Monthly Memo, Sept 3

Monthly Memo from the Desk of
Interim Dean Beverly A. Sullivan

84th Edition
September 3, 2008

Interim Dean Beverly A. Sullivan

A Message from Interim Dean Sullivan
The college is looking ahead to a busy, productive fall semester. Please take a look at the Calendar of Events at the end of this Memo and plan to attend our upcoming programs. Of particular interest is the TelEmergency Conference featuring Robert Galli, M.D., on the 29th of this month. Dr. Galli, an emergency physician with 24 years of experience, founded the Telemedicine Information Exchange at the University of Mississippi Medical Center to alleviate the shortage of providers in rural emergency departments similar to those in the state of Wyoming. B. Delworth Gardner, Ph.D., will present "The Various Faces of Capital Investments: Using Capital Wisely for a Better (Healthier) World" on October 3rd. Dr. Gardner, a UW alumnus and Professor Emeritus at UC Davis and BYU, will comment on the findings of the Copenhagen Consensus as they relate to the world's top 10 challenges (world health issues, climate change, conflict, education, economic development, etc.) during a forum sponsored by the University of Wyoming Community Health & Economic Development Center and the Colleges of Health Sciences and Business.
Did You Know?
Fall is in the air at the University of Wyoming. Faculty and staff are hard at work in the College of Health Sciences to welcome new and returning students, alumni, parents, and new and old friends. We look forward to seeing you this fall in Laramie. Please stop by and say "Hello" if you are in town. We would love to see you on campus and give you a tour of our lovely facility. Plan to attend Homecoming, October 10th-11th, or one of the university's other exciting football weekends. Fall is a great time to be in Laramie and at the University of Wyoming. Go Cowboys!

Annual Health Sciences Get-togethers
We will welcome all first-year UW students who intend to major in health sciences during an open house from 5-7 p.m. in the atrium of the Health Sciences Center on Wednesday, September 10th. Health sciences students and faculty will be on hand to discuss our programs, serve pizza and soft drinks, and give tours of our beautiful building. Then, on Tuesday, September 16th, students, faculty, and staff are invited to the now-famous college barbeque beginning at 11:30 a.m. on the west side of the building. Please mark your calendars, and join us for the fun and camaraderie. For more information, please contact Craig Vaske (307-766-3499 or cvaske@uwyo.edu).

News from the Divisions

Social Work
The division is pleased to announce the appointment of Vicki Murdock, Assistant Professor, as Projects Director for the Wyoming Education and Social Research Institute that manages grants and contracts promoting positive change for aging adults, children, youth, and families. Vicki has a special interest in gerontology and recently served as Research Director on the division's "Baby Boomer" study funded by the city of Casper. She also received a three-year grant from the New York Academy of Medicine/Hartford Foundation to provide stipend support to social work students working on field practicums serving Wyoming's aging population.

Center for Rural Health Research and Education (CRHRE)
The CRHRE has expanded its focus on telehealth by launching the Wyoming Health Information Resources Web portal designed to provide information and resources for developing private and secure health information exchange (HIE) in the state. Research Scientist Ryan Sandefer coordinated the project with the Wyoming Health Information Organization and the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center. With support from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Ryan will be joined by Barb Robinson to further promote HIE by participating in a multi-state collaborative to determine the best ways to communicate with and educate health care providers about the benefits and values of HIE.

Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing
Laura Meloche, Assistant Lecturer, was selected as a panel item writer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination (NCLEX®). Based on her clinical specialty and nursing expertise, Laura was one of 18 nurses from across the nation chosen for this assignment. Laura's selection is significant because taking and passing the NCLEX® is required of all those seeking a practicing nursing license in the United States.
Janice Stephens, adjunct nursing faculty on the Sheridan College campus and the school's 2007 alumna of the year, earned two medals during the Wyoming Senior Olympics in July. Jan, who began running in 1997, has moved from a sedentary to an active lifestyle and has established a lifelong habit of activity and cardiovascular fitness. She encourages others to join her and "have joy in the journey."

Lindsey White from Laramie recently completed her summer externship at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix where she worked on the neurology/ENT/plastic surgery unit with a variety of patients, including those subject to epileptic seizures. Lindsey is very enthusiastic about her training, saying, "I cannot express what an invaluable experience this [was] for me! I have gained a great deal of knowledge that will allow me to be more confident in my abilities upon graduation."

During June, the Accelerated BSN (BRAND) faculty traveled to 22 hospitals in the state, talking with administrators about the BRAND program and how it can assist in providing BSN nurses for Wyoming communities. Through UW's Outreach School, the BRAND program is designed to assist Wyoming site-bound residents with previous bachelor's degrees and deliver coursework to their areas in conjunctions with the health care resources in their local communities.

The Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program (PMHNP) continues to grow and attract more and more nurses from across the state who are interested in pursuing a master's degree to assess, diagnose, and treat persons with mental health disorders. To date, seven PMHNP graduates are practicing in Laramie, Cheyenne, and Casper.

Jill Senner from the Division of Communication Disorders will deliver "Validity and Reliability of a Rewarded Sibling Need and Involvement Profile" during the semester's first Nightingale Center for Nursing Scholarship Luncheon Series on September 17th in Health Sciences 449. Those interested are invited to bring their lunches at 11:30 a.m. and stay for the lecture and question and answer period beginning at noon. For more information, please contact Terrie Wiederich (307-766-6821 or terriel@uwyo.edu).

Pharmacy
UW pharmacists were honored during the Wyoming Pharmacy Association's 91st Annual Convention held in Casper in late June. Whitney Buckley, who earned her Pharm.D. from UW in 2004, was recognized as the association's Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year for her continued commitment to the profession of pharmacy. Whitney, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at UW's Family Medicine Residency Program in Cheyenne, has served on the AIDS Education and Training Centers National Workgroup to Address Resource Needs of Community Pharmacists and is a planning committee member of the Wyoming Department of Health HIV/Hepatitis C Care and Prevention Planning Committee. Leith Culver, a 1976 graduate of the school, was recognized as the Wyoming Health-System Pharmacist of the Year. Leith began his career as a retail pharmacist in Cody. Over the years, he practiced in Rock Springs; Roseburg, Oregon; and Las Vegas, Nevada. He has now returned to Wyoming to enjoy the great outdoors and has worked with CareTrust IV in Casper for nearly 10 years. Leith was recognized for his exemplary service to the profession of pharmacy, his active interest in learning about new treatments, and his willingness to instruct and mentor current pharmacy students. On a personal note, he has shared his love of pharmacy with his daughter Erin, a 2009 UW Pharm.D. student. During the convention, Tonja Woods, Clinical Assistant Professor, received the Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award in recognition of her new and creative pharmacy practice resulting in improved patientcare. Tonja earned her degree in pharmacy from UW in 2002 and has taken the management of chronic disease into private enterprise. In collaboration with physicians, she has a thriving practice at Laramie Valley Medical, an internal medicine clinic in Laramie where she evaluates, monitors, and modifies the drug therapy of patients with chronic medical conditions.

Greg Sarchet, a Pharm.D. student from Laramie, is one of seven Senior COSTEPS (Commissioned Officer Student Training Extern Program) with the US Public Health Service (PHS). The program is a competitive initiative that allows its students to be commissioned during their final year of school, then continue to serve the PHS for a specified number of years after graduation. Gregg was also distinguished as having the best COSTEP intern project in the nation.

Three abstracts by Ji Li, Assistant Professor; Tuerdi Subati, Research Scientist; and Peng Zhao, Ph.D. Student in the Center for Cardiovascular Research and Alternative Medicine, were accepted for presentation by the American Heart Association (AHA). The three will exhibit their work during the AHA's highly competitive international meeting to be held in New Orleans in November.

Nair Sreejayan "Sree," Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, and Jun Ren, Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, recently edited Vascular Biology Protocols published by Humana Press of Totowa, New Jersey. The text covers a wide spectrum of articles dealing with the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. "Sree" also received the Teacher of the Year award from Phi Lambda Sigma, the school's leadership honorary. Each year, the group surveys graduating pharmacy students to determine the best teacher the students have had during their four professional years.

The Roche Pharmacy Preceptor of the Year for 2008 is Heidi Cooper-Justus in recognition of her knowledge and communication skills and for being an advocate of the changing nature of pharmacy. She encouraged self-directed learning followed by feedback and discussions that benefitted students' overall experience at her site at the VA Medical Center in Sheridan.

Fall Commencement
Fall Commencement, with a reception afterward, will be held December 6th at 10 a.m. in the Yellowstone Ballroom of the Wyoming Union. Students should contact Phyllis (307-766-3010; Brecher@uwyo.edu) or Nancy (307-766-3495; Holman@uwyo.edu) or come to Health Sciences 235.

Communication Disorders
The division is pleased to welcome its two newest faculty members. Assistant Professor Jill Senner, Ph.D., will share her expertise in teaching and research in the areas of augmentative/alternative communication and swallowing disorders. Jill is from Chicago and looks forward to enjoying Wyoming's wonderful outdoors. Assistant Lecturer Cathy Ross, M.S., left Jackson to share her knowledge of learning disabilities and educational speech-language pathology. Of note is the fact that Cathy was the division's Alumna of the Year for 2005.

Wyoming INstitute for Disabilities (WIND)
With funding from the Wyoming Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG), WIND and the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center conducted a survey of all restaurants and lodging facilities in the state to assess their availability to patrons with disabilities. The results of the study are available in an attractive guidebook, Accessible Lodging and Dining in Wyoming, which is now being distributed to agencies that serve people with disabilities, highway information centers throughout the state, and major public attractions such as museums and parks. The guide includes information such as the facility's wheelchair accessibility, availability of alternate formats for visual materials and hearing-impaired equipment, policies concerning service animals, and much much more. For more information or to obtain a copy, please contact David Schaad, Wyoming MIG Project Director (dschaad@uwyo.edu).

"Sree" Nair, winner of Phi Lambda Sigma's Teacher of the Year Award.

WWAMI Medical Education Program
WWAMI welcomes its new director Matthew McEchron, Ph.D. Dr. McEchron comes to the program from Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he was an associate professor in the Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences. In addition to his duties as director, Dr. McEchron will teach and continue his NIH-funded research in neural networks in learning and memory, nutrition and hippocampal development, and the neurology of aging and learning.

Kinesiology and Health
Chris Sundberg from Laramie was the recipient of a $3,500 NSF EPSCoR Award to fund his research project "Does the Relative Duration of Muscle Activity Determine the Time Course of Whole-body Muscle Fatigue?" Chris will work under the sponsorship and guidance of Matthew Bundle, Assistant Professor.

The division's new faculty member Qin (Arthur) Zhu, Assistant Professor, recently published "Hefting to Perceive the Affordance for Throwing a Smart Perceptual Mechanism?" in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance and presented the article at the International Conference of Natural-Physical Perspective on Perception-Action-Cognition held in Storrs, Connecticut. Qin, whose specialty is motor learning and motor control, earned his Ph.D. in human performance from Indiana University.

Derek Smith, Assistant Professor, presented "Short- and Long-term Efficacy of a 16-week Internet-delivered Physical Activity Behavior Change Program on Cardiometabolic Disease Risk Factors: A Randomized Control Trial" at the 2nd Biennial National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence held in Washington, DC. During the annual Wyoming Coaches' Association Summer Clinic held in July in Casper, Gary Werhonig, Associate Lecturer, demonstrated "Training for the Multisport Athlete: Applied Exercise Physiology."

Fall 2008 CHS Calendar of Events
• September 10th—5 p.m. CHS Open House in the atrium
• September 16th—11:30 a.m. CHS Student Barbeque on the west lawn of the Health Sciences Center
• September 29th—2-4 p.m. "Telemergency" seminar by Robert Galli, M.D., in HS 427
• October 3rd—2-5 p.m. B. Delworth Gardner Symposium on Health Care Economic Policy featuring Del Gardner, Ph.D., at the Holiday Inn
• October 10th—noon CHS Alumni of the year Lunch
• October 11th—Homecoming
• October 28th—Wind Advisory Group meeting at the Hilton Garden Conference Center
• October 31st—CHS Advisory Council meeting
• December 6th—10 a.m. fall commencement in the Yellowstone Ballroom of the Wyoming Union.
 

Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008