This week the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is expected to rule on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the individual mandate.  This ruling may have wide-reaching effects on the ACA.

Read up on the ACA here: http://1.usa.gov/KKUI60

One day after the ruling (Friday)  Families USA is holding a free conference call to have a panel discuss the ruling and what it means for health advocacy, and what happens next.

Friday, June 29 12:00pm – 1:00pm CST

For more information and to register:  http://bit.ly/MYLazA

There will also be a “tweet chat” immediately following the conference call. To join the chat “live” follow #HealthJustice on Twitter. You can also follow #HCRdecision to get updates all week long.

A few National Library of Medicine products have been mentioned in TEDMED talks and thought it would be a good time to highlight these resources

During a talk given by John Qualter titled “Can you bring a 3-D cadaver back to life on the web?” MedlinePlus was mentioned.  MedlinePlus is a consumer health website that brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free.

You can use MedlinePlus to learn about the latest treatments, look up information on a drug or supplement, find out the meanings of words, or view medical videos or illustrations. You can also get links to the latest medical research on your topic or find out about clinical trials on a disease or condition.  It has health topics in multiple languages.

http://medlineplus.gov

During a talk given by Lisa Nilsson titled “Are you ready for a new slice of reality?” Lisa mentioned The Visible Human Project.  It is the creation of complete, anatomically detailed, three-dimensional representations of the normal male and female human bodies.  A male and a female cadaver were cut into thin slices which were then photographed and digitized.

Check it out at http://1.usa.gov/16zeqK

Check to see if your institution (or one near you) is hosting a TEDMED Live event.  You can watch TEDMED talks live. http://www.tedmed.com/conference/live

Once the TEDMED 2012 conference has ended, TEDMED talks will be available for free at their website. http://www.tedmed.com/

This 45-minute session will provide an overview of the third of 12 Leading Health Indicator (LHI) topics (Maternal, Infant, and Child HEalth) released by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The event will also highlight one program’s success at addressing preterm and late preterm births in Kentucky.

The webinar will begin at 11:00 a.m. CT on Thursday, March 29, 2012.

More information and a link to register: http://ow.ly/9Q0Dq .

HHS/National Institutes of Health: NIDDK Short-Term Education Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) (R25) Grant.

Deadline: May 09 2012

This Funding Opportunity Announcement invites applications from institutions to coordinate a NIDDK Short-Term Education Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) that targets high school students. STEP-UP is a national program designed to provide eight to twelve weeks of summer research education and training for students underrepresented in biomedical research on a national basis, including individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and individuals with disabilities. STEP-UP aims to expose students to and increase interest in NIDDK mission areas including diabetes, endocrinology, metabolism, nutrition, obesity, and digestive, liver, urologic, kidney, and hematologic diseases.

For more information – Click here or go to http://bit.ly/GMeA56

Roadmaps to Health: Community Grants

Deadline: May 2, 2012 3pm EDT

The Roadmaps to Health Community Grants program (Community Grants) will support communities to implement policy or system changes to address one of the social or economic factors that, as defined by the County Health Rankings, most strongly influence health outcomes in their community. These include: education; employment and income; family and social support; and community safety. Grantees will be organizations that participate in established coalitions or networks that span multiple sectors and perspectives and may include representatives from business; education; public health; health care; community organizations; community members; policy advocates; foundations; and policy-makers. Applicants must engage community members in the planning and implementation of projects, and must collaborate with organizations having expertise in improving the health of the public.

Up to 20 grants awarded.  Awards up to $200,000 over 24 months.

For more information – Click Here or go to http://bit.ly/wtwrvA

On the homepage of this blog (http://nnlm.gov/bhic/) in the left sidebar it says “Subscribe.  To request subscription to a daily digest, email Monica Rogers.”

You can receive a Daily Digest where all of the day’s posts have been gathered in one email.  The other option is to indicate that you would like ‘individual post notifications’ so you will receive an email after each post made to the blog.

You can always email Monica Rogers to subscribe, unsubscribe or change subscription type at any time.

OpenMRS is an electronic medical record system (EMR), designed for use in the developing world and first established in 2004. Today, the system has evolved into a medical informatics platform used on every continent, supporting health care delivery and research in an extremely wide variety of contexts. http://openmrs.org/  [OpenMRS]

Note: Try the demo to see what an EMR looks like. Demo username: admin. Password: test

Vaccines.gov – a HHS website that brings together the best in plain language resources on vaccine and immunizations is now available in Spanish!! The site offers the latest vaccine recommendations, easy-to-read immunization schedules, and tools on where to find affordable vaccines.

Check it out @ http://es.vaccines.gov/

This month, the Office of Minority Health Resource Center is offering a presentation about the March 20th, 2012 sixth annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD).

The Office of Minority Health Resource Center announces a webinar series to build on the knowledge of staff, providers, employees and those that seek to end the spread of HIV by offering an easy, accessible and FREE training.

Webinar: National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Tools and Preparation

February 16, 2012, 1 – 2 p.m. EST
Abstract: This webinar will provide discussion that will include an overview of NNHAAD, important statistics, and also how to order and promote with materials so that we can all honor and prepare for this important day!

Collaborators on the NNHAAD day activities will be presenting. This webinar is part of a series.
Contact: Evonne Bennett-Barnes at ebennett@minorityhealth.hhs.gov
Website: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/723153082

(more…)

The National Institutes of Health has created a new website, NIH Clinical Research Trials and You, to help people learn more about clinical trials, why they matter, and how to participate.

http://www.nih.gov/health/clinicaltrials/

Monica Rogers is the new Health Information Literacy Coordinator for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, MidContinental Region, Creighton University. Monica earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology/Anthropology from the University of Illinois – Springfield and her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Missouri. She was most recently at Bernard Becker Medical Library, Washington University School of Medicine, as the Community Health Librarian, working with St. Louis Public Library to develop a Consumer Health Department.

She is the newest contributor to this blog – so keep an eye out for her first posts this week!