Spokane WWAMI Director Candidates to Make Presentations

SPOKANE, Wash.—Three candidates for the WWAMI medical education director position at Washington State University Spokane will visit Spokane this August and September to deliver public lectures on their medical research as part of the interview process.

WWAMI is the five-state collaborative medical school partnership between the University of Washington School of Medicine and the states of Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. It makes medical education accessible to Northwest students through decentralizing education and sharing existing facilities and personnel.

All presentations will be held on the Riverpoint Campus in the Phase I Classroom Building at 668 North Riverpoint Boulevard, in the Auditorium, room 122. They are free and open to the public. Visitors should park at a meter or obtain a day pass from Parking Services in the South Campus Facility at 410 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.

Kenneth Roberts, associate professor at the University of Minnesota in the Departments of Urologic Surgery and Integrative Biology & Physiology, will give his lecture Tuesday, Aug. 28. The talk, “Role of the Epididymis in Sperm Maturation and Function,” will be from 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Roberts received a doctorate in biochemistry from Washington State University in 1989 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in 1993 at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in the Division of Reproductive Biology. He began his career as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1993. His area of research is sperm maturation, function and fertilization with application to male infertility and contraception. He is a member of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, the American Society of Andrology, the Society for Basic Urologic Research and the American Urological Association.

Phillip Pekala, professor and interim chair for the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine, will give his lecture Tuesday, Sept. 4. The talk, “Control of Adipocyte Differentiation:  Influence of C/EBPb and the RNA Binding Protein HuR,” will be from 11a.m.- noon.

Pekala received a doctorate in biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1978 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Physiological Chemistry in 1981. His faculty appointment at East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine began in 1981. His area of research is RNA binding protein involvement in cellular differentiation: mRNA transport, control of translation and mRNA stability. He is a member of the American Society of Biological Chemists and Molecular Biologists and the American Diabetes Association.

Mark Opp, professor at the University of Michigan in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Molecular & Integrative Physiology, will give his lecture Tuesday, Sept. 11. The talk, “Why Do We Sleep Differently When We Are Sick?” will be from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Opp received a doctorate in zoology from Washington State University in 1987 and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Tennessee in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in 1988. Throughout his faculty career he has held appointments at the University of Tennessee, University of Texas and the University of Michigan. His area of research focuses on sleep and recovery from illness. He is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American Physiological Society, the European Sleep Research Society, the Society for Neuroscience and the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society.

About WSU Health Sciences
WSU was one of the original WWAMI partners. At WSU Pullman, in a joint program with the University of Idaho, students learn in a class of only 38 students, receiving individual attention from world-class faculty and seasoned physicians, and building close relationships with their peers. A new cohort of 20 medical students will begin their studies at WSU Spokane in the fall of 2008, thanks to funding from the legislature received in the 2007 session.

WSU Spokane is home to WSU’s system-wide Division of Health Sciences, and to professional and graduate studies and research in pharmacy, nursing, health policy and administration, exercise physiology and metabolism, and other health professions and sciences.

Spokane, the largest regional medical center between Seattle and Minneapolis/St. Paul, offers students many opportunities for hands-on professional, clinical and research experience in an urban setting with small-town quality of life.

Web sites and related information:
UW School of Medicine: www.uwmedicine.org/Education/WWAMI/
WSU WWAMI Program: www.wsu.edu/~wwami
WSU Spokane: www.spokane.wsu.edu

News release from Gov. Chris Gregoire, Dec. 14, 2006, about funding for expansion of WWAMI to WSU Spokane: www.governor.wa.gov/news/news-view.asp?pressRelease=409&newsType=1