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WHSC News Releases for December


December 27, 2002 Emory Physician Heads New Geriatrics Center At Grady Memorial Hospital
Jonathan M. Flacker, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital, is the medical director of the new Emma I. Darnell Geriatrics Center at Grady. The center, which opened Dec. 19, was built to provide better comprehensive medical services for elderly patients. It is named in honor of Fulton County Commissioner Emma Darnell.
FULL STORY
December 26, 2002 Emory Physicians Study Patients' Preferences Regarding End of Life Care
For many individuals, facing death is a daunting reality. Discussing one’s preferences about end-of-life care while in good health is therefore all the more important. At Grady Memorial Hospital, Alexia Torke, MD, assistant professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, William Branch, MD, Carter Smith Senior Professor at Emory University School of Medicine and Division Director of General Medicine at Grady, and William Sexson, MD, associate dean for clinical affairs and chair of the Grady Ethics Committee, recently spearheaded a research study exploring hospitalized patients’ thoughts and preferences about end-of-life care.
FULL STORY
December 20, 2002 Emory Physician To Study Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Patients
Bennett Lee, M.D., clinical instructor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital, will soon begin conducting a study to examine the use of complementary and alternative healthcare among African-American patients at Grady Hospital. The study, scheduled to begin in January 2003, will survey 200 patients in the hospital’s general medical clinics to determine whether socioeconomic status, quality of life and spirituality play a vital role in patients seeking alternative healthcare.
FULL STORY
December 17, 2002 Emory Medicine, Children's Healthcare Enhance Collaboration
Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are taking major steps –- moving forward on a new Emory pediatrics building and creation of a new joint leadership structure -- to further enhance the institutions’ 46-year partnership and shared mission. The steps also are intended to strengthen the three-way collaboration between Emory, Children’s, and the community physicians who are part of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
FULL STORY
December 17, 2002 Great Teachers Lecture Series: "How We Remember, Why We Forget"
Having spent much of his scientific career studying the brains of human patients and non-human primates, neuroscientist Stuart M. Zola, PhD, has achieved remarkable insights into one of the brain’s most essential but elusive functions: memory. Our memories are more fluid and malleable than we may realize, and false memories can seem astonishingly real, as Dr. Zola will demonstrate. But it is actually the loss of the ability to remember, known as amnesia, that has helped scientists unlock the secrets of memory.
FULL STORY
December 17, 2002 Avoid Holiday Heart Syndrome:
Keep These Heartwarming Days Heart Healthy

Over the past several years, research has mounted suggesting that moderate consumption of alcohol, especially wine, may help prevent coronary
artery disease. "However, alcohol in excess is anything but good for your heart health," says cardiologist Douglas Morris, MD, Director of the Emory Heart Center.
FULL STORY
December 13, 2002 Don't Gain Weight Over the Holidays:
It Will Do Your Heart Good

If the words "plump" and "stuffed" and "full of goodies" make you think of holiday turkeys and buffet tables, you might be better off thinking
about your waist line. Several studies show that pounds packed on over the holidays are rarely lost. In fact, excess toasting to the New Year and gobbling goodies may be reasons Americans are getting fatter and staying fatter. According to two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, Americans are now heavier than ever --- and nearly a third of us are now classified as obese.
FULL STORY
December 13, 2002 Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Seen As Way To Make Hospital Safer For Grady Patients
An Emory University School of Medicine hospitalist at Grady Memorial Hospital has helped develop and implement clinical guidelines for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis, a protective treatment that helps prevent blood clots from forming.
FULL STORY
December 9, 2002 Emory's Center for Rehabilitation Medicine Celebrates 25th Anniversary, Senator Cleland Serves as Guest of Honor
Emory University Hospital’s Center for Rehabilitation Medicine (CRM), rich in history, tradition, and success, celebrates 25 years of helping patients to overcome their disabilities today. A ceremony will be held at 10 am at the CRM to commemorate the center’s 25th anniversary. Since 1977, the CRM has been committed to achieving excellence through research, education and clinical services alike, a mission that has remained intact throughout the years.
FULL STORY
December 9, 2002 Watch Out for Children's Eyes Over Holidays: Safety Tips from Emory Eye Center
"Watch it! You'll put your eye out!" That decades-old saying has a lot of credibility according to many ophthalmologists, particularly around the holidays. Toys or athletic equipment with flying parts or sharp objects may make your children happy, but they also can be an accident waiting to happen.
FULL STORY
December 5, 2002 Emory University Names First Rosalynn Carter Chair in Mental Health
Benjamin G. Druss, MD, MPH, will become the first Rosalynn Carter Chair in Mental Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, effective December 31st, 2002. He joins Emory from Yale University, where he is an associate professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health and the director of Mental Health Policy Studies.
FULL STORY
December 5, 2002 Signaling Pathway in Melanoma Could Provide Target for Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment
Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a signaling pathway that is turned on when benign moles turn into early-stage malignant melanoma. The pathway could provide a new target for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the most lethal form of skin cancer. The research was reported in the December issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
FULL STORY
December 4, 2002 Continued Research on Lymphatic Filariasis is Essential for Success of Global Elimination of Debilitating Disease
A global public-private partnership sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) has resulted in significant progress over the past five years in reaching the goal of eliminating lymphatic filariasis (LF) –– a profoundly disfiguring disease, caused by a mosquito-borne parasite, that is endemic in 80 countries.
FULL STORY
December 4, 2002 Roster Management System Proven Successful With Increasing Patient Retention
at Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital

A new computerized system designed to track and manage all children enrolled in the Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Primary Care Clinic has yielded successful results, according to Terri McFadden, M.D., a pediatrician at Hughes Spalding and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. McFadden helped develop the system.
FULL STORY





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