Upstate Announcements for February 15, 2022

Campus remembrance for Dr. William Marx

A remembrance gathering for William Marx, MD, will be held Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 8 a.m. in 4414 Academic Building. Spiritual care, social workers, and peer supporters will be on-hand to offer support. For referral to more intense resources, email Leslie Kohman, MD, chief wellness officer, or Matthew Hanlon, MD, surgery wellness champion.

Marx died Feb. 9. In addition to being the division chief of Trauma, Burns, and Acute Care Surgery, he was also the trauma medical director and OR director at Upstate. His legacy includes being the chair of the State Trauma Advisory Committee since 2006 and chairing the Verification Review Committee of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. He was also affiliated with the Syracuse VA Medical Center for nearly three decades.

__________

Sarah Loguen Fraser Day is Feb. 15

Tolani Ajagbe, MD, clinical assistant professor of addiction psychiatry, will give an interview-style talk on black mental health Feb. 15 at 4:30 p.m. via Zoom. Ajagbe will be interviewed by medical student Oghale Obaro-Best ‘22. Medical student Keren Valerus ’24 will be awarded the Sarah Loguen scholarship. To join the online talk and award ceremony, visit: https://upstate.zoom.us/j/92647553833?pwd=QnJUTGFmeTN0UFdON2V4YTNMN0NHQT09

__________

Easy for You is Feb 15

Easy for You, Upstate’s tobacco treatment program, will be held Tuesday, Feb. 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in 7335B of Upstate University Hospital (west wing). Those with an Upstate ID are welcome to receive help quitting tobacco, chew, and vape. Free nicotine replacement therapy is available. For more information contact Theresa Hankin or Carolyn Walczyk at 315-464-3519 or walczykc@upstate.edu.

__________

Stress First Aid Champion Training is Feb. 15 and 17

Stress First Aid Champion Training will be held Feb. 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Feb. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. To join training, email KohmanL@Upstate.edu.

__________

Black History virtual celebration is Feb. 16

Upstate’s Black History awards ceremony and keynote address will be live streamed Feb. 16 at noon. Upstate’s James Baines, Janell Gage and Shantel Henry will receive employee contribution awards. The late Manny Breland and Jackie Warren-Moore who will receive posthumous community contribution awards. Angela Douglas of Vera House Inc. will give the keynote address. The ceremony will be aired online at: www.upstate.edu/diversityinclusion/blackhistory and on Upstate’s YouTube channel.

__________

Get Outside presentation is Feb. 16

Laura DiBetta from the New York state DEC will discuss ways to get outside and get active Feb. 16 at noon. Register here: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/k2/j.php?MTID=t2613e4fc5b48519fe0fa6277325f0aa2.

__________

Weigh-In Wednesday begins Feb. 16

Weigh-In Wednesday will begin Feb. 16 and run through April 6. Each week, participants will receive a video and topic sent via emai to help with weight management. Each week, participants weigh in and track their weight. For more information and to sign up, email Suzanne Brisk at BriskS@Upstate.edu.

__________

Bioethics and Humanities Journal Club is Feb. 17

Tom Curran, MD, will lead a discussion on transplants using organs from pigs Thursday Feb. 17 at noon. For the accompanying articles and registration, email MusolinA@Upstate.edu.

__________

Soul Food Thursdays will be held Feb. 17 and 24

Morrisons will offer Soul Food Thursdays in cafeterias at Upstate University Hospital and Community throughout February. Chefs Miguel Lockhart and John Williams developed the menus, which are different each week. Vegetarian options will be offered at UUH. For more information, email lockharm@upstate.edu or johnwilliams@iammorrison.com.

__________

Drive to help Syracuse chapter of Happy Period ends Feb. 19

Upstate’s OB/GYN Interest Group will hold a menstrual product drive to benefit the Syracuse chapter of Happy Period, an organization that collects and distributes menstrual products to local organizations and shelters. Collection boxes are located in the library at Weiskotten Hall, the atrium at Setnor, and the lobby at Geneva Towers. Pads, tampons, panty liners, new unopened packages of women’s underwear will be accepted. For more information, email Cait Ward at WardCa@Upstate.edu.

__________

Proof of Covid-19 booster dose is required by Feb. 21

Individuals who have received a booster are required to upload a picture of their vaccine card(s) with proof of booster by Feb. 21 to the Employee/Student Health portal at https://eshportal.upstate.edu/ or by email at ESHealth@Upstate.edu.

__________

Student-sponsored blood drive is Feb. 23

A student-sponsored blood drive will be held Wednesday, Feb. 23 from noon to 5 p.m. in the atrium of Setnor Academic Building, next to Weiskotten Hall, 766 Irving Ave. To schedule an appointment, visit: www.upstate.edu/blood.

__________

Volunteers sought for Sarah’s Guest House event Feb. 25

The Upstate community is invited to help Sarah’s Guest House, the university’s 2022 Your Cause partner, with meal preparation Friday, Feb. 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Sarah’s Guest House. Interested volunteers should email Susan Bland at BLANDmeS@upstate.edu or Kelly Dolan at DolanK@upstate.edu. Wear a Team Upstate shirt, if possible. Sarah’s Guest House is a local 501C3 charity. Its mission is to provide lodging, transportation, meals and comfort to patients and families receiving medical care in central New York. They are the only healthcare hospitality house for adults in the area.

__________

Photos submissions for National Hospital Week due March 1

Photos are sought for National Hospital Week 2022. Photos of individuals (no group photos) will be highlighted in an online gallery and printed materials. Selfies are acceptable—mask or no mask—and show your Upstate pride. Email photo submissions to Megan Chase at chasem@upstate.edu. Photos are due March 1.

__________

Administrative Professionals Forum is March 2

The next Administrative Professionals Forum will be held Wednesday, March 2 from 10 to 11 a.m. via Zoom. Joyce Mackessy will present the keynote on Policy Education. The forum is designed as a resource for administrative assistants who support hospital and campus staff, such as clinical chairs, deans and administrators. It will offer information, tips, helpful resources, professional development and training, and opportunities to promote good health. Supervisors are encouraged to allow employees to use work release time to attend this work-related enrichment series. RSVP at AdminPro@upstate.edu and an appointment link will be emailed to you.

__________

World Kidney Day presentation is March 10

In celebration of World Kidney Day, Dr. Michael Lioudis—division chief of Nephrology at Upstate—will share information about the importance of kidney health and how to care for kidneys March 10 at 10 a.m. Take 10 minutes out of your day to join: https://upstate.webex.com/meet/brisks.

__________

World Sleep Day presentation is March 18

In celebration of World Sleep Day, Dr. Antonio Culebras and Dr. Manta will present on insomnia, narcolepsy, REM sleep behavior disorder, napping and shift work sleep March 18 at 1:30 p.m. To join, visit: https://upstate.webex.com/meet/brisks.

__________

Volunteers sought for Covid clinical trial

The development and approval of an effective Covid-19 vaccine was an important milestone in our fight against covid. We are grateful to all who have made the choice to protect themselves and others by receiving the covid vaccine. As the pandemic continues, an important next step is to learn about the safety of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech covid vaccine. For more information, call 315-464-9869 or email trials@upstate.edu.

__________

Volunteers sought for meningitis study

Upstate seeks healthy volunteers between ages 15 and 25 for a clinical trial involving the efficacy of a new pentavalent meningococcal vaccine in healthy adolescents and adults, who have previously received one dose of quadrivalent vaccine.

Joseph Domachowske, MD, pediatric infectious diseases specialist and principal investigator of the study, will evaluate how a new combination vaccine against all five types compares to the two vaccines currently being used in this age group.

Upstate is working with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in developing the new combination vaccine intended to protect against five of the most prevalent serogroups of the bacteria causing meningitis. To learn more about participating in the clinical trial, contact the study team at: 315-802-1105, anwarn@upstate.edu or mustanar@upstate.edu.

__________

EPIC input sought

Medical staff, residents and fellows are welcome to share insights and candid opinions about EPIC here: SUNY Upstate 2022 EHR Experience Survey (qualtrics.com )

Upstate partners with the KLAS Arch Collaborative, a national effort to benchmark physicians’ experiences with their EHR. This allows your feedback to have national relevance and to be collected anonymously if you wish. The link opened Feb. 8 and will run for three weeks. Results will be shared as soon as analysis is complete, as they were last year.

Upstate has used results from previous editions of this activity to improve Epic use in multiple ways, including:

Increased opportunities for individualized training including 1:1 “over the shoulder” sessions from trained Epic coaches who highlight areas where you can improve
Reduced Best Practice Advisories (BPAs) by more than 50%, saved practitioners 700 hours, and embedded the required action directly into the BPA
Added numerous Express Lanes, including one for erroneous encounters
Enhanced Chart Search, now includes media AND content in PDFs

__________

Student Research Day announced

Student Research Day will be held April 6 via WebEx. Keynote address will feature Prachee Avasthi, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Student talks from the colleges of Medicine, Health Professions and Graduate Studies will begin at 1 p.m., keynote begins at 3 p.m., poster session runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. For event details, information on presentations and the virtual poster session, visit https://www.upstate.edu/grad/students/srd/intra/event-details.php or email Natalie Andrianos at andriann@upstate.edu.

__________

Professional Development and Learning offers micro-credentials

Upstate’s Professional Development and Learning now offers micro-credentials. For details, visit: https://www.upstate.edu/pdl/intra/services/microcredential/index.php or register to learn more at an upcoming information session at https://www.upstate.edu/pdl/intra/register/index.php?topicid=169698.

__________

Health Sciences Library running trial of PsycTests

The Health Sciences Library will run a trial of PsycTests through March 2. Individuals can access the resources through the following links:

Advanced search

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/upstate.edu?url=https://psycnet.apa.org

Basic search

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/upstate.edu?url=https://psycnet.apa.org/home

To learn more about the resource, visit: https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psyctests/fact-sheet.pdf

Submit feedback to Kim Nolan at nolanki@upstate.edu.

__________

Wellness tools open to all at Upstate

WellBeing Index is available to all at Upstate here: https://www.mywellbeingindex.org/. Use “Upstate” as invitation code. Measure your level of wellness, learn more about burnout, and gain access to a variety of wellness tools. This free service is entirely confidential and anonymous.

__________

Advocates for Upstate Accepting 2022-23 grant applications

The Advocates for Upstate Medical University are accepting applications for grant funding of departmental projects and programs. The deadline for submission is Friday, Feb. 25 at noon. All departments and programs affiliated with Upstate are eligible. Award decisions will be announced before the end of April 2022, and grants awarded must be used between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023. Full details and the grant application form are here: https://www.upstate.edu/advocates/grants-scholarships/grant-application.php.

__________

Upstate’s Pathway to Wellness celebrates 10 years in February

To help Upstate’s Pathway to Wellness program celebrate its 10^th anniversary, share photos of a wellness event, yourself or your team then and now. Success stories are welcome. Email wellness memories and stories to BriskS@Upstate.edu.

__________

35^th annual Dearing Writing Awards competition now open

The Center for Bioethics and Humanities announces the 35^th annual Dearing Writing Awards competition, open to all Upstate matriculated students, residents, employees, and faculty. Submissions are due by March 12. Submissions of quality fiction, essay, poetry, and memoir of any subject matter are welcome.

Submit two copies—One copy should include the writer’s name, address, telephone number, and category on it; students should indicate their college and class year. The second copy should include only the title and category with the work.

One entry per writer, a maximum of 2,500 words double-spaced for essays and fiction, and no more than 5 poems. Send submissions to Andrea Musolino, Center for Bioethics and Humanities, via email at musolina@upstate.edu. Winners will be announced and awards presented April 7. Winners will receive a monetary award. All submissions receive consideration for CBH’s annual journal The Healing Muse. For more, visit: www.TheHealingMuse.org.

__________

Food truck schedule and locations

Upstate’s food truck schedule and locations are listed below and online at: https://www.upstate.edu/nutrition/food-trucks.php.

Upstate University Hospital traffic circle

Feb. 15 Ali Baba from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Feb. 16 CalleTropical from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Feb. 17 Pita Dream from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Feb. 18 Ali Baba from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Feb. 18 Pita Dream from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Feb. 21 Elbita’s Cocina from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Feb. 21 Pita Dream from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Feb. 22 Ali Baba from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.