COLLEGE NEWS AND
EVENTS
Dean Vincent Verdile, M.D. ’84 and Dr. Mara McErlean, director of the Patient Safety and Clinical Competency Center (PS&CCC), hosted an event, on Aug. 20, to announce that the PS&CCC is one of only three facilities in the state to be designated as a Karl Storz Center of Excellence. Training equipment has been provided to the College through an educational grant program from manufacturer Karl Storz Endoscopy-America and mirrors the equipment in Albany Medical Center’s new operating rooms.
In September, Albany Medical College received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a universal vaccine strategy that could be used to produce vaccines to protect against many different diseases. The five-year grant will further enhance Albany Medical College’s flourishing vaccine research program.
The 10th Annual Addiction Medicine Weekend was held on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 at Albany Medical College. The conference teaches medical professionals to recognize and treat addiction in their patients and its profound impact on health. Dr. Stanley D. Glick, director of the Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience at the College (Alumni Association Honorary Alumnus) and colleague Dr. Isabelle Maisonneuve and Dr. Steven Kipnis, medical director of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) were the conference organizers.
Dr. Elizabeth A. Higgins, associate dean of academic affairs and student services (Alumni Association Honorary Alumna), and Elayna Ng, ’15, published a letter to the editor in the Times Union regarding the annual flu shot and pneumococcal vaccine (pneumococcal disease can be complication of influenza). In their piece, Dr. Higgins and Ms. Ng indicate that unlike the flu shot, recommended every year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the pneumococcal vaccine is recommended only once after the age of 65 and every five to seven years for younger people who are at risk for pneumococcal disease.
Ali Nabeel, Class of 2016, was awarded one of only 25 national Medical Student Research Grants in 2013 by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) for his work in inventing cardiac imaging software with the potential to aid in diagnosis of coronary heart disease. He is working as a research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School while attending Albany Medical College.
Forty Albany Medical College medical students, under the direction of Dr. Ingrid Allard, associate dean of medical education, screened veterans for medical issues at the Eastern New York State Homeless Veterans Coalition’s Homeless Veterans Stand-Down on Sat., Sept. 28 at the Colonie Elks Lodge in Latham, N.Y.
Happy 99th Birthday, Dr. Falk!
On October 2, Dean Vincent Verdile, M.D. ’84 and Albany Medical College students marked the 99th birthday of alumnus David Falk, M.D. ’43 with cake in the Student Lounge. Row 1, left to right: Dean Verdile, David Condon, ’14, Milan Kahanda, ’14, CJ Pierce, ’14, Adam Parker, ’17, Ben DiNovo, ’15, Nora Callinan, ’14. Row 2, left to right: Kyle Thomas, ’16, Peter Antkowiak, ’16, and Hank Lai, ’14.
Winter 2014
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