AHS magazine fall 2003/winter 2004 for uic ahs alumni and friends filling in the blanks tick-tock crossing borders compare and contrast flying high A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN Dear Friends, During a year of persistent economic challenge and global unrest, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni continue to accomplish extraordinary achievements. Samples are highlighted in this second issue of AHS Magazine. Our cover story on alumnus, Mike Keenum (PT ’77) titled “Flying High,” best sums up our collective view of the college’s commitment to educational and research excellence. We are thrilled that our alumni are passionately pursuing their interests with the same level of dedication! I am pleased to announce our delight that Dr. Annette Valenta has become the permanent Head and Professor of the Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences (BHIS). Please join me in congratulating Dr. Valenta and the newly designated Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences! On behalf of AHS, I invite you to stay connected by keeping us posted on your accomplishments and achievements by dropping a line at [email protected] or UIC College of Applied Health Sciences, Office of Advancement, Alumni News, 808 South Wood Street, M/C 518, Chicago, Illinois 60612. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season. Best wishes, Charlotte (Toby) Tate, Ph.D. Dean and Professor of Movement Sciences UIC College of Applied Health Sciences AHS magazine for uic ahs alumni and friends fall 2003/winter 2004 Editor 13 FILLING IN THE BLANKS Lisamarie K. Lukas AHS TEAM SEARCHES FOR CLUES TO DEBILITATING assistant dean for advancement, EXHAUSTION. director of development Assistant Editor 14 TICK-TOCK Caryn Sanders RESEARCHER LOOKS AT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN assistant director, advancement BIORHYTHMS AND MUSCLES. Design Cover Story: Norman Design 15 FLYING HIGH Contributing Writers PHYSICAL THERAPIST, ENTREPRENEUR AND PILOT Maricris Briones MICHAEL KEENUM TAKES SICK PATIENTS FROM HOME Lisamarie K. Lukas TO HOPE. Caryn Sanders Contributing Photography Roberta Dupuis Devlin 19 CROSSING BORDERS uic staff photographer PROFESSOR SEEKS TO CLOSE INFORMATION GAP ON ©2003 University of Illinois GLOBAL DISABILITY. at Chicago. All rights reserved. Published by the Office of the Dean (MC 518), College of Applied 20 COMPARE AND CONTRAST Health Sciences, 808 South Wood UNDERSTANDING RISK FACTOR MARKERS IN DISABLED Street, 169 CMET, Chicago, Illinois 60612-7305. PEOPLE AN IMPORTANT STEP IN DISEASE PREVENTION. Telephone: (312) 996-6695 OTHER NEWS Fax: (312) 996-4651 1 e-mail: [email protected] ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Web site: www.uic.edu/ahs 3 NEWS YOU CAN USE Views expressed in this 5 publication do not necessarily COLLEGE NEWS reflect the opinions of the editors or the university. 7 MAKING A DIFFERENCE AHS Magazine has been recognized 9 DEPARTMENT UPDATE for excellence in design by the University & College Designers Association (UCDA) and Creativity 33. 21 CLASS NOTES 23 LOOKING BACK UP TO THE CHALLENGE ATTORNEY TURNED EDUCATOR ACCOMPLISHES PERSONAL GOALS AND BRINGS LIFE LESSONS TO THE CLASSROOM. Joe Legat (MovSci ’97) has two life philosophies. Just get out and live, and finish what you start. That inspirational Legat’s motivation for his athletic spirit has taken him to great distances and incredible heights. endeavors comes from “wanting In 2000, Legat ran a staggering one marathon a month. Then he competed in the Boston Marathon in April 2002. to prove to myself that I can That summer, Legat rode his bike in 15 days from his current home in Las Vegas, Nev. to his hometown in accomplish my goals, then sharing Waukegan, Ill. Continually thriving on new challenges, his goal now is to run one marathon and climb the my experiences with others.” highest peak in every state. Currently, he has completed 13 of those marathons and climbed 34 state highpoints. Legat’s motivation for his athletic endeavors comes from Those words rang true in 1995 when Legat decided “wanting to prove to myself that I can accomplish my goals, to enroll at UIC in the School of Kinesiology and leave ht then sharing my experiences with others.” his former life as an attorney behind. “I was interested g in becoming a physical therapist or athletic trainer i Legat does not believe in spending one’s time unfulfilled. which is why I enrolled at UIC. Once in the kinesiology tl Growing up in Waukegan, he was always an active child: (now movement sciences) program, I found that teaching running track, shooting rifles in the Mayors Trophy interested me most.” Legat remembers many excellent League, and playing ice hockey – his true passion. Legat teachers including Don Hellison, Tom Sattler, Peter shared this love of hockey with his father who provided Jansson and Fran Sweeny. He recalls, “They were all ni spo many life lessons carried with him daily. Some words of dedicated and interested in producing quality teachers.” m advice include, “If you are unhappy with what you do for u l a living, your life will be miserable.” Legat graduated from UIC with a degree in physical a education, specializing in teaching K-12. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Las Vegas where he has taught high school law, banking and finance, American government, and weights and conditioning. Legat is currently teaching world history for the third year. His teaching technique involves employing a variety of approaches to educate students with innovative ideas. Legat loves his work and finds himself waking up most mornings at 4 a.m. to walk his dog and ride his bike to school. So what comes next? “At some point, I want to hike about 2,500 miles off the Pacific Crest Trail which goes from Canada to Mexico. I would also like to bike the coastline from Washington to Baja.” Other upcoming adventures will perhaps include building a boat to row around the perimeter of Lake Powell in Arizona although he admits this sounds a little “wacky” even to him. There is no doubt about one thing. Legat will accomplish whatever he sets out to do both in and out of the classroom. JOE LEGAT p.1 fall 2003 winter 2004 PATHWAYS › EMBRACING LIFE AHS PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION FOR ONE GRADUATE’S CAREER TWISTS AND TURNS. As a focused high school student, Lynn Gaudioso enjoyed Gaudioso’s smooth and natural career progression ground science and believed clinical chemistry would be an ideal to a sudden halt. “I found myself commuting 100 miles a route to develop and build upon her strengths. Her first day to get to the new consumer headquarters in New Jersey step began with a bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory after working in New York City and the company’s world Sciences (MLS) from UIC in 1973, and like almost all her headquarters for 25 years,” she says. When the company classmates, she took a job post-graduation in a hospital lab. offered an early retirement package in 2001, Gaudioso jumped at the opportunity. It didn’t take long to realize the career she had worked so hard for wasn’t what she hoped it would be. “It was a bit of good luck but sure didn’t feel like it at the time,” she says. “I worked for Pfizer for 26 years and “It was a very rigorous course of study, but once I was had invested a lot in the company and they in me. At that actually working, it wasn’t as challenging intellectually. point it felt like, ‘Why wouldn’t they want to use all my In addition, the clinical laboratory departments always accumulated experience?’” reported to a pathologist or physician,” Gaudioso says. During her time at the lab, one of her best friends began Gaudioso had her moments of doubt, but by then she also a credit union for hospital had built an impressive track record employees and recruited Gaudioso and reputation within the industry. ahs to be treasurer. “Because of that The Healthcare Businesswomen’s / singular event, I began to have Association named her Woman of the u an interest in the business side Year for her work in the industry and of health care, which I never mentoring of younger professionals. considered before then.” Ellen Sonet, a long-time friend and .uic.ed industry colleague describes, “Lynn www Gaudioso soon began a master’s negotiated her way through one of the degree in Health Care Adminis- world’s largest corporations and did tration while continuing to work a spectacular job of it. She has the at the lab. After graduating in 1975, self-confidence and willingness she reassessed her career path to embrace risk, to branch out and once again when she realized that try new things, and not worry about most women in health care how it would compromise her career.” administration were in charge of nursing. It was time to go beyond Because of her skills and reputation, her comfortable bounds. LYNN GAUDIOSO former colleagues approached Gaudioso for consulting roles while she was still “Most people who have accumulated highly-technical in her last months at Pfizer. She parlayed the pro bono skills think there’s no place else to go, but there are work into her own consulting business, Ivanhoe Strategies, transitionary jobs that allow you to do other things,” which continues to go strong today. “No matter what says Gaudioso. For her, it was at the pharmaceutical your life phase is, I’ve found you can be as employed giant Pfizer where she worked with Clinical and Scientific as you want to be,” Gaudioso says. “People generally Affairs to monitor new drug studies in preparation for underestimate their skills, what they can do for people, FDA applications. “I used the skills I had gathered in the and how they can help.