Exhibit at Wadsworth Atheneum Shows Hartford Roots

Life and art come full circle this month at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, with the opening of an historic exhibition with an unmistakable hometown connection.  Frederic Edwin Church was a prominent American landscape painter in the 1800’s, born in Hartford, and a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters. His family wealth came from Church's father, Joseph Church, a silversmith and watchmaker in Hartford.  Joseph subsequently also became an official and a director of The Aetna Life Insurance Company. Joseph, in turn, was the son of Samuel Church, who founded the first paper mill in Lee, Massachusetts in the Berkshires, which allowed Frederic to pursue his interest in art from a very early age, according to the website that features his work.

At eighteen years of age, Church became the pupil of Thomas Cole in Catskill, New York after Daniel Wadsworth, a family neighbor and founder of the Wadsworth Atheneum, introduced the two. Now, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art will present “Frederic Church: A Painter’s Pilgrimage,” bringing together approximately 50 of the celebrated Hudson River School painter’s compositions of sacred terrain in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

“This is a rare opportunity for our audience to explore a side of Church’s working process and fierce entrepreneurship beyond the usual experience of landscape paintings,” says Robert H. Schutz, Jr., Associate Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture Erin Monroe. “Church’s story started in Hartford, so it is particularly fitting for the Atheneum to feature this exploration of his pilgrimage as a way to reconnect the artist with his personal and professional origins.” The exhibition opens to the public at noon on June 2 and is on view through Aug. 26.

A leading painter of 19th-century America, Frederic Church was the most popular and financially successful painter in the United States during his lifetime. As a young artist Church’s first formal training was facilitated by Atheneum founder Daniel Wadsworth, who arranged for Church’s apprenticeship with painter Thomas Cole, the father of the Hudson River School. While committed to the natural sciences, Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) was "always concerned with including a spiritual dimension in his works".

Organized by Kenneth J. Myers, curator of American art at the Detroit Institute of Arts, “Frederic Church: A Painter’s Pilgrimage” explores the enduring appeal of pilgrimage through a lesser-known body of work resulting from the artist’s journey to powerful sites of spiritual and historical significance in the late 1860s.

As he further established his career, Church traveled to remote places to sketch majestic scenes unfamiliar to his American audience, turning them into dramatic, large-scale paintings. These travels provided Church with ideas and material to produce major paintings for his wealthy patrons, including prominent American industrialists and financiers such as Hartford’s Timothy Mather Allyn, J. Pierpont Morgan and firearms manufacturer Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt.

From 1868–1869, Church, his wife and their young son visited the lands of modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and southeastern Turkey, with Church taking expeditions to Athens, Damascus, Petra, Baalbek and Jerusalem. Church made countless small-scale pencil drawings and oil sketches on these trips, noting observations including colors, light, time of day and even weather patterns. Upon returning to his New York studio Church created large-scale compositions.

“These historic views are especially compelling and relevant now,” says Monroe. “It is a chance to foster conversation around the destruction and urgent need for preservation of cultural heritage sites in the 21st century.”

An illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.  Tours of “Frederic Church: A Painter’s Pilgrimage” are offered Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. from June 9–Aug. 26. Free lectures include “Sacred Geographies: Frederic Church, the Holy Land, & the Hudson Valley” with Yale University professor Jennifer Raab, June 12 at 6 p.m. “Art After Dark: Rock the Kasbah” on June 7 at 5 p.m. will feature live music, exhibition tours and an outdoor bazaar; tickets are $5-10.

Focus on Preventing Driving Deaths During Deadliest Period

The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is the time when motorists are more likely to be injured or killed in fatal crashes involving a teen driver.  It is described as the “100 deadliest days,” by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. More than 1,000 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers in 2016, according to the organization, a 14 percent increase compared to the rest of the year and a figure that equates to 10 people per day.

The two AAA Clubs in Connecticut -- AAA Northeast and AAA Greater Hartford -- gathered with Federal and State traffic safety advocates in Hartford to draw attention to the data in the hopes of reducing the numbers in the coming three month period.

"The number of fatal crashes involving teen drivers during the summer is an important traffic safety concern for AAA," says Fran Mayko, AAA Northeast spokeswoman.  “Research shows young drivers are at greater risk during this time, and have higher crash rates compared to older, more experienced drivers because of two factors: speeding and nighttime driving."

Over the last five years in Connecticut, there have been 44 fatal crashes involving teen drivers, including 12 last summer during the 100 "Deadliest Days" period. At least half of the crashes occurred after 9 pm, according to data obtained through UConn's CT Crash Data Repository, officials pointed out.

Although none of the victims in those 12 crashes was a teen driver, the driver's passengers or someone in another vehicle were either injured or killed. "Statistics shows these crashes affect everyone on the road, not just teen drivers or their parents," says Mayko. "Education, coupled with proper driver training and parental involvement, will help teen drivers become better, safer drivers on our roadways."

Based on 2016 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, the AAA Foundation research highlighted the following:

• 36% of all motor teen driver vehicle fatalities occurred between 9:00 pm and 5:00 am;
• There was a 22% increase in the average number of nighttime crashes per day involving teen drivers between May and September compared to the rest of the year;
• 29% of all motor vehicle deaths involving a teen driver were speed-related;
• 1 in 10 nighttime crash fatalities and 1 in 10 speed-related fatalities involved a teen driver.

Overall, Connecticut traffic deaths have been inching up for most of the past few years on average, mirroring a national trend.  Traffic deaths were down in 2017 to 284, according to the UConn Crash Data Depository, after  reaching an historic high of 311 in 2016, after a steady increase in the previous few years (278 in 2015, 248 recorded in 2014).  Nationally, traffic fatalities are the highest they’ve been since 2008.

AAA urges parents to discuss the higher risks teens face during the summer and to familiarize themselves with Connecticut's Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) laws and become actively involved in the learn-to-drive process involving their inexperienced teen.  To prepare for the summer drive season, AAA also encourages parents to:

• Discuss early and often the dangers of risky driving situations with their teens;
• Teach by example and minimize their own risky behavior when behind the wheel;
• Make and enforce a parent-teen driving agreement that sets driving limits based on the state’s GDL.
• Visit TeenDriving.AAA.com that offers tools such as interactive widgets, highlighting teen driving risks and state licensing information. An online AAA StartSmart program also offers parental resources on how to become effective in-car coaches and ways to manage their teen’s overall driving privileges.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a not-for-profit, publicly funded research and educational organization, whose mission is to prevent traffic deaths and injuries by conducting research into their causes. It also educates the public about strategies to prevent crashes and reduce injuries when they do occur.

https://youtu.be/QmCJKvyXhEQ

After 100 Year Absence, National Association of the Deaf to Meet in Hartford This Summer

For the first time in a century, the biennial conference of the National Association of the Deaf returns to Hartford this summer. The conference was first held in the United States since 1880, and has been held every two years for the past 50 years.  The 1917 conference was the only appearance in Hartford.

The 2018 edition, July 3-7, 2018, will feature multiple education tracks, seminars and workshops, including specific training sessions in racial justice and “the real way to be normal a round deafblind people.” The conference will begin with “an inspiring Opening Ceremony” honoring 200 years of “deaf education and contributions made in our community,” conference organizers indicate.

NAD President Melissa S. Draganac-Hawk said “The location and timing of the conference has a special significance, the 200th Anniversary of the founding of American School for the Deaf in Hartford.  This momentous event also served as the basis for the conference theme.  The serialized signs memorialize the main effects of the partnership between Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc in laying the groundwork for Deaf Education in America.”

Sessions include Best Practices for Communication Accessibility at Professional Sports Venues, Navigating the Gray Areas of Hearing-Deaf Dynamics, Achieving Legal Recognition of Sign Languages, and Entrepreneurship for All, among nearly 50 choices available to conference attendees. Workshop papers presented at the conference will include career and professional development topics as well as personal development, among the tracks offered. For instance, typical workshops include those on workplace interpersonal dynamics, career advancement, leadership and communication abilities, networking skills, and more.

The 54^th NAD Conference will be held at the Connecticut Convention Center.  The NAD will partner with three other organizations during this conference — the National Deaf Education Conference (NDEC) will be hosting their conference and will handle and take charge of the Education track; Deaf In Government will handle and take charge of Government Employment Training (GET); and the Registry of Interpreters (RID) Region I will handle and take charge of the Interpreting track. The remaining education tracks are the responsibility of the NAD.

Delegates to the  Biennial Conference are members of State Associations and Affiliated Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) who are attending from throughout the country, and participating in the organization’s Council of Representatives.  Biennial NAD Conferences are specifically tailored for deaf, deaf-blind, late-deaf, hard of hearing and hearing consumers, educators, professionals, and business owners and managers.

The conference will also feature an exhibit hall that will be open to the public.  Organizers predict that more than 2,000 people are expected to come and browse through the products and services that will be featured.

The NAD was established in 1880 by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. The NAD today ensures that the needs and concerns of the nation’s deaf and hard of hearing community are well represented on the federal level through collaborative and cross disability efforts with consumer based and professional organizations.

In recent years, Atlanta was the 2014 host and Phoenix was the location in 2016.  Two years from now, the conference will be conducted in Chicago. The NAD mission is “to preserve the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing people.”

Another Federal Agency Says School Buses Should Have Lap/Shoulder Belts; Most States, Including CT, Don't

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week recommended to states that all new large school buses be equipped with both lap and shoulder seatbelts, the first time such a recommendation has been issued for the vehicles by the agency. The board also recommended requiring collision-avoidance systems and automatic emergency brakes on new school buses, but the follow-through on the recommendations falls to states and local jurisdictions.  The NTSB recommendation is not a federal requirement, and comes three years after a similar call by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Connecticut, as most states, does not require lap and shoulder seat belts in school buses.

The NTSB recommendations, made to the 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, all of which lack requirements for lap/shoulder belts on large school buses, were accompanied by a recommendation to the states of Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and New York to amend their statutes to upgrade their seat belts requirements from lap-only belts to lap and shoulder belts.

Connecticut’s legislature has previously debated a lap-and-shoulder belt requirement on school buses, but has failed to pass such a requirement, including, most recently, last year. Legislation that would have imposed a requirement in Connecticut, effective in 2022, failed to gain approval from the Transportation Committee after a public hearing.

Last summer, Nevada joined California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Texas in enacting laws requiring seat belts. The law in Louisiana requires school buses be equipped with seat belts, but this is subject to appropriation for the purchase of such buses and the state legislature has not provided funding to trigger the requirement. Similar language in Texas’ law was removed in 2017, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

NTSB Chair Robert Sumwalt said at the close of Tuesday’s NTSB meeting this week, which included a review of two 2016 school bus crashes that killed 12 and injured 37, “The recommendations that we issued and reiterated today, if acted on, will help ensure that new school buses are manufactured with tried and true occupant protection such as lap-shoulder belts, as well as collision avoidance technology such as automatic emergency braking.”  The meeting was held just days after a school bus accident in New Jersey that killed a young student and teacher.

The recommendation comes three years after a similar stance from the then-Administrator of NHTSA, Mark Rosekind:  "The position of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that seat belts save lives," Rosekind said in November 2015. "That is true whether in a passenger car or in a big yellow bus. And saving lives is what we are about. So NHTSA's policy is that every child on every school bus should have a three-point seat belt."

“The main hold up continues to be funding,” State Rep. Fred Camillo of Old Greenwich, who introduced Connecticut legislation to accomplish that objective, told CT by the Numbers last year.  Passage has been elusive here, and elsewhere, despite the change in position by NHTSA more than two years ago.  The federal agency previously viewed school buses as safe without seat belts, because of their construction.

That changed in 2015.  Since then, as Connecticut’s Office of Legislative Research noted in a 2016 report to the legislature, “NHTSA has been exploring ways to make seat belts on schools buses a reality.” NHTSA points out that seat belts have been required on passenger cars since 1968; and 49 States and the District of Columbia have enacted laws requiring the use of seat belts in passenger cars and light trucks.

The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents testified against the measure last year, calling for approval to be “postponed” until a series of questions – ranging from the use of bus monitors to the cost of seat belt maintenance to district liability from unused seat belts – could be answered.

The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) – representing local elected school boards across the state – also voiced their opposition at a January 30, 2017 public hearing.  CABE officials expressed concern about “years of busses” that would “need to be replaced or retrofitted.”  They also noted that lap belts “would not work best for 5-year-olds and 18-year-olds alike.”  In addition, questions were raised about students who might “unclick the belt” and the liability of bus drivers if they did.

Camillo initially proposed the bill in 2011 after a Rocky Hill student was killed in a school bus crash.  Last year in Connecticut, in March, after a school bus accident in Canterbury sent five students to the hospital, public discussion on the pending proposal was renewed, but the legislature ultimately did not take action.  “This accident today is just another reminder that we really need to do something regarding this issue. We don’t want to wait for another tragedy to occur,” Camillo told the Norwich Bulletin.  Later that month, five people were injured after a crash involving a school bus in North Haven.

At NTSB, Robert L. Sumwalt was sworn in as chairman last August, after being nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He began his tenure at the NTSB in August 2006 when President Bush appointed him to the Board and designated him as Vice Chairman. In November 2011, President Obama reappointed him to an additional five-year term as Board Member.

The NTSB this week also called for “facial recognition data to catch driver license fraud at every opportunity, with data shared across states. It demands that certified medical examiners effectively play their role in denying medically unfit drivers a medical certificate.”  Added Sumwalt:  “Action on the safety recommendations issued and reiterated today will constitute a crackdown, but only from the point of view of drivers who put the safety of our children and other road users at risk. Such a crackdown is long overdue.”

Senior Deaths from Falls Climbs Nationally, in Connecticut, During Past Decade

Fatal falls among senior citizens are on the rise in Connecticut and across the United States, according to a new government report. The overall rate of older adult deaths from falls increased 31 percent from 2007 to 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2016, a total of 29,668 Americans ages 65 and older died as a result of a fall - that is 61.6 out of every 100,000 senior citizens that year. A decade earlier, in 2007, there were 47 fall-related deaths for every 100,000 senior citizens.  Connecticut’s rate was the 17^th lowest in the nation among the 50 states and District of Columbia.  The only New England state with a lower rate was Massachusetts. 

In Connecticut, the number of deaths of persons age 65 or older attributable to falls increased from 243 in 2007 to 357 in 2016. The death rates from falls ranged from 24.4 per 100,000 in Alabama to 142.7 per 100,000 in Wisconsin.  Connecticut’s rate was 56.9 per 100,000 in 2016, an increase from 44.9 per 100,000 in 2007.

Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among people who are at least 65 years old, according to the report. Deaths from unintentional injuries are the seventh-leading cause of death among older adults, and falls account for the largest percentage of those deaths, the CDC said. The CDC has previously noted that less than half tell their doctor that they have fallen, and that falling once doubles your chances of falling again.

The rate of deaths from falls increased in the United States by an average of 3.0% per year during 2007–2016, and the rate increased in 30 states and the District of Columbia (DC) during that period.

The largest AAPC in mortality rates from falls (11.0% per year) occurred in Maine, followed by Oklahoma (10.9%) and West Virginia (7.8%). A significant increase in the rate from 2007 to 2016 occurred in 30 states, including Connecticut. There was no significant change in fall mortality rates in 11 states.

Once every 19 minutes, a senior citizen in America dies as a result of injuries sustained during a fall.  The older Americans became, the greater their risk of dying from a fall. In 2016, there were 15.6 fatal falls for every 100,000 Americans between the ages of 65 and 74. Among adults ages 75 to 84, there were 61.4 such deaths per 100,000 people. And for those ages 85 and up, there were 247.9 fatal falls per 100,000 people.

The data was included in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published last week. To reduce older adult falls, CDC created the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) initiative to help clinicians make fall prevention part of their clinical practice. The CDC notes that more than 10,000 people in the U.S. turn 65 every day.

“As a result, the country will experience a growth in falls and fall injuries, resulting in a cost increase if preventive actions are not taken now,” the agency has pointed out.

Increasing Engagement by Providers and Consumers, Greater Focus on Holistic Health at Heart of Changing Industry, CVS-Aetna Merger Plan

“This is a transformational merger and it gives us the opportunity to reshape the health care industry, Aetna President Karen Lynch said this past week, looking at the potential impact of a CVS-Aetna merger.  “We expect to transform what a CVS store looks like.” “For too long we’ve been practicing sick care and not health care and the potential of a CVS-Aetna merger is really to organize around the consumer and the consumer experience.  It will allow us to be in the local communities, to create another gateway to access healthcare and it will also give Americans a go-to destination for their health care services and their health care needs,” Lynch said.

Appearing this month on Conversations on Health Care, a radio program produced by Middletown-based Community Health Center, Lynch noted that CVS has over 10,000 stores across the United States and that 70 percent of Americans live within five miles of a CVS.

CVS Health chief executive officer Larry Merlo recently said the company’s $69 billion acquisition of health insurance giant Aetna is “making good progress” with state regulators and on track to close later this year, according to published reports.

Merlo said the company is seeking approval from 28 departments of insurance and many are holding hearings, with the key market of Florida already giving it approval. CVS also continues to provide information to the U.S. Department of Justice, which is reviewing the pharmacy chain's agreement to buy the Hartford-based health insurer.

Lynch described a post-merger CVS as “an interactive hub where individuals can come in and learn more about their health care, where they can access healthcare services and they can have further assistance in navigating the overall healthcare system.”  Right now, she said, “Your zip code is more important than your genetic code. What that means is your individual behaviors and your environment clearly have meaningful impact on health care costs.”

“Our overall goal is to achieve affordable, quality care for the individuals that we serve,” Lynch said. Lynch was named by Fortune as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in 2017 and 2016, and is one of the most senior women in the health insurance industry.  She joined Aetna in 2012.

CVS has a network of nearly 10,000 retail pharmacies in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Brazil and more than 1,100 Minute Clinic locations in 33 states. Aetna – the nation’s third largest insurer - has more than 20 million enrollees in its various health plans.  The latest CVS in Connecticut opened this weekend in West Hartford, supplanting a local pharmacy.

In looking ahead to evolving changes in the health insurance industry, Lynch highlighted three areas: provider engagement, consumer engagement and an increasing focus on holistic health.

She explained that “Aetna and providers have one common purpose – to improve the quality and affordability of health care and with value-based care we can demonstrate that partnership to do just that”.  She also stressed the importance of “consumer engagement, and being in local communities and really focusing on individual behaviors and the social determinants of care. I believe that can be a very powerful step in reshaping how we think about healthcare.”  Another key factor, looking ahead, will be holistic health, “treating the whole person, physical, emotional and behavioral aspects of one’s health,” which she said “could make a meaningful difference on the impact of healthcare.”

Noting that the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any country in the world, which continues to grow at what Lynch described as “an unsustainable rate,” Lynch said “we need to understand people’s health ambitions and we need to support them in their individual behaviors, we need to provide better access, and we need to give them more affordable and more transparent health care in America to really drive down overall health care costs.”

She indicated that 30 percent of Americans now suffer from diabetes, compared with less than one percent in the 1950’s. Citing another major – and costly – health concern, she said that 40 percent of adults and 20 percent of children are considered obese today.  And she said that over 900 billion dollars – one in three dollars – “is waste in our healthcare system.”

Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini has routinely stressed that "if we keep people healthier, there's lower costs in the system." He has described the health care system as “backwards” – responding to when people are ill rather than seeking to prevent the illness.

Lynch said that technology also drives the changing healthcare landscape, predicting that greater attention would be paid to “leveraging telehealth and telemedicine and having people have access in ways that are unique and different.”  Aetna, for example, is increasingly able to access data in real time utilizing newly designed apps and cloud technology, often placing nurses armed with ipads in individual’s homes.

“Having data at our fingertips will allow us to remotely monitor and get information about people where they are so that we can immediately get information back out to them,” Lynch said.  “Having real-time access can really change individual behaviors and how people think about their health.”

Conversations on Health Care focuses on opportunities for reform and innovation in the health care system. Co-hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter each bring four decades of experience in overcoming the barriers that block access to care in their work at community health centers.  It is heard on radio stations from Connecticut to Washington state, and online at www.chcradio.com.  Flinter is Senior Vice President and Clinical Director, and Masselli is the President/CEO of Community Health Center, Inc., Connecticut’s largest and most comprehensive provider of primary health care services for the uninsured and underserved.

Yale Cancer Center, Globally-Connected Students Honored by World Affairs Council

The World Affairs Council of Connecticut marked Connecticut’s global leadership in cancer research and innovation at the organization’s 2018 Luminary Awards program.  The Council honored Yale Cancer Center, a ground-breaking center for global health, as the 2018 Luminary Award recipient, noting that “innovations made here in Connecticut impact health on a global scale.” The Yale Cancer Center is one of the select few centers in the nation and the only one in southern New England designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. Through pioneering research, health innovations, and breakthrough treatments, the Yale Cancer Center is leading the world in cancer research for the betterment and advancement of our global community.

“Through collaboration among world-class institutions of education, healthcare, bio-pharma, and research here in Connecticut, the state has developed a health ecosystem that enables scientific risk-taking and fosters a well-developed network of some of the world’s premier hospitals,” the Council website pointed out.

Honored at the event, and participating in a conversation moderated by CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Max Gomez, highlighting their work in the field, were:

• Lieping Chen, MD, PhD, described as the “Father of Immunotherapy”
• Patricia LoRusso, DO, a transformational leader in cancer clinical trials
• Vincent DeVita, MD, a pioneer of chemotherapy and founder of the leading international textbook of oncology, “Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology”
• Joan Steitz, PhD, an international pioneer in understanding the role of RNA in biology & cancer development & progression

Also in attendance to receive the Yale Cancer Center’s recognition was Dr. Charles Fuchs, Director of the Yale Cancer Center, Physician-in-Chief of the Smilow Cancer Hospital, and Richard & Jonathan Sackler Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.

The annual Luminary Award is the signature event of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut. It honors one or more individuals or an organization from Connecticut that has profoundly influenced global affairs, with a strong emphasis on achieving the overall betterment of the world.  Past recipients include United Technologies, AmeriCares, ESPN International, and Hole in the Wall Gang Camps.

In addition to the focus on the work of the Yale Cancer Center, a number of students were recognized for their accomplishments by the World Affairs Council.

Hartford Public High School student MaSei Pan, who will be attending Central Connecticut State University this fall to study international affairs, received the Peter G. Kelly Global Scholar Award.  She arrived in the U.S. six years ago as a refugee from Thailand.  She grew up in a refugee camp, was delayed in starting school until age 8, and came to the U.S. without knowing English.  Today, she excels in school and uses her experience to help others, including newly arrived immigrants.

The Global Engagement Award was presented to RHAM High School student Skylar Haines, who traveled to Mexico to teach English at the Serapio Elementary School, and subsequently organized fundraisers to purchase a computer lab and musical instruments for the school. She has also written a book of poetry about her experiences.

Global Engagement honorees were Maria Hoffman of Glastonbury High School, who focused on climate change and elephant migration in Botswana, and a trio from Westminster School in Simsbury, Shane Wahlberg, Lucas Wahlberg and Carson Roth, who devoted their attention to Sustainable Farming and Humanitarian Assistance for Cuba.

Connecticut-Grown Businesses Lead Stand-out Cohort of Entrepreneurial Start-Ups

reSET, the Hartford-based Social Enterprise Trust, whose mission is advancing the social enterprise sector and supporting entrepreneurs of all stripes, has announced the winners of its 2018 Venture Showcase, and three Connecticut-grown businesses took the top awards. The annual event recognizes the talented entrepreneurs and innovative businesses that have just graduated from reSET’s nationally recognized accelerator. This year, 18 early stage enterprises graduated from the most recent cohort, and eight finalists competed for $20,000 in unrestricted funding.  reSET’s goal is to meet entrepreneurs wherever they are in their trajectory and to help them take their businesses to the next level.

The entrepreneurs pitched their business models to an audience of founders, investors, and community and corporate stakeholders. The panel of judges included Claire Leonardi, former CEO of Connecticut Innovations; Alan Mattamana, Partner at Fairview Capital Partners; and Lalitha Shivaswamy, President of Helios Management Corporation.

Winning the top $10,000 award was Loki, which was created in a “group independent study” through UConn’s Digital Media and Design program by Andrew Ginzberg and co-founders Jeffrey Santi, Brian Kelleher, and Case Polen.  Described as “a new kind of media company” - a video sharing platform exclusively for smartphones - Loki is “a place where you can watch events through collections of many perspectives, live-streamed through the eyes of people actually there.”  The company’s website is welcoming people who would like to learn more to leave an email address.

Taking the second-place $6,000 award was Florapothecarie, a line of 100% natural + vegan skincare products, “lovingly handmade in Connecticut” by Sami Jo Jensen.  The line of products is certified vegan and cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny and PETA.

The third-place entrepreneurial business was Bare Life, launching a line of crave-worthy food products with the world’s first Organic, Vegan, Paleo, Non-GMO, Dairy Free, Gluten Free and Refined Sugar Free Hot Chocolate Powder.  Founded by local resident Ali Lazowski, who was put on a very restricted diet due to numerous medical conditions and learned first-hand how scarce allergen and irritant-free foods are. So, she set out to create them. Bare Life's mission is to make these allergen and irritant friendly foods and recipes convenient for everyone, especially the chronically ill.

The event was held last week at the YG Club at Dunkin’ Donuts Park to a sellout crowd of 225. Before selecting the 18 ventures that would participate in the Accelerator class, officials had reSET had to sift through an applicant pool that was the most competitive yet, with 110+ submissions from all over the world.  Since 2013, reSET has graduated 105 companies from its accelerator program and has awarded more than a quarter of a million dollars to scaling ventures.

The Superlative Award for “Most Improved Pitch” was won by FieldOwler, a new business that provides auditing and risk management software and solutions to help businesses, organizations, and agencies.  Other finalists were CNG Fit, LLC / Fit Party Me, Lioness Magazine, Noteworthy Chocolates, RecordME, and SKYWIREme .

The Accelerator program and Venture Showcase was made possible by reSET’s partners and sponsors, including  CTNext, The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Travelers, The Walker Group, Bank of America, The Hartford, GoodWorks Insurance, and People’s United Community Foundation.  SnapSeat Photo Booths also provided in-kind services.

reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the social enterprise sector. reSET serves all entrepreneurs, but specializes in social enterprise ― impact driven business with a double and sometimes triple bottom line. In addition to providing co-working space and accelerator and mentoring programs, reSET aims to inspire innovation and community collaboration, and to support entrepreneurs in creating market-based solutions to community challenges.

Four Stores in CT Warned by FDA for Selling e-Cigarettes to Minors as Popularity, Concern Grows

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent out warning letters to 40 retailers in 17 states  – including four in Connecticut - as part of a “concerted effort to ensure youth are not able to access” e-cigarettes – specifically responding to what officials describe as the “surging youth uptake” of JUUL products. According to the federal agency, those receiving the warnings in recent weeks included four Connecticut retailers: Discount Tobacco and Vape in Vernon, Mobil Mart in Waterbury, Shell/Henny Penny in Lisbon, and Smoker’s Outlet in West Hartford. The retailers were warned about selling the increasingly popular – but hazardous – products to minors.

The FDA explained that warning letters are sent to retailers the first time a tobacco compliance check inspection reveals a violation of the federal tobacco laws and regulations that FDA enforces.  During undercover buy inspections by agency representatives, “the retailer is unaware an inspection is taking place” and the minor and inspector “will not identify themselves.”

Published reports nationwide indicate that vaping is increasing rapidly in popularity with young people, especially with the most popular brand, JUUL. Its devices are tiny, and look like a pen or flash drive. When someone vapes, there is no fire, ash or smoky odor — instead, the devices heat up and vaporize a liquid or solid.  School bathrooms, where cigarette smoking was done in “secret” a generation ago, are now often referred to as “juul rooms” according to numerous reports – the nicotine fix of choice of the current generation.  A recent New York Times article prominently featured a description of the magnitude of the problem in a suburban Connecticut high school.

“The FDA has been conducting a large-scale, undercover nationwide blitz to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes – specifically JUUL products – to minors at both brick-and-mortar and online retailers,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D.

Gottlieb highlighted the danger – and the attraction – of the products to youth.

“We understand, by all accounts, many of them may be using products that closely resemble a USB flash drive, have high levels of nicotine and emissions that are hard to see. These characteristics may facilitate youth use, by making the products more attractive to children and teens.  These products are also more difficult for parents and teachers to recognize or detect. Several of these products fall under the JUUL brand, but other brands, such as myblu and KandyPens, that have similar characteristics are emerging.”

Businesses receiving the warning letters are directed to provide, within 15 days, “an explanation of the steps you will take to correct the violation(s) and prevent future violations (for example, retrain your employees, remove the problematic items, etc.),” the agency website points out.  In addition to federal restrictions, purchase/possession of an electronic nicotine delivery system or vapor product by persons under age 18 is prohibited in Connecticut.

The FDA also sent an official request for information directly to JUUL Labs, requiring the company to submit important documents to better understand the reportedly high rates of youth use and the particular youth appeal of these products.

Said Gottlieb: “We don’t yet fully understand why these products are so popular among youth. But it’s imperative that we figure it out, and fast. These documents may help us get there.”  The agency plans what it calls a “full-scale e-cigarette prevention effort” in the fall.

In addition, the FDA also recently contacted eBay to raise concerns over several listings for JUUL products on its website. eBay took what the agency described as “swift action to remove the listings and voluntarily implement new measures to prevent new listings” from being posted to the website.

Trinity's Berger-Sweeney, Barack Obama, Tom Hanks, Yale Faculty Are Among American Academy Inductees

The 238th class of new members of the highly selective American Academy of Arts and Sciences, to be inducted later this year, include many household names - and one prominent local individual.  The academy is one of the country’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, and its members include some of the world’s most accomplished scholars, scientists, writers, and artists, as well as civic, business, and philanthropic leaders. Being added to the ranks this year are, among others, former president Barack Obama; actor Tom Hanks; Netflix CEO W. Reed Hastings Jr.; NASA climatologist Claire L. Parkinson; Supreme Court Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor;  pediatric neurologist Huda Y. Zoghbi - as well as Trinity College President and Professor of Neuroscience Joanne Berger-Sweeney and three Yale professors in the schools of divinity and medicine.

“This class of 2018 is a testament to the academy’s ability to both uphold our 238-year commitment to honor exceptional individuals and to recognize new expertise,” said Nancy C. Andrews, the academy’s chair of the board. “John Adams, James Bowdoin, and other founders did not imagine climatology, econometrics, gene regulation, nanostructures, or Netflix. They did, however, have a vision that the academy would be dedicated to new knowledge—and these new members help us achieve that goal.”

The 238 newly elected members represent 25 categories and 125 institutions. The new class will be inducted at a ceremony in October 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The full class of new members is available at www.amacad.org/members.

“This is truly a great honor that I share with my family and friends and with Trinity College, which I’m privileged to serve,” said Berger-Sweeney. “To be elected to the academy is an extraordinary highlight of my career in science and education.”

Berger-Sweeney has served as president of Trinity College since July 2014. Over the past four years, she has, among other accomplishments, overseen the completion of the college’s strategic plan, Summit, which will guide Trinity toward its bicentennial in 2023 and beyond; the creation of the Bantam Network mentoring program for first-year students; the launch of the Campaign for Community, a campus initiative promoting inclusiveness and respect; and the expansion of Trinity’s footprint to Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford.

Before coming to Trinity, Berger-Sweeney served for four years as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University. Prior to Tufts, she spent 13 years as a member of the Wellesley College faculty and as associate dean from 2004 to 2010. Berger-Sweeney received her undergraduate degree in psychobiology from Wellesley College and her M.P.H. in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. While working on her Ph.D. in neurotoxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Berger-Sweeney did the proof of concept work on Razadyne, which went on to be the second-most-used Alzheimer’s drug in the world. She completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Health (INSERM) in Paris, France.

Also being inducted in this year's class are John J. Collins of the Yale Divinity School and Gerald I. Shulman and Haifan Lin of the Yale School of Medicine.

Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale.  A native of Ireland, Professor Collins was a professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Chicago from 1991 until his arrival at Yale Divinity School in 2000, and previously taught at the University of Notre Dame. He has published widely on the subjects of apocalypticism, wisdom, Hellenistic Judaism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dr. Shulman is the George R. Cowgill Professor of Medicine, Cellular & Molecular Physiology and Physiological Chemistry at Yale University, where he serves as Co-Director of the Yale Diabetes Research Center and Director of the Yale Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center. He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Shulman has pioneered the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy to non-invasively examine intracellular glucose and fat metabolism in humans for the first time.

Haifan Lin is Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology, and Professor of Genetics and of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences; and Director of the Yale Stem Cell Center. Current study is focused on molecular mechanisms underlying the self-renewing division of stem cells. There is a focus on small RNA-mediated epigenetic programming and translational regulation that are required for the self-renewal of germline and embryonic stem cells, according to the Yale website, which notes that he continues to explore the clinical implications of recent findings.

https://youtu.be/RK5vvvRhGEA