Did anyone say money

The Physics Detector Group has also just won a grant to fund development of a positron emission mammography (PEM) system to aid in the early diagnosis of breast cancer. This $200,000 one-year grant, won in collaboration with Duke University Medical Center, will fund the construction of the dedicated PEM system which will then be used to investigate Positron Emission Tomography (PET) technology explicitly for breast cancer diagnosis. The imager will provide improved imaging over present PET techniques and at a lower cost. It will also permit a comparison or co-registration as it is called, with regular x-ray mammography images, also improving the diagnostic capabilities of researchers in the field. All testing of the device will be conducted at Dike University Medical Center.

Lab breaks goal during blood drive

The Red Cross blood drive held at the Lab on July 29 was a huge success, according to Cheryl Batten, Medical Services coordinator. The blood drive netted 81 units - significantly surpassing the Lab's goal of 50 units.

Batten attributed the increased participation to the great work done by blood drive co-coordinators Rick Gonzales and Christine Hummel, and to a more centralized location for the blood drive. "Rick and Christine did a great job getting the word out about the blood drive to staff across the accelerator site. They were great at recruiting donors," Batten said, "and the centralized location at CEBAF Center made donating very convenient." The blood drive boasted nine first-time donors. The Red Cross presented T-shirts to first-time donors and to door prize winners.

The heavy turnout only had one drawback. "The number of people responding to the blood drive overwhelmed the Red Cross staff. Many people didn't register or make an appointment prior to the event," Batten explained, "so the Red Cross brought a small staff anticipating a turnout similar to the February blood drive (44 units). A few people who had made appointments wound up waiting because the donation chairs were full. I want to thank our donors for being patient when things got a little slow."

To avoid this inconvenience during future blood drives, Batten encourages everyone planning to give to call her and sign up - even if you can't commit to a specific time. The next blood drive scheduled for the first week in December.

There were questions about quarterly blood drives, and Batten said that is something that could be looked into, "however, we'll see if we can maintain our current level of participation [biannually] before looking into quarterly blood drives."

The Red Cross was also signing people up for apheresis during this blood drive. Fifty people have signed up for the process, whereby the Red Cross takes a donors platelets, which are used as part of cancer treatments. Human Resources is working a policy so Lab staff will be able to donate platelets during work hours. Apheresis takes about 90 minutes and involves going to Virginia Beach for the process.

Anyone interested in more information about blood drives or apheresis may call Batten at ext. 6269.

Lab Operations Board Meets

Charlie Sinclair, Accelerator Division and Lab Director Hermann Grunder explain the new polarized injector to Dr. Ernie Moniz, Undersecretary of Energy during a tour of Jefferson Lab, conducted for the Laboratory Operations Board meeting held July 14-15. This was Dr. Moniz's first trip to the Lab since his appointment as Undersecretary of Energy.

The Lab Operations Board provides advice to DOE regarding the strategic direction for the DOE complex, coordination of budget and policy issues affecting laboratory operations and effective management of the DOE labs. The Board facilitates productive and cost effective use of the DOE laboratory system.

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