Milestones
Director of annual fund named
Debby
Kalliokoski, former vice president of resource development for the United
Way of the CSRA, has been named director of annual fund at the Medical
College of Georgia.
Ms. Kalliokoski will coordinate internal and external annual giving campaigns and develop strategies to increase participation in MCG’s All Employee Campaign and President’s Club.
Prior to working with the United Way of the CSRA, Ms. Kalliokoski served as campaign director for the United Way of Central Florida.
“With 16 years of annual-campaign experience for the United Way, Debby has a proven track record of volunteer management and leadership, and successful oversight of an annual multimillion-dollar campaign,” said Betty H. Meehan, assistant vice president for development. “We are delighted to have her join our team in this important role.”
A member of the Augusta Chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, Ms. Kallikoski was named the chapter’s 2004 Fund Raising Professional of the Year. She has served as consultant for United Way of America. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in organizational management from Voorhees College.
Stroke program certified
The MCG Health System stroke program was recently granted a one-year extension of its certification by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.
The Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care. In 2005, MCG Health System was the first in the CSRA to obtain this certification, and remains among only a few medical facilities in Georgia to be certified.
“JCAHO bases its review on the very stringent standards of the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association,” said Bill Hamilton, administrative director of the MCG Neuroscience Center of Excellence. “Certification by JCAHO demonstrates our commitment to excellence in providing stroke management as well as continuous improvements in care.”
Dr. Kutlar named to NIH committee
Dr.
Abdullah Kutlar, hematologist and director of the MCG Sickle Cell Center,
has been appointed to the Candidate-Gene Association Resource Steering
Committee of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
The 13-member committee will help direct federal research initiatives by identifying which candidate genes merit study for their role in specific diseases.
The 1,700 candidate genes will be studied in DNA and blood samples the NHLBI has collected from thousands of participants during several decades of clinical research of major health issues such as cardiovascular disease and sickle cell disease.
Dr. Kutlar already is doing similar studies, looking at about 30 candidate genes that may hold clues about why some children with sickle cell disease who also are at high risk for stroke revert to high-risk status after monthly blood transfusion therapy is halted. He is looking at genetic material collected from two North American studies based at MCG that first showed transfusions reduce stroke risk in these children by 90 percent and next found the reversion that occurs in some children after transfusions are stopped. His clinical research focuses on evaluating new treatments for sickle cell disease as well as improved therapies to deal with side effects of treatment, such as iron overload that can accompany regular blood transfusions.
Dr. Kutlar has directed MCG’s Sickle Cell Center since 1994 and served as director of MCG’s hematology/oncology training program from 1997 to 2000 and from 2002 to present.
Obituaries
Dorothy Myers, a retired medical technician in clinical pathology, died Jan. 31, at age 85. Mrs. Myers served MCG for 25 years. An Augusta native, Mrs. Myers attended Augusta College then received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Converse College. She was a member of Marvin United Methodist Church, where she established the Senior Citizens Club in 1984 and established the first food pantry in Columbia County, which today is Columbia County Cares, Inc. She was a member of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. Survivors include her husband, Paul Edward Myers, daughters Sally Aenchbacher, Dorothy Watkins and Marie Simons; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Marvin United Methodist Church Building Fund, 4400 Wheeler Road, Martinez, GA 30907; or to Columbia County Cares, Inc., 1959 Appling-Harlem Highway, Appling, GA 30802.