Garvey Young’s sports site takes first prize in business plan competition

 

 

Dean O’Connor, right, presents Garvey Young with first place for “Draftspot,” a web-based business for high school athletes and college recruiters.

Garvey Young will graduate this spring with a MBA from Quinnipiac University, and among the things he’ll be taking with him when he moves back to Washington, D.C. is a very promising business.

Young, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2012, won the $5,000 first prize in the Quinnipiac University School of Business‘ Business Plan Competition on April 12. He has been working since last spring on Draftspot, which he describes as “a social branding platform that introduces athletes and coaches through digital media.”

Young plans to start Draftspot, now in a pre-launch phase, next year, but before that happens he’s got a busy summer ahead, including volunteering as a teacher in Ghana and playing in Europe for the FIBA International Basketball Federation. Young played basketball for two years at the University of Vermont, and then became a big scorer the last two seasons with the Quinnipiac Bobcats.

Young, who plans to raise $100,000 to start the business, believes he will benefit from the first-mover advantage and make Draftspot profitable within three years. He credits Quinnipiac with getting him ready to switch from scholar-athlete to entrepreneur. “It’s great preparation and an intense curriculum,” he said. “I’m definitely prepared.”

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University builds law school for the future

A rendering of the new School of Law facility in North Haven, scheduled to open in Fall 2014.

What if you could build a law school with the newest innovations and advanced technology, combined with the kind of thoughtful design that fosters both scholarship and community? What if you could build a law school for the future?

At Quinnipiac University School of Law, we are doing exactly that: creating a state-of-the-art center for legal study with technology that speaks to the most current thinking in legal pedagogy.

Opening in Fall 2014 on the university’s North Haven graduate campus, our new facility will showcase forward-thinking features that inspire collaboration and connection, like an abundance of team study rooms and greatly expanded space for the School of Law’s extensive legal clinics.

We are also building extraordinary opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration as we join the university’s vibrant North Haven graduate community, home to the new Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine and the graduate programs in the schools of Health Sciences, Nursing and Education.

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NPR: Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine wants to build ranks of primary care doctors

National Public Radio showcased the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac’s University‘s mission on “Morning Edition” — to mint doctors who want to go into primary care practice.

Of the more than 1,600 applicants, 400 will be interviewed for 60 spots.

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Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine launching a body donation program

An artist’s rendering of lab space in the new Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine on the North Haven Campus.

The Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University is launching a body donation program.

Bodies donated to the program at Connecticut’s newest medical school will be used to supplement the supply that is being used to teach the 60 students who will be part of the school’s first class when it opens in August on Quinnipiac’s North Haven Campus.

“Donating bodies to medical schools has become a more affordable alternative for many families especially during these times when the economy is not strong,” said James Casso, director of the human anatomy laboratory at the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac.

While the typical donor tends to be at least 70 years old, age is not usually a factor in accepting bodies for the program. However certain conditions, including obesity, low weight, edema, infectious diseases, dehydration and autopsy, can make a body unsuitable for the school’s educational purposes. Casso said he will examine each body at the time of death to determine if it’s suitable for donation.

The medical school, which will focus on primary care, will provide prospective donors with a laminated identification card with information about their wishing to donate their body. Prospective donors also should inform their family members of their plans.

After a donor is officially pronounced dead, the family should contact the Body Donation Program immediately. A licensed funeral director on the medical school staff will make arrangements to retrieve the body free of charge and bring it to the medical school, where it will be securely stored until it’s needed for educational purposes. The medical school has the capacity to accept nearly 100 bodies.

After completing its study of a body, the medical school will pay to cremate the remains and return the ashes to the family, according to the donor’s instructions. To honor its donors, the medical school will hold a memorial service that is attended by the donors’ family members, students and faculty.

For more information about the body donation program, please call Casso at 203-582-6587 or email him at james.casso@quinnipiac.edu.

Internationally recognized geneticist appointed to the founding faculty of the Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine

Dr. Barbara R. Pober, an internationally recognized geneticist, has joined the founding faculty of the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University.

“I am very pleased to have Dr. Pober as a member of our faculty,” said Dr. Bruce Koeppen, founding dean of the medical school. “She has a distinguished track record in medical genetics from both a research and a clinical perspective. Her experience and expertise will help the School of Medicine prepare our students in the areas of medical genomics and personalized medicine.”

In her new position, Pober will teach genetics at Connecticut’s newest medical school which will open this fall on Quinnipiac’s North Haven Campus. Pober comes to Quinnipiac from Harvard Medical School, where she was a professor of pediatrics, and a geneticist in the Department of Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“I am excited to be teaching genetics at Quinnipiac,” Pober said. “Doctors need to understand genetics as it will increasingly become part of their practices.”

A National Institute of Health funded investigator, Pober is recognized as an international expert on Williams Syndrome, a genetic disorder that is characterized by medical problems, including cardiovascular disease, developmental delays and learning disabilities. Those with the syndrome also tend to have strong verbal abilities, highly social personalities and an affinity for music.

The medical school’s newest faculty member also is an expert in the genetics of congenital diaphragmatic hernias. The common, and still highly lethal birth defect, involves underdevelopment of the diaphragm and lungs.

Pober earned her medical degree at the Yale University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in pediatrics at the Tufts Medical Center and a genetics fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is board certified in clinical cytogenetics, clinical genetics and pediatrics. She also earned a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree from Yale College. She is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics and American College of Medical Genetics.

Pober has received numerous awards, including NIH’s National Research Service Award, the Williams Syndrome Association’s Lifetime Service Award and Boston Magazine’s Top Doctor Award for three consecutive years. She also has written more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and reviews.