wcw AUGUST 2023

you’re news
Accolades
■ The Sarasota Memorial Research
Institute and Florida State
University College of Medicine
held their first joint Interprofessional
Research Conference at
Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Sarasota
campus in May.
The event, along with the groundbreaking
of SMH’s new Research &
Education Institute, reflects the local
health system’s national reputation
as a teaching hospital and expanding
commitment to clinical research.
More than 150 healthcare professionals
gathered to learn about
innovative research projects and
clinical studies led by multi-disciplinary
specialists from across the
region. The event featured dozens
of individual and group poster,
panel and podium presentations
by physicians, pharmacists, nurses
and other clinicians and a keynote
address by National Institutes of
Health award-winning researcher
Irshad Chaudry, PhD.
Sarasota Memorial Chief Medical
Officer James Fiorica, MD, presents
the 2023 Distinguished Physician &
Innovation Award to GYN Oncologist
Beverly Long, MD.
SMH and FSU leaders also presented
nine research and innovation
awards at the event.
The 2023 award recipients are:
• SMH Distinguished Physician
Research & Innovation Award –
Beverly Long, MD
• SMH Distinguished Nurse
Research & Innovation Award –
Bridget Drafahl, PhD, C-ONQS,
CNS, RN
• SMH Research & Innovation
Excellence Award – Colleen
Lindner, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
• SMH Distinguished Pharmacy
Research & Innovation Award –
Pamela Lewis, RPh
• SMH Pharmacy New Investigator
Research Award – Jonathan
Summerlin, PharmD
• FSU Emergency Medicine Resident
Research Award – Emily
Wheeler, MD
• FSU Emergency Medicine
Distinguished Faculty Research
Scholar Award – Sagar Galwankar,
MBBS, MBA, MPH
• FSU Internal Medicine Resident
Research Award – Stephanie
Williams, MD
• FSU Internal Medicine Distinguished
Faculty Research Scholar
Award – Robert Smith, PhD
For information, visit smh.com.
NBP dragon-boat paddlers
■ Ten NBP dragon-boat paddlers
were selected to represent
Team USA this summer at the
16th International Dragon Boat
Federation (IDBF) World Dragon
Boat Racing Championships. The
biennial event will be held this year
in Pattaya, Thailand on August 7-13.
Hundreds of contenders competed
at national events over the
last two years vying for a chance
to compete on the world stage this
summer. Team USA members are
chosen in age groups and for boat
size, which includes standard boat
crews of 10 paddlers and small
boats crews of five paddlers. Each
boat also has a drummer at the bow
and a steerer who stands in the
stern of the boat with a long oar.
NBP’s newest team member,
Paul Hoffmann, is a threetime
Team USA member, making
the roster in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
NBP team members selected for
the second time to represent Team
USA are steerer Angela Long and
paddlers Mandy Boyers, Doreen
Clyne and Don Bickel. Making
their world debuts are paddlers Brian
Long, Dana Trimble, Duneska
Grant, Joni Carone and drummer
Paula Murray.
The NBP conservancy provides
coaching, clinics, timing, logistical
support, promotion and communications,
as well as equipment for
the program and its paddlers.
Appointments
■ Erin Silk has taken the leadership
reins for the Economic Development
Corporation of Sarasota
County. Silk first came on with the
EDC in 2019
as director
of business
development
services and
rose to the post
of chief operations
officer in
November. She
has worked
Erin Silk
closely with
Lisa Krouse, who has served as CEO
since 2021.
Silk will continue to focus on economic
diversification in the community.
The region has continued
to make strides in that direction,
growing its manufacturing sector.
She stressed the bulk of that is clean
manufacturing.
The new CEO has been with the
organization through sometimes
fractious periods with the county.
But she said public-private partnerships
remain the key to the organization’s
success. And she noted
the region remains a desirable one
where CEOs often move even before
considering relocating businesses
or launching new ones.
“Our region is undergoing transformation,
and we are at a pivotal
point when it is more important than
ever to focus on workforce retention,
foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem,
and support diverse job creation
while sustaining the environment
that makes our County such a
special place to live, work and play,”
she said. “With a thoughtful eye on
our history, I am excited to bring an
innovative approach to our future.”
■ Danielle Hughes, Team
Coordinator of the Child
Protection Team (CPT) at the
Child Protection Center (CPC),
has been named next year’s cochair
of Sarasota County’s Sexual
Abuse Response Team (SART).
This will be Danielle’s second
time serving as a chair for SART.
Danielle has served as a child abuse
expert for 17 years at the Child
Protection Center, where she leads
the Child Protection Team in coordinating
and providing intervention
services in cases of children who
are suspected victims of sexual
abuse, physical abuse and neglect.
Services include medical exams,
forensic interviews, psychological
and psychosocial assessments, and
court testimony. CPT is a legislatively
mandated program and the
only provider authorized by the
state to perform these intervention
services in Sarasota County.
Danielle’s additional contributions
to improving the welfare
and safety of victims include her
founding of the PAWS (Pet Advocates
Working in the Suncoast) pet
therapy program, her service on
the Department of Health’s Quality
Assurance Team, member of the
Critical Incident Rapid Response
Team, member of the Child Death
Review, member of the Child
Interview Advisory Committee,
and Supervisor of the VOCA Victim
Advocate/Administrative Duties.
Danielle’s expertise has also been
utilized in training Child Protection
Team Case Coordinators across
Florida. For over 40 years, CPC has
been serving Sarasota and DeSoto
Counties in the State of Florida.
For more information on CPC,
visit www.cpcsarasota.org or call
941-365-1277.
■ Ringling College of Art and
Design has appointed Dr. Tiffany
Holmes as Vice President for
Academic
Affairs. Holmes
has served at
two peer institutions,
first for
18 years at the
School of the
Art Institute
of Chicago
(SAIC) as
Dr. Tiffany Holmes
a full-time
faculty member, department chair,
and dean, and then for five years at
the Maryland Institute College of
Art (MICA) in Baltimore as its vice
provost for Undergraduate Studies
followed by her interim appointment
as provost in 2021.
In her role as VP for Academic
Affairs, Holmes will serve as a
strategic and innovative leader on
campus. She will work closely with
the College’s senior leadership
team, academic department heads,
faculty, and the members of the
Board of Trustees to develop and
execute strategies that will enhance
Ringling's academic excellence
and success.
Holmes has developed training
programs to support equitable faculty
hiring processes resulting in
more diverse faculty hires, provided
opportunities to engage more
BIPOC speakers, and collaborated
with faculty to build community
and appreciate the individuality
and unique perspectives both
students and faculty bring to their
classrooms.
■ Lisa Scrafford has joined RE/
MAX Platinum Realty as a Realtor
in the Wellen Park office. A member
of the Seaside Living Group team,
she brings extensive knowledge of
the Florida Suncoast, specializing in
residential real estate from Sarasota
to Punta Gorda.
Scrafford lived in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, for 35 years before moving
to Venice in 2013. Prior to discovering
her love for home design and
real estate, Scrafford had a long
career in nursing. The Wellen Park
office is located at 19503 S. West
Villages Parkway, Venice. Scrafford
can be reached at lisa@seasidelivingfl.com.
■ Tammy Oakes has joined RE/
MAX Platinum Realty as a Realtor
in the Venice
office. She
has 35 years
of real estate
experience,
specializing
in residential
resales, new
construction,
second homes
Tammy Oakes
and vacation properties.
Prior to her career in real estate,
Oakes worked in hotel group sales.
She said she joined RE/MAX Platinum
Realty because it offers the
best of both worlds, blending the
international recognition and resources
of the RE/MAX brand with
the small boutique feel of RE/MAX
Platinum Realty. The Venice office
is located at 307 W. Venice Avenue,
Venice. Oakes can be reached at
realtortammyoakesllc@gmail.com.
■ VISIT FLORIDA’s Board of
Directors has elected Jennifer O.
Rominiecki, president and CEO of
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, as
Chair for the
2023-24 fiscal
year. Rominiecki,
who
is currently
Vice Chair
of the state’s
official tourism
marketing
corporation,
Jennifer O. Rominiecki
she began her
one-year term as Chair on July 1.
Rominiecki has served on the
VISIT FLORIDA Board since July
2020. During the 2022-23 fiscal
year, she has chaired the organization’s
Industry Services, Small
Business and Rural Development
Council, in addition to serving as
Vice Chair. VISIT FLORIDA’s Board
of Directors consists of tourism-industry
experts from across the state
who, along with the members of its
committees and councils, provide
guidance, input, and insight into
the evolution of VISIT FLORIDA
programs, processes, and messaging.
The organization’s 2023-24
Board of Directors will serve from
July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
Rominiecki has served as Selby
Gardens’ chief executive since 2015.
After arriving, she repositioned the
institution as The Living Museum®,
enacting a new operating model
that has yielded increases of 75%
in membership and 74% in overall
earned revenues.
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24 WEST COAST WOMAN AUGUST 2023