The Official USU Newsletter

Volume 8, Issue 8 • May 28, 2013

www.usuhs.edu
2 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

On the cover

Faculty, staff and student research was 

highlighted during Research Days, including 

a display of more than 300 research posters. 

(See story, page 3.)

Sharon Willis

Deputy Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

Gwendolyn Smalls

Chief, Media Affairs

Tech. Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson

Deputy Chief, Media Affairs

Christine Creenan-Jones

Editor

MC2 Brittney Cannady

Writer

Lori Fields

Layout and Design

The Pulse is printed by USU’s Duplicating Center.

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published by the Uniformed Services University. It is 

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Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by 

the USU Office of External Affairs. The editor reserves 

the right to edit articles to conform to DoD policy 

and Associated Press style. All photos are DoD photos 

unless otherwise indicated. 

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 

christine.creenan-jones@usuhs.edu or 301-295-3338.

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

Research Days is a showcase of 

the innovative research happening at 

the Uniformed Services University. 

Faculty, staff and students participate 

in this annual event, which includes 

lectures, presentations and other 

scholarly activities. 

Several highly respected scientists 

from various biomedical disciplines 

spoke at this year’s Research Days, 

which also included the inaugural 

Faye G. Abdellah Lecture, named after 

USU’s founding dean of the Graduate 

School of Nursing.

Charles Vacchiano, PhD, CRNA, 

a professor of nursing and associate 

professor of anesthesiology at Duke 

University, delivered the first Abdellah lecture on May 14. Vacchiano is a 

retired Navy Nurse Corps officer who 

spent most of his career studying the 

effects of oxygen exposure on cellular 

and physiologic processes, which he 

discussed during a talk called, “Which 

Way is Up? My Road to Research.”

Exposure to high oxygen content 

can have toxic effects on the body, 

including pulmonary fibrosis, 

Vacchiano said. Aviators may be 

especially susceptible to this type 

of injury, because they breathe high 

concentrations of oxygen while flying 

aircraft and during training exercises. 

To facilitate research in this area, 

Vacchiano developed a Reduced 

Oxygen Breathing Device, which 

simulates hypoxia in a safe, controlled 

environment instead of the traditional 

in-flight method. 

Li-Huei Tsai, PhD, director of 

the Picower Institute for Learning 

and Memory at the Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology, also spoke 

during Research Days. Tsai, who 

delivered the Bullard Lecture, is a 

leading expert in the field of neuroscience with several ongoing investigations aimed at understanding the 

mechanisms underlying learning and 

memory. Alzheimer’s disease is one of 

the disorders she studies.

Her talk, “Epigenetic Mechanisms 

Regulating Neuronal Plasticity Gene 

Expression and Memory Formation,” 

was focused on the work she is doing 

to reverse the neurodegenerative effects 

of Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to 

genetic mutations, which are almost 

impossible to reverse, epigenetic 

changes are potentially reversible. This 

implies they are amenable to pharmacological interventions.

Tsai is using HDAC2 inhibitors, 

a special compound that jumpstarts 

the gene expression that controls 

memory and learning, to treat mice 

with Alzheimer’s disease. HDAC2 

inhibitors appear to be a promising therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, 

since the affected mice in Tsai’s lab 

regained normal cognitive function 

after treatment.

Tsai hopes this work will eventually lead to human trials and 

become an effective drug therapy for 

millions of people with Alzheimer’s 

disease worldwide.

Research Days draws nationally 

renowned scientists

By Christine Creenan-Jones, editor 

Harvey Fineberg, MD, PhD, president of 

the Institute of Medicine, delivered the 

Presidential Lecture at USU’s Research Days.

Continued to page 3
May 28, 2013 3

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

Fellow pathfinder, Jonathan 

Yewdell, MD, PhD, chief of the Cellular Biology Section of the Laboratory of Viral Diseases at the National 

Institute of Allergy and Infectious 

Diseases, was another headliner at 

USU’s Research Days. He was the 

keynote speaker at the Postdoctoral Fellows Symposium, where 

he implored faculty and students 

at USU to follow their ideas to new 

discoveries in a talk called, “Strategies for discovering the Unknown 

Unknowns: Translating DRiPs for 

Immunosurveillance.”

“In your career, you will make 

findings you can’t explain. Don’t 

forget them,” he said.

Yewdell heeded this advice while 

working on an immunology project 

more than a decade ago. While 

analyzing his results, Yewdell surreptitiously discovered a phenomenon 

called Defective Ribosomal Products. 

DRiPs are proteins that become 

defective during the translation 

process. They are common mistakes 

that enable the immune system to 

quickly identify alterations in cellular 

genetic expression.

The final speaker, Harvey 

Fineberg, MD, PhD, president of 

the Institute of Medicine, delivered 

Research Day’s capstone Presidential Lecture, “Doctors as Decision 

Makers: Coping with Uncertainty 

and Human Nature.”

His interactive talk represented 

a shift from the traditional bench 

science lectures that dominated 

Research Days. Instead, Fineberg 

discussed external factors that impact 

decision making in both positive and 

negative ways.

Fineberg encouraged health professionals at USU to carefully analyze 

the way they communicate and make 

important medical decisions.

Brigade commander receives 

Command Ashore Insignia

By MC2 Brittney Cannady, writer 

Navy Capt. (Dr.) Tanis Batsel Stewart, 

the brigade commander at the Uniformed 

Services University, has been authorized 

to wear the Command Ashore Insignia, a 

badge given to Navy officers who manage 

approved major programs or commands.

Before officers can wear this prestigious insignia, they must demonstrate 

leadership in many diverse administrative areas, including personnel, finance and legal matters. Their 

application must be approved by the 

Surgeon General of the Navy (for 

medical corps officers) and the Chief 

of Naval Operations.

“The designation is important, because it guarantees future 

Navy officers who serve as Brigade 

Commander are best-prepared for the 

challenges of this complex command,” 

said Batsel Stewart. 

“My number one goal when I 

arrived was to build the reputation of 

the University and to make assignments here as rewarding as possible 

for our military faculty and staff. 

Clear command recognition by the 

services is a key aspect in ensuring a 

leader is able to effectively advocate 

for their personnel.”

Dr. Charles Rice, president of the Uniformed Services University, presented the Command 

Ashore Insignia to Navy Capt. (Dr.) Tanis Batsel Stewart, brigade commander at USU, during 

formation on May 10.

Research Days 

draws nationally 

renowned scientists

Continued from page 3

Know your biases, use concise 

language when speaking to patients, 

read and interpret good scientific 

literature, and use holistic approaches 

when evaluating problems, he told 

audience members.

“Life does not arrive in packets 

that are stark, easy and immediate,” 

Fineberg explained. “Life is messy 

with an array of possible outcomes. 

Take these complex problems with 

multiple outcomes, reduce the 

complexity and boil them down to 

choices A and B.”

Besides welcoming leading scientists 

from premier agencies beyond USU, 

Research Days also highlighted the 

powerful work happening on campus 

with a special showcase of more than 300 

research posters and lectures from faculty, 

staff and graduate students in the graduate 

programs, the Schools of Medicine and 

Graduate Nursing and the Armed Forces 

Radiobiology Research Institute.
4 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Photo by Sharon Willis

Photo by Sharon Willis

More than 170 medical students 

at the Uniformed Services University took part in the Antietam Road 

March in Sharpsburg, Md., on May 

13. Students marched in formation 

across a battlefield that was home 

to the bloodiest fight in American 

history while learning how Civil 

War medicine influenced modern 

military medical practices. 

“Antietam is perfect for us to 

teach students,” said Navy Lt. Brian 

Andrews-Shigaki, an assistant professor in the Department of Military 

and Emergency Medicine (MEM). 

“Jonathan Letterman (medical director of the Army of the Potomac) 

made drastic changes to the medical 

system during the Civil War, and it’s 

very much demonstrated at Antietam. We want students to see how 

basic tenets like ambulatory services, 

evacuations and field hospitals 

worked and experience it. Antietam 

is a perfect example of that.” 

Students stopped several times 

during the march to learn more 

about major turning points at the 

Battle of Antietam. The Cornfield 

and Bloody Lane, for example, were 

pivotal battle grounds, because 

thousands died or were badly 

injured during fights that ensnared 

Union and Confederate Soldiers 

on these grounds 150 years ago. 

USU faculty and experts from the 

National Museum of Civil War 

Medicine brought life to these 

brutal battles through vivid lectures, 

period costumes and artifacts.

As bad as the fighting was, 

disease was far more deadly during 

the Civil War. In fact, more than 

two-thirds of the 622,000 deaths 

were the result of illnesses like 

diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid 

fever. These infections spread 

through camps like wildfire, a 

somber fact that Antietam instructors highlighted to illustrate the 

importance of proper sanitation 

and the need to gain a sophisticated understanding of harmful 

contagious diseases. 

These lessons have been 

ingrained in USU students at 

Antietam for several decades now. 

The march is an important part 

of campus tradition and learning, 

and each year MEM’s faculty works 

hard to create a dynamic learning 

platform. Students are even given 

surveys at the end of the march, so 

they can evaluate their experience in 

a meaningful way.

“The response has been more 

positive each year,” said AndrewsShigaki. “We work with students 

to get feedback and see what needs 

to be changed. We also give it to 

the museum staff, so they understand what works, and so they can 

help us get our students involved. 

Because at the end of the day, we 

want them to use this information 

to help people and save lives.”

Famed battlefield becomes hands-on 

classroom for USU students

By MC2 Brittney Cannady, writer

Navy Capt. (Dr.) Trueman Sharp, chair of USU’s Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, 

addresses student in front of Mumma Farm at Antietam.

Medical students in USU’s Class of 2016 march through 

“Bloody Lane” at Antietam National Battlefield. 
May 28, 2013 5Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

Photo by Thomas C. Balfour

The Uniformed 

Services University 

celebrated its 34th 

commencement ceremony 

at the National Society 

Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in Washington, 

D.C., on May 18.

More than 2,000 spectators watched as USU 

conferred masters and 

doctoral degrees to more 

than 250 students for the 

Class of 2013. 

“I was admitted to the 

care of young men and 

women like you during the 

third week of March 1969,” 

said Joseph “Bob” Kerrey, 

Congressional Medal of 

Honor recipient and former 

U.S. Senator, during his 

commencement address to USU students and guests. “They were 

working at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital where I had been sent to 

be treated for injuries suffered in Vietnam. Most of the doctors, nurses 

and technicians were relatively new to their professions. All I can say 

about them is this: they saved my life and got me ready for a long and 

successful rehabilitation ... Other than that, I don’t owe them much.”

During the ceremony, USU’s Graduate School of Nursing 

awarded 30 master’s degrees and one doctoral degree, the graduate 

education programs awarded 56 degrees and the F. Edward Hébert 

School of Medicine awarded 166. 

“Today is a wonderful day and it’s an honor to walk across the 

stage with this group of gifted and talented people,” said Air Force 

Capt. Matthew Scott Hamm, who received his doctorate from the 

School of Medicine at this year’s commencement. “I know we are 

walking into a future with great expectations and great responsibility, but we will rise to the challenges ahead and make a difference in our respective careers.”

After all of the degrees were conferred, Dr. Richard MacDonald, the associate dean of Student Affairs at USU, issued the Oath 

of Hippocrates and the Surgeons General, or their representatives, 

led the new graduates in their oaths as commissioned officers in 

the Army, Navy, Air Force or Public Health Service. 

“Welcome to your role of improving the health of people,” 

said Dr. Charles Rice, president of USU, during the ceremony. 

“Welcome to this ancient and honorable profession.”

USU confers more than 

250 academic degrees at 

Commencement 2013

by Tech. Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson, deputy chief of Media Affairs

Dr. Tomoko Hooper (third from left), professor and 

director of the Master of Public Health Program at 

the Uniformed Services University, earned the 2013 

Outstanding Biomedical Educator Award. Dr. Charles 

Rice (left), president of USU, Dr. Eleanor Metcalf (second 

from left), associate dean of the Graduate Programs 

in the Biomedical Sciences, and Dr. John McManigle 

(right), acting dean of the School of Medicine, presented 

a plaque to Hooper during the Graduation Award 

Ceremony.

Hooper earns 

Outstanding Biomedical 

Educator Award

By MC2 Brittney Cannady, writer 

Tomoko Hooper, MD, MPH, professor and 

director of the Master of Public Health Program 

in the Department of Preventive Medicine and 

Biometrics at the Uniformed Services University, received the 2013 Outstanding Biomedical Educator Award at the Graduation Awards 

Ceremony held on May 9 in Sanford Auditorium. 

Hooper was recognized for exemplary 

teaching, mentorship and leadership over the 

past year by USU’s Graduate Education Office, 

the sponsor of this prestigious award.

“I feel very honored to be receiving this award as 

there are so many deserving and talented educators 

here at USU,” said Hooper. “Most of the graduates 

of our public health degree programs come to USU 

as experienced military and U.S. Public Health 

Service professionals, and I know that they will 

continue to contribute in many ways to the health 

of the communities they serve. I look forward to 

hearing about all of their achievements.”

Joseph “Bob” Kerrey, Congressional Medal 

of Honor recipient and former U.S. senator, 

was the keynote speaker at USU’s 2013 

Commencement.
6 The Pulse The Official USU Newsletter

Our world, often called a global 

village, is more connected today than 

ever before. People and ideas move 

freely through open borders, and they 

transform cultures and ways of life 

with rapid speed. 

Not all change is good, though.

Diseases like HIV and SARS, for 

example, spread faster and farther in 

a borderless world. As a result, health 

crises and disparities become everyone’s problem, including students at 

the Uniformed Services University, 

who are searching for new ways to 

improve world health.

A pill-to-fix-it approach doesn’t 

work in most cases, either. That’s why 

faculty members in USU’s Division 

for Global Health use holistic teaching approaches, where factors like 

culture, economics, religion, politics, 

demographics and social influences 

are carefully weighed.

This broad view is important, 

because it leads to a healthier, 

safer world. Still, global health is a 

challenging discipline, with many 

geopolitical influences to consider.

“It’s not rocket science. Global 

health is much more complicated,” 

said Dr. Stephen Waller, an associate professor in the Global Health 

Division at USU. “There is no 

formula to follow, just basic principles that improve community health 

through multidisciplinary action.”

Often, this means breaking cycles 

of behavior in areas where unsanitary or dangerous health conditions 

exist. It also means creating policy 

and action plans that favor lasting 

solutions over peripheral remedies. 

“The first time I really started 

thinking about global health was 

during a humanitarian mission in 

Haiti. We set up our clinic in a local 

school, even though a major hospital 

was only five blocks away,” said Air 

Force Col. (Dr.) Edwin Burkett, director of the Global Health Division. 

“The hospital was an open bay facility 

with minimal staff or supplies. Flies 

buzzed around patients with open 

wounds, and it was generally unclean. 

I realized quickly our team was in the 

wrong spot.”

If his clinic was based in the hospital, Burkett’s team could have shared 

their knowledge and resources with 

local health care providers. This would 

have made their work in Haiti more 

impactful and sustainable, he said.

Drawing from this lesson and others 

like it, Burkett and Waller encourage their students to plan for the best 

possible outcomes when developing 

global health plans. They also share 

their expertise with other leaders in the 

Consortium of Universities for Global 

Health. USU was recently inducted 

into CUGH’s prestigious network, 

which is an international organization 

dedicated to ending health inequalities 

around the world. 

The Global Health faculty at USU 

has strong local roots, as well. Many 

of them will likely begin teaching at 

the National Defense University in 

Washington, D.C., soon.

USU is in in the initial stages of 

partnering with NDU to provide global 

health education to graduate students 

at USU as well as line officers and other 

military leaders who play a vital role in 

global health and national security.

“We can learn from them, and they 

can learn from us,” said Burkett. “Multidisciplinary collaborations like these 

are important, because most health 

problems run deeper than medicine 

alone and can’t be solved by doctors and 

nurses working independently.”

The division is expanding in other 

ways, too. Faculty members are 

exploring ways to grow their curriculum into an additional master’s level 

program that will include more robust 

research and service pieces.

“Global health is an important 

discipline that benefits humankind 

as a whole. Over the past 50 years, 

small pox was eradicated, river 

blindness has diminished and polio 

outbreaks have been reported in only 

USU division teaches students a global perspective

By Christine Creenan-Jones, editor

USU medical 

student earns 

prestigious badge

By Sharon Willis, managing editor and 

deputy vice president for External Affairs 

Army 2nd Lt. Andy Oh (photo, 

right), recently earned the Expert 

Field Medic Badge at Fort Hood in 

Texas. More than 260 EFMB candidates from within the medical field 

came from installations around 

the country to try and execute this 

physically, tactically and technically 

demanding training event to improve 

competencies and earn the badge. 

Oh, who recently graduated from 

USU and is now an Army captain, 

was among 44 Soldiers who were 

presented the badge in a ceremony 

on May 2 at 1st Cavalry Division 

Headquarters, which signifies an 

achievement of the highest level of 

prestige within the medical field. 

“Second Lieutenant Oh was a true 

leader through the entire event and 

the 1st Cavalry Division/Fort Hood 

medical community were impressed 

with his performance,” said Lt. Col. 

(Dr.) Dan Porter, 1st Cavalry Division 

Surgeon. “He definitely represented 

USU in a positive light. Well done!” 

a handful of countries,” said Waller. 

“USU wants to propel the field even 

further, and our division’s expansion 

is one way to ensure global health 

continues progressing.”

Photo by Sgt Lance Pounds,3d Cavalry Regiment, Public Affairs
May 28, 2013 7

Although Ensign Thomas Klotz, 

a first-year medical student at the 

Uniformed Services University, grew up 

in a house full of physicians, he didn’t 

always want to be a doctor. 

Klotz’s parents – a psychiatrist and 

dermatologist – didn’t push their 

career choices on him, either. They 

wanted Klotz to carve his own path, 

which for him, meant pursuing a 

degree in International Relations at 

the University of Southern California. 

After college, however, Klotz had 

a change of heart. He began seriously 

considering a career in medicine and 

enrolled in a pre-medical, post-baccaulerate program at American University 

in Washington, D.C.

While there, Klotz met Dr. 

Timothy O’NeilI, an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics 

at USU, who was visiting American University to talk about USU’s 

innovative medical program. 

Klotz was intrigued and decided 

to apply. After he was accepted, Klotz 

joined the Navy and hasn’t looked back.

“I’ve enjoyed coming here every day. 

I know I’m at the right place,” he said. 

Klotz chose the right career, too. 

This became very clear, when his 

skills were recently tested in an 

unexpected place.

“I was driving down Route 50 and 

saw a vehicle strike a motorcycle 

while merging into traffic. The motorcyclist was thrown from his bike and 

lay wounded in the road,” he said.

Although the scene was gruesome, 

Klotz quickly responded, along with 

several other witnesses. 

“We made sure he was stable. 

He was conscious but seemed to be 

dazed,” Klotz said. “Based on his 

wounds, there was no intervention 

we could have done, so we talked to 

him and waited for the paramedics 

to arrive.”

Throughout the turmoil, Klotz 

remained calm under fire – the mark 

of a good military physician – but 

it wasn’t just intuition that guided 

him on Route 50. Klotz had just run 

through a similar scenario at USU, 

so he knew what to do, and more 

importantly, what not to do as a first 

responder at the scene of a 

car accident.

“My coursework suddenly became 

very real. I was even given a checklist in a Military and Emergency 

Medicine course for situations like 

this, which I mentally ran through 

at the scene and reviewed when I 

got home,” he said. “I’ve since made 

that checklist the background on 

my iPad, because it’s already proven 

to be really useful information, and 

maybe I’ll need to use it again one 

day soon.”

Medical student applies 

MEM curriculum in unexpected place

By Christine Creenan-Jones, editor

Save the Date

USU Education Day

Celebrating Excellence in Research

June 11, 2013

Countdown to 

Commencement

Trivia Question

Answer two

Congratulations to Robert Parker, 

director of the Resources Management Information Office, for 

answering last issue’s Countdown to 

Commencement Trivia Question: 

Besides the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, 

name two other places where USU’s 

commencement has been held.

Parker’s response, the Uniformed 

Services University and the John F. 

Kennedy Center for the Performing 

Arts, was correct.

Blended Learning Initiatives 

for the 21st Century Student 

Keynote speakers:

Jane Clark, PhD, and 

Marcio Oliveira, PhD

Thomas Klotz
Final Frame

All of the photos on the Final Frame were taken by Thomas Balfour

Congratulations to the Uniformed Services University Class 

of 2013 Graduates!