HCOP Awarded Higher Ed Grant
The Connecticut Office of Higher Education recently awarded the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP) the Connecticut Collegiate Awareness and Preparation Program (ConnCAP) Grant in the amount of $880,000 for four years. “The purpose of the grant aligns with HCOP’s goal to offer a comprehensive program of educational enrichment and support activities to increase the competitive applicant pool of diverse students from Connecticut who are interested in careers in the health industry,” says HCOP’s director, Dr. Marja Hurley. The grant supports an increase in the number of middle and high school participants in HCOP’s Great Explorations Program and the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative Academy (Aetna HPPI Academy). To learn more about these programs and other HCOP activities, visit the HCOP website, www.hcop.uchc.edu.
Smith Awarded Unique Board Certification
Dr. Phillip P. Smith, assistant professor of urology and gynecology, is one of the first doctors in the country to be awarded board certification in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS). Smith had to pass a written exam to qualify for the new certification. The FPMRS board was generated jointly by the American Board of Urology and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in recognition that the disorders of female pelvic function are best dealt with by trained experts in this subspecialty. “The public assurance of expertise is provided by the board certification process, just as in any specialty,” says Smith. “It’s a landmark moment in women’s health care.”
Anti-Bullying Class Awarded Grant
The American Psychiatric Foundation has awarded the School of Medicine’s Anti-Bullying Class (ABC) program with a $5000 “Helping Hands” grant over the next academic year. In addition, ABC participants are invited to present a poster about their project at the American Psychiatric Association’s Institute on Psychiatric Services in October, 2014.
Benn Makes List of Best Genetics Professors
Peter Benn, professor of genetics and developmental biology, has been named one of the 50 best genetics professors of 2013 by Free People Search. According to the group, those named to the list have given the most of themselves over the years to enlarge the body of human knowledge on who we are and how we acquired our human characteristics. Benn is the director of UConn’s Diagnostic Human Genetics Laboratories. Benn specializes in research on how to identify fetuses at risk for possessing abnormal numbers of chromosomes and improve prenatal screening to minimize its invasive nature. His other primary interest is in using observed changes in chromosomes to diagnose various cancers.
South Park 5K Another Success
Organizers of the 16th annual South Park 5K Road Race and Fitness Walk report this year’s event raised $3,000 for the student-run clinics at Hartford’s South Park Inn, which provide free medical and dental care to its transient residents. About 50 people registered to walk or run, and 24 people received free skin cancer screenings from UConn dermatologists.
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