“All of this equates to job security for you!”

Every semester, the college recognizes the academic achievements of soon-to-be graduates with a reception in their honor. And, every semester, friends, family, faculty, and staff gather in mass to join in the celebration.

On Friday, May 3, more than 100 Bulls descended on the College of Public Health to receive their final charge.

Public health undergraduate Cha-kara Parkman-Wimberly (center) strikes a Bullish pose with Dr. Kay Perrin (left) and Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health.

 “Take interest in others and find a common ground,” said Kay Perrin, PhD, director of undergraduate studies in the COPH. Quoting from a Dale Carnegie book, Perrin emphasized the need to “Listen more, talk less, and smile.”

 “In public health, it is likely that you will encounter someone who has seen a dozen people frown, scowl, or turn their faces. Just remember that your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds.”

Professor Adewale Troutman, MD, MPH, NA, CPH, addressed the grads as president of the American Public Health Association. He reminded the Class of 2013 that, “Those of us in the twilight of our careers expect you to carry the torch!”

“Believe in the power of one to make a difference and know that the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”

The 148 students who earned a bachelor of science degree in public health took a risk. The major didn’t exist when they enrolled at USF, yet they took a few courses and decided to give it a try.

On Saturday, May 4, the undergrads along with 79 masters and 13 doctoral graduates committed to using transformational research and an interdisciplinary approach to practice public health.

* * *

Members of the Class of 2013 are traveling near and far to share their practice, their passion. Here are some of their stories …

Natalie D. Hernandez, MPH, PhD, is the recipient of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute’s Health Policy Leadership Fellowship. Named after former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, the fellowship provides postdoctoral professionals with knowledge, experiences, and skills needed to prepare them for leadership roles in promoting and implementing policies and practices to reduce and ultimately eliminate disparities in health. The institute and fellowship are housed at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Before arriving at USF, Hernandez earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Stony Brook University and a master’s of public health degree from Emory University in behavioral science and health education.

“I love that public health is diverse and collaborative,” said Hernandez. “Public health has a role in helping to empower communities and reshape institutions to address conditions that impact our health.”

Dr. Natalie D. Hernandez with husband Gerald

As a doctoral student in the USF College of Public Health, Hernandez vowed to passionately solve problems and create conditions that allow every person the universal right to health and well-being. She accomplished this feat by becoming fully engaged at every level of the profession.

In the Department of Community and Family Health, Hernandez served on the research and community engagement committees, and was a member of the Collaborative for Research Understanding Sexual Health. She also shared her time and talents with groups like the Maternal and Child Health Student Organization, Graduate Assistants United, and Public Health Student Association. Recognizing the value of connecting with like-minded practitioners, Hernandez joined and often presented at meetings associated with the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, American Public Health Association, and the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health.

“My experience at USF was a truly incredible one,” said Hernandez. “I worked with wonderful faculty, was granted amazing opportunities including the USF Maternal and Child Health Leadership Traineeship, MCH Epidemiology Traineeship, and the Greg Alexander Award, and met friends and colleagues for life!”

For some students, the road to a PhD can be a grueling and humbling experience.

“There were many challenges I had to overcome during my time at USF,” said Hernandez. “These included financial, personal, and relational challenges. Some were more difficult than others to overcome, but it was these challenges that defined me as a leader and pushed me more to earn my PhD.”

When the journey became arduous, Hernandez allowed herself to become distracted. On some days cooking and reading provided a needed refuge, while other days called for the physical exertion that could only be satisfied by running and kickboxing.

In hindsight, her challenges evolved into opportunities that enhanced her character and made Dr. Hernandez stronger. The end result was a successful dissertation defense titled, “An Exploration of the Meaning and Consequences of Unintended Pregnancy among Latina Cultural Subgroups: Social, Cultural, Structural, Historical and Political Influences.”

“Challenges are invitations to rise to another level, to test yourself and improve in the process, to show that you can accomplish something that may seem difficult, or even impossible.”

Mission accomplished, Dr. Hernandez.

* * *

“The most interesting part of public health is the ability to develop intervention programs that focus on preventing disease and using the results from these programs to inform the public and influence policy,” said Cedric Harville, II.

Cedric Harville celebrated his master’s degree with his parents and grandparents.

Thanks to a placement with the Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network , Harville was able to do just that on behalf of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. During his last year of studies, Harville partnered with investigators and honed his professional skills as an outreach core intern and research assistant in health outcomes.

In addition to his practice experience with Moffitt, Harville served as president of the Delta Kappa Chapter for Eta Sigma Gamma, a National Health Education Honorary; helped create and led the ALLY Mentor Program, a group that pairs first with second-year graduate students to alleviate  fears and welcome newcomers to the college; and, served as a graduate assistant in the college.

With commencement in the rear view mirror, the road ahead looks bright.

This fall, Harville begins a doctoral program with a concentration in health behavior at the University of Florida. His research focus is health literacy as it relates to reducing health disparities among African-American men.

There’s been little down time between earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a master’s degree in health education from USF. However, Harville plans to make the most of the 90-plus days that remain as a non-student.

He’ll spend some time traveling back home to Birmingham, catching up on movies from the past two years, and perfecting his form in the swimming pool. But, what he’d most like to: “Play one game as a major league baseball player. Baseball has been my favorite sport since I was seven and something I would have enjoyed playing professionally, if given the opportunity.”

Batter up!

* * *

Ms. Ketnie Aristide recently received the biggest assignment of her life — in August she reports to Botswana for a two-year placement with the Peace Corps.

As a member of the Clinic and Health Team, Aristide will work directly with the HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Project. According to her official assignment notification, she’ll work in partnership with local health professionals to “address needs in community health and HIV/AIDS, especially through clinic health education outreach, district-level research, data analysis, and coordination.”

“I look forward to my hands-on experience abroad, applying what I learned here [College of Public Health], interacting with different people, and learning new cultures,” said Aristide.

New public health graduate Ketnie Aristide will begin a two-year assignment with the Peace Corps in August.

A native of Haiti, Aristide’s family immigrated to the United States in 2004. The family of four settled in Ft. Pierce, Florida — a locale that is vastly different from her homeland.

If she could relive her adolescence over again, she’d definitely pump the breaks. “I sometimes wish that I didn’t graduate high school with my associate’s degree so that I could spend all four years at USF,” said Aristide. “I wanted to be more involved on campus, but still managed to enjoy my time here at USF. It’s a great school!”

Evidently, Aristide’s definition of  “more”  is all encompassing. As an undergraduate in public health, she served as social co-chair for Club Creole; performed with dance teams at USF and her church; and, holds membership in USF’s African Student Association and the National Council for Negro Women.

How much more could she squeeze into three years? How about running for Miss Haiti in 2012!

It was Aristides’s first time in a pageant, and she placed second. Her talent featured a skit and cultural dance to empower women. “I wanted to dispel negative stereotypes and remind women that we have a say in matters beyond our household.”

“We can be involved in politics. We can get an education.”

At the conclusion of her first semester at USF, the biomedical science major realized, “This is not for me!” The program included math and science courses, which greatly interested her, but lacked the human element.

“I love the fact that public health is such a broad field and there are countless opportunities — one can explore the global, administrative, or even data side of health.”

Aristide’s dream job is working with an NGO as a liaison between Haiti and the United States. Until then, she’ll focus her efforts on The Corps and contributing to HIV/AIDS education and research in Botswana.

“My mom is supportive, but my grandparents don’t understand the concept of going abroad and not getting paid.”

Ms. Aristide sees the benefit and is going anyway.

When asked what she’ll miss the most, Aristide shares, “Family, friends, Wi-Fi, and access to electricity 24/7.” Then in her next breath, she recalls her transition to the United States.

“I easily adapt to other cultures. When I first arrived here, I didn’t like American food, but that changed and now I like it and cook it. Plus, we didn’t have electricity in Haiti and I survived.”

Aristides’s one wish in life is success. “I have a huge fear of failure and that is why I strive to do everything in my power to succeed in everything that I do.”

Photos from the undergraduate and graduate receptions are posted in Picasa.

Written by Natalie D. Preston. Photos by Natalie D. Preston and Ellen Kent, USF College of Public Health

When it comes to reproduction, women aren’t the only ones who may need to heed ticking biological clocks.

Newer studies, including one by researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health and the University of Rochester, suggest that the offspring of older men may face greater risks of harmful birth outcomes – attributed in part to age-related genetic defects passed along by the father’s sperm. Paternal lifestyle characteristics, like smoking and poor diets, and environmental toxins that lead to mounting epigenetic changes over time may also be part of the mix.

“In general, society has not talked about the age of the dad. The underlying thinking has been, since development occurs in the womb for nine months, that moms are the only ones who matter when it comes to pregnancy and birth outcomes,” said Hamisu Salihu, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology and obstetrics at the USF College of Public Health. “The recent genetic and epidemiological research indicates that the father’s age may influence the processes of embryo development early in life.”

Dr. Salihu was quoted in the article “Too Old To Be a Dad?” appearing in the April 22, 2013 issue of Time magazine.

Dr. Hamisu Salihu of the USF College of Public Health has studied the effect of paternal age on birth outcomes.

 The Time piece cites a paper by Dr. Salihu and fellow investigators published last year in the American Journal of Men’s Health.

Analyzing more than 755,000 births in Missouri from 1989 to 2005, the researchers found that infants fathered by men in the 40-to-45 age group had a 24 percent greater risk of stillbirth than those fathered by men in the 25-to-29 category. Babies born to fathers older than age 45 were at 19 percent greater risk of low birth weight, 13 percent higher risk of preterm birth, and 29 percent increased risk of very preterm birth.

The exact chemical or physiological mechanisms to explain why advanced paternal age correlates with poorer birth outcomes are not yet known, Dr. Salihu says. But, he emphasized, the latest research points to the need for men to be included in preconception counseling and prenatal care to optimize the odds for a healthy baby.

“Now that we know the father’s age matters, it means we need screening protocols for older fathers, not just older mothers,” he says. “It’s going to change the paradigm of how we practice medicine.”

Multistate, hospital-based quality improvement programs can be remarkably effective at reducing early elective deliveries of babies, a study published April 8 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology reports.

The March of Dimes, which partly funded the study, calls the findings good news, because babies delivered before full-term are at increased risk of serious health problems and death in their first year of life.

In the group of 25 participating hospitals, the rate of elective early-term deliveries (i.e., inductions of labor and Cesarean sections without a medical reason before a baby reaches a full 39 weeks gestational age) fell significantly from 27.8 percent to 4.8 percent during the one-year project period, an 83 percent decline.

Florida did even better than the other four states involved in the March of Dimes national project, said William Sappenfield, MD, MPH, director of the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at the USF College of Public Health.  Dr. Sappenfield, co-chair of the March of Dimes prematurity initiative, and John Curran, MD, an associate vice president at USF Health and executive director of the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative (FPQC), were among the authors of the multistate study.

“The initiative coordinated by the FPQC at USF Health and the Chiles Center reduced the (early-term delivery) rate in Florida’s pilot hospitals to the same low national study rate of 5 percent, even though our state’s pilot hospitals started the initiative with a substantially higher rate of 38 percent,”  said Dr. Sappenfield.  “This would not have been possible without our partnership with the March of Dimes and our obstetrical consultants from Florida’s new district of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.”

L to R: USF leaders of the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative include Linda Detman PhD, Department of Community and Family Health at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies; William Sappenfield, MD, MPH, director of the Chiles Center; and USF Health’s John Curran, MD, executive director of the FPQC.

“Reducing unnecessary early deliveries to less than 5 percent in these hospitals means that more babies stayed in the womb longer, which is so important for their growth and development,” said Edward R.B. McCabe, MD, medical director of the March of Dimes.  “This project saw a decrease in the proportion of babies born at 37 and 38 weeks and a corresponding increase in the 39-41 week range during the one-year period studied. Additional studies, perhaps over a longer period of time, could clarify whether such quality improvement programs can also bring down a hospital’s overall preterm birth rate.”

The initiative focused on implementation of a toolkit called “Elimination of Non-medically Indicated (Elective) Deliveries before 39 Weeks Gestational Age,” to guide changes in early term delivery practices.  The toolkit was developed in partnership with March of Dimes, the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and the California Maternal Child and Adolescent Division within the California Department of Public Health.

This was the first project of a collaborative with perinatal quality improvement advocates from state health departments, academic health centers, public and private hospitals, and March of Dimes chapters from the five most populous states in the country: California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas. These five states account for an estimated 38 percent of all births in the United States.

Florida hospitals participating in FPQC pilot study were St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Lee Memorial Health System in Ft. Myers, Plantation General Hospital in Plantation, Santa Rosa Medical Center in Milton, South Miami Hospital in Miami, and Broward General Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale.

The study targeted deliveries that were not medically necessary during the 37th and 38th week of fetal gestation. Even babies born just a few weeks early have higher rates of hospitalization and illness compared to full-term infants.

The six Florida hospitals participating in FPQC pilot study were St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Lee Memorial Health System in Ft. Myers, Plantation General Hospital in Plantation, Santa Rosa Medical Center in Milton, South Miami Hospital in Miami, and Broward General Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale.  For an earlier story on USF’s role in the statewide, multihospital initiative, click here.

“This study is only the beginning,” said Dr. Sappenfield, a professor in the USF Department of Community and Family Health. “Not only do other hospitals in Florida need to reduce their rates of non-medically indicated deliveries, but this is the first of many needed perinatal quality improvement initiatives in Florida to assure that all our mothers and infants have access to quality health care.”

The FPQC, in coordination with hospitals, obstetricians, pediatricians, nurses and nurse midwives, is developing new statewide initiatives to reduce preterm births, avert infections and prevent maternal deaths.

The March of Dimes urges hospitals, health care providers, and patients to follow the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines that if a pregnancy is healthy, to wait for labor to begin on its own.  The final weeks of pregnancy are crucial to a baby’s health because many vital organs, including the brain and lungs, are still developing.

“A Multistate Quality Improvement Program to Decrease Elective Deliveries Before 39 Weeks,” by Dr. Bryan T. Oshiro and others, appears in the April 8 online edition of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.

Anne DeLotto Baier of USF Health Communications contributed to this story.
Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Tampa, FL (April 8, 2013) – A new discovery about the malaria-related parasite Toxoplasma gondii — which can threaten babies, AIDS patients, the elderly and others with weakened immune function — may help solve the mystery of how this single-celled parasite establishes life-long infections in people.

The study, led by a University of South Florida research team, places the blame squarely on a family of proteins, known as AP2 factors, which evolved from the regulators of flowering in plants.

In findings published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrate AP2 factors are instrumental in flipping a developmental “switch” that transitions the parasite from a rapidly dividing acute form destructive to healthy tissue to a chronic stage invisible to the immune system.   They identified one factor, AP2IX-9, that appears to restrict development of Toxoplasma cysts that settle quietly in various tissues, most commonly the host’s brain.

Michael White, PhD, professor of global health and molecular medicine at USF Health, is one of the world’s leading experts on Toxoplasma parasites.

A better understanding of how the switch mechanism works may eventually lead to ways to block chronic Toxoplasma infections, said study principal investigator Michael White, PhD, professor of global health and molecular medicine at USF Health and a member of the Center of Drug Discovery and Innovation, a Florida Center of Excellence at USF.

White and his colleagues are among the world’s leading experts in T. gondii, combining approaches from biochemistry, genetics and structural biology to look for new ways to combat the parasitic disease toxoplasmosis.

No drugs or vaccines currently exist to treat or prevent the chronic stage of the disease. The T. gondii parasites may remain invisible to the immune system for years and then reactivate when immunity wanes, boosting the risk for recurrent disease.

“The evolutionary story of Toxoplasma is fascinating,” White said. “We were blown away to find that the AP2 factors controlling how a flower develops and how plants respond to poor soil and water conditions have been adapted to work within an intracellular human parasite.”

Ages ago the ancestors of malaria parasites genetically merged with an ancestor of plants, and the primitive plant donated its AP2 factors to the future malaria family.

“Our study showed that, like the AP2 factors help a plant survive a stressful environment, the AP2 factors of T. gondii help the parasite decide when the time is right to grow or when to form a tissue cyst that may lie dormant in people for many years,” White said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzOwg23EmrU

Time-lapse of Toxoplasma parasites under the fluorescent microscope shows the living single-cell organisms (red) expressing a plant protein, known as an AP2 factor (yellow) in real time.  The video was produced by the laboratories of Michael White (USF) and Boris Striepen (University of Georgia).  The still image below captures the peak expression of the AP2 factor.

Toxoplasmosis, the infection caused T. gondii, is commonly associated with the medical advice that pregnant women should avoid contact with litter boxes.  That’s because infected cats play a big role in spreading the disease. The tiny organism thrives in the guts of cats, producing countless egg-like cells that are passed along in the feces and can live in warm moist soil or water for months.

People can acquire toxoplasmosis several ways, usually by exposure to the feces of cats or other infected animals, by eating undercooked meat of infected animals, or drinking water contaminated with T. gondii.

Up to 30 percent of the world’s population is estimated to be infected with the T. gondii parasite.

In some parts of the world, including places where sanitation is poor and eating raw or undercooked meat is customary, nearly 100 percent of people carry the parasite, White said.

Few experience flu-like symptoms because the immune system usually prevents the parasite from causing illness, but for those who are immune deficient the consequences can be severe.

The disease may be deadly in AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, patients receiving certain types of chemotherapy, and infants born to mothers infected with the parasite during or shortly before pregnancy. Recently, toxoplasmosis has been linked to mental illness, such as schizophrenia and other diseases of dementia, and changes in behavior.

Joshua Radke, a PhD student in Dr. White’s laboratory, was a first author of the study.

Because it is common, complex and not easily killed with standard disinfection measures, the toxoplasma parasite is a potential weapon for bioterrorists, White added.

The USF-led study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. White’s team worked with researchers at Princeton University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Indiana University School of Medicine. Joshua Radke, a PhD student in the USF Health Department of Molecular Medicine, was a first author of the study.

Article citation:
“ApiAP2 transciption factor restricts development of the Toxoplasma tissue cyst;” Joshua B. Radke, Oliver Lucas, Erandi K. DeSilva, YanFen Ma, William J. Sullivan, Jr., Louis M. Weiss, Manuel Llinas, and Michael W. White; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1300059110

-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. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

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

Photo of Michael White by Eric Younghans/USF Health Communications

The College bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments and leadership contribute significantly to the field of public health in Florida.  White received the award in a ceremony April 3 at the USF College of Public Health, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Tampa.  Click here for the full list of activities at USF College of Public Health during National Public Health Week.

Donna Petersen (left), ScD, dean of the USF College of Public Health, with this year’s recipient of the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health award — Rhonda White, MBA, director of the Florida Department of Health Office of Performance and Quality Improvement.

A key member of the state’s public health management team, White’s expertise and interdisciplinary approach helps the Florida Department of Health and its partners build and evaluate the infrastructure needed to support efficient and effective delivery of public health services and programs.

Stepping into the public health preparedness leadership role shortly after 9/11, White recognized the state’s vulnerabilities and partnered with public and private entities to protect Florida’s residents and visitors. She led the effort to create the Florida Public Health and Medical Response System, which helped Florida to weather several public health events including the H1N1 influenza outbreak, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Super Bowl, Republican National Convention, and 2012 Presidential Debate.  With the help of White’s leadership, Florida has become a nationally-recognized model in public health preparedness.

Disaster planning is just one of White’s many contributions to the health and well-being of Floridians. In her 24 years with the Department of Health, she streamlined the state’s data collection system and spearheaded an effort to overhaul the smallpox vaccination program, which evolved into Operation Vaccinate Florida. When Gadsden County needed someone to step in and stabilize the health department Ms. White answered the call without hesitation.

“Time and time again, she (White) has taken Florida’s public health partners from where they are to where they need to be to successfully protect, promote, and improve the health and safety of all people in Florida,” said John H. Armstrong, MD, Florida’s surgeon general and secretary of the Department of Health.

Dr. Douglas Holt, director of the USF Health Division of Infectious Disease and medical director of the Hillsborough County Health Department, was among those who spoke about White’s accomplishments as a public health leader.

White earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of South Florida. Her graduate training includes a MBA degree from Florida State University and divinity coursework at Asbury Theological Seminary.

The Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health Award was initiated by USF in 1988, and nominations are solicited from public health practitioners across the state. Past honorees have included Lillian Stark, PhD, MPH, director of virology at the Florida Department of Health Tampa Branch Laboratory; University of Miami epidemiologist Lora E. Fleming, MD, and Florida’s Division of Environmental Health Director Lisa Ann Conti, DVM, MPH.

Here’s a friendly reminder: USF state employees can take classes at USF for free.

Once a benefit for all State of Florida employees the tuition program was cut from the State budget a few years ago. The USF System decided to continue this perk for its employees and even changed it to be a tuition payment program, rather than a simply reimbursement.

It’s a bonus that translates into real dollars for USF employees, said Joann Strobbe, CFO and AVP of Finance, Administration & Technology for USF Health.

“By committing to fund the program, USF provides a true cash commitment to its employees,” Strobbe said.

“This past fall, USF Health provided nearly $200,000 in tuition for USF Health staff. This is a great benefit and program for our staff and USF Health is committed to continuing to support the higher education of our team.”

Kristen Steffen, who works in the Office of General Counsel for USF Health, is just one of many USF Health employees benefitting from this program.

“This is one of the best perks this university offers its staff and I’d be foolish not to use it,” she said. Steffen completed a Graduate Certificate in Health Management and Leadership and was accepted into the Masters in Public Health program Spring 2013.

“I couldn’t afford to get this degree without this program.”

And classes and degrees don’t have to relate to the employee’s current job. More than half of those currently taking classes are seeking degrees unrelated to their jobs, said Le’Danjeanette Frazier, benefits administrator for USF Human Resources.

Frazier said that a lot of employees are taking advantage of the program, but she’s still surprised that so many don’t know about it.

The Employee Tuition Program is available for full-time USF employees (excluding temporary employees) to take up to six credit hours each semester, taking classes toward a degree (undergraduate and graduate) or just to expand interests and knowledge. Employees must apply to and be accepted by USF and are responsible for certain fees and books.

Here’s a great overview of the program. More information and forms are available to you here. If you have questions, contact Le’Danjeanette Frazier in USF Human Resources (813-974-5387 or lfrazier@usf.edu).

Tampa, FL (March 20, 2013) – University of South Florida researchers played a key role in an international multidisciplinary project that has yielded a promising new antimalarial drug with the potential to cure the mosquito-borne disease and block its transmission with less costly,  low doses.

Roman Manetsch, PhD, USF associate professor of chemistry, and Dennis Kyle, PhD, USF professor of global health, were co-leaders of the USF team, which helped to discover and develop a series of potent compounds to combat malaria known as the 4-(1H)-quinolone-3-diarylethers, or quinolones.

The USF researchers were part of larger Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) project team including Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Drexel University in Philadelphia, and Monash University in Australia.

Dennis Kyle, PhD, professor of global health at the USF College of Public Health, is a technical advisor to the Medicines for Malaria Venture team preparing the new antimalarial drug ELQ-300 for clincal trials.

The researchers narrowed the most effective drug candidates in the quinolones series to one lead drug – ELQ-300 – now moving toward clinical testing.

The project team’s findings are published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.  Alexis N. LaCrue, PhD, a research associate in Dr. Kyle’s laboratory, was a co-first author for the paper along with Aaron Nilsen, PhD, of Portland VA Medical Center.

In initial preclinical tests, the lead drug demonstrated impressive preventive and transmission-blocking – and a low likelihood for developing rapid resistance to major strains of malaria parasites.

In addition, ELQ-300 could likely be produced more cheaply than existing antimalarial drugs – a major advantage in treating a tropical disease that kills nearly one million people a year and causes recurring bouts of severe and incapacitating illness, most often among poor people in developing countries.

“This is one of the first drugs ever to kill the malaria parasite in all three stages of its life cycle,” said Dr. Kyle, a member of the Global Infectious Diseases Research team at the USF College of Public Health.  “So, it may become part of a new-generation therapy that not only treats sick people and prevents them from getting ill, but also blocks the transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans … If the drug can break the parasite life cycle, we may ultimately eradicate the disease.”

New life from an old class of compounds

The new drug class identified by the researchers were derived from the first antimalarial quinolone, endochin, discovered more than 60 years ago but never pursued as a treatment because it appeared not to work in humans.

Using new technology to optimize the quinolones, the MMV project team demonstrated that these compounds were indeed highly effective against Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal strain of malaria, and Plasmodium vivax, the major cause of malaria outside Africa.  The quinolones target both the liver and blood stages of the parasite as well as the forms critical for disease transmission.

“This was a very challenging project requiring years of hard work, collaboration across disciplines, and a good portion of luck,” said Dr. Manetsch, whose laboratory specializes in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and development of novel chemical probes to characterize drug-protein interactions.

Alexis LaCrue, PhD, a research associate at the USF Department of Global Health, Tampa, FL, was a co-first author for the Medicines for Malaria Venture paper detailing a series of potent compounds active against all three stages of the malaria parasite life cycle.

Optimizing drug success against a complex parasite life cycle

In humans, the malaria parasite targets the liver after it enters the bloodstream through the bite of an infected mosquito.  Once inside the liver, the infecting parasites for most types of malaria multiply and rupture liver cells, escaping back into the bloodstream — although sometimes parasites can remain dormant in the liver for extended periods. The parasites, now modified to attack red blood cells, rapidly create more parasites, which spread throughout the bloodstream in waves.

The researchers needed to find and fine-tune a drug with a long half-life both to prevent malaria and to offer long-term protection against reinfection.

“It was a balancing act to optimize an antimalarial drug so that it was soluble and metabolically stable, without compromising its potency,” Dr. Manetsch said.  “We wanted a compound that within an individual would not break down too quickly, remain circulating in the blood for a long enough period to kill the parasites, and be highly active in blocking transmission in rodent models of malaria.”

The antimalarial drug developed needed to be potent enough to work without harmful or bothersome side effects.

ELQ-300 targets a protein complex of the mitochondria that is integral for the energy household of a cell, Dr. Manetsch said.   That’s good when you’re trying to incapacitate a malaria parasite’s powerhouse, but the same hit in a human’s mitochondria could be disastrous, he added.

So, Dr. Manetsch, with the help of Dr. Kyle’s expertise in parasitology, structurally modified the quinolone scaffold so that the drug candidate ELQ-300 would selectively hit only the malaria parasite’s target while sparing the human mitochondria.

Roman Manetsch, PhD, associate professor of chemistry, was co-leader, along with Dr. Kyle, of the USF team that helped to discover and develop a series of potent compounds (quinolone-3-diarylethers)to combat malaria.

Antimalarial drug resistance: A global health threat

With the rapid emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of malaria, the need to find new drugs capable of delaying or preventing drug resistance has become even more pressing, researchers say.

The quinolones, including ELQ-300, target the same biological pathway as atovaquone, the main component of Malarone, one of the newest combination drugs used to treat malaria. But, in repeated experiments ELQ-300 did not generate drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite – making it a significant improvement over atovaquone.

In addition, the new drug’s design makes it more effective at lower doses, hopefully meaning fewer and smaller pills for patients at a lower cost, said Dr. Kyle, a technical advisor for the MMV team preparing ELQ-300 for clinical trials.

Dr. Kyle and Dr. Manetsch, funded by National Institutes of Health grants totaling more than $2.5 million, continue to collaborate on research to identify and develop novel antimalarial drugs.

Article citation:
“Quinolone-3-Diarylethers: A New Class of Antimalarial Drug,” Aaron Nilsen, Alexis N. LaCrue, Karen L. White, Isaac P. Forquer, Richard M. Cross, Jutta Marfurt, Michael W. Mather, Michael J. Delves, David M. Shackleford, Fabian E. Saenz, Joanne M. Morrisey, Jessica Steuten, Tina Mutka, Yuexin Li, Grennady Wirjanata, Eileen Ryan, Sandra Duffy, Jane Xu Kelly, Boni F. Sebayang, Anne-Marie Zeeman¹, Rintis Noviyanti, Robert E. Sinden, Clemens H. M. Kocken, Ric N. Price, Vicky M. Avery, Iñigo Angulo-Barturen, María Belén Jiménez-Díaz, Santiago Ferrer, Esperanza Herreros, Laura M. Sanz, Francisco-Javier Gamo, Ian Bathurst, Jeremy N. Burrows, Peter Siegl, R. Kiplin Guy, Rolf  W. Winter, Akhil B. Vaidya, Susan A. Charman, Dennis E. Kyle, Roman Manetsch, and Michael K. Riscoe; Science Translational Medicine, Vol. 5, Issue 177.

-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. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

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

Two public health students — Steven Franklin and Shivani Gogna – took center stage last month at “On the Edge of the Future,” USF’s first TEDx event.  Featuring a series of talks centered around  sustainability, success and life-changing thoughts, the event was held Feb. 22 at the USF School of Music and livestreamed for those unable to obtain one of 100 tickets to the live event. 

Selected from more than 60 applicants, Franklin and Gogna were two of nine speakers and the only representatives from  USF Health.  For 18 life-changing minutes, they challenged, inspired, and captivated others with their “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

“Don’t be patient with your own health, be proactive,” said Franklin, a graduate student in health policies and programs. “Track your life. Start today. We have been patient for too long.”

Steven Franklin

A wellness coach with his own podcast, Franklin believes “that a person’s attitude is a primary determinant of their willingness to improve health related behaviors and ultimately health outcomes.”

Global health masters student Shivani Gogna challenged audience members to “Find one thing you can do to maximize human capital.”

Shivani Gogna

In her presentation titled “Power of Personal Investments in Sustainability Initiatives,” Gogna explored the Human Capital Spectrum.  Through a series of illustrations, she demonstrated how seemingly small, individual acts can have a huge collective impact.

For example, cutting one shower by two minutes saves approximately four gallons of water. However, if the 49,480 members of the USF community all shave two minutes off of one shower that equates to 197, 920 gallons of water and $1959 saved in the City of Tampa.

To learn more about Gogna and Franklin’s “Ideas Worth Spreading” and view their full presentations, visit the TEDxUSF site on Livestream.com.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events where TEDTalk videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

Then, look no farther than your local community. The ROI is accessible to everyone.

It saves lives. It saves money. It’s public health!

Maximize your ROI with the USF College of Public Health as we unite with communities and organizations around the country to observe the 2013 National Public Health Week, April 1-7.

Be a Child Advocate

Prevention is the message public health professionals and researchers will drive home in the “Advocating for Kids” panel discussion on April 1.  The event will be followed by an information fair featuring resources to protect children at home, at school, and in the community. Both events are free and open to the public.

Discover Careers in Public Health

Desire to save lives and create conditions that allow every person the universal right to health and well-being?

If so, then discover which public health career may be best for you at the COPH Open House. Tours of health and safety research labs, as well as presentations on academic programs and training opportunities are the highlight of the Open House on April 2.

Visit the college’s Networking Fair on April 3  to meet with employers showcasing how they make the world a safer and healthier place for everyone.

Celebrate Public Health Leaders

Celebrating individuals who are catalysts for health will be the focus of the college’s annual award ceremony on April 3.  The event honors Florida’s Outstanding Woman in Public Health and recognizes excellence in student research, academic scholarship and teaching.

National Public Health Week is sponsored by the American Public Health Association.  Since 1995, the group declared the first week in April as “a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation’s health.”

View the full schedule of events to maximize your ROI with health fairs, student service opportunities, drives that give life to those in need, and a host of other activities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=looB94dUvBg

THE VILLAGES, FL (March 11, 2013) – Construction began Monday morning on the new USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages, setting the stage for a new era and range of health care available for residents in “America’s Healthiest Hometown.”

Once the center opens in October, residents of The Villages, the nation’s largest community of people over 55, will be able to receive high-level care from faculty physicians who operate at the forefront of medical knowledge. USF Health doctors who represent several specialties will be providing care at the 25,000 square foot facility.

The center is designed as a collaborative complement to The Villages Health primary care network, which is now expanding and will soon operate seven different offices in The Villages for residents to choose from, allowing them to receive the best health care without leaving their neighborhood.

USF President Judy Genshaft visited the center for groundbreaking ceremonies Monday morning, along with Trustees Hal Mullis and Debbie Sembler.

“Today marks a great step on our journey to creating a whole new model of health care here in ‘America’s Healthiest Hometown,’ The Villages,” said President Genshaft.

The unique partnership provides a model for comprehensive care that is truly centered around the patient, said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

“Working together, we will be able to provide better health for The Villagers over the entire spectrum of care,” Dr. Klasko said. “Villagers will have a medical home with a patient-centered primary network, access to the best academic specialists, and technology services that include shared electronic records and telehealth opportunities. The mission of USF Health is “making life better” and this partnership will be an embodiment of that mission.”

The partnership between The Villages and USF Health is a great model for how academic medicine can improve health, said Elliot Sussman, MD, MBA, chair of The Villages Health.

Monday’s groundbreaking: Dr. Steve Klasko, USF President Judy Genshaft, Dr. Elliot Sussman, Trustee Debbie Sembler, Trustee Hal Mullis

“We are delighted to have our great primary care doctors working with the specialty physicians of USF Health,” Dr. Sussman said. “This partnership will give Villagers access to seamless care that starts with having a Villages Health doctor who knows them and their medical history and can provide top-notch regular care. When they need a specialist, that doctor can connect them to a network of specialists offering the most cutting-edge treatments right here in The Villages.”

Work on the Specialty Care Center project began after USF’s College of Public Health conducted a record-setting survey of the Villagers, asking about their health needs and goals. More than 37,000 Villagers responded, making this the largest such survey of an aging population.

“We found what was working and what wasn’t and what you need to be at your best and healthiest,” Dr. Klasko told the crowd Monday morning.

The survey, which won the Erickson Award for Excellence in Research, will yield national recommendations for healthy aging. It is already being used in planning the Specialty Care Center. Villagers surveyed showed a high level of interest in a model that provides coordinated care and gives them a medical home.

“We’re bringing back the days of Marcus Welby, when physicians work together with one goal — making you healthier,” Dr. Klasko said.

After Monday’s groundbreaking, President Genshaft, the Trustees, and Dr. Klasko joined Dr. Sussman, Dr. Joseph Hildner, chief medical officer of The Villages Health on a tour of the new primary care center run by The Villages Health.

The center features rocking chairs out front, “visit rooms” instead of exam rooms and special space dedicated to patient education. Everything is designed with patients in mind, Dr. Hildner said.

Dr. Sussman and Dr. Hildner talk about their vision for primary care with patients at the center.

“It’s a welcoming, friendly place to go to,” he said. “It’s not the usual experience of going to your doctor…and you’re never more than a 10-minute golf cart ride away.”

Dr. Jeff Lowenkron, CEO of the USF Physicians Group, talks about the new USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages.

The patient experience is designed to do more than be more pleasant. By engaging patients to take charge of their health, allowing doctors to spend more time with each patient, and setting up a coordinated network, Dr. Hildner believes Villagers will lead healthier lives, with fewer crisis events, such as heart attacks.

“We’re excited about working with USF and being able to do outcomes research to prove that,” he said.

-- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
– Video by Allyn DiVito, USF Health Information Systems