SPH News March 12, 2007
March 12, 2007
SPH News is a school-wide electronic newsletter distributed every other week. Please send news items to SPHNews@umn.edu. The submission deadline for the March 26 issue is Wednesday, March 21.
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From the Dean
It's federal budget time again on Capitol Hill. Each year at this time, the deans of the nation's 38 accredited schools of public health gather in Washington, D.C. to talk with their congressional delegations about health priorities and funding. I joined them last week along with Assistant Dean Diana Harvey and University Legislative Director Channing Riggs. High on our agenda is the NIH research budget and funding for the Public Health Training Centers and the Centers for Public Health Preparedness.
Specifically, we are urging a 6.8 percent increase in NIH's 2008 budget and continued funding for the centers. The good news is that the Minnesota and North Dakota congressional staff with whom we spoke expect increased NIH funding to pass and also continued funding for the centers despite the President's recommendation for a flat NIH budget and elimination of centers funding. Prospects for increased funding on both counts look better today than a year ago, if only because of the shift in party power wrought by the November midterm elections.
Minnesota's Fourth District Rep. Betty McCollum now sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee along with other Democrats, and North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad is now chair of the Senate Committee on Budget. Health funding and global health are high on their agendas, too. The schools of public health are also seeking increased funding for the CDC, which has been hammered in recent years by the President's budgets.
Despite the congressional power shift, none of this is a "cake walk" by any means. Democrats, just like Republicans before them, are faced with huge deficits from the Iraq War and need to begin controlling them. Budget battles are likely to be fierce and partisan. Nevertheless, one message that seems clear from the November election is that Americans want some solid investment in the health and well-being of all. If you agree, this would be a good time to contact your federal representatives and senators and let them know. Also, don't forget the University's state legislative agenda and your local legislators.
For information on the national public health legislative agenda, click here: www.apha.org/advocacy/
To locate your federal representatives and senators, click here: www.gpoaccess.gov/cdirectory/index.html
For information on the University of Minnesota's legislative agenda, and to locate your state legislators, click here: www1.umn.edu/groots/index.php
--John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D.
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Media News
February 2007 media coverage featured the following SPH faculty and staff:
Kathleen Thiede Call
Timothy Church
Lisa Harnack
James Hart
Nicole Larson
Elizabeth McClure
Melissa Nelson
Charles Oberg
Michael Osterholm
Deb Swackhamer
Patricia Van Den Berg
Coverage was featured in local media as well as in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Scientific American, CNN Money, the Canadian Press, and Reuters News Service. Visit http://www.sph.umn.edu/news/ to read more about SPH faculty in the news and to find links to the complete stories, or e-mail SPHNews@umn.edu to request hard copies of the stories.
Jim Neaton was featured in the University of Minnesota Moment, Thursday, March 1. February is National Heart Month and each year there is an annual campaign to alert people to the risks of heart disease. One risk factor is high blood pressure. But what does it mean to have high blood pressure? Jim Neaton explains. Listen to the feature at
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/urelate/radio/blood-pressure.mp3
Visit the U of M Moment blog at http://blog.lib.umn.edu/urelate/radio/.
Brad Carlin is featured in Public Health Moment this week, providing tips on picking winners in the NCAA basketball tournament.
• Listen to Carlin on Public Health Moment
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Faculty News
Michael Davern participated in the invitation-only Ninth Conference on Health Survey Research Methods held in Atlanta March 2-5.
• Learn more
Russell Luepker testified for the House and Senate Finance Committees on funding for the Minnesota Department of Health Heart Disease and Stroke Unit. That funding is threatened by cutbacks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
J. Michael Oakes and co-author Jay Kaufman have received positive reviews for their recent book, Methods in Social Epidemiology. Social epidemiology is the study of how social interactions--social norms, laws, institutions, social conditions, and behavior--affect the health of populations.
• View excerpts of select reviews
Debra Olson was named a fellow in the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). The association is the primary group for health care professionals serving in the workplace. It strives to ensure occupational and environmental nurses are the authority on health, safety, productivity and disability management for worker populations.
The application deadline for faculty development leaves for the upcoming year is Monday, March 19. The Faculty Development Leaves policy and forms, and the Faculty Sabbatical Supplement Program description, are located online.
• Access the policy, forms, and description
• Access the Board of Regents Policy
The Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (APT) Committee will serve as the School's screening committee and make recommendations to the Dean. Applications are to be forwarded to the APT Committee, c/o Judy Peterson, SPH Dean's Office, MMC 197, by Monday, March 19. Questions can also be directed to Judy Peterson at 4-7196 or peter042@umn.edu.
The School of Public Health Recognition, Awards, and Honors (RAH) Committee now welcomes nominations for three SPH faculty awards. Nominations are due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday April 6:
• The Leonard M. Schuman Award for Excellence in Teaching ($3000) is the School's highest teaching honor.
• The School of Public Health Community Service Award ($1500) honors faculty who have performed public service activities that are above the norm.
• The Charles N. Hewitt Creative Teaching Award ($1500) recognizes outstanding faculty contributions in special areas such as skilled teaching of large classes, continuing education, interscholastic education, or learning technology.
All three awards will be presented at this year's Faculty/Assembly meeting, to be scheduled in the spring. For more information about nomination materials and about each of the award criteria contact Patrick Gambill-Read, 6-1428, sphmayo@umn.edu or Judy Peterson, 7-4196, peter042@umn.edu.
American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grants are available to support assistant professors who have no independent national funding and are engaged in cancer-related research including genetic mechanisms of cancer, molecular mechanism of cancer progression and metastasis, development of novel cancer therapeutic models and translational research, cancer immunology, and immunotherapy. Funding up to $30,000. The deadline is April 16. For more information, contact micek003@umn.edu or 6-1926.
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Student News
Delta Omega, the honorary public health society, is sponsoring the 10th annual student poster contest. All SPH students are invited to participate. Students whose work is selected will receive a $250 cash prize and an opportunity to present their work during the APHA meeting. An additional $500 for APHA travel expenses will be awarded by the Dean's office. Deadline for submission of abstracts of a poster project is March 26. Send abstract information to sphmayo@umn.edu. Submission guidelines and information can be found at www.deltaomega.org. For questions regarding the poster contest, contact Judy Peterson at peter042@umn.edu.
Please join the SPH Student Senate for the second Dean's Dialogue on Tuesday, March 27 from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the SPHere. SPH students have another great opportunity this semester to have an informal discussion with Dean Finnegan. Bring your questions, comments, praise, and concerns. Light snacks provided.
"My Life: Featuring Michael Golden." Learn what life is like for one public health student, as SPH follows Golden at work, in class, and at a Timberwolves game.
• Watch the episode
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School News
Volunteers are needed for the SPH National Public Health Week Film Festival. Students, staff, and faculty who are interested in helping with the annual film festival scheduled for April 2-6 at the Mayo Memorial Auditorium should contact Anne-Marie Kruse at 6-9303 or krus109@umn.edu.
Plan to attend the upcoming Public Health Roundtable. “Human Rights, the Burden of Disease, and International Tobacco Control” will be discussed April 27, 8:30-noon, Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Institute. Speakers from the SPH include Dean John Finnegan and professor Harry Lando. Other speakers: Carolyn Dresler, University of Arkansas, is former head of the Unit for Tobacco and Cancer Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. Benjamin Mason Meier, is an IGERT International Development and Globalization Fellow within Columbia University’s Department of Sociomedical Sciences. More information to follow in SPH News.
SHADAC Conference Call on Cover the Uninsured Week Analysis will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. on Monday March 12. For the fifth consecutive year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation--and some of the most influential organizations in the country, including SHADAC--are organizing Cover the Uninsured Week activities to highlight the need for making health care coverage a top priority.
SHADAC (the State Health Access Data Assistance Center) has produced an annual analysis of the uninsured. This year’s analysis includes a series of state-level data tables using the most recent Current Population Survey, including years 2006, 2005, and 2004. Also included is data on enrollment in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Cover the Uninsured Week is scheduled for April 23-29. The call is scheduled to last for about an hour. Please RSVP to shadac@umn.edu or 4-4802 if you would like to participate in the conference call. The deadline to sign up is Noon EDT on March 12. Participants will be e-mailed the dial-up information. For more information, see http://www.shadac.umn.edu/.
Welcome to UMCal! The SPH Dean's Office, CPHEO, and the divisions of Epidemiology and Community Health and Health Policy and Management are moving to UMCal for personal calendars. UMCal is the calendar system used by most of the University. For many, this will mean a switch from MeetingMaker. The Office of OIT will assist SPH with this migration. The changeover is expected to occur in late May for the Dean's Office and CPHEO. With UMCal you can check your calendar on your desktop client or on the Web from any computer, as well as sync it with your PDA. If you have questions about the conversion, or if you use a PDA, please send an e-mail to sphpod@umn.edu.
The Office of Minority and Multicultural Health is compiling an event calendar, which will be distributed publicly, highlighting daily activities throughout the month of April. The OMMH invites you to share your event details to be included in the calendar by contacting Valerie Larsen at 651-201-4986 or Valerie.Larsen@state.mn.us. Please include the name, date, time and location of the event. Also include a contact person, with a phone number, cost and list of sponsors. Please note whether the event is open to the public and if not, who should attend.
The Second Annual Best Practices Institute: Excellence in Health Professions Education will be held on May 17-18 at the U’s Minneapolis campus. The six schools of the Academic Health Center -- the School of Dentistry, Medical School, School of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health, and the College of Veterinary Medicine -- in collaboration with the AHC Office of Education are sponsoring the event. A committee consisting of representatives of the six health professions schools and the Health Sciences Library has planned a wide range of plenary and workshop offerings that will benefit faculty across all of the disciplines. Details about the Best Practices Institute as well as online registration is now available at: www.bpinstitute.umn.edu.
Bio-Medical reference Librarian Lisa McGuire is available to work with SPH students, faculty, and staff to meet their information needs. She also selects public health materials for the Bio-Medical Library (including journals), teaches classes such as RefWorks and database searching (such as Ovid Medline & PubMed). For more information and to contact Lisa visit: www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/about/staff/lmcguire.
Are you ready for a challenge and life-changing experience? If so, consider attending the 39th Executive Program for Healthcare Administrators in Hong Kong scheduled in August. For more information visit www.isp.sph.umn.edu. The same program will be offered at the U of M July 15-27. For ISP inquiries contact ISPAsia@umn.edu. You can also call 5-1555.
Save the Date! This year’s Commencement Picnic, sponsored by the SPH Student Senate, will be held at Como Park on Sunday, May 13 from 4 to 10 p.m. Families are invited to this special event. Details will be sent closer to the date.
Save the date, part two! The next EpiCH Martinson Lecture is tentatively scheduled for Friday morning, September 28. The keynote speaker is Nancy Krieger. She is a professor in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.
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Events & Courses
Dawnavan Davis, a Public Health Research Fellow and Kellogg Community Health Scholar from the University of North Carolina, will speak from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, March 12. Davis is a faculty candidate for the medical school’s program in health disparities research. She will address "Understanding Body Image and Weight Status in African American Women and Children: A Community-Based Approach.” The event will take place in room 1-450 Moos Tower. Light lunch provided for first 30 attendees.
The SPH Health Disparities Work Group is sponsoring a forum, "Relevant Risk, Revolution and Revisiting Rose Causes of Population Levels and Social Inequalities in Health." The forum will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, March 23 in the Coffman Theater. The keynote speaker is John W. Lynch from McGill University in Montreal. The forum will examine appropriate methods for measuring population health and health inequalities, describe the relationship between risk factors and social inequalities in coronary health disease and look at population health strategies that achieve the largest health population health benefit. The forum is free, but registration is requested. For more information, program details, parking information, and online registration visit:
http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu.
Three important dates to remember – March 27, April 23 and May 8 – courtesy of the U of M Alumni Association (UMAA). First is the Senior Send-Off scheduled for noon to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27. The event will be held at the McNamara Alumni Center. Members of the Class of 2007 are invited to celebrate their upcoming graduation at this free event. Features include a talk by former Gopher and NBA basketball player and motivational speaker Walter Bond ’91, a complimentary lunch, and a chance to win prizes. Students can register online at www.alumni.umn.edu/sendoff and receive a complimentary one-year alumni association membership. For more information about Senior Send-Off, contact Susan Zarambo at 5-9180 or zaram006@umn.edu.
The second event is the Distinguished Teaching Awards Ceremony scheduled for 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Monday, April 23, at the McNamara Alumni Center, Memorial Hall. Mark your calendars and register at www.alumni.umn.edu/distinguishedteaching. For more information, contact Jocelyn Brekken at 5-9174 or brek0045@umn.edu.
The third event is the Annual Celebration of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. The event will be held on Tuesday, May 8. Tony Dungy, class of 1978 and head coach of the Indianapolis Colts football team is the keynote speaker. Early Bird group and single ticket prices are available through April 13. Complete ticket pricing and event information is available at www.alumni.umn.edu/celebration.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Join faculty, staff and students as they participate in the Third Annual Get Your Rear in Gear 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, March 31 at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis. The walk will help raise awareness about screening and support colorectal cancer research. For more details and to sign up visit www.enhs.umn.edu/files/rearingear.html and look for the team, EnHS Polyp Patrol.
Minnesota Public Health Association is celebrating its centennial with a statewide birthday party. The “Minnesota Public Health Association Healthy at 100: It’s No Accident” celebration will take place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4 via video-conferencing. SPH Dean John Finnegan will serve as master of ceremonies for the event. More information to come soon at www.mpha.net/.
Mervyn Susser will deliver the 2007 Gaylord Anderson Lecture on April 26. Susser is Sergievsky Professor of Epidemiology Emeritus of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and faculty of Medicine. He is regarded as one of the preeminent epidemiologists in the world. More details to come in SPH News.
Staff Association Years of Service Awards Reception for civil service/bargaining unit staff will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom. More details to come.
The Division of Epidemiology and Community Health Seminars take place on Fridays in conference room 364 at the WBOB. Topics for the upcoming seminars will be announced.
March 23: Richard Crow and Peter Hannan
March 30: Bruce Alexander
April 6: Claudia Munoz-Zanzi
April 13: Mimi Yu
April 20: Charles Oberg
A special EpiCH seminar has been added on Friday, May, 11. Kelli Komro, University of Florida, will discuss "Project Northland Chicago: A randomized controlled trial of a multi-component alcohol use preventive intervention for urban youth."
CPHEO Upcoming Courses, Modules, and Events
View a more detailed listing of our courses at http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu
Register for the listed courses at http://ustar.ahc.umn.edu/register_event.cfm
• Current Issues in Agricultural and Environmental Health, Part 2 will be held on Monday, March 26 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the lower-level classroom at the Worthington Regional Hospital, 1018 6th Ave, Worthington, Minn. Topics include: Livestock Industry Worker Health Impacts Infectious Diseases Related to Animal Production Practical Solutions for Farmers with Disabilities Fundamentals of Agricultural Emergency Response. To pre-register for the program call Jerre Wiertzema at 507-372-3106 or Kathi Haberman at 507-372-3256.
• The schedule is available for the 2007 Summer Public Health Institute. The institute will be held May 21-June 8 on the Twin Cities University campus. Visit cpheo.sph.umn.edu/institute for the complete three-week Institute schedule, or to request a print catalog please call 6-4515 or e-mail cpheo@umn.edu.
• Want to know more about Occupational Health and Safety? Here is an exciting opportunity to learn about the expanding field of Occupational Health and Safety. This module will help you discover the unique roles professional have in maintaining the safety and health of workers. Linda Carlson, a SPH student, created " A Glimpse into field of Occupational Health and Safety" portion of the module. View the module at http://cpheo1.sph.umn.edu/OHS/
• Save the date-Community Action Forum: Healthy Kids in Healthy Places will be held from 8:30 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9.
Minnesota Incident Management System
March 21-22, 2007
For more information visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/niehs
NIOSH Approved Spirometry Training
April 2-3, 2007
2221 University Ave. SE #114/116
For more information visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/mcohs
Occupational Hearing Conservation Testing and Refresher
April 4-6, 2007
2221 University Ave. SE RM 114/116
For more information visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/mcohs
Incident Management Systems Awareness
April 5, 2007
For more information visit http://cpheo.sph.umn.edu/niehs
• Events on the AHC Web Site
• Events on the SPH Web Site
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Last modified on Monday Mar 12, 2007