Public Health News
Veterans sought for paid online study on stress, well-being
As part of the Research Education for Undergraduates (REU) program, a collaborative venture between Syracuse University’s Falk College, SUNY Oswego, and SUNY Upstate Medical University, volunteers are sought for a research study regarding veterans. Participants (18-64 years old) who are veterans are needed to answer online questionnaires and provide small samples of hair and saliva for testing. The purpose of this study is to find links between genetic biomarkers and measures of stress and well-being in veterans.
Participants will receive up to $75 as compensation. No travel is required. Surveys may take up to 3 hours to complete, and participants can stagger their time spent on the surveys for three weeks. The questionnaires will not include names or personally identifiable information. The questionnaires will be labeled only with an ID code on all data, collection samples, questionnaires or results. Identities will not be included in any publications or reports about this research and will not be connected to participant data.
The REU program, now in its fourth year, is funded by the National Science Foundation. Its goal is to improve access to undergraduate research experiences in trauma for groups typically underrepresented in this research, including veterans. It draws on personal experiences of veterans who understand the nature and context of traumatic events. By gaining a scientific understanding of trauma, students who complete the program gain essential tools to improve the quality of life for themselves and others, including veterans.
The REU program is directed by Brooks B. Gump, Ph.D., MPH, Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health, and co-directed by Karen Wolford, Ph.D., Professor Department of Psychology and Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program in Trauma Studies at SUNY Oswego and includes other faculty from these institutions as well as SUNY Upstate Medical University. This program brings together veterans and non-veterans in a safe environment to pursue trauma research activities.
The program is purposefully structured to span one full year. Following a month-long summer immersion program on the Syracuse University campus, students continue their research under the mentorship of REU faculty during the Fall semester.
Syracuse University’s Falk College Highlights Graduate Studies at November 6 Information Session
Faculty, staff, students available to talk about programs, coursework, student life
Syracuse University faculty, staff and current students will welcome potential graduate students interested in the Falk College’s graduate programs in child and family studies, public health, marriage and family therapy, nutrition science, social work and sport management during a special Fall Information Session for graduate studies on Friday, November 6. The presentation begins at 4:00 p.m. at Falk College, Room 200.
Detailed information will be provided on graduate programs in addiction studies, child and family studies (M.A., M.S., Ph.D.), food studies (M.S.), global health (M.S.), marriage and family therapy (M.A.), social work (M.S.W.) as well as the dual degree program (M.A./M.S.W.) in marriage and family therapy and social work, nutrition science (M.A., M.S.), and sport venue and event management (M.S.). Details on our Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) program in trauma-informed practice will be available along with information on other Falk College CAS programs in, dietetic internship, and global health.
Sandra Lane Honored with the 2015 Henrik L. Blum Award for Excellence in Health Policy
Sandra D. Lane, a Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and professor of public health and anthropology at Falk College, will be honored with the 2015 Henrik L. Blum Award for Excellence in Health Policy at the upcoming American Public Health Association meeting in November. The award honors Lane’s excellence, creativity and innovation in the development and implementation of health policy. The award was given by the American Public Health Association, through their section on Community Health Planning and Policy Development.
Public health professor Dessa Bergen-Cico named Fulbright Scholar
Dr. Bergen-Cico, associate professor of public health, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach and conduct research in the Republic of Georgia for the 2015-16 academic year. Her research will support development and implementation of primary prevention and drug education in Georgia and the region, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Armenia. She will also teach at the Ilia State University (ISU) in Tbilisi, Georgia in support of their work on school-based drug education and primary prevention programs. Her project title is, Assessing the Needs and Feasibility for Drug Education and Primary Prevention in Georgia.
Nato Ivanishvili ’15, a public health major and addiction studies minor, who co-authored a book chapter with Bergen-Cico, currently in press entitled, “Opioid prescription drug abuse and its relation to heroin trends” (The Neuropathology Of Drug Addictions And Substance Misuse, Volume 1, Victor Preedy, Ed., Academic Press, will be involved in Bergen-Cico’s Fulbright Scholarship research.
The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. Since its inception in 1946, it has provided more than 300,000 participants with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Syracuse Lead Study adds new zip codes to expand participation
A study funded by the National Institutes of Health is seeking participants who are 9, 10 or 11 years old, reside in 13057, 13202, 13203, 13204, 13205, 13206, 13207, 13208, 13209, 13210, 13211, 13212, 13214, 13215, 13219 & 13224 and consider their race as either African-American or Caucasian. Participants will be compensated $100 for their participation and parents will receive $50 towards transportation. Lead, an environmental toxicant, is known to cause serious mental and developmental defects in children and young adults. Recent research may indicate that lead affects the cardiovascular system (heart and veins). We hope to learn more about these issues, specifically how very low levels of lead in children’s blood can affect cardiovascular health throughout life. Principal investigator of the study, Dr. Brooks Gump, PhD, MPH, Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health, director of graduate programs in public health, recently detailed the importance of the study. Learn more about it here.
Learn more about the study
Visit the Lead Study Facebook page
The importance of being a leader and fighter for social justice
“I do not believe in luck. But I believe in ‘tesfa,’ which “means hope in the Ethiopian Tigrinya language. It has given me comfort throughout my chaotic, unwritten journey in my pursuit for education,” says Aziza Mustefa, one of two Falk College marshals who will lead the Class of 2015 during Convocation and Commencement ceremonies in May.
Mustefa is a dean’s list student majoring in public health who will begin graduate studies this fall at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. As she navigated through her undergraduate career in Falk College, she realized there is a deep connection between tesfa and her chosen career field.
“As a public health major, I appreciate the importance of being a servant leader, fighter for social justice, and an advocate for the improvement of the quality of life for all. While pursuing my undergraduate research, I found that I wasn’t only looking at malaria data. The data represented real people, and all I wanted to do was to connect with them.” During the Fall, Mustefa, a McNair Scholar, worked side-by-side with public health professor, David Larsen, on evaluating diagnostics and treatment for children stricken with malaria. As part of her McNair Scholar research, she is working on the Syracuse Lead Study with Falk Family Professor of Public Health, Brooks Gump.
Mustefa’s uncle emigrated to the United States from Ethiopia in the 1980s, with her parents arriving in 1991. “Refugees come from diverse backgrounds and have endured different struggles, but they all share the same fear and this is the fear that I want to address. My aspiration to serve the refugee community might seem lofty, but they are tesfa to me,” says Mustefa.
Reflecting on her public health coursework, Mustefa mentions Community Health as one of several that reinforced her career path. “In this course, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in a community, I observed the importance of social and cultural factors, and its effects on a population’s health.”
“I want to make a tangible difference among the underserved refugee population. While hopeful, the refugee population lacks the ability to navigate through the American system and culture. I want to be that person to walk by their side, similarly to what someone did for my family. Public health can prepare me to be the best I can be for others.”
Four Falk College faculty promoted, tenured
Falk College is pleased to announce four faculty members from its Departments of Child and Family Studies and Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition were recently promoted and tenured, including: Dr. Dessa Bergen Cico, Associate Professor, Public Health; Dr. Eunjoo Jung, Associate Professor, Child and Family Studies; Dr. Kamala Ramadoss, Associate Professor, Child and Family Studies, and; Dr. Rachel Razza, Associate Professor, Child and Family Studies.
Remembering Sabrina Marsha-Gaye Cammock ’15
It was the third week of the Spring 2012 semester when a student approached public health professor Jim Byrne, JD, CASAC, asking to enroll in one of his more demanding courses that met once weekly. He explained the challenging amount of work required to catch up after missing the first two weeks of class. For many students it would seem daunting. But for Sabrina Marsha-Gaye Cammock, she welcomed the challenge. Her commitment to immediately do three weeks of readings and submit a series of high-quality written assignments to catch up was admirable and unstoppable. And successful. Her work product far exceeded that of many of her peers who had been in the class from day one.
The school’s record-holder for the 4 x 100-meter relay and one of the most successful sprinters in Syracuse University history as a member of the Women’s Track and Field Team for four years, Cammock is warmly remembered as a vibrant, hard-working young woman who was fully engaged with faculty, coaches and her peers with the desire to improve healthcare for others because it was the right thing to do. Cammock, a Dean’s List student scheduled to graduate from Falk College with a major in public health and addiction studies minor in May 2015, died unexpectedly in March. Her degree will be awarded posthumously on May 9.
“Sabrina was always a serious student who attended to her studies and classes without asking for any special treatment while bringing tremendous energy to the classroom. She was routinely well-prepared for classes and was willing to effectively share her insights integrating the readings with her life experiences and topics from our class discussions,” notes Byrne, who taught her in several public health courses and was her academic advisor.
In one course that required community-oriented engagement, she tutored local high school students who were at risk to drop out of school. Once her class requirements were completed, her commitment to helping others led her to continue volunteer work with the students. She combined that experience with working as a teacher’s assistant and camp counselor at Montessori’s Progressive summer camp during which she further sharpened her ability to build relationships with diverse individuals and helped others where and when they needed it.
During the summer of 2013, she successfully completed a Primary Care/Health Administration Internship with Harlem United. This competitive opportunity allowed her to be immersed in a clinic providing healthcare services in New York City. The following summer, she continued her relationship with Harlem United while balancing caretaking of her grandmother who had been ill. To fulfill her Senior Capstone requirement, Sabrina interned at SUNY Upstate Medical University during the Fall 2014 semester, a requirement she completed ahead of schedule. “Sabrina performed well enough in her courses to be selected by SUNY Upstate for her Capstone project,” notes Byrne.
Last spring, she took two 400-level courses that required group work and high-level synthesis of concepts. She was consistently a leader in both processes earning an “A” in these difficult classes. In class, she was described as eloquent in presenting ideas in discussions and equally adept at expressing complex ideas in writing; she did this in a direct, succinct and relaxed manner engaging others.
She was evaluating opportunities for what she would do after graduation, including internship at Emory Clinic. She was excited about the possibility of being named an SU Engagement Fellow. “Sabrina was an enthusiastic, friendly, outgoing and responsible young woman with an ability to engage others. I had the privilege to see her show her potential as a change-agent and to see her plan her undergraduate education to enhance those skills,” concludes Byrne.
As Sabrina was passionate about women’s issues, and in honor of her memory, the family has requested donations be made to the Sabrina Cammock Fund at the Allen Women’s Resource Center to serve battered and abused women in the Queens, NY area. For more information, contact: Allen Women’s Resource Center, Darlene B. McCune, P.O. Box 340316, Jamaica, NY, 11434, dmmccune@allenwomens.org, (718) 739-6200.
Congratulations Class of 2015!
Falk College will celebrate the Class of 2015 and its accomplishments on Saturday, May 9 at 4:00 p.m., Manley Field House. Falk College’s Class of 2015 includes 312 undergraduates, 142 master’s candidates and 27 students earning Certificates of Advanced Study. Four Ph.D. students will receive their hoods symbolizing the highest level of degree achievement. A baccalaureate degree in public health will be awarded posthumously to Sabrina Cammock.
Falk College Marshals
Sam Rodgers, Nutrition
Aziza Mustefa, Public Health
Undergraduate Department Marshals
Francheska Bravo, Child & Family Studies
Mary Briggman, Nutrition
Will Fancher, Nutrition Science
Lisa Cianciotta, Public Health
Leah Elsbeck, Social Work
Scott Kevy, Sport Management
Graduate Department Marshals
Rachel Linsner, Child & Family Studies
Codina Haselmayer, Marriage & Family Therapy
Anna Riverso, Nutrition Science
Nicole Schwartz, Public Health
Ethan Lewis, Social Work
Justin Brown, Sport Management
Falk College Settles into New Home
Within hours of the opening of a student lounge—one of several community spaces—in the new Falk Complex earlier this semester, students were making it their own.
“The students went in there and they started moving around the furniture, making areas for collaboration,” recalls Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy. “Every time you go down there the furniture is placed in different ways as they need them.”
They’ve been making it their home.
Students, along with faculty and staff, are settling in to the new site of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in the Falk Complex at MacNaughton and White halls, which formerly housed the College of Law.
Public health and nutrition major Aziza Mustefa ’15 appreciates how the new complex is bringing together students from the various disciplines.
“I love the Falk Complex! It brings unity among all the majors in the college, and creates a community,” she says. “The student lounges allow students to congregate and build meaningful relationships throughout our college career. It’s convenient and easily accessible to our classes, professors and Falk Student Services.”
All together for the first time
This is the first time all the college’s disciplines will be in one location—“so it is the big coming home,” Dean Murphy says. The central administration offices had previously been housed at 119 Euclid Ave., so that had been the centralized location for many gatherings, while the various departments had sites across campus.
The transition to move the various departments and administrative offices began over Winter Break and continues into the fall as the renovations wrap up.
The new centralized location allows faculty members to have more impromptu “watercooler conversations,” visits in the hallways and additional opportunities for inspired collaboration.
“Faculty members have come together over the years to do interdisciplinary work, especially through the work of the College Research Center, but this does make it more convenient and maybe more spontaneous,” Dean Murphy says. “I’ve heard the faculty saying—and I feel the same way—it’s just nice to run into colleagues in the halls, and not have to go outside or drive.”
The new community spaces in the Falk Complex have expanded those opportunities for faculty in the various disciplines to be engaged with each other.
Three years of planning
It’s those types of ideas that went into more than three years of planning for the convergence of Falk College’s five academic departments and its administrative offices.
Surveys were done with students, faculty and staff to help understand what the needs were and what could be included within the budget. Plans were developed through the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, project architect Ashley McGraw and design partner Gilbert Displays.
“We studied the building and then we figured out the spaces with the various department chairs,” Dean Murphy says.
Each academic unit has an office with the department chair, graduate and undergraduate studies directors, and administrative assistants. Faculty members are assigned nearby offices.
In January, the move included the Office of the Dean, admissions, advancement, the college’s information technology office, the Department of Child and Family Studies, Public Health and the School of Social Work. In March, the Office of Student Services was set up.
The first move in January involved transferring the spaces for 94 people, with 5,169 boxes transferred in a day and a half by the movers, according to Dianne Seeley, Falk College’s senior administrator of operations, space and facilities, who has been part of the renovation process and has overseen the moving. Four hundred computers were also set up by informational technology staff members in five days.
Making the move
This month, the Department of Sport Management and the College Research Center will be moved into their new spaces. Throughout the summer and into the fall, the food studies and nutrition programs, will make the move, which includes reconstruction of the fifth floor for the commercial and experiential kitchens.
The Nutrition Science and Dietetics Program will also have a new nutrition assessment lab, where they will examine the nutrients in food. The lab will be finished this summer.
Additionally, the commercial kitchens and teaching kitchens, along with a multipurpose teaching café/classroom, will be moving in and built up through late August and finished in early fall. The kitchens will offer a state-of-the-art learning facility with technology and kitchen equipment. The kitchen and café/classroom will support the academic programs of nutrition and food studies.
For the Department of Sport Management, a new lab will teach the technology of sports and events operations. There will also be a ticketing classroom with associated technology to learn about ticketing for large sports facilities. This will also include a business arrangement with the Carrier Dome to allow students to be hired and assist in ticketing.
Along with the various departments, the Falk Complex has three computer labs and a Mac lab, which is new for the college. Other renovations have included technology upgrades to many classrooms, along with new carpeting, paint and signage.
“We now have a showpiece, an extraordinary learning environment serving all our academic degrees. Everybody feels lifted coming in the front door,” Murphy says.
A grand opening of the new Falk Complex is planned for September.
“I am excited for future students to come and enjoy the Falk Complex. Dr. Murphy has exciting plans for the college, like the cafe on the second floor. She wants the best for Falk students,” Mustefa says. “Although I am graduating, I am excited that Falk continues to grow every year.”
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