A longtime leader in Nebraska public health will receive the first Robert D. Sparks, M.D., Award in Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Nebraska’s inaugural Public Health Day on Thursday, April 7.
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Philip Smith, M.D. |
“I am very pleased and humbled to receive this award,” Dr. Smith said. “Public health is everyone’s responsibility. So many organizations and individuals have worked together well in Nebraska to advance public health, and this teamwork has resulted in many unique accomplishments in our state.”
The Public Health Day is an opportunity to celebrate some of the academic community’s premier leaders in public health, and to reaffirm the university’s commitment to assuring conditions that allow for a healthy community, said Magda Peck, Sc.D., founding director the University of Nebraska’s Master in Public Health (MPH) program, which is sponsored jointly by UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The Public Health Day, Dr. Peck said, is the program’s way of joining the national celebration of Public Health Week 2005 (April 4-10) and of marking World Health Day, which is celebrated annually on April 7.
The MPH program, begun in January 2002, educates and trains students to become public health professionals and addresses rural and urban concerns, health disparities and under-served populations. Nineteen students have graduated from the program. Last May, the program received national accreditation through May 2009.
“There has been a remarkable growth in public health in Nebraska and at the University of Nebraska in the last five years,” Dr. Peck said. “Ours is a unique state that is pioneering 21st century public health. We are going beyond preventing diseases and promoting health. We also are about keeping the public safe and secure in times of new threats.
“Celebrating our strengths and committing to doing even more together is a great way to mark our very first Public Health Day. It will take the combined excellence of premier public health research, education and practice for every Nebraskan to live long and well.”
Dr. Smith will be presented the Sparks Award at a luncheon at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St. In addition, several other presentations of note will take place at the luncheon. They include:
- The inaugural Carruth J. Wagner, M.D., Scholarship for Outstanding Public Health Student will be presented to Stephen Jackson, a MPH student at UNMC/UNO. Dr. Wagner was born in Omaha and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Omaha in 1938 and his medical degree from UNMC in 1941. He served four U.S. presidents as assistant attorney general, director of the Bureau of Health Services, Chief of the Bureau of Medicine Services, and chief of the Division of Health Mobilization with the U.S Public Health Service.
- A special presentation by Dr. Michael Lu, M.D., M.P.H., a UCLA faculty member whose NIH-funded research focuses on child health disparities. Dr. Lu’s research examines racial-ethnic disparities in birth outcomes, with a focus on pre-term birth. His presentation is titled, “Innovations in Public Health: A Life Course Approach.”
The first hospital epidemiologist in Nebraska, Dr. Smith founded the Nebraska Infection Control Network (NICN) to improve the quality of health care in facilities and communities through the prevention and control of disease. One of the services of the NICN is to address the training needs of independent care providers in the region. In 1998, the NICN received the National Community Health Promotion Award from Otis Bowen, M.D., then U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, in recognition of outstanding community health promotion activities.
Dr. Smith’s hospital epidemiology department participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data collection and reporting program from its inception. That program, the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) system, has lowered the health care-related infections substantially. Dr. Smith has collaborated with the CDC on several other projects, as well. Among other valuable contributions, Dr. Smith co-authored the surveillance definitions and national guidelines for infection prevention and control in long-term care facilities.
More recently, Dr. Smith has turned his attention to bioterrorism. He leads the state’s efforts to educate health care professionals on bioterrorism, and he is the medical director of the recently opened 10-bed Biocontainment Unit at The Nebraska Medical Center.
In a nomination letter, Richard Raymond, M.D., said that Dr. Smith has been a “major collaborative force and confidant” for him in his current position as chief medical officer for the state of Nebraska.
“In public health, it is often difficult to measure impact on the public’s health status, but I do know that over the years I have known and worked with Dr. Smith he has had an effect on thousands of lives through patient consultation, resident education and statewide preparedness efforts,” Dr. Raymond said.
Dr. Smith’s leadership in bioterrorism education for health care professionals has led to the Center for Bioterrorism Education (CBE), which is “a model for the nation,” Dr. Raymond said.
UNMC Professor Steve Hinrichs, M.D., director of the NU Center for Biosecurity and the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, noted Dr. Smith’s work in bioterrorism education and with the infection control network. In leading the infection control network, Dr. Hinrichs said, Dr. Smith has “contributed valuable service to the hospitals and their patients throughout our region.” Dr. Smith’s work with the CBE, meantime, has had an impact beyond state lines, Dr. Hinrichs said.
“The program has generated new content information as well as served as a library repository for information from around the country,” Dr. Hinrichs said.
Virginia Helget, director of First Responder Education for the CBE, said Dr. Smith’s talent for compromise and cooperation can be seen in the groups with which he works. For example, she said, the NICN’s board of directors comprises volunteer members from hospital and health care associations, professional organizations, the state health department and the community.
“Dr. Smith has been a champion for new and innovative ways to cooperate with others in improving public health,” said Helget, a registered nurse who has worked with Dr. Smith for 15 years. “He has built a career on his qualities of excellence, creativity and collaboration, which he also fosters in others. He is a national leader in the fields of epidemiology/infectious diseases and biopreparedness. There is no one who is more deserving of this award.”