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For the School of Medicine and Public Health Community

In the Know: SMPH Updates for October 23, 2020

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Top news

  • Vaccine trial resumes at UW: AstraZeneca announced that the COVID-19 vaccine trial has resumed in the United States — including at UW Health and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health — after the FDA and an independent safety review board completed their review of an illness contracted by a trial participant in the United Kingdom. Learn more
  • A student-organized campus blood drive next week is aimed at gathering plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 for use in treating patients who are severely ill. The Badgers Give Back Blood Drive is scheduled for October 27-29 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Nick, 797 W. Dayton Street. 
  • Monday is the Hot Topics in Public Health Symposium on “Gun Violence Prevention as a Public Health Priority.” We will highlight each panelist throughout this week. Experts for the October 26 virtual event at 4-5 p.m. include Alvin Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor and clinical psychologist with the School of Human Ecology, and Ashley Van Egtern, Assistant Administrator of Hunter Education with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 

Building an Anti-Racist SMPH

  • To root out systemic racism, academic medical institutions need to focus on adequate representation, increased power and influence, and the transfer of institutional wealth and resources, according to MedPage Today coverage of a perspective published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Such engagement entails rooting out problematic behaviors and norms, challenging discriminatory policies, and dismantling racist power structures and institutions,” wrote prospective lead author Hisham Yousif, MD, a clinical instructor at Mount Sinai Hospital.

 

Shout-outs:

Please send kudos about your colleagues. Honor someone at go.wisc.edu/shoutout and we’ll share the stories. Submit your thoughts and we’ll share them in a future issue.

“A sincere thanks to the talented and dedicated people in the UW Prior Authorization Department. This week at our Allergy Section meeting we were given presentations by Stephanie, Gina, Jessica, Ashley, and Kim about what they do to get our patients the medications they need, and I came away in awe of their knowledge of how to get medications approved and the hoops they have to jump through “behind the scenes” to get insurance companies to cover medications. We doctors and nurses are indebted to their dedication and expertise. Our Allergy section is grateful for all their hard work. Again, a heartfelt thank you!!!” ­­­– Tom Puchner MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine

“I approached Ebling Library director Chris Hooper-Lane on a Wednesday morning with a daunting research project. I needed dozens of articles and other obscure materials, and on a tight timeline. My hope was that I would have the needed materials within a week or two. Chris took this on willingly and through his expertise was able to gather all of the materials I needed in just a few hours, all organized beyond my wildest dreams. I could not be more grateful for Chris’ skill, experience, and willingness to help in a crunch.” ­­­– Tricia Kvitrud, JD, Senior University Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Affairs

“I just wanted to take a moment to recognize all of the hard work and contributions of Mallory Musolf as the Associate Director of the Office of Training Grant Support. She is an incredible resource and her wealth of institutional knowledge is invaluable. She demonstrates attention to detail and thoughtfulness in her approach to all projects. More importantly she is welcoming and approachable. The service provided by this office under her leadership has created improved efficiencies in training grant administration. I cannot express my gratitude enough for all of her assistance. She is simply remarkable!” ­­­– Sarah Paveo, Associate Administration