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Honors & Other Things |
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July 15, 2014, Volume 61, No. 01 |
Two Nursing Hall of Fame Inductees
Two of Penn Nursing’s faculty, Martha A.Q. Curley, Ellen and Robert Kapito Professor in Nursing Science and Eun-Ok Im, professor of nursing and Marjorie O. Rendell Endowed Professor, have been announced as inductees in the 2014 Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. The STTI International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame “recognizes nurse researchers who have achieved significant and sustained national or international recognition and whose research has improved the profession and the people it serves.” The presentation takes place later this month.
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Communications Award: Ms. Berke
Ashley Berke, director of communications for the School of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded the 2014 AAVMC Communications Excellence Award. Judges praised the strategic nature of Penn’s comprehensive communication program, with metrics linking communications programs to increased hospital visits, philanthropic contributions and overall awareness. Judges were also impressed with the school’s exceptional performance with national media placements and integration with Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) communication programs. The award includes a $1,000 honorarium, a plaque and public recognition. It will be presented during the annual meeting of the Association of Veterinary Advancement Professionals on July 29.
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Penn Vet Faculty Research Day
Two Penn Vet faculty members were honored at the school’s faculty research day, held in June. Charles Vite, associate professor of veterinary neurology, section of neurology and neurosurgery, department of clinical studies, is the recipient of the Zoetis Award for Research Excellence. The purpose of this award is to foster innovative research, on which the scientific advancement of the veterinary profession depends, by recognizing outstanding research effort and productivity. His research interests include diseases of the brain including epilepsy, neurodegenerative processes, and neurodevelopmental processes.
Narayan Avadhani, Harriet Ellison Woodward Professor of Biochemistry in the department of animal biology, received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award for his academic and research contributions to Penn Vet. His research areas include autoimmune diseases, metabolic regulation, mitochondrial genetics and mitochondrial function. |
Webby Award: Penn Law
For the second consecutive year, Penn Law has won a People’s Voice Award for Best Law Website. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, the Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. |
TiE50 Award: RightCare Solutions
RightCare Solutions, the company co-founded by Kathryn Bowles, van Ameringen Chair in Nursing Excellence and professor of nursing, was selected as a winner of the prestigious 2014 TiE50 Award. TiE50 is TiE Silicon Valley’s premier annual awards program, contested by thousands of technology start-ups worldwide. The company’s proprietary technology, Discharge Decision Support System (D2S2), was developed through research conducted at Penn Nursing and utilizes evidence-based technology to optimize care transitions. It is the only medical software focused on healthcare transitions using a unique algorithm that enables continuous point-of-care decision support, optimizes workflow and dramatically improves post-acute care transitions.
In May, RightCare Solutions was named “Game Changing Healthcare Company of the Year” at the 21st Annual Enterprise Awards presented by PACT, the Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies.
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Clinical Research Achievement: Two Penn Medicine Faculty
Two researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Penn Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) are among the 2014 recipients of the prestigious Clinical Research Achievement Award for their work in cardiovascular science. The awards are presented by the Clinical Research Forum to physician scientists from across the country. This is the first time that one academic institution has had two recipients honored in one year.
Stephen E. Kimmel, professor of medicine and epidemiology, received the award for research that determined that a gene-based method for selecting patients’ doses of the popular heart medication warfarin is no better than standardized dosing methods.
Daniel J. Rader, chief of the division of translational medicine and human genetics, received the award for research that developed the first effective pharmacologic intervention, lomitapide, for the rare and deadly cholesterol disorder, homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (hoFH). HoFH is a genetic disorder caused by mutations in both alleles of the LDL receptor leading to markedly defective clearance of LDL cholesterol from the blood.
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APS: Dr. Cowan
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, professor emerita in the department of history and sociology of science, has been elected to the American Philosophical Society. Election to the Society “recognizes extraordinary accomplishments in all fields.” Dr. Cowan, a historian of science and technology, has a particular focus on gender and women studies. Her books explore the intersection of these fields as manifested in everyday life, including in the use of genetic screening and household technology.
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Lindau Meeting: Ms. Esquivel
Rianne Esquivel, a third-year graduate student in Mecky Pohlschroder’s lab of the department of biology, was selected from among thousands of applicants to attend the Lindau Nobel Lauret Conference in Lindau, Germany held earlier this month. This is the second time a Penn student was chosen to attend since 2010 (Almanac September 7, 2010). Thirty-four Nobel Laureates met with around 600 young researchers, representing nearly 80 countries, to share their knowledge, establish new contacts and discuss such relevant topics as global health, the challenges to medical care in developing countries and future research approaches to medicine.
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NINR Ambassador: Dr. Jemmott
Loretta Sweet Jemmott has been named as an Ambassador for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) by the Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research (FNINR). Dr. Jemmott, the van Ameringen Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing and director of the Center for Health Equity Research, is one of the nation’s foremost researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS risk reduction research. Her premier contribution to the advancement of psychiatric mental health nursing is the development of knowledge on how best to facilitate and promote changes in health behaviors. She has led the nation in understanding the psychological determinants for reducing risk-related behaviors among African American youth and women.
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Key Award: Dr. Mangharam
Rahul Mangharam, assistant professor in the department of electrical and systems engineering in Penn Engineering, is the recipient of the 2014 Benjamin Franklin Key Award from the IEEE Philadelphia for “outstanding technical innovation and technological contributions that have had significant practical applications.” Dr. Mangharam’s research mission is to merge computing, communications and the physical world into integrated cyber-physical systems, enabling seamless communication with and control of objects such as smart buildings, the human body and automobiles in the physical world. |
Bailey Award: Mr. Meyer
Paul W. Meyer (left), the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum, received the prestigious Liberty Hyde Bailey Award from the American Horticultural Society (AHS) at its Great American Gardeners Awards Ceremony last month. AHS presents the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award to an individual who has made significant lifetime contributions to a least three of the following horticultural fields: teaching, research, communications, plant exploration, administration, art, business and leadership. Mr. Meyer was praised “for his achievements in administration, communication, institution-building and plant introduction.”
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Education and Mentorship ‘GEM’: Ms. Nagtalon-Ramos
Jamille Nagtalon-Ramos, has been named a finalist in the ‘Education and Mentorship’ category of the 2014 Philadelphia Tri-State Nursing Excellence GEM Awards sponsored by Nurse.com. Ms. Nagtalon-Ramos is a lecturer and associate director of the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program (WHNP) at the School of Nursing. The GEM Awards program honors nurses and the extraordinary contributions they make to patients, the profession and the nation’s healthcare; it is notable in that the nurses it recognizes are nominated by nurses, selected by nurses and honored by nurses.
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Peabody Award: Ms. Novack
Nancy Novack, adjunct faculty member in the School of Design, won a Peabody Award for a film series she edited, the PBS TV documentary “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” Peabody Awards are given across a variety of media formats in recognition of “excellence in story-telling.” Ms. Novack was supervising editor of the six-episode series and editor of “Episode One: The Black Atlantic (1500–1800)” and “Episode Two: The Age of Slavery.” The production team also included another member of Penn’s faculty, Steven Hahn, a professor of history in the School of Arts & Sciences.
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Powerful Voice Award: Dr. Pilling
Lucille B. Pilling was honored at the 2014 WOMEN’S WAY Powerful Voice Awards ceremony, an honor that celebrates the work of women, girls and men for their contributions advancing the progress of women, girls and families. She is an adjunct assistant professor of nursing. Dr. Pilling’s passion is access to health care, particularly for women. She has over 30 years of global public health experience managing complex, multi-organizational initiatives designed to improve public health.
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Librarian Institute: Mr. Rodriguez
Bredny Rodriguez has been selected to attend the Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians, a week-long program held at the University of Minnesota from July 19-25. Mr. Rodriguez is a science librarian and Eugene Garfield Resident in Science Librarianship 2013-2015 at Penn’s Biomedical Library. Library leaders from diverse backgrounds who are in the first three years of their professional careers will engage in activities to develop specific leadership abilities proven to be necessary for organizational success. Topics crucial for successful program leadership will be covered including needs assessment, program and resource planning.
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Bill of Rights Award: Professor Rudovsky
Penn Law faculty member David Rudovsky is the recipient of the Clifford Scott Green Bill of Rights Award, an honor bestowed every two years by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Federal Bar Association’s Criminal Law Committee to a member of the legal community “whose work and achievements further the principles espoused in the Bill of Rights.” Professor Rudovsky is one of the nation’s leading civil rights and criminal defense attorneys. In selecting him for the award, the Committee cited his “tireless efforts in the areas of civil rights, first amendment freedoms and racial discrimination.”
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AppItUp Challenge: Rescufy
David Edwards, director of major gifts at the Perelman School of Medicine and founder of the new app Rescufy, is the winner of Penn’s first “AppItUP” mobile application idea challenge. The challenge, organized by Penn’s Center for Technology Transfer (CTT) and UPstart, CTT’s business incubator, gathered the best app ideas from throughout the Penn community and connected the winner with the funding and technical expertise necessary to make them a reality.
The app simplifies and expedites the process of notifying first responders, emergency contacts and sharing medical information in the case of anaphylaxis. Mr. Edwards partnered with Boston-based Kanda Software, makers of custom software and mobile apps, to develop the prototype that won the challenge.
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CFR Member: Dr. Ruger
Jennifer Prah Ruger, associate professor of medical ethics & health policy at the Perelman School of Medicine and senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, has been elected to membership on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an independent, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to providing resources that help members, government agencies and other interested citizens better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
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Dental Alumni Award: Dr. Sollecito
Thomas Sollecito, D’89, GD’91, chair and professor of oral medicine at Penn Dental Medicine, was awarded the Penn Dental Medicine Alumni Society’s Thomas Evans Achievement Award during Alumni Weekend 2014, paying special tribute to his 25-year career in dental medicine. The Evans Award is the Society’s highest recognition award, honoring alumni who have shown innovation, excellence and leadership in the profession of oral healthcare; Dr. Sollecito is only the seventh recipient since the award’s establishment in 1993. Dr. Sollecito has a particular interest in cancer research and has worked in numerous collaborative roles and on various studies to discover how oral health impacts cancer patients.
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Chair, NIH Study Section: Dr. Sommers
Marilyn S. Sommers, the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing, has been named chairperson of the Health Disparities and Equity Promotion Study Section, Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Membership on a study section represents a unique opportunity to contribute to national biomedical research. Dr. Sommers is known for her expertise in the physiologic basis of critical illness and injury.
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Fulbright Specialist: Dr. Teitelman
Anne M. Teitelman, Patricia Bleznak Silverstein and Howard A. Silverstein Endowed Term Chair in Global Women’s Health Associate Professor of Nursing, has been selected as a candidate for the Fulbright Specialist Roster, a project administered by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars. The Fulbright Specialist Program (FSP) promotes linkages between US scholars and professionals and their counterparts at host institutions overseas. The program awards grants to qualified US faculty and professionals, in select disciplines, to engage in short-term collaborative two- to six-week projects at eligible institutions in over 140 countries worldwide. Dr. Teitelman’s research focuses on promoting equity and health for marginalized groups, especially adolescent girls and young women.
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Early Career Award: Dr. Turner
Kevin Turner, Gabel Family Term Associate Professor in the department of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, is the recipient of the 2014 Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for “outstanding research in experimental and theoretical solid mechanics, particularly for advancing the understanding of interfacial mechanics with applications to microscale and nanoscale manufacturing, wafer bonding, layer transfer processes, failure and reliability in microsystems and advanced lithography.” Dr. Turner’s research addresses fundamental and applied problems at the intersection of the fields of surface and interface mechanics and micro- and nanosystems.
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Stand Up to Cancer “Dream Team”: Dr. Vonderheide
Robert Vonderheide, the Hanna Wise Professor in Cancer Research at the Perelman School of Medicine, will be a co-leader on the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)-Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Convergence Dream Team. Armed with $8 million in funding over the course of three years, Dr. Vonderheide and investigators from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center and several other institutions will work together to develop new therapies to harness patients’ own immune cells to treat pancreatic cancer. Dr. Vonderheide will work closely with Dream Team leader Elizabeth M. Jaffee, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
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Ivy Champs: Women’s Lacrosse
The women’s lacrosse team won its eighth Ivy League championship in a row, defeating Princeton. Penn’s eighth Ivy title in a row is a new record for consecutive women’s lacrosse championships by an Ivy team, breaking the previous record held by Harvard, which won seven in a row from 1987-1993. In terms of Penn programs, women’s lacrosse is now tied with men’s fencing (1975-1976 through 1982-1983) for most consecutive Ivy championships by a Penn team.
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Penn Athletics Hall of Fame Class IX
The Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics inducted its ninth class in the spring, which includes eight former athletes, one former coach and also presented its second “Special Award.” The inductees are:
Cliff Bayer, W/WG’03, fencing
Jerry Berndt, football coach 1981-1985
Samuel D. Burley, C’03, CGS’06, track & field
Craig P. Connolly, C’90, CGS’98, baseball
Julie Heller Dembert, C’81, field hockey/lacrosse
Paul F. Miller Jr., W’50, HON’81, PAR’78, Special Award
David G. Proctor, W’87, GEX’10, squash
James J. “Booney” Salters, W’80, basketball
Jack Shanafelt, W’54, football
Mary Turner DePalma, C’81, track & field
For more information about the inductees, see www.pennathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209489800
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Lipman Family Prize: Breakthrough
The Wharton School announced that the winner of the third annual Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize is Breakthrough, a global human rights group working to drive the culture change necessary to make violence against women unacceptable, in part by engaging men as leaders and partners. Breakthrough received $125,000 and official recognition at an award ceremony held in the spring.
The other Prize finalists, which both received $12,500, are Kickstart, a social enterprise designed to lift millions out of poverty quickly and in a sustainable way; and Not For Sale, a non-profit that equips and empowers survivors of human trafficking and vulnerable individuals through services of stability and restoration. All finalists will profit from synergistic opportunities with Wharton and Penn.
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2014 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Winners
Considered one of the most prestigious and well-funded education business plan competitions around, the Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan (EBPC) has earned a name for itself by attracting innovative ideas from around the world and spotting winning education innovations early on in their growth. The Graduate School of Education and the Milken Family Foundation conceived of the competition to catalyze innovation in education. It also provides an opportunity for competitors to connect with top investors and researchers in the field of educational innovation. The winning entrepreneurs are:
First Prize ($25,000)—Osmosis, Philadelphia, PA—a learning app aimed at the medical community.
Second Prize ($15,000)—Totus Power, San Francisco, CA—an innovative system of providing power to classrooms in India and other developing countries
The American Public University System Prize for Innovation in Online Education ($25,000)—Osmosis
The Educational Services of America Prize for Innovation in the fields of Special Education and At-Risk Students
$20,000)—ProfessorWord, Philadelphia, PA—a service that helps students learn vocabulary in context as they read online.
The K12 Online Learning Prize for Innovation in Technology for Grades K Through Twelve ($25,000)—Branching Minds, New York, NY—a web-based tool that identifies learning challenges
The McGraw-Hill Education Prize for Open Educational Resources ($15,000)—eduCanon, Galesville, MD—an interactive video teaching platform
TSL Education Borderless Education Prize ($10,000)—Totus Power
Halloran Philanthropies Borderless Education Social Impact Prize ($5,000)—Ubongo, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania—which creates digital content for learners in Africa
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VIPS Scholarship Recipients
The University of Pennsylvania’s Volunteers in Public Service Scholarship Program has awarded five $1,000 supplemental scholarships to local college-bound students who have made a difference in West Philadelphia and beyond. The supplemental scholarships are designed to cover non-tuition expenses that are not typically included in college financial aid packages.
The VIPS program also provides the winners with a seminar on the college planning process, as well as dormitory room necessities gathered from the Penn MOVES program.
This year’s recipients are:
Khristian Baldwin, West Philadelphia High School, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
Shidea Graham, Bartram High School, Shippensburg University
Basil Hasan, Sayre High School, Community College of Philadelphia
Aaron Turner, Overbrook High School, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Asia White, Parkway West High School, Cazenovia College
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Almanac -
July 15, 2014, Volume 61, No. 01
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