Announcements

Announcements: July 29, 2008

JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge: Wednesday, September 17, 2008, at 6:45 PM at Crissy Field Presidio in San Francisco. The 24th running of San Francisco's JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge is this September and provides an opportunity for companies to put together teams with a minimum of four members and no maximum number. To participate in this 3.5 mile run/walk, you must be part of a corporate team. If you are interested in forming a team from Stanford, please contact Paul Richardson, financial analyst in the SoM Blood and Marrow Transplantation Division, at (650) 725-1745 or paulr77@stanford.edu. For each participant who enters the Corporate Challenge, JP Morgan will make a donation to YMCA's Claire Lilienthal Learning Academy, a Presidio Community YMCA program that provides a safe space for learning for each student attending Claire Lilienthal Alternative School.

Last year, there were 5,340 runners and walkers who completed the 3.5 mile course from 233 companies. A total of 15 companies (5 from the men's division; 5 from the women's division; and 5 from the mixed divisions) will be invited to compete in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship, on Saturday, October 4th, in New York City.

Announcements: June 26, 2008

The Grand Opening of our new Stanford Medicine Imaging Center, Palo Alto, (451 Sherman Avenue) will be this Friday, June 27th, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Please come to our evening reception and take a tour of our new facility to celebrate our Grand Opening!

Date: Friday, June 27th
Time: 5-7 PM
Location : 451 Sherman Avenue
Light Fare, Wine, Music

Sherman Avenue is located one block south of Palo Alto's California Avenue business district, adjacent to the Olive Garden Restaurant, and just a half block east of El Camino Real. Public parking is available in lots located along Sherman Avenue.

RSVP to: cestades@stanfordmed.org or (650) 723-4527

Announcements: April 4, 2008

Lunchtime Barbecue to Celebrate Stanford School of Medicine's 100th Anniversary on April 23, 2008: A birthday BBQ lunch will be held on the Dean's Lawn (Campus Drive and Roth Way) from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM on Wednesday, April 23, 2008. The Stanford School of Medicine (SOM) is celebrating a 100-year birthday, and all faculty, staff, and students are invited! For details, please read the following birthday party invitation from the April 2, 2008 Medical Center Report published by the SOM Office of Communication and Public Affairs:

A Birthday Party Invitation

All faculty, students, and staff are invited to celebrate the School of Medicine's 100th anniversary at a lunchtime barbecue on April 23.

Everyone coming will have a chance to make a contribution to history: attendees are invited to bring a contemporary item that reflects the "spirit of the present" for a time capsule that will be opened in 100 years.

Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the medical school, will offer some remarks at the lunch, which will also feature music from a ragtime band.

Items for the time capsule don't have to be related to the medical school but simply represent the spirit of our times. Some suggestions include: a Stanford ID badge, a personal statement of "Life at Stanford in 2008," predictions for 2108, photographs or CDs, electronics (such as memory sticks), course catalogues or periodicals. Items may not be perishable or contain liquid and must be no bigger than a cubic foot.

Centennial organizers will also have guest books available to students, staff, and faculty to sign with written memories or predictions for 2108. People are also invited to submit their predictions and memories to the Centennial Web site at http://med.stanford.edu/centennial/guestbook.html.

The lunch will be held on the Dean's Lawn (Campus Drive and Roth Way) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Shuttle service will be available for transportation from off-site locations. For more details on the lunch and other Centennial events, see the Centennial Web site at http://med.stanford.edu/centennial/events.html.

Announcements: March 14, 2008

Robert J. Gropler, MD, to Speak on "Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Use of Imaging to Cross the Translational Divide": Monday, March 17th, seminar from 4:30 PM to 5:15 PM; discussion from 5:15 PM to 5:30 PM; and reception from 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM in the Clark Center Auditorium. As part of the Molecular Imaging Seminar Series, the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) and Philips present Robert J. Gropler, MD, professor of radiology, medicine, and biomedical engineering from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Gropler will be speaking on "Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Use of Imaging to Cross the Translational Divide." Please find his abstract as well as directions to his talk below. This seminar is hosted by Drs. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, and Edward Graves, PhD.

Abstract:
There is a growing epidemic of diabetes mellitus in the United States with a projected increase of 30% in the prevalence of this disease over the next 10 years. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. The myocardial metabolic phenotype of the diabetic heart (an over-dependence on fatty acid metabolism) appears to be an important contributor to the left ventricular dysfunction observed in these patients. Our work has focused on optimizing PET techniques to provide quantitative measurements of myocardial substrate metabolism in rodents that are applicable to the human heart. We are then applying these methods to better characterize the metabolic perturbations of the diabetic heart, including their contribution to left ventricular dysfunction, and the potential role of novel therapeutic approaches to reduce the cardiovascular manifestations of this disease.

Directions:
From the 101 Freeway exit on University Ave South/West: Proceed for several miles on University Ave., which becomes Palm Dr. after you pass El Camino Real. Take Palm Dr. past Arboretum Rd. Then, turn right on Campus Drive, and follow this road directly to the Clark Building.

From the 280 Freeway exit Sand Hill Rd. East: Follow this road for several miles. Take a right on Arboretum Rd. Then, take a left on Quarry Rd. Then, turn right on Campus Drive, and follow this road directly to the Clark Building. Turn right into the parking lot before the stop sign at Welch Road and Campus Drive. Parking is free after 4:00 PM right next to the Clark Building. If you have questions, please contact Susan Singh at 650-736-9781.

Announcements: March 13, 2008

**Special Guest Speaker**: Friday, March 14, 2008, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM in Lucas RLC P083. Dr. Michael Federle, professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, will deliver a talk entitled "Evaluation of the Incidental or Benign Focal Liver Mass."

Announcements: March 6, 2008

Bruce R. Rosen, MD, PhD, to Speak on Bio-X Frontiers in Interdisciplinary Biosciences: March 13th at 4:15 PM in the Clark Center Auditorium. Bruce R. Rosen, MD, PhD, will deliver a seminar entitled "Frontiers in Multimodal Brain Imaging"; please see his abstract below. Dr. Rosen is the director of the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School.

Abstract:
The last decade has witnessed an explosion in the growth of our ability to study the workings of the brain. While the tools of molecular biology, neurochemistry, and electrophysiology continue to provide insights into neuronal events at the molecular, synaptic, and cellular levels, a new generation of non-invasive imaging tools has allowed us to extend this understanding from the cellular to the systems level, and from animal models to humans. One technology of particular note was the development of several means to image hemodynamic and metabolic events non-invasively using magnetic resonance. Coupled with advanced methods to quantify the morphological characteristics of cortical and subcortical structures, these "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (fMRI) studies have enabled investigators throughout the world to have an unprecedented view into the workings of the human brain and mind. Systems neuroscientists have applied these methods to map in detail the organization of human vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and motor control, and to directly address how our brains are both similar to and different from animal ancestors. Cognitive scientists have extended our understanding to higher order processing of functions like memory and attention, and they have begun detailed studies of distinctly human functions such as language. Scientists in fields as diverse as education and economics now use the tools of functional neuroimaging, and such studies have become powerful cultural icons in connecting the brain with behavior.

Though technological innovation was rapid during the last decade, it is certain to continue at an even more accelerated pace during the next. PET technology will continue to be the dominant means to obtain molecular imaging data, and will provide a direct neurochemical view into the synapse, with and without pharmacological interventions. MRI technology will also advance, and include ever-higher field strength magnets already approaching 12 Tesla. Such systems will allow us to study the building blocks of cortical organization, and permit us to directly map connections between functional regions. New technologies will also emerge, including direct tomographic imaging with light (Diffuse Optical Tomography--DOT) and novel means to combine MRI with electromagnetic recordings acquired with EEG and its magnetic cousin, MEG (magnetoencepholography). These technologies will extend our ability to capture views of brain function in "real time" in all patient populations, including small children, and they will ultimately allow us to test directly new computational and physical models of how the brain works, grows, and is perturbed in disease.

For more information, please contact Fiona Sincock.

Announcements III: March 5, 2008

"Movie Sequence" at Lucas: "The Third Man," Wednesday, March 5th, around 6 PM in the Lucas Learning Center.

"The Third Man"
(1949) British film noir, voted Best British film of all time . . . .
Director: Carol Reed
Screenplay: by Graham Greene
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles
Place: Austria's capital city, Vienna
Time: Just after the Second World War when the city was divided into four zones controlled by the Allied powers of Great Britain, France,
the USA, and the USSR. For a movie synopsis, please access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Man.

"In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare,
terror, murder, bloodshed--they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da
Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love,
they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that
produce? The cuckoo clock."

Please join us!
Erika, Chardonnay, and Ulrich

For the "Movie Sequence" online calendar, please visit
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=movie.sequence%40gmail.com&ctz=A

Announcements II: March 5, 2008

RecycleMania: January 27th through April 5th the Competition Continues between Stanford and 400 Campuses around the Country (www.recyclemaniacs.org).

By recycling, you help to

create jobs,

spur investment from the private sector,

promote economic growth, and

support innovation

(all that,
just by
recycling).

From Julie Muir of PSSI/Stanford Recycling:
"Stanford is placing in the Top 10 in most categories and beating Harvard and Yale (except notable total waste produced #84 out of 89-- ouch!). If we could just recycle 10 more pounds of recyclables per person, we could take on the top five schools in the Per Capita Recycling Contest--check your garbage bin! Take a look at the results for the California competition--I think you will be impressed!"

Want to see the RecycleMania results for yourself? New results are posted each Friday. Click here http://recyclemaniacs.org/results.aspx#whole

What's recyclable on campus? Click here: http://recycling.stanford.edu/recycling/acceptable.html

Want a desktop recycling tray? See one here: http://recycling.stanford.edu/recycling/other.html

Want someone to come to your department or hall/house to talk about the campus recycling program? Email juliem@pssi.stanford.edu

Want more information on Special Event Recycling? Click here: http://recycling.stanford.edu/specialevent/seindex.html

Want to learn more about how recycling at Stanford reduces GHG emissions, energy use, and pollution? Click here:
http://recycling.stanford.edu/5r/benefits.html

Announcements I: March 5, 2008

Professor Lucio Frydman to Give Talk Entitled: "NMR and MRI Applications of Spatially Encoded Ultrafast Spectroscopy": Friday, March 7th, from 11:15 AM to Noon in the Lucas Learning Center. Dr. Frydman is from the Weizman Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

Pizza will be served after Dr. Frydman's presentation. For more information, please contact Betsy Sowder.

Announcements: March 3, 2008

Dr. Alexej Jerschow to Deliver Talk Entitled "23Na and 1H CEST MRI: Contrast in Cartilage and Intervertebral Disc": Friday, March 7th, at 10:00 AM in the Clark Center Auditorium. Associate Professor Alexej Jerschow, from the Department of Chemistry at New York University (NYU), will be visiting Stanford on March 7th to give a talk on his novel work at high field. He will be visiting the Lucas Center afterwards to see our facilities and to meet our scientists over lunch. For more information, please see his abstract below and/or contact Dr. Garry Gold.

ABSTRACT:
Glycosaminogycan (GAG) plays numerous vital functions in the human body. GAG concentration [GAG] in vivo is a sensitive biomarker indicative of both osteoarthritis (OA) and intervertebral disc (IVD) degenerative diseases. By exploiting the exchangeable protons of GAG, we demonstrate that one can directly map the localized GAG concentration in vivo using a chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) method. This gagCEST approach is presented on both human cartilage and animal discs. We also show the observation of the Nuclear Overhauser Effect (NOE) from macromolecules in tissue, which contributes significantly to the CEST/MT contrast mechanism in MRI and may lead to further diagnostic abilities. GAG contrast may also be enhanced by employing intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences.

Monitoring the bound sodium pool can be an important tool for assessing the onset of tissue disorders. Practical clinical 23Na MRI methods, furthermore, often do not allow one to use sufficiently small voxel sizes such that only the tissue of interest is seen, and a large signal contamination can arise from sodium in synovial fluid. Methods are presented for the clean separation between the signal from bound or ordered 23Na over that of free 23Na, which is particularly important and can greatly enhance the potential of 23Na-MRI as a diagnostic tool. 23Na MRI also offers the possibility of monitoring local anisotropic motion. 3T and 7T in vivo volumetric 23Na images are presented. Monitoring GAGs via 23Na or CEST can also be important for assessing heart valves or corneae.

References:
W. Ling, R. R. Regatte, G. Navon, A. Jerschow, Assessment of Glycosaminoglycan Concentration in Vivo by Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (gagCEST). Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, in press 2008, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0707666105v1.

W. Ling, R. R. Regatte, M. E. Schweitzer, A. Jerschow. Characterization of Bovine Patellar Cartilage by NMR. NMR Biomed., in press 2008, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/114294661/ABSTRACT.

Announcements: February 25, 2008

Parking Changes at the School of Medicine: Lots 15 and 16 on March 1, 2008.
The following is a memorandum jointly composed by several campus offices, including the School of Medicine Office of Facilities, Planning, and Management (OFPM), the Diversity and Access Office, and the Office of Parking and Transportation, that describes the changes that will take place on March 1st and the individuals and offices that you should contact with your questions or concerns.

MEMORANDUM . . .

With excitement we announce that on March 1, 2008, the School will break ground on the Learning and Knowledge Center (LKC). The relocation of the RAF Ramp will follow the ground breaking for the Learning and Knowledge Center by a matter of weeks. And then, as many of you are aware, we plan to break ground on the new Stanford Institute of Medicine building toward mid-summer. To accomplish these projects, Whiting-Turner Contracting, our general contractor for all three jobs, has informed us that they will need the entire L-15 and L16 parking lot area.

Effective March 1, 2008: Lot 15 will close displacing all remaining parking between Beckman and the Clark Center. With the closure, both L-15 lottery parking and the "D permit" pilot programs will end. The A-Carpool, Service Vehicle, and metered parking will all be moved out of the L-15 lot. The current entrance to the parking lot at the Clark Center will become a construction and delivery only entrance. There will be a flagman at Campus Drive to greet vehicles entering the delivery and construction area. Due to liability, there will be no exceptions--if your vehicle is not a construction vehicle or a commercial delivery vehicle, please do not get in the queue to enter this parking lot.

Individual Parking:
1. The D-Parking Pilot Program will terminate effective March 1st. Refunds and/or payroll deduction amounts will be adjusted according to how you decide to replace your D parking on March 1st. Please contact the Parking & Transportation Services customer service supervisor at 725-0594 to discuss your future parking preference, adjust your payroll deductions, or refund your unused parking fees.

2. The meters will be moved mostly to the ground level of Parking Structure-1, although there will also be a few spots in the Gates Lot.

3. A-Carpool parking spaces will be relocated to Parking Structure-1 and the L-18 Stockfarm surface lot.

4. A-permit holders, who were formally lottery permit holders, will find parking in Parking Structures-1 and -4 in addition to the Stockfarm and Jordan Quad surface lots and along Welch Road.

Until you feel comfortable with your new parking area, allow yourself a bit more time.

Disability Parking:
Disability parking is available in the following areas:

1. Quarry Extension Lot (L-9)--Located on Campus Drive West

2. Parking Structure 1--Campus Drive West and Roth Way

3. MSOB--Near the Medical School Office Building

4. Parking Structure 2--near Via Ortega and Panama

5. Parking Structure 4--Pasteur & Blake Wilbur Drive

6. Street parking along Welch Road near the Lucas Center

7. Gates Lot--on Campus Drive & North Service Road near Gates Computer Science

Additionally, we will monitor parking utilization in the disabled spaces alongside Pasteur Drive, Welch Rd, in the MSOB Lot and Parking Structure-4 garage. Should disabled parking in these areas be consistently utilized, we will explore increasing disabled parking spaces in nearby areas.

If you have further questions or concerns regarding disability parking, please contact the Diversity & Access office at (650) 725-0326 or diversity.access@stanford.edu.

Shuttle Information:
There are two Marguerite Shuttle lines that stop on Pasteur Drive, behind Edwards (the "Hospital Fountain" stop): the "B Line" (Clockwise (BCW) and Counter-Clockwise (BCCW)) and the "C" line. Both run every 15 and 30 minutes respectively from PS-5 and the Stockfarm lot [L-18]. For a shuttle schedule, please access
http://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite/MargueriteSched.shtml.

For parkers in the PS-5 garage, there are Marguerite buses that will get you around the medical school, hospital, and elsewhere on campus. In fact, it takes only three minutes for the bus to get from the parking lot to the "Hospital Fountain" stop. Because there are two lines on the same route, you wouldn't have to wait more than eight minutes for a bus, often less than that. Both lines offer wheelchair lifts or and/or lowering in the front to ease boarding.

We apologize in advance for the inconvenience and added time that the changes to the L-15 and L-16 parking lots are likely to cause you. When the LKC and site work are complete, there will be a new small parking area at the front of the school. This lot will be primarily disabled and metered parking and should hold approximately 40-45 vehicles.

Deliveries: Deliveries will be possible at each of the following places. There will be only a few spots at any particular place so we suggest that you find a time and place wherein you are able to park in proximity to your destination and deliver according to that schedule.

1. The MSOB Lot accessible from Welch Rd will accommodate roughly three delivery trucks at one time.

2. The Lucas turnaround accessible from Welch Rd will accommodate one,
possibly two trucks at one time but is not meant for long-term parking.

3. The Quarry Rd Parking Lot accessible via Roth Way from Campus Drive
has been re-modeled to support three large trucks parked on the diagonal and 10 smaller delivery vehicles. These small delivery vehicle spots are also available for small contractors.

4. The former entrance to the Medical School parking lot will be open
for deliveries. To the right of the entrance alongside the Clark Center is an area that will support three delivery trucks. Towards the center of the parking lot in front of the Whiting-Turner trailer is space for six to eight more delivery vehicles and even closer to the center there is space for about four more delivery vehicles. It is important not to cram these areas or it will be impossible to turn around and leave. Additionally, one parking spot towards the center of campus will be assigned to the Praxair truck as it requires a spot for up to six hours a day. If you are a small contractor, the loading zone areas may be used to drop off materials and tools; however, there is no parking allowed at any time.

If you have further questions about the LKC and/or Connective Elements
projects themselves, please contact Maggie Saunders (madaca@stanford.edu) or
Paul Forti (pforti@stanford.edu) or go to http://lkc.stanford.edu/.

Announcements I: February 22, 2008

The MIPS Molecular Imaging Seminar Series Presents Mark M. Davis, PhD: Monday, February 25, 2008, in the Alway Building, Room M114, the reception will be from 4:30 to 5:00 PM, followed by the seminar from 5:00 to 5:45 PM and the discussion from 5:45 to 6:00 PM. Dr. Mark M. Davis is the Burt and Marion Avery Family Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He will be presenting a talk entitled "Biochemistry by Other Means: Using Imaging to Deconstruct T Cell Recognition." His talk is sponsored by the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS); hosted by Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD; and supported by Philips. If you have questions, please contact Susan Singh.

Announcements II: February 21, 2008

Haas Center and the Tradition of Public Service at Stanford: Tuesday, February 26th, from 5:00 to 6:30 PM in Building 320, Room 105, of the Geology Corner. The founding director of the Haas Center, Catherine Milton, will be delivering a talk on the Haas Center and the tradition of public service at Stanford sponsored by the Stanford Historical Society. Ms. Milton is currently a visiting fellow at the John Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities in the School of Education. For questions, please contact Charlotte Kwok Glasser at (650) 725-3332 or stanfordhist@stanford.edu.

Announcements I: February 21, 2008

"Representing Uncertainty via the Logarithm of Odds": Monday, February 25th, at 1:00 PM in the Clark Center S360. Kilian Pohl, PhD, from Harvard Medical School will be delivering a lecture on "Representing Uncertainty via the Logarithm of Odds." In this talk, Dr. Pohl will describe a new representation for capturing the uncertainty of objects in images based on the logarithm of odds. This representation addresses several problems in vision as it provides an intrinsic, probabilistic representation for combining and deforming objects. He will show how this representation preserves the statistical characteristics of interpolated shapes, which is an important aspect for many longitudinal neuroscience studies. He will also use the technology in order to solve the mean-field approximation in the level set framework. Conventional likelihood models are combined with a curve length prior on boundaries, and an approximate posterior distribution on labels is sought via the mean field approach. Optimizing the resulting estimator by gradient descent leads to a level set style algorithm where the level set functions are the logarithm of odds encoding of the posterior label probabilities. Applications with more than two labels are easily accommodated. The label assignment is accomplished by the maximum a posteriori rule, so there are no problems of "overlap" or "vacuum."

BIOGRAPHY:
Kilian Pohl received his doctorate in computer science from the Medical Vision Lab at MIT and is currently an instructor for Harvard Medical School. His main research area is computational image analysis with an emphasis on studying statistical models from a Bayesian perspective. Kilian has been the recipient of several awards such as last year's Medical Image Analysis--Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) '06 Best Paper Prize for his publication, "Using the Logarithm of Odds to Define a Vector Space on Probabilistic Atlases." For more details about his research, please visit his website at http://people.csail.mit.edu/pohl.

Announcements: February 1, 2008

Special Research Conference with Dr. Bitton: Monday, February, 4, 2008, at 4:00PM in the Lucas Learning Center (Lucas expansion, basement level), P083.
The MIPS Molecular Imaging Seminar Series Presents Robin P. Choudhury, MA, DM, MRCP: Monday, February 4, 2008, in the School of Medicine's Alway Building, room M114, at 4:30-5:15 PM, followed by a discussion from 5:15-5:30 PM, and a reception from 5:30-6:00 PM.

Special Research Conference with Dr. Bitton: Monday, February, 4, 2008 at 4:00PM in the Lucas Learning Center (Lucas expansion, basement level), P083. Dr. Rachel Bitton will be presenting a talk entitled "A High Frequency Array-Based Photoacoustic Microscopy System for Non-Invasive Vascular Imaging." Dr. Bitton recently received her PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California. Please find the abstract for her talk below. If you have questions, please contact Donna Cronister.

ABSTRACT:
The development of new approaches to biomedical imaging is fueled by the manifest need for high speed, high resolution, non-invasive techniques able to visualize high contrast tissue structures such as microvessels. Laser induced high frequency photoacoustic microscopy is a hybrid imaging modality based on the intrinsic optical properties of biological tissue and ultrasonic detection at high frequencies (>20MHz). In this talk, a novel design for a photoacoustic imaging system using a 30MHz transducer array and 16 channel custom receive electronics is presented. This system is able to produce photoacoustic images of phantoms, as well as small animal microvasculature in-vivo. The applications for this type of photoacoustic microscopy can extend to real-time high frequency imaging, functional imaging, and multi-modal capabilities by overlaying ultrasonic and photoacoustic images, while offering a unique prospect to visualize cancer-related angiogenesis.

The MIPS Molecular Imaging Seminar Series Presents Robin P. Choudhury, MA, DM, MRCP: Monday, February 4, 2008, in the School of Medicine's Alway Building, room M114, at 4:30-5:15 PM, followed by a discussion from 5:15-5:30 PM, and a reception from 5:30-6:00 PM. Dr. Choudhury is a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Research Fellow and honorary consultant radiologist at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. She will present a seminar entitled "Microparticles of Iron Oxide for Molecular MRI." Please find her abstract below. Her talk is sponsored by the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS); hosted by Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, and Edward Graves, PhD; and supported by Philips. If you have questions, please contact Susan Singh.

ABSTRACT:
Micro-particles of iron oxide (MPIO) have been used for cellular imaging and tracking. For some molecular imaging applications, the size of these particles would preclude delivery to the site of interest. However, for imaging endovascular targets, MPIO possess several positive attributes. Firstly, MPIO conveys a payload of iron that is orders of magnitude greater than ultra-small particles of iron oxide (USPIO). Secondly, the effects of MPIO on local magnetic field homogeneity, and therefore detectable contrast, extend a distance many times their physical diameter. Thirdly, once bound to endothelium, MPIO remain intravascular, thereby allowing bound MPIO to be readily distinguished from the vessel wall. Finally, conjugated MPIO may offer a generic tool for imaging endothelial-specific markers across a range of vascular pathologies. Accordingly, we have adopted a MPIO-based approach for targeted MRI and applied this to the detection of adhesion molecules on the arterial endothelium (atherosclerosis and brain inflammation) and activated platelets (arterial thrombosis and cerebral malaria).

Announcements III: January 22, 2008

Special Seminar Series on Radiological Informatics: As part of a special series on radiological informatics, we are offering seminars on Jan. 23rd, 24th, 28th, and 31st. Please click on the "Continue Reading This Entry" link below to find the title of each talk as well as the presenter's abstract and biography. In addition to the seminars listed below, there will be a few more talks, which are being scheduled now and will be posted shortly. Please contact Dr. Sandy Napel for more information.

1) Wednesday, January 23rd, at noon; Alway M104
Julia Patriarche, PhD
Mayo Clinic

Title:
"Detection of Change in Serial Magnetic Resonance Studies of Brain Tumor Patients"

Abstract:
The comparison of serial magnetic resonance imaging studies is a common task in clinical radiology. It is, however, widely considered not to be very reproducible. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the confounding of disease-related changes with acquisition-related changes and issues related to information presentation. We have constructed a computational system that performs the comparison of serial magnetic resonance imaging studies and presents changes in the form of a color-coded change map, superimposed on the anatomical images. The system additionally formats the output as a quantitative summary. We used this quantitative summary to conduct a study with 88 brain tumor serial comparisons. Our results were suggestive that it may be possible to use the change detector to identify cancer changes months earlier than is possible using manual inspection, alone.

We have recently implemented an integrated system for the change detector, which includes a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI not only displays the color-coded change map, but also allows the user to turn it on and off. The GUI provides linked cursors, and it additionally provides "flicker" functionality to allow the user to rapidly alternate between the serial acquisitions. We are preparing to deploy the GUI change detector clinically, which will greatly increase the size and variety of possible future research studies and which will allow the direct clinical application of this technology.

The change detector is an example of a layered artificial intelligence (AI) architecture in which each layer builds upon the layer below, with each layer accomplishing progressively more sophisticated analyses. Specifically, the change detector is built on a lesion-finder application. The lesion finder is built on an automated sample point's algorithm. The automated sample point's algorithm is built on a significant region detection algorithm. Each of these algorithms has merit in its own right, and each can be used in a modular fashion in a variety of contexts. As a unified application, they together automatically address a complex clinical task. Early detection of changes may facilitate improved care through more rapid intervention following recurrence. It may also facilitate screening and personalized therapy. We additionally see the change detector as providing a solution to the problem of novel therapy comparison, by providing fully automatic, reproducible, and quantitative measures of change. We envision the change detector as a model of layered artificial intelligence, not only freeing the radiologist from the drudgery of information overload, but providing a model whereby greater information will enable many sophisticated automatic analyses by the computer, with the computer bringing to the attention of the clinician only what is relevant.

Biography:
Julia Patriarche is an informatics fellow in the Radiology Informatics Lab at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. She has completed an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering/computer engineering option at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada; a PhD in medical science/medical imaging; and a neurology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

2) Thursday, January 24th, at noon; Alway M112
Ross Mitchell, PhD
University of Calgary

Title:
"Virtual Biopsies: Non-Invasive Molecular Diagnosis"

Abstract:
Our expanding knowledge of the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of cancer is beginning to revolutionize the practice of clinical oncology. Increasingly, molecular biomarkers of prognosis and treatment response are being used to classify tumors and direct treatment decisions. Advanced medical imaging platforms such as MRI, PET, and CT provide incredibly detailed images of tumors that reflect their structure, biochemistry, physiology, and perhaps genetics.

Studies by the Imaging Informatics Lab at the University of Calgary, and others, show that information about a tumor's molecular phenotype can be obtained by using novel algorithms and computational tools to more fully analyze tumor images. Such "virtual biopsies," performed by applying these image-processing techniques to routine diagnostic images (e.g. MRI, PET, or CT), could be a rapid and powerful means of assaying important cancer biomarkers. If successfully validated, and proven to have suitable sensitivity and specificity, the use of non-invasive, imaging-based molecular diagnostic tests would offer significant advantages over conventional surgical biopsies. For example, this could be important in the context of large heterogeneous tumors, multiple metastases, surgically inaccessible tumors, and settings where disease progression needs to be monitored frequently over time. Virtual biopsy research lies at the intersection of molecular imaging, medical imaging physics, and biocomputation, and is highly complementary to these areas. This presentation will cover key enabling technologies behind virtual biopsies and discuss some recent successes in this research.

Biography: Dr. Ross Mitchell is an associate professor of the Departments of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences and an adjunct professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. He is also the founding and chief scientist of Calgary Scientific Incorporated, a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada; a Donald Paty Scholar; and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar. Dr. Mitchell has received numerous awards for his research including the Berlex Canada MS Research Award; several Dean's Awards of Excellence from the University of Western Ontario; Best Paper Awards from the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the International Organization for Medical Physics; and two Awards of Merit from the Radiological Society of North America. Dr. Mitchell has a proven research track-record comprising 11 patents, 73 invited presentations, 63 peer-reviewed articles, and 150 published abstracts.

Dr. Mitchell supervises a research team investigating space/frequency analysis, medical image processing, as well as segmentation and visualization technologies. For more information, please see, http://www.ImagingInformatics.ca.

3) Monday, January 28th, at noon; Alway M104
Jianming Liang, PhD
Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., Malvern, PA

Title:
"Dynamic Chest Image Analysis, United Snakes, and
Computer-Aided Detection"

Abstract:
Modern medical imaging systems generate enormous datasets with ever higher coverage and resolution, but it is the clinically relevant information in these images that is paramount. I shall present several novel computational approaches for gleaning such information from chest X-ray images to reveal pulmonary functional abnormalities, for segmenting and characterizing organ motions, and for detecting the most lethal diseases from CT images, including pulmonary embolism and colonic polyps. The former approach has yielded model-based analysis and visualization methods for revealing focal and general abnormalities of lung ventilation and perfusion based on a sequence of digital chest fluoroscopy frames collected with the dynamic pulmonary imaging (DPI) technique.

In particular, I shall present a novel multiresolutional method with an explicit ventilation/perfusion analysis model, as well as "United Snakes," an interactive deformable model framework for lung registration and motion analysis, cardiac shape and motion analysis, and other applications. Finally, I will introduce a fast yet effective concentration-oriented tobogganing technique for efficient local artery/vein separation and multiple instance classification for the automated detection of pulmonary embolism from CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA), and a virtual colonoscopy technique that simplifies the complex 3D-polyp detection problem into a 2D-disk identification problem, significantly improving sensitivity while reducing computation time.

Biography:
Dr. Jianming Liang is a staff scientist at Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., where he has been engaged in research and development activities in the domain of computer-aided diagnosis in medical imaging since December 2002. He holds a PhD degree (2001) in computer science and carried out his thesis work at the Turku Centre for Computer Science in Finland and in the Visual Modeling Group at the University of Toronto in Canada. From 2001-02, he was a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Industrial Research Fellow. His research on dynamic chest image analysis received a University Faculty Research Award from the University of Turku. His other prizes include a Siemens Recognition Award and a Best Paper Award at the 2007 International Congress of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery in Berlin, Germany.

4) Thursday, January 31st, at noon; location TBA
Daniel Rubin, MS, MD
Stanford University

Announcements II: January 15, 2008

Special Seminar Series on Radiological Informatics: As part of a special series on radiological informatics, we are offering seminars on Jan. 23rd, 24th, 28th, and 31st. Please watch future announcements for each seminar's title and abstract. In addition to the seminars listed below, there will be a few more talks, which are being scheduled now and will be posted shortly. Please contact Dr. Sandy Napel for more information.

1) Wednesday, January 23rd, at noon; location TBA
Julia Patriarche, PhD
Mayo Clinic

Title:
"Detection of Change in Serial Magnetic Resonance Studies of Brain Tumor Patients"

Abstract:
The comparison of serial magnetic resonance imaging studies is a common task in clinical radiology. It is, however, widely considered not to be very reproducible. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the confounding of disease-related changes with acquisition-related changes and issues related to information presentation. We have constructed a computational system that performs the comparison of serial magnetic resonance imaging studies and presents changes in the form of a color-coded change map, superimposed on the anatomical images. The system additionally formats the output as a quantitative summary. We used this quantitative summary to conduct a study with 88 brain tumor serial comparisons. Our results were suggestive that it may be possible to use the change detector to identify cancer changes months earlier than is possible using manual inspection, alone.

We have recently implemented an integrated system for the change detector, which includes a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI not only displays the color-coded change map, but also allows the user to turn it on and off. The GUI provides linked cursors, and it additionally provides "flicker" functionality to allow the user to rapidly alternate between the serial acquisitions. We are preparing to deploy the GUI change detector clinically, which will greatly increase the size and variety of possible future research studies and which will allow the direct clinical application of this technology.

The change detector is an example of a layered artificial intelligence (AI) architecture in which each layer builds upon the layer below, with each layer accomplishing progressively more sophisticated analyses. Specifically, the change detector is built on a lesion-finder application. The lesion finder is built on an automated sample point's algorithm. The automated sample point's algorithm is built on a significant region detection algorithm. Each of these algorithms has merit in its own right, and each can be used in a modular fashion in a variety of contexts. As a unified application, they together automatically address a complex clinical task. Early detection of changes may facilitate improved care through more rapid intervention following recurrence. It may also facilitate screening and personalized therapy. We additionally see the change detector as providing a solution to the problem of novel therapy comparison, by providing fully automatic, reproducible, and quantitative measures of change. We envision the change detector as a model of layered artificial intelligence, not only freeing the radiologist from the drudgery of information overload, but providing a model whereby greater information will enable many sophisticated automatic analyses by the computer, with the computer bringing to the attention of the clinician only what is relevant.

Biography:
Julia Patriarche is an informatics fellow in the Radiology Informatics Lab at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. She has completed an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering/computer engineering option at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada; a PhD in medical science/medical imaging; and a neurology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

2) Thursday, January 24th, at noon; location TBA
Ross Mitchell, PhD
University of Calgary

Title:
"Virtual Biopsies: Non-Invasive Molecular Diagnosis"

Abstract:
Our expanding knowledge of the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of cancer is beginning to revolutionize the practice of clinical oncology. Increasingly, molecular biomarkers of prognosis and treatment response are being used to classify tumors and direct treatment decisions. Advanced medical imaging platforms such as MRI, PET, and CT provide incredibly detailed images of tumors that reflect their structure, biochemistry, physiology, and perhaps genetics.

Studies by the Imaging Informatics Lab at the University of Calgary, and others, show that information about a tumor's molecular phenotype can be obtained by using novel algorithms and computational tools to more fully analyze tumor images. Such "virtual biopsies," performed by applying these image-processing techniques to routine diagnostic images (e.g. MRI, PET, or CT), could be a rapid and powerful means of assaying important cancer biomarkers. If successfully validated, and proven to have suitable sensitivity and specificity, the use of non-invasive, imaging-based molecular diagnostic tests would offer significant advantages over conventional surgical biopsies. For example, this could be important in the context of large heterogeneous tumors, multiple metastases, surgically inaccessible tumors, and settings where disease progression needs to be monitored frequently over time. Virtual biopsy research lies at the intersection of molecular imaging, medical imaging physics, and biocomputation, and is highly complementary to these areas. This presentation will cover key enabling technologies behind virtual biopsies and discuss some recent successes in this research.

Biography: Dr. Ross Mitchell is an associate professor of the Departments of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences and an adjunct professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. He is also the founding and chief scientist of Calgary Scientific Incorporated, a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada; a Donald Paty Scholar; and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar. Dr. Mitchell has received numerous awards for his research including the Berlex Canada MS Research Award; several Dean's Awards of Excellence from the University of Western Ontario; Best Paper Awards from the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the International Organization for Medical Physics; and two Awards of Merit from the Radiological Society of North America. Dr. Mitchell has a proven research track-record comprising 11 patents, 73 invited presentations, 63 peer-reviewed articles, and 150 published abstracts.

Dr. Mitchell supervises a research team investigating space/frequency analysis, medical image processing, as well as segmentation and visualization technologies. For more information, please see, http://www.ImagingInformatics.ca.

3) Monday, January 28th, at noon; location TBA
Jianming Liang, PhD
Siemens Medical Solutions

4) Thursday, January 31st, at noon; location TBA
Daniel Rubin, MS, MD
Stanford University

Announcements I: January 10, 2008

Special Seminar Series on Radiological Informatics: As part of a special series on radiological informatics, we are offering seminars on Jan. 14th, 23rd, and 28th. Each seminar is at 12 noon in Alway M104 unless otherwise indicated. Please watch future announcements for each seminar's title and abstract. In addition to the three seminars listed below, there will be at least two more talks, which are being scheduled now and will be posted shortly. Please contact Dr. Sandy Napel for more information.

1) Monday, Jan 14th:
James Z. Wang, PhD
Carnegie Mellon University and Pennsylvania State University

Title:
"A Data-Driven Approach Toward Knowledge Discovery and Improving Healthcare"

Abstract:
Radiology and biomedical informatics are revolutionizing healthcare. It has been predicted that a shortage of trained radiologists will continue in the next three decades. Effective computerized tools will therefore be in great demand. Radiology departments today generate an incredibly massive amount of digital medical images and metadata. Conventional PACS search methods allow physicians to locate images using metadata stored in relational databases. Much more can be done to leverage this wealth of data. Using massively parallel computers, we can mine millions of electronic medical records and millions of high-resolution, high-dimensional, multi-spectrum medical images to draw conclusions statistically based on past cases. We need to invent computational methods to harness the breathtaking quantity of digital information effectively and to generate biomedical knowledge at a pace we could not have imagined. In the last decade, my research group attempted to reduce the significant gap between low-level features extracted from images and high-level semantic concepts. Machine learning, statistical modeling, and mathematical tools have been utilized. I will introduce some of our past research results of relevance to the radiology community. Specifically, the talk will cover the SIMPLIcity visual similarity search, the 3-D hidden Markov models for analyzing volume images, the Automatic Linguistic Indexing of Pictures system, and the ontology-based annotation and retrieval of histological images and quantitative phenotypes. In the coming years, I plan to collaborate with radiologists, physicians, and biologists in order to develop indexing, retrieval, and mining algorithms and systems for large amounts of radiological images and patient-specific data.

Biography:
James Z. Wang is currently a visiting professor at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a tenured faculty member at Pennsylvania State University. He received a summa cum laude bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Minnesota. From Stanford University, Dr. Wang has received an MS in mathematics, an MS in computer science, and a PhD degree in medical information sciences. He has been a recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Career award and the endowed PNC Technologies Career Development Professorship. Research interests of his group include automatic image tagging, semantics-sensitive image retrieval, image security, biomedical informatics, computational aesthetics, story picturing, art image retrieval, and computer vision. The group has published two monographs and more than 20 journal articles. Science media including Discovery News, Scientific American, National Public Radio, and MIT Technology Review, as well as wired news agencies, have reported his research.

2) Wednesday, January 23rd:
Julia Patriarche, PhD
Mayo Clinic

3) Monday, January 28th:
Jianming Liang, PhD
Siemens Medical Solutions

Announcements IV: December 19, 2007

Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser Walk: April 27, 2008
Stanford Surplus Property Sales: Every Wednesday 9 AM to 12 PM & 1 PM to 4 PM; closed for lunch from 12 to 1 PM
Stanford Athletics Announces Free Admission Policy: All but seven sports are now free to fans, students, and the public.

Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser Walk: Sunday, April 27, 2008, at 9:30 AM at the Stanford Dean's Lawn. The 2008 national fund-raising goal of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is to raise $40 million. Come be a part of their fundraiser by registering at http://www.cff.org/great_strides/find_a_walk_site/. For more information, please access http://www.cff.org/great%5Fstrides/.

Stanford Surplus Property (SPS) Sales: Wednesdays 9 AM to 12 PM & 1 PM to 4 PM (closed for lunch from 12 to 1 PM) at 340 Bonair Siding. Stanford Surplus Property Sales has a variety of items for sale, including office supplies, tools, parts, wire, and biomedical equipment. Their sales are open to the public, and they accept cash and/or cashier's checks. An 8.25% sales tax applies to all sales. All items are sold "as is, where is," and all sales are final: no refunds, no returns, and no exchanges. To see their selection, please access their website at http://surplus.stanford.edu. SPS is located at 340 Bonair Siding (in the same building as Parking & Transportation all the way at the end of the building). Metered and twenty-minute parking are available in the lot adjacent to Maples Pavilion. For more information, please contact Laura Granville, SPS manager, at 650-723-3001.

Stanford Athletics Announces Free Admission Policy: All but seven sports are now free to fans, students, and the public. Bob Bowlsby, director of Stanford Athletics, announced at the end of October 2007 that free admission will be provided to all previously ticketed regular season athletic events (that are not special events, post-season, or NCAA championships), with the exception of football, men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, baseball, and men's and women's soccer. Stanford Athletics will also continue to charge an admission fee for the Stanford Invitational Track Meet on April 4-5, 2008. All other previously ticketed athletic events will be free such as men's volleyball, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's water polo, lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, synchronized swimming, wrestling, and men's and women's track and field (with the exception of the Stanford Invitational). Sports that have not had an admission fee in the past will remain free; this includes men's and women's golf, men's and women's rowing, field hockey, fencing, squash, and sailing. For more information, please access http://gostanford.cstv.com/genrel/103107aaa.html.

Announcements III: December 17, 2007

Stanford Health Improvement Program: Register online for the winter quarter 2008 at http://hip.stanford.edu/classes/register.html beginning, Wednesday, December 5, 2007, for classes beginning on Monday, January 7, 2008. You can use your STAP funds to pay for some of the classes. For a full description of courses and registration information, please see the "Health Improvement Program Quarterly Class Schedule" at http://stanfordhealthimprovement.org/hip/pdfschedules/hipWinter2008.indd.pdf.

Classes include the following:

CPR and First Aid;

Weight Management/Nutrition: "Behavior Change/Weight Management Program," "Eating for the Long Run," "Low Carbon Diet 'Lose 5000 lbs in a Month!,'" "Stress Eating (& Other Non-Hunger Eating)," and "Weight Watchers at Work";

Ergonomic/Posture Health: "Biofeedback for Workstation Analysis," "Mechanics of Heart, Breast, & Lung Health," and "Sitting Comfortably";

Midlife Wellness Series: "Sounder Sleep," "Midlife Wellness for Women," "Better Memory for Better Performance," "Aging--Joyfully, Healthfully, Passionately, & Wisely," "Healthy Bones for Life," "Healthy Eating for the Long Run," and "Midlife Crisis/Opportunity";

Environmental Health: "Low Carbon Diet 'Lose 5000 lbs in a Month!'";

Exercise/Physical Activity: "Stepping Out with Stanford On-Line Class," and "Walk for Wellness";

Mind/Body Health: "Breathe to Relax & Release," "Create the Body Your Soul Desires," "Intuition for Productivity, Innovation, & Wellness," and "Reiki Healing";

Stress Management: "The Art of Living," "Drumming Up Health," "Love Yourself for Everyone Else's Sake," "Mindfulness-Based Stress Management,"and "Stress Eating (& Other Non-Hunger Eating)";

Special Health Issues: "Down the Rabbit Hole: A Workshop in Action Theatre Improvisation";

Individual Behavior Change Options: "Health Behavior Consultations," "Smoking Cessation," and "Wellness Coaching";

Cardio: "Cardio Step & Strength," "Cardio Dance & Core Strength Fusion, Carnival Cardio Fiesta, Cardio/Chi/Conditioning, Cross Training," "Fantastic Abs & Cardio," and "Tap Dance for Fitness";

Healthy Back/Core Strength: "Healthy Back Cardio & Core Strength," "Healthy Back Cardio & Core Strength on Stability Ball," "Healthy Back Core Strength," and "Healthy Back/Strong Abdominals";

Pilates: "Pilates Essentials," "Pilates for Core Strength," and "Dynamic Yoga/Pilates Challenge";

Mind/Body Fitness: "Chen Style Tai Chi Old Form," and "Chen Family Taijiquan & Qigong Tai Chi for Arthritis,"

Mulit-Cultural Dance for Fitness: "Middle Eastern Belly Dance";

Strength & Body Sculpt: "Body Firm/Super Sculpt," "Hard Core Abs Express," "H.A.A.B.I.T.," and "Pure Abs: Core Strength";

Walk for Wellness: "Stanford Sightseeing Striders," and "Walk for Wellness";

Weight Training: "Orientation to Weight Room Equipment," "Circuit Weight Training," "Versa Circuit Weight Training," and "Lifetime Fitness Weight Training";

Yoga for Health: "Dynamic Yoga/Pilates Challenge," "Mid-Day Yoga: Relax & Renew," "Morning Mindful Yoga: Creating Union of Mind & Spirit," "Power Yoga," and "Yoga for Workplace Wellness";

Water Exercise: "Lap Swimming";

"Living Strong, Living Well (LSLW)," "Stepping Out with Stanford," and "Senior Fitness."

Announcements II: December 7, 2007

East Palo Alto Police Station Annual Toy Drive: Wednesday, Dec. 5th, until Tuesday, December 18th, from noon until 5:00 PM in the donation boxes located in Terman Room 291 in the Terman Engineering Building at 380 Panama Mall. Diantha Stensrud, administrative associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is collecting unwrapped toys, books, games, and stuffed toy animals for the East Palo Alto Police Department starting Wednesday, Dec. 5th, until Tuesday, December 18th, from noon until 5:00 PM. Your donations will be distributed by Santa Claus at the East Palo Alto Police Station during their annual children's toy distribution on December 24th. If you have any questions, please contact Diantha Stensrud at 723-4447 or diantha.stensrud@stanford.edu.

Announcements I: December 7, 2007

Staff Meeting: Wednesday, December 12th, from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PM in Munzer Auditorium (http://cmgm.stanford.edu/munzer/location.html) at the Beckman Center. Gary Davis, business operations analyst in the Stanford Controller's Office, will be speaking on "Managing Your Money and Oracle Reporting" at our staff meeting. Mr. Davis will be joined by a colleague from his office and two representatives from the Office of Sponsored Research for a question and answer (Q & A) session after the presentation. The presentation and Q & A session will be informative for beginning and advanced users and an opportunity for staff who have never used Oracle to learn about how our financial systems are structured. Please find the agenda for Mr. Davis' presentation below. If you have questions, please contact Yun-Ting Yeh, assistant director of finance and administration, at 724-5566 (ytyeh@stanford.edu) or Deitria Chapman, HR and VP associate, at 725-9065 (deitria@stanford.edu). Thank you.

"Managing Your Money and Oracle Reporting" Agenda
Welcome
--Review Agenda and Handouts
--Expectations

Highlights from
A Guide to Managing Your Money

What PTAs are involved?
--REF_229_PTA_Listing
--REF_228_Proj_Task_with_Award
--REF_225_Fund_Authorization

How much do I have left?
--FUND_154_YTD_Fund_Bal_List
--FUND_153_Fund_Statement

How much did I spend?
--EXP_285_Mo_Detail_Statement
--EXP_279_Transaction_Detail
--EXP_149_Qrtly_Exp_Cert

Resources
--Financial Gateway
--ORA website
--Financial Reports website

Questions and Answers

Announcements I: November 2007

Stanford Radiology Department Blood Drive: Tuesday, November 13, 2007, and Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Aurora Forum at Stanford University 2007-08 Schedule: Monday, November 12, 2007-Saturday, May 24, 2008

Stanford University Flu Shot Clinics: Wednesdays, November 14 and 28, 2007, and December 5, 2007

Cantor Arts Center Exhibits at Stanford University: November 2007-October 2008

Stanford Radiology Department Blood Drive: Tuesday, November 13, 2007, and Tuesday, December 4, 2007, at the Stanford Blood Center at 780 Welch Road. The Radiology Department is hosting a blood drive, and all Radiology departmental members are invited to participate. This includes residents, fellows, faculty, and staff. If you have any questions regarding your eligibility to donate, please contact the Stanford Blood Center at 723-7831.

To give a blood donation, please contact the Stanford Blood Center to schedule an appointment for either Tuesday, November 13th, or Tuesday, December 4th. Please make sure you let the scheduler know that you are with the Radiology Department. All interested donors should also visit the web at http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu to check eligibility, pre-donation guidelines, etc. Please spread the word and encourage your colleagues to join you. Thank you very much.

Aurora Forum at Stanford University 2007-08 Schedule: Monday, November 12, 2007-Saturday, May 24, 2008. Continuing the history of free public programs that began with the University's founding in 1891, the Aurora Forum (http://www.auroraforum.org/) is hosting a series of public conversations centering on the theme of "Democratic Ideals." The following is a schedule of the free programs offered by the Aurora Program for 2007-08:

IRAQ: REFRAME; Monday, November 12, 2007, from 7:30 - 9:00 PM at Kresge Auditorium. This is the first of a five-part series with the Montalvo Arts Center.

Esalen: Education for Life on the Edge; Thursday, December 6, 2007, from 7:30-9:00 PM at Cubberley Auditorium.

IRAQ: REFRAME; Monday, December 17, 2007, from 7:30-9:00 PM at Kresge Auditorium. This is the second of a five-part series with the Montalvo Arts Center.

What Would Martin Say? An Evening with Clarence B. Jones; Thursday, January 17, 2008, from 7:30-9:00 PM.

IRAQ: REFRAME; Monday, January 28, 2008, from 7:30-9:00 PM (location TBD). This is the third of a five-part series with the Montalvo Arts Center.

IRAQ: REFRAME; Monday, February 4, 2008, from 7:30-9:00 PM at Kresge Auditorium. This is the fourth of a five-part series with the Montalvo Arts Center.

The Beatles on the Brain; Thursday, February 21, 2008, from 7:30-9:00 PM at Kresge Auditorium.

IRAQ: REFRAME; Monday, March 17, 2008, from 7:30-9:00 PM at the Montalvo Arts Center. This is the fifth of a five-part series with the Montalvo Arts Center.

CONFERENCE: Global Solidarity and the End of Poverty; Saturday, April 5, 2008, from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM at the Kresge Auditorium.

On the Pursuit of Happiness; Thursday, April 24, 2008, from 7:30-9:00 PM at Kresge Auditorium.

CONFERENCE: The Future of Social Hope; Saturday, May 24, 2008, from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM at Kresge Auditorium.

Stanford University Flu Shot Clinics: Wednesdays, November 7, 14, and 28, 2007, and December 5, 2007, from 3 to 6 PM at the Vaden Health Center at 866 Campus Drive East. The flu shot is free for University employees (faculty, staff, emeritus faculty, retired staff, as well as Medical School and research faculty and staff); a valid Stanford ID must be presented at the time of vaccination. Stanford Hospital and Clinics employees are not eligible for a free vaccination. The vaccine will not be given to individuals with a severe cold or other infection or who are allergic to eggs. Pregnant women in their first trimester must get medical clearance from an obstetrician.

The shot is $22 for spouses and domestic partners of university employees, as well as for students and their spouses or domestic partners. Students enrolled in Cardinal Care pay $11. Medical students must present their medical student ID card for a free shot. For more information, please go to http://vaden.stanford.edu/medical/index.html#FluClinic.

Cantor Arts Center Exhibits at Stanford University: November 2007-October 2008. The Cantor Arts Center offers free admission Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 AM to 5 PM and Thursdays, 11 AM to 8 PM. The following is a brief overview of their exhibits:

Anxious Objects: Willie Cole's Favorite Brands, October 3, 2007,-January 6, 2008, with free tours offered on Thursdays at 12:15 PM and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 PM. This exhibit features common household products transformed into art.

Dreaming of Speech without Words: The Paintings and Early Objects of H.C. Westermann, November 21, 2007-March 2, 2008.

Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape, January 30, 2008-May 4, 2008.

Masterworks from the New Orleans Museum of Art, June 4, 2008-October 5, 2008.

Announcement II: August 2007

The X-Ray Project @ Stanford School of Medicine: Tuesday, September 4, 2007, through Friday, September 14, 2007, from 7 AM to 7 PM in the Fairchild Auditorium (291 Campus Drive, Stanford University School of Medicine). Composed of actual X-rays and CT scans, the "Inside Terrorism: The X-Ray Project" is a photography exhibit that explores an important social issue of our time: the effects of terrorism on civilian populations worldwide. Many of our faculty were involved in helping with the project. For a complete list, please see the Stanford School of Medicine Honorary Committee list below.

EVENTS:
RECEPTION AND DISCUSSION WITH ARTIST DIANE COVERT
Tuesday, September 4, 5:30-7:30 PM
Fairchild Auditorium
Refreshments will be served

PEDIATRIC GRAND ROUNDS
"Young Victims of Violence: The Aftermath of Trauma on the Psychological Well-Being of Children"
Presented by Dr. Victor G. Carrion
Friday, September 7, 8:00 AM
Fairchild Audtitorium

REMEMBERING WORLDWIDE TERRORIST VICTIMS
Tuesday, September 11, 12:00 Noon
Fairchild Auditorium

All events are open to the public
For more information please contact Julie Bernstein, (415) 957-1551, jbernstein@jcrc.org

STANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE HONORARY COMMITTEE:
Richard A. Barth, MD, Professor and Associate Chairman of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine; Radiologist-in-Chief, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Bernard Dannenberg, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery-Emergency Medicine and Director of Pediatric Emergency Services, Stanford University Medical Center

Terry S. Desser, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology and Director of the Radiology Residency Program, Stanford University School of Medicine

Carl Feinstein, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, LPCH at Stanford

Heidi M. Feldman, MD, PhD, Ballinger-Swindells Endowed Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, LPCH at Stanford

Chaplain Bruce Feldstein, MD, Director, Jewish Chaplaincy at Stanford University Medical Center and Adjunct Clinical Professor, Center for Education in Family and Community Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine

Gary M. Glazer, MD, Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor in the Medical Sciences, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine

Gary Glover, PhD, Professor of Radiology and Director of the Radiological Sciences Laboratory, Stanford University School of Medicine

Beverley Newman, MD, Associate Professor and Associate Chief of Pediatric Radiology, LPCH at Stanford

Bill Northway, MD, Emeritus Active Professor of Radiology and Pediatrics, LPCH at Stanford

Charles Prober, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology & Immunology, and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, Stanford University School of Medicine

Hannah Valantine, MD, Professor of Medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Leadership, Stanford University

CO-SPONSORS:
Stanford School of Medicine

Lane Medical Library

EdTech Services

Radiology Interest Group at Stanford

Stanford Medical Student Association

Jewish Medical Student Association

Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties

The David Project

Stand with Us

Israel Peace Initiative

PLANNING COMMITTEE:
Matthew Goldstein, MD Candidate

Rebecca Rakow-Penner, MD/PhD Candidate

Elizabeth Zambricki, MD Candidate

Dr. Beverley Newman

Barbara Schapira

Julie Bernstein

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Mary Ayers
Mitzi Baker
Paul Costello
Rev. C. George Fitzgerald
Rabbi Dov Greenberg
Heidi Heilemann, MLS
Kim Schwartz

Announcements I: August 2007

ClickHome Seminar, "The Five Essentials You Need to Know before Buying or Selling in Today's Changing Market!": Tuesday, August 28, 2007

17th Annual Susan G. Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure: Sunday, September 23, 2007

ClickHome Seminar, "The Five Essentials You Need to Know before Buying or Selling in Today's Changing Market!": Tuesday, August 28, 2007 in the Munzer Auditorium from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM. To make home buying more affordable for employees, Stanford University School of Medicine has formed a partnership with ClickHome. On August 28th, ClickHome representatives will be on the Stanford campus to talk to Stanford employees about the changing home market and to answer questions about the savings benefits available to Stanford employees. Please RSVP to Erin Prescott at (408) 200-4818 or eprescott@clickhomerealty.com by Monday, August 27, 2007.

17th Annual Susan G. Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure: Sunday, September 23, 2007 from 7:30 AM to 1:00 PM beginning near the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Sponsored by the Stanford Cancer Center/Northern California Cancer Center, this 5K Run/Walk or one-mile Fun Walk will raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer while celebrating breast cancer survivorship and honoring those who have lost their battle with the disease. The Susan G. Komen national organization provides enormous financial support for breast cancer research, novel clinical trials, and the training of future breast cancer specialists through a dedicated fellowship program at many cancer centers around the U.S., including Stanford. The national organization is closely linked with the San Francisco affiliate office, which provides support services for numerous organizations in the greater Bay Area region such as Meals on Wheels, free mammograms for low income women, and the Community Breast Health Project in Palo Alto.

Come join our Stanford Cancer Center Team for the Race for the Cure! You can join our team and see our team roster by accessing http://race.sfkomen.org/site/TR/Race/General?team_id=3610&pg=team&fr_id=1010. Anyone can participate on our team; patients, nurses, staff, family, friends, laboratory and clinical researchers, and physicians are all welcome. Join our team and receive a Stanford Team t-shirt and, if enough people join, round-trip transportation! For more information related to Stanford's participation in the event, please contact:

Elizabeth Crown
Director of Communications
Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center
800 Welch Road
Palo Alto, CA 94305
(650) 736-2232
ecrown@stanford.edu

You can also register on your own at http://www.sfkomen.org/.

Race Day Schedule
Sunday, September 23, 2007

--7:30 AM-8:30 AM
Race Day Registration, T-Shirt, & Timing Chip Pick-Up

--9:00 AM
5K Timed Runners Start

--9:15 AM
5K Walk & 1 Mile Fun Walk Start (NEW ROUTE FOR THE 1 MILE FUN WALK!)

--10:15 AM
Survivor Celebration & Tribute
Survivor Group Photo

--10:30 AM
Awards Ceremony

--8:30 AM-1:00 PM
Health & Fitness Expo--Justin Hermann Plaza

For more race day details, please see http://www.sfkomen.org/r_raceday.html.

Announcements I: July 2007

Stanford Blood Center: Give Blood for Life!: Summer 2007 Promotions
Understanding and Applying Cultural Sensitivity in the Workplace: Tuesday, July 17, 2007, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
2007 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5 Mile Walk: Saturday, October 20, 2007, 7:00 AM registration

Stanford Blood Center: Give Blood for Life!: Summer 2007 Promotions
The Stanford Blood Center has many special summer promotions listed below. To request a blood donation appointment, please call 650-723-7831; or toll free at 888-723-7831; or visit their website at http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu. After making an appointment, please visit any of the following three locations to donate blood:

Stanford Blood Center--Palo Alto
780 Welch Road, Suite #100
Palo Alto, CA 94304

Stanford Blood Center--Mountain View
515 South Drive, Suite #20
Mountain View, CA 94040

Stanford Blood Center--Hillview
3373 Hillview Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(Center Opened September 16)

Donor Buddy Days--Double Donors are Twice as Nice!
All Center Locations
July and August
Bring in a donor new to the Stanford Blood Center and you'll both receive a voucher for a pint of Baskin Robbins ice cream! Then you can hit the beach and "Baskin" the sun, knowing you've done your good deed for the summer. To get in on this sweet deal, click this link (http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu/news/PDFs/DonorBuddyCoupon.pdf) and print out the coupon, or just print out this section of this e-mail.weets for the sweet!

Oakland A's v. LA Angels of Anaheim
Win Two Field-Level Tickets!
All Center Locations
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
On Friday, August 3, at 7:05 PM at McAfee Coliseum, the Oakland A's will take on the LA Angels of Anaheim. Will Athletic's pitcher Dan Haren and Halo John Lackey compete from the mound? Can Jack Cust hit one out of the park that sends the Angels floating back down the coast without a win? YOU MAY FIND OUT! Donate at one of our Center locations on Wednesday, July 18, and fill out a prize-drawing slip. The winner will receive a pair of field-level tickets and will be notified by Friday, July 20.

Monday Movie Madness PLUS!--Movie Ticket, Popcorn, Drink!
Hillview Center Only
Mondays between 7:30 AM to Noon
Our Hillview Center needs your help on Monday mornings. Donors will not only receive a free AMC movie ticket, but we'll take care of your small popcorn and small fountain drink as well. Let Stanford Blood Center take you to the movies!

Grateful Life Tour III--Tie-Dye T-shirts!
All Center Locations
What a long, strange trip it's been! This is our third year of the Grateful Life tie-dye T-shirt Tour, and it picks up steam every year. Each donor visiting one of our donation centers on the tour dates of July 2, 3, and 5 (and subsequent Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays in July) will receive a tie-dye shirt.

O What a Party!
Hillview Center Only
Thursday, August 16, 2007, 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM
Enjoy a day of saving lives and be rewarded with fabulous fun, food, and prizes! Donors receive a collectible O Party T-shirt! Keep your eye on our web site for details as the summer starts to sizzle. . . .

Understanding and Applying Cultural Sensitivity in the Workplace: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Bechtel International Center Dining Room. The Help Center (http://www.stanford.edu/dept/helpcenter) will be holding free all-day workshops for faculty and staff designed to increase awareness and sensitivity to various multicultural communication styles while enhancing and learning new communication styles and techniques for addressing diversity. Mary Foston-English, MFT, and Sean O'Riordan, PhD, will be presenting at the workshop. To register, please call (650) 723-4577 or email helpcenter@lists.stanford.edu.

2007 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5 Mile Walk: Saturday, October 20, 2007, 7:00 AM registration in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. There is no registration fee or minimum amount to fundraise in order to participate in this fun, noncompetitive five mile walk to heighten awareness of breast cancer. Registration begins at 7:00 AM with a rolling walk beginning from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM and special 10th anniversary ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:00 AM. You can participate as a walker, volunteer, team leader, or team member. Teams help raise money for research, education, advocacy, and patient services by gathering pledges. For more information, please visit http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/bayarea). There are also two kick-off breakfasts held during the summer in San Francisco and San Jose on August 16 and August 9, respectively. The breakfasts are from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel and the San Jose Doubletree Hotel. Please contact Jantz Malbrue at Jantz.Malbrue@cancer.org or 510 452-5229 x350 for more information about the breakfasts.

Announcements II: June 2007

Stanford Association of Research Professionals (SARP) Kickoff Meeting: Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Chelsea vs Club America (professional soccer): Saturday, July 14, 2007

Stanford Association of Research Professionals (SARP) Kickoff Meeting: Tuesday, June 12, 2007, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM at Fairchild Auditorium. On Tuesday, the SARP will initiate its first working group of professionals providing a forum for communication, education, and networking to achieve excellence in clinical research. Come see what SARP is all about! To preregister, please go to http://reggie.stanford.edu/signup.asp?1568. You can also join the SARP member e-mail distribution list at: sarp-members@lists.stanford.edu. Light refreshments will be served.

Chelsea vs Club America (professional soccer): Saturday, July 14, 2007, at 6 PM at the Stanford Stadium. On July 14, the 3-time English league champions Chelsea Football Club (http://www.chelseafc.com) and the 10-time Mexican Primera League champions Club America (http://www.clubamerica.com.mx) will play a friendly match for the Disney Friendship Club as part of Chelsea's fourth consecutive preseason tour in the United States. This is the first time two world-class soccer teams have played in the new Stanford Stadium. The Chelsea Football Club is part of the English Premier League and has won the league title in 2006, 2005, and 1955 since their founding in 1905. Established in 1916, Club America holds ten league titles in Mexico's Primera Division. To buy your tickets, please call the Stanford Athletics ticket office at 1-866-818-0968; visit the Stanford Athletic ticket office at Stanford Stadium Gate 2 (Hours: Mon.-Fri., 9 AM-4 PM PDT); or visit http://www.gostanford.com.

Announcements I: June 2007

Radiology Departmental Finance Drop-In Session: Thursday, June 28, 2007
St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Free Noon Concert Series: Monday, June 25; Wednesday, June 27; and Friday, June 29, 2007
July 3rd Celebration with Big Bad VooDoo Daddy & Fireworks: Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Radiology Departmental Finance Drop-In Session: Thursday, June 28, 2007, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM in Grant S-084. The finance group holds a monthly finance session, typically on the last Thursday of each month. This session is for anyone who may have questions regarding expenditure statements and other finance questions. If you would like more information, please contact Yun-Ting Yeh at ytyeh@stanford.edu.

St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Free Noon Concert Series: Monday, June 25; Wednesday, June 27; and Friday, June 29, 2007, beginning at 12:15 until approximately 1:15 PM. The Grammy-nominated St. Lawrence String Quartet will be offering free noon concerts at the Dinkelspiel Auditorium. For more information, please contact Barbara Greenwood at bgreenwood@stanford.edu.

Announcements II: May 2007

Guide to NIH K Awards Training Workshop: May 30, 2007
Cardinal Walk /All Campus Walk: May 31, 2007
July 3rd Celebration with Big Bad VooDoo Daddy & Fireworks: July 3, 2007

Cardinal Walk /All Campus Walk (1.5 Miles): Thursday, May 31, 2007, at Roble Field, Santa Teresa Street, 12:05 PM to 1:00 PM. The festivities will begin at 11:30 AM in Roble Field; the first 2,000 walkers will receive free pedometers. There will also be free music and refreshments. At 12:00 PM, the Provost will give a welcome speech to all participants; the walk will begin at 12:05 PM and end at 1:00 PM. Participants will walk a 1.5 mile loop in Roble Field. For more information, please visit http://steppingout.stanford.edu/cardinalwalk/.

Guide to NIH K Awards Training Workshop: Wednesday, May 30, 2007, at Fairchild Auditorium, Stanford University Medical Center, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Stephen J. Korn, PhD, director of Training and Career Development, will provide an summary of the eligibility criteria for various NIH K Awards; the evaluation process; and the best practices for application development. There will also be a panel of K award recipients composed of mentors and proteges who will share their strategies for success. The topics covered will be as follows: "NIH K Series Eligibility Criteria & Application Process"; "How to Decide Which K Award is Right for Me" (Demonstrate NIH kiosk & offer guide to kiosk use); "NIH Proposal Evaluation Criteria, Process, Success Rates, & Scoring"; "Award Portability & Characteristics"; and "Career Options for Recipients & Mentoring" (Panel of Postdocs & Mentors). The sign in is from 8:15 AM to 9:00 AM at Fairchild Auditorium, and the workshop will begin at 9:00 AM and continue until 12:00 PM. Boxed lunches will be provided. There is no fee. Although registration is currently full, you can register for the waiting list at http://reggie.stanford.edu/NoAvailableSeats.asp?1564. Over fifty people from the waiting list will be allowed to attend the training workshop as "no seat" admissions. For more information, please contact Terri Hankes, program support coordinator, at thanks@stanford.edu or (650) 736-0129 and visit the website at http://postdocs.stanford.edu/events/guide_to_NIH_K_awards.html.

Announcements I: May 2007

Wellness Fair: May 9, 2007
Stanford Baseball: Faculty and Staff Free on Fridays: May 11, 2007
Stanford Spring Faire: May 11, 12, and 13, 2007
Stanford Graduate Summer Institute (SGSI): Deadline to register is May 18, 2007
Multicultural Springfest: May 24, 2007
July 3rd Celebration with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy & Fireworks: July 3, 2007

Stanford Graduate Summer Institute (SGSI): Register by May 18, 2007 (http://sgsi.stanford.edu/). To encourage interdisciplinary thinking, the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education has developed the Stanford Graduate Summer Institute (SGSI), which offers courses taught by Stanford faculty and outside experts from a wide variety of disciplines. All six classes offered by the SGSI are non-credit bearing and are open to currently registered Stanford graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who will be continuing in the fall quarter of 2007. Most courses are free of charge and are taught in intensive, all-day workshops. For more information and/or to access the online application before the May 18th deadline, please go to http://sgsi.stanford.edu/.

The following is a brief description of the courses from the website http://sgsi.stanford.edu/:

1) Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship
Monday, June 18, to Friday, July 13, 2007
Apply online. Application deadline: May 18, 2007
Discover what it takes to develop an idea into a successful venture through an intensive four-week business management program for graduate students in non-business fields. There is a $600 registration fee and a $40 application fee for this course.

2) Virus!
Monday, September 10, to Friday, September 21, 2007
Apply online. Application deadline: May 18, 2007
Course size limit: 16
No fee
A global approach to a global threat: predicting, preventing, and responding to emerging infectious diseases using avian flu as a paradigm (Professor John Boothrooyd). Contact Bonda Lew