WASHINGTON—Joseph Young, 35, of Lanham, Maryland, was sentenced today to a prison term of five years on a federal charge stemming from his role in a drug trafficking ring that operated in the Washington, D.C. area, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Young, also known as Joseph Moorehead, pled guilty in December 2011 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. He was sentenced by the Honorable Reggie B. Walton. Upon completion of his prison term, Young will be placed on five years of supervised release. The judge also issued an order of forfeiture calling for Young and others to be responsible for $1 million as proceeds constituting or derived from the drug trafficking activities.

Young was among 17 people arrested last year following their indictments in August 2011 on conspiracy and other charges. The indictments followed a nearly three-year investigation by the FBI and MPD into the trafficking of cocaine, cocaine base, and marijuana. The ring’s activities occurred in the area surrounding Seventh and O Streets NW and in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

As part of his guilty plea, Young admitted that between January 2010 and August 2011 he was engaged in a conspiracy to distribute powder cocaine. He stated that he received cocaine from a supplier in the drug trafficking organization for redistribution in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He acknowledged paying the supplier approximately $15,000 to $16,000 for 500 grams of cocaine and approximately $33,000 for one kilogram of cocaine.

Young also admitted that it was foreseeable that, during the conspiracy, he and others, including distributors, suppliers and street-level dealers, would have used, received or earned at least $1 million in cash proceeds derived from or related to illegal narcotics trafficking.

The sentencing of Young took place two days after the guilty plea of one of the leaders of the organization, Espey Brown, Jr., 37, of Washington, D.C., to two federal charges in the case. Brown is to be sentenced on May 22, 2012.

The prosecution grew out of an FBI/MPD alliance called the Safe Streets Task Force. The Safe Streets Initiative involves more than 150 Safe Streets Task Forces around the country that combat street gangs by combining federal, state, and local police resources. The task forces, which began in 1992 in Los Angeles and the District of Columbia, address gang activity including drug-related crimes. Sharing resources, manpower and intelligence allows federal prosecutors to focus on securing the maximum sentences and penalties for gang members found guilty. By working through a task force, investigators can focus on the entire criminal enterprise, instead of the prosecution of individual gang members.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin and Chief Lanier commended the work of the FBI and MPD members of the task force who investigated the case. They also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Park Police, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, and the Prince George’s County Police Department, all of which provided assistance. Finally, they cited the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Legal Assistant Diane Brashears, Program Specialist Kim Hall, and Paralegal Specialists Carolyn Carter McKinley and Teesha Tobias. They also acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth F. Whitted, Emily Scruggs, and Seth Adam Meinero, who are prosecuting the case, as well as the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is assisting in the investigation and prosecution.

Maryland Man Sentenced to Five-Year Prison Term for Taking Part in Drug Conspiracy | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

MONROE, LA—United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Sheriff Royce Edward Toney, 64, of Monroe, La., was arrested today on charges of conspiracy, computer fraud, identity theft, and obstruction. Toney was elected Sheriff on October 20, 2007, and took office on July 1, 2008. He did not seek re-election. Also charged was Michael Karl Davis, a major with the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office who works in the IT department.

The indictment alleges that Toney and Davis engaged in a conspiracy to track a third-party’s communications and, once Davis learned that the FBI wanted to speak with him, he tried to cover up the illegal activity. The indictment further alleges that Toney and Davis accessed a protected computer without authorization on nine occasions from April of 2010 to October of 2010, and that Toney and Davis committed the crime of identity theft by utilizing an AOL e-mail address and password belonging to another person. Toney and Davis are charged with one count of obstruction for reformatting and installing a new operating system on a computer after Davis learned of the ongoing FBI investigation. Finally, Toney is charged with obstruction by retaliating against a witness who was cooperating with the FBI investigation.

If convicted, Toney and Davis faces maximum potential penalties of one year in prison, a $100,000 fine or both for each of the computer crime charges and five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both for each of the conspiracy, identity theft and obstruction charges.

An indictment is merely an accusation and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Monroe Resident Agency, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Mignonne Griffing.

Ouachita Parish Sheriff Arrested | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

PHOENIX—Franklin J. Jackson, Sr., 63, of Bapchule, Ariz., was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Howard D. McKibben to five years of probation, ordered to pay $38,893 in restitution, and perform 100 hours of community service. Jackson previously pleaded guilty to embezzlement from a Tribal organization.

In the course of Jackson’s guilty plea, he admitted that during the period of Sept. 15, 2007 through March 4, 2009, he embezzled funds from the Gila River Indian Community’s Lone Butte Industrial Development Corporation (LBIDC). While serving as a board member on the Corporation’s board of directors, Jackson committed the embezzlement by submitting fraudulent expense and stipend claims. Jackson admitted that he regularly submitted fraudulent expense vouchers to the LBIDC for items such as meals, meetings, and mileage when, in fact, the events underlying the claimed meals, meetings, and/or mileage had either not occurred or were not in furtherance of LBIDC official business. In the course of the embezzlement, Jackson regularly claimed that the meals and meetings had occurred with well-known individuals within the Gila River Indian Community.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance and cooperation of the Gila River Indian Community. The prosecution is being handled by Frederick A. Battista, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER: CR-11-563-PHX-FJM
RELEASE NUMBER: 2012-045(Jackson)

Former Gila River Council Member Ordered to Repay Over $38,000 to Tribal Organization | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

WASHINGTON—Robert R. Welch, 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and unlawful possession of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, announced today.

Welch pled guilty in October 2011 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced on February 21, 2012 by the Honorable James E. Boasberg. Upon completion of his prison term, Welch will be placed on five years of supervised release. His supervision will include numerous limitations and requirements, including registration and treatment as a sex offender, and limitations on access to and contact with minors, computers, and the Internet.

According to a statement of offense filed with the court by the government, on April 27, 2011, an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force entered a social networking site and engaged in an online conversation with Welch in which Welch expressed interest in having sexual contact with an under-aged child. In that conversation and a subsequent telephone call, Welch also discussed plans for meeting the child and using methamphetamine with the child. Finally, on April 28, 2011, Welch traveled from Maryland to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C. When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested. An amount of methamphetamine was recovered in his vehicle.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin praised the MPD detectives and special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassidy Kesler Pinegar, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

District Man Sentenced to 27-Month Prison Term for Travel with the Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SACRAMENTO, CA—A real estate investor pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County, Calif., Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and Benjamin B. Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, announced.

Wiley C. Chandler pleaded guilty to conspiring with a group of real estate speculators who agreed to rig bids and commit mail fraud when purchasing selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County. The goals of the conspiracies were to suppress and restrain competition, to fraudulently obtain selected real estate at noncompetitive prices and to divert money to coconspirators that would have gone to the beneficiaries, the department said in court papers.

According to the court documents, after the conspirators’ designated bidder bought a property at a public auction, they would hold a second, private auction, at which each participating conspirator would bid the amount above the public auction price he or she was willing to pay. The conspirator who bid the highest amount at the end of the private auction won the property. The difference between the price at the public auction and that at the second auction was the group’s illicit profit. The illicit profit was divided among the conspirators in payoffs. According to Chandler’s plea agreement, the conspiracies began at least early as September 2008 and continued until at least October 2009.

To date, 10 individuals, including Chandler, have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in connection with the investigation. They are: Anthony B. Ghio; John R. Vanzetti; Theodore B. Hutz; Richard W. Northcutt; Yama Marifat; Gregory L. Jackson; Walter Daniel Olmstead; Robert Rose; and Kenneth A. Swanger.

Chandler was indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on Dec. 7, 2011 with three investors—Andrew B. Katakis, Donald M. Parker and Anthony B. Joachim—and one auctioneer, W. Theodore Longley. Trial dates for these individuals have yet to be set.

“The Antitrust Division will continue to cooperate with its law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who undermine the competitive market for foreclosed properties and harm consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Pozen.

“Public auctions are meant for the public, not for an elite group conspiring together for their own profit,” U.S. Attorney Wagner stated. “The prosecution of these defendants is necessary to protect the integrity of the housing market.”

Chandler pleaded guilty to bid rigging, a violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. Chandler also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

These charges arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation of fraud and bidding irregularities in certain real estate auctions in San Joaquin County. The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, the FBI’s Sacramento Division and the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office. Trial attorneys Anna Pletcher and Tai Milder from the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell L. Carlberg are prosecuting the case.

Today’s charges are part of efforts underway by President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. One component of the task force is the national Mortgage Fraud Working Group, co-chaired by U.S. Attorney Wagner. For more information on the task force, visit www.StopFraud.gov.

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office at 415-436-6660, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California at 916-554-2700 or contact the FBI’s Sacramento Division at 916-481-9110.

California Investor Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging and Fraud at Public Real Estate Foreclosure Auctions | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

WASHINGTON—The former chairman of a Taiwan aftermarket auto lights manufacturer has agreed to plead guilty for his participation in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of aftermarket auto lights, the Department of Justice today announced. Aftermarket auto lights are incorporated into an automobile after its original sale, often as repairs following a collision or as accessories and upgrades.

According to a one-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Shiu-Min Hsu conspired with others to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of aftermarket auto lights. The department said that Hsu, former chairman of Depo Auto Parts Industrial Co. Ltd., a Taiwan manufacturer of aftermarket auto lights, participated in the conspiracy from as early as April 2000 until about Sept. 3, 2008. According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Hsu has agreed to cooperate with the department’s investigation.

“The international price-fixing conspiracy in the aftermarket auto lights industry caused harm to businesses and consumers,” said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “Including today’s filing, five individuals and four corporations have been charged as a result of the Antitrust Division’s efforts to thwart this type of anticompetitive activity.”

According to the charge, Hsu and co-conspirators participated in a conspiracy in which the participants met and agreed to charge prices of aftermarket auto lights at certain predetermined levels. According to the court document, the participants in the conspiracy issued price announcements and price lists in accordance with the agreements reached, and collected and exchanged information on prices and sales of aftermarket auto lights for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices. The department said that the conspirators met in Taiwan and the United States for their discussions.

On March 29, 2011, Polo Shu-Sheng Hsu, the former president and CEO of Maxzone Vehicle Lighting Corp., a U.S. distributor of aftermarket auto lights, was sentenced to serve 180 days in prison and to pay a $25,000 criminal fine for his role in the conspiracy. Chien Chung Chen, aka Andrew Chen, the former executive vice president of Sabry Lee (U.S.A.) Inc., another U.S. distributor of aftermarket auto lights, pleaded guilty for his participation in the conspiracy on June 7, 2011. He is currently scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16, 2012. In addition, two corporations have pleaded guilty. On Oct. 4, 2011, Sabry Lee pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $200,000 criminal fine. On Nov. 15, 2011, Maxzone pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $43 million criminal fine.

On Nov. 29, 2011, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Eagle Eyes Traffic Industrial Co. Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiary E-Lite Automotive Inc., as well as Eagle Eyes’s two highest-ranking officers, chairman Yu-Chu Lin, aka David Lin, and vice chairman Homy Hong-Ming Hsu. Trial is set for June 18, 2012, in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

This case is part of an investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office and the FBI in San Francisco. Anyone with information concerning illegal or anticompetitive conduct in the aftermarket auto lights industry is urged to call the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office at 415-436-6660 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.

Former Chairman of Taiwan Aftermarket Auto Lights Manufacturer Agrees to Plead Guilty in Price-Fixing Conspiracy | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

February 21, 2012

Mitochondria, tiny structures within each cell that regulate metabolism and energy use, may be a promising new target for cancer therapy, according to a new study. Manipulation of two biochemical signals that regulate the numbers of mitochondria in cells could shrink human lung cancers transplanted into mice, a team of Chicago researchers report in the journal FASEB.

Within each cell, mitochondria are constantly splitting in two, a process called fission, and merging back into one, called fusion. Before a cell can divide, the mitochondria must increase their numbers through fission and separate into two piles, one for each cell.

By reversing an imbalance of the signals that regulate fusion and fission in rapidly dividing cancer cells, researchers were able to dramatically reduce cell division, thus preventing the rapid cell proliferation that is a hallmark of cancer growth. Increasing production of the signal that promotes mitochondrial fusion caused tumors to shrink to one-third of their original size. Treatment with a molecule that inhibits fission reduced tumor size by more than half.

“We found that human lung cancer cell lines have an imbalance of signals that tilts them towards mitochondrial fission,” said Stephen L. Archer, MD, the Harold Hines Jr. Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine and senior author of the study. “By boosting the fusion signal or blocking the fission signal we were able to tip the balance the other way, reducing cancer cell growth and increasing cell death. We believe this provides a promising new approach to cancer treatment.”

“This could be a potential new Achilles’ heel for cancer cells,” said the study’s lead author, Jalees Rehman, MD, an associate professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “Many anticancer drugs target cell division. Our work shifts the focus to a distinct but necessary step: mitochondrial division. The cell division cycle comes to a halt if the mitochondria are prevented from dividing. This new therapy may be especially useful in cancers which become resistant to conventional chemotherapy that directly targets the cycle.”

The researchers found that the mitochondrial networks within several different lung cancer cell lines were highly fragmented, compared to normal lung cells. Cancer cells had low levels of mitofusin-2 (Mfn-2), a protein that promotes fusion by tethering adjacent mitochondria, and high levels of dynamin-related protein (Drp-1), which initiates fission by encircling the organelle and squeezing it into two discrete fragments. The Drp-1 in cancer cells also tended to be in its most active form.

The researchers tested several ways to enhance fusion and restore the mitochondrial network, both in cell culture and in animal models. They used gene therapy to increase the expression of Mfn-2, injected a small molecule (mdivi-1) that inhibits Drp-1, and used genetic techniques to block the production of Drp-1. All three interventions markedly reduced mitochondrial fragmentation, increased networking and reduced cancer cell growth.

Although the authors identify mitochondrial fission and Drp-1 activation as a potential therapeutic target in lung cancer, “this is not a cure,” Archer emphasized. The treatment drastically reduced tumor size but the tumors did not completely disappear. They continued to use high levels of glucose as fuel, a hallmark of cancer metabolism that can be seen on PET scans. “This remnant could be either a central cluster of cancer stem cells,” Archer said, “or an inflammatory response, the immune system infiltrating the tumor.”

“Inhibiting mitochondrial fission,” Archer said, “did not show any significant toxicity in mice or rats, so we are quite optimistic that our findings can lead to the development of novel, clinically feasible therapies.”

The substances used to block fusion are commercially available for research purposes, but they have not been tested in humans. Mdivi-1 has been used in animals to prevent kidney injury.

Although the focus on mitochondria is fairly new to cancer biologists–despite a flurry of interest in the 1920s stimulated by the German Nobel Prize laureate Otto Warburg–this organelle has long been a central focus for physicians and scientists interested in muscle biology, especially cardiac muscle.

Archer, a cardiologist, specializes in pulmonary hypertension. In this disorder, as in cancer, excessive cellular growth causes disease. The death of his cousin and close friend from lung cancer made him start thinking about the connections. Rehman is a German scientist and became interested in studying mitochondria after reading some of the historical Warburg papers in German.

The fact that two cardiologists, Archer and Rehman, decided to study cancer and collaborated with a team of basic scientists, a cancer physician and a pathologist is “an indicator of how interconnected modern biomedical research has become,” Rehman said.

The University of Chicago and the National Institutes of Health supported this study. Additional authors include Hannah Zhang, Peter Toth, Glenn Marsboom, Zhigang Hong, Ravi Salgia, Aliya Husain and Christian Wietholt of the University of Chicago, and Yanmin Zhang of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Energy network within cells may be new target for cancer therapy | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

February 24, 2012

The University of Chicago Medicine is teaming up with the Chicago Urban League on Monday, February 27 to host a community panel discussion addressing violence in South Side communities. The event will begin with a screening of the award-winning documentary “The Interrupters,” a chronicle of three frontline CeaseFire workers dedicated to curbing violent encounters in hard-hit Chicago neighborhoods. The screening from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 27, 2012, at the Chicago Urban League at 4510 S. Michigan Ave., will be the first of six events featuring the film in 2012.

The movie, directed by Oscar-nominated Steve James of “Hoop Dreams” and co-produced by Alex Kotlowitz, author of “There Are No Children Here,” has been nominated for numerous awards and chosen as an official selection for the Sundance Film Festival. Panel discussions following each screening will be tailored to the audience and provide information on services offered by the host organizations and the University of Chicago Medicine to deal with the aftermath of violence.

This series of community events is part of the University of Chicago Medicine’s anti-violence initiative, which includes a partnership with CeaseFire Chicago to sponsor a “Violence Interrupter.” The University of Chicago Medicine also will provide $120,000 over three years to fund an Interrupter who will focus on monitoring, mediating and defusing disputes in neighborhoods that the medical campus serves.

Quin Golden, associate vice president for strategic affiliations and the Urban Health Initiative (UHI) at the University of Chicago Medicine, emphasized the importance working with community groups like CeaseFire to address gun violence as one of the most pressing health concerns in urban communities.

“We want more people to see violence for what it truly is – a chronic health issue threatening our communities,” Golden said. “Prevention and intervention are critical. We are working to build close ties with community leaders, faith-based organizations, parents and schools to help prevent violence before it begins.”

For 95 years the Chicago Urban League has supported African American communities through advocacy and programming focused on economic, educational and social empowerment. The Urban League is hosting the screening of “The Interrupters” as the final event in a film series honoring Black History Month.

“One of the greatest challenges to strengthening communities is the scourge of violence that has taken lives and created a culture of fear in many neighborhoods,” said Andrea L. Zopp, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. “With strategic partners like the University of Chicago and CeaseFire, and through programming that touches at-risk youth, we will do everything we can to reduce and eliminate violence.”

CeaseFire is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that takes a public health approach to violence prevention by identifying communities at highest risk for violence, developing personal relationships with influential members of those communities and working to change behavior and norms before disputes escalate into violence. Founded by Executive Director Gary Slutkin in 1995, CeaseFire gained worldwide attention after the 2011 debut of “The Interrupters.”

Tio Hardiman, director for CeaseFire Illinois, said he hopes to capitalize on support from the University of Chicago and continued interest in the film to advance CeaseFire’s mission.

“Through this partnership, we’ll touch someone we may not have reached,” Hardiman said. “The screenings will lead to meaningful conversation, and I hope conversation will lead to action. The tragic shootings on the South and West sides just this week are more clear examples of the need to pull together every resource in communities grappling with violence to end the deadly cycle of aggression and revenge.”

Monday evening’s panel will be moderated by Andrea L. Zopp and will include the following participants:

• Ameena Matthews, senior Violence Interrupter for CeaseFire. Matthews is one of the three Violence Interrupters featured in “The Interrupters,” who recently appeared on The Colbert Report
• Tio Hardiman, director of CeaseFire Illinois and creator of the Violence Interrupters Program
• Eric E. Whitaker, MD MPH, associate dean for community-based research at the University of Chicago Medicine. Whitaker leads the University of Chicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative, a long-term commitment to improving the health of South Side residents
• Eric Wilkin, founder of Broken Winggz, a community activist group dedicated to providing support for paralyzed by gunshot wounds.

University of Chicago Medicine’s anti-violence campaign is a key initiative along with UHI to improve access to quality care for the community through patient care, community-based research and medical education.

The anti-violence initiative also includes a commitment to train 27 percent of adult Emergency Department nurses as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) — specially trained nurses who independently conduct forensic examinations with rape and sexual assault victims and can testify in court. The medical center treated 106 sexual assault victims in its adult and pediatric Emergency Departments during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011, more than any other Chicago hospital. It aims to have at least one Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner on call 24 hours a day by late 2012.

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Acclaimed documentary The Interrupters is shown in series of community events to engage communities impacted by violence | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.