Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Bulletin, a new quarterly online newsletter from East Carolina University's Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, Inc. The Bulletin will be a vehicle for sharing and celebrating the efforts of the M&HS Foundation in supporting ECU's Health Sciences Division.

We are pleased to introduce this first issue, and we hope you enjoy The Bulletin. Most importantly we hope this newsletter will provide readers easy access to M&HS Foundation news and events, and will keep alumni, friends, faculty and students up-to-date on current happenings within ECU's Health Sciences Division.

The Medical & Health Sciences Foundation is proud to be the fundraising arm for the Brody School of Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine, the College of Allied Health Sciences, the College of Nursing, the East Carolina Heart Institute and the Laupus Library.










Medical & Health Sciences Foundation Site

 

Greetings from the Brody School of Medicine! What an incredible time it is to be a part of the school as we are experiencing unprecedented and exciting changes daily.

The American Medical Association chose the Brody School of Medicine as one of 11 medical schools across the country receive a $1 million dollar grant through the program titled "Accelerating Change in Medical Education."

This initiative is aimed at transforming the way future physicians are trained.  Dr. Elizabeth Baxley, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs will lead the administration of the grant.  “This grant provides Brody and the ECU Division of Health Sciences with the opportunity to create and test new models of medical education.  All students will benefit from the changes we are planning,” said Baxley.

Building the number of scholarships available to students remains a top priority for the medical school.  Recently we have had two gifts from educators to the Brody School of Medicine to create endowed scholarships.  Ms. Ann Neville, ’66 and ’68 spent her career in education and retired as Vice President of Student Affairs at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, TN. Ann was an undergraduate student when the fight to build the medical school began and she has followed the growth and the success of the school since graduation. Inspired by the mission of the Brody School of Mission, Ann has established a $500,000 Charitable Gift Annuity to create a scholarship in Family Medicine.

Another pair of lifelong educators chose the Brody School of Medicine to create a scholarship to honor ECU graduate Nellie Sutton Wells, graduate of ECTC in the late 1930’s, and mother of Elizabeth Johnson.  Dr. Hershel and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson of Trenton, NC created an endowed scholarship which will have a value of $50,000 by 2014, and a long-term goal of reaching $100,000.

Dr.  J. Mark Williams Distinguished Professorship in Cardiac Surgery honoring the work of Dr. Mark  Williams, cardiologist and Chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, was completed this spring.  Through the generosity of many, $333,000 was raised and will be matched by $167,000 from the North Carolina Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund.

Cancer care needs continue to be at the forefront in eastern North Carolina.  Two fundraising success stories emerged this spring, continuing to offer hope and a picture of the incredible generosity of the people of our region The Leo Jenkins Family Assistance Fund was started by an anonymous foundation with a 5 year matching gift challenge.  The foundation will match each dollar given to the fund up to $20,000 within a fiscal year.  The challenge was met for the fiscal year ending June 30, and the foundation is now accepting gifts towards the current fiscal year match.  These funds are used to help patients who need financial assistance while being treated at LJCC and help with expenses of travel, meals, and other needs that patients may have on an individual basis. 

On May 13, the third annual Coach Rock Roggeman Cancer Research Golf Tournament was held at Ironwood Country Club.  Each year the golf tournament is held to raise funds for local cancer research and clinical trials held here at the Leo Jenkins Cancer Center.  Dr. Paul Walker and his wife Kathy created the fund in 2010 with  a personal gift and continue to lead by being heavily involved with the golf tournament named in memory of ECU’s football assistant coach Thomas “Rock” Roggeman, who died in 2010 after a year-long valiant battle against cancer.  In three years of hosting the golf tournament, the event has raised $75,000 for local cancer research.

The philanthropic support that our graduates and friends continue to provide, with incredible loyalty, is remarkable and greatly appreciated.  Each gift makes a tremendous difference in the training and care delivered daily at the Brody School of Medicine. 

 

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Dental School Opens Second Site Across State

The ECU School of Dental Medicine officially opened a community service learning center in Elizabeth City, N.C., on June 10. Local, county, and state officials cut the ribbon on the $3 million, 7,700-square-foot facility, which has been providing oral health to residents of Pasquotank and surrounding counties.

“We are very excited about joining you in Elizabeth City,” said Dr. Greg Chadwick, dean of the ECU School of Dental Medicine, in remarks to elected officials, health care providers, ECU alumni, students, and local residents. “We look forward to being your neighbor. We think this will be a wonderful location for students and residents to live and gain experience practicing dentistry.”

“Today is the end of a long, long journey,” said Jerry Parks, health director for Albemarle Regional Health Services. “It is a day of thank-you’s.”

Parks also challenged ECU dental students in the crowd. “I want to put you on notice to your importance to this community,” he said. “If eyes are the window to the soul, then oral health is a window to the health of the community.”

Wick Baker, president of Albemarle Health, also spoke of the need for dental care in the region. He said the Albemarle Hospital, which is located across the street from the center and provided the site for the center, treats an average of three patients a day who come to the emergency room in need of dental care.

The center contains 16 dental chairs and employs local staff members, including full-time and part-time dental faculty, a business manager, dental assistants, dental hygienists and general dentistry residents. Beginning in 2014, fourth-year dental students will gain experience treating patients, managing business operations, and developing outreach programs during nine-week rotations at the center.

Elizabeth City, a town of nearly 19,000 on the Pasquotank River in northeastern North Carolina, was one of the first sites named for what will eventually be eight to 10 such centers state-wide. The first center opened in Ahoskie in June 2012.

Other named sites for ECU community service learning centers are Lillington in central North Carolina, Davidson County in the Triad, and Sylva and Spruce Pine in the western part of the state.  If interested in supporting and learning more about the new School of Dental Medicine, please contact Kristen Ward, director of development, at (252) 744-2239 or wardk@ecu.edu.

 

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For 45 years, the College of Allied Health Sciences has been training and educating students for preparation and entry into allied health careers. We pride ourselves on being the largest allied health program in the state, having the largest number of students, widest department range, and the most degrees offered. Our vision is “to improve the quality of health through leadership, excellence, and innovation in the delivery of progressive baccalaureate, master's, doctoral, and continuing education programs, providing professional and clinical services and conducting basic, clinical and applied research.”

 

We are passionate about what we do, and our students reflect that passion. The College of Allied Health Sciences prepares our students to succeed in all that they do.

And as we prepare for a new academic year, the College of Health Sciences is thrilled to announce that this has been a record year for scholarships. Building scholarship funds and providing aid to our students has been one of our main priorities for the 2013-2014 academic year. This year we had the largest number of available scholarships, the largest number of applicants, and the largest overall dollar-amount awarded.  We congratulate the 40 students who received scholarship awards, totaling $190, 839.00 for the upcoming academic year. Recipients included a range of students from the undergraduate to the doctorate levels of study. We are proud to award these hard working students with scholarships.

We also want to thank those who have generously given to the College of Allied Health Sciences. Without these gifts, we could not present our students with such outstanding awards. Many of our scholarships exist because of contributions from alumni and friends of the University and the College of Allied Health Sciences. Thank you for your support!

Since December, Pat Frede, gift officer for the College of Allied Health Sciences and Navy Reservist has been in training and on deployment to Djibouti, Africa. This is her second deployment in three years. Her focus on this deployment is to work with a unit, to help develop relationships between government, civilian, and military agencies. Pat was one of six members of the Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training Command to earn the designation of Enlisted Expeditionary Warfare Specialist.

We are grateful for her military service, and are proud to have her as a colleague. We look forward to her homecoming this fall.

 

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Riding for a cause
The Voice of the Pirates hosts a motorcycle ride in memory of his daughter

The highways of eastern North Carolina rumble every fall, as nearly 100 motorcycles roll to raise money for a scholarship at the East Carolina University College of Nursing.

Leading the way on their own Suzuki Boulevard cruiser is the Voice of the Pirates, Jeff Charles, and his wife, Debby. The ride benefits the Heather A. Purtee Nursing Scholarship, a fund named for their daughter, who died in a car crash 21 years ago while a nursing student at ECU.
           
“Right after Heather’s accident, we asked people in the community if they’d be interested in donating to the nursing school to honor her memory,” he said. “It just dawned on me let’s use my love of motorcycling as a way to raise money for the school.”
           
Charles clearly remembers December 10, 1992. His daughter worked in the floral department at the old Harris Supermarket on Tenth Street. She headed out that day in the store van to deliver flowers to Bethel. In a heavy rainstorm, her van collided with a truck on N.C. 11. She died instantly.
           
 “People say the worst thing in your life is to lose a child,” Charles said. “I can certainly vouch for that. It’s always with you, but you learn to move on. It’s always on your heart.”
           
Nursing leaders praised the work Charles and his wife have put into raising money for the annual scholarship, which was first awarded in 1994. 
           
“It is a wonderful way to honor their daughter and provide a scholarship for a nursing student,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean of the ECU College of Nursing. 
           
Charles is in his 26th year as the Voice of the Pirates and has been riding motorcycles about as long. In 1999, while he was in Charlotte announcing the ECU-West Virginia football game, his Yamaha 1100 drowned during Hurricane Floyd.
                       
On the ride, not everyone sports ECU colors, though they are popular. “There is some, but there are a lot of people who ride in it who aren’t even Pirate fans, who like doing charity rides,” Charles said.
           
The recipient in 2011, Courtney Evans, wore plenty of purple every football Saturday. Not only was she a nursing student but also a Pirate cheerleader and a Greenville native.
           
“Between early morning weights, clinical rotations, class time and cheerleading practice, there is little time to work,” said Evans in 2011. “As an ECU cheerleader, I feel honored to represent ECU in all of my endeavors. Just as Heather's dream was to explore the nursing field, I hope I can make the Purtee family proud as I follow the same dream in my life.”
                       
“We’re using a tragic situation that happened to our daughter to make it a positive situation today,” Charles said. “What it teaches you is there’s an incredible resilience with the human spirit. God and time help you heal.”
                       
To make a contribution to the nursing scholarship, call Mark Alexander at 252-744-2324.

 

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The ECU Libraries: Did You Know...?
Do you have fond memories of your time spent studying in one of the ECU Libraries as a student - Joyner Library, the Music Library, or the Laupus Health Sciences Library?  The Libraries continue to provide our students and faculty with access to the materials they need in order to conduct their studies and research. We also provide space for students to gather in order to conduct collaborative projects.

  • Laupus Health Sciences Library provides health sciences information, resources, and services for eastern North Carolina with a primary focus on colleges and schools within the Division of Health Sciences. At the Laupus Health Sciences Library, a special focus of the History Collection is on primary care practices in eastern North Carolina.  Collections also include historical materials from medicine, nursing, the allied health sciences, dentistry, pharmacology, and public health.
  • Joyner Library provides collections, services, and spaces that support the research, teaching, and service goals of East Carolina University, with a primary focus on the colleges within the Division of Academic Affairs. At Joyner Library, the University Archives maintain and preserve materials that document the rich history of the University. The North Carolina Collection is one of the state's major repositories dedicated to the study of North Carolina, its culture, and its people, and is the only one to emphasize the eastern region of the state.
  • The Music Library serves the music-related needs of East Carolina University and the region, primarily the School of Music and the School of Theatre and Dance. The Music Library is home to Joyner’s entire audio recording collection as well as the music-related portion of its video recording collection. In addition to these media collections the library owns collections of music scores, books, journals, microforms, and computer software dealing with every musical style and genre from classical to rock to reggae.

If you haven’t visited the ECU Libraries in some time, we welcome you to come by for a tour! You may also visit us online at http://www.ecu.edu/ecu/libraries.php . Please feel free to contact Dwain Teague, Director of Major Gifts, at teagued@ecu.edu or (252) 328-0252 to learn more about the Libraries or to schedule a tour.
Dwain travels throughout NC and the entire country to visit with alumni and friends regarding the ECU Libraries. If you would like to schedule a personal visit, please let Dwain know. Tax deductible gifts are also always sincerely appreciated should you wish to include the Libraries in your philanthropic giving.   https://onestop.ecu.edu/onlinegiving/

 

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