Page 6
Daily Nebraskan
Tuesday, April 15, 1986
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Photos, clockwise from upper ' K v 1 A
right: Geriatric department - ' V? ; .
staff physician, Susan Scholer, - k' ' ) I i
left, and fourth year medical M -;k , ,
student, Darrell Wilburn check W- " V A v N I i
Ann West as they make rounds. - 1 i V i-Sv- 7?
The liver transplant team of ' A f n V-1 r V CC '
Dob Duckworth, left, Dr. Pat ' II f ' 'V. "
Wood, Dr. Byers Shaw and . t r 'J p - I V .-
RNSMN Laurie Williams sit in '" Tyr
the department library. Dr. Jon - C ' '"'
Vanderhoff, director of the .J I , ; r? - '4lv " f
Swanson Center and Jennifer ' ' ' '
Daily, UNO junior and part- i . I
time employee of the medical ' j
center is one of the nutrition 7 11 ' ) , j
labs. Dr. Philip Issenberg in . I "
one of his research labs. V X J f
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Experts: UNMC still excellent
Reduced budget encourages specialization
Despite reductions and elimina
tions of some programs because of
budget cuts, the NU Medical Center
is still an excellent institution that is
nationally recognized in many areas,
experts say.
Gov. Bob Kerrey said this excel
lence is due to Chancellor Charles
Andrews' efforts to recruit some of
the nat ion's top people in the areas of
gerontology, liver transplants, nutri
tion and cancer research.
Two of the people in UNMC's ger
ontology program, Dr. Jane Potter and
Dr. Denham Harman, were cited by
University of Harvard Medical School
Director of Geriatrics Dr. John Rowe
as individuals important to UNMC's
excellence.
"Denham Harman is world famous
for his Free Radical Reactions Theory
of Aging and Jane Potter, who was
educated at the National Institute on
Aging, is an excellent gerontologist,"
Rowe said.
Dr. Russell Mills, director of geri
atrics at the University of Kansas
Medical School, agreed with Rowe's
assessment of UNMC's geriatrics pro
gram. "They have a very active geriatri
cian out there doing something about
it. Jane Potter has worked hard at
getting geriatrics into the curricu
lum," Mills said. -
Potter, who is the director of the
geriatrics program, said UNMC is not
ranked as a national leader in geriat
rics, but has the opportunity to be--come
one because of its commitment
to the program.
"It's extremely unusual to find
interest in an area like geriatrics at
all levels from the chancellor through
the deans of the various colleges,"
she said.
, Potter said she is currently in the
process of recruiting two individuals
to help with the geriatrics program.
The College of Pharmacy is recruiting
a geriatric pharmacologist and the
department of psychology is recruit
ing a geropsychiatrist.
Four experts in the area of liver
transplants were brought from the
University of Pit tsburgh Medical Cen
ter to help start the UNMC liver
transplant program. One of the ex
perts, Bob Duckworth, said the excel
lence of UNMC's liver transplant pro
gram is attributed to "people, and not
just those from Pittsburgh. It's a col
laborative effort that has worked well
at the medical center, and probably
better than anywhere else."
Thomas Dunlay, who works at the
Great Plains Studies Center at UNL,
was the third person to be given a
liver transplant since UNMC began
the program in July.
He said he received excellent care
at the medical center and chose to
have his operation there because "it's
one of the relatively few places where
they do liver transplants, and it's cer
tainly the closest."
Professor Philip Issenbem said
UNMC's Eppley Instil ute for Research
in Cancer and Allied Dieaes is aiso
recognized nationally. The institute
has received a cancer support grant
from the National Cancer Institute.
"There are only 15 grants in the
country given to cancer laboratory
centers. That's a pretty elite group."
Issenberg said.
Another nationally recognized pro
gram is nutrition-gastroenterology re
search conducted at UNMC's Swan
son Center.
"In several areas in the medical
center in gastroenterology and liver
disease our people have been recog
nized for national contributions and
their research has been quoted," said
Dr. John Vanderhoof, director of the
Swanson Center.
"I believe very strongly that we
must build on our st rengt hs," Andrews
said. "We're not going to try to be a
Harvard. But the areas we pick to
specialize in will be as good as Har
vard. "We have set priorities. We have
decided that what we do, we'll do
well," he said.
"(Andrews) has dropped off some
programs that he doesn't have full
funding for. And he doesn't run any
thing mediocre," Kerrey said. "He's
trying to target his resources into
areas that are important."
"For our plan to finally work,"
Andrews said, "the Legislature has to
agree to allow us to keep a tuition
increase and not decrease the state
budget."
Last November the Legislature cut
$914,000 from UNMC's budget. When
the current Legislative session ends.
Andrews said, this may increase to S2
million.