News Release

Annual poster day highlights field experiences of students in three SPH departments.

November 2, 2006 press release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--More than 140 second-year M.P.H. students from the University of Michigan School of Public Health shared photos and findings from their summer internships and field experiences at an afternoon poster session on October 23, 2006. Three of the school's five academic departments hosted the event at the historic Michigan League Ballroom on the university's central campus. Students, faculty, and members of the public sipped punch, browsed the aisles of posters, and discussed the fieldwork carried out in far corners of the globe, as well as rural and urban areas throughout Michigan and the United States.

Posters that won departmental honors were also on display during the Oct. 26 opening ceremonies for SPH's new Crossroads & Research Tower facility.

The Department of Epidemiology marked its 16th annual research forum in 2006, with 45 students participating. Two awards were presented by the department to students whose posters were given top accolades by a panel of doctoral students under the supervision of faculty member and Research Forum Coordinator Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer. The recognized projects and students included:

Respiratory Diseases among Zambian Copper Miners, Anne Styka
Urinary Iodine Concentrations in Ukraine and Belarus, Miriam Ishak

The Department of Health Behavior and Health Education had 56 students participating in its poster session this year. Awards for research presentations included:

Obstetric Fistula Repair Project in Uganda, Alice Zheng
Documentary Film from a Public Health Perspective: Health Beliefs and Practices in Ecuador, Anica Madeo
Minority Overrepresentation in the Juvenile Justice System of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Melissa Shauver

The Department of Environmental Health Sciences marked its fourth successful poster session, with 41 student research posters presented. Top award presentations included:

Patient Assessment and Education (Nutrition Counseling), Catalina La Verne
Perot Systems and the Occupational Exposure Assessment (OEA) Project at Sandia National Labs, Joe Moralez
Nutritional Assessment of the CHCD Feeding Program, Erica Cooper (students' choice award)

A sampling of student posters

Award winner Anne Styka of Epidemiology: Respiratory Diseases
among Zambian Copper Miners

Derrick Mathtews of Health Behavior and Health Education: Houston HIV
Prevention Program

From left: Ingham County (Michigan) health officials Linda Stewart and
Courtney Wisinski, preceptors for Environmental Health Sciences student
Sarah Walters: Healthy Homes University: Ingham County's Initiative
to Control Childhood Asthma

Contact: Terri Mellow, director of communications
Phone: (734) 764-8094
E-mail: twm@umich.edu