Last week, Flora Ponder received a proclamation from former Louisville Mayor Harvey Sloane highlighting her influence in Louisville. Ponder was one of the University of Louisville’s first black nursing students, attending school in 1954 during the peak of segregation.
She was inspired by her great-grandmother to attend nursing school and was the first African-American nursing student to live in the student nurses’ home. At that time, Louisville General Hospital was the teaching and research hospital for the UofL Medical School.
According to WHAS11, Ponder spent her career working to meet the health care needs of the underserved in collaboration with Sloane, who was a physician. She served as the head nurse of recovery and the Intensive Care Unit at the Louisville General Hospital from 1957-1958, and went on to serve as the head nurse at the Louisville and Jefferson County Health Department form 1959-1965.
Ponder helped to establish and served as the Director of Nurses at the Park-DuValle Community Health Center. She assisted in establishing the first emergency transportation service at Park-DuValle, which later expanded to the city of Louisville. This evolved into what is today the Louisville EMS Service.
Ponder currently serves as a nursing consultant to various health organizations. She is listed in the Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky and the Notable Kentucky African American database.
The Anne Braden Institute has received the 2019 southern regional W. K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award. The award was given for their collaboration with the Fairness Campaign to research and write the 1st LGBTQ State Historic Context in the nation, housed at the National Park Service.
Also, Cate Fosl, Director of the Anne Braden Institute and Chris Hartman, Director of the Fairness Campaign joined Mark Hebert on UofL Today discuss their project and the history of the LGBTQ movement in Kentucky.
UofL faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited to participate in Cards Come Together October 22-25
Registration is now open for the University of Louisville’s inaugural Cards Come Together event, a week of service to improve the campus and community October 22-25.
The goal for Cards Come Together is to have 1,000 UofL community members, including faculty, staff, students and alumni, participate in the event. Participants will complete projects both on campus and at off-campus sites throughout Louisville.
“One of the things that drew me to this university was its strong to commitment to improving the city of Louisville,” said President Neeli Bendapudi. “I’m so excited for us to work together as a cardinal family to showcase how much good we can do.”
Service opportunities during Cards Come Together include a UofL community composting project, community cleanup in Old Louisville, New Directions Beautification project in the Highlands and assisting with the Americana Community Center Fall Festival. Daily donation drive opportunities on campus will benefit various organizations, including Volunteers of America’s Shelby Men’s Recovery program, Dare to Care, Jefferson County Public Schools and Catholic Charities of Louisville.
“The University of Louisville takes pride in its role as a metropolitan research university,” said Ralph Fitzpatrick, vice president for community engagement and co-chair of the Cards Come Together Committee. “This week of service provides another opportunity for the university community to come together to fully engage in the welfare and vitality of the Louisville metro area.”
Participants must register in advance for Cards Come Together’s service opportunities at uofl.me/cardscometogether. Participation is entirely voluntary. This is not a work-related activity under the university workers compensation program. Staff can use Community Service Leave, but should obtain supervisor approval before registering to participate.
Pi Kappa Phi brothers and UofL students Antonio Burgess and Mahfouz Matthew Batshoun volunteered for The Ability Experience in the summer of 2019.
Mahfouz Matthew Batshoun and Antonio Burgess finished the spring semester and were ready to embark on a long-awaited summer – one, looking back, they now call life-changing.
While their friends packed bags for glamorous retreats to international destinations or tropical climates, the pair of UofL students and Pi Kappa Phi brothers chose to be part of their fraternity’s long-standing philanthropic initiative, The Ability Experience.
Each summer, members of Pi Kappa Phi trek across the country and participate in one of six nationally-known programs that are part of The Ability Experience, a nonprofit organization aimed at building relationships and empowering people living with disabilities.
Batshoun found one program that captured him immediately, Build America. The six-week-long event focuses on building or repairing accessible amenities for camps, specifically created to give those who have disabilities a summer camp experience.
Mahfouz Matthew Batshoun working on a project in Arizona during the summer of 2019 as part of The Ability Experience.
“My great aunt was paralyzed from the waist down and before she passed away, she worked incredibly hard to push for equality for the community of people with disabilities in Kentucky, including things like the integration of accessible parking,” Batshoun said.
The sophomore from Northern Kentucky first traveled to Boston, where he and his 10-member team spent time bonding and receiving training on how to correctly use power tools. The group visited with and worked with campers in Ohio, Colorado, Arizona and California. At the end of each trip, Batshoun said his team presented a $5,000 grant from the money raised to each camp to aid in future projects.
Of the many memories he’ll carry with him, Batshoun’s time at Colorado Lions Camp stood out in particular. During a project, his team worked on repairing a wheelchair ramp for the girls’ cabin. One day, the only camper in a wheelchair asked Batshoun if he could test the ramp after it was finished.
“The next workday finished and we finally completed the wheelchair ramp, so I waited until after dinner to tell Easton that we finished the ramp and we were ready for him to test it out,” Batshoun recalled. “We walked up to the cabin and he started to go up the ramp. Once he got to the top, he had the brightest, purest smile I had ever seen on his face, and it was at that instant I truly knew the impact that The Ability Experience has.”
Though it’s impossible to predict memories like that, Batshoun said it didn’t take much convincing for him to dedicate his summer to The Ability Experience.
Batshoun’s friend Davin Newsome, also a Pi Kappa Phi member at UofL, worked with Build America in 2017 and convinced him to do it as well.
“Davin was not wrong at all. Build America was by far the most impactful and memorable seven weeks of my entire life. From the lifelong brothers I spent every waking hour with for seven weeks to the countless amount of lives we impacted along the way, this was without a doubt the summer of a lifetime,” Batshoun, a sophomore, said.
Antonio Burgess and his team rode from San Francisco to Washington D.C. as part of The Ability Experience in the summer of 2019.
Burgess elected Journey of Hope, a cycling trip in which three teams ride to spread a message of acceptance and understanding for people with disabilities to Washington D.C., with starting destinations in Seattle, San Francisco and Santa Barbara.
Training started May 27, and the team left June 9 from San Francisco to begin their cross-country voyage, with all three teams converging on Capitol Hill.
As the north route’s crew chief, Burgess led a 29-member team on a trip that lasted 63 days. One of their stops included a two-day stint in Grand Island, Nebraska, where Burgess recalls spending “every moment” with people, sharing meals and visiting their workplaces. He said lunch at a park constructed by brothers of Pi Kappa Phi was easily the highlight.
“The two mothers who gave us the tour of the park have been around Journey of Hope and Build America for nearly two decades and so have their kids,” the Lake Mary, Florida, native said. “One of the mothers had a daughter with a disability in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her daughter, because of her disability, always had trouble connecting with people until she met cyclist and brother Jason Tirado. He made a lasting impact on her and her family and stayed active in their lives before he sadly passed away in 2000.
“When my team heard that story, we were all moved to tears because both of the mothers were also getting emotional and you can see how much of an impact he had and what he meant to the people of Grand Island, as well as what Journey of Hope and brothers of Pi Kappa Phi mean to the community.”
Beyond the sentimental impact, the three teams contributed financially, combining to raise more than $600,000 and helping more than 3,000 people.
As much as Batshoun and Burgess know they played a significant role in improving the lives of others, Burgess also realizes how much the program impacted him personally.
“Journey of Hope has made me into a better servant leader and in turn has made me want to become a better man, a better citizen, a better friend, a better brother,” Burgess said. “I will continue to dedicate my time and efforts to helping serve the lives of people with disabilities and continue to give back to my local community wherever I am.”
UofL administrators, including President Neeli Bendapudi, and University of Dubai administrators, including President Eesa Bastaki.
University of Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi and Provost Beth Boehm recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the president of University of Dubai (UD).
Eesa Bastaki, president of UD, talked with UofL administrators about cooperation between the two universities that will enable engineering students to collaborate and perform research activities together.
Bastaki said UD is especially eager to give its students more exposure to industry. Bendapudi noted UofL’s industry relationships are one of the school’s many strengths, citing a recent partnership with IBM as one example.
“We’re perfectly poised in Louisville,” Bendapudi said. “We have so many opportunities for growth. We will make sure your students have a rich experience.”
Bendapudi said she hoped the agreement would lead to more study abroad opportunities for UofL students.
“People’s minds change when they travel,” she noted. UD is in the United Arab Emirates.
The memorandum was also signed by Emmanuel Collins, dean of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Hussain Al Ahmad, dean of UD’s College of Engineering & IT, will sign at a later date. The agreement will be in effect for five years.
Walking among the booths at the Gray Street Farmers Market fills one’s senses with a vibrancy that can only be a result of fresh produce and summertime. Excited customers exchanged recipes with enthusiastic vendors and as they rifled through local goods during the market’s UofL Day on Aug. 2.
UofL Day at the Gray Street Farmers Market
The celebration was in advance of National Farmers Market Week Aug. 4-10. Farmers markets act as vital resources for families to get locally sourced produce which increases healthy eating habits and boosts the local economy.
The Gray Street Farmers Market was co-founded in 2009 between UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SPHIS) and the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health Wellness. Together, they work toward relieving the food desert that exists in downtown Louisville.
“We’re in the middle of an increased need to provide fresh produce within downtown Louisville, specifically to those on food assistance programs,” said Sara Frazier, Gray Street Farmers Market manager.
Locally-grown produce can often be viewed as a commodity for only those who can afford it, according to Frazier. The Gray Street Farmers Market addresses the issue with its Dollar for Dollar program, which matches SNAP recipients’ benefits up to $20. The service is provided through donations and numerous fundraising opportunities, including a silent auction available on the market’s website during August. There is also an Elevate campaign for those wishing to donate directly to the Dollar for Dollar program.
A vendor weighs produce at the Gray Street Farmers Market.
The market runs every Thursday from mid-May to Oct. 31, 2019 – rain or shine. It operates from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with lunch options available through vendors and weekly food truck rotations. The market’s governance committee reviews all vendor applications to ensure the products are local and will be a good fit. They want there to be a variety of high quality options for our customers.
Visitors can expect homegrown or homemade products including fruits and vegetables, canned goods, hand-crafted products, artisan coffee and more. Most vendors accept cash, card or tokens. Tokens are available at the information booth in order to help those who need currency exchanged onsite.
UofL president Neeli Bendapudi, 55,000 Degrees executive director Mary Gwen Wheeler and JCTC CEO Ty Handy
The University of Louisville and its community college partners have announced a major milestone – 1,000 reverse degrees have been awarded since fall 2013.
Those partners include the Jefferson Community and Technical College, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, Owensboro Community and Technical College and Ivy Tech Community College.
The announcement was made Wednesday by UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, who was joined by JCTC CEO Ty Handy and Mary Gwen Wheeler, executive director of 55,000 Degrees, a Louisville organization that works to improve education attainment.
A reverse degree is an associate’s degree or a certificate that’s awarded by community colleges to their former students who have transferred to UofL and earned at least 60 total credits, including a minimum of 15 from the community college.
“This is simply a matter of giving credit where credit is due. These reverse degrees recognize the hard work students are already doing. We’re just giving them what they’ve already earned,” Bendapudi said. “This program is the perfect example of the university and community college partners working together to increase the number of people with secondary degrees.”
Bendapudi notes that UofL’s is the first formal reverse degree program in the state.
Former JCTC students have been the most frequent beneficiaries of UofL’s program with 777 of them having received more than 1,000 reverse degrees in the past six years.
“We all know somebody where life got in the way and it took them longer to complete their bachelor’s degree than you would expect them to,” Handy said. “Most of us tend to think of college as a four year experience – you’re in, you’re out, you’re on with life – and that is just not the pattern people follow anymore, especially in urban markets like Louisville. This partnership is critical to us because many of these students take longer to finish their degree and that credential gives them an opportunity for better work.”
Indeed, Wheeler said more than 65% of local jobs now require training beyond high school. However, only 43% of people in the community have those credentials.
The reverse degree program tends to motivate students to finish their degrees. The latest data on reverse degree recipients shows that 85% of students are retained at UofL, and 62% of participants who received a reverse degree have graduated with a bachelor’s degree from UofL.
“Increasing those opportunities is important, not just for the community but also because it correlates with a better quality of life,” she said.
Mackenzie Burke (middle, striped shirt) and her fellow UofL students alongside Croatian students on an ISLP trip in Croatia, spring 2019.
Editor’s note: This is a firsthand account of an ISLP trip to Croatia during the spring semester, written by Mackenzie Burke, an intern in the Office of Communications and spring 2019 graduate.
Growing up, I never thought I would get the chance to travel aboard. Mainly due to my parents being the protective types. They weren’t even keen on me going to the University of Louisville because they believed an hour away was too far from home. Despite this, I chose UofL. I knew it would offer me opportunities that no other university could provide. So when I learned the International Service Learning Program (ISLP), a program created for UofL students to travel aboard and provide services, I immediately applied to go to Croatia. I saw this as my chance to finally expand my horizons.
When I landed in Croatia, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. My professor Steve Sohn, a ISLP veteran, did tell me and my peers what to expect in Croatia. One of them being how Croatia is smoking country. From adults to teenagers, smoking cigarettes are practically allowed anywhere at any time. This was difficult for me to imagine until we arrived in the first city called Sisak. It was just as my professor said.
As someone who grew up in a nation where smoking is prohibited in many places and has an age restriction, witnessing such a cultural difference definitely threw me for a loop. However, it didn’t offend me. The point of ISLP is to learn about another culture, and smoking is a part of Croatia’s society. Seeing such a difference helped me better understand what it’s like to live in Croatia.
Along with learning about cultural differences, another part of ISLP is to provide services. My group and I were tasked with developing educational activities to teach to Croatian high school students. At first, I was fearful that it would be difficult for us to connect with the Croatian students. We grew up with different cultural backgrounds. I was scared such a boundary would prevent us from getting along. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The Croatian students completely opened up to us. They asked us about our culture, and they were excited to answer our questions, too. Some of the students even invited us out to explore the town, allowing us to get to know them better. By our last day of teaching, I had become so close with my students that I got emotional when we said our goodbyes. Luckily, we became friends on social media, so the goodbye wasn’t final.
After our teaching days, my group and I left Sisak to explore the other cities of Croatia including Zadar, Zaton, Nin and Zagreb. Every place we visited was beautiful, but it was my friends who made the experiences unforgettable. It’s amazing to me how I didn’t know anyone at the start of this program, and now some of my favorite moments are goofing around with these wonderful people.
ISLP not only introduced me to another country’s culture, but it also allowed me to form friendships with individuals whom I may have never met on UofL’s big campus.
A homeless person's belongings. Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net.
Louisville Metro Government and the Coalition for the Homeless have released the results of a five-month assessment outlining the process of applying best practices to Louisville’s Continuum of Care (CoC), a process developed by HUD that helps communities address homelessness in a coordinated, comprehensive and strategic way.
Susan Buchino, PhD, OTR/L, led the UofL research team
The University of Louisville’s Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky (CIK) and Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research (CCTSJR) conducted the study, thanks to $50,000 from Louisville Metro. With a transdisciplinary research model that spans beyond traditional academia, CIK and CCTSJR provide infrastructure for researchers to find solutions to complex social problems, recognizing that problem solving requires expertise from multiple disciplines in partnership with the community.
As a community, Louisville attempts to address homelessness in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, using data to identify gaps in services and streamlining the use of valuable community resources. In the past year, new property developments and attempts to enforce community safety have displaced homeless camps, leaving unsheltered individuals to collect on downtown streets and under overpasses.
In response, Mayor Fischer’s Homeless Encampment Task Force engaged researchers from CIK and CCTSJR to support their work with the following specific aims:
To determine national best practices to address street homelessness.
To provide an assessment of the existing service system for individuals experiencing homelessness in Louisville.
To perform a gap analysis between Louisville’s existing services and best practices, with recommendations on policies, practices and funding, to aid Louisville in progressing toward reducing the number of individuals who remain unsheltered.
The study recommendations are outlined below:
Expand and evolve homeless services. Ensure individuals experiencing a housing crisis have access to the single point of entry system at all times. Reinforce the Housing First model and trauma-informed care within the Continuum of Care, such that a centralized case management team provides the accompaniment needed to navigate a complex system, resolve barriers and move into and maintain a home.
Revise encampment policies. Expand policies to shift focus from clearing to providing needed services, including hygiene facilities and housing assistance. When clearances are required, ensure that campers not only receive notice of a clearing, but that they are required to be offered and assisted with storage and shelter options.
Offer multiple low-barrier shelters in locations throughout Jefferson County. To ensure everyone has access to shelter and feels safe, emergency shelters should be smaller, designed for specific subpopulations, meet Americans with Disabilites Act standards and offer a staff to guest ratio that supports trauma-informed care. Emergency shelters should be used as a touch-point to link guests with wraparound services.
Improve collaboration. Resolving homelessness requires the participation of everyone. Communication and collaboration among service providers and across sectors is imperative.
Housing and community development. Prioritize affordable housing in Louisville, especially to meet the needs of households with income below 30 percent Area Median Income ($25,100 for a family of four). As needed, revise zoning ordinances to achieve this.
Address root causes of homelessness beyond housing. Create policies to raise the minimum wage and revise policies that create barriers to employment and housing for individuals who have been in the criminal justice system.
Promote community education and engagement. Develop a comprehensive public awareness campaign that sets achievable goals, involves multi-sector participation and is aimed at multiple audiences (individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness, advocates and service providers, and the general public).
Evaluate the outcomes of new policies and programs.
“It’s critical to recognize that homelessness is a result of a system that perpetuates discrimination and creates poverty. This study reveals that we must strengthen the connectivity between services and providers, as well as across sectors, and employ an approach of accompaniment, whereby our community meets individuals where they are and walks with them on the journey to stability,” said Susan Buchino, PhD, OTR/L, assistant professor, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences, and research study lead from UofL’s CIK and CCTSJR.
“We are all aware that we have a homeless crisis in Louisville,” said Natalie Harris, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless. “This problem will only get worse through the proposed cuts to preventative services that are currently funded by Louisville Metro Government. We need the community to step up and demand that vital resources provided by the Office of Resilience and Community Services, the External Agency Funds and Neighborhood Development Funds are preserved and expanded using the guidance outlined for us in the University of Louisville report released this week.”
“We appreciate the hard work and collaboration among all of our partners, and especially the Coalition for the Homeless and University of Louisville,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “It will take a united community to address the complex issue of homelessness.”
UofL’s School of Music is going worldwide this summer with an especially long list of travel opportunities on the books.
Students and faculty are learning, teaching and performing in such far-flung locales as Ecuador, Costa Rica, Vienna, Austria, Denmark, Korea and Thailand.
It’s no wonder as “advancing the art of music globally through the work of faculty composers, performers and researchers” is a key goal in the school’s mission statement.
“The faculty and students of the School of Music have been increasingly active from an international perspective for the past dozen years or more, with the current summer representing a kind of apex of these opportunities in terms of the nature of international programs in which we are involved and the numbers of music students and faculty members participating in some fashion,” said Christopher Doane, dean of the School of Music. “Our students and music faculty members expect to have these opportunities as a part of their UofL experience and we have been fortunate to have the international connections and network of friends, donors and music alumni to make these opportunities possible.”
Costa Rica performance
Kimcherie Lloyd, director of Orchestral Studies, traveled this May with 32 students – both instrumentalists and singers – to perform in Costa Rica’s National Theater for a concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of theInstituto Costarricense Pro Música Coral.
The trip, which included sightseeing, masterclasses and other performances, was commended in official letters signed by the president of Costa Rica.
It was the second such trip to Costa Rica for the School of Music. Students performed there five years ago as well. Both trips were a result of connections formed when Josue Ramirez came to UofL to study piano performance in 2010 as a Fulbright Scholar.
As amazing as that first experience was, this one was even better, Lloyd said. The
Costa Rica
hospitality, comraderie and quality of music shared was incredible, she said.
“I cannot say enough about our Costa Rican friends who hosted us,” Lloyd said. “It was extraordinary … I think the students would say it was a life-changing experience. There were lots of tears when it was time to leave.”
Jessica Wise, who graduated this spring with her Masters in Music in Flute Performance, agreed.
Mike Tracy, Jazz professor, plays with students in Ecuador
“Playing the flute duet in the Bach Magnificat with my duet partner Katie McDonald in the National Theater was my favorite part of the trip. To play in such a beautiful hall filled with musicians and a full audience is an experience I will never forget,” she said. “My host family was also absolutely incredible and my favorite part of the trip too. They made me feel a part of their family and so welcome. It was very difficult to leave them. They invited me back to their homes in the near future, so I hope to travel back to Costa Rica and see them again soon.”
The trip marked the beginning of a formal exchange program between UofL’s School of Music and Costa Rica’s National University School of Music, which will ensure many more students will have similar experiences in years to come.
Other international trips for the School of Music this summer include:
Jazz in Ecuador
Twenty students and faculty from UofL’s jazz program joined Mike Tracy, Jazz Program director, for an exchange program at the Universidad de las Américas Escuela de Música in Ecuador. Read more about the trip on Tracy’s blog.
Music Therapy in Vienna
The music therapy study abroad program is traveling to Vienna, Austria and Denmark in June. The group will visit the University of Music and Performing Arts and participate in a music therapy career day with the famous Vienna Boy’s Choir. In Denmark, they will attend the European Congress of Music Therapy. Students will present a workshop with Petra Kern, UofL music therapy professor.
Even the instruments are in on the globe-trotting action. Piano faculty members Anna Petrova, Krista Wallace-Boaz and Naomi Oliphant traveled to Hamburg, Germany, to pick out a new Steinway piano for Comstock Hall. The purchase was made possible by a bequest from donor Helen Lang. Click here to see Oliphant performing the piano before it makes its journey back to Louisville.
Piano faculty select a new piano for Comstock concert hall
Molly O'Keefe, J'Aime Jennings, Michelle Broers and Jodi Wojcik-Marshall
As the only provider of burn wound care services in Kentucky and a larger 250-mile radius inclusive of areas within Indiana and Illinois, the UofL Hospital Burn Centerhas piloted a telehealth program to reduce barriers for patient follow-up care.
“Travel distance, along with often other serious health conditions, make it difficult for patients to get to a weekly appointment,” said Jodi Wojcik-Marshall, MSN, APRN, ANP-BC, manager of the UofL Hospital Department of Advanced Practice Nursing and nurse practitioner in the Burn Center. “We saw a need to reduce the high number of missed appointments by reducing access barriers.”
Jennings led the effort to translate the outpatient burn center’s in-person standards and protocol into a telehealth format.
The program uses the technology BlueJeans for providers Wojcik-Marshall and Michelle Broers, PT, DPT, CWS, FACCWS, to have a dialogue with patients during telehealth visits. Each patient downloads the free BlueJeans app to their smartphone or device and uses a unique connection number to sign in for each appointment.
“We found both in the literature and in early observations of this pilot benefits not only for patients but also for home health providers and family members who help the patients with their treatment,” Jennings said.
Jennings and her team are in process of evaluating patient and provider satisfaction surveys. Next steps include determining adjustments to the program, and how the burn center may expand the initiative to benefit more patients.
Just in time for the Kentucky Oaks, the University of Louisville Trager Institute has launched its own “OACS” – a new support group for those who care for older adults. The Older Adult Caregiver Support, or OACS, group is open to UofL employees and retirees, along with UofL Hospital and UofL Physicians employees.
The effort is an outcome of the strategic initiative to make UofL a great place to work. Anna Faul, executive director of the Trager Institute, and Paula McGuffey, assistant director of the Gheens Science and Research Planetarium, are co-chairs of the committee tasked with creating the support group.
“Our goal is to provide a safe and supportive environment for caregivers of older adults,” Faul said. “It can be overwhelming, and often people don’t know where to turn to learn about resources and support.”
OACS is an extension of the expanding services for older adults and caregivers offered by the UofL Trager Institute. The group will be hosted on the UofL Trager Institute’s Facebook page, and participants also may participate in periodic education seminars. The first event is an Alzheimer’s Disease Simulation on May 13 from noon til 1 p.m. at the Gheens Science Hall Rauch Planetarium on the Belknap campus. This event is open to both the OACS group and to the general public. Register online here.
“We are thrilled about the launch of this new employee resource,” McGuffey said. “Providing high-quality support groups such as OACS can contribute to the health and well-being of our UofL community, making UofL a great place to work.”
Teen volunteering to help a patient in a health care setting.
Teens considering a profession in health care have a unique opportunity to spend part of the summer volunteering at UofL Hospital, while also learning about careers.
“This is the first time in several years our Junior Volunteer Program has been made available to the general public, and the very first time we are including an educational component,” said Terrilyn Green, UofL Hospital volunteer services manager. “Participating teens will have an opportunity to work in transport, food service, patient units, outpatient surgery, greeter desks and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center Breast Center or Krista M. Loyd Resource Center.”
During the sessions, youth can help with any non-clinical activities. Transporting patients throughout the hospital, assisting with patient needs such as providing water and blankets, and providing information to patients at the reception desks are among the tasks junior volunteers can perform.
Afternoon career exploration sessions will allow teens to hear from mentors in a variety of departments, including Admissions, BioMedical, Cardiopulmonary, Operating Room, Radiology, Respiratory Therapy, Social Work and Supply Management.
Teens between the ages of 16 and 18 are invited to apply for the Summer 2019 Junior Volunteer Program. There will be three sessions, each lasting two weeks:
Session 1: June 17 – 28
Session 2: July 8 – 19
Session 3: July 22 – Aug. 2
Volunteers must be available each day of the session they choose, and may complete more than one session if openings are available. They will be assigned to either the hospital or the cancer center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The schedule includes:
8 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Volunteer assignment
Noon to 12:45 p.m.: Lunch ($5 food voucher provided each day)
1 to 2 p.m.: Career exploration session
The application is available online. Please indicate the session (or sessions) of interest in the box marked “Anything else?” All applicants will be interviewed. Upon admittance into the Junior Volunteer Program, youth will be required to:
Supply immunization records
Have a two-step TB test
The deadline to apply is May 17, and volunteers will learn of their acceptance by June 7. For more information contact Terrilyn.Green@ulh.org
The University of Louisville and IBM today announced the establishment of an IBM Skills Academy that will provide future-focused curriculum.
The University of Louisville and IBM announced a partnership that includes the establishment of an IBM Skills Academy focused on digital learning and technology skills. It will be housed in the newly-created Center for Digital Transformation in the Miller Information Technology Center on the Belknap Campus and will open by the start of the fall semester.
Specifically, the academy will provide curriculum and educational tools concentrated on eight fast-growing technology areas: artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing, internet of things, quantum computing, data science and design thinking.
Through IBM’s existing Academic Initiative, IBM will make available software and cloud technology with an estimated value up to $5 million a year.
“But the value of this far exceeds that figure. When you have two great institutions working together, who can say where the opportunity lies?” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, who made the partnership happen along with Naguib Attia, IBM’s vice president of Global University Programs, after the two met recently at an event.
IBM’s Naguib Attia and UofL President Neeli Bendapudi.
This skills academy is the first of its kind that IBM has developed with a higher education institute. The company is in discussions with four universities to open similar academies in the United States. Attia said the initiative is starting here because of Bendapudi’s “passionate leadership.”
“When I heard about IBM’s vision to try and bridge the digital divide, I knew we had to work quickly,” Bendapudi said. “It is important for us to be nimble with this, to be truly transformative, to say, ‘We see what’s coming, how can we be proactive?’ I am extremely grateful to IBM.”
Bendapudi said students will benefit from the academy through course credit and IBM certification, while faculty will be trained on skills curriculum to then be able to teach colleagues and students. But the benefits are expected to extend well beyond UofL’s campus, as trained faculty will also serve as workforce development agents for the community.
Attia said over 120 million jobs will be affected within the next three years by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Indeed, the share of jobs requiring AI skills has grown 4.5 times since 2013. Global spending on blockchain solutions in 2018 equated to $2.1 billion and is expected to grow to $20 billion by 2024. Meanwhile, the global cybersecurity market, currently valued around $120 billion, is expected to jump to over $300 billion by 2024.
“These skills are the most critical issue of our time and the south has the highest number of employees without an education beyond high school,” Attia said. “If we don’t work to close this gap, it could have a negative impact on millions of people.”
Because of the pervasiveness of these emerging technologies and the speed at which they’re evolving, Attia noted that such skills training will be available for all students, regardless of their area of study.
“The future is not going to leave the good people of Kentucky behind,” he said.
City, state leaders react to announcement
Underscoring the impact this announcement has locally and state wide, today’s press conference was attended by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Congressman John Yarmuth, Terry Gill, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, and – via video –Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“I attend a lot of events where I can say ‘this is a great day for Louisville.’ But with this announcement, I can say this is an important day for Louisville; this is a critical day for Louisville,” Yarmuth said. “The world is changing at 100 miles an hour and this initiative will deal with issues of the future, including the benefits and challenges of technological change.”
Mayor Greg Fischer added that the academy will help build on the city of Louisville’s employment growth trajectory from the past eight years – about 80,000 new jobs – noting that nearly every new position includes some technology skill requirement.
“Our goal is to quintuple the amount of employees receiving technology training every year and this (partnership) is exactly what we’re talking about,” Fischer said. “If we’re not integrating technology in everything we do, we’re really missing the boat.
In a prepared statement shown via video, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell said the academy will further advance UofL’s upward trajectory and help push the boundaries of technology while providing the tools students, faculty and researchers need to be leaders in their fields.
“We shouldn’t have to rely on the west coast and the northeast corridor to be nimble in high-tech areas,” Bendapudi said. “This is a game changer for UofL and for the commonwealth.”
More information about the IBM Academic Initiative is available online.
For UofL’s International Center, 2019 is shaping up to be something quite special as it marks its 70th anniversary milestone. The center began in 1949 downtown during a time when the United States’ role in global security and economic and cultural affairs were escalating, post World War II.
According to “University of Louisville Belknap Campus,” written by Tom Owen and Sherri Pawson, when the center relocated to the Belknap Campus, it began facilitating international exchanges, promoted foreign trade, welcomed visiting scholars and dignitaries from around the world, and helped the growing student population feel at home.
In 1970, with financial support from the community, the International Center built its current location behind the Brandeis School of Law. In 1981, it was named for Romanian immigrant George Brodschi, the center’s first executive director, who served from 1949 to 1978.
Now, the center is tasked with multiple obligations as it is split into two offices: the Office of Study Abroad and International Travel, and the Office of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). The Office of Study Abroad and International Travel sends students abroad to study, research, and participate in internships and community engagement. This office also provides advice on travel regulations and host country requirements, assists with enrollment processes, collaborates with university departments on international opportunities, processes transcripts, and collects faculty/staff international travel documentation and more.
The Office of International Students and Scholar Services receives students, scholars and faculty from more than 100 countries. They currently process immigration documents and provide support for over 1,000 students and scholars each year.
Destinee is one of the 800+ students who study abroad annually through the Office of Study Abroad and International Travel.
As the center marks this milestone, however, Thomas Beard, interim director of International Student and Scholar Services, said what he is most proud of are the students who have been served through the center.
“Many of these students go on to be future leaders within their communities and that starts within this office,” he said. “You cannot quantify the global experiences that this center provides and I believe that these experiences have translated into better leaders, scholars and engaged faculty, staff and students toward their local, national and global communities. Opening up this global perspective to the UofL campus has been the center’s biggest impact.”
Virginia Hosono, director of Study Abroad and International Travel, explains that study abroad not only allows students to see the world and experience different educational systems, but it also affords students the opportunity to use their critical and creative thinking skills while immersed in other cultures. Study Abroad further benefits students’ career opportunities by providing more life experiences and personal connections. Indeed, students who study abroad are two times more likely to find employment within 12 months of graduation. One goal for the Office of Study Abroad is to continue to work closely with other departments on campus to make international experiences an integral part of the curriculum.
Through all of its work, the center’s core objective is straightforward – to improve the world through education, research, outreach and engagement.
The center has hit a number of milestones throughout its 70 years, including:
George Brodschi founded the center in 1949 with a vision of having a place where international people, like himself, could call their own.
The Board of Trustees appointed Brodschi as the director that same year. At the time, his appointment was for a one-year trial period. The center had two international students – from Peru and Bolivia.
In 1950, the American International Relations Club was created to promote cultural awareness among students on campus.
From 1959 to 1960, Dr. Brodschi’s long-planned project – a separate building for the International Center – was realized with funds from friends of the IC, prominent builder Maria Pantoja and architect Arthur Tafel. The building was completed in 1970.
In 1980, after the building was remodeled into two parts – the International Student and Scholar Services on the top floor and the Office of Study Abroad on the first floor.
In 1992, the International Center was at risk of being eliminated due to budget cuts, but because of student protests and an outpouring of support from other universities and businesses, the proposal was dismissed.
In 2018, Kimber Guinn, a study abroad adviser, went to Romania for a year to teach English through a Fulbright Award.
For Beard, the biggest milestone remains the actual creation of the center.
“Having a center dedicated to global perspectives is a pretty big milestone and especially in 1949,” he said.
Since 1994, the ISSS office has had approximately 14,648 students come through its doors – an average of more than 90 countries represented on campus each year. And, the number of students who participated in international activities has increased by 200 percent since 2005/06.
“Seventy years is a big milestone and I hope we keep growing as we progress for the next several years,” Beard said.
The center’s goals for the next several years are to simply make “global” a part of UofL’s identity and to find ways in which to bring international and education-abroad students’ voices to the UofL community.
“The center is an integral part of the mission and vision at UofL,” Beard said. “UofL still has much progress to make if we hope to fulfill our mission of inclusiveness. Local and global cannot be exclusive of one another if we are to be ubiquitously recognized as a great place to learn, work and invest because we celebrate diversity, foster equity and strive for inclusion.”
The International Center plans a formal celebration to mark its 70th anniversary in the fall. More information will be available soon.
Young, future scientists play with a snow-like substance called sodium polyacrylate.
More than 400 area K through 12th graders attended University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering’s annual Engineering Expo earlier this month. Students had the opportunity to enjoy a day full of fun, hands-on activities such as turning powder to snow, playing video games and seeing drones fly.
“It’s important to get the community involved in engineering activities” said Marty Brown, a UofL engineering student and one of the organizers. “We want the future to be engineering and this is a great way to have fun while showcasing engineering as well.”
In addition to these activities, the E-Expo also included some competitions. Students, for example, were tasked with designing Rube Goldberg, chain reaction machines. The students’ goal was to design a contraption that could spin a wheel around at least once. Jacob Prather and two of his friends created one of the more elaborate Rube Goldberg designs, which included a rocket, toy race-cars and a Ferris wheel.
“We all like electricity and other scientific forms so it’s a good opportunity to apply those things and you get to make a project that achieves a goal and is fun to work on,” said Prather.
The UofL engineering students who helped organize this event hope these activities and competitions will inspire these young minds to eventually pursue engineering as a career.
As city officials and organizations work to address homelessness, University of Louisville researchers are working to inform decisions of the Homeless Encampment Task Force appointed by Louisville Metro Mayor Greg Fischer.
Under a $50,000 contract through the Coalition of the Homeless funded by the city, the UofL team will determine national best practices and provide an assessment of the existing continuum of care for individuals experiencing homelessness in Louisville. This gap analysis between the city’s existing services and best practices can provide direction for strategic planning and next steps toward ensuring individuals without stable shelter in Louisville have access to the services and resources they need to find and maintain housing.
“Homelessness impacts the health and safety of not only those who experience it, but of our entire community,” Buchino said. “We are excited to partner with the Coalition for the Homeless and Louisville Metro to further understand homelessness, and to help identify potential solutions to a pressing problem in our hometown.”
Other UofL researchers include Catherine (Cate) Fosl, MSW, PhD, co-director of CCTSJR, director, Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, and professor, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Lora Haynes, PhD, associate professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences; Kelly Kinahan, PhD, AICP, assistant professor, Department of Urban and Public Affairs; Diane Zero, MEd, CIK graduate research assistant and doctoral student; and Jamie Beard, administrative assistant, Anne Braden Institute.
“Understanding why the number of persons living on the streets and in encampments has increased needs to be the first step in helping people find shelter. This study will be vital as we work together to help our homeless neighbors hopefully transition to a stable home,” said Sherry Duffy, MS, CIK’s Deputy Director.
The project will conclude in June 2019 with a comprehensive report that will include recommendations on policies, practices and funding to aid Louisville in progressing toward a reduction in the number of individuals who remain unsheltered.
Erica Sutton, MD, a general surgeon with UofL Physicians and associate professor at the UofL School of Medicine
A new initiative between the University of Louisville and several community partners will help residents of Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood learn their heart health, and connect them with the right care.
The free clinics will be held in Smoketown starting Feb. 9 and last into the spring and early summer. Participants will learn how healthy their heart is and their risk of heart attack and stroke, and those who need treatment will be given a referral for care. Health insurance is not required.
Inspired by Smoketown’s Muhammad Ali, who trained for boxing in the neighborhood, “Heart of a Champion” is a partnership between the UofL schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health and Information Sciences; the Have a Heart Clinic; UofL Physicians; the UofL Envirome Institute; Surgery on Sunday; the American Heart Association; UofL’s Get Healthy Now; IDEAS xLab; Dare to Care; YouthBuild; Smoketown Family Wellness Center; and several Smoketown-area churches.
“With February being American Heart Month, it’s the perfect time to kick off these screenings,” said Erica Sutton, MD, a general surgeon with UofL Physicians and associate professor at the UofL School of Medicine who will lead the UofL doctors staffing the clinics.
“This is a model for community-engaged care, where we work with partners in the community who are taking care of a population we want to reach. It’s important for us not just to open our office doors to people, but really provide a presence for health and access to care by going out into the community.
“In Smoketown, there’s an abundance of heart disease, and we have the ability to make an impact on risk factors, such as diabetes, obesity and smoking. And screenings are a well-known tool to identify heart disease before the heart is irreversibly damaged. The saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ really rings true here. Not only is prevention or identifying the potential for heart disease easier and more cost effective, but it’s healthier than trying to cure it.”
American Heart Month is a program of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The month aims to encourage and motivate everyone to adopt heart healthy behaviors, including screening for risk factors.
Referrals will go to the Have a Heart Clinic and University of Louisville Physicians, and Surgery on Sunday also will be providing services. Sutton also volunteers with Surgery on Sunday.
The clinics will be held at churches and community centers in the Smoketown neighborhood. UofL doctors will staff the clinics, assisted by students and residents from school.
Other UofL faculty involved include cardiologist Andrew DeFilippis, MD, an expert in cardiovascular diseases whose research focuses on cardiovascular risk prediction, and cardiothoracic surgeon Kristen Sell-Dottin, MD.
Clinic dates
No advance registration is required. Dates and locations for the clinics are:
Bates Memorial Church (620 Lampton St.)
Feb. 9 (Saturday) from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Feb. 10 (Sunday) from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Smoketown Family Wellness Center (760 S. Hancock St., Suite B100)
Feb. 23 (Saturday) from 12 to 2 p.m.
Coke Memorial United Methodist Church (428 E. Breckinridge St.)
June 2 (Sunday) from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Grace Hope Presbyterian Church (702 E. Breckinridge St.)
(TBD)
Little Flock Missionary Baptist Church (1030 S. Hancock St.)
(TBD)
YouthBuild (800 S. Preston St.)
(TBD)
Clinic services
Participants will get screenings for factors that affect heart health, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, body mass, diet, exercise, use of tobacco products and sleep. Arterial ultrasounds also will be available.
A heart health profile will be provided, as well as information on actions to take to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Those who attend will also be able to participate in short informational sessions on diet (including how to cook healthy foods), exercise (including low-intensity options), better sleep and smoking cessation.
Heart disease prevention
In addition to screenings to learn risk, the likelihood of heart attack and stroke can be reduced by:
Lowering cholesterol (consider what you eat)
Burning calories every day (exercise or walk) and strength training (you can use your body to strength train)
Decreasing stress (meditate or relax)
Eating a healthy diet, including heart-healthy foods
Stopping smoking
Finding a physician
Sign up for updates on the clinics online here. For questions about the Heart of a Champion program, contact Lora Cornell, senior program coordinator at the UofL School of Medicine, at 502-852-2120.
The School of Public Health and Information Sciences and Louisville Metro Department of Public
Health and Wellness (LMPHW) share a common location - with buildings on opposite sides of Gray Street, and a common goal of creating a healthier population.
A long-standing partnership between the two organizations undergirds the school’s mission to educate future public health leaders. Sarah Moyer, MD, MPH, is the director of LMPHW and holds a faculty appointment at the school. This unique arrangement allows students to learn from top-level officials who are shaping the profession and responding to trends. A similar arrangement is expected with the future leader of LMPHW’s Center for Health Equity, with instruction on health policy and opportunities for students to become involved in data sets and center projects.
“It is strategic for the health department and academia to be joined at the hip, because we can accomplish more together,” said Dean Craig Blakely.
A new senior capstone opportunity is the most recent accomplishment of the partnership. An inaugural cohort of five students rotate through LMPHW departments this semester, gaining experience in all aspects of public health and working on projects ranging from literature reviews to public health preparedness initiatives. School leaders will present this innovative model at the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s spring meeting.
As students learn vital skill sets in the classroom and on the field, more than a dozen SPHIS alumni have applied their education in careers at LMPHW, holding positions such as academic health coordinator, community health administrator, environmental health specialist, epidemiologist andhealth program analyst.
Blakely added, “The school is grateful to have nearby public health alumni who support current students by giving of their time as guest speakers, career panelists and practicum supervisors.”
Meet Our Alumni
We reached out to the SPHIS alumni working at the health department to learn about their current experiences and experience at SPHIS.
BILLIE CASTLE, PHD (2017), MPH, ACADEMIC HEALTH COORDINATOR
Responsibilities: Coordinates student experiences, engages in research, practice, and service, and publishes products that highlight the contributions the health department is making to the field of public health and impact to the health and well-being of Louisville residents and visitors.
Experience at SPHIS: “My experience at SPHIS has prepared me to work with a variety of people, who have diverse backgrounds, experiences, and outcomes. It has prepared me to work alongside others to improve population health.”
YU-TING CHEN, MPH (2009), MS (2010), EPIDEMIOLOGIST
Responsibilities: Manage several databases (Louisville Metro Syringe Exchange Program Database, Vital Statistics, Hospitalization Claims, etc.), analyze and interpret data to perform epidemiologic studies, monitor program reports, lead the data analysis skillset lab team, and cooperate with external agencies on data issues and data sharing
Experience at SPHIS: “Not only I’ve learned fundamental public health knowledge and methods/theories to do my job right, but also had a chance to be connected with LMPHW as an intern when I was a SPHIS student. This helped me understand what is really going on in the field and what challenges they have. I think the relationship between SPHIS and LMPHW is very unique and valuable.”
ANGELA GRAHAM, MPH (2015), COMMUNITY HEALTH ADMINISTRATOR
Responsibilities: Leads a team of epidemiologists, data managers, and records specialists who focus on finding ways to elevate the work the health department does as it relates to data as well as analyzes data to help partners and colleagues understand challenges. Develops and operationalizes programs and policies. Collaborate with community partners to tackle larger issues, such as improving maternal-child health and promoting health equity across the city.
Experience at SPHIS: “We spent a lot of time working in small teams and talking about ways to address issues from different perspectives, and I think that collaborative learning environment helped set me up for Public Health 3.0. As a practitioner, I’m essentially doing the same thing on a bigger scale.”
TAYLOR INGRAM, MPH (2013), HEALTH PROGRAM ANALYST
Responsibilities: Project Manager and Consultant on short-term projects (2 years or less in length). Currently serves as the Deputy Logistics Coordinator for LMPHW’s Hepatitis A response team, co-leads a team focused on expanding LMPHW’s capacity around policy development, manages a legal epidemiology research team which analyzes policies that offer incentives to small food retailers to alleviate food deserts, manages a grant to implement routine opt-out screening for HIV and Hepatitis C, and also served as the project manager for the 2017 Smoke-Free Ordinance to restrict the use of electronic cigarettes and hookah in pubic indoor spaces where smoking was already prohibited.
Experience at SPHIS: “My time at SPHIS helped me establish a broad public health lens and a collaborative spirit. I learned that the practice of public health doesn’t have to happen in a silo or in a particular setting. Since graduating I have worked in the nonprofit, private, and now public sector; and I have never focused on the same issue twice. Earning my MPH provided me with a foundation of knowledge and skills that I can now apply in any setting or use to address any health concern.”
TOM MURRO, MPH (2013), ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALIST
Responsibilities: Performs food safety inspections at facilities which hold health permits (i.e. restaurants, daycares, hospitals, convenience stores). Site leader for various Hepatitis A mobile vaccination sites during the peak of the outbreak.
Experience at SPHIS: “Going through the MPH program helped prepare me for my current role by providing course work directly relevant to working in Public Health. The information you obtain during the first year will be utilized frequently in any public health profession you choose to work in, having had experience in health behavior or epidemiology for example does not directly apply to my everyday field work, but I use the information I gained from those courses frequently.”
HARITHA PALLAM, MPH (2010), MS, EPIDEMIOLOGIST
Responsibilities: Data analysis, LMPHW program evaluation, Healthy Babies Louisville (HBL) collective impact evaluation, GIS mapping, quality assurance function for Healthy Louisville Dashboard.
Experience at SPHIS: “SPHIS faculty/staff support and guidance played a key role in the completion of my practicum internship, and my immediate recruitment into the current position at LMPHW.”
MARY POWELL, MPH (2011), EPIDEMIOLOGIST
Responsibilities: Works in the Communicable Disease office, investigates illnesses, submits questionnaires, data entry/analysis, and is involved with the Hepatitis A outbreak.
Experience at SPHIS: “I learned to see situations from multiple perspectives. Working with students from other backgrounds can be challenging but ultimately you all learn from each other and can use these skills in the work force.”
MATT RHODES, MPH (2015), DIRECTOR OF HEALTH OPERATIONS
Responsibilities: Provides leadership and oversight for environmental health, public health preparedness, health services (WIC and Healthy Start), laboratory services, clinical services (TB, STD, and Methadone), as well as the communicable reportable disease(s) and syringe exchange programs.
Experience at SPHIS: “The experience through SPHIS was very much an applied experience for me personally and allowed me to blend years of practical experience with the academic teachings. Understanding the science of epidemiology and biostatistics better and grasping the context for public health law, along with increased knowledge of healthcare management and a better understanding of theories and models impacting health behaviors, helped make me a more well-rounded public health practitioner.”
TERREL YOUNG, MPH (2018), HEALTH PROGRAM ANALYST AND OUTREACH SPECIALIST
Responsibilities: Develops partnerships and strategies with community agencies and serves as liaison to the department, completes special projects, and prepares reports, evaluates programs, and measures program outcomes, monitors, tracks, documents and evaluates public health prevention and wellness programs, activities, and operations, and compiles data for report development.
Experience at SPHIS: “Honestly, I thought that my experience at SPHIS was just going to be busy work in order to obtain my degree. However, of the two years that I was there, I found out who I really wanted to be within this healthcare field. This experience shaped me into a mature individual, and I learned many life lessons from my instructors and going through my own personal journey. Many of the assignments from the courses or practicum I use in my everyday work. The objectives that SPHIS promotes are applicable to healthcare in all areas. The experience is a depiction of the real world in healthcare.”
CIARA WARREN, MPH (2014), ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALIST
Responsibilities: Works in the Public Facilities department, which inspects swimming pools, hotels, tattoo/body piercing studios, micro-blading, mobile home parks, schools, youth camps and shelters, is involved in rabies control activities, responds to complaints, and is part of the hazmat response team.
Experience at SPHIS: “The experience through SPHIS allowed me to blend years of practical experience with the academic teachings. Therefore, it was very much an applied experience for me personally. Better understanding the science of epidemiology and biostatistics and grasping the context for public health law, along with increased knowledge of healthcare management and better understanding of theories and models impacting health behaviors served to make me a more well-rounded public health practitioner.”
Acknowledgements
We strived to include all SPHIS alumni who currently work for LMPHW in this article. In addition to those listed above, we also want to recognize the following alumni: Sandra Melendez, MPH (2017), Community Health Nurse Specialist; Libin Korah, MPH (2010), Environmental Health Specialist; and Ryan Irvine, MPH (2018), recently retired and former Assistant Director.
If you are a SPHIS alumni and would like to share your story, please notify Paige Wills, paige.wills@louisville.edu.
Also, please keep an eye out for a future installment with advice for current/prospective students from this fabulous group of SPHIS alumni
UofL's Kent School of Social Work is working with Kentucky Department of Corrections on a study of older prison inmates, their health needs and how it might impact corrections' release policies.
Researchers at the Kent School of Social Work are conducting interviews with older male inmates in Kentucky prisons as part of a study aimed to see what effects being an older inmate has on mental and medical health.
“Mentally, emotionally, it is so stressful. It’s unreal,” said 58-year-old inmate Anthony Trotter. “I was just here two years ago and the difference in two years is astronomical to me.”
Despite reform efforts, Kentucky’s inmate population is rising, along with the average inmate age. They are getting treated for problems that may be more expensive and tougher to address on the outside. Looking at older inmates’ medical and mental health issues, when they are released and what their circumstances are for returning to prison is helping determine if they are actually a danger to the community.
“The better their health is on the way out, along with sustainability in the community, the more likely they will be healthy over time, so that can also contribute to reduced costs,” said Stephanie Prost, an assistant professor at the Kent School of Social Work.
Prost’s research is being done in connection with the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Check out more about this research below:
