Dr. Edgar Diaz-Cruz, assistant professor of pharmacy, was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Oncology, for research he and his colleagues conducted on human pancreatic cancer. The study, entitled “Human pancreatic cancer-associated stellate cells remain activated after in vivo chemoradiation,” showed that human tumor-derived pancreatic stellate cells survive both in vivo chemo- and radiotherapy. The data supports the idea that stellate cells play an essential role in supporting and promoting pancreatic cancer and may lead to new treatments targeting the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. The team included researchers from the National Cancer Informatics Program, the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, the University of Texas, the German Research Center for Environmental Health and ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
Diaz-Cruz Contributes to Cancer Research Study
Greenwalt Earns Specialty Certification
Suzanne Greenwalt, an instructor in the School of Physical Therapy, recently received certification as a Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Specialist from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS). ABPTS is the national governing body for certification of clinical specialists in physical therapy. Less than 200 physical therapists are certified in this particular specialty, and Greenwalt is the first physical therapist in Tennessee to gain this credential.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” said Dr. Renee Brown, the chairman of Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, “and it’s great for our program. The knowledge and experience she has gained will enhance her teaching and benefit our students. We congratulate her.”
Cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy provides treatment for individuals who suffer from cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions, such as heart attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis, to increase endurance and improve functional independence. To gain certification, Greenwalt was required to provide 2,000 hours of direct care of patients with conditions involving the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems in both acute and rehabilitation settings.
Belmont Students Serve with Project Transformation Tennessee
Three Belmont students are working with Project Transformation Tennessee, which seeks to address three unique challenges with one program: meet the academic, physical, and spiritual needs of children from low-income communities; provide meaningful ways for college-age young adults to explore ministry opportunities and develop as young principled leaders for the church and the world; and help revitalize churches.
Project Transformation Tennessee harnesses the creative energy and ideas of young adults who live in intentional Christian community and who plan and implement free summer day camp programs for children and youth in under served neighborhoods. The programs are held at United Methodist churches located in the heart of low-income neighborhoods, thereby helping those churches connect in meaningful ways with their communities.
Three Belmont students serving with Project Transformation are Casey Enright (a sophomore church leadership and administration major), Christine Anderson (a sophomore social entrepreneurship major) and Natalie Webb (a junior social work major).
Enright said, “This is my first year working with Project Transformation, and it has been a life changing summer. Not only am I building a relationship with the kids that I work with, but also my fellow interns and different organizations that we meet through our organization.”
‘Riding with a Reason’ Team Completes Trip, Achieves Fundraising Goal
Rising Belmont senior Brennon Mobley and rising junior James Richfield, along with alumnus JD Hartwig (’14), recently completed their cross-country Riding with a Reason trip. The 3,300-mile bike trip started in Oceanside, Oregon in mid-May and was completed in Washington, D.C. last week, raising more than $58,000 along the way for 147 Million Orphans, a Middle Tennessee-based nonprofit organization that raises awareness for orphans and provides them with food, water and medication. The funds will be used to finance a school building in Mount Olivos, Honduras and fill it with basic supplies, desks, chairs, books and uniforms as well as secure teachers’ salaries.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., made a statement in front of Congress on June 27, honoring the team for their good work, noting, “Cycling across the country is a certainly a noble endeavor. Nobler still are the 147 million reasons these three men are offering up their summer with blood, sweat, tears and bike tires… I ask my colleagues to join with me in celebrating the loving-kindness of Brennon Mobley, James Richfield and JD Hartwig as we all continue the sacred work of protecting and serving the least among us.”
Read more about the Riding with a Reason trip here.
Frist, Gates Lead Conversation at Belmont on ‘Mother & Child Project’
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., founder of Hope Through Healing Hands, and Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, led a community conversation Monday in Belmont’s Maddox Grand Atrium on “The Mother & Child Project: Simple Steps to Saving Lives in the Developing World.” This was the first public event held by the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide, a joint partnership of Hope Through Healing Hands (HTHH), a Nashville-based global health organization, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
More than 250 individuals representing the faith community, global health NGO and higher-education sectors throughout greater Nashville attended the discussion, hosted by Belmont University. In addition to opening the event, Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns and Hope Through Healing Hands (HTHH) Executive Director Dr. Jenny Eaton Dyer also announced that this fall they would award the first Frist Global Health Fellowship to enable a Belmont graduate student to be immersed for a semester in a global health experience.
U.S. Olympic figure skating champion Scott Hamilton, who with his wife Tracie is an active global health advocate, moderated the event, posing questions to Frist and Gates about their experiences.
“As I began to talk with women around the world, it became very clear to me the spacing and timing of pregnancies we take for granted in the U.S. is a matter of life and death for them,” said Gates. “So I got very involved in contraceptives, because it truly starts the cycle of life, where they can feed their children, get their children in school, and honestly, not die themselves.”
Sen. Frist agreed, saying, “Contraception is a pro-life cause.” He went on to explain that, “…if you delay first pregnancy to 18 years old, you can increase survival in countries where one in 39 women die in childbirth, and cut the chance of children dying by 30 percent, enabling them to stay in school and become productive members of families.”
“Second, if you can push out the interval between pregnancies to three year period, the child is twice as likely to survive the newborn stage.”
Today, more than 200 million women in developing countries want the ability to plan if and when they become pregnant, but lack access to information about planning their families. Increasing access to a range of contraceptive options, and providing women with the ability to time and space their births, is critical to improving the health of mothers and children.
At the event, Gates reflected on her upbringing in Dallas, Texas, where she attended Catholic parochial school from grades K-12, and confirmed she remains a practicing member of the Catholic Church. While Gates recognizes the tension between her work and the Church’s position on contraceptives, she has found common ground on healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, even though organizations embrace different tools to achieve it.
Sen. Frist expressed his support for Gates’s efforts, explaining that the Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide has a critical role to play in engaging members of the faith community to help disseminate this simple message.
He likened this initiative to a similar movement of Americans in 2002 that shared a vision with houses of worship across all faiths, which lead to the support and eventual funding of PEPFAR, the largest health initiative in history that turned the tide on the HIV/AIDS.
“The millions of people dying of HIV/AIDS worldwide led to a major U.S. tax-payer led movement to save lives, resulting in more than what is now 12.9 million individuals currently on anti-retroviral medicine,” he said, noting the Coalition’s efforts could save over 287,000 women’s lives each year.
The Faith Based Coalition on Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide’s mission is to galvanize support among faith leaders across the U.S. on the issues of maternal, newborn and child health in developing countries. The coalition will place a particular emphasis on the benefits of healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, including access to a range of contraceptive options, in alignment with its members’ unifying values and religious beliefs.
Several faith leaders already involved in this issue also participated in the program by echoing their support of this new initiative. “The best way to see change in Africa is to change the lives of African mothers,” said Steve Taylor, recording artist and filmmaker.
Jena Lee Nardella, co-founder with Jars of Clay of Blood:Water Mission, shared their experience in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. “We were inspired not by the statistics, but by the compelling stories. As a Church, let’s not forget to tell the story, but make it personal.”
Mike Glenn, pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church, added, “The Evangelical church is often accused of loving the child and not the mother; but in doing so, we lose God’s mosaic. We believe in ‘Imago Dei,’ the dignity of every human being.”
“It all comes down to the mother and child nexus and the healthy timing and spacing of births,” Sen. Frist concluded.
Dr. Perry Moulds Appointed Vice President of Development, External Relations at Belmont
Vanderbilt-Ingram senior development director to lead Belmont’s fundraising initiatives
Following a four-month nationwide search, Belmont University announced today that Dr. Perry Moulds, senior director of development for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has been named vice president for development and external relations. He will begin his new role at Belmont on Aug. 5.
In his new position, Moulds will oversee all philanthropic initiatives for the University, including major gifts, corporate and foundation giving, grants and alumni giving. He also will provide leadership for marketing and public relations to ensure that all Belmont development and marketing operations are fully integrated with the University’s priorities and are aligned with its strategic objectives.
Belmont University President Bob Fisher said, “Dr. Moulds is a master at cultivating relationships, creating brand presence and leading higher education fundraising efforts. We are extremely excited to welcome such a successful leader to the Belmont community.”
Moulds will replace Dr. Bethel (Bo) Thomas, vice president of university advancement, who will retire from Belmont in October. Thomas’ contributions to Belmont over the past 10 years are reflected in the University’s fundraising achievements and alumni engagement, and his success is evident in the relationships he has cultivated with donors, alumni, faculty, staff and students.
Pharmacy Students Complete Project for Guatemalan Hospital
Students and faculty from Belmont University’s College of Pharmacy recently completed a year-long project to create an inventory system at the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The project started last July and included four separate mission trips from the college with a total of 23 students and faculty contributing. The most recent team finished the expansive project to catalog the contents of the surgery center which includes three operating rooms and 21 beds. The inventory system was built from scratch, tested, launched and turned over to the surgery center’s local management during the last visit.
The team was led by Dr. Eric Hobson, professor of pharmacy, who was joined on this most recent trip by his family, including his son enrolling at Belmont this fall. Hobson has directed all four of the teams that have contributed to this project. The students on the most recent team included Candice Beam, Kyla Cunico, Alex Ernst, Meredith Ervin, Chelsey Manire and Kandice Squires, all third-year PharmD students, and Kristen Conrad, a second-year student.
“I had to go back to Guatemala,” said Squires, who has also been part of previous project teams. “I claimed dibs on bringing order to the hospital’s third-floor black hole storage room. And, we did it.”
Allison Bender, executive director of The Shalom Foundation, the Franklin, Tennessee not-for-profit that built the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center, called the Belmont teams’ service to the organization, “a true blessing.”
“Now the Moore Center staff can be more efficient and be better stewards of donated resources. Most important, the inventory system that our Belmont friends have built helps us provide the hundreds of Guatemalan children entrusted to our medical care each year an even safer, better experience,” Bender said. “God’s work requires many skill sets, and The Shalom Foundation knows that Belmont University community is home to varied talents and a commitment to service.”
Nursing Students Honored for Vanderbilt Medical Center Internships
For the past seven weeks, 18 Belmont senior-level nursing students participated in a summer internship program called Vanderbilt Experience: Student Nurse Internship Program (VESNIP) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) along with students from four other regional nursing programs. Three Belmont nursing students were awarded the highest honors at the culminating awards ceremony held June 25 in the Waddington Conference Room at Monroe-Carroll Children’s Hospital. A total of seven awards were given; three went to Belmont students. VUMC credo behaviors identify those individuals that aspire to excellence and expert performance. Jennifer Bognar received the Credo Award for Psychiatric/Mental Health Track, Gabrielle Pappas received the Credo Award for the Perioperative Track, and Sarah Steele received the Credo Award for the Women’s Health Track.
“It is clear that our students continue to incorporate the mission, vision, and values of Belmont University in their interactions with patients, families, and the entire healthcare team. Our students consistently pursue excellence,” said Dr. Leslie A. Folds, who coordinates the program for Belmont School of Nursing.
This is the tenth year of the VESNIP program. The program began as a partnership between Belmont School of Nursing and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. It has now expanded to a total of 62 students and includes five Tennessee and Kentucky nursing schools. The VESNIP positions are very competitive and are considered elite opportunities for students from around the region.
“Overall the VESNIP experience allowed me to see myself as a nurse. Through multiple opportunities to practice nursing skills and employ critical thinking, my knowledge base as a nurse has begun to strengthen and grow outside of the school setting. I feel comfortable working in a hospital setting now, and I have a clearer view of my roles and responsibilities as a future nurse,” said Claire Zetak, a Belmont nursing student in the Critical Care Track.
Betsy Sanders, a Belmont nursing student who participated in the Perioperative Track, said, “Nursing students fortunate enough to participate in VESNIP experience a level of nursing not attainable by simply fulfilling clinical requirements. I am leaving this seven-week program with enhanced nursing skills, a better understanding of the all-encompassing responsibilities of being a nurse and a true appreciation for the multidisciplinary teamwork necessary in providing patients with safe, efficacious and patient-centered healthcare.”
Pharmacy Students Administer Free HIV Tests
Belmont College of Pharmacy students recently teamed up with Walgreens and Nashville Cares to administer free HIV tests at Walgreens locations around Middle Tennessee. The free testing was part of the Greater Than AIDS campaign and was in honor of National HIV Testing Day. The students participating in the event were members of the Belmont chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) who had completed HIV testing and counseling training with Nashville Cares and become certified in the Spring. SNPhA plans to offer the training to its other members during the upcoming school year. Belmont’s chapter of SNPhA hopes to maintain its partnership with Nashville Cares so that its members can continue to serve their community through HIV education and early detection.
Belmont Group Presents at 2014 NAC&U Summer Institute
A group of Belmont faculty, staff and administrators recently returned from the 2014 New American Colleges and Universities’ (NAC&U) Summer Institute at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. Representing Belmont and offering presentations at the conference were Dr. Jonathan Thorndike (Honors program director); Dr. Jeffery Burgin (associate provost and dean of students); Dr. Beverly Schneller (associate provost for academic affairs); Dr. Mimi Barnard (assistant provost for interdisciplinary studies and global education); Patricia Jacobs (director of career services); and Dr. Thomas Burns (provost).
The NAC&U Summer Institute keynote speakers were Dr. Edward L. Ayers, president of the University of Richmond and a noted historian and author; Dr. Robin Heyden, an educational consultant and blogger of how new media tools affect education; and Dr. David Asai, senior director of science education programs at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Institute theme was “Creating Community through Collaboration,” and the focus was on NAC&U’s new initiative to provide opportunities for students and faculty through collaboration among members. The Summer Institute explored possibilities to enhance the educational experience through collaboration among NAC&U members, with campuses, and between campuses and their communities. Presentations described existing projects and engaged conference participants in working sessions to develop new ideas for collaboration.
The New American Colleges and Universities is a national consortium of selective, independent colleges and universities dedicated to the purposeful integration of liberal education, professional studies, and civic engagement. The NACU Summer Institute is held for faculty and administrators from member colleges and universities, providing a unique opportunity for professional development, discussion of issues common to our member institutions, and networking. Belmont hosted the NACU Summer Institute in 2008. The members of NACU are Arcadia, Belmont, Drury, Hamline, Hampton, John Carroll, Manhattan, Nazareth, North Central, Pacific Lutheran, St. Edward’s, Samford, Stetson, Sage, Scranton, Evansville, Redlands, Valparaiso, Wagner, Westminster, and Widener.
The individual presentations by Belmont faculty and administrators were “Ingenuity: High-Impact Practices and Transformative Learning for the Global World” by Burns, Schneller, Barnard and Jacobs; “Panel Report on Teagle Project” and “Teagle Goal 1: Faculty Evaluation” by Schneller; and “Evidence-Based Assessment, Growth and Change in the Honors Program” by Schneller and Thorndike.
