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November 7, 2013

People of the Times

SadovskyYoel Sadovsky, director of the Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) and faculty member in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences in the School of Medicine, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an honor that is considered one of the highest in its field.

Current active IOM members select new members who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health. IOM’s charter ensures diversity of talent among the institute’s membership by requiring at least one-quarter of the members to be selected from fields outside the health professions, such as engineering, social sciences, law and the humanities.

Sadovsky’s research focuses on the development of the placenta and the function of specialized placental cells called the trophoblast. Using human placental cells as well as mouse models, he studies molecular pathways that govern placental development and adaptive response to stress. His primary areas of research include placental uptake and processing of metabolic fuels, the role of microRNA in placental function, and placental injury and adaptation.

Sadovsky completed his MD at Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University in St. Louis, and his postdoctoral training at the University of California-San Francisco.

Established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, IOM has become recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on health issues. With their election, members make a commitment to volunteer their service on IOM committees, boards and other activities. Projects during the past year included studies of environmental factors in breast cancer; health IT and patient safety; nutrition rating systems and graphics on food packaging; the scientific necessity of chimpanzees in research; establishing crisis standards of care during catastrophic disasters; improving care for epilepsy, and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Margaret S. Hannan, a faculty member in the School of Nursing’s Department of Health Promotion and Development, has been named a 2013 Cameos of Caring Nurse Educator Honoree.

The award is part of the School of Nursing’s annual Cameos of Caring program that honors nurses from participating health care facilities. The School of Nursing developed the program in 1999 to celebrate the profession and to help alleviate the shortage of nurses by promoting nursing as a viable and rewarding career choice.

In 2006, the Nurse Educator Award was created to honor the educators at schools of nursing who are preparing the next generation of nursing professionals.

Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, Hannan was a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital. “I had been an adjunct faculty member for a number of years here. I truly enjoyed teaching and serving as a clinical adviser to students — it is so rewarding to see the ‘aha’ moment on students’ faces,” Hannan said.

Her teaching responsibilities include the pediatric undergraduate theory course and courses within the graduate programs.

Her research examines reproductive health communication between mothers and their adolescent daughters with a chronic disorder, such as diabetes. Her work has been funded the American Diabetes Association Clinical Research Award, Sigma Theta Tau, the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the International Transplant Nurse Society.

She continues to serve as a pediatric nurse practitioner with the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh and Lemieux Family Center.

Hannan pursued her undergraduate education at Community College of Allegheny County and Carlow University; she earned her MSN and PhD at Pitt’s School of Nursing.

She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International in 2000 and has been honored with the Ruth Perkins Kuehn Award by Sigma Theta Tau, Eta Chapter.

This year’s Cameo of Caring awards were presented Nov. 2.

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Lawrence Feick, faculty member in business administration, will step down from his administrative roles as senior director of international programs, director of the University Center for International Studies, and as a member of the Council of Deans, effective Aug. 1, 2014.

Feick will continue as a member of the faculty of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and will remain involved in projects currently underway in Europe, Brazil and China.

Among Feick’s accomplishments was the creation of Plus3, a joint program with the Swanson School of Engineering, which won the 2005 Andrew Heiskell Award from the Institute of International Education for excellence and innovation in international education. Feick also was central in the development of Pitt’s recent agreement to form a joint engineering institute with Sichuan University.

Feick helped transform the University’s study-abroad offerings through an expansion of programs developed by Pitt faculty for Pitt students, which now enroll more than 70 percent of Pitt students studying abroad, compared with one-third when he began. He also oversaw an almost 20 percent increase in the number of Pitt students participating in study-abroad programs, and participation in UCIS’s international and area studies certificates has increased nearly 40 percent.

Feick joined the Katz school in 1982 and served as associate dean, 1989-96.

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Jessica Taylor has been promoted to director of housing at Pitt-Bradford.

Taylor joined Pitt-Bradford in 2011 as a residence life coordinator. During the 2012-13 academic year, her title was changed to assistant director of residence life.

In her new position, Taylor will take care of all housing assignments, reassignments, residence hall assessments and other aspects related to the housing side of the residential life operation.

At Appalachian State University she earned a BS in political science and an MA in college student development.

She worked at St. Bonaventure University before coming to Pitt-Bradford.

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Three members of the Pitt community have been included in this year’s Pittsburgh Magazine list of “40 under 40.”

Adam Paul Causgrove is a grant administrator in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

In 2012, Causgrove helped to form Side Project, which offers fundraising, legal and administrative support to up-and-coming nonprofits and community groups.

Ken Smythe-Leistico is assistant director in the Office of Child Development.

He is the founder of Ready Freddy, a program that encourages children and families in low-income neighborhoods to get excited about school through engagement, programs and resources such as its kindergarten club curriculum for parents and children.

Kurt R. Weiss is a faculty member in orthopaedic surgery, Division of Musculoskeletal Oncology in the School of Medicine.

A survivor of osteosarcoma that developed when he was a teen, Weiss helped to found Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma, a group that sponsors an annual 5K run/walk that has raised more than $100,000 for sarcoma research. In honor of Weiss, who as a teenager received a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Make-A-Wish established the Kurt R. Weiss Scholarship for Wish Children to help Make-A-Wish recipients with the cost of higher education.

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Ann Dugan, who founded Pitt’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence in 1993, will step down early next year as executive director of the institute and assistant dean in the Katz Graduate School of Business.

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence has assisted in the start of 800 businesses, attracted $300 million in client funding and developed and delivered more than 1,400 management education programs attended by more than 40,000 regional business owners and entrepreneurs.

Among Dugan’s honors was a regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the creative approach she took in developing the institute within a large research university. The award enabled Dugan to take her message to the national level and work with universities and other institutions across the country to help them develop their initiatives and connect within their regions.

A search committee is being formed to identify Dugan’s successor as executive director.

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Margaret Potter, faculty member in health policy and management at the  Graduate School of Public Health, has received a 2013 Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)/Pfizer award.

The Faculty Award for Excellence in Academic Public Health Practice is a national award that honors graduate public health faculty who are notable for their teaching, practice and research excellence. Potter’s selection was based, in part, on her national leadership in translating public health scholarship to improve public health systems, thereby improving the general population’s health and well-being.

Potter, who also is associate dean for public health practice and the director of the Center for Public Health Practice, has served as chair of the board of the Public Health Foundation, was a member of the model design working group for the National Health Security Preparedness Index project and currently chairs the Pennsylvania advisory committee on public health laws.

She was an adviser to the Health Resources Services Administration in creating public health training centers. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she led the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Pitt’s public health school with funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Her research has spanned a range of topics, including public health systems, law and policy, and use of computational modeling in preparedness research.

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The People of the Times column features recent news on faculty and staff, including awards and other honors, accomplishments and administrative appointments.

We welcome submissions from all areas of the University. Send information via email to: utimes@pitt.edu, by fax at 412/624-4579 or by campus mail to 308 Bellefield Hall.

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