The Department of Otolaryngology will host grand rounds on Thursday, December 9 from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Clinical Research Building, Room 989. Ramzi Younis, professor, and Christopher Fundakowski, otolaryngology resident, will present “Caustic Ingestion and Foreign Bodies in the Pediatric Aerodigestive Tract.” This lecture will provide an understanding of the management of caustic ingestion and foreign bodies in the pediatric population. For more information or to add your name to the department’s distribution list, please contact Mayte Ruiz-Sexton at 305-585-8776 or e-mail [email protected].

The third annual UM Innovation Technology Showcase will take place Thursday, December 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Friday, December 10 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Four Seasons Hotel Miami, 1435 Brickell Avenue. The event features new technologies from University of Miami physicians and research scientists who are addressing opportunities in medicine and life sciences, engineering, information technology, and more. Technologies developed at UM and currently available for licensure, as well as start-up companies at various stages of development seeking early funding, will be on display. Attendees will include business leaders and executives from industry, academia, scientists, students, and members of the investment community.

The keynote speaker is Robert Zivin, senior director, Corporate Office of Science and Technology (COSAT) at Johnson & Johnson. Zivin spent 20 years in health care R&D, working in biotechnology, molecular diagnostics, and drug discovery. This work helped lead to several FDA-approved products, with another currently in Phase 3 trials. Since joining COSAT, he has been working on developing new models of collaboration, with the twin aims of facilitating academic partnering and shifting the cost-reward profile of product development. He is also responsible for the identification and promotion of disruptive product opportunities from academic and private innovators.

To register, visit www.med.miami.edu/uminnovation/showcase. Registration is free for UM students, faculty, and staff. The cost of registration for all others is $150. There are also sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities.

For more news and events, visit www.thelaunchpad.org.

The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism will present grand rounds on Thursday, December 9 at 1:30 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Brian Kim, assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the Miller School of Medicine, will present “Thyroid Hormone and Energy Expenditure: Extracellular Flux Analysis.” For more information, please contact Angie Saint Jean at [email protected] or call 305-243-8417.

The University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) will host a presentation on the book Moncada: A Cuban Story on Thursday, December 9 at 7 p.m. at Casa Bacardi, 1531 Brescia Avenue, Coral Gables campus. Written by Paul Webster Hare, British ambassador to Cuba from 2001 to 2004, the book covers a week in the lives of seven characters leading up to a modern-day festival marking Fidel Castro’s attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago, Cuba. It follows the events that unfold through the eyes and lives of Cubans from different backgrounds and different affiliations.

Andy Gomez, assistant provost and senior fellow at ICCAS, will introduce Hare, who now teaches international relations at Boston University. The author will be available to sign copies of his book, which will be on sale at the event. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP to 305-284-CUBA (2822). Capacity is limited to 115 people.

William O’Neill, executive dean for clinical affairs at the Miller School of Medicine, will present “Percutaneous Aortic Valve” on Thursday, December 9 at 12 p.m. at University of Miami Hospital, first-floor Seminar Center A and B. For more information, please contact Janette Jurado at [email protected].