<Past News 2006>

Past News Events from 2006

Dr. Patty Freedson Appointed to President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Science Board

Dr. Patty Freedson has been appointed to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) Science Board. Dr. Freedson was selected to serve on this board due to the significant contributions she has made to the research and science of physical activity, fitness and health. Dec. 2006

The Research Council has completed its Fall 2006 round of recommendations for the combined Healy/Faculty Research Grants.

The School of Public Health and Health Sciences is proud to announce that four of its new faculty have been awarded 2006 Faculty Research Grants and congratulates them for excellent work during the transition to campus. The faculty and their projects are: Aline Gubrium, Community Health Studies Culture and health Narratives by Women on Depo Provera; Hiromi Gunshin, Nutrition Molecular Approaches to Understanding Intestinal Heme Iron Absorption in Mice, Melissa Troester, Epidemiology TP53-Dependent Gene Expression Responses to Environmental Toxicants, and Lisa Wexler, Community Health Studies Using Photovoice to Investigate Cultural Resilience in the Lives of Inupiat Young People: Is it Feasible and Suitable. These projects were selected for their merit as well as their potential to provide data leading to future external research funding. These four faculty also combine to bring considerable honor to the School as the largest single recipient of funding from the 2006 round of awards.

Torres named to Patrick’s transition team

M. Idalí Torres, associate professor of Community Health Education in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, has been appointed to Governor-elect Deval Patrick’s transition team. She will serve on a health care working group. Torres, who lives in Springfield, specializes in sexual health education, HIV prevention and Latino health issues. Before joining the faculty in 1992, she worked on community health projects focused on the Latino communities of Holyoke and Springfield. November 28, 2006.

SPHHS & SON Host talk by Gloria Feldt, former President of Planned Parenthood

Gloria Feldt, former President of Planned Parenthood, spoke on “Sexual and Reproductive Justice: A Public Health Imperative” at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006. The talk was sponsored by the SPHHS Center for Research and Education in Women’s Health, the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, the School of Nursing and the Women’s Studies Department. Feldt is the author of Behind every Choice Is a Story and The War on Choice. She has been called “the voice of experience” by People Magazine. Feldt discussed the imperative today for bold public health leadership to protect our advances and assure access to sexual and reproductive health services for all people.

Cunningham Named Interim Dean of School of Public Health and Health Sciences

Dean Cunningham. John Cunningham, deputy provost at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named interim dean of the campus’ School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

His appointment, which was announced May 12 by Charlena Seymour, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, is effective July 1.

Cunningham, who is a professor in the nutrition department, is expected to lead the school for up to two years, when a national search for a permanent dean will be conducted, said Seymour.

As interim dean, Cunningham will be responsible for leading the school’s planning initiatives, spearheading fund-raising activities and shepherding the school through its upcoming re-accreditation process.

SPHHS has 41 tenure-system faculty, 570 undergraduate and more than 400 graduate students in the departments of public health, communication disorders, exercise science and nutrition. The school also offers a distance learning master of public health degree. The Center for Nutrition in Sport and Human Performance, Center for Research and Education in Women’s Health and the Northeast Regional Environmental Public Health Center are headquartered in SPHHS.

Cunningham was appointed deputy provost in 1999 after serving nearly three years as faculty advisor to the provost. He was also acting director of the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration program in 1996-97.

A member of the faculty since 1986, he was head of the nutrition department from 1989-94 and co-director of the nutritional support service at the Shriners Burn Institute from 1986-94.

Assistant Professor Sarah F. Poissant of Communication Disorders has been awarded a 2 year, $156,792 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).