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Campus Bulletin

Issue 2009-08 (August 19, 2009)

IN THIS ISSUE

 

Spokane ACCORD Trial Concludes, Positions Research Team for Additional Clinical Trials

By Judith Van Dongen

It was January 2001. The vision for WSU Spokane to become a center for health care excellence had not yet been defined. Yet, the WSU College of Pharmacy made an early contribution toward that vision that month when it enrolled its first participant in the ACCORD trial, a large clinical study of adults with type 2 diabetes and at especially high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, the ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) trial was brought to WSU by principal investigator and adjunct research professor Dr. Carol Wysham. Dr. Wysham—also an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington (UW) and section head of the Department of Endocrinology at Spokane’s Rockwood Clinic—had been approached by a colleague at UW, the regional coordinating center for the ACCORD study, about leading a site in Spokane.

“I have always been interested in prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetes, and was interested in participating in research that would materially affect the way we treat our patients,” said Dr. Wysham.

Dr. Wysham and her team concluded the ACCORD trial this June after eight years of providing treatment to Spokane-area participants. Spokane was one of 77 clinical sites in North America, enrolling 142 participants out of more than 10,000 adults participating across all sites.

The goal of the ACCORD trial was to test three treatment approaches to determine the best ways to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events (such as heart attack or stroke) in type 2 diabetes patients who are at especially high risk of cardiovascular disease. The tested approaches included intensive lowering of blood sugar levels; intensive lowering of blood pressure; and treatment of elevated cholesterol levels by a fibrate drug plus a statin drug, compared to a statin drug alone.

Although the final study results will not be published until next year, it’s clear that the hands-on care received by the Spokane participants has significally impacted their lives, which is as important to the researchers as the knowledge gained for future generations of diabetes patients. As part of the study, participants received expert care with lots of individual attention; free medications, testing supplies, and lab tests; and education on diet, exercise, and other health-related topics.

“Some of these people would not have been able to afford the medications they received through the ACCORD trial … but for a lot of people, we noticed, it wasn’t always the medications. It was just the support,” said Debbie Weeks, a College of Pharmacy research associate and Licensed Practical Nurse who has served as lead coordinator on the trial.

The national exposure gained from the ACCORD trial has paved the way for the WSU College of Pharmacy to lead other clinical trials in Spokane, establishing itself as a key player in clinical research related to the management of diabetes and its complications. Two additional clinical trials are currently enrolling participants and two others are in the planning stages.

“We will continue to try to keep WSU at the top of the minds of those planning for future diabetes, cardiovascular and kidney studies,” said Dr. Wysham.

The clinical trials research team led by Dr. Carol Wysham includes research associate Linda Kunstmann, assistant professor of pharmacotherapy Joshua Neumiller, research associate Debbie Weeks, and clinical research coordinator Shannon Yedinak. For more information on the team and its clinical studies, go the the College of Pharmacy Web site.

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Interim Dean Named at College of Pharmacy

By Lorraine Nelson, College of Pharmacy

Bill Campbell, dean and professor emeritus of the University of North Carolina and a past president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), has accepted the position of interim dean of the WSU College of Pharmacy, effective Sept. 1.

 

A search is underway for a new dean to replace James P. Kehrer, who is leaving in August to become dean of pharmacy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Campbell retired to Washington state after serving 11 years as dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to Chapel Hill, he served four years as dean of the School of Pharmacy at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.

He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmacy and pharmaceutical science from Oregon State University, a PhD in pharmaceutical science from Purdue University, and also has worked at Oregon State University, Kaiser Foundation Health Services Research Center in Portland, and the University of Washington.

Campbell served as the AACP president in 1988.

 

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Eat, Sleep, Stay Warm: How Our Bodies Find the Balance

By Cherie Winner, WSU News Service

A new study led by scientists at Washington State University shows that alternate products of a single gene help control whether an animal sleeps or stays awake, craves food or doesn’t, and maintains its body temperature or plunges deep into hypothermia.

Mice in which the preproghrelin (pre-pro-GRAY’-lin) gene had been “knocked out” behaved like normal mice as long as their surroundings were warm and they had plenty of food to eat. But when the temperature was dialed down to 17o C (62.6o F) for two days, and then their food was removed, they became inactive and their body temperature dropped so steeply they appeared to be dead.

 

“The EEG goes flat,” said James Krueger, leader of the research team, which also included new WWAMI Spokane faculty members Éva Szentirmai (first author) and Levente Kapás. “In all my years in science, I’ve never had a result this dramatic.”

The results provided new understanding about the genetic control of sleep, hunger and metabolism, and thermoregulation in a challenging environment.

Scientists from Fordham University and Baylor College of Medicine contributed to the study. Their paper, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is available online at www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0903090106.

Krueger said that in mammals, there’s a trade-off between activity and food-seeking on the one hand, and sleep on the other. The balance between them is regulated by several peptide hormones, including products of the preproghrelin gene. Normal mice that have a functional preproghrelin gene cope with lower ambient temperature and lack of food by mobilizing energy stored in their fat. The knockout mice weren’t able to do that. Their lack of a preproghrelin gene (and its products) caused no problem as long as the mice had access to food, even if their surroundings were chilled slightly; they were able to eat and use the incoming calories to keep their body temperature up. However, if their food was removed so their only source of energy was their own stores of fat, they could not stay warm. A few hours after they lost access to food, their body temperature dropped by about 4o C. Between 18 and 24 hours after food was removed, their temperature plunged by another 10o C and their brain activity flat-lined.

Since the preproghrelin gene codes for multiple products, the scientists then tried to determine which of those products was the key hormone whose absence led to the extreme temperature drop. They started with the best-known product of the preproghrelin gene, a small peptide hormone called ghrelin (GRAY’-lin) that makes us feel hungry and inhibits sleep.

To find out whether the inactivity and temperature drop of the knockout mice was due to a lack of ghrelin, the researchers produced mice lacking the gene for the ghrelin receptor (which is needed for ghrelin to function). Those mice lacked functional ghrelin but were able to maintain their body temperature just fine, even in the cold and with no food available.

“If it wasn’t ghrelin [that was responsible], what was it?” said Krueger.

The group’s attention turned to obestatin (oh-be-STAT’-in), another small hormone coded for by the preproghrelin gene. The role of obestatin has been more elusive and controversial than that of ghrelin, but an earlier experiment by Krueger and his colleagues provided a clue. When they injected obestatin into rats, the rats slept more. In the current work, the researchers rigged osmotic minipumps to deliver tiny amounts of obestatin to the knockout mice. Adding obestatin to their systems partially corrected for the lack of the preproghrelin gene. The mice were able to enter a fairly normal torpor state without letting their body temperature plummet.

Krueger said that result has convinced him that obestatin inhibits feeding behavior and promotes sleep, just the opposite of what ghrelin does. That one gene codes for products with opposing actions leads to questions for further research, such as what determines which product gets made in what amounts? And how is that related to the animal’s environmental conditions?

Understanding the links between sleep, hunger and body temperature could lead to major advances in weight control and induction of hypothermia in surgical patients, said Krueger.

Although talk of sleep, cold and suspension of feeding could also lead to speculation about hibernation, Krueger said the inactivity of knockout mice in this study differs from hibernation in key respects. For example, hibernating polar bears lower their body temperature very little, by about 1o C. And they’re not driven into hibernation by cold ambient temperatures, but by lack of food. Even if the temperature stays balmy, if they have little to eat, they will hibernate. Finally, hibernation is tightly regulated by brain hormones and circuits. The current study did not show whether the temperature drop in knockout mice was actively regulated, or the passive result of the mice simply being unable to rev up their metabolism enough to maintain their temperature in the cold.

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Power Management Software Contributes to a Greener Campus

By Judith Van Dongen & Meara Hall

If you leave your car idling for longer than a few minutes, you’re wasting both gas and money. To most of us, that’s a known fact, but there are many more not-so-apparent sources of energy waste. That computer screen you’re looking at right now is one of them.

“We all go to meetings during the day,” said Angie Earley, systems and network specialist for Washington State University Spokane’s Information Technology Department. “Some people leave their machines wide open, while others lock them down. But we never turn off our monitor during the day or shut down our computers. It’s just too much of a hassle.”

Earley, who joined WSU Spokane from Pullman this February, is in charge of a recent project initiated by the Information Technology Operations and Enterprise Services (OES) department that has brought Washington State University Spokane one step closer to sustainability: the purchase and installation of a PC power management solution called Surveyor by Seattle-based company Verdiem.

The software, which has been running on almost 700 Windows-based computers on campus since late July, reduces PC energy consumption by automatically placing computers in lower power settings when they are idle. IT staff members have the ultimate control over the program, preventing it from interfering with individual productivity or off-hours computer maintenance.

Based on data collected on the first month’s use, Earley estimates that the software will reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20% per computer.

“This is a good first step for WSU Spokane IT to assist our campus with incorporating environmental sustainability initiatives into our core business practices,” said Larry Hoffman, director of Information Technology OES at WSU Spokane.

The new software will also provide financial benefits for WSU Spokane. After the first year of initial set-up and maintenance on 783 computers, Hoffman estimates that the software will save more than $5,000 annually.

According to Hoffman, the project has been in the works for a while. “We had considered doing this a couple of years ago, but chose to wait until we had the time and appropriate funding,” said Hoffman.

Fortunately, funding fell into place through a business incentive program offered by Avista Utilities, which will reimburse WSU Spokane $10 for every computer running the Surveyor software. This covers two-thirds of the purchase cost for each license.

“This is a win-win situation for energy savings, WSU, state tax payers, and the environment,” Hoffman said.

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2009 Seed Grant Recipients Announced

By Judith Van Dongen

Seven WSU Spokane faculty members have been granted funding for their research projects under the 2009 WSU Spokane Faculty Seed Grant Program.

The program supports the development of faculty research and scholarship by funding projects that have a high potential to result in publications, professional presentations, and extramural funding. It has helped several past seed grant recipients secure funding from highly competitive national sources, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Funding for this year’s Faculty Seed Grant Program runs from September 1, 2009, through August 31, 2010, and benefits the following faculty members and research projects:

FACULTY

COLLEGE/UNIT

PROJECT TITLE/SUMMARY

Melissa Ahern

Pharmacy

Building Washington’s Capacity to Manage Chronic Pain: A Retrospective Data Collection and Analysis Collaborative between WSU and the Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS)

This study will retrospectively compare two different approaches to chronic pain management employed by Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS) clinics: an approach in which patients receive usual care through their primary care physicians and a novel approach in which pharmacists, as part of a multidisciplinary team, play a major role in monitoring and adjusting pain medication therapy. The goal is to determine whether the latter approach, which has been in place for more than a year, improves outcomes such as ER visits, pain scores, use of opiates, total clinic visits, and missed appointments.

Cynthia Fitzgerald

Nursing

Women Combat Veterans: Health Care Needs, Preferences and Experiences

Women comprise more than 14% of all active duty soldiers serving in the present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and are the fastest growing group of military veterans in the United States. This study seeks to identify the unique healthcare needs of women combat veterans, including specific physical and mental health problems associated with or resulting from service in the military and/or combat settings.

Levente Kapas

WWAMI

The Interaction between Metabolic and Light Signals in the Regulation of Sleep and Metabolism

Research has suggested that physiological rhythms are driven by multiple biological clocks in the body, including one that responds to light stimuli and another that synchronizes biological rhythms to food availability. This study proposal involves the development of an animal model that can be used to test the following hypothesis regarding the interaction of metabolic and light signals  in the regulation of sleep and metabolism: although the activities of the two clocks mentioned earlier are normally in-phase, under certain conditions the clocks may drive different rhythms that lead to the dissociation of the regulation of metabolism and sleep, resulting in sleep disorders, as well as metabolic disorders such as obesity, type II diabetes, night-eating syndrome and metabolic syndrome.

Susan Marsh

Exercise Physiology & Metabolism

The Role of O-GlcNAc in Exercise-Mediated Cardio Protection

Acute and short-term exercise provides protection against myocardial infarction (heart attack) by up-regulating protective proteins in the heart’s muscle cells. Acute attachment of an N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) sugar on proteins also protects the heart. This study will determine if exercise increases cardiac O-GlcNAc and whether an increase in O-GlcNAc is required for exercise-mediated protection during myocardial infarction.

Julie Postma

Nursing

Building Environmental Health Capacity in a Farm Worker Community: A Photovoice Project

The purpose of this study is to build trust between WSU researchers and personnel from a migrant and community health center to promote children’s environmental health in a farmworker community. Through the use of photovoice (a methodology in which subjects are asked to represent their community by taking photographs), lay health promoters will identify local assets and concerns related to children’s environmental health (EH) to educate community leaders and outside researchers about EH issues from a community perspective.

Nancy Potter

Speech and Hearing Sciences

Speech and Language Characteristics of Adults with Galactosemia

This study examines adults with galactosemia, a rare metabolic disease that is fatal if not detected within the first weeks of life. People with galactosemia lack the enzyme needed to break down the milk sugar galactose, and—despite early detection during mandatory newborn screening and the elimination of dairy from the diet—suffer from long-term neurologic complications, including persistent speech and language disorders. This study will take place at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and is the first multidisciplinary study of adults with galactosemia.

Jonathan Wisor

WWAMI

Minocycline Attenuates Biochemical Responses to Sleep Loss

This study explores the link between chronic sleep deprivation and metabolic syndrome, obesity, and other disease states characterized by inflammation. Specifically, it seeks to demonstrate that activation of the immune function of microglial cells in the brain is a necessary precondition for pro-inflammatory changes to occur in response to sleep loss. This follows from as-of-yet-unpublished studies that have found that the drug minocycline, which suppresses microglial activation, also weakens the electroencephalographic (EEG) response to sleep deprivation. The researchers will complement the EEG data by assessing the effect of minocycline on biochemical responses to sleep deprivation within the brain.

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Meier Moving Office, Research lab to Spokane

By Lorraine Nelson, College of Pharmacy

Kathryn Meier, the director of the Program in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology—formerly the Program in Health Sciences—will be moving from WSU Pullman to the Health Sciences Building at WSU Spokane in September.

Meier will be moving her faculty office and her research laboratory. Her research, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute, concerns the molecular mechanisms by which lipid metabolites enhance growth, metastasis, and survival of cancer cells. Her laboratory also studies the effects of dietary supplements  on signal transduction in cancer cells, using model systems that include lymphoma, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancer cell lines. Research associate professor Julia Zhang will also be making the move with the lab, and visiting professor Jae-Bong Park from South Korea will be spending his sabbatical in Meier’s lab in Spokane.

Meier's move is another step toward consolidation of WSU’s two programs in dietetics. The four-year General Dietetics Program on the Pullman campus will be phased out when the last of its students graduate in May 2012.

The WSU Spokane exercise physiology and metabolism (ExMet) program incorporates training in both dietetics and exercise physiology. The coordinated program (CP) in dietetics was designed as a minor for ExMet students, who can take one additional year of classes and then complete 1,200 hours of supervised practice experience to become eligible to take exams to become registered dieticians and/or certified exercise specialists.

The Pullman dietetics students who were accepted into the CP did their supervised practice in Tacoma, where there are three WSU faculty members. That site will be available to the Spokane students as early as Fall 2010. The consolidated dietetics program will continue to use the Madigan Army Medical Center at Tacoma as a practice site for its students, along with sites in Spokane. The increase in practice sites is allowing for expansion of the ExMet program to serve additional students.

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Exercise Science Master’s Program Reopens

By Lorraine Nelson, College of Pharmacy

After some program changes, students are once again being accepted for admission to the master’s degree program in exercise science at WSU Spokane.

Admission was closed for one year while the program went through consolidation and rearrangement of faculty assignments. It will be ready for students who want to begin their studies in fall 2010, said Kathryn Meier, director of the Program in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology.

The master’s degree program is a minimum of 34 semester hours. Course work focuses on the study of the cellular mechanisms that regulate physiological responses to exercise. Faculty members also teach in the bachelor’s degree program in exercise physiology and metabolism and in the coordinated program in dietetics.

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Cleveland Visiting Scholar Presentation—
Acting Today to Assure Tomorrow’s Nursing Workforce

By Becki Meehan

On Thursday, September 17, the WSU College of Nursing will host Peter Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN, one of the nation’s premier thought leaders on the economic impact of the national nursing workforce, as the 11th Annual Thelma L. Cleveland Visiting Scholar. Buerhaus’s presentation—Acting Today to Assure Tomorrow’s Nursing Workforce—will address key issues regarding the change in the RN workforce and the policy implications for strategic directions in education and practice over the next 10 years.

This free public event will be held in room 105 of the Nursing Building and will start with a reception at 4:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at 5:10 p.m. The lecture will be broadcast live to WSU locations in Pullman, TriCities, Vancouver, Walla Walla, and Yakima.

Buerhaus is the Valere Potter Distinguished Professor of Nursing and the director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at the Institute for Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is an active researcher in studies on the economics of the nursing workforce, health workforce forecasting, developing measures of quality of care, and determining public and provider opinions on issues involving the delivery of health care.

He has authored over 75 peer-reviewed articles regarding health services research and nursing and has advised policy makers and legislators on a wide variety of nursing health policy issues. A respected leader in healthcare, he is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and has served on the Advisory Council for NIH’s National Institute of Nursing Research.

For more information on this event, including offsite location details, parking, and Continuing Education Credits, go to http://www.nursing.wsu.edu/cvs/sept09.html.

The Cleveland Visiting Scholar program began in 1998 to honor WSU College of Nursing Dean Emeritus Dr. Thelma L. Cleveland and is made possible through an endowment in her honor. Additional support on behalf of the 2009 program has been generously provided by the following organizations who are committed to quality health care and higher education:  Washington State Nurses Association, The Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and the Inland Empire Nurses Association.

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Milestones

  • Erin Dobbins, a research associate in the College of Pharmacy, was selected as one of only eight pharmacists nationwide to attend the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Parkinson’s Disease Pharmacotherapy Traineeship at the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center, Northwestern University Finberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. During the traineeship, she worked closely with three different movement disorder neurologists and met with a social worker, physical therapist, speech therapists, and several research coordinators to discuss their perspectives on treating movement disorders. As a follow-up to the traineeship, she will submit two case reports of patients with Parkinson’s disease who she has helped. The traineeship was supported by an educational grant from Teva Neuroscience.
  • “Drugs and the Aging Body”, an article authored by Stephen Setter and Lindy Wood and published in the January/February 2009 issue of Arthritis Self-Management, was awarded a Merit Certificate in the Patient Education class by the Health Information Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for consumer health programs and materials. The awards program recognizes the best consumer health information and materials and programs from organizations throughout the nation and has several classes and categories.

 

If you or one of your colleagues or students has received a special honor or award, or reached another professional milestone, please e-mail the information to Judith Van Dongen at jcvd@wsu.edu.

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Community Connections

  • Northwest Medical Informatics Symposium, September 10 & 11
    Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS), in partnership with eHealth Initiative, will hold the Northwest Medical Informatics Symposium (NMIS) on September 10 and 11 in Spokane, Washington. A health information technology conference featuring national and regional speakers, NMIS brings together urban and rural healthcare professionals to learn about the latest in health information technology including evolving initiatives, improving patient outcomes, safety equipment and software purchasing, training, and HIPAA issues. Those interested in health information technology with emphasis on the health care delivery system in the Northwest should attend this conference. Pre-conference workshops are featured on September 8 and 9 for individuals who would like to learn more about applications. For information or to register visit www.nmis.info

  • KPBX 91.1 FM Blues Cruise with Too Slim & the Taildraggers, August 26
    Enjoy snacks, a no-host bar, and top-side dancing aboard the Mish-an-Nock on a warm summer evening on beautiful Lake Coeur D'Alene. Presented by Spokane Public Radio, this cruise will be held on August 26 from 7 to 9 p.m., with boarding starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for SPR members and $25 for non-members. Must be 21 to attend. For more details, call 1-800-328-5729 or go to http://www.kpbx.org/events/BluesCruise_09.htm.
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Personnel and Staffing Changes  

Comings:

  • Michelle Schmidt, Research Technologist 2, WWAMI, effective 7/28/09
  • Ray Gunawidjaja, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Institute for Shock Physics, effective 8/1/09
  • Christopher Padden, Business Advisor, SBDC, effective 8/1/09
  • Susan Blair, Program Assistant, College of Nursing - Undergraduate Program, effective 8/10/09
  • Chenhui Huang, Assistant Scientist, WWAMI, effective 8/16/09
  • Sally Hasher, Fiscal Tech 3, College of Nursing, effective 8/17/09
  • Curt Sande, Student Services Specialist (MESA High School Coordinator), MESA, effective 9/1/09

Goings:

  • Leah “Jesse” Peck, Instructor, IDI, effective 7/31/09
  • Dennis Snider, Utility Worker 2, FacOps, effective 9/9/09

Transitions:

  • Leslie Hall, Associate Clinical Professor, College of Education, transitioning from Pullman to Spokane, effective 8/16/09
  • Theodore Chauvin, Research Assistant Professor, WWAMI, transitioning from the School of Molecular Biosciences, effective 8/16/09
  • Judith Theodorson, Assistant Professor, Interior Design (College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resources Sciences), transitioning within IDI, effective 8/16/09

Recruitments & Searches:

  • Research Study Assistant, WIMHRT, reviewing applications as of 7/27/09
  • Communication/Public Relation Senior Coordinator, College of Nursing, reviewing applications as of 8/7/09
  • Learning Design Consultant, WIMHRT, apply at www.wsujobs.com, closes 8/17/09
  • Operations Manager, College of Nursing, apply at www.wsujobs.com, closes 8/23/09
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Way to Go!

Here's where you make someone's day a little brighter by extending your thanks for a job well done. Send your “Way to Go!” comments to Judith Van Dongen and watch for your thanks to be published in an upcoming issue of the Campus Bulletin!

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A Warm Welcome to...

...Ray Gunawidjaja, who recently joined the Applied Sciences Lab as a postdoctoral research associate. Ray was previously at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a PhD and worked as a graduate research assistant.

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The Bulletin covers news of interest to the faculty, staff, and friends of Washington State University Spokane, and associates on other WSU campuses and on the Riverpoint Campus.

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Contact Us: communications@wsu.edu, 509-358-7500 | Communications
Mailing: PO Box 1495, Spokane WA 99210-1495. Shipping: 412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., Spokane WA 99202