Policy and Medicine – Stringent conflicts-of-interest policies keep many experts off of FDA advisory committees. A new study suggests that the fear of pro-industry bias underlying these policies may be misplaced, and also serves to keep highly qualified candidates off of these committees.
James C. Cooper, director of research and policy at the Law and Economics Center at George Mason Law School and Joseph Golec, professor of Finance of the University of Connecticut, who conducted the study, sought to compare conflicted members’ voting patterns with objective criteria. They found that decisions by advisory committees with conflicted members to recommend drugs were more likely to be consistent with both the ultimate FDA decision as well as stock market predictions than non-conflicted advisory committees and members.
Hartford Courant – A new report from Connecticut Realtors shows that the promise early in 2014 for a third year of gains in home sales fizzled by the end of the year. “They are being cautious and more conservative before they make a big purchase like a home,” said Jeffrey P. Cohen, associate professor of real estate and finance at the University of Connecticut’s Center for Real Estate in Storrs.
UConn Foundation – To honor his parents’ memory, David Samuels ’83 has established the Beverly and Harold Samuels Scholarship Fund at the UConn School of Business.
The University of Connecticut School of Business will offer a free breakfast seminar for the business community titled, “Long-term Thinking in a Short-term World,’’ from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. February 24 at the Graduate Business Learning Center, 100 Constitution Plaza, downtown Hartford.Continue Reading
Margaret (“Maggie’’) Luciano, a doctoral candidate at the UConn School of Business, has been awarded two scholarships in recent months recognizing her achievements in the field of organizational behavior.
The Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP) Lee Hakel Graduate Student Scholarship recognizes achievement in a graduate career and is intended to assist doctoral students in the field of industrial and organizational psychology with the costs of carrying out their dissertation work. She received the award in January.
It is the second recognition for Luciano, who, late last year also received an award from the Society for Human Resources Management for her dissertation proposal. She was selected as one of four promising researchers.
Her dissertation research focuses on understanding and improving cross-unit coordination between hospital units, and the dynamics between such groups.
She has investigated patient “handoffs’’ as they move from surgery to a recovery room. During baseline assessments, upwards of 20 percent of these handoffs were found to be lacking in one or more important ways, jeopardizing patient care.
“Margaret’s dissertation is a stellar example of cutting-edge applied research,’’ said John Mathieu, professor of management and Luciano’s adviser. “Conceptually, Margaret tests theoretical questions concerning the integration of employees’ individual differences and how they combine to perform interdependent actions. Practically, she devised and implemented a work process improvement which essentially orchestrated how different parties should function during these handoffs.’’
“Her dissertation represented a serious organizational change for the hospital, involving everyone from top management to the nurses and doctors performing the handoffs. Her field experiment revealed that her intervention reduced the percentage of problematic handoffs to approximately 4 to 5 percent—a 75 percent decrease from baseline,’’ Mathieu said.
Both the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP) awarded her competitive research grants on the basis of her proposed work. The criteria for both awards are that the work should advance both the science of human behavior in organizations, while also advancing practice and human welfare, Mathieu said.
Her research on these and related topics has appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology and other peer-reviewed journals.
Luciano will join the management faculty at Arizona State University after completing her doctoral program at UConn. She earned her bachelors degree in psychology in 2009 and her MBA in 2010, both from Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
Hartford Business Journal – Hartford area accounting firms say they are on a hiring spree to address a region-wide personnel shortage driven by heavy workloads, increased competition for talent, and professional burnout.
While accounting has historically been an in-demand profession, a few changes in recent years have amplified competition among firms and corporations recruiting talent, said Mohamed Hussein, a professor and head of UConn’s accounting department, which graduates over 100 accounting majors per year.
After an extensive design review, the UConn School of Business has launched an improved web site (www.business.uconn.edu). Visitors will notice a new content design with streamlined navigation and improved mobile access.
Additional new features include:
Research-focused section
Recruiter information
Details on how to engage or partner with the School
Expanded pressroom with categorized news items
Social media directory
Campus-specific information
The new site will undergo regular upgrades during the upcoming months to maximize the quality of the user experience.
We are excited about our new look and functionality, and hope you will be as well.
All visitors are welcome to report any feedback or concerns to our web development team. Please feel free to contact the Office of Communications at communications@business.uconn.edu.
ctpost.com – “The over-55 group needs to sell their current homes before they can think about buying into an over-55 community, so I see the market for existing homes as an indicator as to the future of over-55 home construction,” said Katherine Pancak, professor-in-residence of finance and real estate at the University of Connecticut School of Business.
CT News Junkie – The new [Connecticut Bioscience Growth Council] is forming at a time when bioscience is gaining momentum in the state, said Fred Carstensen, director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut.
The Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) of Connecticut and the Center for Real Estate will host the first annual CREW CT UConn Women’s Basketball Event on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Students and professionals from CREW will have an opportunity to network at a reception to be held from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at McCarter English LLP, 36th Floor, CityPlace, 185 Asylum St., Hartford, Conn.
Following the reception, the UConn Women will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at the XL Center at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $26.00 and available through the registration link.
To register for this event and purchase tickets click here.
