Division News
Monthly Memo from the Desk of
Dean Joseph F. Steiner
95th Edition
November 3, 2009
A Message from Dean Steiner
 Dean Joseph F. Steiner
Dear Friends,
The College of Health Sciences is blessed with a multitude of talented alumni who daily provide excellent health care, are leaders in their communities, and strongly support their professions. They are true professionals in every sense of the word. During Homecoming weekend, we had the opportunity to honor a few of these individuals at a reception on Friday afternoon. All units honored their outstanding professionals, and those recipients are listed in this newsletter.
The college in the past had also honored an outstanding professional. When I arrived in Laramie this past summer, I was told that the selection of that individual was mine to make. I knew a number of well-deserving individuals but each of them was either not an alumnus of the college or university or belonged to one of the college's units and had been honored in that capacity. However, the college is fortunate in having a large number of friends, so we changed the focus to honoring a friend of the college. With that change, the choice became easy, and Fay and Roy Whitney were selected for their many contributions to the School of Nursing, the College of Health Sciences, and the University of Wyoming. Their contributions are too many to list in this message, but we appreciate all they do.
This year the university also honored an alumna of the college, with the UW Distinguished Alumna award being presented to Marcia Dale. Marcia is more than just a graduate of the university: Her career was devoted to the UW School of Nursing. In that capacity she had a great influence on nursing in Wyoming and the nation.
Neither the weather nor closed roads could put a damper on Saturday's Homecoming festivities. Our alumni were honored, the parade was well attended, and the Cowboys defeated the New Mexico football team. It was a great day and weekend. What more can you ask for?
Go Cowboys,
Joe
Research
 Jun Ren (right) works with and instructs
INBRE graduate students and
postdoctoral fellows.
The National Institutes of Health awarded UW $16.9 million for cardiovascular, obesity, and diabetes research and education in Wyoming. This largest single research grant ever received by the university will fund the Wyoming IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program directed by Jun Ren, Professor of Pharmacology. With its focus on health issues significant to Wyoming residents and its aim to better train students pursuing health care careers and research, the INBRE will advance health care for citizens of our state and the Rocky Mountain region by pursuing its six major goals to
1. establish a multi-disciplinary research network with scientific focus that will build and strengthen biomedical research at UW and its partner institutions;
2. provide research support to faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students;
3. create a "pipeline" for undergraduate students at UW and Wyoming community colleges to continue health research careers;
4. provide outreach activities for UW students and the community college that are part of the INBRE network;
5. enhance science and technology knowledge of the state's workforce; and
6. expand Wyoming research opportunities across the region.
More than 50 INBRE faculty members and postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students from UW and six Wyoming community colleges attended the Western Region COBRE-INBRE Scientific Conference held in Big Sky, Montana. The conference brought together investigators, students, and administrators to share research interests, build collaboration, and enhance teaching and classroom effectiveness in areas such as infectious disease, evolutionary medicine, environmental health, and immunology.
Alumni
 Dianne Lowe-Carpenter, center, with
Dean Steiner and Mona Schatz, Director
of Social Work.
The college considers its alumni invaluable assets as they conscientiously and professionally serve their communities, actively support programs of the college and the university, and serve as role models for future Wyoming health care professionals. It was therefore a pleasure to honor this year's outstanding alumniSamuel "Sam" D. Millar, Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing; Dianne V. Lowe-Carpenter, Division of Social Work; Theodore "Ted" Hoy, School of Pharmacy;Micky E. Routson, Division of Communication Disorders; Gentian Scheer, M.D., Division of Medical Education; and William "Bill" T. Lyons, Division of Kinesiology and Health. The reception on October 9th was also a time to honor Fay and Roy Whitney, Special Friends of the College, and Marcia Dale, a UW Distinguished Alumna and former dean of the School of Nursing. For more information about these fine folks, please visit http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/hs/info.asp?p=5095.
News from the Divisions
Division of Kinesiology and Health
Tami Benham-Deal, Associate Professor, and Tena Hoyle, Assistant Professor, played major roles during the recent Annual Conference of the American School Health Association held in Denver. Tami presented three papers, including "Involving Higher Education in the Future of the Health Education Assessment Project," and Tena presented two papers, including "A Process of Coordination: Applying Health Promotion Practice in the School Setting." Tami has also been invited to serve on the advisory board of Health Literacy in the 21st Century Setting and Education Agenda, a committee within the National Education Association Health Information Network based in Washington DC, and she, along with Jayne Jenkins, Associate Professor, and Mark Byra, Professor and Division Director, anticipate the publication of "The Impact of Professional Development to Infuse Health and Reading in Elementary Schools" in an upcoming issue of American Journal of Health Education.
Social Work
Mona Schatz, Division Director, along with 15 other national social work deans or directors, was selected to participate in the Leadership Academy on Aging's year-long program of leadership educational experiences. The academy is a Hartford-funded program that was awarded to the New York Academy of Medicine in 2008. Mona and graduate students Sadie Sanford, Jennifer Gray, and Shontay Roe also joined a state-wide group of policy makers and human and family services professionals who participated in a Wyoming summit to address the 2008 Fostering Connections Act.
School of Pharmacy
The School of Pharmacy (SOP) is pleased to welcome two new faculty members. Assistant Lecturer Cara A. Harshberger, who received her doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2005, will coordinate the school's experiential education, and Kathleen "Katie" Hazlewood, the school's newest clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, recently completed a critical care specialty residency at the Texas Tech University School of Pharmacy and North Texas VA in Dallas.
Pharmacy Weekend, September 25th and 26th , was a great success. Holly Whitcomb Henry, the keynote speaker for the annual Otis L. Hoy Memorial Seminar, addressed issues she sees for new community pharmacists in a reformed health care system. Additional programs were presented by Janelle Krueger, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice; Joan Anderson, Continuing Education Coordinator; and Kem Krueger, Associate Professor. Capping off the weekend was the annual pharmacy tailgate party, followed by the UW/UNLV football game.
Congratulations are in order for Pharm. D. students Kendra Van Grinsven and Jessie Earl Ritter who won this year's UW American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Clinical Skills Competition. The competition is an opportunity for contestants to test their clinical skills by analyzing a patient case, writing a detailed pharmacotherapy plan, and presenting their recommendations orally to a panel of judges. For their winning presentations, Kendra and Jessie received complimentary registrations to the ASHP's midyear clinical meeting and $500 awards from the School of Pharmacy.
Faculty from the school, along with members of UW's College of Business, received funding from UW's Center for Community Health and Economic Development in collaboration with the Health as Human Capital Foundation in Cheyenne to identify the health care education needs of energy- and mining-impacted communities in Wyoming. Principal investigator Suzanne Clark, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, and co-principal investigators Carol Kobulnicky, Associate Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, and David Hunt, Assistant Professor of Marketing, will lead the team investigating the unique health risks faced by workers and communities in the state's high-risk energy and extractive industries.
Linda Gore Martin, Associate Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, and colleagues from the University of Maryland have written "Social, Behavioral, and Economic Aspects of Medication Use in Older Adults," a chapter in the 2nd Edition of Social and Behavioral Aspects of Pharmaceutical Care published by Jones and Bartlett.
Student Affairs/Advising
 Five members of UW's Women's Volleyball
Team are health sciences students.
What do UW Women's Volleyball Team and the College of Health Sciences have in common? Five students, that's what! And since there are only 14 on the team, that's a pretty significant percentage. Of those five, four are new freshmen. That's exciting, too, because many of our student athletes are among our brightest and most highly motivated students. For her work with these students, Lisa Shipley, Manager of Student Affairs, was invited to serve as an honorary coach for the 2009 fall season. The first event was a tour of the athletic facilities followed by lunch and a practice session. Lisa reports being impressed by the young women: "They're intense, interested, highly motivated, and clearly hardworking, cohesive, and supportive of each other and the staff." Practice started with a review of a game tape that coaches and players critiqued. Team members asked good questions, watched and listened intently, and learned. Next were drills. It was supposed to be an "easy" practice, but it didn't look easy by any means. Lisa can't wait for her game day so she can sit with the team and coaches and cheer them on. She said, "It's been fun to be a small part of the group and see from the inside how they operate. If their team dedication and spirit are indicative of their abilities off court, we are in for some terrific health care providers in the future."
Center for Rural Health Research and Education (CRHRE)
The CRHRE received funding from the Office of Health Information Technology in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support its existing grants from the Federal Communication Commission and HRSA Office of Rural Health Policy to implement and evaluate plans for Wyoming's telehealth network. Barb Robinson, Research Scientist, and graduate assistant Britnee Tonille will administer the grant. Britnee has also been working with the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport to enhance physical activity in Wyoming and create more sustainable wellness initiatives for the state's residents.
Rex Gantenbein, Director, has been on the road this fall sharing the center's vision and acquiring "champions" to maintain Wyoming's health information technology. He gave presentations during a regional INBRE/COBRE conference in Big Sky, Montana, and the Wyoming Psychological Association at Wyoming's Bear Lodge Resort and attended workshops in Washington, DC, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Later this month, Rex will again travel to Washington to participate in a workshop for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers/UN Foundation's Humanitarian Technology Challenge. For this project, Rex will work with technologists and humanitarians from all over the world to develop a field-testable solution that can be implemented to promote better health care in developing countries.
Family Medicine Residency Program (FMRP) at Cheyenne
The FMRP at Cheyenne is proud of third-year medical resident Jody Cousins, M.D., a Wyoming native and WWAMI graduate. Jody received a second-place award for her poster presentation --"The Impact of Helmet Use on Cervical Spine Fractures in All-terrain Vehicle Crashes"--during the American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting held earlier this month in Boston.
Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing (FWWSON)
Anne Bowen, Professor and Acting Director of the Nightingale Center for Nursing Scholarship, recently received funding for three new grantstwo from the Department of Justice (DJ) and one from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH/NIDA). As principal investigator on the DJ grants, Anne will examine issues in transition from methamphetamine treatment back into communities and develop a resource Web site and conduct workshops to help women in transition from methamphetamine treatment. As co-principal investigator on the NIH/NIDA grant, she will develop a treatment outcome evaluation tool for heroin injectors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as a precursor to implementing a buprenorphine treatment program as a method of HIV prevention.
The school's Student Nurses' Association (SNA) is having an exceptionally busy and productive fall semester. Members have given injections during area flu clinics, participated in infant adoption training, joined Laramie's Breast Cancer Walk, led tours of the school's facilities for alumni returning to campus during Homecoming, and taken part in community service projects such as hosting games to teach children about the importance of proper hand washing. (It is important to note that they accomplish all this while taking heavy academic course loads and fulfilling many hours of clinical training.)
Rose Rennell, registered nurse at Campbell County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) in Gillette and FWWSON alumna, received the "Keith A. Miller--A Force Fighting for People with Disabilities" award for her master's thesis that focused on early return to work programs following injuries and used as a model at CCMH. A spotlight on Rose, a paraplegic and one of very few nurses across the country working full time in a wheelchair, can be found in the Wyoming Nursing Reporter (http://nursing.state.wy.us/NEWS/WY%20Nurse%20Reporter/NurseReporterV4-N2.pdf).
 Sarah Mulholland, outsanding nursing
student and rodeo competitor.
BSN student Sarah Mulholland from Laramie is an outstanding student and a crucial member of UW's Women's Rodeo Team, the "greatest and rarest women's rodeo team ever." The team won the 2009 Team National Championship, and Sarah accomplished her primary goal of winning the goat tying at this summer's College National Finals.
Communication Disorders
The division had a strong showing during the recent convention of the Wyoming Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Melissa Allen, Assistant Professor, presented her experimental study on preschool phonological treatment intensity. Doug Petersen, Instructor, spoke about several research projects in narrative assessment and intervention with school age children with language disorders, and Christine Dechert, Assistant Lecturer, along with five graduate students, facilitated a round table discussion. Jill Senner, Assistant Professor, who spoke about her research on sources and measurement of drooling in individuals with cerebral palsy, also presented two posters and a short course on augmentative and alternative communication at the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine.
Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND)
With the booklet Pointing the Way to Assistive Technology Solutions, WIND's Assistive Technology Resources (WATR) center continues its efforts to improve the individual success of students with disabilities. WATR offers assistive technology devices and services ranging from communication aids to recreation and exercise opportunities. For more information, please call 888-989-WIND (9463).
Posted on Tuesday, November 03, 2009
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Laramie, WY 82071
236 Health Sciences Center
(307) 766-6556
Fax: (307) 766-6608 (fax)
Email: admin.hs@uwyo.edu
