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NOW Election Highlights Debate Over Strategy For Future Of Feminist Movement
The AP/Kansas City Star on Sunday examined how the upcoming election for the next president of the National Organization for Women has brought to the forefront a debate over how the feminist movement should define itself moving forward. NOW President Kim Gandy is stepping down after eight years in which she led the group in opposition to many of former President George W. Bush"s policies. Running to replace her are Latifa Lyles, a 33-year-old who serves as a vice president to Gandy, and Terry O"Neill, a 56-year-old who served as NOW"s vice president for membership from 2001 to 2005. Lyles, who is black, would be NOW"s youngest president while O"Neill, who is white, would be its oldest to start a term. According to the AP/Star, the election represents "both an unusual clash of generations and an opportunity for activists to confront some of the challenges facing the feminist movement." The election will be held at NOW"s conference in Indianapolis this weekend.The candidates share the goals of ensuring that women"s needs are represented in health care reform and economic recovery efforts, and they both support working to make abortion and birth control more accessible. Lyles said she contrasts with NOW"s current membership, which is mostly white and older than age 40. Lyles believes she could help give the organization a more diverse, younger image and help encourage participation from a broader range of women. "The profile of NOW is just as important as the work we do," she said, adding, "There are a lot of antiquated notions about what feminism is." Gandy, who has endorsed Lyles, said, "It"s hard to ignore the fact there"s been a generational shift in the country, and an organization that doesn"t recognize that is living in the past." She added that Lyles" "youth is not a detriment, but an advantage. ... She"ll take NOW to a different level." Jessica Valenti, a prominent younger feminist and founder of the blog Feministing, said, "This could be the moment where NOW becomes super-relevant to the feminist movement again."O"Neill said she would focus on grassroots organizing and membership recruitment. She said that "even with a friend in the White House and a lot of friends in the Congress, it"s going to take well-organized, grassroots movement to advance our agenda." O"Neill added, "I keep hearing "Terry, I want to see more activism in my community,"" adding, "The press releases, the media exposure, invitations to the White House -- these are excellent things, but they"re not enough. The grass roots are not personally engaged." Former NOW President Patricia Ireland, who supports O"Neill, said, "There is a role that requires us to take unpopular stands and push on our friends. That"s what I think [O"Neill] really gets. She"s the one I believe will be very willing to use a wide array of tactics -- not just traditional letters and e-mails, but also engage in civil disobedience, organize fasts, be at some congressman"s district office" (Crary, AP/Kansas City Star, 6/14).

GlaxoSmithKline And Genmab Announce Top-line Results For Ofatumumab In Rheumatoid Arthritis
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) announced preliminary top-line results from a Phase III study of ofatumumab administered intravenously for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who had an inadequate response to methotrexate. The study met the primary endpoint, ACR20 at 24 weeks, which indicates a 20 percent or greater improvement in the number of swollen and tender joints, as well as improvements in other disease-activity measures.
News of the day
American Dental Education Association Releases Statement On Professionalism In Dental Education
The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) has released a Statement on Professionalism in Dental Education for the academic dental community. Aligned with existing codes of ethics and conduct within the dental education and dental practice communities, the Statement helps to define expectations for professional behavior in dental education institutions. It includes the values and behaviors that should guide students as they enter the dental and allied dental professions and faculty and administrators as they continuously improve their educational programs.
Diagnostics

University Of Pittsburgh Schools Of The Health Sciences Announce New Research Funding

Innovative research conducted by faculty of the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences contributes to a better understanding of the causes and origins of disease and aids in the development of more effective treatment approaches. Government and private-sector funding is critical to this process of scientific inquiry. The following projects recently have been awarded grants that will enable the continuation of existing projects or the pursuit of new areas of investigation: - Janice Pringle, Ph.D., research assistant professor, School of Pharmacy, and William Johnjulio, M.D., chairman, Department of Family Medicine UPMC Mercy, are co-principal investigators on a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. The grant will be used to develop a statewide training program to educate medical residents about the importance of identifying substance issues with their patient populations. The initiative, SMaRT (Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment Medical and Residency Training) is a collaborative effort among several institutions including UPMC. - Eileen R. Chasens, D.S.N., assistant professor, School of Nursing, has been awarded a $416,625 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This two-year grant will support Dr. Chasens" research, "Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleepiness and Activity in Diabetes Management." Her study will examine whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure results in increased physical activity in people with type 2 diabetes. -Annette Duensing, M.D., assistant professor of pathology, School of Medicine, has received a $135,000 award from the GIST Cancer Research Fund to support her research with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Dr. Duensing"s studies aim to better understand the biology of GIST responses to the drug Gleevec, as well as mechanisms underlying drug resistance, both of which provide the framework for the development of more effective treatment options for GIST patients. -Yuyan Jin, graduate student, School of Pharmacy, has been awarded a Critical Path Research Grant from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. This two-year grant of $120,408 will fund Ms. Jin"s research on public health policy pertaining to anti-hypertensives use. -JiYeon Choi, Ph.D., R.N., postdoctoral fellow, School of Nursing, received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Nursing Research. This two-year, $96,472 grant will support Dr. Choi"s research, "Caregivers of Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation: Mind-Body Interaction Model." This study will focus on exploring psychological, behavioral and biological aspects of stress responses in family caregivers of persons on prolonged mechanical ventilation. -Paul Daniel Patterson, Ph.D., M.P.H., research assistant professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, received a grant from the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management Foundation. The grant will help fund Dr. Patterson"s research proposal, "The Effect of Communication Patterns in the Emergency Department on Quality and Performance." The University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences include the schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the Graduate School of Public Health. The schools serve as the academic partner to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Together, their combined mission is to train tomorrow"s health care specialists and biomedical scientists, engage in groundbreaking research that will advance understanding of the causes and treatments of disease and participate in the delivery of outstanding patient care. Since 1997, Pitt and its affiliated university faculty have ranked among the top 10 educational institutions in grant support from the National Institutes of Health. For additional information about the Schools of the Health Sciences, please visit http://www.health.pitt.edu. UPMC


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