A CULTURE OF RESILIENCE AND ENRICHMENT P R E S I D E N T ’ S N E W S L E T T E R — Our Story ISSUE 5
/ MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT / DEAR MCPHS COMMUNITY, I am constantly reminded of one’s ability to overcome adversity and rise above seemingly insurmountable challenges. These past two years have become an evolutionary period for us all as we continue to find novel ways to overcome hardship, strengthen our resolve, and President Richard J. Lessard persevere. This issue of the President’s Newsletter celebrates some of the amazing stories of resilience that our Community members have exhibited while conquering their challenges and achieving excellence. Although isolation is commonly viewed as the remedy for this pandemic, and we are evolving into an endemic state, I find that empathy, respect, collaboration, and support more accurately define the cure. We have seen this over and over with the ways that our Community members have come together and shown such great kindness during these difficult times. I firmly believe that our University is emerging from the COVID-19 fog with a renewed sense of vigor and optimism, and has never been stronger. I hope the following stories help give you that same feeling as well. We have so much to be proud of as our University continues to evolve and lay claim to a renewed sense of commitment to our Purpose, Mission, and Vision. Countless team members work passionately on a daily basis to further our strategic priorities. Enhancing student success, creating a culture of compassion and inclusivity, and collaborating and engaging our Community members, while promoting our vision for the future, are at the core of our Strategic Plan. We have also heightened our commitment to research and scholarly activity as we reinforce and celebrate our Centers of Excellence. The tremendous work being conducted in our Centers for Undergraduate Research, Health Humanities, International Studies, and Interprofessional Practice and Education continues to inspire while organically attracting many new members to their noble missions. On May 12, we will honor our graduates and their families during our Spring Commencement ceremonies. Commencement is the proudest day of the academic year and is another reminder of the tremendous power of determination and resiliency. Although these ceremonies are fleeting, the impact that these graduates will have is profound and enduring. They will certainly help make the world a healthier place. Our University is at a wonderful point in its history as we plan to enter our bicentennial year in 2023. It is an opportunity to reflect on our rich history while also laying out our vision for the future. Our role as guardians and stewards of this important milestone is met with honor and respect. It is an exciting time, yet somewhat daunting, but I am confident that the thoughtful and collaborative approach that we are taking will make us all proud. I hope that you enjoy this edition of the President’s Newsletter. It is merely a small glimpse into who we are and what we do, but it is such a pleasure to share “Our Story.” M
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A CULTURE OF RESILIENCE AND ENRICHMENT The last few years have been a time of unprecedented change. Globally, we were forced to adjust our lives and innovate to ensure that we moved forward. Among the constant trials and changes, the world kept moving and our students continued to forge new pathways toward their goals of becoming leaders in healthcare. Here are their stories of triumph over adversity and success despite great odds. Their resilience is at the core of the MCPHS spirit. BOSTON STUDENTS
Hieu Tran and Camila Perea are undergraduates who have already been accepted into prestigious research programs. Tran, BS ’23, was one of 20 students accepted into the Harvard Stem Cell Institute Internship Program, out of nearly 500 applicants. During the 10-week program, he will be paired with a research mentor and participate in different professional opportunities such as a stem cell seminar series, a career pathways presentation, and a weekly stem cell companion course. Perea, BS ’24, is one of just 16 students selected from her cohort in the Young Empowered Scientists for Continued Research Engagement (YES for CURE) program at DanaFarber/Harvard Cancer Center. In this three-year program funded by the National Cancer Institute, she will gain mentored research experience at various top research and medical centers. M
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MANCHESTER STUDENT
WORCESTER STUDENT
Michele Bravo-Moran, BSN ’22, is on track to complete two bachelor’s degrees (nursing and public health) in four years, thanks to her impeccable work ethic and MCPHS’s partnership with Worcester State University. She came to MCPHS after three years of being a caregiver to her mother, who suffered a nearly fatal stroke. Given the unprecedented challenge of the emergency shutdown, she credits Associate Dean of Students Julia Golden, MEd, for providing extra assistance, resources, time, and understanding. On top of her studies, Bravo-Moran tutors and volunteers at Vaccine Corps. “MCPHS prepared me for an opportunity like this in just one semester of nursing school. I felt confident enough to go out into my community and practice what I learned,” she says. M
Brianna Perry, MPAS ’22, exhibits leadership in and outside of her master’s program. She is a student member of the New Hampshire Society of Physician Assistants, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and former Vice President of the Student Academy of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. In fall 2021, she was chosen for the Physician Assistant Education Association’s Student Advocacy Fellowship and now works with Professor Linda Martino on a research advocacy project. Also in fall 2021, she was diagnosed with an often fatal autoimmune disorder known as ANCA vasculitis. However, two hospitalizations, multiple diagnostic studies, and a renal biopsy didn’t deter her from completing her didactic year. Perry says, “The only way that this was made possible was through the loving support and encouragement from my classmates and the faculty at MCPHS.” She aims to use her experience as a patient to inform her practice as an empathic PA. M
ONLINE STUDENT Scune Carrington, MSW, LICSW, DHS ’23, serves as Director of Integrated Care at the MA League of Community Health Centers and provides counseling services and clinical supervision at BennuCare LLC, which she co-founded and owns. She also supports the COVID-19 response and initiatives to promote behavioral health while working toward her Doctor of Health Sciences. In March, the Baker-Polito Administration appointed Carrington to the MA Board of Registration of Social Workers. In this role, Carrington serves residents of Massachusetts by helping establish social work standards, conducting investigations, and ensuring licensing regulations. “I feel deeply honored by the appointment and eager to get to work,” says Carrington M
As we reflect on the adaptations we have all undergone in the last two years, we are so proud of how our MCPHS Community showed extraordinary leadership and continued to succeed. of your screen. When zoomed in on the page, click and drag the page to the article you wish to read.
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/ ACADEMIC NEWS /
Fulbright Grant Awarded to MCPHS Professor Patrick Gordon MCPHS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY Patrick Gordon, PhD, is currently in Jamaica as part of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Western Hemisphere Program. As a Fulbright awardee, he has been given a grant to conduct research and engage a host institution in a spirit of promoting mutual understanding and sharing of knowledge. Each year, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board chooses one or two grantees, across all disciplines, to pursue their work in Jamaica. Dr. Gordon’s selection among a competitive field is a significant honor. He will be based at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. His research focuses on the Green Aldol (GA) reaction and will be the basis for a student’s MPhil thesis at UWI, Mona. The GA is a common reaction used for in-lab teaching that significantly reduces waste (one of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry). M
Patrick Gordon, PhD
New MS in Health Informatics Program MEETING THE GROWING DEMAND for health data and information technology, the MCPHS School of Healthcare Business has announced the launch of an online Master of Science in Health Informatics, starting in fall 2022. The program will prepare leaders to address challenges in healthcare through the application of informatics, data analytics, and technology. Students will have the opportunity to choose between two specializations: Clinical Informatics and Collaborative Practice or Health Data Analytics and Applied Technology. Michael Spooner, Dean and Assistant Professor in the School of Healthcare Business, explained that the program’s culmination includes a full semester of field study that gives students a firsthand look at how healthcare systems operate, or a capstone project. During the semester of field study, “Students will work with an organization to apply what they learned...,“ Spooner says. “We want this program to focus on doing the work, not just learning about it.” M
Going Above and Beyond to Ensure Student Success NEED A LITTLE EXTRA HELP? Or another perspective on a classroom lecture? Assistant Dean for Student Engagement and Success, and Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice Steven J. Crosby, MA, BSP ’01, RPh, FASCP, has been working to support student success at the School of Pharmacy–Boston. Using Blackboard to track student information, Crosby is able to pull weekly reports, which he uses to reach out to students and set up one-on-one meetings at the first sign of difficulty, whether it’s a low test score or an incomplete assignment. “We are using as close to real-time information as possible,” he says. As a practicing pharmacist for more than 20 years, Crosby meets with students and offers academic counseling on a variety of topics. “Students are hearing from the primary content expert in the classroom, and I’m able to offer a different perspective on how I would look at that content as a practicing pharmacist,” he says. M
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Steven J. Crosby, MA, BSP ’01, RPh, FASCP
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/ EMPLOYEE NEWS /
Assistant Director of Center for Campus Life–Boston Sara-Lee Kidd Organized Black Student Union Event Assistant Director of Center for Campus Life–Boston Sara-Lee Kidd organized the Black Student Union event “Your Crown Is Your Beauty” held on February 24 in White Hall in celebration of Black History Month. The event was a collaboration between Campus Life, the Food and Financial Insecurity Taskforce with Student Affairs, MCPHS Brothers Union (MBU), Black Student
Union (BSU), and Intercultural Student Advocates (ISA). During the event, students discussed identifying hair types and textures. The theme was inspired by Kidd’s love for haircare. Her vision for the event was to create a space for embracing our features and recognizing that all hair is good hair—there is beauty in our crowns. M
/ STUDENT NEWS /
COMMUNITY OUTREACH OF RADIOGRAPHY STUDENTS IN EARLY MARCH, radiography students volunteered alongside Assistant Professor and Clinical Coordinator Ryan Piccinin and Program Director Michael Farah at the Greater Boston Food Bank to pack 360 30-pound family food boxes, equating to approximately 9,000 meals. M
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/ ALUMNI NEWS /
FORSYTH FOREVER IN JANUARY, 90-year-old Rosalyn Komins, RDH ’52, visited her alma mater, Forsyth Dental Hygiene Clinic, for a cleaning. During the appointment, she mentioned having lost her graduation pin. Interim Dean Dianne Smallidge happily presented the impressive alum—who retired from dental hygiene at the age of 80—with a replacement. M
Dianne Smallidge, RDH, EdD, and Rosalyn Komins, RDH ’52
NESA ALUMNUS WORKS AT THE CLEVELAND CLINIC DOING INTEGRATIVE CARE ALUMNUS TIMOTHY SOBO, MAOM ’12, is currently working as a Licensed Acupuncturist at the Cleveland Clinic, where he participates in the delivery of integrative healthcare to individual patients and groups using acupuncture and related techniques. He works closely with each patient to address their concerns and adjust the course of care or treatment as needed, and, if need be, refers patients to other specialists, should the condition warrant it. Through his experience working in pain management, Sobo is able to bring a unique skill set in treating pain through integrative and complementary medicine practice. Sobo explains that his Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAOM) and work at the Cleveland Clinic gives him a unique perspective because he is able to support and implement a truly integrated medical model. This patient-centered model combines the best of modern medical science with proven acupuncture therapies to improve overall health, functionality, and quality of life. M
Timothy Sobo, MOAM ’12
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: ELIJAH CARRIER, MANAGER OF TRANSFORMATION OPERATIONS FOR GINKGO BIOWORKS
Elijah Carrier, BS ’13
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ELIJAH CARRIER, BS ’13, spent his time in the Bachelor of Science in Medical and Molecular Biology program working under the tutelage of Joseph DeMasi, PhD, Chair of the Department of Math & Natural Sciences and Professor of Biology, and Janet Hart, PhD, Founding Director, Faculty Mentoring Institute and Professor of Biology at MCPHS. “They were fantastic, and they put me in a good direction in general with building up a lot of my skills. They also helped me get a few internships, so coming into the workforce with a few undergraduate internships is pretty invaluable in the job market,” he says. He is now the Manager of Transformation Operations for a bioengineering company called Ginkgo Bioworks in the Seaport District of Boston. His advice to MCPHS students who are looking to join the job market is to get as many internships and real-world job experience as possible. “Internships are something that I look for in the CVs of the people that apply these days,” he says. M
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/ PAST EVENTS / THIRD ANNUAL CENTER FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH CONFERENCE The MCPHS Center for Undergraduate Research held its third annual conference on Tuesday, April 19. More than 80 conference presentations were delivered. This year’s conference theme was Health Communication. Jessica Haddad, MD, shared information about her research exploring the impacts of social media on college student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference closed with a panel of social media experts from Partners in Health, Harvard University, National Public Radio, and Fenway Health, sharing best practices in using social media platforms for health information. M
CENTER FOR HEALTH HUMANITIES PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE The Center for Health Humanities at MCPHS was asked by the prestigious Health Humanities Consortium (HHC) to co-host the 10th International Health Humanities Consortium Conference alongside The Center for Literature & Medicine at Hiram College and The Health, Medicine, & Society Program at Lehigh University. The theme of the March 25–27 virtual conference was “Spaces of/for Health Humanities.” M
USING DIGITAL HEALTH TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND REDUCE DISPARITIES WITH MEGAN RANNEY MCPHS Center for Campus Life invited Megan Ranney, MD, MPH, FACEP, an emergency physician and academic dean at Brown University, on March 30 to speak to the Worcester campus about using digital health to improve health and reduce disparities. The talk was part of the spring Cardinal Conversations, a speaker series dedicated to bridging students across healthcare disciplines to discuss global topics and their relation to the healthcare field. During the talk, Dr. Ranney discussed how digital health is a great tool for healthcare professionals to better reach their patients. She explained that the pandemic saw a dramatic increase in people using telehealth for the first time, with 61 percent of Americans wanting access to electronic health records on apps/portals. The use of text messaging also led to a 30 percent increase in vaccination rates. Dr. Ranney believes that digital tools such as text messaging, telehealth, and mobile apps can be used to promote health and reduce disparities. M
CARDINAL TOWN HALL The Student Government Association hosted a Cardinal Town Hall featuring MCPHS President Lessard and Provost Zeind on March 31. During the event, the President and Provost spoke about the priorities of the University, including the commitment that MCPHS has to student success. Students were also asked to be engaged in this work by coming forward if they see areas of improvements or issues that they would like to address. M
CAB: CLAMBQ The Campus Activities Board held the annual ClamBQ on April 16 at Gore Place, a 50-acre country estate in the city of Waltham, MA. During the ClamBQ, the students enjoyed a variety of food, including vegetarian options, played carnival games, and won prizes. Transportation was also offered to and from the venue. M
Commencement
/ FUTURE EVENTS /
Chan Harjivan, BSP ’95
Carolina Roberts-Santana, DHS ’19
We hope you’ll join us for Commencement on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, as we honor this year’s graduates and celebrate their future endeavors to improve the health of the people and communities around the world. The speakers will be Chan Harjivan, BSP ‘95, the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of SaponiQx, and Carolina RobertsSantana, DHS ‘19, Health Program Administrator at Rhode Island Department of Health. M
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