FACULTY, STUDENTS & ALUMNI

Focus on Faculty

Shaffdeen A. Amuwo, PhD, MPH, associate dean for community, alumni, and government affairs, was profiled in the publication of the National Association of Health Services Executives as well as in the Chicago Defender, to which he also contributed an article in the "Medical Monday" section on promoting prevention and medical services for black communities. Dr. Amuwo was the recipient of the highest award presented by the Westside Association for Community Action in recognition of "Outstanding Healthcare Leadership, Dedication, and Commitment to Quality Education." Dr. Amuwo gave a presentation on HIV/AIDS and African Americans as part of the African American Prevention Intervention Network Distinguished Lecture Series held at the Jackson State University Mississippi Urban Research Center. The lecture series program was disseminated via a live national webcast.

Robert Bailey, PhD, MPH, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, was elected to the Council of the International Health Section of the American Public Health Association. He has also been appointed visiting lecturer in the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Nairobi, Kenya, and works closely with colleagues in Kenya and Canada on his randomized controlled trial of male circumcision to reduce HIV incidence in Kisumu, Kenya. Dr. Bailey was the senior author of articles on "Male Circumcision and HIV Prevention: Current Knowledge and Future Research Directions" in Lancet Infectious Diseases, "Susceptibility to Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Infection of Human Foreskin and Cervical Tissue in Explant Culture" in the American Journal of Pathology, and "Promoting Biodiversity and Empowering Local People in Central African Forests" in Tropical Deforestation: The Human Dimension. He was interviewed on NBC News on his work in Kenya. He was an invited speaker on "Male Circumcision to Prevent HIV Incidence: A Clinical Trial in Kisumu, Kenya" at the annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America and on "Randomized Trial of Male Circumcision to Reduce HIV Acquisition: Rationale and Progress to Date" at the 6th National Symposium of the NIH Centers for AIDS Research, in addition to presenting three papers at the 13th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa. Dr. Bailey is co-investigator on a study of "Widow Inheritance and HIV Infection in Nyanza Province, Kenya" and serves as an advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development on policy and practice concerning introduction of male circumcision services in Zambia.

Jacob A. Brody, MD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, was noted by the Institute of Scientific Information as being among "the world's most cited authors?comprising less than one half of one percent of all publishing authors." The institute is affiliated with Current Contents, a widely used source of literature references. Dr. Brody's publications have focused on the epidemiologic aspects of gerontology and geriatrics, neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and a broad array of infectious diseases.

Noel Chávez, PhD, RD, LD, associate professor, Community Health Sciences Division, has been appointed as interim division director, following Thomas Prohaska, PhD, professor, who served as division director for five years. Dr. Chávez appeared on WGN-TV to discuss Latino diabetes prevention.

Susan J. Curry, PhD, professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, and director, Health Research and Policy Centers, is principal investigator on a major multi-year Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant in support of the Helping Young Smokers Quit Project. She was lead author of an article in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine on promising results from the trial of a smoking cessation program in a pediatric clinic setting. Dr. Curry was widely quoted in coverage of an Institute of Medicine report indicating that positive behavior changes could reduce cancer deaths significantly and was also quoted in Oncology Times on the positive impact behavioral interventions may have on cancer patients. Dr. Curry was lead editor of a book entitled Fulfilling the Potential of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection, published by the National Academy Press.

Faith G. Davis, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatisics Division, and Serap Erdal, PhD, assistant professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, were the recipients of an Award for Excellence in Epidemiology presented by the American Brain Tumor Association. Dr. Davis and Dr. Erdal were honored for their work in characterizing potential environmental and occupational exposures to humans from known animal neurocarcinogens. Although a number of compounds have been shown to cause brain cancer in animal models, epidemiological studies conducted in occupationally or environmentally exposed human populations have not demonstrated consistent associations between these chemical exposures and brain cancer. The underlying hypothesis of the UIC work is that the lack of associations in human investigations may reflect the use of inadequate exposure measurement tools. A comprehensive effort involving incorporation of chemical-specific exposure assessment information in epidemiological studies has so far been overlooked by the scientific community studying cancer, especially brain cancer, and efforts to develop such an assessment tool and remedy this scientific gap are now being piloted by these investigators. This innovative research effort by the UIC researchers was recognized at the Society of NeuroOncology Meeting in San Diego.

Dr. Davis, Peter Orris, MD, MPH, professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, Deborah Rosenberg, PhD, assistant professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, and Susan C. Scrimshaw, PhD, dean, participated in a news conference to discuss the importance of a report released by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (Illinois PIRG) indicating that disease cluster investigations are often delayed or deterred because most states-including Illinois-lack adequate tracking for chronic diseases. WBBM-Radio covered the story. Dr. Davis was the featured guest on WVON Radio with Dr. Terry Mason, host of "A Doctor in The House." She discussed UIC's National Cancer Institute-funded Kidney Cancer Study, the first major effort to examine racial disparities in kidney cancer, and the increasing incidence of the disease in African-Americans.

Bruce L. Douglas, DDS, MPH, adjunct clinical professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, was reappointed for a second year as senior scholar in residence at the Washington Business Group on Health, where he is working on a research project on prevention-oriented absence management, with a concentration on the aging workforce. The goal is to develop a "tool kit" for large employers to use in dealing with absence issues relating to their older workers.

David L. DuBois, PhD, associate professor, Community Health Sciences Division, was first author of an article on "Race and Gender Influences on Adjustment in Early Adolescence: Investigation of an Integrative Model" in Child Development.

Samuel S. Epstein, MD, professor emeritus, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, appeared on WTTW-TV's "Chicago Tonight" to discuss safety concerns related to irradiated foods.

Linda Forst, MD, MPH, associate professor, and Peter Orris, MD, MPH, professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division (EOHS), edited a volume on Ethics in the Workplace in State of the Art Reviews in Occupational Medicine. Dr. Forst gave a presentation on "Reducing Eye Injuries in Latino Farm Workers" at the Midwest Migrant Stream Forum. She joined Daniel Hryhorczuk, MD, MPH, professor, EOHS, and director, Great Lakes Centers (GLC) for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health, and Leslie Nickels, MEd, GLC executive director, in a brainstorming meeting convened by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the World Health Organization on how to teach occupational health internationally.

Stacie Geller, PhD, adjunct faculty member, Community Health Sciences Division, was interviewed on WTTW Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight" show in May on a study that indicated a connection between hormone replacement therapy and increased dementia in older women.

Paul Goldstein, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, initiated the Public Health and Corrections Program, based at the School of Public Health and offered in collaboration with the Great Cities Institute of the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs. The program includes master's and PhD level courses, and program participants work closely with the Chicago-based National Commission on Correctional Health Care, the Chicago Department of Public Health, and the Cook County Jail. Dr. Goldstein was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article on the impact of the end of the Supplemental Security Income program on drug addicts and alcoholics who depended on it for assistance in combating their dependencies.

Arden Handler, DrPH, professor, Community Health Sciences Division, was interviewed in an article in the Daily Herald on the need to make health care more accessible through offerings such as school-based clinics, particularly for those who lack adequate health coverage. Dr. Handler was also interviewed in Women's Health Weekly on findings she and co-author, Deborah Rosenberg, PhD, assistant professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, presented in an article on "Satisfaction and Use of Prenatal Care: Their Relationship among African-American Women in a Large Managed-Care Organization" in Birth.

Donald Hedeker, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, gave a presentation on "Location-Scale Models for Hierarchical Ordinal Data" at the International Biometric Society, Eastern North American Region meetings. Dr. Hedeker and his band, the Polkaholics, were featured in the Chicago Reader.

Ronald Hershow, MD, associate professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article on the increased sales of safety masks in the wake of the SARS outbreak, stating that the efficacy of masks in reducing contagion still remains to be determined. Dr. Hershow was the recipient of the University of Illinois at Chicago Excellence in Teaching Award. This is a campus-wide award and is the preeminent teaching recognition award offered by the university.

David Hinkamp, MD, MPH, co-director of the Health in the Arts (HARTS) program, was the recipient of a Jazz Discretionary Award presented by the Jazz Journalists' Association and the Jazz Institute of Chicago in recognition of his contributions through HARTS to providing medical care for musicians and other artists regardless of their ability to pay and to improving health conditions in all arts workplaces. The work of the HARTS program and a gala benefit held to support it at the Kingston Mines Blues Center were featured in an article in the Chicago Tribune.

Daniel Hryhorczuk, MD, MPH, professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and Epidemiology and Biostatistics Divisions, and director of the Great Lakes Centers for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health, was named as a fellow of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. The institute was founded in 1915 as a non-profit organization with the primary purpose of promoting "the study and advancement of medicine and allied sciences and their application to human needs."

Susan L. Hughes, DSW, professor, Community Health Sciences Division, and co-director of the Center for Research on Health and Aging, was named as the recipient of the Award for Leadership in Aging and Long Term Care by the Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Hughes was cited as having "designed and directed numerous randomized trials to test new models of multidisciplinary team care and service coordination to improve health outcomes for disabled older adults in the general population and in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system. She integrates creative health service models designed to maximize independence in older adults with scientifically rigorous evaluations to provide evidence about the promises and limitations of new ways to care for an aging population. She is one of a handful of researchers who have documented the impact of arthritis on the functional status of older adults and has been a leader in the area of health promotion through exercise in healthy and disabled older adults." The award was given in recognition of scientific contributions to the study of health and aging at the national level and was presented in November at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. Dr. Hughes was interviewed in May on WGN-TV Channel 9 on the Senior Health and Fitness Walk, co-sponsored by the Center for Research on Health and Aging, which brought out crowds of Chicago seniors for exercise and a walk along the lakefront. Dr. Hughes published an article on the "Impact of the Fit and Strong Intervention on Older Adults with Osteoarthritis" in The Gerontologist.

Linda M. Kaste, DDS, PhD, adjunct faculty member, Community Health Sciences Division, gave a presentation on "Community Academic Collaborations" at the Illinois Statewide Oral Health Conference, while Richard Warnecke, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, facilitated a plenary session panel on the "Illinois Partnership for Oral Cancer Prevention" and Gayle Byck, MPH '92, PhD '99, gave a presentation on "Safety Net Dental Clinics in Illinois." Dr. Kaste was elected to a three-year term with the Executive Council of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

Matta Kelley, one of the first outreach workers with the Community Outreach Intervention Projects and now the projects' quality assurance coordinator, was a 2002 recipient of the Janice Watkins Award presented by the University of Illinois at Chicago Support Staff Advisory Council. The award recognizes employees who show a willingness to go beyond their regular duties, with dedication and commitment not only to their jobs but to their communities.

Michele A. Kelley, ScD, MSW, MA, associate professor, Community Health Sciences Division, was quoted extensively in a Chicago Sun-Times article on the beneficial impact on community health that may result from a volunteer program run by college students from UIC and other schools to bring technology and training to underserved youth on the city's West Side.

Judith A. Levy, PhD, associate professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, Susan R. Levy, PhD, CHES, professor emerita, and Brian R. Flay, DPhil, professor, Community Health Sciences Division, were featured in a UIC NEWS article announcing "The Top of the List: 20 Researchers Awarded External Funding Totaling $1 Million or More." Their respective research focuses on the transmission of AIDS among high-risk populations, diabetes prevention and control in Latino families, and ways to change destructive behavior among disadvantaged urban adolescents.

Dr. Judith Levy was the co-editor of a book on Social Networks and Health, Advances in Medical Sociology Volume 8, Judith A. Levy and Bernice Pescosolido (eds.), Oxford Elsevier Science, 2002. Dr. Levy was an invited participant of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health at the Sino-U.S. Conference on Research and Training in AIDS-related Areas held in Beijing. As China expands its efforts to address the AIDS epidemic, the conduct of research has been identified as essential to the development of prevention and treatment strategies specific to the epidemic in China. The meeting was convened by the Chinese CDC and NIH to facilitate HIV-related research partnerships between Chinese and international investigators. Dr. Levy has been awarded a grant from the World AIDS Foundation to develop and deliver a training program in four cities of Indonesia aimed at reducing drug-related HIV transmission. Wayne Wiebel, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, who is on extended leave to work with Family Health International in Indonesia, will coordinate the program's training logistics and chair its steering committee formed by representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, USAID, and WHO. Trainers will include SPH alumna Lorna Thorpe, PhD, and Irwanto Irwanto, who competed a 2001 summer post-doctoral session at the School of Public Health through the UIC AIDS International Training in Research Program.

Dr. Levy was appointed to the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC). The council advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and the Director of OAR on AIDS research programs, the development and annual review of a comprehensive plan for the conduct and support of all AIDS activities of the agencies of NIH, including research policies and priorities, and the coordination of domestic and international NIH AIDS efforts.

John R. Lumpkin, MD, MPH, retired as director of the Illinois Department of Public Health as well as professor in the Health Policy and Administration Division to assume a position as the senior vice president and director for the Health Care Group for the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. Dr. Lumpkin presented the keynote address at the School of Public Health's 2003 Commencement.

Virginia Martinez, JD, director of the International Center for Health Leadership Development, gave a presentation from her perspective as a past recipient of the Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy and Latinos in Development Latino Community Donor Award on her evolution as a donor as part of a program on Comunidad: Investing in Our Communities.

Naomi M. Morris, MD, MPH, FAAP, FACM, professor, Community Health Sciences Division, and director of the Maternal and Child Health Program, was named as the recipient of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation's Jonas Salk Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is not an annual award and has been given only once previously since the inception of the Jonas Salk Health Leadership Awards by the Chicago Division of the March of Dimes. When bestowed, this honor is given only to an individual, group, or organization whose entire history of professional and community service excellence exemplifies the mission of the March of Dimes: ensuring the health of mothers and babies. Dr. Morris established the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health's Maternal and Child Health Program, which provides graduate leadership education for individuals pursuing careers in maternal and child health, in 1983 and has led its development so successfully that it has achieved federal support for each of the twenty years since its foundation. The award presentation noted: "Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Morris has been instrumental in starting, fostering, and sustaining a broad range of academic-community partnerships focused on meeting the health needs of mothers, children, and families. Her work in developing coalitions and consortiums to improve community health has set the standard for academic extensions into communities."

Ross M. Mullner, PhD, associate professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, published a monograph entitled From Yellow Fever to the AIDS Epidemic: A History of Infectious Diseases through the Mid-America Regional Public Health Leadership Institute in the School of Public Health's Center for Public Health Practice.

Babette J. Neuberger, JD, MPH, associate dean for academic affairs and assistant professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, was selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for a Fulbright award in Vietnam during the 2003-04 academic year. Individuals selected as Fulbright recipients are "leaders in the educational, political, economic, social and cultural lives of their countries ...[who]...help fulfill the principal purpose of the Fulbright Program: to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the 140 countries that participate in the Fulbright Program." Drawing on her professional education, prior experience with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and research and teaching in the fields of law, public health, and the environment, Dr. Neuberger is collaborating with Vietnamese scholars and governmental decision-makers who are working to adopt an environmentally precautionary economic development policy. She is also contributing to curriculum development at the Hanoi School of Public Health during her assignment in Vietnam.

S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, discussed the controversial boom in anti-aging medicine during an ABC Channel 7 special, "HealthBEAT: Turning Back the Clock?", was interviewed on ABC "World News Tonight" on the lengths to which people will go to stay young, and was quoted in the New York Times, the Salt Lake City Tribune, the Washington Post, USA Today, the New Jersey Star-Ledger, Business Week, HealthScout.com, and other publications during the course of the year. Dr. Olshansky presented the Second Annual Silver Fleece Awards to the most implausible anti-aging product and organization at the Joint Conference of the National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging. He was approved by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars for candidacy to the Fulbright Senior Specialists Roster, which provides expert consultants in response to requests from overseas academic institutions. He led a series consisting of documentary films and discussion sessions on topics in science, health, and the environment at the only Illinois site of an award-winning program touring the nation. Dr. Olshansky was first author of an article on Rising Life Expectancy: A Global History by James C. Riley and "A Biodemographic Interpretation of Lifespan" in Population and Development Review, and contributed sections on aging to the World Book Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Aging. He gave the Bernard Isaacs Memorial Lecture on "Is There a Biological Warranty Period for the Duration of Life?" in Jerusalem and gave presentations at the IUSSP Conference on Aging, the Biomedical Gerontology Conference in Cambridge, England, the President's Council on Bioethics, and the U.S. Social Security Administration, among others. Dr. Olshansky was quoted on the biological limits to the human lifespan in the November issue of Discover magazine and was also featured prominently in an article on "Unlocking the secrets to a long life" in the Seattle Times.

Peter Orris, MD, MPH, professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, and director of the Occupational Health Service Institute (OHSI), and colleagues were featured in a UIC News cover article on the free, confidential medical screenings the institute provided to persons who worked in the rescue, recovery, and clean-up after the World Trade Center attacks. Funded through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program serves Illinois, southeast Wisconsin, northern Indiana, and southwest Michigan. Dr. Orris was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article on the increased risk for premature mortality among adults with elevated blood levels of lead early in life. He presented lectures on "Privacy and Confidentiality" at the Ethics of Human Research Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, "Toxicity of Medical Waste" for the Kerala State Pollution Control Board in Thiruvananthapuram, India, at a state-level conference, and "Medical Waste Management" at the Sree Chitra Trunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, and a briefing to the U.S. Congress on chemical security. Dr. Orris served as an advisor to the World Health Organization for a workshop in preparation for a global medical waste project in New Delhi, India and as chair of the Public Health Committee of the Chicago Medical Society.

Lawrence Ouellet, PhD and Susan L. Bailey, PhD, associate professors, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, and students Bassmatte Boodram and Dita Davis provided consultation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on efforts to construct a new national behavioral surveillance system for HIV high-risk practices among injection drug users. Dr. Ouellet, Dr. Bailey, and Jaime Delgado, services director for the Community Outreach Intervention Projects, gave presentations on "HCV Infection in Young Urban and Suburban Injection Drug Users" and "Who Are the New Injection Drug Users?" at the 11th Annual HIV/STD Conference of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Dr. Ouellet and Dr. Bailey also participated in a wide range of presentations on substance use among young drug users and HIV and hepatitis C infection at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and on HIV and hepatitis C among young injection drug users at the National HIV Prevention Conference.

Douglas Passaro, MD, MPH, associate professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, was interviewed about the growing number of West Nile virus cases in Illinois on WLS-TV and on ABC-TV News on new findings about the transmission of SARS.

Nadine R. Peacock, PhD, associate professor, Community Health Sciences Division, was honored with the Golden Apple Award, presented each year by the Public Health Student Association in recognition of outstanding teaching and unusual service to students at the School of Public Health.

Victoria W. Persky, MD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, was named as a member of Governor Rod Blagojevich's twenty-six member transition team, the only physician and professional directly involved with health care to be named to the team. Dr. Persky serves on the team's Health Committee with Dean Susan C. Scrimshaw, and she also chairs the committee's Public Health Subcommittee, which is charged with developing policies relevant to public health throughout the state of Illinois. Also serving on the Public Health Subcommittee are Shaffdeen A. Amuwo, PhD, MPH, associate dean for community, government, and alumni affairs, Rosemary K. Sokas, MD, MOH, FACP, director, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, and Bernard J. Turnock, MD, MPH, professor, Community Health Sciences Division. Dr. Persky was interviewed on the growing incidence of asthma on WLS-TV and WBEZ-FM.

Karen E. Peters, DrPH, assistant professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, gave an invited presentation with Eric Henley, MD, MPH, co-director of the Rockford MPH Program, on "Roadmaps to Clinical Practice: The Role of Population-based Medicine" at the American Association of Medical Colleges-Central Region Group on Educational Affairs Meeting. She also co-presented with William Baldyga, DrPH, associate director of the Health Research and Policy Centers, on "Evidence-based Chronic Disease Prevention: A Seminar for Public Health Practitioners" at the Mid-American Public Health Leadership Institute Conference. Associated evidence-based public health materials were featured in Public Health Practice in Illinois.

Thomas R. Prohaska, PhD, professor, Community Health Sciences Division, participated in a media briefing in New York City on research he is conducting on the benefits of exercise for older adults and was quoted on his findings on ABC-TV News and in the Wall Street Journal and Greenwich Time.

Ronald Richards, PhD, professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, provided consultation to East Tennessee State University in March under a grant from the U.S. State Department to bring representatives of the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Kurdish Patriotic Union together in a rare meeting to determine how they could create health and education infrastructures in the rural areas of northeastern Iraq.

Deborah Rosenberg, PhD, assistant professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, and Kristin Rankin, epidemiologist, Research Data System Support, conducted a study demonstrating that some full-time workers, as well as less advantaged segments of the population, may lack adequate health care coverage. The study was described in a front-page article in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Susan C. Scrimshaw, PhD, dean, completed her tenure as chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) and was recognized for her national leadership in areas ranging from advocacy for diversity in the health professions, credentialing of the public health workforce, and legislation leading to historical increases in funding for schools of public health, to bringing the focus of the National Institutes of Health to bear on population-based prevention research, developing more effective partnerships with other leading public health organizations, and creating ASPH's virtual Health Disparities Research and Diversity Resource Center. Dr. Scrimshaw completed chairing the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences committee which produced the report Speaking of Health: Assessing Health Communication Strategies for Diverse Populations. She gave a presentation on the report at a National Press Club conference on "Unequal Treatment, One Year Later: Addressing Healthcare Disparities and Health Communications Needs of Minority Communities"; moderated a forum on the film The Pandemic: Facing AIDS at the Chicago segment of a nationwide preview before it ran on HBO; provided the keynote address on "Our Multicultural Society: Implications for Public Health Practice" at the Illinois Statewide Oral Health Conference; and served as co-panelist with U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona at a conference on "The Media and Health Research: Informing the Public." She chaired the Committee on Communicating Occupational Safety and Health Information to Spanish-speaking Workers of the National Research Council of the National Academies. The work of this group led to a national two-day workshop resulting in the publication of the workshop summary, Safety Is Seguridad, a guide to improving working conditions for Latinos and Hispanics. Findings from Dr. Scrimshaw's and colleagues' work on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Task Force on Community Preventive Services received extensive coverage in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Scrimshaw was interviewed on "NBC Nightly News" and by the Chicago Tribune on bioterrorism preparedness, was interviewed by Telemundo and the Chicago Defender on health issues highlighted during National Public Health Week, and was quoted extensively in the Chicago Tribune on the SARS threat. Dr. Scrimshaw was named as chair of the Diversity Committee of the Association of Schools of Public Health. The committee seeks ways to improve promotion of diversity among individuals entering the public health and health professions and of reducing health disparities among underserved populations.

Gary Slutkin, MD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, and director, Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, wrote a New York Times letter to the editor about the urgent need to fund AIDS prevention in Africa. Dr. Slutkin was also quoted extensively in the New York Times in an article focusing on the work of the Chicago Project and was featured along with staff members including Norman Kerr, director of the CeaseFire program, and Antonio Pickett in articles on their advances in reducing violence in some of Chicago's most troubled neighborhoods in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. Mayor Richard Daley joined Dr. Slutkin and CeaseFire leaders and members in inaugurating the launch of CeaseFire Week on May 31 at Bethel Lutheran Church. The CeaseFire program was the subject of a major, two-part series on November 13 and 14 entitled "Keeping the faith" and "Gaining ground" in which the Chicago Tribune focused on the partnerships and approaches that are contributing to the program's success.

Rosemary K. Sokas, MD, MOH, FACP, professor and director, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, School of Public Health, was the recipient of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Meritorious Service Award. Dr. Sokas received the award in recognition of over six years of service to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the F. Hebert School of Medicine as chairperson of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Advisory Committee serving that institution. During Dr. Sokas's tenure as chair of the committee, three residency program directors trained seven classes of Army, Navy, Air Force, U.S. Public Health Service, and Canadian Defense Force residents in occupational and environmental medicine. The program successfully completed two residency reviews, with full maximum five-year accreditation awarded each time. Dr. Sokas was quoted extensively in the May 29 Washington Post on concerns raised by the Bush administration's decision to drop a plan to require hospitals and other facilities to protect their workers against tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Dr. Sokas and Ronald Hershow, MD, associate professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, were interviewed on WMAQ-TV about SARS and the president's decision to give federal health officials authority to quarantine Americans sick with the disease.

Curtisteen Steward, associate dean for finance and resource planning, was honored by UIC's Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, along with Archbishop Francis George, the project's honorary chair, for continued commitment and service to the initiative to reduce violence in Chicago neighborhoods.

Daniel Swartzman, JD, MPH, associate professor, Health Policy and Administration Division, and associate dean for student affairs, was recognized by the UIC Council for Excellence in Teaching and Learning for his contributions to teaching and curriculum development at the School of Public Health. This is the second time Dr. Swartzman has been so honored.

Daniel M. Tessier, PhD, assistant professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, appeared on ABC-TV to discuss the efficacy of the city of Chicago's spraying for mosquitoes in an effort to control the spread of West Nile virus.

Bernard J. Turnock, MD, MPH, professor, Community Health Sciences Division, and director of the Illinois Public Health Preparedness Center, discussed the effectiveness of disaster drills such as TOPOFF2 on National Public Radio's "Science Friday" in May. At the 2003 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Dr. Turnock was the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Health Administration, presented by APHA's Health Administration Section in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to public health practice, teaching, writing, and workforce training."

Elijah Ward, PhD, research analyst/ethnographer, who is a postdoctoral fellow with the NIDA SAV training grant (principal investigator: Brian Flay, DPhil, professor, Community Health Sciences Division), was interviewed for a program on sexual health and aging aired in April by Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ). Dr. Ward reported on findings from the NIH-supported study, "AIDS Risk among Older Urban Adult Senior Housing Residents" (principal investigator for Chicago site: Judith A. Levy, PhD, associate professor, Health Policy and Administration Division) for which Dr. Ward serves as project ethnographer as part of his post-doctoral training. During the interview, he shared the study's key findings on patterns of intimacy, sexual practices, and risk behavior for HIV/AIDS among men and women age fifty and older residing in senior housing buildings in Chicago and Hartford, Connecticut.

Richard Warnecke, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, is the director of the new UIC Center for Population Health and Health Disparities. The recipient of major federal funding, the center is one of eight across the country that will investigate racial and ethnic disparities in health among women.

Youfa Wang, PhD, MD, adjunct assistant professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, published an article on "Is Obesity Associated with Early Sexual Maturation? A Comparison of the Association in American Boys versus Girls" in Pediatrics. News reports in the U.S. and England covered Dr. Wang's research in this area, and included articles in the Washington Post, Reuters, Associated Press, ABCNews.com, Health-News.co.uk, HealthScout News, and others. Dr. Wang also published articles on "The Dynamics of Childhood Obesity: Why Do Some Obese Children Remain Obese, But Others Do Not?" in Public Health Nutrition and "Tracking of Dietary Intake Patterns of Chinese from Childhood into Adolescence over a Six-Year Follow-up Period" in the Journal of Nutrition. He gave presentations on "Diet, Physical Activity, Childhood Obesity, and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease" at the XIIIth International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, "How to Apply for Federal Research Grants as a New Young Investigator" at the "Being Professors in the USA" Forum, "Central Obesity and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: New Evidence from Two Harvard Prospective Studies" at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, "The Global Obesity Epidemic" at the Beijing Medical University 90th Anniversary Seminar, and "The Obesity Epidemic and Nutrition Transition in Chicago and Other Countries" at the Hong Kong Nutrition Association. Dr. Wang serves as a member of the Expert Committee of the International Obesity Task Force Childhood Obesity Programme, charged with preparing a report for the World Health Organization. He is currently working with four Chicago public schools to develop a three-year childhood obesity intervention study, supported by the National Institutes of Health.

New Faculty

Hakan Demirtas, PhD, is an assistant professor of statistics in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division. Dr. Demirtas has completed his PhD in the Department of Statistics at The Pennsylvania State University, where his dissertation topic is "Multiple imputation for nonignorable dropout using Bayesian pattern-mixture models." He received his MBA with a concentration in economics from the University of South Alabama and his BS in electrical and electronics engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Demirtas has most recently served as a graduate research assistant with the Prevention Methodology Center and as a teaching assistant within the Department of Statistics at Penn State. His research interests include weighted estimating equations, multiple imputation, statistical computing, techniques for nonignorable missingness, analysis of incomplete multivariate data, analysis of longitudinal data, and MCMC methods.

Nurtan A. Esmen, PhD, is a professor in the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division with a joint appointment at the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy. Dr. Esmen received his PhD and MSc in chemical and air engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and his BSc in engineering from Northeastern University. Before coming to the School of Public Health, he served as professor and chairman of occupational and environmental health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, College of Public Health, as senior partner and principal scientist of Esmen Research & Engineering, and as professor of industrial hygiene engineering and director of the Industrial Hygiene Program at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Dr. Esmen's research interests include the application of engineering principles and mathematics to occupational and environmental health problems with special emphases on aerosol physics, exposure estimation and characterization, and theory of decision-making in environmental health sciences. He has taught, presented papers, and published widely in these areas.

Leslie T. Stayner, PhD, has been appointed as director of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division. Dr. Stayner received his PhD in epidemiology with a formal minor in biostatistics from the University of North Carolina, his MSc in epidemiology and occupational health and safety from the Harvard School of Public Health, and his BA in biology from the University of Massachusetts. Before joining the School of Public Health, he worked for over twenty years with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), most recently as chief of the Risk Evaluation Branch. He has also worked in the past year as a visiting scientist with the International Agency for Research on Cancer in the agency's Cancer Identification and Evaluation Unit in Lyon, France. He has published extensively on a wide range of issues including cancer risk and occupational exposure to ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, asbestos, silica, cadmium, 1,3-butadiene, methylene chloride, and tobacco smoke. Dr. Stayner's research interests include occupational, environmental, and chronic disease epidemiology, epidemiologic methods, and risk assessment.

Transition

Edwin H. Chen, PhD, professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, retired after serving the School of Public Health since September 1972 when he established the biostatistics program with Paul S. Levy, ScD. Dr. Chen directed the Statistical Coordinating Center for the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease funded by the National Institutes of Health from 1977 to 1983, subsequently serving as co-principal investigator for Dr. Levy from 1983 to1985. He was the School of Public Health's founding faculty secretary and served in that capacity for approximately twenty years. Dr. Chen volunteered extensively in organizing cancer prevention projects solicited or funded by the National Cancer Institute. Projects included Avoidable Mortality from Cancers in Black Populations and a similar initiative for Native Americans, and Developmental Research in Cancer Control among Asian Americans. He taught the first biostatistics course to make extensive use of birth weight data to demonstrate how birth weight is affected by maternal smoking. SPH students presented Dr. Chen the Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching in 1985 and 2001. He will continue teaching several courses at the school in the near future after his retirement. Dr. Chen will also develop a web-based course for Introduction to Statistical Computing and will write one or two monographs.

In Memoriam

Viron L. Diefenbach, DDS, MPH, April 28, 2003
Dr. Diefenbach served the School of Public Health as a professor in the Health Resources Management Division, as associate dean from 1977 to 1978, and as its second dean from 1978 to 1983. While holding leadership positions in the oral health field, including assistant U.S. surgeon general and assistant executive director of the American Dental Association, Dr. Diefenbach was a career-long advocate of the essential role of dentistry in the field of public health. He conducted some of the early studies that helped establish water fluoridation as an important public health intervention. He promoted studies into more efficient ways for dentists to deliver care that have been widely adopted in modern group practices. Dr. Diefenbach's tenure as dean of the School of Public Health was particularly marked by his dedication and commitment to providing the best available education, support, and resources to the students he both led and served. In keeping with this legacy, members of Dr. Diefenbach's family and friends have established the Viron L. Diefenbach Public Health Scholarship Fund to provide support for students in the Health Policy and Administration Division. A student lounge located in the division was also named in his honor. A tribute to Dr. Diefenbach was held at the school on September 30, 2003.

Robert J. Rydman, PhD, July 15, 2003
Dr. Rydman, an associate professor within the Health Policy and Administration Division, was one of the leading researchers on the impact of heat-related deaths resulting from the 1995 Chicago heat wave. His research also focused on bioterrorism and various aspects of health services, including cost, access, and quality of medical care and mental health services. Dr. Rydman studied at Northern Illinois University, where he received a BS in 1972, an MS in 1974 and an MPA in 1978. He earned his PhD in epidemiology from the UIC School of Public Health in 1986. He began his career at UIC in 1983 and held a range of faculty appointments during the past two decades, most recently in the Health Policy and Administration Division at the School of Public Health. He also served as co-director of the Research Division in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Cook County Hospital/Rush University Medical College. Throughout his career, Dr. Rydman served on national and local boards and committees and was a member of several professional societies, including the American Public Health Association and Association of Health Services Research. He was the author of more than fifty published scientific articles.