The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/535203
4 4 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY Babbage named Louisville Metro Board of Health chair Sherry Babbage, DMD, has been elected chair of the Louisville Metro Board of Health. Among its most recent activities, the 12-mem- ber Board of Health has overseen the implementa- tion of the Affordable Care Act in Louisville. Babbage is a dentist in private practice at the West Louisville Dental Center and is a part-time faculty member at the School of Dentistry, serving as the coordinator of diversity and inclusion. She earned both a bachelor of science and doctor of dental medicine degree from UofL. Providing new smiles for Kentucky's children Dental students and faculty, along with other community dental health providers, offered free, comprehensive dental treatment to more than 100 children from Bullitt, Meade, Nelson, Shelby and Spencer Counties in February through the Smile Kentucky! program. Alumni Robert McDade, DMD, and Darren Greenwell, DMD, opened their practices, with about a dozen kids treated at each off ce. For the second consecutive year, Greenwell's associate, Kayla Albright, DMD, participated in Smile Kentucky! In 2014, she provided treatment at the dental school as a fourth-year student. "I received an excellent education at the School of Dentistry, with a strong, diverse clinical background, and it's a privilege to now give back to the community as a dentist," Albright said. Louisville Dental Society President Randy Ransdell, DMD, also an alum, joined Albright in providing a variety of dental care, including x-rays, exams, cleanings, f uoride treatment, extractions and f llings. UofL economic studies draw national attention Why are meth labs more common in dry counties? How are supercenters like Walmart and Costco making us fatter? College of Business faculty members Jose Fernandez, Stephan Gohmann and Joshua Pinkston sought answers to both questions in separate research projects. Their studies, released this winter, drew coverage in top-tier national media. The trio analyzed Kentucky data from 2004 to 2010, learning that dry counties had two more meth lab seizures per 100,000 residents a year than dry counties. Bans on selling liquor encourage people who are willing to obtain alcohol illegally to also obtain illicit drugs, they found. Local alcohol bans increase the costs of obtaining alcohol, which drives down the relative price of illicit drugs, they said in their study, "Breaking Bad: Are Meth Labs Justif ed in Dry Counties?" The Wall Street Journal blog "Real Time Economics" did an article on their paper after they unveiled it at the American Economic Association annual meeting in Boston. In another project, Pinkston co-wrote a paper with colleagues at Georgia State University, University of Iowa and University of Virginia concluding that the cheap food sold in bulk at supercenters has made Americans fatter. An area's density of supercenters can signif - cantly affect the obesity rate of the people living there, they found. Their working paper "Can Changing Economic Factors Explain the Rise in Obesity?" appeared on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research, triggering an article on a Washington Post blog. Fernandez is associate professor and Pinkston is assistant professor of economics at the College of Busi- ness. Gohmann is BB&T; Professor of Free Enter- prise at the school. COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Dental school alumna Kayla Albright, DMD, takes part in Smile Kentucky! Pinkston Gohmann Fernandez Highlights Babbage