OU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER HONORED FOR RESEARCH

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City has been named one of the best academic medical research institutions in the country by The Scientist magazine.

Rankings were released Tuesday, placing OU fourth out of 94 institutions on the list of the “Best Places to Work in Academia.”

“To move into the top five institutions in such a short period of time is remarkable and a testament to the hard work of our faculty, students, campus leaders and the community, who are working together to expand our world-class research and treatment opportunities right here in Oklahoma,” said Joseph Ferretti, Ph.D., senior vice president and provost of the OU Health Sciences Center, in a press release.

The list focused on collaboration, team building and unique funding opportunities as important work environment factors. OU jumped from 30th in 2007 to fourth in 2009.

Princeton, the University of California – San Francisco, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and Emory University in Georgia were the others in the top five.

PRESENTATION TO DISCUSS TOPICS ON TOBACCO INDUSTRY

“A Call to Action: Countering Tobacco Industry Tactics” will be presented by the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health Grand Rounds from noon to 1 p.m. today in the Oklahoma City College of Health Building, room 150.

According to a press release, Alan Blum, M.D., director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at the University of Alabama, will discuss a number of topics. These are to include the realities of the tragic tobacco use pandemic, what health care and public health practitioners can do to fight this, public policy being a means for change, zero tolerance for secondhand tobacco smoke pollution in workplaces, the Institute of Medicine’s special report—“Our Health is at Stake,” the federal court decision finding tobacco companies guilty of racketeering being upheld on appeal, and the tobacco industry’s behavior today and tomorrow.

HOMECOMING 2009 events

Organizations across campus have teamed up to compete this week in various homecoming activities, culminating in the pep rally at 9 p.m. Friday in McFarland Field House, followed by the Homecoming Parade at 3 p.m. Saturday and concluding with OU’s game against the Kansas State Wildcats.

The theme for OU’s Homecoming Parade this year is “There’s Only One,” with the intention of embracing Sooner tradition and spirit, and celebrating Oklahoma’s rich history, according to a press release.

The parade will be prior to the university’s face off against the Kansas State Wildcats for OU’s annual homecoming game.

Millie Audas, an OU staff member currently serving as a special assistant to the president for international partnerships and as a faculty member in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, has been chosen to serve as parade marshal for OU’s annual Homecoming Parade, according to a press release.

The Homecoming Parade will begin Saturday at the corner of Boyd Street and Elm Avenue and end at the intersection of Felgar Street and Jenkins Avenue.

-Daily staff reports