Staff award nominations

Applications are being accepted for the UC Davis Health System's 2008 House Staff Professionalism Award. This honor recognizes residents who exemplify the attributes of professionalism.

All current UC Davis postgraduate house staff are eligible for nomination. House staff, nurses, medical students, ancillary staff, transporters, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, dietary, clerical staff and telephone operators are encouraged to nominate residents who comport themselves with the highest degree of professionalism.

The recipient of the award will be highlighted in the UC Davis Medicine magazine and recognized at the Senior Faculty Banquet on June 5. Also, the recipient's photo will be displayed in the Education Building.

Contact the Alumni Office at medalumni@ucdavis.edu for nomination forms and information on how to submit them. The deadline is March 31.

Emergency preparedness at health care facilities

Physicians and researchers from UC Davis Health System, working with colleagues at Stanford University and the Battelle Memorial Institute, have received a $674,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to develop indicators of emergency preparedness for the nation's hospitals and health care facilities.

In collaboration with its research partners, UC Davis experts will identify and validate benchmarks and standards to better assess levels of readiness within health-care facilities such as hospitals and alternative care sites for handling victims after a disaster or pandemic occurs. The research also will help federal and state officials gain a better understanding about gaps in disaster planning and readiness.

"It's hard to prepare for a major calamity," said Patrick Romano, professor of medicine and pediatrics and clinical team leader for the new project at the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research, "without first having a formalized way to measure and evaluate levels of preparation. The practical question we're trying to help answer is whether, after six years and $6 billion in emergency preparedness funding, our nation is fully ready to respond to the next Hurricane Katrina or man-made disaster."

The grant complements a $5 million award that UC Davis and four other institutions received last fall to improve disaster planning.

Cancer Center teams up with Turtle Health Foundation

The UC Davis Cancer Center has formalized and expanded a partnership with the nonprofit Turtle Health Foundation to improve cancer education, research and training for American Indian tribes and tribal communities.

"The partnership is a natural one," said Marlene von Friederichs-Fitzwater, director of the outreach research and education program at the UC Davis Cancer Center. "California is home to the nation's largest population of American Indians, who unfortunately have the poorest cancer survival rate in the United States."

The partnership will spawn a variety of initiatives designed to strengthen cancer education outreach and increase health education awareness among American Indians while focusing on cancer prevention, early diagnosis and treatment options.

The collaboration will also provide educational opportunities for American Indian undergraduate and graduate students, including scholarship programs in nursing, physical therapy, health science, therapeutic recreation, medical social work, speech pathology, pre-med and medicine.