SMPH Intranet
For the School of Medicine and Public Health Community

In the Know Quick Links – Week of February 1, 2021

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Timely information to help build community within SMPH:

Resources for everyone

  • Vaccination updates from UW–Madison and UW Health: On Jan. 19, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced that individuals age 65 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, starting as soon as Jan. 25, 2021.
  • Safer Badgers/COVID-19 Testing updates:
    • Important reminder: Enforcement of Badger Badge restrictions related to university building access begins Wednesday, Feb. 10. As of that date, your Badger Badge must be green (access granted) to enter a campus facility. Get tested ASAP to be ready for Feb. 10.
    • Please review the recent message to employees. It also includes information on vaccines and frequently asked questions about testing. A wealth of FAQs can also be found here.
    • Those with instructional or mentoring responsibilities may review the recent message to graduate and professional students and undergraduates. In addition, messages were sent today to supervisors and to instructors teaching in-person or hybrid group enrollment sections this spring, in preparation for Feb. 10.
    • Reminder: The Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC) testing site is temporarily closed in order to modify the site’s configuration. Nielsen Tennis Stadium site or any other site can be used during the closure. The HSLC site is scheduled to reopen Feb. 15.
    • Loaner phones are available from campus for individuals to access the Safer Badgers app if they do not have a smart phone or their phone does not allow them to download it.
  • Safer Badgers app:
    • In addition to the iOS version released previously, the Android version of the Safer Badgers app is now available in the Google Play store.
    • If you installed the beta version of the Android app, you must follow these instructions, or you will lose any negative test results obtained through the app and your badge will reset to “building access denied” until you record another negative test.
  • How to test successfully: 1) hydrate early in the day, and rinse your mouth with water 1 h before testing; 2) in the 60 min prior to your test, no liquids, food, gum, toothpaste, smoking, etc. (NPO in clinical terms); 3) “pool the drool” under your tongue as you approach the test site. A 1-min video demonstration is available.
  • University Health Services is seeking additional staff for test sites. With supervisor approval, employees can dedicate some of their paid working hours as voluntary COVID-19 Health Technicians.
  • New UW–Madison workplace safety training for spring semester: All employees are expected to complete the COVID-19 Spring Semester Training, available at hr.wisc.edu/covid19/workplace-training. This training covers guidelines and expectations for UW–Madison employees in the workplace and for visitors to campus. Most people will be able to complete the training in 10 minutes or less. Please note that all SMPH employees currently working onsite are expected to complete the training no later than Feb. 19. Any SMPH employee approved to return to work onsite should complete it during the preparation process. If you previously completed the fall semester version of the training, please take this new version, as it covers updated information for spring.
  • Payroll schedule and benefits deductions changes coming in 2021: Beginning in April, employees who are currently paid biweekly will have most deductions for benefits split evenly over the first two biweekly paychecks each month. Beginning in July, employees who are paid monthly will be moved to a biweekly pay schedule. See more information here, including about upcoming town halls on these topics.
  • Visits for two leadership searches are currently underway: Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Visit the leadership search candidate visit page for details. Recordings will be available on that page for those who cannot attend. Passwords are “Neuroscience2021” and “MedMicroImm2021” for their respective searches.
  • The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is now accepting abstracts for the 2021 Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Disorders Research Day poster session. Poster abstracts are due Wednesday, Feb. 10, and must be submitted online. The event will be on March 17-18.
  • The next Global Health Tuesday webinar titled “What’s Next For COVID-19?” will be offered by the UW–Madison Global Health Institute on Feb. 23. Join the institute’s director Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH; Professor of Pathobiological Sciences Kristen Bernard, PhD, MS, DVM; and Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences Ajay Sethi, PhD, MHS, in a discussion about lessons learned from COVID-19 and preparing for the next pandemic. Read more and register
  • Call for abstracts for the annual Global Health Symposium (on April 14). “Fostering Resilience Through Indigenous Wisdom & Scientific Knowledge,” which is co-sponsored by the Native American Center for Health Professions, will bring together a diverse set of speakers, and they hope the UW and community faculty, staff, clinicians and students will submit virtual poster presentations. New this year: A student (undergraduate, graduate, professional) poster contest with $500 scholarship prizes. Deadline for submitting an abstract: Feb. 15. Read more
  • Midpoint employee performance conversations (for the time period of July 1, 2020-Dec. 31, 2020) should be completed no later than Feb. 19, 2021. Midpoint conversations are for all full- and part-time (non-faculty) academic and university staff and limited appointees who are not within their evaluative (probationary) period. See PDMP resources for more information.
  • Applications are now being accepted for the Spring 2021 Academic Staff Professional Development Grant program. Proposals must be submitted electronically to department chair/unit head by March 19. See the program’s website for eligibility requirements and also details about two virtual information sessions that will be held on February 3 and 9.
  • Professional development opportunities: Several  upcoming continuing education opportunities are available through UW–Madison Office of Human  Resources.

Resources for researchers

  • The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education has launched a new funding effort called Promoting Industry Collaboration to facilitate university research partnerships and graduate student internships in collaboration with the private sector. A cover sheet with a 300-word abstract is due March 5 for all proposals.
  • Research Funding Opportunity — American Family Funding Initiative: The American Family Funding Initiative offers grants of $75-150K to stimulate and support cutting-edge, highly innovative, and groundbreaking research in the rapidly growing field of data science. American Family Insurance has partnered with UW–Madison through the American Family Insurance Data Science Institute (AFIDSI) to provide this research funding opportunity. All UW–Madison faculty and staff with PI status are eligible to apply. Additional details are available here. The application deadline is March 17, 2021.
  • Request for Proposals — Approximately $600,000 available SEED funding: Discovery to Product and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education are seeking proposals for grants through the State Economic Engagement and Development research program. SEED grants allow faculty and academic staff with ownership in a Wisconsin company to engage in innovative research, generate additional private and public sector support for their research programs, and promote technology transfer between the university and industry. Deadline: Feb. 15, 2021. Learn more
  • UW-Madison’s virtual 2021 Data Science Research Bazaar will occur throughout February on the theme Data Science for the Social Good. Read more
  • The next CHI2 Informatics Seminar on Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. to noon titled “Access All of Us Research Program Data” will feature Dorothy Farrar-Edwards, PhD, professor of kinesiology and medicine and All of Us co-PI and Kelsey Mayo, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read more and download a flyer, and register. Bonus: check out news of the All of Us program returning its first genetic results to participants.

Resources for medical educators and clinicians

  • Save the Date: SMPH Medical Education Day will occur on May 27, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. as a virtual event featuring keynote speaker Cynthia Nebel, PhD, of Vanderbilt University. The event is open to all SMPH faculty and staff and will feature professional development opportunities, engaging workshops and oral presentation sessions that highlight education initiatives and innovation. Registration and agenda will be announced in mid-April. Read more
    • All faculty and staff are invited to submit proposals for Medical Education Day Oral Presentations. These will be brief 10-minute, virtual TED-style talks that highlight medical education research, initiatives, or innovations. Oral Presentations will occur during breakout sessions at Medical Education Day. Submissions are due by March 10, 2021. See here for more details and to submit a proposal.
    • Call for Dean’s Teaching Award Nominations: 
      Nominations are being accepted through March 1 for the 2021 Dean’s Teaching Awards, to be presented at Medical Education Day. These peer-selected awards were established to honor outstanding contributions in student education in medical school programs. Any individual having a significant impact on the education of medical, graduate, professional, or undergraduate students in SMPH programs is eligible for nomination, except for previous recipients. Nominees should have a minimum of three years of teaching or educational experience. More information and the nomination form can be found at http://www.med.wisc.edu/mededday
  • Registration is open for the Wisconsin Contraceptive Care Summit, coming up March 5. Join an inclusive group of health care and community experts to learn about the latest evidence-based strategies in contraceptive care and patient-centered contraceptive counseling, all centered in the principles of reproductive justice. This activity is intended for individuals working in health care, public health, community, policy, research, advocacy, and educational settings.

Upcoming Events: Anti-Racism and/or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

  • SMPH Spring 2021 Initiative: Advance Health by Acting Against Racism. A new webpage for this initiative serves as the one-stop-shop for our anti-racism events this spring, as well as others on campus and resources for further learning.
  • Save the date for the SMPH Diversity Summit on April 20 from 4-6:30 p.m. The virtual event will feature keynote speaker Elena V. Rios, MD, MSPH, FACP, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association and President of the National Hispanic Health Foundation. Registration is now open and all are encouraged to submit a question for the Q&A discussion. The event is co-sponsored by SMPH and UW Health and part of the SMPH Spring 2021 Initiative: Advance Health by Acting Against Racism.
  • The Building Community/Ebling Library Book & Film Club will offer a discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents on Thursday, Feb. 25 at noon. To register for this discussion and to get access to an electronic version of the book, please visit the Book Club website. Note: the author of this book was featured at the recent MLK Symposium, which will be re-broadcast on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. as part of UW–Madison’s Black History Month events.
  • SMPH presented a Martin Luther King, Jr. event on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. featuring a talk and Q&A with Tito Izard, MD, President and CEO of Milwaukee Health Services Inc., an independent not-for-profit Federally Qualified Health Center. Watch the recording
  • The Boston University School of Medicine is hosting a series of virtual events Feb. 8-12 to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, who in 1864 became the first Black American woman to earn a degree in medicine. The series will feature prominent Black women leaders from throughout academic medicine speaking on topics that include “Building a Different Future,” “COVID and the Black Community,” and “What is Possible: Stories From Trailblazing Healthcare Leaders.” CME credit is available for some sessions. Learn more
  • Native American Center for Health Professions Distinguished Lecture series: The first talk in this spring 2021 series will occur on Feb. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a presentation titled “Menominee’s Journey to a Culture of Health” by Jerry Waukau Sr., Tribal Health Administrator, Menominee Nation, and Wendell Waukau, MA, ES, Superintendent for Menominee Indian School District. Download a flyer (PDF) and RSVP
  • A lecture on unconscious bias in medicine titled, “Who, Me Biased? The Reality and the Solutions to Unconscious Bias in Medicine,” will be held on March 9, 2021 from noon-1:00 p.m. with Narjust Duma, MD, assistant professor (CHS), Department of Medicine. Dr. Duma’s research is focused on understanding the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in medicine, improving the diversity of our medical workforce and the effects of unconscious bias in medicine and medical education. This lecture is hosted by the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute and The Alliance of Women Alzheimer’s Researchers in Wisconsin. Register