The Academic Minute for 2022.12.19-2022.12.23

The Academic Minute from 12.19 – 12.23

Monday, December 19th
Ling Cao – University of New England
Models for Discovering Methods to Reduce Chronic Pain
Dr. Cao completed her training in Clinical Medicine at Beijing Medical University and subsequently completed PhD training at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany). After her post-doctoral training at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, she joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences faculty at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2007..

Tuesday, December 20th
Marilyn Gugliucci – University of New England
Learning by Living: 48-Hour Hospice Home Immersion Project
Dr. Marilyn R. Gugliucci is a Professor and the Director for Geriatrics Education & Research, as well as the Director of U-ExCEL (UNE~Exercise and Conditioning for Easier Living) Fitness/Wellness Program for older adults. She conducts research on older adult function, falls, and proprioception.  Dr. Gugliucci is a Fellow of the National Association of Osteopathic Medical Educators (NAOME), the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), and the Maine Gerontological Society (MGS).

Wednesday, December 21st
Michele Polacsek – University of New England
The Impact of Digita Marketing on Children’s Unhealthy Eating Habits
Dr. Polacsek joined the University of New England faculty in 2009 where she is currently a professor of Public Health and Director of the Center for Excellence in Public Health. As principal investigator, she has maintained research funding through four grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and one grant-funded through the National Institute for Food and Agriculture. She has also served as co-investigator on other grants including several through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Polacsek’s research currently focuses on digital food and beverage marketing to children at school as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) policy advances through the promotion of fruit and vegetable purchases using behavioral economics in the supermarket setting.

Thursday, December 22nd
Sydney Springer – University of New England
Working with Doctors on Deprescribing
Dr. Springer is a preceptor for Advance Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) students in Ambulatory Care. She works in family practice at Mid Coast Medical Group – Family Practice Parkview in Brunswick, ME. She works closely with providers, nurses, medical assistants and social workers to coordinate care for community dwelling patients – with a focus on geriatrics, polypharmacy, and deprescribing.

Friday, December 23rd
Thomas Klak – University of New England
Reintroducing  Chestnut Trees to Improve Biodiversity
My research and teaching efforts focus on ecological restoration. The broad questions that drive my work are: How can we help heal the Earth? How can we live more harmoniously with all the other species with which we share the Earth? There is arguably no better species in the eastern US than the American chestnut to answer these questions. The return of a healthy American chestnut to its native range throughout the eastern US forest will be one of the great environmental reversal stories: from keystone species, to functional extinction, and now to a hopeful near-future with a fungal blight-tolerant American chestnut thriving among us again.