UConn Health’s Dr. Biree Andemariam Honored as Outstanding Role Model
Dr. Biree Andemariam, director of UConn Health’s New England Sickle Cell Institute was honored at the 100 Women of Color Gala recently held in Hartford. The 100 Women of Color award recognizes women who are leaders in their community and are a positive role model for young women. A portion of the proceeds from this annual event supports scholarships for young women who graduate from high school and plan on attending college, leadership and mentorship programs.
New England Sickle Cell Institute Nurses Present at National Meeting
Nayre Greene, RN, BSN
Nayre Greene, RN, BSN, and Elizabeth Brookshire, MSN, BSN, RN, recently represented UConn Health’s New England Sickle Cell Institute at the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.’s 43rd Anniversary Convention in Maryland. Greene, NESCI nurse coordinator, was the moderator for the meeting’s nursing symposium that highlighted five peer-reviewed oral abstracts presented by leaders in sickle cell disease nursing care and research from around the country. Greene’s talk highlighted multidisciplinary efforts at UConn Health in coordinating safe maternal-fetal outcomes among pregnant women living with sickle cell disease.
Elizabeth Brookshire, MSN, BSN, RN
Brookshire delivered a powerful talk titled, “The Nurse’s Role in Caring for the Patient with Sickle Cell Disease: Utilizing Katherine Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort as a Guide.” Brookshire is the assistant nurse manager of John Dempsey Hospital’s oncology unit.
“NESCI is proud of the role that UConn Health nurses play on a daily basis in providing evidence-based and compassionate care to our patients living with sickle cell disease,” says NESCI director Dr. Biree Andemariam, “and now this work is known across the country.”
Members of the UConn American Medical Association chapter’s executive board. Left to right, back: Alyssa Ettinger, Jonathan Lis, Chris Hampton, and Andrew Glick. Front: Elise Mester, Sarah Mattessich, and Christina Klecker. Not pictured: Victoria Greenwood. (Eric Swanson/UConn Health Photo)
It’s Leadership Week at the UConn School of Medicine, a series of events to provide a chance for students who envision themselves as leaders in medicine to share ideas with those who already are—in this case, members of the UConn Health faculty.
The annual tradition of UConn’s American Medical Association student section runs through Thursday. Among the participating faculty are Dr. Bruce Liang, medical school dean, as well as Drs. Paul Dworkin, Anton Alerte, Jane Grant-Kels and Rob Fuller.
“Leadership Week promotes AMA’s core value of leadership by providing an interactive forum for physicians and medical students to discuss pathways to leadership roles and professional development,” says Sarah Mattessich, one of the student organizers. “Last year this event was extremely successful. We had 80 students attend, and we are expecting similar numbers this year.”
Mattessich, a second-year medical student, serves as treasurer of the UConn chapter of the AMA. In that capacity she was able to secure a Section Involvement Grant from the AMA to help offset the costs of holding Leadership Week.
“Our grant will allow us to provide food for our series of events: one dinner and two lunch-and-learns,” Mattessich says. “Success of this event has been possible through the efforts of our entire executive board of second-year medical students. Jonathan Lis and Andrew Glick, the co-chairs of our AMA chapter, have been instrumental in executing this event, including recruiting physician speakers and advertising among the student body.”
Psychiatry professor Mary Casey Jacob, the chapter’s academic adviser, praises Mattessich for her efforts to coordinate this year’s event, by working closely with Lis and Glick and by obtaining the grant.
“This tells us Sarah wishes to provide this important service to her peers, that she is highly organized, and that she know she wants to be a leader within medicine,” Jacob says. “UConn is proud of students like Sarah, who will not only be excellent doctors but also people who nurture their roles within communities as leaders.”
Last year, the UConn chapter hosted the regional student AMA meeting. The year before, UConn’s was a finalist for Chapter of the Year.
“This is a very active and accomplished group,” Jacob says. “That they manage to achieve so much on top of medical studies is quite an achievement.”
Projects Focus on Preventing Obesity in Children Birth to 2
CHDI’s report on preventing early-childhood obesity. (Click image to view report.)
The Children’s Fund of Connecticut (CFC) awarded $230,560 to fund four obesity prevention projects in Connecticut, three of which have ties to UConn.
The work will inform and advance efforts to prevent and reduce early childhood obesity by addressing risk factors in the first two years of life.
Four projects were selected from a competitive application process.
Health Messaging: UConn, Department of Nutritional Sciences
Data Development: UConn Health, Center for Public Health and Health Policy
Policy Development: UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy
Baby Friendly Hospitals: The Connecticut Breastfeeding Coalition
The grants were inspired by the Child Health and Development Institute’s (CHDI) IMPACT “Preventing Childhood Obesity: Maternal-Child Life Course Approach.” The IMPACT reviewed scientific research on the causes of obesity and explored implications for prevention and early intervention. Risk factors for early childhood obesity include: maternal pre-pregnancy weight and weight gain during pregnancy, infant feeding practices, weight gain during infancy, and eating habits during toddlerhood and preschool.
“Childhood obesity is a serious epidemic affecting one-third of children in Connecticut and nationwide,” says Judith Meyers, IMPACT co-author and president and CEO of the Children’s Fund of Connecticut and its non-profit subsidiary CHDI. “Research shows that that obesity may be very difficult to reverse if children are obese by 5 years of age. The grant projects funded today will help us get ahead of the curve by preventing the onset of obesity.”
Grant Awards
Health Messaging: $75,700, UConn, Department of Nutritional Sciences
Currently, there is minimal and varying outreach to parents regarding early optimal feeding practices, and the messages that are conveyed are often inconsistent. Effective messages will equip parents and caregivers and providers with the information they need to promote a healthy weight in young children. Principal investigator Amy Mobley, assistant professor nutritional sciences, and her staff will develop and test a set of obesity prevention messages for children birth to 24 months that are parent and caregiver focused, culturally appropriate, at appropriate literacy levels and evidence based, along with information for providers about strategies to disseminate these key messages.
Data Development: $80,000, UConn Health, Center for Public Health and Health Policy
The goal of this project is to establish a single, integrated longitudinal database containing child weight and other relevant data, beginning with the 2009 and 2010 birth cohorts, as a means of demonstrating the possibility of tracking population data for all children in Connecticut. Under the direction of Dr. Robert Trestman and Ann Ferris, this project creates a childhood obesity surveillance database using PATH (a HIPAA-compliant data matching software application) to link birth records from the Connecticut Department of Public Health with electronic health records at Community Health Center, Inc., with 12 sites across the state. Data will be analyzed to identify factors that increase the risk of being overweight at age 5 and to model the development trajectories to determine the probability of being overweight by age 5 based on a variety of factors, broken down by sex and ethnicity/race.
Policy Development: $14,990, UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy
The Rudd Center’s Director of Public Policy, Roberta R. Friedman, will conduct a review of relevant federal and state policies and regulations (Connecticut and elsewhere) to prevent obesity in children birth to 2 years of age. The results will be a database of policy, legislation, and regulation and the development of a Connecticut policy agenda on childhood obesity for children ages birth to 2. The proposed policy agenda will assist academics, practitioners, program staff, community coalitions and advocates committed to preventing and reducing early childhood obesity in Connecticut.
Baby-Friendly Hospitals: $59,870, The Connecticut Breastfeeding Coalition
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is an international movement launched by the World Health Organization and UNICEF to increase rates of breastfeeding through policy changes in birthing hospitals. Eight of 28 birthing hospitals in Connecticut have achieved this designation. The project goals include: 1) assist Connecticut hospitals already in the process to complete their work and achieve the baby-friendly designation; 2) recruit one or more Connecticut hospital to start the baby-friendly hospital designation process; 3) strengthen the infrastructure to support hospitals moving from start to finish including developing partnerships with physicians, community providers, mothers and families; and 4) report on the sustainability and maintenance of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
Learn more about CHDI’s work to prevent obesity in early childhood at www.chdi.org. For further information about the “Preventing Obesity in Early Childhood Grants, please visit www.childrensfundofct.org.
Created by the Society For Biomaterials, this fellowship will support underrepresented minorities in the field of biomaterials, by providing an undergraduate student the resources needed to attend the annual meeting of the Society For Biomaterials and to become a member of the Society. The goal of this initiative is to stimulate/encourage recipients to pursue a career in biomaterials.
The Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. Travel Fellowship includes registration, airfare, hotels, transfers, and meals. Awardees also will receive complimentary membership in the Society For Biomaterials and assigned a graduate student mentor to guide them through the annual meeting and to help them pursue their advanced degree and career goals.
The fellowship is named for Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, founding director of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering; founding director of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical, and Engineering Sciences; and CICATS director. He is also the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, and biomedical engineering; and the eighth designated University Professor in UConn’s History.
Laurencin is well known for his commitment to mentoring. He is the recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award, the Beckman Award for Mentoring, the Alvin F. Crawford Award for Mentoring, and received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Math Mentoring from President Barack Obama in ceremonies at the White House.
An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, Laurencin is the recipient of the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. In the Society For Biomaterials, Laurencin has served as a meeting opening keynote speaker, chair of the Special Interest Group Committee, and has received both the Clemson Award for Contributions to the Literature and the Technology Innovation and Development Award from the Society. He is an International Fellow in Biomaterials Science and Engineering.
Additional information about the Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. Travel Fellowship and the application is available at http://bit.ly/CTLtf.
From left: Drs. Gail Sullivan and George Kuchel from the UConn Center on Aging discuss UConn Health’s geriatric research, education and clinical care with Connecticut Department on Aging Commissioner Elizabeth Ritter. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
The exact numbers may vary by projection, but all point to a critical shortage of geriatricians as the U.S. elderly population continues to grow.
It’s what was on the mind of Elizabeth Ritter, commissioner of the Connecticut Department on Aging, on her recent visit to UConn Health.
Ritter met with faculty at the UConn Center on Aging to get a sense of what the University is doing to produce more physicians and other providers who can meet the growing needs.
“It was an opportunity for me to see one of the country’s foremost centers,” Ritter says. “I was interested in learning about geriatrics and where we’re going with it, particularly the projected shortages of people who will be caring for us as we age.”
Dr. George Kuchel, director of the UConn Center on Aging, says while people have been aging since the beginning of time, aging as a field of endeavor for clinical care is relatively young.
“We have major shortages of providers in geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry, and not just doctors, but all levels of clinical care,” Kuchel says. “Connecticut does much better, but we’re still facing a shortage.”
“In the 30 years the UConn Center on Aging has been here, it has produced research and educated those who will care for the most quickly growing part of our population,” Ritter says. “It was incredibly far-sighted of the founders more than 30 years ago to create this, and now, even more so.”
Her visit included a conversation with Dr. Suzanne Rose, the UConn School of Medicine’s senior associate dean for education.
“We discussed the importance of continuing to integrate geriatrics in all levels of the medical education program,” Ritter says. “There’s no way geriatrics is not going to be integrated in everything we do in medicine.”
Ritter also had lunch with geriatric fellows and got a tour of the UConn Health campus.
Dr. Linda Barry is the 2015 winner of the Connecticut Science Center’s Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award. (Chris DeFrancesco/UConn Health)
Dr. Linda Barry, assistant professor of surgery at the UConn School of Medicine, has made it her life’s work to eliminate disparities in health care delivery and research.
This weekend, the Connecticut Science Center is presenting her with its Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award.
As a UConn Health faculty member, Barry serves as chief operating officer and assistant director of Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS). She also heads the CICATS Young Innovative Investigator Program and the CICATS Mentorship (M1) Award, and co-directs the CICATS Pilot Program for Collaborative Translational and Clinical Research.
“We need to continue to raise awareness — among both women and men — to break down the barriers that have traditionally discouraged women from joining these technical fields and to facilitate the realization of their potential as leaders in their own right,” Barry says.
Barry cofounded and coordinated the first National Women in Surgery Symposium, now in its sixth year. She established the Women in Surgery Interest Group at the UConn School of Medicine three years ago, and represents the school at the American Association of Medical Colleges. Barry also is co-managing editor of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
The award recognizes leadership in promoting women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The selection committee chose Barry “based on her unique background in both clinical and basic science research and her extraordinary commitment to mentoring and advancing the charge to recruit women and underrepresented students into medicine, and the field of surgery in particular,” according to the Science Center.
This is the third year of the Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award, which is part of the Science Center’s Women in Science initiative. Barry was one of five finalists.
“I am honored to have been chosen for the Women in Science Leadership Award,” Barry says. “This prestigious award highlights that as far as we have come with more women deciding to pursue STEM disciplines, women continue to be underrepresented in these fields. The important work of organizations like the Petit Family Foundation, the Connecticut Science Center, and the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science at UConn helps to create a future filled with professional success, achievement and opportunities for women and girls in science and technology.”
Barry will accept the award Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Green Gala, the Connecticut Science Center’s signature annual fundraiser for science learning.
“Dr. Linda Barry lives the mentorship ideal,” says Dr. William Petit, whose family foundation sponsors the Women in Science initiative. “She teaches medical students, residents and fellows as well as her patients. In addition she leads by example in exploring disparities in care and trying to lessen those barriers and to be sure her pupils gain an understanding of the issues at play in our society.”
A crane lifts the steel beam that will top out expanded UConn Health academic building. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Another significant piece of steel is in place as UConn Health continues its renovations.
The final beam of the new portion of the academic building was lifted into place Monday.
UConn Health’s Stephen Bayley signs the beam at the topping out ceremony. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
“This represents yet another exciting milestone as our campus continues its incredible transformation thanks to our state’s Bioscience Connecticut initiative,” says UConn Health Chief Administrative Officer Carolle Andrews. “UConn Health’s mission to create tomorrow’s best and brightest physicians, dentists, researchers and educators is all the more promising, and we can proudly say that our medical, dental and graduate schools will be even better equipped to deliver on that promise.”
The final beam is in place atop the expanded UConn Health academic building. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
The project will add nearly 17,000 square feet to the academic building, which will include a modern, high-tech teaching area designed to foster a more collaborative learning environment, as well as additional classrooms, renovations to Patterson Auditorium to create two new dental school classrooms, and student amenities including a wellness center. Part of the Bioscience Connecticut vision is to grow the number of physicians and dentists who graduate and practice in the state, and to attract additional faculty to facilitate that growth.
Runners make their way toward the The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and new hospital tower (under construction) during the 2014 South Park 5K. (Pooja Uppalapati for UConn Health)
The UConn medical, dental and pharmacy students who staff the outreach clinics at the South Park Inn in Hartford are holding their largest annual fundraiser tomorrow, Sept. 19, on the UConn Health campus.
The South Park 5K Road Race starts at 10 a.m., with registration opening at 8 a.m.
Proceeds from the 5K help offset the cost of running the clinics, which serve the transient residents of the South Park Inn. The South Park Inn provides shelter and supportive services to Hartford’s homeless population.
The $15 advance registration fee ($20 on site) covers food and entertainment, T-shirts for the first 125 registrants, and prizes for the top three male and female finishers.
Additionally, UConn Health dermatologists will offer free skin cancer screenings from 9 a.m. to noon. Email shahriari@uchc.edu for more information.
Dr. Thomas Taylor will receive the American College of Prosthodondics Education Foundation Founders Society Award at the ACP’s annual meeting in October. (Lanny Nagler for UConn Health)
When the American College of Prosthodontics meets next month in Orlando, it will present UConn Health’s Dr. Thomas Taylor with a medallion for its education foundation’s highest honor.
Taylor, a professor who heads the UConn School of Dental Medicine’s Department of Reconstructive Sciences and chairs the Division of Prosthodontics, is the co-recipient of the 2015 American College of Prosthodontics Education Foundation (ACPEF) Founders Society Award.
The award recognizes those who have made a significant impact on the growth and development of the ACPEF and who “have demonstrated an extraordinary level of commitment” to the advancement of the specialty of prosthodontics, according to the Foundation.
“It is wonderful that external organizations like the ACPEF see in Dr. Taylor what we have recognized here in the School of Dental Medicine for many years,” says Dr. R. L. “Monty” MacNeil, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine. “He’s a thought leader, inspiring teacher and a strong advocate for our profession.”
In addition to his academic, clinical and research work at UConn Health, Taylor has published extensively in the prosthodontic literature and is a past editor of the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants.
“Prosthodontics is the most wonderful—and most challenging—specialty to be a part of,” Taylor says. “Our parent organization, the American College of Prosthodontists, has been supportive of me throughout my career. I feel that I couldn’t possibly give back the value of what my chosen specialty has done for me. I’m so very proud to have been able to support the ACPEF in its efforts to further our specialty and the patients we serve. It is truly an honor to be recognized with this award.”
Taylor serves as executive director of the American Board of Prosthodontics and is president of the Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics. He is a past president of the International College of Prosthodontics and the International Team for Implantology.
“His leadership is the breath and the heartbeat of our vital organization,” says Dr. Lyndon Cooper, ACPEF chair. “The recognition of Dr. Thomas Taylor by the ACPEF is an inspiring testimony to his level of generosity and dedication as a leader, educator, and clinician.”
Taylor also is a past president of the ACP, whose president, Dr. Frank Tuminelli, says, “His passion makes him a trailblazer for our specialty in the 21st century.”
Geraldine Pearson starts as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Jan. 1, 2016. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health Center Photo)
UConn Health’s Geraldine Pearson will serve as editor-in-chief for the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (JAPNA) starting next year.
JAPNA is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed publication with an international circulation of nearly 13,000.
“At an exciting time of growth and increased visibility for the journal, it was paramount to secure an editor who could build upon current momentum,” says APNA President Susie Adams. “With her prior experience as an editor as well as her clearly defined vision for developing JAPNA, the Board of Directors feel confident that Dr. Pearson will be successful as editor-in-chief of JAPNA in meeting readership interests across diverse settings and roles while retaining the quality and rigor of the journal.”
Pearson, associate professor of psychiatry at the UConn School of Medicine, has been the editor of Perspectives in Psychiatric Nursing since 2008.
“My appointment as the editor-in-chief of JAPNA presents an exciting opportunity to work with an association journal that includes a membership from all ranges of psychiatric nurses involved in practice, education, administration, and research,” Pearson says. “I hope to craft a journal that meets a broad range of member needs while maintaining a professional, evidence-based focus.”
Pearson is an advanced practice registered nurse and has a doctorate in nursing research from the UConn School of Nursing. She serves as chair of the medical school’s admissions committee, as director of UConn Health’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic in West Hartford, and as director of the HomeCare Program for adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system.
“Dr. Pearson adds this achievement to several other accomplishments in her career,” says Dr. David Steffens, UConn Health psychiatry chair. “This is a recognition of her longstanding leadership in the field of academic nursing, and it speaks volumes about the important roles that nursing leaders play at UConn Health.”
The American Psychiatric Nurses Association focuses on the specialty practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing and wellness promotion, prevention of mental health problems, and the care and treatment of those with psychiatric disorders. Its journal publishes clinical and research articles intended to promote psychiatric nursing, shape health care policy for the delivery of mental health services, and improve mental health care for culturally diverse people, families, groups and communities.
