KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Mar. 26, 2009) – United States Senator Claire McCaskill will make a special trip to Kirksville on Wednesday, April 8, 2009, to host one of a series of “Kitchen Table Talks” statewide. All area residents are invited to attend this event, which will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. in A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) Centennial Commons and end with a community roundtable discussion at 6 p.m. in ATSU’s Mehegan classroom. RSVPs are requested by April 6 to communications@atsu.edu or 660.626.2272.

McCaskill and her staff will meet with local residents to reach out to constituents, address their questions and concerns, and provide Missourians with the resources necessary to receive assistance from a federal agency. Problems that constituents are facing, as well as any input that residents have on impending legislation, will be documented.

McCaskill has five offices throughout Missouri – in Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Kansas City, Springfield, and St. Louis. The Kitchen Table Talks will serve, in part, to inform area residents of the services that are available to them when they contact one of her regional offices. McCaskill’s staff can assist constituents on a range of federal government issues.

Additionally, United States Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri’s 9th Congressional District will visit Kirksville on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 for a reception at 10 a.m. in ATSU’s Centennial Commons. All area residents are also invited to attend this event, visit with Congressman Luetkemeyer, and ask questions. Light refreshments will be served. RSVPs are requested by April 10 to communications@atsu.edu or 660.626.2272.

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No longer will you have to wait for months or forever search online to learn what’s going on at ATSU. Communications & Marketing is now bringing everything you need and want to know to one online location and sending it directly to your inbox.

You can receive University news and updates via iconnect – this interactive e-news portal that features breaking ATSU news headlines; access to University news releases; social networking links to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter; student and alumni updates and resources; and access to Still Magazine, ATSU’s freshly redesigned alumni magazine, and other University publications.

And that’s not all. You can voice your views by posting comments on featured stories and news releases. Send us a link to your YouTube video and we’ll share it on iconnect. Network instantly with friends, co-workers, and potential employers through social networking sites.

Plus, you can still keep up to date with who’s received what awards, who’s doing what in alumni classnotes, and learn what the media and others are saying about ATSU. iconnect keeps you in the know and keeps you clicking with interactive slideshows and videos. It’s coming at you every month (or more often, if we have something to say). Enjoy.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Mar. 23, 2009) – The A.T. Still University (ATSU) Committee on Aging will host its fifth annual Lecture on Aging on April 3 to enhance healthcare providers’ understanding of the challenges and opportunities in treating and caring for older patients, especially in the area of falls prevention.

Keynote speaker Dorothy Baker, Ph.D., R.N., will present “From the Halls of Ivy to the Kitchen Table: Moving Evidence-Based Fall Prevention into Practice.” Dr. Baker is a research scientist and scholar at Yale University School of Medicine. She is also director of the Connecticut Collaboration for Fall Prevention and Hospital Elder Life Program projects.

The lecture will be broadcast on Friday, April 3 on ATSU’s Missouri Campus at 2 p.m. in the McCreight & Couts classrooms located at 800 W. Jefferson St. in Kirksville, Mo. Dr. Baker is presenting live from ATSU’s Arizona Campus at noon in the Saguaro A & B classrooms located at 5850 E. Still Circle in Mesa, Ariz.

The public is invited to attend, and the Committee on Aging encourages healthcare practitioners in any field to take advantage of this free event.

For more information, contact Kelli Partin, Committee on Aging administrative coordinator, at 660.626.2671 or kpartin@atsu.edu, or visit www.atsu.edu/events.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – (Mar. 19, 2009) Lynda T. Konecny, D.H.Ed., M.S., associate director of admissions at A.T. Still University (ATSU) and adjunct faculty member at ATSU’s online School of Health Management (ATSU-SHM), recently presented her research in a poster session at the 2009 NASPA Annual Conference in Seattle, Wa. The conference, “Nourishing Partnerships for Lifelong Learning,” was held March 7-11 and brought together student affairs administrators in higher education.

Dr. Konecny’s research, entitled “Online Wellness Course Affect on Wellness Behaviors of Online Graduate Students,” examined the concept of developing and providing resources for student wellness in higher education, which emerged in the 1970s. Today, college and university professionals agree that students are more successful when they have balance in areas of wellness. Wellness resources have been provided for residential students, but relatively few have been developed for online students. Dr. Konecny’s study focused on determining whether participation in a facilitated online course could be effective in increasing the wellness behaviors of online graduate students.

Dr. Konecny graduated from ATSU-SHM in June 2008, and was a member of the first graduating class to receive the doctor of health education (D.H.Ed.) degree. Dr. Konecny, of Kirksville, Mo., attended Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., and Emporia State University in Emporia, Kan.

About NASPA

NASPA is the leading voice for student affairs administration, policy, and practice, and affirms the commitment of the student affairs profession to educating the whole student and integrating student life and learning. NAPSA provides professional development and advocacy for student affairs educators and administrators who share the responsibility for a campus-wide focus on the student experience.

For more information about NASPA, visit www.naspa.org.

MESA, Ariz. (Mar. 18, 2009) – Tamara Valovich McLeod, Ph.D., ATC, associate professor of athletic training at A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS), and Ian McLeod, M.S., PA-C, ATC, PA ’08, presented at the Japan Athletic Trainers’ Organization (JATO) meeting March 7-8 in Tokyo, Japan.

Dr. McLeod presented two lectures on concussion assessment and misconceptions, as well as two workshops on the use of concussion assessment tools. McLeod presented two lectures on myofascial trigger point therapy and led two workshops on the same topic. Both are instructors for Japanese athletic training students who visit ATSU annually on an Arizona Athletic Training Tour.

“Dr. McLeod has had a strong international presence this year, having previously presented her research at a pediatric sport-related concussion conference in Zurich, Switzerland, and now giving multiple presentations to athletic trainers in Japan,” said Eric Sauers, Ph.D., ATC, ATSU-ASHS athletic training program director and chair of the department of interdisciplinary health sciences. “Her important research is continuing to be recognized as critical in furthering our understanding of the impact of sport-related concussion on the young athlete.”

<strong>MESA, Ariz.</strong> (Mar. 18, 2009) – A team from A.T. Still University’s <a href=”http://www.atsu.edu/ashs/index.htm” target=”_blank”>Arizona School of Health Sciences</a> (ATSU-ASHS) was recently awarded a $10,000 grant by the <a href=”http://www.headaches.org/” target=”_blank”>National Headache Foundation</a> for a research project entitled “The effect of sport-related concussion on headache- and health-related quality of life in children and adolescents.”

According to Tamara Vaolvich McLeod, Ph.D., ATC, associate professor of athletic training at ATSU-ASHS and principal investigator in the project, the broad, long-term objective of the research will be to improve the health-related quality of life of individuals following sport-related concussion during childhood and adolescence. Co-investigators on the project include ATSU-ASHS interdisciplinary health science team members Curt Bay, Ph.D., associate professor; John Parsons, M.S., ATC, assistant professor; and Alison Snyder, Ph.D., ATC, assistant professor.

“This grant will help to advance the sports medicine communities’ understanding of how sport-related concussions impact the whole person, making this project both innovative and consistent with the osteopathic principles that define ATSU,” said Eric Sauers, Ph.D., ATC, ATSU-ASHS athletic training program director and chair of the department of interdisciplinary health sciences. “This research could lead to the development of new measurement instruments for assessing this vital outcome in a vulnerable population.”

The National Headache Foundation, founded in 1970, is a non-profit organization which exists to enhance the healthcare of headache sufferers. It is a source of help to sufferers’ families, physicians who treat headache sufferers, allied healthcare professionals and to the public. The NHF accomplishes its mission by providing educational and informational resources, supporting headache research and advocating for the understanding of headache as a legitimate neurobiological disease.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Mar. 12, 2009) – The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) announced that their selection of osteopathic medical educators as inaugural members of its recently launched National Academy of Osteopathic Medical Educators (NAOME) includes two faculty members of A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM).

Neal R. Chamberlain, Ph.D., associate professor, KCOM Department of Microbiology/Immunology; and Patricia S. Sexton, Ed.D., assistant professor, KCOM Department of Family Medicine, Community, and Preventive Health, will be inducted into NAOME with the ten other inaugural members at AACOM’s Awards Banquet on April 17, 2009, during the association’s annual meeting.

“KCOM is a proud leader in osteopathic medicine,” said KCOM Dean Philip Slocum, D.O. “Having two of our faculty recognized nationally for their ongoing contributions to osteopathic medical education is more evidence of our leadership.”

NAOME is a community of outstanding educators (termed fellows) who have met rigorous standards of academic excellence within the last five years. Membership is earned (and can be renewed) for five-year intervals during which fellows are asked to mentor and support academic excellence and scholarship in the osteopathic medical education profession. NAOME is the first national health professions education academy and is modeled after the Baylor College of Medicine’s Academy of Distinguished Educators.

AACOM was founded in 1898 to support and assist the nation’s osteopathic medical schools, and to serve as a unifying voice for osteopathic medical education. AACOM’s mission is to promote excellence in osteopathic medical education, in research and in service, and to foster innovation and quality among osteopathic colleges to improve the health of the American public.

For more information on NAOME, the selection process, and complete list of inaugural members, visit www.aacom.org.

MESA, Ariz. (Mar. 9, 2009) – Randy Danielsen, Ph.D., PA-C, DFAAPA, dean of A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS), recently authored a chapter entitled “Cutaneous Disorders” in the paramedic textbook Paramedic Practice Today: Above and Beyond.

According to Dr. Danielsen, the textbook is used by many paramedics and paramedic educators to prepare for the National Registry for Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) exam. Author Barbara Aehlert, R.N., BSPA, requested that Dr. Danielsen write the chapter.

“My contribution included a chapter on cutaneous disorders, which educates paramedics on the anatomy and physiology of the skin and various skin disorders that a paramedic may encounter,” said Dr. Danielsen.

Dr. Danielsen has been dean of ASHS since July 2004. In July 2005, he was appointed by the governor of Arizona to serve a four-year term on the Arizona Regulatory Board for Physician Assistants, and he is also the chair-elect of the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants. He was named Physician Assistant of the Year by the Veterans Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants in 2003, and Outstanding PA of the Year by the American Academy of Physician Assistants in 1993.

MESA, Ariz. (Mar. 12, 2009) – With President Barack Obama’s healthcare summit dominating headlines across the nation, many families are wondering how the current economic and political climate will affect future access to affordable, quality healthcare. A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) Women’s Wellness program will tackle this subject head-on at a luncheon and panel discussion entitled “Will Care Be There?” on Tuesday, April 14 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. Both men and women are invited to attend this community event.

Nationally renowned healthcare policy expert Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O., FACOFP, will keynote this timely luncheon. Dr. Ross-Lee, a former medical school dean, is currently director of the American Osteopathic Association Health Policy Fellowship Program and Vice President for Health Sciences and Medical Affairs at New York Institute of Technology.

Other panel members will include Erick Novack, M.D., a board certified orthopaedic surgeon and advocate for protection of patient rights; Jill Rissi, Ph.D., associate director for research and policy at St. Luke’s Health Initiatives, whose research focuses on Arizona health policy; and Jan Zieren, D.O., FACOFP, board certified family practice physician and president of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.

The cost to attend is $75 per person. Sponsorship and premium ticket opportunities are available. Contact ATSU Advancement for more information at drohrich@atsu.edu or 480.219.6115, or visit www.atsuwomenswellness.org.