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PREPARING FOR ZIKA
Public health professionals analyzed
the readiness of the Houston area
for a potential outbreak of the
Zika virus in April 2016 during
a workshop at the University of
Houston Law Center.
The conference, titled “Zika Virus
Workshop: Public Health and Legal
Control Measures,” was hosted by the Law Center’s Health Law & Policy Institute
and featured talks from local health experts and Research Professor Allison N.
Winnike, who outlined public health control measures to combat Zika. Professor
Seth J. Chandler served as moderator.
Dr. Peter J. Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and
Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, explained that if a pregnant woman
is bit by an Aedes aegypti mosquito and infected with Zika during her first
trimester, it will have devastating effects on the development of her child’s brain.
Hotez said that poor, urban communities are the most at-risk for a Zika outbreak.
“This outbreak is moving so fast that we’re having a lot of trouble keeping up with
what’s going on,” he said. “It really is a truly evil virus. Under our nose, we are
witnessing a horrific humanitarian tragedy unfold. The Gulf Coast is uniquely
vulnerable to a Zika virus infection. Standing water, houses without window
screens and discarded containers and tires can become a breeding ground for
SIMPSON HONORED FOR TEACHING Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.”
EXCELLENCE Dr. Mustapha Debboun, the director of the Mosquito Control Division for the
The University of Houston presented Law Center Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services department, said Aedes
Assistant Clinical Professor Lauren Simpson with aegypti are sometimes referred to as the “cockroach of mosquitoes” because of how
a faculty excellence award in April 2016 for her difficult they are to manage. “It lives with us, next to us and in our homes,” he said.
dedication to teaching lawyering skills and strategies
to law students.
Simpson received the Teaching Excellence INTERNET HEALTH CARE
Instructional/Clinical Award at the 2016 Faculty Stakeholders in the legal, medical and
Excellence Award Dinner at the University of technology fields discussed how mental health
Houston Hilton. patients in underserved areas could benefit
“I am deeply honored and grateful to Dean Baynes from broadband connectivity at a policy
for having had the faith in me to nominate me; to my conference hosted by the Law Center’s Health
students, who make teaching a joy and who inspire Law & Policy Institute in collaboration with
me to do my best; and to my LSS colleagues, who are the Federal Communications Commission.
supportive, helpful and kind — and a true joy to work The conference, “Broadband Prescriptions
with,” said Simpson. for Mental Health,” was part of the
Simpson, who has been teaching lawyering skills and Connect2HealthFCC Task Force’s “Beyond
strategies to first-year and part-time students for six the Beltway Series” and coincided with
years, received her J.D. from UHLC in 1994. Before National Mental Health Awareness Month.
joining the Law Center faculty, she volunteered “This historic conference had a phenomenal
with moot-court teams, taught as an adjunct, guest- lineup of presenters,” Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes said. “There
lectured and helped organize and present brief- were demonstrations of all sorts of technologies that reflected the incredible
writing workshops for students at UHLC. innovations that are taking place that will allow remote access to health care
Her students describe her on the “Rate My providers.”
Professor” Internet site as an “amazing woman, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn placed an emphasis on the importance
helpful and always available,” traits that helped of openly discussing mental health. With millions of adults not receiving
her earn one of the highest achievement awards mental health care, she said it is necessary to make a transformative shift in
bestowed by the University. mental health care that will require regulatory creativity and flexibility.

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