Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in people 60 and over, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It happens when part of the brain loses access to blood supply, and brain cells are damaged and die. Many people who have a stroke recover only partially, and may not be able to use their upper body or hands, severely limiting their ability to eat, write, or do other every day activities on their own.

UConn Health neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Conner was the first to offer stroke patients the Vivistem implant, an innovative technology that uses vagus nerve stimulation to push the brain to rebuild connections with the arms and hands. The UConn Health Neuromodulation Center of Excellence in the Brain and Spine Institute provides veterans with access to the Vivistem implant technology. The implant is FDA-approved but many health insurers, including the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ VA health care, require onerous paperwork and approvals before they will pay for it. UConn Health is working to make it easier to access.

“This could help people regain use of their limbs,” Gov. Lamont said, joking that the first time he heard the term neuromodulation he had to ask first ChatGPT, and then UConn Health CEO Dr. Andy Agwunobi, what it meant. But all joking aside, the governor emphasized the importance of the center and its work to make vagus nerve stimulation for stroke victims a standard, easily accessible part of stroke rehabilitation in Connecticut and beyond.

The state provided $2 million in initial funding for the program, thanks to efforts spearheaded by state representative Henry Genga, state senator Cathy Osten, and the Veterans with Disabilities Taskforce. The Vivistem implant surgery is done at UConn Health, and the ongoing rehabilitation therapy is done at Hartford Healthcare.

“This center for excellence is groundbreaking. So, so important,” Sen. Blumenthal said, remarking that the invisible wounds of war are a heavy burden on our country’s veterans. He referred to the $2 million in initial funding as a “great down payment” and said he is actively working on the federal level to obtain more funding for the center.

The center has treated 35 patients with the neuromodulation therapy so far but hopes to make the treatment much more widely accessible.

“From the outside, you look like there’s nothing wrong. But there’s something dreadfully wrong,” for patients with neurological injuries from war or stroke, said Conner. Conner says after seeing how the Vivistem implant can make an enormous difference in people’s quality of life, he feels compelled to make it easier to access.

“We want to get a big case study together and show it works,” in a way that is undeniable, so insurers cover it as a matter of course, Conner said. Conner is also working on using the neuromodulation technology to help patients suffering from traumatic brain injury.

Members of the Veterans with Disabilities Taskforce spoke with legislators about the need to help as many veterans as possible.

“As our country approaches its 250th birthday, it is fitting to give quality care to the vets who struggled and sacrificed” to preserve the ideals on which America is founded, said retired Brigadier General and Connecticut Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Ron Welch.

Stroke survivors, caregivers and healthcare professionals interested in discovering how Vivistim Paired VNS Therapy helps improve upper limb function can visit Vivistim.com or contact the Neurosurgery Department at UConn Health’s Brain and Spine Institute.

Even though it’s a short week because of the Fourth of July holiday, it’s been a busy one here at UConn Health. 

We were honored today to welcome Governor Ned Lamont to UConn Health for the announcement of the new Neuromodulation Center of Excellence for Veterans. Joining the Governor were Senator Richard Blumenthal, state and local leaders, and more than 30 distinguished disabled veterans. The center will expand access to innovative stroke rehabilitation care for veterans, including Vivistim, a breakthrough therapy that is helping stroke survivors regain function and independence.  

For those not familiar with Vivistim it is an FDA-approved stroke rehabilitation technology designed to help people recover arm and hand function after a chronic ischemic stroke. It combines vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with occupational or physical therapy to enhance the brain’s ability to relearn movement. In simple terms, a small device is surgically implanted under the skin of the chest wall. A wire connects the device to the left vagus nerve in the neck. The device then delivers mild electrical pulses to the vagus nerve timed with specific movements. This helps the brain strengthen neural connections.  

UConn Health neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Conner has been a leader in bringing this technology to Connecticut and has seen remarkable results since launching the program more than a year ago. We are proud to lead this important initiative, made possible through $2 million in state funding included in the 2025 budget and championed by State Representative Henry Genga with support from the Veterans with Disabilities Task Force. We are deeply grateful to Governor Lamont, the legislature, and our many partners for their support in bringing this valuable resource to Connecticut’s veterans. 

Earlier this week, we honored Dr. Richard Simon and his extraordinary 50 years of service to UConn Health and academic medicine as he begins a well-earned retirement. As Chief of Medical Staff for the past 23 years, Dr. Simon has been a steadfast leader, championing the highest standards of quality, safety, professionalism, and patient care. He established UConn Health’s first neurosurgery residency program in 1977 and played a key role in its re-establishment in 2019, helping shape generations of neurosurgeons who now practice across the country.  

A gifted clinician, educator, researcher, and mentor, Dr. Simon leaves a lasting legacy that will continue to influence our institution for years to come. On behalf of UConn Health, thank you, Dr. Simon, for your remarkable leadership, dedication, and service. We wish you all the best in retirement. 

One of the things I am most proud of at UConn Health is our commitment to serving our communities when they need us most. Earlier this week, as extreme heat impacted our region, volunteers from UConn Health Waterbury Hospital, UConn Waterbury, and American Medical Response Waterbury, joined forces to support a community hydration initiative, distributing more than 1,000 bottles of water throughout neighborhoods, gathering places, and areas of greatest need across the city. Their efforts reflect our mission beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics—working together to promote health, safety, and well-being for the communities we serve. My sincere thanks to everyone who participated in this important outreach effort and helped keep our neighbors safe during the heat wave. 

As we approach the Fourth of July holiday, I want to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable weekend spent with family, friends, and loved ones. As temperatures remain high, please remember to stay hydrated and take precautions in the heat. I also want to extend my deepest gratitude to the many members of our UConn Health team who will be working throughout the holiday weekend to care for our patients and support our operations. Your dedication, professionalism, and commitment to those we serve are truly appreciated. Thank you for all that you do, and happy Fourth of July. 

Thank you, to everyone reading this, for all you do.

Andrew C. Agwunobi, MD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
EVP for Health Affairs
UConn Health

Dear Dr. Andy

We used to have a 9/11 ceremony here, but we haven’t had one for several years now. Are there plans to have one this year, seeing as it’s the 25th anniversary?

Thank you for the question, which I have shared with our leaders in University Safety. in the spirit of coming together as one, the plan is to have a larger University-wide ceremony that will be livestreamed from the center of the Storrs campus to all campuses, including UConn Health and our satellite locations, as well as the regional campuses. 

I appreciate your foresight and thoughtfulness on this important milestone.

Have something you want to ask Dr. Andy? Submit your question on The Hub.

Hub Highlights

From detection to measurement, NIH funds UConn research to expand CRISPR’s diagnostic potential.

A biodegradable pressure sensor could help people with knee injuries exercise and heal faster.

It’s because today’s yoga session — offered by the global nonprofit she leads, Prison Yoga Project — marks a return to the jail after a few weeks’ yuletide hiatus. Six days into the new year, Hellthaler is thinking about emotional bruises that might linger from the holidays. She’s wondering how the men are adjusting to the return to routine. Some will be joining her class today for the first time, as much of a question mark to her as she — and maybe yoga itself — is to them.

At a raised security station that still wears a wreath, we surrender IDs, lock up everything that’s not a yoga mat — except my pens, notebook, and voice recorder — and pass through metal detection.

After going up in an elevator and down a long series of hallways, we’re let into the outer entrance of a compact two-story housing unit. Hellthaler chirps a good morning to one of the guards in the security roost, and he sends us through a gate into the unit, where the walls stand in a wide V-shape with a staircase down the middle.

Instantly, a few dozen heads turn, and their eyes seem to lock on to us. Hellthaler, 33, looks at ease under the scrutiny, a sunbeam in loose black workout clothes and color-splashed, guitar-pick-shaped earrings. Trailing behind, I probably look like the shadow of her composure, a bit overwhelmed and sporting a nervous smile.

Read on for more.

The study of the new tool is exploring the relationship between an expectant mother’s microbiome’s gut health and her risk of developing gestational diabetes at less than 20 weeks pregnant.

Miora Health is a UConn School of Medicine faculty-affiliated startup company in the Technology Incubation Program (TIP) located in Farmington at UConn Health.  Dr. Yanjiao Zhou, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and OB/GYN, is a co-founder and CSO of Miora Health.

“After 15 years in microbiome research, I am eager to develop microbiome-based tools that can make a real clinical impact. At Miora, we are building a novel microbiome AI platform to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and patient care, helping clinicians identify risk early and guide treatment decisions,” says Zhou.

The new test works by screening and analyzing two varied stool samples from willing study volunteers during their first or second trimesters who are active OB/GYN patients at the UConn Health Women’s Center. This is done prior to their routine oral glucose tolerance test that occurs typically between pregnancy week 24-28. Women are also asked to complete a food diary and are followed through the end of their second trimester at 28 weeks.

“We are trying to see if this non-invasive test can effectively help us identify a predictive, microbiome biomarker for gestational diabetes well before the third trimester,” says Shields sharing this is so important as ten percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes by the third trimester.

“Gut health is so important during pregnancy and beyond, and it’s all linked to good nutrition,” stresses Shields of UConn School of Medicine. “The gut could truly be the window to both our short-term and long-term health.”

According to Shields the earlier the detection of gestational diabetes risk the better, as medical experts like her can quickly plan to intervene with personalized medicine, nutrition enhancements, and exercise regimens to significantly improve both maternal health and fetal outcomes, well before any complications develop.

Pregnant women with uncontrolled gestational diabetes are at elevated risk of developing gestational high-blood pressure and preeclampsia, and also as a result may have poorer pregnancy outcomes, pre-term birth, larger babies, delivery complications, and place them at higher-risk of needing a C-section delivery.

“I have always had a passion for reducing the risks associated with gestational diabetes,” says Shields ever since she began working closely with OB/GYN patients especially during her residency program training in the U.S. Air Force. “I’m hoping that if we are able to identify gestational diabetes risks early, we can not only improve a mother’s health, but also her entire family’s by helping her introduce at home a healthier food pathway.”

Preventing or catching gestational diabetes early may be a win-win for both mother and child.

Shields says teaching healthy lifestyle interventions for gestational diabetes can even help mom and her baby have reduced future health risks both short and long-term including lower risks of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity.

To learn more, review the clinical trial’s flyer or contact the study coordinator: Ayana Encarnacion at 860-679-5152 or aencarnacion@uchc.edu

]]> https://today.uconn.edu/2026/07/series-of-historical-markers-celebrate-americas-250th-through-connecticut-lens/ Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:30:09 +0000 https://today.uconn.edu/?p=247579 More than three dozen historical markers touting Connecticut connections to the American Revolution have been placed around the state in a cooperative project between UConn and the Department of Transportation to remind people of the struggle, sacrifice, courage, and contributions of those living here around the critical year 1776.

“Our Connecticut communities were at the center of this world-historical moment,” says Andy Horowitz, state historian and associate professor of history at UConn. “In our Connecticut modesty, many people assume that Connecticut was ancillary or on the sidelines – but in every way, Connecticut is at the center of this story.”

Surnames like Bushnell and Sherman are familiar for lots of contemporary reasons, but visitors to and residents of Connecticut might not realize that David Bushnell, who was born in today’s Westport, designed in 1776 the first submarine used in combat, and Roger Sherman, who lived in New Milford and later New Haven, was the only person to sign all four of the country’s founding documents.

Their stories and more are detailed on the markers as part of Connecticut’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The 4-by-3-foot aluminum signs were unveiled Friday, June 26, during a ceremony in Wethersfield.

Horowitz says he’d already started thinking about a way to place historical markers around the state when DOT officials approached him about marking the semiquincentennial. Together, they conceived a plan to locate 38 signs at rest areas, service plazas, bus stations, and train stations, where the DOT estimates tens of thousands of people will see them each week.

Each sign features a picture of a historical item – like the hat Phineas Meigs wore when he died as the last known casualty of the Revolutionary War in Connecticut – and a short description of its significance, along with the museum location of the object.

“The idea was to tell some stories about Connecticut that may be familiar, and others that are worth knowing more about,” Horowitz says. “And whatever general knowledge people have about the American Revolution, I think the specifics remain arresting – like seeing the candleholder that a Salisbury miner carried as he hauled iron for a Continental Army cannon.”

Student Designers on the Job

The sign erected at the westbound rest stop on Interstate 84 in Willington that depicts the powder horn carried into battle by Prince Simbo, a Black man from Glastonbury, is a favorite for Saemi Yoon, a digital media and design MFA student from UConn. The horn is engraved with the word “Liberty” and adorned with drawings of a bird, deer, and leaf.

“‘Liberty’ as he inscribes it on his powder horn must have reminded him, every time he filled his musket, of the stakes – not just life and death stakes, but also the ideological and political stakes of what he was fighting for. And then, he’s such a brilliant artist. In this one object, we have the military story and the political story, along with a fleeting glimpse, but a meaningful one, of an artist,” Horowitz says.

Yoon says the powder horn sign is a favorite because of proximity – she lives not far from Glastonbury where Simbo was born and the horn was made, and says, “That closeness made the story feel much more real and personal than something out of a history book.”

But as an immigrant from Korea, Yoon says the full series helped her learn more about the American Revolution and Connecticut’s contributions. For several months last semester, she and a group of four other students designed the series through UConn’s Design Center Studio using Yoon’s template as a basis.

“The main goal of this project was building the design system, and also I prioritized the information delivery over creating something merely pretty,” Yoon says. “I tried to focus on creating a clear visual hierarchy to deliver the content and the image of the historical artifacts much more clearly and easily to the audience.”

The Design Center Studio, she explains, is a place where classes work on real-life projects like this to experience, before they get into the workforce, what it’s like to collaborate with each other in a professional setting to satisfy a client-customer.

One detail that few people who see the signs will ever notice came from this collaboration between the students, Horowitz, and instructor Steve Bowden.

The green background on signs like the one depicting Timothy Lee’s canteen, or the yellow for Connecticut currency from 1776, the purple showing Nathan Hale’s diary, and the blue for a sketch of Newgate Prison in East Granby are extracted colors from the Connecticut state flag.

“All the choices, we tried to make intentional, whether it’s putting a specific sign in the region adjacent to where it happened, the colors that reflect the state flag, or the objects themselves that are drawn from Connecticut institutions,” Horowitz says. “Even though they may look like modest signs, a lot of thought went into trying to make them the best version of themselves.”

Yoon says the design team met with Horowitz periodically during the semester, taking the still images and narratives he supplied and fitting them into her design.

“I enrolled in this course to learn more about visual hierarchy, typography, color, and so on, because I thought learning more about those principles would be very helpful for my study area,” says Yoon, who generally focuses on interactive media design. “This whole course was a great experience for me to learn those design principles and to experience working on a project for a public purpose. Having the opportunity to contribute to this meaningful project has been an honor.”

The team’s efforts, Yoon says, have earned them a Gold Award in the 50th annual Connecticut Art Directors Club Awards Show in the Student Print category.

“We’re grateful to UConn professor and State Historian Andy Horowitz for helping CTDOT identify the most compelling stories to share and the best locations for each sign, and to the UConn design students whose creativity and vision truly brought those stories to life. Their contributions were essential to this project’s success,” DOT spokesperson Eva Zymaris says.

New Discoveries, Even Today

At Hartford Union Station, visitors can find a sign detailing Lemuel Haynes’s sermon “Liberty, Further Extended,” an important document by an indentured servant who was born in today’s West Hartford. Haynes completed the term of his indenture when he turned 21 in 1774, and joined the colonial militia.

After serving for two years, Horowitz explains, Haynes studied theology, and was the first ordained Black man to become a Congregational minister in the United States. He did that in Torrington.

In 1776, when he heard the Declaration of Independence, Haynes wrote “Liberty, Further Extended,” which states that if liberty is important to white people, then it must be equally as important to Black people.

“The American Revolution is so complicated because for all the talk of liberty and the American colonists’ enslavement to King George, some of those same colonists enslaved African Americans,” Horowitz explains. “This document shows that Lemuel Haynes, along with many others, immediately understood the implications of the Preamble.”

Haynes wrote his sermon in longhand and copied the Declaration of Independence’s Preamble next to his own words as a direct comparison, Horowitz says, adding a footnote that the sermon had been forgotten until the 1980s, when a historian found it in a library box labeled as miscellaneous.

Proof that 250 years into the country’s history, new discoveries can still be had.

“Even as Connecticut state historian, I am continually amazed by how rich Connecticut history is,” Horowitz says. “There is nothing that I care about as a person that hasn’t been struggled over in Connecticut. Focusing on the American Revolution is a relatively narrow window. The 1770s, out of all human history, is a tiny blip, and Connecticut is comparatively a very small place.

“Yet in doing the research for this project, I found people from America, Europe, and Africa fighting over the meaning of freedom, making use of the state’s environmental landscape, struggling over what citizenship is or ought to mean, carving their highest artistic aspirations into pieces of bone or sewing it into needlepoint,” he continues. “It just gave me a sense that the whole world is here, if we are willing to open our eyes to it.”

The historical markers from the Connecticut Department of Transportation, UConn associate professor and State Historian Andy Horowitz, and students from UConn’s Design Center Studio can be found around the state throughout 2026. The project is part of America 250 CT, administered by CT Humanities.

Want to discover more big ideas? Explore Out of the Blue.

Most experts have currently accepted an estimate of about 6 million insect species, an appraisal that has stood for the last 40 years. But the new count, which used genetic information for 1.6 million individual tropical insects, a census of a highly diverse group of parasitic wasps in Costa Rica, and statistical strategies, conservatively estimates the total number of insect species at closer to 14 to 20 million.

A group of researchers from Cornell University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Colorado, and the University of Connecticut published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that claims a doubling or tripling of estimated insect species – already established as the most diverse group of animals – has profound implications for understanding the scale, richness and future of biodiversity on Earth.

“We cannot protect species if we don’t know that they exist, and so to be able to understand the biodiversity on our planet, it’s important to know how many there are,” says Laura Melissa Guzman, Cornell assistant professor and the paper’s corresponding author.

Scientists have described – meaning they have named and characterized insects so others can identify them – only about 1.2 million insect species so far.

“We know there are many more to go, and one of the challenges is that the more we sample, the more we discover,” Guzman says. “It’s a question of trying to estimate what is unobserved based on what we know.”

Insects are so diverse for a few reasons: Many undergo metamorphoses during their life cycles, which allows them to exploit different habitats based on their life stages. For example, caterpillars feed on plants earlier in life, and then when they become butterflies or moths, they feed primarily on flower nectar. Also, insects are mostly small, enabling them to maintain populations in very restricted areas.

In the study, the team of researchers, led by UConn Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Distinguished Professor Emeritus Robert Colwell, Guzman, and University of Kentucky Professor Emeritus Michael Sharkey, took advantage of intense insect sampling at the Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) protected area, encompassing 169,000 hectares (417,600 acres) in northwestern Costa Rica. They first used three methods to conduct a deep sample of Microgastinae – an extremely diverse subfamily of small parasitic wasps – in the ACG. The wasps lay their eggs inside caterpillars, and when hatched, the larvae consume the insides of the caterpillar, grow, and eventually emerge.

Two of the sampling methods involved tent-like traps called Malaise traps, including a core set of traps and a peripheral set, and the third involved collecting caterpillars and analyzing the wasp species that emerged from them. Combined, the three sample sets yielded nearly 22,000 specimens representing 1,414 Microgastrinae wasp species, based on DNA barcodes – a technique where a small segment of DNA is sequenced to determine unique species. The team used a statistical method from epidemiology, developed by co-author Anne Chao, to combine the three datasets and estimate the total number of Microgastrinae species in ACG (2,394), including species present, but undetected in the samples.

The fifteen core Malaise traps captured more than 1.6 million insect specimens — of all kinds — yielding nearly 54,000 insect species based on DNA barcodes. Of these, 388 species were Microgastrinae. To estimate the total number of insects species in the ACG, the team first calculated the ratio of core Microgastinae to the estimated total for ACG (388/2394). This ratio was then applied to the 54,000 insect species captured by the core Malaise traps to estimate true species count of all insects in the ACG, which equaled close to 333,000.

To estimate how many insect species there might be on Earth, they determined the ratio of estimated global tree species (around 73,000) compared to the estimated number of ACG tree species (1,200-1,500). By applying that tree ratio to the estimated 333,000 insect species in ACG, the research team ultimately estimated a range of total insect species globally of 14 million to 20 million.

Recent reports have warned of human activities leading to a dramatic die-off of global insects, dubbed the “insect apocalypse.” The new global insect estimate may be a step toward knowing and protecting those that remain.

“Our results point to a large number of undescribed insects, those without a name,” says Guzman. “With recent reports of insect declines, there could be many species that are declining that we haven’t even discovered.”

Colwell notes, “The diversity of tiny, undescribed insects (especially micro-wasps and miniscule flies) — not only in the tropics but everywhere — vastly overwhelms the number of well-known, larger insects familiar to the public.”

Of the 15 study co-authors, Colwell, Sharkey, and Guzman contributed equally to the work. The study was supported by Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Infrastructure program, the Walder Foundation of Chicago, the University of Southern California and Cornell University.  

The UConn 4‑H Biotechnology Club program introduces middle and high school students to real-world applications of science while supporting UConn 4‑H’s Beyond Ready mission: preparing youth for college, careers, and civic life.

Each year, over 29,000 youth ages 5 through 18 participate in 4-H programs across Connecticut.

For Georgia, a West Hartford high school sophomore, 4-H is a defining part of her life. She was introduced to the program seven years ago, and has grown up within the 4-H community, participating in a wide range of activities that have shaped both her interests and her outlook on the future.

“I like the sense of community and the lifelong friendships,” Georgia says. “It’s an amazing program.”

That sense of belonging is paired with opportunities for exploration, particularly in science-based programs like the Biotechnology Club. Through these experiences, Georgia is connecting her academic interests to possible careers, especially in healthcare.

“I’m interested in anatomy, something in healthcare,” she says. “I love taking care of things.”

Georgia credits 4-H with helping her think more deeply about who she is, what she values, and how her interests fit into the larger world.

“It makes me think about what the future will become and what society will be like,” she says. “UConn 4-H is kind of everything. I’ve learned so much and met so many great people. It taught me things I carry over to my work and school lives.”

Another Biotechnology Club member, Jx, is also a high school sophomore from West Hartford. Jx joined 4-H shortly after the pandemic, becoming involved through the Auerfarm 4-H Club. For Jx, 4-H provided not only academic enrichment, but also a renewed sense of connection after a period marked by isolation for many young people.

“It’s a great community experience,” Jx says. “We learn things in school, but at the biotech club we learn life skills and really open career paths.”

The Biotechnology Club is intentionally designed to complement classroom learning. Youth participate in hands-on lessons modeled on real-world scientific practices, exploring genetics, biotechnology applications, and the ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies. These experiences help participants see how science extends beyond textbooks into everyday life, and future careers.

For Jx, the connections between the club and school coursework have been especially meaningful.

“The bio curriculum connects a lot to the club,” Jx says. “I’ll be taking chemistry and physics next.”

While Jx is still undecided about a specific career path, participation in 4‑H has strengthened an interest in STEM and encouraged continued exploration.

“I want to do more science courses,” Jx says. “I’m interested in STEM and want to keep taking courses.”

Within the club itself, Jx has particularly enjoyed learning about complex and timely biotechnology topics.

Beyond technical concepts, both youth participants emphasized that 4‑H has helped them develop transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, leadership, and critical thinking that are essential across careers and industries.

One experience that stood out for both Georgia and Jx was a UConn 4‑H trip to Washington, D.C. in 2025. There, the participants engaged with national issues, met new people, and saw how science, policy, and civic engagement intersect.

“I learned a lot and met a lot of people,” Georgia says. “Then I came home and taught other people about it.”

That opportunity to take what they learned and share it with others reflects a key component of 4‑H programming: empowering youth not only to gain knowledge, but to apply it, communicate it, and lead.

According to Jen Cushman, state 4‑H program leader and principal investigator for the grant supporting the Biotechnology Club, programs like this are intentionally designed to help youth envision futures they may not have previously considered.

“Exposure to biotechnology and STEM careers is critical to helping youth see what’s possible for their future. The UConn 4-H Biotech grant allows youth to explore their spark, build technical and transferable skills, and guide young people toward career exploration, ensuring they are Beyond Ready for college, career, and meaningful participation in life,” she says.

Cushman notes that by introducing youth to fields such as biotechnology, often before they encounter them in traditional academic settings, UConn 4‑H helps level the playing field and expands what young people believe is possible for themselves.

For Jx, that space to explore and ask questions has been especially meaningful.

“4‑H is about exploring and curiosity,” Jx says. “I think that’s really valuable, to express your individuality and creativity, and you’re given a space to succeed.”

Georgia echoes that sentiment, emphasizing how 4‑H has shaped her growth over time.

“It’s helped me think about who I want to be and what I want to do.”

Together, Georgia and Jx’s experiences reflect the broader impact of UConn 4‑H’s workforce development efforts across Connecticut. By combining science education with mentorship, community, and hands-on learning, programs like the Biotechnology Club help youth move beyond career awareness toward confidence, curiosity, and readiness.

This work is supported by the Food and Agriculture Nonformal Education program, grant no. 2022-68018-36094 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

UConn Extension is part of the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources and fulfills the land-grant mission of translating the university’s research for the public. UConn Extension’s statewide locations and programs help serve all 169 Connecticut municipalities. Programs include health and wellbeing, agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, and positive youth development. UConn Extension provides answers you can trust on issues ranging from health and wellness to agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, and positive youth development.  

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Liu has received a four-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 research grant totaling more than $2.5 million for a project titled “Asymmetric CRISPR Approach for Nucleic Acid Quantification.” The award will support the development of a next-generation CRISPR-based diagnostic platform designed to accurately measure disease biomarkers in blood samples, with a particular focus on early cancer detection.

The NIH R01 is among the most competitive and prestigious funding mechanisms, supporting innovative research projects with strong potential for scientific and societal impact.

“Our goal is to develop a simple, sensitive, and quantitative platform for measuring nucleic acid biomarkers from blood samples,” says Liu. “By combining CRISPR technology with microfluidic systems, we hope to make advanced molecular testing more accessible for clinical and point-of-care applications.”

Liu is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, which is a joint effort from UConn Health and the UConn College of Engineering.

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology is widely recognized for its gene-editing capabilities, but researchers have increasingly adapted it for diagnostic applications. While many existing CRISPR-based tests can determine whether a target molecule is present, Liu’s team is focused on answering a more complex question: how much of that target is present.

The project centers on developing an “asymmetric CRISPR” approach, which engineers the CRISPR reaction to provide quantitative measurements rather than simple positive-or-negative results.

This capability is particularly important for detecting biomarkers that exist at extremely low concentrations in the bloodstream, such as exosomal microRNAs associated with early-stage cancers.

“Many disease biomarkers are present at very low levels, especially during the earliest stages of cancer,” Liu explains. “Reliable quantification can improve disease detection, monitoring, and treatment decisions.”

Current laboratory methods, including quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), provide accurate measurements but often require expensive instrumentation, specialized laboratories, and trained personnel. Liu’s team aims to simplify the process by integrating the CRISPR technology into a portable microfluidic chip capable of analyzing blood samples with greater speed and accessibility.

The new project builds on years of research conducted in Liu’s laboratory focused on CRISPR diagnostics and point-of-care technologies.

In 2023, Liu and collaborators reported advances in CRISPR diagnostic performance in a study published in Nature Communications. The research demonstrated new strategies for improving the sensitivity and efficiency of CRISPR-based molecular testing.

The NIH-funded project expands on that foundation by moving the technology closer to real-world clinical use.

“Unlike traditional CRISPR diagnostics that primarily provide yes-or-no answers, our approach enables quantitative nucleic acid measurement through a simplified workflow,” says Liu. “The integration of microfluidics also improves automation and portability, creating opportunities for broader clinical implementation.”

Over the next four years, the research team will work to refine the technology and evaluate its potential for analyzing clinical blood samples, with cancer detection serving as a primary application.

For Liu, the greatest promise of the research lies in its potential to improve patient outcomes.

“The most exciting aspect is enabling simple blood-based tests for early cancer detection and disease monitoring,” Liu says. “These technologies could help clinicians detect disease earlier and guide more precise treatment decisions.”

Beyond cancer, the platform could eventually support a wide range of diagnostic applications, helping expand the reach of CRISPR-based technologies into routine clinical practice.

As the project moves forward, Liu and his team hope their work will contribute to a future where advanced molecular testing is faster, more affordable, and accessible to patients wherever care is delivered.

Earlier this month, the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center recognized that strength during its annual Cancer Survivors Day celebration, bringing together survivors, caregivers, healthcare professionals, volunteers, and community members for a day focused on healing, connection, and hope. The event highlighted the importance of comprehensive survivorship care and the community that supports patients long after treatment ends.

For Carol Staubley, those values are lived every week.

For more than 40 years, Staubley has been a familiar face at UConn Health. After spending 33 years welcoming employees and visitors in Human Resources, she retired in 2014. But retirement didn’t last long.

When the Outpatient Pavilion opened in 2015, Staubley returned, not as an employee, but as a volunteer in the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Today, she can often be found making her way through the Cancer Center with a cart stocked with snacks and comfort items, stopping to chat with patients, sharing a laugh, or simply sit and listen.

Known affectionately by staff as the Cancer Center’s “mayor” or “ambassador,” Staubley has a remarkable ability to make people feel welcome.

“Whether she’s stopping to say hello, handing out snacks, or simply brightening someone’s day, Carol’s energy and spirit truly light up everyone she meets,” says Dr. Sarah Loschiavo, nursing director. I often see her in the mornings on my way into the outpatient pavilion, where she warmly welcomes patients and families with her genuine kindness and smile.”

“I love the people,” Staubley said. “I love talking with the patients. If you haven’t laughed, you’ll cry, so I try to make people smile.”

For years, she offered comfort and encouragement to people facing cancer treatment. She never imagined she would one day become one of them.

Earlier this year, a routine mammogram detected a small breast cancer.

Because of her family history, Staubley never missed her annual screenings.

“I’m glad I kept going,” she said.

She underwent surgery followed by three weeks of radiation therapy at UConn Health, receiving care from many of the physicians, nurses, therapists, and staff members she had worked alongside for decades.

“They treated me like gold,” she said. “Everyone was wonderful, from my nurse navigator, Evelyn Wong to my doctors and surgeons, Dr. Yueming Chang and Dr. Sunny Mitchell, and the radiation team. I’ve always told people this is the best hospital, and then I got to experience that care myself.”

Being a patient gave Staubley a new perspective on the compassion she had witnessed as a volunteer.

“I knew everyone here cared,” she said. “But when you’re the patient, you feel that kindness in a completely different way.”

Today, Staubley is back doing what she loves most, volunteering in the Cancer Center.

Her experience as a cancer survivor has only strengthened the connection she feels with patients.

Now, when she sits beside someone receiving treatment or offers a reassuring smile in the waiting room, she understands their fears in a way few volunteers can.

“I know what it’s like to walk through these doors,” she said. “If I can make someone smile or help them feel a little less afraid, then I’ve done something worthwhile.”

Her compassion has made a lasting impression on everyone around her.

“Every patient knows Carol. Every volunteer knows Carol. Every employee knows Carol,” one Cancer Center staff member said. “She has a way of making everyone feel special.”

The feeling is mutual.

“I love the doctors, the nurses, the volunteers, everyone,” Staubley said. “This place has always been like family to me.”

That same sense of community is at the heart of the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center’s survivorship program. During this year’s Cancer Survivors Day celebration, survivors and caregivers gathered with physicians, nurses, social workers, volunteers, and supporters to celebrate life beyond cancer and the connections that help make healing possible.

“Survivorship is about so much more than completing treatment,” said Loschiavo, “It’s about helping people heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually while reminding them they are never alone.”

The event featured remarks from Dr. Melissa Henretta, Division director of Gynecologic Oncology and chief quality officer, who spoke about compassionate cancer care and survivorship. Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center patient Brooke Miller shared her personal journey, while Amanda Thurmon, LCSW, reflected on healing and the importance of ongoing emotional support. Attendees also enjoyed a community brunch, opportunities to connect with fellow survivors and caregivers, and a therapeutic art experience led by Artlighten, providing a creative space for reflection, healing, and self-expression.

The annual event was made possible through the dedication of the Cancer Survivors Day Planning Committee, led by Loschiavo and Kathleen Montalvo, along with the support of UConn Health leadership, providers, staff, volunteers, community partners, and generous donors whose philanthropy helps expand survivorship resources, strengthen patient and family support programs, and create meaningful opportunities for education, wellness, healing, and connection.

For Staubley, survivorship is about more than completing treatment.

It’s about giving back.

“I tell everyone this is the best place to come because the people truly care,” she said. “I’ve always believed that. Now I know it from both sides.”

As National Cancer Survivor Month comes to a close, Staubley’s journey reflects the mission of the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center not only helping patients survive cancer, but supporting them as they heal, find hope, and move forward.

For the countless patients she greets each week, Staubley is far more than a volunteer.  She’s a comforting presence, a familiar smile, and living proof that there is hope beyond a cancer diagnosis.

For those unfamiliar with the TikTok term, “tanmaxxing” refers to spending time outside during peak UV index levels with little to no protection against the sun’s rays, in order to become tanner.

Exposure to the sun and its ultraviolet rays can increase the risk of skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the U.S. Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer, and the second most prevalent cancer in adults ages 20 to 39. About 76% of melanoma diagnoses among 20- to 39-year-olds can be attributed to tanning.

[Related: ‘Tanmaxxing’ and the Pursuit of the Perfect Tan]

The most effective way to protect oneself against skin cancer is to limit exposure to UV radiation from the sun and artificial sources, like tanning beds, by avoiding them, using high SPF sunscreen, or wearing protective clothing and accessories.

Despite the heightened risk of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer, young people continue to tan, believing it makes them look more physically attractive. Tanning can also stimulate chemical pathways in the brain that increase serotonin activity and improve daytime alertness and mood.

“Despite knowing the risks, young people are still tanning because they like what they’re getting out of it. They feel more physically attractive when tan, and this is reinforced in social circles and on social media,” says Sherry Pagoto, a professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences within the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) and Director of the UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media. “Social media amplifies everything to a larger audience, and it’s keeping the idea of being tan as a way to enhance physical appearance alive.”

Pagoto has studied indoor tanning behavior and tanning bed culture for decades. Her research has illuminated key insights in tanning and has offered solutions for curbing it.

Tackling Tanning Bed Use

In 2015, she led a study that was published in JAMA Dermatology that analyzed the availability of indoor tanning facilities on college campuses and in off-campus housing among the top 125 US colleges and universities as ranked by US News and World Report. Pagoto and her collaborators found that 48% of institutions surveyed had indoor tanning facilities on campus or in off-campus housing. It also found that 14% allowed campus cash cards to be used to pay for tanning.

The study helped inform the US Surgeon General’s decision to convene a working group in 2016 to launch the Skin Smart Campus Initiative, which prohibits access to indoor tanning salons on campus and cash cards from being used to pay for tanning services. In fact, UConn was one of the first designated as a Skin Smart Campus.

“I never thought of tanning as unhealthy. I believed that I looked better, thinner, and healthier. I realized I had been duped into harming my skin,” says Pagoto.

The good news is that indoor tanning rates have declined substantially, from about 25% of U.S. teens tanning indoors in the early 2000s to about 3 to 5% today.

While this is a significant public health win, young people haven’t stopped tanning. They just changed locations.

“We’ve seen significant changes in the use of tanning beds among youth. Research now is focusing on outdoor tanning. While it’s wonderful that people have given up tanning beds, they have not given up tanning,” says Pagoto.

An estimated 32 to 65% of college-aged students say they have tanned outdoors in the past year, and 72% tanned unintentionally through recreation.

“Outdoor tanning is not as well studied and is harder to study, because many people who would never lay outside to get tan, use outdoor recreational activities to get tan,” says Pagoto. “These people often do not describe themselves as tanners even though they are getting just as tanned as people who lay out.”

A Different Approach to Changing Tanning Habits

Pagoto is now leading a National Cancer Institute-funded study to test the effects of a 6-week sun safety intervention that uses social media to reduce tanning among young people.

During the intervention, study participants will be incentivized to create anti-tanning social media messages for a social media campaign and be encouraged to post them on their own social media accounts. Pagoto wants to see if being the messenger can change attitudes and behavior.

The trial uses a strategy called cognitive dissonance induction, which has been successful in preventing eating disorders. Cognitive dissonance refers to the feeling of discomfort that occurs when one’s beliefs contradict their statements or actions. To avoid this discomfort, individuals will alter their attitudes and behavior to align with their statements.

“Lecturing people about the harms of tanning doesn’t work. What we’re doing instead is asking young adults to be the messengers using the communication channels that most affect young adults’ attitudes and choices. Young adults influence each other through social media often far more than public health organizations do,” says Pagoto.

Pagoto and her collaborators from the University of Kentucky will build on pilot work that showed early signs that this approach could work.

Her pilot program showed that young people were eager to participate in the social media campaign and the act of creating messages about skin health and the harms of tanning decreased their tanning.

The Influence of Beauty Standards

Pagoto’s approach to tanning prevention is informed by her own experience.

“As a teenager, I was a tanner. I was a tanning bed user; I’d use baby oil. I had a whole protocol. I understand how young women feel because I felt it too. I never thought of tanning as unhealthy. I believed that I looked better, thinner, and healthier,” says Pagoto.

It wasn’t until she was training to become a health psychologist that she learned about how our beliefs about what is physically attractive are perpetuated by unrealistic media portrayals of beauty and companies trying to sell us products and services.

“I realized I had been duped into harming my skin,” says Pagoto. “When I went to school to become a health psychologist, in some ways, I underwent a dissonance induction. When I started researching this area, I wondered what would have changed my mind when I was 17? It would not have been by giving me a lecture, but instead by getting me to think about where I’m getting my ideas about what is attractive and how that’s affecting how I feel about myself.”

An expert in social media research and skin cancer prevention, Pagoto has worked on numerous studies that take an innovative approach to understanding and changing tanning behavior. Her work was featured twice in Allure magazine, once in 2015 and then again in May 2026.

Her previous work has offered important insights about how tanners’ and skin cancer organizations use social media and the content that may influence tanning behavior.

Not Only a Women’s Issue

Pagoto’s work has also explored men’s tanning behaviors.

“Beauty standards regarding tanning don’t just affect women – they affect men too. Men don’t talk about it as much, but they get more attention and compliments when they’re tan and this shapes how they think about their own physical attractiveness too,” says Pagoto. “Gay men in particular tend to have higher rates of tanning and higher rates of skin cancer.”

In 2015, she published a call to action in JAMA Dermatology for skin cancer prevention research in sexual minority men.

She also led a study that was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology that found while men use tanning beds at lower rates than women, they tan in riskier ways and treat it more like an addiction than women.

In her new study, she’ll be looking at how the social media campaign affects both men and women.

College of Engineering associate professor Yi Zhang’s team will develop a microfluidic system for live tissue, allowing scientists and doctors to watch immune and metabolic activity unfold in real time.

Zhang’s project, titled “3D Push-Pull Microsampling Networks for Spatiotemporal Omics,” was selected as one of 15 projects globally for a new initiative focused on developing instrumentation to monitor inflammation in real time.

Zhang, a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, which is a joint effort from UConn Health and the UConn College of Engineering, will act as PI, partnering with co-PIs Robert Kennedy of the University of Michigan and Sasan Jalili of the Jackson Laboratory.

“I am honored to be part of this global network alongside teams from institutions including Harvard, MIT, Columbia, University of Oxford, and Switzerland’s EPFL,” Zhang says. “Instead of cultivating mere ‘snapshots’ of cellular responses that only tell a retroactive story, we’re looking at ‘live video’ of immune responses.”

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015 to address complex world challenges, including reducing disease, improving education, increasing food security, and more.

The initiative’s science-targeted focus area is called Biohub, which is helping scientists around the world use new technology to study how cells operate, organize, and work as part of systems to understand why disease happens and how to correct it.

The Biohub described inflammation as “biology’s blind spot,” because the dominant technologies for measuring proteins and molecules usually require biological tissue to be frozen, fixed, or otherwise destroyed.

According to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, 15 teams were chosen for proposing compelling, novel platforms that address key technical barriers to spatiotemporal omics, and demonstrate relevance to inflammation, immune regulation, and autoimmune disease models.

Spatiotemporal omics is a scientific approach to study what molecules are present, where they are located, and how they change over time.

Zhang’s research uses “push-pull” microsampling to study the parts of the cell.

“Push-pull microsampling works by continuously delivering and withdrawing tiny volumes of fluid through microchannels embedded in living tissue,” says Zhang. “This approach allows us to collect molecular information from precise locations while minimizing disruption to the tissue, making it possible to monitor biological processes as they occur.”

In the future after validation in human ex vivo models, Zhang plans to expand to other mucosal and barrier tissues, such as skin, lung and oral epithelium, to analyze tissue-specific immune dynamics and disease mechanisms. Integration with AI models will enable predictive modeling of immune states and transitions.

“Ultimately, these advancements will pave the way for minimally invasive, in vivo immune-monitoring and precision diagnostic platforms for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” Zhang says. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to potentially improve the lives of those plagued by chronic and serious diseases.”

While teaching and research are often the most visible aspects of university life, service is what helps institutions thrive. Faculty and staff contribute through leadership, mentorship, governance, outreach, and community partnerships that support students and colleagues, strengthen academic programs, and extend the university’s impact beyond campus.

As Connecticut’s flagship public research university and land-grant institution, service is central to UConn’s mission. Whether helping faculty navigate research requirements, creating opportunities for cultural engagement, or building partnerships that improve health and well-being in communities across the state, service connects the university’s expertise to the people it serves, including on our own campuses.

This year’s recipients are Dr. Mary Anne Roshni Amalaradjou, professor in the Department of Animal Science; Rodney Rock, director of the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts; and Petra Clark-Dufner, director of the Connecticut Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network at UConn Health.

“One of the things that makes UConn such a special place is the willingness of our faculty and staff to contribute beyond their formal responsibilities,” says Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Pamir Alpay. “This year’s recipients have devoted years of effort to improving the experience of students, faculty, staff, and communities across Connecticut. Their impact can be seen in stronger programs, stronger partnerships, and stronger opportunities for others to succeed.”

Dr. Mary Anne Roshni Amalaradjou

Dr. Mary Anne Roshni Amalaradjou has distinguished herself through service that touches nearly every aspect of university life, from research and shared governance to mentoring and faculty development.

A professor of animal science, Amalaradjou is recognized as a collaborative leader who brings people together to create programs, policies and opportunities that support the success of students, faculty, and staff. As chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, she provides leadership in overseeing biosafety and research compliance processes helping researchers navigate regulatory requirements while ensuring the safe and responsible conduct of research across the University. Her thoughtful approach to balancing regulatory oversight with research needs helps foster an environment where discovery can advance responsibly and efficiently.

Mentorship is a hallmark of her service. Through her involvement in initiatives such as Network Enriched Mentorship, UConn Connects, and Husky Mentors, she creates opportunities for students and faculty to build meaningful professional relationships, expand their networks, and navigate academic and career challenges. As a CIMER-trained facilitator, she supports The Graduate School by providing mentorship training for graduate faculty, helping strengthen mentoring practices across the University. Within the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, she facilitates the Power of Peer Circles program, fostering peer support and community among faculty. Together, these efforts cultivate a culture of mentorship, collaboration, and professional growth that benefits students, faculty, and the broader UConn community.

Amalaradjou’s influence extends across the University through fellowships with the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School, and the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, as well as service on the University Senate, Graduate Faculty Council, Faculty Standards Committee, and numerous college and departmental committees. Through these roles, she advances initiatives that support faculty success, leadership development, mentorship, and inclusive excellence while helping strengthen UConn’s academic and research mission. Colleagues value her thoughtful leadership, strategic perspective, and ability to build consensus, translating ideas into practical solutions that improve institutional processes and create new opportunities for faculty, staff, and students.

Beyond UConn, Amalaradjou brings her expertise in food safety and public health to national and international leadership roles that advance research, policy, and scientific practice. She serves on the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment Roster of Experts and previously served on the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, contributing to efforts that inform food safety research and policy. She also serves on federal and international research review panels and the editorial boards of leading scientific journals, helping advance scientific rigor and innovation in the field. Through the American Society for Microbiology and the International Association for Food Protection, she mentors students and early-career researchers from around the world, extending her commitment to developing the next generation of scientists. Collectively, these contributions reflect the same spirit of service that defines her work across the University and beyond.

Rodney Rock

For nearly four decades, Rodney “Rod” Rock has helped transform the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts into one of Connecticut’s premier cultural destinations and a vibrant hub for artistic engagement at the University of Connecticut.

Since joining UConn in 1990 and becoming Director of Jorgensen in 1996, Rock has championed access to the performing arts for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members throughout the region. Under his leadership, Jorgensen has welcomed as many as 70,000 patrons annually while presenting an extraordinary array of internationally acclaimed artists, ensembles, dance companies, family programs, and student performances.

Committed to innovation and audience engagement, Rock launched several signature initiatives that expanded Jorgensen’s reach and impact. Among them is the popular Husky Headliner Series, which showcases talented UConn student ensembles and organizations, and a volunteer usher program that has enhanced the patron experience while fostering meaningful community involvement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he played a pivotal role in securing a federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant that supported the creation of the Jorgensen Digital Stage. This groundbreaking initiative enabled audiences locally, nationally, and internationally to experience live performances by world-renowned artists at a time when in-person gatherings were not possible.

A passionate advocate for arts education and outreach, Rock established the JOY! (Jorgensen Outreach for Youth) Program and JOY! Conservatory in 2008 through a partnership with the SBM Charitable Foundation. These award-winning programs have provided transformative opportunities for young people throughout Eastern Connecticut. Alumni have gone on to study at prestigious institutions including Juilliard, the Eastman School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, while several have appeared as soloists on National Public Radio’s From the Top. For the past 18 years, he has also served as the founding director of UConn’s Arts Learning Community, mentoring and teaching first-year students while fostering a deeper appreciation for the arts.

Rock’s leadership has extended beyond programming and education to fundraising and philanthropic development. In 2005, he founded the Jorgensen CoStars, a patron-volunteer organization that has generated significant support for special projects and facility enhancements beyond the scope of operating budgets. Through partnerships with donors and the UConn Foundation, he has helped secure funding for major capital improvements, technology upgrades, concert instruments, and artistic initiatives that continue to enrich the experiences of audiences, artists, and students.

He has also been instrumental in establishing several permanent endowments that ensure the long-term vitality of arts programming and outreach at UConn, including the Lenard Chamber Music Endowment, the Shirley Dabora Memorial Endowment, and the A.N. Endowment, all of which provide enduring support for Jorgensen’s programming, educational and community engagement initiatives.

His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the University of Connecticut Award for Promoting Multiculturalism and Diversity (1997), the Provost’s Award for Staff Excellence in Outreach and Public Engagement (2011), the Connecticut Higher Education Community Service Award (2012), and the Gerald N. Weller Award from UConn Student Affairs (2015).

Through visionary leadership, an unwavering commitment to community engagement, and a lifelong dedication to the performing arts, Rodney Rock has left an enduring mark on the University of Connecticut. His work has strengthened UConn’s cultural landscape, expanded access to the arts, and enriched the lives of countless students, patrons, artists, and community members throughout Connecticut and beyond.

Petra Clark-Dufner

For more than 20 years, Petra Clark-Dufner has built partnerships that connect UConn’s educational mission with communities across Connecticut, creating pathways that improve health outcomes, expand access to care, and prepare future health professionals for service.

As director of the Connecticut Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network, Clark-Dufner leads initiatives that bring together students, faculty, healthcare providers, community organizations, and public agencies to address some of the state’s most pressing health challenges. Under her leadership, Connecticut AHEC has developed partnerships with more than 100 organizations statewide and supports programs that reach thousands of residents annually through health screenings, health education, workforce development, and community engagement activities.

Clark-Dufner is perhaps best known as co-founder of the Urban Service Track/AHEC Scholars Program, a nationally recognized interprofessional education model that brings together students from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dental medicine, social work, and physician assistant programs to learn through service in underserved communities. The program became a model for AHEC Scholars initiatives across the country and has helped prepare more than 1,000 graduates, many of whom now serve communities throughout Connecticut.

Her work has also shaped healthcare workforce development and public policy. Clark-Dufner has helped secure approximately $18 million in state and federal funding to support health workforce initiatives and has played a role in advancing programs and policies that expand access to care, including Connecticut’s Student Loan Repayment Program and the Community Health Worker Practice Act. In April, Gov. Ned Lamont proclaimed April 15, 2026, as Petra Clark-Dufner Day in recognition of her decades of leadership in strengthening Connecticut’s healthcare workforce pipeline and expanding access to care in underserved communities.

Colleagues describe Clark-Dufner as a tireless advocate, educator, and bridge-builder whose work exemplifies UConn’s commitment to public service. Through her leadership, thousands of students have gained hands-on experience serving communities, and countless Connecticut residents have benefited from programs that improve health, opportunity, and quality of life.

The Provost’s Outstanding Service Award recognizes the often-unseen work that helps universities fulfill their missions. Through their leadership, dedication, and commitment to serving others, Amalaradjou, Rock, and Clark-Dufner have strengthened UConn and expanded its impact across Connecticut and beyond.

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful summer!

When I became UConn’s President, I made a commitment to undertake a significant fundraising effort with the goal of raising $1.5 billion for our university. Last year, we launched the “Because of UConn” campaign, and we have thus far raised over $900 million toward that goal.

This would not have been possible without the hard work of Amy Yancey, our experienced CEO and President of the UConn Foundation. Joining UConn in February 2024, Amy developed a remarkably productive organization, reaching record fundraising levels over the last two years. Her expertise has significantly strengthened our relationships with alumni, faculty, administration, and our many generous donors.

Amy recently shared that she will be leaving UConn for a position at Santa Clara University in California. While we are saddened to see such a valued leader and colleague depart, we are so appreciative of what Amy and her team were able to accomplish, with the support of many others. We extend our sincere gratitude to Amy for her service and wish her great success in her next chapter.

As a university, we face significant challenges ahead, especially with cuts in federal funding and shortfalls in state support, all while our expenses continue to rise. Philanthropic investment in our university, our faculty, our students, and their future is vital to UConn’s continued success.

We are committed to maintaining the strong momentum built during Amy’s tenure. To ensure this, the Foundation’s Board of Directors has appointed Richard Eldh, a current member of the Foundation Board and Co-Chair of the Because of UConn Campaign, as the new President and CEO of the UConn Foundation. Richard is deeply invested in our campaign and is eager to lead the outstanding team within the Foundation, build on our successes, and realize our ambitious objective.

He will begin his new role on July 1. Amy will remain at the Foundation for several weeks to facilitate a smooth transition.

Richard is an entrepreneur, business leader, investor, and proud alumnus of the University of Connecticut. He is known for his work in B2B research, advisory services, and philanthropy. Formerly an officer at Gartner, a leading technology research and advisory firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, he also co-founded and served as co-CEO of SiriusDecisions, Inc., which catered to major corporate clients such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Cisco, and Salesforce.com until its acquisition by Forrester Research in 2019.

Richard has remained actively involved in advisory and philanthropic roles across various organizations. Before this appointment, he served on the UConn Foundation Board of Directors. A 1981 graduate of the UConn School of Business with a finance degree, Richard has consistently engaged with the university, supporting student scholarships and broader initiatives, including UConn’s major capital campaign. He was also an early supporter of Hillside Ventures, an experiential learning course in venture capital at UConn. Moreover, he has been inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame and has served as a commencement speaker for the school, where he emphasized servant leadership, respect, hard work, and creating environments in which others can thrive.

Throughout his career and civic involvement, Richard has focused on building organizations, mentoring future leaders, and promoting educational opportunities – including internationally. He lived and worked in Europe and traveled to many other nations around the world over the years, giving him a global perspective and experience that is valuable for any leader.

I also want to share a special word of thanks to the Chair of the UConn Foundation Board of Directors, Jonathan Greenblatt. Jon was instrumental in helping me secure the largest gift in the history of the university from Liz DeLuca for our School of Nursing, and we are truly grateful to Jon for all he continues to do for the Foundation and our university.

It’s essential to recognize that our university is bigger than any one of us, and we are all champions for specific periods of time. Our students and faculty truly need the support of our generous donors during this journey.

Please join us in celebrating Amy and her outstanding tenure and in welcoming Richard to his new role. I am thankful to Richard for coming out of retirement to accept the opportunity to shine alongside the Foundation team and the university’s leadership. He is a Husky forever, like all of our over 300,000 alumni. We are excited about the continued success of the UConn Foundation under his leadership.

Radenka Maric
President

Nelson was recognized as a visionary and strategic leader who is committed to public service and empowers students, staff, and faculty to achieve their personal and professional goals.

“I’m extremely honored to receive the Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award from the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity,” Nelson says. “Helping to make law schools and the legal profession more accessible and inclusive is both a personal and professional commitment for me. I’m proud of UConn Law’s ongoing work to help advance this important mission.”

Margaret Murolo ’24 nominated Nelson for the award in recognition of the positive impact she has had on law students, UConn Law, and the broader legal community.

“I have been privileged to see firsthand how Dean Nelson turned her commitment to diversity, inclusion, and opportunity into meaningful action by expanding access, opening doors, and creating pathways for future generations of lawyers,” Murolo says.

Nelson is the School of Law’s first non-interim Black female dean. In her six years as dean, she has emphasized the importance of equity and opportunity in legal education. She often tells incoming students at orientation about her experience as a first-generation law student and stresses to them that they belong at UConn Law just as she belonged at her law school.

Under Nelson’s leadership, the School of Law enrolled its most diverse and academically accomplished class in history for two straight years. She established the Office of Diversity, Belonging, and Community Engagement and appointed the inaugural assistant dean to lead the new office. She created the Constance Belton Green Diversity Fund, the first law school fund to provide broad support for racial and social justice initiatives. Additionally, she has established new pathway and outreach programs such as the Lifting the Law program in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford and Otis Elevator.

This summer, Nelson was nominated to become a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. ABF Fellows are a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession. The foundation says membership in the fellowship is a high distinction, limited to 1% of licensed attorneys. She is also a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

In recent years, the Hartford Business Journal recognized her with the Top 25 Women in Business Award and included her on its Power 50 List of influential leaders in the Greater Hartford area. She was presented with the Visionary Award by the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, and the state conference of the NAACP recognized her as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut.

The IoEE includes faculty from 10 UConn schools and colleges. Over the last six years, researchers affiliated with the Institute have generated almost $100 million in funding and contributed to more than 600 publications. Additionally, IoEE centers/units have supported more than 900 students and provided over 300 community assistance projects.

“Within the state, region, and beyond, we want to spearhead decision-making for resilience, environment, and energy,” says Emmanouil Anagnostou, the executive director of both the IoEE and UConn Tech Park. “We see ourselves as an interdisciplinary hub supporting UConn research and education, with a particular focus on student experiential learning and professional workforce education.”

The IoEE is addressing the causes and impacts of climate change that are creating monumental challenges and requiring interdisciplinary and innovative approaches and expertise. It also seeks to bridge discovery with real-world outcomes.

The Institute rebranded in 2025 from the former Institute of the Environment, uniting several complementary centers and units under shared purpose. They include:

• The Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE)
• The Eversource Energy Center (EEC)
• The Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA)
• The Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC)
• The Office of Sustainability (OS)

Individually, each center utilizes a wide range of approaches, tools, and technologies to address issues pertaining to health, community, food systems, ecosystems, and energy. They all meld into the IoEE’s mission and serve as a positive example of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.

The CESE advances the IoEE by providing the interdisciplinary research infrastructure and expertise needed to address urgent challenges in environmental health, water, sustainability, and resilience.

“Through its state-of-the-art laboratories, CESE offers a broad range of analytical solutions and method development services for academic, government, industry, and nonprofit partners, with capabilities that span environmental science, human health, materials science, and more,” says CESE Director Michael Hren.

The EEC complements the IoEE by bridging UConn’s broad, interdisciplinary work in climate, sustainability, and environmental systems with applied, energy-focused research that directly supports modern power systems. The Center also plays a critical role as a collaboration facilitator and increases the University’s research competitiveness, as well as preparing students and workers with valuable training.

“The Eversource Energy Center brings together students, researchers, and industry leaders to drive innovation in weather and climate resilience, power systems, and sustainable technologies for the electric grid—turning cutting-edge research into practical solutions that strengthen grid reliability and build a more resilient future for Connecticut and beyond,” says EEC Director Diego Cerrai.

The NRCA contributes to the IoEE by engaging Connecticut youth in innovative science learning programs across the state.

“The NRCA fits naturally within the IoEE mission because it takes environmental education beyond the classroom and puts it into practice in local communities,” says Center Director Laura Cisneros. “It gives students hands-on opportunities to work with community partners and make a real impact, which really aligns with the Institute’s focus on engagement and meaningful change.”

TCTAC aids communities facing environmental challenges with equity-oriented technical support. “By implementing TCTAC’s service themes — environmental quality, energy sustainability, climate adaptation, and environmental health — the New England TCTAC translates IoEE’s knowledge‑transfer venues into direct results through a team of engineers and social science researchers, alongside sustainability practitioners, community health workers, and tribal stakeholders,” says TCTAC Director Carolyn Lin.

Finally, the OS ensures that UConn continues to uphold the highest standards in campus sustainability, student opportunity, and global climate engagement through sustainability reporting, internship programs, Zero waste initiatives, UConn@COP, and student-oriented action events throughout the year.

Student Research and Opportunities

The Institute is already making significant progress on its outreach and education initiatives.

“The UConn Office of Sustainability collaborates with the other units of the Institute of the Environment and Energy to connect academic learning with real-world impact,” says OS Director Patrick McKee. “Through several experiential learning programs, applied research initiatives, and campus-focused sustainability projects, we empower students to help develop solutions that improve how UConn operates and advances sustainability across the university, while also supporting their professional growth and career development as future sustainability leaders.”

Through the OS, EEC certificate programs, CESE fellowships, and partnerships with Connecticut companies, the IoEE provides opportunities for students to conduct meaningful research and step into career pathways.

“We see experiential learning as a steppingstone to strengthening future opportunities for our students,” says Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet, associate director of the IoEE.

Students and faculty conduct meaningful work through advanced resources. These include wet labs, a real-time grid simulator, priority access to high-performance computing, field training, and NASA-Supplied equipment.

“We have an important role in student hands-on training and generating research that is beneficial to society and industry alike,” says Anagnostou.

Drawing on Expertise

As a new institute, the IoEE is building robust research collaborations across colleges, disciplines, and skill sets to meet current and future calls. To that end, IoEE leadership has initiated a think tank program to identify research priorities and build fruitful partnerships.

The 20-person faculty group has been meeting throughout the spring to discuss funding opportunities, challenges, areas for interdisciplinary collaborations, and future considerations.

“In large part, the think tank is intended to translate research into applied solutions to environmental and community challenges; as well as inspire new research collaborations across disciplines and stakeholders,” Shoreman-Ouimet says.

The IoEE is continuing to expand its efforts this summer, building new connections that develop and translate world-class research into actionable solutions and meaningful impact for communities across Connecticut and beyond.

The knee can take a great deal of abuse, thanks to the cartilage that cushions it. But if it’s not moved and exercised enough, the knee stiffens and has poor blood flow. The cartilage can degrade or tear, worsening any injury already there. So people with injured knees have to move in order to heal. The challenge is to know how much exercise or movement is too much.

To answer that question, UConn College of Engineering professor Thanh Nguyen, along with Ph.D. student Jinyoung Park and other colleagues developed a pressure sensor that can be put inside the knee joint, and then degrade harmlessly into the body when no longer needed.

“Overloading destroys the cartilage. But if you don’t move and exercise, if you don’t run, walk, jump, you have a very stiff joint with little blood flowing to it,” says Nguyen. “My lab developed a sensor that can monitor the force in real time.”

Nguyen’s lab created the sensor from poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), a polymer than degrades harmlessly into lactic acid, carbon dioxide, and water. When properly manufactured, it also has the neat quality of being piezoelectric. That is, flexing or pressing the polymer creates an electric charge inside it.

Unlike traditional force sensors, the PLLA sensor has just a single electrode that creates electric charge over an extended lifetime, about 2 months, before it degrades. The magnitude of the charge depends on how hard the sensor is flexed. Whenever the person with the sensor runs, walks, or jumps, their movement flexes the sensor and generates a charge. The sensor wirelessly transmits the magnitude of the charge to a device that can record and display it.

The researchers used a rabbit in their experiment, but the sensor should work the same in the knee of a human or another large animal. For example, elite athletes could receive this sensor after reconstructive knee surgery to help them monitor their post-operative early rehab, avoiding movements which overload that joint in their unstable knees. The pressure sensor would begin to biodegrade by the time the athlete recovers and no longer needs it. The researchers believe the device could also be useful for veterinary applications, such as racehorses.

It’s hard to believe it, but we are at the end of our fiscal year (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026). As I reflect on the last year, you are perhaps wondering what is top of mind for me. I would divide my thoughts into four main categories: 1) pride about the accomplishments UConn Health has achieved, 2) opportunities for next year (FY 27), 3) challenges for next year and 4) risks going forward.

Key Accomplishments (FY 26)

Excellence

We were able to continue our stellar performance in quality and patient experience for which we received multiple accolades, including our 11th consecutive A grade for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, and awards from Healthgrades and Newsweek.

On the academic side, we graduated another 263 physicians, dentists, and scientists, and nearly every medical and dental student seeking a residency matched into one.

Expansion

We were able to plan and implement an expansion merger and acquisition strategy that included creating a UConn Health Community Network, with its first hospital UConn Health Waterbury Hospital. This sounds simple on paper but it included due diligence, political advocacy, and over 250 integration workstreams including HR, legal, IT, marketing, communications, clinical services, transitional agreements with Prospect, and so much more. Because of the timing of the Prospect bankruptcy, this work occurred over a compressed timeline.

As if this wasn’t enough, shortly after the UConn Health Waterbury Hospital acquisition we also brought the Solnit adolescent behavioral health hospital under the John Dempsey Hospital (JDH) license. This gave us an opportunity to increase our Medicaid services, which is core to our mission and reimbursement, but also has given us the opportunity to partner with the Department of Children and Families to elevate the care for this vulnerable population of patients.

Project Thrive Strategies

You’ve all heard of Project Thrive. which helped us find $46.7 million to balance our budget for FY 26. Again this might sound simple but it took a great amount of work by each of you even if you didn’t realize it. A large part of Project Thrive’s success was due to clinical revenues. As you can see below, this required detailed planning and implementation of such initiatives as the infusion unit in the Connecticut Tower.

Managed Care

For the first time in our history we took an appropriately tough stance in our negotiations with managed care companies as we advocated for fair reimbursement. Just to put a fine point on this, our termination and near terminations with managed care plans were a first for us. The result was that we had successful negotiations with four plans: ConnectiCare, Cigna, United Healthcare and Aetna.

Philanthropy

In partnership with the UConn Foundation our fundraising for this year was impressive. We targeted $19 million and exceeded $25 million.

Key Opportunities (FY 27)

I am very excited about FY 27 across several fronts. The first is the upcoming launch of UConn Health’s Center for AI Innovation. We received a donor commitment of $10 million to launch a transformational center that I believe will help us to bring value to ourselves, the state and the nation well beyond UConn Health’s size and funding.

Another opportunity is the further expansion of our UConn Health Community Network, with the future addition of Bristol Hospital and Day Kimball Hospital. This opens multiple clinical opportunities not just for those hospitals and their patients but for UConn Health Farmington and satellite locations.

To streamline referrals and hospital transfers across the network, I am excited about a referral center being developed by Anne Horbatuck’s team, specifically Concettina Tolomeo (center director) and Amy Chmielewski (university director), and a hospital transfer center being developed by Caryl Ryan’s team.

Challenges (FY 27)

Our main challenge this next year relates to a funding gap of $54.3 million that we will need to find through cost savings and revenue enhancements — in other words, a Project Thrive 2.0.

Risks (FY 27)

There is always a business risk associated with our expansion strategy, so implementing growth strategies for UConn Health Waterbury Hospital are essential. We also have reputational risks with our new hospital partners, which means we must emphasize quality and safety. Fortunately, we at UConn Health have a deep expertise in the areas of growth and quality/safety.

You may recall last year a new state law to establish a Neuromodulation Center of Excellence at our Brain and Spine Institute, intended to serve veterans who are recovering from stroke, under the leadership of Dr. Christopher Conner. Dr. Conner is among few neurosurgeons in the country with expertise in Vivistim, an intervention shown to accelerate stroke survivors’ ability to regain function in their arms. I bring this up because next week, we are expecting Gov. Lamont and Sen. Blumenthal here for a tour the operating room and a news conference to highlight the launch of this program, which is scheduled to start seeing patients in July.

I’d like to take a moment to remember Dr. Edward Pesanti, longtime faculty member, who recently passed away. Dr. Pesanti first joined our faculty in 1982 and retired from full-time service in 2014. He was a renowned leader in the field of infectious diseases and will be remembered as an outstanding clinician, researcher, educator, and perhaps most of all, mentor. If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to read the tribute to Dr. Pesanti from Dr. Kevin Dieckhaus, chief of our Infectious Diseases Division.

On a happier note, I’d like to share this patient letter (edited for privacy):

Good morning… [recently] my wife was induced into labor and gave birth to our first child [the following morning].

I commend your staff for their empathy, professionalism, and hard work. L/D nurses Jacki, Jamie, and Gabby gave elite care and reassurance to my wife who was nervous and unsure about delivery. Their efforts made her calm and comfortable.

We believe workplace recognition is important. My wife and I are overly impressed with the level of patient care given and we cannot thank them enough!!

Thank you to Jacki Vostinak, assistant nurse manager, and staff nurses Jamie DeMatteo and Gabby Thayer for your outstanding care!

And I’d like to close this week with an acknowledgement of our PAWS awardees. We held our spring and summer awards ceremony June 18 and presented eight Team PAWS awards and 28 individual PAWS Awards (plus six more for our Nightingale Nurses). Each recipient has a great story, and you can read any and all of them through their nominations, available on the PAWS page on The Hub. You can watch the awards ceremony there as well.

Congratulations and thank you to our awardees, and thank you, to everyone reading this, for all of your great work.

Andrew C. Agwunobi, MD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
EVP for Health Affairs
UConn Health

Dear Dr. Andy

Is it possible to have the drivers from the courier service park in the 195 Farmington Ave. lot instead of Lot 3? They are only switching their cars to drive around for the day, so it isn’t as impactful as to where they park. It would free up 20-30 spots that the employees that have to walk to the Outpatient Pavilion or Musculoskeletal Institute would appreciate having.

Thank you for the question (and the others that have come in on this topic). I’ve shared all of them with several leaders here, and we’ve come up with a solution that will provide some relief. In the coming weeks we will assign the couriers alternate locations to lessen the impact on the main campus parking areas, which will free about 20 Area 3 spaces in Lot L3 on lower campus. Look for additional information once we’ve finalized the details.

Thank you for raising this concern.

Have something you want to ask Dr. Andy? Submit your question on The Hub.

Hub Highlights

Dr. Mary Chang weighs in on the “tanmaxxing” trend.

Find out who from our medical school faculty have been elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society.

We remember Dr. Edward Pesanti.

Plus, you can watch the video of our spring/summer PAWS Awards ceremony — Go to The Hub now for these and other announcements and features and stay up to date with the latest UConn Health news!

Alpha Omega Alpha, founded in 1902, is the esteemed national medical honor society. Its mission is dedicated to the belief that in the profession of medicine we will improve care for all by:

• recognizing high educational achievement;
• honoring gifted teaching;
• encouraging the development of leaders in academia and the community;
• supporting the ideals of humanism; and
• promoting service to others.

Election to Alpha Omega Alpha is an honor signifying a lasting commitment to professionalism, leadership, scholarship, research, and community service. A lifelong honor, membership in the society confers recognition for a physician’s dedication to the profession and art of healing.

The School of Medicine offers one and all hearty congratulations to the newly elected to AΩA:

Faculty

Linda Barry, MD
Professor of Surgery
Associate Dean, Office of Multicultural and Community Affairs
Associate Director, UConn Health Disparities Institute

Lakshmi Nair, Ph.D.
Professor of Orthopedic Surgery
Deputy Director, The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering
Director, Skeletal Biology and Regeneration Area of Concentration-Biomedical Science Ph.D. program

Fellows

Beverly Tse, MD
Fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of OB/GYN

Patricia Giglio-Ayers, MD
Fellow in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Department of OB/GYN

Stephanie Hallisey, MD
Fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of OB/GYN

Kristen Moriarty, MD
Fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of OB/GYN

Angela Quental, MD
Fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine

Teresa Da Cunha, MD
Fellow in Gastroenterology-Hepatology, Department of Medicine

Residents

Nicolette Pennington, MD
Resident in Internal Medicine

Albert Zhou, MD, Ph.D.
Resident in Dermatology

Mitch Wright, DO
Resident in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Kaitlin Krauss, DO
Resident in Emergency Medicine

David Patrick, MD
Resident in Emergency Medicine

“The Public Health Infrastructure Grant, otherwise known as PHIG (“fig”), is a once-in-a-lifetime investment in the public health workforce,” says Tom St. Louis, director of the Office of Public Health Workforce Development at the Connecticut Department of Health. “We’re taking advantage of this investment by working with partner organizations like CT AHEC to make students aware of public health careers as an option as they’re considering their academic studies or their career options.”

One of PHIG’s aims is to address the country’s public health infrastructure inadequacies that were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.  “The Connecticut Department of Health was awarded funding to address gaps and needs related to public health infrastructure and systems, as well as the workforce,” says Celeste Jorge, PHIG program evaluator with the Connecticut Department of Public Health. CT AHEC is well positioned to assist because it has worked with Connecticut schools for more than 30 years to provide health education and career programming for students in grades K through 16. During the 2024–2025 program year, CT AHEC reached 18,101 individuals via programming and outreach activities.

“CT AHEC is very excited to have this opportunity because it has opened the door for us to establish new partnerships that further our health workforce development objectives,” said Petra Clark-Dufner, director, CT AHEC. “We are working with four high schools–ACES Chase Academy (Waterbury), The Gilbert School (Winsted), Highville Charter School (New Haven), and New London Multi-Magnet High School–for our high school pathways program, and with Connecticut State Community College, also known as CT State, for the EMT and paramedic public health program.”

Catalina Quesada, CT AHEC’s PHIG community-based education specialist, says the four high schools will be given the opportunity to assign a teacher to the project who will be given access to public health learning modules and support from the PHIG team. “The teachers know their students and what they need so we are there to help them tailor the learning to their needs,” says Quesada. “We will use our extensive AHEC network to help them identify guest speakers and organize field trips that will help make public health and public health careers interesting and relevant.”

In addition, the 9^th and 10^th grade students in the PHIG program will participate in the 2027 Connecticut High School Science and Humanities Symposium at UConn Health, designed to challenge and engage 9^th through 12^th grade students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Individual students compete for scholarships and recognition by presenting the results of their original research efforts before a panel of judges and an audience of their peers.  Ellen Ravens-Seger, CT AHEC administrative program coordinator, notes that past participants have described the symposium as the formative experience that launched them on a rewarding STEM career path. Attendees are astonished at the high level of accomplishment demonstrated in the student projects.

EMT and paramedic students at CT State Capital, CT State Northwestern, CT State Naugatuck Valley, and CT State Tunxis will be provided with eight self-paced, online  introduction to public health learning modules written and presented by Brian Maguire, DrPH, MSA, EMT-P. The aim of this program is to help EMT and paramedic students explore how their future career fits into the larger public health system. “Students will come away with a deeper understanding of how public health efforts can improve health beyond treatment and transport,” says Maguire.

Renée Lavoie, PHIG administrative program coordinator at CT AHEC, says the grant allows for 225 students to advance through the programs and that funding is available for participating organizations.

“Young people need to know about public health because it promotes personal and community well-being, develops critical thinking skills for understanding health issues, and can inspire future health-related careers,” says Clark-Dufner.  “Understanding public health helps students develop lifelong healthy habits, recognize how social factors influence health, and become informed citizens who can advocate for healthier policies in their communities. This program aligns perfectly with who we are at CT AHEC. We are proud to be supporting this work in Connecticut.”

For more information:  health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/home/phig/

The Health Equity Clinic is an interdisciplinary partnership with Hartford HealthCare’s Hartford Hospital that addresses the legal factors that shape health outcomes. As central Connecticut’s first adult-focused medical-legal partnership of its kind, the clinic places law students in a clinical environment, where they work alongside physicians, social workers, and other providers to identify and respond to patients’ health-harming legal needs. These needs, such as unsafe housing conditions, denial of public benefits, or workplace discrimination tied to medical conditions or disability, often fall outside the scope of traditional medical care but have a profound impact on patient health.

The clinic, led by director and visiting assistant clinical professor Jay Sicklick, integrates education and advocacy, training law students in client representation and the social determinants of health while helping medical professionals recognize when legal intervention may be necessary. Students take cases and referrals from Hartford Hospital clinical personnel, from intake through resolution, and contribute to broader policy efforts.

“The Health Equity Clinic challenges students to think differently about the role of lawyers in addressing complex problems,” says UConn Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson. “By working alongside healthcare providers, they see how legal issues are often embedded in broader health concerns and how legal advocacy can play a role in improving outcomes. We’re very proud to see this impactful work recognized.”

Since its founding in 2024, 17 students have participated in the clinic, opening 94 cases and providing nearly 100 consultations to healthcare professionals. In total, 68 cases resulted in representation and required approximately 3,000 hours of student work.

“This recognition affirms something we see every day: health is shaped by far more

than what happens in a doctor’s office or hospital room,” says Dr. Nina Dutta, Chair and Chief of Medicine at Hartford Hospital. “Legal barriers such as housing instability, access to benefits, employment challenges and discrimination can have a profound impact on a person’s health and well-being. The Health Equity Clinic is helping us address those root causes by bringing together healthcare and legal expertise in a way that is innovative, practical, and deeply meaningful for the patients and communities we serve.”

“The Health Equity Clinic demonstrates the power of partnership to improve lives,” says David Mack, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Hartford HealthCare. “By integrating legal advocacy into the care environment, we are helping address challenges that often stand in the way of better health outcomes. We are proud to collaborate with UConn School of Law on a program that is preparing the next generation of legal professionals while creating lasting impact for patients, families, and our community. This national recognition reflects the vision, dedication, and innovation that have made the clinic such a success.”

About Hartford HealthCare

Hartford HealthCare is a not-for-profit healthcare system driven by a mission to improve the health and well-being of every community.

With 48,000 dedicated colleagues and a bold vision for the future, Hartford HealthCare is transforming healthcare across Connecticut and beyond, expanding access, improving affordability, advancing health equity, and delivering excellence in care.