MONDAY, APRIL 7 – SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2014
BEST BETS
STUDENTS TO SIMULATE INTERPROFESSIONAL, RURAL HEALTH CARE TEAMS –A group of graduate students from four different professional programs will perform their first live-simulation with standardized patients taking the role of military veterans with multiple chronic conditions for faculty and stakeholders at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 7, in room 1008 at The University of Alabama’s Capstone College of Nursing. Media are invited to attend a session in which graduate students from the Colleges of Nursing, Community Health Sciences, Human Environmental Sciences and the School of Social Work will split into four groups for two different sessions of the live simulations that will feature graduate students from the UA department of theatre and dance serving as military veteran patients with multiple chronic conditions. Faculty members will observe and interact with students remotely from a specially-designed control room. Students will be debriefed by faculty at 3 p.m.; the debriefing session will be open to the public. This activity is supported by two federally funded training grants totaling more than $1 million. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 66 percent of the total health-care spending is associated with care for over one in four Americans with multiple chronic conditions. Faculty and health-care professionals are confident a team-based, interprofessional approach to health care will drive down the substantial costs associated with chronic conditions. For more information, click here or contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
NURSING STUDENTS TEACH BIKE SAFETY, PRESENT HELMETS TO AFTER-SCHOOL PARTICIPANTS – About 75 children participating in a Tuscaloosa’s One Place after-school program will receive bicycle helmets Tuesday, April 8, as part of a bike injury prevention program taught by UA nursing students. The students, from first through fifth grades, will receive the helmets, donated by UA’s Capstone College of Nursing Alumni Association, at Oakdale Elementary School, 5001 25th St., Tuscaloosa, at 3:30 p.m. Led by Drs. Paige Johnson and Michele Montgomery, both UA assistant professors of nursing, the UA nursing students presented a two-part bike safety program to the children as part of a community health clinical class in which the UA students are enrolled. The UA students are presenting two sessions each at Maxwell Elementary, Oakdale Elementary, and Brookwood Elementary. Interview opportunities April 8 at the school include UA nursing students, children who received the helmets, Johnson and Montgomery, the UA nursing faculty members, and Teresa Costanzo, executive director of Tuscaloosa’s One Place. For more information, click here. For interviews, contact Johnson, ptjohnso@ua.edu, 205/348-2084, Montgomery, mmontgomery1@bama.ua.edu, 205/348-2203; or Paula White, after school program director, Tuscaloosa’s One Place, 205/409-8244, ext.111. For assistance, contact Chris Bryant in media relations, 205/348-8323, cbryant@ur.ua.edu.
NO SHARKS IN THE WATER, BUT BUSINESS INVESTMENT OPPS ABOUND – There may not be any business sharks, or any other types, circling within Palmer Lake, but when some 30 UA innovators pitch their technologies, inventions and ideas to potential investors in UA’s nearby AIME building, real money will be at stake. Hosted by UA’s Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs, or AIME, the Friday, April 11 competition, somewhat resembling the hit ABC TV show “Shark Tank,” provides a venue for more than a dozen teams, composed of UA faculty and students, to compete for UA start-up funding and in-kind services. In addition to the funding opportunity, the annual event, known as AIME Day, provides an occasion for members of the investment and business communities to hear presentations about specific UA-based technologies and entrepreneurial activities under way on campus, said Dr. Dan Daly, director of AIME. Eighteen presentations, each about 10 minutes in length, will be made throughout the day, beginning about 8:30 a.m. and concluding about 2:30 p.m. when judges begin deliberation. Much of the day’s events will be held in room 110, while those presentations made between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. will be in the building’s high bay area. For interviews, contact Daly directly at 205/348-3502 or dandaly@ua.edu. Watch for a news release, or contact Chris Bryant in UA media relations, cbryant@ur.ua.edu or 205/348-8323, for assistance.
SCIENTISTS EMPHASIZE METABOLITES’ ROLE IN UNDERSTANDING DISEASE – Overreliance on genetic-centered approaches in predicting, diagnosing and treating disease will lead to few future scientific breakthroughs, cautioned a UA researcher who co-authored an article in the latest online issue of Genetics that advocates for a greater emphasis on the body’s metabolites in understanding illnesses. “The Human Genome Project has been sold as something that is going to revolutionize medicine – that soon we will get our genomes sequenced, and we will be able to figure out exactly what diseases we are at risk for and, maybe, the best way to treat them,” said Dr. Laura Reed, a UA geneticist and the paper’s lead author. “While it’s true there are important innovations to come from that kind of information, it is much more limited than some may have hoped.” Using fruit flies as animal models in the research publishing in Genetics, the multi-institution team demonstrated how genetics, in combination with metabolomics and gene expression — how genes are turned on — can be used to predict heart disease and the organism’s response to environmental change, said Reed. For more information, click here or contact Chris Bryant in UA Media Relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu. Contact Reed directly at 205/348-1345 or lreed1@bama.ua.edu.
SALAMANDERS SHRINKING BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, UA STUDENT’S RESEARCH SHOWS – Salamanders in at least one section of the country are not growing as large as they did previously, a result of climate change, according to new research published by a University of Alabama graduate student. Nick Caruso, a doctoral student studying in the biological sciences department with Dr. Leslie Rissler, a UA faculty member, is the lead author on the work that published last week in Global Change Biology. Caruso is expanding upon this work at UA. For more information, contact Chris Bryant in UA Media Relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu. Contact Caruso directly at 636-734-5894 or carusonm@gmail.com.
CURRENT COMMENT
RECENT LEGISLATION, PEW POLL INDICATES ATTITUDES TOWARD MARIJUANA CHANGING IN STATE – A recent poll from the Pew Research Center indicates a shifting of social attitudes regarding marijuana legalization and how the country now views drug addicts in general. Sixty-seven percent of those polled believe that the U.S. should focus on providing treatment for drug users, 52 percent of adults support legalizing small amounts of marijuana, and 77 percent believe marijuana does have legitimate medical use. “These nationwide trends indicate that the social attitudes may even be shifting in Alabama, a conservative state that has historically opposed any sort of marijuana-related legislation,” says Dr. Diana Dolliver, assistant professor of criminal justice at UA. “Last week, Gov. Robert Bentley signed into law the first steps toward legalizing medical marijuana in Alabama, indicating that conservative states are beginning to react to the changing social perceptions surrounding marijuana use. While general sentiment in Alabama may still be lagging behind national trends, the passing of Carly’s Law suggests that times are changing in the state, albeit slowly.” For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu. Contact Dolliver directly at 205/348-2062 or DLDolliver@ua.edu.
UA EXPERT TIPS
UA MATTERS: HOW TO REDUCE BULLYING – Bullying is a serious problem in the U.S. and elsewhere. The University of Alabama’s Dr. Randy Salekin, professor of clinical child psychology, says several key factors can help reduce bullying problems for youth, but it helps if parents and students are involved in promoting anti-bullying atmospheres and if parents are attuned to what their children are thinking and feeling, http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/04/ua-matters-how-to-reduce-bullying/. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320
UA’S HEALTH CORNER PROVIDES PRACTICAL HEALTH TIPS – Dr. Dan Avery explains the process of ovulation and how a woman can tell if she is ovulating in the latest video in UA’s Health Corner, https://vimeo.com/90684214. The video series addresses health topics and provides practical advice and guidance from UA’s expert sources and physicians in the College of Community Health Sciences. A new video topic posts every Wednesday morning. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320
EVENTS
UA PRESIDENT TO SPEAK TO FACULTY AND STAFF APRIL 8 – UA President Judy Bonner will speak at the University’s spring faculty/staff meeting Tuesday, April 8 at 1:30 p.m. in the Rast Room of the Bryant Conference Center. Recipients of the Vergil Parks McKinley Sr. Employee Awards, the E. Roger Sayers Endowed Distinguished Service Award and the Dr. Minnie C. Miles Endowed Excellence Award will also be recognized during the meeting. Contact: Cathy Andreen, director of media relations, 205/348-8322, candreen@ur.ua.edu
COCA-COLA SCHOLARS – A celebration luncheon of the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars program will start at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 10, at the North End Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The event honors the first eight years of the scholars program and the Coca-Cola Foundation. The Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarships are awarded to Alabama students who are the first in their families to attend college. Each student will receive a $5,000 scholarship each year for four years. Previous and current winners of the scholarship will attend. Contact: Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782
ENGINEERING EVENT IN PERRY COUNTY – UA’s 57 Miles Initiative and The College of Engineering will host Engineering Day for high school students from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, April 11, at Francis Marion High School in Perry County. The event, which is open to high school students from Alabama’s Black Belt region, will feature presentations by UA students to showcase engineering’s various disciplines. In addition to discussing the significance of engineering in society, students will participate in small experiments and learn about possible career paths. Contact: Chris Joiner, Honors College, jcjoiner1@ua.edu, 850/698-9175
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION TO HOST “FUTURE TEACHERS” – The University of Alabama College of Education Ambassadors are sponsoring a Future Teachers of America day, Friday, April 11 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Graves Hall. More than 150 high school students, ranging from sophomores to seniors, are expected to attend. Students will hear presentations from the Dean of the College – Peter Hlebowitsh – department chairs and faculty. The event will feature presentations from the Office of Admissions and the Office of Student Financial Aid. The high school students will have lunch with current students, faculty and staff. A show from the UA Dance Team and a tour of campus will round out the day. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
Contact
Cathy Andreen, director of media relations, 205/348-8322, candreen@ur.ua.edu