kathy getting involved

I support the following charities and non-profit organizations:

Know My Bones Campaign
Spokesperson for the Know My Bones Campaign for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Helping a Hero
Helping a Hero is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to veterans severely injured while fighting with the United States armed forces.

Caribbean Primate Research Center
The Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) is a world renowned center for the study of non-human primates.

Hmong Students in Laos
Supporting Laotian students pursuing careers in education by providing scholarships and logistical support.


Ms. Yengyang and Mr. Cotterill

Hmong Students in Laos

I support students in Laos by helping to provide scholarship opportunities at teacher’s training schools. Specifically, I help support a student, Mr. Talon, who is studying education at a school in Luang Nam Tha, in the northeast of the country.  I help support another student, Ms. Yengyang, who is studying at the national university in Vientiane.  To find out how you can help, please email Colin Cotterill at: colincot@gmail.com.

Mr. Talon loves to play soccer and is a very good player. The teacher’s training school staff had said that Mr. Talon has really knuckled down to study and should do well next year. He has one more year to go.

Ms. Yengyang is from a small farming family. Her father has passed away and she has eight siblings. Ms Yengyang wants to teach secondary school back in her home village (which is two days walk from the nearest road) and is studying political science. She’s a bit shy but is doing very well in her classes.

CPRC

Caribbean Primate Research Center

The CPRC Laboratory of Primate Morphology and Genetics [(LPMG), formerly known as the CPRC Skeletal Collection], supported by NIH grant P40 RR3640 and the UPR, is located in the CPRC Museum on the UPR Medical Sciences Campus. It is one of the largest and most valuable collections of nonhuman primate skeletons in the world. The collection contains over 3,600 complete skeletons of 14 species including 3,060 rhesus (830 directly from Cayo Santiago), 280 patas, 100 squirrel, 60 pigtail, 60 Caribbean vervet, 30 stumptail and 30 tufted capuchin monkeys. For most of the rhesus from the free-ranging colony on Cayo Santiago and those from Cayo Santiago housed at the Sabana Seca Field Station (SSFS); date of birth, sex, maternity, group affiliation, parity (for females), and date of death are known. Paternity and full pedigrees are known for many while medical records are available on skeletons from SSFS monkeys.

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Research with the collection has focused on anthropomorphics, growth and development, genetics and inheritance of various traits, mathematical modeling, naturally-occurring pathologies (arthritis of the major joints, spondyloarthropathy, osteoporosis, fractures, hereditary defects), comparative skeletal anatomy and brain morphology (using endocasts), effects of parity on pelvic remodeling, and dentition. The LPMG also has a large collection of rhesus plaster dermatoglyphs. Forensic anthropologist, novelist and co-producer of the popular Fox television series Bones, Dr. Kathy Reichs, has used the collection for collaborative research on the effect of age and osteoarthritis on bone mineral density. She considers the CPRC’s Skeletal Collection an invaluable research resource and has mentioned the CPRC in at least two of her novels, Deja Dead and Bones to Ashes.

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For more information on the LPMG’s collections, please contact Ms. Terry Kensler, Curator, at terry.kensler@upr.edu or website http://cprc.rcm.upr.edu/

Helping a Hero evening

Helping a Hero

Supporting Veterans

Helping a Hero is a 501(c)(3) non profit, non-partisan organization providing support for military personnel, severely injured in the war on terror. Their principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying service members as well as engaging the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families. To find out how you can help, please visit their website at: http://www.helpingahero.org/.

Know My Bones

Know My Bones

The goal of the Know My Bones program is to help women who have postmenopausal osteoporosis keep their bones strong.  Their mission is to support women in making bone health a priority in their lives.  Through Know My Bones, you can learn about advances in the understanding of bone health and discover ways to make your bones stronger.  The knowledge you gain through Know My Bones can also help you partner with your doctor to improve your bone health.  To get the most from Know My Bones, please visit their website at: http://www.knowmybones.com/.