The Official USU Newsletter

Volume 5, Issue 12 n September 13, 2010

www.usuhs.mil
On the cover

Graduate School of Nursing Perioperative 

Clinical Nurse Specialist students took 

advantage of the National Capital Area 

Medical Simulation Center this summer to 

practice their field training skills. Pictured 

on the cover, students worked to set 

up a field sanitizer, Big Bertha, in the 

WAVE environment. (See story page 5)

Photo by Thomas Balfour

Sharon Willis

Acting Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

Ken Frager

Public Affairs Specialist

Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine

Production Editor

MC1 Chad Hallford

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 

usunewsletter@usuhs.mil or by 

calling 301-295-0895.

GSN’s Padden inducted as fellow in 

national advanced practice nursing society

by Ken Frager

Diane Padden, PhD, CRNP, an 

assistant professor and chair of the 

Department of Health, Injury, and 

Disease Management in the Graduate School of Nursing, was inducted 

as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP) 

during the society’s national conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

The FAANP program was established 

in 2000 to recognize nurse practitioner 

leaders who have made outstanding 

contributions to health care through 

nurse practitioner clinical practice, 

research, education, or policy. Priority 

initiatives of FAANP are the development of leadership and mentorship 

programs for nurse practitioners and 

nurse practitioner students.

“This is recognition at the national 

level that Diane exemplifies the role 

of a nurse practitioner at the highest 

level,” said Diane Seibert, PhD, CRNP, 

program director for USU’s Family 

Nurse Practitioner Program and 

also a Fellow. “We are proud to have 

three fellows here at the GSN, all with 

military connections, so we are better 

able to inform the nurse practitioner 

profession about issues within the 

military health system.”

Fellows of the AANP are visionaries 

committed to the global advancement 

of nursing through the development 

of imaginative and creative future 

nurse practitioner leaders, and as 

such, hold an annual think tank to 

strategize about the future of nurse 

practitioners and health care outside 

the confines of traditional thinking. 

A limited number of nurse practitioners are selected for this highly 

coveted distinction each year.

AANP was founded in 1985 and 

is the oldest, largest, and only fullservice national professional organization for nurse practitioners of all 

specialties. With 28,000 individual 

members and 145 group members, 

AANP represents the interests of 

approximately 140,000 nurse practitioners around the country. AANP 

continually advocates for the active 

role of nurse practitioners as providers of high-quality, cost-effective and 

personalized healthcare. 

2 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Dr. Diane L. Padden, second from left, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse 

Practitioners recently. Pictured with her are (l-r) FAANP 2009-2010 Chair, Judith Berg, RN C, WHNP, 

FAAN, FAANP; her primary sponsor USU’s Diane Seibert, PhD, CRNP, FAANP; and her secondary 

sponsor, USU class of 2006 alumnus Richard Ricciardi, PhD, CRNP, FAANP.

Courtesty of AANP
The Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences (USU) Center 

for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR) 

recently completed its third consecutive summer internship program for 

outstanding students from the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). 

The program was established jointly 

in 2008 by the CPDR – part of USU’s 

Department of Surgery – and the UDC, 

through a grant from the Department 

of Defense-Prostate Cancer Research 

Program (DoD-PCRP) award to Dr. 

Shiv Srivastava (PI), CPDR co-director 

and USU professor, and Dr. Deepak 

Kumar (Co-PI), Chair of the Department of Biology at UDC.

Five interns were selected for the 

2010 program based on academic 

Photo Courtesy of the CPDR

September 13, 2010 3

2010 Internship Program Immerses 

Minority Students in Prostate Cancer Research

by Ken Frager

achievements at UDC in prostate 

cancer research. CPDR provided 

a structured framework for the 

program, offering a rich multi-disciplinary prostate cancer translational 

research environment that is credited 

for landmark discoveries. The 

students completed their program 

by presenting their training and 

research accomplishments 

at USU to leaders from the participating organizations. Dr. Taduru 

Sreenath, CPDR assistant director, 

served as the primary coordinator 

for the program.

The 2010 interns were:

Nicola Abdul, mentor: Taduru 

Sreenath, Ph.D.: “TMPRSS2-Ets Related Gene Fusions in Mouse Model 

for Prostate Cancer”

Zainab Afzal, mentor: Jane Hudak, 

RN, Ph.D.: “Shadowing Patients with 

Prostate Cancer”

Juliet Chijioke, mentor: Hua Li, 

M.D., Ph.D.: “Regulation of Androgen Receptor Levels Through the 

PMEPA1-NEDD4-1 Feedback Loop”

Christelle Donfack, mentor: Ahmed 

Mohamed, M.D., Ph.D.: “Characterization of ERG Protein in Prostate 

Cancer and Other Tumor Cell Lines”

Habib Kedir, mentor: Gyorgy 

Petrovics, Ph.D.: “Urine Based 

Prostate Cancer Diagnostic Assay 

Development”

Pictured left to right: Shiv Srivastava, Ph.D., CPDR; Habib Kedir, Student, UDC; Juliet Chijioke, Student, UDC; Zainab Afzal, Student, UDC; Deepak 

Kumar, PhD., UDC; Nicola Abdul, Student, UDC; Christelle Donfack, Student, UDC; David G. McLeod, MD, JD, FACS, Director, CPDR
4 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Alumna named VA Chief Officer for Public Health Programs

by Sharon Willis

Victoria J. Davey, PhD, MPH, RN, has 

been appointed to the position of Chief 

Officer, Public Health and Environmental Hazards (13), for the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA). Dr. Davey has 

served in the office since 1999, most 

recently as Acting Chief Officer and, 

since 2006, as Deputy Chief Officer. 

Dr. Davey has extensive knowledge of all the programs in OPHEH 

having had senior level oversight of 

OPHEH’s responsibilities, operations, 

and planning. She is a national expert 

on planning and preparedness for 

pandemic influenza and other public 

health/biodefense-related initiatives and 

has been principal for VHA’s response 

to the 2009 novel H1N1 outbreak. 

Her career has been a combination of 

clinical and scientific public health 

program management, leadership, 

and academics. 

Before joining VA, Dr. Davey 

was Associate Clinical Director at 

Army Lt. Col. Iluminada Chinneth

the National Institute of Allergy 

and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 

National Institutes of Health, where 

she managed clinical research operations for the four large intramural 

laboratories that were actively involved 

with human trials studying HIV/AIDS, 

autoimmune disorders, complement 

disorders, host defense disorders, 

and numerous other infectious and 

parasitic diseases.

Dr. Davey earned her PhD in 

nursing science in 2009 and an MPH 

degree in 1987 from the Uniformed 

Services University of the Health 

Sciences. She earned an AB in 

biology from Smith College (1977), a 

BS in nursing from Boston University 

(1978), and was a Senior Executive 

Fellow of the JFK School of Government at Harvard University (1992). 

Dr. Davey has had numerous public 

health peer-reviewed abstracts, oral 

presentations, articles, and chapters 

over her career. 

Dr. Davey became Chief Officer for 

VA public health programs in June 

2010, having served as Acting Chief 

Officer since September 2009. 

Courtesy Photo 

Photo from UMS Archives

Army Lt. Col. Iluminada Chinneth 

earlier this summer assumed the 

duties of Graduate School of Nursing 

(GSN) Commandant and Assistant 

GSN welcomes new military leadership

by MC1 Chad Hallford

As the Office of the Commandant 

is tasked with upholding and enforcing military standards of its students, 

Chinneth describes herself as “the 

voice for the GSN to the University 

administration.” And, according to 

Chinneth, she has taken her students’ 

interests judiciously.

“Be your word, because your 

honesty and integrity are paramount,” 

said Chinneth.

As her students progress from 

the typical roles in staff nursing 

positions to those responsible for 

decision- making as primary care 

managers or other independent roles 

in clinical care, Chinneth hopes to 

“help enrich the students’ environment in which they learn so they will 

be ready for the challenges of providing healthcare in any environment 

when they leave USU.”

Dean of Student Affairs, replacing 

Lt. Col. Kandace Wolf, who continued service in her next assignment at 

Madigan Army Medical Center.

As Chinneth looks forward to the 

challenges of operating in a multiservice, multi-mission environment, 

she brings with her more than a 

decade of Army Nursing experience. 

She has served in a variety of assignments, both overseas and stateside, 

among them family nurse practitioner 

and Deputy Commander for Nursing 

and Patient Care Services. 

She plans to use her experience to 

show GSN students how to simultaneously use the skills of leadership and 

management as they transition into 

advanced nursing positions across 

many disciplines.

“I hope to teach the nurses by example, 

to lead from the front,” said Chinneth. 
September 13, 2010 5

Passing of a USU leader

by Sharon WIllis

The Uniformed Services University of 

the Health Sciences (USU) recently lost a 

beloved friend, colleague and leader when 

Army Col. (Dr.) David Burris, chair of the 

Norman M. Rich Department of Surgery, 

lost his valiant fight with cancer on Aug. 3. 

Burris graduated from USU’s F. 

Edward Hebert School of Medicine 

in 1982. He completed his surgical 

residency at Walter Reed Army Medical 

Center, and later served as staff surgeon, 

and then chief of general surgery at the 

98th General Hospital in Nurnberg. He 

followed that with a trauma/critical care 

fellowship from 1992-1994. Burris then 

returned to USU to serve on the surgery 

department faculty, and while assigned 

there, deployed to Iraq to serve with the 

912th Forward Surgical Team in Baghdad 

during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He 

was later named chair of the department 

following a nationwide search.

According to a statement by David B. 

Hoyt, M.D., Executive Director of the 

American College of Surgeons, “Doctor 

Burris was a true leader in American 

Surgery who was totally committed to 

training and leading surgeons who serve 

the military and our soldiers in harm’s 

way. His leadership and commitment will 

be missed by all who knew him and who 

had the privilege of working with him.”

 In March 2009, Burris received the 

ACM Committee on Trauma’s ATLS 

Meritorious Achievement Award, 

which honors the recipient for unselfish commitment and dedication to the 

ATLS program. He was presented 

with the Legion of Merit medal in a 

special ceremony in June 2010 by Army 

Surgeon General (Dr.) Eric Schoomaker. 

The Legion of Merit is awarded for 

exceptionally meritorious conduct in the 

performance of outstanding services and 

achievements. During the presentation, 

Schoomaker remarked that Burris had 

been “a symbol of Army medicine” and 

described Burris as “someone we all can 

take great pride in here at USU, as a great 

soldier and medic and quite deserving of 

this honor.”

A funeral service will be held Dec. 

2 in the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer 

at 11 a.m., followed by burial with 

Full Military Honors at Arlington 

National Cemetery. 

Photo by Thomas Balfour

Photo by Ken Frager

“Sometimes you just need to make the best of what you 

have...sort of like making lemonade from lemons,” said 

Army Col. Elizabeth Vane, assistant professor with the 

Graduate School of Nursing’s Perioperative Clinical Nurse 

Specialist program. And that’s what Vane and her team did 

when their planned operational readiness exercises, which 

normally occurred during Operation Bushmaster, changed.

“We’re a small yet up and coming program,” said Vane, “and 

our unique training needs sometimes leave us at the mercy of 

others. So when the Department of Military and Emergency 

Medicine (MEM) took the operating room elements away from 

Operation Bushmaster, we had to identify other means for 

training and testing our students.”

Taking full advantage of the resources available at the 

National Capital Area Medical Simulation Center (Sim 

Center), the clinical and teaching support from colleagues at 

Malcolm Grow Medical Center and at Fort Dietrick, the team 

from the Air Force C-STARS program from the University of 

Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, and the knowledge and skills of MEM staff, Vane said the students received 

so much more than they ever would have at Bushmaster.

“Students had the realistic sights and sounds made possible 

by using the Wide Area Virtual Environment (WAVE) at the 

Sim Center and the personal attention of nearly 50 trainers for 

five students, which wouldn’t have been possible within the 

Bushmaster exercise,” said Vane.

Turning lemons into lemonade

by Ken Krager

Students participated in six stations that included clinical skills, code of conduct, law of war, and other operational readiness assessments, during the full-day exercise. 

“The students were exposed to all types of contingency 

exercises that they might find themselves in after graduation, including combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian,” 

said Vane.

The Sim Center will host an Open House for the USU 

community on October 4. Additional details will be made 

available closer to the date.

Doug Rink, adjunct assistant professor in the USU Department of 

Military and Emergency Medicine, discussed military code of conduct, 

law of war, and other critical topics with PCNS students during 

operational readiness training in July.
6 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

You Make a Difference—Brigade 

Commander’s Message on Suicide

by Navy Capt. (Dr.) Tanis M. Batsel Stewart and Navy Chaplain Bruce Mentzer

During September, the USU 

Brigade is joining a nationwide focus 

on preventing suicide. Though it 

is easy to believe that everyone at 

USU emphasizes the mutual support 

and helping environment necessary to reduce suicidal thoughts 

and behaviors, it is still good to stop 

and remember the many positive 

resources available here at USU and 

throughout the military.

“More than 50% of us have been 

impacted by a suicide among our 

family, close friends, or colleagues,” 

said Navy Capt. (Dr.) Tanis M. Batsel 

Stewart, USU Brigade Commander. 

“The stress on the individual contemplating suicide and the toll any 

attempted or completed suicide takes 

on all of us is enormous. I urge each 

member of the University community to be vigilant for indications that 

another person is suffering, or that you 

yourself are in trouble. Please, ask if 

you can help another; ask if you need 

help from another.”

Having the strength to reach out for 

support might not be the first reaction, 

as most people are used to going it 

alone or just do not know where to go 

for help. Resources and opportunities 

for help are available. Often, simple 

contact with an individual thinking about suicide might make all the 

difference. While taking the time to tell 

someone that they are valued might 

not be easy, a real life example of one 

way is recorded at www.blueribbonmovie.com. 

Phone support for suicide prevention is available 24/7 at the National 

Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-

273-TALK or 8255). Military 

OneSource also is standing by to help 

at 1-800-342-9647. Call 911 or the 

NNMC emergency desk at 301-295-

4810, or ask for the NNMC Duty 

Chaplain from the NNMC QuarterDeck at 301-295-4611 (Option 3). 

The USU Chaplain is almost always 

available at 240-274-8144 or by 

numbers on the www.usuhs.mil/

chaplain webpage. 

Once the emergency that suicidal 

behavior can bring has passed, longer 

term help is available from family 

physicians, counselors, social workers, 

pastors, or mental health professionals, all of whom can assist in finding 

appropriate resources. Learning new 

ways of coping and tapping into the 

reservoir of personal experiences 

can lead to a broader, more resilient 

attitude during hard times. 

Helping someone else through 

suicide or helping others left in 

the wake of a suicide also can be 

challenging. Current military and 

civilian training focuses on the need 

to have an A-C-E, to Ask-CareEscort. Ask about suicidal thoughts. 

Then, it is helpful to simply Care for 

someone at risk by listening without 

judgment or assigning motives. And 

finally, remain with the suicidal 

person and Escort them to help as 

soon as possible. If someone has had 

a suicide in their family, they might 

find the TAPS (Tragedy Assistance 

Program for Survivors), at www.taps.

org or 800-959-TAPS, to be a very 

helpful resource. 

It is important to connect with the 

community and have a healthy spiritual, physical, and mental routine to 

make a difference in other’s lives. 

Many other resources are available online. The Army’s new video 

series at www.preventsuicide.army.

mil is extremely insightful into 

helping prevent suicides. Military 

Pathways (www.militarypathways.

com) offers a confidential selfassessment for general feelings and 

thoughts and can be a doorway 

to seeking help. USU also can be 

a resource. The USU Clinic is at 

301-295-3630 and the Brigade 

Chaplain, Chaplain Bruce Mentzer, 

is at 301-295-3193 or 240-274-8144. 
September 13, 2010 7

Briefs

ESC Burrito sale

The Enlisted Social Committee will 

be host a Breakfast Burrito sale Sept. 

16 in the atrium outside of the Sanford 

auditorium. The sale begins at 6 a.m. 

and will end at 9:30 a.m. or when all 

items have been sold. 

For more information ask an ESC 

member or contact the ESC by e-mail 

at esc@usuhs.mil. The ESC meets the 

first Tuesday of every month at 9:30 

a.m. in the small dining room unless 

otherwise rescheduled.

Professional activities

The Department of Defense 

and USU policy requires that all 

employees, both military and civilian, receive approval for engaging 

in any activity outside their work 

environment, which involves their 

professional expertise or government occupation (whether or not 

compensated), as well as any activity that involves compensation. This 

includes serving on the Board of a 

Non-Federal Organization.

This approval is required prior to 

engaging in the activity. In order to get 

approval, any employee can complete a 

USU Form 1004. This completed form 

must be approved and signed by each 

department chair or activity head.

These forms are available in the 

General Counsel’s office or online at 

the USU OGC Web site. Completed 

forms must be turned in to the General 

Counsel’s office. The form will be 

routed to the appropriate dean, brigade 

commander or USU president.

Once processing is completed, a 

copy of the approved form will be 

returned to the employee for the 

employee’s records.

RCR Education Conference

Registration is now open for the Sept. 

28th Responsible Conduct of Research 

Educational Conference being held at 

the USU’s Sanford Auditorium.

The conference is being sponsored 

by the USU Office of the President 

and the Graduate School of Nursing 

in partnership with the new Navy 

Medicine Institute for the Medical 

Humanities and Research Leadership and the Smithsonian Institution’s 

Office of Sponsored Projects.

The free conference, entitled 

“Promoting the Global Good: The 

Social Responsibility of Scientists and 

Researchers,” will address an emergent 

subject in RCR Education—the social 

responsibility of scientists.

This was recently included in new 

NIH RCR education requirements. 

The conference may be able to assist 

individuals with completing RCR 

education requirements.

Full registration information, 

including directions, are available for 

download at: http://www.thechiefinformationgroup.com/conference/

usuhs/index.php?c_id=15

Using Computer Resources 

Security incidents continue to be a 

drain to limited USU Information Assurance manpower. The following highlight 

current DoD policy and best practices:

Personnel must not install selfcoded or non-licensed software on 

network resources; add, remove, 

configure, or attempt to modify 

USU computer operating systems 

or programs; move audio/visual or 

network cables, computers or attempt to connect personal computers 

to the network including MDL and 

lecture hall spaces; connect personal 

devices except for those previously authorized by NOC; download 

pornographic material and store or 

display offensive material, such as 

racist literature, sexually harassing or 

obscene language or material or store 

or process classified information on 

any USU system. 

Personnel must not permit unauthorized individuals access to a 

government-owned or governmentoperated system or program; or access 

online gambling, games and social 

engineering sites.

Helpdesk Closure

The NOC helpdesk is closed for training on Thursdays from 10 to 11 a.m. 

During this time, you can leave a 

voicemail message at 295-9800, utilize 

the HEAT Self Service (http://www. 

usuhs.mil/uis/forms/trouble.html), or 

email help@usuhs.mil.

If an emergency should arise, please 

call 295-9870.

Exercise/Fitness Areas

Physical fitness training should be 

conducted in designated areas. 

The only authorized space for PT 

within the university is room G060. 

The campus’ Student Community 

Lounge area is also authorized, but 

only during specified PFT testing 

dates or times.

USU-HJF Military Medicine

Symposium: Advancing

Public-Private Partnerships

Thursday, September 23, 2010

7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Omni Shoreham Hotel

Washington, D.C.

For the full agenda, along with 

registration and exhibitor information, visit www.hjfcp3.org/

events/2010-symposium/.

For further information, contact 

Jackie Vandermeersch at (301) 294-1441 

or jvandermeersch@hjf.org.

Army Colonel David Sutherland, 

special assistant to the chairman of the 

Joint Chiefs of Staff for warrior and 

family support, Nancy Berglass, director of the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund (IADIF), and 

principal, Berglass Community Investment Consulting, and Army Colonel 

(Ret.) Charles Hoge, M.D., a neuropsychiatry consultant to the Office of 

the Army Surgeon General and senior 

scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute 

of Research, will be featured speakers 

at the symposium.