News Briefs

Eeyore's 5K Fun Run

The 27th Annual Eeyore's 5K Run will help provide scholarships for Houston-area high school students attending components of The University of Texas System. A family event, co-sponsored by the Texas Exes Houston Chapter and the UT Health Science Center at Houston, the run will be Saturday, April 2, at the UT Health Science Center Recreation Center, 7779 Knight Road.

Entry fees for adults and children are discounted until race day. Packet pick-up will be at Luke's Locker, 1953 West Gray, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., March 31 and April 1. For information contact Aimee Friend, (713) 627-3938 or HoustonTexasExes@alumni.utexas.net, or visit http://www.TexasExes.org/Houston and click on Eeyore's Fun Run. To register online go to http://www.signmeupsports.com.

School of Nursing Impresses Examiners

The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston Dean Patricia Starck, D.S.N., received word from the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas that the school's baccalaureate degree nursing program has been fully approved, based on the NCLEX-RN examination pass rate for 2004 and a review of the school's 2004 Annual Report.

The Board of Nurse Examiners commended the School of Nursing faculty and staff for the graduates' 95.41 percent pass rate on the NCLEX-RN for the 2004 examination year.

Student Wins National Volunteer Award

Chirag Patel, an M.D., Ph.D. candidate at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, was one of 10 national recipients of the 2005 Lewis Hine Award for Service to Youth Jan. 31 in New York City.

Patel serves on the board of directors of Innovative Alternatives, a non-profit organization that promotes peaceful conflict resolution, and volunteers at a student-run clinic for the homeless. He was a member of last year's steering committee for United To Serve, a day in which more than 200 volunteers served at nine Texas Medical Center institutions. As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University, Patel began the Freshman Day of Service, which is now in its sixth year.

Administered by the National Child Labor Committee, the award is named after photographer Lewis Wickes Hine, whose early 20th century photographs of children working under deplorable conditions helped to enact state and federal laws to protect the rights of children. Previous award recipients include Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Bolton and Harry Belafonte. Each winner receives $1,000 and a trip to the awards ceremony. Patel designated his monetary award to the Indian Ocean tsunami relief efforts.

Poverty is a Menace to Your Health

Marilyn Gaston, M.D., a former Assistant Surgeon General of U.S. Public Health Service, called for a revolution to improve the health of the poor and the uninsured in the United States. Speaking Jan. 21 at the UT Medical School at Houston as the Grant Taylor Lecturer, Gaston said there are 45 million uninsured in this country and 18,000 people die annually mainly because they're uninsured. "That is the fifth leading cause of death in this country," she said.

In Harris County alone, over 1.1 million people are uninsured. After the talk, organizers from the Center for Health Services at the School of Public Health presented the findings of four groups studying health care in the Houston area and discussed them with the audience.

International Visitor

Jin Pu, M.D., chief of the Cardiovascular Unit, Guangdong Hospital, People's Republic of China, visited The University of Texas Medical School at Houston Nov. 30 under the auspices of the International Visitor Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. His program was arranged by the Institute of International Education.

Jin Pu met with Hazim Safi, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, and Richard Smalling, M.D., Ph.D., the Jay Brent Sterling Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine and director of the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine. Bryant Boutwell, Dr.P.H., the John P. McGovern Professor in Oslerian Medicine and associate dean for community affairs, coordinated his visit to the Medical School.