Small Street Journal: July 13, 2018

Dr. Jean Pratt, professor of information systems and interim associate dean of the College of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, has been named the 2018 Computer Educator of the Year by the International Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS). The award recognizes a faculty member who has compiled an outstanding record of professional service, teaching and scholarship, and has made significant contributions to their university and their profession.

Brittany Nielsen has been named campus director of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire – Barron County following a competitive search process. As director of the Barron County campus, located in Rice Lake, Nielsen will lead recruitment and enrollment efforts in conjunction with UW-Eau Claire, oversee all student affairs activities, and be responsible for daily operations. Nielsen was formerly campus administrator at UW-Barron County and associate dean for student affairs and enrollment management for UW Colleges. She joins Dr. Troy Kozma, previously named academic chair, as the UW-Eau Claire – Barron County leadership team. The finalization of the UW-Eau Claire – Barron County leadership team came as the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools recently approved UW System-wide restructuring of all the UW Colleges. Under the restructuring, all former UW System two-year colleges merged with four-year institutions effective July 1.
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Five resident physicians have joined the Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Residency Program in Eau Claire. The physicians were selected out of 1,011 applicants from medical schools across the country. This is the second class of Family Medicine residents in the program, which will accommodate as many as 15 residents, five per year over the three-year residency. The residents are:

• Meredith Buck, M.D., of Gwinn, Michigan, completed medical school at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
• Theodore Maillette, M.D., of Eagle River, Wisconsin, completed medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.
• Hannah Miller, M.D., of Jackson, Michigan, completed medical school at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Marquette.
• Kira Novakofski, M.D., Ph.D, of Ladysmith, Wisconsin, completed medical school at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York.
• Samantha Olesiak, M.D., of Weyerhaeuser, Wisconsin, completed medical school at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Funding for the program came in part from a $750,000 grant awarded in 2014 by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to help train new family medicine doctors, especially in rural areas.

Physical therapist Anna Nordeman recently joined the Physical Therapy Department at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. Nordeman received a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology and a doctor of physical therapy degree from the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and Wisconsin Physical Therapy Association. Nordeman is certified in Basic Life Support and CPR. She also is certified in Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT BIG) — an exercise treatment program for people with Parkinson's disease.

Psychiatrist Pravesh Sharma, M.D., recently joined Behavioral Health at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. Sharma completed medical school at Rajiv Gandhi Medical College in Thane, Maharashtra, India. He completed a residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, and a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and American Psychiatric Association. Sharma’s professional interests include adolescent addiction psychiatry, community psychiatry, suicide prevention and systems of care. He has received research funding from AACP to study cannabis use disorder and its complex interrelationship with psychotic symptoms.