Ticker

Emory will kick off the AJC Decatur Book Festival on August 30, hosting US Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) as the keynote speaker in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Lewis, author of March, a firsthand account of his struggle for civil rights, is among hundreds of authors—including many Emory writers—to be featured in the festival August 30 to September 1.

Charles Hatcher Award goes to Professor Emeritus Gene Gangarosa

The Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) presented the 2013 Charles Hatcher Jr. MD Award for Excellence in Public Health to Professor Emeritus of Global Health Eugene J. Gangarosa, an international expert and advocate for clean, safe water. Gangarosa helped to establish RSPH, where he continues to teach students about foodborne and waterborne diseases.

A new blood test for autism?

A blood test that could identify children at risk for autism spectrum disorders at an early age is the focus of a multisite clinical trial including Emory’s School of Medicine and 19 other centers in the US and Canada. SynapDX Corporation will lead the 660–child clinical study that will evaluate its blood-based test, which measures changes in RNA gene expression.

Chinese judges immerse themselves in US legal system

Nearly 30 Chinese judges arrived in Atlanta for a month of studying US constitutional and criminal law, the rules of evidence, and the role of courts and judges as part of a new partnership between Emory School of Law, City University of Hong Kong School of Law, and the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China.

Seavey Clinic gains support from Rollins Foundation to expand reach

A $5 million gift from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation will expand the scope of the Paul W. Seavey Comprehensive Internal Medicine Clinic, support faculty physicians known as Rollins Distinguished Clinicians, and expand the Executive Health Discovery Database. Seavey, an Emory physician who died in 2004, treated several generations of the Rollins family.

Wilton Looney Chair of Cardiovascular Research funded

The Rollins School of Public Health received a gift of $2 million from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation and the Rollins family to fund the Wilton Looney Chair of Cardiovascular Research in honor of the long-time Genuine Parts CEO and director of Rollins Inc. Viola Vaccarino, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, will be the first to hold the chair.

Gold LEED award granted to Oxford Road Building

The Oxford Road Building, home to the Office of Undergraduate Admission, Barnes and Noble campus bookstore, and Starbucks, has been awarded a Gold-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification by the US Green Building Council, which brings the total number of LEED-certified buildings on Emory’s campus to 20.

American diabetics doing better on some measures, but not others

According to a study led by Assistant Professor of Global Health Mohammed Ali in the New England Journal of Medicine, since 1999, Americans with diabetes have increasingly better control of their blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and attend more check-ups. But one in five still smokes and blood pressure levels have not improved significantly.

New Bobby Jones Scholars, Fellow selected

Katherine Dickerson 13C, Nour El-Kebbi 13C, Lauren Henrickson 13C, and Rebecca Levitan 13C have been selected for a year of study at the University of St Andrews in Scotland as the Robert T. Jones Jr. Scholars. The 2013 Robert T. Jones Jr. Fellowship for graduate students has been awarded to Zachary Domach 13C.

Atlanta VA and Emory nursing school team up to train nurses

The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and the Atlanta VA Medical Center will be training nurses for the field of veterans’ health care. Emory is one of six nursing schools nationwide chosen for this program through the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which will provide $4 million to the SON to fund ten new faculty positions and increase its undergraduate class by 100.

Health Sciences Research Building opens

Researchers are moving into labs in the new $90-million, five-story Health Sciences Research Building on Haygood Drive. Research in the facility, which will be shared with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, will focus on drug discovery, immunology and vaccines, neurosciences, cancer, gastroenterology, transplant immunology, nephrology, biomedical engineering, and genetics.

Brain activity patterns may indicate best depression treatment

In a recent National Institutes of Health–funded clinical trial, researchers at Emory led by Helen Mayberg, professor of psychiatry, neurology, and radiology, have discovered that specific patterns of brain activity (measured by PET scans) may indicate whether a depressed patient will or will not respond to treatment with medication or psychotherapy.