Health and science briefs June 27
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Health and science briefs June 27, 2009
6/26/2009 - 6/27/09
Free PRIDE health fair todayThe Santa Fe Tobacco Free Coalition Tobacco Disparities Committee will host a free health fair at the PRIDE event at the Railyard Plaza today from noon to 4 p.m.
The event will feature five tents with a variety of health screenings, activities and services for improving the health of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersexed community.
Some of the services include: HIV screenings from the Southwest CARE Center, Blood pressure and BMI testing from Women's Health Services and Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, nutritional assessments by Dr. Mary Ray Cate, oral health screenings by Dr. Patricio Larrogiote and Dr. Jesus C. Galvan, peer counseling on youth health issues and tobacco prevention from the Santa Fe Student Wellness Action Teams, and smoking cessation information from Stop Tobacco at My People.
The New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts will also offer chair massages.
Call Douglas Conwell at 988-4157 for information.
OptumHealth launches hot line
OptumHealth New Mexico has launched toll-free hot lines for consumers and providers to aid in the transition as it takes over the statewide behavioral health services contract from ValueOptions New Mexico.
OptumHealth will begin to manage funds for much of the state's mental health and substance-abuse programs on July 1. About 80,000 New Mexicans use those services.
The consumer line is staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be extended to 24 hours a day, seven days a week as of July 1. That number is 866-660-7185.
The provider line, where agencies can request training and technical assistance, is 866-660-7182.
The contract, which covers services from 15 state agencies and the Governor's Office, will be effective from July 1 through June 30, 2013.
Two from LANL to meet Nobel Laureates
Two young researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory have been selected to go to Germany for the 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates, which will focus on chemistry.
Each year, the conference selects 500 young researchers from around the world and invites them to come and meet with Nobel Laureates.
LANL researchers Rawiwan Laocharoensuk and Erik Watkins were picked to join this year's conference, held from June 28 to July 3.
Laocharoensuk is a post-doctoral researcher in Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy. She has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Arizona State University.
Watkins is working on his Ph.D. in biophysics at the University of California, Davis. He has worked at LANL's Neutron Science Center since 2001.
Group to help residents get low cost insurance at farmer's market
Volunteer groups will sign residents of Northern New Mexico up for low or no-cost health insurance Monday at a booth at the Espanola Farmer's Market.
Organizing for a Greater Española, the President's health care reform organizing initiative and the Rio Arriba Health and Human Services Department will provide information about and conduct enrollments in the State Coverage Initiative.
The Initiative provides low or no-cost insurance policies to the public through the state of New Mexico.
In order to enroll, residents should bring photocopies of their birth certificate, driver's license or other picture ID and proof of last 30 days of income, if they work. The agencies will not have a photocopier on site.
The farmer's market will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Railroad Avenue across from CYFD in Española.
