What does receiving the Marian Ivers Community Service Leadership Award mean to you?

Receiving the Marian Ivers Community Service Award is a passage of opportunity for me. Just as UHOP has been since my first year of college. It gives me hope and peace of mind for the semester by assisting in providing for cost of school and research travel expenses. Thus, can decrease part time work hours and focus on school.

How has being a UHOP Scholar supported/influenced you in your leadership efforts?

UHOP has influenced me to venture leadership opportunities that relate to health equity. Being a UHOP scholar has giving me the credibility to be trusted and granted those positions and the drive to complete those projects with.

Looking ahead, how do you think your community service leadership experiences will affect your approach to healthcare?

The community service position has allowed me to interact-first hand- with the population that I plan to serve. I will be able to provide care with more empathy. My background in community health and research will allow me to provide higher quality care.

To read Eh-Mo's profile on the UNO Community Engagement Center's website, click here!

The purpose of UHOP is to enhance the healthcare workforce serving medically underserved populations in urban Nebraska by identifying and preparing qualified students to enter and succeed in health professions training. This scholarship is available to qualifying high school seniors who have been accepted to UNO for the 2024-2025 school year. The UHOP Program currently offers spots for students seeking to pursue a career in medicine.

Applications are open NOW until January 17, 2024! For more information, a full list of requirements, program commitments, and the application link, please check out the UHOP webpage below. Please share this opportunity broadly.

Stay Tuned, in our next issue:

Meet our 2024 AHEC Scholars!

October: Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This month-long observance is an opportunity for people to unite in working to end domestic violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately 41% of women and 26% of men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text "START" to 88788. To access their hearing-impaired line, call 1.800.787.3224.

Omaha AHEC partners annually with the Grace Abbott School of Social Work to train clinicians, social workers, and community members on best practices for working with victims and survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence. To access their 2022 Domestic Violence training video recording, click here. CEUs are available to Social Workers for $20 – for more information, contact gatsa@unomaha.edu.

For further resources on recognizing types of abuse, creating a safety plan, supporting loved ones, and more, click the button below!

November: American Diabetes Month

November is National Diabetes Month, a time when communities across the country seek to bring attention to diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), in 2019 a total of 37.3 million Americans, or 11.3% of the population had diabetes, with only 28.7 million diagnosed. For statistics and the cost of diabetes in Nebraska, click here.

Research has shown that diabetes affects racial and ethnic minorities and low-income adult populations disproportionately in the United States, with those populations experiencing higher risk of diabetes-related complications and death. For more information, read this article published in the medical journal Diabetes Care. At Omaha AHEC, we work with health professionals and students alike to understand the correlation between socioeconomic status and health conditions such as diabetes.

December 1, 2023 marks the 35th anniversary of World AIDS Day. The day serves as an annual reminder of the ongoing global struggle to end HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and to continue pushing forward the goal to find a cure for the virus. Although there is no cure, HIV is treatable using antiretroviral treatment (ART) which lowers the viral load to the point of undetectability. ART has made it so HIV is sexually untransmittable with consistent use, and the progression of HIV to AIDS an increasing rarity.

Researchers around the globe are committed to advancements towards creating a cure for HIV. An Omaha-based researcher at UNO, Dr. Paul Denton, Ph.D. is one such researcher. He is an author on a paper published in the scientific journal Nature titled "Impact of a TLR9 agonist and broadly neutralizing antibodies on HIV-1 persistence: the randomized phase 2a TITAN trial." To review Dr. Denton's paper and stay informed on the latest publications into HIV research, click here.

Check out the latest on COVID-19!

Have you gotten your COVID-19 vaccination yet?

The CDC recommends receiving the 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax. The current vaccines closely target the XPP lineage of the Omicron variant and may restore protection against severe COVID-19 that has decreased over time. For information on CDC recommendations for those immuno-compromised or not previously vaccinated, click here!

Furthermore, the Douglas County Health Department offers a multitude of COVID-19 resources on their website, including vaccination sites, testing locations, and information on quarantine & isolation procedures. Visit their website at the button below!