September 11, 2015
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
The emotional aftermath of 9/11
The World Trade Center cross, also known as the Ground Zero cross, was made of steel beams found “as is” among the debris from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, following the September 11, 2001 attacks in NYC. Many saw the cross and felt it was a symbol of hope, faith and healing. Read the story on page 6.
Vol. 34, No. 3
Inside NEW CIO
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Chief information officer joined MUSC family on Sept. 8.
photo provided
GROWING ORGANS
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MUSC approved for $13.5 million to study blood clot risks Staff Report A research team at MUSC has been approved for a $13.5 million funding award by the Patient–Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study the safety and effectiveness of three blood–thinning drugs used to prevent potentially deadly blood clots in patients undergoing hip and knee replacement. This is the first PCORI research funding award with MUSC serving as the lead center. There will be 25,000 patients and 25 centers nationwide involved in the study. Vincent Pellegrini, M.D., the John A. Siegling Professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at the MUSC College of Medicine, is the lead investigator and was approved for the project titled, Comparative Effectiveness of Pulmonary Embolism Prevention after Hip and Knee Repalcement: Balancing Safety and Effectiveness. “We are excited to conduct this important study that will bring patients, their surgeons and physicians together to provide important information about the benefits and harms related to anticoagulant drugs used to prevent blood clots after hip and knee replacement,” Pellegrini said.
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“Despite other advances in joint replacement surgery, this issue has remained unresolved for nearly five decades. Our study will give a valuable voice to patients in determining an acceptable balance between the benefit of preventing pulmonary embolism and the risk of bleeding and reoperation while using blood thinning drugs after joint replacement surgery. The results of the trial have the potential to dramatically alter current practice the day the findings are released. We are grateful to PCORI for this opportunity.” Pellegrini’s study was selected for funding through PCORI’s Pragmatic Clinical Studies Initiative, an effort to produce results that are broadly applicable to a diverse range of patients and care situations and can be more quickly taken up in routine clinical practice. Pellegrini leads the joint replacement service at MUSC and is actively engaged in surgical practice. He and other faculty surgeons are accepting new patients with hip and knee arthritis who are considering joint replacement surgery and may qualify for the study.
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See Replacement on page 11 @ Catalyst_MUSC
Biofabrication technology offers a window into the future.
5 Meet Vanessa 8
R.N. to BSN
10 Wellness T H E C ATA LY S T ONLINE http://www. musc.edu/ catalyst