MUSC Catalyst

Vol. 31, No. 23

MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA

February 1, 2013

Playing the Camp Rise Above way B

Barbara Denton, founder of Camp Rise Above, plays a guitar and conducts a sing along with young campers.

arbara Denton and volunteers from Camp Rise Above sang and interacted with patients at the MUSC Children’s Hospital Atrium Jan. 30.

The program, which was founded in 2010 as a non-profit organization, has been a regular presence in the hospital, offering children with serious illnesses, life challenges and disabilities a chance to play and interact with others under a camp-like atmosphere.

Children received a hat, T-shirt and Valentine’s Day bag.

Three-year-old Lexi McCutcheon learns how to make sand sculptures with her grandmother at the camp’s arts and crafts table.

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Professor of the year South Carolina governor’s office selected MUSC pharmacist as a finalist for award.

To date, the program has supported more than 350 children at MUSC. In South Carolina, it is estimated that 58,000 children qualify as those with a serious medical illness.

Denton and camp organizers hope to extend the program this July by providing two-day activity camps at James Island County Park for children diagnosed with heart or kidney disease, sickle cell, cancer and children of a deployed military parent. For information, call 300-9100 or visit campriseabove.org.

Left, 6-year-old Fallyn Hendrix casts her line to catch a fish alongside Barbara Denton at the stocked pond in the Children’s Hospital Atrium.

Above, Tyler Chamberlin, a 9-year-old patient, plays a game of ring toss with a blow-up octopus.

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Community donations

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Applause Program

The Trident United Way Campaign received $149,000 from employees.

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Meet Michael

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Overheard at MUSC

READ THE CATALYST ONLINE — http://www.musc.edu/catalyst

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Applause Program The following employees received recognition through the Applause Program for going the extra mile: Medical Center Mona Murdaugh, ART 6W; Justin Carr, Volunteer & Guest Services; Kelly Hedges, Volunteer & Guest Services; Faye Parker, Volunteer & Guest Services; Mary Washington, Cardiology; Dondra Rodd, Neurology; Brenda Brown, Revenue Cycle Operations; Christine Corley, Pediatrics; Debra Nelson, Radiology; Kimberly Owens, Meduflex Team; Sheelah Gayo, Transplant Center; Lynne Elliott, Oncology & Medical/Surgical Services; Kandice Rivers, Meduflex Team; Leo Aranas, Oncology & Medical/ Surgical Services; Brian Knight, Oncology & Medical/Surgical Services; Josiah Smalls, Radiology; Jennifer Smith, Environmental Services; Daniel Williams, Patient Transportation; Ana Rosa Virella, Women’s Services; Michelle Vareltzis, Radiology; Katie Shaw, Meduflex Team; Kellie Adams, Radiology; Kathy Shelton, ART 6E; Alison Inglis, ART 6E; Sara Sullivan, ART 6E; Terrie Hopkins, ART 6E; Christine Miley, Storm Eye Institute; Cheryl Capers, Storm Eye Institute; Faye Parker, Volunteer & Guest Services; Bridget Simmons, Interventional Radiology; Robbin Midddleton, Heart & Vascular Center; David Collins, Volunteer & Guest Services; Michelle Magwood, Volunteer & Guest Services; Tiffany Mullins, PICU; Javon Brown, Meduflex Team; Daniel Polon, Meduflex Team;

Ashley Hergenroeder, MedSurg ICU; Colleen Garrison, 7E; Casey Howett, Women’s Services; Sandra Lewandowski, 8E; Cassandra Payton, 8E; Brittany Pearson, 8E; Jessica Edwards, Peri-anesthesia Unit; Deborah Cepeda, Revenue Cycle Operations; Elonda Threat-Seabrook, DDC; Jessyka Harden, Environmental Services; Earnestine Cash, Environmental Services; Lucretia Wilson, GI Clinic; Chris Chambers, Resident Oral Surgery; Shatora Williams, GI Clinic; Faye Rivers, ART Dietetic Services; Melody Locklear, ART 6W; Michele Mack, Revenue Cycle Operations; Judy Horton, Hollings Clinics; Brandon Matthews, Hollings Clinics; Lillian Jenkins, Revenue Cycle Operations; Kate Miccichi, Revenue Cycle Operations; Kimberly Brown, Women’s Services; Jessica Bonavita, Revenue Cycle Operations; Cynthia Bradley, GI Bariatric Clinic; Karen Miller, Ambulatory PACU; Gerig Huggins, Pastoral Care; Katherine Shelton, ART 6E; Holli Hoagland, Radiology; Amy Hoyt, PAS; Sheila Freeman, Dietetic Services; Ashleigh Millen, 10W; Corey Slusarski, 10W; Tracy Bernard, 10W; Susan Fancher, DDC; and Lisa Jackson, Department of Surgery.

University Sharon Brown, Transportation Services; Mike Schultz, Engineering & Facilities; Sam Morton, OCIO Information Services; Mary Susan Shannon, Hollings Cancer Center; Susan Syke, Department of Surgery; and Colleen Tretola, OCIO Information Services.

Black History Month 2013 Noon Day Lecture Series “At the Crossroads of Health, Freedom and Equality: Celebrating our Past and Shaping our Future.”

Editorial of fice MUSC Office of Public Relations 135 Cannon Street, Suite 403C, Charleston, SC 29425.

843-792-4107 Fax: 843-792-6723 Editor: Kim Draughn catalyst@musc.edu Catalyst staff: Cindy Abole, aboleca@musc.edu Ashley Barker, barkera@musc.edu

The Catalyst is published once a week.

Paid adver tisements, which do not represent an endorsement by MUSC or the State of South Carolina, are handled by Island Publications Inc., Moultrie News, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C., 843-849-1778 or 843-958-7490. E-mail: sales@moultrienews.com.

All events are from 12 to 1 p.m., Room 302, Basic Science Building

Feb. 6: “The Value and Relevance of HBCUs to Health Professions for Today and Tomorrow,” featuring Cynthia Warrick, Ph.D., PharmD, interim president, South Carolina State University Feb. 13: “A Candid Dialogue on Health, Freedom and Medical Equality,” featuring Kenosha Gleaton, M.D., an MUSC alumnus at Harborside OB/GYN Feb. 20: “Cervical Cancer: A Global Movement for Prevention and Awareness” with Tamika L. Felder, CEO/Founder Tamika & Friends Inc. National Cervical Cancer & HPV Awareness Organization/U.S. lead partner, Pearl of Wisdom Sponsored by the Office of Student Diversity & Multicultural Student Advisory Board. For information, call the Office of Diversity at 792-2146 or visit www.musc.edu/diversity.

The CaTalysT, February 1, 2013 3

Assistant dean nominated for Professor of the Year

By RoBy hill S.C. College of Pharmacy For a few hours on March 7, the campus room of the Capstone Building in Columbia will house the 10 people recognized as this year’s finest educators in the state of South Carolina.

Kelly Ragucci, PharmD, assistant dean of curriculum at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP), is among the finalists for the 2013 SC Governor’s Professor of the Year program, jointly sponsored by the governor’s office and the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (SCCHE). The two winners of the 2013 award will be officially announced at a press conference that morning, though they have already been informed.

“I would have liked to win, of course,” Ragucci said.

“But I’m very honored to have been nominated and was thrilled to be considered as a finalist. The program highlights some of the passion and creativity faculty members commit to the classroom in this state. The whole experience was very rewarding and inspiring.”

Ragucci, the only pharmacist among the finalists, was nominated as the distinguished professor representative of MUSC, where last year she won the universitywide Teaching Excellence Award as an educator-lecturer. The professor of clinical pharmacy and outcomes sciences

“... I’m very honored to have been nominated and was thrilled to be considered as a finalist.”

Dr. Kelly Ragucci also has drawn praise for her work with patients, as she was named MUSC’s clinician of the year the previous year.

“Those of us in the college are not at all surprised by the accolades she receives,” said Joseph T. DiPiro, PharmD, SCCP executive dean. “She earns them because she is an outstanding teacher, clinician and administrator, and that is reflected in both the university’s nomination of her and the program’s selection of her as a finalist.”

The SCCHE Governor’s Professor of the Year award was established in 1988. Since then, 26 faculty

Wofford students tour dental sChool

Wofford College students Xan Taylor, from left, Amanda Morris, Tanner Oldham, Meagan Laframboise, Chase Timmons, and Meghan Wong participated in the school’s pre-dental advising and dental interim program. The group was on the MUSC campus from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24, attending classes, visiting clinics and labs, and meeting with faculty and students at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine.

members from four-year institutions have been chosen for the award, which recognizes “exceptional teaching performance.” An additional 16 from two-year institutions have been recognized. The program began awarding separate honors for four-year and two-year institutions in 1996.

Each institution in the state is allowed to nominate one distinguished professor as a candidate each year, creating a large pool for the judges to narrow to 10. As one of the 10, Ragucci was interviewed in November by a panel that included two state senators, two SCCHE representatives, a representative from the governor’s office and a previous award winner, among others.

Only one pharmacist has ever been selected as the winner of the award. Jim Wynn, PharmD, was selected in 1994 while he was an MUSC professor of pharmaceutical sciences. MUSC produced one other winner when Nancy Duffy, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor in the College of Nursing, won in 2007.

Through 2012, the University of South Carolina (USC), which is SCCP’s other founding institution, has had two winners from the Columbia campus where pharmacy is based. Statistics professor John Spurrier won in 2002 and dance program director Susan Anderson received the honor in 2009. The USC system has produced six other winners from satellite campuses.

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MUSC, USC researchers to launch stroke study

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esearchers at MUSC and the University of South Carolina (USC) are launching a joint research trial, funded by the National Institute on Aging, to determine if a new form of non-invasive brain stimulation called transcranial direct current stimulation, given during speech therapy, could potentially improve language function in stroke patients.

The research trial is the first multi-site study of this new technology and builds on earlier work conducted at USC by the principal investigator, Julius Fridriksson, Ph.D. During a five-year period, the study is scheduled to enroll 74 patients.

The local site investigators at MUSC include David Bachman, M.D., Mark George, M.D., and Leonardo Bonilha, M.D., Ph.D. Affecting as many as 700,000 people each year, strokes are an all too common problem in the

United States. If the left side of the brain is damaged by the stroke, many patients will develop significant problems with speech and language. These symptoms are referred to as aphasia. Patients with aphasia often may have a great deal of difficulty expressing themselves either through spoken words or writing. In more severe cases, aphasic patients may have difficulty understanding what people say to them. Although many aphasic patients will recover, more than 60 percent continue to struggle even after a course of speech therapy.

This study is unique in that it builds on relationships and systems from the past decade through the Centers for Economic Excellence, now called SmartState.

For information, contact Sheri Davis at 792-2845 or Astrid Fridriksson in Columbia at 803-777-5931.

Specialist recognized 20 years later for first endovascular technique Editor’s note: Reprinted from the 39th annual Veithsymposium publication, Nov. 14 - 18, 2012, New York, NY. Claudio Schönholz is a professor at MUSC.

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ascular interventional radiologist Claudio Schönholz, M.D., Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, joined several colleagues in November 2012 to celebrate the anniversary of a revolution in vascular treatment performed 20 years ago.

The first endovascular treatment Schönholz of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (EVAR) in North America was celebrated during the 39th annual VEITH symposium, a conference supporting vascular surgeons and other specialists recognizing new developments in clinical practice and research. The procedure was performed Nov. 23, 1992. Schönholz was joined by the procedure team of Juan Parodi, M.D., Frank J. Veith, M.D., Michael L. Marin, M.D., and Jacob Cynamon, M.D. The story of how this technique was developed

and adopted in the U.S. is a testament to the forward thinking and collaborative investigators who sought to expand the treatment options available to their patients.

Parodi originated the transformational surgical intervention when he performed the first EVAR two years earlier with Schönholz in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Montefiore Medical Center in New York City was uniquely positioned to be the first U.S. site to embrace this new technology. Since the 1970s, the vascular surgery group there had been collaborating with interventional radiologists to develop percutaneous transluminal angioplasty as a supplement to the various open surgical bypass techniques routinely used to treat patients with life-and-limb-threatening vascular disease. As a result of this collaboration, Veith had become a routine participant in interventional radiology meetings. At a meeting in January 1987, he heard Julio Palmaz, inventor of the balloon expandable stent used in coronary arteries, give a talk about the potential of intravascular stents.

Clearly, Palmaz and Parodi had been thinking about the use of stents and stent-grafts to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Theoretical discussion translated relatively quickly to clinical reality, and by

1991, Parodi, Palmaz, and Hector Barone had published their landmark paper describing the first of several cases in which they successfully used EVAR. These success stories galvanized the Montefiore group, and when a perfect candidate arose for the new technique, they acted. In August 1992, a 76-year-old man who had numerous comorbidities, including severe oxygen-dependent pulmonary insufficiency, presented to Marin with a 7.5-cm painful and tender renal AAA. The patient’s comorbidities precluded the idea of open surgery, which would be risky. Marin consulted with Veith about other treatment options, including the possibility of taking advantage of the new endovascular technique. As detailed by the participants in an historical note in the Annals of Vascular Surgery in 2005, discussions ensued with Parodi. Marin and Veith even offered to visit Buenos Aires to observe the technique.

Because no such operations were scheduled, Parodi was invited to Montefiore. Before that happened, however, Parodi was able to meet with Marin at an interventional cardiology meeting in Milwaukee, where he evaluated the patient’s X-rays and concluded that he

See Technique on page 8

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Meet Michael

Michael Barr, DPT Department Department of Physical Therapy How long at MUSC Almost 7 years How are you changing what’s possible at MUSC I developed and run the day-to-day operations of our Sports Medicine Program with a strong focus on continual growth.

Also, I oversee the athletic trainers in outreach settings. Our team is changing what’s possible by providing comprehensive care to athletes of all ages.

Unique talent Gourmet cooking Favorite sports teams Baltimore Ravens and Orioles What did you do before going into medicine I coached youth and collegiate soccer.

Who are your heros My father. He taught me hard work, to believe in myself and to help others every day of my life. Also, coach Ralph Lundy taught me discipline, dedication and that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

Dream vacation Traveling through Europe, tasting a variety of foods, watching live soccer games and sitting on a number of different beaches.

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Research selected as ‘world changing idea’

By Dawn BRazell Public Relations

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he parents he meets know him as their child’s anesthesiologist at MUSC Children’s Hospital.

Others may recognize him from TV and print ad campaigns where he’s dressed in a monkey towel blowing bubbles with children.

But there’s yet another side to Frank McGowan, M.D., who collaborates with researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts on a new technique heralded as a potential medical breakthrough. The team has developed microparticlebased oxygen-delivery technology that oxygenates the blood and bypasses the lungs. It has the potential of saving lives for a wide array of patients and conditions, from wounded veterans in the field to premature babies in intensive care units.

The research landed on the cover of the December issue of Scientific American as one of 10 “world changing ideas.” It also was the cover of the journal Science Translational Medicine in June 2012 with its successful use in an animal model. McGowan said the possibilities of promising clinical applications will keep researchers busy for many years to come.

The idea first came up five years ago when McGowan worked at Boston Children’s Hospital. A doctor in residence, John Kheir, M.D., asked how he could have saved a patient he lost because of an inability to quickly oxygenate her blood. “We started thinking why don’t we have better ways to acutely deal with this while we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do longer term.”

Then Kheir and McGowan began to do more than talk.

The challenge was to devise some kind of shell to safely encase and deliver oxygen in the blood so that it could release the encapsulated oxygen to deoxygenated blood and then collapse in a non-toxic form to be eliminated from the body.

“We found that there are materials that can do that with shells made of lipid or mixtures of fats and other substances, many of which are normally found in the body,” McGowan said. “We found a number of really smart people who had spent their lives trying to figure out how to encase various substances, biologic drugs, viruses, genes and other things in lipids and other compounds. There’s always a whole world out there when you go looking.”

McGowan said the research is the perfect example of why basic science research is needed. “There was a tipping point. People had devoted careers doing fundamental work in related areas for many reasons and applications. We were able to study and theorize based upon it. If we had to start completely from

Dr. Frank McGowan as seen on commercials that ran promoting MUSC’s Children’s Hospital. scratch, we would have had to have spent five careers trying to do this.”

Another advantage of having physician-scientists collaborate with basic scientists is that the former could understand and take advantage of the basic research and apply it to solve a clinical problem. Part of this was having the knowledge to construct the right paradigms and develop effective experimental models, he said.

“It’s these interactions with people of widely disparate backgrounds and experiences that produce the best results sometimes.”

That’s not to say it was easy.

McGowan said they had many failures until about three years ago when their persistence started to pay off. McGowan recalled finishing a case in the operating room and deciding it was time to test the latest shell version. They drew some of his blood and made it hypoxic, turning it dark red. When they injected the substance, his blood turned pink. It was a turning point. They then had a number of things to test, including defining the chemical and biologic characteristics of the microparticles’ shells before designing an animal model to test the further refined foam suspension.

The suspension contains lipid-based microparticles, smaller than what would block the body’s tiniest capillaries, that encapsulate a core of pure oxygen gas that can be delivered via intravenous injection. Once the shell delivers oxygen, it collapses to sub-micron size and is eliminated by normal body processes. The amount of lipid delivered is consistent with what can be tolerated in other medical applications, he said.

McGowan said the ability to administer oxygen and other gases directly to the bloodstream may represent

Dr. Frank McGowan holds up the December issue of Scientific American that selected the research he and Boston colleagues are doing as a world-changing idea. a technique for short-term rescue of profoundly hypoxemic patients, to selectively augment oxygen delivery to at-risk patients or organs, or for novel diagnostic techniques. They will need further research to prove the lipid delivery system is safe and to find the optimum chemical formulation and delivery method.

See Research on page 7

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MUSC endoscopist visits Chinese sister hospital

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n 2008, MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., signed a collaborative agreement with the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital in China to become sister institutions.

John Bradley, M.D., an alumnus of the MUSC College of Medicine, began the sister institution more than 100 years ago as a missionary in the Chinese town of Suquian.

Joseph Romagnuolo, M.D., president of the faculty senate at MUSC, recently visited the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital as a keynote speaker on Advances in Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS).

The hospital was celebrating its 120th anniversary and the opening of a new endoscopy center. Last year, Romagnuolo mentored Chunyan Peng, a Nanjing student who recently completed her Master of Science degree in clinical research at MUSC. Romagnuolo also lectured at another

conference in Chongqing at the Military University Xinqiao Hospital. That same month, he participated in live endoscopy courses at both institutions to demonstrate advanced endoscopic procedures including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP) with pancreatic therapy and EUS with fine needle aspiration. He also spoke to Chinese medical students and junior faculty in Chongqing about how to get started in clinical research, epidemiologic studies and economic modeling.

According to Romagnuolo, working with Chongqing course director Dr. Lei Wang, an endoscopist with one of the highest volume practices in the world on endoscopic submucosal dissection for GI tumors, was an honor. “I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital for its 120th anniversary in November, and the opening of their ‘new’ hospital.”

ReseaRCh Continued from Page Six One of the main advantages he foresees for clinical use is that it can buy time in situations with acute airway loss.

“We’d be able to buy five or 10 minutes with someone who could pull up with a cart and inject you with oxygen as we are preparing more definitive, longerterm therapy to restore your ability to oxygenate.”

It will be five to 10 years before the research is ready for clinical applications, but a sampling of other possible uses that may prove successful are: q a bridge to ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) or endotracheal intubation; q short-term treatment by paramedics and emergency room physicians for those with airway loss until they can be stabilized; q delivering oxygen intravenously may allow reduced mechanical ventilation in patients with various kinds of lung disease, perhaps reducing ventilator-related lung injury; q as a treatment for diabetic wounds (either topically or intravenously), which are notoriously hard to heal q lower dosages for patients who only need partial oxygen replacement as might occur in situations such as lung injury or heart disease; q for use in the battlefield for paramedics treating extreme blood loss or to improve the outcome of

Dr. Joseph Romagnuolo, president of the faculty senate at MUSC, demonstrates a procedure at Chongqing in an endoscopy suite at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital in China. Working with Romagnuolo is Dr. Qiang Cai from Emory.

cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

“The toughest nut of all to crack and the one that is among the most interesting is the lower level, longer duration-needed application – the lung injury patient, or the cyanotic (blue) baby situation. Clinically, these may be some of the better applications, but experimentally, they’re also some of the toughest models.”

McGowan compares doing the research with his Boston and MUSC colleagues as similar to playing a team sport at a high level. It’s constantly challenging and stimulating.

“I’m certain that I’m better clinically because of what we’re doing in the lab, and I also think that I’m better in the lab because of what I do clinically. It really does inform in both directions.”

Though he doesn’t know what applications might pan out, McGowan said it’s worth all the extra work.

He apologizes for tearing up as he explains what motivates him to do translational research.

“Parents hand me their child every day to take into the operating room. I still don’t know how they have the courage to do it. I usually have about 10 minutes to meet them and convince them to allow me to take care of their child. To continually try to be worthy of that trust and improve the outcome of what we do are the best parts of this.”

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Go Red Day kicks off AHA’s Heart Health Month Feb. 1 marks the 10th year of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red For Women movement — 10 years of fighting to save women's lives from heart disease. While the progress has been significant, there's a long way to go. Here's why: q Heart disease is still the No. 1 killer of women, causing one in three deaths each year. q Heart disease kills more women than men, at an average rate of one death per minute. q Heart disease kills more women than all kinds of cancer combined.

Employees, students and members of the community are encouraged to join the kick off for American Heart Month and the Go Red for Women campaign Feb. 1 at Ashley River Tower from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Go Red Day is a free event, featuring blood pressure readings, fitness demonstrations, heart health information, hands-free CPR demonstrations and more.

At 11 a.m., participants will form a human heart on the stairs of the atrium for a group photo. Participants are encouraged to wear red for the photo.

One in three American women will suffer from heart disease, but only one of the five women will realize that she is at risk. Nearly 80 percent of cardiac events in women may be prevented if women make the right

choices for their hearts when it comes to diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.

Throughout February, Sodexo is sponsoring a contest to help you make the right food choices for a healthier heart. One item in the hospital cafeterias will be marked with a heart to show it is the heart health food of the day. When you purchase that item, you will be given a heart health contest entry card to fill out. Place the completed card in the box for a chance to win.

Prizes include meal cards, ranging from $25 to $50, from each cafeteria.

Employee Wellness events q Charlestowne Landing: On Feb. 2 and 3, admission to Charlestowne Landing will be half price for Tricounty residents and several ranger led programs will be available at a reduced rate. On Feb. 6, ranger Jayson Sellers from Charlestowne Landing State Historic Site will be at the Children’s Hospital lobby selling annual passes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to employees for $50. q Worksite screening: On Feb. 12 in Room 501, Children’s Hospital, a worksite screening will be held.

Valued at about $350, it is available to employees with the state health plan for $15. Covered spouses can also participate for $15. Employees and spouses without

TeChnique Continued from Page Four was a good candidate for EVAR. Arranging the surgery proved to be a complicated logistical matter. The procedure was planned to coincide with the 1992 Montefiore/Einstein meeting, Parodi planned to attend. But before this could take place, Johnson & Johnson, the company that held the Parodi and Palmaz patents, would have to approve the use of a large Palmaz stent in the U.S. The stent had not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration even for an Investigational Device Exemption.

Parodi also requested the participation of Schönholz, an interventional radiologist with whom he routinely worked, and Barone, who was involved in assembling the various components of the EVAR system.

A grant from the James Hilton Manning and Emma Austin Manning Foundation enabled the Argentinians to be brought to the United States for the duration of the symposium and the surgery. Johnson & Johnson was leery about allowing the procedure to be performed, for fear it would jeopardize approval by the Food and Drug

Administration of the Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents that were then under review.

Persuaded by Veith and Marin on compassionate grounds that the operation should be done, however, the company agreed that Parodi could operate as long as he used his own stent setup rather than the one for Johnson & Johnson.

The long-awaited operation was performed on Nov. 23, 1992. The team used a 22-mm Dacron prosthesis sewn to a large Palmaz-type stent, which was inserted via a right femoral arteriotomy.

Digital fluoroscopic guidance was used, and the stent was fixed to the proximal nonaneurysmal aorta using a balloon to expand the proximal stent.

Aneurysmal exclusion was demonstrated by a variety of imaging modalities, but more importantly, the prominent pulsation of the aneurysm was no longer present and the patient was able to be discharged a few days later with his symptoms relieved.

He survived symptom-free for nine months, and ultimately succumbed to cardiopulmonary comorbidities.

this insurance can participate for $42. The screening includes height, weight, blood pressure and a blood draw for a hemogram and blood lipid profile. To register, go to www.musc.edu/employeewellness and click on “Worksite Screening.” q Mobile mammograms: The Hollings Cancer Center mobile van will be conducting mammograms from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Feb. 13 behind the Clyburn Research Building off President Street. Call 792-0878.

MUSC Urban Farm q Work and learn with child-friendly activities: On Saturday, Feb. 2 from 9 to 11 a.m., families are invited to work and learn at the MUSC Urban Farm. Wear closed-toe shoes and bring a plastic bag so you can take home some produce in return for your work on the farm. No experience or prior knowledge is necessary. q Early bird maintenance: Get your day started with a little tender loving care on the farm from 7:30 until 8:30 a.m., Feb. 6.

Contact Susan Johnson, Ph.D., at johnsusa@ musc.edu for information about the Office of Health Promotion at MUSC, and email Suzan Benenson Whelan at whela@musc.edu for information about Employee Wellness.

The CaTalysT, February 1, 2013 9

Overheard at MUSc Who

which works with federal and state agencies in obtaining grants to support a variety of community-based programs and economic development initiatives. Dempsey is part of

L. Lester Dempsey, zone four of Engineering & Facilities, is known around campus as a dedicated and handy guy. He helped with the

the Honorary Commanders Program with Joint Base Charleston’s Advisory Council, as a program that encourages collaboration of ideas,

MUSC Wellness Center’s recent renovation projects and conducts general maintenance at the facility. Dempsey received an MUSC Employee of the Quarter Award from University

experiences and friendships between the Tricounty’s civilian and military communities.

In addition to his participation in area

Finance & Administration in the fall of 2011.

What On Dec. 3, 2012, Dempsey was honored with South Carolina’s second highest honor, the Order of the Silver Crescent, presented by S.C. Governor Nikki Haley.

Community involvement Recognized for his community work and contributions to Dorchester County, Dempsey was praised for developing transportation infrastructure funding and improvements in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.

He was instrumental in the S.C. Department of Transportation’s partnership with the “C” Program, which helped fund and improve state highways, county roads and city streets as well as support other transportation projects.

Dempsey, who grew up in the Lowcountry, has

Engineering & Facilities’ Lester Dempsey, center, is presented with his award by Larry Hargett, left, Dorchester County Council chairman, and Jay Byar, council member.

Dorchester County’s Old Fort Fire & Rescue

always wanted to make a positive, meaningful

Department and is an official with the South

difference in his community. “I’ve always believed that with self-esteem, self-discipline and self-initiative, anyone could make a valuable impact in their lives and community. I believe that we should all use our strengths and skills to our advantage. To me, volunteering and giving back is what’s important,” he said.

Dempsey serves as chairman of the Dorchester County Transportation Committee and is on the Dorchester County delegation of the Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Council of

government support, Dempsey is a publiclyelected board member and commissioner with

Carolina Football Officials Association.

Dempsey, who has worked at MUSC for 18 years, attends Citadel Square Baptist Church. He and his wife, Vicky, have four children: Lester III, Jason, Ashley and Tyler.

order of the silver CresCent Other MUSC employees who were recent recipients of the Order of the Silver Crescent are Langdon Hartsock, M.D., chairman, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Curtis

Governments.

He is a member of the board of the South

Worthington, M.D., Professor Emeritus and

Carolina Association of Regional Councils,

Waring Library director.

10 The CaTalysT, February 1, 2013

MUSC employees donate more than $149k to TUW The Office of Development would like to thank all the employees who donated to the 2012 Trident United Way Campaign.

More than $149,000 was donated by MUSC employees.

The money will help non-profit programs throughout the Lowcountry promote better health, education and financial stability.

Employees donating up to $999 per person are: Anne Abel, Jayne Ahlstrom, Mary Albano, Jennifer Aldrich, Mary Allen, Richard Anderson, Thierry Bacro, Susan Barnhart, Gilbert Boissonneault, Karen Bridgeman, Robert Bristow, Robert Brooks, Deborah Browning, Faith Brownlee, Helen Cantey, Deborah Carson, Rita Clabaugh-Dewalt, Susan Clark, Kristen Clasen, Charles Cockcroft, Brian Collins, Kathryn Coons, Alison Cox, Heather Craven, Camilia Darby, Anna Delamar, Catherine Dillon, Joseph Dipiro, Becky Dornisch, Arly Douglass, Erin Drevets, Valerie Durkalski-Mauldin, Hannah Elder, Dallas Ellis, Aaron Embry, Gwendolyn Ewing, Weimin Fan, Charles Ferguson, Mary Fischer, Jeanine Gage, Christine Gainer, Barbara Garrett, Candace Gillespie, Sharon Gilliard, Theresa Ginn, Vickey Grant, Brett Green, Sheryl Green, Dena Gregory, Anne Hantske, Genevieve Hayes, Pamela Helms, Grady Hendrix, Karen Hiott, Cynthia Hipp, John Holmes, Margaret Hotchkiss, Walter Huda, Richard Jablonski, Dorothea Jenkins, Sonia Jenkins, Diane Kamen, Michael Keels, Jane Kelley, Susan Kindley, Jade Knapp, Mary Koval, Michelle Lattimore, Henry Lemon, Morris Lent, Susan Lucas, Nancy Macaulay, Stephen Malley, Leigh Manzi, Vicki Marsi, Brenda McElveen, Marshall McFadden, Terry McFall, Toni McHugh, Whitney McLuen, Meaghan McNamara, Bambi Miller, Karen Murphy, Jennifer Nall, Phyllis Nelson-Nowlin, Brad Neville, Stephanie Oberempt, Terrence O’Brien, Elizabeth Parrish, Lauree Pearson, Rebecca Peters, John Pigott, Tiombe Plair, Michele Platts, Susan Pletcher, Robert Poyer, Jon Rampton, Shannon Ravenel, Susan Reed, Deborah Reynolds, Shannon

Richards-Slaughter, James Rivers, William Robinson, Cynthia Rosenblatt, Cynthia Rossi, Erica Rouvalis, Amelia Rowland, Teresita Ruz, Naomi Sampson, Sharon Schuler, Suzanne Scott, Hazel Shefton, Sally Shields, Pamala Shoaf, Debra Jo Siler, Richard Silver, Allison Slyby, Stanley Smith, Ganga Srinivas, Terry Stanley, Cynthia Straney, Kellie Suggs, Paula Thies, Kenneth Thomas, Karen Wager, Robert Warren, Nancy Wessell, Margaret Wheat, Velma Wigfall, Chara Williams, Sharon Williams, Kimberly Willis, Laurel Willis, Marilyn Winkel, Daynna Wolff, Cynthia Wright and Debora Wright.

Employees donating more than $1,000 per person are: David Adams, Lawrence Afrin, Michael Anderson, Thomas Anderson, Jane Ariail, Nicholas Batalis, John Bosso, Amy Bredlau, Patrick Cawley, Laurine Charles, Alexander Chessman, Carlee Clark, David Cole, Philip Costello, Peter Cotton, Fred Crawford, Nancy Curry, Brenda Dorman, Nancy Duffy, Juanita Epps, Howard Evert, Larry Field, William Fisher, David Garr, Michael Gold, Raymond Greenberg, Richard Gross, Orin Guidry, William Hand, James Harris, Langdon Hartsock, William Hueston, Sherron Jackson, Peter Kalivas, Darcy Kalles, Janice Key, Jan Kylstra, Paul Lambert, Walter Limehouse, Kathleen Mahoney, Mary Mauldin, William McKibbin, Steven McSwain, Bruce Mills, Lisa Montgomery, David Neff, Eric Nelson, Lynne Nemeth, Roger Newman, Jim Oates, Paul O’Brien, Steven Ornstein, Murray Passo, Steve Paterniti, Mae Millicent Peterseim, Jennifer Pierce, Etta Pisano, Ross Pollack, James Ravenel, Charles Rittenberg, Jacob Robison, Martha Roddy, Michelle Rovner, Lisa Saladin, Jerome Saul, Margaret Schachte, Sally Self, William Simpson, Chloe Singleton, Charles Smith, W. Stuart Smith, Helen Snow, David Soper, David Soutter, Gail Stuart, Fred Tecklenburg, Bruce Usher, Dennis Watson, Charles Weart, Deborah Williamson and Catherine Wood.

For information, call Whitney Mcluen at 792-1973.

The CaTalysT, February 1, 2013 11

Items for Sale

Misc. Services

READ THE CATALYST ONLINE Short Ivory Wedding Dress (size 16), Matching jacket. New. Basic Lawn Care Reasonable http://www.musc.edu/catalyst $125/OBO. 843-261-3590.

Rates Greg 843 303-2615

TO ADVERTISE IN THE CATALYST CALL 849-1778

12 The CaTalysT, February 1, 2013