Recognition for SMPH community members

“Medical Director of the UW Hospital Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Alexis Eastman has been an exceptional mentor during the COVID-19 pandemic. For two months she has moderated a weekly pandemic-focused discussion group for M1 students examining in detail the many dilemmas of the pandemic for these future physicians, with consideration of both the current dilemmas and their possible solutions and how factors might be different in pandemics of the future. Dr. Eastman’s insight, humor, well-considered analyses, and incredible support for student learning has made this the highlight of every week. You have been amazing, Dr. Eastman!”

– Claire de Forcrand, M1 MD student

“Kudos to my colleagues Raymond Neal, Liz Feder, and Abra Vigna of the Population Health Institute! They led an amazing discussion with all PHI staff last week about health equity and the COVID-19 pandemic. The activities led to meaningful interaction across PHI sectors and thoughtful discussion about how we can do better than ‘return to normal’ moving forward. I am so grateful for their efforts to build PHI’s health equity capacity and excited to see how we grow as an institute. Great job!”

– Jessi Corcoran, MPH, Narrative and Resource Development Coordinator, Population Health Institute  

“Dr. Dempsey, Manucher J. Javid Professor & Chairman for the Department of Neurological Surgery and Greg Zalesak, Administrator for the Department of Neurological Surgery have done an outstanding job in keeping faculty and staff informed and educated of how COVID-19 is affecting our department and the hospital. Their reassuring words have kept the staff’s stress level down and morale high. They have continued to mentor remotely and make all staff feel supported. We cannot thank them enough – thank you Dr. Dempsey and Greg!”

– Cassie Whiting, Operations Manager, Department of Neurological Surgery

“Department of Medicine faculty, residents and administrators have shown so much passion and commitment to medical student education during this time! You’ve volunteered for teaching sessions in unprecedented numbers, helped deliver a robust online curriculum and shown incredible willingness and “can-do” when it comes to re-integrating students into clinical work. We are so impressed and fortunate to work with all of you. Our learners are even luckier. Thank you!”

– Sarah Ahrens, MD, Clinical Associate Professor; Laura Zakowski, MD, Professor (CHS); Tara Loushine, MS, CHES. Instructional Program Manager II; Abby Douglas, Associate Instructional Specialist; and Amy Moschkau, MS, Associate Instructional Specialist, all of Department of Medicine.

“Dr. Lisa Steinkamp, Director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree program, has been relentless in keeping faculty and staff informed of how COVID-19 is affecting the DPT program. Her positive energy, well-organized meetings, and sharing of information has been a constant since this situation started. She collaborates with faculty and staff to brainstorm how to best meet the needs of students while keeping everyone’s safety first and foremost. We don’t tell her ‘thank you’ enough – thank you Lisa!”

– Susan Wenker, PT, PhD, Assistant Professor (CHS), Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

“Typically at this time of year, a computer-driven lottery is the method behind the assignments of the rising fourth-year class of MD students to the upcoming academic year of clinical experiences. In this era of reconsiderations, Associate Dean for Students Dr. Gwen McIntosh and Director of Career Advising and Wellness Brian Núñez have partnered with dozens of medical specialty colleagues across the state to completely overhaul this process in order to best accommodate the understandably-variable capacities of sites while still meeting the educational and career goals of 170+ fourth-year MD students. Thank you to Dr. McIntosh, Brian, and all of the collaboration-focused Specialty Champions and Administrators!”

– David Bernhard, Director of Student Services

“Dr. Kara Hoppe has led the charge for telehealth in high risk pregnancies, even before the COVID pandemic. She continues to guide us through remote monitoring and video visits. Thank you for your leadership!”

– Katie Antony, MD, Assistant Professor (CHS), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

“A tremendous “THANK YOU” to the many colleagues who dedicated time and expertise as REVIEWERS or suggested reviewers for the ICTR Pilot Awards Program! Your support for excellence in translational research is inspiring, especially during these challenging times. It makes us proud of our shared mission to discover, translate, and disseminate interventions to improve health for the people in Wisconsin and beyond. In addition to individual scientific reviewers, we are indebted to the experts at UW, Marshfield Clinic and across the state who serve on both our scientific and external community review committees. You. Are. Amazing.”

– Kate Judge, Program Manager, Community-Academic Partnerships, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR); Peggy Hatfield, Administrative Director, Workforce Development, ICTR; Christine Sorkness, RPh, PharmD, Distinguished Professor (CHS), School of Pharmacy and Senior Associate Executive Director, Workforce Development, ICTR

“As a transfusion medicine specialist, Dr. Joseph Connor has been working literally day and night behind the scenes to smooth the way for making COVID-19 convalescent plasma available to patients at UW Health. Working with the COVID-19 convalescent plasma clinical team led by Dr. William Hartman, the technical team in the blood bank, and the local and national leadership in the American Red Cross, Dr. Connor has straightened out innumerable kinks and tied together loose ends to help bring COVID-19 convalescent plasma to the bedside in an astonishingly short time. As a result, UW Health is leading the region in offering this life-saving treatment for COVID-19, and Dr. Connor is now leveraging the experience to quickly bring Unity Point Health – Meriter Hospital on board.”

– Thomas Raife, MD, Professor (CHS), Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

“Department chair Beth Drolet and vice chair for clinical affairs Dan Bennett have provided the most compassionate and clear leadership for our dermatology department during the COVID19 pandemic. They have helped to lead us through this storm with the utmost of grace and availability, keeping everyone up to date, providing clear direction, and troubleshooting problems in real time so they can be quickly rectified. During a time of so much turbulence, I feel so grateful to have clear direction from above. They have prioritized not only our care for patients, but also care for ourselves. They have been a stabilizing force during this historic, terrifying time. I feel personally so grateful for their incredible, nonstop efforts on all of our behalf.”

– Lisa Arkin, MD, assistant professor (CHS), Department of Dermatology

“We would like to thank our leadership and co-workers at the Population Health Institute (PHI) for their continued dedication during this challenging time. Director Dr. Sheri Johnson continues to be an exceptional leader and has prioritized mental health and well-being for the team. To help the team remain connected, she is hosting informal weekly huddles to keep everyone informed, share positive stories, and promote connection and self-care. Dr. Johnson is helping lead the team as we consider our contributions to the COVID-19 crisis. Other leaders and team members in PHI have coordinated a volunteer response to assist health departments throughout the state and DHS’ statewide response. A team of action researchers mobilized in 48 hours to compile over 190 COVID-19 response strategies for vulnerable populations and is working on a shareable resource. Some members of PHI are working with the DHS response team. More volunteers continue to mobilize and get trained for a direct response. The team has rapidly transitioned to these other roles to contribute their time and population health expertise to address this pandemic. Thank you to the team and, thank you for your leadership, Sheri!”

– Erin Schulten, MPH, MBA, Program Manager, on behalf of colleagues at the Population Health Institute

“Senior Outreach Specialist Aimee Tobin coordinates an annual Diaper Drive for our department. Our donors include department staff and faculty, UW Health staff and patients, and community members. Thanks to Aimee’s creativity and dedication, this year’s diaper drive was one of our most successful. The diaper order was delivered to McConnell Hall days before the Safer at Home order. Aimee connected with several non-profit organizations and coordinated the distribution of thousands of diapers over the past few weeks. Thanks so much to Aimee and our donors for getting these much-needed supplies to families during the pandemic.”

– Melody Bockenfeld, MPA, BSN, Outreach Program Manager, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

“My supervisor, Department Administrator Rachel Kulow, has been very proactive ensuring we (her staff) have adequate resources to work remotely. Additionally, and most importantly, she has maintained a very positive and encouraging attitude during these difficult times, making the transition to working from home less cumbersome as well as helping all of us remain hopeful that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m really appreciative to work with her during such an uncertain time!”

– Emily Kammerud, Medical Program Assistant Associate, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

“I would love to acknowledge Academic Program Development and Evaluation Director Andrea Poehling’s tremendous work in catalyzing our office’s response to the challenges faced during the pandemic. These have included assuring instructional continuity for the 130+ on-going basic science SMPH courses and creating and monitoring a system for reviewing requests for laboratory access for essential research (over 250 and counting!). Andrea has organized both efforts with incredible skill, for which she has been known for years! Thanks a ton, Andrea!”

– James Keck, PhD, Associate Dean for Basic Research Training

“Thank you so much to Dr. Kirsten Rindfleisch who has led twice-daily huddles for her family medicine team and has managed to keep us all focused, calm and motivated during a very challenging month. With countless questions and pieces of information coming her way every day, she manages to digest it all and share it back with us in a timely and organized fashion. She is empathetic, unruffled and strong: a worthy port for our storm.”

– Rachel Bennett, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

“Dr. Michael Fiore, Director of the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, has earned a well-deserved shout-out for coordinating with other colleagues to protect the health of the Center staff while implementing a valuable online format for the business of this Center to continue. As with other university programs, it has been necessary to curtail research participant/staff interactions. Yet much of the Center business is able to continue through at-home work stations, Sunday email updates from Dr. Fiore and plans for the week, Monday brown bags held through WebEx meetings and, especially, endorsing a daily staff photo-share, in which staff submit photos of their stay-at-home trials, tips, adventures, and misadventures. The photo-share has been enlightening and amusing and has kept us connected throughout our separation.”

– submitted on behalf of members of the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention

“Thanks to Student Services Coordinators Beth Bierman and Shelley Maxted for regularly checking in on the graduate students in the Biomedical Data Sciences MS and PhD programs. Every week they have been sending notes to the students, pointing them resources that are relevant to coping with the pandemic, offering them words of encouragement, and asking them to let Beth and Shelley know how they are doing.”

– Mark Craven, PhD, Professor,  Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics

“At the very beginning of the pandemic, a clinical trials daily huddle group formed with membership from Institutional Review Board, the HIPAA team from Office of Compliance, UW Carbone Cancer Center, Office of Clinical Trials, UW Hospital and Clinics, Pharmaceutical Research Center, and Institute of Clinical and Translational Research to ensure we were taking care of our participants, providers and research personnel as well as continuing clinical trials work that was important to our patients health and safety. We are working very quickly to navigate our way through suspending trials, moving to remote work, consolidating communications and getting investigational product to our patients when needed. There are certainly bumps along the way, yet as the weeks pass and the research landscape has continues to change and present new questions and challenges, this amazing group of people has continues to work through each issue collaboratively without a peep of a complaint even as they work long into the night to make things happen. We are so lucky to have such dedicated research leaders who care deeply about advancing medicine and care. There are too many individuals to name here, but they know who they are and I am grateful for each and every one of them.”

– Betsy Nugent, chief clinical research officer

“I would like to recognize the Clinical Simulation Center Program led by Shannon DiMarco for their response to the need to train over a thousand UW Health employees in the proper donning and doffing of PPE. The team developed the simulated PPE ‘kits,’ piloted and launched the project within 24 hours of being tasked. They did 24/7 training and kept the number of learners in each session (20 minutes sessions) to a minimum to adhere to social distancing. The team in the Clinical Simulation Program has, in the past five days, provided training to over 1,000 hospital providers and staff on proper donning and doffing of PPE. They have worked around the clock to fabricate single use masks and reusable shields so they are not using up hospital PPE. They are laundering reusable gowns and using single use food service gloves. Their outstanding work is being considered for presentation on an American College of Surgeons Accredited Education Institute (ACS-AEI) webinar on COVID-19 training to be shared with other simulation centers around the country.”
– Paul DiMusto, MD, assistant professor (CHS) and department director of simulation training, Department of Surgery

“In addition to multiple other roles within the Department of Neurology, Jenny Becker is our grant administrator. Her flexibility, competence, and responsiveness are greatly appreciated particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been able to maintain an active workflow which recently resulted in a R01 award for this first-time investigator.”

– Aaron Struck, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology

“Population Health Institute Assistant Scientist Lindsay Weymouth, PhD, has been a rock throughout this process. She has gone above and beyond to ensure that her staff feels supported, safe, and engaged through this transition period. She is somehow able to inject humor and lightheartedness in a time where many of our hearts feel heavy. Our weekly meetings continue to be a highlight of my Mondays. Her heart is so big that she saved her houseplants from her office right before it closed. Thanks so much, Lindsay!”

– Lauren Jorgensen, student research assistant and Master of Public Affairs student

“I have worked for pulmonologist Dr. Andrew Braun since his arrival here at UW. His energy, good humor, leadership, and caring personality have always been an inspiration to me. Now in this time of uncertainty and chaos, he works tirelessly to help all of us stay safe and healthy. I admire him immensely.”

– Sophia Chiron-Stevens, senior research specialist, Department of Medicine

 “Although we’re going through difficult times, I’m glad to know I have the MD Program Student Services Team to lean on. Keep up the great work – remotely, but make sure you balance your personal wellness as well. Thank you: Dean Gwen McIntosh, Dave, Brian, Terri, Kacia, Sarah, Emma, Christina, Megan, Krista, and Sharon. Thank you to Manual and Tia from Office of Multicultural Affairs, as well.”

– Brianne Coffey, administrative support, Academic Affairs

“Alec Lerner posted on the Class of 2021 UW SMPH Facebook group some easy ways to do some good for Madison. He provided links for and COVID-19-specific details on American Red Cross blood donation and on volunteering with Second Harvest Foodbank. I was so caught up in my own school woes that I almost completely lost sight of who really needs help. Thank you for bringing me back to Earth with such useful suggestions, Alec.”

– Camila Khan, SMPH MD student

“Dr. Laurel Rice has been an outstanding leader for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology during this challenging time. She has gone out of her way to ease the minds of all of us within the department by sharing hope and positivity through her daily email updates. I appreciate her optimism and uplifting mannerisms. Even though an email may seem like such a minor impact, it has made me personally feel like I am still involved within the department while we all work from home in the meantime. Department Administrator Jenni Stevens, Clinical Research Manager Jenny Poetter, and the rest of our ob/gyn admin team has been doing a tremendous job at keeping everyone organized during the adjustment to telecommuting. I miss you all, and cannot wait to see you all (hopefully) soon.”

– Hailey Mattheisen, associate research specialist, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

“Dr. Michael Lucey has provided great leadership to the Gastroenterology & Hepatology division during this COVID19 crisis. The faculty and providers are grateful for his leadership.”

– Freddy Caldera, DO, assistant professor (CHS), Department of Medicine

“A big thank you to Science Editor Laura Hogan, Program Manager Ana Garić and Student Services Coordinator Deidre Vincevineus for representing ICTR well by rapidly identifying how unused UW Science Expeditions supplies could be of use to others! Hand sanitizer, gloves and N95 masks were donated to UW Health and heroes serving on front lines – well done team!!”

– Sarah L. Esmond,  director, Collaborative Center for Health Equity

I would like to recognize all the SMPH Research Administrators during this challenging time. They work hard to support our faculty and researchers while maneuvering proposals, contracts, protocols, disclosures, budgets, and daily incidentals, with the expectation that they are up to date on all research news and the ever-changing government rules and regulations that affect the research we do. The unexpected changes caused by this pandemic have made all of us reflect on the many times we said, ‘when you think you have seen it all.’ This is an unexpected challenge in our progress but we will continue to work together because it is our relationships and guidance that will help all of us rise above this, and continue to support the best and the brightest.”

– Debbie Meltzer, assistant dean, Office Basic Research, Biotechnology and Graduate Studies

“I am so incredibly grateful for my entire time at the Wisconsin Research & Education Network (WREN) in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. We have pulled together tremendously during a difficult time, communicating daily, lifting each other’s spirits, and working diligently to stay connected and engaged. Thank you to all of my WREN teammates for being so flexible, trusting, and uplifting during this time!”

– Hailey Mattheisen, associate research specialist, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

“I want to give a huge Shout Out and Thank-You to Dr. Bill Schwab — you have taken on way more than imagined, when you accepted the role of interim chair of the DFMCH a few months ago. Your leadership has been tremendous through this crisis and I so appreciate and look forward to your personal notes of inspiration and reflection at the end of the daily updates. #StrongerTogether”

– Melissa Stiles, MD, professor (CHS), Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

“I would like to honor the Department Chairs, Vice Chairs, and faculty of the SMPH for adapting quickly to the need for leadership and clear policy in triaging essential and non-essential research activities imposed suddenly by the pandemic. I would also like to honor the faculty who are rapidly adapting their didactic teaching and research mentoring to maintain continuity and community for the undergraduate and graduate students in their programs.”

– Sean Fain, PhD, professor, Department of Medical Physics.

“Major kudos to Traci Gaydos, SMPH Signature Events Manager, who has been orchestrating major school events from in-person to virtual gatherings. Because she is doing such an awesome job – like helping our medical students pull off a fantastic virtual match day experience – she has gained a reputation campus-wide, and several units across campus are going to her for advice on how to “throw” a successful virtual event. Our graduating medical students, though understandably disappointed that their in-person ceremony was cancelled, can look forward to an online graduation May 8 in large part thanks to Traci. We appreciate you, Traci!”

– Maureen Brady, Development Specialist, Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association

“The Biomolecular Chemistry departmental technical facilities and facilities manager, Joe Oliva, has been doing a tremendous job taking care of our department as an essential staff member during the COVID-19 crisis. I look forward to our daily email from Joe each morning letting us know that our labs are doing fine, that our plants have been watered, and about any problems/repairs that are being taken care of. But what I love the most is that Joe always adds an extra paragraph where he shares some hilarious thought or observation. This routine has really helped to keep us all together as a department and has lifted our spirits when we needed it the most! Thanks, Joe!”

– Jim Keck, PhD, Associate Dean for Basic Research Training and Professor, Biomolecular Chemistry

“On behalf of the radiation oncology research team, we would like to thank program manager Diana Trask for her continued dedication, leadership, and strength during this challenging time. Diana continues to be an exceptional manager and has prioritized the mental health and well-being of our team. We remain connected as a group by having daily Webex video meetings to keep everyone informed of daily tasks/challenges, share positive stories, and promote connection. We are thankful to have Diana as our manager and want to recognize the support she has provided during this time.”

– Cathy Kraemer, Study Coordinator, Department of Human Oncology

“Kavita Kanwar is a graduating fourth-year medical student who worked as a nurse prior to starting her studies at SMPH. Kavita is jumping back in to help the cause and will work as RN until she starts her internship this summer. Thanks for your inspiring example!”

– Mark Beamsley, MD, MS, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

“I’d like to give a shout-out to all the MDs, Anesthetists, Residents, operating room (OR) Nurses, OR Techs, OR support staff, and Environmental Services staff who are working hard without complaint while caring for our patients at a time that is high-risk for the health care providers. As a team,we are adapting and taking on new duties to keep the ORs running, and to support the intensive care units while continuing to provide excellent care to our patients.”

– Karl Willmann, MD, associate professor (CHS), Department of Anesthesiology

“I have seen lots on social media offering kudos for the ‘heroism’ of health care workers. But having worked in the hospital the last 10 days and seen what’s happening, I want to raise a glass to Housekeeping and Nutrition services. They continue to do their work, going into EVERY room, masks in place, risking their own health just like the providers who are getting all the attention. They do it quietly and with dignity and deserve special attention for their own commitment to professionalism.”
– Jeremy Smith, MD, associate professor (CHS), Department of Medicine

“I have always been impressed with the work of our Patient Scheduling Representative (PSR) teams as the first impression patients get of our clinics. They get the least recognition and yet have a critically important role. Now, more than ever, this is true because they are also the first people interacting with potentially ill patients. Despite this, I have seen our PSR teams continue to assist our patients with a smile on their face and showing the utmost professionalism. Now more than ever when there is such fear and stress, these often underappreciated members of our teams are more important than ever and rising to the challenge. Thank you PSRs for all that you do!”

– Matt Swedlund, MD, assistant professor (CHS), Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

“I would like to recognize and thank all of the technologists and radiologists within the Department of Radiology. The technologists are on the front line taking chest X-rays, performing CTs and MRIs for those with acute respiratory symptoms as well as other critical conditions. They are working tirelessly to verify lines and tubes are in place as well as assisting with critical procedures in the angiography suites. The radiologists are working endlessly to perform reads on all of the radiography exams that have been performed, so that the primary providers are able to treat their patients appropriately. In addition, the PET technologists are still performing scans for patients with cancer as well as other conditions, knowing that their patients’ immune systems are weak, and doing everything they can to protect and reassure them. Thank you, we see you, and we appreciate you!”

– Sara John, administrative program specialist, Department of Radiology 

“Psychiatry Residents & Fellows at UW have risen to the challenge of simultaneously adapting to a rapidly changing work environment while providing mental health care to an increasingly stressed population. Since the start of the pandemic, we have transformed mental health services to ensure that we can safely provide the highest quality care for our patients – and our residents and fellows have been incredibly flexible and understanding through many changes. They have been thoughtful and generous with their ideas for improving patient care and have been very willing to support each other and their colleagues. One of my colleagues noted of our on-call residents: ‘Your residents were very patient and pleasant with us, as always.’ Thank you, UW Psychiatry Residents & Fellows!”
– Art Walaszek, MD, professor (CHS), department vice chair for education and faculty development, residency program director, Department of Psychiatry

“Thanks to the 20 S Park Allergy Clinic nurses and receptionists who handled an overwhelming amount of phone calls, My Chart messages, etc. with compassion and professionalism. Thanks also to our manager Donna and her assistant Barb for all they did to keep us up to date, and my associate allergists for the fast agreement we had to come to over some difficult patient care decisions. I’m proud to be part of such an outstanding group of compassionate, caring, dedicated people!”

– Tom Puchner, MD, clinical assistant professor, Department of Medicine

“All of the providers’ response to COVID-19 in the Infectious Disease Division and ID/HIV Clinic has been amazing to watch as it unfolds. The sacrifice and volunteerism on a daily basis are so heartening. Specific shout outs to Drs. David Andes (overall coordination), Nasia Safdar (infection control, testing and emergency response), Chris Crnich (VA and nursing homes), Ryan Westergaard (state health department chief medical officer for communicable disease), Dan Shirley (Meriter response), as well as Michael Richardson, PA (telemedicine support) and Jennifer Bellehumeur (clinic manager). And so many others — it’s comforting to know you’re all there. Thank you!”
– Steve Marshall, Infectious Disease division administrator, Department of Medicine

“I want to sincerely thank all of the oncology nurses who are working tirelessly despite the COVID19 situation to care for our cancer patients.”

– Dustin Deming, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine

“I would like to give a shout-out to the Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Division. While the pressures and stresses from the university, community & governments increase, the expectation to succeed also increases. Through this difficult time this team has unconditionally stepped up to and adapted on the fly to every challenge and hurdle thrown at them these past weeks. While the worst has yet to come, this team still manages to stay calm, cool, and collected. They have given up sleep, academic projects, and what little personal time they have, to devote themselves to being prepared for an unknown unprecedented number of critical care patients in the future. Through the darkest part of this pandemic this team will be continually fighting for those affected the most in our community to overcome this. While this group of individuals does not do what they do for the money or recognition, but simply for the love of there community and patients. They deserve to be recognized and know that a thousands of people are rooting and supporting you! Go team!”

– Austin Gokey, Medical Program Assistant Associate, Department of Anesthesiology

“The Population Health branch of UW Health has been tirelessly working to expand UW Health capacity within the COVID-19 response. In collaboration with stars within the new UW Home-based primary care team, Chartwell home care, UW hospitalists and discharge planners, many people have been meeting uncountable hours per day and into their evenings and weekends to creatively develop solutions using established program resources to prepare for the anticipated surge of illness that will impact our patients. I want to specifically give a shout out to a group including Huong Nguyen-Hilfiger, Michelle Murphy, Jan Hastreiter, Julie Slattery and Dr. Melissa Dattalo to rapidly develop and launch UW Health’s version of Hospital at Home (H@H) within a new UW Home-based Primary Care program. This program will help expedite UW hospital discharges, expand acute hospital bed access and protect our patients from some of the risks of hospital care during this pandemic. This heroic effort is compressing what sometimes takes 12 months of planning and development for hospital systems into a period of weeks — yet they are attentive to every detail. It is truly a collaborative effort and I am honored and inspired to be a part of this team- I have rarely seen such esprit de corps and altruism. Most importantly, this effort is promoting something that is truly centered on the patient’s goals and preferences- to receive hospital-level care in the comfort and familiarity of one’s own home. Amazing work- Pop Health, HBPC, UWHC and Chartwell teams!!!”

– Steve Barczi, MD, professor (CHS), Department of Medicine

We would like to THANK the over 55 members of our animal care staff and veterinary staff who continue to come into campus 7 days a week to ensure the health and well-being of all research animals in SMPH. Their dedication to the animals, our department and all of SMPH is extraordinary.”

– Biomedical Research Model Services (BRMS) leadership and administrative team.

“A huge thank you to UW Health Director of Facilities Engineering James Harrod and everyone at Facilities Engineering for helping turn our D4/312 biplane angiography room into a temporized negative pressure COVID room for acute stroke. My neuroendovascular partners, anesthesia colleagues, IR techs, radiology nurses and I thank you for your swift, efficient and effective changes to make our room safe for all of us and our patients. You guys are THE BEST!!”

– Beverly Aagaard Kienitz, MD, Professor (CHS), Department of Radiology

“About 4 weeks ago, Hematology/Oncology fellow Matt Brunner realized that any doctors who don’t regularly do inpatient medicine might need some education materials to use if they were suddenly pulled into the hospital. He convened a team of volunteers to create and organize user-friendly tips for working on the wards, and “cheat sheets” to reference when treating a number of pathologies. In the event of a surge, “interim hospitalists” will have some great tools to use!” 

– Sam Pabich, MD, Instructor (CHS), Department of Medicine

“I had a computer emergency this week and called the Department of Medicine’s Help Desk for advice. Frank Stanek asked me to bring in my laptop to be examined, and I expressed concern that I would not be able to work without it. Within hours he found an alternate way for me to get access to the software I needed, and by the end of the day, my laptop was as good as new. The Help Desk is always amazingly responsive, but Frank really went above and beyond to keep me productive on a difficult day.”

– Erin Jonaitis, Associate Scientist, Department of Medicine and Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute

“Holly Johnson, Office Operations Assistant for Department of Population Health Sciences, gets it done. Holly has always been my go-to person in the PHS office, so I’m well aware that she’s kind, knowledgeable about how things work, and extremely capable. What I didn’t expect was how these qualities would make the transition to working remotely due to COVID-19 so much more do-able than it would have been otherwise. Holly responds like lightning to my many queries, and if she doesn’t know the answer, she points me directly to the person who does, so I can get my stuff done too!”

– Bootsy Harden, Research Specialist, Department of Population Health Sciences.

“At a time when many IT job functions can be done remotely, a big thank you to our Department of Radiology help desk staff for rotating a person on-site each day to help support our faculty and staff. They have helped to quickly deploy laptops, monitors and other equipment to get Radiology staff up and running remotely, while also being available for those required to be on-site at CSC. Shout-out to Bob Ash, Florian Braun and Peng-Sue Vang for being a critical resource during the pandemic, and keeping a positive attitude while showing up each day without complaint. Great work!”

– Andy Craven, MBA, IT Supervisor, Department of Radiology

“Early last month the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics came to the realization that a large number of our staff might have to telecommute. Additionally, we came to a larger conclusion that our computational systems which we maintain would likely be much harder to physically lay hands on should a problem occur. Our group needed to order computational components to prevent failures and keep our large High Throughput Computational systems and storage infrastructure running for an undefined time period. Financial Specialist Desmond Rogers was able to turn around many of our needed purchases usually within an hour, and he helped support our departmental infrastructure in a time of need. Additionally, Biomedical Computing Group Leader and Systems Analysis William Annis was able to approve many of our purchases rapidly and respond to a quickly changing situation by making sure our group had what we needed to get the job done. The Biostatistics and Medical Informatics Department works better because of these two.”

– Christopher Harrison, Senior Systems Programmer, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics

“I can’t even imagine the transition of the Doctorate in Physical Therapy program to online course delivery without the help of the SMPH Instructional Technology team. Chris Hanson, in particular, has gone to great lengths, including sitting online during our classes to help us troubleshoot problems with sharing content and using the group feature on Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. He always follows up to see how we are doing and never hesitates to provide more support. We know he is very busy during this time, but he always makes himself available. We greatly appreciate his expertise, patience and time. Thank you Chris!”

– Natalie Blonien, PT, DPT, Faculty Associate, Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

“Aisha Mergaert is a graduate student in the Cellular and Molecular Pathology program performing research in the laboratory of Dr. Miriam Shelef, a rheumatologist in the Department of Medicine. The lab is establishing a COVID-19 serum biorepository for antibody analysis of convalescent patients in Wisconsin. As part of the project, we had an immediate need to have an essential research instrument installed and brought on-line. Aisha quickly worked with members of the UW community to find the necessary video conferencing equipment, set up a conference with the field technician to make necessary modifications to the instrument, and arrange a video training session for lab members. Because of her swift and focused actions, the lab is now fully equipped to conduct time-sensitive and urgently needed research. And she did all of this during her honeymoon.”

– Michael Denny, PhD, Assistant Researcher, Department of Medicine.

“The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease and Research Center and African Americans Fighting Alzheimer’s Disease in Mid-Life offers free, year-round day and night exercise classes for our participants and the Madison community, with Venus Washington as instructor. The classes have run for three and a half years. With the spread of COVID-19, it was no longer safe for large groups to meet and exercise together. In conjunction with student interns from the Department of Kinesiology, Venus came up with several on-line options available to class participants. Dr. Carey Gleason is providing loaner Chrome books for participants who don’t have the necessary technology in their homes. Hats off to Dr. Carey Gleason for providing the technology so that our participants, a majority of whom are elders, can get movin’ and keep movin’ in the safety of their homes.”

– Fabu Carter, MS, senior outreach specialist, Department of Medicine and Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

“The Fundus Photograph Reading Center is a busy lab analyzing retinal images for over 30 pharmaceutical trials and several NIH-sponsored grants. In order to meet the needs of our sponsors and investigators worldwide, our Business Continuity Planning team of James Allan, Heather Baumhauer and Ashley Harris had 30 of us ready for telecommuting in less than a week. They got all of us computer equipment so we could set up at home and connected to our sponsors through both cloud-based and VPN systems. Thanks to the team’s decisive and insightful execution of emergency plans, our sponsors have experienced no delay in data exports!”

– Barbara Blodi, MD, professor (CHS) and medical director, Fundus Photograph Reading Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

“A HUGE shout out to the Department of Medicine IT group and their leader Jennifer Bonifas for helping our research program quickly gain all necessary tools to work remotely! Their quick response time, helpful instructions and tireless efforts in getting through all of our requests and questions has allowed us to keep up our work at this very challenging time. We know that they have a large department to help and we are very grateful for all of their hard work!”
– Hanna Blazel, MS, CCC-SLP, executive administrator, Department of Medicine / Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

“I work for an amazing department (Human Oncology). Throughout all the events leading up to the UW asking non-essential personnel to work from home; my supervisor, Julie Thomas, kept us fully informed of what our department was doing to prepare for this crisis. Her workload is heavy, but she always had time to talk with me about tools and resources that would make me more effective working from home. Julie is also setting up future WebEx meetings with other department colleagues so we maintain the ever-important contact that is essential for our mental wellbeing and to reduce the effects of being isolated from friends and colleagues. Please remember to reach out to others during this time who might be facing greater difficulties.” 

– Pat Lee, Cancer Biology Administrative Assistant, Department of Human Oncology

“I want to send a big thank you to our wonderful IT Team led by Chuck Williams. Chuck and his colleagues (Ron Steiner, Greg Moy, and Tony Fairbanks), got everyone set up to work remotely with very little turnaround time and have been available on the spot to answer questions and address concerns. You are all fantastic!”

– Michelle Grosch, instructional program manager, Department of Anesthesiology

“I want to thank Deans Robert Golden, Shobhina Chheda, and Gwen McIntosh, and the staff in UW-SMPH for all their diligent work to adapt the education of Medical Students to this difficult time. We can only imagine the stress and indecision that these circumstances cause. As a medical student community, we are grateful to have leaders that care about the education of future doctors, the well-being of students, and the safety of our patients.”

– Matthew Freeman, MD-PhD student

“I am immensely grateful for the talent, tenacity, time, and thoughtful service that Jeff Korab (Director, Academic Information Systems) and Kristin Simon (Manager, Educational Technology), as well as their team members, have brought to our SMPH community day after day to serve our health professional degree programs in this time of incredible upheaval and uncertainly. They have done a truly remarkable job responding to the information and educational technology needs of multiple programs and units as the amazing faculty and staff in those programs have tried to quickly develop and deploy virtual courses for all of our health professional students when face-to-face classes and hands-on clinical learning were abruptly suspended due to the growing concerns about COVID-19 in our community. We are poised to help our seniors graduate on time and have creative plans in place to support ongoing virtual learning for all students thanks to the often behind-the-scene extraordinary efforts of Jeff and Kristin as they work with our curriculum focused faculty and staff – faculty and staff who have repeatedly told me how much they appreciate Jeff and Kristin’s help. I share my deepest appreciation!”

– Elizabeth Petty, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

“So proud I work with a department that really is working together to take care of its staff during this crisis. Special shout out to Matt Schultz, Senior Information Consultant in the Dept. of Human Oncology. He worked tirelessly to make sure staff who were going to have to work from home were equipped with secure work laptops so we could continue to perform our duties remotely. Especially those of us who are considered higher risk. Besides his already heavy workload, Matt made it a priority for us to be ready when the UW asked us to stay home. And I am also so very proud of UW–Madison for going above and beyond to take care of staff who cannot perform their tasks from home by setting up extra leave banks to accommodate their needs. So proud to be a BADGER right now. Stay safe everyone!!”

– Pat Lee, Cancer Biology Administrative Assistant, Department of Human Oncology

“I would like to give a shout-out to the Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Division. While the pressures and stresses from the university, community & governments increase, the expectation to succeed also increases. Through this difficult time this team has unconditionally stepped up to and adapted on the fly to every challenge and hurdle thrown at them these past weeks. While the worst has yet to come, this team still manages to stay calm, cool, and collected. They have given up sleep, academic projects, and what little personal time they have, to devote themselves to being prepared for an unknown unprecedented number of critical care patients in the future. Through the darkest part of this pandemic this team will be continually fighting for those affected the most in our community to overcome this. While this group of individuals does not do what they do for the money or recognition, but simply for the love of there community and patients. They deserve to be recognized and know that a thousands of people are rooting and supporting you! Go team!”

– Austin Gokey, Medical Program Assistant Associate, Department of Anesthesiology

“Three HUGE cheers for Rochelle Rannow who seamlessly assisted all of ICTR with remote set ups, access to equipment and necessary software with her usual impeccable attention to detail and professionalism. Extended THANK YOU to all ICTR supervisors and managers for lending gentle but firm redirection to all of our team members, customer and stakeholders for safety and being able to continue our important work. I feel well cared for by my UW teammates and colleagues within and outside of ICTR – thank you all!”

– Sarah Esmond, Director, Collaborative Center for Health Equity

“Laddie Johnson has kept us moving in our department since all the changes in COVID-19. He has worked on setting up programs and instructions for other conferencing options and ways to keep us working from home. He has given us ways to be able to do our daily jobs and keep our faculty able to keep up with their research and research contacts by setting this all up. As systems became overloaded he has given us new ways to connect and other options. I am very grateful for his help and the knowledge that he has in computer programs and their ability to keep us all connected. Thank You!”

– Ruth Simmons, Medical Program Assistant Senior, Department of Medicine