Hollingsworth

UT women’s golf Head Coach Nicole Hollingsworth was feeling great in the days leading up to calling 911 and being rushed to the hospital. She had walked the LPGA qualifier on Monday and felt fine. On Tuesday, she jogged 2 miles. On Wednesday, she swam 130 laps.

However, by Wednesday afternoon, the 43-year-old wasn’t feeling well. She thought it was something she had eaten. She had diarrhea and felt dizzy. She had just bought a Fitbit a few days beforehand and noticed that her pulse was just 56. Normally, it was 86.

“I called 911 and told them to break down my door because I didn’t think I would make it to the door,” Hollingsworth said. “I got in the shower with my clothes on because I was burning up. I started throwing up.”

When the paramedics arrived they told her she might be having a heart problem. They were right. As it turned out, she had an ulcerated plaque that needed stented and she needed long-term antiplatelet medication.

Hollingsworth will tell more of her story as the keynote speaker at the 10^th annual Go Red for Women Luncheon at noon Friday, Nov. 13 at Parkway Place in Maumee. She will talk about how losing 73 pounds before that fateful day in July helped save her life.

“I was paying more attention to my health by eating a diet high in protein and low in carbs in the months before my heart episode,” she said. “That saved my life. Plus, I had great medical care at The University of Toledo Medical Center.”

UT Health cardiologists Dr. Jodi Tinkel and Dr. Laura Murphy are the co-chairwomen of this year’s luncheon. Individual tickets are $100 each. Tables are $1,000 each.

“Eighty cents of every dollar we raise goes back to the community in the form of research and education,” said Allyson France, executive director of the Northwest Ohio American Heart Association.

Murphy, who assisted in Hollingsworth’s care, said heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths annually. Women must be vigilant about their heart health because they experience different symptoms from men, in particular for heart attacks and coronary artery disease.

“They might suffer from nausea, back pain or fatigue, which on the surface aren’t that shocking or concerning,” Murphy said. “Women might also break out into a sweat without any chest pain.”

Murphy said regular exercise and healthy eating are crucial for heart health, although genetics do play a role. Hollingsworth’s father had a quadruple bypass in his late 50s, but she did not have high blood pressure.

“I was atypical, which shows that anyone can experience a heart episode,” Hollingsworth said. “You can’t rule it out just because you are young and in relatively good health.

“I am now in cardiac rehab three times per week and still coaching and doing my job,” she said. “I feel very fortunate and blessed.”

The luncheon will include a health and wellness fair from 11 a.m. to noon. The event also will include hearing from motivational humorist Kay Frances.

“I believe that humor is at the ‘heart’ of it all,” Frances said. “A light heart is a happy heart and a happy heart is a healthy heart.”

To purchase tickets, contact Allyson France at 419.350.5819 or allyson.france@heart.org.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (Nov. 9, 2015)
WTOL 11 (Nov. 13, 2015)
WTOL 11 (Nov. 16, 2015)
The Blade (Nov. 22, 2015)

The nationally recognized Interfaith Amigos will promote interfaith acceptance when they visit Toledo this weekend.

Known for their blend of spiritual wisdom and humor, Imam Jamal Rahman, Pastor Don Mackenzie and Rabbi Ted Falcon started their work together after 9/11. The group travels around the country promoting authentic conversation between faith traditions, sharing why they believe interfaith dialogue is so critically important and how each of their Abrahamic traditions support and inhibit deeper dialogue.

The visit by the Interfaith Amigos offers a unique format for the annual Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue hosted by The University of Toledo Center for Religious Understanding.

Each year for the past 13 years, members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths on campus and in the community gather to talk about a topic of mutual interest. Normally the faiths take turns on a keynote speaker, but this year the Center for Religious Understanding was offered the opportunity to partner with Sylvania United Church of Christ to bring the Interfaith Amigos to Toledo instead.

“One reason to come to this event is to get to hear firsthand and ask questions of a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim who are great speakers and at the same time great leaders in their tradition,” said Dr. Jeanine Diller, director of UT’s Center for Religious Understanding. “Religions that aren’t your own can seem really abstract and odd; it can help a lot to talk with someone from them, and it’s wonderful to talk with someone who knows a lot about them.”

The group will offer several public presentations throughout the weekend:

• Saturday, Nov. 7 — “Promises and Problems of Interfaith Dialogue” at 4 p.m. at the Sylvania United Church of Christ, located at 7240 Erie St., Sylvania. The lecture and question-and-answer session cost $15; students with valid ID get in free.

• Sunday, Nov. 8 —“The Golden Rule and Compassion in Three Faiths” at 8:30 and 10:40 a.m. at the Sylvania United Church of Christ. Join the congregation in a worship service with the Interfaith Amigos and hear them give a shared sermon.

• Sunday, Nov. 8 — “An Informal Conversation With the Interfaith Amigos” at 9:20 a.m. at the Sylvania United Church of Christ.

• Sunday, Nov. 8 — “The Practice of Effective Interfaith Dialogue, an Experiential Workshop” at 2 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel on UT’s Health Science Campus. This event will include a discussion after the lecture portion.

“It’s hard to imagine a better team to instantiate the dialogue between these traditions that our event is all about, and I know our team is looking forward to learning as much as we can from them about interfaith dialogue while they are with us,” Diller said.

The Interfaith Amigos’ visit is sponsored by the Jewish Christian Muslim Dialogue Committee at The University of Toledo’s Center for Religious Understanding, the Childester Lecture Series at Sylvania United Church of Christ, the Toledo Community Foundation and the Multifaith Council of Northwest Ohio.

Click here for more information on the Interfaith Amigos events.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Nov. 7, 2015)

U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur will be the keynote speaker at the 15th annual Great Lakes Water Conference Friday, Nov. 6, in the Law Center.

The free, public conference, sponsored by the College of Law and its Legal Institute of the Great Lakes, will feature three panels of experts to discuss “Algae, Pipelines and More.”

The algae panel will explore legal solutions to the harmful algal blooms plaguing Lake Erie. The pipelines panel will focus on challenges arising from an important network of petroleum pipelines near valuable water resources. And the more hot topics speakers will discuss a controversial new rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act, a recent Ohio Supreme Court decision impacting impaired waters, and a proposed diversion of water out of the Great Lakes basin.

“The conference will tackle key water issues that are not yet on many persons’ radar as well as problems that are currently weighing heavily on almost everyone’s mind,” said Kenneth Kilbert, director of the Legal Institute of the Great Lakes and professor of law.

The conference kicks off at 8:30 a.m. with a welcome from UT President Sharon L. Gaber, and Congresswoman Kaptur will give the keynote address at 8:45 a.m. The algae panel will be at 9:15 a.m., the pipelines panel at 11 a.m., and the more hot topics panel will take place at 1:30 p.m.

The conference is free to the public. Registration is $75 for attorneys seeking 4.5 hours of Ohio Continuing Legal Education.

For more information about the conference, click here.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Nov. 4, 2015)
13 ABC (Nov. 6, 2015)
The Blade (Nov. 7, 2015)
The Blade (Nov. 9, 2015)
Marcellus (Nov. 9, 2015)
13 ABC, WTOL 11 and NBC 24 (Nov. 9, 2015)

More than 70 years after answering his nation’s call to service during World War II, University of Toledo Professor Emeritus Richard R. Perry will be presented the Soldier’s Medal during a ceremony 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in Doermann Theater.

A graduate of Waite High School, Perry enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of sergeant.

An accomplished academic who earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from UT, he spent 57 years teaching and serving in various administrative positions at his alma mater.

“It was an interesting twist of fate in which Perry learned that his actions on April 6, 1945, earned him this award,” said Navy Reserve Lt. Haraz N. Ghanbari, UT director of military and veteran affairs. “He risked his life that day to save his comrades, and we look forward to officially recognizing Sergeant Perry for his heroism.”

In addition, the second annual American flag retirement ceremony hosted by the Student Veterans of America UT Chapter is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on the steps outside the Student Union. Ghanbari will speak at the ceremony and share the history of the flag, the proper way to dispose of a flag that is no longer suitable for display, and will preside over the retirement of several American flags from across campus.

For more information, contact Ghanbari at 419.530.VETS (8387).

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (Nov. 6, 2015)
The Blade (Nov. 6, 2015)
NBC 24 (Nov. 6, 2015)

As CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis T. Tygart was involved in one of the most high-profile cases when he and his agency took on seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in The University of Toledo’s Doermann Theater, hear Tygart talk about that case and more at the Edwin Dodd Distinguished Lecture Series in Business Ethics.

The lecture, named for former Owens-Illinois chairman Edwin Dodd, seeks to start a conversation about ethics while bringing together the fields of business and law.

Tygart

“The case is interesting and well-known,” said Dr. Gary S. Insch, dean of the College of Business and Innovation. “It crosses the boundaries of both areas; there is the obvious legal aspect to this, but Lance Armstrong used his name to create a business. Certainly there are business ethics questions associated with this.”

Tygart was chosen to speak at this lecture not only because of this particular case, but because of the background he has that bridges the gap between business and law. Though he received his JD from Southern Methodist University in 1999, he pursued a different path than most lawyers.

“From our perspective, it’s great to have speakers on campus who went to law school and then ended up doing something different with their lives,” said Geoffrey Rapp, UT associate dean for academic affairs in the College of law and the Harold A. Anderson Professor of Law and Values. “He has legal education but branched into a direction that a lot of people might not think is available if you go to get a JD. It’s nice for our students to get to see the diverse things someone can do after they go to law school.”

Under Tygart’s leadership, USADA’s efforts to protect clean athletes have included cooperating with federal authorities on numerous investigations such as the international steroid bust, Operation Raw deal, and the international doping conspiracy involving the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in San Francisco.

Tygart also has been recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the 50 most powerful people in sports; named to Time magazine’s 100 list of most influential people in the world for 2013; named one of the top 12 world sports personalities of the year by Sport Intern; selected as one of the world’s most influential sports personalities by Inside Sport; and was one of the Colorado lawyers of the year named by Colorado Law Weekly.

At 1 p.m. the day of the lecture, law students are invited to have “A Conversation With Travis Tygart,” moderated by Rapp and Benjamin G. Davis, UT associate professor of law. Held in the Law Center McQuade Law Auditorium, the event will offer an opportunity for students to ask Tygart questions and have a more personal conversation.

The free, public event later in the evening is geared toward students, but open to anyone who wishes to attend. Order free tickets at utoledo.edu/honorslecture.

This lecture is co-hosted by the College of Business and Innovation and the College of Law, and sponsored by Dana Holding Corp. and Owens-Illinois Inc.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Nov. 3, 2015)
The Blade (Nov. 5, 2015)

A neuroscientist at The University of Toledo has received a $500,000 grant to help develop research tools to advance the treatment of medical conditions of the gut, heart, lungs and other organs.

Marthe Howard, professor in the Department of Neurosciences, is one of 12 U.S. researchers to receive this special line of grant money through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Marthe Howard

“We want to better understand how the nervous system is put together and the specifics of the neural circuitry,” Howard said. “We want to explore how neurons interact with organs, such as the gut, heart and brain, because there is a large interest in using electrical stimulation to control the nerves that affect these specific organs.”

For instance, Howard said people in the medical community want to use electrical stimulation to treat diabetes, obesity, heart failure and Parkinson’s disease. Many of these approaches have failed, though, because scientists don’t really understand the complexity of the roadmap of neuron-organ interactions. Howard’s research will help clarify that.

“One great advantage of using electrical stimulation to treat some medical conditions is that it will not have the side effects that many drugs have,” Howard said. “Also, it will be more cost-effective than many current treatments.

“The idea to use electrical stimulation to treat medical conditions is not really new, but it will be greatly improved by a better understanding of the nervous system combined with better tools to modify its activity.”

Howard has spent 30 years studying the autonomic nervous system, which serves both visceral sensory and motor functions. She has been NIH-funded for the majority of that time.

Howard said it is helpful to understand how the autonomic nervous system works by thinking about how you would respond to encountering a Tyrannosaurus rex while on a walk in the woods.

“What is your response? Your heart rate goes up, you breathe faster, your pupils open up so you can see better and your body temperature rises, which all lead to you running like hell to get away from the Tyrannosaurus rex. The autonomic neurons that I study control these organ responses.”

William Messer, vice president of research at UT, said this grant demonstrates the importance that the NIH places in better understanding the autonomic nervous system, which is Howard’s expertise.

“Dr. Howard is developing a vital set of new tools for characterizing the neurons that control activity in the autonomic nervous system, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract,” he said. “She is using several cutting-edge technologies to help us understand how the nervous system is connected, aid in the development of better models of the autonomic nervous system and point the way toward better treatments for disorders of the visceral organs.”

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (Nov. 4, 2015)
WTOL 11 (Nov. 4, 2015)