SIGHT UNSEEN LIVE CARE. GIVE CARE. WHEN DISASTER STRIKES
SUMMER 2021
Something of the Marvelous When testing a hypothesis on Mount Everest, expect conclusive results. Page 18
SIGHT UNSEEN LIVE CARE. GIVE CARE. WHEN DISASTER STRIKES
SUMMER 2021
Something of the Marvelous When testing a hypothesis on Mount Everest, expect conclusive results. Page 18
SIGHT UNSEEN LIVE CARE. GIVE CARE. WHEN DISASTER STRIKES
SUMMER 2021
Something of the Marvelous When testing a hypothesis on Mount Everest, expect conclusive results. Page 18
CONNECTIONS OF A LIFETIME FOR A LIFETIME
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MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE: S TA Y C O N N E C T E D Connect with your TTUHSC classmates and your school. All you have to do is keep your contact information updated.
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S U P P O R T T H E F U T U R E O F H E A LT H AT T T U H S C Membership dues provide deserving students with scholarships!
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Inside Summer 2021
VOLUME 31 | ISSUE 2
FEATURES
18
Something of the Marvelous
Hiking and academia collide when faculty hiking club leaders test a hypothesis they’ve developed regarding the effects of altitude on lung function — at the base of Mount Everest. By Glenys Young
24
Sight Unseen
Human trafficking is a common practice, but more importantly, it’s a common practice where you live. It’s happening in your city — it could be happening to someone you know — and it’s a public health issue that doesn’t receive enough attention. The TTUHSC Human Trafficking Collaborative aims to increase awareness while decreasing victims. By Terry Greenberg
PROVIDED BY MICHAEL BLANTON
DEPARTMENTS 5 Scope Nickelodeon inspires the TTUHSC Student Academy of Audiology’s fundraiser. 9 Vitals Drawing blood for the first time can be a wild ride for nursing students.
18 31 Rounds Whiskey during Prohibition? Only with a prescription. 35 Update Spine expert or baller? Ram Haddas, PhD, finds the perfect combination.
IN EVERY ISSUE 2 Health Matters 3 Feedback 36 Class Notes ON THE COVER
Michael Blanton, PhD, TTUHSC research integrity officer, associate vice president for Research and director of the MD-PhD program, leads the TTUHSC Faculty Hiking Club. Photo by Neal Hinkle.
PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU | SUMMER 2021 1
Health Matters
A Letter from Our President
Frasier began to take notice of the Double T’s proudly displayed on vehicles in Mansfield Methodist’s parking lot. She thought, Why don’t we grow our own nurse workforce?
As Methodist Mansfield Medical Center’s vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer, Nora Frasier, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, (Nursing ’18) is constantly challenged to keep a qualified nursing staff. There is a nursing shortage nationwide, but closer to home, the city of Mansfield’s population is increasing exponentially; projections are the population will reach 150,000 by 2022. Methodist Mansfield has almost doubled bed capacity from 168 to 262 in the last seven years. Additionally, the health system recently opened a second acute care hospital in Midlothian, 11 miles northwest via U.S. Highway 287, with 44 beds and the capacity to expand to 80. When Frasier began her advanced nursing degree at TTUHSC two years ago, she experienced the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon — a sudden awareness of encountering something with which you notice as familiar. (Like when you buy a white car and then seemingly see more white cars than you did before.) Frasier began to take notice of the Double T’s proudly displayed on vehicles in Mansfield Methodist’s parking lot and throughout the city. She thought, Why don’t we grow our own nurse workforce? The idea to bring TTUHSC to Mansfield came to life as a conversation between Frasier and TTUHSC School of Nursing Dean Michael Evans, PhD, RN, FAAN, following her DNP capstone presentation. “I thought it was a way to give back to a university that helped me with my education and also to address a critical need for our community,” Frasier said. Over the last three years, Evans and the school’s executive leadership worked collaboratively with Frasier, Methodist Mansfield and the city of Mansfield leaders— at their request — to expand our Traditional BSN program onsite at Methodist Mansfield. Now Frasier eagerly awaits the first class of future Red Raider nurses who will join her at Methodist Mansfield this fall. But more importantly, she’s banking on them joining the hospital’s workforce after graduating and transforming health care for residents in Mansfield — and across Texas — now and in the years to come.
Lori Rice-Spearman PhD (Health Professions ’86) PRESIDENT TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
2 SUMMER 2021 | PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU
METHODIST MANSFIELD MEDICAL CENTER
Alumna Collaborates to Transform Health Care
Feedback EDITOR’S NOTE
THE MAGAZINE OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
Volume 31, Issue 2
EDITOR
Following the Winter 2021 issue, Peter Grant, MD, (Medicine ’82) emailed me to share his family’s legacy in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), having read the article on School of Medicine dean Steven Berk, MD, and his son, Justin Berk, MD, MPH, MBA (Medicine ’15). Grant noted he was the first TTUHSC medicine graduate to specialize in PM&R, and two of his six children have followed in his footsteps. This makes their family, Grant believes, the first worldwide to have three generations of PM&R physicians. His email arrived just as I learned of TTUHSC hiring John Norbury, MD, our first PM&R residency program director, who began duties in early July. Turns out, Grant and Norbury know one another, but have not kept in touch. We were able to connect the two, and Grant offered his support as Norbury builds out his team at TTUHSC. Connecting our alumni to the university is one of our goals for publishing this magazine. Keep sharing your stories!
TTUHSC, please keep up the great work.
EDITOR, PULSE
DEAR PULSE,
— Danette Baker, MA
DEAR PULSE,
I really appreciated the Winter (2021) edition of “Pulse.” My attention was naturally drawn to the article on Dr. Lori Rice-Spearman as the president of TTUHSC. I actually ordered — and read — two of the books listed in the first sentence. As I read on, I became convinced that Dr. Rice-Spearman was not only a fantastic choice for president but a logical one as well. I then read the article on telemedicine. My interest in telemedicine is partly based on my family history. My maternal grandfather delivered me in the small wheat growing community in north central Oklahoma where my mother grew up, and I have been concerned as rural hospitals close or reduce their operations. It’s encouraging to know that TTUHSC is addressing rural health needs through telemedicine. I was also glad to see TTUHSC giving opportunities to America’s veterans. Their military experience and the accelerated training in the veteran’s nursing degree will make tremendous strides in treating the physical and emotional injuries that many of our returning veterans have experienced.
— Howard Cowan
PRINCIPAL, ACRISURE, LLC DBA COWAN-HILL BOND AGENCY Lubbock, Texas (Edited for length; read letter in its entirety at pulse.ttuhsc.edu)
DEAR PULSE,
I enjoyed the article on Lori. She was one of my professors when I was in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program. I graduated in 1998. It was a great article and was fun to see one of my professors now president of our university!
Jonathan Beal-Knight, MS-CPM, — MT(ASCP) (Health Professions ’14, ’98) LABORATORY MANAGER, CHILDREN’S MEDICAL CENTER DALLAS, TEXAS
Carl and I are living in Missouri outside of St. Louis. I recently retired from the practice of medicine and am actually trying to learn how to have a social life and enjoy my family after working in family medicine since graduation from medical school. Our son is now 30 and has a position in computer science in St. Louis, so we enjoy being near him. We would be happy to try to help students looking at positions in the area/ considering Missouri as a place to live or do their residency or just say “howdy” to former classmates!
— Michele Neblock, MD, (Medicine ’96) RETIRED ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Pulse welcomes thoughts and opinions from our readers via email at pulse@ttuhsc.edu.
Danette Baker, THE MAGAZINE OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITYMA HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
MANAGING EDITOR Kara Bishop
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION Jim Nissen
THE MAGAZINE OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
WRITERS & CONTRIBUTORS
TR Castillo, Suzanna Cisneros, Jason Collin, Carolyn Cruz, Mercedes deBellard, Kate Gollahan, Terry Greenberg, Mark Hendricks, Neal Hinkle, Kami Hunt, Sarah Maxwell, Sean McCabe, Jordan Pape, Landry Shayne Photography, Chriselda Reyes, Marcus Rubio, Melissa Whitfield, Glenys Young
ADMINISTRATION PRESIDENT Lori Rice-Spearman, PhD (Health Professions ’86) VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS Ashley Hamm ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS Mattie Been, Amarillo Jessica Zuniga, Permian Basin
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Mandy Hanousek CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Cyndy Morris GIFT OFFICERS Kevin Friemel, Smiley Garcia, Kendalyn Rising, Clifford Wilkes
CONTACT US
pulse@ttuhsc.edu TTUHSC External Relations 3601 Fourth Street STOP 6242 Lubbock, TX 79430-6242 Pulse is published twice a year. Content may be reprinted only with editor’s permission. Discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, status as a covered veteran or other legally protected categories, class or characteristics is not tolerated. Pulse is distributed in compliance with the State Depository Law and is available for public use through the Texas State Publications Depository Program. In compliance with HB 423, Pulse is available in electronic format. If you no longer want to receive the printed version, please notify the editor in writing.
PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU | SUMMER 2021 3
QUICK DOSE TTUHSC TOGETHER FACULTY PROFILE FOR THE RECORD
Scope News
Views from TTUHSC
NEAL HINKLE
Got Slime(d)? A pie in the face isn’t quite as satisfying when masks are worn due to a pandemic. That’s why, this year, the TTUHSC Student Academy of Audiology members chose to slime their professors and student officers instead for their annual fundraiser. Students donated money to vote for the professor and student officer they wanted slimed. The winner? Mekenzie Monroe, who’s pictured getting slimed by Moumita Choudhury, AuD, CCC-A, assistant professor in the School of Health Professions Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.
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Scope
TTUHSC TOGETHER
I Heard That! Snippets caught across the university
“Our hope is to go out to communities with Spanish-speaking members and help get some of these questions answered. Once we do that, hopefully they will have the facts and feel better about getting the vaccine to protect themselves and their families.” - Luis Castro, second-year medical student and Latino Medical Student Association vice president, discusses outreach initiatives to educate the Hispanic community on vaccinations.
“This program and this expansion will assist in providing more affordable and more accessible health care across our region.” - Tracee Bentley, president and chief executive officer for Permian Strategic Partnership, a community partner for the $30 million School of Health Professions Physician Assistant Program expansion in Midland, Texas.
Growing up in Houston, Rebecca Kusko, a third-year medical student, appreciated living in a diverse community. “I heard great stories from different cultures and perspectives, and sometimes I heard the not-so-great stories, too.” Kusko joined the recently established TTUHSC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee with a quest to help everyone feel they belong. 6 SUMMER 2021 | PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU
“Even though she’s the older sibling, I’ll be the older doctor by like three hours.” - Steven Philip, PharmD, (Pharmacy ’21) graduated on the same day as his sister, Stacy Philip, MD, (Medicine ’21).
“More than anything, I want to share programming, information and products that normalize Type 1 diabetes. Nowadays, there is so much more information, creativity and tools to help manage the disease. It doesn’t have to be a sad, bad thing.” Raquel Baron, MD/MPH student, on founding the online community, Type One Together.
ADOBE STOCK
A PLACE WHERE YOU BELONG
TTUHSC established the TTUHSC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
FACULTY PROFILE
Scope
American Dream Becomes Reality
CAROLYN CRUZ
Adebola Akunna, PharmD, MPH, BCPS Assistant Professor, Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Practice/Ambulatory Care Division Growing up in Nigeria, Adebola Akunna, PharmD, MPH, BCPS, would count the days until her uncle returned home during semester breaks while in medical school at the University of Ibadan. She, too, wanted to become a doctor someday, never questioning her passion for health care and service to others. Akunna believed it was what she was born to do. Her family moved from Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government in Nigeria to the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area when Akunna was 15 years old. From a young age, she heard many Nigerians state that America was the “land flowing with milk and honey,” so she was slightly disappointed when she arrived. “I thought I would see a lot of milk flowing everywhere,” she added, laughing. Akunna’s interest in health care shifted to pharmacy while pursuing her undergraduate degree; while it never occurred to her to enter academia, colleagues in her pharmacy residency thought she was the ideal candidate. “I enjoyed working with students and was passionate about education, which was something my father instilled in me during childhood.” During residency, she learned about TTUHSC from fellow residents and now had a new objective in her sights. “I really valued mentorship and knew I would need good leaders starting out as a faculty member,” she said. “I always tell my students that I basically stalked Lisa Chastain (associate professor, division head, Ambulatory Care) by email, and it must have worked because she called me.” Akunna had even accepted an offer to work for another university, but she turned it down for the position at the Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy in Dallas. “My family sacrificed so much for me to become who I am, I wasn’t about to disappoint them by not taking this opportunity.”
PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU | SUMMER 2021 7
Scope
FOR THE RECORD
Stat!
BEVERLY CHILTON, PHD, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE PROFESSOR HAS DONATED MONEY TO SCHOLARSHIPS SINCE 2019 IN HONOR OF HER MOTHER, BETTE B. CHILLTON.
“The theme, NEURO, (New Experiences Unfold Research Opportunities) encourages students toward the discovery of multiple possibilities. ”
264 POSTERS WERE SUBMITTED FOR THE 33RD STUDENT RESEARCH WEEK, WHICH WAS HELD VIRTUALLY. ALL SCHOOLS WERE REPRESENTED IN THIS YEAR’S EVENT AS WELL AS RESIDENTS AND FELLOWS.
— MARIACRISTINA MAZZITELLI, PHD STUDENT DIRECTOR, STUDENT RESEARCH WEEK
Eight students were awarded scholarships on the last day of Student Research Week. 8 SUMMER 2021 | PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU
NEAL HINKLE, PROVIDED BY BEVERLY CHILTON, ADOBE STOCK
“My mom told me I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up.”
SCHOOL OF NURSING SCHOOL OF MEDICINE SCHOOL OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS JERRY H. HODGE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
Vitals Signs from the Schools
2 Nursing students conduct their first intravenous needle sticks and blood draws during their first clinical rotation.
3 After TTUHSC nursing students successfully make their first sticks, their professors sign and date their tourniquets. Students often post selfies celebrating their first successful procedure, saving their tourniquet for decades — some even place them in shadowboxes for safekeeping.
1
NEAL HINKLE
Tourniquets are premeasured into 18-inch rubber bands and come in multiple colors. Typically, one tourniquet is used per patient.
Web + See demonstrate TTUHSC nursing the lab-in-a-box. students with their tourniquet trophies.
Blood, Sweat and Tourniquets For a nursing student, drawing blood or inserting an IV for the first time is like the pause felt at the top of a roller coaster. You brace for what’s coming and hope all goes according to plan. While Carson Dickson attempts her first IV stick, the vein blows. She looks at the attending nurse, who instructs her to remove the tourniquet and switch arms. Dickson breathes a sigh of relief as the rich crimson liquid flows into the syringe. It’s over — now she’s confident she can do it again.
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Vitals
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Angel of Mercy
Nick is 28 years old. He’s dressed in a hard hat and blue uniform shirt with cut-off sleeves. The year 1973 marks his eighth sweltering summer driving a hot oil truck for W&T Oil Field Services. Driving a “rolling bomb,” as he calls it, is the most dangerous job in the oil field. Suddenly, the noise of the truck is overpowered by the deafening sound of an explosion. Panic stricken, Nick looks up to see a huge mushroom cloud of fire and black smoke billowing upward. By the time Nick reaches the scene, several paramedics are busily working on what is left of Joey, another hot oil truck operator. Nick watches, mesmerized by the skill of the rescuers... After the accident the company begins laying off employees — Nick is one of them. He decides to apply to nursing school. Two months later he is selected to interview. Dean: Well let’s get right to it. Why should I select you? Nick: I need a job. I thought this would be a good start. Dean: Nursing is much more than a job. What makes an oil field worker decide on nursing? Nick: My mother was a nurse. I always wanted to go into medicine. Dean: Practicing nursing is quite different from practicing
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medicine. It’s hands-on care beyond the bedside. Nick: There’s a lot of people that need help out there. I think I could do that. Nick graduates nursing school and gets a job in Fort Worth. Nick, dressed in scrubs, enters the cubicle of an elderly woman, Mrs. Paulson. “Are you ready for
Jeanette Vaughan, MSN, RN, combines her two passions: writing and nursing. In addition to her screenplay, she is a published author.
your dressing change?” he asks her. It’s a sternal chest wound that is badly infected. Carefully, he irrigates the wound and starts to repack it sterilely with forceps. Mrs. Paulson: It must be true what they say. Nick: And what’s that? Mrs. Paulson: Y’all really are angels of mercy”
PROVIDED BY JEANETTE VAUGHAN
EDITOR: When Jeanette Vaughan, MSN, RN, (Nursing ’92) outlined her research thesis for her master’s degree at TTUHSC, she knew it was a risk. “I asked Nancy Ridenour (associate dean for education) what she thought of an adapted film screenplay for a research thesis,” Vaughan recalled. Ridenour said, “A screenplay? As in full length?” It was quite the involved process — panelists were brought in to review content and complete an evaluation. Vaughan won a research award for this work from the school, which proves you can combine two different passions to achieve a goal. The following is an excerpt from the screenplay written in 1992.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Vitals
Role Call In May, the School of Nursing marked the 40th anniversary of its first graduating class. Each dean played a vital role, along with their respective faculty and staff, in what the School of Nursing has become today. The Builder Teddy Jones, PhD, RN Founding Dean: 1979-1992 “Creating a new school gave us the opportunity to create all the particulars like curriculum and continuing education, while also celebrating many firsts: classes admitted, honor society and accreditation, instilling pride in faculty and students.” The Expander Patricia Yoder-Wise, EdD, RN, Interim Dean: 1991-1993 Dean: 1993-2000 “Diversity is the starting point for everyone to feel they are part of a bigger whole, and we have to have that view to be successful as nursing professionals and as the providers of exquisite care.” The Innovator Alexia Green, PhD, RN Dean: 2000-2010 “Our team’s focus on innovation became the state’s incubator for the use of distance education to build online programs that were high quality. We were one of the first schools in the state to leverage technology through distance learning.”
SEAN MCCABE
The Increaser Michael Evans, PhD, RN Dean: 2012-present “ We’re on the cutting edge, not steeped in tradition, but progressively working to enhance the quality of our education. We are aware of our opportunities and our responsibilities during a tremendous nursing shortage.”
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The deans of the School of Nursing have all served with similar visions to move the school forward. Yondell Masten, PhD, RNC-OB, not pictured, served as interim dean from 2010-2012.
COMPASSIONATE COMPETENCE “I would say the entire time I’ve worked here, under all four deans, that our school is compassionate with a keen eye on competence and quality. We pride ourselves on producing quality graduates who offer that same compassion to those they care for.” KATHY SRIDAROMONT, PHD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, TRADITIONAL BSN PROGRAM FACULTY MEMBER SINCE 1986
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Vitals
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
In Good Hands The last thing she remembers is raising her hands to shield herself from the shotgun blast. The paramedic team find themselves on two separate missions: save the woman’s life and save her hand — the right one severed from the wrist. A team of experts from the Texas Tech Physicians Hand Clinic led by Brendan MacKay, MD, orthopaedic hand surgeon and clinic director, reattach blood vessels and tendons joining her hand back to the wrist. When the mom of six woke up from a six-day coma, she had her dominant hand back and now, six months later, 40% function is restored. The hand clinic team performs 20 to 40 surgeries and sees more than 200 patients a week addressing a wide variety of issues — many on par with combat injuries. While “hand” is in the name, the clinic’s collaborative efforts extend into multiple organ systems.
"The hand is really a multi-disciplinary field, which means surgeons learn about taking care of all the organ systems — bone, muscles, skin, nerves, etc. — that ultimately affect extremities." — BRENDAN MACKAY, MD
ADOBE STOCK
DIRECTOR AND ORTHOPAEDIC HAND SURGEON, TEXAS TECH PHYSICIANS HAND CLINIC
12 SUMMER 2021 | PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU
Web + Texas Tech Physicians Hand Clinic impacts two patients in the best way.
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Out of Pocket Improvement
PHOTOGRAPHER NEAL HINKLE, ILLUSTRATOR SARAH MAXWELL
Medical students’ clinical rotations were interrupted at the beginning of COVID-19, meaning less time in hospitals to interact with patients and learn from residents. Fourth-year medical student Andrea Fowlé and Kelsey Walker, MD, (Resident ’21, Medicine ’18), teamed up to offer additional training support. With the help of Family and Community Medicine clerkship director, Franklyn Babb, MD, they created “Pocket Talks,” a series of flashcards to help students review before board examinations and in clinic. Fowlé and her team identified challenging topics for students and residents to grasp in clinic and hospital service as well as the most important topics to learn when studying for board examinations. Each card addresses a prevalent health care condition, like cardiac arrest, asthma, diabetes management, etc., and contains information on evaluating and treating conditions — often including graphics or diagnostic charts. Fowlé also conducted data-driven research proving the cards actually improved the comfort level among students and interns in evaluating, classifying and treating patients.
Vitals
Med Students: Would You Like to Phone a Friend? Two alumnae engage as physician development coaches, teaching students accountability and prioritizing their well-being.
Debra Atkisson, MD (’86) Physician Development Coach TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine Fort Worth, Texas
Thuthuy Nguyen, MD (’95) Physician Development Coach TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine Fort Worth, Texas
What is involved in physician development coaching? ATKISSON: Coaches are physicians that are on faculty at the medical school, and we follow medical students throughout their four-year journey with us to provide support and help them solve problems, plan and use resources that benefit their physical and mental well-being.
Why were you interested in coaching medical students? NGUYEN: My love for mentoring students in high school, college and graduate school as an educator helped me naturally transition into this role. Coaching allows me to engage with students and help them learn how to develop solutions to their personal challenges.
What training did you go hrough? ATKISSON: TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine developed a training program for coaches. It’s a 120-hour program based upon the International Coaching Federation (ICF) curriculum. I have also earned my executive coach certification through ICF and coach physicians privately.
What have you learned from your time as a coach? NGUYEN: The value of listening and allowing the coaching conversations to flow naturally. Students develop trust when their coach expresses genuine desire to know them. Witnessing these students’ growth is a joyful experience.
Web + View Andrea Fowle’s poster presentation on Pocket Talks.
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Vitals
SCHOOL OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Academic Achievements After graduating with a degree in biological sciences, Sherry Keller, MS, MLS (ASCP), (Health Professions ’20) decided to pursue a career in clinical lab sciences. She enrolled in a one-year post-baccalaureate advanced certificate in clinical laboratory sciences through TTUHSC, moving into the Master of Science in Molecular Pathology program after completion. “The certificate allowed me to sit for the Medical Laboratory Scientist board exam through the American Society for Clinical Pathology,” Keller added. “It also guaranteed me a clinical laboratory placement site for clinical rotations with a preceptor. My clinical experience plus the certificate and my master’s degree granted me a New York State Technologist License, which has strict clinical requirements.”
NEXT-LEVEL OT DEGREE
The Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy online degree program is designed for licensed occupational therapists who have earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in occupational therapy and would like to pursue a doctorate. Leilani Brown, OT, (Health Professions ’97) co-owner of the pediatric therapy and licensed home health agency, When Kids
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Play, finds value in the program. “I love reconnecting with my Tech family. I have revitalized my occupational therapy soul through the doctoral program online and am now making new connections with like-minded OTs across the state and nation.”
PROGRAM ACCREDITATION
The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education has granted full accreditation to three master's counseling programs: Addiction, Clinical Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health. Each program is accredited for eight years, the maximum period allowed. The accreditation validates the innovative way the school has designed the department where three-quarters of coursework is shared by all programs with collaboration between programs on content development and delivery.
Eleanor Smith at Tech Tykes summer therapy program hosted by the TTUHSC Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic.
No Work, All Play At 12 months old, Eleanor Smith’s speech worried her mother, Stephanie Smith. The toddler wasn’t making many sounds, and she didn’t seem to be improving. When Eleanor was 18 months old, her pediatrician evaluated her, and recommended speech therapy. “We were moving to Lubbock, so the doctor suggested we try the TTUHSC Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, and it ended up changing our lives," Stephanie said. Eleanor participated in the clinic’s Tech Tykes summer therapy program two years ago; this year, her little brother will attend as well. “It’s amazing what they do,” Stephanie said. “They have great interactive play in which they incorporate speech therapy and the children don’t even realize they’re in therapy!”
Web + Learn more about the programs offered at the
TTUHSC Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic.
PHOTOS PROVIDED
CERTIFICATE HELPS WITH LICENSE
SCHOOL OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Vitals
MERCEDES DEBELLARD
A Final Ray of Sunshine “The best way to describe Molly is that she is an all-around beautiful person. She walks into a room, always happy, thinking, ‘How can I make everyone’s day better?’,” said Scott Bullington, a classmate. Molly Beckman died Feb. 1, 2021. She was a second-year student in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Doctor of Audiology Program. The Molly Beckman Memorial Audiology Scholarship Endowment, established by her parents, honors her memory. From an early age, Molly would sing “You are my Sunshine,” and she lived her life shining for others. With her big smile and even bigger heart, she decided her dream was to serve as an audiologist. “She thought about patients constantly,” Bullington added. “You hear people talk about their majors in passing, but she didn’t think of audiology as a major, it was her life. She was genuinely interested in the topic and how she could help people, especially children with their hearing.” Molly was never afraid to try something new. She often showed up with a new hair color or style and would even wear wigs on occasion. Bullington’s favorite memory of her involved coffee. “Two weeks into our first semester at TTUHSC, she told me she didn’t drink coffee,” he said. “Yet, for some reason, she agreed to go to a Starbucks with me. She asked me to order for her, so I picked something basic — a caramel mocha. We became immediate friends. She was so easy to talk to.”
The Doctor of Audiology program is more like family; there are only 40 students enrolled across the four years; 10 in Molly’s cohort. The close-knit community brings everyone together, said Candace Hicks, PhD, CCC-A, Speech, Language and Hearing
The Molly Beckman Memorial Audiology Scholarship Endowment was established in memory of Molly, who loved sunflowers and spreading sunshine.
Web + Visit mollybeckmanfellowship.com to learn more about the Molly Beckman Memorial Audiology Scholarship Endowment.
Sciences department chair and Doctor of Audiology program director. “It’s been really hard — everyone loved her.” Molly wanted to make the world a better place, and when she said that, she genuinely meant it.
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Vitals
JERRY H. HODGE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY
Live Care. Give Care.
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Suha Alsalihi, PharmD, (Pharmacy ’18) lives care and gives care as inspired by organ transplant pharmacy.
ROLE REBORN “A routine call to a 68-year-old heart transplant patient helped identify my role in a patient’s outcome. He verified his birthdate as his transplant date, saying that he was reborn into a world full of blessings. Maintaining his well-being and positivity was my job.” SUHA ALSALIHI, PHARMD (PHARMACY ’18)
CAROLYN CRUZ
When a snowstorm swept through the southern states in early 2021, it overworked electricity and gas lines causing dangerous living conditions across Texas. Affecting millions of people, the icy roads kept many organ transplant patients away from their lifesaving prescriptions. “Transplant patients can’t go one day without medication — they need it to stay alive," said Suha Alsalihi, PharmD, (Pharmacy ’18) a retail pharmacist in the DallasFort Worth metroplex. “My staff pharmacists and technicians would deliver medications in dangerous driving conditions, spending hours on the road to make sure our patients received their medications.” After a few years in retail pharmacy, Alsalihi covered a specialty pharmacist’s shift, enlightening her to the possibility of organ transplant pharmacy. She pursued more of these opportunities and now works most of her shifts with organ transplant teams at Medical City Healthcare. Due to the collaborative nature of this specialty, pharmacists can call patients, help monitor side effects and talk to nurses to suggest next steps. They also often go out of their way to make sure the patient receives the best care. By the time a patient receives the "Your prescription is ready for pick up” phone call, Alsalihi and her team have spent hours looking up coupons and ensuring correct dosage. “They’re already dealing with a new organ,” she added. "They shouldn’t have to stress about anything else. “Just like pharmacists dispense medications, we also dispense care. I think that’s just one of the many things that inspires me about the organ transplant pharmacy specialty.”
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
Vitals
Virtual Reality Anatomy
Coming from the finance industry, Michael Dang, struggled in anatomy. On a quest to bridge the gap between this required course and first-year medical students, he developed online training modules providing additional support to in-person lab instruction. Improvement in student test scores helped graduate student Dang win first place at Student Research Week.
‘IT JUST CLICKED FOR ME’ PROFESSOR DESIGNS DRUG TO COMBAT ALCOHOL USE DISORDER
NEAL HINKLE
“I wish I was more like you and didn’t have to drink,” a friend said to Susan Bergeson at a high school party. But you don’t have to drink, Bergeson thought. When Bergeson began alcoholism research as an undergraduate student she discovered the difference between having to drink and having a drink. “It just all clicked for me,” she said. Bergeson, PhD, received a $7.25 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to begin the Food and Drug Administration approval process for her new drug, designed to combat alcohol use disorder — a condition encompassing a range of unhealthy drinking behaviors.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE ALCOHOL USE DISORDER?
Anyone meeting at least two of the 11 criteria outlined in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) in the same 12-month period can receive a diagnosis. For example, one question on the criteria list asks, “Have you had times when you ended up drinking more, or longer, than you intended?” Physicians also use blood biomarkers, which are not specific but can suggest a level of drinking high enough to cause liver problems.
HOW DO I SPREAD AWARENESS?
Depending on the situation, it may be ineffective to directly approach someone you think may have the disorder. “Many do not recognize that they drink more than others,” Bergeson said. “A good way to get around that is to share the DSM-V criteria or other related articles on social media.” Family and friends generally see the
Web + Michael Dang’s battle with cancer inspired him to pursue medicine.
problem before the person affected does, so it’s important to understand the need for compassion and patience. “They have to decide they need help,” Bergeson added. “And, often that comes after major problems exist.”
HOW BIG IS THIS PROBLEM?
An estimated 15 million people in the U.S. have alcohol use disorder, with less than 10% receiving treatment according to the NIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “Alcohol use disorder affects the patient, their family and loved ones, and society in general,” Bergeson added. “Better solutions for those with this disorder have the potential to reduce significant personal suffering as well as decreasing morbidity and mortality rates, which cost the U.S. over $250 billion annually.”
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In All Things of Nature There is Something of the Marvelous -Aristotle By Glenys Young Photographs provided by Michael Blanton, PhD
S
tanding atop California’s Mount Whitney, Thomas Pressley and Michael Blanton gazed in awe at the surrounding peaks of the Sierra Nevada below them. At 14,500 feet, they had reached the highest point in the continental U.S. The view was breathtaking — literally, Pressley quips. At that altitude, it’s a challenge to breathe. Blanton reaches into his backpack, pulling out the four cans of Texas Shiner beer he hauled up the mountain to toast their group’s achievement. In that unspoken moment, the duo reflected on just how far they climbed, yet there were greater heights to reach.
The Smithsonian Institution Shelter, or Mount Whitney Hut, was originally built in 1909 to house scientists studying high-altitude phenomena. A weird coincidence for the two scientists, Michael Blanton, PhD, and Thomsa Pressley, PhD, off in the distance. Opposite page: Henry Blanton, TTUHSCP hD student and Michael Blanton’s son, Bryan Sutton, PhD, Thomas Pressley, PhD, and Michael Blanton, PhD, at the start of their climb up Mount Whitney.
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While Michael Blanton, PhD, and company were proud to be hiking at all, they ran into a Lukla native hauling 200 pounds up the mountain.
IT IS THE MARK OF AN EDUCATED MIND TO BE ABLE TO ENTERTAIN A THOUGHT WITHOUT ACCEPTING IT … Blanton, Pressley and their colleague Roger “Bryan” Sutton lead the TTUHSC Faculty Hiking Club, which has brought coworkers together in different environments and pushed them to physical extremes since 2013. But their greatest challenge so far began as scientific inquiry. Sutton, PhD, a professor of cell physiology and molecular biophysics, teaches pulmonary physiology. He and Pressley, PhD, a professor of physiology until his recent retirement, were discussing the effects of altitude on lung function when they came up with a crazy idea. Why not test their hypothesis on Mount Everest? Of course, the trek to its peak has killed hundreds of people and, as Blanton explains, the club has an
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unspoken rule: no matter what they go through along the way, “It doesn’t really count until we get back alive.” After researching the possibility of hiking to the famous base camp of Mount Everest, Blanton realized even amateur hikers can make the climb. Thus began two years of intensive planning, logistics, vaccinations, remedies for altitude sickness, etc. For Blanton, PhD, a University Distinguished Professor, TTUHSC research integrity officer, associate vice president for Research and director of the MD-PhD program, preparation was half the fun.
WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE … After days of travel and a harrowing clifftop landing at the most dangerous airport in the world, Blanton, Pressley and Sutton arrive in Lukla, Nepal, ready to begin their climb. They set out under a
brilliant blue sky, with lush, tree-covered mountain slopes towering above them, similar to many of their previous hikes in U.S. national parks. However, the similarities stopped there as the trio met a cacophony of grunting yaks and people chatting in all languages while they joined porters, guides and gear-haulers for the trek. Some were obviously recreational climbers like themselves. Others were natives, carrying on their backs enormous packages of every kind of product imaginable — from toilet paper to Snickers candy bars to building materials — nimbly climbing the rock-and-stone covered trail to deliver goods to the towns higher up the mountain range. “We were proud of ourselves just walking up the steps,” Blanton recalls. “Yet, here’s a guy carrying 200 pounds of store supplies.”
“On every good hike there’s a point when you say, ‘Why on earth am I doing this?’ And then the hike’s over and you’re thinking about the next hike.” - Michael Blanton, PhD, who climbed to a better vantage point to see the top of Mount Everest.
Under the porters’ directions, they climbed much slower than they were accustomed — traveling 10 miles and 1,000 feet higher each day — taking frequent breaks to allow their bodies to acclimate to both the elevation and increasingly cold temperatures. They talked about family and politics, regaling each other with the same stories they had told dozens of times on previous hikes, like Pressley’s experiences with gliders, and learned about the porters’ lives. Nightly, they measured their oxygen saturation with the pulse oximeter Sutton brought along. They couldn’t yet see Everest, but there were plenty of other sights: The peak of Ama Dablam, aptly named, as it resembles a mother hugging her children. A Yeti foot and skull on display in a monastery, which they paid to see because they couldn’t pass up such an
opportunity. At 12,000 feet, they watched a rugby game on TV at an Irish pub at the highest elevation in the world. They slept in rustic plywood structures called tea houses. On the ground floor was a communal space for cooking over a stove fueled by yak dung, eating and soaking up whatever warmth they could. At nightfall, the climbers retired to cots upstairs, relying on their sleeping bags to retain body heat. With no running water, the toilet situation was primitive. At best, there may be a normal looking toilet that required manual flushing — refilling the tank one scoop of water at a time — while at other times there was just a hole in the ground. And yet, the tea houses all offered Wi-Fi. One had espresso and a German bakery, so Blanton, Pressley and Sutton ate and drank while watching the movie “Everest.”
THERE IS NO GREAT GENIUS WITHOUT SOME TOUCH OF MADNESS … Although they were traveling more slowly than Blanton, Pressley and Sutton were accustomed, the climb was by no means easy. The higher they went, the less they talked — short on stories and oxygen. At 16,000 feet, even basic human functions became difficult. Eating lost its appeal. They had headaches. They couldn’t sleep. When they did sleep, their starvation for air would jar them awake, sucking in mouthfuls, yet not getting nearly enough. Nightly hyperventilation would test anyone’s limits, but they pressed on. Base camp was at 17,500 feet — they were too close to quit. As they neared base camp, the friends had expectations of what they would find. They knew there wouldn’t be the PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU | SUMMER 2021 21
“Base camp itself, other than its historical significance, is a dump. Nobody would call it scenic.” — THOMAS PRESSLEY, PHD
sea of tents marking expeditions to the summit; most attempt the ascent only in the spring. It was November. Blanton expected a beautiful open plain like he saw in California. Instead, they found an unremarkable, flat, rock-covered area — the moraine of a glacier. “Base camp itself, other than its historical significance, is a dump. Nobody would call it scenic,” Pressley said. “But the scenery all the way to base camp is incredible.” Everest, which eluded them the entire trip, now peeked over the surrounding mountains, teasing them with just a glimpse of its tip. Even with anticlimactic scenery, they were thrilled to reach their goal. This time it was Pressley who carried libations for the celebration. He removed the flask of cognac he had saved in his pack for this moment, and they all sipped, savoring their triumph. Sutton pulled a Texas Tech University flag from his pack for the obligatory photos. Then, as their excitement ebbed into quiet satisfaction, they watched as the next group of hikers reached base camp and the cycle of celebration began again.
THE WHOLE IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS … As they descended 600 feet to their tea house for the night, they began looking to the immediate future. Pressley and Sutton, who suffered most from the elevation and lack of sleep, had answered their question about altitude’s
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effect on lung function firsthand and were ready to head back to Lukla. Blanton, however, couldn’t leave without a proper view of Everest in all its glory. Pressley and Sutton arose the next morning after another restless night to find Blanton gone. He left about 4 a.m. with one other hiker headed to the quasi-peak of Kala Patthar, which offered the best vantage point. His water bottle froze mid-slosh during the trek as the temperature dropped even further below freezing. But after nearly two hours of steep climbing and scrambling over boulders, he emerged onto Everest’s summit in the pre-dawn light. From 18,500 feet, he looked up, up, up finally spotting the elusive peak another 10,000 feet above. “Even though you’re so proud of yourself that you’ve gotten this high, it’s so much higher to the top,” he said. “That’s when you truly appreciate how much more human effort it takes to get to the top of Everest.” Heading back toward Lukla, Blanton caught up to Pressley and Sutton a few hours later. “How many people get to go to Everest?” Sutton said. “Even to go to the base of it, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And it’s certainly an adventure all the way around.” None of them have any plans — yet — to climb Everest itself. However, they plan on riding the adrenaline high of this adventure to the next one. After all, the adventure is its own reward.
Michael Blanton, PhD, Bryan Sutton, PhD, and Thomas Pressley, PhD, proudly display their Texas Tech University flag at Mount Everest’s base camp. They hiked 40 miles over four days to test altitude’s effect on lung function.
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TK
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Sight Unseen They are real. They are in our backyard. TTUHSC pulls back the curtain on human traffickers.
By TERRY GREENBERG
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I
t’s been 15 days since Colleen Rud heard from an underage human trafficking victim she knows in the Abilene area. The girl is moved around often. As a case management advocate for the Regional Victim Crisis Center in Abilene, Rud tries to contact victims once a week, but they don’t always respond. She constantly checks her phone waiting for a call or text, hoping in the meantime that they’re safe.
CLARITY UNCLEAR
Human trafficking happens in West Texas. It’s happening in your city, and it could be happening to someone you know. It destroys families, is connected to other criminal activities, impacts social services, affects the rule of law and national security, and impacts health. The human trafficking advocacy movement gained traction two years ago when state legislators declared human trafficking a public health issue, and HB 2059 became law. (See The Bill Breakdown on page 28.). The legislation mandates training for anyone with direct patient contact — including those who work the front desk. To provide resources and support to the community, university leadership turned to Julie St. John — and colleagues Heather Guest, Pearl Merritt, Colleen Rud and Kelli White — to build a compliance strategy, implement the
new law into university protocol and provide community outreach and education. In the process, St. John discovered many different departments, community organizations and clinics working independently to combat human trafficking. The TTUHSC Human Trafficking Collaborative (HTC) was established to pull these groups into one central hub of synergized effort — a unique approach that engages community partners. While the effort began in Abilene, it has expanded to include every TTUHSC campus. HTC has approximately 40 members and also includes representation from Texas Tech University and community stakeholders such as Rud and White, a family nurse practitioner at Neurosurgery Associates of West Texas in Abilene. HTC members are divided into four working groups — prevention, education, research and survivor services. Some of the members are also working on human trafficking task forces at the state level. According to St. John, putting human trafficking through a public health lens decides: • Who’s involved in the fight. • How those people are involved. • Ways to identify changes to reduce enabling factors.
DISCOVERY UNIDENTIFIED: WHAT ARE THE SIGNS? Heather Guest, MSN, RN, CNE, CHSE, recalls having seen the red flags of human trafficking — but at the time, she didn’t know enough to recognize them. Now, an assistant professor of nursing on TTUHSC’s Abilene campus, Guest serves on TTUHSC’s Human Trafficking Collaborative. “When I reflected, I thought I probably came across cases of human trafficking, and I didn’t even know what signs to look for,” she said. After she started teaching future nurses, more than two dozen scenarios were used in teaching, and one was a human trafficking scenario. “It was a patient with a sexually transmitted infection, and the students needed to figure out what was going on,”
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Guest added. Some students realized it was a human trafficking case, and that spurred Guest’s plans to bring human trafficking information to undergraduate nursing students. That, in addition to the state-mandated training, she hopes will make an impact. A lot of victims will have contact with a health care professional and not be noticed, Guest said. Training will help providers recognize human trafficking victims as they come into the clinic or hospital.
THE ‘RED FLAGS’ OF TRAFFICKING INCLUDE: • • • •
Cigarette burns. Bruises. Malnourishment. Chronic infections like
urinary tract infections. • Tattoos on the nape of the neck, lip or behind their ear. • The way they dress — not wearing appropriate clothing for the weather or the venue. • Avoiding eye contact. • An adolescent who seems poor but has an expensive purse and manicure. “I’ve always felt if I could have identified one person, I would have made a difference in that person’s life,” Guest added. “So that’s what I take with me now as a teacher. You may not make a difference on a large scale, but you may make a large-scale difference for one person — and that’s worth it.”
“The discrepancy in data is why there are now research teams specifically dedicated to Texas. This is another goal of the Human Trafficking Collabortive, to start accumulating accurate data statewide and locally.” KELLI WHITE, MSN, FNP-BC
NURSE PRACTITIONER | NEUROSURGERY ASSOCIATES OF WEST TEXAS
HUMAN TRAFFICKING COLLABORATIVE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CONSCIOUSNESS UNAWARE
To many, human trafficking is victims taken to other countries as sex slaves — because it’s what they’ve seen in movies, like “Taken.” And while that’s true, it’s not the most common form of trafficking and not primarily what’s seen in West Texas. The majority of victims in Rud’s caseload have been trafficked by someone they know or met onlin who gains the victim’s trust. Someone who has or develops a relationship with them — a pastor, a relative or a family friend. The average age of people brought into sex trafficking is between 12 and 14 years old, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Although most victims are female, now younger boys are also being trafficked — regardless, all victims are groomed and controlled. Trafficking usually begins as a relationship between the victim and the person who’s earned their trust. The trafficker learns the victim’s vulnerabilities and capitalizes on them through trafficking. The victim’s family may be poor and nee help paying bills, for example, or the victim may want a new car or new clothes. Many of the victims have high-risk factors like sexual assault or family violence. They may also have prior experience with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Rud added. Sometimes it’s parents themselves who traffic their children, St. John said. Americans hear about this happening in other countries, but it also happens here. Parents who need money or a drug fix look the other way when someone takes their daughter for a few days to be used for sex in exchange. But some victims come from a stable family and are just curious.
HEATHER GUEST, MSN, RN, CNE, CHSE Assistant professor, TTUHSC School of Nursing, Abilene. Her vision: “It’s up to us to be educated, so we can help provide patients the resources they need, or mandatory reporting for persons who are younger than 18.”
PEARL MERRITT, EDD Regional Dean, Abilene. Her vision: “By facilitating the dissemination of knowledge, supporting education and promoting public awareness about the issue. TTUHSC can play a vital role in addressing the human trafficking crisis in our state.”
JULIE ST. JOHN, DRPH MA Associate dean in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and associate professor in the Julia Jones Matthews Department of Public Health. Her vision: “We can’t make everyone make the right choices all the time. But we can raise awareness and make it harder for traffickers with stricter punishments by actually prosecuting them for slave trafficking — because that’s what it is.”
KELLI WHITE, MSN, FNP-BC Nurse practitioner, Neurosurgery Associates of West Texas in Abilene, Texas.. Her vision: “I want to see the number of human trafficking victims decrease. I want to see the number of arrests go up. I want to see victims have their records expunged. We need better resources for survivors.”
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The U.S. reported 11,500 cases of human trafficking in 2019, according to the Human Trafficking Hotline. Texas made up 1,080 of those cases, but many cases are never reported. Three years earlier, a study out of the University of Texas reported 79,000 victims of youth or minor sex trafficking at any given time. The statistics don’t add up. “There are different numbers depending on what source you use,” White explained. “The discrepancy in data is why there are now research teams specifically dedicated to Texas. This is another goal of the HTC, to start accumulating accurate data statewide and locally.” St. John said Houston, Dallas and El Paso are the hotspots in Texas, along with the Interstate 10 and 20 corridors, convenient routes for traffickers to move victims throughout the state, making Abilene a popular location as well. There are many reasons it’s hard for a victim to step away from a trafficking situation: • It’s a better situation than their home, where there was abuse, or they’re now eating regularly and have a place to sleep. • They may not realize they’re being trafficked. Trafficking is like domestic violence, and it takes an average of seven times before the person being trafficked has a light bulb moment. • Crippling drug addiction. • Threats. One girl wouldn’t leave a situation because the trafficker said he’d kill her family. Her mom contacted White, who told the mom it’s a lot easier for the trafficker to move on and find another victim, but the threat was very real to the girl. Eventually, White helped the mom rescue her daughter • Laws still penalize the victims for drug offenses, prostitution and other crimes, which adds to their trauma and makes them hesitant to talk to law enforcement to help prosecute the trafficker, said Rud. Often traffickers even let victims go to jail so they can recruit more victims.
Convincing elected officials to even agree sex trafficking happens within the areas they represent has been a challenge, said Rud. People don’t want to think sex trafficking happens in their communities. Members of the HTC say there’s a gap between what elected officials believe and what the people working daily with human trafficking victims know. That gap is closing with legislation like HB2059 and HB390. Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, HB390 mandates that hotels and motels train their staff on human trafficking and employees who report it cannot be terminated. And in this year’s legislative session, four bills were proposed to toughen laws, improve investigative and prosecution tools and protect victims. HB1540/SB1036 was the only one that made it to the governor’s desk.
FINALE UNFINISHED
Human trafficking may never be eradicated, but Rud will keep working with victims. She knows she may be the first stable person they’ve had in their lives and works to build caring relationships with them. If they need someone to listen, answer questions or be an advocate at a hospital, she’s there. “It’s a stressful job,” she added. “I do arts and crafts to relax, but sometimes I don’t have the energy to do that. I just had a tough week, and it was all I could do to get my nails done and just sit there,” she said. But every now and then, there’s a happy ending. The underage girl being trafficked around the Abilene area was rescued. Rud can’t share details because it would put the investigation at risk. As draining as Rud’s job can be, when someone is rescued from human trafficking, she’s rewarded. Then her phone rings.
HOUSE BILL 2059 – PASSED JUNE 10, 2019
• Any individual who holds a license, certificate, permit or other authorization issued under the title “health care practitioner,” who engages in a health care profession and provides direct patient care, must complete a training course on human trafficking prevention for license renewal and as continuing education requirements.
HOUSE BILL 390 — PASSED MAY 18, 2021
• The operator of a commercial lodging establishment shall require each employee who the establishment directly employs to complete an annual human trafficking awareness and prevention training program. • The operator may not discipline, retaliate
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against or otherwise discriminate against an employee for making a good faith report of a suspected act of human trafficking.
HOUSE BILL 1540/SENATE BILL 1036 — SENT TO THE GOVERNOR JUNE 6, 2021
• Extend the definition of “coercion” to apply to adult labor trafficking and child labor trafficking. • Remove intercounty requirement for civil cause of action. To prove a civil cause of action for human trafficking. The previous statute required the offense or an element of the offense to have occurred or been facilitated in more than one county. • Prevent reckless toleration of trafficking. An enterprise could not be held liable
unless the finder of fact found that a director of high managerial agent performed, authorized, requested, commanded, participated in, ratified or recklessly tolerated the unlawful conduct of the agent under the previous statute. Under the new bill, agents and individuals who enter into a work contract for the enterprise are now liable. • Increase residential treatment and emergency center protections. All providers and owners of residential treatment centers and emergency facilities must post “no trespassing” notices along the exterior boundaries of the property and designate the centers as child safety zones and gang- and drug-free zones. Source: Texas Legislature Online: capitol.texas.gov
NEAL HINKLE
THE BILL BREAKDOWN
“Convincing elected officials to even agree sex trafficking happens within the areas they represent has been a challenge. People don’t want to think sex trafficking happens in their communities.” COLLEEN RUD, MSW, CA
CASE MANAGEMENT ADVOCATE | REGIONAL VICTIM CRISIS CENTER
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4 REASONS Why life is Better in Lubbock Regardless of where you live, the people and opportunities afforded to you are what make a place feel like home. Lucky for us, we live in Lubbock. 1 // Music may play in other city limits, but it was born in Lubbock. Here, musicians create trends and others follow. And, with more live music venues per capita than any other city in the Lone Star state, locals and visitors alike find talent performing every night of the week. 2 // With 265 days of sunshine per year, our climate is perfectly suited for outdoor activities like stand-up paddle boarding, cheering on the Red Raiders at the ballpark, patio drinking at Chimy’s and more. 3 // Time is limited, and Lubbockites aren’t spending it in traffic. With our convenient roadways like I-27 and the Marsha Sharp Freeway, you’ll make it around the city in a mere 15 minutes, allowing you to explore more of the “Hub City.” 4 // With more than 260,000 locals and 50,000 students who call Lubbock home, there is no single person who defines Lubbock. Yet, you’ll find when you meet a local, in town or traveling, they each share the same love for their community.
Share why you believe life is better in the 806 using #LUBBOCKLEADS on social media. Looking to move to Lubbock? Visit lubbockeda.org/jobs for available jobs.
ROTATIONS WHAT’S NEW VALUES CORNER HEALTH SCENE
Rounds Connecting with TTUHSC Alumni
Take Two Shots and Call Me in the Morning Dec. 14, 1927 Diagnosis: Senility Prescription: Whiskey
CHRISELDA REYES
Based on genealogical research, this prescription was for a man who most likely had Alzheimer’s disease. Alcohol was often the remedy for common ailments and diseases. The only legal way to access it at the time, which was during Prohibition, was through a pharmacist. Baby teething? Rub some whiskey on their gums. Asthma? Bourbon. Diabetes? Cancer? Indigestion? Depression? Brandy. “If only this whiskey could talk,” said Susan Denney, MA, curator for the Texas Pharmacy Museum housed in the Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy in Amarillo. “The museum has many items like this one with stories to tell.”
Web + Learn more about the Texas Pharmacy Museum: ttuhsc.edu/pharmacy/museum
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Rounds
WHAT’S NEW
PEOPLE POWERED Hear from people. Work with people. Care for people. Newly appointed TTUHSC Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Darrin D’Agostino, DO, MPH, MBA, embraces the West Texas climate for a job that checks all the boxes on his professional bucket list. Welcome to TTUHSC!
Ideas to Impact Monica Kane, MA, assistant provost for finance and administration, Darrin D’Agostino, DO, MPH, MBA, provost and chief academic officer, and Brandt Schnieder, PhD, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences dean.
In a focused effort to give students more opportunities to transform ideas into commercialized products, TTUHSC joined Sling Health, a student-run biotechnology incubator program out of Saint Louis, Missouri. The TTUHSC Sling Health chapter partners with Texas Tech University and the TTU Innovation Hub at Research Park, tailoring an out-of-the-box experience for students.
INNOVATIVE SPEED DATING
To expedite student connections, TTUHSC’s Sling Health chapter hosts an event where students present one-minute pitches of their ideas to find others who have similar pitches or passions for solving medical needs. From there, the students form work groups to explore their ideas.
FOCUS ON THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION
“The reason that start-ups fail is because people have ideas that they like but don’t necessarily provide a service that people need or want,” said John Ciubuc, PhD, second-year medical student and chapter president. “This is because the focus is on the solution rather than the problem.” Nationwide, Sling Health hosts an annual “Demo Day,” where students present their service/ solution. However, TTUHSC’s chapter doesn’t focus solely on this event. “We want to look beyond the event itself,” Ciubuc added. “We encourage not falling in love with a solution, but rather falling in love with the problem and using innovation to solve it.”
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Web + Read more about Darrin D’Agostino, DO, MPH, MBA.
NEAL HINKLE
BEYOND DEMO DAY
VALUES CORNER
Rounds
Surgery’s No Joke, But It’s OK to Laugh DANIELLE ALEMAN BRINGS TTUHSC VALUES TO LIFE I AM THE PATIENT’S FIRST AND LAST IMPRESSION
As the senior patient services specialist for Texas Tech Physicians Surgery and Ear, Nose and Throat clinics, I’m the first and last person the patients see. Their impression of the appointment begins and ends with me, so I strive to show them that they don’t just receive treatment from us, they are a part of us and what we do here.
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE
Working the front desk of a clinic can be challenging. The most important thing frontdesk team members can do is to be mindful that our patients are hurting. It’s not personal when we are treated poorly or if they vent their frustrations to us. I try to ensure their experience with us is as good as possible by sharing funny jokes. The jokes are in high demand — sometimes when the clinic starts off especially busy, a patient will ask for the joke of the day, and we’ll realize we haven’t written it yet! One day my calendar was missing from my desk, and I realized that patients were passing it around in the waiting room reading the jokes for the month.
NEAL HINKLE
IT’S WHO WE ARE
TTUHSC’s Values-Based Culture allows everyone to have a voice, which can be difficult for patient service specialists. Often, you see us, but the community doesn’t hear from us. We work hard at the front desk to live the values every day, so why not add our voices to the mix? If people outside of TTUHSC are going to see the university’s values, it’s going to be through people like us.
Web + Learn about TTUHSC’s Values-Based Culture: https://bit.ly/3bzZYdL
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Rounds
HEALTH SCENE
When Disaster Strikes...
2
1 5
We’ll Be Ready
3
4
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1 | The makeshift triage clinic fills with patients Patient A5.1 has ruptured ear drums and difficulty hearing from an explosion. 2 | A tree limb pierces the abdomen of Patient D5. 3 | Patient A2 has glass lodged in her hands and feet. 4-5 | Falling debris results in head injury for Patient A5.2 and foot and toe fractures for Patient A4.
Web + Learn more about Disaster Day.
TR CASTILLO
Interprofessional simulation prepares students for the inevitable with Disaster Day training. This year, the simulation drill focused on treating injuries sustained during a tornado.
ALUMNI PROFILES NEWS & NOTES FRIENDS WE’LL MISS DONOR PROFILE
Update
Catching Up With TTUHSC Alumni & Friends
Ram Haddas, PhD
INNOVATOR Research and Development, Dallas, Texas Health Professions Graduate: 2013
THE PERFECT COMBINATION
What motivated you to pursue a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences? As a child, I was intrigued by the function of toys, and as an athlete, with the occasional injury. I decided to pair the two motivations. My passion to utilize the most advanced technology to help people recover faster and provide early stage detection for those at risk of injury became my ultimate focus, which led me to rehabilitation science. It’s the perfect combination of human anatomy and engineering.
CAROLYN CRUZ
Why is a rehabilitation scientist imperative to a health care team? By connecting advanced sensors to patients to detect motion, muscle activity and body forces utilizing extensive computer technology and metrics, we can develop a comprehensive treatment plan for patients and their providers. X-rays only capture one single point in time. You can’t see pain of daily life in the films — that’s where I come in. What is most important to you in your career? The patient’s quality of life. As soon as a I started working in a hospital setting, I saw patients impacted by injury and knew I could help. — Jordan Pape
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Update
NEWS & NOTES
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES Matthew Grisham, PhD, (’82) was listed by Google Scholars as an H-Index 100, meaning that 100 of his publications have been cited at least 100 times. Monish Makena, PhD, (’11) has been awarded the 2020 AACRAstraZeneca Breast Cancer Research Fellowship. Sasanka Ramanadham, PhD, (’85) was named a Featured Discovery recipient by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Victoria C. Young, PhD student in the molecular biophysics concentration, won a Student Research Achievement Award from the Biophysical Society.
SCHOOL OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS Jackie Clark, DPT, (’17) joined the Fremont Therapy Group in Green River, Wyoming. Brant J. Danley, MPAS, PA-C, (’08) joined U.S. Dermatology Partners in College Station, Texas.
PHYSICIAN Loop 250 Family Medicine, Midland, Texas Medicine Graduate: 2016
LIVING AND WORKING THE DREAM
Casey C. Mraz, MD, admits she has one job at work and one at home, where she’s a mom of three. But in all aspects of her life, there’s a level of continuity — it’s about family. Mraz’s pediatrician became more than a physician once Mraz discovered a passion for health care. Ultimately, their bond paved Mraz’s way into family medicine helping her narrow down her specialty. “I saw her from the time I was born until I was 18,” Mraz added. “She took me under her wing and let me work in her clinic.” Mraz ruled out surgery and considered pediatrics, like her mentor, and obstetrics. However, after starting a family with her husband, Mraz realized she didn’t want to sacrifice her own family’s activities and milestones for her career. Today, Mraz focuses on her patients’ overall wellness and loves making a difference in their lives, giving them more quality time with their families. And, at the end of the day, she gets to go home to her own. — Glenys Young
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The legend, Michael Owen, is officially retired. Cheers to the memories, the dedication to your practice and your patients, and the legacy you have left behind. Cheers to you, Dad!” JENNIFER OWEN, MD, (MEDICINE ’01) OWEN HEALTH GROUP
LANDRY SHAYNE PHOTOGRAPHY
Casey Mraz, MD
NEWS & NOTES
Update
Kayla Money, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Anna Karamyan left an extra special mark. She walked into class on the first day of our first year in pharmacy school and already knew our names. It meant a lot to us that she wanted to know us before she even met us. TTUHSC SCHOOL OF PHARMACY CLASS OF 2021
Kelsi Mangrem, AuD, (’10) received the 2021 Small Business Young Entrepreneur of the Year award by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce.
CHRISELDA REYES
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Sharmila Dissanaike, MD, (Resident ’06) chair of the Department of Surgery, was appointed to the Texas Medical Board District Three Review Committee.
CLINICAL PHARMACIST BSA Health System, Amarillo, Texas
Pharmacy Resident and Graduate: 2018, 2017
NO GUTS, STILL PLENTY OF GLORY
Kayla Money, PharmD, BCPS, realized early on that some aspects of health care might not be for her — after all, she fainted getting her ears pierced. Pharmacy, however, has been a great fit. She gets to save lives on a daily basis, without any gore by verifying prescription orders. “I have a great opportunity to catch a lot of potential medication errors, dosing errors and drug to drug interactions,” Money said. “The doctors rely on us to make sure the doses are right, timing is correct, and there’s no negative interaction with the patients’ allergies.” After her residency, Money joined a community pharmacy and partnered with local physicians to launch outpatient clinics offering wellness visits for people over the age of 65. During COVID-19, she worked hand in hand with doctors, nurses, dietitians and respiratory therapists to give patients the best chance of recovery. “I’m not so good with blood and guts,” she admits, “but I’m enthusiastic about leading others to be healthier, happier and more productive.” — Glenys Young
Chris Gallagher, MD, (’05) was elected to the Healthcare Industry Leaders board of directors. Nagendra Gupta, MD, FACP, (Resident ’13) received the 2020 Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital Dale Rank Physician Leadership Award. Bernard Harris, MD, (’82) was elected to Raytheon Technologies board of directors.
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NEWS & NOTES
Sameer Islam, MD, (’08) was appointed as the chief of gastroenterology and director of the new Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at TTUHSC. Richard Jordan, MD, TTUHSC regional dean in Amarillo, received a 2021 Better Business Bureau Excellence in Community Service Award.
Jacqueline Ward, DNP, RN CHIEF NURSING OFFICER Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas Nursing Graduate: 2005
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Jacqueline Ward, DNP, RN, grew up listening to her mother, Marilyn Lacey, tell stories of her workday at Texas Children’s Hospital. Lacey was a unit secretary and exposed Ward to health care by helping her obtain summer internship programs there as a student. “I grew up at this hospital,” Ward remarked. “It does not surprise me that I’ve worked here for 27 years. It’s in my blood.” Ward is now the chief nursing officer of the hospital whose halls she used to walk through as a child. She works for the same chief executive officer as her mom did for 36 years and appreciates the family atmosphere. Her responsibilities are extensive, especially when you’re in charge of 30% of the workforce. Ward is the first African American hired as chief nursing officer for Texas Children’s and is eager to see the impact her distinction will have on future generations. “There are little girls, whether they’re white, Black, Hispanic or Asian, watching a woman occupying this seat. It sends a message that they, too, can do this.” — Kara Bishop
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Ashley Sturgeon, MD, (’14, ’10) received the 2021 C. Frank Webber, MD, Award for her commitment to mentoring medical students. Lauren Swartz, MD, (Medicine ’15, Biomedical Sciences ’10) joined Covenant Health Plainview, Texas.
Scott Milton, MD, (’84, ’85) associate professor, received a 2021 Better Business Bureau Excellence in Community Service Award.
Amy Thompson, MD, (Resident ’07, ’04) was elected to the Lubbock Area United Way board of directors.
Michael Owen, MD, (’77) retired after 40 years of service to the Lubbock area in obstetrics and gynecology.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Bob Salem, MD, (’50) received the 2021 Texas Tech University College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni award. Ariel Santos, MD, MPH, associate professor in the Department of Surgery, received the Presidential Citation from the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Amanda Stuelpnagle, MD, (Resident ’20) joined CHI Health Clinic Women’s Health in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Barbara Cherry, DNSc, RN, (’97) professor, associate dean for strategic partnerships and chair of the Department of Leadership Studies, will retire from her full-time faculty position Aug. 31, 2021. Brandon “Kit” Bredimus, DNP (’15) was named to the “20 for 2020 Nurse Awards” by the Texas Nurses Association and Texas Nurses Foundation. Morgan Gamble, BSN, RN, (’17) was named 2021 Nurse of the Year by UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas. Amanda Griswold,
TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Update
NEWS & NOTES | FRIENDS WE’LL MISS
(’20, ’17) was named chief nursing officer at Bridgemoor Transitional Care in San Antonio, Texas. Valerie Kiper, DNP, RN, (’13) associate professor in the TTUHSC nontraditional nursing program, was awarded the 2020 Excellence in Leadership Award by the Texas Organization for Nursing Leadership board of directors. Jeanette Vaughan, MSN, RN, (’92) joined Louisiana State University Health Science Center as an instructor of nursing. Amelia Yambrick Robles, BSN, RN, (’16) was named 2021 Trauma/Surgical ICU Unit Nurse of the Year by UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas.
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY
PROVIDED BY PHILIP DOMENICO
Luke Barnett, PharmD, (’08) joined BD(Pyxis) as a HealthSight clinical consultant. Alicia Chavez and Alex Correa, fourth-year and third-year pharmacy students got engaged May 14, 2021. Anna Kochanowska
Karamyan, PhD, associate professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, received the 2021 Harrold Miller Most Influential Professor of the Year Award. Sumeen Mirza, PharmD, (’21) joined the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, as a resident. Jincy Varughese, PharmD, MBA, (’21) joined The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, as a resident.
Update
Philip Domenico, PhD
DIRECTOR The Science of Nutrition Blog, Rome, New York Biomedical Sciences Graduate: 1983
THE ART OF MICROBIOLOGY
As the son of a painter and the brother of a poet, a penchant for scientific discovery was not exactly coded into the Domenico family DNA. Yet that didn’t stop Phillip Domenico, PhD, from spending 30 years focusing his artistic energy on petri dishes of slime in laboratories across the country. Bacterial slime — a layer of extracellular material that surrounds bacteria cells to protect them from environmental dangers like antibiotics — is involved in over 80% of infections and can be found in any ecosystem. Domenico focused his research on combating slime, creating antimicrobial compounds that could help treat secondary bacterial infections common in congenital conditions such as cystic fibrosis, diabetic wounds and in secondary infections emerging from viruses such as COVID-19. In retirement, Domenico observes his anti-biofilm compound’s progress while metamorphing his scientific career back to its artistic beginnings — sculpting, cartooning and gardening with his wife, Gloria, as they volunteer for several Berkshire gardens and the Central Park Conservancy. — Kate Gollahan
FRIENDS WE’LL MISS Welda LaJean Chaffin, PhD, professor-emeritus in the School of Medicine, died April 20, 2021. T.H. Holmes Jr., MD, professor in the TTUHSC School of Medicine, died March 18, 2021. William “Ed” Richards, MD, (’92) died Feb. 6, 2021. He was the medical director of the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion and endowed chair of robotic surgery at St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia.
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Update
DONOR PROFILE
A Jewel of a Gift
FIRST ENDOWED NURSING SCHOLARSHIP STILL IMPACTFUL
Scot Brown kneels on the melting asphalt of New Mexico State Highway 60. The summer temperature was so intense you could see the heat waves rising from the blacktop. He works quickly to intubate the teenage motorcyclist who had been hit by a car. There’s got to be a way to save lives in a more controlled environment, Brown thought, as he prepared his patient for the flight to an Albuquerque, New Mexico, trauma center. Returning to the Rio Grande Valley as a health care provider was his plan since leaving for college. Brown, CRNA, (Nursing ’03) is now the first nurse anesthetist at Socorro General Hospital to live in the community for more than 40 years. His journey began at TTUHSC, fueled by the generous support of a family who chose to honor their beloved mother by establishing the Jewel Benton Endowed Scholarship in Nursing, the first of its kind in the School of Nursing. As ‘airway guy,’ Brown said he’s always relied on the critical thinking skills he learned as an undergraduate nurse. “Her (Benton) scholarship not only played a role in my being here but also in the quality of care I can give to those in this remote part of the state – whether they live here or they’re just passing through.” — Danette Baker
YOU GET THE LAST WORD! Complete this sentence: Looking back, my favorite study spot was________. Here’s why. Share your memories with Pulse and you may see them published in a future issue. PULSE@TTUHSC.EDU
40 SUMMER 2021 | PULSE.TTUHSC.EDU
Last issue, we asked which professor taught you the most. Elizabeth Ogbonna, BSN, RN, (Nursing ‘17) submitted Deborah Casida, EdD, MSN, ENPC, assistant professor in the School of Nursing in Amarillo.
Web + Read more about the first School of Nursing endowed scholarship.
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WE GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS .
“Being in the clinic almost daily, I see the need for a way to provide services to children when funding is in question. This is my legacy … to care for the children I will never meet.” For 35 years, Sherry Sancibrian (Health Professions ’78, ’77), distinguished educator and clinician, has seen firsthand lives changed through the diagnostic and treatment services provided at the TTUHSC Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic. In any given month,10 to 20 families make sacrifices in other areas of their budgets to pay for their children’s appointments. “I never want therapy to be a financial burden for a family or for the cost to be a roadblock for a child to receive therapy.” said Sancibrian.
She and her husband, Sandy, chose to make a Gift of Impact through their estate to help ensure that cost never interferes with a child’s opportunity to receive services through the clinic. Contact Nathan Rice at giftplanning@ttu.edu or 806.742.1781 to discuss your area of impact and how to make a gift.
TEXAS TECH FOUNDATION
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