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For the School of Medicine and Public Health Community

In the Know: SMPH Updates for February 3, 2021 

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Top news: 

  • Safer Badgers/COVID-19 Testing updates: 
    • Important update: Enforcement of Badger Badge restrictions related to university building access has been delayed from Monday, Feb. 8 to Wednesday, Feb. 10. As of that date, your Badger Badge must be green (access granted) to enter a campus facility. Consider getting tested soon to be ready for Feb. 10.
    • Please review today’s 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 today’s message to graduate and professional students and undergraduates.
    • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Abstracts in original adult and pediatric emergency care research for the 29th annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum are due Friday, Feb. 5. The event is on April 8. Learn more
  • Research and funding updates: 
    • UW–Madison has retained its top 10 national research ranking in the National Science Foundation’s 2019 fiscal year Higher Education Research and Development Survey.
    • 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.
  • Celebrating National Women Physicians Day: Read an article from UW Health that thanks our remarkable female physicians and delves into the history of this day.

Building an Anti-Racist SMPH 

  • Fund Black Scientists: That is the title of a recent commentary published in Cell by Kristyn Masters, professor of biomedical engineering and affiliate of the Department of Medicine, and more than a dozen other female faculty from across the country that calls upon the National Institutes of Health to address documented disparities in the agency’s funding of Black researchers. Read the paper and an article from the College of Engineering. They encourage others to amplify their message on social media using #fundblackscientists.  

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.

“On January 28 and 29, the Department of Medical Physics held its annual Open House for PhD applicants. This event was held virtually with 42 attendees who want to join our PhD program. It went off in spectacular fashion due to the work of the student representatives Kendall Barrett, Reed Kolany, Victor Fernandes and Daniel Seiter, who organized faculty speakers, videotaped lab tours, a virtual ’happy hour’ and reception. Over 175 interviews were conducted by faculty through an online system developed by our web developer, Charles Reinke. A huge Thank You to everyone involved to pull this together!” — Carol Aspinwall, Educational Programs Coordinator, Department of Medical Physics  

Wellbeing Wednesday 

Balancing work and family: Business Insider provides ideas for juggling a career and family while working from home. The authors specifically tackle challenges faced by women in the workforce.