Keck dinner focuses on clinician-scientist mentoring
Photo By Steve Cohn
“Scientific training can create better physicians, and research improves both the practice of medicine and the prevention of disease,” Buchanan said to the students in the audience. “I want to encourage you to continue your pursuit of excellence in medicine by developing translational research opportunities while here at the Keck School and throughout your careers.”
Such encouragement was the theme of the evening hosted by Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito and organized by Buchanan and Keck’s Vice Dean for Research Elizabeth Fini. Puliafito told the gathering, “The quality and character of our clinician-scientists make for a wonderful environment. We want to remind you to never give up on research, as it will enrich your careers, help your patients and advance medicine.”
Featured speaker Neil Kaplowitz, director of USC Research Center for Liver Diseases, echoed the encouragement during his talk entitled, “A Plumber Finds Happiness in the Liver.”
Kaplowitz, who worked his way through high school and college as a plumber, has made pioneering contributions to the field of research involving liver disease. Among his accomplishments, he has published more than 175 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has edited nine books related to liver disease. But, he says, the contribution of which he is most proud is the mentoring of young scientists for over 25 years, many of whom now hold prominent positions in research in this country and abroad.
“What makes me tick is the ability to advance clinical care through scientific research,” Kaplowitz said. “I was fortunate to have a mentor in the 1960s who was an M.D./Ph.D., which was unique at that time.” Kaplowitz explained that his mentor was focused on the liver, and his plumbing instincts were aroused because of the unique dual blood supply with hepatic artery (hot water), portal vein (cold water) and bile duct (waste pipe).
Among the students in the audience was M.D./Ph.D. candidate Melissa Lechner, who believes in the value of a dedicated mentor. She encourages Keck School students and faculty to seek out mentoring relationships.
“Faculty members who wish to be involved with students can initiate a relationship by engaging students in discussion and by offering opportunities for students to learn more about their professional activities,” she said. “Faculty might offer shadowing or journal club activities that the students may attend. Additionally, faculty could exchange contact information with potential mentees and suggest that the student come by for an office visit to facilitate further discussion.”
Lechner advises that the most important first steps for a faculty member interested in mentoring students are to begin a dialogue with students and to present oneself as willing to teach and share one’s advice and experience.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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