More than 100 members of the WSU School of Medicine community responded to a call for volunteers to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina who migrated to Detroit. The Region 2 South Medical Bio-Defense Network established an evacuee processing station at Detroit City Airport, where faculty, students and staff affiliated with the School of Medicine have provided medical assistance.

"I would like to say thanks to Dr. Herbert Smitherman who eloquently offered the support of the university under the direction of Dean Robert Frank in a manner that would have been hard to refuse, to Dr. John Malone Jr., identified as the principle contact for Wayne State University and facilitated efforts to identify resources within the University and, finally, to those of you who, without hesitation, responded to the call to lend a helping hand," wrote Dr. James Blessman, medical director for the city of Detroit and a faculty member in the WSU Department of Family Medicine. "Your generosity is truly inspiring."

Please watch med.wayne.edu for continuing developments in how the WSU School of Medicine is helping to make a difference in this matter.