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resh food is hard to come by in North Philadelphia. That’s why, during medical school, Drs. Brandon Swed and Matthew Kauffman, 2016 graduates of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, mounted a campaign to urge Temple University Hospital to partner with the St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children on “Farm to Families,” a program that provides organically grown produce and meat at discounted prices. Their efforts were fruitful. Temple joined the program. Now Temple physicians can give patients access to the program with a “FreshRx prescription,” a coupon that entitles them to pick up fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs at discounted prices at the hospital every week.
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| TEMPLE HEALTH MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2017
“Every day, our pediatricians see children struggling with diet-related illnesses as well as families at-risk for food insecurity,” says Kathleen Reeves, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. More healthy food-related news: Temple University Hospital and Jeanes Hospital were recently honored at Philadelphia City Hall for their efforts to reduce and prevent chronic disease by serving healthy food to patients, employees, and visitors as part of the “Good Food, Healthy Hospitals” initiative, a voluntary program led by the Common Market, a nonprofit local food distributor, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Health Department’s “Get Healthy Philly” program.
Another Big Brain Grant Temple University has been selected to help lead a $20 million, two-year program for brain injury research. Collaborators are the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the Universities of Southern California, Southern Mississippi, and North Texas. Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Defense. The goal of the program, led by Michele Masucci, PhD, Temple University’s Vice President for Research, is to decrease brain injuries by creating a new class of materials for use in protective head gear. As such, the research leverages Temple’s expertise in head injury assessment and in advanced materials development. “The project will develop technologies that can be commercialized and brought to market, broadening the benefits to society at large,” says Stephen Nappi, Temple’s Associate Vice President for Technology Commercialization and Business Development. Temple’s research team includes T. Dianne Langford, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Neurovirology, who is also helping to lead the largestever study of concussion in sports, a landmark $30 million National Collegiate Athletic Association-U.S. Department of Defense initiative called CARE, Concussion Assessment, Research and Education. Temple University is internationally recognized for research and educational innovations in basic and translational neuroscience.
SERGE BLOCH
Farm to Families