Awards & Recognitions (Spring, 2008)
April 28, 2008
September 2007 — April 2008
For more information on these and many other faculty, student, alumni and staff awards, honors and recognitions, visit www.sph.unc.edu/school/recognitions.
Faculty
Dr. Shrikant Bangdiwala
Dr. Shrikant Bangdiwala, research professor of biostatistics; Dr. Gerardo Heiss, Kenan Distinguished Professor of epidemiology; and Dr. Jay Kaufman, associate professor of epidemiology, were awarded the title of visiting professor by Dr. Giorgio Solimano, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Chile at Santiago earlier this year. The titles recognize Bangdiwala, Heiss and Kaufman for their “relevant academic and scientific merits and permanent collaboration with the (University of Chile) faculty.”
January 2008 marks the tenth year of Bangdiwala’s collaboration with the School of Public Health at the University of Chile, as coordinator of the International Summer School Program. Other UNC faculty members who have been involved in the effort in addition to Bangdiwala, Heiss and Kaufman include Drs. Ed Davis, Gary Koch and Lisa LaVange (biostatistics).
Bangdiwala also was designated a 2008 visiting professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences by the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
Dr. Marci Campbell, professor of nutrition, will direct and serve as principal investigator for the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence Network program, which addresses the needs of the growing number of cancer survivors in the United States. The network is an invitation-only collaborative partnership among the Lance Armstrong Foundation, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive care centers at leading institutions nationwide, and their community affiliates. Its mission is to harness the expertise of these centers and affiliates to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of cancer survivors. Lineberger is the eighth network member institution in the nation.
Dr. Rosalind Coleman, professor of nutrition in the School of Public Health and professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine, was named one of the first fellows in the Working on Women in Science program, a campus-wide initiative to foster the advancement of women in science and medicine.
Dr. Giselle Corbie-Smith, associate professor of epidemiology in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine, and of social medicine and medicine in the School of Medicine, has been selected as one of the University’s first Faculty Engaged Scholars. The two-year program helps scholars connect their academic work with the needs of communities and apply their skills to make a difference.
The Carolina Women’s Leadership Council honored Dr. Jo Anne Earp, professor of health behavior and health education, with a 2008 Faculty Mentoring Award at the Council’s annual meeting in Chapel Hill, N.C., in February 2008. The accolade includes a $5,000 stipend.
The award recognizes outstanding faculty who “go the extra mile” to guide, mentor and lead students and/or junior faculty. The 130-member Carolina Women’s Leadership Council is a nationwide network of women committed to supporting the University and students’ educational experiences.
Dr. Anita Farel, clinical professor and associate chair for graduate studies in maternal and child health, has received the Delta Omega Award for Innovative Public Health Curriculum for her course, “Program Assessment in Maternal and Child Health.” Delta Omega is the honorary society for graduate studies in public health.
Farel made a presentation about the course at the Delta Omega annual business meeting and exhibited a poster on it at the American Public Health Association annual conference. Both events were held in Washington, D.C., in November 2007.
Dr. Thomas R. (Bob) Konrad, research professor of health policy and administration at the School of Public Health and of social medicine at the School of Medicine, was recognized in connection with WIN A STEP UP, a program designed to promote career development and reduce turnover among nursing assistants in North Carolina’s nursing homes.
The program, a partnership between the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the University of North Carolina’s Institute on Aging (NCIOA), was selected as one of two finalists for the 2007 Rosalynn Carter Caregiving Award. The award recognizes leadership in implementing innovative and creative partnerships between community organizations and caregiving researchers.
Konrad is a senior research fellow at Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Dr. Jonathan Kotch, professor of maternal and child health, received a 2007-2008 competitive Kenan research leave to conduct research in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he will help implement a comprehensive injury prevention plan for Scottish children and youth in spring 2008.
Kotch will collaborate with Children in Scotland, a national agency of more than 400 volunteer and nonprofit organizations working to promote the well-being of children and their families.
Kotch also received the Dr. Susan S. Aronson Early Education and Child Care Advocacy Award at the 2007 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition. He was recognized for his contributions to the field of child care health consultation.
Dr. David Leith, professor of environmental sciences and engineering, was awarded the School’s Bernard G. Greenberg Alumni Endowment Award at the School of Public Health’s annual Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture in April 2008. The Greenberg Award was established by the Alumni Association to honor Dr. Bernard G. Greenberg, founder and chair of the Department of Biostatistics from 1949 to 1972 and dean of the School from 1972 to 1982. The award, which carries a cash prize of $12,000 a year for three years, is given annually to an outstanding full-time faculty member for excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service.
Sheila Leatherman, honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), has been named the first Gillings Visiting Professor at the UNC School of Public Health. The professorship is part of Carolina Public Health Solutions, a new initiative funded by Dennis and Joan Gillings and dedicated to accelerating public health impact across North Carolina and around the world.
As research professor of health policy and administration at the School, Leatherman evaluates and analyzes health care systems around the globe and, in conducting her research, often serves as visiting professor or visiting scholar at other universities and institutions. The Gillings Visiting Professorship will provide the means for her to focus a portion of UNC’s public health research on microcredit and its impact on global health.
Dr. Sandra Martin, professor and associate chair for research in the Department of Maternal and Child Health, was named associate dean for research at the UNC School of Public Health. An epidemiologist by training, Martin joined the School of Public Health faculty in 2004. As director of the School’s Office of Research, she works to enhance the research enterprise at the School by engaging faculty, staff, students and others across the School, campus and beyond.
Dr. Herbert B. Peterson
Dr. Herbert B. Peterson, professor and chair in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the School of Public Health and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine, was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute serves as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on human health issues.
Peterson is known nationally and internationally for his work in women’s reproductive health, epidemiology, health policy, and evidence-based decisionmaking. Prior to joining the School of Public Health faculty in 2004, he held various research and administrative positions over the course of 20 years with the World Health Organization, U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Ivan Rusyn, associate professor of environmental sciences and engineering, received the Society of Toxicology’s Achievement Award at the Society’s 47th annual meeting on March 16, 2008, in Seattle. Rusyn received his doctorate at UNC in 2000 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow before joining the faculty in 2002.
Dr. Anna Maria Siega-Riz, associate professor in the departments of epidemiology and nutrition, was the recipient of the March of Dimes’ 2007 Agnes Higgins Award.
The annual award recognizes distinguished achievement in research, education or clinical services in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition. Awardees receive a $3,000 prize and the invitation to lecture at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting, which, last year, was held in November in Washington, D.C. Siega-Riz’s lecture topic at the meeting was “Maternal Obesity: The Number One Problem Facing Prenatal Care Providers in the New Millennium.”
Dr. Steve Zeisel received the Osborne and Mendel Award from the American Society for Nutrition, in recognition of outstanding recent basic research accomplishments in nutrition. The award was presented at the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology international meeting in San Diego in April 2008.
Zeisel also was recognized at the conference by the American College of Nutrition (ACN). He received the ACN Lifetime Achievement Award for research accomplishments in nutrition.
Alumni
Dr. F. Dubois Bowman, (Biostatistics ’00), associate professor of biostatistics and director of the Center for Biomedical Imaging Statistics at Emory University, received the Grizzle Outstanding Alumnus Award in April 2008. The award was presented at the departmental meeting of the UNC School of Public Health’s annual Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Over the past eight years, Bowman has built a distinguished record of scholarship and service, serving on National Institutes of Health (NIH) study sections, obtaining a statistical methodology R01 grant from NIH, and holding an elected office in the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society (ENAR).
The late Diane Hedgecock is the recipient of the 2008 Sidney S. Chipman Alumni Award. The annual Alumni Award honors Dr. Chipman, founder of the UNC Department of Maternal and Child Health, and is given to a graduate of the department who has made outstanding contributions to the field of maternal and child health. Joan Hedgecock, Diane’s sister, accepted the award on her behalf at the School’s annual Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture in April.
Hedgecock, a 1975 master’s degree graduate from the School’s Department of Maternal and Child Health, dedicated her career to improving maternal health, including reproductive health and child survival. In her role as senior technical advisor at John Snow, Inc. (JSI), from 1985 until her death on March 8, 2008, Hedgecock shepherded such successful JSI projects as the Romania Family Health Initiative, the BASICS child survival program, the Cambodia Community Outreach project and the African portfolio of countries under the SEATS Family Planning Service Expansion and Technical Support project. In the late ’70s, she served as director of health programming and training for the U.S. Peace Corps headquarters, where she was responsible for overall health policy and program development in 67 Peace Corps countries.
Charles W. McGrew, an alumnus of the School’s Department of Health Policy and Administration, was awarded the School’s 2008 Harriet Hylton Barr Distinguished Alumni Award at the School of Public Health’s annual Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture in April. McGrew is deputy director and chief operating officer of the Arkansas Department of Health. His career spans more than 35 years of public health service to the people of Arkansas. Established in 1975, the Barr Award recognizes the achievements of alumni and their contributions to public health. The award carries the name of its 1980 recipient — Harriet Hylton Barr — who earned her master’s in public health from UNC in 1948 and is clinical associate professor emeritus in the School’s Department of Health Behavior and Health Education.
Students
Eleven students from the UNC School of Public Health were recognized with 2008 Impact Awards from the UNC Graduate School. The awards honor graduate students whose research provides special benefits to the citizens of North Carolina. Awardees also serve as graduate student ambassadors, talking to community groups throughout the state about their work. Winners from the School of Public Health are Janne Boone and Alexia Smith, doctoral students in nutrition; Anthony Fleg, medical student and 2007 master’s degree graduate from the Public Health Leadership Program and Patrick Carlsen Smith, medical student and 2008 master’s degree graduate from the department; Erin Fraher and John Staley, doctoral students in health policy and administration; Morgan Jones, 2007 master’s degree graduate from the Department of Health Policy and Administration; and Amy Kalkbrenner, Sandra McCoy, Lynne Sampson and Elizabeth Torrone, doctoral students in epidemiology.
Carolina Public Health is a publication of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health. To subscribe to Carolina Public Health or to view the entire Spring 2008 issue in PDF, visit www.sph.unc.edu/cph.
