2010.04.21 > For Immediate Release
contact: Becky Bohan Brown - University Relations
phone: 402.554.2243 - e-mail: rbrown@mail.unomaha.edu

UNO You Look MAVelous! April 28 Keynote to Feature Transplant Recipient Dr. Joann Schaefer

Omaha - April is National Donate Life Month! In celebration of the occasion, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) You Look MAVelous! campaign will welcome liver transplant recipient Dr. Joann Schaefer to campus Wednesday, April 28, for a keynote address - "A Positive Attitude Can Overcome Life's Challenges." The UNO wellness event is free and open to the public.

The keynote will be repeated in two sessions - 11 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Each session will take place in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service Building Collaborating Commons and conclude with a Q&A session.

Dr. Schaefer, the state's chief medical officer, will speak to the UNO community and public about her experiences with health and wellness; how to keep a healthy mental, spiritual and physical balance; and life after transplant surgery. Transplant survivors will be recognized from the podium and are encouraged to wear their donate life T-shirts to the event.

"Dr. Schaefer's personal journey has given her a unique perspective on health and wellness. She views wholeness and balance - key ingredients to happiness and well being - as a physician, as an individual, as a transplant recipient, as a member of a family and as Nebraska's chief medical officer," said Mollie Anderson, UNO You Look MAVelous! co-chair and director of Human Resources. "Her story inspires and uplifts, and I'm so happy she is able to take time from her very busy schedule to be with us. No one should miss hearing her."

Participants are invited to bring their lunch, and a healthy granola buffet with yogurt will be served. Materials about organ donation and other donor services will be available. A tour of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building will follow the last session at 1:30 p.m.

Community co-sponsors include Donate Life and the Wellness Council of the Midlands (WELCOM). WELCOM and Donate Life members are invited to attend. Free off-campus parking is available to the public at the Crossroads Mall garage, with free shuttle service provided to and from campus.

You Look MAVelous! - UNO's fitness and weight loss challenge - is sponsored by Human Resources, Mav-Rec Wellness and Student Health Services. Attendees will receive 100 You Look MAVelous! points.

For more information, call Human Resources at (402) 554.2321. For details on You Look MAVelous! points, contact Angie Helseth at (402) 554.3185 or ahelseth@mail.unomaha.edu.

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The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska’s metropolitan university. The core values of the institution place students at the center of all that the university does; call for the campus to strive for academic excellence; and promote community engagement that transforms and improves urban, regional, national and global life. UNO, inaugurated in 1968, emerged from the Municipal University of Omaha, established in 1931, which grew out of the University of Omaha founded in 1908.