News briefs

Dr. Garvin named director-elect of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
 
Kevin Garvin, M.D., the L. Thomas Hood, M.D., Professor and Chair, UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, has been elected as director-elect of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Garvin specializes in adult reconstruction surgery.
 
The board consists of 21 members, which includes 12 active directors, six senior directors, two directors-elect, and one public member director. Dr. Garvin will serve one 10-year term. Nominations come from the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.
 
The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, Inc. was founded in 1934 as a private, voluntary, nonprofit, independent organization to serve the best interests of the public and the medical profession. These interests are achieved through the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery by establishing standards for the education of orthopaedic surgeons. The standards are evaluated by the board through examinations and practice evaluations.
 
Feb. 15 symposium explores ecology of well-being
 
Maintaining well-being in the fast-paced clinical and academic environments is challenging. Building resilience is only a piece of the puzzle.
 
Mark your calendars to join guest speaker Nancy Nankivil of the American Medical Association on Feb. 15 as she and local experts work toward pragmatic and actionable solutions to address factors that affect our individual and organizational well-being.
 
Nankivil will discuss "The Ecology of Well-being in the Health Professions" during UNMC's fourth annual Elevating the Conversation symposium, which is sponsored by the Chancellor's Wellbeing Council.
 
All UNMC, Nebraska Medicine and UNO faculty and staff are invited to attend the symposium at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watch UNMC Today for details on registration and continuing education credit.
 
Nankivil will help the campus explore organizational factors that either hinder or build a culture of wellness, how these factors impact overall well-being, and what resources are available to promote systems change.
 
Dr. Balasanova speaks at Addiction Policy Forum
 
The National District Attorney Association, in collaboration with the National Addiction Policy Forum, held regional conferences to train local prosecutors on the opioid epidemic. Alena Balasanova, M.D., assistant professor, psychiatry, was one of the presenters at the Midwest Regional Conference on Oct. 15.
 
Her presentation, "The Opioid Crisis: a medical perspective," provided a health care point of view for the current epidemic and how we can collaboratively reduce the rates of opioid misuse in our community through enhanced partnership with the legal system and evidence-based treatment services.
 
Dr. Balasanova is director of addictions education for the psychiatry department.
 
Dr. Neumeister to receive national teaching award
 
J. Scott Neumeister, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, has won a major teaching award from the American College of Physicians.
 
During next year's ACP national meeting, Dr. Neumeister will receive the Herbert S. Waxman Award for Outstanding Medical Student Educator. The award is bestowed once a year. The ACP has a membership of more than 150,000.
 
The award recognizes an ACP member who is an internal medicine interest group leader, clinical clerkship director, program director, or faculty member who spends a significant amount of time teaching medical students.
 
Dr. Neumeister's nominator cited him for using a highly interactive approach in the classroom and for spending an additional four hours a day working with students in groups of four to solve clinical reasoning cases.
 
"Students repeatedly demonstrate their clinical reasoning skills to him as they work through the cases over the course of each half-day session," the nominator wrote.
The cases include a set of "high impact" scenarios (e.g meningitis, pulmonary embolism), some of which will later appear as objective structured clinical examinations with required levels of competency attainment.
 
UNMC researcher receives $300,000 award from Lupus Research Alliance
 
Erika Boesen, Ph.D., associate professor, cellular/integrative physiology, has received one of six Novel Research Grants awarded earlier this month by the Lupus Research Alliance.
 
The grant will allow Dr. Boesen to test a new hypothesis for the cause of lupus nephritis, a type of kidney disease that affects nearly half of patients with lupus. Understanding how kidney cells die in lupus nephritis is crucial for developing new treatments to protect the cells.
 
The John and Marsha Goldman Foundation specified that its 2018 contribution be directed specifically to support Dr. Boesen's research project. The Lupus Research Alliance Novel Research Grant program provides three-year, $300,000 grants to investigators proposing exceptionally creative, high-risk, high-reward research on lupus and its complications.
 
This year's promising research studies supported by the Novel Research Grants will advance understanding of lupus and accelerate progress toward the ultimate goal — improving treatments while driving toward a cure for people living with lupus.
 
The five other Novel Research Grant recipients include two from the University of Pittsburgh, and one each from the University of California, San Francisco, Monash University (Australia) and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, N.Y.
 
Dr. Goldner elected as vice president of Endocrine Society
 
Whitney Goldner, M.D., has been elected as vice president (physician-in-practice) to lead the Endocrine Society, the world's oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology.
 
She will begin serving a three-year term following the society's annual meeting in New Orleans in March.
 
Dr. Goldner is a professor of medicine of the UNMC Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism and has been a society member since 2002. She currently serves as the chair of the society's Clinical Endocrinology Update Committee and as a member of the Endocrine Educators Forum.
 
Endocrinologists care for people with hormone-related conditions, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health and hormone-related cancers.
 
The society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries.
 
Dr. Kang wins Nebraska Book Award for novel 'The November Girl'
 
Lydia Kang, M.D., assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, was awarded a 2018 Nebraska Book Award for her young-adult fiction novel, "The November Girl."
 
The Nebraska Center for the Book will hold an awards ceremony on Dec. 1 at the History Nebraska's Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North, in downtown Lincoln.
 
Dr. Kang and other winners of the 2018 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored. The celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors, designers and illustrators of the books, which were all published in 2017 and have a Nebraska connection.
 
Dr. Michaelis will serve on Board of Medicine and Surgery for Nebraska
 
Maria Michaelis, M.D., assistant professor, pediatric anesthesiology, was recently appointed by the Nebraska State Board of Health to serve on the Board of Medicine and Surgery as a medical school faculty member.
 
Dr. Michaelis will replace Carl Smith, M.D., professor and chairman of UNMC's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, who served the previous five-year term. Dr. Michaelis' first term begins Dec. 1, 2018, and will expire in 2023, at which point she can reapply for a second term.
 
The Board of Medicine and Surgery, under the governance of the Nebraska State Board of Health, advises on issues such as physician licensure, insurance, and public safety. The board meets every other month. There are 29 other boards or committees nestled under the Nebraska State Board of Health, representing various aspects of health care.
 
There are eight members of the Board of Medicine and Surgery: two medical school faculty members, one osteopathic physician member, three physician members, and two public members. All are appointed by the Nebraska State Board of Health, which is comprised of 17 members appointed by the governor and legislature.
 
Family Medicine welcomes four Nebraska Medicine providers to faculty
 
A new academic year brings four new faculty members to the Department of Family Medicine. Established Nebraska Medicine providers Jeffrey Akerson, M.D., Patrick Anderl, M.D., Chad Moes, M.D., and Brynn Lastovica, M.D., joined the UNMC Department of Family Medicine faculty in July.
—Jeff Akerson, M.D., is a UNMC medical school graduate and completed the residency program at Lincoln Family Practice. Dr. Akerson provides primary care at the Bellevue Clinic.
—Patrick Anderl, M.D., is a UNMC medical school graduate and a graduate of the UNMC Family Medicine Rural Training Track Residency program. Dr. Anderl practices at the Bellevue Clinic.
—Chad Moes, M.D., a UNMC medical school graduate and UNMC Family Medicine Residency Program, serves the west Omaha community at the Village Pointe Clinic.
—Brynn Lastovica, M.D., is a graduate of both the UNMC College of Medicine and UNMC Family Medicine Residency program. Dr. Lastovica provides care in Omaha at the Chalco Clinic.
 
"The UNMC Department of Family Medicine is proud to expand our diverse and knowledgeable faculty pool to assist in the training of more than 70 family medicine residents all while providing the extraordinary care to patients under the Nebraska Medicine umbrella," said Michael Sitorius, M.D., chair of the UNMC Department of Family Medicine.
 
Dr. Weaver primary author on WHO guidance document
 
Meaghann Shaw Weaver, M.D., was a primary author on a World Health Organization guidance document on pediatric palliative care titled, "Integrating palliative care and symptom relief into paediatrics: A WHO guide for planners, implementers and managers."
 
A 2009 UNMC College of Medicine graduate, Dr. Weaver has a master's in public health and is an assistant professor in the division of pediatric hematology/oncology at UNMC and division chief of pediatric palliative care at Children's Hospital & Medical Center.
 
This was a global initiative and is the first WHO pediatric palliative implementation standard. The document is available online.
 
Orthopaedic Surgery Resident Research Forum a success
 
Eighteen orthopaedic surgery residents presented Sept. 28 at the annual Resident Research Forum in the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education.
 
The forum helps residents plan and improve their research project throughout residency. During the forum, second- through fifth-year residents presented their research and received feedback from faculty members and guest speaker, Terry Light, M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery at Loyola University Stretch School of Medicine.
 
Dr. Light's clinical and research interests have focused on hand surgery, with a particular emphasis on children's hand problems and medical education. He is an international speaker on hand surgery and author of more than 100 articles, book chapters and editorials on orthopaedic topics. Dr. Light presented on the topic: "Physeal Tethers of Growth in the Hand, Wrist and Forearm."