1998 Adapt Ability Expo, featuring exhibits of products designed for the physically challenged community, will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, June 6, at the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood. Exhibits will include wheelchair design, exercise equipment, accessible vans and home modification ideas, among others. The Advisory Committee for the UW's Northwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury System is sponsoring the event. Call Nick Hart at (206) 823-9136 for more information.

Dr. Barbara Goff, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, has received a $48,669 two-year grant from the National Board of Medical Examiners to devise objective technical skills exams for residents in her department. There is currently no way to evaluate the surgical skills of residents other than observing their performance during an operation. Technical skills exams will eventually allow surgeons to train residents in a lab setting. The NBME Medical Education Research Fund supports research that advances evaluation methods of potential use in medical education. Six medical schools received awards this year. The projects will begin June 1.

Dr. Mickey Eisenberg, professor of medicine and director of the Emergency Medicine Service at UW Medical Center, is the author of a five-page article on “Defibrillation: The Spark of Life” in the June issue of Scientific American. The article reviews the 50-year history of using electrical shock to stop the otherwise-fatal fibrillation of the heart, including new “smart” units and implanted defibrillators. Eisenberg is also the author of the book Life in the Balance: Emergency Medicine and the Quest to Reverse Sudden Death, published last year by Oxford University Press.