No images? Click here DECEMBER 2019 A note from the Chair -Dear PM&R colleagues, It is with great excitement that I invite you to read our first monthly PM&R department newsletter. Working toward our PM&R department goal of improving cultural engagement and timely communication across our practice sites, we are pleased to showcase our clinical, education, research and community engagement highlights with you. The newsletter format will include important institutional news and showcase your collective accomplishments! We invite you to share your news and pictures with your colleagues by submitting content to the newsletter. Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, I wish to convey my deepest gratitude to each of you for your many contributions to our clinical programs, educational initiatives, research priorities and community engagement activities. I am truly grateful to Rachel Stauffer for her willingness to join our department as our administrator effective Oct. 1, 2019, and to Tammy Bamlett Sherman for her interim leadership since January. We are stronger today because of their collective leadership! We are off to an outstanding FY 2020! We look forward to your feedback regarding the newsletter format & content, and welcome your suggestions. All the best, Diane Be in our next issue!We would love to hear from you! Please send any recent publications, awards, presentations, shout-outs, etc. Our goal is to highlight all aspects of PM&R (VAMC, SpineCare, CHW, FH, Research, etc.). There is always something new and exciting happening, so please share by emailing submissions to Andrea Christl at achristl@mcw.edu. Physical Medicine is growing! We welcome Dr. Jeffrey Cheng, assistant professor of PM&R who joined our general PM&R division after completing residency at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. He will be spending most of his time at the VA and has added a half-day clinic at Moorland Reserve. Congratulations to Drs. Connelly and Kotsonis for the Pain Awareness and Education Symposium Award, presented Monday, September 23, 2019. Congratulations to Drs. John McGuire and Nick Ketchum for serving as teaching faculty in the AAPM&R’s new STEP Interventional Spasticity Certificate program and to resident physician Dr. Ryan Dunn for his poster presentation at AAPM&R. Congrats to Drs. Muni Reddy and William Waring for being recognized for their years of service to MCW during the September Convocation Ceremony. Dr. Reddy was recognized for his 40 years of service to MCW! What an amazing and dedicated career Dr. Reddy has had at MCW. Congratulations! Dr. Waring was recognized for 20 years of service to MCW. Congratulations! Way to go Beatriz Envila, who raised $1,865 in donations for PM&R Chocolate Brownies Defense Team! You exceeded you own goal of $1000 – WOOT WOOT!! PM&R’s W.H.E.E.L. Program receives recognition for Community-Engaged ResearchPM&R clinicians treating patients with Spinal Cord Injury due to gun violence noticed disparities facing this population for many years. In 2017, a partnership between PM&R, True Skool, Independence First, community artist Paul Kjelland, and Michelle Wesline, RN (Neurosciences Coordinator), led to a $50,000 grant through the Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Community Engagement Pilot Award Program exploring how the creative arts can support participation in physical activity for young Black men with SCI due to violence in the City of Milwaukee. The success of this pilot project led to additional funding through the Neuroscience Research Center to support further development of this project, including employing 4 of the pilot project participants as Community Research Assistants in PM&R. The program has recently received two awards. Moriah Iverson, MS, Program Manager, received the Martha Valerio Award from Independence First in November 2019, and the art created in collaboration with project partner Paul Kjelland and the pilot study participants received a No Studio Social Justice Story Award in November 2019. The project team recently submitted a grant to Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin’s Workforce Development RFA, and has upcoming plans to expand programming in a submission to the National Institute for Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) in January 2019. W.H.E.E.L. Program was also recently featured on CBS58, and has an upcoming feature on Milwaukee PBS! For updates on the program, please follow them on Facebook. Welcome the Zvara family's new addition: Koa Bram Zvara, born 4/15/19 at 12:19 a.m. weighing 7lbs 4oz. Welcome baby Walker – Lilian "Lily" Heather Walker, born 4/27/19 at 11:41 p.m weighing 7lbs 4oz. Meet the Harpers' baby, Elijah Paul Harper, born 5/14/19 at 6:35 a.m. weighing 8lbs 13oz and measuring 21 inches long. Welcome the newest addition to the Beddows family, Amelia Frances Beddows, born 5/18/19 at 9:21 p.m. weighing 7lbs 15oz and measuring 21 inches long. The Connellys welcomed Christian Craig Connelly, born 5/25/19 at 6lbs 14oz, 19.5 inches long. Meet the Belknaps' baby, Margaret, born 6/18/19 at 6lbs 10oz, 20 inches long. Have news to share with your PM&R colleagues? We would love to hear from you for our next issue, so please email any recent publications, awards, presentations, shout-outs, etc. to Andrea Christl at achristl@mcw.edu. Medical College of Wisconsin | 8701 Watertown Plank Road | Milwaukee, WI 53226 Connect to MCW on Social |