President’s Cabinet Awards 

Sandra Riegle, PhD
Alexandra Nolen, PhD, MPH 
Institute for Medical Humanities

It has been recognized that barriers imposed by cultural, language and income are not taught in the classroom but are essential components needed to treat diverse populations in order to provide real and effective health care and treatment. Through this service learning project, classroom modules were developed and implemented by faculty who then mentored students on-site during service missions. Students learned how society shapes healthcare and became more aware of the barriers patients face in improving their health and what can be done to break down those barriers.

Suzanne LaForte, MD
Department of Pediatrics

In an effort to send a clear and positive message to patients regarding their intellectual development, this program provided books to children (ages 4-18) during office visits. The Island Pediatrics Book Club, originally established in 2007, promoted regular reading and reading for fun by giving children a new age-appropriate book of their own and a “prescription” from their doctor to read 20 minutes per day. The goal of the program was to provide children access to a wide variety of reading materials in order to grow and develop into strong readers.

Kwabena Sarpong, MD, FAAP
Tiffany Moffett, CPNP
Department of Pediatrics

Several years ago, UTMB partnered with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Brazoria County to provide medical care to abused children in that area. This successful partnership provided exams to children in the southern county areas, yet data showed that children in the northern counties were not having their medical needs met. To address this problem, Project ACCESS expanded this partnership into the Pearland, Manvel and Alvin communities and created a safe and child-friendly medical suite to care for abused children.

Harold J. Vanderpool, PhD, ThM
Institute for Medical Humanities

The influences and implications of end-of-life decisions can be deeply religious, spiritual and cultural; therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach is not effective or reasonable. This program was designed to offer UTMB employees, students, patients and families with planning strategies that considered religious, spiritual and cultural influences relating to life and death decisions. The practical intervention consisted of information and public education about existing legal and ethical options for advanced care planning and end-of-life decision making through a series of public lectures and film screenings designed to educate the UTMB and Galveston community about bridging common cultural divides.