美高梅官网

Although born in Mexico City and raised in Guadalajara, Natalia Trotter felt as if she straddled two worlds as a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico. Trotter, the daughter of Christian missionaries who regularly visited family each year in the U.S., often found herself torn between two very different cultures and identities, with a foothold in each.

It wasn鈥檛 until she arrived at the 美高梅官网 College of Law that the 2019 美高梅官网 graduate finally found a community where she felt her two worlds converge. Here, in 美高梅官网鈥檚 Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, Trotter found an ethnically diverse group of students and faculty who share her passion for both human rights activism and international law.听

鈥淚 have friends from Venezuela and Mexico and all different parts [of the world] who have come to 美高梅官网 through the Urban Morgan program,鈥� says Trotter. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to connect with that community here, but also with people from the U.S. who have an international perspective and a desire to see human rights prosper.鈥澨�

It鈥檚 that shared passion for global social justice that鈥檚 united the 1,500 students who鈥檝e learned the ins and outs of international human rights law at the institute since its launch 40 years ago. Hailed as the first of its kind in the nation when it was founded in 1979, the Urban Morgan Institute resulted from a relationship between attorney William Butler and his longtime client Urban Morgan, a former Cincinnatian and son of the founder of the U.S. Playing Card Co.听

When Morgan died, he made Butler sole trustee of his fortune, with the stipulation that the money be spent at 美高梅官网 as the attorney saw fit. Butler was a distinguished human rights activist who had successfully argued such landmark civil rights cases as Engel v. Vitale, the 1962 鈥渟chool prayer case,鈥� before the U.S. Supreme Court and negotiated one-on-one with the Shah of Iran on measures needed to eliminate torture and repression. He recruited Bert Lockwood to create the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights within the 美高梅官网 College of Law.听

The institute, which holds the distinction of being the oldest endowed human rights institute in the nation, offers students the opportunity to meet with leading figures in the international community, join the Human Rights Quarterly, the world鈥檚 leading academic journal on the subject and travel across the globe each summer on 鈥渆xternships.鈥澨�

鈥淚t affords incoming students the opportunity to begin their work with the institute in their first year,鈥� says Lockwood. And, he adds, 鈥淚t is not unusual for students during their presentations about their summer externships to express the belief that these were life changing.鈥澨�

The opportunity to travel abroad and work with a human rights organization was nothing short of an 鈥渋ncredible experience,鈥� says Trotter. Her first summer experience saw her working in the Dominican Republic with International Justice Mission, an organization dedicated to ending sex trafficking, where she researched ways the U.S. could bring to justice Americans who commit sex tourism crimes abroad.听

The following summer, Trotter traveled to Los Angeles, where she spent 10 weeks working on the case of an asylum-seeker with mental disabilities who, with Trotter鈥檚 help, later won her bid to remain in the U.S. Trotter also spent a week earlier this year volunteering with the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative at an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia. The project, organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center, enlists and trains volunteer lawyers to provide free legal representation to detained immigrants facing deportation proceedings in the Southeast.听

鈥淣ot a lot of law students get that opportunity to go and work internationally and see different countries and legal systems,鈥� says Trotter. 鈥淚鈥檝e had some amazing opportunities at 美高梅官网 working with vulnerable populations.鈥澨�

After graduating in May, Trotter quickly lined up a job at the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, which provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees. While interviewing for the position, she discovered that her interviewer, a managing attorney at the organization, is also a 美高梅官网 graduate who participated in the Urban Morgan Institute.听

鈥淚 really wanted to go into law to give people who don鈥檛 have a voice that opportunity to be heard and understood and represented,鈥� says Trotter. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really cool to see how Urban Morgan is at the center of a lot of people who have gone out to do incredible work.鈥�

鈥� R. Richardson

It鈥檚 no secret that pets bring joy to their owners鈥� lives 鈥� studies show they can even increase people鈥檚 life spans.听

For some older populations, having a pet isn鈥檛 possible. Perhaps they can鈥檛 care for an animal or their retirement community doesn鈥檛 allow it. Robotic companions have entered the market to fill that void, and one 美高梅官网 associate professor is reimagining these high-tech pets to not only provide companionship, but care.听

Claudia Rebola is the associate dean for research in 美高梅官网鈥檚 College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. Together with graduate students from DAAP and 美高梅官网鈥檚 College of Engineering and Applied Science, Rebola set out to design innovative new features and functionality for an existing line of robotic pets that could expand capabilities, like checking a user鈥檚 vital signs, and improving the dog鈥檚 realism.听

In 2017, while working at Rhode Island School of Design, Rebola collaborated in acquiring federal funding for a robotic pet project with researchers from Brown University and Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, and industry partner Hasbro, one of the largest toymakers in the world. The team received a $1 million National Science Foundation grant to reenvision the existing line of Joy For All Companion Pets (now owned by Ageless Innovation) through the addition of artificial intelligence.听

Rebola鈥檚 team is reimagining the pets from appearance to function, collaborating to create the next-generation robotic intelligence that provides psychosocial support for older adults.听

Feedback from focus group sessions with older adults in the community led the class to add enhanced realistic features to the robot dog, from its fur to movements. They modeled the new prototype after the Yorkshire terrier 鈥� one of the most popular breeds among older adults, they discovered.听

Other students centered on caregiving support possibilities. The result is four areas of care: detecting/preventing falls, connecting users to caregivers and loved ones, checking vital signs and providing helpful reminders. The class envisions a smart collar for the robotic pets that can enable these functions.听

鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of my students for working on this for months when it typically takes years to work on robotics,鈥� Rebola says.

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鈥� J. Kern

Medical students and several 美高梅官网 doctors opened a free health clinic in northern Hamilton County this summer with the aim of increasing access to health care services for uninsured Tristate residents.

Caroline Hensley, a 美高梅官网 master鈥檚 of public health student working at the Crossroads Health Center in 2016, noticed several of the Spanish-speaking patients lacked health insurance. Many of them lived outside of the central city core and had unreliable transportation to access a clinic.

So once Hensley entered the 美高梅官网 College of Medicine, she began working with other students who shared a passion to develop a free student-run health clinic.

They reviewed previous proposals, conducted a needs assessment, researched how student-run health clinics operated in other parts of the country, involved students and faculty in the 美高梅官网 colleges of pharmacy and nursing and approached clinical faculty for assistance.

The group found the population most likely to benefit from a clinic was based in northern Hamilton County and reached out to the Healing Center, an established ministry of the Vineyard Cincinnati Church, for a potential site. 鈥淭he Healing Center has so many amazing existing resources,鈥� says Hensley, who is now entering her last year of medical school at 美高梅官网. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 most impressive is they provide such dignity for their clients, and that was evident from the first time we visited. It is a beautiful place that strives to care for clients holistically. It is a wonderful organization.鈥�

Hensley says the Healing Center also offers a variety of social services for people needing assistance. The 美高梅官网 clinic leases its space for $1 annually from the center and has received donated medical equipment for exam rooms. Students have also raised $34,000 in donations to aid the clinic鈥檚 operations.

鈥淭here is a great need in Cincinnati for a clinic of this nature,鈥� says Shawn Krishnan, a second-year 美高梅官网 medical student. 鈥淲hen clients come into the clinic they will be triaged at the front desk, and individuals in need of immediate care will go over to the exam room and interact with a patient navigator.鈥�

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Pharmacy students also got involved, helping to identify patient-assistance programs run by drug manufacturers to offer free medications. They also are working with a network of 20 pharmacies in the area to help patients find medications at the lowest price.

鈥淭he mission of the clinic really resonated well with me,鈥� says Keely Morris, a fourth-year pharmacy student. 鈥淚 know there is a real need. By starting the clinic we are helping to ease some of the health disparities seen by Hamilton County residents.鈥�

Faculty advisors for the clinic include doctors Megan Rich and Joseph Kiesler, both associate professors in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, along with Maria Espinola, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, and Kelly Epplen, associate dean in the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy.

鈥淣ot only does the student-run free health clinic showcase 美高梅官网 student initiative and creativity, but it does so in a way that promotes an interdisciplinary network,鈥� explains Rich. 鈥淲e have students from the 美高梅官网 colleges of medicine, nursing and pharmacy coming together to try to solve real-world problems.鈥�

鈥擟. Ricks

The clinic is located in the Healing Center, Springdale, Ohio. For more information, call 513-346-4080.