College of Health and Human Services

“Hard Hits: Concussions and the Modern Athlete,” a panel discussion, will be held at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 5, at UNC Charlotte Center City.
Four UNC Charlotte faculty and staff members will consider the emerging research on sports-related concussions in this latest offering of the series “Sports in the New South: Culture, Color and Cash,” sponsored by the Center for the Study of the New South.

Allison Burfield, assistant professor of nursing, has received a highly competitive grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Scholars program.
One of just 12 nursing educators from across the United States to be honored, Burfield will receive a three-year, $350,000 award to promote her academic career and support her research. The Nurse Faculty Scholar Award is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing.

Maren Coffman, a faculty member of the School of Nursing in the College of Health and Human Services, recently received the Marlene Kramer Outstanding Alumni Award for Research in Nursing from the University of Connecticut School of Nursing.
The honor, named after a former dean of UConn’s Nursing School, recognizes distinguished nursing alumni who have demonstrated excellence in nursing research.
Collfman’s research interests include access to health care, health literacy and diabetes self-management in Latino immigrants.

The College of Health and Human Services Department of Social Work is co-sponsoring the one-day conference “Boots to Books: Understanding Military Culture and Supporting a Successful Transition” on Monday, Nov. 18, in Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.

College of Health and Human Services professor Jeffrey Shears recently partnered with local nonprofit organization, Communities In Schools, to host the Mecklenburg County Fatherhood Summit.
The event, which took place on Thursday, July 11, at UNC Charlotte Center City, drew nearly 200 attendees. The Fatherhood Summit is part of a larger initiative to bring greater attention to the importance of offering resources and programs for fathers in order to increase the number of men involved in the lives of their children.  

Jeffrey Shears, director of the Social Work Research Consortium in the College of Health and Human Services Department of Social Work, recently participated in a national Web forum that examined the experience of black American families.
He was selected by the Urban Institute and Fathers Incorporated to participate in the forum, which was funded by the Open Society Foundation’s Campaign for Black Achievement. The event revisited the landmark 1965 analysis “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.”

Russell Kirby, Marrell Endowed Chair in Down Syndrome Research in the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida, will present “Spatial Perspectives on Public Health” from 12:30 to 2 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, in the College of Health and Human Services, Room 145.