President’s Cabinet Awards 

Cara Pennel, DrPH, MPH
Leslie Stalnaker, MPH
School of Public and Population Health Administration

Public health is an essential part of our everyday lives and the health of individuals and communities. Because public health careers are not often represented to middle and high school students as career options, this project aims to establish a Public Health Summer Camp. To be implemented in summer 2025, this two-week camp will be open to 25 adolescents from Galveston County public schools.  UTMB graduate students will run the camp and introduce the youth to a broad spectrum of public health topics and the various organizations/agencies working to improve public health locally.  Field trips, educational materials and books will be integrated into the camp.

Richard Rupp, MD
Bridget Hawkins, PhD
Sealy Center for Vaccine Development

Anti-vaccination campaigns and misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines have led to a decline in the immunization rates in many states over the past five years. To increase the rates of immunization in Galveston County, an extensive educational campaign using podcasts, videos, newspaper and magazine articles, a public website and a customized Facebook page will be launched. Community presentations and special interactive quiz and advertisement slides will be displayed just prior to movie previews in local cinemas in an effort to reach a larger and diverse audience.

N. Miles Farr, MD, MPH
Daneen Nastars, DHSc, RRT, RRT-ACCS
Melissa Yanes, MS, RRT-ACCS
Internal Medicine - General Medicine

A six-week pulmonary rehabilitation program for uninsured populations diagnosed with chronic lung disease and/or shortness of breath issues will be established at the St. Vincent's House. Under the direction of UTMB Respiratory Care faculty, students will work with patients to follow individualized treatment plans and measure outcomes. The program will collaborate with the American Lung Association, the American Thoracic Society Pulmonary Rehabilitation Chapter and the UTMB Pulmonary Department to ensure patients are meeting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Pulmonary Rehabilitation guidelines. A smoking cessation component will also be part of the clinic.

Angela Attaway, RN, MSN
Syed K. Kazmi, MD
Priscila E. Martinez, MD
Maria Nguyen, MD, FAAP
Roxanna J. Sanchez, RN, MSN
Community-Based Clinic - Pediatrics, Alvin

Currently the UTMB Pediatric and Adult Primary Care Clinic in Alvin is an official site for the national Reach Out and Read program.  The clinic will use this award to expand the scope and reach children at birth rather than waiting until 6 months of age. Children will be gifted with age-appropriate and language-appropriate books during their check-up visits. Each provider is trained to teach parents how to develop emotional relational health and promote preschool literacy by reading aloud to their children. President Cabinet funds will enable the purchase of new books for the next two years and introduce the benefits of childhood literacy to a great number of at-risk patients earlier in life. The goal is to develop safe, stable and nurturing relationships for children in a community that is susceptible to the untoward effects of toxic stress.

April Cowan, OTD, OTR, CHT
Loree Pryor, OTD, OTR
Occupational Therapy

Currently occupational therapy faculty and students participate in several clinics at St. Vincent’s. As the clinics grow, an apparent need for hand-therapy services has developed, and the OT team is receiving 5 to 8 referrals each semester. When an individual injures an upper extremity or hand, their ability to engage in daily activities is severely limited. This clinic is designed to fill a gap in specialized therapy services for the uninsured and underinsured and provide a valuable clinical learning experience for UTMB students. Patients will regain proper functions of the hand – strength and dexterity – with the goal to return work and perform daily activities independently. In turn, students will gain specialized therapy skills that are sought after by clinical fieldwork sites and employers.

Shilpa Rajagopal, MD/MPH Student
Madeline R. Steck, PhD Student
School of Public and Population Health 

Reading Together is a student-led initiative that supports early childhood literacy by providing free book packages to new parents at the Mother/Baby Unit at UTMB Health in Galveston. Each package includes bilingual board books, a literacy activity calendar, informational brochures and resources from Rosenberg Library. With research showing that reading from infancy promotes language development and school readiness, it also recognizes that many families lack access or awareness. This project helps bridge that gap. Monthly volunteer visits also offer families meaningful opportunities for connection and confidence through shared reading.

Victor Sierpina, MD
Anna Fields, School of Medicine Student
Mercedez Hernandez, School of Medicine Student
Jessica Stauber, School of Medicine Student
Daniel White, School of Medicine Student
Family Medicine

Food insecurity is an unreliable access to affordable and nutritious food.  Rates of food insecurity in Galveston exceed national and state averages.  A partnership between UTMB, the UTMB Greenies Gardening Club and Seeding Galveston will work with at-risk residents to build and maintain backyard and neighborhood gardens.  The program will also establish a compost pick-up program designed to generate a cost-effective alternative to conventional garden fertilizer.

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.

Melissa Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP
Erin Hommel, MD
Andrea Wirt, MSN, GNP
Internal Medicine - Geriatrics

Caregiver burden is significant for families of geriatric patients. Following the success of a 2019 collaboration between the UTMB Geriatrics Department and the St. Vincent’s House Clinic, this project seeks to expand free respite care to all UTMB campuses. By providing more than 1,340 hours of free respite services, this program seeks to reduce caregiver stress, anxiety, and depression. Based on referrals from UTMB providers and social workers, contracted service providers from three local licensed in-home agencies will be dispatched to urban and rural geriatric patient homes to assist and/or relieve caregivers. Caregivers participating in Galveston, Brazoria and Harris counties will have the option to choose half-day or full-day periods.

Ryan Erwin
UTMB Police Department

In the event of an active shooter, this project will increase the training and communication efforts of police officers with the UTMB Police Department, the Galveston Police Department, the Port of Galveston Police Department, the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the University of Houston-Clear Lake Police. Instead of using paintball guns, special simulation equipment will be purchased to provide more enhanced and realistic training scenarios. Quarterly sessions will be conducted among these multiple law enforcement agencies.

Souby George, MSN, RNC-MNN
Tracey Santiago, MSN, RNC-OB
Women Infant and Children

Kangaroo Care is a form of developmental care that benefits all newborns, especially those in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The more an infant is exposed to skin-to-skin care, the more likely the infant will experience positive outcomes. Current patient hospital gowns do not facilitate skin-to-skin care or allow for privacy or proper securing of the infant. This project seeks to create a new gown so that all new mothers at UTMB can provide safe and modest skin-to-skin contact with their child within the first few hours of giving birth. Staff will also be trained and certified in Kangaroo Care in order to teach proper positioning and care of the infant during their hospital stay.

Dr. John Fraser
Dr. William Mileski
Surgery/Trauma Services

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in adolescent and young adult drivers. To lower the incidences of drunk and distracted driving, the Save a Life Tour will feature day-long programs at five local schools through high-impact demonstrations and video. Students also will participate in driving simulators that mimic the effects of alcoholic beverage consumption and/or texting while driving. Computer survey kiosks will record students’ knowledge and attitudes about impaired driving before and after the presentations.

Jed Assam, MD
Karima Khimani, MD (PGY-4)
Misha Syed, MD
Ophthalmology

A 2019 President’s Cabinet Award revitalized ophthalmology service at St. Vincent’s House Clinic and as a result patient volume has increased four-fold in the past year. To help manage growth and create a fully- equipped glaucoma diagnostic service center, this expansion will allow for the purchase of a human field analyzer, a handheld fundus camera and a slit lamp. These additional diagnostic tools and screening equipment will open more exam lanes and provide quality ophthalmic services to Galveston’s underserved community.

Ardalan Sharifi, MD (PGY-3 Resident)
Matthew Yang, MD (PGY-3 Chief Resident)
Ophthalmology

Due to the success of two previous President's Cabinet Awards (2019 and 2021), this project will significantly expand the reach of St. Vincent's House to treat vision-threatening issues such as diabetic retinopathy, cataracts and glaucoma for Galveston's most vulnerable population. More diagnostic tools will be purchased to open more exam lanes and additional screening equipment will support the continued growth in patient volume in order to continue providing the highest standard of eye care.

Jessica Allen, Student
Kyler Elwell, Student
School of Medicine

With a majority of Galveston’s public school children qualifying for the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) or Children’s Medicaid, there has always been a substantial demand for children’s healthcare coverage in our area. However, low enrollment in these programs results from many factors: inaccessible bureaucracies, intricate forms, detailed documentation, extended time lapses between application and enrollment, and rapid expiration of coverage. Recognizing the importance of this growing problem, UTMB medical students Jessica Allen and Kyler Elwell, created this project to organize county-wide outreach efforts utilizing UTMB students, faculty and staff who worked with families and helped them complete complicated applications and educate them on the enrollment process and policy maintenance. This two-year project coordinated three county-wide outreach visits per year, created a working-relationship with the Galveston Independent School District to train district employees and disseminate information to families, and established a website to facilitate access to information on state and federal health insurance and related resources.

John F. (Fred) Thomas, PhD
Community Health Services

The overlying goal of this project was to improve adolescent mental health in the Galveston community through psycho-education, screening and provision of culturally sensitive, evidence-based services. Three prevention strategies were incorporated into a single program and was implemented on a racially mixed and economically diverse sample of Ball High school students. Students were taught how to recognize signs of depression in themselves and others.  Additionally, students were screened to assess depressive symptoms; those with clinically significant scores were encouraged to utilize the services available through the Teen Health Centers located at Ball High School and Central Middle School. Participants were also directed to a project-based website that was monitored by an experienced clinician who reviewed all responses and wrote a detailed, personalized assessment. Assessments were emailed to the student and were offered the option of talking anonymously with a licensed clinician regarding “feelings-related” issues. Questionnaire responses that suggested significant problems were addressed by urging students to seek immediate assistance at one of the two Teen Health Clinics.

Rev. Helen W. Appelberg, DMin.
Sealy Center on Aging

In an effort to establish a supportive and collaborative environment designed to motivate seniors to become active partners with UTMB, the Sealy Center on Aging has created the Senior Seaside Club.  Galveston seniors (age 65 and older), UTMB faculty, staff and students will engage in educational, social and recreational activities designed to build a sense of community.  Activities include learning dinners with presentations related to health and wellness; “By the Sea” senior beach walks; a three-day conference for seniors, their families and caregivers; renewal of the “House Call” program; and expansion of the “Friends of the ACE Unit” volunteer program.  The overall goal of this program is to lay a foundation and create the momentum for seniors to become active partners with UTMB to build a stronger and better future.

Erin Kearney
Ann Ross
Elizabeth Ginn
Martha Norris
Pediatrics

Childhood and adolescent obesity are among the most important public health problems in the United States. Obesity during adolescence increases the risk of disease and premature death during adulthood. In order to combat obesity rates among Galveston County children and adolescents, this program will partner with the Teen Health Center, Inc. to identify children aged 10 or older who are overweight or obese and provide family counseling, weight loss education and nutritional skills in addition to screens for dyslipidemia. Patients will be tracked over a two-year period.

Rebecca Castro
Diana Hearn, RN
Community Health

People with diabetes face difficult decisions each day; one of the most important decisions involves diet modification, including how to shop for and prepare nutritious foods. The Community Health Program at UTMB will select up to 60 people to participate in this educational program to learn how to identify healthy foods at the grocery store, stay within their budget, and prepare these foods in a healthy manner at home. Progress will be measured by tracking Hemoglobin A1C levels with a goal to decrease each participant's A1C by 1.0 over a 6-month period.

Gibran Khurshid, MD
Ophthalmology

The most common irreversible cause of blindness, diabetic retinopathy, is a prevalent condition in our community. To optimize ophthalmic care to Galveston County residents, this award will outfit the St. Vincent's Eye Clinic with the tools and medicine necessary to treat the disease or perform surgery at no cost to economically disadvantaged patients.