News

The 2012 Intelligent Conversation lecture series, co-sponsored by University College of Syracuse University and Le Moyne College, invites citizens to explore topics surrounding the future of medicine. The events are free and take place at Grewen Auditorium on the Le Moyne College campus. Parking is available in lot C off Springfield Road (visit www.lemoyne.edu/resources/campusinfo.htm). For more information, call 315-443-4846 or e-mail cmkarlho@syr.edu.

The first conversation, to be held Wednesday, April 25, at 7 p.m., explores “Personalized Medicine: Tailoring Health Care in the Information Age.” Robert West and Robert Olick will lead a conversation on how genotyping, plus the use of the Internet, is creating personalized medicine—a new age of medicine in which genetic testing allows care to be tailored to a specific patient’s genetic code.

West is an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Upstate Medical University. Olick is an associate professor and chair of the University Hospital Ethics Committee, Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Upstate. SUNY Upstate Medical University was among the first in the nation to offer training to medical students that incorporates genomic and personalized medicine in the curriculum.

The second conversation, to be held Wednesday, May 2, at 7 p.m., is titled “Narrative Medicine: Using Literature and Patients’ Stories to Improve Health Care.”

Rebecca Garden and Joel Potash will discuss the relationship between doctor and patient and how it can literally mean the difference between life and death. Garden is an associate professor at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Potash is a professor emeritus at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities. He sits on the University Hospital Ethics Committee. The pair will examine the increasing use of technology in medicine and growing patient loads, which are making medicine increasingly depersonalized.

At the April 5 session of the Institute for Retired People (IRP), Aly Wane will present “Immigration: A Personal Reflection on the Changing Nature of American Citizenship.” Wane will share his opinions regarding the current immigration system and spark conversation on some of the immigration reform issues.

A Le Moyne College graduate, Wane is a community organizer with the Syracuse Peace Council and an immigration reform activist.

The IRP program runs from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., and is free and open to the public. IRP sessions are held at the First Baptist Church of Syracuse, 5833 East Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville.

For more information, visit http://uc.syr.edu/irp, call 315-443-4846, or e-mail cmkarlho@syr.edu. 

IRP is a community program established by University College of Syracuse University, dedicated to the principle of lifelong learning.

Danita Emma, artistic director of Syracuse University Summer Dance Intensive, has been invited to work with the National Opera and Ballet Company of Bulgaria in April. She will be assistant choreographer and coach to a new work, “Scriabin Quintet,” performed by a mixed cast of principal dancers from the National Opera and Ballet and Bulgarian dancers based in the United States.

The piece was choreographed by Momchil Mladenov, who works as assistant director to Emma at the SU summer dance program. Also on the program will be Balanchine’s, “La Source,” set by Diana White from the Balanchine Trust, and “Scheherazade,” choreographed by Kathryn Posin, who has also worked at the SU summer dance program. The performances are slated for April at the National Opera House in Sofia. Emma will teach company classes during her visit to Bulgaria.

Emma has also been invited to teach at the National School of Dance Art, established 55 years ago as a first ballet and dance performers school in Bulgaria. The school is the biggest dance center on the Balkan Peninsula.

At the March 15 session of the Institute for Retired People (IRP) Alan Rothschild, patent model collector and president of Rothschild Co., will share how he became a patent collector and discuss his models, which include models from famous inventors such as Eli Whitney, Christian Steinway and B.F. Goodrich. An inventor himself, Rothschild has two patents for labeling technology.

The Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum is the largest privately owned viewable collection of United States Patent Models in the world. Containing nearly 4,000 patent models and related documents, the collection spans America’s Industrial Revolution.

The IRP program runs from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., and is free and open to the public. IRP sessions are held at the First Baptist Church of Syracuse, 5833 E. Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville. For more information, visit http://uc.syr.edu/irp, call 315-443-4846, or e-mail cmkarlho@syr.edu.

IRP is a community program established by University College of Syracuse University, dedicated to the principle of lifelong learning.

At the March 1 session of the Institute for Retired People (IRP) Amy Samuels, education and outreach coordinator at the Onondaga Environmental Institute, will discuss the county’s Save the Rain campaign, which aims to raise public awareness and understanding of what can be done to help reduce stormwater runoff and improve the environment through the use of rain barrels and rain gardens.

Samuels has a bachelor of science degree in general agriculture from Cornell University, a master’s degree in education from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in forest biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She has been involved in water resources education in Central New York for 15 years.

The IRP program runs from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., and is free and open to the public. IRP sessions are held at the First Baptist Church of Syracuse, 5833 East Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville. For more information, call 315-443-4846 or e-mail cmkarlho@syr.edu.