The Weekly SPHere March 30, 2009
The Weekly SPHere is a weekly electronic publication for students in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. To submit items for the Weekly SPHere, please send an e-mail to sphnews@umn.edu.
>SPHere Spotlight
>Student News
>School News
>SPH Events
>Other Events
SPHere Spotlight
Volunteers Needed for National Public Health Week Events. Volunteer opportunities include Research Day, April 6, and the NPHW Film Festival, April 6-11. This is a great opportunity to network, meet new people, and participate in the Student Division Contest (the division with the highest percentage of participation will win a root beer float social served by Dean Finnegan). The time commitment for each of many opportunities is only one hour. If you’d like to sign-up to volunteer or you have questions, contact Nichole Axtman at 6-9303 or mart1047@umn.edu.
• View a list of volunteer opportunities
Come to SPH Research Day on Monday, April 6. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to check out SPH student research posters in Coffman Memorial Union’s Mississippi Room between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Lunch will be provided from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• More information
Join SPH Dean John Finnegan for "Dialogue with the Dean" on Tuesday, March 31, from 2 to 3 p.m., in the SPHere Student Lounge. This is an opportunity for students to meet with the dean and engage in casual conversation. Discuss questions, concerns, and life as an SPH graduate student, meet other students, and enjoy light refreshments.
(TOP)
Student News
Jooyeon Hwang, a doctoral student in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, will have her abstract, "Historical and Exposure Reconstruction in the Taconite Mining Industry – Study Design," showcased in the poster presentation during the 12th World Congress on Public Health in Istanbul in April. She is one of 100 students attending.
The SPH Student Senate is hosting a school-wide art competition, which is open to students, faculty, and staff. Artwork may be submitted from Monday March 30, through 5 p.m., Monday April 20, to the SPH Student Services office. Prizes will be awarded to the winner and runner-up in the two following categories: Faculty/Staff artwork and Student artwork. An overall “viewer’s choice” prize will also be given. A kickoff event will be held 2:30-4:30 p.m., Wednesday April 22, in Mayo A301. Refreshments will be served.
"How Safe is our Food Supply? Expectations, Technology, and Regulation," will be held Wednesday, April 1, 1:30 to 5 p.m., in the Great Hall, Coffman Memorial Union. The presentation is part of the Food Industry Center’s 3rd annual spring conference and networking event. SPH professor Craig Hedberg will discuss Public Health Surveillance: A Prerequisite for a Safe Food Supply and there will be a panel discussion on food safety issues and recalls. Students can attend for free, though registration is required.
• Register online
3rd Annual Taste Diversity – A Global a-Fair! will be Wedenesday, April 15, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., the Whole Music Club, Coffman Memorial Union. All School of Public Health students, faculty, and staff are invited to an evening of activities and superb ethnic food! There will be array of engaging crafts, demonstrations, and exhibits hosted by SPH students, local restaurants and businesses. Latin dancing classes, sushi making sessions, henna painting, slide shows, yoga and more! Door prizes every 20 minutes!
Taste Diversity - SPH Student Showcase! We would like to showcase the diversity of backgrounds, cultures, crafts, and talents among our SPH student body because we know they're out there hidden underneath piles of projects, readings, and writing assignments. If you have a particular craft like origami or knitting, a hobby such as Taekwondo or beer brewing, or a talent such as singing, dancing, or poetry reading, we want to hear from you! Please contact Elizabeth or Thuy at jaco0644@umn.edu or doanx034@umn.edu for more information.
The 2009 SPH Commencement speaker will be Dr. Eric Whitaker, M.D., M.P.H., a nationally recognized public health leader. Whitaker is the executive vice president of strategic affiliations and associate dean of community-based research at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He leads the center’s Urban Health Initiative, which is working to reduce health disparities in Chicago. Until 2007, he served as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Prior to that appointment, he was an attending physician at Cook County Hospital, where his research interests included HIV/AIDS prevention and minority health. Whitaker gained national attention as founder and director of Project Brotherhood: A Black Men’s Clinic. In 1998, he developed a new clinical model for African American males that combined health care and disease prevention with vocational and spiritual guidance, all in the setting of a barbershop. Whitaker is also an advisor and friend to Barack Obama.
Commencement will take place on Monday, May 18 at 5 p.m. at Northrop Memorial Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Dean John Finnegan will be one of the speakers who discuss, "Public Health Collaboration: Partnerships for Impact," at a National Public Health Week reception on Thursday, April 9. The event will be held at the University of Minnesota, Rochester.
The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program worked with Minnesota companies to maximize resource efficiency, increase energy efficiency, reduce costs, and prevent pollution. Through the organization’s assistance, companies in Minnesota saved $3 million in 2008. Additionally, companies reduced 1.2 million pounds of waste, conserved over 75 million gallons of water, and reduced their energy use by 13.4 million kWh and 684,000 therms.
• View the full MNTAP report
SHADAC has collaborated with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to develop model-based state-level estimates of the wireless-only population. NCHS released the estimates March 11 with a detailed explanation of the modeling process. SHADAC also released a new issue brief, "The Impact of Wireless-only Households on State Surveys of Health Insurance Coverage." This brief examines the issues related to the increasing prevalence of wireless-only households as it relates to conducting telephone-based household surveys of health insurance coverage.
• Read the NCHS Brief (PDF)
• Read SHADAC’s Issue Brief (PDF)
Over the last 15 years, nearly every state has seen increased numbers of uninsured residents, greater costs for workers relative to income, and significant erosion of private coverage. That’s according to a new report, "At the Brink: Trends in America’s Uninsured 1994-2007." The report, prepared using SHADAC research, was released in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Cover the Uninsured Week, March 22-28. The 7th annual campaign has become the largest nonpartisan mobilization in history seeking solutions for the 45.7 million Americans who are uninsured.
• Read the report
New SPH Faculty Guidebooks available. If you would like copies of the 2009-2010 SPH Faculty Guidebook, contact Karen Carmody-McIntosh at carm0047@umn.edu. There are no limits on the quantity you may request. The guidebooks outline the research expertise of SPH faculty members.
• Access a PDF of the guide
Students are invited to join Career Services for a Peace Corps information session at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7. Alicen Spaulding, public health student and former health extension volunteer, will share her experiences living and working in Paraguay. The session will be held in the Stauffer Conference Room, D387 Mayo.
Multicultural graduate and professional students who will graduate in Summer 2009 are invited to the 5th Annual Celebration of Achievement on Saturday, May 9. Register at the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence by Friday, April 17. Direct questions to Trumanue Lindsey at Lind1078@umn.edu.
Students are invited to an upcoming financial planning workshop that will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 1 in 140 Nolte Hall. No registration required. North Star Resource Group will lead the workshop.
• More details about the event
The Children, Youth, and Family Consortium (CYFC) Scholars program supports U of M faculty, research staff and graduate students from diverse disciplines to conduct research focused on the intersection of educational and health disparities. This program is open to all faculty and professional and administrative staff across the university system. The request for applications for individuals to serve as either CYFC "scholars" or "fellows" is available at the CYFC website. Applications are due Friday, April 3.
• Request an application
The Learning Abroad Center has funding of up to $500 for students participating on non-credit work, intern, volunteer or teaching programs during summer 2009. Students must complete an application and submit a 250-300 word essay illustrating their reasons for choosing the program, how it will impact their personal, professional, academic or long-term goals, and how they plan to fund the program in addition to the awarded fellowship. The deadline is 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 and students will be notified by May 1.
• View the list of approved programs
Photos from Pamoja 2009 can be viewed online. If you have photos from Pamoja you would like to share, please e-mail them to sphss@umn.edu.
• See the photos
The SPH Student Senate volunteer committee wants you to join the fight against cancer by participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life beginning Friday, April 17. Last year the SPH relay team raised $5,000. This year’s goal is $7,000. Participate at the event, donate, or both. Donation jars are located in the following areas: Student Services Center (Mayo D305), Dean’s Office (Mayo A3rd floor), WBOB (3rd floor, reception). Please stop by and make a contribution. For more information, contact Erika Vetta at vett0066@umn.edu.
• Join or donate to the SPH Cares about Cures team
(TOP)
School News
Attend the fifth annual SPH film festival the week of April 6-11. Hosted in celebration of National Public Health Week, this year’s selection of films promises to be educational, intriguing, and thought-provoking. A new addition to this year’s festival is a Family Fun Film Day on Saturday, which includes short films for kids, crafts, and pictures with Goldy Gopher. Winners of the "It’s Global" Public Service Announcement (PSA) contest will be screened Monday evening and Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m. The evenings begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Mayo Memorial Auditorium. The film festival is free and open to the public.
• More information, including film selections, dates and times
The Bell Museum and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy presents an Earth Day free screening of the film, A Sense of Wonder. The film will be screened at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, at the Bell Museum Auditorium. Based on the life of environmentalist Rachel Carson, the documentary-style film examines Carson’s final year of life, during which she battled cancer, an unexpectedly high public profile and backlash from her critics. A panel discussion featuring SPH professor William Toscano and experts from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Healthy Legacy campaign will follow.
The Department of Health and Human Services has released a new report, "Americans Speak on Health Reform: Report on Health Care Community Discussions," which summarizes comments from the thousands of Americans who hosted and participated in Health Care Community Discussions across the country. The report is available on a new website dedicated to health reform. The site allows users to share their thoughts about health reform with the Obama Administration and sign a statement in support of President Obama’s commitment to enacting comprehensive health reform this year.
• Visit the website
(TOP)
SPH Events
The Division of Health Policy and Management is offering a work in progress seminar series that begins with forums on causality in the health sciences, “Part 1: Overview/Philosophy and Background." Bryan Dowd, George Maldonado, and Robert Kane are the presenters at the session to be held from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, in D-199 Mayo. Attendees are encouraged to read a draft paper by Bryan Dowd entitled "Separated at Birth: Statisticians, Social Scientists and Causality in Health Services Research" before the Forum. Contact Ann Reilly at areilly@umn.edu to request a copy. Light snacks and soft drinks will be provided.
The Healthcare Reform and Health Equity forum will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 12 p.m., Friday, April 17, in Coffman Memorial Union Theatre. The forum will focus on models for reforming our health care system and implications of these models for reducing health disparities. Speakers include Sen. Amy Klobuchar; Jeffery Korsmo, executive director of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center; and SPH alumnus Michael Trujillo, health research director for the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. (formerly director of the Indian Health Service and Assistant Surgeon General).
• Information and Registration
A series on "Causality in the Health Sciences" will take place on five Wednesdays in April, 12:15-1:15 p.m. The sessions will likely be taped by the AcademyHealth as a webinar. Each session, except for the first, will have a paper that the audience will be encouraged to read before the session. Information on how to access the papers will be sent later. The first session will be held in D199 Mayo. The sessions are organized by the Division of Health Policy and Management.
|
Date
|
Presenter
|
Title
|
Discussant A
|
Discussant B
|
Discussant C
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 1, 2009
|
Bryan Dowd (HPM)
|
Overview/Philosophy Background
|
All
|
All
|
All
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 8, 2009
|
Michael Oakes (EPICH)
|
Epidemiological Perspective
|
Roger Feldman
(HPM)
|
George Maldonado (EHS)
|
Pinar Karaca-Mandic (HPM)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 15, 2009
|
Bryan Dowd
(HPM)
|
Econometric Perspective
|
Michael Oakes (EPICH)
|
James Neaton (BIOSTAT)
|
Melanie Wall (BIOSTAT)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 22, 2009
|
George Maldonado (EHS)
|
Population Perspective
|
Richard MacLehose (EPICH)
|
Robert Kane
(HPM)
|
Bryan Dowd
(HPM)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 29, 2009
|
Gordon Mosser/ Robert Kane (HPM)
|
Implementation
|
Bryan Dowd
(HPM)
|
Beth Virnig
(HPM)
|
Jeff McCullough
(HPM)
|
(TOP)
Other Events
March 30, 4-5:30
"I Want to do Clinical Research but the FDA Wants Me to do What?!?"
April 2, 8:00-9:30 p.m.
Cross Cultural Health Services: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Our Communities
April 7, 7:30 p.m.
The Healing Forest: The Origin and Discovery of Natural Organic Medicines from the Forbidden Forests of Africa and the Amazon in Peru
April 24, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Documentary Screening of Money-Driven Medicine
For more events, go to the SPH Online Calendar
Subscribe to SPH calendar updates by e-mail
(TOP)
The Weekly SPHere is sent by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, 420 Delaware Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455.
Last modified on Friday Mar 27, 2009