Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences 

WWW.USUHS.MIL APRIL 3, 2006 

AMMA president speaks to USU members 

USU Newsletter 

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 

In This Issue 

AMMA president visits...1 

President announces 

reorganization...............2 

Branding, Qs and As......3 

Writing 101...................3 

USU Briefs...................4 

USU Recognition..........5 

SOM student runs 

marathon.....................5 

Calendar of Events...Back

Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences 

By JO3 Kory Kepner 

Staff Writer, Office of External Affairs 

 Randall W. Maxey, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Alliance of Minority Medical 

Associations (AMMA) and former president of the National Medical Association spoke to members of the Uniformed Services University of the Health 

Sciences April 12 about the significant 

health disparities that exist between 

Americans of African descent and the 

general population. 

 “The goal is to bring awareness to all 

people that health disparities are bad 

for our country,” Dr. Maxey said. “It is a 

national problem, not an ethnic problem.” 

 Dr. Maxey believes disparities in 

health is the nation’s most serious 

health care problem. The problem of 

racial and ethnic disparities has been 

well documented, leading the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services 

to make eliminating health disparities by 

2010 a national goal. 

 “Minority Americans’ health experience is not the same as that of the majority population in the U. S. health care system,” said Gloria C. Ramsey, J.D., RN, director 

of Community Outreach and Information Dissemination core at the Center of Health Disparities Research and Education. “Even when 

issues of insurance status and income are the 

same, racial and ethnic minorities have less 

access to health care and lower-quality health 

care than non-minorities. This is particularly 

problematic given that racial and ethnic minorities make up one-third of the U. S. population, and that proportion is expected to increase to half by 2050.” 

 There needs to be continued enriching 

medical discovery, Dr. Maxey said. In a study of 

Medicare patients, striking deficiencies were 

found in their understanding of critical areas of 

health care: 48 percent did not understand 

written instructions to “take medicine every six 

hours,” 68 percent could not interpret a blood 

sugar level, 27 percent did not understand 

“take medicine on an empty stomach,” 27 percent could not identify their next appointment, 

and 100 percent could not understand a statement of Medicaid rights written at a 10th 

grade reading level. 

 An Institute of Medicine study confirmed 

that discrimination, bias, and stereotyping 

leads to racial and ethnic health disparities and 

inequities in health care. 

 “Our racial categories predate scientific 

theories of genetics and modern genetic studies and do not capture the distribution of genetic characteristics across populations well; 

groups with similar physical characteristics can 

be very different genetically,” he said. “The fact 

that we know what race we belong to tells us 

more about our society than our biological 

makeup.” 

 “There are strategies to improve ethnic disparities outcomes in an era of limited resources,” Dr. Maxey said. “We need to enhance 

communication and education, we need to 

improve cultural competence, sensitivity, improve readability of patient educational materials on Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and CKD 

risk factor materials, we need to improve 

strategies for targeting high-risk patients. We 

need to not dismiss but move beyond racial/

ethnic classes because of the large heterogeneity in the population. We need to engage in 

more detailed geographic and living area 

analyses to be able to identify communities 

that need more intense education.” 

WWW.USUHS.MIL APRIL 24, 2006 

Photo by Tech. Sgt. James Steele 

Pictured left to right, Charles L. Rice, M.D., USU president ; Randall W. Maxey, M.D., Ph.D., AMMA president ; Gloria C Ramsey, J.D., RN, director Community 

Outreach and Information Dissemination core at the 

Center of Health Disparities Research and Education; 

Lt. Cmdr. Paschal Dawson, USN, Chaplain ; and Richard Tanenbaum, Ph.D., principal investigator and 

director, Administrative Core at the center. 

Spring is in the air
PAGE 2 

Dr. Rice announces university 

reorganization

Commentary 

Office of the President

President announces reorganization plan 

Dear USU Community, 

 It has been more than nine months since I arrived at 

the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). Throughout that time I have worked to 

familiarize myself with the university’s mission, organization and functions. I have also led strategic management planning efforts for the university and, through 

that process, have determined that reorganization is 

necessary to serve the immediate and long-term needs 

of USU. 

 Two of the current vice presidents who have served 

the university admirably for many years will become 

special assistants to me. It is clear that there are two 

issues of critical importance to the university’s future 

and I have asked these senior leaders to spearhead our 

efforts in these areas. 

 The university is embarking upon its first major 

building effort in more than 25 years. The success of 

this project is of enormous importance to the Graduate 

School of Nursing and to the university. I have asked 

Mrs. Mary Dix to serve as special assistant to me and 

manage this important project. Mrs. Dix will insure that 

Building E is completed on time, on budget, and within 

specifications. This vital new addition to our campus 

will provide a permanent home to the Graduate 

School of Nursing’s administrative offices and add 

much needed classroom space. 

 The future of the university will be shaped by efforts 

to implement the Base Realignment and Closure Act 

(BRAC) and the integration of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, National Naval Medical Center, and USU. 

Vernon Schinski, Ph.D., will serve as the Special Assistant for Integration and will lead the university’s efforts 

to become the academic health center for the Walter 

Reed National Military Medical Center called for under 

BRAC. 

 In addition to these new positions, I am realigning 

organizational responsibilities and have divided the 

administrative functions that report to me into four 

offices, including two new positions: Senior Vice President and Vice President for Finance and Administration. 

 The senior vice president position will consolidate 

academic support activities, many of which are now in 

the School of Medicine but span the university as well 

as others that reported to the Vice President for Teaching and Research Support. The functions within this 

Office include: Diversity and Recruitment, Continuing 

Health Education, the Registrar's office, Accreditation, 

the Learning Resource Center, Multidisciplinary Labs, 

Planning, International Relations, and University Affiliations. I am immediately activating a national search for 

possible candidates for the Senior Vice President position, but in the interim I have asked Dr. Dale Smith, 

chair, Military History Department, to act in this capacity. 

 The Vice 

President for 

Finance and 

Administration, 

with the aid of 

three assistant 

vice presidents, 

will oversee the 

university’s financial, health 

and safety, and 

support services functions. I have asked Mr. Stephen 

Rice to fill this position. Mr. Walt Tinling will be Acting 

Vice President in Mr. Rice’s absence. 

 This Office will include three Assistant Vice Presidents (AVP): 

 AVP for Resource Management to include: UIS, Finance, Contracting, Grants Management, Resource 

Management Information; 

 AVP for Health and Safety to include: Security and 

EHOS; and 

 AVP for Support Services to include: CHR, Facilities, 

Logistics, Administrative Support. 

 The Office of the Vice President of External Affairs 

will include functions of Communications, Board of 

Regents support, Alumni Affairs, Congressional Relations, and Audio Visual Support. 

 The Office of the Vice President of Research will 

include functions of IRBs, LAM, Pre-Award Management, congressionally sponsored programs, and the 

Biomedical Instrumentation Center. 

 I am also formalizing the role of the Executive Secretary to the Board of Regents. 

 I am very grateful for the invaluable support I have 

received from Dr. Barry Wolcott, who has also served 

the university in many capacities for many years. Dr. 

Wolcott will be working on special assignments on 

behalf of the university in his new role with the Henry 

M. Jackson Foundation. 

 Finally, I am creating the position of Chief of Staff 

and will begin the search for this position immediately. 

In the interim, Mr. Tinling will serve as acting Chief of 

Staff. 

 The Deans of the School of Medicine and Graduate 

School of Nursing as well as the Directors of AFRRI and 

the U.S. Military Cancer Institute will continue to report 

directly to me. 

 I hope to have this reorganization effective May 1. I 

look forward to working with all of you to help USU 

advance its mission and our vision for the future. 

Charles L. Rice, M.D. 

President, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 

USU Newsletter 

Editorial Staff 

Carol R. Scheman 

Vice President Office 

of External Affairs and 

Managing Editor 

Tech. Sgt. 

 André Nicholson 

Editor 

Journalist 3rd Class 

Kory Kepner 

Staff Writer 

Mass Communications 

Seaman Apprentice 

Raul Zamora 

Staff Writer 

 

Sharon Willis 

Director 

Alumni Affairs and 

Contributing Writer 

Marla Wright 

Webmaster

 

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 3 

Writing 101: To capitalize or not to capitalize is the question 

Branding 

initiative 

questions, 

answers 

By Tech. Sgt. Andre Nicholson 

NCOIC, Office of External Affairs 

 Styles of writing are as varied as the people who write, so it’s 

not surprising that consistency in writing depends on what a person is writing about and, probably more importantly, who is actually doing the writing. 

 No matter the subject, writing comes down to the basic elements of grammar, which were instilled in many people at a 

young age. Although people might not think about them often, 

they’ve heard of them before....nouns, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, 

adjectives and the list could go on. From here you could go into 

the structure of sentences or how to form paragraphs. But this 

article is not about the basics of writing as much as it is to explain 

some rules of writing and why Department of Defense (DOD) 

journalists write the way they do. 

 Journalist training stems from the Defense Information School 

(DINFOS), Fort Meade, Md., which is a joint service school, and 

provides training to all Department of Defense public affairs journalists, photographers and other print related career fields. 

 It is during these months of training that DOD journalists are 

taught to write in a unified style, but for a varied audience. One 

way to do that is by following the rules of the Associate Press 

Stylebook. This publication, along with others, provides the guidance for journalists from things such as how to write military ranks 

and courtesy titles, to what should and shouldn’t be capitalized. 

 A perfect example of this is writing the military ranks. Each military service has a certain style of writing their ranks, i.e...the Navy 

abbreviates captain as CAPT, and the Air Force abbreviates it as 

Capt. Although a Navy captain is an O-6 and an Air Force captain 

is an O-3, DINFOS trains its writers to write them all the same. So it 

will appear as Capt. John Doe. In a joint service environment like 

that of the Uniformed Services University journalists write things 

of this nature in a “uniform” manner. 

 Capitalization is something that is over used by most people 

and should be done sparingly. Most people are taught to always 

capitalize a person’s job title, but DOD writers are taught to only 

capitalize the title if it’s written before the name of a person, not 

after, i.e... Chief Operating Officer Jane Doe versus Jane Doe, chief 

operating officer. 

Also, capitalization of names that are not the proper or official 

name are not capitalized. An example of this is when writing an 

article about USU, one might say the university or a university. 

Many people would write it as the University versus a university 

since USU is the only one in existence as opposed to a university 

which could refer to any school. DOD guidance is to write it as 

the university no matter which way it is used because it isn’t the 

official name of the university. The exception to this rule and several others is if a local style guide of writing has been established. 

 There are several rules of writing and going into them would 

be a laundry list of dos and don’ts that many people don’t understand or probably even care to know, but the purpose of this article is to simply shed some light on the method behind the writing 

madness. 

News 

 The Branding Committee is grateful for the 

feedback we have received to date on the new 

logo and implementation of the USU branding 

initiative. We have received a number of questions and will shortly post "Qs and As" on the 

website: 

http://www.usuhs.mil/webmaster/template/ima

gestemplates.html. 

 Many of the questions we received were 

about business cards. The survey of use is available at: 

http://www.usuhs.mil/webmaster/buscardinput.

html. 

 As soon as we have more solid data about 

demand, we will provide details on ordering new 

cards and/or how to have them printed inhouse. 

 The implementation of the new logo is intended to be incremental. We are not expecting 

wholesale replacement of university publications, 

business cards, or marketing material, but stand 

ready to work closely with people as they transition to using the new logo. 

 We welcome continued feedback, questions 

and comments. Responses will be posted in our 

questions and answers as they are received. 

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Andre Nicholson 
PAGE 4 

News Briefs

Briefs 

Research Day

 The annual USU Research Week is May 16 -18. 

The theme for this year’s event is “Global Public 

Health: The Changing Role of Military Medicine.” 

All USU faculty, staff and students are invited to 

register and submit abstracts on the Research Day 

website: http://www.usuresearchday.hjf.org/. 

 Dr. Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer for the 

American Association for the Advancement of Science, will be the Plenary Speaker May 18 at 

3:30p.m. Visit the website for a detailed list of activities. 

BRAC Information Update

 USU will be emphasizing the National Capital 

Area Integration on its BLOG. The web address has 

changed to http://cim.usuhs.mil/ncainfo/. 

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Andre Nicholson 

Night of family fun 

Members from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and National Institutes of Health enjoyed a night of family fun at 

the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus 

March 28. The annual fundraiser sold more than 

$3,400 in tickets to USU family members. It provided an additional $1,600 in tickets to the Russell Temple AME Youth at Risk Program sponsored by George Hardy, Administrative Support 

Division, in addition to other charitable organizations such as Camp Special Love and Camp 

Fantastic. 

 The 27th USU Commencement will be held May 

20 at the Daughters of the American Revolution 

Constitution Hall at 11 a.m. The Hall is located in 

Washington, D.C., at 18th and D Streets, N.W. 

Doors will open to the graduates and their guests 

at 9:30 a.m. 

 Charles L. Rice, M.D., USU President, will preside 

at his first USU commencement and give the 

“President’s Address.” 

 The USU Graduate School of Nursing, the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine (SOM) Graduate 

Program, and the SOM M.D. program will present 

diplomas to 268 graduates. 

 This year’s ceremony has been streamlined and 

should last approximately two hours. 

27th annual USU commencement

It is with great pleasure 

that we provide some 

feedback on the responses 

received from the inaugural issue of the USU Newsletter that was published 

April 10. Several people 

have commented on the 

publication and offered 

suggestions and ideas. We 

encourage your input and look forward to providing the USU community with the best publication 

possible. We also invite letters to the editor, which 

can be sent to usunewsletter@usuhs.mil 

Here are some of the responses received thus far: 

“Great job! It looks really good. And excellent writing, also.” - Charles L. Rice, USU president. 

“Great job! The newsletter and the new look of the 

Web page is superb. Please accept my heartiest 

BRAVO ZULU!!!” - Retired Navy Vice Adm. James 

Zimble, M.D., former USU president. 

“I think the USU Newsletter looks terrific. I like the 

new logo, too. Congratulations.” - Emmanuel G. 

Cassimatis, M.D., associate dean for Clinical Affairs 

and professor of psychiatry. 

“This newsletter is really outstanding and very informative! I’m sure it is not an easy task to assemble 

and disseminate such a wide variety of university 

related topics on a bi-weekly basis, but it is very well 

done!” - Chris Jodrie, Administrative Support Division. 

“What’s next — a radio station? Good job!” - FC2 

Elaine Gonzalez. 

“Great work on the first issue. I’m certain they will 

be well received, congratulations.” - John Frankenburg, Office of External Affairs. 

Letter 

from the 

editor 

The work of America’s 2.9 million registered nurses 

to save lives and to maintain the health of millions 

of individuals is the focus of this year’s National 

Nurses Week. The week begins each year on May 6 

and ends May 12, which is Florence Nightingale’s 

birthday. 

Nurses Week 
PAGE 5 

Honors/Awards: 

Drs. Sonia Q. Doi and Yuang-Taung 

Juang, earned the 2006 John Maher 

Award for Research Excellence. Details of 

their award can be found at 

www.usuhs.mil/med. 

Cynthia Inal, was selected as the Senior 

Employee of the Year. 

NaShieka Knight, was selected as the Junior Employee of the Year. 

Publications: 

Charles Engel, M.D., Robert Gifford, M.D., Robert Ursano, M.D., 

and John Stuart, M.D., all with the USU Dept. of Psychiatry, have 

papers published in the United Kingdom Journal “Philosophical 

Transactions of the Royal Society B." 

Hails and Farewells: 

Lt. Cmdr. Michael Kemper arrives from AFRRI this month; Col. Scott 

Norton, arrived from WRAMC; Sgt. 1st Class William Vernon arrived from Fort Bragg, N.C.; MCSA Raul Zamora, arrived from Fort 

Meade, Md.; Staff Sgt. Thomas Echelmeyer will transfer to Korea in 

May; HM1 Thomas Smalls, transfers to San Diego in May; Mrs. 

Jane Bradley retires in May; Dr. Barbara Sylvia, retires in May. 

Look Who’s Talking...What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

“Do not do regrets. If 

it is something I 

know I am going to 

regret later, why do 

it?” 

HM2 

Careese Charles 

Environmental 

Health and Occupational Safety 

“How do you eat 

an elephant? 

One bite at a 

time.” 

2nd Lt. Kattie Hoy 

Medical Student 

“Be yourself! If 

God wanted you 

to be a duplicate, 

you would have 

been a twin.” 

NaShieka Knight 

Admissions and 

Academic Records 

University Spotlight 

Medical student runs Boston Marathon 

 It is apparent to all that space at USU is at a premium. In addition to appointing a new "Space 

Committee" chaired by Dr. Ajay Verma, associate 

professor, Dept. of Neurology. Charles L. Rice, M.D., 

USU president has asked staff to explore acquiring 

additional space, here on campus and/or leased 

space off campus to allow offices that work closely 

together to be co-located to improve both quality of 

space and ease of communications. 

 While work is beginning immediately, this is an ongoing project and acquisition of leased space could 

take as long as 18-24 months. 

By MCSA Raul Zamora 

Staff Writer, Office of External Affairs 

 Running a marathon is a feat in itself, 

but a first year medical student (MS1) from 

the Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences (USU) did just that during 

the 110th Boston Marathon April 17. 

 Army 2nd Lt. Gary Legault ran the 

marathon while battling a cold and did it in 

a time of three hours and 16 seconds. 

 “It’s been a longtime goal of mine to get 

to Boston... and I’m just happy I finished it,” 

Lieutenant Legault said. 

 Running is in Lieutenant Legault’s genes. 

His father was a marathon runner and 

when he was two years old he would say 

to his father, “Go ahead dad, I’ll catch up.” 

 “I’ve been running ever since elementary 

school,” Lieutenant Legault said. “I would 

follow my dad while he was training and I 

just kept with it.” 

 While preparing for the marathon the 

lieutenant’s diet consisted of massive 

amounts of calories such as carbohydrates. 

 “The day before the marathon he was 

looking for a good Italian restaurant so he 

could load up on carbs,” said his wife Margaret Legault, USU contract specialist. 

 He really didn’t train properly for this 

marathon, he said. He only ran about 20 

miles a week, and it made a difference. 

“Normally you feel it in your legs around 

the 24th mile (the marathon is 26.2 miles). 

This time my legs started hurting around 

the 20th mile.” When asked if he would do 

anything different, he said, “Yeah, actually 

run a lot more.” 

 As a prior sergeant in the Marines, Lieutenant Legault ran four Marine Corps Marathons, qualified and ran in last year’s Nashville “Country Music” Marathon, and now 

has completed the 110th Boston Marathon. He also plans on running in the New 

York Marathon later 

this year with the 

New York Achilles 

Track Club, where 

he volunteers to 

provide training, 

assistance, encouragement and support to runners 

with disabilities. 

 Lieutenant Legault is currently 

president of the 

USU Catholic Club, 

company commander for MS1 

and is part of the 

university’s running club. 

 “I’m very proud of my husband,” Mrs. 

Legault said. “This was one of his lifelong 

goals and I’m so happy that he accomplished it while maintaining his pursuit of 

his career in military medicine.” 

2nd Lt. 

Gary Legault, 
PAGE 6 

USU Calendar of Events 

 24 25 

 

26 

Dept. of Anesthesiology Seminar 

Rm A2052 10 a.m. 

27 

Antietam Road 

March, Antietam 

Battlefield 

Sharpsburg, Md. 

Departure time 

from USU is 

5:30 a.m. 

 

Dept. of Pediatrics 

Research Conf. 

“Infectious Diseases” Lec. Rm C 

9-10 a.m. 

28 

 

29 

30 1 2 3 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting 

Noon - 1 p.m. 

Rm A2052 

4 5 

LRC extended Friday nights hours 

open until 

10:45 p.m. 

6 

7 8 

LRC Training 

“PubMed Basics” 

Noon-1 p.m. 

LRC Computer Rm 

9 

LRC Training 

“EndNote Basics” 

Noon-1 p.m. 

LRC Computer Rm 

10 

Armed Forces District American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Dedication of the Archives 

Bldg. C, Lec. Rm E 

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

11 

Dept. of Pediatrics 

Grand Rounds 

Lec. Rm D 

7:45 a.m. 

 

12 

Class of 2006 

Graduation Awards 

Ceremony Sanford 

Auditorium 1 p.m. 

13 

14 15 16 

Graduate School of 

Nursing Awards 

Ceremony Sanford 

Auditorium 4 p.m. 

 

 

2006 USU Research 

Week begins 

17 

 

 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting Rm A2052 

Noon-1 p.m. 

18 

 

 

 

Research Day 

Theme 

“Global Public 

Health: The Changing Role of Military 

Medicine” 

19 

Board of Regents 

Meeting 

Rm D3001 9 a.m. 

20 

2006 

Commencement 

Daughters of the 

American 

Revolution 

Constitution Hall 

11 a.m. 

April

May