ASSE Conference

The Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health hosted during Public Health Week the ASSE Region III Student Professional Development and Leadership Conference. Students from Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas attended the two-day conference, which included a fashion show of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Personal Sampling Devices modeled by some of the School’s students. Ann Marie Boklemann, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, helped organize the conference.

2010 Fun Run

The School of Rural Public Health ended National Public Health Week with the third annual 5K Fun Run on the morning of Saturday, April 10, 2010. This year’s theme coincided with National Public Health Week’s theme, “A Healthier America: One Community At A Time.” The purpose of this year’s Fun Run was to raise money for the School of Rural Public Health’s student scholarship and special project fund as well as provide an opportunity for the Brazos Valley to “kick start” healthy living initiatives thought the run/walk. We had a great turnout with a total of 104 participants ranging from 9 to 60+ years old. The entry fee was $15.00 prior to the race and $20.00 the morning off the race. Each participant received a race bag that included a t-shirt with the national public health week logo, a CCHD aluminum water bottle, hand sanitizer, and many other coupons to local businesses. Each participant was divided into age categories designed to give runners a chance to win a medal. The age groups were as follows: 25 and under, 26-35, 36-49, 50 and over for both males and females. Medals were awarded to the top three finishers in each age group, along with a plaque given to both the overall male and female finisher. The Fun Run committee consisted of Dr. Jane Bolin, Ashley Wilson, Harlan Johnson, Jessica Pierce, Thomas Hunt, Mario Castillo, Nick Reale, Christina Ly, Budi Yunanto and Christopher Grunkemeyer. Thanks to the committee, the 30 plus student volunteers, and the many businesses in our community who donated to the event, the SRPH 5K Fun Run was another huge success.

See the results of the run at http://srph.tamhsc.edu/fun-run/!

Scholarship for Chen Zhang from International AIDS Society

Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health student Chen Zhang was recently awarded a scholarship from the International AIDS Society to attend the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, July 18-23, 2010. The paper she will present is “Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Risks Among Female Sex Workers in China.”

Public Health Week declared in Bryan & College Station

The mayors of Bryan and College station joined together to proclaim this week "National Public Health Week." Mayor Ben White of College Station and Bryan's Mayor Mark Conlee stopped by the Texas A&M Health Science School of Rural Public Health to read the declaration. The school is set to host a panel addressing issues facing cancer patients and their caregivers.

National Public Health Week poster contest winners announced

In honor of National Public Health Week (April 5-11), Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health students participated in the fifth annual research poster symposium and student poster contest.

Posters were judged Monday, April 5 at the HSC-School of Rural Public Health complex.

First place went to Amy Hansen (picture above with Dr. Brender and Dr. Blakely) for “Dietary Intake of Choline and Neural Tube Defects in Mexican Americans” (co-authors Jean Brender, Hongwei Zhao, Anne Sweeney, Lucina Suarez, Mark Canfield, Marilyn Felkner).

Jeff Bowman (pictured left with Dr. Blakely, Dr. McDonald, & Marc Adams) placed second for “The Detection of Sublethal Concentrations of Cyanide in Drinking Water: Using Reliability of the Eclox® Enhanced Chemiluminescense Assay” (co-authors M.J. Adams, L.K. McLeroy, V.R. Nathan, C.C. Mathewson, T.J. McDonald).

Third place was Santosh Nazare (pictured right with Marc Adams, Dr. Brender, & Dr. Blakely) for “Diastolic Prehypertension: A Predictor of Cardiovascular Disease” (co-author Marc Adams). Hansen and Nazare are in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Bowman is in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.

The winners have been invited by the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health to submit abstracts for the 13th annual Student Poster Session through the Academic Public Health Caucus at the next American Public Health Association meeting, Nov 6-10 in Denver.