ProfNet Experts Available on Smoking Cessation, Bagged Lunches, E-Cigarette Trend, More Also in This Edition: Jobs for Writers and Media Industry Blog Posts

NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network that are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. If you are interested in interviewing any of the experts, please contact them via the contact information at the end of the listing. To receive these updates by email, send a note to [email protected] with the industries you cover, and we'll add you to the appropriate edition. 

If you are in need of additional experts, you can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network. You can filter your request by institution type and geographic location to get the most targeted responses. The best part? It's free! Just fill out the query form to get started.

If you have any questions or need assistance with any aspect of ProfNet, please drop us a note at [email protected].

EXPERT ALERTS

• How Parents and Educators Can Support Students
• Smoking Cessation and Switching to E-Cigarettes
• The Emerging E-Cigarette Trend
• Perfecting the Bagged Lunch for Your Children
• Placing Mom or Dad on Medicaid
• Selecting the Best Lighting for Your Home
  
  

MEDIA JOBS

• Staff Writer – The Flume (CO)
• Sports Copy Editor – The Lima News (OH)
• Copy Editor – Bauer Publishing (NJ)
  
  

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

• Media 411: Get to Know the NLGJA
• Grammar Hammer: That Which Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger
• Anatomy of a Perfect Pitch: Reporters Share Query Responses That Hit the Mark

****************

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Have you gotten a great source from ProfNet? Do you want to see your picture on the big screen in Times Square? Share your ProfNet success stories and you just might. All you have to do is "like" our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ProfNetOnFB) and leave a post on our wall sharing with us your best ProfNet success story (make sure to include a link to the article!). Each month, we'll select our favorite success story, and that person will get his/her picture posted in the heart of New York City: the Reuters sign in Times Square. More info here: http://bit.ly/ZUlnUC

****************

EXPERT ALERTS:

How Parents and Educators Can Support Students
Joshua Smith, Ph.D.
Dean
Loyola University Maryland School of Education
"The school year is fast approaching, and for many students who are transitioning to a new school this fall the next few weeks will be filled with anticipation and anxiety. Gone unaddressed, these feelings of uncertainty could adversely affect a student's performance in the classroom. Transition is receiving increased attention because ninth grade course failures and high school dropout rates exceed all other grade levels; but transition issues are prevalent at all grade levels and into college. To stem this trend, it's critical for schools to ramp up transition programming and for parents to recognize they, too, must play a central support role."
Dr. Smith, an expert in educational transition and program evaluation, is available to discuss innovative ways parents and schools can support students during a transition to a new school. He is located in Baltimore, MD.
Bio: http://www.loyola.edu/soe/faculty/smith.aspx
Twitter: @NACADAJosh
Media Contact: Nick Alexopulos, [email protected]

Smoking Cessation and Switching to E-Cigarettes
Paul Cinciripini, Ph.D.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
"Switching from tobacco to e-cigarettes could help smokers avoid approximately 6,000 chemicals, some of which are human carcinogens. Reduced exposure to harmful chemicals warrants research of these products as a vehicle for smoking cessation. However, unbiased studies, free from the ethical and legal challenges of 'Big Tobacco'-sponsored trials, are needed."
Cinciripini, Ph.D., a behavioral scientists and smoking cessation expert at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is available to discuss the emerging e-cigarette trend. He is the director of the Tobacco Treatment Program, and has over 30 years of experience conducting basic and clinical research in the area of smoking cessation and nicotine psychopharmacology. His work has focused on psychological (negative affect, coping self-efficacy), psychophysiological (emotional reactivity), neural (EEG/fMRI) and genetic predictors of treatment outcome (pharmacogenetics). In addition to community based samples his work has also involved populations with psychiatric and medical co-morbidities including depression, pregnancy and cancer.
Website: http://www.mdanderson.org
Media Contact: Lindsay Kurs, [email protected]
 

The Emerging E-Cigarette Trend
Alexander Prokhorov, M.D., Ph.D.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
"E-cigarettes are a promising growth area for the tobacco companies, allowing them to diversify their addictive and lethal products with a so-called 'safe cigarette,' but may also serve as a potential gateway to young and never smokers. These products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and this is concerning because it's impossible to know what you're really getting or if it's safe. In one analysis nicotine levels have been shown to vary widely among e-cigarette products. For now, I recommend that those looking to quit stick with approved devices, such as nicotine inhalers."
Prokhorov is a behavioral scientist and smoking cessation expert at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, whose work focuses on creating and testing innovative tobacco prevention and cessation programs for high-risk teens and young adults. He is the director of MD Anderson's Tobacco Outreach Education Program. He recently led the development of the Tobacco-Free Teens app and spearheaded MD Anderson's ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience) program – both are new approaches to keeping young people free from the grips of nicotine addiction.
Website: http://www.mdanderson.org
Media Contact: Lindsay Kurs, [email protected]

Perfecting the Bagged Lunch for Your Children
Michelle Dudash, RD
Registered Dietician and Chef
Chef Dudash Nutrition
"Understanding school lunch policies regarding allergens, sourcing the best user-friendly lunchbox gear and stocking up on the healthiest lunch ingredients that kids will actually eat help streamline the lunch packing process. A 2012 survey by Harris Interactive revealed that 55 percent of moms with school age children claim to be stressed out just at the idea of shopping for and packing a school lunch."
Dudash, nutritionist and Cordon Bleu-certified chef, has the bagged lunch rush down to a science. She has first-hand experience packing her four-year-old child's lunch five days a week, so her solutions are child-tested and parent-approved. She has prepped the perfect packed lunch timeline for any busy parent ramping up for back to school. She is the author of "Clean Eating for Busy Families."
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/michelle_dudash
Website: http://www.michelledudash.com
Expert Contact: [email protected]

Placing Mom or Dad on Medicaid
Ronald Fatoullah, Esq.
New York Elder Law, Trusts & Estates Attorney
Ronald Fatoullah & Associates
"Mom has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and will need long-term care. She may eventually need nursing home care. Costs for home care, nursing home and assisted living care are skyrocketing. Panic sets in. How will mom and dad afford to pay for mom's care without depleting all their hard earned assets? You can apply to have mom placed on Medicaid. Not to be confused with Medicare (which will not pay for extended long-term care), Medicaid, (if mom is eligible), can pay for homecare, nursing home care and even assisted living care."
Fatoullah, founder of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, has been advising New Yorkers for more than 30 years about the legal and financial challenges of aging. He has been selected as one of New York's "Best Lawyers" in the fields of elder law, trusts and estates for seven consecutive years. He also serves on the executive committee of the Elder Law Section of the NYS Bar Association.
Website: http://www.fatoullahlaw.com 
Media Contact: Carol Schell, [email protected]

Selecting the Best Lighting for Your Home
Jayson Serrault
Lighting Expert
Batteries Plus Bulbs
"When it comes to creating focus on an object, whether it's the bed, a piece of artwork or backyard plants, lighting determines how highlighted the object is and is key to creating a focal point,"
If working on any stories that relate to home decorating and selecting the best lighting options for your home, lighting expert Serrault can provide in-depth tips about which lighting is best for particular rooms in the house as well as the kind of light bulbs that are ideal for highlighting particular focal points.
Media Contact: Chelsey Korman, [email protected]

****************

MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: http://bit.ly/pncjobboard

• Staff Writer – The Flume (CO)
• Sports Copy Editor – The Lima News (OH)
• Copy Editor – Bauer Publishing (NJ)
  
  

See more listings here.

*****************

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected]

• MEDIA 411: GET TO KNOW THE NLGJA. If you've never heard of The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, then read on to find out more about this media association which has been around since 1990. http://bit.ly/16A477G

• GRAMMAR HAMMER: THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL US MAKES US STRONGER. Nietzsche's famous quote served as the lead-in for this week's topic – when to use that vs. which. Cathy Spicer, aka The Grammar Hammer, helps us decide *which* one to use: http://bit.ly/1cR1eUC

• ANATOMY OF A PERFECT PITCH: REPORTERS SHARE QUERY RESPONSES THAT HIT THE MARK. One of the most common questions we hear from ProfNet members is: What's the best way to respond to a ProfNet query? We decided to go right to the source and ask reporters for some examples of the best query responses they've received: http://bit.ly/14Azh2R

PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To submit a request for experts: http://bit.ly/findexperts  To search the ProfNet Connect experts database: http://www.profnetconnect.com  To contact ProfNet by phone: +1-800-PROFNET, ext. 1  To share a thought on Expert Alerts: [email protected]

SOURCE ProfNet