Vol 80
JULY 2010
DEPARTMENT NEWS
DEAN’S OFFICE
Please welcome Suzy Brown to the UICOMP campus. Suzy works for the University of Illinois Foundation.
Because of her husband's work, the family recently relocated to Morton. The Urbana Foundation leadership and this
campus have worked together to provide Suzy with an office in the prior PPCH area from which she can continue
her work for the Foundation. The Foundation will continue to support all of her salary and her office expenses.
Suzy has worked closely with our Development officer, Susan Dunnan, on U of I related Foundation issues.
CANCER BIOLOGY & PHARMACOLOGY
Seminars/Presentations
On June 30, Dr. Pradeep Shukla of Northwestern University, an invited speaker of Dr. Jasti Rao, made a
presentation entitled “Role of Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II (CaMKII) & Neurogranin in Opioid
Tolerance and Dependence.”
Publications
Kargiotis O, Geka A, Rao JS, Kyritsis AP. Effects of irradiation on tumor cell survival, invasion and angiogenesis. J
Neurooncol. 2010 May 7. PMID: 20449629.
Employee News
We are pleased to welcome two new employees: Ushasree Boda, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate who is
working in Dr. Jasti Rao’s laboratory; and Jeff Becker, Accountant.
Welcome volunteers:
Kritika Patel, from St. Louis University, is working in Dr. Mohanam's laboratory
Pradeep Singanallur, who just completed M1 at the University of Illinois, is working in Dr. Fukuchi’s laboratory
Priya Maillacheruvu & Tatyanna Rutherford, from Peoria BEST, are working in Dr. Lasley’s laboratory
Melinda Martin & Jeanette Stoller, from American Cancer Society, are working in Dr. Rao’s laboratory.
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE
Dr. Meenakshy Aiyer was elected recently to the office of Councilor of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine
(CDIM). CDIM is a national organization of medical educators. Dr. Aiyer is one of three officers for CDIM and
she will serve as Councilor for a three-year term. Please join the Department of Medicine and congratulate Dr.
Aiyer for representing our university at a national level.
UICOMP Faculty Member to Participate in Stanford University Clinical Teaching Program:
Jacqueline Fischer MD, FACP, associate director of the UICOMP Internal Medicine Residency Program, has been
selected to participate in Stanford University’s 2010 Faculty Development Program for Clinical Teaching. Dr.
Fischer is one of six physicians from across the country selected for this competitive program. Participants are
selected on the basis of prior demonstration of teaching ability coupled with a history of commitment to student,
resident and faculty educational initiatives. The month-long training program will be led by one of the nation’s
premiere leaders in medical education, Dr. Kelley Skeff of Stanford University. Participants will learn the Stanford
Clinical Teaching Methodology and will serve as facilitators of this same methodology after return to their home
institutions.
Congratulations to Dr. Jean Aldag, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Preventative Medicine, and Dr. Al Masi,
Professor of Medicine. They are authors of the recently published article: An endocrinologist's view on relative
adrenocortical insufficiency in rheumatoid arthritis.
Imrich R, Vlcek M, Aldag JC, Kerlik J, Radikova Z, Rovensky J, Vigas M, Masi AT.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 Apr;1193(1):134-8.PMID: 20398019
Congratulations to Dr. Muhammad B. Yunus, Professor of Medicine. Dr. Yunus is the senior author for the
following article.
The American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia and measurement of
symptom severity.
Wolfe F, Clauw DJ, Fitzcharles MA, Goldenberg DL, Katz RS, Mease P, Russell AS, Russell IJ, Winfield JB,
Yunus MB.
Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2010 May;62(5):600-10.PMID: 20461783
Dr. Al Masi attended a conference in Italy, May 8 – 10. He made a recent contribution as an Issue Editor of Volume
1193 of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010. This volume is the Proceedings of the “4th
International Conference” in this series on Neuroendocrine Immunology in Rheumatic Diseases conferences, held
every 3 years.
Cutolo M, Bijlsma JWJ, Straub RH, and Masi AT (eds) Neuroendocrine Immunology in Rheumatic Diseases:
Translation from Basics to Clinics. Ann NY Acad Sci 2010; 1193: 1-181.
DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS
œ Please congratulate Dr. Elizabeth Kramer for being recognized by the Department of Academic Affairs as
the Pediatric Clerkship Faculty of the Year! This recognition is given by each clerkship director to one
faculty member from that clerkship who has demonstrated excellence in teaching and commitment to the
education and development of our medical students at UICOMP. Dr. Kramer was nominated by Dr.
Heather McLauchlan, the clerkship director.
œ
Please congratulate Dr. Rahul Chawla. He has received a teaching award from the Emergency Department
Residency program for the Off-Service Teaching Attending of the Year.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Please welcome new civil service employees…
Jeff Becker. Accountant I, Cancer Biology & Pharmacology
Haily Rhoades, Staff Nurse, Pediatrics
The Holiday Schedule is located on the UIC HR website:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/hr/quicklinks/holidayschedule.shtml
Shared Benefits What is Shared Benefits? A pool has been established which will provide eligible employees
who have exhausted all accumulated sick leave and, if applicable vacation leave, with the opportunity to receive
additional leave days when a disability claim is pending before the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) or
when experiencing a catastrophic injury or illness (depending on the type of employee). If you donate a sick day
(and/or vacation), you may qualify to receive time from the pool.
Eligibility: Civil Service, Faculty, and Academic Professional employees are eligible to participate in the Shared
Benefits Program if they meet the following requirements:
•
•
•
Civil Service, Faculty, or Academic Professional employee who participates in SURS or the Federal
Retirement System.
Appointed at least 50 percent time to a position for which service is expected to be rendered for at least
nine continuous months.
Have a cumulative balance of at least 11 days of leave.
Postdoctoral research associates, medical residents, graduate assistants, and annuitants in SURS or the Federal
Retirement System are not eligible to participate.
Withdrawal Requirements: requests for withdrawal of shared benefits are subject to the following requirements. You
are eligible to apply for time if you have donated a day to the Shared Benefit Pool.
• Application to withdraw leave from the pool may be made within five days of exhausting all sick leave if
only sick leave was used to participate in the pool. If a combination of sick leave and vacation or vacation
only was used to participate in the pool, the employee must be within five days of exhausting all sick and
vacation leave.
• The amount approved cannot exceed one-third of the balance in the pool or 45 working days, whichever is
less.
• Employees may apply for leave from the pool once per academic appointment year.
• Employees or their designee must complete a Shared Benefits Request form requesting leave from the pool.
• The number of leave days needed must be specified.
• For Academic Staff a written physician's statement containing the beginning date of the condition, a
description of the illness or injury, and a prognosis in justification of the request is required to complete the
request. Information regarding pending SURS disability claims must be included with the request. You
must be eligible for SURS disability in order to apply (at least two years of service credit).
Policy Notes…. for complete Shared Benefits information or to donate a day, please review the Leave
section of NESSIE; click on Shared Benefits. If you have additional questions please contact Human Resources at
671-8518.
NESSIE: https://nessie.uihr.uillinois.edu
Check your paycheck! Please review your paystub…to ensure accuracy of your payroll and deductions.
This is especially important in the new fiscal year – review to make sure any changes you made during open
enrollment are reflected on your payroll.
All annual employee evaluations are due to the Human Resources Office by August 1, 2010. Forms
available at UICOMP's HR website:
http://peoria.medicine.uic.edu/departments___programs/human_resources/Employee_Performance_Review/
The process should be completed as follows:
1. Ask employees to complete their own self-evaluation using the correct form and give supervisors a copy when
completed.
2. Supervisor should review the employee's self-evaluation and complete the supervisor's copy of the employee
review.
3. Set up meeting to discuss the evaluation with employee and discuss and complete the action plan with employee.
4. Make a copy of employee's self-evaluation and the supervisor's evaluation and send to UICOMP's Human
Resources Office.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEWS RELEASES
Contact: Jim Burwitz
309-671-8404
The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria (UICOMP) will host the Second Annual Celebration of
Excellence on September 15, 2010. The special recognition event honors faculty, alumni, volunteers, and
community leaders, including the recipients of the 2010 Community Health Awards.
Established in 1996, the Community Health Awards are presented annually for special contributions in the areas of
patient care, health-support services, medical education, research, wellness programs, and disease prevention.
Separate awards are given to an individual and an organization.
The Celebration of Excellence is hosted by Dr. Sara Rusch, UICOMP’s Regional Dean. The event will be held in
UICOMP’s main campus building at 5:30 p.m. For more information please call 309-671-8402 or visit
peoria.medicine.uic.edu.
More UICOMP news releases available at: http://peoria.medicine.uic.edu/news
DEAR BENNY
Dear Benny,
You might have told me this before, but I can’t seem to remember what the answer was. Can you address this
again?
I have an invoice for goods that I purchased through one of our normal vendors over the phone. What form do I put
it on to pay the vendor after the fact, a purchase order or an invoice voucher?
Frannie Forgetful
Dear Frannie,
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your vendor cannot be paid off of either of these. After-the-Fact purchase
orders or invoice vouchers cannot be used to pay the vendor. For the past couple of years this has always been a
policy, but as of July 1st, they will not be processed by Purchasing or Accounting. Both Payables and Vouchers will
not process any after-the-fact purchases and are returning vouchers . You need to pre-plan and send a purchase
requisition so that Purchasing cannot generate a purchase order prior to services being rendered or goods being
received. No purchase order prior to = No payment
And just to further your education, Senate Bill 51 that goes in effect on July 1st, absolutely will not allow the
University to pay for contracted services if a fully executed contract has not been put into effect. No fully executed
contract, the vendor will not be paid. No contract = No payment
Please help us by pre-planning.
Benny
“All things are difficult before they are easy”—Thomas Fuller
PLAY ME FORWARD BLOG
I enjoyed the time that I spent with Dawn and Paula in the Department of Internal Medicine. I watch
as they both juggled numerous tasks throughout the day but they always kept an upbeat attitude and a smile on their
faces. My visit came to an end and they decided to “Play Me Forward” to…….. Madeleine Rowe, who also works
in the Department of Internal Medicine. Dawn and Paula had this to say about Madeleine:
In the last few years, there have been many changes in the Department of Medicine due to shifting of
responsibilities. Madeleine Rowe is always willing to help and she never complains about taking on
new work tasks.
Madeleine takes initiative to learn the process of a new work assignment when there may not be
previous direction for such tasks.
Madeleine continuously takes on additional duties to help out the department as a whole even
though her billing responsibilities consume a great deal of her time.
Madeleine is an asset to our department with her professional, pleasant, and upbeat attitude. She
always has a positive outlook no matter what situations arise in the department.
As I watched Madeleine juggle the numerous different tasks assigned to her it was evident that she enjoyed her work
and that each task was handled efficiently. The week flew by quickly and it was time for me to venture to my next
location. Madeleine decided to hand deliver me to ……….Stacey Webb, also located in the Department of
Medicine. Madeleine had this to say about Stacey:
Joining a new work environment is always difficult; with learning new responsibilities, new faces,
and new information. The Department of Medicine is an especially busy place to work as it is
always growing and changing. Stacey Webb jumped right in and met these challenges with
enthusiasm and determination.
Stacey takes initiative to learn new skills, even without much training or direction. She is selfmotivated, she asks questions, and she takes time to think through every new process so that she
gets it right.
Stacey works with incredible diligence through even the most complex and tedious of assignments.
She has taken on the daunting responsibility of learning the University’s promotion process, and
has had the patience and positivity to get through it!
Stacey has been a wonderfully bright addition in our dark time of need. Her cheerfulness,
resourcefulness, and wide-ranging skills make her an asset wherever she works. We are truly
lucky to have her in the Department of Medicine.
Well, that wraps it up for another month of experiencing what makes UICOMP a great place to work. So far, I have
had the opportunity to “hang around” and get to know 44 employees. But, I’m excited to visit many more
individuals in the coming months and learn all I can about the people of UICOMP.
So…until next time, continue to ….. Play Me Forward
MISCELLANEOUS / PERSONAL
July Birthdays
7 Karen Luna
11 Kelli Rude
12 John Halvorsen
12 Laura Pentecost
13 Tina Aronson
15 Jim Burwitz
16 Kathy Tate
16 Rhonda Larson
If your birthday is
not listed, and you
wish to be added,
please contact Shannon at sdoerr@uic.edu
20 Cindy Kirwan
24 Amanda Thomison
25 Cindy Ringel
27 Lisa Collins
27 Craig Edwards
28 Lois Wood
30 Barb Bach
31 Debbie Granger
Red, white, and blueberry….
Cherries: contain melatonin, which has been credited in regulating sleep patterns.
Pears: good source of potassium – good for your heart.
Blueberries: highest in antioxidants of all fresh fruit – reducing risk of disease
Monica Drake from the Pediatric Sub Specialty Clinic at Hillcrest is going to be
a part of the St Jude Ride September 16, 2010 in memory of her very good friend's son who lost
his battle with Burkitt Lymphoma June 12th last year. We need to raise $1500.00 for the ride
from Peoria to Memphis and if we go over that’s even better!! If you are interested in donating
please contact Monica at 309 624 3267. You can make checks payable to St. Jude. Thanks so much
for your help!
Think green….
…only print when necessary
The deadline for submission of information for the August issue is July 30