Dr. Raj Pruthi, Urologic Surgeon at UNC, emphasized the importance of early detection of prostate cancer on a WRAL News broadcast aired on Sept. 21. He recommended that all men should begin PSA and digital rectal exam screening by age 50, but African American men and others with a family history of prostate cancer should begin screening by age 40. The North Carolina Cancer Hospital at UNC is offering free prostate cancer screening on Sept. 23rd and 24th from 1 to 7 P.M., no appointment necessary. For additional information, please call 919-966-1315.

Duke Sports Information has published an interview with Dr. Courtney Sommer, a UNC General Surgery resident who was a three-time All-American field hockey player while an undergraduate at Duke University.

Sean McLean, MD, of Pediatric Surgery, has been awarded a two-year grant supplement for career development. Dr. Cam Patterson, division chief of Cardiology, is the principal investigator of the parent R01 and will serve as Dr. McLean’s mentor. The project, entitled “The role of FGFR1 and FGFR2 in Repair of Damaged Intestinal Epithelium,” covers the period 09/01/2009 – 08/31/2011 and was awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Sept. 16, 2009 — The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has made a $30,000 loan to X-In8 Biologicals Corp., a new biotechnology company founded by Thomas M. Egan, M.D., M.Sc., a faculty member in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The company is a spinoff from work that Dr. Egan has done in his lab at UNC-Chapel Hill.

September 12, 2009 — Dr. Culley Carson III, of Urologic Surgery, was featured on a prostate cancer news segment aired by NBC 17 News on Sept. 12. September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and the UNC Urology Clinic is offering free prostate screenings on Sept. 22nd and 23rd.

In 2010, the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will begin a new six-year integrated residency program, which residents will enter directly from medical school. The Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery, the national residency accrediting body, approved the program in July 2009. Students at North American medical schools may now apply for the program through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), for a residency position to begin July 1, 2010. UNC is one of just six institutions in the United States to offer such a program.

The Urology Clinic at UNC Hospitals will offer free prostate cancer screenings from 1 to 7 p.m. Sept. 23-24 for men 40 years old or older and younger men with a family history of prostate cancer. The screenings, which are being conducted as part of National Prostate Health Month, consist of a blood test and digital rectal exam. No appointment is necessary. For additional information, please call (919) 966-1315.

Dr. Andy Kiser, who completed residency training (General Surgery in 1997 and Cardiothoracic in 2000) at UNC, treated Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson for atrial fibrillation at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst, NC. Kiser performed a convergence procedure and said he expects Robertson to make a full recovery. See full article at MSNBC.