OPT Visionary - Spring/Summer 2013

THE V ISIONARY • S PRING /S UMMER 2013 — 20 CDC EXECUTIVE SPEAKS AT HPD COMMENCEMENT Ursula Bauer, Ph.D, M.P.H. , director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Na- tional Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, was the keynote speaker at the Health Professions Division’s Commencement Ceremony held May 19 at the BB&T Center in Sun- rise. During the ceremony, 703 HPD students from a range of health professions colleges and pro- grams received their long-awaited degrees. In her role, Dr. Bauer sets the strategic direction for the center’s winnable battles of tobacco use prevention, improved nutrition and physical activity, and prevention of teen and unintended pregnancy, as well as key priorities related to the leading causes of death. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has an annual budget of about $1 billion and 1,300 staff members dedicated to preventing chronic diseases and promoting health across the lifespan, in key settings, and with attention to the primary chronic disease risk factors. Before becoming director of the center, Dr. Bauer was director of the New York State Department of Health’s Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Pre- vention. She received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from Yale University, her M.P.H. in Family Health from Columbia University, and a master’s degree in Political Science from Rutgers University. U SCHOOL STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS TO GRANT WISHES FOR TERMINALLY ILL KIDS It’s the simplest acts of kindness that make the biggest impact. NSU University School students collected and sold toys, books, and music to raise more than $20,000 last year for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This year, they returned to duplicate their efforts. For several weeks this spring, more than 100 fourth-grade students collected a variety of slightly used and new items, including stuffed animals, novelties, toys, and knickknacks from other University School students. On April 15, the collected items became part of the annual weeklong lunchtime sale inside the school’s cafeteria—known as the Make-A-Wish Lunch Market—where the fourth graders sold the items to other University School students. When the sale ceased on April 18, the money was do- nated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The project, entirely managed by the fourth graders, with the advisory help of teachers and parents, has con- tributed tens of thousands of dollars to the Make- A-Wish Foundation over the past 20 years. “This project not only reinforces the character education we teach our students every day, but it also incorporates a significant educational com- ponent,” said Sheila Szikman, a fourth-grade Uni- versity School teacher who helped organize the fund-raising drive. “Students learn real-life math and business skills, including counting money, giving change, and computing sales, expenses, and profits.” The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children between the ages of 2 and 18 that suffer with life-threatening medical conditions. The con- cept of granting wishes was born in 1980 when a group of individuals helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer. Now, with 69 U.S. chapters, the foundation is the largest wish- granting charity in the world. NSU HOSTS HEMISPHERIC DRUG STRATEGY CONFERENCE In early May, NSU’s main campus in Davie hosted a three-day international conference to discuss drug strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean. NSU hosted the conference as part of a strategic partnership between the university’s In- stitute for Behavioral Health and Wellness, the United Way of Broward County, and the Organiza- tion of American States (OAS) to assist in the im- plementation of a hemispheric drug strategy. The conference featured the Coordinators of the National Drug Information Networks in Central America in Broward County, the United Way of Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse, and the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD). Representatives from Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Panama attended NSU OVERVIEW: HPD Commencement… U School Grants Wishes…Drug Strategy Conference…Respiratory Therapy Program