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.”
Dr. Denis Lafreniere is joined by several lawmakers, UConn Health faculty and staff, and guests at the Canton medical facility ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Dr. Denis Lafreniere is joined by several lawmakers, UConn Health faculty and staff, and guests at the Canton medical facility ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Dr. Denis Lafreniere is joined by several lawmakers, UConn Health faculty and staff, and guests at the Canton medical facility ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Dr. Frank Lasala, medical director of UConn Health's Urgent Care Centers in Canton and Storrs; and Dr. Bruce Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine and director of the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center, speaking to a guest at the Canton medical facility ribbon-cutting celebration. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Dr. Denis Lafreniere, medical director of UConn Health's outpatient services and associate dean for clinical affairs; and Anne Diamond, chief executive officer John Dempsey Hospital, at the Canton medical facility ribbon-cutting celebration. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Dr. Denis Lafreniere and Anne Diamond welcome Michael D'Apice to the Canton ribbon-cutting celebration. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
UConn Health held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new medical facility and Urgent Care Center at 117 Albany Turnpike in Canton on Tuesday.
“Our mission at UConn is to take care of the citizens of the state of Connecticut and we are very proud and happy to be here,” said Dr. Denis Lafreniere, medical director of outpatient services and associate dean for clinical affairs. “This expands access to quality health care for the citizens of Canton and the surrounding towns,” added Lafreniere.
Patients from over 100 towns and communities have been seen at UConn Health Canton since it opened in the spring, with the majority of patients coming from Canton, Avon, New Hartford, Simsbury, Torrington and Winsted. Located at the corner of Lawton Road and Route 44, the two-story building consists of 17,000 sq. ft. and 27 employees. Services offered at the Canton location include internal medicine, primary care, cardiology, dermatology, MOHs surgery, a blood draw station, and X-ray services.
The Urgent Care Center, open seven days a week, is staffed by certified advanced practitioners and board-certified emergency medicine or family practice physicians that can treat a range of health issues that are not life threatening, but need prompt attention.
Several lawmakers attended the ceremony including Canton First Selectman Richard Barlow who said the new facility is a welcome addition to the town of Canton and “provides valuable services that the town desperately needs.”
State Sen. Kevin Witkos (R-Canton), also welcomed the new UConn Health facility located at the gateway to northwest Connecticut. “UConn has been such a great partner in everything we do at the state level, from the facility up at Storrs, to the John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington, and now the facility here in Canton,” said Witkos.
“It’s quite appropriate as we open this facility to remember other residents on this spot who engaged in the same practice,” said State Rep. Tim LeGeyt (R-Avon, Canton) who also attended the ceremony. UConn Health’s new facility is located where a house once stood that was built in 1796 by a well-regarded Revolutionary War physician and surgeon Dr. Solomon Everest. Everest provided health care to the community for almost 30 years.
UConn Health has a 15-year lease with a private development company, Sard Realty, LLC in Avon.
Employees express their creativity in the Pumpkin Paloozza contest. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
More than 800 employees, students, residents and volunteers turned out Thursday for the third annual UConn Health Fall Festival.
Even though the event was moved indoors because of cooler, cloudy conditions and the threat of showers, it did not dampen the spirits of those in attendance. They enjoyed the fall festivities along with some tasty treats served by administrative leadership including Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, interim executive vice president for health affairs.
Carmel apples are among the offerings at the UConn Health Fall Festival. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Pumpkin Paloozza, the much-anticipated pumpkin decorating contest, proved to be a crowd favorite once again. Each year the competition gets better and better, and this year’s entries did not disappoint. From an intricate UConn-blue train ride to a crazy green techno gourd–and much more–all the pumpkins were true works of art. Attendees kept commenting on how difficult it was to vote which ones should get best in show.
The Fall Festival was presented by the UConn Health Department Human Resources, which extended a special thanks to administrative leaders for their support, to the many volunteers, and to the departments of Education Technology & Multimedia Services, Food and Nutrition, and Facilities Management for producing another successful event.
2015 Pumpkin Palooza Winners
First Place: “UConn Health Express” – Kim Young, Karen Morris, Sally Hatzenbuhler, Deb Daversa, Immunology
Second Place: “Franken BOT” – Sheryl Rosen, Tina Encarnacion, Kristin Wallace, Education Technology & Multimedia Services
Third Place: “Baby Roast” – Rosalinda Pavano, Dariene Dubois, Stacey Fostervold and Jim Behme, Clinical Simulation
Honorable Mentions
“Pharmacy Chic” – Gauri Prabhu, Pharmacy
“Pumpkin Clock” – Kathy Lodovico, Department of Medicine
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. Denis Lafreniere, along with local lawmakers and UConn Health faculty and staff, cutting the ribbon at the opening celebration. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
UConn Health held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new medical office suite at 800 Connecticut Boulevard in East Hartford on Thursday.
“The relocation of our offices will expand access to quality health care for the citizens of East Hartford and the surrounding towns,” said Dr. Denis Lafreniere, medical director of outpatient services and associate dean for clinical affairs. “UConn Health is proud to offer world-class health care to the East Hartford community.”
Formerly located at 99 Ash Street, the new office opened earlier this year and consists of approximately 12,000 square feet and employs 29 full- and part-time employees. Services offered at the new location include primary care, cardiology, nephrology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, rheumatology, diabetes education, and a blood draw station.
East Hartford faculty and staff attend ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
Several local lawmakers attended the ceremony including East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc who said she is pleased UConn Health remained in the city. State Representative Henry Genga also thanked UConn Health for “providing much needed medical services to the East Hartford community.”
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.
Clean eating and whole foods are buzzwords that you frequently hear about in the media or talked about in the gym. However, do you really know what the concept means? Is clean eating a passing trend or is it a healthy, sound approach to eating?
“Clean eating is not a diet or a fad,” says Lifestyle Medicine expert Brad Biskup. “It’s a lifestyle approach to eating food in its most natural state,” adds Biskup. Clean eating has been around for some time particularly among fitness, nutrition, and health conscious individuals who have been “eating clean” for years.
Biskup will present a free program about clean eating and whole foods on Wednesday, September 16, at 7 p.m. in UConn Health’s Keller Auditorium where he will discuss the principles of clean eating as well as:
How whole foods and eating clean are beneficial to your health
Reasons to avoid processed foods
How to incorporate a clean eating plan into your diet
The program is free and open to the public. Registration is required by calling 860.679.7692. The Keller Auditorium is located in UConn Health’s Main Building in Farmington. For directions, visit uchc.edu.
UConn Health’s Lifestyle Medicine Program offers individuals a way to be proactive in treating and managing various health conditions, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes by simply changing or modifying their daily habits. The program is very personalized. An individual’s specific risk factors, behaviors, and limitations are evaluated, and a lifestyle plan is developed.
A groundbreaking ceremony on Monday marked an educational milestone for the UConn School of Medicine, UConn School of Dental Medicine, and the UConn Graduate School. The Academic Building Addition and Renovation Project will consist of a nearly 18,000-square-foot addition and several smaller renovations to UConn Health’s existing Academic and L Buildings located in Farmington.
The ceremony coincided with the start of the academic careers of 98 medical and 42 dental students who will benefit from the project.
“Today we mark an inspirational milestone in the history of UConn Health with the creation of a new academic addition for all of our schools. Welcome to our future,” said Dr. Suzanne Rose, senior associate dean for education for the UConn School of Medicine. “What will take place in this building in the years to come will impact the patients and lives of our communities in Connecticut and beyond for decades to come, and in immeasurable ways as young women and men learn to become scientists, dentists, and physicians,” added Rose.
Dr. Steven Lepowsky, Chad Floyd, Dr. Suzanne Rose, Dr. R. Lamont MacNeil, Dr. Bruce Liang, Francis Archambault, Dr. Barbara Kream, and Dr. David Gregorio. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health Photo)
The Academic Building Addition and Renovation Project is a component of Bioscience Connecticut that was championed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and approved by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2011. “Our sincere gratitude to the governor for his vision and effort for Bioscience Connecticut which this is a part of,” said Dr. Bruce Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine. In addition to various building projects, Bioscience Connecticut calls for a 30 percent increase in the UConn Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine class sizes.
Dr. Steven Lepowsky, senior associate dean for the UConn School of Dental Medicine, concluded the ceremony by addressing the new medical and dental school students who attended the event by saying, “This project is all about you. This is all about ensuring that we provide our students with state-of-the-art facilities to get the best possible education.”
Dr. MacNeil, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine, addresses the incoming dental class at the 2015 White Coat Ceremony. (Blagoje Filipovic/UConn Health Photo)
Joined by family members Friday, 98 medical and 42 dental students took part in the traditional White Coat Ceremonies that are the culmination of student orientation for the new classes.
“The white coat has become health care’s symbol of compassionate and scientific patient care,” says Dr. Michael Goupil, associate dean for students at the UConn School of Dental Medicine. “The White Coat Ceremony represents the faith and trust the faculty has for the entering students to carry out their responsibilities for the welfare of their patients.”
The students represent the 47th entering classes for both schools.
“I’m really excited about today,” says medical student Pooja Patel. “Everyone I’ve met is incredibly nice and helpful. I’m just excited to start classes and get to know everyone better.”
Incoming medical student, Pooja Patel, signs the UConn Medical School Honor Code after receiving her white coat on Friday, August 14, at the 2015 White Coat Ceremony. (Kristin Wallace/UConn Health Photo)
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which supports efforts to foster humanism in medicine, provides support for the UConn School of Medicine’s White Coat Ceremony.
“I feel honored, because I’m a first-generation college student,” says dental student Richard Jimenez. “This represents, so far, one of my greatest accomplishments. Ten years ago I would never have seen myself here today.”
Jimenez comes from the Pacific Northwest and had never been to the Northeast before coming to UConn to study dental medicine.
As is tradition, after receiving their white coats, the new dental students recited the Dentist’s Pledge, and the medical students recited the Hippocratic Oath.
Class of 2019 Dental School Profile
42 students (55% women)
Average age: 24
55% Connecticut residents, 21% other New England residents
25 undergraduate school programs represented – 21% UConn, 7% other Connecticut schools
17% are underrepresented minorities
71% majored in science as undergraduates
Class of 2019 Medical School Profile
98 students – includes seven M.D./Ph.D. candidates (56% women)
Average age: 23
87% Connecticut residents
45 undergraduate school programs represented – 35% UConn; 9% other Connecticut schools
18% are underrepresented minorities
88% majored in science and/or health-related topics as undergraduates
The Aetna Foundation, which provided an additional grant to expand the Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program at UConn Health, makes it possible for undergraduates like Hamza Zakir (left) and Akorfa Adobor to get a head start on their pursuit of careers in health care. (Photo by Mukhtar Suleiman)
Nearly 250 students graduated from summer enrichment programs offered by the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative (HPPI) at UConn Health last week.
The students, ranging in age from adolescent to young adult, took part in offerings designed to introduce them to, engage them in, and prepare them for the scholastic track needed to pursue careers in medicine, dentistry, research, nursing, pharmacy, and other health fields. The program seeks to create an educational pipeline for students from populations that historically are underrepresented in these disciplines.
“I learned that knowledge of both medicine and culture are intertwined in providing the best care, and that there is no substitute for empathy,” says Hamza Zakir, a UConn undergraduate who took part in the Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program. “But most importantly, the program helped motivate me from within. It helped me really believe that I can make the difference. For that I can’t be more thankful.”
Alexxus Hall, a University of Saint Joseph junior, says the Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program “has allowed me to meet so many great people and make so many different connections. I am very happy and pleased that I spent the summer participating in such a wonderful program that I know will benefit me in the future.” (Photo provided by Alexxus Hall)
Zakir worked with Akorfa Adobor, a junior at Quinnipiac University, this summer, producing the poster presentation “Engaging Patients in the On-Site Training and Assessment of MyCare Patient Portal: Internal Medicine.”
Adobor says her experience “exposed me to the realities of modern health care, as well as the complexity of medicine. The scientific part, although largely emphasized, is only part of the picture. A good physician must be a humanitarian and an excellent communicator. Medicine is an art form that I hope to someday practice.”
The Aetna Foundation, a longtime supporter of the Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP) at UConn Health, recently awarded an additional $80,000 to expand the Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program.
Another health disparities fellow, Rebecca Zapf-Pedraza, says shadowing physicians showed her income is no barrier to being able to deliver top-quality care to all patients.
“I learned ways in which physicians impact the lives of their patients outside of the office, such as prescribing vegetables and food coupons as well as making sure DCF is properly caring for the children it protects, and am now even more driven to pursue an M.D./Ph.D.,” says Zapf-Pedraza, who plans to graduate from Central Connecticut State University in December with a biology degree.
That was one of 10 summer enrichment programs that concluded Friday:
Great Explorations (27 middle school students)
Jumpstart 9 (36 incoming high school students)
Jumpstart 10 (31 rising high school sophomores)
Junior Doctors Academy (22 rising high school juniors)
Senior Doctors Academy (10 rising high school seniors)
High School Student Research Apprentice Program (10 high school students)
Bridge/Pre-college Academic Enrichment Program (28 incoming undergrads)
Summer Research Fellowship Program (14 undergraduates)
Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program (19 undergraduates)
The Summer Research Fellowship Program is what enabled Oluwatoyin Akinnusotu, a UConn undergraduate going into his senior year, to spend this summer working in the neuropeptide laboratory of professors Elizabeth Eipper and Richard Mains.
Oluwatoyin Akinnusoto describes the research he did as part of the Summer Research Fellowship Program. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
“I was able to create a hypothesis, test it out with data, and see what my conclusion was,” Akinnusotu says. “I really liked the problem-solving aspect of the entire process in my research. And it’s helped me build my resume and my application. Research is a very important aspect of the medical school application. [This fellowship] also helped me form connections here at UConn Health.”
The first-generation American, son of Nigerian parents, aspires to be a neurosurgeon, and is considering UConn for medical school.
“This type of research exposure is so crucial to our mission,” says Dr. Marja Hurley, associate dean for Health Career Opportunity Programs and Aetna HPPI founding director. “We are grateful to the Aetna Foundation and all our funding sources for their continued support.”
Other funding sources include:
Connecticut Collegiate Awareness and Preparation Program, Office of Higher Education
Connecticut State Legislative Fund
The Hartford
William and Alice Mortensen Foundation
John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars Program
UConn Foundation, Friends of the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs
UConn Health
Hurley says the Health Career Opportunity Programs have sent more than 400 participants to medical school, dental school, graduate school, or other health professional schools.
Frank Monney, a senior at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, shares his findings from the Summer Research Fellowship Program with Dr. Marja Hurley. “I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but I didn’t believe in myself enough to do that. But as soon as I came here I then decided I was going to do what really, really want to do, which is be a physician. This program gave me some amazing clinical exposure, and some amazing time in research,” Monney says. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health)
