We held a casting call for our employees and many of them who auditioned were chosen to be in our UConn Health TV commercials.
After months of prep, and two very, very long days with film crews all over the UConn Health campus, today we have all the footage needed to begin the build of the upcoming television advertising campaign. This huge undertaking would not have been the success it was without the flexibility by literally of hundreds of people to get it just right. From extras to electricians, parking to props, casting call to cafeteria lines — a big thank you to everyone who helped make the intense two-day shoot not just possible, but a success. (Photos by Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
We are pleased to announce the 7th Annual White Coat Gala to benefit UConn Health on April 16, 2016 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. This very special event brings together our entire community—grateful patients, friends, donors, faculty, and staff—to celebrate UConn and raise funds to support our mission. Proceeds will benefit our Bioscience Connecticut projects and the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read more on UConn Today.
This year’s recipients of the Carole and Ray Neag Medal of Honor for contributions to medicine are:
Bess Economos, co-founder of the Lea’s Foundation for Leukemia Research; and
Pramod K. Srivastava, PhD, MD, director of the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The evening also will feature UConn student-athlete Ryan Radue, a patient at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Interested in attending or helping? There are several ways you can get involved:
SPONSOR STUDENTS: Sponsor a table for our medical, dental, and MPH students. A portion of your donation will be directed toward scholarships. Contact Abbie O’Brien at (860) 679-4524 or aobrien@foundation.uconn.edu.
Donate Auction Items: Please contact Emily Auger at eauger@foundation.uconn.edu if you would like to support UConn Health through a donation. Welcome items include golf foursomes, sports tickets, theater tickets, spa/salon services, vacation homes, artwork, and restaurant gift certificates.
Volunteer: Help make the gala a reality. Contact Jess Sokol at (860) 486-2607 or jsokol@foundation.uconn.edu.
We are grateful to our many supporters, including founding title sponsors Richard and Jane Lublin and top sponsors Stanley Black & Decker, Carole and Ray Neag, Robert and Renee Samuels, Shipman & Goodwin, TIAA-CREF, ConnectiCare, and The Creative Mile. Media sponsorship is generously provided by WFSB Channel 3.
Wendy Pasckowski, a housekeeper here for nearly 24 years, went above and beyond the call of duty recently. Her keen observations and quick action helped save a patient’s life. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health)
Wendy Paszkowski, a housekeeper here for nearly 24 years, went above and beyond the call of duty recently. Her keen observations and quick action helped save a patient’s life.
Anne Niziolek, the nurse manager of Medicine 4, recently shared the story in the hospital newsletter:
“Our unit housekeeper on Med. 4, Wendy Paszkowski, was cleaning a patient’s room. She noticed there was something wrong with the patient and immediately went to get the nurse, who was in another patient’s room. It turned out the patient Wendy observed had blood sugar that was critically low. The patient could have gone in a diabetic coma or worse. Wendy took the appropriate action and knew to “ARCC it up!” She saved the patient! Way to go, Wendy!”
Photographer Janine Gelineau takes the portrait of UConn Health employee Amy Chmielewski during last Friday’s casting call. (Photo by Frank Barton)From left, Frank Barton, Ethan Giorgetti and Carolyn Pennington do a videotaped interview with UConn Health employee Jean Menze. (Photo by Janine Gelineau)
When we posted our casting call announcement a few weeks ago we never expected to see so many talented and dynamic employees on audition day last Friday.
Seventy-five people from all corners of the campus showed up – from nurses in the NICU to IT specialists from Munson. They each had their portrait taken and then “performed” in a short video where they told us what they do and why they like doing it – especially at UConn Health. The heart-felt answers were truly inspiring and the energy and enthusiasm contagious.
Some of these truly talented folks will be chosen as extras for a television commercial being filmed on campus March 9, 10 and 11. Others will be seen on our website, flyers, brochures and promotional/educational videos we produce throughout the year. Thanks again to all those who took time from their busy day to take part. For those who couldn’t make it – we’ll catch you next time!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Pulse – a weekly newsletter aimed at monitoring the pulse of UConn Health and highlighting what really makes us tick. It’ll be delivered to your inbox every Friday. No, you can’t unsubscribe – and you won’t want to – because this newsletter will focus on news you need to know, events you won’t want to miss, and unique stories that make UConn Health special.
Plus, Dr. Andy will answer your most thought-provoking questions and we’ll get you caught up on UConn Health in the news – stories from newspapers, radio, or TV that you may have missed during your busy week.
This isn’t meant to replace broadcast messages – we want to add to the conversation, not take information away. There’s a lot going on here and we want to cut through the clutter and talk about what’s important.
That’s why our first feature focuses on the biggest project our campus has ever seen – University Tower. Construction began three years ago and now we’re just over two months away from opening day. The Pulse will keep you up-to-date on the nitty-gritty of moving day, as well as opening events in which you and your family can partake.
While we’re not asking for submissions as we do with broadcast messages, we do welcome your feedback and story ideas. You can contact us at thepulse@uchc.edu.
That’s what Martha Walker kept asking herself after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. The mother of three school-age children had just completed her master’s degree in social work. She had worked extremely hard and was looking forward to a new journey in her life, but the pecan-sized tumor in Martha’s brain threatened to derail those plans.
A major concern was that the tumor was situated dangerously close to the area of the brain that controlled her speech and language center. That’s why Dr. Ryan Zengou, a UConn Health neurosurgeon, recommended a procedure called intraoperative brain mapping or “awake brain surgery.”
Being awake during the operation allowed Martha to talk with speech therapist Karen Collins and answer her questions. Martha’s responses helped Dr. Zengou create a digital map of the functional areas of her brain and identify exactly where the tumor was. Anesthesiologist Fritze Bunke made sure Martha was asleep at the beginning and end of the surgery but sedated and awake in the middle.
Dr. Zengou successfully removed the entire tumor and Martha never lost her ability to speak or process language. Martha is impressed with the care she received along her entire health care journey at UConn Health – from the emergency department to the surgical team and now radiation therapy, where she’s currently undergoing treatments.
“I feel great!” Vinnie Jankowski is thrilled with the progress he’s made so far on his healthier lifestyle journey. The UConn Health surgical technician has lost a total of 30 pounds, his total cholesterol level has decreased from 186 to 147, and he’s lowered his blood pressure from 170/100 to 124/82. These dramatic improvements are potentially life-saving because it greatly reduces the constant pressure being placed on his heart due to an aortic aneurysm.
Vinnie credits his success to Brad Biskup with UConn Health’s Lifestyle Medicine Clinic, and all the support he’s received from his family and colleagues. But his journey continues – Vinnie wants to lose another 30 pounds and get off his meds. So stay tuned…..
Univision producer Emilce Elgarresta and Dr. Bruce Gould, founder of the migrant farm worker clinics, during the video shoot at Thrall’s Tobacco Farm in Windsor.
The UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinics received national media exposure this week after being featured on the Spanish language Univision Network (watch video). The segment was part of a series of reports that aired during Univision’s special Health Week campaign June 6-13.
The migrant farm worker clinics are organized and run by health profession students involved with the Connecticut Area Health Education Centers (CT AHEC) Program at UConn Health. The students, along with physician advisors and volunteer interpreters, help provide medical and dental screenings for the hundreds of migrant workers who come to Connecticut each growing season.
The lifesaving care they provide caught the attention of Univision producer Emilce Elgarresta. She contacted Dr. Bruce Gould, UConn Health’s associate dean of primary care who started the mobile health clinics in 1997. Elgarresta said she wanted to do a story about the clinics because she was very impressed and moved with Dr. Gould’s commitment to help the farm workers.
“Migrant farm workers are among the most economically disadvantaged and most medically vulnerable groups in the United States having little, if any, access to health care or medication,” says Gould. “The clinics are a way to provide them much needed medical care while teaching students that caring for the poor and vulnerable is part of the gift of being a health care provider.”
Univision video shoot during a UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic at Thrall Tobacco Farm in Windsor.
A few weeks later, Elgarresta flew to Connecticut from Miami and she and her crew spent two days in Connecticut taping the story. The segment highlighted the clinic held recently at the Thrall Tobacco Farm in Windsor where workers from Puerto Rico and Mexico took advantage of the free health exams.
Hannah Kotler, a second-year medical student and one of last year’s clinic coordinators, and Dr. Kenia Mansilla, a family medicine physician in Hartford and a longtime clinic volunteer, were interviewed in Spanish for the segment.
The story is part of a yearly campaign by Univision, the fifth largest television network in the U.S., to provide their audience with information about timely health care topics and disease prevention. The stories are aired across the network’s news and entertainment shows, as well as their radio networks, webcasts and town hall broadcasts.
The UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinics operate annually from June to October and provide services to more than 400 migrant farm workers at nine farms and greenhouses throughout the state. The clinic engages pre-health professions students including high school and college students, as well as health professions trainees and residents.
The Connecticut Area Health Education Center Network (CT AHEC) is a federal and state funded program supporting primary care workforce development. CT AHEC is located within the University of Connecticut’s Center for Public Health and Health Policy at UConn Health in Farmington, Conn.
From left, Drs. Stephen Helfand and Nicola Neretti from Brown University and UConn Health’s Blanka Rogina.
The first Northeastern Glenn Symposium on the Biology of Aging was held at UConn Health’s Cell and Genome Sciences building on May 27. The symposium was sponsored by the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, which sponsors research in the biological mechanism of aging. Colleagues from Brown, the Einstein College of Medicine, Harvard, MIT, Quinnipiac, UConn and Yale met for the one-day event to share the latest information about aging research.
The symposium was spearheaded by Mark Collins, the director of the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, and Dr. Nir Barzilai, the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair in Aging Research from the Einstein College of Medicine. Drs. Barzilai and Blanka Rogina, associate professor of genetics and genome sciences at UConn Health, organized the meeting.
Rogina said the interest in the symposium was remarkable and resulted in a packed program consisting of 19 oral presentations and 22 poster presentations. More than 130 scientists ranging from principal investigators to undergraduate students attended the event.
Dr. John Sedivy from Brown University moderating a session during the Glenn Symposium held at the Cell and Genome Sciences building at UConn Health May 27, 2015.
“It was great to see such enthusiasm and so many labs attending and participating,” said Rogina, who hosted the meeting. “I was happy to see the leaders in aging research from the top universities in the Northeast attending the symposium. It was an exciting day with excellent presentations and a great success.”
The next symposium will be held at Yale University next May.
Third-year medical students who won first place for “Instituting low dose CT screening for qualified individuals at the Brownstone APC clinic.” From left, Corey Dwyer, Melissa Argraves, Monica Townsend, Ethan Talbot, Adarsha Selvachandran, Patrick Field, Charles Ma, and Christopher Hammel.
The 11th Annual Symposium for Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (CQI) was held June 8 and attended by approximately 100 medical students, residents, faculty and UConn Health community members.
Sponsored by the Connecticut Area Health Education Center Program (CT AHEC) and the UConn School of Medicine, the CQI Symposium is the culmination of the quality improvement curriculum for the third-year medical students. During their internal medicine ambulatory experience, all students participate in designing, implementing and evaluating a quality improvement intervention targeting an opportunity for improvement identified at their site.
A total of 15 student and resident posters were featured. Judges for the CQI projects included representatives from John Dempsey’s Center for Bronchiectasis Care, epidemiology and infection control, quality program departments, Internal Medicine Residency Program, Center for Public Health and Health Policy/Correctional Managed Health Care, as well as the Department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Richard Zavoski
The keynote speaker for the symposium was Dr. Robert Zavoski, a pediatrician and the medical director of medicaid programs for the Connecticut Department of Social Services. Zavoski utilized humor and practical examples to discuss the important role of quality improvement in practice, health policy and public health. Zavoski applauded all student and resident participants at the Symposium for their commitment to excellence and quality improvement.
First place award for resident poster:
“Reducing Readmissions in Patients with LACE Score ≥ 10 : Comparing Different Strategies “ (St. Francis/UConn Health); Bhavtosh Dedania, Arushi Khurana, Gurukripa Kowlgi, Nikhil Kapila, Victoria Forbes, Ausia Iqbal, Shaina Lynch, Khushboo Sheth, Joseph Fusco, Donna Pepito, Kaitlyn Guardino, Karen Zanoria, Anthony Yoder, Henry Igid, Amanda Kost, Kelly Mazurek, Dipen Khanapara, Amrita Panwala, Mamta Shah, Edgar Naut.
First place award for medical student poster: “Instituting low dose CT screening for qualified individuals at the Brownstone APC clinic” (Hartford Hospital); Adarsha Selvachandran, Monica Townsend, Melissa Argraves, Christopher Hammel, Charles Ma, Ethan Talbot, Patrick Field, Corey Dwyer.
We are pleased to announce the 7th Annual White Coat Gala to benefit UConn Health on April 16, 2016 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. This very special event brings together our entire community—grateful patients, friends, donors, faculty, and staff—to celebrate UConn and raise funds to support our mission. Proceeds will benefit our Bioscience Connecticut projects and the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read more on 
