February 2021

Welcome to “The Scope,” the newsletter of the ECU Division of Health Sciences.

Welcome to the February 2021 issue of The Scope, the newsletter of the ECU Division of Health Sciences.

From time to time, I’ll ask another leader, provider, educator or other notable member of the DHS community to share a message with you as we celebrate the month’s accomplishments and highlights. This month, we hear from Dr. Herb Garrison, interim president of ECU’s Medical & Health Sciences Foundation.

Mark Stacy, MD
Dean, Brody School of Medicine
Vice Chancellor, Division of Health Sciences

 

Dear Colleagues,

The core mission of the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation is to provide resources to ensure student and faculty success and transform health care in the region.

The foundation was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public charitable organization in 1969 by Dr. Edwin W. Monroe, Frank M. Wooten Jr., Leo W. Jenkins, Dr. Fred Irons and Mr. F. D. Duncan.  Today, the foundation is governed by an independent board of directors who contribute generously of their time, talents and financial support. Board members work closely with the foundation staff and gift officers to acquire and manage charitable gifts, grants and assets for the benefit of ECU’s Brody School of Medicine, College of Allied Health Sciences, College of Nursing, School of Dental Medicine, William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library and other entities within ECU’s Division of Health Sciences.

Dr. Herb Garrison

Our responsibility is to inspire philanthropic support from individuals, external foundations and corporations to ensure that our clinicians and scientists can deliver comprehensive and compassionate care, conduct extensive research, and educate the next generation of physicians, nurses, dentists and allied health professionals. 

The refrain, “Heroes Work Here” has been used often over the past year as we have all joined the battle against COVID-19. However, being “heroes” is an ordinary part of the ethos across the Division of Health Science as it has been from the beginning. As a result, over the past 50 years, access to health care in eastern North Carolina has improved substantially, and, in concert with the university’s mission, we have dramatically increased clinical capacity and galvanized primary care. The result has been a 23% decline in age adjusted mortality rates from 1979 to 2020. Our School of Dental Medicine has treated more than 76,000 patients in on-campus clinics and its eight community service learning centers across the state. We are home to North Carolina’s first and largest College of Allied Health Sciences and the #1 producer of newly licensed nurses in North Carolina.

Being heroes and teaching others to be heroes requires funding and resources for student scholarships, research, faculty support, laboratory upgrades, clinic spaces, new buildings and community outreach.

The ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation supports our heroes. Please join us in meeting our mission through your own philanthropy and by keeping our team informed about the great work taking place in your area. You can read more about our current funding priorities and projects in the Philanthropy section of The Scope.

Herbert G. Garrison, MD, MPH
Interim President, ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, Inc.
Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education

Education

The division’s students, residents, faculty and staff set a standard for 2021 through excellence in education.

The ECU College of Nursing officially welcomed 142 future nurses in the spring semester with a modified ceremony to safely celebrate their admission to the College of Nursing and introduction to the nursing profession.

Students received a golden lamp pin signifying service and light as part of the twice-annual Lamp of Learning ceremony that serves an official welcome to the college’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. The celebration included 122 traditional BSN students as well as 20 students in the accelerated second-degree BSN (ABSN) program.

The golden lamp pin that students receive as part of the twice-annual Lamp of Learning ceremony signifies service and light. The symbol also appears on the College of Nursing pin that students are eligible to receive as they graduate. (Photo by Jeremy Smith)

“We know that nursing is really based on trust,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean of the College of Nursing, during the virtual ceremony. “That’s one of the ideals and values that we hold dearly in our profession, and we want you to hold that dearly as well.”

The College of Nursing’s graduate programs also were recognized as best for veterans in the 2021 U.S. News Best Online Programs released last month. ECU nursing was the highest ranked UNC institution for veterans.

ECU ranked 27th out of 194 online master’s nursing programs, placing ECU’s program in the top 15% in the country. In online graduate programs for veterans, ECU nursing was ninth. Concentrations in nursing education ranked sixth and nursing administration/leadership was 12th. The rankings for best programs for veterans were based entirely on responses to the peer assessment survey.

ECU has 325 nursing students enrolled in online master’s degree programs. Of those, 33 are listed as military veterans or active service members.

A School of Dental Medicine educational researcher has secured two patents that provide practical analytics for student and instructor performance related to competence in addition to traditional grades.

The two patents represent the foundational intellectual property for an operational analytics platform known as the eXtensible Competencies Platform (XComP). The patents are the result of a decade of work by Dr. R. Todd Watkins Jr., assistant dean for dental education and informatics at the ECU School of Dental Medicine, and the ECU Office of Technology Transfer to develop the platform’s U.S. and international patents.

In health sciences, XComP can use clinical systems to evaluate student performance in patient care. For disciplines that require particular competence in performing tasks, the platform combines these assessments with traditional exams and reports to give a real evaluation of student performance across competencies.

Based on the ECU School of Dental Medicine’s use of advanced educational technologies, it was named an Apple Distinguished Program for 2012-2013 for the innovative implementation of technology in all aspects of its instructional, problem-solving and clinical education programs. The school has earned the distinction in the years since and currently holds the title through 2022.

An alumna of the occupational therapy department in the College of Allied Health Sciences earned the 2020 Innovation Award from the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. Dr. Debbie Schwind developed a program for elementary school students with special needs to help them obtain vocational skills.

Through an extension of Schwind’s dissertation, the students are exposed to and become familiar with skills that can eventually help them transition into work roles.

Patient Care

In addition to providing routine care for patients during the pandemic, providers and educators from the division have also worked to administer COVID-19 vaccinations and tests—while also excelling in their areas of expertise.

ECU’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Brody School of Medicine and ECU Student Health Services have partnered for COVID-19 testing since the pandemic began last year. As of mid-January, more than 14,000 tests have been completed.

Alex Stanley gets a COVID-19 test on College Hill. (Photo by Rhett Butler)

Starting last fall, a team of researchers led by Dr. Suzanne Lea, associate professor in the Brody School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health, launched a study to track COVID-19 among students living on campus.

In the midst of recruiting students to participate, ECU was forced to pivot away from on-campus instruction, and most students left the residence halls.

“We planned the study based on students taking face-to-face courses on campus,” Lea said. “But we were able to adjust our research plan quickly, and … we had really terrific participation among the students that remained living in the dorms and remained in Pitt County.”

By expanding the eligible participants from freshmen in the residence halls to any student remaining in Pitt County, the team was able to register 136 participants who were tested every two weeks during the fall semester. They had a nasal swab test every visit to detect the active virus and a blood draw every other visit to test for antibodies. They also completed a survey each time about their prevention behaviors over the two weeks prior.

“We also collected data on many other factors, such as employment status, stress level, and their perceptions about COVID impact in their life,” said Lea.

She said the project provided a snapshot of what was going on with the virus in the student population, particularly in the context of what was happening in Pitt County and statewide during fall semester 2020.

ECU Physicians primary care clinics have been recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) for achieving “Gold Level” status for their commitment to treating patients with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

This was the third consecutive year that ECU Physicians, the medical practice of East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine, received recognition through the Target BP program, a joint initiative between the AHA and the America Medical Association to recognize clinics that “meet a high bar of excellence around hypertension control.” Clinics achieve Gold Level status when 70% of their patients who are hypertensive are at control.

This year, ECU Physicians also earned the “Gold Level” recognition through the Check, Change and Control Cholesterol program and the Target Type 2 Diabetes program.

“This recognition is a testament to our team’s patient-centered care,” said Dr. Jason Foltz, chief medical officer of ECU Physicians. “This is great recognition to the incredible work our teams are doing to focus on improving risk factors of cardiovascular disease. Working together to control important risk factors like blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol control along with smoking cessation and maintaining a healthy weight are essential to keep our population healthy and why at ECU Physicians we say, ‘Your Wellness. Our Specialty.’”

Research

The division’s research enterprise continues to showcase its successes, from COVID-19 research to events celebrating the sense of discovery in health sciences students and faculty.

The ECU School of Dental Medicine showcased its vibrant research enterprise on Wednesday, Feb. 10, during the school’s sixth annual Celebration of Research and Scholarship (CORAS).

Close to 200 participants tuned in for the virtual event that included 45 research poster presentations during breakout sessions throughout the morning. A keynote address was delivered by Dr. Paulo Coelho, the Leonard I. Linkow Professor of Implant Dentistry in Department of Biomaterials at New York University College of Dentistry.

As the event kicked off, School of Dental Medicine Dean Dr. Greg Chadwick marked the event as a reflection of the school’s commitment to research that can ultimately improve patient care.

“The role of research in improving oral health is essential,” Chadwick said. “If we are going to make progress and create new knowledge, that means having faculty involved in research and scholarly work and committed to inspiring curious students and residents—enabling them and encouraging them to develop a passion for discovery.”

Research across disciplines in the ECU School of Dental Medicine leads to evidence based patient treatments and solutions. (Contributed photo)

While ECU is known for preparing educators for the classroom, a team of Pirate researchers is studying how teachers’ personal views on healthy behaviors impact their students.

Virginia C. Stage, an associate professor in the College of Allied Health Sciences Department of Nutrition Science, along with other ECU researchers, examined the link in the Public Health Nutrition journal published by the Cambridge University Press.

The publication was part of the team’s Engagement of Outreach Scholars Academy project. The program, led by the Office of Community Engagement and Research, connects faculty and students with community partners to develop a research project that solves a local need.

Stage said that research has consistently demonstrated that teacher role modeling can have a significant impact on students’ dietary behaviors, but often educators face barriers to improving their health.

Her study, which included 15 in-depth interviews with early childhood education instructors in eastern North Carolina, identified some of these potential barriers and offered solutions to help teachers better model healthy lifestyle behaviors in the classroom. The study’s participants are educators in the federal Head Start program, which serves more than 1 million children each year in the United States and its territories.

ECU researchers are finding value in their innovations through the university’s newly launched Digital Market. The platform brings together content created by conscientious faculty and staff in an online marketplace that is accessible to the general public. The digital exchange features products that may not be patentable but still hold tremendous worth for those in their targeted fields. The Digital Market was developed by ECU’s Office of Licensing and Commercialization, which saw a need for a simple online interface where researchers could house products developed from their basic research.

Jo Anne Murray, interim assistant dean for education support and faculty development for the School of Dental Medicine, connected with College of Education professor Steven Schmidt and, over the last four years, they assembled a team of educators and clinicians who developed a set of educational modules that prepare clinicians for the classroom. The modules focus on short lessons that provide immediate, actionable teaching strategies that the duo have found useful for adult learners with limited time.

The 10 modules created by Murray and Schmidt’s team were grouped into a single program called Education in Healthcare Professions, which now has a home on the Digital Market. Health care educators can license the program for a 30-day single course or purchase a three-year license for the entire program.

“We’re getting to a point where we hope to roll out the full program soon, even beyond health sciences,” Murray said. “The Digital Market met a need for us. We needed a place to get this product in the hands of others.”

Laupus Library celebrated its annual Love Data Week celebration this month, an international event that engages researchers in dialogue about data creation, analysis and visualization. The week’s highlights included presentations from Laupus Library and the Office for Faculty Excellence as well as faculty from the School of Dental Medicine, College of Allied Health Sciences and the Brody School of Medicine. Presentations covered topics from data collection and analysis to conducting research as part of a productive team.

DHS Spotlight

In the spirit of excellence in education and a collaborative campus, we will be highlighting a variety of students, staff and faculty who represent the colleges and schools in the Division of Health Sciences.

This month, we meet Dr. Shiv Patil, a faculty member at the ECU Brody School of Medicine.

Dr. Shiv Patil, a family physician, diabetologist and faculty member at the ECU Brody School of Medicine, was named the recipient of the 2020 Health Care Provider Award from the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council.

Dr. Shiv Patil at the Family Medicine Building. (ECU Photo by Cliff Hollis)

The award is given annually to recognize those who have demonstrated exemplary work in diabetes prevention and management. It is awarded to a hospital, clinic, health care organization or person in the health care field who has provided support in one or more of the strategies outlined in North Carolina’s Guide to Diabetes Prevention and Management.

Patil received his medical doctorate from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India, in 2004, and completed his Family Medicine residency at ECU and Vidant. He holds a master’s degree in Public Health Epidemiology from Texas A&M and has completed clinical, research and faculty development fellowships, including a diabetes and metabolism fellowship at ECU in 2014 under the mentorship of late Dr. Robert Tanenberg. Patil also developed ECU Family Medicine’s interprofessional diabetes care clinic in 2015.

“Especially here in eastern North Carolina, a lot of the patients that we see in our clinics or in the hospital, they have diabetes,” Patil said. “It doesn’t just affect one organ. It affects the entire body. It can cause stroke, heart disease, it can cause kidney problems and eye problems, amputations, it can cause problems during pregnancy and so on.”

Patil said that new scientific and medical advances in the field are impressive and encouraging, but many patients in eastern North Carolina don’t have access to those treatments, which is part of what drives him to improve diabetes care in the primary care setting in eastern North Carolina.

“I think this is a field where you can make an impact on multiple levels: in preventing diabetes, in managing diabetes, preventing complications,” he said. “It goes beyond the individual patient level to the organizational and community level as well.”

Patil was nominated for the award by Kay Craven, the nutrition and patient education section head for the Brody School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and clinical nutrition services director for ECU Physicians who has worked as Patil’s colleague for several years.

“Dr. Patil understands that the best way to prevent the complications of diabetes is to prevent it to begin with, not just to treat it,” Craven said. “He has now become our champion for teaching staff and residents to recognize and diagnose prediabetes and talk with patients about a treatment plan. He is always on the forefront of making sure patients get the best care possible.”

Philanthropy

The Medical & Health Sciences Foundation houses opportunities for supporting health sciences programs that benefit students, faculty, patients and communities.

Pirate Nation Gives will be held on March 17, 2021

The funds described below are a small sample of the many philanthropic opportunities in support of ECU Health Sciences. To discuss how you can make a lasting impact on the work and research taking place here and help transform health care in North Carolina, please contact one of the Medical & Health Sciences Foundation team members listed below.


The College of Allied Health Sciences

To find out more about how you can support the College of Allied Health Sciences, contact Jeff McPherson at McPhersonj14@ecu.edu or 252-744-3231.


The Brody School of Medicine

  • COVID-19 is still challenging our University and the communities we serve. The new Pandemic Response and Research Fund will provide fast flexible support to research teams across the division focused on the testing, treatment and prevention of COVID-19, its mutations, and future pandemics.
  • Donors who make a commitment of $10,000 or more over a three-year period to the Brody School of Medicine will be invited to join the new Dean’s Council. Council members will enjoy unique opportunities to develop relationships with the Dean and the outstanding and dedicated physicians and investigators who serve on the Brody School of Medicine faculty.

To find out more about how you can support the Brody School of Medicine, contact Missy Fallon at Fallonm20@ecu.edu or 252-744-6265 or Jeff McPherson at McPhersonj14@ecu.edu or 252-744-3231.


The School of Dental Medicine

  • The new ECU Smiles for Veterans Patient Care Fund will support oral health care for veterans across the state. This fund and the school’s other Patient Care Funds fully or partly cover the cost of dental procedures for patients who meet certain financial criteria. They also provide dental students valuable experience working with these patients, from treatment plan to restored smile.
  • The School of Dental Medicine Priority Fund allows the school the greatest flexibility to address needs and opportunities that arise—from COVID-19 response to new innovations in education and patient care. This fund helps the SODM remain one of the most technologically advanced dental schools in the nation.

To find out more about how you can support the School of Dental Medicine, contact Jon Jones at jonesjona19@ecu.edu or 252-744-2239.


The College of Nursing

  • Having top quality faculty is critical to helping the College of Nursing maintain its standing as one of the top producers of nurses in North Carolina. Dean Brown has declared faculty support gifts the highest need for 2021. The Morris Family Faculty Support Endowment provides resources to recruit and retain talented faculty.
  • The national nursing shortage is even more apparent in rural and medically underserved communities. The Sylvia A. Hardy Memorial Scholarship Endowment helps make a career in nursing possible for students who grew up in eastern North Carolina.

 To find out more about how you can support the College of Nursing, contact Elizabeth Maxwell at Maxwellg17@ecu.edu or 919-330-6603.


The ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation also serves as the primary fundraising entity for the William E. Laupus Library, the East Carolina Diabetes & Obesity Institute, and the East Carolina Heart Institute.

Learn more about how you can support the mission of ECU’s Division of Health Sciences through the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, Inc.