Awards presented to Public Health faculty and students

Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology, received the excellence in teaching award at the recent College of Public Health banquet for faculty, students and alumni.

Director of doctoral programs, Dr. Watanabe-Galloway teaches epidemiology and researches health disparities in cancer and mental health.

Dean Ayman El-Mohandes, center, poses with College of Public Health annual award recipients. From left, Diane Sylofski, Janelle Jacobson, Laura Hansen, Lava Timsina, Dr. El-Mohandes, Mary Balluff, Anh Nguyen, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Ph.D., and Calista Kirby.

“Shinobu has shown excellence in all aspects of her career and it’s no surprise that her peers honor her,” said Dean Ayman El-Mohandes, M.B.B.Ch., M.D., M.P.H. “Her motivation, humility, dedication to quality as well as her organizational and leadership skills have been recognized by her grateful students.”

Laura Hansen, a graduate research assistant in epidemiology, was one of four winners of the Carruth J. Wagner, M.D. Scholarship in Public Health. Hansen, who volunteered last summer in a make-shift medical clinic in Thiotte, Haiti, is working on her master’s degree in public health with a concentration in community health education.

The other recipients, all doctoral students, were:

• Janelle Jacobson — who works with the Nebraska Public Health Practice Based Research Network;
  
• Anh Nguyen — who works on the design, methods, analysis and interpretation of health services and policy projects;
  
• Lava Timsina — whose research interests are in the field of social determinants of health and tobacco control. Timsina is winner of this award for the third consecutive year.

The Chancellor Robert D. Sparks, M.D. awards were given to:

• Calista Kirby — who received the Pre-professional/Undergraduate Student Scholarship in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She is working on a bachelor’s degree in nursing at UNMC’s College of Nursing-Lincoln Division with plans to obtain a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis on community education.
  
• Diane Sylofski — who received the $1,500 Public Health Student Research Award. She is in her second year as a doctoral student in health promotion and disease prevention research.

Mary Balluff received the Sparks Award in Public Health and Preventive Medicine in recognition of her significant contribution to the state’s public health. She is the division chief for the Community Health and Nutrition Services in the Douglas County Health Department and the principle investigator for Douglas County’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant.

In addition to specific awards, graduates of the Master of Public Health Master of Science and Certificate in Public Health programs were recognized.