 PPC Staff: From Left to right: Lisa Rascon, Med, MA, Mark A. Brown, MD, Corine Neumiller, RRT, Yvonne Gathers, MSW, CISW. Not pictured: Not Pictured: Wayne Morgan, MD, Theresa Guilbert, MD, Fernando Martinez, MD, Ann Wright, PhD, Joanne Douthit, RN, MN, Marty Reimer, RN, MN, Cheryl Hamilton, RRT, and Melanie Esher, BA. |
The University of Arizona Department of Pediatrics has received a $1.5 million federal grant to continue to train health professionals to better manage asthma, cystic fibrosis and other respiratory illnesses in children.
The five-year grant will support The University of Arizona Pediatric Pulmonary Center (UAPPC). One of only seven grants awarded to centers throughout the nation by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the UAPPC will serve Arizona, California, Federated States of Micronesia, Hawaii, Nevada, Samoa, Marshall Islands, Guam, Mariana Islands and Palau. This grant will provide advanced medical training in the care of children with chronic respiratory disorders to professionals in medicine, nursing, nutrition and social work. All MCHB training programs aim to promote comprehensive, coordinated, family-centered and culturally sensitive systems of health care that serve the diverse needs of all families within their communities. UAPPC seeks to develop interdisciplinary leaders who will improve the health of children with respiratory conditions. Mark Brown, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics in the UA Department of Pediatrics and principal investigator for the grant, credits work done thus far by the UAPPC team for its funding. "Not only has the rate of asthma in children risen dramatically, but more and more children formerly cared for in hospitals are being allowed to return to home and school despite needing technologically advanced treatments, such as home ventilators," he says. "There is a tremendous need to train health professionals in the community to meet the needs of these children and their families and assure their successful transition to the home and school environments. Over the first five years of its existence, the UAPPC team has shown that it can train highly qualified individuals to meet those needs." Traineeships with the UAPPC are open to individuals who have completed their graduate studies or are currently enrolled in a master's program. More information is available by calling (520) 626-2962. |
