SPH News June 4, 2007SPH News is a school-wide electronic newsletter distributed to SPH faculty and staff every month during the summer. Please send news items to SPHNews@umn.edu. The next issue of SPH News will go out on July 2. SPH News will resume biweekly distribution when the fall semester begins. From the DeanTwo weeks ago, I was part of a delegation to renew the University of Minnesota's 25 year-old cooperative agreement with the University of Iceland. President Bob Bruininks led the group to Iceland with AHC Senior Vice President, Frank Cerra, and School of Nursing Dean, Connie Delaney. The University also awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree to Iceland Prime Minister Geir Haarde, a Minnesota alumnus who took a master's degree in economics in the late 1970s. With a population of about 300,000 on an island the size of Ohio, Iceland has a robust economy, culture and influence on the world that reaches far beyond a small place. You may recall that Iceland played host to President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Gorbachev when they decided to thaw the Cold War in the mid-1980s. If Iceland's current President, Olafur Grimson, has his way, an abandoned U.S. military base near Reykjavik may in the future be the site of an international center hosting students and scholars from around the world. In addition, the University of Iceland sees its own future as importantly linked to health sciences research and education. It has made important investments in health informatics, for example, and seeks to develop public health research and training. To accomplish its goals, the University of Iceland regards collaborative relationships such as its agreement with Minnesota as key. We expect that this agreement will provide our faculty and students with additional opportunities in research and education in a global setting. For a few photos of the visit, check out this URL: Here are va couple of related news stories: http://icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=282742 --John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D. Media NewsMay 2007 media coverage featured the following SPH faculty and staff: Jennifer Linde Coverage was featured in local media as well as in the New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, Washington Post, Forbes, HealthDay News, Boston Globe and National Public Radio. Visit http://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. Research News
Faculty NewsJim Rothenberger was awarded a Learning Innovations grant to develop a collaborative course with Minnesota State University Moorhead. The one-credit course will help college students maintain a healthy lifestyle, centered on three topics: eating, sleeping, and exercise. The joint course will be the first of its kind to exist between the University system and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Deb Swackhamer has received the Harvey G. Rogers Environmental Health Leadership Award from the Minnesota Public Health Association. She was recognized for her outstanding contributions to preserving the environment of Minnesota and protecting the health of its people. She is co-director of the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center and interim director of the Institute on the Environment, the University of Minnesota's most comprehensive and ambitious environmentally focused endeavor to date. Call for proposals. The Center for Teaching and Learning Services will fund grants of $2,500 for projects that address aspects of multicultural teaching and learning in courses, programs, or departments. Instructors who are tenured and tenure-track faculty, professional and administrative educational staff, and full-time adjunct/lecturer instructors are invited to submit proposals for these grants. Deadline: July 17. Faculty volunteers needed for the SPH booth at the Minnesota State Fair. Raise public awareness about public health, inform hundreds of Minnesotans about your research, recruit individuals for a study, and have fun to boot at the Minnesota State Fair. The Dean's Office will support your efforts by offering creative ideas for approaching fairgoers (infectious disease trivia, anyone?), creating memorable literature and handouts (how about nutrition facts on a stick?), and/or purchasing fun trinket items (improve indoor air quality by planting SPH forget-me-not seeds). Bonus: Free tickets to the fair and a free T-shirt for all booth volunteers. SPH day at the fair will be Tuesday, Aug. 28. Nominations are beginning for the SPH Community Partner Star award. Each year, the school celebrates and recognizes its many community partners at an event in the fall. Each division may honor up to seven community partners with a star award. Nominations are due June 30. Thinking about the community partners you have worked with over the past year, who would you like to recognize? Adjunct faculty members are already being recognized at the event, so please consider nominating individuals who have volunteered their time and talents to SPH students in other ways. Submissions should include the name, contact information, and a brief summary of the SPH partnership the individual is being nominated for. Save the date for this year's event: Thursday, Sept. 20. School NewsSPH Dean John Finnegan has been appointed to the national advisory committee for the Caregiving Project for Older Americans. The group will work to develop innovative, affordable new approaches to in-home caregiving for older adults. Members of the advisory committee include former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, legendary CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, former 20/20 and Today Show anchor Hugh Downs, and other prominent figures. A joint venture of the International Longevity Center-USA and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education, the project combines the talents of a policy research center with a clinical outpatient and health education program. Mark A. Eustis, MHA alumnus (1979), has been named the new president and CEO of Fairview Health Services. His selection was approved at a special board meeting Monday evening, May 21. Mark begins his new role Aug. 1. "I am pleased to be returning to Minnesota to join one of the most successful academic and community healthcare partnerships in the nation. It is an honor to be part of Fairview and the partnership with the University and University of Minnesota Physicians," said Eustis. SPH assistant professor Jennifer Linde discusses self-weighing and depression for this week's Public Health Moment. Listen here: Interested in Health and Mass Media?
The University's Health Journalism master's program is 4 years old and is considering a second track in health communication. Program administrators would like to hear about your interest in health communication and get feedback on ideas for the program. Please take a few minutes to complete a survey at http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB226GF8FPBPH. Some background information: For a master's degree, the tuition for residents would range from $14,000 to $28,000, depending on how many semesters students took to complete the program. There may be limited opportunities for scholarships or graduate assistantships. Please send your response by June 15. EpiCH summer shuttle schedule. Beginning June 11 the shuttle will make four daily runs from WBOB to Mayo. The shuttle will leave WBOB at 9 and 11 a.m. and then 1 and 3 p.m. It will leave Mayo at 15 past the hour. The mail runs from WBOB to ECRC and the Dean's Office will remain the same: 1 p.m. for ECRC and 3 p.m. for the Dean's Office. The shuttle will not run to the Minnesota Department of Health during the summer. For questions call Ginger Hughes at 6-9397. Registration is available for the MPHA Annual Conference. The conference will take place 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. More at http://mpha.net/. For questions regarding registration contact Carol Berg, cberg@ucare.org 6-3635. A vanpool will leave from the University each morning of the MPHA conference and will return at the end of each day. If you need transportation to the event, go to www.sph.umn.edu/alumni/mpha.html. MPHA conference exhibits, displays, and poster presentations. You are invited to present an exhibit, display, or poster presentation at the Minnesota Public Health Association's Annual Conference held June 14-15 at St. John's University. There will be no charge for the tables for your display; however, participants are asked to pay the conference fee for attending the conference or for the day of June 14 when the exhibit, poster or display will be presented. For more information, contact Jay Jaffee at jay.jaffee@health.state.mn.us or 651-201-5496. Please include your name, organization, address, phone number, and e-mail address as well as the topic of your display. MnTAP Partners Awarded Environmental Honors. Three Minnesota health care facilities were recognized at the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment Environmental Excellence Summit on May 14. Ridgeview Medical Center, Hutchinson Area Health Care, and University of Minnesota Medical Center-Fairview all received awards. All three facilities have sought the expertise of the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP), an SPH center. Catherine Zimmer, MnTAP health care specialist, provided pollution prevention assistance, ranging from site visits to assess waste reduction opportunities to offering resources on how to reduce mercury. Following MnTAP pollution prevention assessments, Hutchinson eliminated all of its remaining mercury, totaling 7,553 grams, and Fairview replaced its bone marrow fixative, eliminating six pounds of mercury a year from its facility. 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.
What is Public Health? Looking for an overview of basic public health concepts? The Midwest Center for Life-Long-Learning in Public Health offers a free 2.5 hour online training titled What is Public Health that will provide just that. A certificate awarding 2.5 contact hours of continuing education credit will be awarded upon completion. Also available is an undergraduate course, PubH 3202: What is Public Health, which explores the concepts in greater depth.
Looking for more distance education? The Midwest Center for Life-Long-Learning in Public Health is part of the national network of Public Health Training Centers (PHTC). To accommodate the public health training needs of the public health workforce, approximately 60 percent of the training and training tools offered by the PHTCs are distance-based. These trainings are compiled in a database that is searchable by competency, subject area and by keyword. The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Certificate Program has extended its application deadline to June 8 for scholarship funds through the Harris Foundation. The program prepares students and professionals to work more effectively, build capacity, and strengthen leadership to address the mental health needs of young children and their families.
Events & CoursesSex Ed and the State. See a documentary about sex education in public schools created by SPH student Jim Winkle. In the film, Minnesota lawmakers, advocates, opponents, educators and others debate the best strategy to fight adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The documentary will be screened at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 7 at the Oak St. Cinema. Jeffrey Kahn will discuss Ethical Decision Making in Times of Threat on June 5 from 7:45 to 9 a.m. The lecture will be held in the private dining room at Carlson School of Management. The SPH Roundtable Genes and the Environment: The Emerging Role of Genomics in Public Health will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, June 8. The roundtable, which will be held at the Carlson School of Management, is free, but registration is requested. Keynote address will be from Muin Khoury, the first director of the CDC's National Office of Public Health Genomics. "Beyond Checklists: Developing and Implementing Business Plans for Pandemic Influenza," a CIDRAP Business Source interactive webinar, will be held Friday, June 15, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT. Speakers are SPH professor Michael Osterholm, Karen Dye from Sun Microsystems, and Barry Cardoza from Union Bank of California. Free viewing will be available for University staff, faculty and students at 5-125 Moos Tower.
The National Maternal Nutrition Intensive Course will be held July 25-27 in the Cowles Auditorium at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute. This continuing education program focuses on the improvement of maternal and infant health through the delivery of risk-appropriate, high-quality nutrition services. UPCOMING CPHEO COURSES Other EventsCelebrate the Reopening of the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic on Monday, June 4, 5-8 p.m., 2647 Bloomington Ave. S., Minneapolis. "Beauty and the Beast? Elegance, Evidence, and the Practice of Bioethics" a discussion by Raymond De Vries will be presented on Wednesday, June 6. De Vries is a member of the Bioethics Program at the University of Michigan Medical School. The seminar, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 12:15 to 1:30 in 5-125 Moos Tower. Refreshments will be provided. The NORA Symposium (National Occupational Research Agenda) -- Research to Practice will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13, at the Radisson University Hotel. Does Racism Make Us Sick? This interactive session will take place on Monday, June 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. EDT. The event is a part of the 13th Annual Summer Public Health Research videoconference on Minority Health
Dr. Mona El-Farra from Gaza First U.S. Speaking Tour. Dr. Mona El-Farra, physician and internationally recognized human rights leader, will speak Monday, June 25, 7 p.m., at St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis. The event is free and open to the public. Donations accepted. The event is sponsored by The Middle East Children's Alliance and The Middle East Committee of WAMM. The U's Center for German & European Studies will host Germany's minister of health and her delegation for a two-day trans-Atlantic forum. The American and German "Healthcare and Innovation" forum will be held on Monday, July 16 and Tuesday, July 17.
A professional grant proposal writing workshop will be held in August at North Dakota State University. The Grant Institute's Grants 101: Professional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop will be held August 1 - 3.
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