Liliana Bronner, a former program coordinator in the Rural Health Education Network Office (RHEN) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has been named interim director of the program.
Bronner steps in for long-time RHEN director, Roxanna Jokela, who now is director of alumni relations at UNMC.
"Thanks to Roxanna’s strong leadership and hard work, RHEN is a strong program helping UNMC meet its mission to provide highly trained health care professionals to communities throughout Nebraska," said Keith Mueller, Ph.D., interim dean of the UNMC College of Public Health. "Liliana Bronner brings direct experience to this position and I am confident she will do a great job of nurturing the programming underway within the portfolio of projects and programs of RHEN."
Bronner said she plans to build off the solid foundation Jokela built in her sixteen years as RHEN director.
"I am fortunate to have worked with Roxanna and hopefully, I can continue to explore new directions for RHEN and help us expand the various outreach programs coordinated through our network," Bronner said. "It’s not easy filling Roxanna’s shoes, but I look forward to the challenge."
Bronner, a native of Barranquilla, Colombia, joined the RHEN office in 2003. She has a bachelor degree in health science education from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in health service administration from Florida International University.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,600 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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