College kicks off 30th anniversary tour with powerful presence at FPHA conference
USF’s College of Public Health kicked off its yearlong 30th anniversary celebration last month with its first official tour stop, the annual Florida Public Health Association Educational Conference in Orlando, July 30 through Aug. 1.
The COPH delegation displayed bullish pride at the 2014 FPHA Educational Conference
Dr. Michael White, professor in the Department of Global Health and deputy director of the department’s Florida Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery and Development, was a featured luncheon speaker. He presented “Public Health and the Genomics Revolution.”
Dr. Donna Petersen, COPH dean and senior associate vice president of USF Health, delivered “Framing the Future: The Second Hundred Years of Education in Public Health.” Both talks resonated the conference theme, “The Future is Now: Rethinking PH.”
Three groups of COPH students from Dr. Jaime Corvin’s spring Global Health Assessments Strategy course presented research posters. Each year, students in the class design, develop and implement needs assessments.
Jaime Corvin, PhD, MPH
One group was awarded “most innovative research idea” for “Exotic Dancers: Occupational Health Needs Assessment and Analysis.” Another reaped recognition as “most informative presentation” for “Behaviors and Perceptions of Road Safety at the University of South Florida,” and a third group presented “Developing a Pictorial Scale to Examine Healthcare-Seeking Behavior Among Tampa Bay Burmese Refugees.”
COPH instructor Alison Oberne presents to Dr. Rick France, assistant laboratory director for the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories–Tampa. Oberne and France are COPH graduates.
“Students are taught the process of conducting research in local communities and low-resource settings,” Corvin said. “The class is a practical, hands-on course that allows students to not just learn about research methods, but to conduct their own research projects on health issues impacting the local community that also have global implications.”
L to R: Dozens of alumni re-connected with the college at FPHA. Alumna Dr. Wendy Shellhorn, professor at St. Petersburg College, visited with Todd Williams, COPH admissions and enrollment administrator.
L to R: Alumna Sara Matthews, epidemiology program manager with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, visited with Natalie D. Preston, COPH director of alumni relations.
Story by David Brothers, photos by Ellen Kent and Natalie Preston, USF College of Public Health
Related media:
FPHA photo gallery in Picasa