Three UA employees have recently been honored for their work and outstanding achievements.
Dr. Ronald Weinstein, founding director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program, was honored at the Connected Health Symposium in Boston. Weinstein was honored for his outstanding work in the telemedicine field. He explained that the Arizona Telemedicine Program is connected to about 160 sites in 70 different communities and it brings many specialty medical services to geographically underserved populations.
“Telemedicine is the practice of medicine at a distance,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein is known as the “father of telepathology,” and said he was there at the very beginning of telemedicine. During the 1980s, the National Cancer Institute sponsored studies on specific kinds of cancers. Pathologists were disagreeing on what the best diagnosis was, but with his experience of 15 years at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he had an idea. Weinstein said he had the idea of creating a robotic microscope, which ended up creating an industry.
“[Receiving the award] was a special pleasure, given the fact that [Boston’s] where I was trained,” Weinstein said. “I was actually there when telemedicine started, and I had a chance and opportunity to participate in some of the earliest cases. So I think it’s always a special thrill to be honored by your alma mater.”
Catherine Gerl, a human resources representative for the College of Nursing, was selected to be a board member for the Arizona Chapter of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
“It’s been an honor, and everything had just made me so much more motivated and determined to keep moving forward,” Gerl said. “I think being a member gives me a unique opportunity to influence and improve the delivery of HR and to support not only the UA, but also throughout the state and nationally.”
Gerl graduated from the Eller College of Management in 2009, and she said she became interested immediately in leadership opportunities after being hired by the UA.
Gerl is in charge of many human resources-related activities within the College of Nursing, which includes recruiting, mediating issues, posting jobs and other processes, such as employee evaluation and reviewing applications.
“I love my job, and I really look forward to continuing my future in HR,” Gerl said.
Dr. Sean Elliott, medical director of infection prevention for the University of Arizona Health Network, was invited and appointed to the Governor’s Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. Elliott is also a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases, a professor of pediatrics and a block director for the College of Medicine curriculum.
“It is indeed an honor to represent the [UA] and our academic medical center at the state level,” Elliot said. “What I’m really especially looking forward to, and have already participated in, is high-level open communication, which is going to increase our ability to protect health care delivery around the entire state.”
Elliott said he believes in everyone being life-long learners so that they can continue discovering more and making even more of impact. He said he is very appreciative of the UA for giving him the ability to keep teaching, and that it’s a joy to be able to continue teaching medical students and even undergraduates.
“I have gained the ear of the Arizona Department of Health Services and the governor,” Elliot said. “What I hope to gain is ongoing collaboration, [and] also an increased ability to bring academic medicine into high-level decision making.”
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