We are happy to announce the winners of the 2017 MOON Study Poster Contest!
We are especially excited to award prizes for posters in English and Spanish categories!
1st Place - Zane Maio
1st Place - Andy Chen
2nd Place - Matthew Davis
2nd Place - Gail Barbone Miller
In addition, several posters were hand-picked by judges for their creativity and powerful messages. We are happy to announce the special award of “Honorable Mention” to each of the artists below:
Honorable Mention: Chris Cavatorta
Honorable Mention: Natalie Leung
Honorable Mention: Miranda Monk
Honorable Mention: Rebecca Giglio
We received over 100 submissions from participants across the country, showcasing amazing talents and a clear passion for public health and overdose prevention. We appreciate the strong showing of support and participation in our contest, and hope that and the efforts increased awareness about overdose prevention and naloxone nationwide.
Who are the artists?
Zane Maio
1st Place Winner
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
I live in Barrington, RI and go to The Met School in Providence.
How did you hear about the contest?:
I heard about this opportunity from my mom Kristen Westmoreland at The Bay Team.
Did participation change your thoughts about opioids or naloxone?:
I learned some facts while going through the statistics.
Andy Chen
1st Place Winner
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
I am from Coventry, Rhode Island and attend the University of Rhode Island (URI) majoring in pharmacy.
How did you hear about the contest?:
I heard about the contest through one of my professors. URI has some very dedicated professors that constantly promote opioid awareness and naloxone usage, especially with the opioid epidemic we are currently facing. To encourage participation, my professor made it part of our grade, and I'm glad she did. The contest rules were also posted around the pharmacy building so other students could enter. My thought process for designing my poster was to find a picture that I could further emphasize with a message in a clever way.
Did participation change your thoughts about opioids or naloxone?:
Thanks to the education I received through my professors, I am well aware of opioids, signs of opioid overdose, naloxone, and proper naloxone administration. That being said, my thoughts haven't swayed much after participating. Opioid misuse is a major problem in the United States and it takes a community effort to decrease all the concerning statistics we see. Making a poster like this is just a small way I can contribute to maximizing opioid safety and preventing addiction. I also participated in a study, led by two of our professors, where pharmacy students would travel to high schools around Rhode Island and educate the freshman class about opioids and naloxone. It was an amazing experience to see what high schoolers already knew and how much more I could teach them. Starting education before students reach the "at-risk" population may be critical in preventing opioid misuse.
Matthew Davis
2nd Place Winner
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
My home state is Connecticut; I was living in Storrs attending UCONN pharmacy school at the time of the submission.
How did you hear about the contest?:
A couple of our students and a faculty member felt strongly about raising awareness about the opioid problem we have, and we thought as pharmacists we should bring to light the availability that we have for naloxone in Connecticut. That being, pharmacists are allowed to prescribe and dispense naloxone in their pharmacy, which is not very well known. We named our group No Friend Left nALoxONE and went from there. Our faculty member, Dr. Jill Fitzgerald had received an email about the contest and asked another student and I if we wanted to submit the logo/poster we made for our group.
Gail Barbone Miller
2nd Place Winner
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
I am a native Rhode Islander and moved just over the border to Putnam, Connecticut a few years ago. I graduated from New England Institute of Technology and Rhode Island College. My liberal arts track included courses in art and marketing. Currently, I am a Communications Specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). I have been at RIDOH since 2009. My rewarding public health work focuses on the social determinants of health, eliminating health disparities, and promoting health equity in ten geographical Rhode Island Health Equity Zones (HEZ).
How did you hear about the contest?:
I heard about the MOON poster contest through an email sent to me by the RIDOH Community Health and Equity division lead, Carol Hall-Walker. Carol has been a wonderful mentor and is a seasoned and dedicated Rhode Island Department of Health leader.
Did participation change your thoughts?:
I was inspired to design a poster based on several local and national news stories and also a real-life event that I witnessed in the fall of 2016.
Last fall, my friend and co-worker Michelle walked to the Providence Place Mall during our lunch break. As we exited the mall heading back to work we saw people gathering near a parked car at the front main entrance. There was a young man lying on his back, directly on the street, next to the opened passenger side car door. He was barely breathing and was not responding. A young, brave woman, walking by, was the first responder and administered hands only CPR to his chest. Michelle, noticing that the young woman was fatigued, asked her if she needed a reprieve from CPR, and she said “yes”. Michelle immediately jumped in to relieve her. Michelle continued hands-only CPR. I looked into the car and noticed that there was a frightened little girl (about 4 years of age) peering out of the back seat window at me. I immediately ran to her, pulled her from her car seat, and walked her a short distance away from the car near the mall to distance her from the commotion and scene. She asked me, “Is my Daddy ok?” I calmly explained that he was not well but people are there to help him. In my mind, I wasn’t convinced that he was going to live and I did not want her to see his image in the street and listen to deep voices using emergency jargon desperate to keep him alive.
Michelle kept the young man alive until the Providence rescue team arrived. I looked over and noticed a syringe on the ground beside him (Naloxone). He was lifted on stretcher into the rescue truck. In a short time, the EMT asked the young man what hospital he would like to be transported to. I overheard him respond to the EMT... His breathing was brought back.
This event is so vivid in my mind. There are many heroes from that day. The young man’s friend pulled the car over and placed his friend in the street, the woman was the first to arrive and administer CPR, Michelle kept him alive using CPR, the rescue team administered what is believed to be Naloxone used to reverse an overdose, and I comforted a little girl and protected her from disturbing images. I think about the little girl spared from losing her father thanks to emergency naloxone treatment. This inspired me when I saw an opportunity to create a visual and the message for the MOON poster contest.
Chris Cavatorta
Honorable Mention
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
I live in Arlington, MA and work as a third grade teacher during the day. At night, I am enrolled in the Graphic Design Certificate program at MassArt.
How did you hear about the contest?:
Through my Graphic Design Certificate program at MassArt.
Did participation change your thoughts?:
Prior to researching this contest I had no idea that naloxone was readily available at the pharmacy, and should be used/carried in a similar fashion to an Epi-pen in order to save lives.
Natalie Leung
Honorable Mention
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
Boston, MA and Northeastern University School of Pharmacy.
How did you hear about the contest?:
Through weekly emails from the Northeastern Pharmacy Student Governing Organization.
Did participation change your thoughts?:
I was aware of the opioid overdose crisis and the importance of naloxone, but more recent statistics helped me to put the magnitude of the crisis in perspective. The contest refocused my efforts on practical ways to address the issue and save lives, and I hope that my poster will promote both awareness of and safety with naloxone.
Miranda Monk
Honorable Mention
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
My hometown is Bangor, Maine and I attend the University of Rhode Island, College of Pharmacy.
How did you hear about the contest?:
I heard about this contest from one of my professors. We had previously worked together on a project for naloxone. Her husband is a photographer, so we collaborated and prepared this poster.
Did participation change your thoughts?:
Participation in this contest changed how I plan to incorporate naloxone and opioid safety in my future. As a future pharmacist, I hope to make a positive impact by being a resource for patients regarding opioids and naloxone. I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with such inspiring people who also want to make an impact!
Rebecca Giglio
Honorable Mention
What is your hometown/state? School or work affiliation?:
I live in New City, NY and attend Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
How did you hear about the contest?:
Through my supervisor at the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention and Columbia University. I conduct research on overdose prevention and have studied the efficacy of naloxone when administered by bystanders with no medical background.
Did participation change your thoughts about opioids or naloxone?:
I was surprised by how my own idea of what would make a good PSA for naloxone changed over time. I knew I wanted it to be eye-catching and informative, but my first drafts were somewhat alarmist. They were dark and emphasized the deadly, destructive aspects of drug use.
I decided to change the tone and focus on normalizing naloxone, because there is already so much stigma around opioid use- I didn't want to contribute to that. I'm certainly not a graphic designer, so it was an interesting exercise to see the sorts of messages you can convey with different images.