Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour: Higher education and where it's going

Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour was a special guest on the Craig Fahle Show discussing the future of higher education and how it creates and encourages informed and ethical citizens. Excerpts of the interview also aired on the local afternoon portions of All Things Considered and was mentioned in numerous newscast stories throughout the day.

November 2, 2011

ACLU dinner honors LGBT project milestone

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan will honor couples on Nov. 5 for their leadership as they commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project during its 2011 Annual Dinner. Included among the honorees are Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour and Eric Jirgens. President Gilmour is quoted in the story.

November 2, 2011

Arthur Johnson remembered

Wayne State University President Emeritus Irvin D. Reid remembered Dr. Arthur Johnson during an interview with WDIV reporter Roger Webber.

November 2, 2011

Wayne State Farmers Market supports local food economy

Kami Pothukuchi, a member of the Detroit Food Policy Council and professor of urban planning at Wayne State University, writes a column about WSU's farmers market, which is a program of SEED Wayne. Pothukuchi writes: "The Farmers Market has connected small businesses offering fresh and prepared foods with people living and working in Detroit's Midtown; increased access to fresh, healthy, and affordable foods in convenient ways; and supported a number of businesses and operations owned and run by women and people of color."

November 1, 2011

Kettering University professor works with research team at Wayne State University to find next best cancer treatment

Kettering professor Prem Vaishnava has been spending long days in the labs of Wayne State University with hopes that the group's research - along with work at other universities - will help bring a cancer therapy that would ideally only target cancer zones. Chemotherapy and radiation attack the entire body, which also kills regular cells. The scientists at Wayne State are looking to unravel the method's largest challenge so far - how to most effectively inject the medicine. Because of the varying shapes, sizes and volumes of tumors, each person would need a different type of drug distribution, Vaishnava said. WSU is among several universities in the country using funding from the National Cancer Institute to study the technology.

November 1, 2011

President Gilmour talks purpose, use of universities

Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour addressed the economy and what he called the forgotten purpose of higher education Oct. 27 during the "Higher Education and the Future of Democracy" lecture at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium in the WSU Law School. "If you read the papers, and some of us still do, or watch the news, there is one subject dominating the conversation: the economy, or more specifically jobs," Gilmour said. "Higher education is not a substitution for trade schools," he said. "Higher education is a key to inform and inspire citizens. The kinds of citizens who help build and lead this republic. The kinds of citizens who can contribute individually and act collectively. The kinds of citizens who are relentlessly curious and in being so help invent the world of the future." A photo of President Gilmour is included.

November 1, 2011

Wayne State gets $1.7M grant for post-partum drug abuse intervention

A team of researchers at Wayne State University's Parent Health Lab in the School of Medicine have developed a novel indirect screener that identifies women at risk for drug use by evaluating correlates of illicit drug use rather than drug use itself. Steven Ondersma, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences in WSU's School of Medicine and the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute, is leading researchers to continue development and use of the screener known as the Wayne Indirect Drug Use Screener. "This study could identify and help at-risk women, regardless of their comfort with disclosing drug use," Ondersma said.

November 1, 2011

Skull of early Pontiac resident may have been found in Oak Hill Cemetery offices

An updated report on the progress of a volunteer effort to repair and clean up areas of the Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac notes that a skull was returned there on Monday as Wayne State University students and Teddi Setzer, a physical anthropologist and lecturer at the university, finished removing the remains of three people entombed in the Southard family mausoleum. Setzer - and Wayne State University's Department of Anthropology - volunteered to assist the city after being contacted by The Oakland Press. A video is included.

November 1, 2011

Detroit's TechTown

A story highlights Wayne State's business incubator TechTown, which is planning to expand in the future. A video features TechTown President and CEO Leslie Smith and notes the success of Forever Fresh, Clean Emissions Fluids, and most notably, Asterand.

November 1, 2011

Royal Oak doctor recognized as 'Breast Cancer Hero'

Dr. Elizabeth Kim, a breast cancer specialist at Karmanos and Wayne State University faculty member, has received the Compassionate Caregiver Award for her achievements in the field. \"This award recognizes a very special combination of remarkable technical skill and a personal touch that goes far beyond \'good bedside manner,\'" said Maureen Meldrum, director of Breast Cancer Special Programs at Karmanos.

October 31, 2011

Randal Charlton to retire from Tech Town

Randal Charlton, outgoing executive director of TechTown, discusses on The Craig Fahle Show his retirement from TechTown. He reviewed his years since 2007 at the helm of the Detroit-based research and technology park.

October 31, 2011

Wayne State to use $655.5K grant to study alcohol abuse in pregnant women

A research team at Wayne State University has been awarded a grant to develop a computer-based intervention for pregnant women who abuse alcohol. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse awarded the $655,500 grant to the team, led by WSU associate professor Steven Ondersma, to be used in screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment, or SBIRT, studies. The grant will be used over a three-year period. A photo of Ondersma is included.

October 31, 2011

Is privatization coming? The fate of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

The Craig Fahle Show featured an interview with Wayne State University law professor and health policy expert Peter Hammer about the possible transition of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan from a nonprofit organization to a private insurer.

October 31, 2011

Harper University Hospital first in state to use new device to remove brain tumors

Harper University Hospital is the first in Michigan to use a new device, the NICO Myriad, for brain tumor removal. This one of a kind device is progressing minimally invasive surgery giving many patients hope that their previously inoperable or hard to reach brain tumors can now be safely removed. Dr. Murali Guthikonda, Chief of Neurosurgery at DMC Harper University Hospital and Professor of Neurosurgery at Wayne State University's School of Medicine, is one of a handful of neurosurgeons in the U.S. who has used the Myriad.

October 30, 2011

Bloomfield Hills nurse helps heart attack patients in Hawaii

Bloomfield Hills resident Mary Anne McCoy and a team of Detroit-area advanced practice nurses are helping to provide emergency care for heart attack patients on the Hawaiian island of Maui. McCoy, an assistant professor at Wayne State University's College of Nursing, was contacted by an administrator at Maui Memorial Medical Center to develop an on-site treatment program for heart attack patients with interventional cardiologists and acute care nurse practitioners. "For a person having a heart attack, research has shown if a coronary artery can be opened within 90 minutes, heart damage can be limited," McCoy said.

October 30, 2011

Editorial: Lift lives through reading

An editorial highlighting Reading Works, a nonprofit dedicated to boosting adult literacy in metro Detroit, features commentary from area civic leaders including Debbie Dingell, president of D2 Strategies and vice chair of the Wayne State University Board of Governors. Dingell and others shared their favorite books and thoughts about the importance of reading. A photo of Dingell holding a copy of "The Giving Tree" is included.

October 30, 2011

Experts: Michigan needs to do more to nurture start-ups

TechTown at Wayne State University is cited as one of the examples of a business incubator that is offering mentoring and training classes throughout the state at a time when Michigan needs to ramp up its efforts to promote entrepreneurial activity.

October 28, 2011

Solution to challenge is put to test

In a companion piece about business incubator activity in Michigan, Sense Aide, a venture started by Sri Rao, is profiled as a success story. The company developed a Web-based network of sensors that can tell whether a patient is taking medication on schedule, visiting the refrigerator for meals, and otherwise engaging in necessary activities. Rao has gotten help along the way through TechTown, but he says that Michigan could do a lot more for its entrepreneurs, especially by fostering a better network of investment capital for start-up firms.

October 28, 2011

WSU researcher to learn more about links between stress and drug use

A Wayne State University researcher is using a three-year, $1.55 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health to learn more about the links between stress and drug use by applying behavioral economics. Mark Greenwald, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences in the School of Medicine and director of the Substance Abuse Research Division, will study a group of heroin users to see how pharmacologically induced stress affects their decisions to seek money or drugs when given the choice.

October 27, 2011

The Pre-Motor City

A feature story highlighting Detroit's industrial past takes a look at various buildings, structures and land plots across the city, including the Michigan Central Station. Tom Killion, an archaeologist at Wayne State University, commented extensively about the abandoned edifice and an excavation that he, WSU students and volunteers from the community started in 2006. The team recovered more than 4,000 artifacts from the area.

October 27, 2011