Graduates of the Senior Doctors Academy during closing ceremonies on May 20, 2015.
The Health Career Opportunity Programs held its Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative Doctors Academy Annual Academic Year Program Closing and Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, May 20. The event marked the culmination of a successful academic year for 114 participants of the Great Explorations Program, Jumpstart Program, Junior Doctors Academy, and Senior Doctors Academy by increasing the number of underrepresented students from the Hartford area interested in the health professions.
Keynote speaker for closing ceremonies Hartford State Representative Douglas McCrory and Associate Dean of the Health Career Opportunity Programs Dr. Marja Hurley.
The highlight of the evening for the participants and parents was watching the 20 students in the Seniors Doctors Academy receive white coats as part of their graduation from the program before embarking on their journey to college. Two of these recipients, Anika Bennett and I’Jaaz Muhammad, were awarded the John and Valerie Rowe Scholarship and will be entering the University of Connecticut as Rowe Honors Scholars. Also among this group, 12 will be matriculating at the University of Connecticut, six will be matriculating at other universities in Connecticut, and two will be attending universities out of state. The keynote speaker for the evening was State Representative Douglas McCrory, Deputy Majority Leader, 7th Assembly District of Hartford.
Dr. Kamran E. Safavi, professor and chair, Division of Endodontology and 2015 Board of Directors Faculty Recognition Award winner. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health Photo)
Dr. Kamran Safavi, an international leader in the field of endodontology, is this year’s recipient of the UConn Health Board of Directors Faculty Recognition Award. The award has been presented annually at Commencement since 2003 and recognizes academic, administrative, and clinical excellence.
Safavi is currently chair of the School of Dental Medicine’s Division of Endodontology in the Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences and director of the Advanced Education Residency Program in Endodontology.
During his 37 years at UConn Health, Safavi has established himself as a world-renowned expert in endodontology, which is the study of dental pulp and tissues surrounding the root of a tooth. Endodontic treatment is needed when the pulp becomes inflamed or infected.
Safavi’s research focuses on better understanding of pulpal inflammation and pulpal-origin infection and has resulted in over 100 published manuscripts or abstracts and more than 50 scholarly presentations. The residency program which he leads is recognized as one of the strongest in the country and has produced many leaders in dental education, research, and clinical dentistry.
“Beyond these academic accomplishments, Safavi is perhaps best known for his kind and calming demeanor, his compassionate approach to patient care, his deep interest in those he mentors, and for his affection for and dedication to UConn Health which has been his academic home for his entire professional career,” says Dr. R. Lamont MacNeil, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine.
“I am very proud to be a UConn Health faculty member and humbled to win this award,” says Safavi.
Dr. Safavi received a DMD degree from the University of Tehran in 1966, a Certificate in restorative dentistry from the University of London in 1971, and a Master in Education degree and certificate in Endodontology from the Medical College of Virginia in 1978. He then joined the School of Dental Medicine as director of Advanced Education Residency Program in Endodontology, a position he has held continuously over the past 37 years. He became a diplomat of the American Board of Endodontics in 1984 and was named chair of the Division of Endodontology in 2005.
In 2010, based on nomination by his faculty peers and staff, he was recognized for his dedication to excellence and collaboration in being named a recipient of UConn Health’s Doctor’s Day Award.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has awarded Fellow status to Julie Robison, Ph.D., associate professor in the UConn Center on Aging. The GSA is the world’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging.
The GSA fellowship is an acknowledgment of Robison’s outstanding and continuing work in the field of gerontology. She will be honored during the Society’s 68th Annual Scientific Meeting this November in Orlando, Fla.
Former head coach for men’s basketball Donald (Dee) Rowe was the featured speaker at the 18th annual UConn Health Cancer Survivors Day held at Farmington Gardens on May 2. More than 170 attendees listened as Rowe described his inspiring cancer journey at UConn Health.
Nancy Baccaro, APRN and coordinator for the Survivorship Program, hosted the event which included a brunch for the survivors, their caregivers and families. Participants enjoyed outdoor games such as bocce, volleyball, and croquet. Indoor activities included yoga, chair massages, creating healing stones, and taking photo booth pictures.
As in years past, many departments throughout UConn Health donated gift baskets for the survivors.
Survivors Day is celebrated in hundreds of communities throughout the U.S. and Canada. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are 13.7 million cancer survivors in the U.S. today.
Recipients of the Urban Service Track Alumni Excellence Award are (left to right) Graham Garber, DMD; Shawnet Jones, MD; Tianna Hill, MSW; Kimberly Tschetter, PA-C; Kara Anastasiou, APRN; Danielle Wojtaszek, PharmD.
During the Urban Service Track’s Academic Year Closing Ceremony at UConn Health, six alumni representing distinct health professions were presented with the first annual Urban Service Track Alumni Excellence Award.
The award is presented to graduates “who have made a difference in guiding future health professionals to value interdisciplinary teamwork and serve our neediest communities.”
Award winners include: Kara Anastasiou, APRN; Graham Garber, DMD; Tianna Hill, MSW; Shawnet Jones, MD; Kimberly Tschetter, PA-C; and Danielle Wojtaszek, PharmD.
The Urban Service Track, soon to enter its 10th year, is a program designed to specially educate, train and mentor next-generation health care professionals to work with our state and nation’s urban underserved populations. The Urban Service Track is sponsored by the Connecticut Area Health Education Center Network (CT AHEC) located within the University of Connecticut’s Center for Public Health and Health Policy.
CCAM members with students award winners from left, Michael Blinov, John Carson, Shangda Xu from Cheshire High School, Ann Cowan, Archeta Rajagopalan from Choate Rosemary Hall, Sofya Borinskaya, Leslie Loew, and Ion Moraru.
The fair, held at Quinnipiac University in March, is a statewide annual event that features 500 pre-selected scientific projects performed by middle and high school students independently or in research labs. The Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling established a CAM award for the best research in Cell Analysis and Modeling – integrating experimental and computational approaches to analysis of events within a cell.
Several CCAM members were judges at the CSF fair and selected two winners for the CAM award: Shangda Xu from Cheshire High School for the project on “Development of a Prescient Warning Model for Cholera Utilizing an Epdemiological Identification of Risk Factors,” and Archeta Rajagopalan from Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford for the project on “The Effect of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor on Retinoic Acid Differentiated SH-SY5Y Cells: A Model for Striatal-Enriched Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase in Parkinson’s Disease.”
The winners were invited to visit CCAM, presented with certificates and monetary awards, and were given a tour of our state-of-the art building, featuring microscopy and computational facilities. The CCAM Director Boehringer Ingelheim Chair in Cell Sciences Leslie Loew and CAM graduate Program Director Dr. John Carson talked about research opportunities at CCAM, and faculty members Ann Cowan, Michael Blinov, Ion Moraru and a graduate student Sofya Borinskaya led students on a tour through the facility.
The Beta Rho chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health at the University of Connecticut is pleased to announce this year’s inductees. Each year, Delta Omega elects new student, faculty, alumni and honorary members based on high academic standards and outstanding performance in scholarship, teaching, research and community service. Election of membership in Delta Omega is intended to not only recognize merit, but also to encourage and further excellence in and devotion to public health work.
Founded in 1924, Delta Omega is a national honor society existing to encourage research and scholarship among graduate students of public health and to recognize attainment and achievement in the field of public health. With over 80 active chapters worldwide, Delta Omega and its members are dedicated to ensuring the quality of the field of public health and to the protection and advancement of the health of all people.
This year’s Beta Rho inductees are:
Students
Anita Chandrasekaran, MD, MPH (Cand.)
Christopher Steele, MD, MPH (Cand.)
Ran Zhao, MD, MPH (Cand.)
Faculty
Stephen Schensul, PhD
Graduate Program in Public Health Alumni
Cyndi Billian Stern, MPH (2005)
Kathryn Johnson, MD, MPH (1990)
Jeffrey Shaw, MPH (2012)
Congratulations to these new members who were inducted on May 5th during the Graduate Program in Public Health Commencement Dinner.
Announcement by the Office of the Vice President for Research:
Two UConn faculty members have developed research tools that the University recently licensed to EMD Millipore, a global Life Sciences tools and reagents supplier, announced the Office of the Vice President for Research.
Linda Shapiro
Dr. Linda Shapiro, director of the Center for Vascular Biology and associate professor of cell biology at UConn Health, developed a monoclonal antibody that will be of value as a research reagent in the study of inflammation in response to injury. Her antibody, anti-Aminopeptidase N/CD13 Antibody, went through extensive in-house validation by EMD Millipore prior to antibody reagent going to market.
Dr. Angel L. de Blas, professor of physiology and neurobiology, developed two antibodies that have also been tested and launched as products by EMD Millipore. Dr. de Blas developed Anti-BIG2 Antibody, which can be used in Western blotting, immunocytochemistry, and immunoprecipitation to study cellular trafficking of membrane proteins, and he also developed Anti-Septin 11 Antibody, which can be used in Western blotting and immunohistochemistry to study the organization of the cytoskeleton in various cell types and dendritic branching in neurons.
While research tools may not command the same acclaim as blockbuster drugs, they can enable groundbreaking discoveries. These types of research accomplishments make very important contributions to scientific breakthroughs.
The work of Drs. Shapiro and de Blas brings recognition to the University, and offers the potential to benefit researchers at universities, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
UConn Health’s Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP) recently received an $80,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation to expand one of its summer programs focused on health disparities. The grant will allow an increase in the number of pre-medical and pre-dental college students in the summer program who are interested in health disparities and primary care.
The program is designed to provide a clinical research and enrichment experience and an introduction to health disparities, cross cultural issues, principles of clinical medicine and skills for public health research and interventions. It also will offer an overview of approaches to cultural definitions, public health issues, and discussion of specific techniques for working with diverse populations in community settings.
“I would like to thank the Aetna Foundation, whose continued support has been incalculable in our efforts to encourage urban youth to aspire to careers in the health professions,” says Dr. Marja Hurley, HCOP director.
Joan Segal Outstanding Faculty Award – Scott L. Wetstone, MD
We are pleased to announce that Scott L. Wetstone, MD, has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Joan Segal Outstanding Faculty Award. The award is given each year to a faculty member who is nominated by students or other faculty for their excellence in public health teaching.
Susan S. Addiss Award in Applied Public Health Practice
We are pleased to announce that Cynthia Fortner, MPH, and Maria Restrepo-Ruiz, MPH, are recipients of the Susan S. Addiss Award in Applied Public Health Practice.
Recipients are chosen based on criteria that best describe the career of Susan Addiss: public health advocacy, leadership, demonstrated commitment to the community, and a 3.5 GPA minimum.
The Mulvihill Medal
We are pleased to announce that Anita Chandrasekaran is the recipient of The Mulvihill Medal, awarded to the outstanding Master of Public Health graduate. The award recognizes a student for her exemplary academic record and the quality of her capstone.
