Heller Alumni News Summer 2012

brandeis university

SUMMER 2012 A magazine for the alumni of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management

alumni news and views

The Heller Imprint: Transforming Health Care

SUMMER 2012

A magazine for the alumni of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University

Alumni News and Views

Contents PAGE 1

Letter from the dean

PAGEs 2–5

inside your school

PAGEs 6 –17

The Heller Imprint: Transforming Health Care PAGEs 18 –21

milestones

Standing on the grounds of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) are (from left) Aggrey Kihombo, Ph.D.’04; George Olang of KEMRI; Ph.D. student Elizabeth Glaser, M.S.’08, M.A.’11; and Donald Shepard, faculty.

Brandeis University MS 035 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454-9110

Lisa M. Lynch Dean and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy Samuel O. Thier, M.D. Chair, Heller Board of Overseers Chrisann Newransky, M.A.’05 President, Heller Alumni Association Board

Leslie Godoff ’71 Director, Development and Alumni Relations

Claudia J. Jacobs ’70 Director of Communications Initiatives

Jennifer Raymond Assistant Director for Annual Giving and Alumni Relations

Courtney Lombardo Senior Program Administrator, Development and Alumni Relations

tracey palmer Feature Writer

Letter from the Dean Dear Heller Alumni, Spring semester at Heller takes on a palpable level of excitement and intensity. Students in our sustainable international development program return from practicum experiences around the world to present their capstone projects, while students in the M.P.P. and M.B.A. programs present their final capstone papers or team consulting projects. Second-year students in our Ph.D. program hunker down for comprehensive exams, while those in the final stages of their doctoral studies defend their dissertations to their committees and members of the Heller community.

This excitement culminates in our graduation weekend as family and friends gather to celebrate the accomplishments of our students. As I make my transition into my fifth year as dean, I continue to be buoyed by the optimism and commitment of our students, the dedication and accomplishments of our faculty and researchers, and the impact of Heller’s alumni on creating and sustaining more equitable communities locally and globally.

Access to affordable and quality health care continues to be one of the most critical social policy issues of our time, one to which many Heller faculty, researchers, students and alumni dedicate their careers. As we go to print, the nation awaits the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the 2010 landmark health care reform act, and it again seems timely to focus this issue of Alumni News and Views on Heller’s imprint on health care policy. The articles that

follow demonstrate the links between the research activities of Heller’s Schneider Institutes for Health and Heller alumni who are applying the knowledge they gained here to advance policy and programs that ensure access to quality care for all, locally, nationally and globally.

Heller’s prominence in the field of health care policy was aided by the vision and largesse of Irving Schneider, a trustee emeritus of Brandeis University. His endowment of the Schneider Institutes has secured Heller’s capacity to be an innovator and leader in the field of health policy. Irving’s daughter Lynn serves as a Heller Overseer and shares her father’s passionate commitment to achieving quality health care for all. Heller is eternally grateful to the entire Schneider family for their insight and support.

I want to express a special note of gratitude to each of you, the growing community of Heller alumni. When U.S. News & World Report ranked Heller in the top 10 graduate schools of social policy this year, I received notes and calls of congratulations from many of you around the world. But you are the ones who deserve credit — for the continued commitment you each make to Heller’s mission of knowledge advancing social justice, and for your ongoing financial support of current students. Thank you for the many ways you give to Heller.

Warm regards,

Lisa M. Lynch Dean and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy

Inside Your School: What’s Happening at Heller

Heller Ranks in Top 10!

The U.S. News & World Report has ranked Heller as one of the top schools of social policy in the United States for its teaching and research into social issues and the creation and implementation of policies to address those issues. The rankings, released in March, place Heller ninth in the country among graduate schools that focus on research and professional training for people trying to improve the lives of children, the elderly, minority groups and disadvantaged populations. Within hours of the news, Dean Lisa Lynch received messages of acknowledgment and pride from alumni, colleagues and friends of Heller.

An ebullient Dean Lisa Lynch (left) talked with students, faculty and staff of the Heller School at a Dean’s Coffee celebrating the U.S. News & World Report ranking.

Symposium Honors Professor Laurence Simon The Heller School hosted “Paths to Compassionate Action and Service,” a symposium honoring Professor Laurence Simon for 40 years in the service of world development, including his role in the founding of the programs in sustainable international development at Brandeis as well as the American Jewish World Service. A recording of the entire symposium is available at http://vimeo.com/36989059.

New Staff Members in Admissions and Career Development Dean Lynch is pleased to announce two new appointments at the Heller School: On April 17, Lynn Davis joined us as our new assistant dean for admissions, and on May 1, Martin Black joined us as our new assistant dean for career development.

Lynn Davis has 20 years of experience in graduate admissions.

Before joining Brandeis, she was director of enrollment and marketing at the Graduate School of Management at Clark

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University. Prior to Clark, she worked as director of graduate admissions at Emerson College and director of the executive M.B.A. program at Suffolk University.

Martin Black has 15 years of experience at top research universities and 10 years of nonprofit management experience. Previously, he was the director of employer relations at the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University. He has career advising expertise in consulting, public finance, international development and policy research. A published author, editor and translator, Black also has near-native fluency in German.

New Faculty Appointments After an extensive international search, Dean Lynch announced that Joseph K. Assan will be joining the faculty this summer as assistant professor of political economy in sustainable international development.

Assan is currently a faculty member at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, and is a citizen of both Ghana and Great Britain. In addition, Marion Howard, M.A.’04 (SID), currently a senior lecturer and associate director of Heller’s M.A. in sustainable international development program, has been selected to fill the faculty position in international development management.

Heller Poster Week A new tradition began this spring, providing an opportunity for each of Heller’s nine research centers and institutes to display and explain its work to the entire community. On three successive afternoons, the Zinner Forum was filled with posters and researchers — faculty, staff and students — engaged in a lively exchange of information, questions and ideas with one another.

Heller School expands academic global partnerships During the 2011–12 academic year, Brandeis formalized agreements with universities in Africa, China and Turkey to build on Heller’s expertise in sustainable international development and to enrich the learning experiences for students and faculty.

President Frederick M. Lawrence signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Brandeis and the University for Development Studies (UDS), in Tamale, Ghana. This partnership will provide opportunities for faculty exchanges between Heller and UDS as well as collaboration in the training and research of graduate and postgraduate students.

University Provost Steve Goldstein also signed an MOU with the School of Social Development and Public Policy (SSDPP) at Beijing Normal University. For the past two years, SSDPP has participated in an interuniversity online course that allows students from Heller’s M.A. program in sustainable international development to have weekly, live discussions based on a shared syllabus, readings and taped lectures. The partnership will expand into faculty and student exchanges and move toward shared research agendas.

The Heller School has teamed up with the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Bahcesehir University, in Istanbul, Turkey, to

Seated, from left: Dean Lynch and President Lawrence. Standing, from left: Lecturer and Assistant Dean for Student Records and Enrollment Ravi Lakshmikanthan and Professor Susan Holcombe.

train future leaders to address the rapidly growing health sectors in Turkey and around the world through the development of a two-year dual master’s program. Students will complete the health care management M.B.A. at Bahcesehir University in their first year and the M.S. in international health policy and management at the Heller School in their second year.

In addition, the two schools are collaborating to generate externally funded projects by the end of 2012.

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Inside Your School: What’s Happening at Heller Students Celebrate Many Cultures in One Night International cultures are alive and well at Heller. March 24 marked the academic year’s second Cultural Night, featuring students wearing their home country’s traditional garb while dancing, celebrating and sharing information and cuisine from Afghanistan, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, England, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, the United States and Vietnam.

Photos by Jarnail Singh, M.A.’13 (SID)

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“Hearts on Fire” Event The Eli J. Segal Citizen Leadership Program and the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy co-sponsored an evening conversation on March 29 with philanthropist and author Jill Iscol and Jacob Lief, president and co-founder of the Ubuntu Fund in South Africa. Iscol shared her compelling story as she followed change-makers in the nonprofit world across the globe to highlight 14 extraordinary individuals in her new book, “Hearts on Fire.” Lief discussed how Iscol’s philanthropy has impacted his organization.

From left: Jill Iscol, Jacob Lief, Heller Overseer Phyllis Segal, Heller Dean Lisa Lynch and Sillerman Center Director Andrew Hahn, Ph.D.’78

Building Unlikely Peace Bridges Between Israel and Palestine On March 29, students in Heller’s coexistence and conflict program, as well as those from the greater Heller and Brandeis community, heard the remarkable and emotional details of backchannel negotiations by Gershon Baskin that led to the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit last year. Baskin, founder and former director of the nonprofit think tank Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information, described how he leveraged personal relationships and more than five years of focused determination and negotiations resulting in the safe return of Shalit by Hamas in exchange for the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The Alan B. Slifka Foundation supported this event.

From left: COEX Assistant Professor Theodore Johnson, COEX Program Director and Alan B. Slifka Professor of Coexistence and Conflict Alain Lempereur, Riva Ritvo Slifka, Brandeis President Frederick M. Lawrence and Gershon Baskin

2012 Distinguished Management Lecture — Investing in Change: Social Impact Bonds Heller M.B.A. students, faculty and friends gathered on April 3 to hear panel speakers Dr. Jeffrey Liebman, the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School; Steven Goldberg, managing director and general counsel at Social Finance, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting the social sector with private capital; and Heather Feltman, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of New England, one of the area’s largest faith-based human services organizations. Pioneers in bringing social impact bonds to the United States, the panel members explained this new financing mechanism as a way to raise private capital to provide more innovative and effective social service programs.

Tuesday Talks Within the high-paced, over-scheduled and intensely focused world of Heller, a new tradition of monthly lunchtime talks provides a valuable opportunity for our faculty and researchers to share their work with colleagues and students. Tuesday Talks during the 2011–12 academic year included: “The Bold Promise and Slow Harvest of Democratic Transformation in South Africa,”

by Tom Shapiro; “Global Health Spending: The Need to Do More With Less,” by A.K. Nandakumar; “Transforming Relationships for High Performance: The Theory and Practice of Relational Coordination,” by Jody Hoffer Gittell; “Philanthropy and Social Justice,” by Andrew Hahn, Ph.D.’78; “Prescription Drug Abuse and Diversion: Current Research,” by Peter Kreiner; and “Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening for Women with Developmental Disabilities,” by Susan Parish.

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The Heller Imprint: Transforming Health Care

BY TRACEY PALMER

Heller Alumni and Schneider Institutes Researchers are changing the face of Health Care

The Schneider Institutes for Health Policy have evolved since their founding in 1978.

As they have progressed, the institutes have stayed relevant because their core strength is experienced social science researchers who not only want to dissect difficult problems but also help build solutions for the real world.

“The pressure on the U.S. health care system to significantly change, both in terms of payment and delivery, has never been greater,” says Stanley Wallack, professor and executive director of the Schneider Institutes. “The mission of the institutes has always been to solve the most pressing problems. This has allowed many of our alumni to participate in applied research projects with our faculty and researchers — preparing them to be actively involved in developing and implementing the needed innovations in payment and delivery.”

Schneider Institutes faculty, students and alumni are continuing to offer solutions to the most serious problems in the world today — from health care reform, cost containment, and malaria in Africa to prescription drug abuse, mental health in the military and coping with our burgeoning aging population.

The Legacy of Irving Schneider Irving Schneider came from humble beginnings but has always harbored a desire to give back, says his daughter Lynn Schneider. In fact, she says, the first gift he made was to Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., and he had to take out a loan to make that donation. “My father’s business was real estate, but his passion was philanthropy,” Schneider says.

“My father’s business was real estate, but his passion was philanthropy.”

—Lynn Schneider

When asked to serve on the board of Long Island Jewish Hospital, her father was determined to be the best board member possible and immersed himself in learning about health care systems and health care delivery and policy, she adds.

When he became a Brandeis trustee, he took the same approach. His interest and understanding of the complexities of health care, combined with his passion for philanthropy, led him to endow the Schneider Institutes. Today, he remains a longtime friend, philanthropist and trustee emeritus of the university.

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THE HELLER IMPRINT

National Health Policy Better Quality, Lower Costs: Finding the Sweet Spot It is a historic time in health care policy in the United States — perhaps the most critical time in our nation’s history. As we go to press for this issue, the Supreme Court has yet to announce its decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act. At the core of today’s reform movement is the fundamental challenge to simultaneously improve the quality of our health care and lower its costs. And at the core of meeting that challenge is the need to change the way we use and pay for care.

This is one of the goals Jennifer Perloff, Ph.D.’06, is tackling at the Institute on Healthcare Systems.

Perloff is part of a Brandeis team working on a pilot project to bundle Medicare payments around hospital “episodes” of care — that is, pay collectively for the services an individual receives during a

Pay-forPerformance: Does It Work?

hospital episode of care (which includes a period of time after discharge), rather than paying a separate fee for each service delivered by each health care provider at the hospital. An episode might be defined by all the care needed for valve surgery or depression or pneumonia. Paying for an episode of care as a whole — bundling — offers providers the flexibility and financial incentive to coordinate care within an episode and avoid preventable complications and readmissions.

“By bundling, there’s more incentive to work together and be more efficient,” says Perloff. “It’s really about payment and incentives. With the fee-for-service model, every little piece gets paid for, so the doctors are motivated to do everything they can think of. On the other hand, managed care encourages doctors to

“Today, doctors and hospitals are paid on

provide as little care as possible. What we’re trying to find is a place in between the two extremes.”

The bundling project is funded by a $17.2 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The relatively small Brandeis team won the grant despite stiff competition from three major corporate groups.

“I think our model won because our solutions were very creative,” Perloff says, “and because we ran it through the house of medicine. We’re a not-for-profit, so everything was open and transparent.”

The team’s goal is to build out 150 to 250 bundles over four years. By the end of the first year, Perloff says, they hope to have a prototype with eight bundles.

His work is gaining national attention:

the basis of what they do and not how well

He won the 2009 AcademyHealth

they do it,” says Andrew Ryan, Ph.D.’08. “It’s

Dissertation Award for his dissertation,

not the best incentive for high-quality care.” “The Design of Value-Based Purchasing in Medicare: Theory and Empirical Evidence,” An assistant professor of public health

and the 2011 John M. Eisenberg Article-

and the Walsh McDermont Scholar in the

of-the-Year in Health Services Research

Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness

award for “Has Pay-for-Performance

Research at Weill Cornell Medical College,

Decreased Access for Minority Patients?”

Ryan currently has a K01 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and

“I think that policy evaluation is important,”

Quality. The award allows him to evaluate

says Ryan. “Too many times, there’s policy

the effectiveness of pay-for-performance

experimentation, no studies are published,

programs and to assess the use of outcome

and we don’t know if the policy works.

measures to incentivize performance in

Whenever there’s an idea, even if it makes

these programs.

sense conceptually, you need to test it in practice.”

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“By bundling, there’s more incentive to work together and be more efficient.

It’s really about payment and incentives.”

—Jennifer Perloff, Ph.D.’06

THE HELLER IMPRINT

State Health Policy All Eyes on Massachusetts The movement toward reforming the U.S. health payment system is accelerating rapidly, and Massachusetts is ahead of the curve in changing from a fee-for-service to a value-based payment model. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has challenged the health care system to improve quality, reduce costs and ensure adequate access to care. Heller Assistant Professor and M.P.P. Program Director Mike Doonan, Ph.D.’02, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum and director of the Council for Health Care Economics and Policy, is up to the task.

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“There is no more exciting time than right now, especially if you’re a health policy geek,” says Doonan.

“Health care reform wasn’t designed to control costs, and didn’t,” says Doonan.

“Now we’re focusing on that.”

Once a program specialist for the CMS in the area of Medicaid managed care and state health care reform, Doonan also served as a member of President Bill Clinton’s Health Care Taskforce, focusing primarily on the Low-Income and Working Families work group, and as a member of the Taskforce Speakers Bureau.

Since the 1970s, with the arrival of Stuart Altman and Stanley Wallack, the Heller School has been looked to for national leadership on financing and improving health care coverage, says Doonan. With these health policy forums, Heller is continuing the tradition.

“There are so many interesting and At the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, fascinating demonstration projects and he’s focused on bringing public and private new models going forward,” Doonan says. health care leaders together to engage in “Whatever happens politically in the next discussion on top priorities for the state election, it’s going to be really difficult — reform, childhood obesity and healthy to put the genie back in the bottle or the aging (see related article on page 12). toothpaste back in the tube. The year 2014 About 350 leaders and researchers gathered is going to see some major changes.” in Boston in May to discuss health care cost containment at the third And if Doonan has anything to do with it, annual forum.

Massachusetts is sure to be out front.

Reform in the Green Mountain State Following close

for which there aren’t a lot of operational

on Massachusetts’

models. The process is very interesting and

heels on the

very challenging. Every day taxes my brain

road to health

as much as you can imagine.”

reform is Vermont — and Anya Rader

Although the task is daunting, few people

Wallack, Ph.D.’07,

are as qualified to succeed as Wallack. A

chair of the

native Vermonter, she has two decades of

Green Mountain

experience in health care policy and reform.

Care Board.

Last year, she joined Shumlin as special assistant for health reform and was the chief

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin tapped

architect of Act 48. During the 1990s, she

Wallack last September to head the board,

served as Governor Howard Dean’s deputy

created by the state legislature in 2011 to

chief of staff and focused on health reform.

oversee the implementation of Act 48, the

Additionally, she served on Hillary Clinton’s

governor’s health care reform plan. The

Health Reform Task Force.

board has a clear legislative directive to move the state away from fee-for-service

Wallack also has served as executive direc-

provider payment toward a single-payer

tor of the Vermont Program for Quality in

system that rewards value by 2014. In the

Health Care and a member of the Vermont

interim, Wallack and the board plan to

Board of Medical Practice. More recently,

model and test a range of payment reform

she led the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy

options, including population-based

Institute and was interim president of the

payments to integrated health care

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

delivery systems, global physician/hospital

Foundation. She chaired the Massachusetts

budgets, and bundled payments for

Health Care Quality and Cost Council’s

specific diagnoses and procedures.

committee on cost containment, and she

“We’re trying to invent things for which there aren’t a lot of operational models.”

—Anya Rader Wallack, Ph.D.’07

served on the Rhode Island Health Reform “We’re doing things other states aren’t doing,”

Task Force.

Wallack says. “We’re trying to invent things

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THE HELLER IMPRINT

Healthy Aging What’s So Healthy About Aging?

“Aging is more of a public health issue than a health issue.”

—Walter Leutz, Ph.D.’81, associate professor and associate dean for academic personnel

healthy aging is a supportive environment created by neighbors, peers, senior centers, community organizations, families and the medical community.

“If you think you can do something, you probably can,” says Leutz. “It’s very powerful. Instead of becoming a subject of the medical system — a passive patient — people are learning to take charge. And we’re trying to build an infrastructure for this.”

Adults over age 80 are the fastest growing way. The state has a lot to build on and can segment of our population. The sheer size point to a record of success. We’ve got as of this demographic group will force our good a system as any other state.” society to change in ways we can’t even imagine yet. The increased focus of Leutz, associate dean for academic personresearchers on the challenges and complex- nel at Heller, authored a major issue brief ities of growing old has yielded new featured at the 2009 Massachusetts Health Leutz says healthy aging is a systems insights and advances. This knowledge Policy Forum meeting on aging. In the change and will not be instituted by the has helped to improve quality of life and report, Leutz says we should stop discussmedical system alone. Prevention, nutrihas influenced public policy, business ing aging in terms of sickness or health, tion, exercise, social engagement and and industry, health care and our society. and look instead at “going and doing.” healthy ideas to fight depression and loss Associate Professor Walter Leutz, Ph.D.’81, — all these things help people self-manage and the Institute on Healthcare Systems “We define health as something much more the challenges of aging. This not only saves are at the forefront. than freedom from disability and illness,” money but also has been proven more says Leutz. “Even if you have a disability or effective and makes people feel better, With a Tufts Health Plan Foundation illness, you’re healthy if you can adapt and Leutz says. But right now these things are grant, Leutz started working with the change, and still go places and do things not equally available to people of all classes Massachusetts Health Policy Forum in that are meaningful to you.” and income levels. This is what makes it 2009 to begin building the state’s healthy a social justice issue, he says, which is aging movement through policy and This is why Leutz advocates for giving compatible with Heller’s mission. public education. Other states and the people more control in managing their nation are watching their work closely. own health as they age. Empowerment “Aging is more of a public health issue models have been shown to achieve good than a health issue,” says Leutz. “What “Massachusetts has always been seen as a results. These programs help small groups we’re investigating is how we can develop national model, but even we don’t have a of people with chronic diseases like diabea system to make the environment and system in place yet,” Leutz says. “It’s there tes or heart disease learn to better manage the way people live healthier. It’s not just in piecemeal ways, but not in an organized their own conditions. Another key to healthy aging; it’s healthy living.”

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End-of-Life Choices:

Empowering the Patient

“End-of-life issues are not easy to talk about,”

end-of-life patients and their physicians. It

even if they had discussed options with their

stipulates what kind of care patients want

doctors, nothing formal was in place to

in various circumstances and follows them

ensure that their preferences were honored.

no matter where in the state they get treat-

The pilot program showed that MOLST

ment. An essential part of this process for

could increase the quality of end-of-life

patients is discussing their wishes with loved

care while also potentially reducing costs.

ones and a physician prior to completing

Statewide expansion of MOLST began in

the form.

April of this year.

says Ruth Palombo, Ph.D.’03, assistant secre“Our goal is to have end-of-life conversa-

tary of the Massachusetts Executive Office

The Massachusetts Health Care Quality

of Elder Affairs. But thanks to Palombo and

and Cost Council, a component of the

a team of experts, it’s getting easier.

2008 Massachusetts health care reform

Palombo, who hopes Massachusetts will

legislation, identified end of life as a priority

secure statewide participation by 2014.

Palombo is co-chair of the Massachusetts

tions like kitchen table conversations,” says

area of focus. An expert panel on end-of“There’s one thing I learned at Heller that

MOLST (Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining

life care was established, and a MOLST pilot

Treatment) Steering Committee, which is

program was implemented in Worcester,

I keep in mind,” she says. “There are many

responsible for the design, implementation

Mass. Findings from both the expert panel

different ways to frame an issue and

and expansion of MOLST in Massachusetts.

report and the MOLST pilot found that

make change. That’s the power of being

MOLST is a standard of care that takes

many patients nearing the end of life were

involved in making policy.”

effect when the MOLST form is signed by

unaware of their treatment options. And

DRESS for Success: Respite for Family Caregivers There is a stark

Sensing System). The premise is simple.

A fabric sensor on the pants can tell if they

shortage of

Research shows that difficulty with dress-

are on backward or inside out. If the patient

caregivers for

ing causes distress among both caregivers

gets frustrated or upset, a wristband moni-

the elderly in the

and their family members with dementia.

tor sends a text alert to the caregiver who

United States,

Mahoney and her team are developing

might be in the other room. If all goes as

which is probably

a “Context-Aware Computing” system to

planned, the person will be occupied with

why families do

guide the person with dementia through

getting dressed, without assistance, for about 30 minutes.

80 percent of the

the process without the caregiver’s help.

caregiving. Diane

This will alleviate some of the daily stress

Mahoney, Ph.D.’89,

and give the caregiver a much-needed

a geriatric nurse

break. Here’s how it works.

“We’re not just giving the patient a better quality of life, we’re also giving muchneeded respite to caregivers,” says

practitioner, knew something could be

Mahoney, who has applied to the National

done to help families caring for relatives

Mahoney designed a system of computers,

with dementia, and she looked to technol-

sensors and monitors for a dresser of draw-

Science Foundation for funding for clinical

ogy to do it.

ers. An iPhone on each drawer sees when

trials on humans.

the person with dementia approaches.

Mahoney is the Jacques Mohr Professor

Recorded prompts in the caregiver’s voice

of Geriatric Nursing Research and

guide the person through the steps. It says

director of gerontechnology at the

things like “Open the top drawer” and

Massachusetts General Hospital Institute

“Good job. Now take out your pants.” On

“What I love about my work is that it lets me use my creativity,” she says. “Seeing clinical needs and how technology can adapt to those needs is really my role. And as new

of Health Professions. With a grant from

the iPhone screen, the person might see a

technology comes along, I want to make

the Alzheimer’s Association and Intel

picture of pants. A privacy camera in the

sure older people are not being ignored.”

Corporation, she is leading a project called

room tells a computer if the person put the

DRESS (Developing a Responsive Emotive

pants on or if the pants landed on the floor.

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THE HELLER IMPRINT

Behavioral Health Federal Parity, Health Reform and Behavioral Health: New Survey Results More than one in four Americans will have a mental or addictive disorder at some point in life. Federal parity legislation now requires that private insurance benefits for these conditions be on par with benefits for medical conditions. How will the federal parity law, ongoing health reform and other changes in the health care system likely affect the provision of behavioral health care? Constance Horgan, director of the Schneider Institute for Behavioral Health, and her colleagues are about to find out.

“Health plan decisions can dramatically affect the lives of people with substance abuse and mental health conditions,” says Horgan. “Now that tougher benefit limits or higher copayments for addiction and mental health treatment than for medical or surgical care are no longer allowed, it is critical to capture what health plans are

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doing in this era of major change.”

Horgan is associate dean of research at Heller and principal investigator for two surveys of the nation’s private health plans that assess how recent legislation affects quality of and consumer access to behavioral health services. The surveys are tracking trends and examining many factors important to consumers, including ease of access to behavioral health care, consumer cost sharing and health plans’ involvement in improving the health of members. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse are providing funding.

The 2010 survey examined health plans’ initial implementation of the new federal parity law and explored the growing role of information technology, expansion of wellness programs, use of incentives for

performance and quality, and the integration of substance abuse and mental health treatment into primary care. The 2012 survey will provide more detailed information about how health plans changed services since the parity regulations went into effect.

“It’s so gratifying after all these years of working in this area to finally see persons with behavioral health conditions get more equitable access to services,” says Horgan, who, with her team, is in the process of submitting findings to major academic journals. When released in the coming months, results will be highly useful to policymakers tracking implementation under new rules and regulations, con­sumer advocacy groups, and health plan executives interested in learning how other plans are delivering services and com­plying with the new laws. Stay tuned!

Tackling the Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis Drugs now kill more people than motor

(Nevada, Ohio, Delaware) have passed

the program is prohibited by law from

vehicles in the United States — and the

laws requiring doctors who prescribe

sending unsolicited reports.”

bulk of these deaths stem from accidental

narcotics to check these databases —

opioid painkiller overdoses. Prescription

but the vast majority of doctors don’t use

Prescription pain medications kill an esti-

painkillers have now surpassed heroin and

them. Kreiner and his team are working

mated two people every hour and send

cocaine as the leading cause of fatal over-

to change this.

40 more to emergency rooms with life-

doses. Peter Kreiner, principal investigator

threatening overdoses. With new funding

of the Prescription Monitoring Program

With grants from the U.S. Department of

from the Centers for Disease Control and

Center of Excellence, based in the

Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance,

the FDA, Kreiner is now creating a multistate

Schneider Institute for Behavioral Health,

Kreiner helped establish the Center of

database that will serve as an early warn-

is doing something to reverse this trend.

Excellence at Heller in 2010. The Heller team,

ing surveillance tool and let researchers

Doctors are often unaware that patients

partnering with the Alliance of States on

look at prescribing patterns across states

prescription monitoring programs (PMPs),

and over time. It should be operational in

have multiple prescriptions from a variety

has also received grants establishing the

six months, at which point Kreiner hopes

of different sources. This “doctor shop-

PMP Training and Technical Assistance

other researchers will join the effort.

ping” often is associated with addiction

Center to combat the prescription drug

and overdose. Studies show that state

abuse epidemic.

prescription drug monitoring programs can help. Pharmacists in states where

“PMPs represent a vastly underutilized data resource,” Kreiner says. “There is so much

“In most states, an unsolicited report can

to do. We’re hoping other people will want

monitoring programs exist are required to

be sent to a doctor whose patient has

to do research with the new multistate

report controlled substance prescriptions.

prescriptions from many doctors,” says

database. We’re open to collaborating

Databases to monitor these prescriptions

Kreiner, “to bring this prescription history to

with interested people.”

are operational in most states, and several

the doctor’s attention. But in some states

Combat experiences cause America’s

levels of personal and family stressors have

military members, veterans and their fami-

challenged the military health system and

lies to face psychological injuries as well

led to program innovations that warrant

as physical wounds. High rates of traumatic

ongoing research.”

brain injury, suicidal gestures and acute stress or post-traumatic stress disorder

Giving Hope to Our Troops

Larson is the principal investigator on a

(PTSD) are major concerns of the military

longitudinal study of U.S. Army soldiers

health system and the Veterans

returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, using

Administration. Mary Jo Larson, Ph.D.’92,

Department of Defense and Veterans

Margot Davis, Ph.D.’08, and others in the

Administration data. The National Institute

Schneider Institute for Behavioral Health

on Drug Abuse is funding the study.

are conducting several research projects

Larson also is a member of the Institute

to help the military evaluate existing

of Medicine Committee, established by

services and guide new initiatives.

Congress to study the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of substance

“Multiple lengthy deployments of individual

use disorders in the armed forces, which

service members have created a new

will issue a report this fall. Additionally,

focus on how best to address the psycho-

Larson and Davis are working with Norah

logical injuries that accompany a decade

Mulvaney-Day, Ph.D.’02, at Abt Associates,

of high military operational tempo,” says

to summarize the evidence on complemen-

Larson, who leads Heller’s program of mili-

tary and alternative medicine practices for

tary health care research. “Unprecedented

PTSD among veterans.

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THE HELLER IMPRINT

1

Global Health Policy The Cost of Malaria in Africa About 3.3 billion people — half the world’s population — are at risk of contracting malaria, a major global health problem.

Every year, there are about 250 million malaria cases and nearly one million deaths. People living in the poorest countries are the most vulnerable. In Africa, for instance, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. Donald Shepard and his colleagues at the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy believe their work could be part of the solution.

With a three-year, nearly $500,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Shepard and his team are investigating the cost-effectiveness of new technology to prevent malaria in Africa, beginning with Kenya. Fieldwork started in February, when Shepard began collabo-

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rating with epidemiologists and entomologists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and his former health economics doctoral student, Aggrey Kihombo, Ph.D.’04 (see related story on next page), from Mzumbe University in Tanzania.

The new technology is an insecticideimpregnated wall covering that looks a little like a coarse stocking dyed green.

When tacked onto the wall of a mud house, it remains active for four years. When a female mosquito goes to the wall to rest and digest after biting, the insecticide gets on her and eventually kills her before she can bite someone else.

In the largest trial to date, the wall covering, when used to complement insecticide-

treated bed nets, reduced the malaria infection rate by 38 percent in children up to age 11. Shepard and his team are charged with estimating the cost-effectiveness of this method, taking into account the price of materials, manufacture, installation, maintenance and community mobilization.

The results of the study will be used to compare effectiveness against alternative methods, such as indoor residual spraying, which only lasts for three months and displaces the family every time it is reapplied.

“Malaria is a major cause of death and illness in the tropical world,” says Shepard.

“Our goal is that our research makes a noticeable dent in this problem.”

1. The insecticide-impregnated green mesh covers most of the wall of this mud house near Kisumu, Kenya, to help protect residents against malaria. Their cookware is stored in the eaves and the thatched roof above.

3

2. From left: George Olang of the Kenya Medical Research Institute; Ph.D. student Elizabeth Glaser, M.S.’08, M.A.’11; Aggrey Kihombo, Ph.D.’04; and faculty member Donald Shepard in Kakamega National Forest, near Kisumu, Kenya.

3. Kihombo stands among giant trees in Kakamega National Forest.

2

A Lifesaving Reunion When Aggrey Kihombo, Ph.D.’04, left the

to be working with him but also to have

nical advice in academics,” says Kihombo,

Heller School eight years ago, he always

had him here in East Africa.”

who is optimistic about their current project.

hoped he’d have the chance to work with his mentor, Professor Donald Shepard,

Kihombo spent two weeks working along-

someday. That day has come.

side Shepard when he visited Kenya in

positive aspects,” he says. “The number

February to conduct fieldwork on their

of children dying of malaria and those

study of an innovative wallpaper-like liner

suffering from the burden of disease is

“Despite being a professional, I feel there

“This work could translate into many

is much I can still learn from Don,” says

that helps reduce the number of cases

likely to decline. Their attendance and

Kihombo, “and I am excited that the theo-

of malaria.

performance in school is likely to increase,

ries he taught me in cost-effectiveness are now being translated into practice by the

and their potential to contribute to the “Don has continued to be my professor

future of our nation will be evident when

very person who taught me. It is an exciting

and has become the permanent resource

they can grow up in a healthier (malaria-

experience, and I feel very lucky not only

person I turn to for anything requiring tech-

free) environment.”

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MILESTONES New Jobs/Degrees/Directions Alexandra Bauermeister, M.B.A.’08, now lives in Vermont and works at the Center for Whole Communities (www.wholecommunities.org).

She stepped into the exciting role of senior program manager this past summer, and it’s been a great ride. Center for Whole Communities is a leadership development and retreat center based at an organic blueberry and sheep farm. Its mission is to lift historical divides between work sector, social, economic, cultural and identity groupings, in order to re-connect people to one another and to land.

Through retreats and workshops, the organization helps leaders from across the social and environmental change spectrum build healthy, just communities. (abauermeister@gmail.com)

David Bresnahan, M.B.A.’10, joined the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness (VCEH) as project manager in December 2011.

In this role, he coordinates VCEH’s statewide efforts to end family homelessness through rapid re-housing. VCEH is partnering with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Freddie Mac Foundation to advance the rapid re-housing strategy in Virginia. Rapid re-housing is a best-practice solution to homelessness. Successful in communities across the country, it embraces a housing-first philosophy that places families in housing as quickly as possible and then provides temporary financial assistance and services to enable people to remain stably housed. (davidbresnahan@gmail.com)

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Melissa Kizildemir Brigante, M.A.’07 (SID), started a new role as the operations manager at Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) London headquarters. QS is the world’s leading provider of specialist higher education and career information and solutions, with the mission “to enable motivated people around the world to fulfill their potential by fostering international mobility, educational achievement and career development.” Brigante is managing the new online product QS AIM-Academic International Mobility, the only global academic job portal that includes job postings from top universities around the world and editorial content for international candidates. For more information regarding the site and how to find an international academic job, or to post your institution’s current vacancies for free, contact Brigante. (melissa@qs.com) Kaniz Fatima, M.A.’11 (SID), joined Save the Children International as deputy chief of party for its largest program in Bangladesh, called Nobo Jibon (New Life), on Oct. 2, 2011.

Nobo Jibon seeks to reduce food insecurity and vulnerability for 191,000 households in southern Bangladesh over five years (2010–2015).

There are three main strategic components of this program: mother and children health and nutrition, livelihood, and disaster risk reduction. Each component has its own objectives with many activities. The $55 million project is funded by USAID. The organization has about 200 direct staff and 500 staff with four implementing partners. (kanizfatima1973@gmail.com) Jason Gray, M.P.P.’11, is now an assistant director of development at Be the Change, a Cambridge, Mass.-headquartered nonprofit that creates national issue-based campaigns by organizing coalitions of nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, policymakers, private sector and civic leaders, academics and citizens. (jason.b.gray@gmail.com) Joan Danziger Hechtman, M.M.H.S.’83, became president and CEO of Allied Community Services in Enfield, Conn., in November 2011. Allied provides a range of supports and services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It has more

than 200 employees, with offices in Enfield and East Windsor, Conn., operates five community residences, and provides employment and day services to more than 130 individuals. Allied also operates a transportation business and provides fiscal intermediary services for self-directed and waiver programs administered by the state of Connecticut. (jdanziger@alliedgroup.org) Janet S. Hillel, M.M.H.S.’82, retired from development consulting about 10 years ago and moved to New York (the Upper West Side).

She now spends her time drawing and painting, and visiting her daughters and four grandchildren, ages 4 to 7. (jshillel@yahoo.com) Kenneth Peterson, Ph.D.’09, has accepted a new full-time academic role as assistant professor and director of the family nurse practitioner specialty at the Graduate School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Worcester.

(Kenneth.Peterson@umassmemorial.org) Denise A. Tyler, Ph.D.’07, recently was promoted to assistant professor (research) of health services, policy and practice at Brown University. She has been a research faculty member at the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University since July 2008. Her research focuses on long-term care, especially nursing homes and their employees.

In the past year, her research has appeared in a number of prominent journals, including The Gerontologist, Archives of Internal Medicine, Health Affairs and the New England Journal of Medicine. (denise_tyler@brown.edu) Miranda Waggoner, M.A.’08, Ph.D.’11, started a new position as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at the Office of Population Research, Princeton University. (waggoner@princeton.edu)

Publications Medani Bhandari, M.A.’04 (SID), received the CLIMATE 2011 Best Paper Award for his paper “Environmental Performance and Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Case Study of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.” He will graduate with a doctoral degree in sociology

from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University in May 2012. His dissertation title is “Exploring the International Union for the Conservation of Nature National Program Development in Sustainable Development and Biodiversity Conservation: A Comparative Study of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.” Since Heller, Bhandari has led a very active academic and professional life, served extensively as a research and professional consultant, and played a leadership role in international NGOs. He has gained expertise in the full range of the interwoven academic fields and subfields of sustainable development, environment conservation and climate change, including the national and international environmental policy formation, and has written more than 45 professional publications ranging from journal articles and research reports to books in these fields. (mbhandar@maxwell.syr.edu or medinibhandari@hotmail.com) Susan Crocker Houde, Ph.D.’96, and Karen Devereaux Melillo, Ph.D.’90, co-edited the 2011 book “Geropsychiatric and Mental Health Nursing” (2nd ed., Jones & Bartlett Learning). It was selected for a 2011 American Journal of Nursing (AJN) Book of the Year Award, placing first in two categories — gerontologic nursing and mental health.

The AJN Book of the Year Awards are regarded by nurses and authors as the most important designation of excellence in health care book publishing. The awards program ­— which AJN has been overseeing since 1969 — is a prestigious competition that garners the attention of more than 100,000 subscribers and half a million others who read AJN online. (susan_ houde@uml.edu and Karen_Melillo@uml.edu) Armand Lauffer, Ph.D.’69, published his latest book, “Understanding Your Social Agency,” an introduction to the sociology of nonprofit organizations, in 2011 (Sage Publications). He

co-chairs Sage’s editorial board for the human services. He is currently working on another book, on philanthropy and fundraising. After retiring from the University of Michigan in 2000, Lauffer and wife, Rickie, moved to Israel.

They live in Jerusalem, where he consults on nonprofit management. Coinciding with his retirement, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Association of Community Organization and Social Administration. (alauffer@umich.edu) Deborah Kaplan Polivy, M.S.W.’72, Ph.D.’78, is a fundraising consultant to numerous Jewish and nonsectarian nonprofit organizations. She recently published two articles, “Annual Gift, Endowment Gift or Both” (Planned Giving Today, December 2011) and “Endowment Building: Let’s Say What We Mean” (Jewish Philanthropy, Nov. 29, 2011).

Awards/Honors/Boards/Grants Margot Davis, Ph.D.’08, senior research associate at the Institute for Behavioral Health, received the Best Abstract – Program and Curricula Abstract Award at the 35th Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse Annual National Conference in November. Her abstract was titled “What Is a Faith-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program?”

Lillian Glickman, M.S.W.’71, Ph.D.’81, and Ernie Glickman were honored at the American Technion Society’s (ATS) Annual Event at the Waltham Westin Hotel on Nov. 3, 2011.

Aron Ain, president of the New England Region ATS board of directors, presented the couple with the Benefactor Award for their generous support of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. In October, Lillian received from the Massachusetts Association of Older Americans the first Frank J. Manning Leadership Award for lifetime achievement in the field of aging. (Lillianglickman@aol.com) Laura Lorenz, Ph.D.’08, lecturer and Institute for Behavioral Health senior research associate, was honored at the 35th Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse Annual National Conference.

She received the Best Workshop Award for

her workshop titled “Talking with Pictures: Concepts and Hands-On Experience for Substance Abuse Education and Research.” (llorenz@brandeis.edu) Bernie McCann, Ph.D.’11, was appointed to serve as treasurer of the Employee Assistance Certification Commission (EACC). The EACC is an autonomous credentialing body established by EAPA to maintain and administer all aspects of the Certified Employee Assistance Professional Certification program, recognized worldwide by employee assistance programs, employers, accrediting agencies, third-party insurers and clients, and designed to ensure the highest standards in the delivery of employee assistance services. (mccannbag@gmail.com) Anna Gazos O’Connor, M.P.P.’09, who works at the Mass. State Department of Education, was awarded a Harvard fellowship for the advanced study of quantitative methods in the education field. As a Heller student, she received the very first dean’s award for a fellowship at the Dorchester House, helping some of the most at-risk kids in the Commonwealth.

San Diego County Probation’s Natalie Pearl, Ph.D.’95, has been honored by the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) for her study on a tool the probation department uses to help predict juvenile offenders’ risk of further trouble. Pearl, the probation department’s director of research, received the 2012 Sam Houston State University award, which is given to one person who publishes an article that enlightens the profession with “new information and insight into the operation, effectiveness or future of” community corrections, according to APPA. Pearl’s research on the San Diego Risk and Resiliency Checkup was published in the industry publication Federal Probation. (Natalie.Pearl@sdcounty.ca.gov)

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MILESTONES Emmy Wassajja, M.A.’06 (SID), won the German Academic Exchange Award Scholarship in February 2011. He is a Ph.D. student of agricultural economics and related sciences at the University of Hohenheim, in Stuttgart-Germany. His thesis is geared toward the impact of policy on food and nutrition security in developing countries.

Joseph M. Wronka, Ph.D.’92, was recently elected to the Board of Amherst Media Organization in Massachusetts and has begun a series of shows dedicated to human rights. He also has published “Human Rights Overview” in the Handbook of International Social Work” (Sage, 2011). (Jwronka@spfldcol.edu)

Births/Marriages Xiaoqing Lu Boynton, M.A.’05 (SID), and Agnietė “Agne” Kurutytė, M.A.’05 (SID), report the following: “At the beginning of last year, Agne and her husband moved to Old Town Alexandria, Va., several blocks from where Xiaoqing lives. We, old roommates from Waltham/ Brandeis time, have since enjoyed living so close to each other again and repeating all the fun things we used to do in Waltham, like getting desserts, shopping and such. Also, 2011 was huge for both of us as we welcomed our first babies. Agne’s baby, Tomuki, was born on April 13, 2011, and Xiaoqing’s baby, Edward, was born on Oct. 10, 2011. Now, our play dates involve talking about motherhood while sharing desserts and continuing our talks about the world and development. Attached is a picture of us from our New Year’s Eve party at Agne’s house, which lasted from 4-6 p.m. (Yep, we know we aren’t cool any more.) Please let us know if you have plans to visit the D.C. area in the coming months. We’d love to see you and introduce our babies to you in person!” (luxiaoq@gmail.com and agniete.kurutyte@gmail.com)

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Christina Jordan Murphy, M.M.’02, and her husband, Owen, welcomed a daughter, Marlo, in May 2011. The couple was married in July 2010 at the Commander’s Mansion in Watertown, Mass., with two Heller classmates in attendance — Mali Ionascu Reimer and Stephane Acel-Green. Murphy is the director of the Campaign to End Child Homelessness at the National Center on Family Homelessness. (christinamjordan@yahoo.com)

Faculty/Staff Notes Dolores Acevedo-García has joined Heller as the new Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and director of the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy. With her research team, she is working on a variety of issues, including racial and ethnic disparities in the health of children.

Susan P. Curnan and Della Hughes of the Center for Youth and Communities, along with Andrew Hahn, Ph.D.’78, and Claudia Jacobs ’70 of the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy, traveled to the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Mich., in November to assist 37 corporations that had formed a Corporate Coalition to End Hunger in America. The Heller team is serving as the managing partner for the coalition and exploring ways that collective action could leverage greater success in ending hunger than exists through individual efforts.

Heller has taken an important step in its diversity efforts and tapped Anita Hill to chair the new Diversity Steering Committee, comprising faculty members Brenda Anderson; Mary Brooks, M.A.’03 (SID); Marion Howard, M.A.’04 (SID); Theodore Johnson; Walter Leutz, Ph.D.’81; A.K. Nandakumar; Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson ’80, Ph.D.’06; Susan Parish; and Stanley Wallack.

The committee also includes students Marisa Daniel and Jessika Zimmerer; and Heller Alumni Association Board President Paula Paris, M.M.H.S.’79.

Marion Howard, M.A.’04 (SID), senior lecturer and associate director of the M.A. in Sustainable International

Development program, has been selected to fill the faculty position in international development management.

Professor Walter Leutz, Ph.D.’81, recently assumed the role of associate dean, academic personnel, taking over from Professor Deborah Garnick, who ably served in this role over the tenure of three Heller deans.

At the beginning of 2012, Dean Lisa Lynch became president-elect of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA).

LERA is the American organization through which professionals interested in all aspects of labor and employment relations network to share ideas and learn about new developments, issues and practices in the field. Founded in 1947 as the Industrial Relations Research Association, LERA provides a unique forum where the views of representatives of labor, management, government and academia — advocates and neutrals alike — are welcome.

At a time when the need for a shared perspective on addressing the challenges in our workplace has never been greater, LERA has the capacity to bring these multiple constituencies together in constructive dialogue.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Republic of Congo is implementing “performance-based contracting” to strengthen its health system.

Heller and Epos Health Management are responsible for monitoring and evaluation.

Shown in this December photo at the Brazzaville airport are, from left, Wu Zeng, M.S.’05, Ph.D.’09; Dr. Bernice Nsitou (of the MOH); Professor Donald Shepard; and Jean de Dieu Rusatira, M.S.’11. The team leader (not in photo) is also a Heller alum: Aaron Beaston-Blaakman, Ph.D.’06.

In Memoriam Robert H. Binstock, Ph.D., former Heller faculty member, passed away in November 2011. At the Heller-sponsored breakfast at the recent Gerontological Society Association meetings in Boston, Fernando Torres-Gil and Rob Hudson shared some personal remembrances about Binstock. He leaves behind his wife, Martha (nee Burns); daughter Jennifer Binstock; and four nieces and nephews.

Joyce C. Clifford, Ph.D.’07, R.N., F.A.A.N., passed away on Oct. 21, 2011. A true nursing champion, Clifford was respected internationally for creating practice models that are considered a benchmark for professionalism in nursing. She also inspired thousands to

Clifford will be remembered for her compassion, wisdom and love for nursing. She served as a mentor, colleague and friend to many.

become primary nurses, keeping the focus on the patient and family in an increasingly complex health care environment. Clifford served as senior vice president and nurse-inchief at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston for more than 25 years before founding and becoming president and CEO of the Institute of Nursing Healthcare Leadership. Throughout her career, she received numerous awards, including being named a Living Legend in Massachusetts Nursing by the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses in 2007 and a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing in 2005, and earning the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. She also served as AONE president in 1982.

Frances (Stern) Rosen, former Heller staff and wife of David H. Rosen (Heller Ph.D.’73), passed away on Feb. 27, 2012. She leaves behind children Nancy Rosen; Judi Fischetti, and her husband, Paul; Steve Rosen, and his wife, Claudia; Susan Rosen; and four grandchildren. Rosen touched the lives of extended family and countless others around the world as a second mother and “Bubbie,” and as a treasured friend. She had a long career at Chicago Jewish Community Centers and the Heller School, where she was esteemed by students and faculty alike.

If you’ve received a call from Heller lately, it

In addition to his studies and job, Singh

Heller Calling was likely from student Jarnail Singh, M.A.’13

is a community builder at Heller, most

(SID), making the case for student support.

recently serving as emcee and photog-

During the fall semester, Singh spoke with

rapher at March’s international student

hundreds of Heller alumni, garnering a 63

Cultural Night (see page 4).

percent increase in dollars pledged over the prior year. Every dollar in the annual

After completing a Heller degree, Singh

fund helps pay for student needs —

plans to rejoin the Energy and Resources

tuition, reading materials, conference

Institute in India, where he was most

attendance and dissertation expenses.

recently a research associate handling projects funded by USAID, the Norwegian

Singh received the 2011 Feldman Fellowship,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World

awarded to a student concerned with

Wildlife Fund. Previously, he was affiliated

integrated conservation and development.

with the biodiversity and conservation

As such, he understands personally the

program of Winrock International India.

important difference alumni generosity makes in the lives of Heller students.

On behalf of Singh and all of us here at Heller, thank you for your support.

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Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage Paid Permit #15731 Boston, MA SUMMER 2012

alumni News and Views

Brandeis University MS 035 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454- 9110 Lisa M. Lynch Dean and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy Samuel O. Thier, M.D. Chair, Heller Board of Overseers Chrisann Newransky, M.A.’05 President, Heller Alumni Association Board Leslie Godoff ’71 Director, Development and Alumni Relations Jennifer Raymond Assistant Director for Annual Giving and Alumni Relations Tracey Palmer Feature Writer Claudia J. Jacobs ’70 Director of Communications Initiatives Courtney Lombardo Senior Program Administrator, Development and Alumni Relations

Office of Communications ©2012 Brandeis University C161