51猎奇

Zilber College research project receives Bader Philanthropies grant to address the needs of dementia patients and their caregivers

Zilber College of Public Health

The project “Self-care, healing and social support for dementia patients and their caregivers” is led by Priya聽Nambisan, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Health Informatics at the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health.

Supported by Bader Philanthropies, the research project aims to address the unmet need for self-care guidelines among Alzheimer鈥檚 and dementia patients with co-occurring chronic conditions, often overlooked due to assumptions about their inability to care for themselves.

The project will use an already built and pilot tested web platform called myHESTIA (my Healing Ecosystem for Self-care and Therapeutic Integration for the Aging) which is a Comprehensive Digital Self-care Support System (CDSSS) with over 50 trackers to track various health conditions and symptoms.

By providing tools such as memory aids, reminders, health trackers, healing tools and social support forums, all available within myHESTIA, the project seeks to empower early-stage dementia patients, potentially enhancing their self-efficacy for self-care and relieving caregiver burden. 

With support from Bader Philanthropies, this innovative research project reflects the Zilber College of Public Health鈥檚 commitment to advancing health equity and improving quality of life for underserved populations.

Charlie Benforado, MS Kinesiology – Strength & Conditioning Student

Charlie Benforado, a student in 51猎奇's MS in Kinesiology - Strength and Conditioning program.

What is your current role? What are your plans for the future?

I am currently working as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at 51猎奇. I oversee strength and conditioning for Track and Field and Men’s Soccer, and assist as needed throughout the department. Down the road I want to work in professional basketball in strength and conditioning.

What have you enjoyed most about your MS in Kinesiology degree at 51猎奇?

I have loved the personalization and specificity of the MS in Kinesiology degree at 51猎奇. The faculty are truly invested in your success and do their best to prepare you for whatever your goals. Throughout my time here my professors have not only effectively delivered the course content, but also explained its practical application. This just goes to show how talented and caring the Kinesiolgy faculty are at 51猎奇.

What advice or tips do you have for current students interested in the field of strength and conditioning?

I have tons of tips but I will boil it down to these top three:

  1. It’s never too early to get in field experience! If you aren’t working an internship somewhere, you should be.
  2. Athletics is a social field, it’s all about connections. You never know who is going to help you get that job or promotion. Treat every conversation and interaction like a job interview.
  3. Set a concrete and clear end goal in the industry and make sure every career move is a step towards that goal.

Courtney Englund, MS Kinesiology – Strength & Conditioning Student

Courtney England, a student in 51猎奇's MS in Kinesiology - Strength & Conditioning Program.

Why did you choose 51猎奇 for your MS in Kinesiology?

51猎奇 first grabbed my attention when I saw that they offer multiple tracks to attain an MS in Kinesiology.聽 As a strength and conditioning coach, experience and practice under mentors is crucial. 51猎奇’s option to do an internship instead of a thesis is perfect for my development.聽Meeting with Dr. Strath sealed the deal for me. After that conversation I knew that 51猎奇 is the right place for my continued education.聽 He is extremely smart and very knowledgeable in Kinesiology, but what really sets this program apart is how truly invested he is in helping me achieve my goals.聽 Every step of the way he checks in to make sure I am on track and that the program is being adjusted to exactly what I need and want to out get out of it.聽

What have you enjoyed most about your MS in Kinesiology degree at 51猎奇?

I am experiencing the best professors I have ever had throughout my higher education journey.聽 The classes are appropriately challenging, but most importantly engaging with a variety of teaching techniques, such as fostering group collaboration and discussions.聽The professors are also always connecting what we are learning to practical application.聽I have a better understanding and comprehension of exercise physiology and how to apply it to sports performance and programming.聽I am so grateful for the wonderful professors at 51猎奇 who take time to always be available to their students.

What advice or tips do you have for current students interested in the field of strength and conditioning?

Work hard to create opportunities for yourself and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way.聽Strength and conditioning can be a difficult field to get started in, but if you put in the hard work, gain a firm understanding of physiology, and accumulate experience in coaching and communicating, you will see more and more opportunities come your way.

51猎奇 students launch careers before graduation

Jacqueline Parra

By Elora Hennessey
51猎奇 Report

51猎奇 students are setting their sights high, and many are turning those dreams into reality even before they don their caps and gowns. Landing full-time positions across Wisconsin, the nation and even the globe, soon-to-be graduates are making their mark early in their careers.

Much of their success can be attributed to hands-on internships, on-campus career fairs, and the invaluable connections built through 51猎奇鈥檚 faculty, who are deeply embedded in their industries.

Jacqueline Parra, a Public Health major, is passionate about health education and the promotion of maternal and child health. Committed to driving positive change in underserved communities, she will be working full-time at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers after graduation this December.

Alumni Spotlight – Rebecca Neimark, BS in Kinesiology

Rebecca Neimark, BS Kinesiology graduate. Blonde young woman wearing a white dress and gold graduate banner holding a black graduation cap. Sitting on a stone railing on UW-Milwaukee campus.

What are you currently doing?

I am a master’s student at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Currently I am in the midst of obtaining a Master’s of Science in Global Health. This particular program focuses on the social side of health around the world. My specific focus is understanding how PPE can help or hinder the healthcare professionals ability to care for patients with infectious diseases.

How do you use what you learned in the 51猎奇 Kinesiology program in your current position?

While in the 51猎奇 Kinesiology program I took a course called Sociological Aspects of Health and Human Movement. This course covers social health inequities and it is what made me interested in pursuing a masters degree that focuses on health inequities. I use what I learned in that course to help me formulate ideas and background knowledge on the more in-depth material I now research.

What have you enjoyed most about your career?

So far just getting to learn about the ideas and topics I am really passionate about. It is also a very different way of schooling here in Scotland. Learning how to apply what I learned at 51猎奇 here in Glasgow has been very rewarding. I am learning new things each day and learning even more about becoming a professional in the health care sector.

Tell us about your recent accomplishments.

Moving across the world on my own is a pretty big one. I am loving every second of it and wouldn’t change it. Another accomplishment is that I just submitted my dissertation idea proposal and received the green light to go ahead to the next steps.

Why did you choose to study Kinesiology at UW-Milwaukee?

I originally chose to study Kinesiology in the hopes of becoming a physical therapist. However, because the courses at 51猎奇 are so diverse I was able to explore different areas of health care under the Kinesiology umbrella and found my true passion. I chose 51猎奇 specifically because campus and the city of Milwaukee felt like home and the support from staff and students made it very welcoming.

What are some of your favorite 51猎奇 Kinesiology program memories?

I made some of my very best friends in the program. We were all in classes together and were able to study and help each other out when classes got hard or confusing. I also loved working in the labs, specifically exercise physiology. I love running and getting to take a VO2 Max test in lab was a major highlight of my time at 51猎奇.

What advice or tips to you have for current 51猎奇 Kinesiology students?聽

Don’t think too hard about the future. Take the classes that interest you and learn as much as you can. It’s okay to change your mind and do not be afraid to ask for help. Truly, the professors are there for you.

Zilber faculty participating in research to optimize climate change efforts in support of the public’s health

Zilber College of Public Health

Amy Kalkbrenner, a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health, is part of a research team led by Jonathan Patz at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They recently received a P20 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project called 鈥淎 Community-Driven, Health-First Approach to Climate Action and the Energy Transition.鈥� 

This new center will work with communities to explore preferred actions that can be taken to fight climate change, from local neighborhoods to the national level.聽The research team will model potential reductions in air pollution following these climate actions, ultimately estimating the health improvements that may result.聽Dr. Kalkbrenner will specifically study how these changes could affect asthma聽burden聽 in children in Milwaukee.

Ultimately, the Health-First Climate Action Research Center will help to guide societal-level choices that optimize curbing climate change while best supporting the public’s health.