April Distinctions

Making a difference for patients (and students)

Nancy Hardt (second from right) recently received the Spirit of Gainesville Award.

The UF College of Medicine’s Mobile Outreach Clinic and the Alachua County Library District may seem like an unlikely match. But Nancy Hardt, M.D., the college’s director of health disparities and service learning programs, needed locations for the new mobile clinic, while the library wanted to diversify its role in the community. The library agreed to host the clinic at its various branches, and the result has been improved health care access for residents, more learning opportunities for students and national and local kudos for the creative collaboration. Hardt was recently named a 2011 Spirit of Gainesville Award winner by the Gainesville Sun, while the library district was one of five libraries nationally to win the 2011 National Medal Award for Museum and Library Service in December. Hardt was recognized for her medical contributions, including launching the clinic in January 2010. Fashioned out of a bus, the clinic visits locations around the county, offering primary care and other services for free or a reduced fee.

Hardt has long held a passion for helping underserved populations and incorporating this into medical education. Her own experiences during her residency, working with patients from Appalachia, showed her how social determinants can impact patient behavior. “There is very little in medical school curriculum about literacy or poverty,” Hardt said. “That’s one of the things the medical school is trying to do — we’re trying to make sure our students know about the social determinants of health.” — Melanie Stawicki Azam

A research honor

Carole Kimberlin

The American Pharmacists Association has presented its 2012 Research Achievement Award in the Pharmaceutical Sciences to Carole Kimberlin, Ph.D., a professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy at the UF College of Pharmacy. A member of the American Psychological Association, her research examines patient attitudes about following medication advice from health care providers and their choices and behavior in using medications. “My research interests have focused on the relationship and communication dynamics between a health care provider and patient that are therapeutic or helpful to the patient,” Kimberlin said. She was the principal investigator on an FDA-funded project to evaluate consumer medication information leaflets commonly dispensed by pharmacies with prescriptions they fill. Her research focused on the quality of the written medication information provided. — Linda Homewood

College of Dentistry

Teresa A. Dolan, D.D.S., M.P.H, dean of the college, has been appointed to serve on an American Dental Association Board of Trustees Taskforce on Dental Education Economics and Student Debt. The task force was created to address the House of Delegates Resolution 66H-2011 and the ADA Board of Trustees Resolution B-204-2011.

College of Nursing

Jeanne-Marie Stacciarini, Ph.D., R.N., an assistant professor of nursing, was selected to receive the Southern Nursing Research Society Research in Minority Health Award. Stacciarini was honored for her research on the mental health of rural Latinos and her mentorship of minority students. The SNRS governing board gives the Research in Minority Health Award to an individual or a group whose research has considerably improved the health care of minorities in the southern region of the United States.

College of Pharmacy

Olihe Okoro, a third-year doctoral student in the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, is the recipient of the 2012 Marilyn Little Scholarship from the International Committee of Altrusa International of Gainesville. The scholarship supports deserving international students in graduate school studies with a major of particular need in their home country. Okoro, who is from Nigeria, also received the 2012-2013 Faculty for the Future Fellowship Program Award from the Schlumberger Foundation. The program was established in 2004 to award fellowships to women from developing economies. Lastly, she also recently received the 2012 Walgreens Diversity Scholarship.

William H. Riffee, Ph.D., dean of the college, has been named speaker-elect for the American Pharmacists Association’s House of Delegates. The House of Delegates, represented by more than 450 elected members from 50 state associations, meets each year at the APhA annual meeting for discussion, consensus building, and policy setting for the pharmacy profession. “We bridge between what is being done now in patient care and what will happen in the future as educators for the next generation of practitioners,” Riffee said. “Next year, as speaker, I will serve two years on the Board of Trustees of the APhA, which actually implements the policies developed in the House of Delegates.”