More than 500 Attend College's New Home Dedication Ceremony
The ribbon cutting at the Roy P. Drachman Hall Dedication Ceremony included (from left): Dean G. Marie Swanson, UA College of Nursing Dean Marjorie Isenberg, UA President Peter Likins, former Vice President for Health Sciences and former UA College of Medicine Dean James Dalen, and UA College of Pharmacy Dean Lyle Bootman.
More than 500 attended the dedication ceremony for Roy P. Drachman Hall, the new home to The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
The program included a Navajo blessing by Avery Denny; remarks by G. Marie Swanson, dean at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, J. Lyle Bootman, dean at the UA College of Pharmacy, James E. Dalen, former vice president for health sciences and former dean at the UA College of Medicine; and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Roy P. Drachman Hall provides shared classroom space among the Colleges of Pharmacy, Public Health and Nursing, additional office space for Pharmacy and a much-needed permanent home for the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, which was spread among 22 sites throughout Tucson. For more photos, go here.
Faculty, Academic Professionals, Staff and Graduate Students Recognized
Several members of the College received recognition in March and April for their hard work and contributions. Staff, faculty, academic professionals and graduate students received the following awards of distinction.
2006 Awards of Distinction for Outstanding Teaching and Community Service
The 2006 Awards of Distinction recognized faculty and academic professionals in the UA colleges of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health for their hard work and perseverance.
The awards were given out in a ceremony on April 18.
 At the Outstanding Teaching and Community Service awards ceremony are (from left): Associate Dean Jill de Zapien, Norma Gray (winner), Darlene Lopez (winner), Dean G. Marie Swanson, Maia Ingram (winner), and Senior Associate Dean Denise Roe.
2006 Outstanding Teaching Awards
 Dr. Norma Gray, assistant professor, was recognized for her outstanding graduate course on Adolescent Health (CPH 588).
The students commended her for the stimulating discussions and using multimedia in the classroom. They stated that she is "culturally competent and community-oriented in her approach to teaching."
 Ms. Darlene Lopez, senior research specialist, was recognized for her outstanding undergraduate course on Research Design and Statistics (CPH 376).
She was commended by her students as being very knowledgeable, approachable, and understandable which helped to ease the stress of learning statistics.
2006 Outstanding Community Service and Practice Award
 Ms. Maia Ingram was recognized for her commitment and spirit of social justice working alongside Arizona communities. Ingram has more than 10 years of experience in partnering with community-based organizations to improve the health and well-being of Arizona residents. She is currently the program director of community-based program evaluation. From 2001 to 2005, she has served as leader on two major projects: The Border Health Strategic Initiative (Border Health !SI!), which focuses on the prevention and control of diabetes in Southern Arizona’s border communities, and Steps to a Healthier Arizona, a five-year cooperative agreement through the Arizona Department of Health Services for the prevention and control of obesity, diabetes and asthma.
2006 MEZCOPH Staff Awards of Excellence
At a ceremony held March 30, Arizona Health Sciences Center staff members received staff awards for excellence. UA Zuckerman College of Public Health recipients of the Staff Award of Excellence were (a tie this year):
 Ms. Sonia Medina, who was recognized for embodying the spirit of the College and providing a role model for what “excellence” is about. Medina started working at the College in 1996 and currently serves as administrative associate for Jill Guernsey de Zapien, associate dean for Community Programs. She supports the TIES project in the development of a binational diplomado en salud pública in partnership with the Colegio de Sonora in Hermosillo, Sonora.
“Ms. Medina is a role model for young women just entering public health,” said Dean G. Marie Swanson. “Her integrity, patience, kindness and natural mentorship is extended to everyone she meets.”
 Ms. Donna Peterson was recognized as an exemplary model of caring, hard work and commitment. Starting in 1997, Peterson is an administrative associate who currently serves the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, specifically for Division Director James Ranger-Moore, PhD.
“She has the knack to notice a problem immediately and then to act on a possible solution,” Dr. Swanson said. “We recently lost an administrative assistant. She noticed the problem, worked out a method for prioritizing tasks and was able to fill in for the missing position until a replacement could be hired several weeks later … She never seeks thanks or attention, but is simply interested in making things run more smoothly for everyone.”
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards
 Ms. Erin Redmon, an MPH student in public health policy and management and graduate teaching assistant in health promotion sciences, was recognized for her "amazing organizational skills, sophisticated understanding of a vast array of topics and valuable feedback to students." She is the teaching assistant for Sociocultural and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health (CPH 577), which she has taught for the past four semesters.
 Ms. Carrie Tomasallo, a doctoral student in epidemiology and graduate teaching assistant in epidemiology and biostatistics, was recognized for "great teaching abilities and unending patience with nervous and stressed-out students, in addition to going beyond the call of duty in manning office hours, organizing review sessions, running Stata lab sessions and presenting lectures." Tomasallo has been a teaching assistant for Biostatistics in Public Health (CPH 576a) and is currently the teaching assistant for Biostatistics for Research (CPH 576b).
Outstanding Epidemiology Qualifying Examination Award
 Each year the Epidemiology Graduate Program recognizes the student who obtains the best score on the Epidemiology Qualifying Examination.
This year’s winner is Nicole Wright, an MPH graduate in epidemiology, who is currently a doctoral student in epidemiology.
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PHSA Elects New Officers
The UA Zuckerman College of Public Health's Public Health Student Alliance has elected a new slate of officers for 2006/2007.
The new officers include:
- Nicole Wright, President
- Ada Dieke, Vice President
- Lubna Shaikh, Secretary
- Ashley Wennerstrom, Treasurer
- Gail Bradford, Social Chair
- Samantha Kerr, Undergraduate Co-Chair
- Sanasi Kulkarni, Undergraduate Co-Chair
- Rupa Krishna, Fundraising Co-Chair
- Laurel Jacobs, Fundraising Co-Chair
Congratulations to the newly elected officers!
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ASPH Staff Visit College
Pictured with the ASPH staff visitors are (from left): Jill de Zapien, Mercedes Gameros, Christine Plepys, Kate Kelly and Sonia Medina.
Two staff members from the Association of Schools of Public Health visited the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health late March. The staff members were Christine Plepys, assistant director for Grants and Contracts, and Kate Kelly, grants coordinator.
ASPH staff spoke with students about the multiple fellowship opportunities offered by ASPH through CDC, HRSA, EPA, USDA and NHTSA and internship opportunities available with CDC and the Public Health Reports Office.
Faculty members were provided information about funding opportunities available through the CDC cooperative agreement, as well as other sources of funding opportunities available through ASPH.
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