Phoebe Crisman
Assistant Professor, School of Architecture
 When urban architecture professor Phoebe Crisman learned Portsmouth-
based environmental group the Elizabeth River Project needed a facility to teach the public about the river's health, she wondered what form it should take. "In terms of what would be contextually appropriate," she says, pointing to the Elizabeth's industrial history, "a recycled barge seemed like a good idea." She drew up an initial scheme and then had a flash: "I realized it would be an excellent studio project."
So Crisman challenged 11 graduate students in spring of 2006 to design a completely self-sufficient "Learning Barge" for teaching K-12 schoolchildren everything from river history to marine ecology. The final plan, which emphasizes hands-on activities and includes onboard wetlands, storytelling steps, and a composting toilet, won the 2006 National Student Collaborative Design Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. During fall 2006, Crisman's students will complete the details for building the Learning Barge, with an eye toward launching it on the river in spring 2007.
"What I'm trying to get them to do ultimately is to understand their actions are rooted in something," explains Crisman. "What's important about this is: Here is a chance to actually do something. When this happens, we'll be teaching thousands of school kids."
"I'm very committed to the idea that we should find a way to manifest in reality that which we think is important in the world."
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Sarah Farrell (Nurs '81, '83)
Associate Professor, School of Nursing
 If anyone in the School of Nursing could be termed a technophile, it's Sarah Farrell. The U.Va. alumna, who joined the Nursing School faculty in 1991, sees advancing technology and innovative use of the Internet as keys to progressive health care. Currently involved in helping discharged psychiatric patients set up personal homepages to provide ready access to information and support, she also trains nursing students to be savvy about Web health resources. "Nurses should know what their patients are seeing," explains Farrell. "It's important for nurses to be aware of where patients get information, both good and bad."
In addition, Farrell envisions computers as a way to monitor patients' conditions more effectively. Her research and teaching have focused for many years on the relationship between technology and improving health outcomes, emphasizing access to care for rural and underserved populations.
One of Farrell's research projects uses tablet-style computers in waiting rooms to pre-screen patients for symptoms of depression. Exploiting its global potential, she's also adapting this technology for use in South African villages to help assess children who are dealing with grief. "This makes our research much more meaningful," Farrell says. "To take the research you're doing in rural Virginia and apply it internationally really makes a difference in people's lives."
"Expanding technology into the realm of health care really is a very noble mission. We want to be able to send people across the world to make a positive change."
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Bankole Johnson
Chair, Department of Psychiatric Medicine
Professor, Department of Neurology
 Twenty years ago a professor asked Bankole Johnson a question he couldn't answer: Why couldn't someone find an antidote to alcoholism? That conundrum spurred the young psychopharmacologist to devote his career to researching the biology of addictions. By analyzing how alcohol and cocaine alter the brain's molecular structure, Johnson has made groundbreaking advances in identifying drugs, such as ondansetron and topiramate, capable of treating dependence.
Johnson joined the University of Virginia in 2004 because it offered him opportunities not only to delve deeper into molecular research and neuro-imaging but also to open outreach clinics. "The clinics are important," he explains, "because they really are the test bed for the development of new drugs."
With treatment facilities now operating in Charlottesville and Richmond, Johnson is undertaking a new National Institute of Health-funded investigation of methamphetamine dependence. "There's the excitement and potential for real breakthroughs and new findings," he says. "And for a scientist, that is always going to be a thrill." The 2006 winner of the American Psychiatric Association's Prize for Distinguished Psychiatrist, Johnson notes, "The field is moving in multiple directions, and there is so much to do. I wish I had several lifetimes."
"If you're a clinician and not doing research, you can only treat one person at a time. Getting involved in research allows you to reach out to people you have never met and may never see."
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Through the campaign, we will address the daunting challenges of our time, from alleviating disease and poverty abroad to revitalizing public education at home to providing the highest quality health care in our hospitals and clinics.