[234] HUD Awards $300k to Aid TN LEAP

Release date: Dec. 11, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
TN LEAP East contact: Leigh Woodcock, 865-244-4350 or woodcock@mtsu.edu


HUD Awards $300K to Aid TN LEAP
Efforts to End Childhood Lead Poisoning


(MURFREESBORO) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Middle Tennessee State University announced the Tennessee Alliance for Lead-safe Kids , or TALK, to increase awareness of childhood lead poisoning hazards, effects and prevention in nearly every Tennessee county earlier this fall.
On Dec. 4, William Dirl, Nashville HUD field office director, presented MTSU officials with a check for $300,000 for grant funds during a reception held in MTSU’s James Union Building Dining Room C.
Those attending the presentation included Faye Johnson, assistant to executive vice president and provost (Dr. Diane Miller) for special initiatives; Wasimuddin Qureshi, assistant director in the MTSU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs; Dr. Saeed Foroudastan, associate dean for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences; Dr. Kathy Mathis, TALK Principal Investigator and Professor in the MTSU engineering technology department; and Lena Sprowl, a Murfreesboro resident who recounted the challenges faced by her family as a result of her daughter’s lead poisoning.
TALK will work with Nurses for Newborns of Tennessee and Tennessee Voices for Children to educate families and professionals about childhood lead poisoning, said Leah Woodcock, Tennessee Lead Elimination Action Program coordinator for East Tennessee.
Lead poisoning can come from lead-based paint found in homes built before 1978, soil, older plumbing, toys and some hobby materials, Woodcock said, adding that the effects of lead poisoning can include developmental delays, decreased IQ points, behavioral problems and coma or death at high levels, with children under the age of 6 especially vulnerable because their bodies still are developing.
“The only way to know if a child is lead poisoned is a simple blood test,” she said.
TALK’s main office will be in Knoxville, where Woodcock can be reached at 865-244-4350.
Faye Ralston, manager of MTSU’s HUD-funded Tennessee Lead Elimination Action Program, or TN LEAP, discussed TN LEAP services and residential lead-based paint hazards as they relate to childhood lead poisoning.
“The effects of childhood lead poisoning are permanent, but it is completely preventable,” Ralston said.
TN covers 94 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Shelby County has its own lead elimination program.
To learn more about MTSU’s TN LEAP program, call Ralston at 615-494-8795 or e-mail fralston.edu.


Photo cutline information:

William “Bill” Dirl, second from right, Nashville HUD field office director, presents MTSU with check for $300,000 for lead outreach activities. MTSU officials include, from left, Dr. Kathy Mathis, Wasimuddin Qureshi, Dr. Saeed Foroudastan and Faye Johnson.

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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.

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