January 2004
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Anesthesiology chair elected to national office |
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Coalition formed to prevent suicide in Houston |
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MS expert recognized for volunteerism |
Anesthesiology chair elected to national office
Lydia Ann Conlay, MD, chair of the department of anesthesiology at Baylor
College of Medicine (BCM) in
Houston, has been elected president-elect of the Society of Academic Anesthesiology
Chairs.
SAAC represents the interests of the 144 academic anesthesiology departments
and their associated training programs. Conlay, who also serves as chief
of anesthesia service at The Methodist Hospital and physician-in-chief
for anesthesia at Ben Taub General Hospital, will assume a two-year presidency
in 2004.
In addition to her new position with SAAC, Conlay is treasurer of the
Association of University Anesthesiologists and on the board of directors
for the Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology.
Coalition formed to prevent suicide in Houston
Concerned Houstonians are banding together to prevent suicide--a leading cause of death that claims more lives each year than homicide or AIDS.
A reported 334 Harris County residents committed suicide in 2001, according to the Texas Department of Health, 14 of them children between the ages of 9 and 18. Preliminary figures show that the number of children who commit suicide is increasing, especially among younger children. In 2003, an estimated 64 percent of child suicides occurred in children between the ages of 10 and 14.
To help stem rising suicide rates, eight Houston organizations that work with the mentally ill, students, the elderly, and other Houstonians at high risk for suicide, have formed the Houston-area Suicide Prevention Coalition.
One of the coalition’s primary goals is to make information and intervention specific to suicide readily available so that people with suicidal thoughts or those who have a family member or friend who is considering suicide know where to go for help.
Coalition members include the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, Crisis Intervention Inc., the Harris County Hospital District, the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Houston Independent School District Psychological Services, the Mental Health Association of Greater Houston, the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County and the University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work.
MS expert recognized for volunteerism
Victor Rivera, MD, a professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and medical director of the Maxine Mesinger Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at BCM and The Methodist Hospital, has been inducted into the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Volunteer Hall of Fame in the Health Professional Category.
Rivera was honored for his work as an, “international soldier of good fortune in the fight against MS,” according to the Society.
Rivera is deputy chief of neurology at The Methodist Hospital. He is also president of the Latin-American Committee for Treatment and Research in MS.
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