ASDOH’s annual Give Kids a Smile Day was held in April.

MESA, Ariz. – Sixteen low-income elementary school children in Greater Phoenix will receive comprehensive oral care thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Phoenix Suns Charities to A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH).

Youngsters needing restorative oral care will be selected from a pool of more than 300 children who received free dental procedures during ASDOH’s annual Give Kids a Smile Day in April 2010.

A service event, Give Kids a Smile Day is held in partnership with the Arizona Dental Association and its non-profit affiliate the Arizona Dental Foundation. Individual and community volunteers including the Valley’s top dentists, ASDOH students, faculty, and staff participate in this day-long event.

The Phoenix Suns Charities grant will enable ASDOH to provide free restorative care for 16 underserved children and enhance skills of students in pediatric dentistry.

“This grant is a tribute to our mission and instills in our students a commitment to public health and to serve people in need,” said ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg, D.D.S., M.P.H.

Established in 2002, ATSU-ASDOH is Arizona’s first dental school and a school of ATSU, a 501-c-3 non-profit educational institution. ASDOH’s mission is to educate caring, technologically adept dentists who become community and educational leaders serving those in need.

Phoenix Suns Charities uses the unique resources of the Suns organization to raise funds that benefit non-profit organizations that assist the needs of children and families. Since its inception in 1988, the Phoenix Suns Charities have donated more than $10 million to Arizona organizations, helping children and families across the state.

MESA, Ariz. – Friends and family cheered as A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health’s (ATSU-ASDOH) class of 2010 entered the Ikeda Theater at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Ariz., for commencement ceremonies on June 12.

The 55 members of ATSU-ASDOH’s fourth graduating class received their doctor of dental medicine (D.M.D.) degree, 12 of whom also received a master in public health (M.P.H.) through ATSU’s School of Health Management. In addition, four ATSU-ASDOH postgraduate orthodontic program residents received their doctor of health sciences (D.H.Sc.) degree. The residents will receive their certificate in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics on August 12.

According to ATSU-ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg, D.D.S., M.P.H., ATSU-ASDOH’s class of 2010 has the highest percentage of graduates going to practice in community healthcare settings, as well as the highest pass rate in the Western Regional Examining Board (WREB) exam compared to previous classes – 96 percent. “We are proud of this extraordinary class, and are looking forward to the contributions that they will make in the communities where they choose to practice and serve,” he said.

“The class will be remembered for its many great accomplishments benefiting our community and university. Free Family Health and Wellness Day, a free community health project serving over 1,000 Arizonans to date, is just one example,” said ATSU Provost Craig M. Phelps, D.O., FAOASM. “ATSU looks forward to a life-long relationship with each graduate and wishes them well as they begin a new life chapter.”

ATSU President Jack Magruder presented an honorary doctor of humane letters degree to keynote speaker Jonathan E. Fielding, M.D., M.P.H., M.A., M.B.A., Los Angeles County Department of Public Health director and health officer. Dr. Fielding, an accomplished expert and active advocate for public health and preventive medicine, spoke to the graduates about the importance of being not only great clinicians, but also ambassadors for the profession and for underserved patients who need access to quality care.

“I am so impressed with your university, with the incredible progress that it has made…progress that you have made as students, including the commitment to community dentistry, which is one of our most urgent and widespread needs,” said Dr. Fielding. “Bring people into your profession, stand tall, and remember that you are the safeguards of the next generation, and the generation after that. I salute you.”

An annual awards brunch was held June 10 at the Hilton Phoenix East Mesa. Thirty-seven awards were presented, including the International College of Dentists Student Leadership Award, which went to Brock Lorenz; and the American College of Dentists Outstanding Student Award, which went to Katie Rebecca McNutt.

Vineet Singh, Ph.D.

Vineet Singh, Ph.D., associate professor in microbiology/immunology at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for $308,874.

Dr. Singh’s research focuses on controlling staph infections by studying the significance of an aggressive bacterial pathogen, called staphylococcus aureus, that causes a variety of diseases ranging from skin infections to complicated life-threatening diseases such as lung, heart valve, and central nervous system infections. Approximately one-third of the United States population is colonized with this bacterium. In addition, up to 90 percent of healthcare professionals are carriers, which means they are frequently in contact with patients who are at much greater risk of developing serious staphylococcal diseases.

These infections are difficult to treat as recent clinical strains are resistant to almost all known antibiotics. The goal of Dr. Singh’s research is to understand how this bacterium is able to cause disease in humans and has become resistant to all known antibiotics, and to suggest new therapeutic strategies for the control of staphylococcal infections.

In the last few years, Dr. Singh has identified several genes that he suspects are critical for this bacterium to survive antibiotic treatment. His plan is to delete those genes from the resistant bacterium and test if the gene deletion makes the bacterium susceptible to antibiotics and/or incapable to cause disease. Such genes can then be targeted in a clinical situation to control staph infections.

Says Dr. Singh on receiving his first NIH grant: “I feel extremely excited both personally and professionally after receiving this funding. The funding will enable me to test my research ideas, write research papers, attend professional meetings, and further develop my research career.”

NIH, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency and the largest source of funding for medical research in the world.

ATSU is a Start! Fit-Friendly Company

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The American Heart Association (AHA) has recognized A.T. Still University (ATSU) for its outstanding efforts to create a fitness- and wellness-friendly environment on its campuses in Kirksville, Mo., and Mesa, Ariz. This is the fourth consecutive year that the university has been recognized as a Gold Start! Fit-Friendly Company.

The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Recognition Program is part of the AHA’s national movement that calls on all Americans and their employers to create a culture of physical activity and health to live longer, heart-healthier lives through walking. A catalyst for positive change in American business, the program recognizes employers who champion the health of their employees by creating physical activity programs within the workplace. The program is also meant to encourage other companies to participate and demonstrate similar physical activity practices for their employees.

Dan Martin, director of ATSU’s Thompson Campus Center and the university’s unofficial “fitness guru,” said recognition from the American Heart Association was especially important because of the AHA’s reputation nationwide as a health information and policy resource.

“When the American Heart Association says something, from CPR techniques to blood pressure management to exercise routines, people take it as fact and act immediately,” Martin said. “That they have recognized ATSU as the gold standard for fit-friendly work and education environments is a great endorsement of our university and an incentive to work every day to make them even better.”

The AHA evaluates organizations based on physical activities offered or encouraged; nutrition policies, alternatives, or incentives; and institutional culture.

There’s a new energy at ATSU, a new strategy for the future, and a renewed commitment to our mission. What follows are some of the most significant changes occurring in 2010:

Developing institutional research capacity

ATSU is fully compliant with all state, federal, and accrediting agency requirements regarding the submission of data, but centralizing data collection efforts is a challenge. The charge of the University-wide Assessment Committee (UWAC) includes being responsible for ensuring that the data necessary for assessment and strategic planning is as readily accessible as reasonably possible. The committee has requested funds for software that will aggregate data in the next budget year, and implementation of the software will be a top priority for 2010-11.

Recruiting physicians cooperatively

For the first time in more than 100 years, ATSU-KCOM, Northeast Missouri Health Council (NMHC – the local Federally Qualified Health Center), and Northeast Regional Medical Center (NRMC) will recruit providers cooperatively. An integral component of the agreement is the involvement of KCOM to ensure that new physicians have the interest and ability to become clinical educators at KCOM and to participate in its evolving curriculum. Costs for recruitment will be shared. NRMC, a Thompson Top 100 hospital based on quality, has agreed to provide initial income guarantees so physicians can choose to practice at KCOM or NMHC, if appropriate, or enter private practice.

Planning strategically

The University Strategic Planning Committee (USPC) is developing a five-year strategic plan for ATSU that will guide its future development as an integrated university. The committee has developed draft mission and values statements and is working to identify appropriate actions that will address the strategic issues it determined are important to ATSU’s future. The USPC hopes to finish the plan by mid-summer.

Obtaining accreditation

The Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health’s Orthodontic and Dentofacial Orthopedic Program has received “approval without reporting requirements” and will not be site-visited again until 2016.

The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy (ACOTE) awarded ATSU-ASHS’ Occupational Therapy Program a seven-year accreditation, which may be extended to 10 years’ accreditation by attending to two areas of concern, which already are being addressed by faculty.

Leading purposefully

Several key changes in university administration also will take effect this summer.

• Craig Phelps, D.O., FAOAM, ’84, is ATSU’s new executive vice president for strategic initiatives. This new position will allow ATSU to take advantage of opportunities for expanding its role beyond two campuses, and extend the president’s strategic leadership in Arizona and Missouri, as well as nationwide and globally. Provost of the Arizona campus since 1998, Dr. Phelps led the establishment and development of that campus and will now assist the president in maintaining and improving presidential level involvement in such matters as fund-raising opportunities, community visibility, and overseeing new initiatives.
• Douglas L. Wood, D.O., Ph.D., the founding dean of ATSU’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (SOMA), is the inaugural senior vice president – academic affairs, the university’s top academic leader. For the first time, each of ATSU’s five deans — and potentially others — will report to the same person, Dr. Wood, who will report directly to the president. On the Mesa campus he led the creation of one of the most innovative medical schools in the nation, and next year SOMA will graduate its first class.
• Thomas McWilliams, D.O., FACOFP, ’76, will leave his position as founding associate dean to take over for ATSU-SOMA’s founding dean, Douglas L. Wood, D.O., Ph.D., who will serve as the university’s new senior vice president – academic affairs. Having joined ATSU in 2006 as the second person hired at SOMA, Dr. McWilliams has been instrumental in the implementation of SOMA’s innovative curricular model.
• O.T. Wendel, Ph.D., is the new vice president for Arizona operations & special assistant to the executive vice president. Because of former Arizona Provost Dr. Phelps’ transition to executive vice president for strategic initiatives, Dr. Wendel will oversee operations at the Arizona campus and work with Dr. Phelps as the president deems necessary. Dr. Wendel became the first associate provost of ATSU’s Arizona campus in 1998, served as dean of the faculty until 2002 with the formation of ASHS, and has been very effective in helping to build that campus.
• Kimberly O’Reilly, D.H.Ed., ’08, is ATSU’s first female dean, having served as interim dean of the online School of Health Management since 2008. She joined the university in 2005 and graduated as part of ATSU-SHM’s first class of Doctor of Health Education (D.H.Ed.) students. As interim dean, she moved SHM forward by raising admission standards, establishing full-time faculty positions, and tightening curriculum requirements.
• Barbara Maxwell, D.P.T., ’06, is interim dean of ATSU’s Arizona School of Health Sciences, taking over for founding dean Randy Danielsen, Ph.D., PA-C, who is leaving ATSU-ASHS for the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants Foundation. Dr. Maxwell has served as vice dean of ASHS since 2007 and has been with the university since 2003, beginning as associate professor of physical therapy. Dr. Maxwell serves on numerous ATSU committees, has a consistent record of research, is a peer reviewer for the online Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, and has been named as a Top Woman in Business by Arizona Woman Magazine.