SPH News May 7, 2007SPH News is a school-wide electronic newsletter distributed to SPH faculty and staff every other week during the school year. Please send news items to SPHNews@umn.edu. The submission deadline for the May 21 issue is Wednesday, May 16. SPH News will move to a monthly distribution for the summer. Issues will go out on: June 4, July 2, and August 6. SPH News will resume biweekly distribution when the fall semester begins. From the DeanDear SPH Graduates: It hardly seems possible that another academic year has passed, but here we are in finals week with commencement upon us! As we have grown in size, so too have our needs for an adequate commencement hall. This year, we will hold our celebration in the one and only Northrop Auditorium. I can't count how many times I have attended commencements at Northrop. At two of them (I won't say how long ago), I stood where you graduates will stand to receive a small piece of paper in recognition of all your hard work. It's your credential proclaiming to all that you earned this degree by fulfilling the requirements set by the faculty and ratified by the Board of Regents. But it's the start, not the end. From here on, lifelong learning must be your mantra and your companion as you move into the day-to-day world of public health, whether in the government, private, or academic sectors. This school and this University will be there as your partner. As others have given to you, we hope that you will choose to give back to the next generation of students in whatever ways you are able. As you stand in Northrop Auditorium, know that you are the next in a long line of graduates stretching back many generations. As a faculty member, I believe that you, our graduates, are among our best "gifts" we can give back to the world. You leave us a better school for choosing to learn here, and I know that you will make for a better world with your work in public health. --John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D. Media NewsApril 2007 media coverage featured the following SPH faculty and staff: Kathleen Call, Susan Foote, Ian Greaves, Leslie Grant, James Hart, Alan Hirsch, David Jacobs, Robert Jeffery, Rosalie Kane, Martha Kubik, Michelle Lian-Anderson, Jennifer Linde, Donna McAlpine, James Neaton, Michael Osterholm, Marguerite Pappaioanou, Bill Riley, Matt Simcik, Mary Story, William Toscano, Robert Town. Coverage was featured in local media as well as in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, and Wall Street Journal. Visit www.sph.umn.edu/news/ to read more about SPH faculty in the news and find links to the complete stories, or e-mail SPHNews@umn.edu to request hard copies of the stories. Faculty NewsJohn Connett, has received the SPH’s highest teaching honor, the Leonard M. Schuman Award for Excellence in Teaching, in recognition of his extraordinary impact on students. He was nominated for his remarkable student evaluations and for his outstanding availability and accessibility to students. A testament to how much he enjoys teaching is that he continues to teach a full course load, even while taking on the role of division head of Biostatistics. Charles Oberg has received the Charles N. Hewitt Creative Teaching Award, which recognizes SPH faculty who have made an outstanding contribution in special areas of public health education. His classroom is described as an "exciting and fun environment that fosters critical thinking, challenges students and caters to all learning styles." He has taken great care to ensure that he not only reaches the students in his classroom, but also the students taking his course online. Michael Osterholm was selected to receive an FDA Commissioners Special Citation award for 2007.He is being honored "for continued excellence in promoting food safety and food defense to ensure the safety of the American public." The award will be presented on Friday, May 11 in Washington, D.C. Deborah Swackhamer has been appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to serve as the Higher Education Representative to the Clean Water Council, established by the Minnesota Legislature last session under the Clean Water Legacy Act. Staff NewsKirk Allison, program director for the Program in Human Rights and Health, presented three times on April 24-25 at Washington University in the Saint Louis School of Medicine. His presentations were: stem cell controversies and the public representation of science for Physicians for Human Rights; for a Grand Rounds on China’s use of executed persons as organ sources in transplantation and policy options concerning the training of transplant surgeons for the Department of Surgery, Center for the Study of Ethics and Human Values, and Physicians for Human Rights; and for a medical student forum on ethical issues in domestic and international transplantation. Martha Feda, principal accountant for the SPH, was the recipient of the Civil Service and Bargaining Unit Award sponsored by the Office for University Women. Feda was recognized at the 2007 Celebrating University Women awards celebration in April. Student NewsKatie Gruner, CHE student, has won the Wisconsin Public Health Association’s New Public Health Worker award. She was recognized for helping to create the Off-Reservation Native American Wellness Initiative with the American Indian Center of the Fox Valley. She also created a rural immersion program for pediatric residents at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Shawano, Wisc. And she conducted a prenatal care phone survey for the Fox Cities Community Health Center. The award will be presented to Gruner during the Wisconsin Public Health Association conference, on May 24. Jim Winkle, CHE student, has directed the film, "Sex and the Sate: A Minnesota Documentary." The film will be screened at the Oak Street Cinema on Thursday, June 7 at 7 p.m. The screening is free and open to the public. School NewsSPH Annual Faculty and Assembly Meeting today. On Monday, May 7, a school-wide meeting will be held for all SPH faculty, staff, and students. John Finnegan will give a dean's report along with other important announcements, including new faculty, awards, and promotions. Refreshments will be served at 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in room 3-100 of the Mayo building -- right below the Mayo Auditorium. Those driving to the East Bank for the meeting can park in either the Washington Avenue Ramp or East River Road garage and get parking validated. The 2007 commencement ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 14 at the Northrop Memorial Auditorium. The speaker is Laurie Garrett, award-winning journalist. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony on the Northrop Terrace and Mall. Graduates participating in commencement should be at Northrop at 4 p.m. to gather with other students and faculty to prepare for commencement. Light refreshments will be provided during this time. Please enter Northrup at the side entrance off of Church St SE. For more information and frequently-asked-questions please visit www.sph.umn.edu/current/commencement.html. SPH to Evaluate State Health Reform. The SPH has launched a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation® (RWJF) National Program Office to support the evaluation of state health reform efforts nationwide.Developed in response to increased state activity to improve health care access, the State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) project will develop a coordinated approach for the evaluation of state health care reform initiatives being implemented nationwide.SPH associate professorLynn Blewett will serve as SHARE's director.SHARE will award $7 million in grant funding to researchersevaluating state reform over a period of four years. The project is a national program of the RWJF with direction by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the SPH.For more information, go to www.statereformevaluation.org. SPH has adopted a new mass e-mail policy and created a weekly student e-newsletter. The aim is to tailor information to student needs, while reducing the number of mass e-mails within SPH. The efforts were prompted by responses from student focus group discussions and from comments received directly from students and others. To read the mass e-mail policy, go to www.sph.umn.edu/about/policies/email.html. Delta Omega Honorary Society Inducts New Members. Each spring, the University of Minnesota’s Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, Pi Chapter elects new members based on outstanding performance. The Pi Chapter Officers are SPH faculty members William Toscano and Traci Toomey. The Pi Chapter nominees will be inducted at a reception and luncheon on Friday, May 11. Students Alumni Faculty Honorary A new public health course, PubH 6000 Special Topics will be offered in the fall of 2007. The three-credit class, e-Public Health: Online Intervention Design, will be taught primarily by B. R. Simon Rosser. This introductory course covers the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of Internet-based public health interventions or e-Public Health. For more information, please contact Carol Raichert at 5-1836 or raichert@epi.umn.edu. See website for complete syllabus: www.epi.umn.edu/academic/syllabi.shtm. The application deadline for the CCPH's 10th Summer Service-Learning Institute has been extended to May 15. This intensive training is held July 20-23 in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Call for Abstracts-Ninth Annual MCH Summer Institute. The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health invites you to submit poster abstracts to display during the Ninth Annual MCH Summer Institute on Addressing Health Disparities, "Culture, Communications and Health." The Institute will be held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Conference Center on July 24-25. The deadline to submit abstracts is 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 7. Events & Courses
"The Two Faces of Pandemic Risk Communication: Alerting People Now and Helping Them Cope When It Happens" will be held 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8 in the Mississippi Room of Coffman Memorial Union. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. The guest speaker is Peter Sandman, a preeminent risk communication expert. The program is designed for public health professionals, Medical Reserve Corp members, preparedness coordinators, personnel in health care settings, and students and faculty in public health, journalism, public affairs, and law. For more information, contact the Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach at cpheo@umn.edu or call 6-4515. A public lecture on "Risk Communication and the Food System: Gauging the Hazard, Managing the Outrage" will be held on Tuesday, May 8, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Pomeroy Student-Alumni Learning Center on the St. Paul campus. Risk communications expert Peter Sandman is the keynote speaker. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Lisa Brienzo at 4-2614 or brien002@umn.edu. The Healthy Kids in Healthy Places Community Action Forum will be held Wednesday, May 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The focus will be on several topics including specific changes, developing strategies for changes, increasing knowledge of key factors that impact obesity, and creating new connections among people concerned about childhood obesity. The forum will be held on the St. Paul campus at the Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1890 Buford Ave. The event is free, but pre-registration is required. The Minnesota Cancer Alliance will host the fourth annual Cancer Summit Tuesday, May 8, at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center. Keynote speaker Tom Kean, executive director of C-Change, will discuss cultivating leadership in comprehensive cancer control. The Summit is open to anyone interested in learning about Minnesota cancer control efforts from community health workers and advocates to clinicians. Early bird registration deadline is April 10 and registration closes May 3. Continuing education credits will be offered. Mona Fouad will present "Recruitment and Retention of Minorities Into Clinical Trials" on Wednesday, May 9, noon to 1 p.m., in 2-530 Moos Tower. Fouad is a professor in the Medicine/Division of Preventive Medicine; and director, Minority Health and Research Center, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sandwiches and beverages will be provided for the first 50 attendees. The lecture is part of the Distinguished Visiting Scholar Series in Health Disparities. The Provost’s Advisory Committee for the Institute for the Advancement of Science and Engineering is hosting a public forum on Thursday, May 10, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in 2-520 Moos Tower. Interactive live broadcast https://breeze5.umn.edu/iase. "The Ethics of Predictive Health Research: From Framingham to the National Children’s Study" will be the focus of the a seminar held on Friday, May 11. It will be held from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in room 2-122 of the Molecular & Cellular Biology Building. The presenter is Eric Meslin, director, Center for Bioethics; Assistant Dean for Bioethics, School of Medicine; Professor of Medicine, Medical & Molecular Genetics, and Philosophy, Indiana University. Surf’s Up! On Saturday, May 12 there will be an All-Student Year-End Celebration held at the Radisson. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Some of the highlights include the band, Big Surf, who recently played a gig with Dick Dale, legendary surf guitarist of Pulp Fiction fame. Food, wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages will be in abundance. Other cool things include a display to recognize students who have received awards and scholarships or who will be graduating, an on-site photo booth for pictures with family and friends, an interactive space to share your favorite SPH memories, carnival games for all ages, and a casual festive atmosphere for all to enjoy. Family and friends welcome. The SPH Student Senate would like to extend an invitation to all SPH students and their families for our End-of-the-Year Commencement Picnic. The picnic is meant to give all students a chance to relax at the end of the school year and to celebrate with all SPH Graduates. There will be outdoor games and a prize drawing for all graduates in attendance. The picnic will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 13 in the West Picnic Pavillion at Como Park in St. Paul. Food and drinks will be provided to all SPH students and their families, vegetarian grilling options also provided. Please feel free to bring along any lawn games, frisbees, balls, etc. No need to RSVP. Please direct all questions to sphss@umn.edu. 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. "Treatment of Periodontal Disease and the Risk of Preterm Birth: The Obstetrics and Periodontal Therapy (OPT) Trial" will be the focus of a seminar at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16. SPH associate professor James Hodges is the keynote speaker. The seminar will be held in the CCBR Ballroom on the Minneapolis campus. "Service Learning for Health: Engaging Communities, Students and Educators" is a one-day service learning symposium being offered on Thursday, May 17. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in Rochester. The symposium is co-sponsored by Mayo Medical School and UM Rochester, along with other co-sponsors. Sarena Seifer, executive director of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, will keynote the symposium along with other national speakers. The cost is $20 for the entire day and scholarships are available as needed for students. Register by May 11 by calling 507-287-2135 (reference symposium activity number 7414.231) The Second Annual Best Practices Institute: Excellence in Health Professions Education will be held May 17-18 at the U's Minneapolis campus. The six schools of the Academic Health Center 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. Costs and Benefits of Responsible Conduct of Research Conference. The Dept of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity is sponsoring the Costs and Benefits of Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Education Programs Conference, May 31-June 1, 2007. Hosted by the University of Minnesota, the conference will feature the experiences of four major research universities which have confronted issues of costs as well as reaped the value of RCR programs. Panel presentations and breakout sessions will allow opportunity for discussion. The Division of Epidemiology and Community Health Seminars take place in conference room 364 at the WBOB. Learn more at the EpiCH Web site. Save the date for the MPHA Annual Conference on Thursday and Friday, June 14-15 at St. John's University in Collegeville. This year's conference will include informative presentations on public health preparedness, food safety, childhood and adult obesity, and health care reform. The conference will include exhibits and displays about MPHA's and public health's history in Minnesota over the last 100 years. Watch for program, registration, and lodging information in early May. CPHEO NewsUpcoming Courses, Training, and Events The Ethics of Public Health Emergencies: The Case of Pandemic Flu will be held on Wednesday, May 9. Debra DeBruin is the guest speaker for the event, which is the last Emergency Readiness Rounds seminar this spring. For more information and registration visit www.meret.umn.edu. Free online learning resources offered through the Center for Public Health Preparedness. These new activities are designed to enhance the participant's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from public health threats and emergencies. • The Off-Site Care Facility-An Alternate Care Site: A Primer for Volunteers 2007 Summer Public Health Institute Mold Identification will be held May 15 - 17, 2007 To sign up to receive SPH News, send your name and e-mail address to SPHNews@umn.edu. • Read past issues of SPH News SPHNews is sent by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, 420 Delaware Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455. www.sph.umn.edu. |