Medical School

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Officials running a new medical education campus in Martinsburg that is designed to attract more doctors to the area already have their work cut out for them. The school's first three students said Monday they were not sure if the Eastern Panhandle was where they wanted to practice. Janna Scott, one of the students, acknowledges that staying here is a possibility, though. Scott grew up in Inwood, attended Musselman High School and Shepherd College, where she later obtained a biology degree.

Andrew Potts is determined to become a cancer doctor no matter how many sleepless nights it takes. After staying awake for 24 hours at a time at seven American Cancer Society Relay for Life events, Hedgesville High School's senior class president should be ready for late night study sessions for medical school. “I'm sure it's taken years off my life, but it's well worth it for Relay for Life,” said Potts, 18, of Falling Waters, W.Va. Potts, who was recently recognized by the American Cancer Society for outstanding student leadership, said he hopes to get other young people to stay up with him at this year's relay, which is slated for June 1 at Martinsburg High School.

The largest graduating class in Berkeley Springs High School history received their diplomas Thursday night at the 124th annual commencement. Instead of on the football field, the ceremony was held in the school gymnasium, where the 195 graduates were applauded and cheered by about 1,000 family members and friends while heavy rain poured outside. The school auditorium held about 400 people who watched a live video feed of the ceremony. Principal Lance Fox said about 70 percent of the class members will be attending college or joining the military.

Broadfording Christian Academy held its graduation ceremony May 23, highlighted by a candlelight recession for each of the 20 graduates following the ceremony. The school had three co-valedictorians: Ashley Marie Burkett, Anne Elizabeth Hunt and Bethany Michelle Yeager. Burkett is the daughter of Richard and Denise Burkett of Greencastle, Pa. She is interested in a wide variety of activities, including sports (mainly soccer), reading and writing, singing and drama, photography and the outdoors.

Violinist Jaime Jorge will perform in concert Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Hagerstown Seventh-day Adventist Church. Jorge's mastery of the violin has delighted audiences around the globe. He has dedicated his talents to sharing his love of God through sacred and classical concerts and special appearances the world over. For more than two decades, through 15 albums and more than 2,500 concerts in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia, Jorge's music has touched the lives of millions.

by Ric Dugan / staff photographer see enlargement Mont Alto doctor named Pa. Physician of the Year MONT ALTO, Pa. - Dr. Diana Lyon-Loftus knew her future husband would make a caring doctor when she observed him in medical school. Her devotion to Dr. Gregory Lyon-Loftus, her husband of 23 years and Pennsylvania's new Family Physician of the Year, were evident when she spoke of his days as a medical student. The couple are partners in their family medical practice in Mont Alto.

HAGERSTOWN While many college kids spend their summer earning money and tanning at the beach, Michael McCormack is researching a promising new cancer drug with one of his professors at Lafayette College. "I'm looking to go to medical school for oncology," said McCormack, of Hagerstown. McCormack is the lone student in his research program, working with Dr. Shyamal Majumdar on three different types of cancer - breast, cervical and leukemia. The pair uses lines of cells from mice in their research on breast cancer, McCormack said.

JAN. 4, 1917-NOV. 21, 2009 Dr. Robert Virginius Minervini, 92, of Hagerstown, Md., died Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at his home in Hagerstown. Born Jan. 4, 1917, in New York City, he was the son of the late Virginio Giovanni and Lucia Cecilia (Pistilli) Minervini. He was the husband of Doris Anne (Nolan) Minervini of Hagerstown, whom he married July 11, 1971. The family moved to Yonkers, N.Y., in 1920 after his father resigned from the Regular Army and established a medical practice.

College students Paul Park and Tae Rho have spent their summer break helping Ji Hoon Lee conduct experimental research to help develop new ways to detect cancer. Working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, two faculty members from Clemson University's Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, and Dr. John Newby of Washington County Health System, Lee expects to involve the students in the project for the next three years during their summer and winter breaks. "My interns are developing new analytical methods for the quantification of various enzymes in human serum," said Lee, CEO of Luminescent MD, a biotech research firm in the Technical Innovation Center at Hagerstown Community College.

Bradley Scott Ingram of Sharpsburg was named the Washington County Youth of the Month for June Tuesday by the Washington County Commissioners. Ingram, 17, is the senior class vice president at Boonsboro High School and is ranked fifth in his class with a 3.987 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. He is the treasurer of the high school National Honor Society and plans to attend Western Maryland College in Westminster, Md., after graduation. Ingram said he plans to major in pre-med before attending medical school, and said he hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon.

The largest graduating class in Berkeley Springs High School history received their diplomas Thursday night at the 124th annual commencement. Instead of on the football field, the ceremony was held in the school gymnasium, where the 195 graduates were applauded and cheered by about 1,000 family members and friends while heavy rain poured outside. The school auditorium held about 400 people who watched a live video feed of the ceremony. Principal Lance Fox said about 70 percent of the class members will be attending college or joining the military.

Andrew Potts is determined to become a cancer doctor no matter how many sleepless nights it takes. After staying awake for 24 hours at a time at seven American Cancer Society Relay for Life events, Hedgesville High School's senior class president should be ready for late night study sessions for medical school. “I'm sure it's taken years off my life, but it's well worth it for Relay for Life,” said Potts, 18, of Falling Waters, W.Va. Potts, who was recently recognized by the American Cancer Society for outstanding student leadership, said he hopes to get other young people to stay up with him at this year's relay, which is slated for June 1 at Martinsburg High School.

Violinist Jaime Jorge will perform in concert Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Hagerstown Seventh-day Adventist Church. Jorge's mastery of the violin has delighted audiences around the globe. He has dedicated his talents to sharing his love of God through sacred and classical concerts and special appearances the world over. For more than two decades, through 15 albums and more than 2,500 concerts in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia, Jorge's music has touched the lives of millions.

Broadfording Christian Academy held its graduation ceremony May 23, highlighted by a candlelight recession for each of the 20 graduates following the ceremony. The school had three co-valedictorians: Ashley Marie Burkett, Anne Elizabeth Hunt and Bethany Michelle Yeager. Burkett is the daughter of Richard and Denise Burkett of Greencastle, Pa. She is interested in a wide variety of activities, including sports (mainly soccer), reading and writing, singing and drama, photography and the outdoors.

As a private Catholic institution, St. Maria Goretti High School is unique from other public schools because students from all over the area can attend classes there. Many students hail from different hometowns or even different states, but once a member, always a member when it comes to the “Goretti family,” Principal Richard Fairley said Saturday at the school's commencement. “It seems like they don't want to go,” he said. “I think when any of us leave a family, we feel that way. We know it's the next stage in our life, but again, it's bittersweet.” In front of dozens of friends, family and previous graduates, 49 Goretti seniors received their diplomas and became the Class of 2012 at St. Ann Roman Catholic Church in Hagerstown.

William Richard McCune, M.D., passed away Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 at his home.  Dr. McCune was born Jan. 15, 1922, in Gassaway, W.Va., the son of the late Carl and Eunice McCune.  He grew up in Gassaway with his future wife, Mary Lou Groves. They were both active in 4-H throughout their childhoods. As a Gassaway High School student, he played trumpet in both the high school and state 4-H bands. He was a solo trumpeter in the West Virginia All State Band. He attended West Virginia Boys State in 1939.

 West Virginia University Hospitals-East and the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center Eastern Division will sponsor a community mini-medical school program on the effects of diseases on the kidneys. The seminar, titled, "Kidney Disease: What Is It? What Can I Do?," is Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center on the City Hospital campus. The featured speaker is Dr. Paul Welch, board certified nephrologist and internist on staff at City Hospital and Jefferson Memorial Hospital.

While most students in high school grappled with what they were going to study in college, Dr. Tiffany Kimbrough's dreams were clear: Medicine. "I knew in high school while volunteering for Brook Lane," she said during a telephone interview from her Richmond, Va., home. "I really was interested in mental health and originally thought of that avenue. " Kimbrough, 26, graduated from Boonsboro High School in 2003, before going to Dickinson College in Carlise, Pa., where she earned a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience in 2007.

College students Paul Park and Tae Rho have spent their summer break helping Ji Hoon Lee conduct experimental research to help develop new ways to detect cancer. Working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, two faculty members from Clemson University's Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, and Dr. John Newby of Washington County Health System, Lee expects to involve the students in the project for the next three years during their summer and winter breaks. "My interns are developing new analytical methods for the quantification of various enzymes in human serum," said Lee, CEO of Luminescent MD, a biotech research firm in the Technical Innovation Center at Hagerstown Community College.

JAN. 4, 1917-NOV. 21, 2009 Dr. Robert Virginius Minervini, 92, of Hagerstown, Md., died Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at his home in Hagerstown. Born Jan. 4, 1917, in New York City, he was the son of the late Virginio Giovanni and Lucia Cecilia (Pistilli) Minervini. He was the husband of Doris Anne (Nolan) Minervini of Hagerstown, whom he married July 11, 1971. The family moved to Yonkers, N.Y., in 1920 after his father resigned from the Regular Army and established a medical practice.