The Review :: Thomas Jefferson University Spring 2016

Beyond the Bench

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THOM A S

Vaccination Expert

J E F F E R S ON

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A Fresh Face

UNI V E R S IT Y • s p r i n g

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2016

Biomedical Sciences • HEALTH PROFESSIONS • NURSING • PHARMACY • POPULATION HEALTH

Fun & Funct

Turning

ion

Therapy Autism into Play

today's Students:

What Drives Their Passion?

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on the cover: Roseann Schaaf, PhD, ORT/L, FAOTA, helps children overcome sensory integration challenges. Photo by Ed Cunicelli.

Executive Vice President: Elizabeth A. Dale, EdD Associate Vice President, Alumni Relations: Cristina A. Geso Senior Director, Communications: Mark P. Turbiville Jefferson Review Spring 2016

Editor: Karen L. Brooks Design: SwivelStudios, Inc.

The Review is published by the Office of Institutional Advancement to encourage alumni interest and support for the Jefferson Colleges of Biomedical Sciences, Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy and Population Health.

Address correspondence to: Editor, the Review 125 S. 9th Street, Suite 700 Philadelphia, PA 19107

Advancement.Jefferson.edu alumni@jefferson.edu 215-955-7750 The Jefferson community and supporters are welcome to receive the Review on a regular basis; please contact the aforementioned address.

Postmaster: send address changes to the aforementioned address.

CopyrightŠ Thomas Jefferson University.

All Rights Reserved.

4 Sensory Integration Therapy New Science for a Hotly Debated Autism Intervention

12 Beyond the Bench

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BizBio Helps Student Scientists Explore Diverse Career Paths

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the Provost's COLUMN

11 giving matters A Message from Elizabeth Dale

26 35

ON CAMPUS

26 College of Biomedical Sciences 27

College of Health Professions

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College of Nursing

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College of Pharmacy

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College of Population Health

32 Karie Youngdahl, MPH ’16 Giving Vaccine Education Her Best Shot

34 CLASS NOTES 34 IN MEMORIAM

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Jennifer Shiroff, PhD, RN, APN-C A Fresh Face: College of Nursing

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Italy

Join Jefferson alumni to explore, learn and experience the world!

As part of our commitment to lifelong learning, the Jefferson Office of Alumni Relations is launching a new Alumni Travel Program.

A varied itinerary of destinations has been selected for 2016 to combine educational forums with excursions to places of historical and cultural interest. These trips offer the highest-quality experience through our partnerships with experienced travel providers.

to Sorrene 1-9 Jun

Spain

Trips for 2016

Sorrento, Italy June 1–9 National Parks & Lodges of the Old West July 6–15 Majestic Alaskan Beauty July 15–25

Peru v5 hu o c N a 1 Mchu Oct 3 Pic

Barcelona Sept 25-Oct 4

Spain: Barcelona & San Sebastian September 25–October 4 Captivating Mediterranean October 8–16 Peru: Machu Picchu, Cusco & the Sacred Valley of the Incas October 31–November 5

Additional information on each of these destinations is available at Advancement.Jefferson.edu/alumnitravel.

If you would like an individual trip brochure for a specific destination, or if you have questions, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@jefferson.edu or 215-955-7750.

We hope you will take advantage of these exciting travel opportunities!

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The p r o v o s t ’ s c o l u m n

In This Issue

There are medical mysteries—and then there is autism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that today, one of every 68 children in the United States is on the autism spectrum. Yet as the diagnosis becomes ever more prevalent, even the most skilled and educated clinicians and scientists admit they have no concrete explanation for its cause—or a clear path for how best to treat it.

Along with autism often come sensory processing difficulties—hypersensitivities to sights, sounds and other sensations experienced by at least 60 percent of individuals with an autism diagnosis. When the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses, everyday activities like eating or getting dressed can become ordeals.

Parents of affected children are desperate for more and better ways to counter these difficulties. In this issue of the Review, you will read how Jefferson’s Roseann Schaaf, PhD, has dedicated her career to helping them. Schaaf, chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the Jefferson College of Health Professions, has conducted groundbreaking studies involving sensory integration therapy, which uses play activities to shape how the brain reacts to sound, sight, touch and movement. Her work

in this area has provided critical evidence that this kind of therapy can ease sensory problems and improve function in children with autism.

Also in this issue, you’ll learn about the Jefferson Business and Biotechnology Group, more commonly known as BizBio— a student-founded, student-run organization that connects PhD candidates in the Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences to healthcare and science professionals with industry roles that take them “beyond the bench.” Since its inception less than four years ago, BizBio has already assisted many students in forging unique, fulfilling career paths that apply both scientific and business training.

And our last feature introduces you to five students from the Jefferson College of Nursing, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. You’ll learn what makes today’s nursing students tick, what drew them to Jefferson and where they plan to go from here. For a more in-depth feature on the College of Nursing’s anniversary commemoration, including a look at Jefferson’s brand-new baccalaureate nursing curriculum that was crafted to address the increasing demands placed on 21st-century healthcare providers, stay tuned for the fall 2016 Review.

“Even the most skilled and educated clinicians and scientists admit they have no concrete explanation for autism’s cause.”

Mark L. Tykocinski, MD Provost, Thomas Jefferson University

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Story Summary

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Between six and nine of 10 children and adults with autism have sensory difficulties that can interfere with everyday activities. They may be hyper-sensitive to sounds, sights, the feel of fabric or other sensations, or unaware of their body, for example. This can contribute to trouble playing, learning, socializing and even eating, getting dressed and bathing.

Occupational therapy using the principles of sensory integration (OT/SI) may help, but until recently, there’s been a dearth of rigorous research—so medical groups and insurance companies have not fully endorsed it.

Now, Roseann Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, professor and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the Jefferson College of Health Professions and director of the university’s Autism and Sensory Integration Lab, is conducting randomized, controlled trials gauging the effectiveness of the therapy and investigating its effects within the brain.

p y: Thera ion t ra g e t In S e n s o ry

r o f e c n e i c S w e N d e t a b e D a Hotly n o i t n e v r e t n I Autism B y S ar i H arrar

n a bustling and colorful occupational therapy gym, a boy soars on a stand-up swing, laughing as he flies higher and higher. It’s an exhilarating moment for this 5-year-old—and a data point in a groundbreaking Jefferson study that’s changing the way experts, clinicians and parents view sensory integration therapy.

Photos by Ed Cunicelli

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Schaaf uses various gym and play equipment to assess children's sensory integration issues.

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“Sensory integration therapy can help children with autism process sights, sounds and other sensations from the world around them in a better way so they will not withdraw or have difficulty doing everyday things like putting on their coat or transitioning from one activity to another,” explains lead investigator Roseann Schaaf, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, professor and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the Jefferson College of Health Professions.

“Sixty to 90 percent of individuals with autism experience sensory dysfunction that interferes with daily activities. Some children hold their hands over their ears when the toilet flushes, or can't tolerate certain textures of clothing or food. Others don't

use body sensations to guide their movements during activities such as dressing and have difficulty participating in active play.”

The treatment for these sensory difficulties is to engage the child in individually selected, sensory-rich activities during play.

Occupational therapists use swings, balls, scooters, pits filled with balls or foam blocks and other equipment to help kids stretch their sensory limits—and their brains. One rule: It’s always fun. “When something is playful,” Schaaf says, “you're motivated to go a little outside your comfort zone.” Importantly, the activities are chosen based on each child’s needs as determined by a thorough occupational therapy assessment.

yful, mething is pla o s n e h W . n e. always fu r comfort zon u o One rule: It’s y e id ts u o le ted to go a litt sed on each a you're motiva b n e s o h c re a onal the activities ugh occupati Importantly, ro o th a y b d as determine child’s needs sment. therapy asses Michael, one of 32 children in Schaaf’s 2013 study, “had a blast,” according to his mother, Marion G. “Sometimes it was challenging, too,” she says. “We saw improvements. Michael had been so easily distracted that he would stop doing things he really enjoyed and get up and wander away. His focus was much better after the occupational therapy.” Now 9, Michael has continued to receive more occupational therapy/sensory integration therapy even after the study was completed because it was so helpful, she says.

Popular with parents (39 percent named it their first-choice therapy in a recent survey by the advocacy group Autism Speaks), occupational therapy using the principles of sensory integration (OT/SI) hasn’t been as warmly embraced by the healthcare system. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges caution due to “limited data.” Health insurance coverage is spotty.

“There has been a lack of rigorous research,” Schaaf says. “We’re just starting to change this by providing better evidence.”

A New Science of the Senses Schaaf’s work is especially relevant as autism rates climb in America. It’s the most common developmental disability of childhood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates one in 68 children has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but a new CDC survey of 12,000 parents released in November 2015 found that one in 45 of their children had an ASD diagnosis.

Sensory integration isn’t the only autism treatment out there—and shouldn’t be used

as a child’s only therapy, Schaaf says. It’s best to use this therapy as part of a comprehensive plan of treatment. “People are always looking for the cure. This is not the cure,” she says. “I have to make this clear to parents. But hopefully it will help your child function better in his or her everyday life.

Kids and families need that.”

The current standard of care for autism is behavioral intervention, which is based on rewarding small improvements in behavior.

Research shows it works, but the process can be time consuming and costly— requiring 25 to 40 hours a week of training for up to two years to see progress. Sensory integration uses a different approach by assessing a child’s sensory-processing gaps to find clues to difficulties—such as becoming distressed about taking a shower.

While a behavioral specialist might reward longer and longer stays in the shower, an occupational therapist might use play time in a ball pit to ease a child’s sensitivity to physical sensations. And some children, Schaaf’s research suggests, could see improvements in 10 weeks.

In a headline-making 2013 study, Schaaf and her team found that OT/SI was more effective than usual care alone at helping kids with autism reach functional goals set by their parents. It was one of the most rigorous studies of OT/SI ever conducted.

Thirty-two children, ages 4-8, participated.

Those in the treatment group had three hour-long OT/SI sessions a week for 10 weeks. The control group received usual interventions but not OT/SI.

Every step of the study was carefully designed. Parents set goals for their kids and then Schaaf’s team assessed if and how a child’s ability to process and integrate sensation contributed to difficulties attaining these goals. These assessment data were used to identify the sensorymotor factors affecting the child’s goals and became the focus of treatment. Outcomes were measured in a systematic way to provide data about whether the treatment was working. Following this approach developed by Schaaf and colleagues, the effectiveness of the treatment in meeting parent-identified goals could be tested. “The outcomes of a therapy should be changes that are important for the child and the family,” Schaaf explains.

OT/SI programs were customized to each child’s needs. For one child, a goal might be to engage in play for a longer period of time with a friend. Sensory difficulties getting in the way might include low body awareness and sensitivity to physical sensations, like the brush of clothing or the feel of toys. “So the therapy might include having the child climb up a rock wall and use a zip line to “crash” into a large pit of colorful balls and small stuffed toys providing a variety of textures,” Schaaf explains. “We have research showing that children with autism do not respond to sensation in the same way as other children, and our collaborators have shown that many persons with autism do not process two senses simultaneously so the brain doesn’t integrate them readily.

Engaging in activities like this helps change

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Members of “Team Solve the Puzzle” raised $52,000 to support Schaaf's work.

Photo by Roger Barone.

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this. The brain is plastic—it can change.

Occupational therapy using sensory integration seems to help with this processing. This is what we are studying in our newly funded NIH study.”

The 2013 study was conducted at Children’s Specialized Hospital in Toms River, N.J. All therapists were trained in the approach, and therapy sessions were videotaped to ensure that therapists followed established OT/SI techniques. Investigators who assessed participants were “blinded”— they didn’t know which treatment group they were in.

The outcomes of this randomized, controlled trial—published in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders— give OT/SI a more evidence-based foundation.

“That’s huge,” Schaaf says. Children like Michael in the OT/SI group scored significantly higher in reaching goals (13 points higher, on average) than those in the

usual-care group. They needed less help from their parents in self-care activities and socializing with others. Problem behaviors associated with poor sensory processing also improved.

“Like all treatments for ASD, sensory integration approaches need to be rigorously tested,” says Paul Wang, MD, senior vice president and head of medical research for Autism Speaks, which funded Schaaf’s study with a $500,000 grant. “We can't assume that any treatment works, even if those treatments seem to make sense and seem to be safe. Families spend very valuable time on treatment (besides sometimes spending a lot of money), and we have to be sure that their time and efforts are going toward treatments that really help. This is a building block step … We still need the rigorous testing to show whether the therapy really helps. If it does, then we would have a strong case for insurance coverage.”

Feeling Too Much or

Feeling Too Little

Wiggle the little toe of your left foot, and a detailed map of your body is activated in your brain. Your toe’s attached to your foot, which is in a sock, in a shoe, on the floor by the chair leg.

“You have a map of your body in your brain,” Schaaf says.

“A muscle sense called proprioception constantly tells your brain where your body is and provides the basis for moving it in a useful and coordinated way.”

Your sensory systems are crucial for everything you do, every day. But if you have a sensory dysfunction, the brain doesn’t process and integrate this and other senses in the usual way. You may feel less stimulation and feel unaware of your body, or be so sensitive that it’s overwhelming. Gaps in processing and integrating sensation can contribute to a surprising range of behavior and learning problems in autism. Occupational therapy using sensory integration addresses these problems focusing on these three systems:

Tactile system: Your sense of touch. The receptors of the tactile system are in your skin, and if the tactile information isn’t being processed properly, you may touch and feel things more or less than others. You may overreact to the feel of fabrics and other textures. This could be reflected in problems getting dressed, with feeling extremely uncomfortable in your clothes— or, if sensation is dulled, resulting in a decreased awareness, you may need to touch more things, more often.

Proprioception: Muscle sense. “If you’re not getting good proprioceptive feedback from your muscles and joints, you may have trouble responding with the right facial expressions or body language during a conversation,” Schaaf says. “And you may have trouble with physical activities like riding a bike or figuring out how to use a playground swing.”

Vestibular system: The perception of movement.

Processing problems could lead to clumsiness, balance issues, even trouble using your eyes and head together in a coordinated way that could lead to reading and learning problems.

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Inside the Brain The study’s conclusions made headlines.

Results for individual participants made a difference in their lives, Schaaf says. “One parent wanted their child just to be able to participate in activities with peers,” she says. “After OT/SI he started going bowling after school with his classmates. He showed better ability to regulate his behavior during the bowling activity and was more aware of his body and his boundaries. One day, he noticed that another child was having trouble and this boy went over and said, ‘Here, let me help you with that.’ He was really able to empathize. Did OT/SI do that?

We can’t say, but these are the kinds of stories we hear. By changing how sensations are processed and integrated, children with autism can make better sense of the information they receive. They can relate better to others, learn more and do more. It ripples out into their lives.”

Schaaf’s research team has published the study’s treatment manual so other occupational therapists can use it. She encourages other occupational therapists to conduct their own studies with validated tools for measuring outcomes. “We see ourselves as therapists, but we need to investigate our therapies as researchers, too,” she notes.

Meanwhile, she recently began a collaboration with cognitive neuroscientists Sophie Molholm, PhD, and John Foxe, PhD, of New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University to look into not only

By changing h ow sensations are processed a integrated, chil nd dren with autism c a n make better sense of the in formation they receive. They c relate better to an others, learn m o re a n d do more.

It ripples out in to their lives.

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how OT/SI improves the child’s functions but also if it changes the way the brain processes and integrates sensations. Using the protocol Schaaf and colleagues implemented in the prior study, they will study 180 children with autism who receive OT/SI, behavioral training or usual care. In addition, they will use electroencephalography to measure how the brain is processing sensations before and after. In 2010, Molholm and Foxe used these methods to show that the brains of children with autism spectrum disorders process sensory information differently. “We know these interventions impact brain function,” Molholm says. “We want to know how.”

The National Institutes of Health is funding that study with a $4.1 million grant.

“We are so pleased to receive this grant and have the opportunity to study OT/SI on a larger scale,” says Schaaf. But it’s not just the government and big groups supporting Schaaf’s work. In fall 2015, a group of South Philadelphia mothers of children with autism held a fundraiser at a local restaurant that provided $52,000 for Schaaf’s Sensory Integration Laboratory at Jefferson.

“I just think it’s so important to make people aware of the condition—that’s our number one concern,” Stephanie Bongiovanni, of “Team Solve the Puzzle,” told a local reporter. “So many people just don’t understand it. Sometimes it’s a struggle just to take your kids to the park. It’s not because they’re bad kids and we’re bad mothers—it’s over-stimulating for them.”

Schaaf says OT/SI can be one piece of the treatment puzzle for such children. “It’s not the only piece—children need a team to help them. And they need testing to determine the cause of their difficulties. Then, it can be an important piece.”

For more information about Roseann Schaaf’s work or to support her research, contact Greg Schmidt, Director of Development for the Jefferson Colleges, at 215-955-0435 or gregory.schmidt@jefferson.edu.

A messa g e fr o m E l i z abe t h Dale

Alumni Home

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When we started to think about creating an Alumni Center here at Jefferson, we put together a document outlining its purpose. The paper states, “The proposed Alumni Center will serve three basic functions: to provide a home for alumni visiting campus, to provide a space for the five alumni association boards to meet and to house the Alumni Relations offices.”

It’s a rather dry and practical statement of purpose—correct as far as it goes—but the word “home” jumped out at me and tugged a little at my heart. The new Alumni Center we are planning will be more than a meeting space and an office space: it’s a home. It’s friends and family. It’s memories.

It’s where you’re always welcomed back, no matter how far away you go or for how long.

It’s triumphs and setbacks and lessons learned. It’s where you got your start in life.

It’s where you’re always welcomed back, no matter how far away you go or for how long.

The new space Jefferson has set aside for our 33,000-plus living alumni from all six colleges comprises 5,000 square feet on the second floor of Alumni Hall. We already have a floor plan. The Alumni Center will include a reception area, large conference room, a library lounge, a business center, displays of Jefferson archival materials like photos and yearbooks and, of course, Alumni Relations offices. It will be a friendly and versatile environment where alumni can gather for catching up, reminiscing about their professors, learning about the new Jefferson, networking with colleagues, mentoring students, conducting official alumni business, attending on-campus alumni events and accessing alumni services. The Alumni Center will be

completely dedicated to serving our alumni.

In other words, it will be, as our plan put it, your campus home.

The new Alumni Center is all about our Jefferson family. That’s why Jefferson is investing in more resources, more programming and more services for alumni. Even though you’ve graduated, even though you’ve gone off to make a life and build a career, you’re still one of us—and we depend on you. Alumni are not just our past: you’re our future. We love to hear your stories, and we need to hear your voice.

Your involvement and passion help Jefferson to govern better and plan for a brighter future, and the close connection helps you to tell better Jefferson stories to those who don’t know us.

There are many ways alumni can give back by giving forward to secure a better Jefferson. We welcome your comments and queries at alumni@jefferson.edu.

Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, is more than right when she says, “There’s no place like home.” Find out for yourself. I hope you come and visit soon.

Elizabeth Dale, EdD Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement

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ts

Bi zB s i t io n Hel e i c ps Student S

Beyond Aubrey Watkins III, PhD '12, speaks with postdoctoral fellow Senem Kurtoglu, PhD, at a BizBio speed-networking event.

Photo by Roger Barone.

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Ex pl

e r o

e s r e v Di

r Paths e e r a C

Bench B y M o lly Pe t r i lla

the

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u

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12 . They were two years into their PhD programs in the Jefferson r of 20 e College of Biomedical Sciences and worked in the same lab, m

Its was th es

David Hoang st i start BizB io— ll r Je

ers the mome b nt em th t s u s d m ’ e n n at l e t-r so r ed un ffe bu sin es s studying prostate cancer’s spread and its resistance to drugs.

Sometimes they’d get to talking.

Hoang was taking an elective in biotechnology venture management through JCBS —“a whole new world for me,” he remembers—and during one of their chats, he mentioned it to Talati.

She was having her own dilemma. It turned out bench science just wasn’t for her. She wanted to pivot toward the business side instead, but “I felt like there just weren’t options available to learn how,” she says now.

Wouldn’t it be great, they agreed, if science students had more opportunities to learn about working as consultants or entrepreneurs or in biotech? “We figured, if we’re feeling this way, maybe other people are too,” Hoang says.

It turns out they were.

Three years in, BizBio has cemented its place on campus.

The group has withstood growing pains and leadership changes—including inaugural president Talati’s graduation and soon Hoang’s. It’s served more than 150 students and held numerous events. As faculty adviser Jeffrey Joseph, DO, puts it: “The students are really the leaders. They’re working hard, they’re well-organized, and they’re into it.”

Making It Happen

William Troetel, PhD '72 (center), presented at a BizBio event in October 2015. Surrounding him are Michael Whitley, Gabriela Cosma, Ileine Sanchez, Rohan Keshwara, Aysha Ejaz and Lisa Kozlowski, PhD. Photo by Robert Neroni.

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Soon after that first conversation in the lab, Hoang and Talati began to ask around. They found other students, many on the cusp of graduating with PhDs, who “voiced very similar thoughts: concerns about staying in academia, about not having the sustained interest to carry them through a career,” Hoang says.

He outlines the traditional path through academia for most doctoral science students: finish your PhD, complete a postdoc, land a faculty position, secure research funding, lead a research program in your specialty area and then get tenure.

“But some students realize they just don’t like the day-in, day-out process of doing science,” Hoang says. “And for

him and

t a l a T a j o Po

y g o and biotechnol others—and I put myself here—we like that process, but we like other things as well.”

Some of the students Hoang and Talati talked with had already investigated careers outside of academia. Some had even gone through job interviews or met with successful entrepreneurs. “But they were going about it individually,” Hoang adds. “We realized how beneficial it could be for us to pool our collective experiences.”

Hoang, Talati and four other students began meeting to discuss their goals for BizBio. “We wanted it to be more than a club to hang out and chat,” Hoang remembers.

“We wanted to have active offerings.”

They registered as a student organization in late 2012 and began spreading the word. “Anything we could get involved with on campus, we were there,” Talati says. “And we met with anyone who would listen to us.”

o t i . p u o gr

Hoang remembers early disagreements among the group over its direction. Talati was interested in medical writing and consulting. Others wanted to start their own companies. They finally agreed to keep it “as broad as possible,” Talati says.

“We don’t have any restrictions on who can join the group,” Hoang adds. “We’re large enough that we can accommodate any interest.”

Mentors and Networks Current BizBio president and JCBS PhD student Gabriela Cosma defines the group’s mission as “exposing members to careers at the interface of business, health and science.” For that reason, a BizBio event can take many different forms.

One of the first that Talati and Hoang organized has become an annual favorite: a networking social with experts from biotech, pharmacy and other areas where science and industry meet.

But Hoang says it was a panel discussion about a year into BizBio that really got its name out to the entire

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Jefferson community. The topic? How to be an entrepreneur.

“We weren’t sure how the turnout would be,” he says, “but it was huge, and it wasn’t just our core audience of master’s and PhD students.” Faculty members came. Public health students and medical students and pharmacy students came.

As current president, Cosma says she’s focused on planning experiential events. Last year she and a few other BizBio officers competed in a National Institutes of Health entrepreneurship startup challenge. They were semifinalists. Now Cosma is working to bring the competition organizer to campus for an info session, and to hold followup sessions for coaching Jefferson teams, proofreading their business plans or just listening to their pitches.

Last year she helped former president Crystal Kraft organize a five-hour workshop called Selling Your Science. They brought in a consultant who explained how scientists can better communicate their work to a variety of audiences.

“He was teaching us the skills and personality qualities companies are looking for,” Cosma remembers. “Basically, it’s about knowing how to play in the sandbox.”

Whether it’s an entrepreneurship panel, a career development workshop or a meet-and-greet, Talati says one of BizBio’s top goals has always been networking—a skill that’s not generally taught in class, but a critical one.

As Joseph notes: “The days of a scientist sitting in the lab independently are long gone.”

‘The Bigger Picture’ Hoang says that when he started his PhD at Jefferson in 2010, conversations like the ones in BizBio weren’t happening on campus.

“There was a stigma for people not pursuing the academia path,” he says. “They were seen as less dedicated, or that their work wasn’t up to par. It’s not completely gone, but now there’s more awareness of what else people can do with these degrees.”

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In 2014, Talati, Hoang, Nathan Fried, Michael Magee and Jeff Fineberg—all BizBio officers and JCBS graduate students—published a paper in Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship titled “A Perspective on PhD Career Outlook: Training, Mentoring and Utilizing a New Generation of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] Doctoral Degrees.”

“We strongly believe that STEM graduate programs require a retooling of their training approaches to address the demands of today’s labor market,” they wrote. “The current model must adapt to the reality of limited academic positions and decreased research funding, as well as accommodate a large pool of students at all graduate levels entering the workforce.”

They made recommendations, including an emphasis on career development, alumni mentorship and more dualdegree programs. There’s even a section on BizBio, used to illustrate how students can lead change. “It was another venue to get our message and information out there,” Hoang says of the paper.

But he also says things are already changing. He’s met first-year students who knew about BizBio before they even got to campus—and who know they won’t be pursuing careers in academia.

“I think BizBio is fitting into the bigger picture for Jefferson,” he adds, citing Jefferson president and CEO Stephen Klasko’s commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship.

BizBio’s efforts also align with the work of Lisa Kozlowski, PhD. As associate dean for student and postdoctoral affairs at JCBS, she organizes career seminars, lectures and professional development workshops for Jefferson’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. In the process, she often brings in speakers similar to the ones BizBio hosts.

Kozlowski helped Talati and Hoang establish BizBio and still serves as a faculty adviser. She came to Jefferson 12

“W

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Bi z Bi

o, I p ro b a b l y wo ul d

h ave

gon

Left: BizBio president Gabriela Cosma.

Photo by Roger Barone.

Below: Rohan Keshwara greets William Troetel, PhD '72. Photo by Robert Neroni.

ed ow a nd na ma m o yb e y re t r ad ea it io rs do n al wn ro u te t he l i ne , fo u nd

Below Right: Touraj Abdollahi, PhD '04, and student Ileine Sanchez.

Photo by Roger Barone.

years ago but says she can’t imagine a group like BizBio succeeding back then.

“I think it was just the right timing,” she adds. “Although things were happening on campus before, the innovation and business side of science didn’t start exploding on campus until a few years ago. It was a time that something like BizBio was going to be much more accepted.”

After Biz Talati finished her PhD in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology in April 2015. In May, she began working as a medical writer for a marketing and communications agency in New York.

Her funky SoHo office doesn’t look anything like a lab.

But she’s decided to use her PhD there because “I need to be involved in a career where I’m able to communicate and make change,” she says.

Hoang is getting ready to graduate from his MD/PhD program this spring. He plans to work for a life sciences management or strategy consulting firm. Eventually he’d like to lead a biotech company.

“Without BizBio, I probably would have gone down a more traditional route and maybe years down the line, found out I was dissatisfied,” he says.

out I was di s s at i s f ie d .”

Other BizBio alumni now work as consultants, as writers, as scientists for biotechnology companies— and yes, as postdoctoral researchers in academic labs.

This past fall, Talati came back to campus for a BizBio event—her first as an alumna. It was the same networking social she helped launch in 2012, only this time she was on the opposite side of the table.

When newer members heard that she’d co-created BizBio, the praise was swift: You’ve opened my eyes to so many different options. You’ve given me the opportunity to do so much more with my degree.

Even you’ve changed my life.

“This was something I did because I wanted to learn more about these things—it was selfish, really,” she says. “The fact that it’s changing even one person’s outlook now: that’s amazing. It’s the most gratifying thing.”

“I graduated and landed my dream job,” she adds.

“And I truly believe BizBio helped me get there.”

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C o lle g e o f N u rs i n G

Five Nursing Students, Five Questions

PHOTOS BY ROBERT NERONI

What Drives Their Passion?

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Nurses: A colossal sector of America’s healthcare work force. Nearly 4 million strong, they are the largest group of active clinicians across the United States.

When the Jefferson College of Nursing was founded in 1891, nurses wore white uniforms, starched aprons and stiff caps. They stood up if a physician walked by. They received a primarily technical education. As JCN celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, Jefferson is also celebrating the enormous change the field of nursing has experienced since its inception.

Free of caps and aprons, today’s nurses receive comprehensive training that hones in on care coordination and critical thinking in addition to clinical skills. Their work encompasses much more than direct care, as they play integral roles in quality measurement and improvement, case management, data collection, insurance reviews and patient education. They continually adapt as more changes unfold thanks to healthcare reform, growing numbers of insured patients, an aging population and a projected physician shortage. These changes position nurses to assume a greater leadership role than ever before.

In past generations, few nursing students could predict the changes that lay ahead. The current situation is different; today’s students know that a rapidly changing healthcare landscape means the system could evolve even before they graduate.

JCN students come from richly varied backgrounds and aspire to forge career paths involving the clinic, the community and the classroom. But for all their differences, most share an excitement about the prospect of change rather than a fear of the unknown. Earlier this year, five current students answered the same five questions:

What is your background?

How did you become interested in nursing?

Why did you choose Jefferson?

What do you believe is the most pressing healthcare problem today?

What are your career goals?

Will their responses surprise you?

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Melissa Fedor Background

Why did you choose Jefferson?

I was raised in Dunmore, Pa., and was the first in my family to attend college. I received a BS in neuroscience from the University of Scranton in 2014, and then spent the summer in El Salvador as a volunteer with a Philadelphia-based organization. I had volunteered there before with my university, in 2012, working in an underprivileged village to help build homes, serve food and spend time with the people.

I was so impacted by my first experience that I chose to go back and serve in a leadership role, guiding volunteer groups and communicating with the locals to plan events. I often ran the community center in the village and would organize activities and listen to problems that families were facing. When I returned home, I moved to Philadelphia and began the two-year Accelerated Pathway program at Jefferson. I will receive my BSN this spring, and I can go on to pursue my MSN if I choose to do so.

I grew up in a small, suburban area, and I wanted to be exposed to the ‘city side’ of healthcare. I haven’t been disappointed! One of my favorite memories from my first year of nursing school was during my ob/gyn rotation at Einstein Medical Center. I helped a young Spanish woman deliver her baby, and I was able to coach her through labor in Spanish. It was a very rewarding experience.

How did you become interested in nursing?

My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2008 and lived in a nursing home for the last five years of her life. The nurses who took care of her became a second family, and they brought her such joy and comfort during a scary time in her life. When she passed away, many of her nurses attended her funeral. I hope to be that kind of nurse someday—the kind that bonds with patients and truly loves them.

In addition, volunteering in El Salvador enabled me to witness a kind of love that not many people are fortunate enough to see. In a country where many live in tin shacks surrounded by dirt roads, I was shown kindness, respect and generosity. The Salvadoran people and I were vastly different, yet we were able to grow together and form relationships. This experience is something I plan to carry with me through my career.

What do you believe is the most pressing healthcare problem today?

Overall lack of health education. Many issues our nation is currently facing, such as obesity, diabetes, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy, could all be managed—and to a certain extent prevented—if those at risk were properly educated and had the resources to overcome their obstacles. If the community better understood how diseases work, what causes them and how they can work on staying healthy, many medical emergencies could be avoided.

What are your career goals?

I’m looking into opportunities related to women’s health.

There is something beautiful and honorable about being with a woman as she prepares to welcome a child into the world. I enjoy the educational aspect of postpartum nursing, as well as working with two different populations (mothers and infants). You often get a ‘whole-family’ experience involving parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. However, I am keeping all of my options open, and I haven’t had an experience that I did not like!

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Background I’m from Lumberton, N.J., and have a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Skidmore College. I am in Jefferson’s joint BSN/MSN program and will complete my BSN this spring.

How did you become interested in nursing?

When I was a child, my father was treated for throat cancer at Jefferson and also had multiple surgeries for degenerative disc disease following injuries he sustained while serving in the U.S. Air Force. Nurses played an integral role in his recovery. When I visited him in the hospital, I listened to the clinicians’ conversations and got involved in his care.

Rather than being afraid, I became curious about his treatment and used it as a learning experience. That time was the catalyst for my pathway to nursing.

What would you consider the most pressing healthcare problem today?

Obesity. It’s an underlying cause for so many of the common and deadly chronic conditions in this country. This is a preventable issue that needs to be addressed in order to improve the quality of life for many Americans.

What are your career goals?

I want to become a nurse practitioner and am particularly interested in pediatrics. I have been working with kids since I was 16 years old. Before coming to Jefferson I worked as a nanny for twin infants, which was an amazing experience. I loved caring for the twins and developing a bond with them.

Brianna DeGroat Why did you choose Jefferson?

Jefferson’s acknowledgement of patient diversity and the importance of acceptance and cultural competency is important to me. Also, although my father’s time on the oncology unit was stressful, his Jefferson physicians and nurses made our family’s experience as positive as possible.

His treatment and care were outstanding and greatly influenced my view of healthcare and made me aspire to care for patients in the same way. (My father has been cancer free for 10 years!)

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Kevin Wright Background

Why did you choose Jefferson?

I’m from Stoke-on-Trent in England but moved to the United States in 1998 after being imported by my now-wife, Sarah, after a dial-up transatlantic internet romance (yes, dial-up!); we have a 3-year-old daughter. I have an associate’s degree equivalent in ceramic engineering from Stoke-on-Trent College and previously owned my own ceramic manufacturing company and restaurant. I had never worked in a field related to healthcare before entering the BSN program at Jefferson; I graduate this spring.

The clinical experiences are amazing; when I have talked to students from other colleges it makes me very happy that I chose Jefferson. We work longer hours than students in many other programs, but we have much more diverse experiences than any other students I have met. All of my clinical instructors are fantastic; I really couldn’t ask for more.

How did you become interested in nursing?

When I was leaving school in England, a career adviser recommended nursing as a good fit for me. However, at the time I was not mature enough to act on this advice.

Through all my other jobs, I always wondered what would have happened if I had applied myself to nursing. When Sarah and I owned our last business, the English Fish and Chip restaurant in Vermont, we decided we wanted a baby and that owning a restaurant was not conducive to raising a family. Sarah agreed that she would work while I went to nursing school, so we sold the business.

What would you consider the most pressing healthcare problem today?

The increase in the number of older Americans; by the year 2050 the population of Americans over 65 will almost double. The system has to respond to this massive change in demographics and increase the number (and salary) of geriatric-specialized healthcare professionals.

What are your future career goals?

I would like to attend graduate school and become a nurse practitioner working with the geriatric population and ultimately complete a doctorate.

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Background

Why did you choose Jefferson?

I grew up on a race-horse farm in Kennett Square, Pa., and have a BA in biology and a BA in health sciences from Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. After college, I worked at an eye clinic for a year, then became a clinical research coordinator for the University of Pennsylvania’s physics and biomedical optics department. I currently am a research specialist in the departments of neurology and critical care medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

I’ll complete Jefferson’s Accelerated Pathway program this spring.

I polled nurses I work with about different programs in the area, and many suggested Jefferson. Some said Jefferson was a school that allowed students to put their knowledge into their hands, while other institutions are too courseoriented without enough hands-on practice. I find the instructors here supportive and helpful, and I have also felt very encouraged by our dean, who has monthly luncheons that any nursing student can attend. This is something I’ve only ever found at a small liberal arts college.

Also, my great-grandfather, James Chalmers Lyons, earned his medical degree at Jefferson in 1909!

How did you become interested in nursing?

When I was 19, my mother was in a car accident that left her in intensive care for nearly a month. After driving from North Carolina to the hospital in Pennsylvania, I remember being allowed to come into the ICU well after visiting hours were over, and my mom’s bedside nurse took nearly an hour to explain everything to me. This would later be a reflective ‘a-ha’ moment for me, as I realized nursing was a career that required so much compassion and was something I could be great at.

My working relationships both at Penn and CHOP convinced me to pursue nursing. I have always enjoyed being an advocate for others and recognized how much advocacy there is in nursing.

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What would you consider the most pressing healthcare problem today?

Over-prescription of medications in general—but more specifically, antibiotics. They are often prescribed for respiratory infections without cultures first determining whether an illness is viral or bacterial, and this is a factor that leads to antibiotic-resistant organisms.

Transparency within hospitals and what information is reported to patients are also major healthcare issues.

What are your career goals?

I am interested in pursuing a career first as a bedside nurse in an ICU setting, then would like to obtain a degree either as a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetist. I would like a large component of my work to involve research. I have had the privilege of collecting and analyzing data, presenting my own research at conferences, writing manuscripts and preparing grant applications, and I’d like to continue all of those things.

Background

Why did you choose Jefferson?

I’m from Williamstown, N.J., and attended Gloucester County College to complete the prerequisites I needed to enroll at Jefferson. I currently work as a nurse extern at Jefferson and will graduate with my BSN this spring.

I love that Jefferson has a small campus and is designed for health professions students only. I also like the way the BSN program is structured. Everyone has class together and then gets divided into different groups each semester for clinical rotations. This is a perfect way to meet a lot of people and make great friends.

Destinee Young

How did you become interested in nursing?

Several of my family members (my grandmother, grandfather and aunt) all suffered with and passed away from cancer. During that time I met many nurses and saw the way they helped my loved ones. When I was younger, I did not always understand what was going on—but I would try everything I could to make my sick relatives feel better. Even if I just fluffed a pillow, knowing that I comforted them, even for a minute, was a feeling of achievement. There has always been a part of me that wants to help those in need.

As a nurse extern, I can see the difference I make in the hospital. I am there when someone needs medication or a cup of ice, but also when they get bad news and need support. Nurses make a difference, and there is no better feeling than that.

What would you consider the most pressing healthcare problem today?

Diabetes. I never realized how many people are impacted by diabetes until I started working in the hospital. Healthcare needs to focus on prevention and our nation needs more diabetes education.

What are your career goals?

After graduation I want to work in medical-surgical nursing for a couple years and then return for a master’s degree. I’d love to teach someday and am also interested in becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist.

–Karen L. Brooks

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ON C A M PU S

College of Biomedical Sciences

JCBS Launches MS in Clinical Research Beginning in fall 2016, the Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences will offer a new master of science in clinical research program, which was created by clinical researchers to train scientists with a variety of backgrounds. The program is suited for career changers with a background in life, physical or clinical sciences who would like to break into clinical research and also is appropriate for industry members looking for additional graduate-level training. For more information, visit Jefferson.edu/university/biomedical-sciences.

P4 Students Go on to Med School Six recent graduates of the Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences’ Postbaccalaureate Pre-Professional Program, known as “P4,” began medical school at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Jefferson or the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in fall 2015. Linking opportunities to SKMC and PCOM are available for P4 students who meet certain academic requirements; all must go through the traditional interview process and the Medical College Admission Test.

The P4 postbaccalaureate program is designed for students from all backgrounds who have a prior degree but are looking to transition into a scientific or medical field and need to fulfill related coursework and other requirements. Class sizes are small to provide a strong sense of community. For more information on P4, visit Jefferson. edu/university/biomedical-sciences.

Back row: Paul Alves, Jacqueline Early Front row: Michael Reynolds, Molly Allanoff, Nicholas Benvenuto and J.J. Newland

Brewing the Perfect Pint: Alumna Shows How Science is Saving Beer Brewing the perfect pint of beer requires perfect conditions—the right ingredients, temperature and yeast (for fermentation) along with close control over the tiny bacteria that can cause spoilage. On Nov. 11, 2015, Kristen Kahle, PhD ’09 (molecular pharmacology and structural biology), led an alumni event during which she highlighted new diagnostic tools being used by brewers to detect the bacteria that can ruin beer in production. Held at Barren Hill Brewery in Lafayette Hill, Pa., the event featured samples of house brews—including Umlaut Fever, inspired by Jefferson's own Thomas Dent Mutter, MD. Kahle is director of research at Invisible Sentinel, a biotech company that provides microbial diagnostic tools for industries including food and beverage quality and safety. She leads the scientific team that developed brewPAL, a rapid molecular test for the detection of beer spoilage organisms. As a postdoc at Jefferson, she conducted research in the lab of Michael Root, MD, PhD, investigating the kinetics of HIV-1 deactivation and its implications for fusion inhibitor design and the acquisition of viral resistance.

Aplin Receives Distinguished Mentor Award Andrew Aplin, PhD, received the 2015 Distinguished Mentor Award for his excellent mentorship to Jefferson’s postdoctoral fellows. Aplin is a professor in the Department of Cancer Biology and head of basic science at the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying melanocyte transformation leading to melanoma.

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ON C A M PU S

College of Health Professions

Gaiser and Fox Publish Exam Prep Text Clinical instructor Ray Gaiser, BS ’98, MS ’14, RDMS, RVT, and assistant professor and Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program clinical coordinator Traci B. Fox, EdD, RT(R), RDMS, RVT, co-authored a book, Vascular Technology Examination PREP, published by McGraw-Hill in November 2015. The book covers all aspects of vascular disease and testing and prepares readers for the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography Vascular Technology registry exam.

OT Student Featured in Stroke Smart

Fox is pictured with Qiu TingTing, a graduate student who assisted her with translating.

Fox Lectures in China Traci Fox of the Department of Radiologic Sciences traveled to Chengdu, China, in July 2015 to speak at a two-week course at Sichuan University. Sichuan’s University Immersion Program invites visiting faculty from institutions around the world to teach domestic and international students. Fox’s topics were ultrasound physics, hemodynamics and Doppler.

JCHP Introduces Medical Family Therapy Certificate The Jefferson College of Health Professions has introduced a new post-graduate certificate in medical family therapy.

This growing field supports families who have been affected by a medical diagnosis or treatment within an interprofessional healthcare environment. A collaboration between Jefferson’s Department of Couple and Family Therapy and the Council for Relationships, the one-year program emphasizes hands-on clinical experience and is designed for practicing clinicians. Training sites include the Gender and Sexuality Development Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Jefferson Medical Oncology and Jefferson Family Medicine.

The certificate is a good fit for licensed social workers, clinical psychologists, family therapists, professional counselors, physicians, nurses or clergy with degrees in pastoral care. For more information, visit Jefferson.edu/MedicalFamilyTherapy.

Second-year BS/MS occupational therapy student Karly Brown was featured in Stroke Smart about her experience having a stroke at age 21. A week before her stroke, Brown had applied to Jefferson’s occupational therapy program; she was accepted while recovering. She enrolled a year later and says therapy has given her the tools to succeed—and she is committed to spreading stroke awareness. Learn more at strokesmart.org/karly-brown.

Ultrasound Students Walk to Stop Diabetes On Nov. 7, 2015, 11 vascular ultrasound students and one general ultrasound student participated in the “Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes” event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as an activity for Jefferson’s student chapter of the Society for Vascular Ultrasound.

Pictured are (top row) Brianna Milillo, Ashley Wright, Christine Swafford, Jessica Piperno, Alexandra Dailey, Allison Shaffer and Kathaleen Vinasco; and (bottom row) Michelle Silvestro, Monsurat Aminu, Sidney Mathis (who coordinated the event) and Stacey McShane. Student Haley Sutton is not pictured.

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College of Nursing

New Nursing Curriculum on the Horizon JCN is reimagining nursing education with a brand-new baccalaureate curriculum that recently received approval from the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing. The new curriculum, which addresses the challenges and demands placed on the healthcare system and providers in the 21st century, will be implemented with students entering the Full-Time Accelerated Coursework Track (FACT) in May 2016. Based on Jefferson’s tenet of “Health Is All We Do,” the curriculum is known as H.E.R.E. for its focus on humanism, evidence-based practice, reflection and excellence in clinical nurse leaders.

Stay tuned for more about the new curriculum in the fall issue of the Review!

JCN Is NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education The Jefferson College of Nursing has been named a National League for Nursing (NLN) Center of Excellence in Nursing Education for the period 2015-19. NLN recognition as a Center of Excellence distinguishes institutions that demonstrate sustained, evidence-based and substantive innovation in a selected area; conduct research to document the effectiveness of such innovation; set high standards for themselves; and are committed to continuous quality improvement. The category for Jefferson’s designation is Creating Environments That Enhance Student Learning and Professional Development.

DNP in Nurse Anesthesia Introduced JCN is now offering a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in nurse anesthesia designed for students who have completed a bachelor of science. This is the first program of its kind in Philadelphia to receive approval from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The college will admit the first class of 26 students in fall 2016. For more information, visit Jefferson.edu/university/nursing.

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Peoples, Moore in NLN LEAD Program Lynda Peoples, MSN ’10, CRNP, instructor in the family nurse practitioner program, and Shawana Moore, BSN ’10, MSN ’11, DNP ’13, assistant professor of nursing, were accepted into the 2016 NLN LEAD Program—part of the NLN Leadership Institute in the Center for Transformational Leadership, which focuses on leadership development for nurses in education and practice who have experienced a rapid transition to an administrative position or aspire to lead. The year-long program provides opportunities for engagement with peers and experts to examine issues related to leadership concepts and organizational systems.

Moore also was elected to the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses’ 2017 Annual Convention Planning Committee. Additionally, she received a March of Dimes New Jersey Chapter Community Grant.

The one-year grant, shared in partnership with Camcare Health Corporation in Camden, N.J., supports “A Healthy Seed Grows within a Healthy You.” This project will provide prenatal and postnatal education classes to women within a community healthcare center.

ON C A M PU S

College of Nursing

Swan on VA Panel JCN Dean Beth Ann Swan, PhD, CRNP, served on the Veterans Administration Choice Act Blue Ribbon Panel—Section 201 of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act. The panel published a summary of its recommendations in the New England Journal of Medicine’s Perspective, “Reforming the Veterans Health Administration—Beyond Palliation of Symptoms” in September 2015.

Savin Recognized Michele Savin, MSN, received the 2015 Excellence in Neonatal Nursing Award from the Academy of Neonatal Nursing. The award recognizes one person nationally each year. Savin is an instructor in Jefferson’s Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Program.

Miller in Healthcare Transformation Workgroup Janice Miller, DNP, CRNP, CDE, was invited by Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Karen Murphy, PhD, RN, to participate in the Healthcare Transformation Workgroup—one of five committees involved in Pennsylvania’s State Innovation Model Initiative design award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Workgroup aims to develop a comprehensive healthcare transformation plan that will lead to better health, better care and smarter spending across the Commonwealth and will take a comprehensive approach to rural health, primary care and workforce reform.

Bellot Elected Jennifer Bellot, PhD, RN, MHSA, director of Jefferson’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, has been elected to the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association Board of Directors for a two-year term ending in the fall of the year 2017.

JCN Faculty Publish, Present • Michele Savin published “We can do better: an argument for improved care of the opioid addicted mother-infant dyad” in the Journal of Nursing Doctoral Students Scholarship in October 2015.

• Assistant professor Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, PhD, MPH, published “Relationship between sharps disposal containers and Clostridium difficile infections in acute care hospitals” in the American Journal of Infection Control in October 2015. She also was the lead author on the publication, “Psychometric evaluation of an instrument for measuring organizational climate for quality: evidence from a national sample of infection preventionists” in the American Journal of Medical Quality.

• Elizabeth Speakman, EdD, associate professor and co-director of the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Education, published “Nursing in the 21st century: find opportunities to practice in interprofessional healthcare teams” in NSNA Imprint in October 2015.

• Assistant professor Mary Bouchaud, PhD, was the lead poster presenter on behalf of the Curriculum Navigators at the National League for Nursing (NLN) Education Summit, “Accelerating Curriculum Design: A Love It, Don’t Leave It Approach to Creative Process and Idealized Design,” in October 2015. Together, Bouchaud and Speakman presented a poster at the summit, “The use of narrative pedagogy and unfolding case ‘Ivan’ to promote interprofessional collaboration and education among nursing and radiology students.”

Also at the NLN summit, instructor Mary Hanson Zalot, MSN, AOCN, presented a poster, “Fostering the development of emotional intelligence among health science students: empowering students to impact institutional culture.”

Co-presenters were associate professor Julia Ward, PhD, and Colleen Dempsey, an instructor in the Jefferson College of Health Professions.

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ON C A M PU S

College of Pharmacy

Student Team Places in National Competition A team of fourth-year Doctor of Pharmacy students—Abigail Bertonazzi, Andrea Lordan and Bridgette Nelson—came in second place in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Clinical Pharmacy Challenge at the ACCP Global Conference on Clinical Pharmacy in San Francisco in October 2015. JCP was one of 108 programs to participate in the competition, which allows a team from each pharmacy school across the country to compete in a “quiz-bowl” type of event. The first four rounds took place online, with the top eight teams advancing to a live quarterfinal competition at the global conference.

JCP has competed in this event since its inception five years ago. This is the third time a JCP team has advanced to the live quarterfinal rounds and the first time one advanced to the final round. Cynthia Sanoski, PharmD, chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, coached the team.

JCP Honored by Associated Services for the Blind In September 2015, the Jefferson College of Pharmacy received the Annual Board of Directors Award from the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASB) for services provided to ASB clients by Jefferson Doctor of Pharmacy students and faculty. For more than eight years, JCP student pharmacists in the Healthcare-Related Service Learning course have provided weekly presentations to ASB clients on topics such as diabetes management, immunizations, medication adherence and nutrition. Through this program, student pharmacists apply skills they have learned in the classroom and gain valuable experience communicating with individuals with special needs.

Pictured are Kevin E. Brown, chair of the ASB Board; Angela Nace, PharmD, field coordinator of JCP Experiential Education Services; Ronald E. Bowlan, ASB Board Member and Jefferson’s senior vice president of facilities and campus planning; and Patricia C. Johnson, president and CEO, ASB.

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ON C A M PU S JSPH Dean David Nash, MD, MBA, with the 2015 Health Heroes.

Health Heroes Honored In honor of the Society for Public Health Education’s National Health Education Week in October, the Jefferson College of Population Health recognized local “Health Education Heroes” whose work is improving health in the Philadelphia area.

Congratulations to the five awardees, whose achievements were recognized at an event on campus Nov. 24.

• Pamela Harrod Smith, MS, a health educator for Jefferson’s Center for Urban Health. As part of the Million Hearts Campaign, Smith has conducted blood pressure screenings at community sites across the Delaware Valley. She also provides health education about chronic disease management, nutrition and asthma to individuals with low health literacy.

• Terri Clark, MPH, prevention coordinator for ActionAIDS. Clark promotes LGBTQ health, facilitates access to healthcare services for those in need and supports the aging population with HIV. She also fosters collaborations with other organizations, including the Mazzoni Center, Public Health Management Corporation and Philadelphia Corporation for Aging.

• Sue Daugherty, RN, LDN, chief executive officer for MANNA (the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance). Over 15 years, Daugherty has counseled clients about the benefits of good nutrition, expanded nutrition services to clients with life-threatening illnesses and fostered relationships in Africa that have launched nutrition programs abroad for orphans and vulnerable children.

• Alison Petok, MSW, LSW, MPH, an oncology social worker at Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. Petok provides health education to patients of all ages, works in the multidisciplinary palliative care clinic and supports clinicians in the cancer center.

She has spearheaded a fertility preservation program and is instrumental in launching a distress screening initiative at SKCC. • Amber Thompson, MS, MBA, CHE, vice president of client services and solutions at Vree Health. Thompson manages a team that provides chronic disease care management to high-risk patients. She blends population health management techniques with innovative technology to design programs that successfully deliver behavioral coaching, social services and clinical care.

College of Population Health

Jefferson, Welch Institute Collaborate on MBA Program The Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University, an acclaimed executive MBA program for working professionals, and JCPH are working together to offer an MBA pathway specifically for healthcare leaders. Healthcare systems are facing unprecedented complexity—rising costs, economic inefficiencies and increased regulation—under the Affordable Care Act. These factors, combined with changing technologies and the widespread availability of data, will force a change in the current healthcare model, demanding leaders who can navigate an ambiguous and quickly evolving economic and regulatory landscape. Enrollees in this unique new online program will take courses that address these issues. For more information, visit healthcare.jwmi.com.

16th Annual Population Health Colloquium a Success JCPH was again the academic partner for this year’s Population Health Colloquium, the nation’s leading forum on innovations in population health and care coordination. Held March 6-9 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel and co-sponsored by the Population Health Alliance, the 16th annual Colloquium provided an update on changes in health policy, practice and innovation, highlighting real-world examples of population health initiatives that are improving care and outcomes. Healthcare providers and payers along with leaders from the pharmaceutical industry, technology and solutions companies, academia and government came together to share best practices, case studies, expert insights and industry trends.

The Colloquium will be archived for six months and is available for purchase at www.populationhealthcolloquium.com. For more information, contact Melissa Horowitz, JSPH’s project director, at melissa.horowitz@jefferson.edu.

Leader Featured by WHYY Assistant professor Amy Leader, MPH, DrPH, spoke to WHYY in December 2015 for a story about Merck’s vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) receiving approval for use in older boys and young men. The first HPV vaccine entered the market nearly a decade ago and was introduced only for girls, and over the years far more girls than boys have been vaccinated. Leader, a population scientist at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, is an expert on HPV, which is the most common sexually transmitted infection and can cause certain cancers.

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Karie Youngdahl, MPH ’16 Giving Vaccine Education Her Best Shot

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I had this exposure to people who were adamantly against getting Well before she and her husband started their family in the early 1990s, Karie Youngdahl knew they’d get their children fully vaccinated. A science writer who worked in educational publishing, Youngdahl understood both the personal and community benefits of vaccination.

So learning that many of her San Francisco Bay Area neighbors were staunch “anti-vaxxers” left her dumbfounded.

“I had this exposure to people who were adamantly against getting their kids any vaccines at all. That’s when I really started following the public conversation about vaccines,” she says.

Youngdahl continued her writing career for nearly two decades before turning her interest in vaccination into a full-time endeavor. In 2009—four years after moving to the East Coast—she joined the College of Physicians of Philadelphia as the first director of its “History of Vaccines” project, an online resource designed to teach the public how vaccines work, how they are developed and the role they play in human health.

Months spent devouring all the vaccine-related literature she could find and interviewing experts in the field prepared her to build the project from scratch with help from a web developer; she’s been expanding the site ever since its 2010 launch (and also co-authored a book, The History of Vaccines, which was published in 2013). Her work has garnered international attention, with audiences ranging from parents making vaccination decisions for their children to high-school and college students and teachers to healthcare professionals spanning many specialties.

The media has also taken notice. When a measles outbreak originating in California occurred in early 2015, Youngdahl embarked on a “phenomenally busy” period, responding to countless press inquiries and appearing on radio and television shows. The anti-vaccination philosophies she had encountered in earlier days persisted.

“I receive criticism on both personal and professional levels and get a lot of messages from people who disagree with my facts,” she says. “It’s a constant challenge, and I

their kids any vaccines at all. That’s when I really started following the public conversation about vaccines.

have to be careful because the College of Physicians is not an advocacy organization. My role is to present information, not to tell people to go out and get vaccinations. We are a medical fellowship organization, and that is the perspective I represent.”

To augment the knowledge she’s gained through her job, Youngdahl enrolled in the Master of Public Health program in the Jefferson College of Population Health in 2012. Over the past four years, she’s taken one or two courses at a time and just graduated this spring. Unsurprisingly, her selfchosen clerkship and capstone projects both involved vaccination. For her clerkship, she performed administrative and communication activities to support Energize the Chain, a nonprofit organization that harnesses electricity from mobile phone towers to power vaccine refrigerators at sites in remote areas of Africa and India. Her capstone involved assessing data from the City of Philadelphia’s immunization registry to pinpoint predictors for completion of the human papillomavirus vaccination series.

“I’ve learned a great deal in my courses and appreciate having the tools to become a better communicator about important public health issues like infectious diseases, vaccine safety and attitudes and beliefs about vaccination,” says Youngdahl, recalling that shortly before she had her first child in 1993, she had taken steps toward pursuing a Master of Public Health. “But I didn’t get into my first-choice school, then got pregnant and became wrapped up in that and my writing and publishing work. Coming to Jefferson has been a really nice way to close that circle and get back to that interest that was so strong so long ago.”

Explore the History of Vaccines project at historyofvaccines.org.

Follow Youngdahl’s blog at historyofvaccines.org/blog.

—Karen L. Brooks

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c lass n o t es & i n mem o r i am

Class Notes Amy Carroll, OTD ’14, recently published two articles in the Journal of Neonatology of India: “Principles and Practices of Developmentally Supportive Care” and “Family Centred Care.”

Carroll lives in Downingtown, Pa., and is an adjunct professor of occupational therapy at Jefferson.

Joseph DeRanieri, BSN ’92, MSN, RN, BCECR, has been named executive director of orthopaedic services at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes, Del. Previously, DeRanieri was an assistant professor at the University of Delaware, where he served as coordinator of the Graduate Health Services Administration. He also was a financial consultant for the Nurse Managed Health Care Center in Newark, Del., and an assistant professor at Jefferson for many years.

Janice Florio, OTR/L (post-baccalaureate occupational therapy certificate, 1987), participated in the first Mission to the World Women’s Health Symposium in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2015. The symposium included 16 women from the United States serving more than 100 Kenyan women. Florio writes that she was surprised to find that two other participants were Jefferson graduates: Linda Barbour and Marla Pantalone, who graduated from Jefferson’s diploma nursing program in 1969 and 1981, respectively. Florio lives in Oak Island, N.C.; Barbour lives in Haddon Township, N.J.; and Pantalone lives in Manasquan, N.J. Michele Freed-Madrack, BSN ’14, recently received a DAISY Award for her work as a medical-surgical nurse at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses honors nurses who provide exceptional care. Freed-Madrack was nominated by a woman who delivered her daughter while her husband was an inpatient. “Michele took exceptional physical and emotional care of both my husband and me.

My husband was understandably very upset to be in the hospital and was worried he would miss the birth of our baby. Michele was able to get the necessary clearances and medical arrangements for my husband to be able to leave the floor and go to labor and delivery.

She calmed his anxiety and clearly explained the plan,” the woman wrote in her nomination.

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In Memoriam Terri Giordano, DNP ’13, published “Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Referral to Early Intervention” in ORL-Head and Neck Nursing in August 2015. Giordano is a nurse practitioner in the Division of Otolaryngology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Joyce A. Kelly, BNS ’84, received a Master of Public Health degree in 2011. She is currently working on a regional breastfeeding project, “New Hampshire’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.” Kelly lives in Laconia, N.H., with her husband, Mark, who completed medical school at Jefferson in 1985.

Nancy Alpern, BSN ’80, of Livingston, N.J., died Sept. 9, 2015. Alpern had positions at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City and Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. She later worked at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey and then became an information technology analyst at Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield. She is survived by her father, Charles; a sister, Joy; and two nieces. She was predeceased by her mother, Rae.

George Shafer, BSN ’06, and Lauren Tucci Shafer, BSN ’06, welcomed their son, Samuel George, in June 2015. They report that Samuel’s sisters, Anna and Juliette, are in love with their baby brother. The family lives in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. Barbara Ann Todd, DNP ’10, CRNP, ACNPBC, FAANP, has been selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, which recognizes nursing leaders for outstanding contributions to healthcare. Todd is director for advanced practice in the Department of Nursing at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration Project, a five-year, $200 million Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-funded initiative to develop new models of clinical training for advanced practice nurses. She lives in Burlington, N.J. Kristina Toussaint, MSOT ’15, received the Pennsylvania Occupation Therapy Association (POTA) Student Award of Recognition at the POTA 2015 Annual Conference in Scranton, Pa, in October.

What’s New? To submit a class note or obituary for the Review, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement: By phone

215-955-7751 By email

alumni@jefferson.edu by mail

125 S. 9th St. Suite 700 Philadelphia, PA 19107

A ‘Fifth Daughter’

c lass n o t es

JCBS Grad’s Bone Marrow Donation Saves Stranger’s Life Around the world, there are 26 million people listed on

Allanoff and Ruderman in Philadelphia with Allanoff's mother.

bone marrow donor registries. In fall 2014, Avi Ruderman, of Tel Aviv, Israel—whose non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma had not responded to conventional chemotherapy—needed just one of them to be a match.

And one was all there was: Molly Allanoff, then a student in the Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences’ post-baccalaureate program working to complete prerequisites for medical school. Allanoff, now in her first year at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, had signed up to be a bone marrow donor as soon as she turned 18. Her father’s long-term experience with lymphoma inspired her; he eventually received a transplant when she was in college but passed away within a year.

Ruderman was lucky to find a match for all 10 of the necessary blood markers, which only happens for 40 percent of patients in need of a transplant. He wanted to thank his donor immediately after his procedure in October 2014, but the registry mandates a one-year survival before sharing contact information. All he knew was that his donor was a 23-year-old woman. The father of four daughters, Ruderman considered his donor a fifth.

Allanoff’s donation took eight hours as blood was drawn from one arm, filtered through a machine and returned to her body through the other arm. Bone marrow donation used to involve extraction from the pelvic bone, but today, physicians often can filter hematopoietic stem cells from the donor’s blood. Allanoff was back in class the next day and spent nearly a year wondering who had received her stem cells.

Then, in September 2015, shortly after Allanoff began medical school, the registry forwarded her a letter from Ruderman—although it was not signed. She replied through the agency, writing that her birthday wish that year had been that her recipient was healthy. A few weeks later, on the anniversary of his transplant, Ruderman called. Three weeks after that, he and his family flew to Philadelphia.

Allanoff, accompanied by her mother and boyfriend, met them in the lobby of the Rittenhouse Hotel; she and Ruderman embraced, and family members exchanged tearfilled stories.

The families have since kept in touch, with Ruderman inviting Allanoff and her family to his daughter’s wedding in Israel this June. “It is my treat, my gift,” he said. “You are family now.”

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a fresh fa c e

Jennifer Shiroff, PhD, RN, APN-C

College of Nursing

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Every issue of the Review closes with an introduction to a new faculty member from one of the Jefferson Colleges. Last semester, the Jefferson College of Nursing welcomed Jennifer Shiroff, PhD, RN, APN-C, as an assistant professor in the BSN program.

Shiroff earned her bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University and her master’s degree at the University of San Diego, and she recently completed her doctoral studies at the Medical University of South Carolina with a research focus in genetics. Since 2011, she has worked as a nurse practitioner for Advocare Burlington County Obstetrical and Gynecological Associates in New Jersey.

What brought you to Jefferson?

Tell us about your research.

I wanted to surround myself with colleagues who share a passion for developing exceptional nurses. What drew me to JCN was the underlying innovation that drives the program. I feel strongly that together our dynamic curriculum and outstanding faculty will help shape the next generation of progressive nurses.

My recent research has focused on the clinical utility of genetic testing in pregnant women and women planning a pregnancy. Specifically, I have examined patient perceptions of recessive carrier testing in these populations and challenges with integrating this testing into practice.

What were your first impressions?

I currently teach Introduction to Professional Nursing, Pathophysiology, Pharmacology and Nursing Management of Adults with Acute and Chronic Disorders, and I help oversee a clinical practicum.

From the administrative level down, I found the organization incredibly supportive and welcoming. Our dean and faculty went out of their way to make sure I felt at home and comfortable. Additionally, the organization’s desire to be innovative struck a chord with me because, in healthcare especially, you need to be innovative to remain relevant.

Describe your role here in three sentences.

photo by Karen Kirchhoff

My role at Jefferson is truly academic. I function as a faculty member on courses, advise students and student organizations and work on committees. However, I continue to see ob/gyn patients clinically in New Jersey.

What courses do you teach?

What about your work excites you?

The most exciting thing is when a student ‘gets it’ and you see that light bulb go on and realize they understand what they are learning. The opportunity to help shape our future nurses is a privilege.

Any personal heroes?

My grandmother. She faced many challenges—the loss of two husbands, raising my mother by herself, being a successful businesswoman, and then cancer in her later years. She taught me the importance of persistence and the beauty in strength. She was stunning and graceful—even while battling lymphoma. She was the strongest woman I’ve ever known.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love to spend time with my family. My husband and my children keep me laughing. I also like to run and travel.

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Celebrate the Jefferson College of Nursing’s 125th anniversary by joining us at these upcoming alumni events.

Sept Nov What EveryJune Healthcare Professional Should Know: A General Medical Update 29 11 5

FebruaryJefferson 1-5, 2015 Nursing

Visiting Scholar Day: Jefferson College Alumni Creating a Fee: Culture of Nursing he Four Seasons, Jackson HoleDay Registration pend a week with Jefferson faculty at the annual alumni Beginning at $595 (see website for details) fee includes at the Zoo of Health through 125th Anniversary • All education sessions and CME credit inter CME symposium. Renowned experts from several Leadership and Innovation Alumni Gala • Welcome Superbowl reception (Feb. 1) pecialties will Saturday, present.

June 11, 2016

• Breakfast and afternoon snacks (Feb. 2-5) eaturing: Jefferson President Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, Thursday, September 29, 2016 Saturday, November Philadelphia Zoo • One dinner ticket (Feb. 4)* nd Provost Mark Tykocinski, MD, Anthony F. and Gertrude • Access to additional area discounts Jefferson Alumni 3400 Girard Ave. . DePalma Dean, SidneyW. Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Thomas Jefferson efferson University See the full schedule of presenters and topics at:

Philadelphia

pdates and Clinical Pearls in: Cardiac and Vascular Disease • Treatment of Hepatitis C Geriatric Medicine • and more!

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

University Campus Jefferson.edu/jeffcme/AlumniCME Philadelphia Register Online Now!

5, 2016

Hall 1020 Locust St. Philadelphia

Questions? Contact the SKMC Office of CME at 1-888-JEFF-CME or jeffersoncme@jefferson.edu *Guests welcome at dinner with additional ticket purchase

For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 215-955-7750 or alumni@jefferson.edu, or visit the 125th anniversary website, advancement.jefferson.edu/JCN125.

EW LOCATION he Four Seasons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming oom rates are $325 for a king bed or two double beds and $695 for a suite. To reserve a room, ease call the Four Seasons directly and request the Reservations Department at 1-800-295-5281.

We hope to see you soon!