Volume 11, Issue 12
August 26, 2021

Fall 2021 Course Registration Reminder

The Office of Academic Affairs wants to remind all SBMI students that regular registration for fall 2021 closes on Friday, Aug. 27 at 5 p.m. Late registration is from Aug. 30-Sept 3. Late fees will be assessed so remember to register before that deadline to avoid paying any additional fees.

The fall semester begins on Monday, Aug. 30 so make sure you register for your courses, today. For the full semester calendar, please visit the SBMI Academic Calendar.

SBMI Bragging Points

Several members of the SBMI Community have recently earned special recognition or contributed to the informatics community. We want to congratulate those individuals on these accomplishments.

• MS Students Nour Alia and Sharmeen Hamid, along with PhD Student Poonam Desai and DHI Student Angela Hayes, will represent SBMI in the UTHealthLeads 2021-2022 cohort. The program is a student fellowship designed to develop future health care leaders.
• SBMI Alumnus and Assistant Professor Muhammad Amith, PhD, MS was named a finalist for the AMIA 2021 Doctoral Dissertation Award.


Zhongming
Zhao, PhD

• Laila Rasmy Gindy Bekhet, SBMI PhD student, was part of the team that won third place at the 2021 SPARC FAIR Codeathon in July.
• PhD Student Fangfang Yan co-authored a recent journal publication with SBMI Professor Zhongming Zhao, PhD.
• SBMI MS students Nour Alia, Daniela Dally, and Marc Angelo Veloso all served as Program Assistants at HIMSS21 earlier this month. The conference took place in Las Vegas.

Distance Education Announcements & Reminders for Fall 2021

The fall 2021 semester will start on Aug. 30, 2021. Add/Drop for classes will run from August 30 to September 15 in myUTH. Please refer to the academic calendar for other important dates as well as events. Courses offered this semester, as well as classroom information, can be found on the semester schedule page. Textbook information is posted at https://sbmi.uth.edu/current-students/textbook-list.htm.

To complete required coursework at SBMI, students should check and make sure their computer meets the technical requirements.

• Canvas Login
  

  Students are enrolled in a Canvas course automatically after registering on myUTH. However, it may take up to 24 hours for a course to appear in your “Courses” list in Canvas. If you have any questions about Canvas or other educational technology at SBMI, please contact the Distance Education team at [email protected].

• Classroom Safety Protocols and Student Badge Access
  

  Fall 2021 courses will follow the same instructional format utilized for spring 2021. Students registered for in-person SBMI courses are expected to attend the classes during the scheduled time and day each week. These live sessions will be delivered using web-conferencing (GoToMeeting or Webex). Additionally, once per month, these in-person classes will have a pre-scheduled, required on-campus session. The in-person attendance schedule will be emailed to all students enrolled in the courses (at that time) and in Canvas. Note that the schedule is subject to change. Students enrolled in web-based classes will complete all coursework 100% online.

  Students should follow all protocols and policies detailed on the COVID-19 Student Update webpage as it relates to in-person attendance days for on-campus courses. Students should also refer to Canvas, additional instructions in future communications from the SBMI Office of Academic Affairs, and their course instructors for more information.

  Students needing badge access to the SBMI expansion of the UCT building should send pictures of both the front and back of their student ID badge to [email protected].

• TMC Library Liaison Librarians for SBMI
  Emma Silva and Travis Holder will continue to serve the SBMI community as the TMC Library liaison librarians for SBMI. Students and faculty can reach Emma at (713) 799 -7114 or [email protected], and Travis at 713.799.7166 or [email protected].

• View the updated “It Starts With You at UTHealth” Title IX Presentation: It Starts With You at UTHealth” Title IX Presentation.
• Review the updated Student Recurrent Training Video under the “Awareness and Training” tab on the IT Security Training and Awareness page: https://inside.uth.edu/itsecurity/sac/awareness/.

SBMI SGO for 2021-2022 Academic Year

The Office of Academic Affairs is proud to introduce the leaders of SBMI’s Student Governance Organization (SGO) for the 2021-2022 academic year.

• Nour Alia (MS Student): President
• Sharmeen Hamid (MS Student): Vice President
• Zaid Soomro (MS Student): Secretary
• Kavita Ramnath (MS Student): Treasurer
• Poonam Desai (PhD Student): Social Events Chair

SBMI looks forward to an exciting year under the leadership of the new SGO.

2021 Aging and Health Informatics Conference

The 2021 Aging and Health Informatics Conference (AHIC) will take place Dec. 6-7, 2021 at the University of Texas at Austin. The Call for Abstracts is currently open and the deadline to apply is Sept. 30.

For more information on the conference, or to submit an abstract, visit the AHIC website.

Upcoming Important Deadlines for SBMI Students

There are numerous deadlines coming up for various applications and opportunities. The Office of Academic Affairs would like to remind all SBMI students of those dates.

• Texas Health Informatics Alliance Virtual Conference
  • The deadline to register for the virtual conference is Aug. 30. Click here to register for the event.

• Predoctoral & Postdoctoral Training in Clinical & Translational Sciences at UTHealth and MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • The application deadline is Sept. 13. Click here for more information.

• UTHealth-CPRIT Innovation in Cancer Prevention Research Training Program
  • The CPRIT application deadline is Oct. 4. For more information, please visit the CPRIT website.

Heroes Helpline Aids Healthcare Workers

UTHealth’s Center for Health Systems Analytics is operating a 24/7 free and confidential helpline for all healthcare workers, first responders, and their families in Texas who have been impacted by COVID-19. Healthcare workers, including allied health students and professionals, and first responders are our heroes. The helpline is here to help our heroes and their families who have been experiencing an unprecedented level of stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please call the Heroes Helpline at 833-367-4689 to speak with trained staff who will guide you to mental health support resources in your area.

• Professor Dean Sittig, PhD, was interviewed by Health Journalism and he discussed an increase in data breaches within hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
  • Dr. Sittig was also interviewed for an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) story about the growing threat of ransomware for health care systems.

• HEROES Program survey data on the mental health of EMS workers and other first responders was recently used in a KXAS-TV Channel 5 Dallas-Fort Worth news story. The HEROES program is managed by SBMI Professor Jim Langabeer II, PhD, EdD & Assistant Professor Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer, PhD.
• Professor Lex Frieden, MA was interviewed by Doug Pike for the Fifty+ show on KPRC Radio about the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the role he played in passing this historic law.