INNOVATIVE
Europe, whose efforts helped end the Holocaust. I came to realize that a common and laudable theme among these giants was military service and being of use to others.” A favorite childhood television show—Emergency!—and an awardwinning science fair project he completed on ultrasonics would also play their part in Pace’s future. Decades later, he would coordinate medical treatment and evacuation during the invasion of Iraq (earning the Bronze Star and Combat Medical Badge), and later serve on a team from the U.S. Army Trauma Training Center at the University of Miami/ Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center that helped bring ultrasound diagnostic capability to Army Forward Surgical Teams deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. But before that, Pace would attend Tulane University on an Army ROTC scholarship and become a Distinguished Military Graduate. After earning his Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Baylor University and another in Business Administration from the University of Denver, the board-certified healthcare executive and Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives had already served in a number of both civilian and military healthcare leadership and management positions. Now, the 21-year Army veteran is in his final year as a Miami Law student studying Health Law, and is concurrently completing his Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Officers, like Pace, are hand-picked by the U.S. Army to attend the War College in
order to study the application of the diplomatic, informational, military, and economic instruments of power to achieve U.S. national objectives. Two of his heroes—Pershing and Eisenhower—are graduates of the U.S. Army War College. Another science fair project Pace completed as a youth regarding polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination of Limestone Creek in his hometown, may have helped him later in representing Army veteran Hosea Smith, who was told by Veterans Administration (VA) officials that his leukemia was not related to his military service as a printing press operator/repairman and typewriter washer from 1978 to 1981. “When I realized the types of chemicals my client was likely to have been exposed to and the potential effect on his health, I felt I was gaining a foothold.” Pace discovered that The National Institutes of Health reported that chronic or prolonged exposure to benzene, used extensively in printing press operations, has been linked to bone marrow degeneration and leukemia. “We received a fully-favorable ruling on the Social Security Disability claim we submitted and are currently challenging the VA’s determination that his leukemia did not result from his service.” Pace has been named to the Dean’s List every semester since Spring 2013 and earned the Dean’s Certificate of Achievement Award in the Health Rights Clinic. He received a scholarship to attend the American Bar Association Health Law Section’s Emerging Medical Issues in Healthcare Law Conference and was appointed
as law student liaison to the ABA’s Public Health & Policy Interest Group. His law review article regarding the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act’s impact on brain-injured veterans was published in the University of Miami’s National Security and Armed Conflict Law Review, Volume IV, and an update on the Affordable Care Act he co-authored will be included in the year in review section of the 2015 Health Law and Compliance Update published by Wolters Kluwer. He also attended President Donna Shalala’s “Business of Healthcare Post-Election” conference as a Vitas Scholar. As President of the Health Law Association, Pace organized a panel called “The Business of Health Law,” that featured health law partners from McDermott, Will & Emery, earning him an invitation to their healthcare private equity conference. He also served as a summer associate in the Health Law department of Kozyak, Tropin, and Throckmorton. Pace is serving as an Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps JD Veterans’ Rights Fellow and Research Assistant for Professor JoNel Newman. In response to the need for more veterans’ rights advocacy and in an effort to get more law students involved, he is starting a law school chapter of the University of Miami’s Veteran Students Organization. “While Noel’s impressive military and health care industry background have been invaluable assets for the Health Rights Clinic, his unfailing effectiveness as an advocate for clients is a direct result of his incredibly hard work and his dedication to each individual client, no matter the circumstances, and it is a real pleasure to work with Noel,” said Newman.
IN N OVA TIV E ST UDE N TS
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