Dr. Joel Young, clinical assistant professor at Wayne State University's School of Medicine, wrote a letter to the editor regarding the continuing debate on categorizing diseases of the brain in psychiatry. He writes: "Psychiatry readily concedes that categorizing diseases of the brain is a work in progress. Every decade or so, the profession inspects recent research and heartily debates what diagnoses warrant inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Rarely is there unanimity - sometimes scientific findings are inconclusive and contradictory. He adds: "By blending an understanding of neuroscience, psychology and pharmacology, a working psychiatrist can expect to improve most patients' quality of life. Psychiatry has seen a fabulous decade characterized by continued destigmatization of mental illness and improved access to care."

Wayne State is particularly renowned for its contributions to chemical technology, and, earlier this month, the university hired Harl Tolbert - a former pharmaceutical executive with an extensive business development, licensing, and IP management background - as its associate vice president of technology commercialization tasked with building relationships with startups. Tolbert says he plans to increase the school's efforts to commercialize its technology by pitching both fresh technology and older technology to startups, particularly those in the realm of life science applications that involve human cells or tissue. He is also seeking ways to develop technology despite the relative lack of funding that university research typically receives, such that the technology is "one or two steps" beyond the earliest stages. A photo of Tolbert is included.

Three tenants at TechTown, the Wayne State University-affiliated incubator, have received funding from state programs administered by Ann Arbor Spark. Angott Medical Products LLC got an equity investment of $250,000 from the Pre-Seed Capital Fund to match $250,000 that Angott raised previously, and Clean Emission Fluids Inc. got a matching investment of $210,000. ENRG Power Systems LLC got a loan of $50,000 from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund microloan program. Angott Medical hopes to market a low-cost, radiation-free device to screen for breast cancer. Its founder and president, Paul Angott, was named entrepreneur of the year last October at the 11th annual Automation Alley gala.

The Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology has named Lisa Rapport, professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University, associate editor. Rapport, a member of Wayne State's faculty since 1993, focuses her research on the value of neuropsychological assessment in predicting clinically relevant outcomes such as risk for accident, community integration and the quality of interpersonal relationships.

Anne Duggan, a Women's Studies professor at Wayne State University, is quoted in a feature highlighting numerous big and small screen adaptations of the classic fairytale Snow White slated for TV and theaters this and next year. Apart from the classic being romantic, there is a popular theme represented in Snow White, which, like all fairytales, has to do with beauty. "The step-mother is always competing with Snow White and Snow White is this younger woman who is threatening to this older woman, who happens to be the wife of her father," Duggan said.

Wayne State University officials will unveil today a proposed tougher new admissions policy that is expected to reduce the student population by about 5 percent. Under the proposal to be presented to the Board of Governors, incoming freshmen in 2013 would be evaluated on their entire academic record, along with an essay, instead of the current policy of using a student's grade point average and ACT score for determining admissions. The university, meanwhile, said it plans to subsidize on-campus housing for students who face academic challenges so they can learn math, English and study skills for eight weeks in the summer and be prepared when the academic year begins. Officials said they plan to step up their recruitment of minority students from Detroit and surrounding communities to address concerns. "We've been here since 1868 and we will continue to do our best to offer to the broadest spectrum of students we can," said Patrick Lindsey, WSU vice president for government and community affairs. "Our goal will be to make sure that students who are in our programs are able to be successful. It's not successful when a student spends any time here, leaves saddled with debt and is unable to obtain a degree or skills that are going to give them a career that will provide a family-sustaining or prevailing wage. We just want to ensure that students are successful." Rob Kohrman, WSU associate vice president of budget, planning and analysis, also comments in the story. Other area media outlets ran an Associated Press brief.

Three companies in TechTown's Thrive business accelerator program have secured startup capital from the State of Michigan. The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund Investment Program matched $250,000 in startup capital raised by Angott Medical Products, and matched $210,000 in startup capital raised by Clean Emission Fluids. Similarly, TechTown clean-tech company ENRG Power Systems LLC secured a $50,000 loan from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund Micro Loan Program. Paul Angott founded Angott Medical Products in 2008, his fifth successful launch of a new company. The company owns patents for a new breast cancer detection device designed to screen patients in the physician's office. Angott developed a prototype for the device by working in cooperation with the Smart Sensors Lab of Wayne State University's College of Engineering.

Lisa Rapport was named associate editor of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. Rapport is a professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts at Wayne State University. The Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology publishes research on the neuropsychological consequences of brain disease, disorder and dysfunction, and aims to promote the integration of theories, methods and research findings in clinical and experimental neuropsychology. A photo of Rapport is included.

A new study to be published in the Journal of Business Ethics finds that ethical concerns among future business leaders are at a 30-year high, but that the nature of their concerns has shifted considerably. A survey of more than 2,000 college students at 23 universities across the United States finds their top concern is how lower ethical standards may affect their personal finances, including savings and retirement funds. Other top student concerns are how ethics may impact the overall economy and that they may face increased pressure to participate in unethical business practices to succeed. The study was conducted by researchers Will Drover and Jennifer Franczak of Southern Illinois University, and Richard Beltramini of Wayne State University, who is co-author of all three studies. "This population accepts ethical challenges as part of the modern workplace," said Beltramini, an advertising and marketing professor. "While some concerns of earlier decades have been replaced by newer issues, our future business leaders still worry that to succeed in fulfilling business profit objectives, they will have to participate in unethical behaviors."

Dr. Robert Zalenski, professor of emergency medicine at Wayne State University's School of Medicine and director of the University's Center to Advance Palliative-Care Excellence, commented in a column examining hospice care. The piece noted his involvement in the DVD "Except for Six," which details the work of Hospice of Michigan. He was speaking of his experience with the death of a daughter at 10 months old with no hospice program, and of his father, who died with lung cancer under hospice care. "Hospice care gave us time to be together, rather than chasing a cure that doesn't exist. ... Illness is an opportunity to love and care for each other," he said.

Plans are under way for The Community House inaugural gala set for March 24. The gala will honor family business owner David Trott of Trott Trott, LLP. Allan Gilmour, president of Wayne State University, will serve as the evening's keynote speaker.

Marvin Danto, founder and owner of the Michigan Design Center in Troy and donor of $3 million to Wayne State University for what became the Marvin Danto Engineering Development Center, died Jan 24. He was 95.

This past fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing an alarming rise among young adults in the number of acute ischemic strokes, by far the most common kind, in which the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off due to a blockage. From 1995 to 2008, the number of women ages 15 to 34 who were hospitalized for this type of stroke rose some 23 percent, from 3,750 a year to nearly 4,900. For the next age-group, 35 to 44, hospitalizations jumped 29 percent, from 9,400 a year to nearly 13,400. And a second study found that strokes among 20-to 44-year-old Caucasians has more than doubled since 1993. Scarier still is how often strokes in young adults are missed - some 14 percent of the time, according to researchers at Wayne State University. Patients from that study were misdiagnosed as, among other things, being drunk, having an inner ear infection, or suffering from benign vertigo. "If a young person has symptoms of sudden unsteadiness, dizziness, or weakness, it's almost always considered a less dramatic event than stroke," says study coauthor Dr. Kumar Rajamani, associate professor of neurology at Wayne State University's School of Medicine.

A new study shows elimination of a tumor by freezing it can increase life expectancy of patients suffering from ovarian cancer that has spread to the other parts of the body and cannot be removed surgically. The process, called cryoablation, uses a small needle through which high pressure liquid nitrogen or argon gas is streamed that triggers rapid ice formation in the tumor cell which eventually kills the tumor. Results from the study showed the treatment was effective in killing 98 percent of all tumors in 21 patients whose tumors in the abdomen, liver, lung and bone could not be removed surgically. "This study adds to the evidence that cryoablation is an effective option for patients who can't have surgery," said study author Dr. Hyun J. Bang, a radiologist resident at Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center.

In another move Michigan is making to diversify its struggling economy, a former state politician has launched a non-profit group aimed at attracting homeland security businesses. The Michigan Security Network was launched this week to bring more security companies here, as well as coach auto suppliers on how to expand into the industry. Expanding the industry in Michigan would bring high-skill jobs and create openings for graduates of Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University, which all have programs in these areas.

A Wayne State University School of Medicine physician and researcher will convene a vital training workshop on childhood epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa next month. Dr. Harry Chugani, the Rosalie and Bruce Rosen professor of neurology and chief of pediatric neurology for the School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Michigan, has organized "Epilepsy in Children in Developing Countries." The training will take place Feb. 1-4 in Entebbe, Uganda. The attendees will be physicians primarily from sub-Saharan countries, with a few from North Africa. "We will teach them about basic diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in children," said Chugani, who also serves as director of the Positron Emission Tomography Center for the School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Michigan. He will give opening and concluding remarks, as well as a lecture on the role of neuroimaging in epilepsy.

Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System and the Detroit Medical Center confirmed yesterday that they will participate for a second year in the "Live Midtown" initiative in which it gives financial incentives for employees to live in areas of Detroit. The 2012 program kicked off Wednesday. The program, announced last January and administered by Midtown Detroit Inc., offers cash to about 30,000 employees of Wayne State, Henry Ford and the DMC to buy or rent in the New Center, Midtown, Virginia Park and Woodbridge neighborhoods.

Detroit 20/20 ran a segment on the new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (US PTO) to be located at 300 River Place Drive at the former headquarters for Stroh's Brewery and Parke-Davis Laboratories. There is a huge backlog of patents in this country, possibly more than 700,000. The wait for a new patent can be 4 to 5 years or more, and the cost can be tens of thousands of dollars. Dr. Martin Bluth, of Wayne State University's School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, is also the founder of Genome Dynamics International, LLC, and has five patents pending in biomedicine. "I think in terms of getting technology out there faster, I hope the US PTO dropping anchor in Detroit will be the start of heralding a collective buy-in to make the process easier, simpler and more effective so that more people like myself can get technology out there and improve the world," Bluth said.

A feature story examines the University Pharmacy founded on campus in 2008 by Maria Young. Carol Bugdalski-Stutrud, assistant clinical professor and director of community experiential education at Wayne State's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, also is mentioned for her vision of an independent pharmacy on campus that could host influenza clinics and wellness screening staffed by student pharmacists. Photos of WSU pharmacy students are included along with Young and Bugdalski-Stutrud. (Pgs. 49-50)

This feature story in the official NCAA publication profiles Wayne State University sophomore swimmer and diver Paige Kortman, who finished fifth in the one-meter competition and ninth in the three-meter at the 2011 Division II women's Swimming and Diving Championships. A photo of Kortman is included.