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SPHIS Awards & Accolades - Spring 2023
2023 Outstanding Community Engagement Award
SPHIS alumni, Jason Deakings, PhD, MSPH, Kendria Kelly-Taylor, PhD, MSPH, and Adrienne Smith, MPH, doctoral candidate, received the 2023 Outstanding Community Engagement Award in the student category from UofL’s Office of Community Engagement. This award was based on their contributions to the Fighting Injustice among African American Youth (FIAAY) Project and their work to not only examine social factors, particularly inequities in the criminal legal system, but also to partner with community-based organizations on initiatives to reduce HIV vulnerability among communities disproportionately affected by HIV. This work includes outreach to raise HIV awareness and health education sessions to increase HIV knowledge and improve skills to enact prevention behavior. Their contributions were recognized during UofL’s 2023 Engaged Scholarship Symposium.
2023 Fulbright US-UK Summer Institute Award
SPHIS undergraduate Sarah Belcher has earned a Fulbright US-UK Summer Institute award. She will travel to Scotland for the program hosted by the Glasgow School of Art and University of Strathclyde. The US-UK Fulbright Commission offers special summer institutes for first- and second-year undergraduates. Sarah is only the second UofL student to win this award (the first was in 2012). Participants experience an exciting academic program at a highly regarded UK university, explore the culture, heritage and history of the UK, and develop their academic ability by improving presentation, research and communication skills. Read more
Recent graduate chosen to represent UofL at the ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference
Recent graduate Jaley Adkins was one of five students chosen to represent UofL at the ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference at Virginia Tech in March. The conference highlights undergraduate excellence in research and creative scholarship across various fields. Adkins gave an oral presentation about a green chemistry approach to synthesizing silver nanoparticles while controlling their size and shape. She also presented at the Undergraduate Research Showcase in April.
SPHIS alumnus receives 2022 IPUMS Research Award
Recent graduate, Emmanuel Ezekekwu, PhD, received a 2022 IPUMS Research Award for the paper, "Long Working Hours and Onset of Psychological Distress: A Longitudinal Analysis.” The award was given by the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation for the best contribution in the category of research by a graduate student using IPUMS MEPS data. Co-authors included SPHIS faculty, Drs. Christopher Johnson, Seyed Karimi, Demetra Antimisiaris, and Doug Lorenz. The team investigated whether full-time (30 plus hours/week) employees without psychological distress at baseline had a higher likelihood of reporting psychological distress later if they worked long hours. The authors posited that the effect of long working hours is mediated through two causal pathways--psycho-physiological and health-behavioral. Taking advantage of the richness of IPUMS MEPS data, the authors explored these pathways using chronic disease status and use of medications with sedative effects as indicators, which proved statistically significant. Winners were announced on the IPUMS Research Awards page.
SPHIS alumnus Danial Malik awarded President’s Volunteer Service Award
SPHIS alumnus and UofL Commission on Diversity and Racial Equity Commissioner, Danial Malik, MPH, received the President’s Volunteer Service Award (Silver) for having completed more than 250+ hours of community service with organizations in and around Louisville. Malik is recognized for his work with the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort, Dare to Care Food Pantry, American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana, and Compassion Clinic, among others.
Sonali Salunkhe placed first in the KPHA Poster/3-Minute Thesis competition
Recent graduate Sonali Salunkhe, MD, PhD, MPH, placed first in the 3-Minute Thesis and poster competition at the Kentucky Public Health Association (KPHA) conference. She presented, “Delivery-related Healthcare Utilization among Pregnant Women with Spinal Cord Injury or Paralysis in the United States." Co-authors include Liza M. Creel, PhD, MPH, Robert M. Carini, PhD, Christopher Johnson, PhD, Beatrice Ugiliweneza, PhD, MSPH.
MSHA students land fellowships, scholarships
-- Anastasia Arnett received the 2023 Kentucky Hospital Education and Research Foundation (KHERF) scholarship at the annual Kentucky Hospital Association meeting in Lexington. The KHERF scholarship is awarded for excellence in graduate healthcare management education.
-- Tanika Chasteen received the Olive Ruth Russell Fellowship from Berea College. The fellowships are presented to Berea College female graduates with outstanding academic records who present defined plans to pursue graduate study in any academic discipline.
-- Alumnus Bruan Snow, MSHA ’23, was competitively selected among candidates from across the nation for a two-year administrative fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Professional Service
Kudos to the following SPHIS faculty and students on their professional service contributions:
- Andrew McCart, PhD, MBA, Assistant Professor, Associate Director, Health Management Programs, Dept. of Health Management and Systems Sciences, will serve on the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) Finance Committee for 3 years.
- David Johnson, PhD, MPH, CPH, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Health Management and Systems Sciences, has served as a reviewer for Pedagogy in Health Promotion and Public Health Reports.
- Felicia Pugh, MS, doctoral candidate in the Dept. of Epidemiology and Population Health, was invited to serve on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) for a 3-year term beginning June 2023.
