Biomedical Sciences Symposium Draws Crowds
Date: April 20, 2011

Lina Miyakawa, one of nearly 100 presenters The 2011 Biomedical Sciences Symposium drew scores of people to the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) in Kaka’ako. Two days of poster sessions April 19 and 20 featured the research of JABSOM Faculty, Residents, Medical Students, Post-Doctoral Fellows and Researchers.

Among the nearly 100 posters was one by third year medical student Lina Miyakawa, who investigated the affects of compression stockings as a first-line treatment for patients with varicose veins. Sponsored by Fedor Lurie, Lina studied 70 patients with primary vein disease, and her findings-if confirmed-indicate people who are overweight may want to skip the one-month therapy with compression hose and go straight to surgery.

"Overweight patients with vein disease were almost three times less likely to improve using the compression hose," said Miyakawa. "However, they had equally good results from vein surgery as the patients who weighed less."

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2011 Biomedical Sciences Symposium April 19-20
Date: April 19, 2011

Tuesday's poster session drew a crowd in the Medical Education Building lobby The 2011 Biomedical Sciences Symposium runs April 19-20 at the John A. Burns School of Medicine(JABSOM) in Kaka’ako. Each day from 9-11:30 a.m., poster sessions feature the research of JABSOM Faculty, Residents, Medical Students, Post-Doctoral Fellows and Researchers. Two speaker sessions on Tuesday included the Robert T. Wong, MD Endowed Lectureship by Dr. Roger Davis of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Program in Molecular Medicine. His topic was Signal Transduction by Stress-Activated MAP Kinase. An on-line biosketch for Dr. Roger Davis is at: http://www.umassmed.edu/pmm/faculty/davis.cfm?start=Biography&faculty_id=181.

The lectures were founded with the legacy of Mrs. Jean Chow Wong, a pharmacist who worked at the National Institutes of Health until 1984. She wanted to honor her friend, Dr. Robert T. Wong, by inviting those who have made major contributions in medicine to speak at JABSOM.

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TEST of UH Emergency Alert System Today
Date: April 19, 2011

Sign up for an Emergency Alert The University of Hawai'i is conducting a TEST of the UH Alert emergency notification system today. If this were an actual emergency, this message would convey a brief description of the emergency situation, along with instructions of appropriate actions to take.

All students, faculty and staff at all 10 campuses statewide are receiving a UH Alert email and all students, faculty and staff who have signed up for text message alerts are receiving text messages via their mobile phone. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu/emergency.

To sign up to receive text message alerts, go to www.hawaii.edu/alert. During a systemwide emergency, recorded announcements are also available by calling (808) 956-0001.

Hawaii 5-2-1-0 Campaign Kicks Off
Date: April 11, 2011

5-2-1-0 Kickoff: Chancellor Hinshaw, Dean Hedges, Dr. Okihiro and campaign partners pose with donation check The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), its Department of Pediatrics, and the Hawai‘i Initiative for Childhood Obesity Research and Education (HICORE) are launching a new community campaign to prevent childhood obesity. Several local healthcare organizations are supporting this collaborative effort.

"A parent or doctor cannot do it alone," said campaign leader Dr. May Okihiro. "But a community can."

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New Estrogen Study in JAMA involves research by UH medical school’s Dr. Curb
Date: April 05, 2011

Dr. Curb's portion of the study involved 3,200 women in Hawai'i Women with past hysterectomies who suffer hot flashes may be interested in a study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study finds that estrogen therapy is safe for women in their 50’s who have had their uterus removed. Estrogen helps relieve hot flashes and some other symptoms of menopause.

The new study found that women in their 50’s who took estrogen for six or fewer years were actually less likely to die of heart attack or breast cancer than women of the same age who didn’t take the hormone supplement.

The outcomes are very different, however, for older women (in their 70’s) who have had hysterectomies. Those women were more likely to suffer heart attacks if they were taking estrogen.

The John A. Burns School of Medicine’s Dr. David Curb is a co-author of the new study, with colleagues in forty of the nation’s top research centers.

"We hope this study gives some women an opportunity to use estrogen to avoid post-menopausal symptoms," said Dr. Curb, "But they need to work closely with their own physicians and make sure the risks are carefully weighed."

According to data from the Hawai'i State Department of Health, about 16% of Hawai'i's adult women have had hysterectomies.
To see the abstract from JAMA:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/13/1305.short