The Official USU Newsletter

Volume 7, Issue 13

 November 14, 2012

www.usuhs.mil
On the cover 

USU fourth-year medical students 

participated in Operation Bushmaster, 

a week-long field exercise held at Fort 

Indiantown Gap, Pa. The medical students 

are joined in the exercise by nurse 

practitioner students from USU’s Graduate 

School of Nursing. (See story, page 6.)

Sharon Willis 

Deputy Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

Gwendolyn Smalls 

Chief, Media Affairs

Tech. Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson

Deputy Chief, Media Affairs

MC2 Brittaney Cannady

Contributing Writer

Christine Creenan-Jones 

Contributing Writer

Lori Fields 

Layout and Design

Production

Editorial content is edited, prepared and 

provided by the USU Office of External 

Affairs unless otherwise indicated. 

The Pulse staff may include or exclude 

articles based upon news value, impact 

on the university and space availability.

Submissions 

The Pulse will be published 

bi-weekly on Mondays. The deadline for 

submissions is at 4 p.m. Tuesday prior to 

the publication date. Submissions can be 

sent to brittaney.cannady@usuhs.edu or 

301-295-0895.

2 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Thomas C. Balfour

Juliano receives Award for 

Education in Neuroscience By Sharon Willis

The Society for Neuroscience has 

presented its annual Award for Education in Neuroscience to Sharon L. 

Juliano, Ph.D., professor of Anatomy, 

Cell Biology and Genetics, and director of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) 

Neuroscience graduate program. 

The prize recognizes individuals with a distinguished career who 

have made outstanding contributions to neuroscience research and 

education. The award was presented 

Oct. 13 during Neuroscience 2012, 

SfN’s annual meeting and the world’s 

largest source of emerging news about 

brain science and health. Osvaldo 

D. Uchitel, M.D., Ph.D., of Instituto 

de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y 

Neurociencias (Institute of Physiology, Molecular Biology and Neurosciences) in Argentina, was also a 

recipient of this year’s award.

“Dr. Juliano and Dr. Uchitel are 

exceptional advocates for neuroscience 

education and training of students 

worldwide,” said Moses V. Chao, Ph.D., 

president of SfN. “We are honored to 

recognize their commitment to attracting the world’s best and brightest to the 

field of neuroscience.”

Juliano has played a vital role in 

promoting neuroscience education 

and training in the global community 

through her active involvement in the 

International Brain Research Organization and organization of workshops 

and courses in Latin America, 

Eastern Europe, and Africa. In 2008, 

her efforts to promote international 

neuroscience education led her to 

organize the first Teaching Tools 

Workshop in Africa — a program that 

equips junior faculty members with 

tools and a framework for teaching 

neuroscience in African countries 

— which took place in Senegal. 

Since then, the program has reached 

educators in Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, 

and South Africa. She also leads 

efforts to educate students in developing countries about ethical issues in 

research and acquire used laboratory 

equipment to donate to researchers in 

developing countries.

In addition to her efforts abroad, 

Dr. Juliano has mentored more than 

25 interns, graduate students, and 

postdoctoral fellows in the United 

States. She has been honored with 

several awards, including the Flexner 

Award for Outstanding Research 

(Institute for Neurological Sciences) 

and the Distinguished Service Medal. 

Her USU research focuses on the 

development of the cerebral cortex.

“This award brings national recognition to the extraordinary contributions that Dr. Juliano has made for 

decades to the education of outstanding scientists and physicians at USU 

and around the world,” said F. Edward 

Hébert School of Medicine Dean 

Larry W. Laughlin, M.D., Ph.D. “It 

is an award that is extremely well 

deserved from the prestigious Society 

of Neuroscience.”

The Society for Neuroscience is 

an organization of more than 42,000 

basic scientists and clinicians who 

study the brain and nervous system.

Sharon L. Juliano, Ph.D.
November 14, 2012 3

“My mother was a cancer patient 

during my high school and college 

years,” said Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Inger 

Rosner, director of urologic oncology 

and associate director of the Center of 

Prostate Disease Research at Walter 

Reed Bethesda.

“It was a very challenging time for 

my family,” Rosner continued. “Her 

surgeons and oncologist had such an 

enormous impact on me - they were 

caring, thoughtful and so dedicated. It 

inspired me to try to give that level of 

care to others.”

It’s that passion of science and the 

desire to help people that motivated 

Rosner and her colleagues, Navy 

Capt. (Dr.) Lisa Mulligan, Navy Capt. 

(Dr.) Christine Sears, Cmdr. (Dr.) 

Katherine I. Schexneider, Cmdr. (Dr.) 

Colleen Dorrance, Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) 

Tamara Kindelan, Air Force Maj. (Dr.) 

Kerry Latham and Dr. Susan Dunlow, 

to pursue careers in medicine. They 

are among the many physicians 

at Walter Reed National Military 

Medical Center (WRNMMC) contributing to the healing of the nation’s 

heroes and their families.

September was Women in Medicine 

Month, launched by the American Medical Association (AMA) in 

1990 to recognize the contributions 

of female physicians to health care 

and their communities, and encourage more women to consider careers 

as physicians. Walter Reed Bethesda 

recently recognized the contributions 

and dedication of the many women in 

medicine assigned there.

“A career in medicine can be very 

challenging and demanding, but rewarding,” added Rosner, who earned her 

medical degree from the Uniformed 

Services University of the Health Science 

(’97) at Naval Support Activity Bethesda. 

Mulligan, deputy commander for surgery 

at Walter Reed Bethesda, said although 

women now make up approximately 50 

percent of students at medical schools, 

“the military side has been behind 

numerically.” Mulligan is one of a few 

women neurosurgeons in the military 

and is the neurosurgery specialty 

leader to the Navy Surgeon General. 

A Harvard grad, Mulligan earned her 

medical degree from USU (’93), did her 

internship at the former National Naval 

Medical Center (now WRNMMC) in 

general surgery, completed her neurosurgery residency training through the 

National Capital Consortium Residency 

program, and was an epilepsy surgery 

fellow at Yale University.

According to numbers from the 

AMA and Association of Women 

Surgeons, in the U.S., female physicians outnumber male physicians 

in pediatrics, and female residents 

outnumber male residents in family 

medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, 

pathology and psychiatry, but some 

medical specialties, such as surgery, 

remain primarily male-dominated.

Kindelan, who is a minimally 

invasive and bariatric surgeon at 

Walter Reed Bethesda, explained her 

parents were influential to her in 

pursuing a medical career.

“My parents were the first ones 

to tell me I could be a doctor, and I 

guess it just stuck in my head. When 

it was time to choose what to do with 

my life, I chose medicine. The more 

and more I learned afterwards made 

me sure I made the right choice,” 

Kindelan said.

Latham, a plastic surgeon, said she 

also became interested in medicine as 

a little girl. “I knew I wanted to help 

people, and I like problem solving. 

[Medicine] seemed like a good fit.”

The plastic surgeon explained how 

a humanitarian mission to the Philippines as a medical student at USU (’00) 

also influenced her career choice.

“I met a teenage boy with an 

unrepaired cleft lip. He told me, through 

a translator, that he wanted to have 

surgery to fix his lip. He said he was in 

love with a girl in town but she would 

not marry him because he had an 

unrepaired cleft lip. He also said when 

he was a little boy, another mission had 

come, but he was sick, so they could 

not do his surgery. He said he had been 

waiting many years for surgeons to come 

back to help him. I helped the surgeon 

do his cleft lip repair. I had never seen 

Photo by Bernard S. Little

Passion for science and the desire to help people are the common reasons Walter Reed 

Bethesda physicians (from left) Cmdr. (Dr.) Katherine I. Schexneider, Navy Capt. (Dr.) 

Lisa Mulligan, Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Inger Rosner, Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Tamara Kindelan, Navy 

Capt. (Dr.) Christine Sears and Dr. Susan Dunlow, chose to pursue careers in medicine. 

They are among the many physicians at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 

(WRNMMC) contributing to the healing of the nation’s heroes and their families. 

Saluting Women In Medicine

by Bernard S. Little, WRNMMC Journal Staff Writer

Continued to page 8
4 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

East meets west at USU to improve military medicine globally

By Christine Creenan-Jones

Saguil Appointed Newest Assistant Dean

By Gwendolyn Smalls

USU’s reputation as the premier 

academic home of 

American military 

medicine transcends 

distant boundaries. 

In fact, people from 

all over the world 

come here to learn 

from USU’s faculty, 

including Navy Commander (Dr.) 

Rempei Yanagawa, a visiting professor from the National Defense Medical 

College (NDMC) in Japan. 

As part of his experience at USU, 

Yanagawa, and three of his students, 

completed field training at Operation Bushmaster, a hands-on learning exercise that captures some of the 

unique obstacles military doctors and 

nurses face on deployments.

Yanagawa hoped the time he 

spent on USU’s simulated battlefield will shape the way military 

medicine is taught in Japan. Like 

the officers here, NDMC students 

trade a tuition-free education for a 

military service commitment that 

often includes work assignments in 

challenges places.

Yanagawa, a NDMC alum himself, 

knows these rigors well. He’s served 

in the Japanese Navy for 22 years 

now and has travelled to many places 

around the world, including Antarctica, where he took care of an entire 

Japanese fleet aboard the Shirase, an 

icebreaking ship used primarily for 

research expeditions. 

Living and working conditions on 

the Shirase were difficult, especially at 

night, when temperatures plummeted 

to double digit negatives. The nearest 

airport, in case of serious injury, was 

also thousands of miles away in South 

Africa. As a result, Yanagawa had 

to be prepared to handle all sorts of 

medical emergencies.

A teacher now, he believes the best 

way to learn about military medicine 

is through classroom lectures and 

field exercises, so students can 

practice working in austere environments, like the Shirase. 

 “I came here to see what USU 

teaches at Operation Bushmaster, 

because I believe interactive learning is more powerful than didactic 

instruction,” Yanagawa said. “We 

don’t have field exercises right now, 

but we need them, and I know we can 

learn from the people here.”

USU and NDMC have collaborated 

for many years now. In the 1980s, 

Jay Sanford, M.D., USU’s third president, travelled to the overseas college 

and presented lectures to Japanese 

servicemembers. Since then, several 

NDMC students have completed USU’s 

Military and Contingency Medicine 

course, which includes five days of field 

training at Operation Bushmaster.

The Uniformed 

Services University of the Health 

Sciences recently 

selected its newest 

assistant dean, Army 

Lt. Col. (Dr.) Aaron 

A. Saguil. 

School of 

Medicine Dean 

Dr. Larry Laughlin 

made the announcement recently. “I 

am delighted to announce the selection of Lieutenant Colonel Aaron A. 

Saguil, MD, MPH, FAAP as Assistant 

Dean for Recruitment and Admissions,” said Laughlin.

The summa cum laude graduate of 

Duke University and honors graduate 

of the University of Florida College of 

Medicine echoed with his appreciation.

 “I am both elated and incredibly humbled,” said Saguil. “Elated 

because this is a dream job—the 

opportunity to work with bright, 

aspiring premedical students across 

the United States and our territories, 

showing and welcoming them into 

a vision of selfless medical service 

for those who have served and who 

continue to serve in harm’s way—and 

their families, too.”

 “Humbled, because the admissions office and the admissions 

committee are an incredible group 

of hardworking professionals who 

are justifiably proud of the already 

amazing work they do,” he continued. “I hope to support their efforts 

and create new opportunities for 

us to showcase and utilize our 

strengths as we continue to fulfill 

our school’s mission and vision.”

Prior to his selection, Saguil served as 

the University’s Joint Family Medicine 

Faculty Liaison for Student Affairs.

“I appreciate the support of the 

president, the Dean, the departments, 

the Brigade, the faculty, the staff, and 

the students in making this selection 

possible, and for helping to take our 

recruitment and admissions process 

forward as we continue to create 

a future cadre of military medical 

leaders,” Saguil said.

“I am always thrilled to hear 

about how we can better partner and 

marshal our resources in pursuit of our 

common recruiting and admissions 

goal. Please drop by—the door to my 

office is always open.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Saguil was 

selected from an outstanding pool 

of candidates, nominated by each 

of the uniformed services,” Laughlin 

added. “I am confident that 

Aaron will provide exemplary leadership to the Office of Recruitment 

and Admissions.”

Rempei 

Yanagawa, M.D.

Lt. Col. (Dr.) Aaron 

A. Saguil
November 14, 2012 5

USU leader pioneers new Army program

By Christine Creenan-Jones

United States Army Colonel (Dr.)

Leon Moores, stands out, even 

among the military’s top leaders. 

His stellar reputation, professional 

record and vast array of accomplishments distinguishes him.

So do his leadership awards, a 

bounty of them given at every duty 

assignment, from West Point and 

Uniformed Services University to 

the Industrial College of the Armed 

Forces and Walter Reed Army Medical 

Center, where he’s earned some of the 

military’s most prestigious honors, 

including the Major General Harold 

Mashburn, Jr. Award for Excellence 

in Leadership, the Legion of Merit 

(twice), and the Navy and Marine 

Corps Achievement Medal, no small 

feat for an Army officer.

Moores’ accolades and the example 

he’s set throughout his military career 

– in classrooms, surgical units, on 

the frontlines and in command-level 

positions – have led to a new job with 

some unique responsibilities.

As the Army’s first ever Medical 

Corps Consultant for Leadership, 

Moores is developing a pioneering program that will teach leadership skills to physicians and aspiring 

medical professionals across the globe.

“Military medicine needs strong, 

effective leaders,” said Moores, a USU 

graduate and National Capital Consortium-trained neurosurgeon. “Yet, we 

don’t normally teach leadership as a 

core competency, and we should.”

In his new consultant role, Moores 

is helping close the leadership gap by 

developing a program for Army physicians that deliberately and systematically teaches important leadership 

skills like positive interpersonal 

communication, effective bedside 

manner and cultural competency.

“Leadership isn’t innate. It needs to 

be learned and practiced,” said Moores. 

“That’s why the Army is working to 

create new platforms for leadership 

training in the Medical Corps for a 

better Military Health System.”

The program’s effects will also 

improve military readiness, according 

to Moores, because Soldiers are more 

likely to heed professional advice if their 

physician is competent, compassionate 

and confident – skills the program is 

designed to enhance over a career. 

“The future of medicine will be 

increasingly team-based and patientfocused and all medical professionals 

need to be prepared to excel in that 

environment,” he said. “We plan to 

help physicians develop leadership 

skills at every stage in their career, 

starting in medical school, so we can 

have the greatest possible positive 

impact on health outcomes.” 

Moores is ironing out the finer 

points of the Army Medical Corps 

Leadership program at USU, where 

he also works as a special assistant to 

President Charles Rice for leadership 

development. Moores is also working 

with a number of agencies to develop 

programs with broad applicability to 

all health care professionals.

“It feels good to be on campus 

again. I’m passionate about USU 

and leadership development. Plus, 

the program’s target audiences are 

right here, experienced health care 

professionals, mid-career faculty 

and students, and aspiring doctors,” 

Moores said. “It’s a good microcosm 

of military medicine and a great place 

to develop a leadership plan.”

HPRC Health Tips

USU’s Human Performance 

Resource Center Health Tips is 

intended to provide the USU 

community with information to 

help develop and maintain a healthy 

lifestyle. Check out the HPRC 

website at: http://hprc-online.org.

Set your calorie goals

The United States Department 

of Agriculture’s Supertracker 

(https://www.supertracker.usda.

gov/default.aspx) has added a 

unique and helpful feature that 

allows users to set calorie target 

recommendations prescribed 

by nutritionists, dietitians, and 

healthcare providers. SuperTracker, a free online tool 

released in 2011, allows users 

to assess daily healthy food and 

lifestyle choices and track their 

progress. With the newly added 

feature, users will be able to tailor 

their unique needs.

Col. (Dr.) Leon Moores

Twitter

Follow us at 

https://twitter.com/

usuhspao
6 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

USU students participate in Operation Bushmaster, FTX 101

By Sharon Willis/All photos by Thomas C. Balfour

More than 350 medical and 

advanced practice nursing students 

from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences experienced 

the demands of caring for patients in a 

simulated combat environment during 

simultaneous field training exercises 

held Oct. 16-24 at Fort Indiantown 

Gap, Pa. 

“Operation Bushmaster” exposed 

fourth-year medical students and 

graduate-level nurse practitioner 

students to the challenges of delivering 

medical care in support of warfighting, peacekeeping and humanitarianassistance operations. Meanwhile, 

“FTX-101” gave first-year medical 

students their first tactical training in a 

field environment. 

Both exercises ran for three days with 

half of each class participating; the cycle 

repeated for the second half of each 

class. The Bushmaster training exercise 

concluded with a simulated attack 

during a nighttime operation, resulting 

in mass casualties. The students then 

drew on their education, training and 

experience as they tried to make order 

out of chaos while triaging, treating and 

evacuating patients. 

The “patients” were first-year 

students who had moulage makeup 

applied to create realistic-looking 

combat wounds. Seeing these 

simulated wounds during the exercises 

helps prepare the students for seeing 

the real thing for the first time in 

a combat environment or military 

hospital like the Walter Reed National 

Military Medical Center. 

Increased emphasis on treating 

patients as quickly and as far forward as 

possible presents challenges traditional 

medical students aren’t likely to encounter, from treating patients while under 

fire to treating injured enemy combatants to working with far less equipment than they’d find in fixed medical 

facilities. USU’s fourth-year medical 

students and GSN students faced 

those challenges as well as leadership 

and ethical challenges as they treated 

“patients” while rotating through a 

variety of roles they played as medical 

officers, from litter bearers to logistics 

officers to unit commanders. 

The Bushmaster exercise also 

reinforces the fact that doctors are just 

one part of a vast medical care network, 

while underscoring their broad responsibilities as military medical officers, 

among them leadership, planning, 

organization, communication, situational awareness, and prioritization to 

ensure sufficient resources, personnel, 

and evacuation capabilities.

This year’s exercise involved several 

new scenarios, including the use of 

patient and hybrid simulation. To 

experience the challenges of en-route 

patient care in a field ambulance, 

students learned about point of injury 

hemorrhage control and used the 

“SimMan” patient simulator. The 

“SimMan” was also used for a hybrid 

simulation scenario, where actors 

(students) took the place of the simulator at a designated point in the treatment of the “patient.” USU also used 

a new section of Fort Indiantown Gap 

replicated as an Improvised Explosive 

Device-laden area designed to support 

combat health support during military 

operations in a hazardous environment.
November 14, 2012 7
a cleft lip surgery. It was amazing. The 

surgery took two hours and the teenage 

boy did very well. I went to see him the 

next morning and he was lying on a 

stretcher and a very pretty teenage girl 

was sitting with him. They were so happy 

together and she was looking at him so 

affectionately. He was smiling broadly 

and I knew that she was the girl he loved. 

I was elated,” said Latham.

“In that moment, I knew what I 

wanted to do for the rest of my life,” 

Latham said. “I could not believe that 

in a couple of hours a plastic surgeon 

can improve people’s lives so dramatically. What an incredible profession!”

Sears explained, “a love of science 

and a desire to see science applied to 

help people and society,” sparked her 

desire to become a physician. The staff 

urologist at Walter Reed Bethesda also 

serves as the executive assistant to 

WRNMMC Commander, Rear Adm. 

(Dr.) Alton L. Stocks.

“I love the systems approach to 

medicine,” Sears explained. “Since I was 

an engineering major in undergraduate 

school, the urinary system makes sense 

to me. Urology has a wonderful combination of medical and surgical disciplines - everything from seeing patients 

in the office to minor procedures to 

complex surgeries in the abdomen, 

pelvis and retroperitoneum. I also truly 

enjoy my colleagues; we are a fun, albeit 

sometimes strange, bunch.”

Dorrance, staff hematologist/oncologist and assistant chief of hematology/oncology at WRNMMC, said her 

father’s death caused her to pursue a 

medical career. “My father passed from 

cancer,” said the Pennsylvania native. 

“I saw a place where I could make a 

difference in patient management, 

helping families and training future 

physicians and learning to do it better.”

The hematologist/oncologist added 

being a physician is “truly one of the 

most gratifying ways to earn a living and 

give back to society. I get so much more 

back from my patients and their families 

in ways that I never expected, and these 

gifts keep me focused on what is really 

important in life,” Dorrance said.

Chief of the department of quality 

management and medical director of 

blood services at WRNMMC, Schexneider said working as a lab tech in 

veterinary medicine was instrumental 

in her becoming a physician. “I loved 

the science of what we were doing, 

but actually felt like I connected more 

with the pet owners than with the pets 

themselves. One veterinarian I worked 

with really kindled my interest. A pathologist I met while I was still in veterinary 

medicine, Dr. Resa Chase, encouraged 

me to apply to medical school.”

The Navy captain, born at Naval 

Medical Center Portsmouth, Va. said 

she’s always been fascinated by science, 

and wanted to be a doctor since she 

was six. She earned her medical degree 

from USU (’86), and like her colleagues, 

encourages other women to consider 

careers in medicine.

“It has been a lot of hard work, but 

worth all of the effort I put into it,” 

Dunlow explained. “Juggling a career 

in medicine and raising a family has 

been difficult at times, but I don’t feel 

I missed out on anything. I think my 

children would say the same. I spent 

time in my children’s classrooms, 

coached their soccer teams and always 

found time to do the things that were 

important to me.”

“The best advice I have for anyone, 

male or female, interested in medicine, 

is to keep in mind that life is a constant 

journey, a marathon, not a sprint,” added 

Sears, who earned her engineering 

undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins 

University and her medical degree from 

Northwestern University Medical School.

“There will always be another 

mountain to climb and don’t fool yourself 

that the mountain in front of you is the 

last one,” Sears continued. “Enjoy the 

climb. Take a moment to look at the view, 

and then expect another mountain in 

front of you,” added Dunlow, who retired 

from the Army in 2008 after serving 26 

years, is chief of OB/GYN ambulatory 

services at WRNMMC. 

Kindelan, born in Seattle, Wash., 

also earned her medical degree from 

USU (’03), agreed, stating, “There is 

no other job that can compare with 

what we are able to do as physicians; 

every day you learn something new, 

get to teach and have the privilege of 

helping people during some of the 

most important times of their lives. 

It’s not easy, you have to be sure you 

want it and be willing to spend years 

in training, but it is worth it.

“There are so many great role 

models at this hospital,” Kindelan 

added. She encourages people to “take 

advantage of the years of military and 

medical expertise that walk our halls.”

A native of Potomac, Md., Latham, 

who completed her undergraduate 

degree at Princeton University, has 

the same advice for women who are 

considering careers in medicine. She 

tells them, “Go for it, ladies! I think the 

proverb that a good surgeon has ‘the 

eye of an eagle, the heart of a lion, and 

the hand of a lady,’ might be right.”

Schexneider, who hails from the San 

Francisco Bay area, and also earned her 

medical degree from USU (’99), has the 

same advice for women interested in 

medical or military careers, “Go for it.”

“When I started wearing the uniform 

as an ROTC midshipman in 1979, 

women were still new to the military 

in appreciable numbers,” said Schexneider, whose father and grandfather 

served in the Navy. “It felt to me like 

we were still in the ‘experiment’ stage, 

and it was easy for folks to identify us 

as ‘women midshipmen,’ and to view us 

and our contributions differently. I feel 

that this has completely changed, and 

that gender plays no role whatsoever in 

how people are valued. Our gender may 

inform how we approach people and 

situations - maybe my style is somewhat 

different from that of some of my male 

colleagues - but does not limit us in any 

way that I can see.”

Schexneider added a number of 

women led the change in how women 

physicians and those in the military 

are perceived. “The actions, courage 

and endurance of hundreds of women 

who wore the uniform proudly 

through those early years reshaped 

the attitudes of men and women they 

served with. We should be grateful for 

those pioneers.”

Saluting Women 

In Medicine

continued from page 3

8 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter