Recent studies have highlighted that life expectancy has risen in the United States and Michigan resident Jeralean Talley is living proof of that. Talley, oldest person in America and second oldest in the world, celebrated her 115th birthday, May 25. So what's the secret of her long life? According to Peter Lichtenberg, director at Wayne State University's Institute of Gerontology, it is motivation and determination of movement that is the key to longevity. "One of the areas of research that we're getting really interested in as a field is how much movement people have - really just having your bodies in motion. It's not just 30 minutes of exercise and sit the rest of the day. It's moving around, being active," he said, according to Detroit Free Press. That's walking, being out with friends, gardening - refusing to be dictated to by the flipping pages of a calendar, Lichtenberg said.

Little streaks of light are expected to decorate the night sky during a rare meteor shower beginning late Friday, scientists say. No one has seen the May Camelopardalids before, but it may be similar to the Perseid shower in August, said David Corliss, part-time faculty member in the Wayne State University Physics and Astronomy department. The May Camelopardalids is a result of cosmic debris from comet 209P/LINEAR, according to NASA. Two years ago, two meteor experts announced that dust ejected from the comet back in the 1800s would cross the Earth's orbit on Saturday. Prime time for viewing is between midnight and 2 a.m. Saturday, but could possibly be seen as early as Friday evening, Corliss said. Look for activity just under the North Star. Corliss also suggests preparing as though going to a fireworks show. The meteor showers will likely occur every couple of minutes, over a period of hours, he said.

Student loan debt averaging between $160,000 to more than $250,000 is cited in this story as one of the main factors in keeping young doctors from going into primary care family practice and sending them into higher-paid specialist fields. Another factor cited is the lack of posts where medical school graduates can do their required training as residents. Another reason that medical students don't go into primary care practice is most spend their internships and residencies in hospitals and with specialists, not so much with primary care doctors, said Dr. Mary Jean Schenk, vice dean of Medical Education at Wayne State University School of Medicine. And medical residents tend to continue to practice in the area in which they spend their residencies, said Schenk. Schenk added that Wayne State and two Oakland County hospitals have been operating special teaching programs to bring and keep more primary care doctors in Michigan. "We are committed to train medical students and get them working with our clinical partners so they stay here for residency."

On April 16, about 20 students from Detroit International Academy attended an InsideOut program at Wayne State University. Any students who showed great interest in literary arts were welcome to take part in the various workshops that touched on many different aspects of art, literature and writing. Prior to the event, students were asked to pick on their applications which specific workshops they would be interested in participating in and received a schedule of a total of three different workshops based on their choices. Many fellow DPS schools attended the program and were able to connect with one another well due to similar interests and talents that were revealed during the sessions.

Nearly one-third of all pregnancies in the city of Detroit end in abortion, a statistic public health officials blame on rising poverty and dwindling access to affordable contraception. Dr. Jay Berman, chief of gynecology at DMC Hutzel Hospital and division chief for gynecology at Wayne State University Medical School, said health reform will reduce cost barriers that have kept women, including many who have health insurance, from using long-acting reversible contraceptives - such as injections, intra-uterine devices (IUDs) and subdermal implants. "Ultimately the (Affordable Care Act) is going to have an impact on the abortion rates," Berman said. "We're also promoting long-term reversible contraception, the implants in the woman's arm, shots and IUDs, which are very suitable for a lot of these patients. There are three, five and 10-year IUDs that are available."

Perhaps one of the keys to good health isn't just what you eat but how you taste it. Taste buds may in fact have a powerful role in a long and healthy life - at least for fruit flies, say two new studies that appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Switzerland found that suppressing the animal's ability to taste its food - regardless of how much it actually eats - can significantly increase or decrease its length of life and potentially promote healthy aging. Bitter tastes could have negative effects on lifespan, sweet tastes had positive effects, and the ability to taste water had the most significant impact - flies that could not taste water lived up to 43 percent longer than other flies. The findings suggest that in fruit flies, the loss of taste may cause physiological changes to help the body adapt to the perception that it's not getting adequate nutrients. "Our world is shaped by our sensory abilities that help us navigate our surroundings and by dissecting how this affects aging, we can lay the groundwork for new ideas to improve our health," says senior author of the other study, Joy Alcedo, Ph.D, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Wayne State University, formerly of the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Switzerland.

JP Morgan Chase's $100 million dollar pledge to invest in the Detroit community follows a $15 million investment by Goldman Sachs late last year. Robin Boyle, professor of urban studies and planning at Wayne State University, says the investments don't necessarily signal that Detroit is the new darling of Wall Street, but the funds could help the bankrupt city focus on the future, while city managers grapple with billion dollars of debts.

An educator profile features Mona Lisa Kelly, who works with children as a guidance counselor at Burton International Academy in Detroit. Kelly is noted for being an integral part of the school's collaboration with Wayne State University. The partnership kicked off in June 2013 and operates thanks to funds from the university. The collaboration supports Burton's eighth grade students and gives them exposure to college life.

Channel 7 highlighted the Wayne State women's softball team as they prepare for their trip to the NCAA Division II College Softball World Series. The Warriors (46-10) will face Valdosta State at 5 pm on Thursday, May 22 in the third of four games on opening day. Senior Logan White comments about the upcoming series.

Jocelyn Benson, interim dean of Wayne State University's Law School, opined about the judiciary trending away from applying longstanding legal precedent protecting voters' rights. In the case of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, Benson writes that the courts probably will strike down Michigan's requirement that only registered voters collect signatures. She calls it the "right course of action based on clear legal precedent and because courts should put a premium on opening the process to participation. Benson writes: "Our democracy is under siege. We no longer can rely on our federal courts to navigate us through political controversies with an eye on protecting citizen participation and political rights. Instead, several major decisions have led courts away from playing that longstanding guardian role. But with every new case our federal courts have an opportunity to reverse the trend. The Conyers case should be a step in that direction."

When the Detroit Regional Chamber hosted its Detroit policy conference earlier this year, it turned to 26-year-old Evette Hollins to line up and manage the complex run of speakers, panels, and supporting materials. It was a substantial responsibility for a young person, but it's par for what dozens of talented young people working through a variety of special fellowship programs have been accomplishing in Detroit lately. Name almost any group making an impact in Detroit - Focus: HOPE, Eastern Market, Rock Ventures and dozens more - and all these groups participate in one of a variety of fellowship programs aimed at attracting and nurturing talented young people in Detroit.

Prenatal care will be made available to every pregnant woman in Detroit, regardless of insurance coverage or financial status, under a plan to reduce the city's high preterm birth rate that will be announced Thursday, The Detroit News has learned. Details of the initiative, called Make Your Date, will be announced by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Wayne State University and Detroit's three largest health care systems: the Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System, and St. John Providence Health System. The goal of the program is to ensure that all babies born in the city have a chance at a healthy start. According to two sources familiar with the mayor's plan, the program will ensure that all Detroit mothers-to-be receive a full range of prenatal services and other support, at no additional cost, to prevent preterm delivery, which occurs at a higher rate in the city than anywhere in America.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson has said he wanted to make the school's technology transfer office more active in spinning off for-profit companies. Today, the school announced that two veterans of technology commercialization have joined the office to do just that. John Shallman is senior director of licensing, and Kenneth Massey is senior director of venture development. Shallman has more than 24 years of experience in technology commercialization, the last six as director of commercialization at Royal Oak-based Beaumont Health System, and before that as development manager of the life sciences sector at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Massey has 28 years combined of biomedical research and business experience in academic, pharmaceutical and biotech areas. He will help identify startup opportunities that can grow out of university research. "We are excited to have John and Ken join our technology commercialization team," said Hilary Ratner, vice president for research at WSU, in a news release. "Together, they bring new synergy and skills to our technology commercialization team that will speed and expand our ability to translate important university scientific and technological expertise into the marketplace and contribute even more to the regional economic ecosystem."

The president of the American Medical Association met with Wayne State University School of Medicine medical students May 7 as part of her visit to Detroit organized by the Wayne County Medical Society. Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, was the guest at the School of Medicine's AMA Leadership Forum hosted in Scott Hall by AMA-Medical Student Section members. Hoven spoke to more than two dozen students interested in the future of medical education, health care policy and political advocacy. Hoven gave an update on the AMA and its involvement in the changing health care landscape, including possible changes and innovations at academic medical centers for better efficiency in undergraduate medical education, more residency positions, less student debt and a stronger emphasis on primary care as a valuable specialty option. Vice Dean of Medical Education Maryjean Schenk, MD '83, MPH, MS also participated in the discussion.

A presidential task force is exploring the possibilities of turning Wayne State University into a fully smoke-free campus. The 11-member group, made up of students, faculty and staff, started doing research in March, talking with students, observing behavior patterns and reviewing best practices from other smoke-free universities. Wayne State's current smoking policy prohibits smoking in any university building and within 25 feet of any entrance or exit. However, concerns have been raised that the current policy is not being followed. Julie Miller, secretary to the Board of Governors and chair of the task force, said several students have complained about having to walk through smoke when entering and exiting campus buildings. The task force plans to wrap up their investigation and make a recommendation to the university's president by June 15.

The inability of adults to recall experiences from early childhood may be linked to the creation of new neurons in the brain. Throughout a person's life, neurons are constantly made in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with memory. To see whether this process, known as neurogenesis, could drive the loss of childhood memories, researchers ran tests with animals trained to fear a particular environment through electric shock. "When new neurons are born and mature and integrate into these pre-existing neural circuits, they're going to change the connections that existed before," said Katherine Akers, now at Wayne State University and lead author of the study. "Changing these connections might degrade the integrity of the pre-existing memories." The findings, published in the journal Science, could help lead to treatments for adults with memory or cognition problems, she said.

If Wayne State University can raise the $40-million-plus it needs, the school's Hilberry Theatre will gain a significant new performance arts space on Cass Avenue in Detroit. Plans for the Hilberry Gateway project include a new 450-seat theater with a modern "thrust" stage, a stage that extends out so that the audience sits on three sides instead of just in front. Meanwhile, the existing Hilberry, originally a church building dating to 1916, would be converted to a multipurpose "black box" theater, said Matthew Seeger, professor and dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. As part of the project, the historic David Mackenzie House at 4735 Cass Ave., a Queen Anne-style mansion dating to 1895 and built by the scholar who started the Detroit Junior College in 1917, part of the nucleus of what is now WSU, will be relocated elsewhere on campus and preserved, Seeger said. A lot depends on the fund-raising, but the Gateway project is expected to be part of WSU's broader capital campaign launching in the fall. Details of that campaign are yet to be announced, but is expected to be targeted toward raising funds for a variety of WSU projects by the university's 150th anniversary celebration in 2018.

After two decades of arduous research, a National Institutes of Health funded investigator at the Children's Hospital of Michigan at the Detroit Medical Center and the Wayne State University School of Medicine has published a new study showing that many children with an often fatal type of heart disease can recover "normal size and function" of damaged sections of their hearts. The finding by Wayne State University Chair of Pediatrics Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.A.H.A., clearly demonstrates that nearly one-fourth of children treated for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) can be expected to fully recover normal size and function of left-ventricular heart muscle fibers within about two years of diagnosis. "Until now, investigators have known relatively little about specific outcomes among children who are diagnosed early with DCM," said Lipshultz. "But this new study is going to help change that, because it provides some revealing metrics showing that more than 22 percent of DCM-diagnosed children can be expected to regain normal heart size and function, with appropriate medical treatment and management of their condition."

Wayne State University has posted drawings of a $48.6 million project that will transform the corner of Cass and W. Forest in Midtown and breathe new life into the school's venerable Hilberry Theatre program for students and playgoers. The information sits on the website of WSU's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. Known as the Hilberry Gateway Project, the complex will include: State-of-the-art costume and scenic studios; flexible performance space for theater and dance in what is now the Hilberry Theatre; a new, and 500-seat main theater. The new theater project will sit just two blocks north of another major WSU development, announced in November: a nine-story mixed-use building that will include 248 market-rate apartments, 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, a hotel with up to 120 rooms and a conference center with capacity for up to 300 people.

Scott Woosley, executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, and State Historic Preservation Officer Brian Conway presented 12 recipients with 2014 Governor's Awards for Historic Preservation today in the state capitol. In Michigan between 2003 and 2013, historic rehabilitations using the federal historic preservation tax credits resulted in more than $1.7 billion in investment. In 2013, completed historic rehabilitation projects in Michigan alone totaled $146 million in investment. Among the 2014 recipients is the restoration project of Wayne State University's McGregor Pond & Sculpture Garden.