To the UMB Community:

Every fall, we dedicate one week to commemorating UMB's rich history and to celebrating the future we're building together. Among the highlights of Founders Week is recognizing the extraordinary work of our faculty and staff. Four awards are given every year, each signifying outstanding accomplishment in one facet of our mission. I'm delighted to announce the recipients of our 2016 Founders Week Awards.


Entrepreneur of the Year
William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO
School of Medicine
Professor and Isadore & Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Executive Director, Maryland Proton Treatment Center
 
June's grand opening of the $200 million Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) in the BioPark was a triumph for Dr. Regine and his team. The 110,000-square-foot facility is the first and most advanced of its kind in the Baltimore-Washington region and will provide nearly 2,000 cancer patients a year with precision technology to treat cancer.

The center opened four years after a formal groundbreaking, with Dr. Regine having worked on the project for 10 years, visiting the few other centers around the country and engaging a diverse group to create one here.
 
He developed a partnership with Maryland Proton Treatment Holdings (formally known as Advanced Particle Therapy LLC of San Diego, Calif.) to successfully raise funding sources; engaged Varian Medical Systems of Palo Alto, Calif., the world leader in radiation oncology technology, to provide the most advanced form of proton therapy; and enabled the School of Medicine's Department of Radiation Oncology (University of Maryland Radiation Oncology Associates P.A.) to lead the project in providing the center's vision, as well as professional and clinical management services. He integrated MPTC with the UM Greenebaum NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center and UM Medical Center/System by locating the center within the BioPark at UMB and much, much more.
 
What resulted is a state-of-the art center that will save lives while producing revenue, which will further drive the nationally recognized academic success of the UM Department of Radiation Oncology that he chairs. It's an amazing win-win for the University and the public it serves.


Public Servant of the Year
Bronwyn Mayden, MSW
School of Social Work
Assistant Dean
Executive Director, Promise Heights  
 
Ms. Mayden has led the Continuing Professional Education program at the school, facilitated interprofessional collaboration across the UMB campus, and established the Promise Heights program, with the goal to improve child outcomes by implementing an integrated continuum of cradle-through college-through career services in the West Baltimore communities of Upton/Druid Heights.
 
Under Ms. Mayden's leadership, Promise Heights has expanded dramatically. She has secured funding that includes prenatal and childhood development, community schools, extended learning time, reconnections for out-of-school youth and youth violence prevention. Promise Heights also provides family support services such as case management, financial literacy, referrals to health and housing services, workforce development, legal support, and emergency financial assistance.
 
The B'More for Healthy Babies initiative is fighting infant mortality in Baltimore - and winning. Crib and SIDS deaths among babies in UMB's Promise Heights neighborhoods have dropped to zero, and full-term births have climbed to more than 90 percent.
 
Ms. Mayden's efforts have resulted in numerous, measurable benefits to those living in our poorest neighborhoods. She has been acknowledged with the 2014-15 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Award for Excellence in Public Service, the 2014 Reginald F. Lewis Museum Community Award, and the 2012 UMB Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Award in recognition of Promise Heights.


Researcher of the Year
Linda Simoni-Wastila, BSPharm, MSPH, PhD    
School of Pharmacy
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research
 
Dr. Simoni-Wastila has carved out a niche in the rapidly expanding area of health policy research. Her work focuses on drug abuse and mental health in vulnerable populations - the young, the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, and those at risk  due to impaired physical and mental health. Her findings have helped shape state and federal policy surrounding prescription drug abuse issues, and medication quality in long-term care and in mental health.
 
Her most recent study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found patients' adherence to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medications decreased when they experienced new bouts of depression. This should make providers think more holistically about health.
 
Joining the SOP faculty in 2001, Dr. Simoni-Wastila's research is marked by more than 100 papers and over 48 research awards, including 31 as principal investigator. She has three active grants as PI that have been funded for more than $1.4 million.
 
Dr. Simoni-Wastila served three terms on the Commission on
Prescription Drug Abuse and Diversion for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. For over five years, she has served as the director of the Statewide Epidemiology Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), a collaborative with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.


Teacher of the Year
Louise S. Jenkins, PhD, RN, FAHA, ANEF   
School of Nursing
Professor, Department of Partnerships, Professional Education, and Practice
Director, Institute for Educators

For 20 years, Dr. Jenkins has contributed to the teaching, research, and service missions of UMB with an unwavering commitment to supporting the success of students and faculty. She has been a pioneer in the application of technology to teaching and she continues to make significant contributions to the mission of utilizing state-of-the art technological support and interdisciplinary education. She co-developed and leads the Teaching in Nursing and Health Professions Certificate Program, in which nearly 800 graduate and postgraduates have taken coursework to acquire essential skills for teaching.
 
In 2004, the SON alumna was challenged to co-found the Institute for Nurse Educators, which was created to address the urgent statewide nursing faculty shortage. Under Dr. Jenkins' leadership, the institute has become a broadly accessed, statewide center for developing capacity and excellence in nursing education. This work has been recognized through the awarding of 12 grants, totaling nearly $7 million, over the past 11 years.
 
She also co-conceptualized, planned, opened, and then for 12 years, served as co-director of the Clinical Education and Evaluation Standardized Patient Laboratory (CEEL). Originally a partnership between the schools of Nursing and Medicine at UMB, the collaborative training program now involves its schools of Dentistry, Law, Pharmacy, and Social Work as well.
 
In the classroom, teaching courses such as Instructional Strategies and Assessment of Learning, Dr. Jenkins earns rave reviews as an excellent role model "who encourages, supports, and challenges us to think beyond the obvious."

I'm so grateful we have Founders Week to showcase these remarkable colleagues and their remarkable achievements. I offer each winner my heartfelt thanks and congratulations.
 
For more on the Founders Week events, including the awards presentation at the Founders Gala on Saturday, Nov. 5, visit The Elm and Founders Week websites in the weeks to come.

Sincerely,

Jay A. Perman, MD
President