Florida State University College of Medicine - Electronic Medical Review

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Med student receives American Medical Association scholarship
	Second-year student Ivan Porter has been named an American Medical Association Foundation Minority Scholar, an honor awarded to only 10 medical students in the country. The Minority Scholar Award, which includes a $10,000 scholarship, recognizes scholastic achievement and promise for the future among students in groups defined as “historically underrepresented” in the medical profession. Less than seven percent of U.S. physicians fall within these groups, which include African-American/Black, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino.

Five from the Class of 2005 inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha
	FSU College of Medicine graduates Julie Gladden, Victor Gonzalez, Alex Ho, Javier Miller Jr. and Kimberly Ruscher-Rodgers were inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society in May. As the only national honor medical society, Alpha Omega Alpha elects outstanding medical students, graduates, alumni, faculty and honorary members to its ranks. A list of awards published in the June issue of EMR neglected to include the Alpha Omega Alpha inductees.

Neuroscientist receives NIH grant
	Xian-Min Yu, associate professor of biomedical sciences, has received a four-year, $1.17 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for the research project, "Kinase-phosphatase complex in transducing pain signals." A neuroscientist, Yu also has recently published research that sheds light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of commonly used mood stabilizing drugs for the treatment of bipolar mood disorder. Yu came to the FSU College of Medicine last year from the University of Toronto.

Rob Allison participates in NIH lecture series
	Fourth-year student Rob Allison recently was invited to present in the “Meeting with a Scientist” lecture series for the National Institutes of Health undergraduate scholars program. The program was designed to bring bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds to the NIH, where they work in a mentor’s lab each summer during college and receive a yearly scholarship. Together with Charlotte Holden, J.D., from the Office of Human Subjects Research at the NIH, Allison discussed institutional review boards and conducted an interactive mock IRB.

Faculty publications, presentations, awards and service
	It may be summertime, but the livin' hasn't all been easy for College of Medicine faculty. They have published and presented this summer on topics ranging from medical errors to ethnogeriatrics. Read more about recent Faculty Achievements.

Medical student raises money for Lance Armstrong Foundation
	Fourth-year medical student Jason Farrah and his brother Jeffrey Farrah plan to enter the 100-mile Lance Armstrong Foundation Ride for the Roses in Austin, Texas, Oct. 23 to help raise funds for the foundation. The brothers are riding in honor of their father, Lou Farrah, a cancer survivor. The Lance Armstrong Foundation was founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong and is dedicated to helping people with cancer live strong. Support the LAF via Jason's Web page.