The Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Last week, a few of our Mailman Center staff and LEND trainees attended the 2024 AUCD Conference in Washington, D.C., which brought together over 1,100 experts to advance disability policy, research, and advocacy. The conference, themed Stronger Together: Creating a More Inclusive World, emphasized the importance of collaboration to enhance opportunities and rights for people with disabilities. It highlighted the AUCD Network’s role in promoting inclusive research, training, education, and service. Pictured are Dr. Daniel Armstrong, Shelly Baer, Jairo Arana, Chrisanda Sanchez, Liz Weintraub, Simran Prakash, Monique Lapierre, and Carmen Rangel.
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The Miami Foundation
The Miami Foundation celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Miami Fellows Initiative (MFI) with an event focused on the future of Miami’s leadership. MFI’s 15-month program trains mid-career professionals to engage and give back to the community. The event gathered alumni, including Shelly Baer, who modeled the Mailman Center’s Emerging Transformational Leadership Program (ETLP) after MFI. Changemakers from 25 leadership programs attended, along with six ETLP alumni. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava spoke, and Annie Lord, director of Miami Homes for All, received the Ruth Shack Leadership Award. The celebration included networking at the Miami Marlins Stadium.
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A Night of Fun at the Holtz Children's Hospital
The PediPals team at Holtz Children's Hospital recently held a "Taylor Swift Concert, Holtz's Version" for their patients. Patients and their families danced the night away to Taylor Swift music, made friendship bracelets and sunglasses, and ate delicious concert themed snacks such as cotton candy and sno-cones. Jennifer Coto, PhD, assisted in planning this event and her family volunteered. Pediatric psychology trainees Gabrielle Freitag, Lauren Patrusky, and Shannon Shaughnessy also joined in on the fun and volunteered.
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What is an Inter-Professional Collaborative (IPC)?
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Our Inter-Professional Collaborative groups meet once a month and include professionals from different backgrounds working together to further the vision and mission of the Mailman Center. Our IPCs develop programs, write grant proposals and research papers, and host professional trainings.
There are five Inter-Professional Collaboratives:
- Promoting Behavioral Health
- Neurodevelopmental Discovery Science
- Neurodevelopmental Intervention Science
If you are interested in learning more about and/or joining an IPC, visit our Mailman Center website for more information.
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Inter-Professional Collaborative (IPC) Spotlight
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Neurodevelopmental Discovery Science
Dr. Ivette Cejas joined our Neurodevelopmental Discovery Science IPC in October to discuss the challenges experienced by deaf and/or hard of hearing children and their families, and the benefits of early identification and access.
This IPC brings together investigators from across the University to create synergies for research in the area of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities that can be translated into benefits for individuals with IDD, particularly in community settings. Priorities include: autism, genetics, development of early language, neurodevelopmental consequences of prenatal exposure to viruses (e.g., Zika), and consequences of chronic illnesses and their treatment.
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Jairo Arana
Jairo Arana, a Clinical Program Coordinator at the Mailman Center, was recently elected as a Representational Member on the Board of Directors for the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). The Representational Member chosen demonstrates leadership in the network, and a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Jairo's vision for the association is to build upon what they've succeeded on, learn from past mistakes, and address current and potential barriers for people with disabilities.
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Elizabeth Pulgaron, PhD
Dr. Pulgaron was elected as the Vice Chair for the Miami-Dade County School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) and Dr. Sukkar was elected as a voting member for the SHAC. Each will serve a two year term. A SHAC is made up of a broad cross-section of parents, school, health, business, and community
leaders, who serve as problem-solvers and advisors to school districts on health related issues. The SHAC focuses on building trust between representatives and uses committee member knowledge, passion and leadership to have a positive impact on the health and academic successes of children and youth.
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F. Daniel Armstrong, PhD
This grand rounds session centered on the State of the Mailman Center over the past year. The presentation accentuates the achievements within our Education & Training program, Clinical Services, Research, and Community Engagement, while also outlining our future directions in these domains.
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Lee Sanders, MD, MPH
Based on 30 years of clinical research - complemented by teaching human-centered design and consulting for Silicon Valley startups - Dr. Sanders shared examples of how to design new technologies in ways that are more likely to decrease than to worsen health inequities.
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Research Publications & Presentations
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Publication
Yi Zhang, Debasish Sarker, Samantha Mitsven, Lynn Perry, Daniel Messinger, Udo Rudolph, Michael Siller, and Chaoming Song
Published October 3, 2024
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Publication
Lambert, JO, Lutz, MR, Orr, CJ, Schildcrout, JS, Bian, A, Flower, KB, Yin, S, Sanders, LM, Heerman, WJ, Rothman, RL, Delamater, AM, Wood, CT, White, MJ, Perrin, EM. (2024). Good friends and good neighbors: Social capital and food insecurity in families with newborns. Journal of Pediatrics, 276: 114355.
Doi: 10.1016/j.peds.2024.114355.186.
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Publication
Heerman WJ, Rothman RL, Sanders L, Schildcrout JS, Flower KB, Delamater AM, Kay, MC, Wood C, Gross, RS, Bian A, Adams, LE, Sommer, EC, Yin HS, Perrin EM. (2024). A digital health behavior intervention to prevent childhood obesity: The Greenlight Plus randomized clinical trial. Journal of the American Medical Association.
Doi:10.1001/jama.2024.22362
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Presentation
Mali, L., Malik, J., Sanchez, J., Pendley, J., Dolan, L., Delamater, A. Behavioral self-control and glycemic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: Serial Mediation by family conflict and self-management behaviors. Poster presented at annual meeting of the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2024.
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Presentation
Malik, J., Mali, L., Sanchez, J., Pendley, J., Dolan, L., Delamater, A. Demographic, clinical, and psychosocial predictors of diabetes self-management trajectories over 9-years in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Poster presented at annual meeting of the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2024.
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Calendar of Upcoming Events
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