On Tuesday, March 7th Physiology trainee Erica Weekman successfully defended her dissertation and earned her doctoral degree.

"Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment"

Doctoral Committee Members 
Dr. Donna Wilcock
Department of Physiology, Mentor

Dr. Steve Estus
Department of Physiology

Dr. Elizabeth Head
Department of Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences

Dr. Joe Abisambra
Department of Physiology

Amy Hall celebrated her son’s first haircut appointment and the moment her daughter permitted a hug. For parents of children with autism spectrum disorders, even small gestures and slight behavioral changes count as developmental breakthroughs. Hall’s son Jacob, who was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder at age 2, once spiraled into emotional outbursts when anyone tried to touch his hair. Hall and behavioral therapists at the Highlands Center for Autism in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, rehearsed Jacob’s first visit to the barbershop.

By Josh Shepherd

Each year in the life of UK HealthCare, there are moments in which physicians and staff exemplify the very best aspects of patient and family-centered care. Dr. Sibu Saha, division chief of UK Cardiothoracic Surgery, wants to do more than just recognize those exceptional moments – he wants to reward them. In that spirit, he has created an endowment to fund a set of annual awards called The Saha Patient-Centered Care Awards.

“Making the Rounds” is an innovative series of short videos produced by UK HealthCare marketing to profile physicians, nurses, and allied health providers at work with the University of Kentucky. The project has been ongoing since September 2016.

Among the profiles are four surgeons affiliated with the UK Department of Surgery.

To access the entire archive of “Making the Rounds” videos, visit the UK HealthCare blog.

By Josh Shepherd

The United States Patent Office granted inventors Dr. Dongfong Wang and Dr. Jay Zwischenberger their fifth patent for a medical device in October of 2016.

Dr. Wang, Director of the Artificial Organ Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, and Dr. Zwischenberger, chair of the UK Department of Surgery, have collaborated on the invention of a number of medical devices in the course of their long professional association.

By Josh Shepherd

The UK Surgery Shenanigans team increased its participation and fundraising to Kentucky Special Olympics for the annual 2017 Polar Plunge on Saturday morning, February 18. Three team members raised over $400 in charitable contributions, but only two went the distance and jumped into the pool.

On Friday, March 17, the UK College of Medicine will host a Match Day Ceremony for the Class of 2017 at the Keeneland Entertainment Center. The ceremony is part of the National Match Day when graduating medical students across the country learn where they will go for residency training, which can last anywhere between three to seven years. Students will learn where they have matched surrounded by their family, friends, faculty members and fellow students.

In October 2016, a team of UK Department of Radiology faculty radiologists, Drs. Francesca Beaman, Joseph Owen, Margaret Szabunio and Marianna Zagurovskaya (team leader), traveled to the developing country of Kazakhstan to enrich Radiology education. They conducted a 10-day multi-subspecialty Radiology seminar for radiologists-in-training and practicing radiologists. The seminar was hosted by The Kazakh Institute of Oncology and Radiology (KIOR) in the city of Almaty. It was initiated by Dr. Zagurovskaya under the auspices of the RAD-AID Kazakhstan Chapter started in 2016.