UWMC AP Conferences: Click here for the complete UWMC Anatomic Pathology Conference Schedule. To access the UWMC Resident Didactic Conference Schedule, click here.

Pathology Seminars: A list of seminars can be found on our Department of Pathology website.

UWMC Lecture Series Calendar
Launched in 1974, the Science in Medicine lecture series spans the Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters and consists of thirteen lectures which recognize the outstanding research of our faculty. Visit their website for the schedule and more information.

New Employee Recognition Program
In an effort to better recognize the outstanding achievements of our colleagues, the Department of Pathology is pleased to introduce the Employee of the Quarter Award. At the completion of each academic quarter, the Employee Recognition Team will review the nominations and select a winner to be announced at a formal recognition ceremony. Winners will receive a $100 gift certificate from a store of their choice.

All Department of Pathology classified and professional staff members are eligible to be nominated. Faculty, residents, post-docs, graduate students, and student assistants are not eligible, but are encouraged to submit nominations.

The deadline for the Fall 2005 Employee of the Quarter Award is Friday, December 23, 2005. The winner of the inaugural Employee of the Quarter Award will be announced prior to the start of the Winter Quarter in January. Click here to submit your nomination.

Inaugural Education in Medicine Lecture

Paul G.Ramsey, M.D.
Vice President of Medical Affairs
Dean, University of Washington School of Medicine
Topic: Value of and Threats to Medical Education
Tuesday, December 6
12 noon - 1 pm
Hogness Auditorium, A-420
Health Sciences Building

This lecture will be simultaneously telivised at:
Harborview Medical Center, Research and Training Center Auditorium
VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Building 1, Room 524

Winterfest 2005 at UWMC
Please join family, friends, and co-workers at the following UWMC holiday festivities:

Decorating Contest: Nov. 28
Help us hang lights outside the hospital and place wreaths throughout the building. Judges will visit participating areas on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Socials: Dec. 15
Food and Nutrition Services will host a delicious spread of appetizers and sweets in the Plaza Cafe on Dec. 15. There will be a morning social from 3-5 a.m. and an afternoon social from 2-5 p.m.

Food & Toy Donations: Dec. 15
Many donations have been made to help the thousands of families who were affected by the devastation of this season's hurricanes. The Recognition TEAM hopes to continue this tradition by collecting food and toys for local families in need. Help make this year's holiday drive a success by dropping off contributions to room BB-389 on Thursday, Dec. 15, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Department of Pathology Holiday Party

We are pleased to announce that we will once again accept donations for the Noel House at the annual Holiday Party on Tuesday, December 13 from 3-5 PM at the South Campus Center, Room 316. The Noel House is a local non-profit organization that provides safe and comfortable shelter for homeless women.

• Over-the-Counter Cold Remedies
• Deordorant and Feminine Hygiene Supplies
• Toothbrushes and Toothpaste
• Laundry Detergent and Bleach
• Towels, Blankets, Bed Sheets and Pillows

Please visit the Noel House website for more information on their mission and for other ways to help.

Resident Recruiting Meet-n-Greet
Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend this opportunity to meet our potential colleagues, 4-5 p.m. in UWMC NE110K. Beverages and snacks will be served. The interview dates for December are: December 2, 5, 9, 12 and 16.

New Seattle Page on Residency Website
Do you have visitors - interview candidates, colleagues, guest lecturers, family members - coming to visit Seattle? If so, check out our Seattle page on the Residency website! You will find a virtual tourist tour of all the highlights, an interactive neighborhood map, and lots of links to campus and citywide resources. Contact Michelle at msrme@u.washington.edu if you are interested in adding this site to your own website.

UWMC Gift Shop Grand Re-opening

The UWMC Gift Shop, closed since August during the remodel of the main hospital entrance, reopened on November 28. Drip coffee will continue to be offered in the Tea Room.

LEAP Summit 2006
LEAP: Life Sciences Education Advancement Partnership promotes discussion, articulation and collaboration amongst life sciences education outreach organizations, to better serve the Northwest community. On Saturday, February 4, 2006 LEAP will host a life sciences outreach showcase from 9 AM to 4 PM in the South Campus Center.

The summit will provide an informational forum for teachers and school district administrators to discuss life sciences education outreach opportunities in the Puget Sound region. The goal of LEAP Summit 2006 is to increase awareness of regional science outreach programs, foster collaborations between existing programs, educators and industry for mutual benefit; and generate a resource guide for teachers, administrators and guidance counselors. If you are interested in learning more about LEAP, please contact Steve Berard at sberard@u.washington.edu or 598-7475.

Fourth Annual Photographer's Group Show

Photo by Kari Berger
The fourth Annual UW Photographer's Group show will run from November 28 through December 30 in the HUB Gallery. You are also invited to come to the Artists' Reception on Friday, December 2 from 6-8:30 p.m. to meet the artists and enjoy some refreshments. Please check out the HUB Poster Show Flyer for more details.

UW Combined Fund Drive: Last Chance to Donate!
It's not too late to contribute to the UW Combined Fund Drive. You have until December 20 to sign up online and give a portion of your paychecks to charity through this workplace giving program. Last year the Combined Fund Drive raised more than $1.4 million through the generosity of UW employees to support more than 2,300 charities. Faculty, staff and students can find out how their donations make a difference, and also learn about volunteer and internship opportunities by contacting Department of Pathology Representative Zale Carroll.

You can also find more information by visiting the State of Washington Combined Fund Drive website or the University of Washington Combined Fund website.

Award-Winning Text: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7th Edition

Congratulations to Nelson Fausto, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology, who along with Vinay Kumar, Abul K Abbas authored the award-winning pathology textbook, Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease.

The British Medical Association recently announced the winners of its 2005 Book Competition, selecting Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease 7th edition as the first place award winner in the Basic and Clinical Sciences category. The original author of the book was Dr. Stanley Robbins, who, after four editions of the book, invited Drs. Ramzi Cotran and Vinay Kumar to join him as co-authors. Upon the deaths of Drs. Robbins and Cotran, Dr. Kumar invited Drs. Abul Abbas and Nelson Fausto, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology, to become the authors of the 7th edition. Drs. Kumar, Abbas and Fausto renamed the book as Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, wrote new chapters and did a complete revision of the book. Pathologic Basis of Disease has been used by many generations of medical students and has been translated into 11 languages. Drs. Kumar and Abbas are, respectively, Chairs of the Department of Pathology at the University of Chicago and the University of California , San Francisco .

In their evaluation of the text, the British Medical Association noted the following:

"This source offers balanced, accurate and up-to-date coverage of the core topics in human pathology. Its clinicopathologic orientation highlights the impact of molecular pathology on the practice of medicine. It integrates clinical and anatomic pathology and discusses laboratory diagnosis of specific disorders."

"It is hard to imagine a pathologist, whether a trainee or consultant who would not benefit from reading or at least referring to this book. Most older pathologists will possess earlier editions as Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease has been a standard text for many years. This seventh edition represents the evolution of the best single volume textbook on general pathology and the editors are to be congratulated in having resisted the temptation to overturn the book's familiar order in the name of innovation. Instead, they have sympathetically expanded the text, which now includes a phenomenal amount of information. A particularly welcome development is the chapter on ocular pathology for the generalist and the reorganization of the chapter on infectious diseases taxonomically. The book has a very broad appeal: it could be read with profit by consultant pathologists, but is still suitable as an undergraduate text for medical students, as it starts from first principles and extends to the limits of knowledge. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease will remain the book of choice for diligent students, who will be inspired by the thorough scientific grounding in pathology that it provides. UK universities that believe this factual knowledge to be redundant should consider the popularity of Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease in the US, and with practicing diagnostic pathologists in the UK , and think again."

National Multiple Sclerosis Society - Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Ellsworth "Buster" Alvord

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society presented one of its highest honors - the Lifetime Achievement Award - to Dr. Ellsworth "Buster" Alvord at the society's national conference on Friday, November 11, 2005. Dr. Alvord is the former head of neuropathology at the University of Washington's School of Medicine, Department of Pathology. Dr. Alvord has dedicated more than half a century of his life to people affected by MS, advocating relentlessly for client services when there were no treatments and little hope. He is a co-founder of the Greater Washington Chapter of the National MS Society, and as a physician, mentor and friend, he has encouraged three generations of his family to contribute approximately $150,000 a year to the Society. He and his wife, Nancy Delaney Alvord, are recognized as being among the Northwest's most generous supporters of educational, arts and public service groups.

Please visit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website for more information.

Seattle Marathon
Nearly 14,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair athletes participated in 2005 Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday, November 27th. Over 150 UWMC Team Transplant members - including 28 transplant recipients - ran in the 36th annual race. Erika Bracamonte, Kim Jewell and Steve Berard from the Department of Pathology completed the Half Marathon. Next year the University of Washington Medical Center will be the title sponsor of the 2006 Seattle Marathon with Donate Life the official charity benefitting from the race. Check out the marathon website to register for the 2006 UWMC Seattle Marathon.

Please visit the Donate Life website to find out how you can become an organ and tissue donor.

Literate Seattle
A recent study examining the culture and resources for reading in the largest cities in the US ranked Seattle as the most literate city in the country. The study, conducted John Miller of Central Connecticut State University, surveyed the following factors: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and internet resources.

Visit the survey website for the complete research results.

New Arrivals
Levin and Theo Kapur
Congratulations to Department of Pathology Associate Professor Raj Kapur and his wife, Jennifer Fangman, formerly with the Disteche Lab, on the birth of their children. Yes, children. The identical twins, Levin and Theo, were born on November 2nd and weighed around 4lbs each. They spent a short period in the hospital but are now at home where they are thriving, while their parents become progressively sleep-deprived.

Holly Predd, Racing to Save Lives

Holly Predd, an Anatomic Pathology Technologist and cancer survivor, is training for the 2006 Lavaman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii this April. The Lavaman Triathlon is an Olympic distance triathlon consisting of a 1-mile swim, 25-mile cycle and 6-mile run. Holly is preparing for the triathlon with Team in Training, an organization devoted to raising awareness and money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Team in Training provides coaching, fundraising and logisitical support for its altruistic athletes.

As a cancer survivor, this cause is extremely important to Holly. Twelve years ago, it was thought that she wouldn't survive the year. Fortunately Holly is happy to be alive and well and able to participate in the triathlon. The money Holly raises will go towards research initiatives, patient services and education programs in support of finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Pictured with Holly is her training partner, Drew.

If you are interested in learning more about Holly's participation in the Lavaman Triathalon, please visit her Team in Training website.

Jill O'Brien, Cytogenetics

Please welcome one of the newest members of the Department of Pathology, Jill O'Brien. Jill started working in the Anatomic Patholgy Cytogenetics Laboratory last month as a cytogenetic technologist trainee. She hails from northern Montana and is a recent graduate of Gonzaga University where she studied Biology. Jill recently spent time in Costa Rica authoring original research concerning the viability of Orchid bees as bioindicators.

Elaine Tanji, Histology Supervisor

Please welcome the newest member of our Anatomic Pathology team, Elaine Tanji. Elaine will supervise the AP Histology Laboratory. She was trained as a Med Tech and has experience in Cytogenetics, Histology and Hematology. Elaine has most recently been a manager of clinical pathology laboratories for local biotech companies.

Amanda Thomson, Quality Control

Please welcome Amanda Thomson to the Department. Amanda started working in the Anatomic Pathology Administration Office last month, managing AP's Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement programs and numerous compliance issues, along with other general responsibilities. She graduated from Portland State University with a bachelors in Political Science and Communications. Most recently Amanda spent two years in the Peace Corp in Jamaica and is currently working on her masters in Health Administration.

Inclement Weather/Suspended Operations Policy Reminder
The chill in the air should remind us all to be familiar with the University's inclement weather and suspended operations policies. Please note that the medical center is considered "essential services" and is excluded from the UW Suspended Operations policy. All administrative staff are required to report to work for their scheduled work day. Be sure to check the bus system snow day schedule to take an alternate bus if needed. If you will be late, be sure to call the front desk and your direct supervisor. If extenuating circumstances occur and it becomes impossible to come to work you must contact your direct supervisor. On November 1, new campus numbers took effect that provide information about operations at the three UW campuses during emergencies and severe weather conditions, updated to the minute.

Please take note of these numbers for up to date information on campus operations: 206-UWS-INFO (206-897-4636) and toll-free 1-866-897-4636

Also, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with following policies:

Inclement Weather

Suspended Operations

Team Transit
Transportation funding and congestion continue to be major issues in Washington State. People are spending more time than ever sitting in their cars which has negatively affected our health, environment, and quality of life. In Washington State, car emissions make up for 57% of our air pollution - a direct cause of childhood asthma. Poor air quality, growing waistlines, and toxic runoff from paved areas are just a few of the damaging health and environmental effects we face from our over dependence on automobiles. But we have other choices - we can walk, bike, carpool, or use a variety of transit.

Team Transit is a new program building a coalition of citizens interested in shaping future transit decisions in the Puget Sound region. The team works with businesses, agencies, and community groups to provide a loud voice for transit riders. Their most recent project is Sound Transit Phase 2, which may include more bus service, light rail, commuter train, and transit centers. Please visit the Sound Transit project list webiste below for more information.

Sound Transit Project List

For comments regarding any Sound Transit project, please email Sound Transit.