While UT alumni and friends are out shopping for the upcoming holidays, alumni organizations are asking for their help to make an immediate impact on a child by picking up some extra winter weather clothing.

The fourth annual hat and mitten collection drive for area elementary schools has kicked off and donations will be accepted through December.

Each year the drive seeks donations of mittens and hats in youth and small adult sizes. School supplies, such as pencils, pens, paper,hand sanitizer and Kleenex, also will be accepted and used to help studentssucceed during the remainder of the school year.

Donations can be dropped off at the Driscoll Alumni Center in Room 2001, from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout themonths of November and December. The Driscoll Alumni Center is located on the UT Main Campus at the intersection of Bancroft Street and University Hills Boulevard.

The collection drive is sponsored by the Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service Alumni Affiliate with participation from the Engineering Alumni Affiliate, Language, Literature and Social Science Alumni Affiliate, The Latino Alumni Affiliate and Natural Science and Mathematics Alumni Affiliate.

The hat and mitten collection drive is in addition to ongoing collections of books, puzzles, flashcards and games throughout the year to be donated to the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system throughout the school year. Donations of pre-school, primary or teen books in fairly good condition can be dropped off at the Driscoll Alumni Center in Suite 2014.

All donations will benefit students of area elementary schools.

For more information you can visit www.toledoalumni.org or call the Office of Alumni Relations at 419.530.2586.

University of Toledo economics professor Gbenga Ajilore is available to discuss October unemployment numbers released today.

The unemployment rate of 7.9 percent is essentially unchanged and provides more evidence of the economy producing slow growth, according to Ajilore.

He is available until 3 p.m. today for interviews. Contact Meghan Cunningham at 419.530.2410 to schedule.

Click here to read the U.S. Department of Labor news release.

Dr. Ajay Singla, a highly regarded researcher, clinician and a leader in comprehensive approaches to women’s health, has joined The University of Toledo Medical Center as vice chairperson, professor and director of female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery in the Department of Urology.

Singla

Singla comes to UTMC from the Wayne State University where he served as professor of urology and chief of female urology and voiding dysfunction, was co-director of continence center, and served as the director of the urology residency program for 5 years.

Singla has research interests in Incontinence and has been the principal investigator for multiple clinical studies and is a co-investigator in a collaborative animal research with biomedical engineers on various biological materials used in sling surgeries.

Known both nationally and internationally in the field of post-prostatectomy incontinence, he has pioneered the male sling surgical procedure which he has performed in workshops around the world, training numerous urologists. While at Wayne State, he directed an international fellowship designed to teach his fellows from India and Turkey.

He is also well known for collaborations addressing women’s health where specialists in urology and Gynecology, among other disciplines, consult with patients to address health issues that are frequently linked but often not recognized.

“I am hoping that I can use my experience well,” Singla said in regards to joining UTMC. “I aim to help educate residents and medical students as well as work progressively with the other faculty.”

He has been repeatedly invited to speak at national and international meetings and organize various workshops and postgraduate courses.

Singla has received numerous awards and recognitions and contributed to several journals. He is currently a member of a number of professional societies such as the American Urological Association, Society of Urodynamics and Female Urology, the American College of Surgeons, the Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Society, and International Urogynecological Association and International College of Surgeons.

While currently serving as treasurer and trustee of the International Continence Society, the largest organization of incontinence experts in the world, he is also on the editorial board of the Turkish Journal of Urology and is a member of executive boards of the Neurourology and Urodynamics journal.

Singla received his medical degree in India and completed his urology residency at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill and a fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine in neuro-urology and female urology.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Nov. 4, 2012)