Events

Nathan Nayman, Community Engagement Advisor for the Portland Diamond Project (PDP) will make a presentation that will explain who and what the PDP is and what they are trying to accomplish. He will explain what it will take to bring baseball back to Portland and what does our window of opportunity looks like. The economic impact of a ballpark to the Portland region will be explained as well.

The presentation will cover who comprises PDP and what they are trying to accomplish as the group focused on building a privately funded ballpark and securing a major league franchise either by relocation or expansion. In order to bring baseball back to Portland the Commissioner of baseball will need to see several components coming together- land for the ball park; investor money; support from the political leadership in the city, region and state and ultimately, support from the fans.

For more information www.portlanddiamondproject.com

Before being elected to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, Jessica served as a state representative in the Oregon legislature where she was the first Latina elected to the House. In the legislature, Jessica fought for issues such as paid sick time and pay equity to improve the lives of working Oregonians. As chair of the House Energy and Environment committee she championed the renewal of the Clean Fuels Program and passage of a bill to remove coal from Oregon's energy mix.

As a County Commissioner, she has championed the County’s efforts to combat climate change and build a just renewable energy economy. She also represents the County at various regional transportation tables and has focused on expanding access to early childhood education through initiatives such as the SUN program and the newly-established Multnomah County Early Education Task Force, which she chairs.

Surgery has a prominent role in clinical medicine with over 300 million surgeries performed annually worldwide. The ultimate goal of surgery is to repair damaged or remove diseased tissues, while minimizing comorbidities by preserving vital structures such as nerves and blood vessels. Even as surgical techniques and tools have substantially advanced, with high resolution preoperative imaging and minimally invasive surgical techniques becoming routine, surgeons still rely mainly on the basic tools of white light visualization and palpation for guidance during surgery, leaving incomplete cancer resection rates high and comorbidities like nerve damage as major problems. Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) has the potential to revolutionize surgery by enhancing visualization of specific tissues intraoperatively. Using optical imaging of targeted fluorescent probes, FGS offers sensitive, real-time, wide-field imaging using compact imaging systems that are easily integrated into the operating room. A number of FGS systems are clinically available, however only a handful of contrast agents have been FDA approved. Our group is working to develop clinically relevant contrast agent technology to aid in intraoperative cancer margin assessment, where we are currently focused on improving breast cancer resections. Our technology will permit accurate staining of the resected tumor specimens, where the fluorescent agents will not need to touch the patient, providing a rapid path to clinical translation. We have also developed the first nerve highlighting fluorophores that are compatible with the FGS clinical infrastructure. Nerve damage is a major source of morbidity across all surgical specialties which results in chronic neuropathies that limit patient quality of life. Since nerve tissue largely cannot be repaired, avoiding its injury is of paramount importance. Substantial pre-clinical development for both cancer margin assessment and nerve preservation has been completed, where our optimized technologies are now poised for translation to improve clinical outcomes.

Kyira Wackett is an artist, public speaker and community advocate. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology and is a licensed therapist specializing in eating disorders, anxiety disorders and trauma. Kyira has been speaking on topics related to mental health, authenticity and personal & professional development for over 10 years. In 2016, she founded her company, Kinda Kreative, wherein, she has focused her efforts more specifically on creating social change, empowering self exploration and cultivating opportunities for growth - both personally and professionally. In 2017, her company received an America’s Small Business Champion Award which Kyira notes she is still in shock about, but has has used to remind herself everyday about how important the work is that she is doing.