February 7, 2003

News Briefs

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Conway-Welch to serve on Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee

Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, was recently selected by Secretary Tommy Thompson as a member of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC) beginning in 2002.

The MCAC advises the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on whether specific medical items and services are reasonable and necessary under Medicare law. The group performs this task via a careful review and discussion of specific clinical and scientific issues in an open and public forum.

Harris to direct social work office

Kimberly Harris has been named Social Work Manager in the Office of Case Management. Harris has a variety of medical social work experience in acute care hospitals, both adult and children’s, as well as in long-term care, private facilities and with the State of Tennessee.

Harris received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1988. She joins Vanderbilt on Feb. 17.

Host lab sites needed for grant

The Office for Science Outreach (OSO) is applying for a National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute grant, the Minority K-12 Initiative for Teachers and Students. The grant is to promote careers in scientific research for underrepresented minorities.

The OSO is proposing a high-school teacher and student summer program where participants are placed in biomedical research labs. Students and teachers would later be required to present their work in a research symposium setting and promote community awareness through presentations in public arenas.

Call Andrea Baruchin at 322-3532 to participate. Costs will be covered by the grant.