News briefs

Dr. Schnaubelt promoted to lieutenant colonel
Elizabeth Schnaubelt, M.D., UNMC Department of Internal Medicine-Division of Infectious Diseases, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. She is assigned as the first medical director for the U.S. Air Force Center for Sustainment of Trauma Readiness Skills (C-STARS) in Omaha.
 
The mission of C-STARS is to advance the readiness skills and competency of Air Force medical personnel so they can provide safe and effective care for patients who have contracted or may have been exposed to highly hazardous infectious diseases. Dr. Schnaubelt and her team also worked closely with the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.
 
She graduated from the Air Force Academy and earned her medical degree from the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago. During an assignment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, she was recognized as the top senior level physician in the Air Force when she earned the Clinical Excellence Award for her work as the infectious diseases medical lead on a team that developed contingency plans for treating and managing Ebola-infected patients evacuated through Europe, from Africa.
 
Sung-Ho Huh, Ph.D., mentioned in NIH Director's Blog on May 23
UNMC researcher Sung-Ho Huh, Ph.D., assistant professor, neurological sciences, was mentioned in the May 23 NIH Director's Blog, posted by Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D. In a piece called "A Nose for Science," Dr. Collins references work Dr. Huh did while at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. Dr. Huh has continued to distinguish himself at UNMC, being named a 2016 New Investigator.
 
See the blog here.
 
Drs. Cochran, Nickol lead interprofessional workshop in D.C.
Devin Nickol, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, and Teresa Cochran, D.P.T., assistant dean for the College of Allied Health Professions at the Health Science Education Complex in Kearney, recently led a workshop, "Advancing the Interprofessional Collaborative Practice & Policy Research Agenda," at the National Academies of Practice (NAP) conference in Washington, D.C. NAP consists of 14 health professions academies that advise Congress on health policies needed to support interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Dr. Cochran also participated in visits to the Nebraska congressional delegation to share policy modifications that would achieve the Quadruple Aim and facilitate team-based care.
 
UNMC prominently featured in KETV story on 'The Buffett Impact'
On May 3, KETV NewsWatch 7 ran a 30-minute special called, "The Buffett Impact: How Berkshire Hathaway Wealth Has Changed Omaha." UNMC was prominently featured in the special, which also aired on May 5 on "Chronicle," KETV's weekly news program.
 
Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., and longtime UNMC supporter Ruth Scott were interviewed.
Ruth Scott told reporter David Earl that her and husband Bill Scott's philanthropy "is all due to Berkshire Hathaway."
 
Later in the piece, Earl walks on the UNMC campus, saying, "Perhaps no place has changed more drastically with Bill and Ruth Scott's Berkshire Hathaway fortune than UNMC. They made it feel like a campus, and they helped give the College of Public Health a home."
 
"The Berkshire investors, the Berkshire family of philanthropists, are very concerned about making sure they are building a sustainable future," Dr. Gold said in the piece.
 
See the story here.
 
Dr. Marcelin led study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
Jasmine Marcelin, M.D., associate medical director of antimicrobial stewardship at Nebraska Medicine and assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases, led a study published April 23 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
 
The study found that programming a hospital's electronic health record system to provide information on appropriate use of a costly gastrointestinal panel and to block unnecessary orders reduced inappropriate testing by 46 percent and saved up to $168,000 over 15 months.
 
Read about the study here.
 
Dr. McClay part of inaugural class of AMIA fellows
James McClay, M.D., associate professor, UNMC Department of Emergency Medicine, is one of 130 fellows to be formally inducted into the American Medical Informatics Association's (AMIA) newly established FAMIA Applied Informatics Recognition Program. The program recognizes AMIA members who apply informatics skills and knowledge within their professional setting, who have demonstrated professional achievement and leadership, and who have contributed to the betterment of the organization.