A delegation from the Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program, based out of Wayne State University, will be in Portland Tuesday for a five-day trip to build relationships and discuss both similarities and differences between the two U.S. cities. Nineteen fellows participating in the two-year program will spend time getting to know Portland while also participating in conversations highlighting both similarities and differences between the two cities. The mission, at its heart to answer the question: What can the two cities learn from each other? Graig Donnelly, the fellowship director, said the trip is also intended to help break down stereotypes that both cities may have of the other.

A major new pediatric research study led by a Wayne State University researcher has "major implications" for the treatment of urinary tract infections(UTIs) in millions of American children. The largest study of its kind in the world, it provides convincing evidence that children with a common urinary-tract abnormality known as "vesicoureteral reflux" (or "VUR") experience a significantly reduced risk of developing frequent UTIs when treated with long-term low-dose antibiotics. "This newly published study has major implications for the management of UTIs in children," said Tej Mattoo, professor of pediatrics at Wayne State University's School of Medicine and chief of Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension at the Children's Hospital of Michigan at the DMC. "Our clinical trial analyzed pediatric research data collected during 6 years at 19 different sites in the United States, and what we found was that children with VUR who received antibiotics long-term were 50 percent less likely to develop recurrent UTIs."

A major new pediatric clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health and published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, has "major implications" for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in millions of American children, according to a Children's Hospital of Michigan pediatrician-researcher who played a key role in the study, which was initiated nine years ago. The largest clinical trial of its kind ever to be conducted in the world, the study provides convincing evidence that children with a common urinary-tract abnormality known as "vesicoureteral reflux" (or "VUR") experience a significantly reduced risk of developing frequent UTIs when treated with long-term low-dose antibiotics. "This newly published study has major implications for the management of UTIs in children," said Dr. Tej Mattoo, Detroit Medical Center chief of pediatric nephrology and Wayne State University School of Medicine pediatrics professor. "According to the study, we now have a much clearer understanding of the relationship between UTI and VUR, and that has clinical implications that are very positive, indeed," Mattoo said.

Wayne State vocal major, Grant Anderson, was lifted up by family and by music after a near fatal car accident. He survived a craniotomy and a six-week coma, spent five months in the hospital and conducted seven years of rehabilitation. Music helped get his brain back on track. "Someone put a keyboard in front of me and then things started waking up," he said. These days Anderson spreads his message of perseverance all over, including elementary schools, where he tells kids "Whatever you're doing in life, if you get down or get knocked over, someone will be there to get you up. Just look for help and take it."

Detroit's financial problems have gotten a lot of attention in the past few years, but there is another economic story unfolding in Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder said. The state has become the high-tech hotbed of the Midwest, and has climbed from being 41st in the nation in terms of entrepreneurial activity and investing to the sixth-place spot in under a decade, the governor said. "Michigan is very strong in life-sciences and IT [startups]," Gov. Snyder said, adding that universities like Wayne State, Michigan State and University of Michigan are producing promising new technologies, and that an investment ecosystem has sprung up around these schools and other areas rich in research and development. The Michigan Venture Capital Association, in a recent survey of the state, said that the number of venture funds has grown 44 percent since 2009, with 33 venture funds, two corporate funds and two funds-of-funds active today. Gov. Snyder said that, over that same period, the number of full-time investment professionals in the state has jumped by more than 80 percent.

Alina Klin and Julie Koehler, Wayne State University professors, were guests on The Craig Fahle Show to discuss the Ethnic Layers of Detroit: Experiencing Place through Digital Storytelling project, a student-centered initiative that documents the overlapping layers of ethnic and cultural histories in downtown neighborhoods through the integration of research, digital media and mobile technologies. It will be a collection of digital community stories publicly available via a free mobile and multimedia web portal. Klin and Koehler are part of a six-member interdisciplinary WSU research group with expertise in language, literature, anthropology and instructional technology, which recently received a $60,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Start-up Grant.

Civic leaders in Detroit's Midtown district last week were celebrating the latest additions to the neighborhood's stock of residential and retail space. Last week, a funders recognition ceremony was held to mark the opening of the Woodward Garden Apartments project at 3909 Woodward. The $12.6-million project has created 61 mixed-income residential apartments, an outside garden space and 11,200 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. That block is now also home to a 300-space parking garage and about 82,000 square feet of office and commercial space housing Great Lakes Coffee, Midtown Detroit, the Kresge Foundation, Wayne State University, the Garden Theater and the Grille Midtown restaurant. Taken together, these projects and other recent additions appear to mean that Midtown, and perhaps the entire Greater Downtown, has passed a tipping point in terms of its redevelopment. New projects are in the works up and down the Woodward corridor, and the coming addition of the M-1 Rail streetcar line on Woodward, set to begin construction this summer, is expected to generate yet more interest in the district.

An unprecedented method for measuring functional connections in the human fetal brain developed at Wayne State University's School of Medicine could open a window into how the brain becomes "wired-up" at the beginning of life. Application of this method may help scientists discover the origins of neural injury or disease before a child is born. Scientists can now detect abnormal signaling between two or more brain regions, a once impossible achievement. Many early childhood diseases, including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, prematurity, schizophrenia and dyslexia, involve abnormal connectivity with no structural irregularity. "As a result, how the human brain is connected into functional systems, or 'wired-up,' has become a question of global interest," said study principal investigator Moriah Thomason, Ph.D., assistant professor in the WSU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, and director of the Unit on Perinatal Neural Connectivity at the Perinatology Research Branch.

Tuition will increase 2 percent for medical students at Wayne State University but the new rate will be locked in while they pursue their medical degrees, under a pilot program approved Friday by the Board of Governors. The tuition increase is aimed at addressing a debt load for WSU medical school graduates that is above the national average for public medical schools, mitigating costs and helping families plan budgets, officials said. The new rate means that in-state medical school students will pay $32,425 in 2014-15, non-resident medical school students will pay $65,346 annually. But for students in their first year of medical school, there will be no additional tuition rate increase for years 2-4; those in their second year will not have a rate increase in years 3-4 and third-year medical students will see no tuition increase in their fourth year. "(The pilot program) is a way to mitigate the amount of student debt that is incurred and it's also useful for students and their families for financial planning," WSU spokesman Matt Lockwood said. "They know how much it's going to be so there are no surprises."

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill authored by state Rep. Matt Lori to expand the number of medical schools in Michigan that may receive cadavers that have been donated to science. Currently only Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan can legally receive bodies donated for scientific purposes. Under House Bill 4341, Oakland University, Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University - which have medical schools under way - would be added to the list of eligible schools. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

As someone who recently joined this community from Washington, D.C., I feel an obligation to let the rest of the country know that Detroit's success isn't part of a bygone era. We are still in the early stages of rebirth, but many parts of Detroit are alive and well. While still making great cars and music, our economy is rapidly diversifying and our heartbeat is palpably stronger. For example, in downtown and midtown, dozens of new businesses have opened in the past year, residential occupancy rates are at capacity and crime is down significantly. All this was made possible by investment, not by deeper cuts.

Distinguished Professor of Music, Dennis Tini, appeared on WJR's 'Mitch Albom Show.' Tini was named a Gold Medal winner by the Global Music Awards for his composition "Black Belt High!" which appears on his and Professor Russ Miller's 2013 album titled 'For Nicole.' "You're a great treasure to us," said show host Mitch Albom. "The Wayne State University jazz program is first rate and receives raves from around the world."

Silicon Mechanics, Inc. announces that Wayne State University (WSU) is the recipient of the company's 3rd Annual Research Cluster Grant, a program in which the company and its partners are donating a complete high-performance compute cluster. As a significant update to WSUs current computing grid, the cluster will be shared by a variety of the most computation-intensive research groups on campus. The grant application was submitted jointly by two interdisciplinary collaborative research teams, and includes both computer scientists and domain scientists focusing on chemistry, mathematics, physics, and biology, along with cancer and biomedical research. Wayne State University Vice President for Research Hilary Ratner said, "We are thrilled to be a recipient of Silicon Mechanics' generous grant program. Our research faculty are pushing the boundaries of discovery, and this high performance computing equipment will help accelerate innovative work across our campus."

The Boston-Edison neighborhood is the latest community where employees of Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center and Wayne State University are eligible for incentives to buy homes in the historic neighborhood. Through the Live Midtown program, workers can apply for up to $20,000 in incentives toward the purchase of a primary residence in the community. The Live Midtown program is a 3-year-old program, run by nonprofit Midtown Detroit Inc., and funded through a mix of foundation, private and public money. Along with its Live Downtown program, the nonprofit says 1,600 people have used the incentives to move to the city and more than 1,000 have used it to renew leases.

An Afghan security guard shot and killed three American doctors at a hospital in Kabul on Thursday. One of the doctors killed has been identified as E. Jerome (Jerry) Umanos, M.D. He graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1982 and performed his pediatrics residency at the Detroit Medical Center's Children's Hospital of Michigan. "This is a terrible tragedy for his family and for the people of Afghanistan who Dr. Umanos was helping," said Valerie M. Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., dean of the WSU School of Medicine. "While I did not know him personally, it is clear from where he was and what he was doing that Dr. Umanos shared the spirit of helping those who need it most, which is a hallmark of our students." Dr. Maryjean Schenk, vice dean of medical education, called Umanos an "outstanding role model" for current WSU students.

Put your junk in your trunk and bring it to Wayne State University's E-Waste Day collection starting at 9 a.m. today. "Feel free to bring all you want. We'd be happy to dispose of it free of charge," said Wally Pociask, associate director of the WSU Office of Environmental Health and Safety and hazardous materials manager. "This keeps it off our streets, out of the wrong hands and out of our landfills." The university will have trucks on hand to collect the e-waste, along with teams of volunteers to assist in removing items from vehicles.

In the fall of 2014, students at South Lake High School will be able to expand their horizons to university courses, without ever leaving the campus. The school has teamed up with Wayne State University to offer one three-credit class per semester at the school, beginning in the fall of 2014.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Michigan's affirmative action ban Tuesday, several universities have pledged to make campus diversity a priority. Wayne State University spokesman Matt Lockwood said diversity is a "priority" for President M. Roy Wilson, who took office last summer. "As the most diverse campus in Michigan, Wayne State University appreciates the innovation, creativity and synergy that emerges when people of different backgrounds interact and work together," said a university statement. "In compliance with the law, we will continue our historic mission of being a place of diversity, opportunity and excellence."

Chacona Johnson has been named Wayne State University's new vice president for development and alumni affairs, and the president of the Wayne State University Foundation. Additionally, Stephen Lanier has been approved by the Board of Governors as the new vice president of research, effective June 16.