Notable

Kathy Bottum

Dr. Kathy Bottum, assistant professor of internal medicine and psychiatry at the SIU School of Medicine, is the first recipient of SIU's Clinician Scientist Research Award.  Her proposal, "Mechanisms of Resistance to Exitotoxicity in Suprachiasmatic Nucleus," is a study of a group of neurons in the brain which may provide clues to a new treatment for stroke.  The award was created as a method to enhance research at SIU.

Bottum's research team includes Shelley Tischkau, assistant professor of pharmacology; Andrzej Bartke, professor of internal medicine and physiology and SIUC Distinguished Scholar; Dr. Laura Rogers, associate professor of general internal medicine, and Dr. David Resch, associate professor of internal medicine and psychiatry.

Bottum returned to the SIU faculty in 2006.  She completed her combined medicine/psychiatry residency at SIU in 2002.  She earned her medical and doctorate degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997 and 1995, respectively, and a bachelor's degree at Grand Valley State University in 1985.  Bottum is board certified in psychiatry and internal medicine.

Bradley Schwartz

Dr. Bradley Schwartz, associate professor of urology, has received the first Concept Development Award from SIU for his research project, "A New Stone Retrieval Device and Laser Resistant Material."  The project goal is to develop a new basket-like device designed to better remove kidney stones.  The award was created to support the development and marketing of new medical technologies at SIU.

Schwartz joined the SIU faculty in 2003.  Schwartz completed a fellowship in endourology and laparoscopy at the University of California at San Francisco in 1999.  He completed his surgical and urologic residency training at Madigan Army Medical Center in 1993 and 1996, respectively. After receiving a doctor of osteopathy degree from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in 1990, Schwartz continued his career in the U. S. Army.  He earned his bachelor's degree from Hamline University in 1986.  Schwartz is board certified in urology.  He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a diplomate of the American Board of Urology.

Those who need a poetry reading fix even when there isn't a poetry reading scheduled need despair no more.

Allison E. Joseph

Online poetry readings are sometimes a feature of poetry contests, as is the case with a recent contest Allison E. Joseph, director of the creative writing program at SIUC.

Joseph, no stranger to the winner's circle of poetry contests, won the third Elizabeth R. Curry Prize in Poetry from SLAB, otherwise known as the Sound and Literary Art Book of Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. The next issue of the journal features all the winners, including, of course, Joseph's poem, "What Poetry Is." An audio sample featuring her reading of that poem goes on the Web site.

Joseph is also a past winner of such contests as the Propper Prize in Poetry, the John Crowe Ransom Prize, the John C. Zacharis First Book Award, the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Award and the Academy of American Poets (three times), just to name a few.

She said entering poetry-writing competitions isn't just about the winning, though. It's also about supporting the small press publications that sponsor the contests.

The Elizabeth R. Curry Prize comes with a $500 cash award as well as publication in the journal and a spot in the audio portion. The contest judge was Lance Larsen, 2007 National Endowment of the Arts Literature Fellow. When the new issue is ready, Joseph's reading will be at http://academics.sru.edu/slablitmag and follow the links through audio.