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Williams & Ree to Open Welcome to Phoenix Show

Musical comedy duo Williams and Ree will open this year's Welcome to Phoenix show on Sunday, Aug. 1, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge as part of the 2021 Fraternal Order of Eagles International Convention. 

This long running duo eschews political correctness and conformity and spins comedy gold from the union of an unlikely duo. The framework surrounding the comedic pair is music, which has earned them a CMA vocal duo nomination. 

Their television credits include Country Kitchen, HeeHaw, Laff TV and Comedy Central. They currently host Country Thunder Music Festivals around North America and are featured on Sirius Radio. 

Bret Michaels To Perform At Phoenix Convention In August

The Fraternal Order of Eagles is ready to rock Phoenix this summer as multi-platinum global superstar Bret Michaels takes the stage at the 2021 Aerie and Auxiliary Members Banquet during this year’s International Convention. 

Tickets are $50 per-person including concert and dinner and will go on sale later this month. Members must register for the Convention to be eligible to purchase tickets.

Born in the small town of Butler, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 1963, Bret first rose to fame as the front man of Poison, helping to define the rock-n-roll scene on the Sunset Strip. One of rock’s most iconic and enduring bands, Poison’s massive success includes selling over 50 million records worldwide and numerous hit singles. 

DRC Director's Report - February 2021

The exact mechanisms underlying the metabolic effects of gastric bypass or bariatric surgery remain unclear. At the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Mohamad Mokadem, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and member of FOEDRC, and his research team have developed an animal model of bariatric surgery, which they are using to understand the underlying mechanisms by which this treatment not only prevents obesity but also reverses diabetes.

DRC Director's Report - January 2021

A recent study by a team of UI researchers led by E. Dale Abel, MD, PhD, Director, FOEDRC discovered eating a ketogenic diet rescued mice from heart failure. 

The study, published in the November issue of the journal Nature Metabolism, was one of three companion papers from independent research teams that all point to the damaging effects of excess sugar (glucose) and its breakdown products on the heart. The UI study also revealed the potential to mitigate that damage by supplying the heart with alternate fuel sources in the form of high-fat diets. 

Given its need for a constant, reliable supply of energy, the heart is very flexible about the type of molecules it can burn for fuel. Most of the heart’s energy comes from metabolizing fatty acids, but heart cells can also burn glucose and lactate, and also ketones. 

DRC Director's Report - December 2020

Dr. Vitor Lira Associate Professor of Health and Human Physiology and member of the FOEDRC was recently awarded a new grant from the National Institutes of Health in the amount of $563,723. The grant entitled: “Molecular regulation of protein turnover in skeletal muscle” will study an important condition that afflicts many individuals as they age, particularly those with diabetes. 

Aging-related skeletal muscle atrophy and weakness, also referred to as sarcopenia, affects millions of people contributing to the development of several chronic conditions associated with poor health outcomes, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. Although sarcopenia remains poorly understood and lacks effective therapy, aged muscles manifest a problem of poor protein turnover or recycling which is called proteotoxicity. 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from your Grand Presidents!

Brothers and Sisters, 

We’ve almost made it through 2020 and all the chaos this unexpected year has brought us. While the struggles we have faced this year are different than any we have experienced before, we wanted to thank all of our amazing Eagles members for their perseverance, positivity, and adaptability during this time. 

Adjusting to this year has been an exercise in problem solving. As government orders forced the shutdown of many of our Aeries & Auxiliaries, you all persevered, finding new ways to raise funds and handle business despite the limitations placed upon us. 

We were able to raise a grand total of $3,665,516 for the F.O.E. Charity Foundation and its various funds. Past Grand Worthy President Ron Malz raised $83,607.59 for his charity, Confidence Learning Center, while Past Grand Madam President Gloria Williams raised $46,734.96 for the Special Olympics, and an additional $37,986.50 for her other project, the F.O.E. Diabetes Research Center. As your Grand Presidents, we’ve spent our year raising money for the DRC Bridge to the Cure, Camp Civitan, and the Penticton Regional Hospital, and can’t wait to update you on how much we raised during the 2021 Convention in Phoenix, AZ!

PGWP Jerry Sullivan Passes Away at 72

It is with great sadness we must report the passing of Past Grand Worthy President Jerry Sullivan. 

Jerry was a proud and dedicated Eagle who joined the organization as a charter member of Fredericksburg, Va., Aerie #4123 in 1985, where he often served as Santa Claus for the annual Children’s Christmas Party. He continued to serve the Fredericksburg Eagles in various capacities throughout his time as an Eagle and maintained dual memberships at Spotsylvania #4391, Williamsburg #4548, Sunnyslope #2957 and Culpeper #4551. 

In the 90’s, Jerry rose through various local and state level chairs before being installed as the Virginia State Worthy President for the 2002-03 term. 

At the 2007 International Convention in Spokane, Wash., he first became a Grand Aerie Officer, holding the position of Grand Conductor. He progressed through the Grand Aerie for several years before finally reaching the pinnacle of the F.O.E., serving as Grand Worthy President for the 2016-17 term.

DRC Director's Report - November 2020

FOE Diabetes Research Center scientists from the University of Iowa have discovered a safe new way to manage blood sugar non-invasively. Exposing diabetic mice to a combination of static electric and magnetic fields for a few hours per day normalizes two major hallmarks of type 2 diabetes, namely reducing blood glucose levels and preventing insulin resistance. These new findings were published Oct. 6 in Cell Metabolism.

DRC Director's Report - October 2020

Please join us in welcoming Bhagirath Chaurasia, MS, PhD, to the University of Iowa and to the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center. Dr. Chaurasia also joins the Division of Endocrinology from his previous position as Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology at the University of Utah. He received his PhD from the University of Cologne in Germany before working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

DRC Director's Report - September 2020

Renata Pereira, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and member of the FOEDRC, is the recipient of a new NIH R01 grant for $1.9M to support her work entitled The role of the integrated stress response in brown adipose tissue-mediated metabolic adaptations. 

“Obesity and related conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, are some of the greatest health problems affecting today’s society. In an effort to better understand ways in which the body can increase its metabolism to burn fat and prevent the effects of those diseases, Dr. Pereira has focused her studies on special fat cells called brown (or beige) fat cells.