1. Wolverine Caucus – Taking the Pulse of Older Adults: UM Poll on Healthy Aging

    Mark Rivett posted February 28, 2019

    Tuesday, March 19, 2019

    Boji Tower, 1st Floor, Senate Hearing Room
    124 W Allegan St., Lansing, MI 48933
    11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

    View PDF

    Wolverine Caucus March

    From left to right: Dr. Jeff Kullgren, Dr. Erica Solway, and Dr. Veronica Wilkerson Johnson

    The University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) is a recurring, na- tionally representative household survey launched in 2017, in partnership with AARP. The NPHA taps directly into the insights, experiences, and perspectives of older adults related to their health, health care, and health-related decision-making to better inform the public, providers, and policymakers on timely issues related to policy and practice. As life expectancy increases, and healthy aging is a goal we all share, please join us as Drs. John Ayanian, Erica Solway and Jeff Kullgren highlight key findings from recent NPHA reports on important healthy aging topics, including prescription drugs, dental care, opi- oids, health insurance, and loneliness.

    Featured speakers:

    Dr. Erica Solway

    Senior Project Manager, Healthy Michigan Plan evaluation, and Assoc. Director, National Poll on Healthy Aging

    Dr. Erica Solway is an associate director of the National Poll on Healthy Aging. She also manages the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation’s evaluation of the Healthy Michigan Plan and other Medicaid-related projects. Before returning to U-M, Dr. Solway served as a policy advisor with the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. She received her master’s degree in social work and master’s degree in public health as well as a Specialist in Aging certificate from the University of Michigan. She has a doctoral degree in sociology from the University of California, San Francisco.

    Dr. Jeff Kullgren

    Jeffrey Kullgren, MS, MD, MPH

    Dr. Jeff Kullgren is a Research Scientist in the Center for Clinical Management Research at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. He is also an associate director of the National Poll on Healthy Aging. Dr. Kullgren holds undergraduate and medical degrees from Michigan State University and a master of public health degree from the University of Michigan. He completed his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

    Dr. John Ayanian

    Alice Hamilton Collegiate Professor of Medicine; Professor of Internal Medicine; Professor of Health Management and Policy; Director for Healthcare Policy and Innovation; Professor of Public Policy

    Dr. John Ayanian is the inaugural Director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation which includes nearly 600 faculty members from 14 schools and colleges at the University of Michigan, where he is also the Alice Hamilton Professor of Medicine, Professor of Health Management and Policy, Professor of Public Policy, and a practicing general internist. He has led influential studies of access to care, quality of care, and health disparities related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, and insurance coverage. Dr. Ayanian earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in history and political science from Duke University, medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and master of public policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.


  2. Professor Justin Kasper addresses Senate committee on solar threat to power grid.

    Mark Rivett posted February 27, 2019

    Solar storm congressional testimony: ‘The risk is real’

    Read Full Story on The Michigan Engineer New Center

    Watch Video Testimony Here

    A solar flare in 1859 engulfed Earth in a “magnetic tsunami”—spinning compasses, making the northern lights visible in the Caribbean and drawing sparks from telegraph lines that would remain inoperative for days.

    Today’s power and technology-reliant society could fare worse should a similar solar event occur, Michigan Engineering researcher Justin Kasper told U.S. senators today.

    Justin C. Kasper

    Justin Kasper, Associate Professor Graduate advisor Program: Ph.D. in Space & Planetary Physics
    Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering

    Kasper, an associate professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and discussed how best to protect the power grid from space weather.

    “We need spacecraft closer to the sun providing earlier warning of Earth-directed events and their properties, better models of these eruptions and regional forecasts of geomagnetic disturbances,” Kasper wrote in his submitted testimony. “Most importantly, we need leadership with a mandate to coordinate and direct the research and operational components of space weather that are spread over multiple agencies.”

    Read Full Story on The Michigan Engineer New Center

    Watch Video Testimony Here


  3. Election security: Halderman recommends actions to ensure integrity of US systems

    Mark Rivett posted

    Read Full Story at The Michigan Engineer News Center

    In congressional testimony, professor urges $370M in federal funding to replace outdated machines.

    Prof J Alex Halderman

    Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Michigan
    Director, University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society

    Prof. J. Alex Halderman testified today in front of the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Service and General Government, urging lawmakers to approve additional funding for election cybersecurity prior to the upcoming 2020 elections.

    “Unlike so many other cyber challenges, this is a problem where we can actually solve the problem,” Halderman, a professor of computer science and engineering, told the senators. “It’s going to take a little bit of money, but it’s not going to be decades of research. It’s not going to be billions of dollars. We have an opportunity for a cybersecurity win in election security.”

    Read Full Story at The Michigan Engineer News Center