Be kind, work hard and be grateful were the words of advice presented to 166 second-year medical students as they formally entered their third year of medical school at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s annual Student Clinicians Ceremony, held Feb. 14.

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Friends and family shared in the event, which signifies the next step in medical education for these students – when they transition from what has been primarily classroom learning to more clinical and hospital settings where they will interact with patients.

Reflecting on what the students had already accomplished and the work in the years ahead, Steven Specter, PhD, associate dean for Student Affairs, urged students to remember the human side of medicine and asked the friends and families to help them remember.

Dr. Steven Specter

“I urge you all to ask your students what they think of the importance of humanism and patient-centered care,” Dr. Specter said.

Anthony DeSantis and Thomas Fowler each shared words of thanks and advice to their classmates and audience, reinforcing the combined strength of the two tracts in MD program.

DeSantis, who is in the Core MD Program, shared a story of when a faculty member made an effort to reassure students before a big exam, showing sincerity through both his pop-in after hours at their study sessions and his words that they would do fine. The gesture spoke volumes to DeSantis.

Anthony DeSantis

“You only go to one medical school, so you can constantly ask yourself if this is the right place, the right fit,” DeSantis said. “On the drive home that night, I told myself I was where I’m supposed to be.”

Fowler, who is in the SELECT MD Program, told his fellow students to look for signs of humanism.

“It’s a layer deeper than the machines we’ll use and the pills we’ll prescribe,” Fowler said, adding that they should all be kind and work hard.

“Be the doctor who helps a dad in the emergency room find a hotel room. Be the doctor who gives your cell phone number to a patient in case they have more questions. Have the kindness that’s not convenient. And don’t for a second underestimate the power of diligence.”

Frazier Stevenson, MD, senior associate dean of Undergraduate Medical Education reminded students of the change in the learning that’s to come.

“Up until now, it’s been about what you know,” Dr. Stevenson said. “But in this phase you will look at how you can apply what you know, how you share it with a team and apply it to your patients. You have worked to make yourself better, but now you’re able to bring that knowledge to other people, in a role to help people who desperately need it. You’re not shadowing. Now your knowledge is brought to bear for others, not so much for yourself.”

Providing the keynote address was Erika Abel, MD assistant professor of medicine and program director for the USF Health Internal Medicine/Pediatrics program. Taking an example from her own life, when her sister was diagnosed with a degenerative muscular disease, Dr. Abel spoke on the importance of bringing compassion and empathy when sharing bad news to families.

“Be the nice doctor,” Dr. Abel said. “Never be the doctors who says ‘go read a book about this’. And remember that it might not be the same day they need questions answered. It’s days after when they need help most.”

Providing the Humanism and Excellence in Teaching address was third-year student Trevor Lewis, who shared a poignant story of when truly listening to a patient made the difference in his patient’s limited life.

“Focus on what we have to do,” Lewis said. “It’s not about us. It’s about the patient.”

Six resident physicians were presented with Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Awards for their exceptional effort for inspiring students to be more. The exceptional teachers are Valerie Devanney, MD, Internal Medicine; Kimberly Goss, MD, Emergency Medicine; Noah Grams, MD, Pediatrics; Jaron Mark, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Christian Robles, MD, Neurology; and Paul Toomey, MD, Surgery. The awards are provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which also provides a grant that supports the Clinicians Ceremony.

Before leading the students in reciting the Oath of Commitment, Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, FACP, professor of medicine, reminded the group to also be grateful.

Dr. Bryan Bognar

“You’re surrounded by folks who care,” said Dr. Bognar, who was recently named vice dean for the Office of Educational Affairs.

“You’ve all worked hard; I’ll give you that. But you’ve had support. And you’ll still need support.”

Then, putting into context the meaning of the oath, Dr. Bognar added “This oath is to help you remember the patient you are there for them. Not for you.”

With that, the Class of 2016 stood up and pledged to fulfill the principles of respect, ethics, compassion, professionalism and gratitude.

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Story by Sarah Worth, USF Health Office of Communications

Photos by Rebekah Wright, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine

USF Health faculty members were greeted by enthusiastic and engaged students when they spoke recently for the career days at two same-gender magnet middle schools in Hillsborough County.

Kevin Sneed, PhD, dean of the USF College of Pharmacy, chats with students at the Franklin Magnet Middle School career day.

About 30 faculty members representing all four USF Health colleges talked about the successes and challenges of their career paths.  They spoke Jan. 31 at Boys Preparatory Academy Franklin Middle School in East Tampa, and Feb. 5 at Girls Preparatory Academy Ferrell Middle School.  The USF Health doctors were joined by other speakers from the community, including the Tampa Police Department, Tampa Fire Rescue and MacDill Air Force Base.

Catherine Lynch, MD, associate vice president of women’s health, associate dean of faculty development, and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, spearheaded the career day three years ago at the girls’ school (Ferrell) and added the boys’ school (Franklin) two years ago.

“One of the fascinating things about the all-boys and all-girls schools is how willing the students are to ask questions and engage in the learning process,” Dr. Lynch said.  “They’re paying attention to what’s happening in the world, the state and locally.”

USF Health’s Dr. Catherine Lynch, who spearheaded career success days at the same-gender middle schools, listens while Mark Schreiner, producer for WUSF University Beat, captures an enthusiastic student’s comments with a microphone.

USF Health faculty members fielded insightful questions about everything from the proposed medical marijuana amendment in Florida and what to look for on food labels to whether algebra is ever used in a health sciences career.

The community service opportunity benefits both the students and the faculty role models, Dr. Lynch said.

“It’s so important for us to gain a footprint in the community.  We want to engage these students so we can keep the best and brightest in Tampa to help build and grow our community,” Dr. Lynch said. “Hopefully, some of the young men and women we help inspire may one day be students at USF Health…or perhaps even someday join our faculty.”

Dr. David Kotun, founding director of USF’s Physician Assistant degree program, discusses the career path for becoming a PA and their vital role as professionals on a healthcare team.

Among those sharing their career stories with the boys at Franklin was Kevin Sneed, PharmD, professor and dean of the USF College of Pharmacy.

“I hope they’re inspired by seeing an individual they can relate to and hearing the message that hard work, being a good citizen and focusing on goals will make a difference,” Dr. Sneed said. “I want to plant a seed for them to begin thinking about a career in pharmacy or another health profession.”

Lauri Wright, PhD, an assistant professor and registered dietitian at the USF College of Public Health, brought along props – including a food pyramid model and food labels, a blob of plastic fat and test tube filled with sugar – to help illustrate her presentation to the girls at Ferrell.

“I discussed nutrition, the difference between a dietitian and nutritionist, where dietitians practice and the tools they use,” Wright said. “I feel experiences like this help make the university and its professionals ‘real’ and exciting.  Further, it’s important for girls to know the potential health careers available to women, as well as the importance of math and science in helping achieve those careers.”

Franklin and Ferrell are Title I schools, and both sibling magnet middle schools have developed a college preparatory culture that promotes character development, academic rigor and student achievement.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Media contact: Vickie Chachere, University Communications and Marketing, (813) 974-6251 or vchachere@usf.edu

A National Academy member, Lockwood has held leadership positions at Ohio State, Yale and NYU 

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2014) – University of South Florida System President Judy Genshaft has named Charles Lockwood, MD, currently the dean of The Ohio State University College of Medicine and  a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, as the new senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

Dr. Lockwood will join the University of South Florida effective May 5, 2014. In addition to guiding USF Health – which encompasses the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy – Dr. Lockwood will oversee patient care provided through the USF Physicians Group.

Dr. Charles Lockwood

“The University of South Florida System is thrilled to welcome an individual of Dr. Lockwood’s national standing to lead USF Health as we continue to provide leading-edge health education and care,” President Genshaft said. “Dr. Lockwood is not only an innovative medical educator, but he is an accomplished researcher and entrepreneurial thinker who will be a leader for our region, state and nation.

“There is no more important factor to the future success of our communities than providing high-quality, affordable and accessible healthcare. I am proud that USF continues to be at the forefront of finding cures, developing more effective treatments and creating new solutions to our most pressing health problems.”

Dr. Lockwood said: “The University of South Florida is a dynamic, entrepreneurial research institution where students, faculty and staff embrace novel solutions to individual health issues as well as public health problems. I look forward to working collaboratively in an atmosphere that focuses on finding new approaches to building a healthier world for all.”

At USF Health, he will lead more than 800 faculty members and nearly 500 physicians and healthcare practitioners who conducted more than 400,000 outpatient visits annually.

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine enrolls 620 medical students and 717 medical residents in 85 programs. The colleges of Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy, along with the schools of Biomedical Sciences and Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Medicine, have more than 5,000 students. USF Health researchers were awarded more than $246.6 million in grants and contracts last year.

Prior to joining The Ohio State, Dr. Lockwood spent nine years as the Anita O’Keeffe Young Professor of Women’s Health and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine. Prior to his post at Yale, he served as the Stanley H. Kaplan Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the New York University School of Medicine from 1995 to 2002, and as acting director of NYU’s Kaplan Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1998 to 2000. His previous appointments include the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the faculty of Tufts University.

Dr. Lockwood, 59, earned a Sc.B., magna cum laude, with distinction, from Brown University; his medical degree was obtained from the University of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine and he has a Master of Science in Health Care Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. He served his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital and his fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at the Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Dr. Lockwood is internationally known for his research expertise in obstetrics and gynecology garnering multiple awards, particularly his work in premature births. He has authored more than 270 peer-reviewed publications, 80 chapters and reviews, 141 editorials, authored or co-authored three books and edited seven textbooks. He is the recipient of multiple research grant awards from the National Institutes of Health and the March of Dimes and other foundations.  Dr. Lockwood has chaired and/or served on multiple committees of the American College of Obstetricians, the Food and Drug Administration, and is a past president of the Society for Gynecological Investigation, the largest international reproductive science organization.  He has been a tireless advocate of the training of physician scientists.

His clinical interests include the prevention of recurrent pregnancy loss, preterm delivery, and maternal thrombosis.  He has been named to the Castle & Connelly Survey, Best Doctors list for many years as well as the best doctors list of New York and Connecticut Magazines. He has been credited with leading a research team that discovered fetal fibronectin, the first biochemical predictor of prematurity. Lockwood also will relocate his research lab to USF.

Pending the recommendation of the Faculty and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Lockwood will be recommended for tenure to the USF Board of Trustees at the rank of full professor.

The University of South Florida is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. USF is a Top 50 research university among both public and private institutions nationwide in total research expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation. Serving nearly 48,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.

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The best of USF Health’s rising research stars presented their work in record numbers at this year’s USF Health Research Day, with 351 scientists displaying their work and filling the Marshall Center Ballroom.

This year marked the 24^th time USF Health’s emerging scientists came together to present their projects, with judges scrutinizing the data and deciding the winners.

“USF is one of the most rapidly growing research universities in the country, ranking currently in the top 50,” said Phillip Marty, PhD, vice president for USF Health Research.

“At USF Health, we’ve seen tremendous growth in our research programs and Research Day reflects that growth, in both the number of and the caliber of projects. I’m proud of our graduate students, residents and fellows, and faculty, who are so eager to share their research highlights and truly shine at this event. The effort is so central to our mission as a research university.”

Vice President for USF Health Research Dr. Phillip Marty takes a minute for an interview by CTTV.

The day long event brings together researchers from across all USF Health colleges, programs and disciplines, as well as guest researchers from USF programs studying the science of health. In addition to those from USF, four of the poster presenters were middle school students from Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, showcasing their own award-winning posters.

The day began when 10 select students presented their work at the 5th Annual Joseph Krzanowski, PhD, USF Health Invited Oral Presentations Session. The few, whose work earned them an invitation to present their work orally, this year were: Sandra Acosta, Ruan Cox, Elisabeth Franzen, Stephanie Hudey, Adnan Muhammad, Misty Ochotny, Shams Rahman, Erika Thomspon, Jillian Whelan, Jonathan Wischhusen, and Zhiwei Zhou.

Pharmacy student Misty Ochotny provided the first Oral presentation of the day.

Following the oral presentations, the full poster presentation session began in the ballroom. Abstracts are tacked onto bulletin boards and fill the Marshall Center Ballroom, evidence of the breadth of groundbreaking and collaborative work taking place. For two hours, classmates, colleagues, mentors, faculty and the curious make their way from abstract to abstract. Judges are also there, evaluating each presentation and conferring with lead researchers to further explain their methods, results and conclusions. Many of the budding researchers use the event as an opportunity for collaboration and as a “practice run” for future national research meetings.

Public Health student Susan Tyler was one of several researchers providing abstracts on studies of The Villages.

Medical student Samson Lu sets up his poster on the culture change in trauma surgery.

In addition to showcasing new research, the annual USF Health Research Day features the Roy H. Behnke Distinguished Lectureship, which takes place in the Marshall Center’s Oval Theatre. This year’s guest lecturer was James W. Simpkins, PhD, director of the Center for Basic and Translational Stroke Research at West Virginia University. His talk was titled “Wandering in Neurodegeneration Research:  A Career of Running Against the Wind.”

Keynote speaker Dr. James W. Simpkins, of West Virginia University, presented work on age-related brain disorders.

At the conclusion of the talk, the much-anticipated awards are presented. This year’s winners are:

Best MCOM Graduate Student Poster Presentations:

Allergy and Immunology: Orville Pemberton

Cancer Biology: Nadine Nelson

Cardiovascular and Clinical Science Research: Wei Deng

Molecular and Cell Biology: Antoine Flowers

Molecular and Cell Biology: Shannon Kesi

Best MCOM Medical Student Presentations:

Med I Student Poster Presentation, Chart Reviews, Other Case Studies, Education Research: Anastasia Groshev

Med II Student Poster Presenation, Chart Reviews, Other Case Studies, Education Research: Matthew Thau

Med II Student Poster Presenation, Chart Reviews, Other Case Studies, Education Research: Shreya Narayanan

Med II Student Poster Presentation, Evidence Based Study Design and Outcomes Research: Thomas Sutton

Med II Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Eric Shamas

Med II and III Student Poster Presentation, Interdisciplinary Research: James Lee

Med III Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Erin Greenberg

Med III Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Kevin Huang

Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations:

Interdisciplinary Research: Radim Jacob

Molecular and Cell Biology: Joseph Leung

Molecular and Cell Biology: Nicholas Johnson

Neuroscience I: Jerry Hunt

Neuroscience II: Awa Sanneh

Pharmaceutical Science – Neuroscience: Diego Peralta

Best College of Pharmacy Poster Presentation:

Graduate Student: Matthew MacPherson

Postdoctoral: Malathi Marayan

Best College of Public Health Poster Presentations:

Graduate Student: Jayme Coyle

Graduate Student: Steven Maher

Graduate Student: Karlette Peck

Graduate Student: Shitaldas Pamnani

Graduate Student: Zachary Pruitt

Graduate Student: Tommi Rivers

Graduate Student: Yuri Sebastiao

Top Awards

USF Health Vice President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Ruan Cox

MCOM Outstanding Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Chen Hu

MCOM Outstanding Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Yuefeng Sun

MCOM Best Resident Poster Presentation: Samir Dalia

MCOM Best Resident Poster Presentation: Andrea Abbott

MCOM Best Resident Poster Presentation: Jiangchuan Tao

Watson Clinic Award to a Fourth-Year Medical Student: Lela Posey

Dr. Christopher P. Phelps Memorial Fund Annual Morsani COM Graduate Student Travel Award: Jung A. Woo

Pediatric Administrators Awards for Best Presentation on Children’s Health: Tahseen Ismail

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Ruan Cox, a doctoral candidate in the School of Biomedical Sciences, is the winner of the USF Health Vice President’s Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation.

Social Media by Elizabeth Peacock, USF Health Communications

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

“Nav-Lab” open to USF campus, community; anyone with questions about coverage welcome

Tampa, FL (Feb. 25, 2014) — An on-site community outreach event to help consumers learn more about their enrollment options in the federal Health Insurance Marketplace will be held 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday March 6, in the USF Health Computer Lab at the Faculty Office Building (first floor), 13220 USF Laurel Drive, Tampa, FL 33612.

Navigators from USF Health, joined by those from Florida CHAIN and Covering Tampa Bay, will be able to assist 40 people an hour.   Representatives from Enroll America will offer education about the Marketplace, and navigators can help individuals and families sort out the coverage choices and guide those interested in enrolling through the application process.

“Getting covered is about taking personal responsibility for your health and financial well-being,” said Jodi Ray, project director of the Florida Covering Kids & Families program at the USF Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, College of Public Health. “We can help people navigate the Marketplace to find a plan that provides the care they need and fits their budgets.”

The $4.2 million navigator grant awarded to the University of South Florida last year was the largest in Florida. USF Health works with 10 consortium partners across the state to help those who want assistance shopping for and enrolling in private healthcare insurance available through the online marketplace.

The deadline this year to enroll for coverage under the Affordable Care Act is March 31.

“Nav-Lab” walk-ins are welcome, but registration is recommended because parking is limited.

For more information or to register, please email mchavez1@health.usf.edu, or call (813) 974-0176.  Accommodations for people with disabilities or those who speak other languages can be made when appointments are scheduled.

Visitors parking on the USF Tampa campus are required to purchase a daily parking permit.  USF students, faculty and staff may park in the Laurel Drive Parking Garage, top floor, or Lot 42 adjacent to the garage. In addition, a Bull runner shuttle stops at the corner of Laurel and Holly Drives, immediately in front of the Faculty Office Building, where the Nav-Lab event will be.

USF Health navigator Michelle Ray assists a consumer with enrollment.

                                                                                                       -USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Media Contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
abaier@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3300

He will be inducted March 7 with this year’s group of 143 outstanding innovators

Stephen B. Liggett, MD, vice dean for research in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, was recently named a 2013 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Election to NAI Fellow status is a high professional distinction bestowed upon academic inventors who demonstrate a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have tangibly impacted quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.

Dr. Stephen Liggett holds 16 patents related to genomics.

Dr. Liggett, a professor of internal medicine and molecular pharmacology & physiology, will be among the 143 new Fellows from 94 institutions  – including nine Nobel Laureates, six National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipients and two U.S. National Medal of Science recipients — inducted March 7 at the 3^rd Annual NAI Conference in Alexandria, VA.  A plaque listing the name and institution of each NAI Fellow remains on permanent display at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Dr. Liggett was the only USF faculty member elected a NAI Fellow this year.  He joins a select cadre of five other USF faculty members, including three from USF Health (Barbara Hansen, PhD; Paul Sanberg, PhD, DSC; and Shyam Mohapatra, PhD), who were named charter Fellows of the academy in 2012.

Dr. Liggett, a member of the USF Chapter of the NAI, holds 16 patents for genomic research discoveries applicable to diagnosis and treatment of heart and lung diseases.   He has started several biotechnology companies and published 167 primary research articles and 45 review articles.

The NAI’s mission is to honor academic invention, recognize and encourage inventors, enhance the visibility of university and non-profit research institute technology and innovation, encourage disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.

See the complete list of current NIA Fellows.

USF Health’s Ybor Youth Clinic, the first-ever free healthcare clinic for underserved and at-risk youth in Tampa Bay, is hosting its first annual Ybor’s Alley-Oop for Youth fundraiser at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 8, at the Ybor Youth Clinic at 1315 E 7^th Ave. Suite 104, Tampa, FL 33605. The goal is to expand healthcare services it offers to Tampa Bay area adolescents and young adults who have been underserved or felt unwelcome in traditional healthcare settings.

As a fun tie-in to NCCA’s March Madness, Ybor’s Alley-Oop for Youth is an interactive basketball-themed scavenger hunt. Teams will advance through historical Ybor City using a series of clues and completing surprise challenges as they race toward the finish line for the winning championship title, all while supporting a worthy cause.

Registration begins 1 p.m. at the clinic, and the whistle blows at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance by visiting https://adv-mercury.forest.usf.edu/rsvp_tks_v2/default.aspx?event_id=MD03082014

An awards reception and after party will conclude the festivities (admission included in ticket value) at Ybor City Wine Bar on 8^th Ave.

For years, Ybor City has been a haven for youth of all backgrounds.  Since beginning in September, 2012, the USF Health Ybor Youth Clinic has become an invaluable resource for local youth ages 13 to 24, providing high quality, innovative, compassionate, and nonjudgmental health care for all youth, regardless of income. The USF Health Ybor Youth Clinic is unique in offering specialized care to high-risk youth and those most traditionally marginalized, including but not limited to homeless, gay, lesbian, transgender, and HIV infected individuals.

A foundation in knowledge and a positive mentor helped second-year medical student James A. Mauro publish his research as first author in the Feb. 25 issue of the journal Gene.

James Mauro presented his research at this year’s USF Health Research Day.

The research article, which is Mauro’s first first-author publication, provides a new understanding for how transcription factors (proteins that bind to a gene and flag it to be expressed) work. They allow cells to act in a certain way, and larger genes have more transcription factor binding sites and are, therefore, more sensitive to stimulation than smaller genes. The finding could aid in new disease treatments, including those for cancer, Mauro said.

“Increasing levels of pro-proliferative transcription factors would normally be thought to make a cancer worse, but according to our research, it may actually kill it,” he said.

Mauro’s faculty mentor, and the senior author on the study, is George Blanck, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“James’ project is solid bioinformatics and genomics work,” Dr. Blanck said. “He has the great combination of knowledge of science and knowledge of code writing. If he hadn’t been able to write the (computer) code to break down the data, the results would never have surfaced.”

Mauro, who has an undergraduate degree in biotechnology and a master’s degree in medical sciences, is also vice president of information technology for the Medical Student Council in the Morsani College of Medicine. The significance of being first author while in medical school is not lost on Mauro.

“I put a lot of hard work into it and it feels very worthwhile to finally see it published,” Mauro said. “It’s also a little scary, too. Typing my name into PubMed or Google now comes up with my paper, but I’m proud to see it there.”

The experience also shows the impact a positive mentoring relationship can have for medical students.

“Working with Dr. Blanck was absolutely great,” Mauro said. “From day one, he was a pleasure to work with and supported me 100 percent of the time. Even when things would go wrong, as they often do in research, he always helped me to stay on track. We would often discuss the results or what new direction to go towards and Dr. Blanck always made sure to give my ideas and opinions equal weight to his own, which was important since it allowed me to take my project in different directions and truly allowed me to make it my own. Most importantly, to do research, and actually enjoy it, you need to find more than just someone willing to take you on, you need a mentor, someone who you can learn from, and also someone who can learn from you.”

The article can be found in the journal Gene, Volume 536, Issue 2, 25 February 2014, Pages 398–406. (link to article)

University of South Florida-led study helps refine personalized approach to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N83YjZnz0QE

Tampa, FL (March 6, 2014) – A method called molecular subtyping can help doctors better determine which of their breast cancer patients are at high risk of getting breast cancer again, a new study led by the University of South Florida reports.  This sophisticated genetic profiling of an individual’s specific tumor offers an additional resource to help identify patients who would most benefit from chemotherapy and those who would not.

The findings by researchers from USF and other institutions were presented in a scientific poster at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference, held March 6-9 in Miami Beach, Fla.

“The most important takeaway for our colleagues in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is the potential value of molecular subtyping to personalize and improve each woman’s treatment,” said principal investigator Charles E. Cox, MD, McCann Foundation Endowed Professor of Breast Surgery, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Dr. Charles Cox led the study looking at sophisticated genetic profiling tests that may help guide breast cancer treatment decisions. The findings were reported in a scientific poster presented at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference 2014.

Molecular subtyping is a way of classifying breast cancer tumors into one of four genetically-distinct categories, or subtypes: Luminal A, Luminal B, Basal (a subset of triple negative), and HER2-type.  Each subtype responds differently to different kinds of treatments, and some subtypes indicate a higher risk of disease recurrence.

“Our data showed that a substantial number of breast cancer patients — classified as low risk by one particular genomic test — turn out to be at high risk of recurrence once we determined their subtype,” Dr. Cox said. “These are mostly Luminal B patients, and their physicians might not fully understand their patient’s situation unless they do subtyping.”

The USF study examined why different genomic tests for breast cancer sometimes provide contradictory information about risk of recurrence. The key findings involved the 70-gene MammaPrint® test; the 21-gene Oncotype DX® test, which is an earlier commercially available test; and Mammostrat®, a gene profiling test performed on slides of the breast tumor by a pathologist. The tests have generally been assumed to provide equivalent information about recurrence risk, but that is proving not to be the case.

Researchers examined tumor samples from a total of 148 patients. The greatest discordance (lack of agreement) about risk of disease recurrence occurred in a group of 51 patients.  Of those 51, all were stratified by MammaPrint as high risk of recurrence, while Oncotype classified 18 of them (35 percent) as low risk.

BluePrint®, an 80-gene test to identify a tumor’s molecular subtype, was also used for those stratified by MammaPrint. This process revealed that the 51 patients were Luminal B, a molecular subtype with a high risk of recurrence.

Steve Shivers, PhD, a research scientist in the USF Health Department of Surgery, was a study co-author.

Patients with a high risk of recurrence are normally counseled to receive chemotherapy following surgery to prevent the cancer from returning.  In contrast, women whose subtype has a low risk of recurrence (Luminal A) will not benefit from the addition of chemotherapy. They may thus be able to safely avoid chemotherapy and its potentially damaging side effects.  At the same time, they can be prescribed treatments such as hormonal therapy known to benefit those with their subtype.

The additional information provided by genomic tests and molecular subtyping may help reduce overall treatment costs for breast cancer, by targeting chemotherapy only for those women who will benefit from it,  Dr. Cox said  “Personalized treatment guided by these tests may also extend the time that patients are free of their cancer.”

Registered nurse George Ann Vincent, a Tampa, Fla. resident and a patient of Dr. Cox, was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer last year. The 70-gene test determined that her tumor had a high risk of recurrence, so she was prescribed chemotherapy.

“I’m certainly grateful that I’m getting the treatments that are right for me,” Vincent said. “Chemotherapy is no picnic, but it can save lives. The genomic tests I took made me confident I was being sent in absolutely the right direction.”

Dr. Cox clarified that discordance does not necessarily show that some genomic test results were wrong.

“These tests use different genes and were validated on different types of populations,” he said. “But if physicians use molecular subtyping as we did in this study, they will have valuable, additional information to guide the appropriate treatment for each patient.”

Using molecular subtyping in combination with traditional biomarkers, like tumor grade and hormone receptor status, for determining the biological nature of a woman’s cancer is a recommended guideline for breast cancer treatment in both the United States and Europe, Dr. Cox said.

Other poster co-authors included researchers from Florida Hospital Tampa; Morton Plant Hospital, Clearwater, Fla.; and Agendia NV, a molecular diagnostics firm.

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
abaier@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3303

Beer isn’t a topic you’d typically associate with a scholarly gathering of faculty and graduate students.  Neither would you expect to see a departmental chairman riding a bicycle across a steel-cable high wire 30 feet above the ground.

But when experienced and aspiring scientists met March 5 at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) for the 2014 Department of Molecular Medicine Retreat, they decided to shake things up a bit.

Krishna Reddy, a PhD student in Molecular Medicine, takes a spin on the high-wire bicycle at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry, where the department’s recent retreat was held.

The daylong event included 48 traditional oral and poster presentations featuring basic and translational research by students and faculty in the department’s three areas of emphasis – infectious diseases; neurosciences; and drug discovery, cancer & metabolism.

But the Department’s leadership also invited a keynote speaker who spoke about the archeology of beer instead of DNA, RNA, and proteins.  And, the lunchtime talk was followed by some free time to allow the 120 faculty members, students, postdoctoral fellows and staff to explore MOSI’s various interactive exhibits — from trying out the wind-tunnel tube simulating hurricane-force winds to encountering free-flying butterflies in the museum’s outdoor garden.

“All scientists are basically kids.  We stay curious about the world and try to figure out how things work,” said Bob Deschenes, PhD, professor and chair of Molecular Medicine. “So, the museum seemed like a great environment to hold a retreat and help stimulate creativity.”

John Arthur, associate professor of anthropology at USF St. Petersburg, talked about the archaeology of beer.

L to R: Bob Deschenes, PhD, chair of Molecular Medicine, with keynote speaker John Arthur, PhD, and Andreas Seyfang, PhD, assistant professor who helped organize the retreat.

“The students are our major asset,” said Andreas Seyfang, PhD, associate professor of molecular medicine, who helped organize the retreat.  “We wanted the students to be the center of this day… to give them a chance to relax and have some fun, as well as interact on a scholarly level.”

Keynote speaker John Arthur, PhD, USF St. Petersburg associate professor of anthropology, talked about his extensive anthropological research into the role that beer, a staple of life and important trading commodity, has played in the development of civilizations dating back thousands of years.  He used examples from his study of the Gamo people of southwestern Ethiopia, where excavated pottery has shown signs of erosion indicating that beer was produced and stored in the ceramic vessels.

“I never, in a million years, thought I’d be asked to give a talk at a molecular medicine retreat,” Arthur said. “However, the next step in archeology will be archeology at the molecular level – getting down to looking at soil and artifacts microscopically and trying to understand behavior that way.”

Alexa Woo, center, a PhD student in Molecular Medicine, has a blast in MOSI’s hurricane wind tunnel with retreat guests Hirah Khan, left, and Courtney Uhlar, both pre-med students.

Dr. Arthur said he was interested in enlisting some molecular medicine students, who learn about the role of yeast in biochemistry, to help him figure out the yeast aspect of ancient beer brewing by the Gamo people.

Retreat attendee Krishna Reddy, a PhD student in Dr. Deschenes laboratory, combines structural bioinformatics and molecular biology to study defects in zDHHC genes associated with diseases like cancer and neurological disorders.  He said he enjoyed listening to an academic speaker from a field outside science and medicine for a change.

“It was great. Not a single Western blot. No graphs,” Reddy said before being harnessed into the museum’s high-wire bicycle to take a spin.

Only one thing may have made the retreat even better, some of his fellow students quipped — beer samples.

PhD student Alexis Killeen tries her hand at creating static electricity.

The museum’s butterfly garden provided a relaxing respite.

Nadine Nelson, a PhD candidate in Dr. Tomar Ghansah’s laboratory, was among the retreat’s poster presenters.

Poster presentations featured basic and translational research by students and faculty in the department’s three areas of emphasis – infectious diseases; neurosciences; and drug discovery, cancer & metabolism.

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 Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Lithium salicylate produced steady blood and brain lithium levels up to 48 hours following oral dose, the recent preclinical study showed

Tampa, FL (March 11, 2014) – Lithium, one of the oldest and most widely used drugs to treat neuropsychiatric illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, has a serious drawback – toxicity. In a continued effort to find a safer form of lithium, researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) have discovered that lithium salicylate, an alternative salt form, might be the answer.

The researchers found that oral lithium salicylate produced steady lithium levels up to 48 hours in rats without the toxic spike associated with the rapid absorption of current FDA-approved lithium carbonate.  They concluded that lithium salicylate could be more effective than lithium carbonate, yet without accompanying risks of toxicity, a potentially important development in the next generation of lithium therapeutics.

Their study results appeared in a recent issue of RSC Advances, the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Douglas Shytle. left, and Adam J. Smith, of the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair at USF Health, are working on reducing the toxicity of lithium, a drug used to treat bipolar disorder, while enhancing its therapeutic window.

While lithium carbonate has been very effective for the treatment of mania in bipolar disorder, and credited for reducing suicides in depressive phases of the disease, patients who take lithium carbonate are often noncompliant because of adverse effects, including hand tremor, diarrhea, vomiting, weight gain and decreased thyroid function. New drugs that are as effective as lithium carbonate, but without toxicity, have not been forthcoming.

“Despite its narrow therapeutic window and the emergence of proprietary alternatives, U.S. FDA-approved lithium therapeutics are still regarded as the ‘gold standard’ for the treatment of the manic phase of bipolar disorder,” said study lead author Adam J. Smith, PhD, a neuroscientist at the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, at USF Health.

“Our previous research suggested that re-engineering lithium therapeutics by crystal engineering might produce better performance with reduced toxicities.”

Crystal engineering is the design and synthesis of molecular solid crystal structures with desired properties using intermolecular interactions, Smith said.

The monitor behind Smith in the microscopy lab shows the image of a crystal.

For their latest study published in RSC Advances, the  researchers tested two previously untested salts of lithium — salicylate and lactate — both of which are structurally different from lithium carbonate. In laboratory rats, they found that lithium salicylate and lithium lactate exhibited “profoundly different pharmacokinetics” when compared to the FDA-approved and widely used lithium carbonate. Pharmacokinetics is the way the body absorbs, distributes and gets rid of a drug.

“To our knowledge, this is the first pharmacokinetic study of lithium salicylate and lithium lactate in laboratory animals,” Smith said.

The findings support earlier suggestions that an ideal lithium preparation would be one that would both “flatten” high blood level peaks and also slow declining blood concentrations, the researchers report.

“This is exactly the pharmacokinetic profile produced by lithium salicylate in our study,” said senior author Doug Shytle, PhD, also of the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair at USF Health. “Remarkably, lithium salicylate produced elevated levels of lithium in the blood and brain 48 hours after the dose, but without the sharp peaks that contribute to the toxicity problems of lithium in the currently used form.”

That 48-hour window, the researchers said, represents a critical difference between lithium salicylate and current FDA-approved lithium therapeutics. If these preclinical results hold true in humans, this would allow for a less frequent dosing regimen and possibly fewer troublesome side effects that plague conventional lithium therapy.

“Psychiatry has long struggled with the fact that, while lithium is highly effective for treating bipolar disorder, the narrow therapeutic window and side effect profile often makes lithium both difficult and sometimes dangerous to work with clinically,” said Todd Gould, MD, of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland, an expert in the mechanisms of lithium and the neurobiology of bipolar disorder.

“The pharmacokinetic data by Dr. Smith and colleagues suggests that lithium salts other than the commonly used lithium carbonate may have a broader therapeutic window and potentially fewer side effects. Studies in humans will be needed to confirm safety and demonstrate that the pharmacokinetic profile observed in rats is similarly observed in humans.”

USF researchers continue to pursue a safer, more effective lithium therapy, and expect to soon conduct the experiments required to support early clinical trials.

A link to their full study in RSC Advances can be found here: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/ra/c3ra46962j#!divAbstract

Smith, A. J., S. Kim, J. Tan, K. B. Sneed, P. R. Sanberg, C. V. Borlongan and R. D. Shytle (2014). “Plasma and brain pharmacokinetics of previously unexplored lithium salts.” RSC Advances 2014, 12362–12365. 

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Media release by Florida Science Communications, Inc. www.sciencescribe.net

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
(813) 974-3303 or abaier@health.usf.edu

MRI helps assess effect of atrial fibrosis on Afib ablation therapy outcome, multinational study reported in JAMA shows

A provocative study recently reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that delayed enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the atrial chambers before ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) can help predict the treatment’s success in restoring and maintaining normal heart rhythm.

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences was a participant in the prospective one-year trial known as DECAAF, or Delayed Enhancement-MRI Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation, that followed 272 patients from 15 centers across the United States, Europe and Australia.

Bengt Herweg, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of the USF Health Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services, was a co-author of the promising study, which sheds new light on the mechanism of atrial fibrillation (AF) and may ultimately change the way ablation is performed.  Dr. Herweg performs ablation therapy for AF at Tampa General Hospital.

Bengt Herweg, MD, leads the Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services at USF Health.

The DECAAF trial evaluated the relationship between atrial fibrosis, the amount of scarring on the walls of the heart’s left atrium, and the success of ablative therapy for atrial fibrillation, a technique that uses a catheter to burn critical tissue leading to abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias.

Current methods for identifying which patients are good candidates for catheter ablation are limited.

“While the procedure can be a very effective treatment for atrial fibrillation, it does not control arrhythmias for all patients,” Dr. Herweg said. “This study indicated that delayed enhancement MRI imaging before ablation may be a reliable, noninvasive way to quantify atrial fibrosis and predict which patients will benefit.”

Among the study’s findings:

-          Hypertension was the only predictor of atrial fibrosis in patients with AF.

-          Increasing degrees of fibrosis, as estimated by delayed-enhanced MRI scans 30 days before atrial fibrillation ablation, were independently associated with a greater risk of AF recurring.

-          A comparison of post-ablation MRI images with pre-ablation images indicated a surprising finding.  Procedures targeting ablation of the fibrotic (scar) tissue rather than the standard method of isolating and ablating around the pulmonary veins, long assumed to be the trigger for AF, produced better outcomes.

“The feasibility of implementing delayed enhancement MRI screening to detect left atrial fibrosis into clinical practice could potentially improve patient selection for AF ablation and could translate into cost savings by avoiding unnecessary AF ablation procedures,” the researchers concluded.

When lone survivor Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL, came to Tampa Theater this Tuesday evening to kick off the first stop of his multicity Patriot Tour, the audience included a group of USF medical students.

The students, members of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration, were accompanied by two physicians from James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. Many in the group had previously watched the current film Lone Survivor, which depicts the harrowing Operation Redwing mission that spared only Luttrell, and discussed challenges faced by veterans rebuilding their lives after military service.

But the Tampa Theater presentation brought the experience to life.

First-year USF medical student Stefanie Grewe, left, with classmate Paolina Pantcheva. – Photo by Dr. Brooke Baldwin, James A. Haley VA Hospital

“Medicine is about stories, and it’s important for a story like this one to be told,” said Lois LaCivita Nixon, PhD, professor of medical humanities at USF Health. “It’s even more relevant when you consider that an increasing number of the students entering our medical school have served in the military. Their experiences and stories are dynamic and varied, and may add another perspective to how they practice medicine.”

On June 28, 2005, Luttrell and three fellow SEALS were assigned a mission in Afghanistan to kill or capture a high-ranking Taliban leader. During an intense gun battle with Taliban forces, Luttrell was the only member of his team to survive, though he sustained multiple gunshot wounds, a horrific fall, and walked and crawled seven miles to shelter before being rescued by American forces. Luttrell, awarded the esteemed Navy Cross, has worked to honor the sacrifice of his fallen brothers in his best-selling book, which became the basis for the movie , and supported charities focused on helping returning veterans.

Luttrell was joined on the Patriot Tour by other speakers who served on special forces teams, from Navy SEALS to Army Rangers.

Former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell’s best-selling book became the basis for the current movie Lone Survivor.

Their compelling stories were of particular interest to first-year medical student Stefanie Grewe, whose scholarly concentration project is focusing on the life of military heroes after war through film, poetry and real-life accounts.  Grewe plans to meet with veterans to elicit how health care practitioners can better serve them and ease the transition back home. She will document the differences between generations of veterans, from the Civil War through the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“War has a ripple effect not only on the veterans themselves and their families, but on our society as a whole,” said Grewe, who volunteers at the VA hospital each week. “I see there is room for improvement in connecting our students, the public and military heroes to minimize the separation that often exists when veterans integrate back into civilian life.”

Luttrell with members of his Navy SEAL team in Afghanistan

Raymond Cutro, MD, chief of Electrophysiology and Cardiac Catheterization Services at James A. Haley VA Hospital and affiliated assistant professor of cardiology at USF Health, was among the doctors attending Tuesday’s presentation with the students.   Cutro served as a U.S. Marine Corps infantryman in the 1990s, primarily in non-combat roles, including a brief stint in Somalia delivering food to starving Somalis and helping restore order in a chaotic society.

“The physical manifestations of battlefield injuries are often quite clear. But the individual emotional and psychological sequelae of these experiences are something hard to comprehend,” Dr. Cutro said.

“What I think Marcus Luttrell and his crew did well, was illustrating just how complex these issues are, and as health care providers, we must be aware of not only how hard they are to treat, but simply the challenges of recognizing ‘calls for help’ in a very proud population of veterans.”

Photos of Marcus Luttrell courtesy of patriottour.com

Over 80 supporters from the Tampa Bay area geared up in colorful basketball jerseys, striped knee-high socks and sneakers ready to put their know how to the test to support underserved, at-risk youth served by the USF Health Ybor Youth Clinic (YYC).

Held on Saturday, March 8, 2014, the first annual Ybor City Alley-oop for Youth, a basketball-themed scavenger hunt to raise funds for the USF Health Ybor Youth Clinic, was a slam-dunk!

“We thank the agencies, individuals and volunteers who came together to support the Ybor Youth Clinic – a much needed resource in our community. The event gave everyone a great opportunity to learn more about the YYC and to explore our historic neighborhood, Ybor City,” said Dr. Patricia Emmanuel, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and the Lewis A. Barness Professor of Pediatrics. USF Health Pediatrics supports the medical clinic staff at the YYC.

We had a full court press. Advocates from throughout Tampa Bay and USF’s mascot Rocky the Bull put their game faces on to support at-risk youth.

Friends, co-workers, families, patients, community organizations and businesses hit the streets of Ybor City for a two-hour hunt, covering several blocks with only a list of clues and checkpoints to guide them.

The teams completed various wacky tasks ranging from striking basketball poses in front of Chico Garcia’s Viva La Ybor mural to taking group selfies with strangers while eating Cuban sandwiches, all hoping to score the most points as they raced to the finish line for the winning title.

Teams must complete tasks such as a photo challenges. Here’s a great group shot posing with Mary at the popular spot Hamburger Mary’s in Ybor City.

The high-energy hunt ended with an awards reception and after party at Ybor City Wine Bar on 8^th Avenue. Guest speaker Cole Tyler Holt, a 21-year-old patient of the USF Health Ybor Youth Clinic, kicked off the celebration.

Using his experiences to help young adults overcome their own struggles, Cole advocates for the HIV-infected, homeless and LGBT communities the clinic aims to provide care to.

“The Ybor Youth Clinic is a welcoming and comfortable environment,” Cole said.  “The staff helped me with all my needs, from providing HIV care to addressing my housing situation. They even gave me some of the basics like socks, a tooth brush and a new pillow case for the rest of my time in the shelter.”

All proceeds from the event benefited the clinic’s operation to provide specific healthcare services to young people who have been underserved or felt unwelcome in traditional healthcare settings.

Take a look at the winning teams. To view more photos from the event, please visit USF Health’s Flickr here: http://bit.ly/PxJ7w5

The Fab Five takes home the winning victory for the most points scored.

Councilwoman Lisa J. Montelione (in red) came out to cheer on competitors at the all-day event. Here she congratulates second place winners, the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative.

Team Adolescent Medicine from USF takes third place. Go Bulls!

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications 

Eight years ago, Bryan Bognar, MD, was deep in the middle of preparing for reaccreditation for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Committees, data collection, lengthy reports and in-depth self-study filled his days for nearly a year.

Today, Dr. Bognar is once again deep in the middle accreditation as the medical school prepares for its next site visit by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) early next year.  Although the familiarity makes for a faster learning curve, it won’t slow the pace or reduce the volume of work, said Dr. Bognar, who was recently named vice dean of the Office of Educational Affairs for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

“Having gone through the accreditation process is a tremendous advantage, but a lot has changed at MCOM since the last accreditation cycle,” said Dr. Bognar, who started the job March 3. “But the beauty of the LCME visit and associated preparation is that it offers us an opportunity to take a hard look in the mirror and see how we’re doing. What we discover is that there is a long list of strengths so it’s a chance to celebrate the things we are doing well. There also will be opportunities for improvement.”

The LCME reaccredited MCOM for a full eight years in 2007. Its decision for the next accreditation comes in 2015.

USF Health has had a number of new initiatives since Dr. Bognar left the Office of Educational Affairs roughly five years ago, including the College of Pharmacy, an expanded master’s program, shared student services (The Well) and the SELECT MD program. One of USF Health’s strong differentiators, Dr. Bognar said, is the ever-growing inter-professional education efforts across USF Health.

The LCME recognizes the importance of incorporating inter-professional education (IPE) experiences in students’ curriculum, Dr. Bognar said.

“IPE is a very important aspect of what makes USF Health unique,” he said. “Our students have a genuine thirst for knowledge for what other health professionals contribute to patient care. They need to come away with an appreciation of how the pieces fit together.”

His own clinical experiences will likely play into the IPE efforts at USF Health, for both the LCME visit and for the long term.

“I spent three and a half years practicing within a very interdisciplinary environment at Moffitt Cancer Center,” he said. “I’ve seen it affect patient outcomes in a very real way, on a day-to-day basis. It’s like an orchestra, with each health professional bringing their own expertise, experience, and perspective on what the patient needs are. The patient care plan that comes from that interaction is critical; when done well it works seamlessly.”

And with health care continually changing, the need for training in teams has never been greater, he said.

“There is a complexity of modern-day patient care and it requires flexible, interdisciplinary care models. The more and earlier we can expose students to that, the better.”

That attitude helps USF MCOM students see Dr. Bognar as a great asset, for both the impending LCME visit and for continued positive interactions with students.

“Medical students are ecstatic for his return,” said Neil Manimala, president of the MCOM Student Council. “Dr. Bognar’s dedication to the student body is incredible. When we met first met with him to better acquaint him with key student concerns right after he was selected, he was already aware of most of the developments that have happened since he left USF Health. He stayed with us for two and a half hours, making sure to gather details on the direction the students want our institution to be headed.  I have the utmost confidence that under his leadership, we’ll be on that student-centered track, and subsequently we’ll come out of the LCME re-accreditation process a stronger community.”

The confidence in Dr. Bognar to champion MCOM students carries through to the administration, as well. In his letter notifying students of Dr. Bognar taking the vice dean of education position, MCOM Interim Dean Harry van Loveren noted:

“I could not be happier that Dr. Bognar agreed to take on this new role. His teaching abilities are widely recognized and admired by our leadership, our faculty, and by you, our students. In fact, when I first broke the news to a few of your student leaders yesterday, their joy was palpable – as if they had won a prize. And I believe they have. Dr. Bognar knows and appreciates our history and culture. I am confident about his abilities to lead us through the upcoming accreditation process for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Dr. Bognar, who received an MPH from our own College of Public Health, also has a deep understanding of our cooperative and inter-professional culture across USF Health. Dr. Bognar has said that he’s ‘absolutely thrilled’ to be returning to Educational Affairs. He asked us to let you know that he will put his heart and soul into working with you again and making your educational experience the best that it can be.”

So what’s after LCME accreditation? Dr. Bognar is taking it one step at a time.

“We’re not starting anything new just yet,” he said, smiling. “We’re focusing on the things in front of us. We want ensure that the changes that have already been made have an opportunity to develop deep roots and are sustainable. So they bear fruit for years to come.”

Dr. Bognar earned his MD from the Indiana University of School of Medicine and a BSc from the University of Notre Dame. He is a former chief resident at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and completed a two-year fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has received several teaching awards from USF and received the American College of Physicians – American Society of Internal Medicine Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 2002.

In 2009, Dr. Bognar was associate dean for undergraduate medical education and interim vice dean for the MCOM Office of Educational Affairs before transitioning to Moffitt Cancer Center, where he was Chair of Internal Medicine and maintained a faculty appointment with MCOM to continue teaching students and residents.

Reflecting on his path back to the Office of Educational Affairs, Dr. Bognar noted that his road was always on course for teaching.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to come back,” he said. “It is not only an honor to be able to take care of patients, but also to help educate others on how to take care of patients.”

Story by Sarah Worth, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday designated fast-track status to EPI-743 for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia – a move that will help accelerate clinical development of the investigational drug, currently being tested in a multisite, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial led by the University of South Florida.

The phase 2b clinical trial of EPI-743 in adults with Friedreich’s ataxia, sponsored by Edison Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in collaboration with the Friedrich’s Ataxia Research Alliance, has been underway since early 2013 at the USF Health, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of California in Los Angeles.  Neurologist Theresa Zesiewicz, MD, director of the USF Ataxia Research Center, is the lead investigator for the national trial.

Researchers are primarily testing the effectiveness of EPI-743, a potent antioxidant, on vision, in patients with Friedreich’s ataxia, many of whom experience varying degrees of visual changes. Secondarily, the study is evaluating neurological function.

For more on the fast track status of EPI-743, go to: http://www.firstwordpharma.com/node/1195801#axzz2wKgT2a1W

Devoting time to the needs of the community is at the heart of a new scholarship for USF medical students.

Called the Dr. John Sinnott Merit Scholarship in Medicine, the scholarship is named after John T. Sinnott, MD, FACP, FIDSA, chair of the USF Health Department of Internal Medicine, the James A. Cullison Professor of Medicine, and director of the Florida Infectious Disease Institute. The scholarship was initiated when John Ekarius, former chief operating officer for USF Health, provided its first donation. More than 50 donors have added to that seed money to grow the gift to about $33,000.

John Ekarius (right) announces the scholarship named for Dr. John Sinnott (left), with Dr. Margarita Cancio-Cabrerra and Dr. Douglas Holt.

“One can see the impact of John’s legacy by watching alumni interact with him,” Ekarius said. “His repeated winning of the Golden Apple teaching award symbolizes his dedication to the school and its future. John represents the best of the Morsani College of Medicine.”

The first word of the scholarship came when Ekarius made a surprise announcement about it at an Internal Medicine event in December. Taken aback, Dr. Sinnott was clearly moved by the gesture.

“John came up with an amazing surprise and a unique honor,” Dr. Sinnott said. “The scholarship he started in my name will assist many students as they pursue their dream of a career in medicine.”

In working with USF Health Development to fine tune the details for the scholarship, Dr. Sinnott determined that a student’s work within his or her community should be central to the tenets of the scholarship’s criteria.

“Some of my most rewarding experiences have been in working in our comunity,” Dr. Sinnott said. “This scholarship program will inspire our students to ‘give back’ to our school and community.”

The inaugural scholarship will be awarded for Fall 2014. For more details about the scholarship or to make an additional contribution to it, contact Patrick Henry, director of Development for the Morsani College of Medicine, phenry1@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-4803.

New doctors tend to practice in states where they conduct their residency specialty training. Where will this year’s graduating USF Health medical students do their residencies?

Find out Friday, March 21, at 2014 Match Day, when the 125 senior medical students from USF, joined by family and friends, pack into Skipper’s Smokehouse, where the students’ residency assignments will be announced beginning at Noon.

Before the students start unsealing their match letters, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor will visit USF’s Match Day to give the latest news on her work to improve funding for graduate medical education and help the future physician workforce.   She will be joined at 11:40 a.m. by Dr. Harry van Loveren, interim dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and graduating USF medical student Alicia Billington, a leading national student advocate for graduate medical education.

Friday’s ceremony will be broadcast LIVE on streaming video via Facebook, so family and friends worldwide who can’t be there in person can watch the celebration in real time.

WHO:  USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Class of 2014

WHAT:  National Match Day/Media Announcement by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor

WHEN:  This Friday, March 21, 2014, 11:40 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE: Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, FL, or view LIVE from your computer, tablet, smartphone at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/usf-health-live

Here’s a link to the email invitation inviting students’ family and friends to watch the celebration live on Facebook: http://health.usf.edu/nocms/publicaffairs/announcements/match_day2014.htm

Umbilical cord cell and growth factor treatment tested in animal models could offer hope for millions, including U.S. war veterans with traumatic brain injuries

USF Health neuroscientist Cesar Borlongan, PhD, the study’s lead author.

Tampa, FL (March 20, 2014) – Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), sustained by close to 2 million Americans annually, including military personnel, are debilitating and devastating for patients and their families. Regardless of severity, those with TBI can suffer a range of motor, behavioral, intellectual and cognitive disabilities over the short or long term. Sadly, clinical treatments for TBI are few and largely ineffective.

In an effort to find an effective therapy, neuroscientists at the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Neurosurgery in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, have conducted several preclinical studies aimed at finding combination therapies to improve TBI outcomes.

In their study of several different therapies—alone and in combination—applied to laboratory rats modeled with TBI, the USF researchers found that a combination of human umbilical cord blood cells (hUBCs) and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), a growth factor, was more therapeutic than either administered alone, or each with saline, or saline alone.

The study appeared in a recent issue of PLoS ONE.

“Our results showed that the combined therapy of hUBCs and G-CSF significantly reduced the TBI-induced loss of neuronal cells in the hippocampus,” said study lead author Cesar V. Borlongan, PhD, professor of neurosurgery and director of USF’s Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair. “Therapy with hUBCs and G-CSF alone or in combination produced beneficial results in animals with experimental TBI. G-CSF alone produced only short-lived benefits, while hUBCs alone afforded more robust and stable improvements. However, their combination offered the best motor improvement in the laboratory animals.”

For full story, go to: http://www.research.usf.edu/absolute-news/templates/template1.aspx?articleid=2106&zoneid=1

Graduating medical students at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine celebrated the next step in their careers at Match Day Friday – but first they and leading advocates took time out to call for increased support of graduate medical training.

Without increased federal funding for graduate medical training, the nation’s looming physician shortage will get worse, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said Friday at USF’s Match Day celebration. With more medical school students and no increase in residency slots, it’s getting harder each year for students to “match” into a residency space.

“Medical schools expect to graduate more students, but the number of available residency training slots will not keep up with this trend unless Congress invests in developing our residency programs to meet the health care needs of our aging population,” U.S. Rep. Castor said. “Giving teaching hospitals the opportunity to grow their training programs makes sense in their mission to provide quality health care and makes economic sense for Florida because doctors tend to remain in the region where they complete their medical training.”

L to R: Dr. Harry van Loveren, interim dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and Alicia Billington, a graduating USF Health medical student, at Match Day 2014.

Just before USF Health’s Match Day celebration began, Rep. Castor (D-FL) announced that she and U.S. Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) introduced the Creating Access to Residency Education (CARE) Act of 2014 on Friday. The CARE bill aims to create a $25 million CMS grant program that would allow hospitals in states with a low ratio of graduate medical education (GME) training slots – including Florida – to apply for matching funds to support increases in slots.

USF Health leaders and students applauded Rep. Castor’s support of increased funding.

“We congratulate our students for reaching this milestone in their medical careers. On Match Day, we want to celebrate this culmination of their hard work and drive,” said Dr. Harry van Loveren, interim dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “We’re also mindful today that the path they have traveled is becoming more difficult to navigate. We’re so grateful to have U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor with us today to push to increase federal funding and ensure that future medical students, both here in Florida and across the country, can enjoy this same success.”

Graduating students came to Match Day to learn their fates, finding out at Match Day where they would spend the next several years of their careers. Despite the suspense, students found time to be advocates. They chose to highlight the GME funding crisis on their Match Day T-shirts this year, which read “#save GME” across the back.

Before the Match Day celebration began, Congresswoman Castor announced the introduction of proposed legislation to support more residency training slots. Billington, right, is one of the nation’s leading student advocates for increased graduate medical education funding.

“We decided to do this after realizing, ‘What is the best present you could give to your classmates?’ A residency slot,” said graduating student Alicia Billington, one of the nation’s leading student advocates for increased GME funding.

“We stand in solidarity for your future Match Day,” Billington said Friday to future medical classes at USF. “We’ve got your back.”

Billington, who will graduate with an MD/PhD, learned Friday that she matched in plastic and reconstructive surgery – one of the country’s most competitive specialties – at her top choice, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Billington interned in Washington, D.C., with the American Medical Association and has focused her political efforts on increasing funding for GME.

National medical leaders thanked both Rep. Castor and Billington for their support of increasing funding, saying change is needed to avert a physician shortage that will limit access to health care.

“Match Day is a day of excitement, enthusiasm, and joy for medical students around the country,” said Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, President and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). “While we celebrate with these students, we also look ahead to the next decade when our nation will face a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians of all types.  This makes increasing federal support for graduate medical education a critical priority. The AAMC applauds the efforts of Rep. Kathy Castor, who is a true champion on GME and physician workforce issues.  And we thank student advocates like USF medical school senior and GME advocacy champion Alicia Billington for their hard work educating their communities about these important issues.”

In recent years, medical school enrollment has increased, while the federal funding that is the main funding source for the nation’s residency programs has remained capped. Last year, 528 medical students did not match – more than double the number of unmatched students the prior year.

“Not every medical student in the United States is going to get a spot this year,” Dr. van Loveren said to the USF Health students assembled for Match Day Friday. “Can you imagine going through all this and no residency training?”

Castor flashes the USF “Go Bulls” sign as Billington, recipient of the first match letter, finds out she’ll be doing a residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at her first choice — the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Florida has only 19 medical residents per 100,000 state residents, well below the national average of 26.8 residents, according to a 2012 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges. While Florida is the 4^th most populous state, it ranks 42^nd in the number of graduate medical residents per Florida residents.

With 3,898 medical students but only 3,769 residency and fellow positions, Florida also doesn’t have enough slots to go around. That means Florida is a “net exporter” of medical students – many students train here, but must go elsewhere for graduate training. Because so many students stay where they receive graduate training, exporting students means Florida loses future physicians.

That needs to change, Castor said Friday to USF Health’s Match Day crowd.

“It doesn’t take a brain surgeon,” she said, pointing to Dr. van Loveren, “to know we need talented doctors here in the state of Florida.”

Of the 121 USF Health students participating in Match Day, 39 percent will stay in Florida; 30 percent of the class matched at USF Health. Other students scattered across the country, going everywhere from Massachusetts General Hospital to UCLA Medical Center.

Every USF Health Morsani College of Medicine student participating in this year’s Match was matched to a residency slot. On the flip side, the College of Medicine also filled every one of its available residency slots with graduating medical students.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications