Dr. Kyaien Conner was recently nominated by the Council on Social Work Education to be their representative expert to serve on the Behavioral Health Technical Expert Panel (TEP) over the next 3 years. The TEP is part of a 30 million dollar project funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded to the American Psychiatric Association to evaluate and measure the quality of patient reported outcome measures and other clinical assessment tools in measure-based psychiatric care and to develop evidence-based treatment evaluation processes for three high risk populations: suicide risk, early psychosis and opioid misuse. Dr. Conner is one of 20 experts from around the country serving on this panel which will be reporting directly to CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Dr. Conner was nominated and offered a seat on this panel to bring to bear her expertise in the area of health disparities generally and specifically to evaluate the cultural sensitivity and limitations of current quality of care measures and metrics.

We had 13 poster presentations in the We Love Research symposium in the Atrium on Valentine's Day. CBCS Research Council members rated the poster presentations and awarded prizes to the Best and Honorable Mention posters in the undergraduate and graduate research categories. The caliber of the presentations was excellent,

The winners in this stiff competition included:

• Zoe Blair-Andrews, undergraduate student in the School of Social Work, for her poster entitled: Parental Descriptions of Childhood Avoidance Symptoms after Trauma
• Ashley Knochel, master's student in Applied Behavior Analysis, for her poster entitled: Culturally Focused Staff Training to Increase Praise for Ghanaian Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Honorable mention awards went to:

• Robert Perkins, Nikki Webster, Amelia Bennett, undergraduate students in Criminology for their poster entitled: The U.S. Missing Persons Project & USF SPRUCE Research Lab
• Adrian N.S. Badana and Maureen E. Templeman, graduate students in the School of Aging Studies, for their poster entitled: Associations between Workplace Stress and Caregiver Strain in Full-time Employed Caregivers

Thank you to all the faculty, staff, and students who attended this event. It is great to see that the future of the research enterprise in behavioral and community sciences is in such capable hands. This was a lot of fun and we look forward to future We Love Research events.

Part of the mission of the University of South Florida is to "foster intellectual development, and ensure student success in a global environment". Foundational to this mission is a diversity initiative that includes "...outreach and support services to the local elementary school, middle school, and high school students in hopes of ...[improving] academic achievement and career success among disadvantaged youth".

Dr. Guitele J Rahill sponsored two teams of seven students each. On February 13, 2019, these high school students competed in the Florida Education Fund's County and Regional History and Culture Brain Bowl.

Students spent months studying the Black Heritage trivia questions (1250) and reading the following books: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race; The Fisher King, by Paule Marshall; and From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, Chapters 11-20.

Dr. Rahill collaborated with local school social workers Julina Dolcer and Maggie Dulcio, parents of some of the students and coaches of the two teams. Berlande Blaise, a USF MSW student, provided invaluable support preparing the coaches and practicing with the student competitors.

The first place team will represent the Hillsborough County Center of Excellence in State competitions in March 2019. They will compete against nine other teams. If successful, each student will receive a full 4-year scholarship to the sate university of their choice.

 

Kali S. Thomas, PhD, will present "New Investigations into Assisted Living: Markets, and Data, and Regs, Oh My!" on Friday, March 1, 2019 at 10:30am in USF College of Nursing, MDN 2005. Dr. Thomas is an Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, and a Research Health Science Specialist at the Providence VA Medical Center's Center of Innovation for Long-term Services and Supports. She received her PhD in Aging Studies from the University of South Florida and completed an AHRQ-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Brown University Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research. Her research focuses on identifying ways to improve the quality of life of older adults needing long-term services and supports (LTSS) through applied health services research.

On Valentine's Day, the Healthy Culture Crew celebrated their first year of promoting wellness for employees of the College of Behavioral & Community Sciences and CBCS celebrated 10 years of promoting well-being through teaching, research and community practice. The festivity was enjoyed by over 100 faculty and staff who participated in yoga and other energizing activities, enjoyed Planet Smoothies and Publix Greenwise snacks, learned about bicycle safety, and won CBCS gear on prize wheels. Thanks to the Healthy Culture Crew for organizing the event.

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