UNMC for the record

Below is a list of achievements, activities and happenings involving UNMC staff, faculty and students.

Diane Angell (far left), an advocate for alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, explains what the disease is to Gov. Dave Heineman (fourth from left). Health care professionals from UNMC provided free lung disease screenings at Husker Harvest Days, Sept. 11-13 in Grand Island. Others in the photo include, second from left: Susanna Von Essen, M.D.; Mary Carlson and Don McCabe, editor of the Nebraska Farmer.

Narda Ligotti, a nurse educator for the Veteran’s Affairs Central California Health Care System in Fresno, Calif., was selected as a 2012-2014 Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar. Ligotti is enrolled as a distance learning student in the UNMC College of Nursing Ph.D. program. The scholarship provides support for doctoral students who aspire to teach in nursing colleges. Ligotti was one of 142 scholars chosen representing 50 states. The scholarship program provides $10,000 for two years with half matched by the college. The college matched the award through the Who Will Care for You Fund through the University of Nebraska Foundation.

David W. Mercer, M.D., McLaughlin Professor and chairman of the UNMC Department of Surgery, was named as a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Family Medicine. Dr. Mercer, who will serve a one-year term, will be on the credentials committee and the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians committee.

The latest issue of the McGoogan Library of Medicine’s newsletter, “Connected,” is now available. Download the newsletter.

Rebecca Guerrero, nursing student at the UNMC College of Nursing- West Nebraska Division in Scottsbluff, received a $1,125 Career Advancement Scholarship from the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation. The foundation was established in 1956 to provide research, information, career development programs and scholarships to disadvantaged women.

UNMC placed third in the 2012 Corporate Cycling Challenge. UNMC’s total score improved to 5,106 points from 3,275 points in 2011. Union Pacific finished second with 5,320.5 points and Alegent won with 6,783 points. The UNMC team had about 215 riders during the challenge, which is Nebraska’s largest one-day cycling event.