Ucla Medical Center Westwood

Investigators Honored For Studies Of Obesity And Rare Genetic Disorder

Patricia Dickson, MD, and Jennifer Yee, MD, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) researchers, will be honored on Thursday as recipients of the first UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute's (CTSI) Award for Translational Research in Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health.

The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute established the award to recognize outstanding junior investigators with a translational research focus on maternal, child and adolescent health. The Clinical and Translational Science Institute is an academic-clinical-community partnership designed to accelerate scientific discoveries and clinical breakthroughs to improve health in Los Angeles County, the most populous and diverse county in the United States. Its mission is to create a borderless clinical and translational research institute that brings innovations and resources to bear on the greatest health needs of Los Angeles.

"Congratulations to Drs. Dickson and Yee for this recognition of their vital research into some of the most vexing problems facing children and adolescents," said David I. Meyer, PhD, LA BioMed president and CEO. "Dr. Yee's research holds the promise of breaking new ground in understanding the causes of obesity , while Dr. Dickson is advancing the institute's development of treatments for a rare genetic disorder. The honors for these two investigators also signify both their commitment and LA BioMed's dedication to reaching across departmental boundaries to foster innovation and the delivery of new therapies to patients as quickly and safely as possible."

Dr. Dickson's research at LA BioMed focuses on enzyme replacement therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis, a group of metabolic disorders caused by the absence or malfunctioning of enzymes needed to break down molecules, called glycosaminoglycans, which help build bone, cartilage, connective tissue and other essential parts of the body. She is the principal investigator of ongoing clinical trials for replacing the missing enzyme through the spinal canal to ensure the enzymes reach the brain.

Dr. Dickson has published 15 research papers. She also serves as assistant professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine in the Division of Medical Genetics at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Dickson is a faculty member in the UCLA Intercampus Medical Genetics Training Program.

Dr.

Public Safety Will Be the Priority During 405 Closure, Officials ...

Los Angeles police, fire and transportation officials sought to assure audience members at a 405 freeway closure meeting Thursday night that they were fully prepared to protect the public during the 53-hour shutdown in mid-July. Construction crews for the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project plan to demolish the south half of the Mulholland Bridge in the Sepulveda Pass over the July 16-17 weekend in order to build a new, wider bridge and a car pool lane on the freeway. The demolition is part of a $1 billion project to add a 10-mile-long northbound car pool lane that will complete the car pool lane network between Orange County and the San Fernando Valley. “Should an unfortunate incident occur—someone has a heart attack, there’s a victim of a traffic accident, someone’s shot—whatever that emergency might be, if we need to get to you we will get to you quickly because we have preplanned to do so,” L.A. Police Department Deputy Chief Kirk J. Albanese told about 170 people at the Skirball Cultural Center. The 405 will be shut down starting late July 15 on its northbound side for 10 miles between the 10 and 101 freeways. The southbound side will be closed for four miles between the 101 and the Getty Center Drive exit. Officials expect the freeway to be reopened at 5 a.m. Monday morning July 18 in time for the rush-hour commute. Thirteen communities have been designated on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley near the freeway where police and fire crews will be stationed. The move will allow the LAPD and Los Angeles Fire Department to respond quickly to emergencies, officials said. Authorities also are planning on flooding the area with extra law enforcement, with more airships patrolling and officers on foot and on motorcycles operating in 12-hour shifts over the weekend. “At the end of the weekend on Monday morning, you and your family will be safe,” Albanese said. “We’ll get through the 53 hours, and when we wake up on Monday morning, we’ll all be safe. That’s what’s really important.” But local hospital officials were unconvinced by the assurances. Staffing levels will remain unchanged at UCLA’s medical facilities, said Posie Carpenter, chief administrative officer of the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. As a result, hundreds of UCLA medical personnel will still need to commute to Westwood and Santa Monica the weekend of the closure, Carpenter told the command team. Many staffers will be traveling from north of the Sepulveda Pass and areas south of the closure over the weekend. UCLA has not received a plan for aiding in the transport of these employees despite multiple attempts at communication, and simply telling staffers to leave earlier than they usually do is not enough, Carpenter said. “They are flatly refusing to allow the hospital to plan,” Carpenter said. “There is no way to know what the traffic is going to be.” She warned that patients will be at risk if a suitable plan is not adopted. UCLA is requesting that charter buses transporting university personnel be allowed to use an emergency route. In a letter to the command team, UCLA leadership estimated that about eight convoys would be required over the weekend to transport hospital staff to 12-hour shifts. Albanese said after the meeting that the hospital should identify the staffers who are the most critical and consider putting them in a hotel over the weekend. He said he was reluctant to start making exceptions for members of the community, including hospital workers, because others also would ask for exceptions. “We have to stay careful that we stay focused on public safety,” Albanese said. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Mike Barbour, a former Caltrans official and bridge expert who is leading the closure and reconstruction project, said transportation officials have conducted painstaking review of the plan to ensure that the freeway reopens by its Monday morning deadline. Barring any major disasters over the weekend, Barbour said he is confident the work will be completed on time. He and other leaders of the project will be monitoring its progress throughout the entire closure. He acknowledged, however, that if the remaining northern half of the Mulholland Bridge was not safe enough for drivers to use by Monday, the closure could continue. “If it’s unsafe, it’s unsafe—there is always something that could happen, it’s possible,” Barbour said. “But no, it’s going to be open.” Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on  Twitter  and “Like” us on  Facebook .

I'm at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (757 Westwood Plaza, at Charles E. Young Dr, Los Angeles)

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I'm at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (757 Westwood Plaza, at Charles E. Young Dr, Los Angeles)

I'm at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (757 Westwood Plaza, at Charles E. Young Dr, Los Angeles)

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