Georgia Health Sciences University - gradstudies - In The Spotlight

In The Spotlight - Fall 2011

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Biomedical Science PhD Students In the News....
Graduate Student Scholarship Recipient and Marathon Runner Caitlin Madigan, 2^nd year Molecular Medicine student in the laboratory of Dr. Lynnette McCluskey received The Willits Foundation Scholarship for the 6^th consecutive year. The Willits Foundation Scholarship is awarded to the children of employees at C.R. Bard Inc. Caitlin was awarded the scholarship in 2006 for her first year of undergrad, then annually thereafter. The scholarship is awarded based on academic and extracurricular achievements. Congratulations to Caitlin! As a break from research and academics, Caitlin trained from January 2011 to June 2011 as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team-In-Training. Her training culminated with participation in the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon. She raised $3310 for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and had an amazing time in San Diego with her teammates. Highlights of the trip included completing the marathon and a trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which she says “was awesome!” Neuroscience Graduate Student Receives “Basic Science Award” at National Meeting David Fessler, a 4^th year graduate student in Dr. Krishnan Dhandapani’s laboratory in the Neuroscience PhD program, attended the 2011 meeting of the Southern Neurosurgical Society in Orlando, Florida. He gave an oral presentation entitled “Activation of Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Contributes to Functional Loss after Spinal Cord Injury” that summarized his findings demonstrating that TLR4 signaling deficient mice showed improved hind limb function after spinal cord injury compared to control mice. David’s work suggests that TLR4 may be a viable therapeutic target in the treatment of spinal cord injury. He received excellent feedback from members of the society and was chosen to receive the Basic Science Award. CONGRATULATIONS David! CGS Recruitment Team Attends National ABRCMs Meeting For the last nine years, the College of Graduate Studies has participated in student recruitment at ‘The 11^th Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students’ or ‘ABRCMS’ - a national conference designed to encourage undergraduate, postbaccalaureate and graduate students to pursue advanced training in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, including mathematics. This is the largest, professional conference of this type, attracting students, college/university representatives from over 350 U.S. colleges and universities and representatives from various government agencies, foundations and scientific societies. This year’s conference held in St. Louis, Missouri, broke attendance records with over 3,300 individuals registered, including over 1,700 undergraduate students and 1200 faculty, program directors and administrators. Biomedical Science PhD students, Folami Lamoke and Ashlee Tipton joined Drs Inscho and Cameron for the second year as part of the CGS - ABRCMS recruitment team. It was a rewarding experience to meet and talk with so many enthusiastic and talented students to tell them about the many opportunities awaiting them at GHSU. News from the Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine: Molecular Medicine students have been busy presenting their research findings, attending meetings, and winning awards. Chaithanya Patwardhan presented his work on small molecule inhibitors of chaperones at the 2011 Georgia Cancer Summit. Chaitanya was also the Molecular Medicine nominee for the prestigious“Who’s Who Among Graduate Students” listing. Davies Agyekum received a travel award for the FASEB Leadership Development and Grant Writing Seminar in Virginia Beach. He was also invited to give an oral presentation at the Sickle Cell Disease Association meeting in Memphis. Mona El Rafaey was an author on two abstracts this year. Her work was presented at the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting. A second abstract was published in the Archives of Oral Biology. Samuel Quaynor, an MD/PhD student in Molecular Medicine, received several honors recently, including a travel award to the Annual National MD/PhD meeting and a FASEB Minority Access to Research (MARC) Award for the Grant Writing and Leadership Development Seminar. He published a first-author paper in Fertility and Sterility with his mentor, Dr. Larry Layman. Sam was also first author on abstracts for the Endocrine Society Meeting and the American Society of Human Genetics.
CNL Students Active in Service, Scholarship, and Sports!
CNL Students Visit Peru GHSU CNL students participated in an exciting global health experience in Cusco, Peru, in October. They learned about the differences in health care practices in a third world country, while sharing foods and in many cultural activities. The students worked in clinic settings as well as in gyn screenings in the Andes mountains. They visited an orphanage and were able to spend some time with 45 homeless girls. The students screened over 500 women in the Cervi Cusco Clinic and rural clinics and practiced Spanish language skills. The students also spent some time touring the ancient Incan ruins throughout the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. The next trip will be offered to BSN, NP and DNP students in the spring. Elizabeth Butler - CNL Student Receives CHANCES Scholarship The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Nursing Commitment to Employment and Study program, or CHANCES, was created to provide educational assistance through nursing scholarships for selected candidates. By joining the exciting world of pediatric nursing at one of the largest pediatric healthcare facilities in the country, the recipients are opening the door to a rewarding professional career. Our very on CNL student, Elizabeth Butler received this scholarship and will start the program when she graduates in December. Congratulations, Elizabeth! CNL Team MEAN KZMT Win Dodge Ball Championship! Team MEAN KZMT played in the dodge ball tournament sponsored by the GHSU intramural sports program. The team name, MEAN KZMT, was comprised of the first letters of team members first names which included: Michaela Via, (CNL Program) Emily Dorsey, (CNL Program) Andria Corral, (CNL Program) Natalie Barber, (CNL Program) Kristen Kelley, (CNL Program) Zack Buckley, (CNL Program) Michael Ferra, (CNL Program) Trevor Harbin, (Occupational Therapy Program). There were three teams and the tournament was double elimination. Team members received championship t-shirts for their victory. Congratulations to Team MEAN KZMT for a great championship win! CNL Students Participate in the Miracle Mile Walk for Breast Cancer The Miracle Mile Breast Cancer Walk, a three-mile fun walk through downtown Augusta, was held on Saturday, Oct. 15, beginning and ending at the Augusta Common. All proceeds from this event benefited University Health Care System's Breast Health Center, the only nationally accredited Breast Center in the region, and its’ Mobile Mamography Unit. Congratulations to the Nurse Anesthesia Program This fall our Nurse Anesthesia Program was reviewed by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). The COA is responsible for establishing the standards and policies for nurse anesthesia educational programs. The standards address administrative policies and procedures, institutional support, curriculum and instruction, faculty, evaluation, and ethics. The reviewers stated – “the review of the nurse anesthesia program demonstrates that it develops and implements the necessary mechanisms to comply with the five educational standards.” With an outstanding 100% compliance, a full 10 year approval for accreditation is anticipated. Congrats and a huge thank you to the Program Leaders, Professors Jim Masiongale, Amy Masiongale, Lisa Stephens, Corey Peterson, Program Manager, Melvenia Blanchard as well as to the strong leadership and support provided by Dean Marion, Dr. Cook and Dr. Heath and of course to all the students who make the program so rewarding.
GHSU Medical Illustration Students & Alumni Receive Honors
Students and alumni of our Medical Illustration Graduate Program received numerous honors at the 66^th annual 2011 conference of the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) in Baltimore, MD. Three of our students received a total of five awards: Joshua C. Bird, Paul Kim, and Sarah L. Brooks. Eight of our alumni received individual honors: Patrick Eckhold, Brad Gilleland, Paul Gross, Craig Foster (and Keith Kasnot), Sara Constantine, Summer Smith and Blake Swanson (with Rick Gersony and Kim Gersony), Burt Falgui (with Anita Impaliazzo and Tiffany DaVanzo). Four companies led and/or staffed by our alumni received a total of six awards: XVIVO Scientific Animation, Nucleus Medical Media, Thomas Direct Studios, and iSO-FORM, LLC. Capping the awards ceremony at the AMI conference, Mr. Robert C. Benassi, Class of 1951 (our very first graduate), received 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. This most singular honor recognizes an individual for their outstanding, sustained contributions to the profession throughout their career. In addition, alumna Robin R. Franklin received the 2010 Walter P. Didusch Art & History Award from the American Urological Association for outstanding contributions to urological art. Congratulations to ALL the winners!
Public Health Student Achievements
Lauren Hall, a 2nd year Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Informatics student, was recently spotlighted in the GHIMA newsletter for her diverse experiences as an undergraduate Health Information Administration student, her progression to MPH graduate study, and her experience as a research associate on one of the Department of Health Informatics federally funded research studies. When asked about her mentors, she commented “Ms. Jarriel and Dr. Rangachari are incredible women that have achieved much success in Health Informatics. I have learned so much from both of them and see myself as fortunate for having the opportunity to work for them.” You can read her full interview by clicking HERE.
Bruce Neubauer, a2^nd year MPH student recently delivered a presentation entitled “Teaching Healthcare Finance Using Simulation of a Simple Diagnostic Decision” at the AUPHA (Association of University Programs in Health Administration) Conference held in November 2011 at Bimingham, AL. In addition to being a GHSU student, Dr. Neubaurer is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at Albany State University who earned his Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Georgia and Master’s of Management Information Systems Degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His interests include systems modeling and simulation, and instructional technologies.