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Faculty and staff briefs

Sarah Bledsoe-Mansori and colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, and Columbia University published a paper entitled, “Implementing evidence-based practice: Practitioner assessment of an agency-based training program,” in the Journal of Evidence Based Social Work. This qualitative study reports details on the BEST training and practitioner evaluations of learning and using evidence-based practice in agency settings.

Bledsoe-Mansori will be presenting the work of her team on the adaptation of interpersonal psychotherapy to treat perinatal depression in low-income adolescent at the 5th International Conference of the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Iowa City in June. Team members include current UNC doctoral students Cindy Rizo, Ph.D. ’13, and Candace Killian-Farrell; and alumnae Traci Wike, MSW ’02, Ph.D. ’11; Anne-Marie Olarte Bellows, MSW ’11; Alison Doernberg, MSW/MPH ’12; and Amy R. Sommer, MSW ’04.

Gary Bowen, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Social Work, delivered an invited plenary address at the National Research Summit for Reserve Component Military Families. Co-presented with Dr. Jay Mancini from the University of Georgia, the presentation addressed “Innovative Approaches to Reaching Families.” The Summit was sponsored by the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry and Depression Center and held in Ann Arbor, Mich. on April 25-26, 2013. The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provided funding, in part, for the event.

Iris Carlton-LaNey gave the Egon Guba Lecture for the Qualitative Research SIG for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference on May 29, in San Francisco. The lecture was entitled, “The Role of Storytelling in Qualitative Research.”

Carlton-LaNey will give the kickoff keynote for the 35th Summer Institute on Aging sponsored by West Virginia University School of Social Work and West Virginia University Center on Aging in Morgantown, entitled, “Elders’ Stories: Lessons Learned From Listening.”

She will also conduct a breakout session, “A Story is Worth a Thousand Forms.” The conference runs June 4-6.

Mary Beth Hernandez represented the School at the U.S. Special Operations Command Care Coalition Conference, held earlier this month in Tampa, Fla. The Care Coalition supports Special Operations Forces’ wounded, ill, or injured warriors and their families.

Rebecca Macy is serving as a member of the UNC-Chapel Hill task force examining the University’s policy on handling sexual assault cases.

Welcome to Ashley McMillan, MSW, LCSWA, who joined the School on April 1 in the newly-created position of assistant director of Recruitment, Admissions & Financial Aid. McMillan graduated from UNC in 2009 with B.A. in Psychology, and earned her MSW from Boston College in 2011. She is originally from Lumberton, N.C., and now resides in Durham. McMillan is also employed with Structured Family Interventions as a contract therapist for outpatient and intensive in-home therapy.

Sherry Mergner is taking on an additional part-time position, with the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD). She will be the lead social worker for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (LEND) grant and she will also be doing some clinical work at the CIDD. For the last three years, Mergner has been the project coordinator for an Autism Masters Training Grant through the UNC School of Medicine, Department of Allied Health Services. The purpose of this training grant was to educate occupational therapy and speech and language pathology master-level students on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Kim Strom-Gottfried was elected by the University faculty to the Faculty Athletics Committee of the UNC Office of Faculty Governance.

Upcoming AHEC Faculty Presentations

CHARLOTTE AHEC
May 30 – The Parenting Spectrum: The Challenges and Gifts of Raising a Child with Autism – Sherry Mergner

EASTERN AHEC
June 13 – LCSW Prep Course – Tanya Richmond

GREENSBORO AHEC
June 3 – Geriatric Mental Health – Tanya Richmond

MOUNTAIN AHEC
June 26 – Ethical Dilemmas in Working with Couples and Families – Anne Jones

NORTHWEST AHEC
June 25 – The Use and Abuse of Professional Privilege: Moving Toward Socially Just Practice – Laurie Selz-Campbell