Monthly Memo - Oct. 2, 2007

Members of Phi Delta Chi front, L to R) Kendra Van Grinsven, Kara Riskowski; (middle, L to R) Shanna OConnor, Krystal Niccoli, and Raven Callas; and (back, L to R) Rebecca Long, Kylee Kern, and Jessie Earl.

Open House

Second annual all-college welcome BBQ.

Monthly Memo from the Desk of
Dean Robert O. Kelley

75th Edition

October 2, 2007

A Message from Dean Kelley
Please plan now to attend fall commencement on December 8th at 10 a.m. in the Fine Arts Concert Hall. A reception to honor the graduates and their families and friends will be held in the Fine Arts Lobby immediately following the ceremony. Students should come to the Dean's Office (Health Sciences Center #235) to make arrangements for their caps and gowns.

News from the Divisions

School of Pharmacy
The School of Pharmacy is pleased to welcome new faculty members for the 2007-2008 academic year. Ji Li, Ph.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Science. Ji, who previously served as an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, focuses on developing research projects with potential clinical applicability in aging-related disease. Mary K. Emashowski, Pharm.D., has been appointed Assistant Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice in Ambulatory Care. Mary is a primary care clinical pharmacy specialist and the ambulatory care pharmacist at the Swedish Family Medicine Residency Program in Littleton, Colorado; her academic interests include cardiology, diabetes, medication safety, and healthcare policy. Before coming to UW, Mary was a preceptor at the Swedish Medical Center of Englewood, Colorado, for experiential courses in pharmacy sciences and served as a Primary Care Specialty Resident with the Providence Physician Medical Group in Portland, Oregon. Suzanne Clarke, Ph.D., who has served as a visiting professor for the past two years, has been appointed Assistant Professor of Pharmacology. Suzanne's research focus is in vitro models of epilepsy, cognitive enhancers, and toxicity of Alzheimer's drugs. With the goal of educating students on the tools available to research drug-related questions, Melissa Hunter, Pharm.D., has been appointed Director of the Drug Information Center. Melissa will continue to evaluate available text and electronic sources of drug information.

The school's Alpha Mu chapter of Phi Delta Chi, the nation's first professional pharmacy fraternity, received the Dale W. Doerr Achievement Program Award during the fraternity's 66th Grand Council held in West Palm Beach, Florida. Hearty congratulations are in order for chapter members who complete monthly projects to foster goodwill and service.

Carol Kobulnicky, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration; Janelle Krueger, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice; and Kem Krueger, Assistant Professor of Pharmaeconomics and Health Outcomes Practice were invited by the Wyoming Board of Pharmacy to provide an overview of the education of a pharmacist to help kick off the statewide "Role of the Pharmacist in Wyoming" stakeholders meeting in mid-September. Meeting attendees included representative from a majority of the state health professions, as well as health care system administrators, corporate and insurance representatives, and 11 faculty members from the School of Pharmacy. Many ideas were generated during the meeting, including ways for Wyoming professional societies and boards to promote collaboration to meet the health care needs of the state.

Dean John Vandel has been honored by the American College of Apothecaries with its Dean of a College or School of Pharmacy award in recognition of his outstanding service to community pharmacy practice. Dean Vandel was acknowledged at a reception and banquet held in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he received a handsome medallion and a $1,000 donation to the School of Pharmacy in his name to be used to assist students and faculty strengthen community pharmacy practice.

Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing
The Nightingale Center for Nursing Scholarship (NCNS) announces its fall 2007 Luncheon Series:

Oct. 31st—Carol Macnee, NCNS Director, and Terrie Wiederich, NCNS Office Associate, will present "Electronic Submission of Grant Proposals to the National Institutes of Health."
Nov. 28th—Margaret Cashen, Assistant Lecturer of Nursing, will discuss "Evaluating e-Health Resources for Use with Low Literacy Patients."

For more information, please contact Terrie Wiederich (766-6821 or terrieL@uwyo.edu).

The NCNS coordinated the 4th Annual Wyoming Nursing Summit in conjunction with the Wyoming Nurses Association (WNA) Convention. The two groups held meetings for 100 participants September 20th-22nd in Sheridan and sponsored two major presentations—"Medication Aide: Meeting the Challenges of Cost Versus Optimum Care and Patient Safety" and "Building a Strength-based Caring Work Environment." During the summit, leaders of statewide nursing organizations offered updates, and several speakers from across the state addressed subjects such as delegation in nursing; demand, retention, and supply of nurses in Wyoming; and the Wyoming Clinical Prevention Service.

Susan McCabe, Associate Professor, presented the findings of her research—"Experience of Healthcare for Women in Rural Wyoming"—to the Wyoming Healthcare Commission in mid-September. Susan was also selected for the Faculty Senate Speaker series and will deliver presentations on campus and in Casper.

Because nurse practitioners (NPs) provide excellent, safe, and cost-effective care; are truly partners in the health care of their patients by focusing on health promotion, disease prevention, health education and counseling, and guiding patients to make smarter health and lifestyle choices; and delivering health care to many rural communities, Governor Freudenthal has proclaimed November 11th-17th as Nurse Practitioner Week.

Ann Marie Hart, Assistant Professor, and colleagues from Columbia University's School of Nursing recently published "Characteristics of Nurse Practitioner Curricula in the Unites States Related to Antimicrobial Prescribing and Resistance" in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Congratulations are in order for Pamala Larsen, Professor, who will be inducted as Vice President of the National Gerontological Nursing Association at its annual meeting to be held in Orlando.

Open House
In the middle of September, the college hosted an open house for freshmen interested in programs in the health care professions. Approximately 30 students attended and were shown around the building and through the curriculum by enthusiastic volunteers from the Community Health Advancement Program and division faculty and students from the Wyoming INstitute for Disabilities; the schools of Pharmacy and Nursing; and the divisions Communication Disorders, Kinesiology and Health, and Social Work. Many first-year students feel lost and overwhelmed when they come to UW, so the goal of the open house was for students interested in health sciences to become connected with each other, to meet college faculty, and develop a sense of the College of Health Sciences as their academic home. The event also served as motivation for these new students to perform well in their prerequisite classes.

Grand Rounds/Research Day
Mark your calendars: Grand Rounds/Research Day will be held April 4th, 2008. The Research Committee moved the date forward three weeks ahead of previous years to avoid the end-of-semester crunch.

Social Work
The division was honored to have Ben and Georgia Granger, directors of the Human Animal Bond for Colorado, as special guests for the September "Peanut Butter Time," a monthly special event of interest to social work students and faculty and others from across the UW campus. The Grangers are international leaders in animal-assisted therapy, a specialized approach to helping children, adults, and aging adults in institutional and non-institutional settings. The Grangers' well-trained golden retrievers, Casey and Khari, demonstrated their ability to help therapists who work with clients with a variety of issues—mental and physical—that are difficult to address in other therapeutic venues. Because animals are completely nonjudgmental, they have proven effective in improving human social skill development.

Communication Disorders
David Jones, Professor, and Mary Hardin-Jones, Division Director, were invited speakers at the meeting of the Australian Cleft Lip and Palate Association held September 20th -23rd. David presented "CPAP Speech Therapy for Velopharyngeal Insufficiency: How Can We Improve the Technique&?rdquo;; Mary spoke about "Management of Early Speech and Language Skills in Children with Cleft Palate."

The second monthly meeting of Laramie's Stroke Support Group was held on September 12th. Second-year graduate student Sarah Rose Beddes from Laramie and Lynda Coyle, Senior Lecturer, welcomed people from the community to hear guest speaker Marci Smith, Academic Professional Lecturer of Kinesiology and Health, talk about exercise and physical activity, a topic requested by members of the group interested in ways to keep fit and flexible following their illnesses. Monthly meetings are scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month at 6:00 pm in the fourth floor surge area. For more information, please contact rosiered@gmail.com.

The division will be strongly represented at the upcoming annual convention of the Wyoming Speech and Hearing Association (WSHA). Marcia Kelley, Senior Lecturer and Clinical Educator, will present "An Overview of the Lidcombe Method of Treatment for Early Stuttering" based on information she gleaned from a recent workshop offered by the Australian Stuttering Research Centre. Along with Marcia, two of the division's second-year students, Kimberly Wilkerson and Sarah Rose Beddes from Laramie, will discuss their thesis work—"Phonemic Awareness Treatment for Preschoolers"—prepared with the guidance of Professor Teresa Ukrainetz. Alumnae of the division, Cathy Ross and Heide Harm of the Teton County School District in Jackson, will host "Treatment Scheduling," a round table discussion. Furthermore, this year's WSHA president Lynda Coyle, Senior Lecturer, and president-elect Christiane Dechert, Assistant Lecturer, will address many speech-language pathologists and audiologists from around the state about their professional development in topics ranging from hearing conservation to pediatric swallowing.

WWAMI Medical Education Program
WWAMI medical students carry a 25-credit-hour load each semester during their first year of medical school. Our professors often bring guests into the classroom to supplement the learning experience for the students. So far this semester, WWAMI has hosted guest lecturers in cell physiology, biochemistry, systems of human behavior, and clinical medicine. Our speakers travel from other WWAMI states (Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) and often from just across town; occasionally, we use video conferencing to "virtually" bring a guest to our students. For giving their time and knowledge to the medical education experience, we would like to thank Raye Maestes, M.D.; Nancy Maizels, M.D.; Diane Noecker; Tom Norris, M.D.; Peg Patee; Jerry Saunders, M.D.; Jesse Owens, M.D.; Daren Wade; and all the staff of Ivinson Memorial Hospital.

Student Affairs
Our second annual all-college welcome BBQ was a big success. Over 300 students, faculty, and staff attended. Special thanks go to Craig Vaske for organizing the event; Wyo Tech for the loan of the grills; UW Concessions for their organizational expertise; the Dean's Office for footing the bill; Ken Heinlein of WIND and Dean John Vandel and Chloe Jones from the School of Pharmacy for their skill at the grill; and our student volunteers Megan Mercer from Gothenburg, Nebraska, Kate Messer from Cheyenne, and John Kindle from Riverton.

The Office of Student Affairs hosts representatives from many schools who visit campus to visit with our students and promote their professional programs. Following is a continuation of this semester's schedule:

October 8th—Stephanie Jackson will speak about Creighton University's pharmacy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy programs.
October 9th and 10th—Interview workshops for all preprofessional students applying this year will be held.
October 17th—A medical school mock interview will be held, and an osteopathic medicine program will be presented.
October 18th—Steve Hassmer from A. T. Still University will speak about the school's osteopathic medicine, dentistry, physician assistant, occupational therapy, audiology, athletic training, and biomedical sciences programs.
October 22nd—Ann Diggins will represent the University of Nevada's School of Medicine.
October 24th—Another medical school mock interview will be held.
November 10th—Details are pending for Colorado Premed Day.
Late November and spring semester 2008—MCAT preparation classes will be held.

For meeting times and places, please contact 307-766-6704 or preprof.hs@uwyo.edu.

Center for Rural Health Research and Education (CRHRE)
The CRHRE is maintaining its leadership in telehealth for Wyoming through two projects—the Wyoming Network for Telehealth partnership with the Wyoming Department of Health and the Southeast Wyoming Telehealth Network planning project being conducted in cooperation with Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and the Wyoming Hospital Association. Both projects are aimed at increasing the use of telehealth and telemedicine to improve access to and quality of health care in the state's more remote communities. CRHRE staff associated with theses projects include Britnee Brost, Barb Robinson, Tom James, Bob Wolverton, and Jennifer Earls.

The CRHRE is also deeply involved in efforts to promote the development of health information technology (HIT) in the state. In late August, Director Rex Gantenbein spoke to the Wyoming Health Care Commission about HIT's efforts in the state. Rex was also recently appointed by Governor Freudenthal to a state HIT task force, a group charged with developing priorities and proposals for the next legislative session.

This summer the Wyoming Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration was among several programs nationwide to receive an extension of its original contracts to begin implementation of projects supporting the exchange of health information among providers, practitioners, and consumers of health care. Wyoming's project is the development of the Wyoming Health Information Resources Web portal, which, when completed, will provide information and resources for developing private and secure health information exchange in the state. Ryan Sandefer is the CRHRE project manager and is working closely with the Wyoming Health Information Organization and the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center.

Biomedical informatics is also an important area of work in the CRHRE. In cooperation with several UW scientists, particularly David Liberles in Molecular Biology, the center is expanding the Wyoming Bioinformatics Web page (www.wyomingbioinformatics.org) and providing bioinformatics support on campus. Christian Tellgren-Roth heads the support effort, assisted by graduate assistants Stormy Knight and Tony Wallace.

A related project is the development of the Western Regional Biomedical Collaboratory through funding from the National Library of Medicine. This project involves finding ways to share information, education, and research resources among biomedicine and life sciences researchers in the western US. The CRHRE is working with a number of individuals at UW, including Dean Robert Kelley, Libraries Dean Maggie Farrell, and Robert Alyward, Vice President for Information Technology, to assess the research needs and opportunities in the region and develop a plan to support collaboration among universities and community colleges. CRHRE staff supporting this project are Britnee Brost and Joe Zhou.

Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007