SHP Snapshots: Research Issue - Spring 2020

SNAPSHOTS UAB // SHP Impressions of Alumni Excellence

SHP Alumni R esearch Impacting the Future of Health Care

RESEARCH ISSUE

LETTER FROM THE DEAN Hello, We understand, everywhere you turn you are surrounded by COVID-19. And for most of you, it is literally everywhere as you work on the front lines to save and protect. While we do touch on some news of the pandemic, the majority of this issue of Snapshots focuses on research that has nothing to do with airborne viruses.

This edition shows you the breadth and depth of our School and our alumni. Inside you will meet some scientists who study and work in the lab, in the clinic, and in cyberspace. You will learn about a “war with no boundaries” that hit nearly 200 million people last year. You will meet an alumna whose work impacts 100,000 people in 40 counties, but continues to push to expand her program’s reach.

In addition, we will introduce you to a few members of the Class of 2020. To them, becoming an SHP alum means more “than walking across the stage and getting my degree.” To them, it means setting standards to inspire others.

Please know our next issue of Snapshots will focus on our alumni who are the heroes behind the COVID-19 pandemic. We would love to share your story in that issue so please email us a few details at shpalumni@uab.edu.

Again, thank you for all your efforts and your sacrifices.

Sincerely, Andrew J. Butler, PhD Dean, UAB School of Health Professions

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IN THIS ISSUE

3 Stay Connected Join us on your favorite media outlet

4 UAB COVID-19 Update Learn what’s happening and how you can help

7 SHP Excellence Check out recent awards and accolades

FEATURE STORY

10 SHP Alumni in Research

SHP Alumni research seeks answers to health care’s big questions.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay connected with SHP during this time of social distancing — follow us on your favorite media outlet and stay up-to-date on news, webinars and virtual events. /uabshp

uab_shp

/uab_shp

uabshp

UAB School of Health Professions

How Blazers Social Distance

➤ uab.edu/coronavirus

SHP ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

PTAlumni AlumniReception ReceptionatatCSM CSMin PT inDenver, Denver,CO. CO.

GO because...

◗ You can grow relationships. ◗ You have much to offer

and there is so much to do. ◗ The bigger your commitment, the greater the rewards.

ONE MSHA Campaign Council Dinner

GIVE because...

◗ It builds stronger programs. ◗ It helps extend your legacy. ◗ Somebody gave back to

support you.

RachelAshcraft Ashcraft(OT,2011) (OT,??) speaking Rachel speakingatat SHP’s Fall Fall2019 2019Commencement.

Commencement.

SERVE because...

◗ It shows gratitude for your

gifts and talents. ◗ We are all connected. ◗ It creates a self-sustaining ecosystem in perpetuity.

➤ uab.edu/shp/alumni SH P ALUM N I E - MAGA ZIN E • SPRING 2020

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COVID -19 UPDATE

In the last few weeks, we have all encountered unprecedented challenges.

At UAB, we’re working together even though we are safely apart — the energy, passion and creativity of our faculty, staff and students remain strong.

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hings might look different on campus, but our resilience and commitment to excellence have not changed. Great things are still happening every day. Social distancing won’t stop us from providing students with an outstanding education. We look forward to welcoming new students to the UAB family so continue to spread the word about why you are proud that you chose UAB.

NEW PROGRAM RANKINGS Our Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy programs move up in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. A big portion of the ranking comes from our outstanding and engaging alumni. Your success and support enhances our national reputations.

#23 #13 4

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MS IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 3rd highest ranked program in Southeast DOCTOR OF PHYSICAL THERAPY 2nd highest ranked program in Southeast

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ◗ COVID CORNER – Learn about COVID-19 and the implications for PT practice from our Department of Physical Therapy. ➤ uab.edu/pt ◗ WEBINARS – The Department of Health Services Administration is providing monthly webinars for health care leaders. ➤ uab.edu/hsa ◗ NUTRITION TIPS – Learn how to prevent the Quarantine 15 from our Department of Nutrition Sciences. ➤ facebook.com/uabnutrition

UAB COVID -19 UPDATE

Join the Fight We’re all apart—but we’re all a part of the fight. We need you. Whether it’s fueling research, helping a student in need, or using our app to track your health, we need your help in the fight against COVID-19. Here are several ways you can support UAB’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

HELP RESEARCHERS FIND A CURE In order to care for those infected, find a vaccine, and protect our own lives, we need to build up our supplies and technology. Donate to the UAB Coronavirus Response Support Fund to treat patients as well as support our research for a COVID-19 cure.

GIVE RELIEF TO STUDENTS IN CRISIS This pandemic has hit our students hard - from lost wages to unforeseen moving expenses and more.

Your gift to the Student COVID-19 Emergency Fund can offset some of these financial burdens for our Blazers.

SUPPORT STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS The impact of COVID-19 won’t end when students return to campus. They will need financial assistance more than ever. Support the students following in your footsteps by donating to one of your program’s scholarship funds.

FLATTEN THE CURVE WITH OUR APP SHP faculty, Sue Feldman and Mohanraj Thirumalai, along with Sarah Parcak (College of Arts and Sciences) created an app to track the progression of health in communities in real time. Report your symptoms to help flatten the curve. helpbeatcovid19.org

FIND MORE WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AGAINST COVID-19 AT ➤ uab.edu/coronavirus

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SHP EXCELLENCE

Student Today Blazer Forever Four SHP students share what it means to see their dream of earning a degree from UAB in 2020 come true. They cannot wait to join you as members of the SHP alumni family.

ANNIE HO (Biomedical Sciences) As a first generation student, becoming part of the UAB alumni family means more to me than walking across the stage and getting my degree. It means setting the standard of education in my family and inspiring my younger cousins to value higher education.

JASON O’DOWD (Physical Therapy) I am proud that my program stands for advocacy and leads in the advancement of our profession. I will join a long, diverse line of alumni who are passionate about increasing a patients’ quality of life. UAB instilled concrete leadership skills of respect, servant leadership, and lifelong learning that I will use in my career every day.

CAITLIN MCMASTER (Occupational Therapy) To say that I am a UAB alum will mean that I am a graduate of a top 25 occupational therapy program and that I was given the education and resources to confidently step into a role as an OT. I can confidently say that my experiences here have helped me attain a degree in which I will truly make an impact. Let my journey begin and forever Blaze On!

RACHEL THOMPSON (Healthcare Management) I hope to one day give back to the university as much as it has given me. As a first generation student, the impact that UAB has had on my life and my family is incomprehensible. Becoming a UAB alum will forever be a reminder of what I stand for and what I am capable of accomplishing.

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SHP EXCELLENCE

Alumni Accolades Our alumni are consistently recognized for service to their professions and to others — here are some of our most recent honorees.

Michelle Cardel (NS, 2009, 2012) is the 2019 Faculty Honoree, Anderson Scholar Award, University of Florida (UF).

Kidada Hawkins (MSHA Class 41) earned Becker’s - 70 African American leaders in healthcare to know.

Jason Alexander (MSHA Class 28), Will Ferniany (MSHA Class 9 & PhD, 1983), Mazi Rasulnia (PhD, 2006) were named BBJ Most Influential Executives.

Kyle Akins (MSHA Class 41; MSHI, 2008) received the BBJ Women of Impact.

David Williams (PhD, 2003) was a Fulbright Scholarship recipient.

Amanda Willig (NS, 2010) - 2020 Mentoring the Mentors Training Cohort, led by UCSF Center for AIDS Research.

2019 PT Clinical Specialists ◗ Meredith Anne Allan, 2012

◗ Roslyn DeVonne Burton, 2008 ◗ Kristen Empfield, 2013 ◗ Amanda Fields, 2013

◗ Jamie Anne Fisher, 2016 ◗ Caitlin Fockele, 2016

◗ Cory Ryan Fuller, 2013

◗ Dallas Dixon Gibson, 2016 ◗ Lacey Hill, 2017

◗ Catherine A. Jones, 2010

◗ Emily Peters McCombs, 2016 ◗ Brandon Pendegraft, 2016

◗ Krysta Jeanette Posid, 2016

◗ Colleen Renee Sandro, 1991 ◗ Dhara Shah, 2015

◗ William D. Temple, 2010

◗ Nolan Steven Williams, 2009

Congratulations to the 2020 UAB National Alumni Society Excellence in Business Top 25!

Jason Alexander (MSHA Class 28)

Greg Hulsey (MSHA Class 30)

Brenna Powell (MSHA Class 35)

Ben Youree (MSHA Class 41)

➤ Share your achievements with us at shpalumni@uab.edu or 205-975-8415.

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RESEARCH FEATURE

BIG IDEAS SHP Alumni research seeks answers to health care’s big questions.

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Our School has five distinctly different departments, yet our alumni have one thing in common – they never stop.

They never stop wondering, questioning, or searching. They never stop amazing, answering, or finding. Meet four alumna with big ideas who will never stop searching for big answers until they succeed.

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SAMANTHA STOVER

Baylor College of Medicine Texas Children’s Fetal Center

(MS in Genetic Counseling, 2012 - inaugural class)

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here is something special about being the first. Not winning first or coming in first, but actually being the first. Samantha Stover, MS, CGC, (GC, 2012) is a member of the first graduating class of the UAB MS in Genetic Counseling program.

Performing whole genome sequencing in a clinical setting is still pretty new even in adults - so we have to be much more cautious for a pregnancy.

She says the class was “definitely guinea pigs” because everyone – including faculty – were learning together. But she quickly adds that they also had “a lot of input into establishing the program for the future.” Her UAB experience shaped how she has worked her entire career.

“We didn’t have a class above us to help guide us – we had to discover so much ourselves and we developed longlasting relationships with our supervisors and our faculty,” said Stover, who works at the Baylor College of Medicine and Fetal 10

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Center Texas Children’s Hospital.

“So I knew how to look up information myself, and I wasn’t afraid to reach out to mentors for help. Being part of the first class gave me experience and confidence that has helped me all along the way.”

In addition to clinical care, Stover is a study coordinator for a multi-site study out of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) that includes Baylor College of Medicine and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Together, they are looking at fetal genome

sequencing to understand the genetic basis for birth defects. It is groundbreaking work.

“I don’t know any lab in the U.S. that offers whole genome sequencing for a fetus,” said Stover. “Performing whole genome sequencing in a clinical setting is still pretty new - even in adults - so we have to be much more cautious for a pregnancy.”

Their research also looks at whether or not there will be changes to clinical management and the potential impact on cost or health care utilization for those who did have the

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What is the genetic basis for birth defects?

sequencing versus those who did not. The five-year trial includes 1100 “trios” – parents and fetus – with 750 participating in the whole genome sequencing and the remainder in the control group.

They are sequencing as early as the first trimester and as late as 36 weeks in a pregnancy.

Eligible participants have had a chromosomal microarray that is either negative or does not explain the anomalies in the fetus.

Stover has personal experience with the psycho-social aspects these families are facing. In high school, she witnessed her mom going through complications of fertility and pregnancy and that experience helped shape who she is.

During her career, Stover has seen many pregnancies with multiple birth defects. In these cases they try to find changes in genes and chromosomes to figure out why it occurs and if it will cause other significant health complications. The more she knows as a genetic counselor, the better guidance she can provide.

Even though this study is just underway and it could take up to four weeks to obtain a result, she already sees the new knowledge making an immediate difference in a family’s care.

“Even if it is only ruling out a

ton of conditions for a family, it makes their team more focused on what exactly they need to worry about,” said Stover. “For other patients, where we did discover something, it not only helps their team, but it can give a family closure. It is already rewarding knowing we will help so many families get much more information than we can typically give them prenatally.”

We asked Stover to look beyond the five years of this study. Where does she see herself and her work in ten years? Twenty years? She laughed. As much as genomic sequencing can predict countless outcomes, there is nothing that can predict where genomic sequencing will go tomorrow and beyond.

“When I was a student about to graduate the non-invasive pre-natal testing space was about to sky rocket – I’ve been witnessing that my entire career and it only continues to get more advanced,” said Stover. “Who knows what will be available in testing ten years from now!

The Holy Grail - non-invasive prenatal diagnosis - is advancing and researchers get closer every day. In the future, I hope to still be working with advanced prenatal testing and that our team will continue to push the envelope further and further.”

Fetal Genome Study Stover is part of a research team studying 1,100 “trios” (parents and fetus) over a fiveyear period at three separate sites. ◗ Columbia University Medical Center ◗ Baylor College of Medicine ◗ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill They study any structural abnormality in a pregnancy. Some of the more prevalent problems are: ◗ hypoplastic left heart syndrome ◗ hydrocephalus ◗ congenital diaphragmatic hernia

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KARLA SHELNUTT

(Dietetic Internship, 1998; MS in Clinical Nutrition, 2000)

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U.S. Department of Agriculture survey says one in nine Americans struggle with hunger.

Government data shows over 2.3 million Americans live more than a mile from a grocery store and do not have a car. Finding affordable fresh food has never been easy for some and their struggles are exponentially worse during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Many families across the U.S. take advantage of meal kits but they are not affordable, nor available, for families on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Karla Shelnutt, PhD, RD, (DI, 1998, Clinical Nutrition, 2000) is an associate professor at the University of Florida and is working to change that.

“My research focuses on food insecurity and food access so I’m trying to figure out the best approach to provide meal kits for low income families that incorporates healthy recipes and fresh produce that families can prepare together,” said

Shelnutt. “Once we find a model that works, I can then disseminate it through the extension system and teach families how to access the food and use the recipes.”

UF is a Land Grant University – it receives federal and state support to teach, conduct research, and translate science into educational programs for the community. Shelnutt’s role includes being state program leader for nutrition where a majority of her time is spent serving as the PI for UF/IFAS Extension’s Family Nutrition Program (FNP), which provides nutrition education and support

Hearty Spinach Salad

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Associate Professor and Extension Nutrition Specialist, State Program Leader for Nutrition, University of Florida

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for families eligible for SNAP. This program reaches more than 100,000 people in 40 counties.

“So many people today do not have cooking skills anymore so we are going back to the basics to teach families how to do this easily,” said Shelnutt. “We partner with groups who are stakeholders in a community and we bring a series-based education program – six classes of nutrition for children in school and cooking for people – directly to the community.”

In 2019, Shelnutt went even further. She decided to provide healthy food to low income families that they can prepare together with their families. As part of research, she and her team conducted a pilot study to feed and analyze data of 36 families in Alachua County where the university is located.

The program provided three meals (four servings per meal) every week for six weeks. In addition to the food, the kit included a recipe card with photos, cooking directions and nutrition facts. And they kept

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How do we create an affordable, sustainable meal kit for low income families that incorporates fresh produce and healthy recipes?

the cost down by partnering with a local high school where culinary students prepared the meal kits and families picked them up at the school.

The pilot was an immediate success in more ways than she imagined. Not only did the families love the food, they were all willing to try meals that included new foods. The participants also said their children enjoyed following the recipes and helping prepare the meals together.

In 2020, because of the program’s success, Shelnutt earned a grant from the Walmart Foundation to expand the program to more communities and schools. They are adding one more school in Alachua County and one each in Putnam and Orange County for a total of four schools in three counties.

The logical next step is for the program to reach all of Florida, but Shelnutt has a

bigger vision. As a researcher, she understands the translation of findings and the transfer of information. She sees the program expanding throughout her state, but she also has a vision for it to feed families across the United States.

Part of her responsibilities include work in Washington, D.C., where she spends time educating congressional leaders about her work and that of Land Grant Universities. And because there are LGUs in every state she sees no reason her program cannot be implemented across the country.

“I would love for the work I am doing today to inform policy and families in the future,” said Shelnutt. “I would love to see all families able to use their SNAP benefits for a food program that makes it easy to obtain healthy food that they can prepare as a family generation after generation.”

Our extension agents are part of their community and they understand the needs and the barriers that their neighbors and friends face.

Meal Kit Pilot Study ◗ 36 families ◗ 18 recipes (3 meals/ week for 6 weeks) ◗ 4 servings/ 400 600 calories each ◗ 10-20 min. prep time ◗ nutrition facts included

Ingredients: • • • • • •

½ cup orange juice 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons honey 2 teaspoons mustard 1 teaspoon salt 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper • 4 skinless salmon fillets (6 ounces each)

Summer Salmon

• 8 ounces dry whole wheat linguine • 12 asparagus spears • ½ cup chopped onion • 2 cloves garlic • ¼ cup fresh parsley sprigs • 4 fresh basil leaves • 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: 1. Wash hands and cooking surfaces. Rinse fresh produce. In a small

bowl, whisk together the orange juice, honey, mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper to make an orange sauce.

Trim ends off of asparagus spears and throw away. Chop asparagus spears into medium-sized pieces (or about 1-inch long pieces). Finely chop garlic, parsley, and basil. Set orange sauce and produce aside.

2. Season salmon with ½ teaspoon each of salt and ground black

pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the salmon and cook for 4 minutes. Flip the salmon over, add the orange sauce, and continue to cook until the salmon is cooked through, about 4 more minutes. The internal temperature of the salmon should be at least 145°F, measured with a food thermometer. Once fully cooked, transfer to a plate.

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MIN.

30 MIN.

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for about 6-8

cook time prep time minutes. Add the asparagus and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Drain the pasta and asparagus.

4. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon

of olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, and basil and sauté, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add the pasta and asparagus to the servings garlic mixture, sprinkle with cheese, and4 toss to combine. Serve the salmon alongside the pasta.

An Equal Opportunity Institution

This work impacts 100,000+ people

with an annual budget of $10.5 million and 163 staff members who work and live in 40 counties.

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JAMIE HOLLOWAY

Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences University of South Florida

(PhD in Rehabilitation Science, 2017)

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n eighth-grade, Jamie Holloway (PhD, RS, 2017), took a career aptitude test and it said she should be a physical therapist. The test proved spot on as Holloway became a pediatric physical therapist. However, tests do not teach – they measure.

Even though the test measured her correctly, it took Holloway nearly a decade to learn this for herself. As an undergraduate, she majored in exercise physiology and psychology, but was drawn to the field of health care because she enjoyed science and she wanted to be in position to help people.

“I ultimately chose to become a pediatric physical therapist because it allows me to help children with disabilities participate in the everyday routines and activities they want or need to do. They deserve to be included in the typical routines and activities that their peers engage in and it is very rewarding to help that happen.”

After nearly a decade of working as a physical therapist, she decided she could do more and reach more by becoming a teacher of future PTs. “Teaching students allows me to inspire the next generation of physical therapists to work with children with disabilities and their families,” said Holloway.

“As a researcher, I can continue to help children with disabilities and their families by designing projects that will answer questions and solve common challenges they face.”

And that is where we find Holloway today. She is an assistant professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa who studies ways to improve function and participation in children with developmental disabilities.

More specifically, she wants to know how motor development and motor learning impact social function and participation in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

“While motor characteristics are not part of the diagnostic criteria for children with ASD, many individuals with this diagnosis have difficulties learning and performing motor tasks and this surprises most people because ASD is not a disorder of movement,” said Holloway. “In general, we have found that children who have better motor skills also demonstrate better social

Children with disabilities deserve to be included in the typical routines and activities that their peers engage in and it is very rewarding to help that happen.

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How does motor development and motor learning impact social function and participation in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

function. As we learn more, we hope to use information about these relationships to develop interventions to help optimize outcomes for children with ASD.” One of those outcomes is obesity. Holloway says children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are at greater risk for obesity than other children. She is part of a team beginning research projects that look at factors that contribute to obesity – things like nutrition, physical activity, and sleep – and are looking closely at how those factors impact children with ASD. Holloway, who won a Poster Award at the UAB Center for Disability Health and Rehabilitation Science Symposium as a student, credits UAB for providing a solid foundation. The UAB PhD in Rehabilitation Science program is an interdisciplinary program sponsored by the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Department of Physical Therapy. Students learn to advance rehabilitation knowledge by participating in specialized research and teaching opportunities from PT and OT areas.

Because of this academic flexibility she was able to pursue a variety of research mentors across all departments, which allowed for a true

interdisciplinary focus to her research. The university also gave her a broad range of experience from being a research assistant on other investigator’s projects to primary investigator on her own dissertation project.

Her time at UAB continues to successfully impact her day-today work, but Holloway says it is still too early to see her research translate. What matters to her right now is that she sees more and more people talking about the role physical therapists can play in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

As far as the future goes, she adds that she is all in for seeing her work play out well into the future. And she believes this is much like her eighth-grade aptitude test where everything translates down the road.

“Research generally shows that motor interventions can improve motor skills, but my research encourages people to consider the whole picture and the potential effects of motor interventions in other domains, such as social function,” said Holloway. “In ten and twenty years from now, I hope to be continuing my research on a larger scale and seeing it translate to practice and, hopefully, creating positive change in the lives of children with ASD and their families.”

Autism Awareness Month April 2, 2020, marked the thirteenth World Autism Awareness Day with global solidarity led by the United Nations. It kicked off a month of raising awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which includes autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).

1 in 59 children is identified with ASD

according to the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network.

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GEMINI MAJKOWSKI

(DSc in Healthcare Leadership, 2019)

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U.S. Air Force Reserve, Colonel CEO & President G2MQ Consulting Corporation

ne film changed everything for Gemini Majkowski (DSc, 2019). For the U.S. Air Force Colonel though, it wasn’t Patton, or The Bridge on the River Kwai, or The Longest Day. It was an educational film shown in Cyber College at Air University – the Air Force’s center for professional military education (PME).

In the film, the hospital’s Chief Information Officer had a heart attack while the hospital simultaneously suffered a cyber attack. The hospital was not prepared and the results were catastrophic. Majkowski recognized immediately that while this was a fictional cautionary tale, in reality, cyber risk was a true horror story.

“Health care has become the #1 target of cyber attacks and my research revealed it’s

actually getting worse. About 59 percent of the U.S. population have had their records compromised in data breaches – that’s about 190 million individuals... that is staggering.”

Majkowski quickly changed her focus to cyber vulnerability.

She recognized two things: 1) buying more technology will not fix the problem; and 2) there is not enough data on the human factor.

“My biggest concern is we are

still looking at cyber security as a technology problem versus a leadership and management problem, If you look at this from an operational standpoint, you will see this needs to be a priority for executives when they do strategic planning and resource allocation.”

She saw existing research in this area as a siloed approach.

She decided to attack this problem looking through a different lens – a more holistic view. So Majkowski synthesized the common cyber vulnerabilities to build a conceptual model. Her model broke everything down into four domains: 1) Human Factor – changing behaviors; 2) Technology – tightening access; 3) Organization – all partners on board; and 4) Operation – training and planning.

In the military, we look at this as cyber warfare and a war with no boundaries, so to secure the virtual world is very challenging.

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Why do hospitals continue to have data breaches?

Majkowski identifies each domain as an entry point – or a cyber vulnerability – for a hacker. She points out that health care institutions need to reduce their vulnerabilities in order to become more difficult to penetrate. However, a larger entity means more entryways and more entryways means more opportunities for an ambush.

“In the military, we look at this as cyber warfare and a war with no boundaries, plus, we are dealing with well organized “businesses” that are thriving on the Dark Net, so to secure the virtual world is very challenging,” said Majkowski.

The four domains she established repeatedly appeared in her findings. She saw them in the health care institutions. And she saw them in their partners and suppliers ranging from the company that launders the linens to the organization that delivers the food to the pharmaceutical manufacturers. She discovered layers upon layers upon layers of complex factors leading to an exponentially increasing number of cyber vulnerabilities.

“Don’t forget – a cyber attacker only needs to hack one of the outside groups and they can gain entry into the health care organization,” she said.

Not only that, think of the “smart” world we live in today.

Everyone inside an institution has a phone or device – physician assistants, nurses, receptionists, patients, etc. It is one thing to secure the devices, but what about educating the user? Yes, you can educate your team, but sometimes the problem is not your team.

For instance, everyone working in health care is connected by devices. These efforts to integrate different medical groups, to improve patient quality, and to decrease overall cost can come with a hefty price. Majkowski’s research showed a health system’s challenges with finances generally mean a lag in cyber security.

“It’s not that we don’t have enough investment in technology to strengthen cyber security – it is just that this is a multi-factorial cost where CEOs have a balancing act of keeping the doors open and delivering quality care while staying viable and operational,” said Majkowski. “Ultimately, this is not an organizational problem or an IT problem – it is everyone’s problem. Cyber security is fascinating and challenging and I believe we can all make our health care institutions safer if we all work together.”

The Other Health Care Virus A 2019 study shows health care institutions are the #1 target for cyber attacks.

1 in 8

Americans affected

426 759 $4B

separate breaches

ransomware incidents total cost of breaches

Cyber Security Domains ◗ Human Factor / behavior ◗ Technology / access ◗ Organization / all partners ◗ Operational / training

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to our alumni healthcare heroes working on the front lines.

For using your knowledge and skills to meet the needs in your community and beyond. For your remarkable leadership and service.

For your unwavering commitment to your patients and their families.

For your strength and resilience.

Share Your Stories

Our next newsletter will feature inspiring stories from the front lines. Tell us how you or a fellow alum are making a difference during this challenging time.

Contact Amanda Sherman at asherman@uab.edu • 205-975-8415.