* TRIVIA Q *
Who was the first dean of our college when it became free-standing (and was called the College of Associated Health Professions) in 1979? (see below for answer)
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WELCOME Fellow alumni, I'd like to tell you a short story about an experience I'm pretty excited about. Last September I attended a meet-and-greet event for mentors and mentees in the AHS "Power of Peers" program. It’s an important support plan delivered through AHS' Academic Support and Advising Program. There I met a senior in kinesiology named Mike Grossman, who had been a volunteer mentor for about 18 months. We hit it off and arranged to have lunch. After getting to know Mike and see his work ethic, I hired him as an intern at the health center where I am operations director. Since then, he’s come aboard full-time as fitness specialist. He got a great job, we got an outstanding colleague and our center's members are getting even more outstanding service. That triple-win situation stemmed from my choice to spend a couple of hours engaged with my alma mater and the exceptional students who are there now. There are lots of ways to get connected. To get started, contact AHS' director of alumni relations, Helen Massey at 312-413-0197 or hamassey@uic.edu. P.S. Please save the date for our All-Alumni Reunion celebrating the college's 30th anniversary on Saturday, Nov. 7. Details to follow via mail and e-mail! |
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* TRIVIA Q * NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS Kinesiology professor helps simplify the science of running Attention, runners! When you're out for a run, do you ever tune in to your body and think, "How could I do this better?" or "How can I get faster?" A book released in May and co-written by visiting clinical assistant professor of kinesiology Jonathan Dugas should give you some ideas. In The Runner's Body, Dugas and his co-authors, fellow physiologist Ross Tucker and fitness journalist Matt Fitzgerald, put their complex research discoveries and in-depth knowledge into common language for the rest of us. Among many interesting topics, they discuss the best ways for runners to nourish and hydrate themselves, safe and legal ways to increase oxygen to the muscles, and more. Dugas and Tucker were inspired to write the book after two years of writing the popular blog, "The Science of Sport" (www.sportsscientists.com). The site gets more than 1,000 visitors a day from all over the world. Find The Runner's Body online at Amazon.com. Chicago-area fans can find Dugas and Tucker signing books at the Chicago Marathon Expo, Oct. 9-10. AHS teams up with the Breast Cancer 3-day ... again If you saw the most recent issue of AHS Magazine, you know that AHS got involved in a big way to support Chicago's 2008 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. A team from our Department of Disability and Human Development partnered with walk organizers to make sure all elements of the event were accessible to people with disabilities. (See the story "All Things Being Equal" on our Web site). This year, another group made a big contribution to the event when the AHS Department of Physical Therapy served as the walk’s official physical therapy partner. Organized by PT student Kristan Leech and Mary Keehn, director of physical therapy at the UIC Medical Center, the team comprised 27 current students, six faculty and staff members, and two 2007 alumni. Together they provided care to more than 400 walkers. As anyone would expect, it was a huge success, and the PT department intends to maintain the partnership in future years. Interested in participating in 2010? Contact Leech at kleech2@uic.edu. PT prof's research paper gets high marks A paper written by assistant physical therapy professor Shane Phillips, PhD, was selected by the editors of Hypertension as one of the three best papers published by the journal in 2008. His paper won in the category of clinical science. The paper, "Benefit of Low-Fat Over Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Endothelial Health in Obesity," reported on Phillips' research comparing the two popular weight-loss strategies. He determined that, in obese people of both genders, six weeks of a low-fat diet had a more positive effect on vascular function (an early indicator of heart health) than did a low-carbohydrate diet prepared at the same number of calories. Phillips found the diets delivered similar reductions in body weight and blood pressure. Now through Oct. 16: "Redefining the Medical Artist" If you're in the Chicago area, make time to visit the International Museum of Surgical Science, which is hosting an exhibit of the artwork of our biomedical visualization students, faculty and alumni. Curated by student Meena Malhotra, "Redefining the Medical Artist" includes 26 images and animations of everything from surgical tools to ovulation to Influenza A infection. The goal of the exhibit is to educate the public while boosting awareness of the field, but the experience of the exhibit is truly mind-expanding. "Redefining the Medical Artist" has been widely promoted in local media, including the Chicago Tribune and Time Out Chicago, both of which referenced AHS' biomedical visualization program as being the best of its kind. Each year, approximately 50 people apply to our BVIS program, which only accepts and enrolls about 15 students. ALUMNI NEWS A therapist and an author: This month, WestSide Books published a new young adult novel by Kathi Baron, OT '91. Shattered is the story of "a teen violinist in the Chicago Youth Symphony who transforms her experience with trauma into healing," says Baron. "Its themes are resilience, empowerment and service." So there's the OT connection. Belated congratulations: Premiere Physical Therapy, whose founder and CEO is John Woodard, PT '95, was named Best PT Practice in the nation for 2008 by ADVANCE for Physical Therapists and PT Assistants. The magazine cited Premiere's commitment to community service as a prime reason for the honor. Woodard and his business partner opened the Springfield, Ill.-based practice in 1997 and have since expanded to three locations, all in the Springfield area. In the spotlight: The September issue of the American Health Information Management Association's Journal included an article featuring Patricia Cunningham, HIM BS '88, MS '09. The article discusses the increasing difficulty HIM programs face in finding healthcare facilities to host students for professional practical experiences (PPEs). As senior director of revenue cycle operations at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Ill., Cunningham was a source for the story because she has graciously hosted PPE students every year since 1991. (The article also featured AHS faculty Karen Patena and Barb Glondys, and student Clarisse Jefferson.) Film star: Dena (Winkleman) Matthews, BVIS '97, served as an advisor to the recently released feature film, "Away We Go," starring "Saturday Night Live" alumna Maya Rudolph. The story is that of a young couple traveling the U.S. in search of the perfect place to put down roots. The wife, played by Rudolph, is a medical illustrator. "From what I hear, the portrayal is not all that accurate. She’s a more traditional book publishing medical illustrator, whereas Dena is an animator," says BVIS program director Scott Barrows, "but this is still some fun trivia." Matthews owns medical animation agency Lifehouse Productions in Manchester, Conn. * TRIVIA A * Thomas Beckham, who led the School of Associated Medical Sciences before we broke from the College of Medicine, continued to lead as dean of the college from 1979 until 1982. At that time, he left to become the UIC’s first Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Trivia A, addendum: Interestingly, Beckham's successor, David Broski, would also ultimately leave AHS in 1991 for higher leadership as UIC's provost and then chancellor. And our current dean, Toby Tate, was recruited in 2000 to do a two-year stint as interim provost for UIC. In other words, UIC knows that AHS is the place to go for leaders. Your gift of any size from $25 to $5,000 will help AHS to: - upgrade instructional technology in classrooms To give, please call Jon Santanni at (312) 413-9180, or visit us online at Support AHS. Thank you for your generosity! New address? New job? Promotion? Professional award? (i1), The AHS Alumni E-Newsletter is sent
to college alumni and friends on a quarterly basis. Questions or comments?
Send an email to advanceahs@uic.edu. |
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