Honors

Public Relations
Honors

 

July 2009

  • Dr. Jarzynka completes program director development fellowship
    Kim Jarzynka, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine, is one of 42 physicians nationwide who graduated from the 2008-2009 National Institute for Program Director Development (NIPDD) I: Fundamentals Fellowship. The fellowship is sponsored by the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD)and lets family physician educators enhance and develop leadership skills to be better to direct residency program.

 

July 2009

 

  • Dr. Fisher named to NIH review committee
    Wayne Fisher, Ph.D., director of the MMI Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, was recently appointed to a scientific review committee by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Fisher will serve on the Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Study Center. He will serve on the committee through June 30, 2013. Members of this committee are selected on the basis of their competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of their research and publications in scientific journals, achievements and honors.

    “Service on a study section also requires mature judgment and objectivity as well as the ability to work effectively in a group, qualities we believe Dr. Fisher will bring to this important task,” said Toni Scarpa, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH.

 

  • Dr. McNeilly’s IT Scholars Project receives award at conference
    UNMC psychology Dennis McNeilly, Psy.D., recently presented a project he did in the UNMC Information Technology Scholars Program at the ED-MEDIA 2009--World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications in Honolulu. His presentation received the conference’s Outstanding Poster Award. The annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications/distance education. More than 1,200 people from 65 countries attended the conference.

 

  • Dr. Kabanov on journal’s most published list
    Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Parke-Davis Chair in Pharmaceutics and director of the Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine, has recently been recognized on a list of those who have been published most often in the journal, Bioconjugate Chemistry. Dr. Kabanov has published 15 research articles in the journal, which first appeared in 1990. The journal has provided the international scientific community with high quality research covering all aspects of the joining of different molecular functions by chemical or biological means.

 

  • Dr. Greiner to serve on test development committee
    Carl Greiner, M.D., professor of psychiatry, will serve a three year term on the USMLE Step 1 Behavioral Sciences Test Material Development Committee. Dr. Greiner has had prior experience as a test writer for the Maintenance of Certification Examination in psychiatry and as a test developer for the Oral Board Examination for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

 

  • Dr. Cowan named to bank’s board of directors
    Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, has been named to the United Republic Bank Board of Directors.

 

June 2009

  • Dr. Ryan to present at International Congress of Nursing
    Sheila Ryan, Ph.D., professor, Charlotte Peck Lienemann & Alumni Distinguished Chair and director of international nursing education programs at UNMC, will speak at the 2009 International Congress of Nursing (ICN). The conference starts Friday in Durban, South Africa. Dr. Ryan will speak on several topics, including:

    • Positive practice environments;
    • Accreditation;
    • Certification and licensure;
    • Safety first;
    • Global initiatives;
    • Giving voice to nurses; and
    • Nursing Without Borders.

     

  • Otolaryngology residents honored for poster presentation
    Two residents in UNMC’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery were honored for their poster presentation at the 112th Annual 2009 Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting last month in Phoenix. Drs. Catherine Craig and Ashley Robey received first place on their poster presentation "Effect of Cochleostomy Size on CSF Fistula Control" in the Section of Otology for the Triological Society.

 

  • Dr. Band invited to review NIH grants
    Hamid Band, M.D., Ph.D., has accepted a National Institutes of Health invitation to serve as a member of the Molecular Oncogenesis Study Section, Center for Scientific Review. Dr. Band will review, and make recommendations on, grant applications submitted to the NIH. Members are chosen based on their research achievements, publications in scientific journals and honors. His term runs from July 1 through June 30, 2013. Dr. Band, a professor in the Eppley Institute and associate director of education and training at the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, joined UNMC in 2007.

 

  • Ira Combs honored for anti-tobacco efforts in black communities
    Ira Combs, community nurse coordinator for the Center for Reducing Health Disparities in the College of Public Health, received the Medical Professional for the Cause Award from the Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition (MOTAC) last month. Combs was nominated because of his dedication and commitment to educating the black community on the dangers of tobacco and second-hand smoke. Combs holds the annual "Youth Expression Of Health (YEOH)" summer health program for youth at North High School where approximately 75-80 youth between the ages of 12-18 attend the three-day event. To date, more than 600 youth have participated in the educational event. Combs has also provided opportunities for the tobacco prevention messages to reach the black community via the Prevention Man Character & Activity book, Dr. Jesse, and the NOAH newspaper. He has agreed to partner with MOTAC and his “Mr. Jesse Program” to bring the tobacco prevention and smoke free homes message to six north Omaha schools. He also provides smoking cessation classes at the UNMC Center for Reducing Health Disparities office at 5050 Ames Ave. Combs' work is supported by the UNMC Vice Chancellor for Research through the Nebraska Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research Development Fund (NTSBRDF).

 

  • Dr. Visovsky honored by alma mater
    Connie Visovsky, Ph.D., UNMC College of Nursing associate professor of nursing and director of the college’s graduate program, has received the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing 2009 Alumni Award for Excellence. The award from the school, which is at Case Western Reserve University, was established 31 years ago, and recognizes an alumna who demonstrated outstanding leadership and achievement in nursing, and who has made significant contributions in nursing.

 

May 2009

  • PA graduate receives statewide honor
    UNMC alumnus Brent Madsen of Hebron was named the 2009 Physician Assistant of the Year by the Nebraska Academy of Physician Assistants. The Dannebrog native, who works for Thayer County Health Services in Hebron, received his physician assistant degree from UNMC’s School of Allied Health Professions.

 

  • Linda Cunningham to chair Leadership Omaha curriculum committee
    Linda Cunningham, UNMC diversity specialist in the human resources department, recently was selected as the new chairperson of the Leadership Omaha curriculum committee for the 2009-2010 term. This is the second year of her three year term on the committee. Cunningham is a Class 29 graduate of Leadership Omaha.

 

  • Colburn appointed president of continuing education society
    Lois Colburn, executive director of the Center for Continuing Education, was appointed president of the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education in April 2009 and will serve a one-year term as president followed by a one-year term as past president. 

 

  • Jim Temme honored by his alma mater
    Jim Temme, associate professor and associate director of Radiation Science Technology Education in the School of Allied Health Professions, has received the 2009 Outstanding Alumni Award from Central Community College-Columbus. Temme is a 1971 graduate of the institution, which was then known as Platte College. He joined UNMC in 1974 after graduating from UNMC's radiation technology program.

 

  • Public Relations' O'Connor receives award from UNO
    Tom O'Connor, senior associate director of public relations, received the Communication Achievement Award from the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media.

 

April 2009

  • Brandon Grimm appointed to statewide board
    Brandon Grimm, coordinator of the Great Plains Public Health Leadership Institute and UNMC MSIA program doctoral student, was appointed to the Nebraska Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (NPAO) Advisory Board. He has expertise in improving physical activity. Grimm is among 20 members from across Nebraska working to help guide the efforts to improve healthy eating and physical activity in the state.

 

  • The College of Dentistry received a Community Partner Award from Clinic with a Heart at their annual Rx for Hope event earlier this month. This award is in recognition of the college’s Dental Sharing Clinic, which is conducted in cooperation with the Clinic with a Heart and the UNMC Sharing Clinics of Omaha. The student-run clinic serves individuals who are referred from the Clinic with a Heart and who have little or no access to dental care.

 

  • Brenda Thompson appointed to statewide board
    Brenda Thompson, project coordinator with CityMatCH, was appointed to the Nebraska Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (NPAO) Advisory Board. She is formerly a CDC prevention specialist with special expertise around healthy weight in women (of reproductive age). Thompson will be one of 20 members from across Nebraska working to help guide the efforts to improve healthy eating and physical activity in the state. 

 

  • South Omaha Community Care Council receives lead role in Cinco de Mayo parade
    The South Omaha Community Care Council (SOCCC)is among five organizations honored to serve as a grand marshal in this year's city-wide Cinco de Mayo parade. The SOCCC, formed by UNMC, began as a way to address the health needs of the south Omaha patient population. The council has grown to 95 agencies, representing a strong voice of advocacy in the community.

 

  • Jackie Hill, nurse liaison, and her ‘My Sister's Keeper’ organization received the 2009 Charles Drew Health Center, Inc. community service award. Hill is a part of the north Omaha office of the UNMC's Center for Reducing Health Disparities in the College of Public Health. She co-founded My Sister's Keeper to raise awareness and increase survivorship of breast cancer in black women.

 

  • The South Omaha Community Care Council (SOCCC) is among five organizations honored to serve as a grand marshal in this year's city-wide Cinco de Mayo parade. The SOCCC, formed by UNMC, began as a way to address the health needs of the south Omaha patient population. The council has grown to 95 agencies, representing a strong voice of advocacy in the community.

 

  • Tamicka Bradley, community clinical research liaison in UNMC's Center for Reducing Health Disparities in the College of Public Health, was appointed to the Nebraska Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (NPAO) Advisory Board. She will be one of 20 members from across Nebraska working to help guide the efforts to improve healthy eating and physical activity in the state.

 

  • Heather Swanson, an instructor for the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Kearney Division, has been elected to a three-year term as a Region V representative on the American College of Nurse-Midwives board of directors. As the regional representative, Swanson will represent the interests of Region V, which includes 15 states in the Midwest and Southwest. Her term will begin in May. Swanson served as chair of the American College of Nurse-Midwives Nebraska Chapter from 2004 to 2005 and as chair of the chapter’s legislative committee from 2002 to 2005. A native and resident of Wilcox, Neb., Swanson, joined the UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division in 2007. The American College of Nurse-Midwives is the oldest women's health care association in the United States. Its mission is to promote the health and well-being of women and newborns within their families and communities through the development and support of the profession of midwifery.

 

  • Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Ph.D., assistant professor and acting chairwoman of the epidemiology department in the College of Public Health, recently was selected to join the National Public Health Leadership Institute's 18th class. The one-year leadership development program trains practitioners to be public health leaders in their institutions and communities.

 

  • Three College of Medicine clinical faculty members, James Edney, M.D., Bill Lydiatt, M.D., and James Medder, M.D., were honored with the dean's clinical excellence award during the annual AOA/Faculty Awards Convocation. The dean's clinical excellence awards were introduced in 2007 to honor outstanding clinical faculty members who are dedicated to the education and training of medical students, provide compassionate and quality care to patients, and further advances in scientific knowledge through research. The awards were established thanks to the generosity of Wayne Ryan, Ph.D., founder, chairman and CEO of Streck, an Omaha-based developer and manufacturer of hematology, chemistry and immunology products for the clinical laboratory.

 

  • Steve Senseney, M.D., Valentine, NE, was awarded the 2009 Marion D. and Theodore H. Koefoot, Jr. M.D., Outstanding Preceptor in Rural Family Medicine Award. The Koefoot award recognizes outstanding teaching and mentoring by a UNMC family medicine volunteer community preceptor. Dr. Senseney has worked with medical students since 1978, when he arrived at the Cherry County Physicians Clinic in Valentine.

 

 

March 2009

  • Paul Dunman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of pathology and microbiology, has been awareded the Gilmore Award. Since arriving at UNMC in 2004, Dr. Dunman has secured several grants, including an RO1 award from the National Institutes of Health, published nearly 25 articles and designed an antibiotic that has proven effective in killing all known Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) lineages in mice. MRSA -- which has become more prominent in recent years -- is responsible for more deaths in the United States each year than HIV/AIDS.  The Gilmore Award is named in honor of the late Joseph P. Gilmore, Ph.D., a distinguished UNMC scientist and administrator who died in 2007 at the age of 78. The award was stablished to recognize outstanding research contributions by young UNMC faculty members.

     

  • Resident wins award at international meeting...Telemedicine got a big boost last month when Corey Zetterman, M.D., a UNMC anesthesia resident, received the Best Innovations Poster Award at the fourth annual Perioperative Medicine Summit. The summit, held Feb. 5-7, at the Eden Roc Resort in Miami Beach, Fla., is the largest meeting in perioperative medicine in the world. The poster, titled “Establishing a Virtual Preoperative Evaluation Clinic,” was co-authored by Ben Boedeker, D.V.M., M.D., Ph.D., professor and vice chairman for research, department of anesthesiology at UNMC; and Bobbie Sweitzer, M.D., University of Chicago Medical Center. The Virtual Preoperative Evaluation Clinic allows an anesthesia provider to perform a preoperative assessment of a patient at a distant site. This prevents the patient from traveling long distances to a tertiary care center for a preoperative work-up. To validate its effectiveness, virtual preop clinics were established between the VA centers in Omaha and Lincoln. Additional clinics in virtual airway management training and surgical urology will be expanded to Grand Island and North Platte later this year using a similar business model.

     

  • Athena Ramos, program coordinator for UNMC's Center for Reducing Health Disparities, will serve her fourth and final year on the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Council Board of Directors. Ramos is the group’s secretary/treasurer. The Young Professionals Council works to attract and retain young professionals to the greater Omaha area.

     

  • Wayne Houston, community liaison for north Omaha in the College of Public Health’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities, was one of four recipients of the North Omaha Area Health (NOAH) Community Service Awards. As liaison, Houston develops and implements community health projects in north Omaha. He also serves president of the Black Family Health and Wellness Association Inc., and vice president of the City of Omaha Human Rights and Relations Board. The NOAH awards were presented to people who are strong advocates for improved health for those living in north Omaha.

     

  • John Benson, M.D., UNMC professor of internal medicine, along with Creighton University’s Richard O’Brien, M.D., have received the Nebraska Medical Association Appreciation Award. Drs. Benson and O’Brien received the award for co-chairing an NMA task force that looked into reforms in health care coverage.

 

  • Magda Peck, Sc.D., professor of pediatrics and public health, has been selected for the John C. MacQueen Lecture Award for her innovative work in the field of maternal and child health (MCH).
    The award is one of the most prestigious honors given by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), one of the nation's leading public health groups advocating for quality health care for women, children and families. Dr. Peck was honored on at the 2009 AMCHP annual conference in Washington. Each year, the awardee of the John C. MacQueen Lecture Award is invited to deliver a lecture at the Annual MacQueen Lecture Luncheon during the AMCHP conference.

 

  • Jim Temme, associate director of the radiation science technology program in the School of Allied Health Professionals, has been elected to the University of Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Association board of directors. Temme will serve a three-year term on the board.

     

  • Dr. Smith appointed to bar association diversity committee...Sonya Smith, Ed.D., J.D., UNMC associate vice chancellor of academic affairs and chief academic affairs officer, was appointed to the American Bar Association's Health Law Section Committee on Diversity. She will serve as the committee's vice chair.

 

 

February 2009

  • Dr. Pamies named chair of HHS Advisory Committee on Minority Health 
    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health selected Rubens Pamies, M.D., UNMC vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies, as a member and new chairman of the Advisory Committee on Minority Health.  As its chair, Dr. Pamies will lead members in the study, design and implementation of public policies to improve the health of racial and ethnic minority groups.  In addition, the group will evaluate the education of health professionals to include methods that decrease health disparities and outcomes. 

     

  • Dr. Gendelman named 2008 Scientist Laureate...Howard Gendelman, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience (PEN), has been selected as the third UNMC Scientist Laureate for his outstanding work in battling neurodegenerative and infectious diseases. Dr. Gendelman was honored along with 22 other researchers recently named UNMC Distinguished Scientist and New Investigator award winners for 2008. The scientists are recognized leaders in their fields and represent three UNMC colleges and the Eppley Institute.

     

  • Julie Vose, M.D., Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professor and chief of the UNMC section of hematology/oncology, has been elected to serve another 5-year term on the Lymphoma Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Board. The Lymphoma Research Foundation is an international foundation that raises money to help lymphoma research and patient care.

     

  • Dr. Pamies on advisory board for study of black women in academic medicine
    Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs,     is on the advisory board for a study titled “Organizational and Individual Factors that Promote and Support the Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine: an Interdisciplinary and Multi-Institutional Study.” It is the first in-depth study on women of color in academic medicine.

     

  • Pharmacy alumn receives APhA’s Distinguished Federal Pharmacist Award...The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) has announced that Timothy Stroup, deputy chief consultant of VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services for Strategic Planning in Leavenworth, Kan., has been named the recipient of the 2009 American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) Distinguished Federal Pharmacist Award. Stroup received his bachelor’s of science degree in pharmacy from the University of Nebraska in 1976. The award will be presented during the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Antonio in early April. The APhA Distinguished Federal Pharmacist Award is one of the association’s premier awards, recognizing a pharmacist who has distinguished himself or herself and the profession through outstanding contribution in federal pharmacy practice that has resulted in a significant improvement in the health of the nation and/or the population he or she serves.

     

  • Research Notes -- Dr. Tsai's research published in Nature Cell Biology...Ming-Ying Tsai, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Eppley Institute, was a co-investigator on research findings that were published in the Feb. 8 issue of the scientific journal, Nature Cell Biology. The research suggests that the mitotic spindle, a structure essential to the separation of chromosomes during cell division, functions as the center of organization of cellular contents during the cell division process. Understanding the important role of the spindle will reveal how the process of cell division contributes to the normal and abnormal development of the organism.

 

January 2009

  • Morien honored by health care executive group...Marsha Morien, chief administrative officer of UNMC Computer Assisted Surgery was awarded the Heartland Healthcare Executive Group 2008 Senior Executive Healthcare Award, which she received for her contributions and commitment to the health care profession during her 34 years at UNMC. The Heartland Healthcare Executive Group is the Nebraska chapter of the ACHE.  The ACHE is an international professional society of more than 30,000 health care executives that is known for its prestigious credentialing and educational programs and its annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership, which draws more than 4,500 participants each year.

     

  • Dr. Rupp elected president of health care epidemiology society...Mark Rupp, M.D., professor of infectious diseases in the department of internal medicine at UNMC, has been elected president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). The one-year appointment was effective Jan. 1.

     

  • Carol Kirchner appointed to business officers committee ...Carol Kirchner, director of accounting and business systems development at UNMC, has been named to the St. Louis Workshop Committee of the Central Association of College of University Business Officers (CACUBO). CACUBO is a nonprofit association that represents chief business officers at more than 700 institutions in the north central region of the United States. The organization promotes sound principles and practices of educational business administration through professional development programs and concerted actions in matters that affect the financial health of higher learning institutions.

     

  • Dr.  Maurer to be inducted into the Omaha  Business Hall of Fame.  Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D.  will be inducted in the Omaha Business Hall. The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce announced Monday that Dr. Maurer will be inducted into the Omaha Business Hall of Fame at a gala on Thursday, April 16.  Dr. Maurer will be honored with six others at the gala, which honors individuals whose accomplishments in business are historically significant to the development of Omaha.

     

  • UNMC receives 'Green Business Award'...The medical center received the award for its dedication to reducing waste, educating employees, eliminating toxic substances and purchasing green products. Since 1993 and April 2008, UNMC has collected more than 11.4 million pounds of mixed paper and more than 5 million pounds of cardboard. UNMC has collected an additional 13,000 bails of materials since April with each bail weighing between 9,000 and 17,000 pounds.

 

December 2009

  • Dr. Fletcher selected as a trustee of pharmacy research institute...Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy, recently was elected to serve a three-year term as a trustee of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Research Institute. Dr. Fletcher’s term starts on Jan. 1. He joins the College of Pharmacy’s Gary Yee, Pharm.D., as a member of the research institute’s board. Dr. Yee was elected to the board last year. The ACCP Research Institute aims to advance pharmacotherapy through support and promotion of research, training and educational programs.

     

  • Dr. Morris inducted as AANP fellow...Kathy Morris, D.N.P., assistant professor in the UNMC College of Nursing, has been inducted into the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as a fellow. Established in 2000, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners fellow program recognizes nurse practitioner leaders who have made outstanding contributions to health care through clinical practice, research, education, or policy. Priority initiatives are the development of leadership and mentorship programs for practitioners and students.

     

  • McGoogan's Schleicher receives mayoral appointment...John Schleicher, assistant professor and head of special collections in the UNMC McGoogan Library of Medicine, has been reappointed by Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey to a second three-year term on the City of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission (LHPC). The LHPC is a nine-member board that includes architects, a museum curator and a neighborhood association representative.  Schleicher serves as the historian on the commission, which reviews and makes recommendations to the city council on all matters pertaining to the designation of structures or districts of local historical significance.

     

  • MMI receives 'White Cane' award...The Munroe-Meyer Institute's (MMI) AmeriCorps program recently received the "White Cane" award from the Omaha Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) for  providing community service opportunities for persons with diverse disabilities. The MMI AmeriCorps program was nominated by Jody Kluthe Flanagan, a member of NFB who also serves in AmeriCorps. Flanagan has worked with MMI psychology staff to develop her counseling, family therapy and behavior intervention skills in order to complete her master's degree in counseling from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Under the leadership of Joe Evans, Ph.D., founder and director of MMI’s AmeriCorps program, four former AmeriCorps members have been hired into positions at UNMC and several others have continued with employment in the community following completion of their service. Stacy Bliss Fudge, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in the psychology department at MMI and coordinator of AmeriCorps, accepted the award on behalf of MMI.

     

  • Dr. McClain receives lifetime achievement award from social workers association...John McClain, Ph.D., associate professor in the Munroe-Meyer Institute and in the department of pediatrics, recently received the National Association of Social Workers Nebraska Chapter’s Lifetime Achievement Award.