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Monday, December 5, 2022
Time: 12:00 PM-1:00 PM
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Learn more about preparing for and applying to law school, legal careers, and pre-law opportunities at UMBC at our virtual Pre-Law Interest Session!
This virtual session is open to current and prospective students in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) interested in learning about law school and pursuing a career in the legal profession.
It’s only been a few months since she took the helm, but it feels like President Valerie Sheares Ashby has been at UMBC for years. She can often be seen engaged in lively conversation as she makes her way across campus, treating each new face not as a stranger, but simply as a friend she hasn’t met yet. She’s already a familiar face at sporting events, cheering on #RetrieverNation as a fan in the stands. And her first Homecoming felt just like that–coming home. You already know she’s a chemist, a former dean, and now a president, but we’re going to tell you how she’s so much more.
From the moment Valerie Sheares Ashby started her tenure as the new president of UMBC, we wanted to make sure she knew what a special community she was joining. At the opening of the semester, we asked community members to share some advice for our new president, and the answers didn’t disappoint.
These words of wisdom from Constance A. Pierson ’90, M.A . ’92, associate vice provost for institutional research, analysis, and decision support, sum up who we are as a campus best: “Take the time to get to know the people. You will likely meet some of the most extraordinary individuals who will change your world. And be sure to find the joy in every moment that you can. Laugh a lot—it’s contagious.” It looks like President Sheares Ashby has that one down already.
Flipping through photos of Sheares Ashby’s first Homecoming, it’s almost impossible to find a photo of her without a grin on her face. Though she met numerous members of #RetrieverNation during the festivities, each interaction held something special.
On one of her first days in the office, President Sheares Ashby found this group of students dancing together in the walkway outside of the Admin building. They couldn’t resist snapping a pic!
The real GOAT of UMBC gave Sheares Ashby his paw of approval as soon as he met her. As any Retriever knows, True Grit is the real one you have to win over around here.
Photo courtesy of President Sheares Ashby.
Talk about a family affair! Sheares Ashby’s whole family decked themselves out in black and gold to celebrate her appointment as UMBC president.
Photo courtesy of President Sheares Ashby.
For Sheares Ashby, the best way to learn about our community is to immerse herself in it. In her first few weeks and months, she’s made it a point to attend meetings, get to know constituents, and turn a simple walk down Academic Row into an informal meet and greet. Each of these interactions serves as another piece of the puzzle that makes up UMBC . At a welcome reception with University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor Perman, Sheares Ashby addressed the audience and said, “People keep thanking me for coming to UMBC, and I don’t understand that because the gift is all mine.”
“It has been a pleasure getting to know President Sheares Ashby. She fits right into the UMBC community and readily meets with students, faculty, and staff. Her commitment to developing UMBC’s culture of inclusive and academic excellence is evident in her priorities and appreciated by everyone,” says Farah Helal ’24, global studies and political science, USM student regent. She joined Chancellor Perman in welcoming Sheares Ashby.
One of the hallmarks of Sheares Ashby’s conversations is the reminder to “take care of yourself.” At this year’s new-faculty meeting, she assured the audience, “You are a human being and what you bring to us is more than enough.”
Making her rounds on the first day of classes, Sheares Ashby encountered the UMBC inevitable—unintentional matching outfits. Jasmine Lee (center), director of inclusive excellence, and Samantha Smith (right), director of health promotion, joined Sheares Ashby for a photo op we couldn’t have planned better!
When you think about a university, you think about students, faculty, staff, and alumni. But families are the support system that keep UMBC going. Sheares Ashby stopped by the Family Breakfast during this year’s Homecoming to meet some of these integral members of our community.
We know that Sheares Ashby loves getting to know our community, but if possible, we love getting to know her even more—as evidenced by the fact she is the most flagged-down person on campus for a selfie (we have to accept campus comfort dog Chip is still #1 overall). To further your presidential education, here are five fast facts straight from the source.
What has been your favorite spot to do work on campus?
I’ve really only had the chance to work in the Administration Building, but what I consider my job and what people call work are interesting. Sitting in my office and having meetings, that’s work. But it’s also my job and my joy to be out amongst people.
Do you have a favorite theatre production?
My mother instilled in me The Sound of Music. My whole family can sing and quote almost every word.
What’s your go-to coffee order?
I haven’t had coffee in years because, I don’t know if you could tell, I have a little energy so I don’t need caffeine. Occasionally I’ll drink tea, chamomile or Earl Grey. I love a good Earl Grey.
When given 15 minutes for self-care, what do you reach for?
If you gave me three hours, I would take a nap. But for 15 minutes, I’m probably going to call my friends and just laugh. I love talking to my friends. They keep me grounded.
What advice would you give someone getting ready to start their first year of college?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the whole plan. Don’t worry about it. You’re going to be fine.
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UMBC recently partnered with the government of Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture to host the seminar “New Frontiers in Healthcare Management,” examining innovative approaches to an aging society. The UMBC organizers included the department of sociology, anthropology, and public health (SAPH), Erickson School of Aging Studies, and doctoral program in gerontology. The event brought together researchers, government leaders, and practitioners to discuss leading practices and new research on the management of healthy aging in Kanagawa and in Maryland.
Speakers for the “New Frontiers in Healthcare Management” international seminar. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
Kanagawa has a population of over nine million people and is known as a “super-aging society,” with the largest aging population in the world and the highest number of centenarians. In 2017, Kanagawa Governor Yūji Kuroiwa developed and implemented the Kanagawa Prefecture’s Healthcare New Frontier health policy package to address the myriad needs of this population by embracing past and present methods of proactive healthcare management.
The seminar’s participants from Japan shared how these policies can inform the future management of aging societies and the development of impactful life science technologies across the world, with Maryland as a leading partner.
“This event has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our partnership as a sister state with the Kanagawa Prefecture,” said Luis E. Borunda, the Maryland Deputy Secretary of State, at the event. “Yūji Kuroiwa, governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, has always been at the forefront of what it means to age well. He is transforming the world to be a better place to grow older with the concept ‘ME-BYO.’”
(l-r): Steiner, Kuroiwa, Borunda. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
ME-BYO is a state of being where a person is defined as neither sick nor healthy, but living in a continual state of maintaining good health wherever they are in the spectrum of personal wellbeing. Governor Kuroiwa’s Healthcare New Frontier health policy combines the traditional concept of ME-BYO with advanced technology, regenerative medicine, robotics, and information and communication technologies.
“When we think of our health, we think that we are either healthy or sick, but in reality, there is no cut line. Our state of health gradually changes between healthy and sick every day. This is the state of ME-BYO,” said Governor Kuroiwa. “To manage and improve our health is to manage ME-BYO.”
Yūji Kuroiwa, governor of Kanagawa Prefecture. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
The purpose of the prefecture’s new health policy is to prevent illness and minimize illness progression through programs that promote healthy behaviors such as a balanced diet, exercise, and social activities. This includes fostering age-friendly living communities that can improve physical and mental health. The ME-BYO approach also encourages monitoring vital signs using biomedical life science technologies.
“By integrating the ME-BYO concept with advanced medical technologies we aim for healthy longevity as well as create new industries and markets,” said Governor Kuroiwa. “We hope to strengthen partnerships between Maryland and Kanagawa Prefecture to further the development of the life science industry in both.”
At UMBC, aging research can be found across a broad range of disciplines, using different approaches. Some faculty focus on lifelong learning and education or trauma-centered care. Others take novel approaches to data collection, management, and analysis to develop insights on healthy aging and the life course and the social determinants of health, such as access to quality healthcare, living environments, social networks, and economic forces.
(l-r): Yamashita, Steiner, Borunda. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
Research by UMBC’s Taka Yamashita, a professor of SAPH, has revealed that individuals with high educational attainment are more likely to pursue education activities later in life. Preliminary findings have found that lifelong learning has a strong correlation to long-term health and wellbeing. However, further research is needed to understand why this link exists.
“The optimal goal of my research is to create a situation where we can actually prescribe lifelong learning just like we do physical activities today, to maintain and promote health and wellbeing later in life,” says Yamashita.
Taka Yamashita. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
In order to engage more people in lifelong learning and other activities that promote well-being, communities need help to prevent or minimize their risks of adverse health events, the speakers also noted. Ian Stockwell, an associate professor of information systems, spoke about the potential of statistical models to support healthy aging and the ongoing community engagement of older adults.
Stockwell is the associate director of healthcare research in UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology and also a liaison to The Hilltop Institute at UMBC, which develops predictive analytics related to healthcare. Stockwell was previously chief data scientist at Hilltop and his current research focuses on the use of data to improve healthcare systems.
Ian Stockwell. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
For the last three years, Stockwell and a team of Hilltop researchers have been building statistical models incorporating the characteristics that influence the health and wellbeing of a person, like chronic conditions and access to food, transportation, and housing. Their models can measure not only the risk of a population for adverse health events—such as avoidable hospital visits, complications due to diabetes, or premature death—but also the role of factors and characteristics associated with their daily environment.
Often, people who are most at risk of negative health outcomes are not able to seek care. One goal of this research is to use the information from the models to inform the creation of an intervention outreach team that can identify those individuals with the highest risk and get them the services that they need.
“These models currently predict avoidable hospitalization, avoidable long-term admission to nursing homes, complications due to diabetes, and opioid overdoses,” says Stockwell. “I love helping people and these models have served two-million Marylanders who are covered by Medicare and Medicaid.”
Trauma is an important event in the life course that can impact health and health outcomes for people in any population. For residents of long-term care and nursing homes, trauma-informed care is essential to psychosocial well-being, UMBC researchers shared. UMBC’s Nancy Kusmaul, an associate professor of social work, and Brandy Wallace, an associate professor of SAPH, are working to help nursing homes implement trauma-informed care practices.
Nancy Kusmaul. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
“Trauma-informed care is a perspective and organizational model that presumes residents, staff, caregivers, family members, and anyone who might be at the nursing home, might have experienced some kind of trauma that we might not know,” said Kusmaul at the event.
Traumas that people experience because of gender, age, location, discrimination, and oppression can be perceived differently around the world, she explained. Trauma-informed care increases the compassion and empathy that caregivers can provide and helps them focus their care in a way that reduces retraumatization for everyone, supporting wellbeing.
Trauma-informed practices may look different across cultures, but they are important to explore deeply whether someone is in Maryland or Kanagawa, noted Kusmaul. “They are part of the human experience,” she said. “No matter who you are, where you are, or your nationality, trauma-informed care is essential to the wellbeing of all populations.”
Madhav Thambisetty, a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute of Aging, also spoke at the seminar, sharing research on pharmaceutical advances in aging care. Manabu Seo, chief executive officer at Elixirgen Scientific, and Rama Modali, chief executive officer of Reprocell USA, discussed advances in drug discovery and regenerative medicine.
Madhav Thambisetty. (Photo by Kiirstn Pagan ’11)
The seminar concluded with a panel including Yamashita, Kusmaul, Stockwell, and Governor Kuroiwa, led by Dana Bradley, dean of the Erickson School, as well as a poster presentation featuring work by doctoral students from the UMB/UMBC Doctoral Program in Gerontology and the UMB School of Social Work .
Donnette Narine, a gerontology doctoral student, discusses her poster with Stockwell. The consensus for the future of healthy aging was that no single perspective or narrow approach will be successful. Supporting the health and wellbeing of the aging population depends on international innovation and collaboration in life science biotechnologies, novel clinical approaches, effective data management and analysis, and thoughtful approaches to care and wellbeing centered on human experiences.
“UMBC played an important role in connecting Kanagawa and Maryland, through education and research, to develop this unique international seminar,” said Yamashita. “I hope that this seminar inspired policymakers, researchers, and students to critically examine how the ME-BYO concept and policy may contribute to our current views on aging and healthcare.”
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