Graduate Student Association uses student “powers” to bring cheer to young patients
Members of the Graduate Student Association swapped their street clothes for superhero style, teaming with the Nebraska Medicine department of child life to throw a superhero party for pediatric patients.
“Staying in the hospital isn’t always fun. We wanted to bring a little bit of joy to these pediatric patients,” said UNMC graduate student Heather Talbott.
“As a group, we wanted to reach out and volunteer at the hospital. We came up with lots of ideas involving pediatric patients. We decided that a superhero party would be the perfect fit,” said Kristin Wipfler, GSA outreach chair.
See more images of the party on the Nebraska Medicine Facebook page.
The GSA advocates for graduate student interest across campus. Throughout each semester, GSA hosts social events, seminar speakers and workshops to aid students in their professional development.
Students attend American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry meeting
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Shinn-yi “Cindy” Chou | Christina Nguyen |
Shinn-yi “Cindy” Chou, an M.D./Ph.D. student, and Christina Nguyen, a fourth-year medical student, received awards to attend the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) meeting earlier this month.
Chou received the AACAP Life Members Mentorship Grant and presented a poster on the effects of early life stress on motherhood, while Nguyen received the competitive Summer Medical Student Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and completed a poster project on ADHD in the Vietnamese community in Nebraska.
“I was very grateful for the opportunity to learn from renowned child and adolescent psychiatrists across the country,” Chou said. “I would encourage anyone with an interest to attend this meeting.”
Nguyen said she was extremely grateful for the opportunity to conduct research under the mentorship of Howard Liu, M.D., associate professor, psychiatry, and with the support of the AACAP Summer Medical Student Fellowship.
“Through this and the chance to attend the AACAP annual conference, I am further inspired to continue my pursuit of child and adolescent psychiatry,” she said.
Paul Dobesh, Pharm.D., professor of pharmacy practice, was named Distinguished Teacher of the Year at the College of Pharmacy’s Fall Honors Convocation on October 22. With Dr. Dobesh is P4 class president Jared Matya.
Dr. O’Dell inaugural member of Rheumatology Research Foundation’s Honorary Board of Advisors
Jim O’Dell, M.D., Bruce Professor, vice chair of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine and chief of the UNMC Division of Rheumatology, was recognized as an inaugural inductee of the Rheumatology Research Foundation’s Honorary Board of Advisors in San Francisco on Nov. 7, in conjunction with the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting. The board is comprised of individuals who have made a transformative contribution and/or act of leadership, making an indelible mark on the Foundation’s future fundraising success. Dr. O’Dell was president of the Foundation in 2006-2007 when it took a major step toward building the culture of philanthropy.
Dr. Case to speak at the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine National Meeting
Adam Case, Ph.D., of the UNMC Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, has been selected to present his work examining the effects of increased free radicals and pro-oxidants on immune cell function. Dr. Case’s work has broad reaching implications in the field of medicine as the immune system plays a role in almost every major illness such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr. Case’s work will be presented at the 2015 Society for Redox Biology and Medicine National Meeting to be held Nov. 18-21 in Boston. He also has been selected as one of 10 individuals to receive a prestigious Travel Award from the society to attend the meeting.
“Immune cells are incredibly unique in their ability to grow rapidly when needed, and also to stop this growth when their job is done,” Dr. Case said. “To date, we have yet to understand how these cells accomplish this task so efficiently. My research suggests that both pro-oxidants and antioxidants may help control this growth, which not only has implications for immune system function but also diseases of out of control cell growth like cancer.”
Free IT leadership conference Nov. 16 in Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is hosting a free, half-day IT leadership conference on Nov. 16, titled “Opportunity that Scales: Women Advancing the Future of Information Technology and Computer Science.”
The conference, which runs from noon to 4 p.m. at the University of Nebraska Union-City Campus, will focus awareness on, and explore issues, with the recruiting and retaining of women in IT and computer science. Guest speakers include Florence D. Hudson, senior vice president & chief innovation officer, Internet 2, and Dr. Melissa Woo, chief information officer, University of Oregon. They will share their leadership journeys, and discuss their challenges and perspectives on why increasing diversity advances the fields of IT and computer sciences.
The conference is sponsored by the UNL Information Technology Services and the UNL Department of Computer Science & Engineering. For more details, including the agenda, click here. To register, click here.
Ph.D. candidate receives grant from International Society of Nurses in Genetics
Kosuke Niitsu, Ph.D. candidate in the UNMC College of Nursing, received a $2,500 research grant from the International Society of Nurses in Genetics (ISONG) to support his dissertation research titled “Genetic Influence on Resilience to Potentially Traumatic Events.” He attended the 2015 ISONG World Congress on Nov. 7 to receive his award in Pittsburgh. His adviser is Julia Houfek, Ph.D., professor, College of Nursing.