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Don’t Forget to Tour the Tower

You have two opportunities to get a sneak peek of the new patient care tower before it officially opens for business. The first is the Open House specifically for UConn Health employees taking place this coming Wednesday, April 20, from 4 to 7:30 p.m.

You’ll get a unique behind-the-scenes look at our new 11-story, state-of-the-art hospital. After the tour, you can pose for photos with Jonathan the Husky and some of the UConn cheerleaders. You’ll also get a chance to enter a drawing for UConn basketball tickets, and enjoy a snack to commemorate the occasion.

The second event is open to the public so this is when you can bring your family and friends and show them the cool place you work. It’s on Sunday, April 24, from noon to 3 p.m.

 There will be guided tours through the emergency department, operating room suite, patient care floor, and public areas. You can take a fan photo with the 2016 Women’s Basketball National Championship Trophy or a selfie with the UConn Husky Mascot or cheerleader. There will be drawings, refreshments, giveaways and some special surprises. WRCH radio personalities will also be there broadcasting live during the event.

No R.S.V.P. is needed for either Open House but the tours do require navigating several flights of stairs. For more info, check out health.uconn.edu/opening. Hope to see you in the new tower!

 

Winter Art Exhibits at UConn Health

December brings three new art exhibits to UConn Health.

Power Boothe"New Work" exhibition is at UConn Health Dec. 7 through March 3.
Power Boothe’s “New Work” exhibition is at UConn Health Dec. 7 through March 3.

Power Boothe, a professor of painting at the University of Hartford’s Hartford Art School, will have his “New Work” exhibition on display in the Celeste LeWitt Gallery in the Food Court Dec. 7 through March 3. It is shown courtesy of the Fred Giampietro Gallery in New Haven.

Boothe, who lives in western Connecticut, has had more than 20 one-person exhibitions in New York City and nationally. The collections at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the New Britain Museum of American Art include his work, as do those of the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Honors he has received include the Guggenhein Fellowship for Painting, a National Endowment Individual Artist’s Fellowship, and a Pollock/Krasner Fellowship.

John Lo Presti's "Composing the rectangle" exhibition is at UConn Health Dec. 7 through March 3.
John Lo Presti’s “Composing the rectangle” exhibition is at UConn Health Dec. 7 through March 3.

Also on display in the LeWitt Gallery Dec. 7 through March 3 is John LoPresti’s “Composing the rectangle.” LoPresti, of Wethersfield, has been painting for more than 35 years, often inspired by landscapes of his environment and travels throughout New England and Europe.

Many of LoPresti’s pieces originate en plein air (in open air) with charcoal and pastel, leading to oil paintings on canvas. He’s shown a particular fondness for the land and sea of Deer Isle, Maine, and rural Mediterranean Europe.

Charles Reyburn's exhibition "The Seasons" is at UConn Health Dec. 10 through Feb. 29.
Charles Reyburn’s exhibition “The Seasons” is at UConn Health Dec. 10 through Feb. 29.

From Dec. 10 through Feb. 29, New London native Charles Reyburn’s “The Seasons” is on display in the lobby and mezzanine. Reyburn is considered one of the rare en plein air in southeastern Connecticut, working his paintings through elements of nature rather than in a studio. His style has been compared to that of the impressionists of the past, capturing a scene’s essence in a way that allows the viewer’s imagination to work into the painting.

Reyburn attended the Rhode Island School of Design in the late 1970s. His work is included in the Lyman Allyn Art Museum’s collection.

The UConn Health Art Advisory Committee invites viewings from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

UConn Health’s collection of fine art serves to enhance the environment and promote the sense of a caring community for patients, visitors, staff and students. Art is selected, acquired and exhibited by the UConn Health Art Advisory Committee. To view a selection of the permanent collection visit http://auxiliary.uchc.edu/art-collection.

 

UConn Health Welcomes New Physicians

Meet some of the clinicians who recently joined the UConn Health faculty.

Dr. Matthew Imperioli, neurologist
Dr. Matthew Imperioli, neurologist
Dr. Matthew Imperioli is a neurologist seeing patients in the UConn Health Outpatient Pavilion. He specializes in neuromuscular medicine and electromyography, and treats variety of neuromuscular disorders and diseases of the peripheral nervous system, including myopathy, myasthenia gravis, and autonomic disorders. Imperioli completed his neurology residency at UConn Health and a fellowship in neuromuscular medicine and electromyography at the University of Michigan Medical Center. His M.D. is from St. George’s University, Grenada.

Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues, neurologist
Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues, neurologist
Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues is a neurologist with expertise in movement disorders who offers treatment including botulinum toxin (Botox) injections and deep brain stimulation. He also sees patients in the Outpatient Pavilion. Rodrigues is a graduate of the UConn School of Medicine Neurology Residence Program. Before returning to UConn Health, he completed a fellowship in movement disorders at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He holds both an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. He is board certified in neurology and speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Dr. Jose Montes-Rivera, neurologist
Dr. Jose Montes-Rivera, neurologist
Dr. Jose Montes-Rivera is another recent addition to UConn Health’s neurology faculty and is seeing patients in the Outpatient Pavilion. He specializes in general neurology and epilepsy. Montes-Rivera completed a fellowship in neurophysiology and electroencephalogram (EEG) interpretation, as well as his neurology residency, at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He’s a graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University.

Dr. Houman Rezaizadeh, gastroenterologist
Dr. Houman Rezaizadeh, gastroenterologist
Dr. Houman Rezaizadeh is a gastroenterologist seeing patients in the Outpatient Pavilion. His expertise is in Barrett’s esophagus and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Rezaizadeh is specially trained in Barrett’s ablation. He remains at UConn Health, where he completed gastroenterology fellowship following his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Rezaizadeh earned his M.D. at New Jersey Medical School. He is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in gastroenterology.

Dr. Mona Shahriari, dermatologist
Dr. Mona Shahriari, dermatologist
Dr. Mona Shahriari is a UConn-trained dermatologist who sees patients in Farmington, at 21 South Road, and the UConn Health office in Canton, 117 Albany Turnpike. She practices general dermatology and has specialized interests in pediatric dermatology and pigmented lesions. Shahriari earned her M.D. at the UConn School of Medicine and completed a residency in dermatology at UConn Health, including as chief resident her final year. She also completed an internal medicine internship at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Shahriari is board certified in dermatology, and speaks English and Farsi. She also is associate director of clinical trials at UConn Health.

Dr. Glenn Konopaske, psychiatrist
Dr. Glenn Konopaske, psychiatrist
Dr. Glenn Konopaske is a psychiatrist with expertise in a variety of psychiatric disorders, especially bipolar disorder. He sees patients in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and in the Huntington’s Disease Program, where he’s medical director. He also is medical director of UConn Health’s Partial Hospital and Intensive Outpatient Program. Konopaske graduated from the UConn School of Medicine and from the UConn Health/Institute of Living Adult Psychiatry Residency program, then completed a fellowship in translational neuroscience at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh.Konopaske rejoins UConn Health from MacLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., where, as a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty, he saw patients in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program and the Clinical Evaluation Center, and conducted NIH-funded research of the biology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He is board certified in psychiatry.

Photos by Janine Gelineau/UConn Health

Late-summer Art Exhibits at UConn Health

From "Garden Gems" by Edith Skiba LaMonica, at UConn Health July 30-Oct. 1
From “Garden Gems” by Edith Skiba LaMonica, at UConn Health July 30-Oct. 1

Three art exhibits are adorning the walls of UConn Health in the late summer.

The first, “Garden Gems” by Edith Skiba LaMonica, is already here, and runs through Oct. 1 in the exhibition cases in the hospital lobby and mezzanine (near the escalator).

LaMonica’s work has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New Britain Museum of American Art Bulletin. She has lectured and taught studio art in New York and New Jersey, and is a member of the UConn Health Art Advisory Committee and the Canton Artist’s Guild. “Garden Gems” is a tribute to the influence of Monet, fusing impressionist color and light.

Two other exhibits go up Aug. 27 in the Celeste LeWitt Gallery (in the Food Court).

From "The Numinous World" by Tom Morganti
From “The Numinous World” by Tom Morganti, at UConn Health Aug. 27-Dec. 7, 2015

“The Numinous World” by Tom Morganti and “Of Water, Clouds and Light” by Carmine L. Angeloni will be here through Dec. 7.

Morganti is a practicing veterinarian in Avon and a self-taught artist who works primarily in acrylic and oil. His work explores the convergence of nature and religion and their interaction with the world.

Angeloni’s is a photography exhibit of landscapes and seascapes. He’s an amateur photographer who lives in Belchertown, Mass. Angeloni likes to capture images of nature in the Pioneer Valley, New England coast, and Long Island Sound.

The UConn Health Art Advisory Committee invites viewings from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

From "Of Water, Clouds and Light" by Carmine L. Angeloni
From “Of Water, Clouds and Light” by Carmine L. Angeloni, at UConn Health Aug. 27-Dec. 7

UConn Health’s collection of fine art serves to enhance the environment and promote the sense of a caring community for patients, visitors, staff and students. Art is selected, acquired and exhibited by the UConn Health Art Advisory Committee. To view a selection of the permanent collection visit: http://art.uchc.edu

State Grant for UConn TIP Startup

A personalized medicine startup in UConn’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP) will receive a $750,000 grant from Connecticut Innovations (CI).

Wa Xian (Sarah Crisp of LymeGreen.com for UConn Health)
Wa Xian (Sarah Crisp of LymeGreen.com for UConn Health)
Frank McKeon (Sarah Crisp of LymeGreen.com for UConn Health)
Frank McKeon. (Sarah Crisp of LymeGreen.com for UConn Health)

MultiClonal Therapeutics Inc. (MCT) was founded by Frank McKeon and Wa Xian, who formerly held joint faculty positions at UConn Health and the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine. The award, from CI’s Regenerative Medicine Research Fund, will go toward MCT’s efforts to develop personalized therapies for chronic lung diseases.

“The TIP location allows our team to continue its important scientific work in Connecticut, and to collaborate with leading physicians and researchers as we apply our learning and technology to create new personalized therapies,” Xian says. “MCT’s UConn Health location [at the Cell and Genome Sciences Building] will bolster its success by providing resources to support both our business and R&D needs.”

Xian and McKeon will work with Dr. Mark Metersky, pulmonologist who directs the UConn Center for Bronchiectasis Care, and immunology researcher Laura Haynes in the UConn Center on Aging to translate their technology for therapeutic uses.

“We are pleased to support the exciting work of the MCT team,” says Margaret Cartiera, Director of BioInnovation Connecticut at CI. “This was a highly competitive process and our peer reviewers and the advisory committee agreed that this project demonstrated the characteristics of clinical promise and innovation that we look for in an applicant. We look forward to hearing more about MCT’s developments in the future.”

An article recently published in the journal Nature describes technology that for the first time captures the stem cells of medically important tissues such as the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver and kidney, opening the possibility for their use in regenerative medicine for chronic diseases. UConn Health faculty members who contributed to the research include Dr. Tom Devers, gastroenterologist and site director for the UConn School of Medicine’s Gastroenterology-Hepatology Fellowship Program, and Dr. Jeffrey Hyams, UConn School of Medicine professor of pediatrics.

Nature published an article from the same group, on a potential lung regeneration mechanism, last November.

The Cell and Genome Sciences Building in winter, 400 Farmington Ave., is home to UConn's Technlogy Incubation Program,. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health Photo)
The Cell and Genome Sciences Building, 400 Farmington Ave., is home to UConn’s Technlogy Incubation Program,. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health Photo)

“In the few years since McKeon and Xian arrived in Connecticut, they have formed many deep collaborations with UConn faculty and are creating novel health care solutions in critical areas of need that will be developed and applied here in Connecticut,” says UConn Vice President for Research Jeff Seemann. “We praise them for both their leading-edge technology as well as their entrepreneurial interests. This is exactly what was anticipated when the Bioscience Connecticut initiative was enacted by Governor Malloy and the state legislature.”


Quotations and other information are from a news release from Fierce Medical Devices.

 

 

Allen Meckowski Honored as Husky Hero

Dr. Andy Agwinobi presents Allen Meckowski with the Husky Hero Award. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Dr. Andy Agwinobi presents Allen Meckowski with the Husky Hero Award. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)

Allen Meckowski, a clinical coordinator in the UConn Health Department of Dermatology, has been recognized as a Husky Hero.

Meckowski is one of 23 UConn Health employees or volunteers who received a Human Resources PAWS award, which stands for:

Part of a team,
Awesome attitude,
Wonderful work ethic, and
Superior service.

PAWS awards honor those who consistently perform above and beyond the expectations of their job. Four-time PAWS recipients earn the distinction of Husky Hero.

HR’s Pride in People subcommittee presented PAWS awards at a reception Thursday in the Onyiuke Dining Room:

Danielle Andrews, CMHC – Hartford – Medical
Ronald Arnone, Dermatology Clinic
Nancy Baccaro, Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center
Joan Blythe, Procedure Center Unit
Barbara Baron, Medicine 4
Barbara Bowman, Cardiology
Francis Couillard, Information Technology – Network Services
Charlene DeCampos, CMHC – MYI – Medical
Michael Deckers, Volunteer
Patricia Lane, UMG – Internal Medicine – Canton
Meghan Laughlan, Intensive Care Unit
Cindy Letavec, CMHC – Cheshire – Medical
Sean Macrae, CMHC – Osborn – Medical
Joan Montgomery, JDH – Organizational & Staff Development
Robert Ramonas, CMHC – Osborn – Medical
Jessica Reyes, Patient Access
Luann Satherlie, UMG – Administration
Jennifer St. Onge, Dermatology Clinic
Bryan Wasik, Dermatology Clinic
Robert Wilkie, Information Technology – Network Services
Heidi Whiteley, CMHC – MacDougal/Walker – Medical
Sohrab Zahedi, M.D, CMHC – Hartford – Mental Health

Swede Recognized for Cancer Prevention Research

Helen Swede, Ph.D.
Helen Swede, Ph.D.

An abstract submitted by Helen Swede, Ph.D., Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, and colleagues at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center,  was recognized as one of the top 15 in the area of Cancer Prevention at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference.

Swede presented the poster entitled “Modified Dietary Inflammatory Index and Increased Number of Colonic Aberrant Crypt Foci” at the meeting in Philadelphia on April 18-22.  Dietary intake data were analyzed from 130 colonoscopy patients at the Colon Cancer Prevention Program (CCPP) of the Neag Cancer Center.

AACR is the largest organization for cancer research in the world, and there were over 18,000 attendees at the conference with over 6,000 posters presented.

Co-authors were: Valerie Duffy, Ph.D. (Nutrition Sciences, Storrs); Daniel Rosenberg, Ph.D. (Molecular Medicine and director of CCPP); Mastaneh Sharafi, M.S. (Nutritional Sciences, Storrs); Rong Wu, M.S. (CICATS Biostatistics Center); David Drew, Ph.D. (Molecular Medicine); Thomas Devers, M.D. (Gastroenterology and CCPP ); and Richard Stevens, Ph.D. (Community Medicine and Health Care and CCPP).

Urban Service Track Receives Community Leadership Award

The ADA Foundation recently announced that the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine has been awarded a 2014 E. “Bud” Tarrson Dental School Student Community Leadership Award for its Urban Service Track (UST) program. The award was submitted by the dental school’s Dr. Ruth Goldblatt,  third-year dental student Joseph Larson, and UST’s Petra Clark-Dufner.

The Tarrson Award recognizes dental school student programs that demonstrate excellence in providing services to underserved populations within the U.S. The ADA Foundation received many outstanding applications this year and the selection of winners was difficult. For the second year, a generous gift from ADA Business Resources, Inc. (along with a gift from an anonymous donor) will allow the ADA Foundation to present a total of seven Tarrson Awards.

The Urban Service Track is designed to produce a cadre of well qualified health care professionals committed to serving Connecticut’s urban underserved populations. Urban Health Scholars gain valuable exposure to the complex and challenging issues of health care in the inner city. Clinical training occurs in federally qualified health centers and other primary care facilities in Connecticut’s urban underserved communities. Elective clinical experiences focus on underserved settings such as homeless shelters, community health fairs, and migrant farm worker clinics.