SPH News Sept. 21, 2009
SPH News is a school-wide electronic newsletter distributed to SPH faculty and staff every other week during the school year. To submit items for the Oct. 5 edition of SPH News, please send an e-mail to sphnews@umn.edu by Wednesday, Sept. 30.
From the Dean 
Student enrollment numbers are in for the 2009-2010 academic year. Here’s the breakdown by degree:
MPH — 736
MHA — 116
MS — 160
PhD — 177
Certificate — 127
That makes a total of 1,316 students. It’s hard to believe that in 1998 our student population was as 362 and in 2003 it was 610. It’s thanks to our highly productive faculty and staff that we have grown our student base so quickly and efficiently over the past decade. Indeed, we’re coming off of six straight years of record-breaking enrollment. This year’s total student number is right in line with those of the past two years.
What do the numbers mean? To me, they indicate that public heath, in general, continues to draw a steadily growing base of individuals—those who see immense value in the field’s “upstream” approach to improving health. But, specifically, they indicate that the University of Minnesota School of Public Health is where more and more students are choosing to study.
And for this, once again, I turn to our faculty and staff and say thank you.
Keep up the great work.
—John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
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Faculty News
The 2009-10 faculty guidebooks are now available for faculty to distribute to students. The book lists the expertise of our faculty by subject and by full-page listing for each faculty member. Request books from Karen Carmody-McIntosh at 4-6708 or carm0047@umn.edu (please note corrected email).
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School News
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota is convening an international summit on the H1N1 influenza pandemic and critical business preparedness. “Keeping the World Working During the H1N1 Pandemic: Protecting Employee Health, Critical Operations, and Customer Relations” is a two-day conference featuring a variety of pandemic response experts from public and private sectors. The conference will occur Sept. 22, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sept. 23, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Marriott City Center, 30 S. 7th St.
•Read more and register online
Enter the 4th annual “It’s Global” PSA Contest for a chance to win up to $500. The deadline to enter is March 5, 2010. The top 15 PSAs will be screened and the cash prizes will be awarded on Monday, April 5. All PSAs will be showcase throughout National Public Health Week (April 5-9, 2010).
• Read more at the SPH website
• View past winners
Seeking enthusiastic and energetic participants to join the SPH in the University of Minnesota Homecoming Parade. March alongside students, faculty, staff, and alumni on Friday, Oct. 9 in the evening. Joining the public health parade unit will be Dean Finnegan driving a donated ZENN car along University Avenue. Participants will receive a complimentary long-sleeved SPH homecoming shirt.
• Space is limited, so sign up today
The Center for Public Health Preparedness announces its latest online module, Crisis Intervention During Disaster. The goal of this module is to help learners identify reactions to trauma and take appropriate and effective action to assist individuals in crisis. Participants are eligible to receive up to 0.05 CEUs (0.5 contact hours) for completion of training including pre-test, post test and evaluation.
• Register online and learn more about our Public Health Emergency Training (PHET) Series
New Group Facilitator’s Guide for Disaster in Franklin County Now Available. The simulation can be projected in a classroom setting where participants engage in a group discussion about the problems presented, learning from each other in addition to learning from the online simulation.
• Learn more about the guide
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SPH Events
Environmental Health in Iraq will occur on Sept. 21, 3:30-5 p.m., Mayo 3-125. Doctors Najm Askouri Koudhur and Asaad Al-Janabi will discuss radiologic pollution in Najaf Province, cancer prevalence in Iraq and the shortage of health surveillance, and high incidences of breast cancer in Middle Euphrates region of Iraq.
• Additional Information
Nurturing the Female Brain: How Biology and Culture Interact to Influence Premenstrual and Perinatal Depression will occur on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 10 a.m., West Bank Office Building 364. Laura Miller, vice chair for Academic Clinical Services; director of Women's Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry; Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals will speak.
• Additional Information
Become a volunteer at the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic. Learn more about this exciting opportunity on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 5:30 p.m., 2-690 Moos Tower.
• Learn more about the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic online
ERUPT: Emerging Research Underlying Public Health Trends will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Mayo 1155. SPH faculty members Bruce Alexander and Jeff Mandel will discuss their findings on asbestos iron range research.
• Additional Information
Beyond Health Care: New Directions to a Healthier America will occur Thursday, Sept. 24, 1:30-3 p.m., Humphrey Institute. Wilhelmine Miller, associate director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build A Healthier America, will provide an overview of the commission’s recommendations. The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by the Star Tribune’s heath editor Dave Hage. For more information, call 5-2530 or email cspg@umn.edu.
American Association for the History of Nursing Conference will occur on Friday, Sept. 25 and feature Steven Berlin Johnson, a best-selling author on the intersection of science, technology, and personal experience.
• Read more and register online
The Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety presents “Update on National Health Care Reform: A Moving Target.” Lynn Blewett, associate professor and principal investigator State Health Access Data Assistance Center, will present on Monday, Sept. 28, 2:30-4 p.m., 3-125 Mayo.
• Additional Information
Patterns and Correlates of Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents will be presented by Carrie Heitzler. This final presentation for the Epidemiology Ph.D., will occur on Sept. 29, 3-4 p.m., West Bank Office Building 364.
• Additional Information
Health Policy and Management is sponsoring a two-week dialogue on health care reform issues on Wednesday, September 30 and Wednesday, October 7, noon-1 p.m. in room D325/D327 Mayo. Faculty participants are Jean Abraham, Lynn Blewett, Bryan Dowd, Roger Feldman, Ira Moscovice, and Robert Town. School of Public Health faculty, staff, and students are welcome.
• Additional Information
Media Production for Public Health seminar series will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m., in 2-110 Weaver-Densford. SPH media producer Paul Bernhardt will lead a series of discussions designed for SPH students on using basic media production tools to craft and communicate effective public health messages and conduct cutting-edge research. Faculty and staff are welcome.
• Read about the program and register online
Breakfast Briefing: Respiratory Protection for Healthcare Workers, Risk Assessment and Fit Testing for Novel Influenza A (H1N1) will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 7:30-9:30 a.m., at the University Office Plaza (2221 University Ave. S.E.). The learning activity will focus on respiratory protection and respirator fit testing for health care workers.
• More information and register online
24- and 40-Hour Site Worker Training will occur from Sept. 21-25, University Office Plaza, East Bank Campus.
• Read more and register online
A Comprehensive Industrial Hygiene Review will occur from Sept. 21-25, University Office Plaza, East Bank Campus.
• Read more and register online
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Student News
Melanie Nadeau, MPH candidate (Turtle Mountain Band) and Genelle Lamont, PhD candidate (Bad River Band), helped host the showing of the Emmy nominated documentary “Walking into the Unknown” during the SPH student orientation and to the Twin Cities American Indian community at the Minnesota American Indian Center.
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Other Events
Learn to access free social science and health data. The Minnesota Population Center (MPC), a developer of demographic data, will hold workshops on data training on Friday, Sept. 25, noon-1:30 p.m., at Wilson Library. The MPC provides population data to thousands of researchers, policymakers, teachers, and students. The workshops are free but limited to 30 people. E-mail training@pop.umn.edu to register.
Genetics and Religion: Prospects for Dialogue will occur on Sept. 26, 9 a.m.-5:15 p.m., Moos Tower 2nd floor lecture hall.
• Read more and register online
“Does It Matter Where You Live? Neighborhoods and Health” will occur on Sept. 28, 12:15-1:15 p.m., 50 Willey Hall. The Minnesota Population Center presents an overview of the data systems available through the national health data enclave system.
• Additional information
For more events, go to the SPH Online Calendar
Subscribe to SPH calendar updates by e-mail
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Events on the AHC Web Site
Events on the SPH Web Site
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Last modified on Sunday Jun 07, 2009