1997 Annual Report

Board of Trustees Report to the Constituencies 1997

Graduate School

Rippon

W. Barton Rippon, PhD, dean

1997-98 academic year highlights
Six students, the largest group since the program’s inception, completed MD/PhD studies at LLU.

The Board of Trustees approved the offering of conjoint degrees in marital & family therapy/clinical ministry, marital & family therapy/ public health, and ethics/psychology.

The 1998 commencement exercise saw the largest number of students in the School’s history honored for their efforts, including the first student from the doctorate of psychology program.

The oral & maxillofacial surgery program received a five-year accreditation.

The marital & family therapy program again received full accreditation.

gs grads

Five MD/PhD graduates celebrate following commencement ceremonies.

The master of science in nutrition was reopened for admissions with three tracks envisaged: nutritional sciences (fundamental research); clinical nutrition (patient-related); and nutrition care management (administration).

Medical scientist student John Francis studied Rev protein produced by HIV, the viral cause of AIDS. Rev is essential for HIV infections. It recognizes HIV messenger RNA and carries it from nucleus to cytoplasm to make viral proteins and new viruses. Mr. Francis and his collaborators designed a “decoy” RNA molecule recognized by Rev even better than HIV RNA. When the decoy RNA is introduced into HIV-infected cells, infection stops. Rev protein binds to the decoy and none is left to transport HIV RNA. The research group, directed by John Rossi, MD, at the City of Hope, Duarte, California, is developing this strategy to use in the AIDS battle.

Anu Rebbapragada, a microbiology and molecular genetics student, was one of two recognized nationally with the Serber Award by the American Society for Microbiology for her work as the first to isolate and characterize the oxygen receptor responsible for enabling bacteria to respond “intelligently” to their environment.

Natural sciences chair, Ronald L. Carter, PhD, and associate professor William K. Hayes, PhD, organized a symposium on biosystematics, behavioral ecology, and conservation of iguanas at the meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, and the Herpetology League.

The Global Patterns in Psychiatry conference, held at LLU, brought world leaders in mental health delivery services, policy-making, academia, and research to address worldwide diagnostic guidelines, psychotropic medications, issues in treating ethnic populations, and multi-disciplinary approaches to mental health services.

Social work faculty have developed behavioral health, disaster, education, and debriefing seminars for the Trans-European Division of the Adventist Church. These seminars utilize multidisciplinary expertise to present intervention modalities that interdigitate needs of individuals, families, small groups, and communities experiencing war trauma.

Total number of alumni
3,219

Programs offered & number of students
Anatomy (MS, PhD): 12
Biochemistry (MS, PhD): 22
Biology (MS, PhD): 24
Biomedical & clinical ethics (certificate): 6
Biomedical sciences (certificate): 29
Clinical ministry (MA): 3
Nutrition (MS): 2
Drug & alcohol counseling (certificate; students also in degree program)
Endodontics (MS)
Family counseling (certificate): 2
Family life education (certificate): 1
Family studies (MA): 1
Geology (MS): 2
Marital & family therapy (MS): 89
Medical scientist program (PhD): 2
Microbiology (MS, PhD): 28
Nursing (certificate, MS): 101
Oral & maxillofacial surgery (MS): 3
Oral implantology (MS): 2
Orthodontics (MS): 11
Paleontology (MS): 1
Pediatric dentistry (MS): 1
Periodontics (MS)
Pharmacology (PhD): 11
Physiology (MS, PhD): 32
Prosthodontics (MS): 1
Psychology (MA, PhD, PsyD): 94
Social work (MSW): 93
Speech & language pathology (MS): 36
Unspecified: 4
Total: 613