"New Insights into the Racial Disparity in Pregnancy Outcome: The Role of Transgenerational Factors" is the subject of this year’s 24^th Annual Lawrence Zollicoffer Lecture at UNC’s School of Medicine.

The lecture will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Old Clinic Auditorium on the fourth floor of UNC Hospitals. The guest lecturer is Dr. James W. Collins Jr., medical director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and associate director of the pediatrics residency program at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

He also is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and a member of the National Institutes of Health Scientific Advisory Board’s initiative to reduce infant mortality.

Members of the UNC chapter of the Student National Medical Association, with the support of the dean of the School of Medicine, established the Zollicoffer Lectureship in 1981. It was named in honor of Dr. Lawrence Zollicoffer (1930-1976), the fourth black graduate of the UNC School of Medicine and founder of the Garwyn Medical Center in Baltimore. The Baltimore community recognized Zollicoffer as a supporter and activist in the struggle for civil and human rights.

Throughout his life, he exemplified qualities that students admire and hope to emulate as future physicians. The lecture honors the memory of Zollicoffer, commemorates more than 40 years of minority presence in the UNC School of Medicine, increases the awareness of minority health issues and introduces the student body to dynamic minority role models in the field of medicine.

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UNC extends application period for minority journalism workshop

Because bad weather has kept many schools across the state closed recently, the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication has extended the deadline for applying to a March workshop.

The workshop, for minority high school juniors and seniors interested in journalism, will be March 19-21 at UNC. Applications, available at www.jomc.unc.edu/cabjapplic.pdf, now are due on Feb. 12. 

The workshop costs $35 per student. For more information, visit http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan04/workshop012204.html or contact Monica Hill at the school, 888-562-6276, hgingles@email.unc.edu

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Lineberger Center honors oncology nurses for excellence on the job

The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center recently presented its 2003 Oncology Nursing Excellence Awards to oncology nurses Jerome Schiro and Michele Busshart in recognition of their extraordinary work, care and dedication.

Schiro works in the adult outpatient Hematology and Oncology Clinic, while Busshart handles inpatient needs in the Hematology and Oncology Medicine Unit.

"Cancer center nurses have a special job," said Dr. Shelton Earp, center director. "They provide much of a patient’s care and get to know the patients and families well. They form enduring and memorable bonds. These awards are one way of honoring their excellence and commitment to the field of oncology nursing."

The outpatient award is named in memory of Charmayne S. Gray, a UNC oncology nurse practitioner who died in an auto accident in 2002.

Schiro has been with UNC Hospitals since 1998. Busshart has worked at UNC since 1995.

The award carries a $1,500 stipend, to be put toward professional education activities.

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Note: The minority journalism workshop was announced in UNC News Release No. 31 on Jan. 22.

School of Medicine contact: Stephanie Crayton-Robinson, (919) 966-2860 or scrayton@unch.unc.edu
Lineberger Center contact: Dianne Shaw, (919) 966-5905