Community and Continuing Medical Education

What helps a student know that they matter at UConn?
Liza Boritz, Director of Strategy and Assessment, and Fany DeJesús Hannon, Dean of Students, co-facilitate an interactive Belonging Studio on what UConn student experience data can teach us about mattering and what those findings ask of us in practice. The session is built as a conversation: between the two facilitators, and with everyone in the room. Students, staff, and faculty are all welcome and vital to that conversation. You belong at this session.

We will move in two parts. Dr. Boritz opens with the how, why, and potential of the data, followed by a Mattering Data Walk that creates space to encounter the findings together, notice patterns, ask questions, and bring our own experiences into the interpretation. Dean Hannon then leads us from what we have learned to what we will do with it. Working from real examples of university life, we will examine how students experience themselves as seen, valued, heard, and able to contribute.

Together we will identify concrete opportunities to repair what gets in the way of mattering, strengthen what is already working, and name small changes we can begin testing from wherever we sit within the university.

No data expertise is needed, only curiosity and your own UConn community identity. You are encouraged to bring tangible mattering material from your sphere: a student-facing form, a piece of communication, a process, a practice, or an experience you would be interested in examining together.

This session is part of the Well-Being Collective Belonging Summit + Studio Series, participatory spaces for connection, creativity, collective sense-making, and the ongoing work of uplifting and designing belonging-centered campuses at UConn.

Dr. Kohta Saito, Assistant Professor of Medicine, M.D. Clinical Scholar in Infectious Diseases, Weill Cornell Medical College

Title: “Deconvoluting Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis”

Host: Dr. Wendy Mok

This year’s lecture will be delivered by:

Judy Huang, MD

Professor of Neurosurgery | Irving J. and Florence Sherman Endowed Professor | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery

Director, Neurosurgery Residency Program | Director, Fellowship in Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery

Director, Department of Neurosurgery | Chief of Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery | Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

Title: “The Power of Microdecisions”

Time and Date: 7:00 am - 8:00 am on Wednesday, September 9^th, 2026

In-Person: The Brain & Spine Institute, 5 Munson Rd, Lower Level, Conference Room B (MN B003)

Virtual: Please use this Link to attend this lecture.

Hosted by: Ketan R. Bulsara, MD, MBA

Sponsored by the Department of Neurosurgery, The Brain and Spine Institute, UConn Health, and the School of Medicine.

Neurosurgery Thursday Residency Curriculum Series

Provided by University of Connecticut School of Medicine Office of Community and Continuing Medical Education and the UConn Health Department of Neurosurgery.

Speaker: Brendan D. Killory, MD

Date: Thursday, September 10, 2026

Time: 6:00am- 8:00am

Location: UCHC/ UConn 5 Munson Road, Basement Conference Room & WebEx Live Virtual

Target Audience: UCHC/UConn Health faculty and affiliated faculty including Neurosurgeons, Primary Care physicians, Advanced Practice providers (APRN’s and PA’s), residents, medical students, and other clinicians involved in the management, care, and treatment of patients with neurosurgical conditions, including disorders of the brain and spine disorders.

Learning Objectives: Participants will (be able to):

1. Review various types of surgical nuances in anterior and posterior approaches for thoracic and lumbar spine.
2. Describe strategies for identifying nuances and management instrumentation failure risks.
3. Discuss current guidelines for traumatic spine injuries.

Speaker Disclosure Statement:

Dr. Killory in their role as speaker for this educational event, has no relevant financial relationship(s) with any ineligible companies that could be perceived as a real or apparent conflict of interest in the context of the subject of this presentation that need to be disclosed. There are no relevant financial relationships listed for this individual to be mitigated.

Dr. Killory will not be discussing the off-labeled, or investigational use of any product or device.

Dr. Killory has not used AI tools in the preparation of this session.

Accreditation: The University of Connecticut School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Connecticut School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 2 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Conflict of Interest Policy: All faculty members participating in CME activities provided by the University of Connecticut School of Medicine are required to disclose to the program audience any actual or apparent conflict of interest related to the content of their presentations. Program planners have an obligation to resolve any actual conflicts of interest and share with the audience any safeguards put in place to prevent commercial bias from influencing the content.

Activity Director Disclosure Statement:

Dr. Bulsara, as the activity director, for this educational event, has no relevant financial relationship(s) with any ineligible companies that could be perceived as a real or apparent conflict of interest in the context of the subject of this presentation that need to be disclosed. There are no relevant financial relationships listed for this individual to be mitigated.

Planning Committee Disclosure Statement:

Dr. Bulsara, Dr. Killory, and Natasha Judge, as member(s) of the planning committee, for this educational event, has/have no relevant financial relationship(s) with any ineligible companies that could be perceived as a real or apparent conflict of interest in the context of the subject of this presentation that need to be disclosed. There are no relevant financial relationships listed for this individual to be mitigated.

Commercial Support Statement:

This CME activity has no commercial support associated with it.

Evaluations: Participants are required to complete an evaluation to obtain CME Credits. This CME activity uses an electronic evaluation survey, ETHOS. An email from the activity admin, Natasha Judge, njudge@uchc.edu with instruction will be sent to the participants. Please complete the evaluation within 10 business days of receiving the email. If you do not receive an email within the 5 business days of this activity, please reach directly out to the activity admin. All evaluations must be completed within 10 business of receiving the email evaluation assignment.

Join us for a lecture on the intersection between lifestyle medicine and health equity.

David Bowman, MD, DipABLM, FACLM, Assistant Dean of Student Health and Wellness Director, Spiritual Health and Wellness Center, Howard University College of Medicine.

Bowman is double board certified – in Lifestyle Medicine and Pediatrics and Co-Chair of the Health Equity Achieved by Lifestyle (HEAL) Initiative, American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He is a nationally recognized leader in the field of Lifestyle Medicine.

The Indianapolis native attended Howard University for undergrad and Indiana University for medical school. The initial part of his career focused on global health and HIV, and he worked in Botswana, Nigeria and Haiti. After his own health transformation using lifestyle medicine and his faith, he has been passionate and innovative in empowering healthcare providers, patients, churches, and the general public about the power of applying the pillars of lifestyle medicine in their lives to revolutionize their health.

September 11, 2026

UConn Health

263 Farmington, Avenue

Farmington, CT 06030

Watch Livestream Presentation: https://uconnhealth.mediasite.com/Mediasite/Play/b5bd906701fa4bfa8252c0c889c371b01d

EVENT SCHEDULE:

11:00 AM - Institutional Wellness Committee Meeting

12:30 PM - Medical and Dental Student Lindenthal Lecture

Topics:

• The intersection between lifestyle medicine and health equity
• Brief Discussion and Q+A

1:30 PM - Lifestyle Medicine Student Interest Group Meeting with Dr. Gulati

This talk will highlight some of the cost-effective, culturally relevant examples of programs that address lifestyle-related chronic disease health disparities. Health equity-driven lifestyle medicine is an aspirational concept where the transformative field of lifestyle medicine can be accessed by all. Effective partnerships between lifestyle medicine programs and historically marginalized communities are necessary to optimize individual and community health.