Left to Right: Christopher Medlin, Siena Meador, and Sandra De Anda

The UTEP/UT Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program held its annual White Coat Ceremony on June 6, 2014. This ceremony, sponsored by Walgreens, marks the dawning of the students' transition to the University of Texas at Austin, where they will reside for two years, subsequently returning to UTEP for the concluding two years of the program.

In attendance for this commemoration included Dr. Kathleen Curtis, Dean of the UTEP College of Health Sciences, Dr. Bill McIntyre, Associate Dean for Clinical Programs, UT Austin College of Pharmacy, and Dr. José O. Rivera, Director of the Program, as well as close friends and family of the White Coat Recipients. In addition, Walgreen's representatives Alef Gutierrez, R.Ph., District Manager, and Michael Saenz, Pharm.D., Pharmacy Supervisor, El Paso Region, presented each student with a $1,500 scholarship. In special thanks to his hard work and dedication to the Program, Dr. Rivera named William A. Klein, III to the Pharmacy Hall of Fame. Drs. Jeri Sias, Margie Padilla, Celeste Vinluan and Amanda Loya then presented the students with their white coats. As the ceremony wrapped up, all Pharmacists, along with the Recipients, rehearsed the 'Oath of a Pharmacist'.

Due to the changes in the admissions process, as well as candidates preferring to complete a Bachelor's degree prior to entering the Cooperative Pharmacy Program, there were only three recipients that secured a spot in to the Cooperative Pharmacy Program this August. These individuals exceeded the requirements and are well prepared to take on this milestone. Best of luck to Sandra De Ana, Siena Meador, and Christopher Medlin!

Ms.Tania Quiroz, a Doctoral student in the UT Houston School of Public Health, recently presented at the Healthy Exchange. She has a Masters of Arts in Health Education from the University of Texas at El Paso. Tania is currently participating in a research study about medication practices among Hispanic HIV patients living in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Her areas of expertise include program planning and evaluation, health behavior theory, Hispanic health issues, and health literacy.

Ms Quiroz talked about the importance of cardiovascular disease among our border population as well as the educational component which is key in order for patients to change unhealthy lifestyles. She also mentioned the pivotal role that community health promoters (promotoras) have in improving health within our international border community.

Dr. Mary Margaret Weigel, Professor of Public Health Sciences and MPH Program Director at UTEP College of Health Sciences, is an expert on international health and nutrition. She also collaborates as Co-PI on the R21 proposal to study the relationship between air pollution and systemic inflammation and sub-clinical atherosclerosis in children living at high altitude in Quito, Ecuador. Her research and expertise focused on nutritional and perinatal epidemiology; infectious disease epidemiology and control especially tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, and ethnomedicine.

Dr. Weigel recently presented at the Healthy Exchange about the importance of her diverse projects regarding research on food security, especially among low income populations, and how this directly affects their quality of life and health.

Dr. Woolard also presented his work at the Healthy Exchange. Woolard and colleagues were funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Addiction to test the efficacy of a brief intervention consisting of a single 20-25 minute motivational counseling session designed for young Mexican-origin adults admitted as emergency department (ED) patients, who were infrequent but heavy episodic (BINGE) drinkers, drinking once a week and binge drinking on 3 of 4 drinking occasions. Local bilingual community health promoters (commonly known as promotores) were trained as interventionists who delivered a brief intervention to 310 young adult patients in the University Medical Center emergency department over a period of 17 months. At 12-month follow-up all groups showed significant decreases in alcohol use, including drinking on fewer days and in lower quantities. This culturally adapted brief intervention successfully delivered by the promotores to young adult Mexican-origin ED patients at the U.S.-Mexico border was associated with reduced binge drinking, cutting their binge drinking in half.

Dr. George King and Dr. Candyce Berger recently completed the REALIZE program. REALIZE is a 15-month transformational leadership training program sponsored by the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. Dr. George King, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Associate Dean and Dr. Candyce Berger, Professor and Chair, Department of Social Work, were selected to participate in the second cohort of the program. This extensive training program includes two 2-day retreats, a leadership assessment inventory, monthly leadership seminars with national experts, reading materials, a group project to develop a health-related program for the region, and executive coaching. King and Berger commented, "Participation in this program expanded our leadership skills, and facilitated networking with health care leaders from across the border region. The skills we learned will be implemented at UTEP in our roles as administrators within the College of Health Sciences and the broader UTEP community. The relationships we built will enrich community-based partnerships to address the most pressing health care issues in the border region." Congratulations to Dr. King and Dr. Berger!

The Department of Rehabilitation Sciences is happy to welcome Dr. Mark Caulkins to UTEP as Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. He will teach gross anatomy to the DPT and MOT students in the Fall semester and to the Biomedical Engineering PhD students in the Spring. Dr. Caulkins comes to UTEP from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, his Doctor of Medicine degree from Albany Medical College and his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Franklin Pierce University. His area of expertise is orthopedics and has taught imaging, differential diagnosis, kinesiology, pathology and human anatomy in entry level Doctor of Physical Therapy program for the past 10 years. The faculty and students in the DPT, MOT and BME Programs are thrilled to have Dr. Caulkins onboard for this academic year.

Sandra Salinas spent the summer at Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. Sandra conducted research in the Developmental and Molecular Pathways department in tumor biology and was working with an onco-protein evaluating the cause of apoptosis and response to treatments. The study also included analyses of the reported novel target of this deregulated transcription factor and any significant indication of involvement in the response and triggering of apoptosis.   

Betsy Banuelos presented a poster at the semiannual COURI (Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiative) Symposium on August 2, 2014 on the Identification and Function of Heme Oxygenase Antibodies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients.

We are very proud of these two outstanding students!

The UTEP/UT Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program held its annual Ice Cream social, sponsored by faculty and staff, on Thursday, August 7, 2014. This is an opportunity for UTEP pre-pharmacy and all current Pharmacy students to meet with one another, ask questions and share experiences. Topics that were discussed included recent interview experiences, PCAT tips, advice on professional studies in Austin, study tips, and information about the UT Austin admission and acceptance process.

To begin the social, the attendees were given a BINGO ice breaker to facilitate introductions. After this ice breaker, the students were divided up in to groups where they were able to network and ask questions. To wrap this event up, Dominque Werge, a fourth year Pharmacy student, shared her study-abroad experience in Barcelona, Spain as part of the Pharmobility Program. In this program, she was given the opportunity to enhance her understanding of how pharmacy differs around the world. Aside from sharing her experience, she informed the attendees of the great opportunity this has been for her, urging them to look in to this program as well. The event was well attended and successful in its goal to allow students to network and learn more about various experiences in pharmacy educations.

Dr. Thenral Mangadu, MD, MPH, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences was selected in a competitive process to participate as a scholar in the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Course: Integrating Principles of Science, Practice and Policy in Health Disparities Research. Dr. Mangadu was awarded this distinction in recognition of her work in addressing health disparities. This two-week intensive course provided an introduction in the principles and practice of health disparities research. In addition to providing a translational approach to health disparities research, the course offered cross-disciplinary perspective in the field to inform innovative research, practice and policy interventions. The course took place August 11-22, 2014 at the National Institutes of Health Campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Congratulations to Dr. Mangadu on this great achievement!