Daily Business Report-March 12, 2018
Marc Hammer is an avid cyclist whose life was saved by a new heart attack test offered at UC San Diego Health. (Photo courtesy of UC San Diego Health)
New Test Can Diagnose Heart Attack within an Hour
UC San Diego Health is first hospital in California
to use fifth generation of troponin test
When Marc Hammer went to the emergency room feeling fatigued and dizzy, he had no idea his life was actually at risk. “I’m an avid cyclist and walk five to 15 miles a day,” said Hammer, “so you can imagine my shock when I found out I was facing a heart issue. It came out of the blue.”
Doctors performed several tests to determine what was happening with Hammer’s heart. “We wanted to rule out blockages in his coronary arteries,” said Lori Daniels, M.D., cardiologist at UC San Diego Health. “The blood tests came back normal, but it was determined that Marc needed a pacemaker to regulate his heart beat.”
The pacemaker improved his symptoms briefly, but new symptoms appeared. “A few days after the procedure, I started to feel pressure in my chest and shortness of breath,” said Hammer. “I was back in the hospital with questions.”
When Hammer returned, his cardiologists decided to use a new version of the troponin test, which measures levels of troponin T in the blood, a protein released when heart muscle is damaged, such as during a heart attack. The more damage, the greater the amount of troponin T.
A simple blood draw and analysis revealed Hammer’s troponin T levels were high. Normal levels range from less than 6 to 22 for men; Hammer’s were up to 41. The results led to an angiogram, which found Hammer had a problem with his main coronary artery. “His heart was compressing his coronary artery and he was having a heart attack,” said Daniels. “The new troponin test truly helped us put all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
The fifth generation test was approved in the United States in 2017, and UC San Diego Health is the first hospital in California to use it. The new version is much more sensitive and can detect a heart attack within one hour versus three to six hours for previous generations. “It saved my life,” said Hammer.
“Critical diagnoses rely on the biomarker troponin, and over the past 15 years, improvements in the sensitivity of the test have increased our ability to detect heart issues faster,” said Robert Fitzgerald, PhD, clinical chemist at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “This next generation of test also has sex specific cutoffs, which is very important because females have a lower baseline.”
During the two months of using the new troponin test, UC San Diego Health cardiologists also ran the previous version on patients for side-by-side comparisons.
“We saw a good number of cases where the results of the previous version showed normal results but the fifth generation showed abnormal results with some kind of cardiac issue going on,” said Daniels. “This new test allows us to make decisions faster, administer immediate treatment when every minute counts, and also discharge patients earlier if their levels are normal.”
The troponin test is primarily used in emergency departments and outpatient cardiology clinics.
“With sensitive tests like the fifth generation of troponin, we can identify new disease states and why heart cells are dying,” said Fitzgerald. “Armed with this information, we could develop new life-saving therapies for the future.”
One month after his diagnosis, Hammer is still recovering, slowly getting his energy back and adjusting to necessary medications.
“Everything is looking up,” said Hammer. “I definitely don’t take life for granted anymore.”
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Naomi Tutu:
Activist, Daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu
The challenges of growing up black and female in apartheid South Africa has led Nontombi Naomi Tutu to her present as an activist for human rights.
Those experiences taught how much we all lose when any of us is judged purely on physical attributes. In her speeches she blends the passion for human dignity with humor and personal stories.
Naomi will speak at the Leadership Conference March 23 as part of San Diego Women’s Week sponsored by the North San Diego Business Chamber.
Women’s Week runs March 19-21-23. Click here for the schedule.
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The Value of Philosophy in the Business World:
A talk by Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com
Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University, will speak about the value of philosophy and humanities in the business world at the 2018 American Philosophical Association Pacific Division meeting in San Diego.
Byrne’s talk will be in conversation with Andrew Cullison, director of the Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. The special event will be March 31 at 1 p.m. at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter Downtown. The Division meeting runs March 28 through April 1.
The event celebrates the launch of the APA’s Philosophers Beyond Academia Network, which was created to help philosophers working outside academia stay connected to scholarly societies and vice versa. The Philosophers Beyond Academia Network is open to anyone with a degree in philosophy (bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate) whose primary profession is not as an academic, as well as those studying or working in philosophy who are interested in exploring non-academic opportunities. Those with philosophy backgrounds who are working in alternative-academic careers, such as university administration or academic publishing, as well as those whose careers are in business, journalism, the arts, nonprofits, government, and other sectors, are welcome to participate.
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Shane Beard Appointed to Small Business
Advisory Board by Mayor Kevin Faulconer
Shane Beard, owner and operator of FASTSIGNS on Mira Mesa Boulevard, has been appointed to the Small Business Advisory Board for the city of San Diego by Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
The board is comprised of 11 members who advise on matters that help small businesses in San Diego succeed.
Beard brings more than 30 years of experience in operating small businesses in California, Illinois and Texas.
He is currently the vice chair of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Roundtable, a member of the Mira Mesa Chamber of Commerce and a member of the FASTSIGNS National Advertising Council representing more than one hundred FASTSIGNS franchisees in western states as it relates to marketing programs.
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Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center
Receives Donation of Dental Health Care Products
The nonprofit Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center has received a donation of health care products under a grant from the Henry Schein Cares Global Product Donation Program. The donation is in partnership with the California Dental Association Foundation’s Dental Materials and Supplies Grant.
Through this program, Henry Schein Inc. provides recipient organizations with several health care product donations valued between $5,000 and $25,000 over the course of two years. The grant will enable the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center to more effectively carry out its mission and expand its ability to provide care to low-income seniors in Downtown San Diego. Henry Schein Cares aims to expand access to health care for underserved and at-risk populations around the world by promoting wellness, prevention, treatment and education; providing emergency preparedness and relief; and building health care capacity.
“We are honored to have been selected to participate in the Henry Schein Cares Global Product Donation Program. Each day we see the impact that providing desperately needed oral healthcare has on seniors’ ability to eat, speak, and smile,” said Karen Becerra, DDS, CEO and dental director of the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center.
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General Atomics Demos Acoustic Detection
System for Counter-UAS Missions
ExecutiveBiz
General Atomics’electromagnetic systems business demonstrated an acoustic detection system during an event held at the U.S. Army‘s Fires Center of Excellence in Lawton, Oklahoma.
The company said it was invited to showcase the Fencepost platform at the annual Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment in support of counter-unmanned aerial system missions.
Hank Rinehart, business lead for surveillance and sensor systems at GA-EMS, said the six Fencepost sensors created a passive surveillance perimeter to detect and track small UAS targets on the range.
Rinehart added the system displayed threat tracks and provided updated within the Army’s Maneuver Aviation and Fires Integrated Application.
Fencepost is designed to integrate with multiple networked sensors, collect data and detect multiple threats in CUAS, facility protection and port security operations.
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Fox Sports San Diego Announces 2018
Padres Regular Season Broadcast Schedule
FOX Sports San Diego, in partnership with the San Diego Padres, today announced the 2018 regular season broadcast schedule. All 162 regular season games will be televised in English on either FOX Sports San Diego, FS1 or FOX. Games produced by FOX Sports San Diego will also be available on the FOX Sports GO app via mobile, tablet and connected devices. In addition, regular season home games will be televised in Spanish on FOX Deportes San Diego.
Regular season coverage on FOX Sports San Diego begins Thursday, March 29, with the Padres’ season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. Coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a 90-minute Padres Live pregame show leading into the game. Coverage concludes with a 30-minute Padres Live postgame show.
Don Orsillo returns to handle the television play-by-play duties in 2018. He will be joined by former Padres pitcher Mark Grant, returning in the role of analyst. Mike Pomeranz, Mark Sweeney, Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Bob Scanlan will round out the FOX Sports San Diego broadcast team.
Click here for the complete 2018 Padres broadcast schedule.
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Personnel Announcements
Margo Whitchurch Promoted at TAG Family CFO
Margo Whitchurch has been named client relationship manager for TAG Family CFO. In her new role, Whitchurch will oversee a team of accounting managers and staff accountants with a complex portfolio ranging from high-net-worth families, their businesses, trusts and foundations.
Whitchurch joined TAG in 2014 as an accounting consultant to provide controller-level accounting services for companies in a wide range of industries. Within four years, she was promoted to accounting manager and controller. With expert knowledge in QuickBooks and highly organized in the creation of streamlined accounting systems, Whitchurch produces timely and accurate financial statements so her clients can make better financial decisions with their wealth.
Working with her team at TAG Family CFO, Whitchurch will focus on delivering financial peace of mind by helping clients organize and navigate through their financial affairs. TAG Family CFO provides monthly financial reporting and analysis, cash flow management and bill pay services for the high-net-worth.
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Patty Zamora Joins Oster and Associates
Patty Zamora has joined Oster and Associares as a public relations specialist.
Zamora, a bilingual San Diego native, graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in communications and earned a marketing versus social media certificate from there. Her professional background spans more than two decades and includes serving 15 years in corporate communications roles inside the health care and biotech industries, among others.
Prior to joining Oster and Associates, Zamora was a PR consultant where she worked with brands in the medical, design and international charter cruise industries. She initially began her career in television news serving various newsroom roles with CNN, first at the news organization’s world headquarters in Atlanta and then in its Los Angeles bureau. Zamora returned home to San Diego by transitioning into the PR world where she worked with agencies such as The Townsend Agency and Fleishman-Hillard, joined local corporate giant Qualcomm and followed that up with stints at Novatel Wireless (now Inseego) and Life Technologies (now Thermo Fisher Scientific) before becoming a consultant.
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SDSU Student Finds Deeper Meaning
in Her Study Abroad in Uganda and Rwanda
By Michael Klitzing | SDSU NewsCenter
For San Diego State University sociology senior Nancy Nguyen, choosing Uganda and Rwanda as her study abroad destinations was the easy part. Breaking the news to her parents? That proved a bit trickier.
Though politically stable now, both countries have troubled histories. Uganda endured the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin in the 1970s and a bloody civil war in the 1980s. Rwanda was the site of an infamous 1994 genocide that killed as many as a million people.
“It just didn’t connect for them,” said the Weber Honors College student. “They said, ‘We left a war-torn area to give you and your siblings better lives, and now you’re entering another war-torn area?’”
Ironically, it was a desire to examine her parents’ experiences as Vietnam War refugees that made Nguyen—who plans to pursue a career related to refugee resettlement and integration—so eager to pack her bags for the Nile Basin.
“I did a lot of reflecting on my personal history. Since my parents came to the United States to escape political persecution, I wanted to analyze that phenomenon in another region.”
As she continues to study in Africa this semester, Nguyen will seek to understand more about the forces that have shaped her own life and understand how she can work to make a positive difference for future victims of war and persecution.
Editor’s Note: A longer version of this story is on the SDSU NewsCenter site Click here
