News & Events

North Carolina’s First Master’s Degree in Molecular Diagnostic Science Launched at Celebration Recognizing New Corporate Partners Program

Chapel Hill, NC, June 11, 2009 — The UNC-Chapel Hill Division of Clinical Laboratory Science hosted the first annual lecture and reception on June 11, 2009, from 3:00 to 5:30 PM in Bondurant Hall, Room G30, to celebrate the start of the Division’s new Master’s Degree in Molecular Diagnostic Science (MMDS) and the launch of the MDS Corporate Partners Program. Dr. Thomas K. Huard, Ph.D., Scientific Director of Molecular Diagnostics with Quest Diagnostics, delivered the kick-off lecture focusing on the future of the molecular diagnostic science industry.

Dr. Susan Beck, Director of the Division of Clinical Laboratory Science.

"The MDS Corporate Partners Program recognizes the close link between molecular diagnostic testing in the clinical laboratory and the products, services, and technology offered by the private sector,” said Susan Beck, Professor and Director of the Division of Clinical Laboratory Science. "Leaders in the molecular diagnostics industry help to support the MMDS program because of the great need for qualified laboratory professionals who can perform molecular tests, bring new assays into a laboratory, and work with issues related to molecular testing."

At the event, Dr. Beck awarded two student scholarships that were made possible by the generous financial support of the MDS Corporate Partners. "We are very excited about showcasing our partnerships with these leading companies in the molecular diagnostic industry and are extremely grateful for their support,” said Dr. Beck. The MDS Corporate Partners Program founding gold partners are Abbott Molecular, Applied Biosystems, BD Molecular Diagnostics, Gen-Probe, McKesson Corporation, Quest Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, and ZeptoMetrix Corporation.

"We are proud to be a part of the UNC-Chapel Hill students’ learning experience — helping students prepare for their careers in molecular diagnostic science," said Dr. Andrew Mellin, M.D., Vice President for Advanced Clinical Technologies with McKesson Corporation, which is a founding gold partner. "Like our fellow corporate partners, McKesson is committed to furthering scientific innovation and education to help ensure that health care providers and their patients have broad access to high-quality services."

	Founding members of the CLS MDS Corporate Partners Program in Chapel Hill on June 11, 2009.

The Division of Clinical Laboratory Science, which is one of seven divisions within the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, prepares health professionals who provide the laboratory information and services needed for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The Division offers a baccalaureate degree in Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) and a new Master’s Degree in Molecular Diagnostic Science (MMDS). Graduates of these programs find rewarding careers as clinical laboratory generalists, specialists, administrators, researchers, quality assurance specialists, technical representatives, and sales representatives. Over 900 students have graduated from the CLS program since it began as a hospital-based program at NC Memorial Hospital in the 1950s. The Division has clinical affiliations with UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, Duke University Medical Center and the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in Durham, and Nash Health Care Systems in Rocky Mount. The Division of CLS accepts 20 CLS and six to eight MMDS students each year and is committed to contributing to the knowledge base of clinical laboratory science through research, to transmitting that knowledge to other professionals, and to strengthening the profession through service.

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Media inquiries please contact:
Kyle Gray
Department of Allied Health Sciences
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Office: 919.966.3352, Cell: 919.923.4908
Email: kyle_gray@med.unc.edu

Dr. Karen Erickson Appointed First David E. and Dolores J. (Dee) Yoder Distinguished Professor

Dr. Karen Erickson, Director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies and professor in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, was selected as the first David E. and Dolores J. (Dee) Yoder Distinguished Professor in Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Allied Health Sciences in the School of Medicine. Professor Erickson’s appointment was celebrated at a brief ceremony at the David E. Yoder Distinguished Symposium on Friday, March 6 at the Carolina Club in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center in Chapel Hill.

(Left to right) Dr. Lee McLean, Chair, UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Allied Health Sciences; Dee Yoder; Dr. David Yoder; Dr. Barry Prizant; Dr. Karen Erickson; Dr. William Roper, Dean of the School of Medicine, Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs and CEO, UNC Health Care System; and Ron Strauss, Executive Associate Provost for UNC-Chapel Hill.

"The School of Medicine's strength in the field of communication disorders research is due in large part to the leadership provided by professors Yoder and Erickson," said Dr. William Roper, Dean of the School of Medicine, Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs and CEO, UNC Health Care System. "How fitting it is that we recognize David Yoder and his contributions to and leadership in the field by selecting Karen Erickson as the inaugural Yoder distinguished professor."

The Yoder Distinguished Professorship was established through the generosity of Maynard and Carolyn Sauder of Archbold, Ohio, to stand as a perpetual tribute to the dedicated professionalism and skilled teaching and research of David E. Yoder, Ph.D., and the steadfast support of his wife, Dee.

"Both Karen and David have been instrumental in initiating and promoting the field of literacy for persons with severe communication disorders. During David's early career as a speech-language pathologist, he became concerned that the majority of persons with significant communication disorders lacked the one skill that would allow them to communicate fully with others – literacy,” said Dr. Lee McLean, Chair of the Department of Allied Health Sciences and Associate Dean School of Medicine. This concern led him to establish the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a move that has sparked Karen’s leadership to help develop a new and significant field of research and practice within the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) arena and the discipline of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Dr. Karen Erickson

Dr. Karen Erickson holds a Ph.D. in Special Education and Literacy Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a former teacher of students with significant disabilities, including many who used augmentative and alternative communication. Knowledgeable in literacy, assistive and instructional technologies, augmentative communication, and the learning characteristics of students with significant disabilities, she presents nationally and internationally and is in great demand as a consultant, researcher, and program developer. Dr. Erickson is the 2004 recipient of the National Down Syndrome Congress Educator Award and the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication Distinguished Literacy Lectureship Award. Dr. Erickson directs several research and development efforts addressing the literacy learning and communication needs of persons with disabilities of all ages. Current research efforts involve school-aged students who struggle to read and write, school-aged students with complex communication needs, and children, adolescents, and young adults with multiple disabilities, including deaf-blindness. Her work has been published in numerous journal articles and book chapters.

Dr. David E. Yoder

David E. Yoder is professor emeritus of speech and hearing sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill. He recently retired as executive director of the Council for Allied Health in North Carolina. He was chair of the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1986-2000.  In 1988 he and Dr. David Koppenhaver co-founded the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies. Dr. Yoder has authored numerous professional articles and book chapters in the area of language disorders with special needs populations. He served as the first journal editor for AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). He has co-edited five books. He has presented over 500 research papers, professional workshops, and consultations nationwide as well as in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, the Soviet Union, and New Zealand. He has served on numerous committees and boards of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and served as the association's president in 1984. Dr. Yoder is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and was awarded Honors of the association in 1995. He received life membership in 1999. He is a Fellow of the American Association on Mental Retardation and was awarded life membership in 1997 and is a fellow of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions. Dr. Yoder was the first president of the United States Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC).

Drs. Erickson and Yoder following the Distinguished Professorship ceremony on March 6.

The Center for Literacy & Disability Studies’ (CLDS) mission is to promote literacy and communication for individuals of all ages with disabilities. It is the belief of the CLDS that disabilities are only one of many factors that influence an individual's ability to learn to read and write and to use print throughout their life and across their living environments. All individuals, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, have the right to an opportunity to learn to read and write in order to increase and enhance their educational opportunities, vocational success, communicative competence, self-empowerment capabilities, and independence.  The UNC Medical Bulletin featured an article about Dr. Erickson and the CLDS in its Spring 08 edition.

For more information about the CLDS, contact Karen Erickson at karen_erickson@med.unc.edu or 919.966.8566 or visit the CLDS website at www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds.

For more information, contact Kyle Gray at 919.966.3352 or kyle_gray@med.unc.edu and check
out the UNC News Services press release.

Division of Speech and Hearing Takes Part in $8.9M Study of Childhood Hearing Loss

Melody F. Harrison, Ph.D., a professor of speech and hearing sciences in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, will participate in a five-year, $8.9-million study aimed at understanding the impact hearing loss can have on children’s ability to communicate, succeed in school, and have good social and psychological development.  The co-principal investigator for the UNC component of the project is Patricia A. Roush, Au.D., Director of Pediatric Audiology, UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Results from the study, which also involves the University of Iowa and Boys Town National Research Hospital in Nebraska, will provide information on the effect of early intervention and amplification devices fitted to infants and young children up to 9 years old with mild to severe hearing loss.

The study is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health. It differs from most other research to date on childhood hearing loss, which has focused on severe to profound hearing loss that amounts to deafness.

Children with mild-to-severe hearing loss have hearing thresholds in the 26 decibel to 75 decibel range, compared to the normal threshold of 0 decibels to 20 decibels. Until newborn hearing screening was introduced in North Carolina in 2000, many children with hearing loss in this range were not identified until they reached school age.

Today, many children are identified in the first few weeks of life and receive hearing aids by 2-3 months of age researchers say and earlier hearing aid fitting and appropriate services are allowing many children to develop excellent speech, language, and academic skills.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Names UNC-Chapel Hill Cytotechnology Classroom

 

Ribbon Cutting: Dr. Myla Lai-Goldman, Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and Medical Director for Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, cuts the ribbon to the new LabCorp Cytotechnology Classroom joined by (from left to right) Dr. Etta Pisano, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Medicine; Ashlyn Duke, Cytotechnology student; Allen Rinas, Professor and Director of UNC Cytotechnology; Susan Beck, Professor and Director of UNC Clinical Laboratory Science; and Carol Tresolini, Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives for UNC-Chapel Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professor Jackson Roush Receives National Award from American Academy of Audiology

Dr. Jack Roush (left) with Paul Pessis, president of the American Academy of Audiology, in Denver in April 2007.

Dr. Jackson Roush, Professor and Director of the University of North Carolina Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, was recipient of the 2007 Presidential Award given by the American Academy of Audiology at its annual convention in Denver, Colorado, on April 19, 2007. The award was presented to Dr. Roush in "grateful appreciation for his significant contributions to the American Academy of Audiology and the audiology profession, and in recognition of his leadership in expanding the quantity and quality of clinical externship sites and preceptors for doctoral students in audiology.

Throughout his career, Dr. Roush has worked on behalf of children with hearing loss and their families as a clinician, author, educator, and member of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing. The Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences at UNC, established in 1969, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, are internationally recognized for excellence in education, research, and professional service. One of seven divisions in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, UNC School of Medicine, the Division’s academic degree programs include a master’s (M.S.) in speech-language pathology and doctoral degrees in audiology (Au.D.), and speech and hearing sciences (Ph.D.). The audiology and speech-language pathology programs at UNC are among the nation’s top-ranked graduate programs.

Speech and Hearing Sciences Online Course is First at UNC to Earn National Quality Recognition

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) are pleased to announce that the survey course, Special Topics in Speech and Hearing, has earned the Quality Matters designation for meeting educational quality assurance standards. Click here for more information.

FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA Donates New Instructional Equipment

Makoto Kawaguchi (second from right), President and CEO of FUJIFILM, and Professor Joy Renner (center), Director of the Division of Radiologic Science, participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating FUJIFILM’s donation of a CR system to the Division of Radiologic Science.

FUJIFILM Medical Systems, has donated and installed a computed radiography (CR) system valued at $189,000 in the Division of Radiologic Sciences’ new teaching laboratory in the Burnett-Womack Building at UNC-Chapel Hill.

"The FUJIFILM CR system allows our students to learn in a laboratory setting the skills and knowledge required to optimize image quality and reduce patient radiation dose. These skills and knowledge will enhance their clinical practice while in the program and beyond graduation,” said Joy Renner, Associate Professor and Director of the Division.

Radiologic science is a health profession concerned with medical imaging for diagnosis and assessment of disease and injury. The Division offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Radiologic Science, a certificate program in Radiography, and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program for radiologist assistants. Since 1977, the Division has been committed to educating radiologist assistants and radiologic technologists to joint North Carolina's health care workforce with 80% of the Division’s 254 alumni working and residing in the state.