Alumni Receive 2014 President’s Cabinet Awards
GALVESTON, Texas—Fouralumni from the University of Texas Medical Branch earned President’s Cabinet awards for projects that will have a positive impact on the university and the surrounding community.
These alumni who are also current faculty/staff members at UTMB were recognized at an awards dinner in September for theirwinning projects. Recipients were presented certificates by Rex Ross, President’s Cabinet Chairman, Vicki Freeman, President’s Cabinet Awards Chair and UTMB President, Dr. David L. Callender.
Odette Comeau – School of Nursing, class of 1987
Jamie Heffernan - School of Nursing, class of 2004
Engagement of the Community in Burn Education
The American Burn Association reports there are 4,000 deaths and 600,000 injuries attributed to fire and burns each year in the United States. Despite these figures, there are insufficient resources available to educate the public about burn prevention and recovery. Through a collaboration of health care professionals and burn survivors, this project will support the development, implementation, publication and distribution of booklets about burn prevention and treatment. The booklets will be given to educate patients at UTMB and throughout the surrounding communities.
Amy Barrera-Kovach –School of Health Professions, Class of 1994
Dr. Michelle Sierpina
Burn Survivors’ Journeys: Real Stories of Challenges, Strength and Triumph
The collaboration between burn survivors and members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute writing group will facilitate the development, publication and distribution of an anthology of 20 to 25 short stories outlining the recovery process to provide hope and inspiration to other survivors. These stories of resilience and challenges will detail the struggles, vulnerability, gratitude and healing process of each survivor and will be given to patients in UTMB’s Truman G. Blocker Burn Unit.
Tammy Cupit – Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Class of 2013
Dora Kuntz
An Evidence-Based, Nurse-Led Family Life and Sexual Health Education Intervention for Fifth-Graders in Galveston County
To educate students about high rates of teen births and sexually transmitted diseases in Galveston County, this project will provide evidence-based, nurse-led family life and sexual health education for select county fifth graders. UTMB nurse clinicians and nursing students will teach the curriculum to groups of students who have parental consent to participate in the program, which includes sections on family, self-esteem, gender roles, pregnancy and puberty.
The President’s Cabinet provides financial resources that advance the mission of UTMB, home of the state’s oldest schools of medicine, nursing and health professions. The cabinet’s members—numbering more than 400—include university friends, community and business leaders from the Houston-Galveston area, UTMB faculty and staff and alumni from across the state and nation. Through their gifts to the university, President’s Cabinet awards provide seed money to launch initiatives designed to improve the quality of life in the community and beyond.
Annual contributions from President’s Cabinet members — $500 for junior members (age 40 and under), at least $1,000 for individuals and $5,000 for corporations, foundations and other organizations — are pooled to create the awards. President’s Cabinet members have contributed more than $5 million since 1993, with more than 100 awards given to innovative community programs.
For more information about the President’s Cabinet or how to join, contact Marie Marczak, UTMB director of annual giving, at 409-772-5151, or visit the organization’s website at