Price studies the roles of the brain’s gray and white matter on cognitive changes and susceptibility to decline for adults with Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Her work also examines how these changes may put individuals at risk for cognitive decline after events such as major surgeries.

Bauer will be working with senior economists at the Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets on a project examining the spillover effects of the utilization of health care services by Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries on the utilization of health care services by Medicare Advantage enrollees. A major focus of the research is to examine whether Medicare Advantage plans reduce the number of inpatient hospital services in markets where Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries have high service utilization.

“The day I received the letter from Florida Opportunity Scholars one of my dreams came true,” Elta said. “Four years later, I walked across the stage as a first-generation college student debt-free. I am so thankful for this opportunity.” 

The Florida Opportunity Scholars program was established in 2006 to support college freshmen who are the first in their families to attend college. It provides full grant and scholarship packages to students whose families earn less than $40,000 a year. The program also offers a leadership academy, peer mentors and workshops on financial literacy and career and life planning.

Florida Opportunity Scholars is funded by UF, the state of Florida and private donations. To date, the program has supported approximately 2,300 first-generation students from families with low income.

Elta is one of 12 Florida Opportunity Scholars who graduated May 4 from the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ bachelor’s in health science degree program. Several of them shared their post-graduation plans and their thoughts on the Florida Opportunity Scholars program.

Elta Desvaristes will begin master’s in public health studies this fall. She has long planned to become a physician and this career goal was re-affirmed two years ago when a close family member was diagnosed with a serious illness.

“Because of this life-changing event, my interest in public health also increased and this is why I am pursuing my M.P.H. before going on to medical school,” she said.

Thanhnga Doan has been admitted to the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine’s SELECT MD program, which trains medical students to become physician leaders.

“The Florida Opportunity Scholars program has played a monumental role in my success at the University of Florida,” she said. “At the end of the day, my parents always say that my only job is being a student. The FOS program made that a reality.”

CoCynthia Hodge plans to enroll in a master’s degree program in occupational therapy by next summer. She would eventually like to open a children’s therapy center.

“Without the FOS program I wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” she said. “I owe all of my achievements and success to this program, and I want to go as far as possible with my education and career so I can give back one day.”

Heather Loran will take a year off to work as a medical assistant and gain more patient contact hours before beginning a master’s degree program in physician assistant studies.

“FOS has opened doors to allow me to network with health care professionals and gain insight into my future career choice,” she said. “Because my family did not have the means to send me to college without the FOS program, I do not know where I would be today.”

Takeshia Pierre begins nursing studies this summer in Ocala. She would eventually like to complete a master’s degree in nursing and public health from Emory University. Her goal is to become a public health nurse practitioner with a focus on HIV.

“If I did not have a Florida Opportunity Scholarship I strongly doubt my experience at the University of Florida would have been a smooth one,” she said. “I am forever grateful for their help, and I will use my knowledge to make a difference in the future.”

Ashley Plowden plans to attend medical school and go on to become a pediatrician serving primarily rural and underserved areas.

“With FOS I was able to entirely focus on school without worrying about finances,” she said. “FOS also provided me with many other opportunities that I don’t think I would have otherwise had, such as having a peer mentor, making friends (also FOS scholars) and networking with various UF faculty and staff.”

Jannae White begins the UF College of Nursing’s accelerated bachelor’s in nursing program this summer. She plans to go on to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and work as a nurse practitioner.

“FOS has been a huge support financially, which has led to the relief of not having to find a way to fund my education and not burden my mom financially or mentally,” she said. “Knowing that the donors and everyone else involved with FOS believe enough in us, scholars, to invest their time and/or money in us is very encouraging.”

Wenyan Wu plans to take a year off before starting medical school. During the gap year she will volunteer at non-profit health care organizations and continue providing free Mandarin-language interpretation services for Chinese patients at a nearby hospital.

“My career goal is to become a primary care physician,” she said. “I want to promote education on preventable diseases and help to reduce health disparities among the underserved communities. With this goal in mind, I want to obtain an M.D./M.P.H. degree because it will improve my knowledge of practicing medicine on a community basis.”

Cheryl Weston

Cheryl Weston, business manager of the department of epidemiology in the colleges of Public Health and Health Professions and Medicine, is one of just 16 University of Florida employees to receive a 2013 Superior Accomplishment Award at the university level.

The award program recognizes employees who contribute outstanding service, efficiency or economy to the university, or play a role in the quality of life provided to students and employees. Weston received the Jeffrey A. Gabor Employee Recognition Award, which includes a $1,000 check and commemorative plaque. Superior Accomplishment Award winners were recognized at a ceremony held April 18 at the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.

Award nominators noted that Weston has taken on several challenges over the past year, including helping a new department chair and new faculty members transition to the department, coordinating the establishment of HealthStreet Gainesville, and planning the department’s move to the new Clinical and Translational Research Building.

“Cheryl has always presented a very positive attitude, effectively bringing keen analytic and creative skills and strong managerial qualities to a wide variety of projects,” a nominator said. “While there are many accomplished individuals at the University of Florida, Cheryl stands apart as she is genuinely helpful and she has the resourcefulness to find solutions to sometimes very challenging problems. She handles her interactions with faculty, staff and students quite ably and is extremely skilled, efficient and responsible.”

The UF Center of Leadership and Service honored the students at a ceremony March 12.

The Presidential Service Awards recognize undergraduate and graduate students who have dedicated their time and efforts to promoting social justice, community awareness and civic engagement on campus and in the community. Students receive the award based on performing 100 or more hours of service during the past year. The awards reception is sponsored by the UF Office of the President.

Allison Curran

Allison Curran, a junior in the bachelor’s program in communication sciences and disorders, volunteers with organizations such as Noah’s Endeavor, Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, March for Babies, Eye of the Eagle Sanctuary and many more, through Alpha Phi Omega, UF’s primary co-ed community service fraternity.

“I chose Alpha Phi Omega because it was a meaningful way to meet people in college and make new friends my first semester,” Curran said. “I love the wide variety of service opportunities I have been able to volunteer with through this organization and the leadership roles it has allowed me to take.”

Curran serves as Alpha Phi Omega’s service vice president. She is responsible for planning the service projects offered to the group’s members each day of the week. That amounts to about 17 projects offered weekly to 130 members. She also logs all the members’ volunteer hours and coordinates with nonprofit organizations throughout Gainesville.

Curran’s volunteer and leadership experiences should serve her well in her future career.

“I aspire to work as an audiologist doing community outreach with nonprofit organizations,” she said.  “I hope to increase awareness and promote early intervention for children and families affected by hearing loss.”

Allison Trainor

Allison Trainor, a student in the online master’s in public health program, is president of UF’s Arts in Health Student Organization. She also volunteers with the Global Alliance for Arts in Health as the leader of the Students Taking Action Special Interest group. Trainor and her husband are project managers of the HOPE Worldwide Gainesville chapter, coordinating the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day and the bi-annual canned food drives. She is also a volunteer community partner for the Area 3/13 Minority AIDS Program.

“I love volunteering and each of these organizations offers something unique to the community and to my own professional development,” Trainor said. “I’m passionate about improving community health and quality of life around the world — which each of these organizations plays a role in accomplishing — and I’m a firm believer in the importance of the arts as a therapeutic tool in the healing process, for an individual or in a community.” 

Volunteering allows Trainor to participate in community building activities while also preparing her for a career in public health, she said.

“I want to be in a leadership role, preferably executive committee work for a health-based organization or non-profit, as a long-term career goal, so my work as president and project manager really enhances my skills,” she said. 

Sarai Vargas-Vera

Sarai Vargas-Vera, a sophomore majoring in health science, volunteers at the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center Ophthalmology Clinic and has held a number of volunteer positions throughout Shands at UF, including the North Tower operating room, the pediatric emergency department, the pediatric intensive care unit and the neonatal intensive care unit. She has volunteered with St. Francis House and Ronald McDonald House and served as a mentor for UF’s Project SET SAIL, a post-secondary education program for students with intellectual disabilities. Last winter she spent her holiday break in Nicaragua on a medical mission trip for the international organization Global Medical Training. She was recently elected treasurer of the group’s UF chapter.

“Volunteering is a great learning experience not only for my career, but as an individual,” Vargas-Vera said. “It has made me a much more well-rounded person, which has allowed me to understand people with different conditions, personalities and beliefs.”

Vargas-Vera plans to pursue a career as a physician assistant specializing in pediatrics. Many physician assistant degree programs require applicants have 1,000 hours of direct patient contact experience, but 2,000 hours are recommended in order to be a stronger applicant.

“I have chosen to volunteer not because I need to do it for school, but because I want to do it,” she said. “I love interacting with patients and helping others. It is not only giving back to the community that makes me happy, but knowing that I have been able to help improve someone’s quality of life goes far beyond any other reward. Medicine is one of the most rewarding professions and I am honored to be a part of it already.”

The Annual Neuromuscular Plasticity Symposium, now in its eighth year, is organized under the auspices of UF’s Neuromuscular Plasticity Training Program, funded by a T32 training grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The pre-doctoral training program emphasizes the joint training of rehabilitation clinicians and basic scientists who have a common interest in translational research in neuromuscular plasticity. Neuromuscular plasticity refers to the ability of the brain, nervous system and muscles to adopt new functions or reorganize existing ones in response to injury, illness or aging.

The training program’s faculty mentors include researchers in the UF colleges of Public Health and Health Professions, Health and Human Performance, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. Trainees are conducting research in areas such as spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, impaired respiratory function and muscle dysfunction.

“The goal of the symposium is to help trainees network across campus as well as with prominent scientists across the country and I think it’s been a very effective forum for that,” said Krista Vandenborne, Ph.D., P.T., director of the Neuromuscular Plasticity Training Program and chair of the department of physical therapy at the College of Public Health and Health Professions.

The Neuromuscular Plasticity Symposium includes student poster presentations and keynote lectures by one national expert in each of three research areas: brain, spinal cord and muscle. This year’s symposium featured Daniel Corcos, Ph.D., a professor and director of the Neural Control of Movement Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago; Jerry Silver, Ph.D., a professor of neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University; and James Tidball, Ph.D., a professor of molecular, cellular and integrative physiology at UCLA.

“The symposium provides an opportunity to interact with a variety of accomplished speakers and scholars whose work may be very different from your own,” said Meryl Alapattu, D.P.T., a Neuromuscular Plasticity Training Program trainee. “These interactions leave you thinking about your research in different ways, in particular the translational aspect of your work and the impact of your work on a larger level.”

Symposium highlights also include the five-minute “data blitz” presentations by the Neuromuscular Plasticity Training Program’s trainees, Vandenborne said. The trainees present their research to an audience that includes faculty mentors, visiting scholars and the symposium’s keynote speakers. The presentations are held in the living room of the UF President’s House.

“It’s a very unique opportunity because you have these really famous scientists sitting in the living room with you, right in front of you,” Vandenborne said. “It’s intimidating for the T32 trainees, but at the same time it’s a wonderful experience for them to be able to interact with other scientists in such an intimate forum.”

Over the years these types of interactions have led to several collaborations between UF researchers and the symposium’s invited experts, Vandenborne said.

“All the keynote speakers have been really impressed with what UF has to offer and with the environment that surrounds the Neuromuscular Plasticity Training Program,” she said. “The symposium is a fantastic way to showcase the university and our program.”

Neuromuscular Plasticity Symposium 2013 photos

PHHP Dean Michael G. Perri, Cindy Prins and Linda Cottler, chair of the department of epidemiology

Prins is a clinical assistant professor at the UF department of epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Medicine. She is the epidemiology doctoral program director and a member of UF’s Rural South Public Health Training Center team.

Prins received a Ph.D. in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology from Penn State University. She did her post-doctoral training at UF and concurrently earned a UF Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in epidemiology in 2006. She later worked as an infection preventionist at Shands at UF, earning her board certification in infection prevention and control.

Prins’ research interests include health care-associated infections and multi-drug resistant organisms. She recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s National Vaccine Program Office and JBS International to support a project on vaccine knowledge. In 2012 she was awarded the Public Health Award for Faculty Excellence by UF’s Master of Public Health students.

Walders is the chief information officer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Department of Defense’s largest hospital.

UF Alumni Association Board Member Mark Criser, William Walders and PHHP Dean Michael G. Perri

Walders earned a UF Master of Health Administration degree in 2007. Following graduation, he held several positions in information systems management, including deputy department head of enterprise information assurance at the Navy Medical Information Management Center, and chief information officer at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Rota, Spain. He was then deployed to the USNS Comfort, a seagoing medical treatment facility with 1,000 patient beds. As the chief information officer, he led the shipboard information technology staff and developed a humanitarian aid package for health care information technology supplies, infrastructure and training for nine South and Central American countries. Walders went on to serve as head of service design at the Military Health System Cyberinfrastructure Services.

Walders’ awards include Navy and Marine Corps Commendation and Achievement Medals, a Navy Unit Commendation, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Battle Efficiency Awards, and numerous campaign and service awards.