Professor Victoria Richards quoted extensively about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Victoria Richards, assistant professor of medical sciences in the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, was quoted extensively in a Health Day article about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a new study indicating that patients on the antibiotic azithromycin may be able to cut down hospitalizations. The story appeared in publications around the world, including U.S News & World Report, Iraq Sun and Haiti Sun.

“Given that exacerbations of COPD can be life-threatening, prevention of such events is critical,” she is quoted as saying. “Use of the antibiotic might also cut down on the need for doctor’s office visits and boost patients’ quality of life.”

Professor offers insight on new state report about 18 hospital executives earning more than $1 million

Eighteen Connecticut hospital executives received pay packages valued at more than $1 million last fiscal year, as many of the state’s acute care providers saw their financial performance improve from a year earlier, according to the Hartford Business Journal’s reporting on a new Office of Health Care Access report.

Angela Mattie, an associate professor in the Health Care Management and Organizational Leadership Department in the School of Business at Quinnipiac University, is available to comment on the report. She said the position of CEO at an acute care hospital is complex, challenging and difficult.

“At first blush, the over 1 million dollar salaries of Connecticut hospital executives seems outrageous,” Mattie said. “However, compared to CEO salaries in other industries these numbers are relatively modest. These salaries are also comparable to other states’ hospital executives.

“Considering the increasing demands on hospitals and the increasing complexity of the healthcare system, we will need to continue to attract highly skilled individuals,” she said. “Adequate and fair compensation is one method to assure we continue to attract those individuals with highly developed leadership and financial skills and with a focus on patient safety and healthcare quality.

“It is a highly sensitive year for acute care hospitals given the anticipated budget cuts and continued decline in reimbursements,” Mattie added. “Perhaps as a gesture on the part of hospital CEOs-refusing a raise-would go a long way in getting past the negative perception of their salaries and allow the focus on where it should be: how do we continue to improve the system and improve patient care?”

Communications professor and Polling Institute staff member nominated for Emmy for their documentary ‘Aeromedical’

“Aeromedical,” a documentary by Quinnipiac University School of Communications Professor Rebecca Abbott and Tim Malloy, a former television journalist who is now an assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, has been nominated for an Emmy award by the Boston/New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Abbott, of Hamden, and Malloy, of Fairfield, co-produced and co-directed the 28-minute documentary about the life-and-death struggle that takes place every week in the skies above Europe on Aeromedical evacuation missions, and about the storied history of these life-saving flights. Bradley O’Connor, a veteran cameraman and Quinnipiac alumnus, served as associate producer and camera person for the film and is included on the Emmy nomination.

“It’s a medical story and it’s a story of courage. It’s not a political story,” said Malloy, who also served as writer for the project. “The military does an amazing job of taking care of you when you’re hurt.”

In the 30 years Malloy spent working as a journalist, he traveled to Afghanistan nine times. His work has earned five Emmy awards and more than 25 nominations, but Malloy says this one is different. “This is really important. It’s a nomination that means a lot.”

Abbott says she welcomed the opportunity to shed light on a little-known aspect of the war. “[The crews] were really glad that we were telling this story,” she said. “They thanked us for being so positive in our approach.”

The United States Air Force regularly runs aeromedical evacuation missions carrying wounded soldiers from battlegrounds in America’s current conflicts to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, often within hours of their injury on the battlefield. From there, the most seriously wounded–many are amputee victims of IED explosions–are transported to major military hospitals in the US, where they can arrive in as few as three days of their initial injury. The survival rate is an astounding 98 percent.

This was not always the case, however. It has taken nearly 100 years of effort, starting in 1918 with the first aeromedical rescue in a Curtis JN-4H Jenny bi-plane, to perfect this combination of medicine and aviation. Missions now take place on C-17, C130 and KC135 military transport aircraft that have been converted into flying trauma wards.

The documentary is a story both of the heroism of soldiers who have risked their lives on the battlefield, and of the doctors, nurses, technicians, and aviation crews, many of them women and 88 percent of them members of the National Guard and Reserves.

“For me, the greatest part is that these people are serving their country by saving lives,” Abbott said.

“Aeromedical” was filmed between June and December of 2011 and released in April 2012. Location shoots took place in June and November of 2011 at Bagram Air Force Base and Gazni in Afghanistan; at Ramstein AFB and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany; and Andrews AFB in Virginia. The crew spent 36 hours shooting footage aboard military transport aircraft. The documentary also includes archival film of the history of aeromedical evacuation, made available by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 1 in Boston.

Professor Rich Hanley to discuss changing television industry on China Radio International

Rich Hanley, associate professor and director of the graduate journalism program in Quinnipiac University’s School of Communications, is scheduled to discuss changes in broadcast journalism on China Radio International’s “Today.”

Hanley will discuss the changing broadcasting model.

Listen to the conversation live at 10 p.m. EDT here.

School of Law Professor William Dunlap available to comment on new arrests in Boston bombings

Bill Dunlap, a professor in the Quinnipiac University School of Law, is available to comment on the arrests of the three new suspects who were arrested in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing case.

A faculty member since 1983, Dunlap teaches constitutional, criminal, national security, counterterrorism and international law. He studied at the National Security Law Institute at the University of Virginia and the Parker School for Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School and has been a visiting scholar at Yale Law School and the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London. He is a former chair of the Section on Admiralty and Maritime Law and of the Section on International Law of the Association of American Law Schools. After law school, he practiced first amendment law and international commercial litigation and arbitration at the Coudert Brothers law firm in New York. Before law school, he was a newspaper editor and a public radio host and producer in New York. He frequently gives public lectures and advises the media on current legal issues.

To schedule an interview with Dunlap, please call John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations, at 203-206-4449 (cell).