STEM outreach

George Mason professor furthers impact of telemedicine in Ukraine

Jennifer Anzaldi — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 22:39:16 +0000

George Mason professor furthers impact of telemedicine in Ukraine Jennifer Anzaldi Tue, 01/14/2025 - 17:39

Ukraine鈥檚 health care system has been hit hard amid the ongoing war. Power outages, staffing shortages, and the destruction of hospitals have added up to a drastic reduction in available care for the already-vulnerable population.聽In a desperate attempt to bridge the gap, Ukraine鈥檚 Ministry of Health opened the country to telehealth solutions from overseas. But will these prove to be a successful substitute for at least some necessary services, or turn out to be no better than a tech Band-Aid?

Answering that question is where Mariia Petryk, assistant professor of information systems and operations management at the Costello College of Business at 海角社区, comes in. In her spare time, she works as volunteer director of analytics for TeleHelp Ukraine (THU).

Mariia Petryk

Founded by a cross-disciplinary group of Stanford students shortly after the war鈥檚 inception, THU was designed to succeed where other telemedicine initiatives in crisis-affected areas have failed. The founders worked tirelessly to assemble an international volunteer network comprising medical professionals, translators, interpreters and administrative 鈥渉ealth navigators.鈥� Aware that medical consultations were only part of the patient journey, THU鈥檚 founders sought to address the entire continuum of care.

Petryk stresses that while the project originated at Stanford, the technical team included 鈥減eople from Chicago, Boston, other California schools鈥ome very active volunteers were in Australia, South Korea, Canada and other countries.鈥�

Petryk, herself of Ukrainian descent, was honored to lend her data science expertise to this worthy project. As analytics director, she manages a dozen or so number-crunching volunteers who measured and documented THU鈥檚 impact upon Ukraine鈥檚 displaced population during the initiative鈥檚 first full year.

As Petryk explains, 鈥淭he Russian invasion created a humanitarian crisis where a lot of people were internally displaced. And when people relocate to a new place, they don鈥檛 know where to go for health care. They also are at higher risk for many issues, including mental health problems. And they don鈥檛 know where to turn to treat chronic diseases they may have.鈥�

THU鈥檚 primary focus during its first year was delivering much-needed services to this population of war-ravaged internal exiles.

Petryk鈥檚 analytical work gave rise to a recent case study of THU published in Journal of Global Health. The paper鈥檚 other lead author was Aditya Narayan, a Stanford medical student and THU鈥檚 director of implementation and evaluation.

Their findings describe some impressive early successes. THU facilitated more than 1,200 virtual patient appointments from May 2022 to May 2023 alone. Despite often-chaotic conditions, patient attendance rates were above 70 percent for nine of the 13 months studied. As the first year wore on, the THU team found ways to prevent no-shows鈥�for example, employing the popular texting platform Viber to communicate with patients and assigning an individual health navigator to each patient.

Even more impressively, 96 percent of patients reported that their health complaints were at least partially resolved during their visit.聽

The paper argues that aspects of THU鈥檚 model could be adapted for use in other humanitarian contexts. In its initial growth phase, THU had access to advanced technological infrastructure and a wide network of medical providers, by dint of its academic origins. This implies that partnerships with academia could be critical to replicating THU鈥檚 success outside Ukraine.聽

Petryk remains proud of THU鈥檚 impact and her role in helping define it. 鈥淏ased on actual appointments and how much that amount of care would cost at a hospital, THU delivered an estimated $1 million worth of services in its first 13 months,鈥� she says.聽

Looking ahead to THU鈥檚 future, she says, 鈥淚 can only wish to see this 鈥榮tart-up,鈥� as it were, go for the IPO.鈥�

For more information and to explore volunteering opportunities, visit THU鈥檚 website.

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STEM outreach

Calvin Mackie鈥檚 mission is to get more kids interested in STEM

John Hollis — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 19:30:40 +0000

Calvin Mackie鈥檚 mission is to get more kids interested in STEM John Hollis Mon, 10/11/2021 - 15:30

Dr. Calvin Mackie hopes to inspire more kids to STEM. Photo provided

Calvin Mackie鈥檚聽youngest聽son was in the聽third grade when he聽came home and聽suddenly聽announced that he wasn鈥檛 interested in science聽anymore.

That didn鈥檛 sit well with Mackie, a聽former聽mechanical engineering聽professor,聽or his wife,聽who鈥檚聽a pharmacist. So聽he聽knew he had to do something.聽It wasn鈥檛 long before he鈥檇 converted his garage into a temporary聽lab聽and had聽begun聽the kind of聽hands-on聽experiments聽on聽the weekends聽that would聽better engage聽his son.聽

His son, who is now a freshman at Howard University, was getting all聽As聽at one of Louisiana鈥檚 top magnet schools the following year when his friends began inquiring about how he鈥檇 come to know so much about science.聽

鈥淩ight then and there, he realized he鈥檇 been exposed to somebody and things that his friends were not,鈥� said Mackie, the founder of the nonprofit STEM NOLA. 鈥淗e really believed that if his friends had [this same exposure], they would be just as bright as him.鈥澛�

It wasn鈥檛 long before a聽group聽of his son鈥檚 friends began showing up to Mackie鈥檚 garage on Saturdays as well.聽

It was聽then聽that Mackie had聽an聽epiphany of sorts, realizing that he had something to聽offer the larger New Orleans community.聽

鈥淚f [my son鈥檚] friends were not being exposed, then think of the rest of the kids,鈥� Mackie said.聽

Putting up $100,000 of their own money, Mackie and his wife, Tracy, founded STEM NOLA in 2013 in the hopes of making a positive difference for the larger New Orleans community in which they lived and help meet the demands of the 21st century.聽

A nonprofit organization with a mission to expose, inspire and engage the communities in STEM opportunities, STEM NOLA provides participants an interactive, hands-on learning experience that allows students and future innovators and entrepreneurs of all ages to gain added confidence in their abilities and chart a potential course for a career in a STEM field.聽

Students enrolled in STEM NOLA learn about 3D printing, coding, technology, engineering, robotics, animation, app development, gaming and much more.聽

His passion for STEM and inclusion is why Mackie will meet with students, faculty and staff at multiple events on Wednesday, Oct. 20, as part of the聽Investiture聽events for Mason President聽Gregory Washington.聽

He said it was important to him to be at Mason to celebrate as Washington, his good friend of 30 years, realized a lifelong dream. The two men first met in Atlanta back in 1991, when Mackie was president of Georgia Tech鈥檚 Black Graduate Student聽Association聽and trying to recruit Washington to come there for his PhD program.聽

They immediately hit it off thanks in large part to a shared love of STEM, and the two men have since worked together on聽a number of聽occasions with the aim of increasing STEM numbers among underserved communities.聽

鈥淗is dream was to be a college president, impact lives and set the direction of an institution,鈥� Mackie said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us to acknowledge and celebrate when goals are met and made.鈥澛�

Since 2014, STEM NOLA has served more than 80,000 students across 47 states and five different countries, most of whom have hailed from underserved or low-income communities. Nearly half of the participants are female, with more than 80% eligible for free or reduced-priced school lunches.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 making a lasting impression,鈥� Mackie said. 鈥淥ur commitment is to give all children that which my聽wife and聽I and others have given to their kids. We鈥檝e established a level of execution and operation that I don鈥檛 want to聽see聽change聽because everybody deserves it.鈥澛�

Mackie聽has made the most of all the tools available to him聽to share his聽message,聽including his young brother, Anthony Mackie, the popular Marvel actor who recently became the first black Captain America.聽

Calvin聽Mackie聽said he hopes to eventually create a credit-to-career pipeline that allows for ample access to STEM for all students, no matter their family鈥檚 socioeconomic status.聽

鈥淢y ultimate goal is to have a million kids doing STEM聽on Saturday,聽every Saturday,鈥� he said.聽

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STEM Fusion classes draw students from throughout Northern Virginia

Colleen Rich — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 09:00:54 +0000

STEM Fusion classes draw students from throughout Northern Virginia Colleen Rich Thu, 03/12/2020 - 05:00

Mason alumnus Sarom Leang (standing), who participated in the EIP Program from 1993 to 1998, teaches a computer programming class at STEM Fusion. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Office of Communications and Marketing.

Betzy Balladares, a senior at Patriot High School in Nokesville, Virginia, was spending her Saturday in class on 海角社区鈥檚 Fairfax 海角社区. She was there, she said, to learn as much as she could to prepare for college.

Balladares, who is currently deciding which university to attend, will be the first in her family to go to college. She came to the United States from Peru when she was 8.

鈥淚 want to go to a good college to encourage my little brother,鈥� Balladares said. 鈥淚 want to be a good role model.鈥�

Balladares was participating in one of five STEM Fusion Days held every year to help empower students to excel in their math and science coursework. During a recent cold February day, about 350 middle and high school students from throughout Northern Virginia attended a variety of classes. Some of the classes helped students review topics they were learning in school or prepared them for upcoming coursework. In addition, students were able to attend classes on new topics, such as cybersecurity and video game design.

The STEM Fusion program is part of Mason鈥檚 Early Identification Program (EIP), an extensive outreach effort to more than 650 first-generation college-bound students in the Northern Virginia area. Established in 1987, EIP is a multiyear college preparatory program for middle and high school students who will be the first in their families to attend college.

鈥淪TEM Fusion Days expose students to careers in STEM and provide math and science enrichment in coursework that students are currently enrolled in at their base school,鈥� said Khaseem F. Davis, EIP鈥檚 director. 鈥淲e provide math and science support from content experts who deliver the material in fun and engaging ways.鈥�

Honors College senior Jesse McCandlish (right) has served as a tutor in math, science, and programming for the EIP Program during her time at Mason. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Office of Communications and Marketing.

Nawal Ali, an eighth-grade student at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Virginia, said the STEM classes 鈥渉elp me get prepared for school.鈥�

In addition, she鈥檚 made friends with other students.

鈥淭hey are all like me, they come for the same reason鈥攖hat they believe they can do better things in life,鈥� Ali said.

鈥淭eaching provides me with an opportunity to give back to the same program that helped me embark on an academic journey that has resulted in my professional career as a computational scientist,鈥� said Mason alumnus Sarom Leang, BS Chemistry 鈥�04, who participated in the EIP Program from 1993 to 1998 and teaches a computer programming class at STEM Fusion. He is currently working for EP Analytics.

EIP participation begins in eighth grade. To participate, students are nominated by a school counselor and apply at the end of seventh grade.聽 Students who successfully complete the program and meet Mason鈥檚 admissions requirements are guaranteed admission.

During the school year, Mason students tutor and mentor EIP participants. EIP participants also participate in an intensive three-week academic enrichment program in the summer. In addition, students from Mason鈥檚 Honors College help EIP participants in the college application process.

鈥淭he majority of our students come from groups historically underrepresented in college,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淢ason鈥檚 EIP helps provide students with access to excellence.鈥�

In fall 2019, the program had 223 participants enrolled from Fairfax County Public Schools, 143 from Arlington County, and 129 from Prince William Country, along with students from Alexandria City, Manassas Park, Manassas City and Falls Church City.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a little intimidating getting to college,鈥� Balladares said. 鈥淢y parents don鈥檛 know anything about the process, but I have the help of EIP, thank goodness.鈥�