HIV infection is no longer a death sentence; it has become treatable and controllable.

About 1,000 people are estimated to be living with HIV in Lucas County, according to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, but many are not aware of their diagnosis.

On World AIDS Day, Saturday, Dec. 1, there will be a global focus on combating this chronic disease and striving for an AIDS-free generation through HIV testing, education and access to care.

Trained volunteers, educators and health-care professionals will offer free, confidential HIV testing from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Westfield Franklin Park Mall food court. More than 100 people were tested for World AIDS Day 2011 at the local event.

No appointments are necessary for the 20-minute test, which requires a mouth swab. Educational material about HIV prevention also will be handed out.

The local World AIDS Day testing event is sponsored by The University of Toledo Medical Center Ryan White Center, the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, the AIDS Resource Center of Northwest Ohio, Substance Abuse Services Inc. and Nuestra Gente Community Projects Inc.

UT Medical Center leaders accepted the 2012 Press Ganey Success Story Award on behalf of all UTMC employees at Press Ganey’s annual National Client Conference earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

“This is an outstanding achievement that is only possible when a team of extraordinary people work together every day for something larger than themselves,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor and executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs, and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “Thanks to the efforts of all at UTMC, people in northwest Ohio have access to some of the best care available.”

Dr. Scott Scarborough, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, spoke to representatives from hundreds of health-careorganizations about the initiative he led while UTMC senior vice president and executive director.

“I’ve moved over to Main Campus, but I’m so proud of the staff and how far we’ve come as an organization in such a short amount if time,” Scarborough said. “They have worked diligently, especially during the last two years; to be recognized in this way suggests that what they’re doing is really paying off.”

UTMC was one of only nine awardees this year out of the 170 facilities that submitted information about quality improvement initiatives. Press Ganey is the health industry’s recognized leader in health-care performance improvement and works with more than 10,000 health-care organizations and 2,600 hospitals nationwide.

Read the narrative summarizing UT’s journey and click here to watch a video highlighting UTMC’s accomplishments.

“For the community, it’s important to see that an organization of this kind is committed to treating the patient as an individual and ensuring that they have as positive an experience as they can possibly have,” said Patrick Ryan, chief executive officer of Press Ganey, during his visit to UTMC earlier in the year.

“We still have a long way to go, and we’re looking forward to the next level of our work to get there, but it’s nice to have someone recognize you along the way,” said Ioan Duca service excellence officer for the University. “We still have a lot of work to do to get to where we ultimately want to be.”

UTMC leaders say the hospital now plans to begin a concept called “Team Care,” which will bring physicians, residents, medical students, nurses and nurse management together to provide more team-based patient care.

“This is not about any one person; this is not about any one particular charge,” Duca said. “This is about the UTMC family.”

Teachers across the country have less than two years to revamp their lessons to meet the new core curriculum standards that go into effect for the 2014-15 school year.

The Common Core State Standards, adopted by nearly all states including Ohio and Michigan, is an effort to set consistent and clear education standards that students are expected to learn across the United States.

To help teachers prepare, The University of Toledo Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service is hosting a literacy consultant to discuss changes in the writing curriculum standards.

Tammy Rhomberg, a National Literacy Consultant for Zaner-Bloser, will give the free presentation “21st Century Writing to Meet the Common Core State Standards Across the Curriculum: The What, The How, and The Why” at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4 in Nitschke Auditorium on the UT Main Campus.

“Strong K-12 education is important for every person in the community, not just the students and their parents, and The University of Toledo is eager to support efforts to provide students the best education possible,” said Leigh Chiarelott, professor and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. “There are a great number of changes to the core curriculum standards in order to get every state on the same page and UT is looking forward to helping local teachers update their curriculum accordingly.”

Rhomberg has more than 31 years of educational experience including teaching reading and serving as a reading specialist and reading intervention coordinator. As a national literacy consultant for educational publisher Zaner-Bloser, her focus is to provide professional development to educators across the Midwest.

The two-hour presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session. The writing strategies Rhomberg will present include incorporating the six important traits of effective writing, using rubrics to guide student writing, modeling grade level appropriate anchors, guiding the writing process, embedding grammar and conventions into writing instruction, and engaging students in applying strategies to their own writing.

The presentation is geared toward teachers in grades kindergarten through eight, as well as interventionists and administrators. The event is free but seating is limited. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by Wednesday, Nov. 28 via email to APD@utoledo.edu.

The UT Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service Academy of Professional Development is working with Zaner-Bloser to provide additional professional development opportunities for area teachers in the future.

The University of Toledo will conclude its recognition of the national Joining Forces week with an open house Friday to invite members of the community to learn about the UT Military Service Center.

The Military Service Center, located in Rocket Hall Room 1529, is the main point of contact for students, staff and faculty veterans or those who are still serving. The open house will be 1-2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16.

Members of the Toledo community are invited to stop by to meet the staff, including VA certifying official Cheryl Karnikowski; representatives from the Toledo VET Center, one of eight centers in Ohio that provides a broad range of counseling, outreach and referral services to eligible veterans in order to help them make a satisfying post-war readjustment to civilian life; and Brittany Powers, a social worker from the Department of Veterans Affairs, who regularly meets with student veterans to talk about resources, including VA health care and the new Toledo Community Based Outpatient Clinic located on the Health Science Campus.

The UT Military Service Center assists with admission applications, GI Bill processing, military transcripts, registering for financial aid, career assistance and more.

For more information about the center, visit www.utoledo.edu/call/military.

The open house is the final event this week in recognition of the national Joining Forces week to highlight the research and services available on campus to those who have served our nation.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden have helped organize Joining Forces week nationally, honoring veterans for their service and working to ensure those returning from the battlefield have the economic and health care they deserve.

For more information on the national Joining Forces initiative visit www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces.

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences is exploring a change in curriculum to enhance the education of students in relation to veterans.

The curriculum update would train future physicians to ask a few simple questions that could help better meet the physical and emotionalneeds of veterans and their families.

A “Joining Forces in Teaching for Better Care of Veterans” panel discussion and question-and-answer session will explore the curriculum changes and responding to the needs of veterans at noon Thursday, Nov. 15 in Collier Building Room 1230.

Panelists include:

• Dr. Marijo Tamburrino, professor of psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry
• Dr. Thomas Sodeman, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology
• Second-year medical student and U.S. Army veteran Robert Roether

The half-hour event will be moderated by Kathy Vasquez, UT associate vice president for government relations and director of the UT and Ohio Area Health Education Center programs.

The panel discussion is one of a series of events the week of Nov. 12 in recognition of the national Joining Forces week to highlight the research and services available on campus to those who have served our nation.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden have helped organize Joining Forces week nationally, honoring veterans for their service and working to ensure those returning from the battlefield have the economic and health care they deserve.

UT will host its final event Friday, Nov. 16 with an open house for the UT Military Service Center, which is the main point of contact for students, staff and faculty veterans or those who are still serving. The open house will be 1-2:30 p.m. in Rocket Hall Room 1529.

For more information on the national Joining Forces initiative visit www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIcebqcXCxI

William Maltese has discovered a new way to kill aggressive brain cancer cells.

Patients diagnosed with the most common and most deadly type of brain tumor currently have few options. Even the most aggressive surgery to remove the Glioblastoma Multiforme tumor mass leaves microscopic residual tumor cells behind that migrate to another part of the brain where it grows again.

Oncologists need a new way to treat this invasive and fast growing tumor, which doesn’t respond to radiation or chemotherapy, and a University of Toledo researcher might have found it.

William Maltese, PhD, professor and chair of the UT Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, has discovered a new way to kill cells that he has named methuosis, which is from the Greek “to drink to intoxication.” Rather than the common cell death method of apoptosis, which can be triggered with radiation and drugs that cause DNA damage, prompting the cell to shrink and disintegrate, this new form of cell death causes the cell to take on liquid until it explodes.

“The average survival rate for adults diagnosed with this type of tumor is only about 1½ years. Next to pancreatic cancer, this is the most deadly type of cancer and the current treatments we have are ineffective,” Maltese said. “We need to be aggressive in our research to achieve a breakthrough. There are treatments for other types of cancer that we certainly can improve upon, but we need to make it a priority to find something that works for these patients who now have very few options.”

Unlike apoptosis, this new methuosis cell death pathway does not occur naturally. But Maltese and his research team have found an appropriate drug-like molecule to induce it. A patent application is in process on the compound.

Early lab tests show that methuosis is effective in destroying Glioblastoma Multiforme cells that have become resistant to the front-line drug, temozolomide, but more research needs to done to determine if molecules that induce this form of cell death might be useful for treating cancer patients.

Maltese

Maltese recently received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his research. The next step is to find the best way to target the molecule to only induce the cell death in tumor cells and not normal cells. Biomarker research aimed at identifying the specific tumor proteins that are targeted by the death-inducing molecule will help to achieve this goal, Maltese said.

The UT research team also will investigate the most effective way to treat the tumor, which could include local delivery at the surgery site when the tumor is removed or with a specific drug formula that can be given intravenously and is able to get through the blood-brain barrier.

For more information contact Meghan Cunningham at 419.530.2410 or meghan.cunningham@utoledo.edu.

The Center for International Studies and Programs is celebrating International Education Week, Nov. 12-16, which serves as a reminder that university campuses play a special part in shaping global awareness.

The community is encouraged to explore the value of education abroad, the richness that international students and faculty bring to classrooms, and the benefits of all international programs on campus.

“This week is a good opportunity for the campus community to think about being an international leader and to take a few steps into the global environment by attending an International Education Week event,” said Dr. Sammy Spann, assistant provost for international studies and programs.

“This week will be packed full of fun academic opportunities, such as Passport registration day, International Village, Crossing Borders film screening, our first ever international photo contest, and you can even roll your own sushi. And there is more, this week provides the campus community with several opportunities to meet international students and scholars, try international food, and prepare for experiential learning outside the country.”

The week’s events include:

Wednesday, Nov. 14

• Sushi demonstration, 11 a.m. to noon, Student Union Trimble Student Lounge. See Chef Jeung from Taruman Sushi in action.
• You Went Where? Tips From Students Who Went Abroad, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Student Union Room 2591. Talk to students and alumni about their travel abroad experiences.
• Film Screening, “Crossing Borders,” 7:30 p.m., Memorial Field House Room 2100. Follow four Moroccan and four American college students as they travel through Morocco and confront implications between Islam and the West. A guided discussion will follow the film.

Thursday, Nov. 15

• International Village, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Student Union Auditorium. International Student Association members will showcase their cultures by serving food and performing. Tickets are $7.99 for UT students and $9.99.
• Camp Adventure: Travel the World and Work With Children, 5 to 6 p.m., Snyder Memorial Building Room 1100. Find out how you can impact the lives of U.S. military children.

Friday, Nov. 16

• UT Professors Teaching Abroad, 10 to 11 a.m., Snyder Memorial Building Room 1100. Thinking about teaching outside of the United States? Hear more from faculty who have done just that.

Click here for a complete list of International Education Week events.

Under a new and expanded educational and research partnership, The University of Toledo and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are collaborating closely to improve human performance as well as the outcomes of medical care.

Areas of collaboration include modeling and simulation, biomarker and neuroscience research, the study of post-traumatic stress, and bio-engineering. With the goal of understanding and improving human effectiveness, UT and Wright Patterson scientists and researchers are studying biomarkers and their relationship to human performance such as fatigue and stress.

Air Force Col. Douglas Hodge, Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, UT chancellor and executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs, and Dr. Pamela J. Boyers, director of the UT Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center, will lead a tour of the simulation center and, with their colleagues, describe some of the initiatives underway at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14 in the lower level of the Collier Building.

“The University has been a longtime supporter of the armed forces and we are excited about this increased level of collaboration with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” Boyers said. “Not only can we support the military mission through testing devices and examining training techniques, but our UT students also get the opportunity to learn from their researchers in Dayton.”

The current first phase of the UT Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center is a 12,000-square-foot space in the lower level of the Collier Building that features patient simulators, a 3-D CAD Wall and an iSpace 3-D immersive environment, among other technology.

The university broke ground this year on a new $36 million facility that will house the existing simulation technologies and allow for expansion into a variety of educational disciplines. Slated to open in February 2014, the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center will be the first in the nation to incorporate three integrated simulation centers: a progressive anatomy and surgical skills center, an advanced simulation center and the virtual immersive reality center.

The tour is part of a series of events hosted by The University of Toledo in recognition of Veterans Day and the national Joining Forces initiative to serve America’s military families.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden have helped organize Joining Forces week nationally, honoring veterans for their service and working to ensure those returning from the battlefield have the economic and health care they deserve. For the week of Nov. 12, UT is highlighting the research and services available on campus to those who have served our nation.
The schedule of events at UT for the remainder of the week is:

• Thursday, Nov. 15 — “Joining Forces in Teaching for Better Care of Veterans,” a panel discussion along with a question-and-answer session featuring Tamburrino, Dr. Thomas Sodeman, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, and second-year medical student and U.S. Army veteran Robert Roether, is scheduled from noon to 12:30 p.m. in Collier Building Room 1230. The panel discussion will focus on how UT’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences is exploring a change in curriculum to enhance the education of students in relation to veterans. Learn how training future physicians to ask a few simple questions could help better meet the physical and emotional needs of veterans and their families.
• Friday, Nov. 16 — The University of Toledo’s Military Service Center, the main point of contact for students, staff and faculty veterans or those who are still serving, will hold an open house from 1-2:30 p.m. in Rocket Hall Room1529. Stop by to meet the staff, including VA certifying official Cheryl Karnikowski; representatives from the Toledo VET Center, one of eight centers in Ohio that provides a broad range of counseling, outreach and referral services to eligible veterans in order to help them make a satisfying post-war readjustment to civilian life; and Brittany Powers, a social worker from the Department of Veterans Affairs, who regularly meets with student veterans to talk about resources, including VA health care and the new Toledo Community Based Outpatient Clinic located on the Health Science Campus.

For more information on the national Joining Forces initiative visit www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces.

Media Coverage
13 ABC, WTOL 11 and WNWO (Nov. 19, 2012)

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden have helped organize Joining Forces week nationally, honoring veterans for their service and working to ensure those returning from the battlefield have the economic and health care they deserve. For the week of Nov. 12, UT is highlighting the research and services available on campus to those who have served our nation.

Who/what: Dr. Marijo Tamburrino, professor of psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, will discuss some of the preliminary findings she and her colleagues have discovered in a long-term survey of risk and resiliency and post-traumatic stress disorder among Ohio Army National Guard service members who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, veterans will join Dr. Tamburrino to share their experiences with PTSD.

Where/when: 10:30 a.m. in Collier Building Room 1210 on Health Science Campus.

The schedule for the remainder of the week is:

• Wednesday, Nov. 14 — Leaders from The University of Toledo and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will give a tour of the UT Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center at 11 a.m. on the lower level of the Collier Building. The UT and Wright-Patterson partnership will highlight the use of science and research to study the biomarkers for health concerns such as fatigue and stress, improving human performance, strengthening casualty care and more.
• Thursday, Nov. 15 — “Joining Forces in Teaching for Better Care of Veterans,” a panel discussion along with a question-and-answer session featuring Tamburrino, Dr. Thomas Sodeman, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, and second-year medical student and U.S. Army veteran Robert Roether, is scheduled from noon to 12:30 p.m. in Collier Building Room 1230. The panel discussion will focus on how UT’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences is exploring a change in curriculum to enhance the education of students in relation to veterans. Learn how training future physicians to ask a few simple questions could help better meet the physical and emotional needs of veterans and their families.
• Friday, Nov. 16 — The University of Toledo’s Military Service Center, the main point of contact for students, staff and faculty veterans or those who are still serving, will hold an open house from 1-2:30 p.m. in Rocket Hall Room1529. Stop by to meet the staff, including VA certifying official Cheryl Karnikowski; representatives from the Toledo VET Center, one of eight centers in Ohio that provides a broad range of counseling, outreach and referral services to eligible veterans in order to help them make a satisfying post-war readjustment to civilian life; and Brittany Powers, a social worker from the Department of Veterans Affairs, who regularly meets with student veterans to talk about resources, including VA health care and the new Toledo CommunityBased Outpatient Clinic located on the Health Science Campus.

For more information on the national Joining Forces initiative visit www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces.

Media Coverage
13 ABC, WTOL 11 and WNWO (Nov. 19, 2012)

Freshmen back to live on campus in 2013-14 are eligible for 25 percent housing discount

Responding to nationwide concerns that higher education is increasingly unaffordable for students, The University of Toledo will announce a series of aggressive measures to help ensure a college degree remains accessible at a news conference at 11 a.m., Friday, Nov. 9, at the Crossings Residence Hall on Main Campus. The measures are:

• Free on-campus housing for spring 2013 for all new transfer students who come to UT for the semester beginning Jan. 7, 2013 and transfer 12 or more credit hours. Students also must enroll full-time at UT and take 12 or more credit hours during Spring 2013.
• Freezing all undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2013-2014 academic year, including housing, meal plans and general fees.
• A 25 percent housing discount for current, full-time (12 credit hours or more) freshmen living on campus this year who return to live in the residence halls for the 2013-14 academic year as sophomores.Students must have earned a 2.5 GPA or higher and 24 or more earned credit hours.

“Ever since our tuition freeze guarantee in 2007 that led to a state-wide, two-year freeze at public universities for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 academic years, The University of Toledo has led efforts to keep higher education in Ohio affordable,” UT President Lloyd Jacobs said.

“The world is changing too fast for higher education institutions to make incremental changes and expect to stay relevant to theneeds of students and families,” Jacobs said. “We are making transformational moves and those universities that don’t won’t exist in the next decade. Change is what students and families are looking for as they choose universities.”

UT continues to offer merit and need-based financial aid packages, including a program that uses scholarships to offset out of statecharges to enable academically well-prepared students from Michigan the ability to attend UT at in-state costs.

Established in 1872, The University of Toledo is home to 21,500 students across 13 colleges and six Ohio campuses. The University offers more than 230 doctoral, professional, graduate and undergraduate programs. Nearly 350 student athletes comprise 15 Division 1 Rocket athletic teams. UT has earned national and international acclaim for its expertise in solar and advanced renewable energy, environmental sciences, astronomical research and translational research and biomarkers.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Nov. 9, 2012)
The Independent Collegian (Nov. 9, 2012)
The Independent Collegian (Nov. 14, 2012)
The Independent Collegian (Nov. 14, 2012)
The Blade (Nov. 15, 2012)
Conklin & Company (Dec. 9, 2012)