will be a challenge to get the grants for everyone who is eligible and committed to public interest law," said Lydia Nussbaum, MPILPýs other publicity co-chair (also in her second year at UM Law).
www.mddailyrecord.com

Operation Smile Begins Annual Dental Mission In Viet Nam
Thanh Nien Daily, Vietnam - March 25

Around 5,000 children and young adults in Hue and Hanoi received free dental checkups under American NGO Operation Smileýs 12th annual Dental Mission to Vietnam, which began yesterday. The mission, which will go on until March 29, involves more than 30 dental professionals from the United States, including oral surgeons, endodontists, pediatric dentists, general dentists, and students from the University of Maryland Dental School.
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Operation Smile Begins Annual Dental Mission In Viet Nam
Thanh Nien Daily, Vietnam - March 25

Around 5,000 children and young adults in Hue and Hanoi received free dental checkups under American NGO Operation Smileýs 12th annual Dental Mission to Vietnam, which began yesterday. The mission, which will go on until March 29, involves more than 30 dental professionals from the United States, including oral surgeons, endodontists, pediatric dentists, general dentists, and students from the University of Maryland Dental School.
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Rain Pryor to Host MD Benefit at the Hippodrome
The Baltimore Times - March 24

Rain Pryor will present her one-woman show "Pryor Experience" at The Hippodrome Theater. The cabaret jazz performance will benefit the Maryland Center for Multiple Sclerosis, a decade-long leader in patient care and innovative research, which is part of the School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center.
www.btimes.com

Sniffing Beats Smoking Pot Among Young Teens
The Baltimore Examiner - March 25

Sniffing solvent is more popular than smoking marijuana for teenagers looking to get high, according to a new report from the University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research. Inhalants are the most popular type of drug among children 12 to 13, the study found. Lacquer thinner, paint solvents and other corrosive chemicals can dissolve the fat needed to keep brain cells and kidneys functioning, and are some of the most dangerous substances that can be inhaled for a buzz, said Tony Tomasello, PhD, director of the Office of Substance Abuse Studies at the School of Pharmacy. "This stuff is readily available. Itýs cheap and easy to get to," said Bruce Anderson, PharmD, director of operations for the Maryland Poison Center at the School.
www.examiner.com

Amplimmune Follows Local Biotechs to Montgomery
The Baltimore Business Journal - March 21

As Amplimmune Inc. settles on new headquarters in Montgomery County, it becomes the latest Baltimore-area biotech to tread a well-worn path from Interstate 95 to 270 in its search for more space. The motivating factor for Amplimmune's move came down to expenses. The company said it found more finished lab space in Montgomery County than it did in the Baltimore region, where two new bioparks are under construction, with one years from completion. Being built to prevent these very departures from continuing, one borders Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore and the other borders the University of Maryland, Baltimore on the city's west side.
baltimore.bizjournals.com

Appointments
The Washington Post - March 24

The Health Science and Human Service Library at the University of Maryland, Baltimore has named Maria Fernandez cataloging librarian.
www.washingtonpost.com

Is America Ready?
The(Baltimore)Sun - March 23

Sherrilynn Ifill, JD, a professor at the School of Law wrote in an Op-Ed, "More than anything else, Barack Obama's monumental speech on race last Tuesday was an invitation and a challenge to the American public to come out from behind the walls where we've taken cover, and to confront race and our differences head-on. Standing at his own unique and very personal crossroads, Senator Obama exhorted Americans to look at one another, to listen, to hear one another's stories, and, for a brief moment, refrain from condemning one another."
www.baltimoresun.com

One Vaccine Doesnýt Fit All
Star-Gazette - March 24
Star-Gazette.com - March 24

It's bad enough we have to worry about rising gas prices and the war in Iraq, but now Americans have another thing to fret about: the flu. At the end of January, the World Health Organization announced that a significant percentage of the influenza virus that has been rampant this year has a mutation. It has been found to be resistant to the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir. "One of the most important public health measures in preparation for the winter season is influenza vaccination. In effect, you can protect yourself and possibly the people around you," said Wilbur Chen, MD, an assistant professor at the School of Medicine.
www.star-gazette.com

The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, One Night Fundraiser
The(Baltimore) Sun - March 23

Baltimore's Pazo Restaurant has always been known for its chic factor. But last Sunday, that element was off the charts - thanks to the One Night, One Fight fundraiser for The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. Sheryl Crow was donating her time to put on a show inside the restaurant toýas she put itýreturn the favor to Fund founder Doug Ulman. Ulman had helped give the pop star support and guidance when she was battling breast cancer. "It's very inspirational," said Meghan Norville, public relations account manager for MGH, as she and her date Joseph Scalea, MD, a University of Maryland medical resident settled into their seats at a balcony table.
www.baltimoresun.com

What Created This Monster?
The New York Times - March 23

Washington has long followed the financial industryýs lead in supporting deregulation, even as newly minted but little-understood products like derivatives proliferated. "During the late 1990s, Wall Street fought bitterly against any attempt to regulate the emerging derivatives market," recalls Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law and a former senior regulator at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Although the Long-Term Capital debacle in 1998 alerted regulators and bankers alike to the dangers of big bets with borrowed money, a rescue effort engineered by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York prevented the damage from spreading. "After that, all was forgotten," says Greenberger. "At the same time, derivatives were being praised as a boon that would make the economy more stable."
www.nytimes.com

After Bear Stearns, Some Wonder Who's Next
GlobeSt.com - March 18

Despite concerns about so-called ýmoral hazardý and the painful hit Bear Stearnsý investors and employees have taken with the bailout, it is widely agreed that the Federal Reserve Bank averted a worse capital markets catastrophe with its engineered buy-out of the firm by JPMorgan Chase & Co. But for how long is the question on many minds. "The real question is who is next?" wonders Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law and director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security who is a former director of the Division of Trading and Market at the Community Futures Trading Commission under the Clinton administration. "If Bear Stearns can be discounted from $30 per share to $2 per share in 48 hours, it can happen to anyone" says Greenberger who teaches mortgage related financial products at the School.
www.globest.com

Blind Spots
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 20

New findings by California researchers may change the way doctors think about colonoscopyýa popular screening test for colon and rectal cancer. "It has been thought in the past that big polyps were the big players that turned into cancer," said Peter Darwin, MD, associate professor at the School of Medicine and director of gastrointestinal endoscopy at the University of Maryland Medical Center. This and future studies "may change the way we think about cancer."
www.baltimoresun.com

Daniel Rubin: Take Pa. Courts Into Modern Era
The Philadelphia Inquirer - March 20

Pennsylvania is one of six states that still allow voters to choose all of their judges in partisan elections. So it can't be coincidence that most Pennsylvanians believe that judgeships are political positions and that judges are influenced by their contributors. The jury's still out on whether merit selection would improve diversity, says Sherilyn Ifill,JD, a professor at the School of Law. "Even when African Americans are selected for a seat on the bench by the governor, it doesn't answer whether those are the African American candidates who are the candidates of choice for their community."
www.philly.com

Governor Swears In New GEMAC Members
Government Technology - March 10

Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley today swore in 21 new members to the Governor's Emergency Management Advisory Council (GEMAC), an advisory council that is charged with advising the Governor on all matters relating to emergency management. Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law and director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security is among the 21 members of the GEMAC.
www.govtech.com

Matter That Tainted Heparin Identified
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 20

Investigators have moved closer to understanding how a widely used blood thinner killed as many as 19 Americans, identifying the chemical that tainted the Heparin products. That compound―chondroitin sulfate―is structurally similar to Heparin and shares some of the same blood-thinning properties, but is not used for that purpose, said Stuart Haines, PharmD, FCCP, FASHP, FAPhA, BCPS, BC-ADM, a professor at the School of Pharmacy who specializes in the proper use of drugs. The chemical is often made from shark, squid and other fish, Haines said.
www.baltimoresun.com

Names in the News
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 20

Jay Magaziner, PhD, MSHyg, a professor at the School of Medicine, is the new chairman of the School of Medicine's Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. Magaziner, who has been a faculty member of the School since 1982, recently served as professor in that department, as well as in medicine and physical therapy and rehabilitation science. As co-director for the school's Center for Research on Aging, he coordinates gerontology research and training among six professional schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
www.baltimoresun.com

Operation Smile Begins Annual Dental Mission
VietNam News - March 20

Around 5,000 children and young adults in Hue and Ha Noi received free dental check-ups under American NGO Operation Smileýs 12th annual Dental Mission to Vietnam which began yesterday. The mission, which will go on until the 29th, involves more than 30 dental professionals from the US, including oral surgeons, endodontists, paediatric dentists, general dentists, and students from the University of Maryland Dental School.
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

CD Gun Ban Law and FCC Obscenity in On-Air Broadcasts Discussed
WUSA-TV, Ch. 9, 9 a.m. - March 18

Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law and director of the Schoolýs Center for Health and Homeland Security, discussed in a live interview the controversial DC gun ban and also the FCCýs battle with obscenities during on-air broadcasts.
media.umaryland.edu:8080

CT Scan May Unlock a Mummyýs Secrets
The (Baltimore) Sun -March 19

The School of Medicine approached the Walters Art Museum several months ago about scanning the mummy so doctors can discuss the results at the school's annual pathology conference this spring. "It might help us see what diseases they had, infectious and otherwise, along with how they preserved these bodies and what problems there were with preservation," said Philip Mackowiak, MD, professor at the School of Medicine, chief of the medical service at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and conference organizer. "In the human body, we're interested in the whole range of human tissues that we're going to find," said Barry Daly, MD, a professor of diagnostic radiology at the School.
www.baltimoresun.com

Mikulski Sees Flat Funding Harming Critical Research
The (Baltimore) Examiner - March 19

Flat funding for medical research at the National Institutes of Health could stall critical medical research and hurt research institutions like those in Baltimore, Sen. Barbara Mikulski said Tuesday. "Cuts to NIH funding slow down our transition from science to treatment," Mikulski said at a conference at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We very much have the ingredients here ý the talent, people, the work force and the ideas," said E. Albert Reece,MD, PhD, MBA, dean of the School of Medicine. ýWe donýt have the money.ý
www.examiner.com

President of UMB Receives Top Bioscience Award
The (Baltimore) Examiner - March 19

David Ramsay, DM, DPhil, president of University of Maryland, Baltimore, has done perhaps more than anyone to make Maryland a national leader in bioscience and biotechnology, an influential business group says. Ramsay said he came from England to the university in San Francisco focused on teaching, but soon found himself thrust into business development when a professor sought to create a business based on research done in his university lab. "We didnýt have policies, we didn't have procedures, we just did it," Ramsay said. In coming to Maryland, he said he hoped to replicate the work he did in San Francisco.
www.examiner.com

Researchers Urge More Funds for Biomedical Work
The(Baltimore)Sun - March 19

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) yesterday joined a growing chorus of research institutions warning lawmakers that static federal funding for science has slowed biomedical research and threatens the careers of young scientists. They said that declining funding for the National Institutes of Health is forcing scientists to shy away from pioneering research and noted that younger, research-bound scientists and doctors rely on NIH funding to launch their careers but are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain their first grants. E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, dean of the School of Medicine, said even established researchers are finding it tough, including one senior schizophrenia specialist at Maryland who recently had a major grant proposal acceptedýbut for only half his request. UMB officials also worry that doctors may be less likely to pursue medical research at all if they decide it's too difficult to find money. "If you're talking about getting research to the bedside, clinicians are the people who are going to do much of it," said Wendy Sanders, MA, assistant dean for faculty affairs and professional development at the School.
www.baltimoresun.com

Todayýs Newsmakers
The (Baltimore) Examiner - March 19

Henry Zheng, of Centennial High School of Ellicott City, took a lead position early at the U.S. Brain Bee Championship at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. On Friday, he scored 25 points, just four points behind the lead competitor in a neuroanatomy practical exam. He closed that lead to three points, scoring a total of 52 in the quintessential competition about all things related to the brain.
(To read a copy of this story, please contact the Communications office at ext. 6-7820, or respond to this e-mail.)

Women Honored for Accomplishments in Health and Quality of Life
The(Baltimore)Examiner - March 19

Ann Mech, JD, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing, is one of four new inductees into the Howard County Womenýs Hall of Fame. She was recently were selected by the Howard County Commission for Women and inducted during the 12th annual ceremony in Ellicott City. Mech used her background in nursing, education and law to improve health care in her 17 years of volunteer service.
www.examiner.com

Bringing Pharmacy Law in the 21st Century
The Daily Record - March 17

The days of a pharmacist simply standing behind the counter and distributing pills have gone the way of the drugstore soda jerk, yet in some ways Maryland holds today's pharmacists to the same standards as pharmacists practicing 75 years ago. John F. Fader II, JD, a retired Baltimore County Circuit judge who also holds a pharmacy degree. But with increased responsibility will come increased liability, Fader noted in a speech last week at the School of Pharmacy, where he teaches a required law class for all pharmacy students. Whether or not a pharmacist can be held liable for errors or inadvertence by the prescribing physician varies from state to state, Fader told 50 pharmacists, professors and pharmacy students who attended the fifth annual Paul A. Pumpian Lecture, named after a former pharmacist and patent attorney who, like Fader, graduated from the law and pharmacy schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
www.mddailyrecord.com

Green Poisons
WBFF-TV, Ch. 45, 8:30 a.m. - March 17

ýGreen is a happy color,ý said Bruce Anderson, PharmD, ABAT, director of the Maryland Poison Center at the School of Pharmacy, and children donýt associate it with the dangers it can pose in some household plants, cleaners, chemicals and pills. Anderson appeared on a live morning studio segment during Poison Prevention Week and St. Patrickýs Day
media.umaryland.edu:8080

Newer Airbags Pose Little Risk
Wheels24.co.za - March 17

"The point of second generation, or depowered, airbags was to reduce deaths among children, small adults, and vulnerable occupants who were previously killed by air bag deployment," Elisa Braver, PhD, associate professor at the School of Medicine, noted in an interview with Reuters Health. ýIn 1997, when US airbag testing regulations were changed, there were concerns that depowering airbags might place drivers at increased risk,ý said Braver, of the Schoolýs National Study Center for Trauma and EMS.
www.wheels24.co.za

Law School files Suit Against Eastern Shore Company
WBAL-TV, Ch. 2, 6 p.m. - March 13

The School of Lawýs Environmental Law Clinic filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Wednesday against the Velsicol Chemical Corp. for violations of the federal Clean Water Act at the companyýs Chestertown manufacturing facility. The suit asserts that the plant continues to release pollutants into local waterways without the necessary permit. Jane Barrett, JD, associate professor at the School and director of the clinic says that company is polluting waters in a tributary of the Chester River by dumping phosphorous and DEHP, a chemical used in the manufacturing process, and the Maryland Department of the Environment is not doing anything about it. A citizen's group that she represents was told that they would interfere in talks between the Department and the company. Barrett says she hopes the lawsuit will provoke "transparency in government and more citizen involvement."
media.umaryland.edu:8080

Greenberger on Spitzer
WUSA-TV, Ch. 9, 9 a.m. - March 12

Michael Greenberger,JD, a professor at the School of Law and director of the Schoolýs Center for Health and Homeland Security, said in a live interview that while New York Governor Eliot Spitzer must resign in the wake of a sex scandal, ýThereýs a very good chance he will escape prosecution.ý Prosecutors may decide that his resignation-and possible loss of his bar license-is punishment enough for Spitzerýs misdeeds.

Men Need Bone Tests as Well as Women
TamilStar.com - March 12

Bone tests aren't just for women anymore. New guidelines are calling for older men to get a routine check for bone-thinning osteoporosis. "There's a recognition more so now than in the past that men are at risk," says Jay Magaziner,PhD, professor at the School of Medicine, who has long researched hip fractures ý osteoporosis' most-feared break
www.tamilstar.com

News Summary
The Daily Record - March 12

According to an advisory from the School of Law, the schoolýs Environmental Law Clinic plans to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Wednesday against the Velsicol Chemical Corp. for violations of the federal Clean Water Act at the companyýs Chestertown manufacturing facility. The suit will assert that the plant released pollutants into local waterways without the necessary permit. The Environmental Law Clinic previously sought to intervene in a separate state court action by the Maryland Department of the Environment for groundwater contamination at Velsicolýs Chestertown facility, but, according to the advisory, its request to join the lawsuit was denied.
www.mddailyrecord.com

People on the Move
The (Baltimore) Sun ý March 12

Sue Song, PhD, RN, a Howard County psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and adjunct assistant professor at the School of Nursing, has been appointed to the Howard County Board of Health.
www.baltimoresun.com

Study: 1 in 4 Teen Girls Has an STD
The (Baltimore) Sun ý March 12
The Boston Globe ý March 12

About 1 in 4 teenage girls in the United States - and nearly half of black girls - has at least one sexually transmitted disease, according to a study released yesterday, providing the first national snapshot of infection rates among this age group. While parents may be surprised by the study, it's a reflection of what doctors have been seeing in their practices in recent years, said Ligia Peralta, MD, associate professor at the School of Medicine and chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of Maryland Hospital for Children in Baltimore. In a small study done among girls in her university clinic in 2000, primarily black teens, 90 percent of the sexually active teens had HPV.
www.baltimoresun.com
www.boston.com

Study: Depression Can Exacerbate Heart Failure
USAToday - March 12

The worse someone's symptoms of depression, the stiffer his heart tissue appears to be in the new study of 880 adults by researchers from the School of Medicine. The team will report the results today at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Baltimore. Inflammation stimulates the production of collagen, and too much collagen stiffens the heart, says psychologist Emily Kuhl, who did the study with co-author Willem Kop, PhD, associate professor. "It's like an extra knock against you, if you're depressed," Kohl says, "because it may put you at risk for collagen deposits that worsen heart failure."
www.usatoday.com

Depression Linked to Subsequent Pregnancy in Black Teens
MedIndia - March 10

Beth Barnet, MD, and colleagues at the School of Medicine, followed 269 predominantly African American teens (ages 12 to 18) with low income who received prenatal care at five community sites. Questionnaires were completed one or two years after childbirth to measure depressive symptoms and occurrence of subsequent pregnancy. "Depression is unhealthy for mothers and their children. Treating maternal depression improves the health and well-being of both," the authors conclude.
www.medindia.net

High and Low Blood Pressure Bad for Brain Function
PakTribune - March 10

New research indicates that high and abnormally low blood pressures can have a detrimental effect on oneýs thinking ability or However, the association seems to be influenced by age, educational level, and use of blood pressure drugs. The findings are based on a study of 847 subjects who completed tests of cognitive function up to seven times over 11 years, Shari Waldstein, PhD, adjunct associate professor at the School of Medicine and colleagues report in the medical journal Hypertension.
www.paktribune.com

Operation Smile Dental Mission to Take Place in Vietnam
TransWorldNews - March 11

From March 19-29, 2008, an Operation Smile team of 33 general dentists, pediatric dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, endodontists, dental hygienists and Dental School student volunteers will travel to Vietnam to embark on the 12th annual Operation Smile Vietnam Dental Mission. The Vietnam dental mission program began in 1995, when a group of faculty and students from the School wanted to help children across the world and also share their knowledge and skills with their Vietnamese counterparts. The group was led by dental student Bill Magee III, son of Operation Smile Co-founders Dr. Bill and Kathy Magee.
www.transworldnews.com

Say Goodbye to Mr.Yuk and Hello To New Stickers
The (Baltimore) Examiner - March 11

Mr. Yuk is dead. Created in 1971 by the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, the round-faced green Mr. Yuk warning stickers may be too bright, bold, and attractive for smaller children. Pharmacists groups and poison control workers are spreading the word this month that the toxic you aren't thinking about is the one your child will find. "I work for poison control, so youýd think my house would be child safe," said Bruce Anderson, PharmD, director of the Maryland Poison Center at the School of Pharmacy. "My son crawled over, found the diaper bag and was doing shots of the hand sanitizer." Fear of being labeled a bad parent shouldn't prevent someone from calling the poison center hotline, he added.
www.examiner.com

Untangling Spoken Words
The Washington Times - March 11

The listener uses changes in pitch, the direction of sound, time delays between different sounds, and the onset, or the starting and stopping, of speech to separate the two conversations, says Didier Depireux, PhD, assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the School of Medicine. A listener with an auditory processing disorder (APD)--a broad and complex group of disorders that make it difficult to process the spoken language even though hearing acuity is fine--will find it hard to extract the different sounds and focus on one sound source, says Depireux, who holds a doctorate in physics.
www.washingtontimes.com

More Prescriptions, Greater Confusion
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 9

Medication mismanagement among seniors is a growing problem in the United States. Some experts estimate that half of all seniors mismanage one or more of their medications, and seniors are twice as likely to end up in emergency rooms because of drug safety issues. Some problems have to do with the fact that older bodies don't process medications the same way as young ones, experts say. "As we get older, there are changes in how drugs are metabolized and how drugs are distributed in the body and how we react to those medications," said Ilene Zuckerman, a professor in the pharmaceutical health services research department at the School of Pharmacy. "And older people use more medication; older people have more diseases. So we know that older people do have more adverse drug events."
www.baltimoresun.com

Protect the Babies
The (Baltimore) Sun ý March 10

The House of Delegates last week approved legislation that would save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars by giving the state a monopoly on mandatory screening for genetic and congenital defects in newborns. But Marc Mugmon, MD, a clinical assistant professor at the School of Medicine, co-authored an op-ed stating that the savings comes with a terribly high human cost. House Bill 216 contains a dangerous exception that would allow parents to opt out of such screening―and thus consign some unlucky newborns to lives destroyed by disorders that might have been treated if detected early.
www.baltimoresun.com

Signs That Itýs Time to Start Looking
The Daily Record ý March 10

So how do you know whether to stay put and work to change things, or whether itýs time to leave? Dana Morris, JD, assistant dean for career development at the School of Law, said that extreme dissatisfaction with your work can manifest itself with physical effects. Constant tiredness, sleeping more and headaches before work can mean that you are depressed about your job, she said. Everyone has long days, Morris said, but "when that long day becomes weeks and weeks and weeks and months," it may be time to get out
www.mddailyrecord.com

Study: Acupuncture May Boost Pregnancy
North (San Diego) County Times - March 9

It sounds far-fetched-sticking needles in women to help them become pregnant--but a scientific review suggests that acupuncture might improve the odds of conceiving if done right before or after embryos are placed in the womb. The analysis was led by Eric Manheimer, MS, a researcher at the School of Medicine, and paid for by a federal agency, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
www.nctimes.com

Tattooists Turn Scars into Butterflies
GreatReporter.com - March 8

Looking to dress up a scar? Turn it into a butterfly. Or a lizard. Many people, especially women who have had mastectomies or other surgeries, are electing to do just that. This type of tattooing does require some precautions. "People should wait at least a year before tattooing over a scar," said Thomas Le, MD, assistant professor at the School of Medicine. "Otherwise, they risk irritating skin tissue that is essentially still healing," he said. He also cautions that scars often change color in the first year or so and tattooing over one too soon can result in a regrettable mismatch.
greatreporter.com

The Placebo Effect
The (Baltimore) Sun -March 8

For years, experts have known that placebos - fake injections and pills with no real medicationýcan improve the health of patients with pain, asthma, high blood pressure and angina. Now they've learned that raising the price of a fake pill makes it work even better. Experts say the results also show the importance of boosting the hopes of patients treated for a wide variety of ailments. "Our response to any intervention is partly the result of the power of the intervention, and partly the result of our expectations going in," said Alan Bellack, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine.
www.baltimoresun.com

Department of Homeland Security Now 5 Years Old
Newsday - March 7

Five years. More than $200 billion. And 22 government agencies combined. Even with such time and resources, it's debatable how much difference the Department of Homeland Security has made in protecting America in a post-9/11 world. Another expert called the department a "grand theory that fell down in practice" because it wrongly assumed 22 agencies could successfully work together under the same roof. "The value gained has not been much, if at all," said Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law, director of its Center for Health and Homeland Security, and a former Bill Clinton staffer. "I don't think weýre where we need to be or where we could be."
www.newsday.com

Depression Linked to Subsequent Pregnancy in Black Teens
Forbes - March 5
Medical News Today - March 5
Reuters ý March 5 (Published in 23 additional newspapers)

Elizabeth Barnet, MD, and colleagues at the School of Medicine followed 269 predominantly African-American young women (ages 12 to 18) with low income who received prenatal care at five community sites. Questionnaires were completed one or two years after childbirth to measure depressive symptoms and occurrence of subsequent pregnancy. "Depression is unhealthy for mothers and their children. Treating maternal depression improves the health and well-being of both," the authors concluded.
www.forbes.com
www.medicalnewstoday.com
www.chinapost.com.tw

Federal Probe Of MF Global Wheat Trader Focuses On Fraud
Cattlenetwork.com - March 6

A federal probe into unauthorized wheat futures trades that cost MF Global Ltd. $141.5 million will likely examine whether the trader who made the bets committed fraud, commodities law experts said Wednesday. Evan "Brent" Dooley, a registered representative of the firm who has since been fired, "substantially exceeded his authorized trading limit" in making trades of Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures, according to MF Global. "Those actions could rise to the level of criminal fraud," said Michael Greenberger, JD, a professor at the School of Law who teaches a course on futures, options, and derivatives. Greenberger is a former director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Trading and Markets. "Clearly he exceeded his authority," Greenberger said of Dooley. "Here the market was defrauded. This was a fraud on the entire market, and [MF Global] was left holding the bag."
www.cattlenetwork.com

Health Notes
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 7

Howard Community College will host a program on careers in the health sciences from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the admissions and advising office of the Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall. Professionals representing dental hygiene, physician assisting, and physical therapy will share information about their careers, and a representative will discuss entrance requirements for the School of Pharmacy.
www.baltimoresun.com

People on the Move
Baltimore Business Journal - Feb. 22-28

Sandra McLeskey, PhD, RN, was named assistant dean for baccalaureate studies at the School of Nursing after serving as interim assistant dean

The Daily Record Announces 2008 Top 100 Women Winners
The Daily Record - March 7

One hundred women throughout the state with a wide variety of occupations and accomplishments have been named to The Daily Recordýs 13th annual Marylandýs Top 100 Women list. The women will be honored at an awards ceremony on May 12 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The winners include: Janet D. Allan, PhD, RN, CS, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing; Meredith Bond, PhD, professor in the School of Medicine; Sandra Harriman, director of corporate and foundation relations at the School of Medicine; and Karen H. Rothenberg, JD, MPA, dean of the School of Law
www.mddailyrecord.com

UM Law Honors Manekin, Class of '36
RedOrbit.com - March 6
Wbaltv.com - March 5

Bernard Manekin, co-founder of the eponymous commercial real estate firm, is the first to admit he was not the best student when he attended the School of Law in the 1930s. 'There was this saying: The 'A' students became judges and teachers and the 'B' students ended up doing the legal work for the 'C' students," Manekin, Class of 1936, said recently in an e-mail. ýI was one of those ýCý students and during my real estate career, I paid a lot of legal fees to those 'B' students." Manekin, 94, will be honored Thursday night during the Schoolýs annual Honors Banquet with the Star Award, given to a graduate who has made contributions to the law school and the greater community. He becomes the fifth person to receive the award and first businessman honored, which Karen H. Rothenberg, JD, MPA, dean of the School, said demonstrates how the skills learned in law school are applicable in many fields. Manekin backed Joseph C. Howard's successful 1968 campaign to become the first black judge for what is now Baltimore City Circuit Court, and gave the first contribution to former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's first political campaign, in 1982 for Baltimore state's attorney, said Larry Gibson, LLB, a professor at the School who managed both campaigns and has known Manekin for 40 years.
www.redorbit.com
www.wbaltv.com

Acupuncture Helps New Yorker Get Pregnant
amNewYorkNewYork - March 6

Despite a recent study carried out by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Georgetown University School of Medicine and the VU University in Amsterdam, Western medical research is divided on whether acupuncture can help treat infertility.
www.amny.com

Deleting Trans Fat is No OK to Gorge
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 6

Getting rid of trans fats in restaurant meals might be hip, but nutrition experts say it wonýt improve public health unless the ingredients that replace trans fats are a real improvement. "You don't want to eliminate the trans fat products and then exchange them for saturated fats. That would defeat the purpose," Michael Miller, MD, associate professor at the School of Medicine, said yesterday after top Baltimore officials endorsed a ban on trans fats.
www.baltimoresun.com

Dental Schools Get Grants to Expand Care in Poor Areas
The Washington Post - March 6
WJZ.com - March 6
Frederick News-Post - March 6

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded grants to eight dental schools to help expand care in poor communities. The grant winners include the University of Maryland Dental School, which has received $200,000.
www.washingtonpost.com
www.fredericknewspost.com
wjz.com

Depression Linked to Subsequent Pregnancy in Black Teens
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via HealthDay News) - March 5

Bronwyn Mayden, MSW, director of continuing professional education at the School of Social Work and a 20-year veteran of program and policy development and implementation for adolescent reproductive health, discussed issues related to the 14-year-old Baltimore girl whose baby was abandoned in Queens, N.Y.
media.umaryland.edu:8080
wjz.com

Exercise for Parkinson's
News14.com (Raleigh, N.C.) via Ivanhoe Newswire - March 6

Most medical studies look at the effect drugs have on various diseases. But doctors in Maryland want to see if good old sweat and hard work can make a difference for patients with Parkinson's. "Medications have been somewhat disappointing to prevent disability related to walking and balance," said Lisa Shulman, MD, an associate professor of neurology at the School of Medicine.

Health Care Careers
WMAR1TV, Ch. 2, noon - March 4

Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, dean of the School of Pharmacy, discussed the need to increase the awareness of health care careers, including pharmacy, for middle and high school students at a health career fair. She discussed the various jobs pharmacists can have.
media.umaryland.edu:8080

Maryland P3 Program
WMAR-TV, Ch. 2, 5:30 p.m. - March 4

Christine Lee, PharmD, coordinator of the Maryland P3 (Patients, Pharmacists, Partnerships) Program at the School of Pharmacy, explained how the program lets pharmacists play a more direct role in their patientsý health management. "It's switching the focus from treatment to prevention," she said.
media.umaryland.edu:8080

Researchers Discover New Cell Function in the Nose
HealthNewsDigest.com - March 4

Many chemicals, including most odorants in highly concentrated form, are irritating to the nose and can cause sensory responses. Sensations occur when high levels of the chemical odors activate the trigeminal sensory system in the nasal cavityýsignaling poor air quality or environmental risk. A team of researchers from the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, along with colleagues at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, have discovered that truly, it is the nose that knows. The researchers discovered a large group of chemosensory cells in the nasal cavity that are responsible for reactions in the noseýsuch as tingling, burning, stinging, warmth, itching or pain-that occur when exposed to environmental factors. The sensory response is a defense mechanism to alert the body to the presence of chemical odors, poor air quality, and thus, potential health risks.
www.healthnewsdigest.com

Shaping Up
Baltimore magazine - March

Lisa Aukland, PharmD, a 14-year veteran of the Maryland Poison Center at the School of Pharmacy, spends her workdays helping save lives and averting disaster. But the most remarkable aspect of Aukland's life isnýt her day job or her doctorate. It's that the 49-year-old is the world's fourth-best female bodybuilder. "I'm a walking billboard for working out," says the boulder-shouldered Aukland. "People stop me for workout advice in the grocery store, on the street, everywhere." She is one of a growing group of respected professionals and bodybuilding hobbyists who are raising the sport's profile by staying all-natural and drug-free.
www.baltimoremag.com

Targeted Therapy; Trials Offer Hope
The Maryland Gazette - March 5

In a column about cancer treatment, Harvinder Singh, MBBS, assistant professor at the School of Medicine, wrote, "Until recently, cancer treatment has focused primarily on killing rapidly dividing cells because one feature of cancer cells is that they divide rapidly. Unfortunately, some of our normal cells divide rapidly too, causing multiple side effects. Targeted therapy is about identifying other features of cancer cells. Scientists look for specific differences in the cancer cells and the normal cells. This information is used to create a targeted therapy to attack the cancer cells without damaging the normal cells, thus leading to fewer side effects."
www.hometownannapolis.com

Will Maryland Superdelegates Matter?
WBAL-TV, Ch. 11, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. - March 5

With the delegate race for the Democratic presidential nominee remaining close, will Maryland's superdelegates play a role in picking the party's official nominee? School of Law Professor and political analyst Larry Gibson, LLB, who was also a delegate in the past, said, "If there's a candidate who leads on all three parametersýpopular vote, number of states won, and number of delegatesýI think it's not likely that the superdelegates would give the nomination to the other candidate."
www.wbaltv.com
media.umaryland.edu:8080

Breast Cancer Risk Outlasts Hormones
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 5

The millions of women who abandoned hormone replacement six years ago when research showed it increased the risk of serious illness are more likely to develop breast cancer than women who didn't take the hormones, research published today suggests. But the increased risk of heart disease associated with hormone therapy seems to dissipate, according to a long-anticipated follow-up study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Before this study, there was the thought that hormone therapy might be beneficial to all woman post-menopause," said May Hsieh Blanchard, MD, assistant professor at the School of Medicine. Now, she said, "the only reason to be on hormone therapy is for short-term symptom management."
www.baltimoresun.com

Chemotherapy with Chemoradiation for Pancreatic Cancer Has Small Survival Benefit
CancerPage.com - March 5
MedPageToday.com - March 4
ScienceDaily.com - March 4

William Regine, MD, professor at the School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a study to assess if the addition of gemcitabine to the supplemental treatment of fluorouracil chemoradiation (chemotherapy plus radiation) improved survival for patients who had a portion of their pancreas removed as a treatment for pancreatic cancer (surgical resection). "The addition of gemcitabine to [supplemental] fluorouracil-based chemoradiation was associated with a survival benefit for patients with resected pancreatic cancer, although this improvement was not statistically significant," the authors write.
www.cancerpage.com
www.medpagetoday.com
www.sciencedaily.com

Tired Beyond Relief
The Washington Post - March 4

In this era of burning candles at both ends (whoever works the longest hours wins), with stops only for caregiving and a few stolen winks, most everyone gets tired now and then. Sometimes all you need to recover is a solid night's sleep or an actual vacation, sans BlackBerry. But in some instances, tiredness moves to the next realm and becomes the soul-sucking, energy-draining condition called fatigue. And whereas sleepiness is generally remedied by sleep, fatigue can maintain its grip even when you sleep for hours on end. Fatigue makes you feel exhausted just thinking of paying the bills or walking the dog. It makes you want to bury your head under your pillow, even though you're sitting in your cubicle at work and there's no pillow in sight. Kevin Ferentz, MD, associate professor at the School of Medicine, cites a 1994 study showing that fatigue is the primary reason for between 1 and 7 percent of all medical office visits made by adults, and another study published in 2000 that calls fatigue the seventh most common complaint in primary care.
www.washingtonpost.com

UM Law Honors Manekin, Class of '36
The Daily Record - March 5

Bernard Manekin, co-founder of the eponymous commercial real estate firm, is the first to admit he was not the best student when he attended the School of Law in the 1930s. "There was this saying: The 'A' students became judges and teachers and the 'B' students ended up doing the legal work for the 'C' students," Manekin, Class of 1936, said recently in an e-mail. "I was one of those 'C' students and during my real estate career. I paid a lot of legal fees to those 'B' students." Manekin, 94, will be honored Thursday night during the School's annual Honors Banquet with the Star Award, given to a graduate who has made contributions to the law school and the greater community. He becomes the fifth person to receive the award and first businessman honored, which Karen H. Rothenberg, JD, MPA, dean of the School, said demonstrates how the skills learned in law school are applicable in many fields. Manekin backed Joseph C. Howard's successful 1968 campaign to become the first black judge for what is now Baltimore City Circuit Court, and gave the first contribution to former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's first political campaign, in 1982 for Baltimore stateýs attorney, said Larry Gibson, LLB, a professor at the School who managed both campaigns and has known Manekin for 40 years.
www.mddailyrecord.com

A Virtual Ride Inside the Colon
Chicago Tribune - March 4

David Vining, MD, an abdominal radiologist and professor at the School of Medicine in Baltimore, who invented the virtual colonoscopy procedure in the early 1990s, compares the process to "flying" through the bowel. He got the idea of combining a powerful Silicon Graphics computer workstation, the sort used to create Hollywood special effects, with a spiral CT scanner. Vining said, "From the radiologist's perspective, a virtual colonoscopy is like a roller coaster ride inside a tunnel."
www.chicagotribune.com

Depression Linked to Subsequent Pregnancy in Black Teens
Reuters - March 3
ScienceDaily.com - March 3

Beth Barnet, MD, and colleagues at the School of Medicine, followed 269 predominantly African American teens (ages 12 to 18) with low income who received prenatal care at five community sites. Questionnaires were completed one or two years after childbirth to measure depressive symptoms and occurrence of subsequent pregnancy. "Depression is unhealthy for mothers and their children. Treating maternal depression improves the health and well-being of both," the authors conclude.
www.reuters.com
www.sciencedaily.com

Mount Airy Ponders Free-Water Rules
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 4

Opponents of an old, little-known custom in Mount Airy of providing free water for churches and other nonprofits say that the policy violates the separation of church and state. The Supreme Court has held that tax exemptions for religious organizations, while not mandatory, are constitutional, said Mark Graber, JD, PhD, a professor of law and government for the School of Law.
www.baltimoresun.com

Science Prodigy Plays Role in Stem Cell Work
The (Baltimore) Examiner - March 4

As a rising sophomore at River Hill High School in Clarksville, Rushi Talati, then 15, approached W. Jonathan Lederer, director of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute's Medical Biotechnology Center, asking for an internship to research stem cells at a place that usually employs graduate students, post-doctoratal students, and professors. But after three years of experiments, Talati and Lederer, along with Terry Rogers, PhD, professor at the School of Medicine, and Aarif Khakoo of the University of Texas at Houston, came across a tremendous breakthrough: Stem cells, obtained from adult bone marrow, can work as a repair kit for damaged heart cells, signaling a potentially life-saving procedure for patients with heart problems.
www.examiner.com

The 'Where' of Chinatown
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 2

These are among the few remaining vestiges of the city's Chinatown, a Park Avenue block that once had bustling restaurants, stores, and meeting halls, as well as exuberant Lunar New Year's parades. "The first Chinese-Americans were mostly bachelors because harsh federal immigration laws prevented them from bringing a wife to this country or marrying an American citizen," says Taunya Lovell Banks, JD, a professor at the School of Law who led a project to preserve the history of Baltimore's Chinatown. "One wonders what Baltimore would have looked like without these immigration laws," Banks says. "It would have been a much more ethnically diverse city."
www.baltimoresun.com

Co-Founder of Shock Trauma Dies
The (Baltimore) Sun ý Feb. 29

Benjamin Franklin Trump, MD, 75, the retired Department of Pathology chair at the School of Medicine, died of heart disease Tuesday at Sinai Hospital. He was also among the founders of the Shock Trauma Center and worked closely with R Adams Cowley, MD, to create the Shock Trauma research program. He was a past chairman of the state's Postmortem Examiners Commission, where he oversaw the office of Maryland's chief medical examiner. "While at Maryland, Dr. Trump was able to bring the fields of electron microscopy, immunohistology, human cell and tissue culture, and computer science into the forefront of pathology for both research and patient care," said Raymond Jones, PhD, a former student who is now professor of pathology at the School of Medicine. "He did this by his books, papers, and his seminars."
www.baltimoresun.com

Coppin Hosts MLK Commemorative Series
The Baltimore Times - Feb. 29

A panel of scholars participating in Coppin State's Martin Luther King Commemorative Series includes Taunya Lovell Banks, JD, and Sherrilyn Ifill, JD, both professors at the School of Law, who will share their views about King.
www.btimes.com

From the Ashes of History, A New Leadership Class Arises
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 2

C. Fraser Smith wrote an Op-Ed about the rise of the new leadership class and discussed the School of Law's Katrina Project. He wrote: "What was happening in the 1960s was a movement, too, but it was based on mistrust. Again, this one seems to thrive on a feeling that change is possible within the system―that smart, energetic young people can handle politics as smoothly as they have mastered the new technology. Youth will be served, we are told, and there is evidence in many areas of public life. The Katrina Project has become a rite of passage. Over the last three years, an increasing number of students have worked in the Louisiana court system, helping ease a backlog of cases built up even before the big storm. Lawyers, these students insist, are members of a helping profession. They are not driven-not all of them, anyway-by the prospect of big money. They've grown up in a time when the ads insisted, 'Image is everything,' but they apparently think image, too, can change."
www.baltimoresun.com

Keeping Your Heart Healthy at Any Age
CNN.com - Feb. 29

Michael Miller, MD, associate professor at the School of Medicine and director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, notes, "If you have high LDL and high triglycerides, you appear to be at the highest risk of having a heart attack." In new research, Miller has found these bad cholesterol and triglycerides act like Bonnie and Clyde: Each alone can affect your heart in a bad way, but together, they're deadly.
www.cnn.com

Laughter Is the Best Medicine
healthywealthynwise.com - Feb. 29
The (Montreal) Gazette - March 3

A recent study from the School of Medicine shows that laughing increases the blood flow to your heart by expanding stress-constricted vessels to improve circulation, stimulate the nervous system and make your heart stronger. Some doctors are now recommending 15 seconds of deep belly laughter twice a day.
www.healthywealthynwise.com
www.canada.com

Maryland Medical Facilities Make Staffing Changes
The Daily Record - Feb. 29

A former leading official at the National Institutes of Health's Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), Margaret Chesney, PhD, is joining the School of Medicine's Center for Integrative Medicine as associate director. She also will join the faculty of the School of Medicine, with joint appointments in the departments of medicine and family and community medicine. Chesney served for five years as deputy director of NCCAM, the primary federal agency supporting scientific research in complementary medicine.

Men As Well As Women Need Bone Tests
The Tehran Times (Iran) ý March 2

Bone tests arenýt just for women anymore. New guidelines are calling for older men to get a routine check for bone-thinning osteoporosis. Thereýs news for women, too: A new computerized tool uses more than bone-density tests to predict who is at highest risk of breaking a bone in coming yearsýby adding in such important risk factors as whether a parent ever broke a hip. "There's a recognition more so now then in the past that men are at risk," says Jay Magaziner, PhD, professor at the School of Medicine, who has long researched hip fracturesýosteoporosisý most-feared break. Don't misunderstand. Postmenopausal women are still at greatest risk of osteoporosis, when bone-strengthening estrogen plummets. But a quarter of hip fractures occur in men, and as men live longer, the number who break a hip is steadily rising, Magaziner told a recent meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
www.tehrantimes.com

Osteopaths Enter Mainstream
The (Baltimore) Sun - March 3

Today's osteopaths branch into standard medical specialties and fill the demand for primary care doctors. Many patients don't realize they're seeing a Doctor of Osteopathy until they see the initials on a nameplate. They also might notice that the doctor is asking as many questions about their diet, exercise habits, and family life as their physical symptoms. Amelia McPeak, DO, an assistant professor at the School of Medicine, also works in the inpatient psychiatric unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center and prescribes medications. But she is also open to hypnotherapy, yoga, and exercise.
www.baltimoresun.com

Partners In Pain
Baltimore magazine - Feb. 29

A small band of specialists is making a big difference for thousands of patients suffering from chronic pain. At the University of Maryland Pain Management Center at Kernan Hospital, Thelma Wright, MD, a clinical instructor at the School of Medicine, says a lot of pain patients who come through her doors, come "to us for the magic bullet. Most have been from doctor to doctor. This is their last stop."
www.baltimoremagazine.net

The Double Edge of Digital Video at Trial
Law Technology News - Feb. 28

When he passed the street where the protesters from Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church stood, Albert Snyder diverted his eyes and tried to focus on Matthew, his only son slain in Iraq. Church members protested this funeral. Mark Graber, JD, PhD, MA, professor of law and government at the School of Law, argues that funeral picketing laws are legal―if they remain content-neutral. That may become a key factor in appeals, because the jury in Snyder v. Phelps determined that the church's messages were so "outrageous" as to cause severe emotional distress. The jury penalized the group for the content of its message rather than its behavior, says Graber, who believes that may support the defendants' appeal. Despite the video evidence of the churchýs malevolence, higher courts may overrule Judge Richard Bennett's findings in order to protect fundamental legal principles, Graber says. "The judge was determined that he would put us on trial for our religion," complained defendant/attorney Shirley Phelps-Roper. ýThese are the signs we've been holding for 17 years. We're out on these streets every day.ý If overturned, the plaintiffs could take solace in a famed 1919 dissent by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: "We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe."
www.law.com

The State of Public Bathrooms
CBS Radio, 6 a.m. - March 2

Steven Soifer, PhD, an associate professor at the School of Social Work, discussed the state of public bathrooms in a 15-minute segment that aired on numerous Baltimore AM and FM stations.