Campus and Faculty News

For the third consecutive year, the University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO) hosted a summer camp aimed at introducing the profession of optometry to pre-health and preoptometry majors. The camp’s goal is to initiate an optometry school experience, help students understand the application process and map out an individualized pre-optometry preparation plan, all at no cost to the student.

Participants are typically invited to a three-day experience on campus. However, this year’s camp was held virtually as students from six states, and as far away as Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, got a glimpse into KYCO’s facilities and technology.

Department Chair of Academic Affairs and KYCO Associate Professor Jesson Martin, M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D., educated students about physical optics along with KYCO Associate Professor and Director of Research George Asimellis, Ph.D., who conducted the geometric optics session of the virtual camp.

The University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine formally welcomed the Class of 2024 during a virtual White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, October 10. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ceremony was prerecorded and available for students, friends and family.

White coat ceremonies are rites of passage for medical students, welcoming them to the profession and reinforcing the value of humanism as a foundation to medicine. The ceremony encourages a psychological contract for professionalism and empathy in the practice of medicine.

This year’s keynote address, delivered by chief executive officer of Pikeville Medical Center Donovan Blackburn, focused on how the landscape of the health care industry has changed in the wake of COVID-19 and how new physicians must rise to the challenges ahead.

“You are entering into medicine in a time like no other. With this pandemic, the health inequities of this country, and the significance of the occupation ahead of you, health care needs you now more than ever,” said Blackburn. “Fill your coat with more than just the spread of your shoulders. Fill it with honesty, truth, compassion and heart.”

The University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO) held its White Coat Ceremony on Sunday, August 23. The ceremony is symbolic within the health professions, reflecting a commitment to patient care. After two years of rigorous classroom and procedure lab curriculum, the students will apply their clinical setting knowledge.

William T. Reynolds, O.D., current president of the American Optometric Association’s Board of Trustees, served as the ceremony’s keynote speaker.

Reynolds spoke to KYCO’s Class of 2022 about the history and future of the optometric profession. He also reminded students that their education at KYCO is exceptional and gives them a unique advantage.

Third-year students at KYCO were “coated” in the presence of their peers and KYCO faculty by Cliff Caudill, O.D., KYCO assistant dean of clinical affairs and Donald Egan, O.D., FAAO, DPNAP, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of optometry.

Reynolds challenged students as they began not only their clinical training, but their careers.

“Be involved,” said Reynolds. “Being involved moves your profession forward. It moves you forward personally, and most importantly, it moves the care of your patients forward.”

For more than a century, the University of Pikeville has created many opportunities through the promise of education. On September 3, UPIKE celebrated a new academic year with its Opening Convocation on Benefactors Plaza that was live-streamed on Facebook for community members, faculty, staff and students.

UPIKE President Burton J. Webb, Ph.D., and Provost Lori Werth, Ph.D., extended warm welcomes to attendees and those watching live.

The keynote address was given by the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities President OJ Oleka, MBA, Ph.D.

Oleka shared a motivating story about how he began his academic journey and focused his remarks identifying with students and inspiring them to continue their education.

“Fight hard, continue to push and get to the finish and be stronger than you were when you started,” said Oleka. “It is that push that will disrupt the generational challenges that you may face, which is incredibly important and should push you to achieve and thrive.”

Oleka commented on his trials and encouraged students to become involved on campus and connect with faculty, staff and fellow students to overcome the obstacles and challenges students face today.

“You can succeed, you can thrive, and you can make a difference,” said Oleka. “Encourage yourself and encourage others.”

Arriving on U.S. soil in the late 1970s with her family, University of Pikeville Provost Lori Werth, Ph.D., left a familiar language and culture behind to build a new life. She could not have known then that decades later, an impressive professional career would lead her to earning one of the most distinguished and coveted prizes in higher education, a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to forge lasting connections between the people of the United States and other countries to counter misunderstandings and help nations work together toward common goals.

The Fulbright organization recognizes only a select group of higher education professionals each year. Werth is part of a group of 10 university presidents and provosts from across the U.S. who will travel to Japan next year. She hopes to use this experience to strengthen the relationships that UPIKE already has with Japan and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (NUFS) located in the city of Nissin.

“The opportunity to travel and experience another culture energizes me and continues to ignite my passion for serving in higher education. I am looking forward to learning more about the educational system in Japan, policies, expanding potential partnerships with the University of Pikeville, and meeting students, faculty and leaders,” said Werth. “We have enjoyed a relationship with NUFS since 2013 and I am interested in meeting students, faculty and leaders, while exploring additional exchange programs.”

UPIKE has a desire to foster experiences for rural, first-generation undergraduate students, as well as for medical and optometry students. Cultivating international experiences for students and faculty brings communities closer to other cultures, ideas, values, beliefs and religions, in unique and meaningful ways. This creates opportunities for growth and development, and for a more collaborative global community.

“My own experiences as an international student coming to the United States have been instrumental in my academic and administrative responsibilities. That young girl who arrived on an airplane with her parents and learned how to speak English was encouraged to attend college, and later in life earned a Doctor of Philosophy,” Werth concluded. “I am honored to be a Fulbright Scholar and will continue serving, building, strengthening, and empowering communities and stakeholders to close equity gaps in postsecondary attainment for all students.”

Kartick Pramanik, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology for the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine and Kentucky College of Optometry, recently lent his editorial talents to Frontier in Pharmacology Journal in editing an e-book titled Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Translational Pharmacology.

While the world has witnessed rapid progression in the advancement of AI with robots and self-driving cars, the concepts of AI have also been explored significantly in biomedical fields, including pharmacology, to redefine the development of new drugs and tackle disease.

This publication explores the role of AI in infrastructure development for artificial intelligence applications in pharmacology. In addition, the e-book also explores knowledge of the applications in translational pharmacology, including individual drug response, drug safety prediction and pharmacovigilance, drug repurposing and refinement.

“I dedicated this research topic to Frontier in Pharmacology Journal to have a timely, focused and in-depth exploration of stateof-the-art AI technologies, from theoretical foundations to translational applications for the broad audience of the journal,” said Pramanik.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how we live, learn, create, speak and interact. Creating art in response to current events can be a powerful antidote to fear and uncertainty.

Inviting all creative individuals to submit their expressions, reflections and creations in response to the virus, the University of Pikeville’s Special Collections and Archives, in collaboration with the Weber Art Gallery, launched an exhibit, “Reflections on a Pandemic: Life during COVID-19.”

UPIKE Professor of Art Patricia Kowalok encouraged individuals to enjoy the endeavors of this shared experience, reflect and be inspired when submitting entries.

“2020 has been a year quite unlike any other in recent times. COVID-19 has brought fear, encouraged resiliency, taught resourcefulness and committed us all to somehow muscle through these days,” said Kowalok. “You hear about people, friends and colleagues, who have decided now to learn how to raise a garden. Now is the time to build a bench, now is the time to write poetry about this robber of peace of mind.”

Among the artwork, furniture, hand-made masks, personal writings, videos and other creative pieces submitted were photographs by UPIKE alum Allyson Gibson ’15.

“I have never been so scared, unsure and uneasy in my life. I am in a state of fear going to work every day, not knowing where those walking around me have traveled to and from,” explained Gibson. “What am I possibly taking home to my loved ones?”

Gibson, a Lowe’s employee in Pikeville, says it has been, and still is, a struggle to grasp the new normal. To help ease and balance the chaos, she turned to hiking, gardening and spending time in nature.

“Along my hikes with my boyfriend and huskies, we found flowers and mushrooms that we photographed, and we began to appreciate even more of what beauty is in our world. Some days I would find the smallest flowers growing within the grass in my yard. This led to a connection with the earth and a peacefulness I had been missing since the pandemic began,” said Gibson. “We gardened sunflowers, garlic, green beans and much more. Growing your own food is so rewarding, especially during a time that one may risk their life just going to the grocery store. If not for the connection to nature, I do not think I would have been able to keep my sanity.”

UPIKE and the surrounding community have survived and thrived through many obstacles, some of which have been recorded while others have been lost to time. This project is intended to capture the challenges and document the impact the pandemic has had on the community while ensuring this experience lives on in the university archives for future generations.

The exhibit will be held through January 15, 2021, at the Weber Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the Record Memorial Building on UPIKE’s campus.

The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) recognizes students, residents and faculty who demonstrate compassionate patient care and serve as role models, mentors and leaders in medicine.

During July, the University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine (KYCOM) held a virtual ceremony inducting 22 students from KYCOM’s Class of 2021 into the college’s chapter of medical schools and residency programs of the GHHS.

KYCOM’s GHHS inductees will have the opportunity to engage in networking and mentoring, participate in leadership and professional development opportunities, promote humanistic care within their communities and apply for chapter awards and grants.

Keynote speaker John Colston, D.O., was honored to be a part of the ceremony and encouraged students to stay involved with their classmates, their school and the honor society.

Dean of KYCOM and Professor of Family Medicine Dana Shaffer, D.O., FACOFP dist., FAOGME, congratulated the inductees.

“While this is an honor, you are making a commitment to your colleagues, mentors and, most importantly, your current and future patients,” said Shaffer. “We are proud of you and have nothing but the highest expectations of the type of physicians each of you will become.”

KYCOM’s GHHS chapter includes Andrew Eric Abadier, James W. Adams III, Maher Alia, Mustafa M. Basree, Olivia Makenzie Boyette, Brant Mitchell Cornelius, Katie Dawn Dick, Valerie Shaelyn Dixon, Rebekah Fabella, Kaitlin Brooke Firquin, Shelly Gupta, Katie Ellen Johnson, Michelle Blanche Kommor, Logan Elizabeth Koubek, Brigham J. Merrell, Junetta Paige Nuckels, Aaron John Overbeck, Evan J. Price, Jenna Lynn Sturz, Austin Thacker, Hannah M. Walker and Kaitlyn Wathen.

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