Lookin’ at U – Dawn Katafiasz

Each Thursday, we feature a medical center employee. This week, we learn about:

• Name: Dawn Katafiasz (trust me, Kat is completely acceptable)
• Hometown: Barberton, Ohio; which does mean I am a proud Ohio State Buckeye fan! O H…(can I get an I O?!)
• Number of years at UNMC: 14 years. I started 10 days before the horrible tragedy of 9/11/01.

Tell us about what you do here at UNMC.
Due to funding situations, I have had the opportunity to work as a research technologist for many different labs/departments on campus. I am currently in the internal medicine, pulmonary division and have been here a little over a year. We study lung function and cilia beat frequency and how these are affected by age, alcohol, organic dust and/or other factors. "Commitment to excellence" is one of UNMC's brand values. Tell us of a time you witnessed a commitment to excellence at UNMC.
In our department, there have been several occasions where an experiment requires more data collection than one person could handle alone. I enjoy working with the members in our department because when an experiment like this is carried out, everyone steps up to help out and take on a portion of data retrieval. This maximizes time efficiency and enhances the quality and amount of data collected from just one experiment. We have a great group of researchers in our department. What's your favorite fall activity?
Photography is my all time favorite hobby, and what better time of year to create and capture wonderful memories of our four beautiful children. List three things people may not know about you.

• My mother won a contest at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo in which our family was invited to have breakfast in the pavilion outside the bear enclosure before the zoo opened. Afterwards, on a tour of the bear exhibits, we were allowed to "feed the bears." Basically this consisted of us throwing fruits and vegetables over the fences and watching the bears catch and eat the food.
• My one and only stage performance was at the Dundee Dinner Theatre. They were showing "Jesus Christ Superstar." My goal was to play a leper. However, with the small cast size, I ended up being in all the chorus ensembles.
• In 2006, my husband and I won $10,000 at an Omaha Royals game. The Royals needed to hit a grand slam in the eighth inning for us to win. And they did!