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Ernest Prentice, Ph.D. |
In August, Ernest Prentice, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor of academic affairs, was elected chair of the University of Miami (UM) Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Executive Advisory Board (EAB). The CITI Program provides online research ethics education to UNMC and 2,000 other institutions, including 230 international sites in 42 countries. The EAB, under the leadership of Dr. Prentice, will advise the UM Provost and CITI CEO on strategic planning and business development.
The College of Dentistry will hold its annual Alumni Homecoming Reunion banquet at the Embassy Suites Hotel Oct. 4 in Lincoln. The UNMC College of Dentistry Alumni Association will present the following awards:
- Paul D. Swanson, D.D.S., will receive the 2013 Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented annually to someone on the basis of their contribution to the UNMC College of Dentistry Alumni Association and the contributions they have made to the dental profession.
- John Reinhardt, D.D.S., will receive an Honorary Life Membership in the alumni association. The award is given each year to someone who is not a dental alumnus here but who has demonstrated a dedication to, and support for, the UNMC College of Dentistry.
- Eric Fung, D.D.S., will receive the Outstanding Teaching Award. The award recognizes Dr. Fung’s many contributions and accomplishments in the dental profession and his dedication as a faculty member.
- David Neumeister, D.D.S., will receive the Alumni Achievement Award. The award is given on the basis of outstanding achievements in the dental or dental hygiene careers and/or civic involvement and recognizes Dr. Neumeister’s contributions to his community, to the dental profession and his loyal service to the students at the UNMC College of Dentistry.
Renaisa Anthony, M.D., deputy director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities, was selected as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Scholar for the Health Disparities Translational Research Training Course in Washington, D.C., in August. The intensive two-week course addressed the state of the science on health disparities and was led by the nation’s leading health disparity researchers. With a focus on concepts, methods, key issues, and applications, the course aimed to provide the knowledge and research tools needed to conduct and develop translational and transdisciplinary research and interventions to eliminate health disparities. Dr. Anthony was assigned to a small group to propose evidence-based research and policy recommendations to the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) to address childhood poverty as a way to eradicate disparities across the lifespan.
Chad Abresch, executive director of CityMatCH, partnered with Renaisa Anthony, M.D., deputy director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and CityMatCH staff to kick off the first Institute for Equity in Birth Outcomes in Omaha earlier this year. The institute, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is a national movement of urban communities to bring a scientific focus to increasing equity in birth outcomes. Local health departments are selected to convene interdisciplinary teams to address disparities in birth outcomes over a three year timeline. The popularity and success of the Omaha cohort resulted in a request for replication in the state of Ohio, where infant mortality and preterm birth exceed the national average. CityMatCH and CRHD will continue to collaborate to eradicate infant mortality and other adverse birth outcomes in Omaha and across the nation.