Wake Forest Translational Science Institute (TSI)

2011-2012 Interns and Externs

One of the goals of the Program in Community Engagement and Implementation is to build, sustain, and expand the interest and capacity of community members and Wake Forest researchers to collaborate in translational science.  The internship/externship program is one way to further this goal.

Barbara Nicklas, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine at the Sticht Center on Aging, is working with Salemtowne Retirement Community, Senior Services, and the Winston-Salem Parks & Recreation Centers to develop infrastructure to provide physical activity and weight loss interventions that have proven effective in the academic medical center.  The focus of this externship will be research into how to successfully translate effective behavioral health interventions into the community.

Sara Quandt, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology and Prevention in the Division of Public Health Sciences, is working with several community organizations. This externship will focus on understanding the food environment of northwest North Carolina, particularly Forsyth County.  The food environment includes the sources of foods (retail, food production, public and private food distribution programs) and distribution of access to these food sources, as well as the social, cultural, and political forces that underlie these.  Understanding the food environment is needed to improve dietary intake for primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases and their risk factors.

Jane Smart, MBA, is the Provider Relations Director for Hospice and Palliative CareCenter.  She began a twelve-month internship in September, 2011, working with Kaycee Sink, MD and Morgan Bain, MD at the Sticht Center on Aging.  Ms. Smart will focus her research internship on the study of palliative care in the treatment of dementia patients.

Carla Bryant, MPA, is the Director of Program Services at The Mental Health Association in Forsyth County, Inc.  She began a twelve-month internship in September, 2011, working with Scott Rhodes, PhD and Aimee Wilkin, MD.  The area of health research to be explored during her internship is the mental health needs of African American HIV positive men and women.