USU Newsletter 

VOLUME 2,ISSUE 7 WWW.USUHS.MIL APRIL 16, 2007 

In This Issue 

NIH’s New National Center for 

Research Resources Director..........2 

Federal Agency Ethics Update........3 

Research Grant Award....................4 

Research Findings............................4 

“Courage to Care for Me” 

Campaign....................................5 

National Minority Health Month..5 

Student Profiles................................6 

USU News Briefs..............................7 
USU Newsletter 

Editorial Staff 

Carol R. Scheman 

Vice President for 

External Affairs and 

Managing Editor 

Tech. Sgt. 

André Nicholson 

Editor 

Mass Communications 

Specialist 

Seaman 

Raul Zamora 

Staff Writer 

 

Mass Communications 

Specialist 

Seaman 

Jeffrey Hopkins 

Staff Writer 

Marla Wright 

Webmaster 

Publishing 

USU Duplicating Office

Production: 

Editorial content is 

edited, prepared and 

provided by the USU 

Office of External Affairs unless otherwise 

indicated. The Newsletter staff may include 

or exclude articles 

based upon news 

value, impact on the 

university and space 

availability. 

Submissions: 

The USU Newsletter 

will be published biweekly on Mondays 

and deadline for submission is Friday at 4 

p.m. Submissions can 

be sent to usunewsletter@usuhs.mil or call 

301-295-3925. 

PAGE 2 

Front Cover Photo By 

MCSN Raul Zamora 

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH — NIH Director 

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. has named Barbara Alving, 

M.D. to be the director of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). As acting director of NCRR, 

Alving has overseen the launch of the Clinical and 

Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program — a 

new national consortium of academic health centers 

that will transform the conduct of clinical and translational research to ensure that biomedical discoveries 

are rapidly translated into prevention strategies and 

clinical treatments for rare and common diseases. 

 Alving is a professor of medicine at the Uniformed 

Services University of the Health Sciences, and also a 

Master in the American College of Physicians, a former 

member of the subcommittee on Hematology of the 

American Board of Internal Medicine, and a previous 

member of the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee. Before joining NIH, she served on the Hematology Study Section for NIH and was a member of the 

NHLBI Clinical Trials Review Committee. She currently 

serves the NIH Director as the official NIH liaison for 

the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is 

a member of the Advisory Board for Clinical Research 

at the NIH Clinical Center. 

 “Dr. Alving has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the recent efforts of the NIH to energize the 

discipline of clinical and translational research across 

the nation,” said Dr. Zerhouni. “The CTSA program 

marks the first systemic change in clinical research in 

50 years and is a critical component of how we will 

effectively re-engineer the clinical research enterprise, 

including training the next generation of researchers. 

It will be with Dr. Alving’s vision, creativity, and leadership that we will be able to maximize our investment 

in the CTSA consortium, ensure that benefits extend 

to the greater research community, and that new 

medical advances are delivered to the people who 

need them.” 

 “I am honored to lead NCRR at such a critical time 

and welcome the opportunity to work with my very 

talented and dedicated colleagues in NCRR as we 

capitalize on NCRR’s long standing investment in clinical and translational science to enrich the CTSA program,” Dr. Alving said. “I have been impressed by the 

variety and depth of the research that NCRR-funded 

investigators are conducting and the contributions 

NCRR makes to the entire biomedical research community. These investigators are fueling advances in 

clinical care by developing pre-clinical models, new 

technologies in imaging, and new informatics systems, 

which are critical to transforming clinical and translational research.” 

 The NCRR budget of greater than $1 billion will 

enable investigators throughout the country to conduct research that ranges from basic and clinical projects to community outreach and education. NCRR 

funding provides training 

and research opportunities 

at minority institutions and 

colleges, as well as in academic centers located in 

states that are challenged 

by distance and low or 

often rural populations. 

 A native of Indiana and 

a graduate of Purdue University, Dr. Alving earned 

her medical degree — cum 

laude — from Georgetown 

University School of Medicine, where she also 

served as an intern in internal medicine. She completed her residency training, followed by a research 

fellowship in hematology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She began her research career as a 

Public Health Officer in the Division of Blood and 

Blood Products at the Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) on the NIH campus. Dr. Alving then joined the 

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where she 

served at the rank of colonel as the Chief of the Department of Hematology and Vascular Biology. In 

1997, Dr. Alving became the Chief of the Section of 

Hematology and Oncology at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington D.C. In 1999, she joined the 

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) as 

the Director of the Division of Blood Diseases and 

Resources. She then became the NHLBI Deputy Director and Acting Director while also serving as the Director of the Women's Health Initiative (2002-2006). In 

2005, Dr. Zerhouni tapped her to be the acting director of NCRR. 

 NCRR provides laboratory scientists and clinical 

researchers with the environments and tools they 

need to understand, detect, treat, and prevent a wide 

range of diseases. Central to this effort, NCRR leads 

the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) 

program — a national consortium of academic health 

centers that will transform the conduct of clinical and 

translational research to ensure that biomedical discoveries are rapidly translated into prevention strategies and clinical treatments for rare and common diseases. With NCRR support, scientists make biomedical 

discoveries, translate these findings to animal-based 

studies, and then apply them to patient-oriented research. Through the CTSA consortium and other collaborations and networks, NCRR connects researchers 

with one another, and with patients and communities 

across the nation. These connections bring together 

innovative research teams and the power of shared 

resources, multiplying the opportunities to improve 

human health. 

USU Professor of Medicine Named 

Director of NIH’s National Center 

for Research Resources 

Barbara Alving, M.D. 
PAGE 3 

 U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the agency 

responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, highlights four recent unanimous decisions by the 

Merit Systems Protection Board concerning 

federal employees using government email to 

engage in prohibited political activity. 

 The decisions by the MSPB have brought 

clarity to the email issue and dispel any misconceptions in the federal community that 

using government email to circulate partisan 

political messages was an exception to the 

Hatch Act’s prohibition against engaging in 

political activity while on duty or in a federal 

building. 

 In each of these cases, the respondent 

raised the defense that their conduct was 

mere expression of opinion and no different 

form the water cooler conversation described 

in OSC’s advisory opinion dated May 30, 

2002, entitled “Use of Electronic Messaging 

Devices to Engage in Political Activity.” In light 

of the clear guidance offered by the MSPB 

decisions, OSC has rescinded this advisory 

opinion. 

 The four MSPB decisions are highlighted 

below. 

 On June 9, 2006, the MSPB in Special 

Counsel v. Morrill upheld a sixty-day suspension imposed against a federal employee who 

was found to have violated the Hatch Act by 

sending an email while on duty and in a federal building that was directed toward the 

success of a candidate for U.S. Representative. 

Specifically, the federal employee sent an 

email to over 300 individuals with an attached announcement for a “Halloween party 

for Tim Holden,” a U.S. Representative seeking 

re-election. It was found that the message 

described the candidate in highly favorable 

terms and strongly encouraged attendance at 

the event, and that the email was 

“obviously ... directed toward the success of 

Mr. Holden’s re-election campaign.” 

 On June 12, 2006, the MSPB granted OSC’s 

petition for review of an Administrative Law 

Judge’s (ALJ) decision in Special Counsel v. 

Davis and Sims. The MSPB reversed the ALJ’s 

dismissal of two OSC complaints for disciplinary action against two federal employees 

who sent partisan political emails while they 

were on duty and/or in a federal building. 

The first email in question contained a widelycirculated picture of President George W. 

Bush in front of an American flag with the 

statement, “I Vote the Bible.” The text of the 

email contained several statements in support 

of President Bush, a negative statement about 

Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry, 

and a statement urging recipients to “Pass 

along the ‘I Vote the Bible’ button.” The second email contained the subject line, “Why I 

am supporting John Kerry for President” and 

it presented a letter that purported to be written by John Eisenhower, son of former President Eisenhower. The email contained several 

reasons why the reader should vote for Presidential candidate John Kerry and why the 

reader should not support the Republican 

Party. 

 The MSPB unanimously overturned the 

ALJ’s decision, found in OSC’s favor and held 

that the facts OSC alleged, if proven, could 

constitute a violation of the Hatch Act¡|s prohibition against political activity on duty or in 

a federal building. The cases were remanded 

to the ALJ for further adjudication. 

 On Aug. 9, 2006, the MSPB unanimously 

upheld an earlier decision by an ALJ and ordered the removal from federal service of a 

Small Business Administration employee for 

having engaged in partisan political activity 

while on duty. Specifically, it was found that 

over a three-year period the federal employee, an elected official of the California 

Green Party, received, read, drafted or sent 

more than 100 emails through his government computer that were directed toward 

the success of the Green Party. The extensive 

emails concerned such politically charged 

issues as party fundraising opportunities, outreach and recruitment plans, internal drafts of 

various party platforms, and the planning of a 

state-wide Green Party political convention. 

The MSPB unanimously found that the penalty of removal was warranted in this case. 

 On Dec. 14, 2006, the MSPB unanimously 

ruled in OSC’s favor by holding that an employee of the Environmental Protection 

Agency violated the Hatch Act when he sent 

a partisan political email message while on 

duty and in the federal workplace. The MSPB 

found that the employee, while on duty and 

in a federal building, engaged in prohibited 

political activity by forwarding, via his government e-mail system, a letter from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that urged its 

recipients to take immediate action after the 

Presidential debate in supportive of thenPresidential candidate John Kerry. 

 Special Counsel Scott Bloch said, “The four 

MSPB decisions send a clear message to the 

federal community. The Hatch Act prohibits 

federal employees from sending e-mails that 

advocate for a political party or candidate for 

partisan public office while on duty or in a 

federal building, and engaging in such activity may subject them to disciplinary action, 

including the loss of their job. No political 

activity means no political activity, regardless 

of the specific technology used.” 

Federal Agency Ethics Update 

 Approximately 147 people came out to support 

the drive and 96 bags were donated. The Student 

Spouses Club would like to give a special thanks to 

MS1's for their support and for providing the baked 

treats. 

 The department with the highest percentage of 

donors tied between the Mulit-Media Design Division and the Medical and Clinical Psychology students both with 29% and the MS1 class ran a close 

race with 25% donating. 

 The winners will be contacted soon with details 

about the ice cream social. 

Blood drive a 

great success 

Photo by MCSN Raul Zamora 
PAGE 4 

 An interdisciplinary research team at the 

Uniformed Services University of the Health 

Sciences (USU) has been given a $736,100 

grant for a three-year research program into 

traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is the most 

common combat injury caused by improvised 

explosive devices (IED). 

 Using rodent models of blast traumatic 

brain injury (BTBI,) the team proposes to characterize the cellular, molecular, and behavioral consequences of moderate and severe 

BTBI. Because the leading symptom of BTBI is 

memory impairment, they will also test the 

effect of anti-inflammatory treatment combined with enriched environment and physical exercise on memory performance. 

 The large number of troops currently suffering from BTBI may face several decades of 

special treatment and greater levels of dependant care. The relevance of this study is its 

ability to expedite clinical trials to treat memory impairments that currently interfere with a 

veteran’s ability to return to normal lives and 

reduce long-term treatment of blast-injured 

soldiers. 

 The study will determine the effect of different blast intensities on spatial working memory and cellular changes using commercially 

available antibodies against selected cellular 

markers including microglia, astroglia, cellular 

proliferation, de novo hippocampal neurons 

and histological markers of cell death. 

Changes in levels of TNF-a, IL-6, FGF2 and 

VEGF will be examined. Various treatment 

schedules will be observed, as well as the 

effect of enriched environment on spatial 

memory performance to determine the effect 

of administered minocycline. 

 Co-investigators of the research team 

headed by C.E. Kasper, PI (GSN) include Denes Agoston, Anatomy, Physiology, and Genetics, and COL Geoffrey Ling, Anesthesiology, Neurology and Surgery. Neil Grunberg, 

Medical Clinical Psychology and Jospeh P. 

Long, Chief, Department of Polytrauma and 

Resuscitation, Division of Military Casualty 

Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, will collaborate on the study. 

 Results of a recent study titled “Protein Oxidation Implicated as the 

Primary Determinant of Bacterial Radioresistance,” are published in 

the March 20 edition of PLoS Biology. The study headed by Michael J. 

Daly, Ph.D., associate professor at the Uniformed Services University of 

the Health Sciences (USU), Department of Pathology, shows that the 

ability of the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans to endure and survive enormous levels of ionizing radiation (X-rays and gamma-rays) 

relies on a powerful mechanism that protects proteins from oxidative 

damage during irradiation. 

 The field of radiobiology is built on the premise that radiation is 

dangerous because of its damaging effects on DNA. Contrary to that 

view, Daly et al report that the ability of cells to survive radiation is 

highly dependent on the amount of protein damage caused during 

irradiation. Surprisingly, a dose of radiation that is sufficient to cause 

only minor DNA damage in radiation sensitive cells will cause high 

levels of protein damage compared to resistant cells exposed to the 

same dose. 

 This new model of radiation toxicity shifts the emphasis away from 

DNA damage toward protein damage, where DNA repair-related 

proteins in sensitive cells are devastated by radiation long before DNA 

is significantly damaged. In contrast, repair enzymes in extremely resistant cells survive and function with great efficiency after irradiation 

because they are protected, specifically by a chemical mechanism 

involving manganese (II) ions. 

 The new model of extreme radiation resistance reconciles many 

seemingly conflicting results published over the last two decades, and 

points directly at the existence of potent manganese-based radioprotectors that prevent protein damage. Daly expects that delivery of 

purified radioprotective Mn-complexes into sensitive cell-types will 

make them temporarily radiation resistant. This possibility opens up 

new avenues for radioprotection, including approaches to facilitate 

recovery from short- or long-term exposures to radiation such as cancer therapies, accident- or terror-related nuclear events, and astronauts exposed to cosmic radiation. Furthermore, given that many 

bacteria with favorable bioremediation functions are extremely sensitive to radiation, the new insight provided by D. radiodurans on how 

to survive radiation might prove useful in efforts to contain the toxic 

runoff from the immense radioactive- and heavy metal-contaminated 

waste sites left over from the Cold War. 

 The work was funded by the US Department of Energy Office of 

Science’s Environmental Remediation Science Program (ERSP). DOE's 

Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the 

physical sciences in the nation, manages 10 world-class national laboratories, and builds and operates some of the nation's most advanced 

R&D user facilities. Its website address is www.science.doe.gov. 

 The complete manuscript can be read in PLoS Biology at: http://

www.plosbiology.org. PLoS Biology is an open-access, peer-reviewed 

journal that features works of exceptional significance in all areas of 

biology. In ISI's category of general biology journals, PLoS Biology is 

ranked number-one. 

TBI Research 

Grant Award 

One Small Step for Deinococcus or One 

Giant Leap for Radiation Biology? 

 The Office for Student Affairs received a very touching note of 

gratitude from our graduate, COL John Baxter, MC, U.S. Air Force, 

whose daughter, our student, Catherine Baxter Wochos – USU Class 

of 2007 – passed away last month, following a long battle with cancer. Baxter referred to the whole USU community as a “beacon of 

light and a safe harbor during the shipwreck that was Catherine’s 

illness.” He noted that “the support of the USU community was really 

all that kept us from sinking into unbridled despair during the low 

points of her illness.” Anyone who knew Catherine had a friend for 

life. In kind, the friendship and support of the USU community not 

only was there for Catherine, but so sensitively acknowledged and 

appreciated by her family. 

 A Memorial Service of fellowship for Catherine will be held at USU at 10:30 a.m. May 

10, 2007 in Sanford Auditorium. Many of her 

classmates will soon graduate from USU, but 

have been away for senior year clerkships 

during Catherine’s final months of life. So, this 

will be an opportunity for her peers and 

many friends in the faculty and staff to remember her love for life, her commitment to 

the vocations of medicine and military 

service, and her many contributions to 

everyone she knew. We expect her family 

members to attend, and more details 

about the service will be forthcoming. 

Note of Gratitude 

2LT 

Catherine Baxter 
PAGE 5 

 April is National Minority Health Month, and across the nation 

communities both lay and professional are working together to 

raise awareness about racial and ethnic health disparities, and to 

implement strategies to address the urgent health needs experienced by racial and ethnic minorities and the rural and urban 

poor. 

 The Uniformed Services University Center for Health Disparities 

Research and Education (USUCHD), an NIH funded National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) Project 

EXPORT Center, aims to reduce health disparities among racial and 

ethnic minorities through research, education, training, community 

outreach and information dissemination. The Community Outreach and Information Dissemination Core (COIDC) has been actively involved with uniting academic scholars, and public, private 

and community organizations to address health disparities among 

African-Americans, Hispanics, and active-duty military personnel 

and their beneficiaries. One specific aim of COIDC is to utilize National Minority Health Month to raise awareness about health disparities by participating in forums and seminars with military and 

civilian collaborators to discuss the impact of health disparities on 

their communities. 

 As racial and ethnic disparities continue to threaten efforts to 

improve the nation’s health, noteworthy is the work of Dr. Booker 

T. Washington, founder and president of the Tuskegee Institute 

(now Tuskegee University), and his contributions to this nationallyrecognized campaign. 

 In 1914, Dr. Washington launched a national public health education campaign in Tuskegee Institute, Ala., to address the health 

of blacks in America which focused on the disproportionately high 

mortality rate among them and the need for federal government 

intervention. The campaign, National Health Improvement Week, 

which later became National Negro Health Week and the National 

Negro Health Week Movement, was a community outreach initiative that brought together community members, local, county, 

state and federal governments, and national organizations whose 

memberships included blacks and whites to spearhead a movement across the nation to reduce health disparities. 

 The goals of the month are to raise awareness and implement 

initiatives to reduce health disparities among African-Americans, 

Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians at the community level. This nationally, 

and annually, recognized month is intended to serve as the impetus to raise awareness about health disparities throughout the 

year. 

 A debt of gratitude is owed to the legacy of the National Negro 

Health Week Movement to eliminate health disparities. Tuskegee 

Institute served as headquarters for the National Negro Health 

Week Movement from 1915-1930, at which time the U.S. Public 

Health Service managed the campaign and made it a year-round 

effort. Efforts continued until 1932 when the Office of Negro 

Health Works was established and charged with carrying out the 

goals of the campaign. The office was decommissioned in 1951 

and 34 years later, in 1985, Margaret Heckler, secretary of the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services released the Secretary’s 

Task Force Report on Black and Minority Health. 

 This landmark report which covered all ethnic minorities, not 

just blacks, documented the “excess” death experienced by racial 

and ethnic minorities, and made health disparities an issue for the 

national agenda. 

 The Office of Minority Health was established in 1986 to implement the report’s recommendations, and since then, greater attention has been placed on minority health. The federal government 

continues to address this national health concern. 

 In addition, federal law has been instrumental; one such law, 

Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act 

of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 202,) mandates the National Institutes of Health 

to focus on health disparities and to establish the NCMHD. The 

107th Congress passed a concurrent resolution in October 2002 to 

identify April as National Minority Health and Health Disparities 

Month. 

National Minority Health Month 2007: COIDC Events 

April 18 Academic Scholars and Public-Private Organizations 

 Dinner 

April 18 USU Information Table (outside cafeteria) 

April 23-24 Maryland Office of Minority Health and Health 

 Disparities 

 2007 Disparities Conference and Public Health 

 Forum 

April 25 Nursing Spectrum Career Fitness Expo 

April 26 Trinity Health Ethics Forum 

April 28 Montgomery Hospice 

USU Center for Health 

Disparities Observes National 

Minority Health Month 

 Healthcare professionals at the Uniformed Services University of the Health 

Sciences’ (USU) Center for the Study of 

Traumatic Stress (CSTS) have launched the 

“Courage to Care for Me” campaign as part 

of the “Courage to Care” initiative during 

April, the Month of the Military Child. 

 The campaign intends to raise awareness of the strength and courage required 

in parenting during stressful times of deployment, redeployment, extended deployment and reintegration into one’s home 

life upon return from duty. 

 The vehicle for this message is a onesie, 

which is emblazoned with one of two colorful Courage to Care for Me logos and 

accompanied with a tag that asks “Why 

Courage?” The tag explains that parenting 

during times of war involves courage at 

home, just as on the battlefield. The goal is 

to help clinicians and family advocacy professionals reinforce the values of positive 

parenting, especially to new mothers in 

military settings. 

 The Center for the Study of Traumatic 

Stress conducts research, education, consultation and training on preparing for and 

responding to the psychological effects 

and health consequences of traumatic 

events. These events include natural 

(hurricanes, floods and tsunami) and human made disasters (motor vehicle and 

plane crashes, war, terrorism and bioterrorism). The Center’s work spans studies of 

genetic vulnerability to stress, individual 

and community responses to terrorism, 

and policy recommendations to help our 

nation and its military and civilian populations. 

USU’s CSTS launches “Courage to Care for Me” 

By Gloria Ramsey, JD, RN 

Associate Professor, GSN and Director of COIDC 
PAGE 6 

 The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) 

has students who have different experiences and a story to tell. 

 Ensign Paul Maliakel was born in Arington, Texas in 1984, 

where his parents had moved a year earlier. Later that year they 

would move to New Jersey, where he was raised. Maliakel has two 

younger brothers, one is a freshman at Georgetown University 

and the other is a junior in High School in New Jersey. 

 While in the fourth grade, Maliakel’s grandmother, who lived in 

India, became ill. His mother took him and his two younger brothers to India so they could take care of their grandmother. He credits his experience in India as the spark of his interest in medicine. 

 “I saw so many people in dire need of medical care, but they just 

didn’t have access to it or couldn’t afford it,” he said. “I wanted to 

help them, but there was nothing I could do. That’s when I decided I wanted to become a doctor.” 

 A year later, he returned to New Jersey where he lived until he 

went to college at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. While at Tufts, 

Maliakel double majored in mechanical and biomedical engineering and spent his four years of college in the Navy Reserve Officer 

Training Corps (ROTC) Program. 

 Maliakel’s choices for medical 

schools were Tufts Medical School, 

the University of Medicine and 

Dentistry of New Jersey, and USU. 

 Since Maliakel went through 

ROTC, he knew that he wanted to 

become a military physician, so he 

chose USU. 

 “It seemed like I would get the 

best education at USU as opposed 

to some other civilian medical 

school,” Maliakel said. He also said 

that the only thing that the other 

schools had to offer was that the 

school would be closer to home, 

and longer summer breaks. 

 “My summer breaks could have also been longer, but that doesn’t matter to me,” he said, “That is one of the reasons I picked USU, 

because of the extended curriculum. I would get all of the military 

specific training; I wouldn’t have gotten that at any other school, 

so missing a few weeks of summer break wasn’t that big of a deal 

to me.” 

 Maliakel said, “What makes USU so unique is that it has a wide 

variety of people who come from a whole range of different backgrounds like industry, prior service, and straight out of college so 

there are always great stories, and you can also learn a lot.” 

 The Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences (USU) offers excellent medical education not only to military students, 

but civilians who wish to further their 

knowledge through the Graduate Education program. 

 Heather L. Rogers is a fourth-year student in USU’s, Medical and Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, and holds a Master of 

Science in medical psychology. She is originally from Michigan, and earned her degree 

from Western Michigan University, in a 

small town called Kalamazoo. 

 “There’s these big buttons that say, ‘Yes, 

there really is a Kalamazoo,” she said jokingly. 

 Rogers says she integrates psychology 

into medicine, and wants to learn more 

about the physiological effects of stress on 

the body. This is a great opportunity to continue training in psychology, and at the 

same time become strongly educated in 

physiology. 

 “I’m really interested in how emotions 

and things in our environment affect the 

body,” Rogers said. “I was always fascinated 

by how the body works,” she said. “We take 

some classes with the nursing students, so 

we know what’s going on with the body’s 

systems to figure out how it is that stress 

enters the body. Specifically, we look at the 

heart, and the cardiovascular system. We 

take a section of the medical student’s 

physiology course also, and learn about the 

heart at the level of the medical student.” 

 When Rogers finishes her education at 

USU, she would like to start a research career, possibly working for the National Institutes of Health, or an academic research 

center where her primary responsibility 

would be advancing science. Through 

grant writing, experiments, research, Rogers 

would like to provide the scientific community, as well as clinical psychologists with 

new ideas and approaches, which she 

hopes will be useful in the treatment of 

cardiovascular disease and cancer. 

 In addition, she hopes to educate physicians as to the importance of clinical psychology. 

 “I don’t see myself working in a university 

and teaching so much as focusing on 

meaningful research so that medical personnel, would recognize the importance of 

psychology for the people that they are 

treating. Part of my role would be to educate physicians to the importance of psychology not only in the mental health of 

their patients, but in physiological outcomes. For example, people who are depressed after they have a heart attack are 

likely to have another heart attack,” Rogers 

said. 

 Also among her academic interests is the 

social-support system; how many people a 

person surrounds themselves with, how 

integrated a person is into their community, 

and how that affects the body’s physiology. 

 “A lot of studies have shown if you’re 

very close to 

your family 

and are active 

in your community, you 

live longer. 

The question 

is why, and 

one of the 

answers I 

think is that 

social support 

influences our 

immune system. I’d like to specialize more in social support and the body’s immune system,” she 

said. 

 Rogers says she does not come from a 

medical background, but more of an educational one; her father was an engineer, and 

her mother was a teacher. It is likely this 

reason that inspired her quest for knowledge. 

 Likewise, Rogers has had no real contact 

or experience with the military, and says 

this is one of the reasons she finds USU interesting. 

 “I think this school’s very unique, and 

one of the things that drew me to it was the 

fact that I could be in classes with military 

students who had traveled and lived on 

different bases, like Japan or Italy,” she said. 

“I think this university recruits a different 

caliber of student than general programs in 

other places; the military students who 

come here bring a lot of different experiences to the classroom. It’s a very small program, so I’ve done a lot of learning about 

the military while I’ve been here.” 

USU student profile:

Heather Rogers

By MCSN Jeff Hopkins 

Staff Writer, Office of External Affairs 

Heather Rogers 

Graduate Education 

USU student profile:

Ensign Paul Maliakel

Ensign Paul Maliakel 

School of Medicine 

By MCSN Raul Zamora 

Staff Writer, Office of External Affairs 
PAGE 7 

Commencement : The Uniformed Services University of the Health 

Sciences (USU) announces the 28th Annual Commencement Exercise for the class of 2007 will be held May 19 at 11a.m. The exercise will be held at the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall. Admission to commencement is 

by ticket only. To reserve staff and faculty audience tickets contact 

Carrie Hibler at chibler@usuhs.mil or in room B1009 External Affairs Annex no later than April 30. 

2007 USU Research Week: The mission of Research Week is: 

-to promote research by faculty, staff and students at USU and its 

affiliate institutions; 

-to provide opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration; and to 

facilitate communication among USU graduate students and faculty. 

 " Celebrating Excellence in Research" reflects the complementary roles that nursing, public health, behavioral science, basic 

science, and medicine play in health promotion. The poster presentations, invited speakers, and panels demonstrate USU's special 

role in civilian, public health, and military research initiatives across 

the health sciences. 

 This annual three-day event formally encompasses three 

events: the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN) Research Colloquium, which brings together GSN faculty and students to present and discuss nursing-specific research findings; 

the Graduate Student Colloquium, which highlights the research 

interests and accomplishments of graduate students in the School 

of Medicine; and Faculty Senate Research Day, which draws the 

entire USU community to share research achievements, foster 

collaborations, and stimulate intellectual exchange. Together, they 

serve to inform the local scientific community, collaborative institutions, and other federal agencies about significant research projects conducted across the health sciences at USU and its affiliates. 

Antietam Road March: The annual Antietam Road March will take 

place on April 26 at 7a.m. This march is an important lesson in 

medical history that allows students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to witness the medical practices of the Civil War. Military faculty, staff, and students, are to adhere to their service specific uniform regulations for backpacks, and it is preferable that all who 

attend this function wear black backpacks only. Further guidance 

will be disseminated as the date draws near. 

Holocaust Remembrance Day Program: USU will present a Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) Program on April 18 

from 9-10a.m. in the USU Dining Facility. Ms. Marion Ein Lewin 

will be the guest speaker. The theme will be "Children in Crisis: 

Voices from the Holocaust." Refreshments will be provided, as will 

a sign language interpreter. All are invited and encouraged to 

attend. 

Frank H. Netter Exhibit: The Frank H. Netter Exhibit, currently on 

display in the B building lobby, will be leaving USU April 27, so if 

you haven’t had the opportunity to view it, there’s no better time 

than the present! 

 Dr. Frank H. Netter was a U.S. Army officer during World War II, 

and was in charge of graphic training aids; he designed sketches 

for first-aid, X-ray, and survival manuals, and the army was able to 

use his pictures to educate soldiers in a wide variety of combat 

and peacetime endeavors. Netter is lauded for the incredible detail and accuracy of his artwork, and has been featured in many 

journals and publications. The Netter Exhibit showcases portions 

of the CIBA collection, which are pieces from the volume of work 

Netter did for the CIBA Pharmaceutical Corporation. 

 In 1974, this 

internationally 

known thoracic 

surgeon and 

oncologist took a 

three-year leave 

of absence from 

the University of 

Wisconsin, to 

become the first 

president of the 

Uniformed Services University 

of the Health 

Sciences (USU). 

 Curreri was 

born on Sept. 18, 

1909, to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York. One of seven children, he 

attended elementary and high school in 

Brooklyn. 

 Before graduating from high school, he 

was advised by a science teacher that upon 

graduation he should attend college at the 

University of Wisconsin. 

 in 1926, at the age of 17, Curreri enrolled at the University of Wisconsin. While 

there, he was active in both baseball and 

boxing. In the latter, he became an Olympic-class competitor. Academically, he took 

a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1930, a Master 

of Arts degree in 1931, and a Doctor of 

Medicine degree in 1933. During the following two years, Dr. Curreri interned at 

Columbia and Children's Hospitals, both in 

Milwaukee. He spent the years 1935 to 

1936 in a practice of general medicine at 

Isle Royale, Michigan. Following this he 

became a surgery resident at the University 

of Wisconsin Hospitals. His first faculty appointment was as instructor of Surgery in 

1939. Curreri became assistant, associate, 

and full professor, respectively, in 1941, 

1943, and 1954. He was Director of the 

Cancer Research Hospital in the years 1948 

to 1961. 

 Curreri was Chief of Staff, Wisconsin 

University Hospitals in 1960 and 1961. He 

was appointed Director, Division of Clinical 

Oncologyin 1963-1970. He served as Chair 

of the Department of Surgery from 1968-

1972, He became Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and was in this position when he was appointed to the USU 

Board of Regents in 1973. One year later, 

he relinquished the Vice Chancellor position at the University of Wisconsin and he 

took a three-year leave of absence, beginning in January, 1974, to join USU. 

 Curreri served in the US Army Reserve 

from 1936 to 1939 as a First Lieutenant; the 

Wisconsin National Guard from 1939 to 

1944 as a Captain; and the US Army Reserve again from 1945 to 1958, advancing 

from Major to Colonel. He was a mobilization designee in Surgery, US Army, from 

1953 to 1970. Duty included time in both 

the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. 

 Dr. Curreri was married to the former 

Dorothy Huebsch. The couple had three 

children: Peter William, Cynthia, and 

Joanne. Anthony R. Curreri died at the age 

of 69 on May 3, 1979, in Madison. 

USU 

History 

Anthony Rudolf Curreri 

First USU President 

1974-1976 

USU News Briefs 
USU Calendar of Events 

15 16 

The host response to 

chlamydiae Quo Vadis? 

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Lecture Room C

F. Edward Hébert School 

of Medicine, Commandant's Office-Officer 

Professional Development 

3p.m.-4p.m. 

Sanford Auditorium

17 

Introduction to PowerPoint 

noon-1p.m. 

LRC 

Nuclear, Radiation, and 

High Yield Explosives 

USU

18 

USU Center for Health 

Disparities Research 

and Education Information Table on 

Public Health will be 

available outside of 

the cafeteria across 

from the elevators 

Bldg B) 

11:30a.m.-1:30p.m. 

Bldg. B Lobby 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting 

noon-1p.m. 

Room A2011 

19 

Alternatives in Animal 

Research 

2p.m.-3p.m. 

20 21 

22 23 24 25 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting 

noon-1p.m.

AFRRI 

Small Conference 

Room

26 

LRC Training Classes: 

Introduction to PowerPoint 

6p.m.-7p.m. 

LRC 

Antietam Road March 

Antietam Battlefield 

Sharpsburg, MD

27 28 

Regional Anesthesia 

Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

29 

Regional Anesthesia 

Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

30 1 2 

LRC Training Classes: 

PubMed Basics from 

Noon-1p.m. 

LRC

3 

LRC Training Classes: 

EndNote Basics from 

Noon-1p.m. 

LRC

4 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

5 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

6 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

7 

LRC Training Classes 

Resources in Psychology 

Noonp.m.-1p.m. 

LRC 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the Office 

of Continuing Education 

by phone at 301-295-

0962, or by email

8 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

9 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

10 

LRC Training Classes 

EndNote- Advanced 

Noon-1p.m. 

LRC 

LRC Training Classes 

EndNote- Advanced 

6p.m.-7p.m. 

LRC 

Spine Workshop 

USU 

CME. For more information, contact the 

Office of Continuing 

Education by phone at 

301-295-0962, or by 

email

11 12 

May

April