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Health Sciences: UCLA Newsroom

• Multifaith event at medical center to showcase variety of holiday traditions
  WHAT: The Spiritual Care Department at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center will host its 11th annual multicultural, multifaith exhibit, a fun and educational event that helps enrich people's understanding of a wide variety of religious and cultural holiday traditions. Holidays represented include Bodhi Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan and Yule/Winter solstice.   Visitors can sample the traditional holiday foods of each culture and learn about religious symbols, spiritual practices and prayers associated with each of these tradition's holiday celebrations.   WHO: Patients, their families and friends, medical center staff, and the general public are invited to participate.   WHEN: 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11   WHERE: Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, B-Level lower lobby (757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif. 90095)   BACKGROUND: UCLA's Spiritual Care Department offers a diverse program that includes multifaith spiritual care for patients, families and staff, and clinical pastoral education and training.   MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Albin, UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 310-794-8672   R.S.V.P. & PARKING: Please call media contact to R.S.V.P. and arrange parking.  
• UCLA signs historic memorandum with pediatric institution in Tokyo
  As part of a new initiative to create partnerships with pediatric research institutions around the globe, Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA has signed a memorandum of understanding with the department of pediatrics at Tokyo's Jikei University School of Medicine.
  The memorandum is the first among Mattel Children's Hospital's many planned agreements with leading institutions throughout Asia and Latin America.   Signed last month, the UCLA–Jikei University pact is a broad agreement in which both institutions express the intention of engaging in cooperative research and collaborating on a variety of other academic activities. The historic memorandum will help create a network through which physicians, scholars and administrators can exchange information on developments in pediatric education and research and help facilitate the translation of research into practice for pediatric diseases.
  
  "By expanding our network throughout the Americas, Pacific Rim, India and beyond, we have the opportunity to exchange ideas and collaborate on cutting-edge research that will benefit children both at home and abroad," said Dr. Edward McCabe, physician-in-chief of Mattel Children's Hospital. "As a result, children everywhere will benefit from an improved quality of life."
  
  In general terms, the memorandum of understading is an agreement to engage in the following types of activities:  
  • Develop visits and informal exchanges of faculty, scholars and administrators in specific areas of education, research and outreach.
  • Explore ways to cooperate in postgraduate education and training.
  • Organize joint conferences and scientific meetings on subjects of mutual interest.
  • Exchange academic information and materials.
  • Pursue avenues for student exchanges.
  
  Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, one of the highest-rated children's hospitals in Southern California, is a vital component of UCLA Medical Center, ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the third best hospital in nation and best in the western United States for the past 19 years. Mattel Children's Hospital offers a full spectrum of primary and specialized medical care for infants, children and adolescents. The hospital's mission is to provide state‑of-the-art treatment for children in a compassionate atmosphere, as well as to improve the understanding and treatment of pediatric diseases. For more information, visit www.uclahealth.org/mattel.
  For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom.
  
• Shapiro family donates $2M to establish two chairs at Geffen School of Medicine
  The Shapiro Family Charitable Foundation has pledged $2 million to The UCLA Foundation to fund two endowed chairs, both of which will greatly enhance the research, teaching, patient care and public service mission of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.   The endowed Shapiro Family Chair in Child Development Studies and Cerebral Palsy, funded by a $1 million endowment, will support the teaching and research activities of a distinguished faculty member in the department of pediatrics who is dedicated to improving outcomes for children with developmental and behavioral problems. Examples would include working with children who have cerebral palsy, those who have parents with substance abuse problems and those who have experienced environmental deprivation. Studies will evaluate the developmental status of children from birth through 5 years of age in inpatient and outpatient settings. Presenting conditions may include high-risk status for developmental problems, as well as demonstrated delays in motor, cognitive, language and/or social-emotional development. The department is in the process of identifying a distinguished individual as chair holder.   "The establishment of this chair will provide vital resources to promote innovative research and education in child development studies and cerebral palsy — and result in better treatments and programs for pediatric patients at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA," said Dr. Edward R.B. McCabe, physician-in-chief of Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and executive chair of the department of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "We are grateful for this very generous gift from the Shapiro family."   The Peter William Shapiro Chair for the Center for Cerebral Palsy will reside in the department of orthopaedic surgery at the Geffen School of Medicine. The creation of this chair supplies important resources to further promote and strengthen clinical services, professional and consumer education, and relevant research to meet the needs of people with cerebral palsy.   William L. Oppenheim, director of the UCLA/Orthopaedic Hospital Center for Cerebral Palsy, said, "We at the Center for Cerebral Palsy are extremely grateful for Shirley, Ralph and Peter Shapiro's committed support to promote and enhance our teaching and clinical investigations, as they clearly understand our goal to emphasize ability over disability."   Peter Shapiro is especially dedicated to this area of medicine and plays a key role in helping to underwrite the Center for Cerebral Palsy's programs.   Eileen Fowler, the newly named holder of the chair, is the Center for Cerebral Palsy's director of research and education. She also is director of the Kameron Gait and Motion Analysis Laboratory and a faculty member at the Tarjan Center at UCLA, a University Center of Excellence. Fowler's research covers a variety of areas, including the effect of exercise and pharmacological agents on movement ability in persons with cerebral palsy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. She was lead investigator of a multicenter study that demonstrated the benefits of exercise on strength, endurance and function in children with cerebral palsy.   Fowler completed her physical therapy degree at Northeastern University in Boston, worked as a physical therapist at Orthopaedic Hospital in Los Angeles for five years and received her Ph.D. from the physiological science department (formerly kinesiology) at UCLA, with a major in biomechanics and a minor in motor control. She was the director of the UCLA Rehabilitation Department's Functional Assessment Laboratory before joining the department of orthopaedic surgery, where she is currently associate professor. Fowler was integral to the development of the Center for Cerebral Palsy.   "The Shapiros' generous gift to UCLA's pediatric and orthopaedic programs will help lead to exciting breakthroughs in child development and cerebral palsy," said Dr. Gerald S. Levey, vice chancellor for UCLA Medical Sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "We applaud their commitment to suppor