Engineering Lecturer To Advise on Climate Change’s Risk to U.S. Financial System

Arthur Small, a lecturer in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will be part of a government panel tasked with identifying, assessing and responding to the risks climate change poses to the financial system.

The federal government has tapped engineering lecturer Arthur Small to lend his expertise on the costs of climate change to the financial system. (Contributed photo)

The Financial Stability Oversight Council established the Climate-Related Financial Risk Advisory Committee earlier this month.

Small is an economist, data scientist and decision scientist who lectures in the Department of Systems and the Environment. He works primarily in the domains of energy, environment and climate change.

“Assessing climate-related financial risk is a complex and important task, and I am grateful for the willingness of this committee to take on this work,” U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said. “In establishing this committee, we will leverage the expertise of those outside of government and work collaboratively to improve our collective understanding of how climate change may impact the financial sector. The newly established advisory committee will also ensure that state and federal policymakers hear from leading experts on climate-related financial risks.”

The committee – comprising 20 members and one government observer – will help the Financial Stability Oversight Council receive information and analysis on climate-related financial risks from a broad array of stakeholders. The committee’s members include stakeholders from a wide range of backgrounds, including the financial services industry, non-governmental research institutions, climate-related data and analytics providers, nonprofit organizations and academia.

The committee’s first meeting is anticipated to be held in early 2023.

Newsweek Lists UVA Medical Center Among World’s Best Specialized Hospitals

Newsweek recognized three specialties at the University of Virginia Medical Center in its 2023 list of the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals.

Out of tens of thousands of hospitals worldwide, UVA is ranked in three specialties:

• Neurosurgery: No. 72. UVA is a pioneer in the use of focused ultrasound – an incisionless form of brain surgery – to treat neurological conditions such as essential tremor as well as symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
• Oncology: No. 211. Earlier this year, UVA Cancer Center became one of just 53 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, which recognizes the nation’s most outstanding cancer programs.
• Cardiology: No. 266. Recent breakthroughs at the UVA Heart and Vascular Center include the discovery that a common gout medication improves survival rates for patients with heart failure, according to a recent study.

These three specialties also took top honors in Virginia, with both Neurosurgery and Oncology ranking No. 1 in the state.

Hospitals named to the list, Newsweek said, “are often at the forefront of scientific development in their medical fields and excel in certain surgeries or procedures which lead other hospitals or doctors to transfer their patients to these facilities to get the best treatment.”

Dr. K. Craig Kent, chief executive officer for UVA Health and executive vice president for health affairs at UVA, highlighted that the rankings reflect UVA’s critical role in providing exceptional care for even the most complex cases.

“A key element of our mission is to inspire hope for patients from across Virginia and beyond, and one of the ways we do that is by providing highly specialized, high-quality care that cannot be found at most hospitals,” he said.

Newsweek’s rankings are driven by a global survey in which more than 40,000 health care experts in 20 countries were invited to participate, along with hospital data such as accreditations and certifications.

Batten Dean Joins Major Academy’s Fellowship

The National Academy of Public Administration recently selected Ian Solomon, dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, to join its 35 new Academy Fellows.

“Our distinguished Academy Fellows are nationally recognized and respected for their expertise in the field of public administration, and the members of the fellows class of 2022 are no exception,” Terry Gerton, president and CEO of the academy, said. “We proudly welcome this outstanding new class of fellows that will help advance the academy vision – a just, fair and inclusive government that strengthens communities and protects democracy.”

The fellows will be inducted during the academy’s fall meeting, scheduled virtually and in person Nov. 2-4 at three host sites (the academy’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and the University of Connecticut in Hartford, Connecticut).

The 2022 class joins more than 950 Academy Fellows – including former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors and state legislators, as well as prominent scholars, business executives, nonprofit leaders and public administrators.

Chartered by Congress to provide nonpartisan expert advice, the National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization established in 1967 to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient, accountable and transparent organizations.

Pew Charitable Trusts Backs Med School Researchers

The School of Medicine team of P. Todd Stukenberg and Hui Zong are among six pairs of researchers who will probe leading questions in biology and disease as the Pew Charitable Trusts’ 2022 class of Innovation Fund investigators.

The scientists – alumni of Pew’s biomedical programs in the United States and Latin America – will look to advance scientific discovery and improve human health by drawing on their expertise in subjects ranging from molecular biology and neuroscience to genetics and biochemistry.

Stukenberg and Zong will develop a new mouse model that better represents the way human cancers develop.

“Collaboration and creativity drive all scientific innovation,” Molly Irwin, vice president for research and science at Pew, said. “Together, these investigators are working to understand some of health and medicine’s biggest mysteries, and Pew is proud to support them.” 

Pew launched the Innovation Fund in 2017. The fund aims to promote creative and cross-disciplinary partnerships among alums of Pew’s biomedical scholar and Latin American fellow programs, with all holding assistant professor positions or higher eligible to apply.

Hoos Well Program Earns Workplace Mental Health Award

UVA’s Hoos Well program is one of three inaugural winners of the Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health in the Workplace, presented by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The Luv u Project, for “comprehensive efforts to advance workforce mental health and psychological wellbeing.”

According to the announcement, the Hoos Well program “promotes positive mental health with both individual and organizational efforts that include policies to support flexible work schedules, expanded access to mental health treatments, and a variety of self-care resources. Participants in a mental skills training initiative experienced a 16% decrease in burnout, a 15% increase in well-being, and a 7% increase in feeling part of a community at work.”

“We know that workplace mental health efforts are most effective when they follow evidence-based practices and are embedded within a culture of health and well-being,” Ron Goetzel, a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said. “We established the Mattingly Award to recognize and celebrate exemplary organizations that recognize the importance of their human capital.”

The other recipients were Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a law firm, and the Metro Nashville Public Schools.

The awards will be presented Nov. 16 in Bethesda, Maryland.

State Association Honors Nursing School’s Longest-Serving Faculty Member

Community and public health professor Vickie Southall of UVA’s School of Nursing received the Virginia Nurses Association’s 2022 Public Health Nurse Award at the group’s Sept. 10 gala in Chantilly.

The award, bestowed annually, “recognizes public health nurses’ contributions to public health nursing practice within their agency, community, region, state, nation, or globally by providing leadership in professional organizations, demonstrating outstanding public health nursing performance or other accomplishments related to public health nursing.”

Vickie Southall, the School of Nursing’s longest-serving faculty member, received the Virginia Nurses Association’s Public Health Nurse Award. (Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

Southall is an award-winning educator who – as the School of Nursing’s longest-serving faculty member – has created exciting and varied clinical opportunities and experiences for her students. A lifelong Louisa resident, Southall has close ties to the Louisa County Resource Council, a food and clothing bank, Louisa County Public Schools, and the Louisa County Department of Health – sites where her students hone their practices and gain experience in public health nursing.

She has been a critical advocate for the legislative movement to put a school nurse in every public school in Virginia, and was a key faculty member who championed nursing students’ involvement as COVID-19 vaccinators and educators in early 2021.

Throughout COVID-19 and long before, Southall has been instrumental in promoting nursing students’ deep involvement in and exposure to varied community health settings. She’s taken small groups of nursing students to acupuncture clinics, to horse sanctuaries where children with cognitive disabilities receive therapy, and into classrooms where her students do everything from teaching youngsters about pet safety and hand hygiene to teaching CPR, “Stop the Bleed” programs and the Heimlich maneuver.

Southall serves in numerous organizations in the community, is the school nurse expert for the Virginia School Mental Health Partnership, and established the Louisa County dental voucher program for residents in need of financial support for oral care, among many other initiatives. In 2019, she won an All-UVA Teaching Award for her classroom creativity.

Other finalists for Virginia Nurse Association 2022 awards included Beth Epstein, associate dean for academic programs, and professor Kathryn Reid who were nominated for the Nurse Researcher Award; and assistant professor Elizabeth Taliaferro-Jones, who received an honorable mention for the Nurse Educator Award.

Office of Engagement Awards Faculty Members for Community Outreach

University Advancement’s Office of Engagement has honored six UVA faculty, including three from the School of Medicine, with a 2022 Distinguished Scholar Award – a recognition of their critical work in educating and enriching the lives of UVA alumni, friends and families.

Provost Ian Baucom presented the awards Sept. 29 at a reception at the Boar’s Head Resort. The event also acknowledged 150 faculty and administrators from all 12 University schools who partnered on 165 educational opportunities for the UVA community this year.

The 2022 Distinguished Scholars from UVA’s School of Medicine include Dr. Anelyssa D’Abreu, associate professor of neurology; Carol Manning, professor of neurology and nursing and director of the Memory & Aging Care Clinic; and Dr. William (Bill) Petri Jr., the Wade Hampton Frost Professor of Medicine and vice chair for research of the Department of Medicine.

The other three faculty recipients of the award were Elgin Cleckley, assistant professor of architecture; James Loeffler, the Berkowitz Professor of Jewish History and Kolodiz Director of Jewish Studies; and Laura Morgan Roberts, associate professor of business administration.

D’Abreu and Manning were jointly recognized for participating in two talks on dementia in 2021. Their first presentation provided a general overview of dementia, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease. The second presentation discussed Lewy body dementia and featured a screening of the film “SPARK: Robin Williams and His Battle with Lewy Body Dementia.” More than 1,500 registrants tuned into their programs, a reflection of the broad nature and importance of their work.

Petri has been a hero for the University community and the residents of the greater Charlottesville area during the unprecedented fear and uncertainty of the pandemic. He offered his scientific expertise calmly and reassuringly on several occasions. His most recent program, “On-Air with UVA,” had 500 registrants and served as an update on the pandemic. Previously, Petri headlined an “On-Air” program with more than 1,600 registrants, showcasing his knowledge and influence on this vital topic at an early and delicate point in the pandemic’s trajectory.

Cleckley presented his work with the Anne Spencer House and Garden in Lynchburg – the restored home of the famed Harlem Renaissance poet – to an alumni audience. He conveyed the importance of the Spencer House and explained his work there, which recently received grant support from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Cleckley also was an essential member of a 2021 panel discussion on “Skyscraper Gothic: The Creation of an American Identity” that highlighted the influential research, design, implementation and education of students, museum members and visitors to a recent exhibit at The Fralin Museum of Art.

Loeffler assembled a panel of experts and moderated a discussion for a virtual event, “Hanukkah & the Jewish Experience at UVA in the Classroom and Beyond,” highlighting the vibrancy of the Jewish community at UVA. Participants commented that they “learned how engaged, lovely, and optimistic Jewish studies and culture is at UVA.” Nearly 500 alumni, friends and families registered for the program, representing 33 states and five countries.

Roberts shared her knowledge of leadership traits with UVA and colleagues from partner Atlantic Coast Conference schools during the 2021 ACC Conference, and was a featured speaker during UVA Advancement’s Week of Learning, discussing methods to help the audience maximize their potential and activate their best selves. She has previously presented on diversity and inclusion for the Lifetime Learning program.

The Distinguished Scholars Award honors faculty for sharing their expertise, research, books and depth of knowledge with members of the UVA community across the globe.