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yesterday, today & tomorrow

BACK TO SCHOOL

Sixteen health reporters from around the country attended a media fellowship program on campus April 19-22 to learn from UCLA researchers and doctors about the latest developments in neuroscience. Hosted by NPI, “Neurosciences Nexus: Science of the Mind for the 21st Century” was organized in conjunction with the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Journalists participated in roundtable discussions and hands-on programs and interacted with patients. The Neuropsychiatric Institute “offered the perfect venue for the exploration of the challenges facing the neuropsychiatric community as we move into the new millennium,” said Peter Whybrow, director of the institute and chair of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences. The program was co-sponsored by the departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Neurology, and the Division of Neurosurgery, all part of the David Geffen School of Medicine.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Campus Human Resources is recruiting eligible employees for the 2004 Professional Development Program, a one-year, leadership and career enhancement program designed to develop highly trained and motivated managers and professionals. Participants will attend a career assessment retreat, learn advanced skills and work with campus leaders on special projects. They will hone their skills in research and analysis, report preparation and public speaking. Applicants must be full-time, career employees in Professional and Support Staff classifications (Grades 2-6), Programmer Analyst 2 and above. They must also have departmental endorsement to join the program; the program requires approximately 10-12 hours of release time per month. For more information and forms, visit
www.chr.ucla.edu/chr/sod/pdp/pdp2004.html. Deadline for submissions is May 21. Questions? Contact Marsha Coutin at (310) 794-0853 or marsha@chr.ucla.edu.

PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

At an April 20 hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Bruce E. Mitchell, attorneys for UCLA agreed on the details of a preliminary injunction that will keep the university’s willed body program suspended. The injunction also addresses the disposition of the fewer than 50 donated willed bodies at the UCLA medical school. Most of the bodies will be cremated, as UCLA’s original agreement with the donors stipulated. The criminal probe continues into allegations that an employee illegally sold donated body parts. “We want to do what is best for the families,” said Gerald S. Levey, vice chancellor of medical sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, “and agreeing on the terms of a preliminary injunction is important for all concerned. Based on what we have learned so far, we have no indication that willed bodies were used for anything other than their intended purposes — for medical education and research.”