Spring 2009: Of Note

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WCI earns National Cancer Institute designation

Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute (cancer.emory.edu) has earned the coveted National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center designation. Winship is the first medical facility in Georgia to earn this distinction. As an NCI designated center, Winship joins an elite group of sixty-four cancer centers nationwide that are on the forefront of the battle against cancer in research and practice.

Georgia Cancer Coalition grants awards to Emory researchers

Four Emory researchers have received Georgia Cancer Coalition research awards for 2009. They are: Wen-Chin Huang, visiting scholar in urology; Daquing Wu, assistant professor of urology; Xueyuan Dong, postdoctoral fellow in hematology/oncology; and Mark Goodman, professor of radiology.

Taking discoveries from the lab to the world

A new report from the Association of University Technology Managers ranks Emory sixteenth among universities in revenue received from commercializing research discoveries, with $17.7 million in research revenue in 2007. Through 2008, Emory had received a total of $760.4 million in licensing revenues, including $540 million from the HIV/AIDS drug Emtriva.

$100,000 Gates challenge grant given to Yerkes HIV researcher

John Altman, a researcher at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Emory Vaccine Center who is working on ways to cure or prevent HIV, is one of 104 researchers worldwide to receive a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Georgia Tech/Emory partner with Peking University

The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory is offering a new joint PhD program with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Peking University. Founded in 1898, Peking is among the first national universities in Chinese modern history and has an enrollment of 4,000 international students from about eighty countries.

Emory receives Presidential Award for community service

Emory was honored with the 2008 Presidential Award for General Community Service, the highest federal recognition an institution can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement. Emory is one of only three colleges and universities to earn this annual distinction from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Vitamin D at lower levels in Parkinson’s patients

Assistant Professor of Neurology Marian Evatt and colleagues discovered in a recent study that, when tested, a majority of a hundred patients with Parkinson’s disease showed deficient levels of vitamin D—significantly lower than Alzheimer’s patients or healthy people. Vitamin D occurs naturally in salmon and tuna, and can be gained through a few minutes of sun exposure daily.

Chemist honored for innovative teaching, drug research

The National Science Foundation awarded a $550,000 CAREER development grant to Simon Blakey, assistant professor of organic chemistry, for his work to advance drug discovery and production and his commitment to interactive teaching methods. Blakey is experimenting with new ways to form carbon-nitrogen bonds, contained in many essential pharmaceuticals.

Coca-Cola CEO endows chairs at Emory and Georgia Tech

Coca-Cola Enterprises CEO John Brock and family have given $6 million for two endowed faculty chairs at Emory and Georgia Tech to support research in cancer nanotechnology. The Anise McDaniel Brock Chair and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Cancer Nanotechnology at Emory is named for Brock’s mother, who died of cancer despite a healthy lifestyle.

Blogging for better health at AJC.com

A new weekly health blog on AJC.com features Emory and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta physicians. “Better Health—Doctor Is In” highlights these top specialists’ views on timely topics, encouraging readers to live a healthier life. Learn more about Emory health news partners at whsc.emory.edu/home/multimedia/partner-content.

Emory University Hospital Midtown: New name, same care

Emory Crawford Long Hospital has been renamed Emory University Hospital Midtown. For more than seventy years, the hospital has been wholly owned and operated by the University.” Being more clearly affiliated with Emory in the public eye will help expand upon the hospital’s hundred-year tradition of providing outstanding care,” says President Jim Wagner.

Lullwater suspension bridge provides shortcut to VAMC

A scenic 210-feet-long suspension bridge now extends over South Peachtree Creek in Lullwater Preserve, connecting Emory’s main campus to the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center and allowing residents and faculty to walk from one campus to the other. The old bridge was closed in the late 1980s due to disrepair.