The WSU Department of Family Medicine reported several appointments and accomplishments recently. Dr. Maryjean Schenk serves as chair of the department.

The department recently was reorganized and expanded to include a new Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics as well as a more robust health services research program. Rick Severson, Ph.D., was appointed associate chair for program development, and Kendra Schwartz, M.D., was named associate chair for research. Jira Coumarbatch, M.D., was appointed director of predoctoral education to replace Thomas Roe, M.D., who has been named interim assistant dean for clinical science education by the School of Medicine.

In addition, the department reported the accomplishments of several faculty members who received grants and presented workshops. They include:

• Jinping Xu, M.D., principal investigator on a new grant from the American Cancer Society, "Prostate Cancer Treatment Decision Making";
• Rosalie Young, Ph.D., principal investigator on a new grant funded by the Susan Koman Foundation, "Healthy Living Interventions for Breast Cancer Survivors";
• Lou Penner, Ph.D., principal investigator on a new grant funded by the National Cancer Institute, "Using Doctor-Patient Teams to Reduce Health Disparities";
• Linda Roth, Ph.D., WSU School of Medicine director of faculty development, who several faculty development workshops;
• Victoria Neale, Ph.D., and Dr. Schwartz, editors of the Journal of the Board of Family Medicine, who twice presented to capacity crowds at Dr. Roth's workshops.