Press Release
July 16, 2007
Contact: Kaylyn Kendall Dines
(973) 972-3000
dineskd@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ Hosts Cardiovascular and Respiratory System
Program during Liberty Science Center’s Summer Teachers Institute
Participants are from School Districts in Hudson,
Essex, Somerset, and Mercer Counties
|
NEWARK — Teachers from elementary through high school will spend one day at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey as part of a week-long, science institute that is sponsored by Liberty Science Center. The program at UMDNJ, which will be held on Wed., July 18, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is designed to help teachers develop lesson plans that include the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The program will take place at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions, 65 Bergen Street, in Newark.
The theme for Liberty Science Center’s Inaugural Summer Teacher Institute 2007 is “Healthy Bodies III: The Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems.” In keeping with this theme, faculty members from the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions will conduct a nutrition demonstration and presentations on stroke, cardiovascular physiology and disease, and health promotion for almost 20 teachers. School districts from the following counties will be represented: Hudson, Essex, Somerset, and Mercer.
Dr. Muhamed Saric, director of the Echocardiography Lab and associate professor of Medicine at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, will facilitate the cardiac anatomy and physiology demonstration during a real-time ultrasound imaging of a heart beating inside the body. Teachers will observe how the heart contracts to expel the blood into vessels and how it relaxes to receive the blood. Heart valves, which allow blood to flow in one direction, will also be shown. Doppler techniques, similar to those in Doppler radar weather reports, will demonstrate how the velocity of the blood inside the heart can be measured and how this information can be used to study diseased valves.
“Hypertension is among the most common chronic medical conditions, affecting about 65 million individuals in the United States. It can lead to stroke, heart failure, kidney failure and other conditions,” said Dr. Henry Brezenoff, a pharmacologist and director of UMDNJ’s Office of Health Science Outreach & Education. “Since recent data indicates that about 70 percent are aware they have high blood pressure, 60 percent are treated, and about 35 percent are well controlled. We want teachers to better understand the science behind and treatments for the cardiovascular disease.”
Dr. Clifford Araki, associate professor of Medical Imaging Sciences and director of the Vascular Technology Program at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions, will use a portable ultrasound machine to demonstrate how carotid artery disease is diagnosed. While conducting an ultrasound screening, he will also discuss stroke prevention.
During a presentation on the circulatory system, Dr. Brezenoff will describe how specific classes of medications lower blood pressure and treat hypertension. He will facilitate an interactive discussion on the physiological factors that control blood pressure.
UMDNJ is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
