The University of Toledo is seeking input from the Toledo community as it undergoes its first comprehensive facilities master planning process since the 2006 merger with the Medical University of Ohio.

As part of the process, SmithGroupJJR — the consultants preparing the master plan — will host open forums this week to provide information and discuss opinions and ideas for the project with UT constituents and members of the local community.

Open forums for Toledo community members will be:
•  Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Driscoll Alumni Center Auditorium.
•  Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. in Collier Building Room 1200.

Those community forums will be preceded by forums for UT students, faculty and staff 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Driscoll Alumni Center and 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. Thursday in Collier Building.

The meetings will offer the opportunity for the community to meet the consultant team, learn about previous master planning efforts, understand the master planning process and schedule, and discuss any concerns or ideas about the campus.

In addition to the public forums, SmithGroupJJR will conduct informal interviews with students, as well as focused meetings with students, faculty, staff, senior administrators, city of Toledo staff and community members throughout the week. Students also can expect to receive a Student Life survey requesting feedback on campus housing and recreation. Consultants from Paulien & Associates space analysis firm also will perform on-site assessments of the campuses’ instructional spaces.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Oct. 13, 2015)
NBC 24 (Oct. 14, 2015)
The Blade (Oct. 15, 2015)
The Independent Collegian (Oct. 21, 2015)

The author of The Tsarnaev Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy will give a talk at The University of Toledo about what led to the events of April 15, 2013, when two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding more than 260 others.

In the manhunt following the Boston Marathon bombing, Tamerlan Tsarnaev died, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, was captured and charged on 30 federal counts.

Acclaimed Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen will discuss The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy Wednesday, Oct. 14, at noon in the Law Center McQuade Law Auditorium.

Following her free, public talk, she will sign copies of her book, which was named a Best Book of the Year by Time magazine.

An immigrant herself who came to the Boston area with her family as a teenager, Gessen returned to the former Soviet Union in her early 20s and covered firsthand the transformations that were wracking her homeland and its neighboring regions. It is there that the history of the Tsarnaev brothers began, as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era.

In her book, Gessen follows the family in their attempts to make a life for themselves in one war-torn locale after another and then, as new émigrés, in Cambridge, Mass. She reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that ensued for each of the brothers, incubating a deadly sense of mission. And she traces how such a split in identity can fuel the metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist with feet on American soil but sense of self elsewhere.

Gessen also is the author of the national best-seller The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin and Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot. Her award-winning work has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Vanity Fair and elsewhere.

Media Coverage
NBC 24 and WTOL 11 (Oct. 22, 2015)
The Blade (Nov. 17, 2015)

It has been known as the White Plague, Robber of Youth and the Graveyard Cough.

It has been a scourge for centuries, possibly killing more people than any other infectious disease.

But in the midst of the despair and horror, tuberculosis has inspired some of the greatest works of art and literature. In the French opera “La bohème,” Mimì, the heroine has tuberculosis, and Fantine in Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables” becomes ill and dies from “consumption.”

Dr. Robert Bartlett

Tuberculosis, its trail of destruction and eventual hope will be the focus of the seventh annual S. Amjad Hussain Visiting Lecture in the History of Medicine and Surgery at The University of Toledo. Dr. Robert Bartlett, professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Michigan, will present the free, public lecture, “Romance, Science and the White Plague,” at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, in the Health Education Building, Room 100, on the Health Science Campus.

“When people were dying of tuberculosis, it inspired sufferers and those witnessing the suffering to write books, poems and music about the experience,” Bartlett said. “It was truly phenomenal how they were able to take the horrific experience, which in many cases led to death, and leave us with some memorable works of art. It’s quite unusual for one specific disease to have such a footprint on art and literature.”

Tuberculosis was an epidemic in Europe and caused millions of deaths in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. While this serious disease declined after the late 19th century, it still remains a public health issue today.

Bartlett’s lecture will look at the science behind finding the cause of tuberculosis and how not knowing the source of the disease led to strange remedies.

“It affected everybody, and no one knew what caused it,” he said. “People tried all sorts of things like eating a lot of food or eating no food, drinking milk or avoiding milk or exercising a lot or not exercising at all.”

Eventually, German bacteriologist Robert Koch discovered that the bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes.

This led to the formation of sanatoriums where sufferers could stay as they recovered. These days, a series of antibiotics for at least six to nine months are used to treat patients with only a limited time in quarantine.

“Tuberculosis is still common these days, but it is treatable in most cases,” Bartlett said. “We see it occurring in people who have a low-immune response like patients with AIDS or patients who are undergoing chemotherapy.”

Bartlett was selected for this year’s lecture by a committee that included Hussain, Dr. Peter White, emeritus professor of medicine, Dr. Gerald B. Zelenock, former professor and chair of surgery, and Dr. Steven H. Selman, former professor and chair of urology. Hussain teaches and oversees the History of Medicine elective.

“History is an integral part of the human experience,” Hussain said. “Our job as teachers and scholars is to connect the present with the past by blowing away the cumulative dust of time. Unless we know the past, we can’t make sense of the present, nor can we chart a cohesive course for the future.”

Lymphedema is a painful condition that can affect women who have undergone, or are undergoing, breast cancer treatment that unfortunately, many women are never properly educated on.

Those who suffer from lymphedema, which is a lack of lymphatic drainage, experience severe swelling in their arms or other extremities. Sometimes it can be so bad that it leads to disfigurement.

“I noticed my left arm was swollen and it felt heavy, but I didn’t know it was lymphedema,” said Peggy Mercurio, a breast cancer survivor. “I also had lymphedema in my chest wall and in my back. For me, it is more bothersome but not necessarily painful. It just feels very uncomfortable.”

On Thursday, Oct. 15, the public is invited to learn about treating this condition, which is not exclusive to breast cancer survivors, during a Focus on Lymphedema educational night from 6-8 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel on the Health Science Campus of The University of Toledo. Mercurio will be available for interviews.

The free, public lecture is part of the Tie One On Awareness Lecture Series hosted by the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.

Dr. Iman Mohamed, UT professor and chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, will be one of the guest speakers talking about the causes, preventative methods and treatment for lymphedema. Lymphedema therapists from UTMC as well as ProMedica, Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center, Blanchard Valley Rehab and Wood County Hospital will be among the experts offering advice and support.

“Any patient with lymphedema can benefit from this lecture, but it is especially crucial to talk about lymphedema during October because it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” Mohamed said. “Anytime you remove or disturb a lymph node, you have the chance to suffer from lymphedema. It can happen immediately or it might take years.”

Those at risk for developing lymphedema are advised to keep the affected arm or leg elevated above the level of the heart when possible; avoid tight clothing; forgo the use of a heavy purse on the affected arm; do not use hot tubs or heating pads; and avoid heavy lifting with the affected limb.

However, sometimes lymphedema will occur anyway, and patients need options for relief. Mohamed said elastic sleeves, bandages, manual compression and exercises can help.

Mercurio uses a compression sleeve and massages to ease her discomfort.

“It is very important for people to know about lymphedema,” Mercurio said. “I put off the swelling. It would have been great to know that it wasn’t just weight gain.”

Kelly Farley, UTMC lymphedema therapist, said sometimes people just live with the condition, which is unfortunate because relief is possible. Other people aren’t educated about the possibility of the condition and, therefore, do not follow any of the precautionary measures to avoid getting lymphedema.

“Lymphedema is not curable; it is a chronic disease,” Farley said. “Patients must be committed to long-term self-care to achieve positive outcomes. Through the course of the treatment, patients are taught components that are necessary to manage the lymphedema.”

Registrations can be made by calling Renee’s Survivor Shop at 419-383-5243 or by emailing EleanorNDanaCancerCenter@utoledo.edu. Registration starts at 5:30 p.m.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (Oct. 16, 2015)
Full Plate (Oct. 14, 2015)

When trying to inspire students to succeed after college, who better to reach out to than those at the top.

“Straight Outta College: Exclusive Interviews with the Presidents” will spotlight three presidents: Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and former president of Spelman College; Dr. Sharon L. Gaber, president of The University of Toledo; and Dr. Brian Kennedy, president, director and CEO of the Toledo Museum of Art.

The free, public event will be held Friday, Oct. 9, at 10 a.m. in the Driscoll Alumni Center Auditorium.

Leaders will start by giving a brief history of their journey to their respective presidencies. Then the floor will be opened to students to ask questions about the panelists’ roads to success.

“All of our guests are very much accomplished, and we want students to walk away with the feeling that ‘I, too, can achieve just as these individuals have,’” said Dr. Willie McKether, associate professor of anthropology and associate dean in the UT College of Languages, Literature and Sciences.

Given the backgrounds of each speaker, McKether anticipates the conversations to surround strategies for student success, retention, graduation, the role of art in community building and engagement, and the importance of museums in the community.

Anyone interested in becoming an effective leader in an organization is encouraged to attend, said McKether, who also is president of Brothers on the Rise, a program that helps UT males, especially African-American and Latino, make the transition from high school to college.

In addition to Brothers on the Rise, the Straight Outta College event is presented by the UT College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences; the departments of Sociology and Anthropology, Women’s and Gender Studies, Africana Studies, and Art; Alpha Phi Boule, which is the local chapter of the service-based professional fraternity Sigma Pi Phi; the Association of Black Faculty and Staff; and the Toledo Museum of Art.

Graduates from each of The University of Toledo’s degree-awarding colleges will be recognized Friday, Oct. 9, at The University of Toledo Alumni Association’s Homecoming Gala.

Paat

The event, which annually draws sellout crowds to the Student Union Auditorium, will begin at 6 p.m.

The program features the recipients of the Alumni Association’s highest honors: the Gold T, the Blue T and the Edward H. Schmidt Outstanding Young Alum.

Dr. Richard Paat of Perrysburg is the 2015 recipient of the Gold T, which is presented to a graduate in recognition of outstanding career accomplishment.

A 1986 graduate of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Paat is one of the world’s foremost medical missionaries. Since 1994, he has led 63 medical missions and disaster relief teams that have treated nearly 100,000 patients around the world. In May, he brought a medical team into Nepal to assist in earthquake relief efforts, treating 2,000 patients in one of the most devastated regions of the country. He has gone to Indonesia after a tsunami and Biloxi, Miss., following Hurricane Katrina. He annually brings five volunteer medical teams to the Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, Tanzania and Haiti.

For more than a decade, Paat also has provided free medical care to the uninsured and homeless of the Toledo area, volunteering at a free inner-city medical clinic and running a mobile migrant worker clinic during the summer.

Guitteau

An internal medicine specialist, Paat was inducted into the International Medical Mission Hall of Fame in 2013. He’s been named Ohio Physician of the Year, has been a Jefferson Award for Public Service recipient, and has been named Catholic Physician of the Year in the United States. He also serves as faculty adviser to UT’s Students for Medical Missions organization.

Tom Guitteau of Toledo is the 2015 recipient of the Blue T, which is presented to an Alumni Association member who has made outstanding contributions to the progress and development of the association and the University. Guitteau, who served as president of the Alumni Association during the 1988-89 school year, has remained active with his alma mater since graduating from the Judith Herb College of Education with a bachelor’s degree in 1963 and a master’s degree in 1973.

Retired regional vice president of agencies for the Columbus Life Insurance Co., Guitteau served 19 years as the color commentator for UT football games on radio and television, broadcasting the team from which he earned a varsity letter as a lineman in 1962. A charter member of the President’s Club and the Heritage Society, he is a past president of the Varsity T Club and has provided financial support to a variety of campus projects, including the Koester Alumni Pavilion and the renovation of the Glass Bowl.

For the past five years, Guitteau has served as an academic mentor to UT student-athletes.

Adams

Dr. Alex Adams of Boise, Idaho, is the 2015 recipient of the Schmidt Award, which is presented to a graduate who is 35 years of age or younger in recognition of outstanding achievement in his or her field of endeavor.

Adams recently was named executive director of the Idaho State Board of Pharmacy, with responsibility for enforcing laws for 2,400 registered pharmacists in the state. Prior to that appointment, he served for nearly three years as the vice president of pharmacy programs and vice president of foundation research programs for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores in Arlington, Va. In that role, he was responsible for the foundation’s $6 million evidence-based research portfolio, as well as serving as the primary staff liaison for public health officials around the country on behalf of a trade association that represents more than 40,000 traditional community pharmacies, supermarkets and mass merchants with pharmacies.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences in 2007 and a doctorate in pharmacy in 2009. Adams and his family have established a scholarship in the College of Pharmacy.

Additional seating has been added for the Homecoming Gala this year; however, a limited number of seats remain. Tickets are $30 per person.

Call the Office of Alumni Relations at 419.530.2585 (ALUM) for more information or to make reservations.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (Oct. 22, 2015)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ MEETINGS

Monday, October 12, 2015
Driscoll Alumni Center, Schmakel Room
11:30 a.m. Clinical Affairs Committee Meeting
1:00 p.m. Academic and Student Affairs Committee Meeting
2:00 p.m. Finance and Audit Committee Meeting
2:45 p.m. Trusteeship and Governance Committee Meeting

Please note the new times for two committee meetings and the cancelation of the Oct. 14 social dinner.

Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-7832 or via email at jonathan.strunk@utoledo.edu.

A University of Toledo researcher who saw his grandfather battle Alzheimer’s disease is hoping to find better treatment options with the help of a new research grant.

Dr. Isaac Schiefer, recently appointed assistant professor in the Department of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry, has received a $100,000 New Investigator Research Grant through the Alzheimer’s Association.

Schiefer will walk in his grandpa’s honor at The Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Sunday, Oct., 18, on UT’s Main Campus. The walk will start at the Health Education Center with registration and check-in at 9:30 a.m., a ceremony at 11:30 a.m., and the walk at noon.

Dr. Isaac Schiefer

“This disease is just heart-breaking and not just for the patient,” Schiefer said. “I can remember my grandma talking with my grandpa about a memorable vacation when my grandpa said, ‘I don’t remember any of that.’ The look on my grandma’s face was crushing.”

Schiefer, a synthetic bioanalytical chemist, developed a prototype molecule, which improves memory in mice, using a $10,000 grant he received last year from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. His newest grant will allow him to further study the drug characteristics of the prototype molecule.

Schiefer said the molecule was designed to increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor, also known as BDNF.

BDNF, a protein, is important for long-term memory, and patients with Alzheimer’s disease have been shown to have less of it. Schiefer said BDNF’s ability to heal damaged brain cells could be compared to how Human Growth Hormone, known as HGH, helps athletes recover from muscle fatigue or injury.

The molecule is the first step toward a drug that could be given to Alzheimer’s patients.

“My lab designs the drugs, makes the drugs and then we test to see if they work,” Schiefer said. “A key component of my research is making a drug that can be manufactured quickly and cheaply.

“If something cures cancer, but it costs too much to make or it is hard to make or too expensive, it isn’t going to be marketable,” Schiefer said. “I want to put a drug on the market. I don’t see any reason why you can’t translate a drug from UT to the market. There are a lot of resources here. If your product is good enough, you can sell it.”

Media Coverage
13 ABC and WTOL 11 (Oct. 14, 2015)
13 ABC (Oct. 16, 2015)

Get your motor running: “Rocket Road Trip — All Roads Lead Back to UT” is the theme of the University’s Homecoming.

Roll on down West Bancroft Street for fun and spirited celebration. Homecoming week activities planned for this year include:

Tuesday, Oct. 6
• Casino Night, 7 to 10 p.m., Student Union Auditorium. Win big at this Las Vegas-style game night. Transportation will be available from 6:30 to 10:15 p.m. for students living in residence halls; stops will be made at the Transportation Center, Ottawa House, Horton International House and the Student Union. Students who bring a canned good will have a chance to win prizes; all donations will go to the UT Student Food Pantry.

Wednesday, Oct. 7
• Field Day, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Centennial Mall. Check out the free food and games.

• Homecoming Court Showcase, 7 p.m., Student Union Ingman Room. The top 10 king and queen candidates will walk the runway and show their Rocket pride. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Canned goods welcome for the UT Student Food Pantry.

Thursday, Oct. 8
• College of Business and Innovation Alumni Affiliate Dean’s Breakfast, 7:30 a.m., Toledo Club Centennial Room, 235 14th St. Speakers will be UT President Sharon L. Gaber and Dr. Gary Insch, dean of the UT College of Business and Innovation.

• National Pan Hellenic Council Talent Show, 7 p.m., Doermann Theater. Students will take the stage and perform in this competition. Canned goods welcome for the UT Student Food Pantry.

• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. Pancake Breakfast, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Horton International House.

Friday, Oct. 9
• Food Truck Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Centennial Mall. Stop by to see what these meals on wheels will serve up.

• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. I-75 Homecoming Basketball Tournament, 6 to 10 p.m., Health Education Building. Cost: $30 per team. Admission to watch the action: $3 or a canned good.

• Homecoming Alumni Gala and Awards Ceremony, 6 p.m., Student Union Auditorium. The Alumni Association will present this year’s Gold T, Blue T and Edward H. Schmidt Young Alum Award, and college and affiliate award winners will be honored. Tickets are $30 per person, $10 for children.

Saturday, Oct. 10
• The Edward C. and Helen G. Schmakel Homecoming Parade, 10:30 a.m. Sponsored by Blue Key, the parade will begin at West Bancroft Street and go to Middlesex Drive to Hughes Drive to Cheltenham Road and back on West Bancroft Street. The grand marshal for this year’s parade will be UT President Gaber.

• Alumni Tailgate, noon, William and Carol Koester Alumni Pavilion. Stop by for free hot dogs, chips and pop; beer, wine, bloody marys and Rocket fuel (vodka mixed drink) will be available for purchase with proper ID. And Five O’Clock Rush will play live music.

• Toledo Rockets vs. Kent State Golden Flashes Homecoming Game, 3 p.m., Glass Bowl. Cheer on the Rockets and see the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen. Tickets range from $25 to $60; $15 and $12.50 for children 12 and younger; half off for UT faculty and staff; and free for UT students with IDs. For tickets, call 419.530.GOLD (4653).

Sunday, Oct. 11
• The Golden Alumni Society Homecoming Luncheon, Inverness Club, 4601 Dorr St., Cost: $25. President Gaber will be the featured guest speaker.

For more information, go to utoledo.edu/homecoming/events.html.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 and 13 ABC (Oct. 8, 2015)
WTOL 11 (Oct. 10, 2015)
The Blade (Oct. 10, 2015)

The leader of the Catholic Church has made waves in his first two and half years in the papal office, tackling a number of hot-button issues. Arguably the biggest: climate change.

Dr. Peter Feldmeier, the Thomas and Margaret Murray and James J. Bacik Catholic Studies Professor at The University of Toledo, will present, “The Pope Goes Green: Francis and Climate Change,” at the annual Murray Bacik Lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 in the Libbey Hall Dining Room. A reception will follow the free, public event.

Feldmeier

“Francis addresses a number of what he sees as interrelated issues, including pollution, the degradation of the planet, the culture of consumerism, poverty, marginalization of those most vulnerable to climate change, and climate change itself,” Feldmeier said. “He sees them all as a piece. He also sees far too little action, even as these issues, particularly climate change, demand immediate attention.

“The damage that climate change will bring in this and the next century is already decisive, but he believes that the human race can still come together to limit that future damage. Francis also believes that the created world and the sentient beings in it exist on their own right and not merely as objects of human utility. His vision is an inclusive one where love of God, love of neighbor, and love of the created world all mutually implicate each other.”

Pope Francis believes this is the most imperative moral concern of the day, which is why Feldmeier said this is an important topic to discuss. Yet many people frown upon the pope speaking out about such issues, including Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, who recently boycotted the pope’s address in Congress because of his views on climate change.

Feldmeier response to the critics: “Some leaders, particularly Republican leaders, who resist either accepting climate change or show no interest in addressing it have criticized Francis for venturing into realms he has no right to proclaim expertise. But I think this is a false move. Climate change has been known for decades and has international consensus among scientists. One cannot legitimately reject it.”

“And given that climate change demands an aggressive response, it is morally necessary to do so,” Feldmeier said. “Human lives are at stake, the lives of thousands of species who will become extinct because of human-created climate change, and the future of our civilization and planet is at stake. If the pope is a moral leader, what greater moral imperative is there?”

For more information on the lecture, contact the Center for Religious Understanding at 419.530.6187 or visit utoledo.edu/llss/philosophy/cfru/events.