CPH Newsletter
CPH Newsletter Winter 2020
Message from the Dean
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! The new year and new semester mark the beginning of an exciting chapter at the College of Public Health. In 2020, we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the college. This fall, we will bring together the many individuals, organizations, faculty, alumni and students that have made our first 10 years possible to celebrate this important milestone. Please save the date for Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, to reflect on our accomplishments and celebrate the bright future of our college with our friends and supporters. I will provide more details with you this spring.
I am pleased to share that the College of Public Health continues to grow. This academic year, the college welcomed nearly 120 new, first-time, full-time freshmen students, while undergraduate enrollment continues to increase. The college welcomed 69 new BSPH graduates and 29 MPH graduates to its alumni ranks. The college has awarded degrees to 1,628 individuals to date!
On a daily basis, I am impressed with the passion and engagement of our students, faculty alumni and staff. Your efforts are making an impact on the future of the public health profession. I want to personally thank all those who contributed to this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign. Xxx gifts totaling $xxx made to the Public Health Service Learning fund will support continued student-led outreach into our community. Special thanks to faculty member Cindy Widuck for her matching gift to this fund. Overall, the campaign raised $xx for Service Learning and $1.x million for the university.
On behalf of those we serve, thank you for your ongoing commitment to the College of Public Health. Your service and generosity makes our mission possible.
Yours in good health,
Sonia Alemagno
Dean, College of Public Health
Dr. Kenne Awarded Tri-County Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Deric Kenne, associate professor, and his team on receiving a 5-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The $1.5 million project, titled the Northeast Ohio Tri-County Prevention Infrastructure, is an effort that will work to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of alcohol and other drug use in individuals nine to 20 years of age in Geauga, Lake and Portage counties. The project is a collaboration between Dr. Kenne’s Division of Mental Health and Substance Use in the College’s Center for Public Policy & Health and Dr. Ruoming Jin in the Department of Computer Science. The collaborative effort will develop a “Big Data” system to predict substance use trends and related issues with high accuracy using natural language processing models and machine learning. The project also partners with the ADAMHS Boards and Health Departments in each county and with Ohio’s Prevention Action Alliance to utilize the Big Data system to plan and implement substance abuse prevention activities.
KSU Receives Mental Health Literacy Award
Kent State University has been awarded the Campus Leader in Mental Health Literacy Award by Dr. Kenne Kognito for its outstanding leadership as an institution that has worked tirelessly to support student mental health during the 2018-2019 academic year. According to the American College Health Association, 39 percent of college students nationwide felt so depressed it was difficult to function at least once during the school year. In response to this and health concerns about the rise in prevalence of stress and anxiety, many colleges and universities are proactively training faculty, staff and students on how to support at-risk students and motivate them to seek on-campus treatment services. During the 2018-2019 school year, Kent State University used Kognito's conversation simulation called At-Risk to improve the ability of faculty and staff to approach and assist students in psychological distress. More than 450 students, faculty and staff have been trained with Kognito between October 2018 and September 2019. The 2019 Kognito Education Awards acknowledge the work of schools and individuals across higher education and K-12 who have demonstrated unwavering commitment to supporting student mental health. Kent State University's award is among seven awards given in higher education that acknowledge best practices in the 2018-2019 school year.“We are so proud of Kent State University for their dedication and hard work to engage an exceptional number of people in mental health training,” said Brian Nido, director of client success at Kognito. “As we honor their efforts to impact their campus community, we hope that other schools can learn from their example and think about how they too can implement Kognito training on campus. Together we share the same goal, to continue to grow the reach of faculty, staff and students who feel confident and prepared to have conversations about mental health.” Kognito is a health simulation company whose evidence-based simulations harness the power of role-play conversations with virtual humans to improve social, emotional and physical health. Learn more at https://www.kent.edu/mhsu/kognito-facultystaff
KSU College of Public Health at the American Public Health Association annual meeting and expo
Congratulations, Kristina Knight
Social and Behavioral Sciences Assistant Professor, Christina Knight, was presented the 2019 Community Services award at the recent APHA conference in Philadelphia. Christina became a member of the American Public Health Association in 2001 and simultaneously joined its oldest caucus, the Black Caucus of Health Workers. The members of this caucus have been leading the fight against inequities for more than 50 years, not just in our communities but also at the national level. “My work in the community has been modeled after many of the practices for which they’ve tirelessly advocated. I am incredibly grateful to have received their 2019 Community Service Award,” said Christina.
Approximately 43 alumni, faculty and students presented research and had leadership duties at the APHA annual meeting, themed “Creating the Healthiest Nation: For science. For action. For Health. About 20 people shared a meal at the College of Public Health dinner held at a local Philadelphia restaurant.
CPH APHA representatives:
- Sarah Adkins
- Obianuju Aguolu
- Mutlaq Albugmi
- Sonia Alemagno
- Grace Battaglia-Hoffman
- Lauren Birmingham
- Sheryl Chatfield
- Vinay K. Cheruvu
- Edward Chiyaka
- Marie-Christine Fishman
- Kristen DeBois
- Jared Durieux
- Ndidi Edeh-Larberg
- Shelly Evans
- Chelsea Furda
- Lusine Gigoyan
- Kaitlin Grant
- Jeff Hallam
- John Hoornbeek
- P'Ashe Jones
- Dennis Kirimi
- Chelsey Kirkland
- Kristina Knight
- Bethany Lanese
- Meghan Lee
- Jessica Lockhart
- Cedric Mubikayi Kabasele
- Suparna Navale
- Rachael Nolan
- Bria Oden
- Diana Patel
- Lynette Phillips
- Tracy Schlemmer
- Lavisha Singh
- Tara C. Smith
- Ankita Tendolkar
- Ryan Tingler
- Laurel Tomi
Dr. Brewer awarded The Podiatry Foundation Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Tom Brewer, associate professor of Health Policy and Management, for receiving a $59,820 grant to conduct a nationwide review of Medicaid statutes related to state reimbursement for podiatry services. The project, entitled "Medicaid Coverage for Podiatric Care: National Survey," was funded by The Podiatry Foundation whose mission is to promote and foster podiatric medical education and research.
Welcome, Tracy Schlemmer
We welcome Kent State alumna, Tracy Schlemmer, ’93, to the College of Public Health as our external relations officer! Tracy’s background is in healthcare, public relations, volunteer services and foundation work. Some of her priorities are advancing scholarships and university partnerships, as well as special projects, including planning the 10-year anniversary of the college. A fun fact about Tracy is that she recently took up golf and played on a summer league. To talk about ways to give back to the College of Public Health, please contact Tracy at tschlemm@kent.edu or 330.672.6512.
Community Health Worker Certificate Program
Cindy Widuck, lecturer in the College of Public Health, is working to create a Community Health Worker Certificate Program. The Community Health Worker Certificate Program will prepare students to become a certified community health worker through the Ohio Board of Nursing. The certificate is expected to be a three-credit hour traditional face-to-face course offered starting spring 2020. The certificate will also require a three-credit hour internship. The college has partnered with AxessPointe in Kent as an internship site and plans to add additional internship locations in Barberton and Akron. Currently, the certificate is only offered to College of Public Health students, faculty and staff. It is expected that the program will be fully operational and available to all KSU students and others by fall 2020. The program is in collaboration with the College of Education, Health and Human Services, Office of Career Exploration and Development, College of Business Administration, AxessPointe, Coleman Pregnancy Center and Kent City Health Department. The program has been approved by the Ohio Board of Nursing. Through instruction and real-life experiences, students will gain valuable knowledge and skills, while actively helping communities.
Dr. Brewer in Geneva
In May of 2019, Dr. Thomas Brewer and Dr. Madhav Bhatta led 26 students to Geneva, Switzerland for the World Health Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters. Students met Dr. Manoj Kurian, a Malaysian medical doctor trained in Community Health and Health Systems Management, who is affiliated with the World Council of Churches. Dr. Kurian arranged for students to meet with speakers in various health fields throughout the week in Geneva. Students also took day trips to Annecy and Chamonix, France, and ascended to the top of Mount Blanc, the tallest mountain in western Europe. Students had the opportunity to hear Ministers of Health from across the globe speak about important public health problems and solutions to those problems. The 2020 study abroad experience in Geneva is scheduled to take place May 16-30. https://www.kent.edu/publichealth/geneva
Dr. Woolverton in Italy and Indonesia
This year, Dr. Christopher Woolverton from the College of Public Health and Dr. Pam Stephenson from the College of Nursing, accompanied 20 students to the Florence Health Institute for a month-long study abroad experience. Students took a public health microbiology course, “Plagues that Shaped the World” and a nursing course, “Comparative Healthcare Systems” that compared Italian and U.S. healthcare models. There were eight field trips including the vaccine institute, public and private hospitals and the anatomical wax museum. Participants traveled to both Florence and Sienna, Italy. https://www.kent.edu/globaleducation/florencehealth2019.
Dr. Woolverton also spent part of his summer in Indonesia providing three weeks of biosafety, biosecurity and biorisk management training to physicians, nurses and laboratory staff at three Indonesian hospitals. Woolverton was part of a team organized by the Washington, DC-based, Health Security Partners, supporting the Indonesian Surgeon General’s initiative of a five-year collaboration with the United States to improve Indonesia’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to natural or intentional disease outbreaks. The team trained on-site at the Dr. Soebroto Hospital in Jakarta, the Dr. Hardjolukito Hospital in Jogjakartaand the Dr. Ramelan Hospital in Surabaya during July and August 2019. Risk-based safety, security and biorisk management were taught using case study analyses and tabletop exercises. These were combined with hands-on training teaching risk-based use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene and spill containment. Pre and post-training assessments demonstrated marked increases in learning of the content.
Run the World 5K Scholarship Winner – Jordan Smith
Jordan Smith, a non-traditional first-year public health student in the Bachelor of Science in Pre-Medicine program, participated in the Run the World 5K. The 5K race is an annual event that raises money for scholarships for study abroad trips. This year Jordan signed up two days before the race and ran with more than 300 participants. Five students are selected at random to receive one of the $1,000 scholarships. Jordan plans to use the scholarship to study for a full semester in Florence. Jordan believes that studying abroad is an opportunity to experience a different culture, learn through academic coursework and grow personally (and eat lots of good food). The College of Public Health was a proud sponsor of this race.
Rapid Focus Group Study Provides Input for Preparedness Planning in Ohio Health Departments
Each year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awards more than $10 million to local health departments in Ohio for public health emergency preparedness and response. A team of faculty and students in the College of Public Health was recently called upon to help local public health preparedness leaders tasked with developing recommendations for CDC-funded preparedness activities in the years ahead. Dr. Sheryl Chatfield and doctoral students Kristen DeBois, Jared Durieux and Shelly Evans, working with state-local preparedness liaison Matthew Stefanak, who also serves as one of the college's public health ambassadors, hosted a series of remote focus group interviews with health commissioners and regional public health coordinators from across the state. Several themes emerged from the team's analysis of nearly four hours of interviews with more than 20 participants, including the need for more quality improvement efforts in public health emergency exercise planning, quicker reimbursement of health departments by the state and better tools for managing the timely delivery of complex requirements for reimbursement. The team's report and recommendations have been submitted to state health department officials responsible for developing Ohio's public health emergency preparedness plan for 2019-2024 and many of the team's recommendations were subsequently accepted by the director of ODH for implementation.
Homecoming Recap
The College of Public Health participated in the 2019 Homecoming Parade on Sept. 21 with the theme “Creating a healthier nation in one generation.” CPH faculty, staff, and members of the Public Health Student Alliance walked in the parade to promote public health. Following the parade, a brunch reception was held in Moulton Hall for participants and alumni.
Bahamian Hygiene Drive – P’Ashe Jones
P’Ashe Jones is a second-year epidemiology doctoral student from the Bahamas who plans to return to her home in the Bahamas and work for either the Ministry of Health or another government agency such as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). P’Ashe’s family members, who live in the Bahamas, were not directly affected by hurricane Dorian that hit the country in August. However, after she saw the terrible videos and images of the destruction of two of the islands and of the people who were left with nothing, she felt a need to help her Bahamian people. As a public health student, she knew there would be a risk of increased infectious disease and a need for hygiene products. As a result, P’Ashe led a university-wide hygiene drive. She was able to collect 7,447 items in just 20 days and ship the items to the affected islands. P’Ashe is thankful to every individual who donated. She is especially thankful to Dean Alemagno, Ankita Tendolkar, Chelsey Kirkland, Sarah Adkins, Christine Fishman, Katrina Darst and Lexie Jones for their help. Financial donations are still being accepted through the HeadKnowles Foundation, a non-governmental organization where 100 percent of proceeds go toward providing items and rescue for people affected by hurricanes.
Student Research/Accomplishments:
Brook Blakey is a graduate of the BSPH concentration in Clinical Trials Research. She did her internship with Dr. Monique Washington at the Louis Stokes Veteran’s Administration Hospital in the Spinal Cord Injury Department. Brook and the team presented their research, “Health Care for Women with SCI/D: Updates in Preventative Care Guidelines, Barriers and Interventions” at the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) 9th Annual Healthcare Summit + Expo, Aug. 15 - 17, 2019 in Orlando, FL.
Obianuju Genevieve Aguolu, PHD, MBBS, MPH is now in a postdoc position with the Omer Research Group at Yale University (Internal Medicine - Infectious Diseases).
Save the date:
“Population Health” Lunch and Learn presentation by Nazleen Bharmal, MD, PhD, and Nirav Vakharia, MD of the Cleveland Clinic
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Noon – 1 p.m.
Moulton Hall Ballroom
Lunch will be provided
Alumni Giving Back
Special thanks to Alexander Evans and Laurie Ann Moennich who returned to Kent State Honors College in November to participate in the Career Conversations program. In September, Shelby Barnes, Jenna Brinker, Alexander Evans, Alex Hoopes and Diana Kingsbury participated in mock interviews with CPH students as part of our Careers in Health and Wellness Week at KSU.
If you are an alumnus and are interested in volunteering with current CPH students, contact Shelby Barnes, CPH alumni president, at sbarne12@kent.edu. Be sure to follow CPH Alumni on LinkedIn and Facebook for alumni news and events.