Dupont Named President of APIC New England Chapter

Nancy Dupont, director of epidemiology and infection control, has been appointed to be the new president of Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) for the New England Chapter. APIC is the leading professional association for infection preventionists with more than 14,000 members. Its mission is to create a safer world through the prevention of infection.

Dental Student Wins National Award

The inaugural Multi-Cultural Oral Health Summit was held in July with four students from the UConn School of Dental Medicine in attendance. The summit was a joint convention of the Hispanic Dental Association, National Dental Association and Society of American Indian Dentists.

Third-year students Andrea Browne and Tyler Aten and fourth-year students Stephanie Stoddart and Tiffany Brady represented the UConn chapter of the Student National Dental Association and the Hispanic Student Dental Association.

During the summit, Stoddart was one of only two students who received the 2012 Colgate Student Recognition Award. The award recognizes graduating students who are members of the Hispanic Dental Association and who help to promote and improve the overall quality of oral health for the Hispanic population.

Laurencin Joins NIH Advisory Committee

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, director of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS), has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee to the Director. The 20-member panel’s charge is to assist the office of the NIH director in making major plans and policies, especially the allocation of NIH resources.

Cell Biology Student Recognized at International Conference

Bandana Shrestha, a Ph.D. student in Cell Biology, recently won the
“Best Poster” award at the international Barriers of the CNS Gordon Research Conference. “This is quite a prestigious recognition for a student and calls very positive attention to the graduate program at UConn,” says Joel Pachter, professor of cell biology and the director of the Blood-Brain Barrier Laboratory at the Health Center.

The focus of the Gordon Research Seminar is to encourage young scientists, students, and postdocs from the CNS Barriers field as well as other related disciplines to present their latest findings and novel methods for input and discussion with experts with a broad array of knowledge and skills.