Illinois State University’s Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN) will hold two lectures for the Marion McDowell Stafford Lectureship Series in Child and Family Health that will focus on oral health. The lectures will take place Wednesday, April 3, and Thursday, April 4, at the Alumni Center. The lectures are free to attend; however, registration is required.

A lecture for the community, titled “The Mouth Connection: Happiness, Health and Well Being,” will be from 7-8 p.m. on April 3 with light refreshments following. An education lecture, titled “The Mouth Connection: How Our Mouth Connects to Our Overall Health,” will be from 1-4:30 p.m. on April 4. The deadline to register for both events is March 29.

Three speakers will present at both of the lectures: Susana Calderon, Susan Grant, and Yvette Pigman. In honor of Illinois State University Mennonite College of Nursing’s 100th Anniversary Celebration, the presenters are all graduates from different programs of MCN.

Calderon is a postdoctoral research fellow NIDCR T-90 at the University of Iowa, Iowa Institute of Oral Health Research. She is a distinguished recipient of Johnson & Johnson ACCN Minority Nurse Faculty scholar award and is an assistant professor at Illinois State University, Mennonite College of Nursing.

Grant is an instructional assistant professor at Illinois State University Mennonite College of Nursing. Most of her nursing career has been in public health. She serves as the only nurse on the board of the IFLOSS Coalition, a statewide organization with the sole purpose of improving the oral health of Illinois residents.

Pigman is an instructional assistant professor at Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State. She has worked in many areas of nursing throughout her career including acute care, primary care, and public health. She has been a member of the America’s Promise School Project since 2011 and presented on oral health at the American Public Health Association’s Annual Expo in 2013 and 2016 and at the IFLOSS Coalition annual conference in 2013 and 2017.

The educational lecture is designed for RNs who are school nurses, pediatric nurses, mental health nurses, and college of nursing faculty and students. The educational activity will be submitted to the Ohio Nurses Association for approval to award contact hours. The Ohio Nurses Association (OBN-001-91) is an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Please call Amy Irving at (309) 438-7418 for more information about contact hours.

These events are sponsored by the Marion McDowell Stafford Lectureship Series Fund and the Illinois State University Foundation Fund.

For more information, contact Amy Irving at (309) 438-7418.