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RFUMS Working to Expand Opportunity in Community
![](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs110/1103531196554/img/804.jpg?a=1116967461626) | U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider participates in the Health Professions Education Consortium on April 15. |
RFUMS is working to help expand opportunities in medical and health sciences education and careers by partnering with Lake County schools, businesses, non-profits, and elected officials.
Numerous interprofessional efforts, coordinated by the Division of Institutional Advancement's Office of Community Relations in partnership with faculty, students and staff from across the university took place this month, as the university welcomed to its campus community stakeholders, both seasoned professionals and youth who were offered a glimpse into the future of healthcare professions.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider visited campus April 15 to attend a meeting of the Health Professions Education Consortium, a working group of local colleges and universities led by RFUMS. HPEC is strategizing on how to align market trends and employer demand in Lake County and the surrounding region with health professions education and workforce development. A just-released report, "Lake County Regional Workforce Analysis and Recommendations for Healthcare Industries," was a major topic of discussion. Funded by a grant from the Healthcare Foundation of Nothern Lake County and HPEC member institutions, the report identifies key growth areas in healthcare occupations and recommends investments in support of HPEC's goals.
The HPEC session was chaired by RFUMS President and CEO K. Michael Welch and attended by representatives from Walgreens, AbbVie, Advocate Condell Medical Center, the Lake County Health Department and educators from K-12 through higher education.
![](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs110/1103531196554/img/797.jpg?a=1116967461626) | U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk brought middle school children to campus on April 12. |
Middle school children from around Lake County visited on April 12 for a program initiated by U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk to promote interest in healthcare professions. Sen. Kirk engaged with students as they participated in activities, led by an interprofessional team of RFUMS faculty, staff and students, involving medical simulation, physical therapy, anatomy, and heart and lung sound demonstrations. The event was also attended by Ben Martindale, chief education officer for North Chicago public schools.
On April 11, members of the Future Healthcare Professionals Club, an afterschool program designed by RFUMS student leaders in partnership with Community Relations and North Chicago Community High School, toured the campus, participated in mini courses on viruses and gross anatomy and played a health professions "Jeopardy" game. North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham was in attendance. Franklin Fellow Julie Witkowski, CMS '16, who helped organize the fieldtrip, leads a team that volunteers for the club.
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- Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine hosted its annual scholarship benefit and networking reception at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on April 4. Held during the Midwest Podiatry Conference, the event allowed 40 Scholl alumni to share their experiences and expertise with 76 current Scholl students. Scholarship sponsors recognized during the program include Bako Integrated Physician Solutions, Podiatry Insurance Company of America, the Midwest Podiatry Conference, Dr. Comfort, Illinois Podiatric Medical Association, Scholl College Alumni Association and SureFit. The event is planned and managed each year by the Scholl Alumni Assssociation and the Office of Alumni Relations.
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Chicago Medical School students visited Crane Medical Preparatory High School in Chicago on April 9 to help guide freshmen through hands-on surgical simulations.
Led by Lecia Apantaku, MD, FACS, 10 students from the medical school assisted the high school students in simulated suture and laparoscopy stations.
- "Through Our Hands: Photography of Anatomic Pathology," an annual exhibition of works created by students in the Pathologists' Assistant Program in the College of Health Professions, is on view in the Feet First Exhibition Hall through April 25. An opening reception on April 4 drew more than 100 guests, including many first- and second-year pathologists' assistant students.
- Join RFUMS students, faculty and staff in celebrating our diversity through the Everyone Matters campaign of global inclusiveness. Visit RWCLC 1.044 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on April 25, 29 or 30 to take a photo that includes an "I Am" statement. The images will be displayed in the Feet First Exhibition Hall beginning Aug. 1. All are welcome to participate.
- Students for Organ Donation is partnering with Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network to build organ, eye, and tissue donation awareness among faculty, staff, and students as part of the RFUMS for Hope initiative. Members of the university community are encouraged to reaffirm their decision to donate by visiting RFUMSforHope.org throughout April, National Donate Life month.
- The annual St. Baldrick's fundraiser sponsored by the Oncology Interest Group raised more than $33,000. About 50 students, staff and faculty volunteered to go under the clippers, according to Nick Hawley, CMS '16, president of the group. Young cancer survivor Gracie Donellan, attended the event with her mother, Rosanne Oggoian, MD, an ECR1 preceptor at RFUMS and member of a St. Baldrick's team dubbed the Bald Eagle Babes.
- RFUMS Healthy U! worked to raised awareness of healthy eating during March, National Nutrition Month. Food for Thought, the university's dining services provider, promoted healthy food and beverage choices and Hope Bilyk, assistant professor in the department of nutrition, presented a talk titled "The Taste of Eating Right."
- Ronald Kaplan, PhD, RFUMS vice president for research and vice dean for research for CMS, presented on "Mechanisms to Sustain and Increase Extramural Funding in a Challenging Environment" at a meeting of the AAMC Forum on Conflict of Interest in Academe held April 10 in Chicago.
- Lise Eliot, PhD, associate professor in the department of neuroscience and author of "Pink Brain, Blue Brain," has been invited to participate in the White House Research Conference on Girls, April 28 in Washington, D.C. Eliot was recently interviewed for the forthcoming documentary "The Mask You Live In." Produced by the Representation Project, the film, which explores gender bias in America, will also include interviews with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, legendary feminist and author Gloria Steinem and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
- Joshua Bakhsheshian, CMS '15, has been awarded the 2014 Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship to study the use of wireless technology to assess objective measures of functional recovery in patients undergoing major elective spine surgery.
- Mallory A. Havens, PhD '13, has accepted a position as an assistant professor of biology with Lewis University in Romeoville. As a student in SGPS, Havens worked on non-canonical microRNA biogenesis and splicing and continued her research as a postdoctoral research associate under the guidance of CMS Associate Professor Michelle Hastings, PhD. Havens, whose passion for mentoring undergraduates led her to pursue a career in teaching, has published six peer-reviewed articles during her time at RFUMS.
- Carl Correll, PhD, CMS associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, was awarded a four-year, $317,000 NIH grant for the study of "Biogenesis of the Small Ribosomal Subunit in Eukaryotes."
- Robert Bridges, CMS professor of physiology and biophysics, received a two-year $665,000 grant, under the AbbVie Research Collaboration Agreement, to expand his translational studies on cystic fibrosis.
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Alliance for Health Sciences News
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The alliance between RFUMS and DePaul continues on a trajectory fueled by strategic partnership. An increasing number of courses are shared between RFUMS and DePaul graduate-level programs. Collaborations in the areas of nursing, health informatics, health communication, and an MBA program in health sector management mean increased choices of electives for students at both universities next academic year, according to Patrick Knott, PhD, RFUMS professor and vice president of strategic enrollment management. The Pathways Honors Program is now accepting a second round of incoming freshmen into DePaul and more DePaul seniors are applying for admission to RFUMS. Meanwhile, a DePaul University/RFUMS Collaborative Research Day, including poster presentation, will be held May 9 on DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus.
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- The university hosted a stakeholder's meeting organized by the Lake County Community Foundation and its partners, including the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County and the Lake County Health Department, on April 14. Participants explored ways to address the rise in suburban poverty. Read the story in the Highland Park News.
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Gallery -- Campus Events and Community Outreach
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Click image to see event photo
Everyone Matters Campaign Nutrition Month/Healthy U! St. Baldrick's March 18 March 26 March 28
April 4 April 9 April 9
April 11 April 12 April 15
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- Bruce Kaczander, DPM '80, was elected president of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons-Michigan Division.
- Richard Bouche, DPM '80, John Grady, DPM '80, and Amol Saxena, DPM '88, presented at the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine and Spring Training standalone meeting in Tampa Bay, FL. Presenting with Saxena was Daniel Bareither, PhD, SCPM professor of basic biomedical sciences and senior associate dean of educational affairs. AAPSM fellow and Past President Matthew Werd, DPM '93, received the 2014 Robert Barnes Distinguished Service Award during the event.
- Leigh Erin Connealy, MD '84, medical director of the Center for New Medicine in Orange County, CA, wrote an article on sleep for the website itsallaboutwomen.com.
- Nancy Simpkins, MD '84, an internist in New Jersey and medical advisor for the state, authored an article on allergies for mindbodygreen.com.
- Thomas Glodek, MD '90, joined the staff at Freeman Health System in Joplin, MO, as chief medical information officer.
- Todd O'Brien, DPM '90, founder of O'Brien Medical, LLC, has been awarded a U.S. patent for his firm's electronic tuning fork, which helps detect early-stage diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
- John Rogers, MD '90, was profiled in delmartimes.net about his work as a cardiologist.
- Danny J. Aguilar, DPM, '94, is the recipient of the 2014 Alumni Achievement Award from the University of the Ozarks Alumni Association.
- Mark Sorrentino, MS, MD '94, was appointed to the advisory board for Los Angeles-based BioCorRx, Inc. Sorrentino is executive medical director for global product development at Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC.
- Esther Lyon, DPM '95, discussed diabetes-related foot problems in el Nuevo Herald.
- Rosemary Silvia, MS '95, was named chief quality and compliance officer at Martha's Vineyard Hospital, Oak Bluffs, MA.
- Robyn Cohen, MS '04, PhD '08, was profiled in a blog by Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, FL, where she practices as a pediatric neuropsychologist.
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