Swine flu

We at the School and UNC got organized for pandemic flu a couple years ago when there was a lot of concern about the H5N1 flu strain becoming a pandemic. Fortunately, so far it has not. And while we all were becoming perhaps a bit too complacent, a new type of swine flu (H1N1) came upon us. The White House has declared a public health emergency. We are assessing the situation to determine what actions are appropriate. Meanwhile, for credible information, see the CDC Web site on swine flu. It tracks numbers of cases, what people can do to prevent flu transmission, travel information and related information. At present, this is a situation that calls for careful tracking and monitoring and prudent action. It calls for vigilance rather than alarm.

Graduate School awards

I was really pleased last Monday (April 20) to attend the Graduate School’s recognition event for students who received Graduate Education Advancement Board impact awards. It was impressive how many of our students received awards that recognize positive impact of a student’s work on North Carolina. While we may now have global in our name, what we do in North Carolina matters so much. I am very grateful to the 6 public health students who received these awards. Elizabeth Tarrone, Epidemiology, was honored with the Boka W. Hadzija Award for Distinguished University Service. Our students also received other awards as well, including induction into two different honorary societies (6 students), prestigious external fellowships (44 students), and best graduate student posters (2 students). I enjoyed viewing students’ posters and discussing their work with them.

Jan Dodds’ retirement

Thursday afternoon, I attended a lovely retirement party for Jan Dodds, PhD,  professor of nutrition and  of maternal and child health. During her career here, Jan did a wonderful job of integrating research and practice and working on problems that really matter to people-such as hunger and obesity (ironically, two different sides of nutrition), trained a new type of child care worker (with Jonathan Kotch, MD and others) for day care centers and so much more. She really reached out to health departments and other service providers and forged alliances that have endured. Most recently, she helped us develop a School-wide mentoring program. While the budget crisis is causing us to at least temporarily cut back the School-wide part of it, many of the topics and principles will endure. June Stevens did a great job as emcee, Sherry Roberts organized a beautiful spread of healthy foods, and members of our faculty gave some really moving tributes. I am always struck by how many things our faculty and staff members do outside the School.  I had no idea that Jan is a very accomplished singer. Members of Crooked Creek, a local group, came to serenade her and us. They were really fabulous. Jan seems to be thriving in retirement.

Alumna’s death

I was very saddened to learn about the death last week of 2007 ESE alumna, Joanna Park, PhD, in an automobile accident near here. Although I did not know her personally, the deaths of our students and alumni feel very personal to me.

Our building

The outside of the School really looks great. I especially love the purple verbenas. Rob Kark, MBA and Brent Wishart do a fabulous job of managing the buildings and grounds. Linda Kastleman took these beautiful photos.

Commencement

Graduation is right around the corner. The UNC speaker will be Desmond Tutu. What a wonderful opportunity to hear one of the most revered men alive today. And we will hear from Gary Grant, an environmental activist from eastern North Carolina. He will have an important message about what citizens can achieve. Unfortunately, his family is engaged in a struggle to save their own farm. Steve Wing and some other people are trying to help.

Finals

Best wishes to all our students on their remaining finals.

Happy Monday. Barbara

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. It’s been a fabulous week in Chapel Hill. There have been so many people celebrating and shopping for tee shirts that at times the traffic was completely stopped on Franklin Street.  Store owners told me that people said they had driven for hours to come to Chapel Hill, because they were so excited. We won, and that was great. But I am equally happy to see people flooding Franklin Street and buying tee shirts. (FYI, the majority of the University’s state budget funds come from sales taxes. Tee shirts are taxed.) I really enjoyed talking with students who had gone to the Final Four. Jessie Lamar and Sheriff Muse-Ariyoh, who work in our office, both went, and had a great time.Jessie Satia, PhD, Special Assistant to the Dean for Diversity and Professor, Epidemiology and Nutrition, has a very nice article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association on disparities in diets in the US, focused especially on how minorities may be disadvantaged.

There also is an interesting article in JAMA on academic health-the point is that we have gotten so focused on teaching, research and service as outcomes that we forget the real goal of all our efforts in improving the public’s health. However, I believe people in our School don’t forget why we are here, and research like Jessie’s is a good example.

We had a very interesting meeting here last week, led by Tom Ricketts, PhD, Professor, Health Policy and Management. Tom leads the Scientific Advisory Committee for America’s Health Rankings, an effort to provide numerical rankings for all the US states, based on good statistical indicators linked to important health outcomes. It is a stellar advisory group, and I learn a lot every time I attend. From a communications perspective, it makes sense to give states a sense of where they stand relative to other states and what factors contribute to those rankings.

In between working much of the last several days and getting a lot done, I replanted a bunch of daylilies and pansies from our garden at home. It is always satisfying to finish something in the garden. The results are so tangible.

But the most exciting news of the week, aside from the Tar Heels winning the NCAA Championships is that Bo has arrived at the White House. He’s a very cute six-month-old Portuguese water dog with winning looks. Maybe he will have a positive impact on the stock market. Bo is welcome to come play with my dogs any time!

Happy Monday. Barbara

Departmental events

The past week was a fabulous one for the School. Wednesday afternoon, several of our departments had reunions and other kinds of get-togethers. They made awards, reconnected with people and had a good time.

Then, everyone moved on to a reception before our annual Foard Lecture. It was fun for me to see many faculty members and alumni. It’s more fun each year since I know more of the people and enjoy the chance to thank them for their many contributions to the School.

Barr and Greenberg awards given

At the Foard Lecture, the School awards very important School-level awards. The Harriet Hylton Barr Award was given to Rebecca King, DDS, MPH, for the outstanding work she has done to improve dental health in North Carolina. Dr. King is really a role model for the kind of impact one can have in public health. She credits Gary Rozier, DDS, MPH, professor health policy and management, as a very special mentor and could not say enough to me about the effect Gary has had on North Carolina. Anita Farel, DrPH, MSW, clinical professor and associate chair for graduate studies maternal and child health, received the Greenberg Award in recognition of her teaching, research and service. I am especially grateful to Dr. Farel for her incredible service over the past 20 years to the School.

McDonough gives Foard Lecture

World-renowned architect and designer, author of multiple books, including Cradle to Cradle, Bill McDonough, gave the 41^st Foard Lecture. We were pleased to co-sponsor the event with Greenbridge Developments, LLC and the UNC’s Institute for the Environment. While I don’t necessarily agree with everything McDonough says, he is a really thought-provoking thinker and speaker who got us to think about environmental issues a little differently, perhaps even a lot differently. For example, thinking about the life cycle of products instead of just how “green” it appears to be might change our behavior in fundamental ways. As I said when I introduced him at the lecture, we also should think comprehensively about built environments. We know now from research and multiple evidence reviews (e.g. see those done by the group for which I am vice-chair, www.thecommunityguide.org) that how we build individual structures and communities has a lot to do with how safe we feel, how much we walk and bike, our levels of obesity and mortality rates. Public health, environmental and economic issues intersect in important ways when we confront this topic.

McDonough was wonderful. And his slides make one think about the act of communication through slides in a different way. If you missed the talk, it will be available on our website. You can also learn more about Bill McDonough’s work by visiting his website.

Saturday night fever

Saturday was a gorgeous day in Carolina. The flowers are beautiful, the flowering trees are perfect, the streets were filled with people, and everyone seemed excited about the forthcoming game. And the men’s Tar Heels  won-by a lot! The portable lights are in waiting on Franklin Street, and the porta-potties are being staged for Monday night. I so hope we win. I cannot imagine that a lot of work is going to get done tomorrow. I decided to do my part for Carolina so I got my nails painted blue-not a shocking blue but a conservative Carolina blue-blue nonetheless.

Happy Monday! Go Tar Heels.

Note: all photos by Tom Fuldner Photography

Men’s basketball

I said Friday that I was definitely not going to stay up for the entire game, but who could turn it off? I’m definitely too old for all-nighters, but that’s what happened (okay, one hour sleep). The only way to cope was two back-to-back spinning classes. Really, it is amazing how exercise creates energy! All day Sunday, the excitement in town was palpable. It was like people were just trying to figure out what to do ‘til game time. All the hype about Blake Griffin and the Sooners, and we beat them. My husband happens to be an alumnus of OU so I took very special pleasure in the win Sunday night. On to the Final Four.

A challenge to our students

Saturday morning, I walked out into a very wet, dark driveway to pick up the papers before going to the gym. As I scanned the Durham Herald-Sun, a local story caught my eye. Written by two Duke students, the article provided extensive details about what Duke students have done to advance prospective health promotion. The concept has to do with individual empowerment for health promotion and personalized strategic health planning. It’s a good idea, and the article was well-written. Now, a disclaimer: I am not a Duke hater. In fact, I am proud to be an adjunct professor of community and family medicine at Duke and even prouder that we train a cohort of Duke’s medical students each year as they seek MPH degrees, most in our Public Health Leadership Program. But please! Across our School, our students are doing so much to promote the public’s health through prevention as a mere scan of our Web site shows. I challenge our students to tell their stories! Don’t let Duke students “own” health promotion. You’ve thought a lot about this, and you have great stories to tell. Ramona DuBose can help contact the editors if you’re interested. And we’d love to have your stories for our Web site, too.

Students’ Photo Exhibit

Tuesday night, the Student Global Health Committee sponsored a global health photo exhibit with some remarkable photos. (Hey, don’t forget to deliver mine!) There were striking photos of smiling Rwandan children, elephants (You were how close?), a rather intimidating silverback gorilla (You were only 15 feet away!) and many more compelling photos of people, animals and places. I bought a couple photos and lots of postcards. You may be able to order prints and postcards soon - I’ll update the link.

Annual “Spotlight on Student Research Poster Presentation Event”

Thursday afternoon, our Office of Research (Thanks to Sandy Martin, PhD, associate dean for research, Christin Minter, MA, director, Office of Research and Tracy Kennedy, assistant director, Office of Research) sponsored the annual Spotlight on Student Research Poster Presentation Event. Thanks to all the students who participated and everyone who came. It was so interesting to read about the many fascinating research projects our students have led or in which they have participated.

Our applicants

Each year, since I’ve been dean, I’ve spoken to increasingly more applicants, and I have always been impressed by them — terrific GPAs, excellent GREs, wonderful values and incredible experiences. No way was I that interesting when I applied for an MPH many years ago. This year, I have been blown away by the applicants who have been calling and visiting. At this point, they have been accepted at UNC and some of our competitors, like Hopkins and Harvard, and they are doing sophisticated cost-benefit analyses to decide where to go. These people are smart, focused and incredibly analytic. It’s about the money but not only the money; they are thinking ahead to the jobs they will get when they finish and how we can help them. Although right now, I’ve got more anecdotes than data, I’m certain that even more of the applicants this year have global health interests. I really enjoy meeting applicants. Besides having a chance to tell the UNC SPH story, there’s no better way to learn what applicants think of us — where they judge us strong and where they find us lacking.

We are all working harder than ever to find scholarship money. Our External Affairs staff is so energetic in this domain, and I spend a lot of my time trying to interest donors or potential donors in funding scholarships. I spent a lot of this weekend working on the renewal of our HRSA traineeship grant which funds many students each year. Fortunately, Felicia Mebane, PhD, assistant dean for students, and Sherry Rhodes, director, student services, had done a great first draft.

Yield to Heels

We want all our faculty, staff and students to be safe on the roads. The annual Yield to Heels campaign highlights pedestrian safety. Each year, tragically, one or more pedestrians are killed in and around our campus. Most of these deaths are preventable.

Tai Chi

Kudos to Sherry Roberts for organizing Tai Chi in the courtyard at the SPH with a wonderful instructor from the Wellness Center. No need to sign up; just bring $5 exact change. To learn more, email Sherry@unc.edu. See if you can find an online pic of someone in a Tai Chi pose.

Happy Monday! Barbara