One of the items she has kept reminds her of how precarious life can be. Learn more in the latest issue of "CATALYST" magazine.
Jenny Owens, ScD, MS, assistant dean of academic programs and associate professor, University of Maryland Graduate School, as well as executive director, The Grid (Graduate Research Innovation District), was looking forward to the 2022 Grid Pitch when she took time out of her busy schedule to talk to CATALYST magazine this spring.
The Grid Pitch, held in person April 21 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started, featured 16 teams of 25 students who pitched their innovative business ideas to a panel of experts and investors in the entrepreneurial community. The event also was livestreamed.
Owens was anticipating being in person with students in the Grid’s new home in the Health Sciences and Human Services Library for the Grid Pitch. “This extrovert has missed the people of UMB,” she said.
Owens has several items on her desk that have personal meaning. But the pandemic also has affected what she keeps in her office, which is in the Lexington Building.
“Notably, my desk is less packed with papers, books, and knick-knacks than it used to be,” she said. “I live and travel lighter since the pandemic. I need less.”
One of the items she has kept reminds her of how precarious life can be. Her son was born with a rare condition called congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). She keeps a blood pressure cuff on her desk from when he was in the newborn intensive care unit. Now, he is a healthy and thriving 6-year-old kindergartner.
“It’s almost comically small and has a blue puppy on it,” she said. “At birth, the physicians shared that babies born with CDH had a 50 percent chance of survival, and it was a rough road for the first three years with seven surgeries and multiple ICU stays. Looking at him today, he’s so vibrant and amazing that I can almost forget how precarious it was in the beginning. I keep that on my desk to remind myself each day is a gift.”
Find out more about Owens and what's on her desk in the latest issue of CATALYST magazine.
You can read the Spring 2022 issue of CATALYST magazine, which highlights the incredible work done by School of Medicine scientists and clinicians who successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart in a patient who survived for two months. We also share stories about law school alumnus Tamika Tremaglio, who now leads the National Basketball Players Association; Wendy Shaia, executive director of the School of Social Work’s Social Work Community Outreach Service; the UMB CURE Scholars Program’s first cohort going to college; and much, much more!