Nearly 1,500 people of all ages gathered at the University of South Florida this Saturday, Nov. 14, to stride forward together in the American Diabetes Association’s StepOut to Fight Diabetes Walk. The ADA’s signature fundraising walk, coinciding with National Diabetes Day, was held at more than 150 sites across the country.

Hosting the walk was a chance for USF to showcase its bold initiative to fight diabetes on every front – from education and research to family-centered care. The University is planning a new center for people with diabetes – an inviting place that will be a hub for the diabetes community and where patients can practice the healthy eating habits and exercise so vital to diabetes.

The USF community was an integral part of the event. Teams from across the university walked to raise funds that will support critical research, provide community-based education programs and protect the rights of people with diabetes – a chronic disease expected to confront one in three U.S. children if current trends continue.

“It was a great opportunity for us to show the Tampa Bay community our commitment and forward momentum in the fight against diabetes,” said Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999 and director of communications and education for the USF Diabetes Center. “We were honored to partner with the ADA and play a role in fundraising for better treatment and an ultimate cure for diabetes.”

Johnson worked with the ADA to coordinate the walk, emceed the event, and led post-walk tours of the center’s new educational space. USF Health student volunteers helped conduct health screenings. Staff and faculty volunteered at booths for heart health education, stroke awareness and podiatry screening.

Adults and children had the opportunity to be screened for the TrialNet studies, which seeks to identify those with early signs of Type 1 diabetes to investigate new therapies that may halt or slow disease progression. The NIH-sponsored worldwide network of clinical studies is coordinated at USF by Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, professor and chief of epidemiology in the Department of Pediatrics.

See photo gallery of the day’s activates below:

Dr. Stephen Klasko, USF medical school dean and CEO of USF Health, gives a pep talk before the walk.

Nicole Johnson, director of communications and education for the USF Diabetes Center, greets walkers.

A zumba troupe warms up the crowd.

Walkers assemble at the starting line.

The route started and finished at USF Simmons Park near the Psychology/Communication Building.

Cara Capitena, a first-year USF medical student, checks Diana Persaud's blood pressure.

Nicole Johnson, with daugher Ava, helped lead post-walk tours showing off the USF Diabetes Center's new education space.

Johnson welcomes a group of young walkers to one of the Diabetes Center's child-friendly areas.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, Photos by Eric Younghans; USF Health Communicatons

Dr. Alan Zelicoff (front center) with, from left to right, Wil Milhous, PhD, associate dean for research in the College of Public Health; John Sinnott, MD, director of Infectious Disease and International Medicine; and Phil Marty, PhD, associate vice president for USF Health Research.

A little-known smallpox outbreak in the Soviet Union years ago and its implications for biological weapons defense today was the topic when physician-scientist Dr. Alan Zelicoff visited USF Health last week. His Nov. 3 lecture in the College of Public Health Auditorium was sponsored by the USF Health Office of Research.

Dr. Zelicoff, a smallpox expert, is the former senior scientist at the Center for National Security and Arms Control at Sandia National Laboratories. He and experts from the Monterey Institute of International Studies linked a 1971 outbreak in the Kazakh Republic to a Soviet field test of weaponized smallpox. The Soviet Union did not report the outbreak to world health officials as required by law.

In an interview in the New York Times, Dr. Zelicoff called the outbreak a “watershed” because it demonstrated that the smallpox virus was more easily spread than previously thought and that there may be a vaccine-resistant strain.

“His lecture was a reality check on our continued need for diligence in areas of infectious diseases, disaster preparedness and biowarfare,” said Phillip Marty, PhD, associate vice president for the USF Health Office of Research.

Dr. Zelicoff’s current interests include risk and hazard analysis in hospital systems and office-based practice and technologies for improving the responsiveness of public health offices and countering biological weapons and terrorism. His latest book is Microbe: Are We Ready for the Next Plague?, a comprehensive account of the public health threat posed by microbial pathogens, including naturally emerging disease threats, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or West Nile virus.

"Dr. Charles Cox is one of the country's great pioneers in surgical treatment for breast cancer, as well as staging tumors to minimize the surgery itself," said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, Vice President for USF Health and Dean of the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida.

"A veritable community of patients, friends and supporters gathered together to raise $50,000 in support of his program at USF's new Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare on campus in Tampa."

USF Health surgeon Dr. Charles Cox

Cox Charles Cox, MD, FACS, professor of surgery at USF and CEO of the USF Health Breast program has more than 30 years experience helping patients navigate the diagnostic and treatment options for surviving breast cancer. His work on breast conservation and nipple-sparing techniques is known the world over. In the 1990s, he pioneered a critical advance in staging tumors through lymph nodes through intra-operative sentinel node biopsies.

The Hooked on Hope volunteers are committed to ending breast cancer. Their website is here: http://www.hookedonhope.org/

Tampa, FL (Nov. 9, 2009) – Kevin B. Sneed, PharmD, has been appointed the founding dean of the USF School of Pharmacy. Dr. Sneed, associate professor of family medicine and assistant dean and clinical director of the College of Medicine’s Division of Clinical Pharmacy, was selected for the high-profile position following a nationwide search.

Dr. Sneed championed and was the major architect of the proposal for USF’s four-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program, which was approved by the Florida Board of Governors this January. Housed within the USF College of Medicine, the School of Pharmacy plans to admit the first class of students in August 2011.

Kevin Sneed, PharmD

“USF is going change the face of pharmacy practice with our graduates and faculty,” Dr. Sneed said. “Tomorrow’s pharmacists will be expected to take a lead role in managing and delivering technologically-advanced pharmaceutical care based on a patient’s genetic makeup and individualized responses to medications. We are building a program strategically designed to prepare pharmacy clinicians for this challenging new model of patient-centered practice.”

“With his impassioned commitment to academic pharmacy education, his vision of entrepreneurial academic excellence, and strong scholarly, research and clinical skills, Dr. Sneed is well prepared to lead the pharmacy school of the future,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO of USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “The innovative clinical pharmacy program he continues to advance will embody the interprofessional education model we’ve begun in public health, medicine, nursing and physical therapy.”

The interdisciplinary program will draw upon faculty and other resources from USF’s colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health and create opportunities for collaborative teaching and research university-wide. The curriculum will emphasize medication management for the elderly, research-based drug discovery and development, and personalized care for chronic illnesses. Dr. Sneed has already established key partnerships with USF-affiliated teaching hospitals and outpatient sites where USF pharmacy students will receive their clinical training. The pharmacy school intends to establish academic and clinical partnerships across the greater Tampa Bay area.

Dr. Sneed received his PharmD degree from Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy in 1998 and completed a primary care pharmacy residency at Bay Pines VA Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

He joined the USF Department of Family Medicine in 1999 as a visiting professor from Florida A&M College of Pharmacy, where he was an associate professor and ambulatory care clinical coordinator. At Florida A&M, he was a key member of curriculum committees and participated in several accreditation reviews – experience that has helped in building USF’s PharmD program to comply with new accreditation standards.

In addition to teaching pharmacy, medical and other health-professions students and conducting funded clinical research, Dr. Sneed created the USF College of Medicine’s first primary care clinical pharmacy program. More recently, he developed consultant pharmacy services for the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare, a USF Hemophilia Center Pharmacy, and a USF Clinical Research Pharmacy.

Dr. Sneed’s primary clinical and research interest is cardio-metabolic disorders. He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and a book chapter. He established USF Health as a member of the National Pharmacy-Based Research Network, which will serve as the foundation for future USF pharmacy faculty to conduct national-level studies with other pharmacy programs across the country.

Dr. Sneed has a long history of community service to underserved communities. He created and directed the Inter-collaborative Student and Community Health Assessment Project and Evaluation (IN-SCHAPE), a nationally-recognized cardiovascular health disparities project that addresses cardiovascular risk factors in Hillsborough County communities. He has received statewide recognition from the Florida Prostate Cancer Network for his efforts to educate African-American men about cardiovascular risks.

- USF Health -
USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $380.3 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

- Release by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications

Representatives from the USF Health student-run BRIDGE Healthcare Clinic and the USF Health Service Corps received UACCA Community Appreciation Awards.

L to R: Karen Alonso, BRIDGE Co-Director; Florida Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp; Elizabeth Morgan, BRIDGE Physical Therapy Co-Director; Vanessa Bonet, BRIDGE Social Work Administrator; and Melanie Elliott, BRIDGE Co-Director

A national prototype, the BRIDGE Clinic brings free primary care and social services to uninsured people living in the University Community Area adjacent to the USF Tampa campus. Founded by USF medical students in 2007, the clinic brings together USF students from medicine, physical therapy and social work to provide supervised care to underserved patients.

Florida Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp with Ellen Kent, MPH, AHEC faculty coordinator for USF Health Service Corps (holding plaque), and Cynthia Selleck, DSN, ARNP, AHEC program director (back right).

Sponsored by the USF Area Health Education Center, the Health Service Corps provides student volunteers opportunities to gain valuable interdisciplinary training while serving communities in need. USF Health students routinely provide health screenings and education to residents of the University Area Community. The Corps was recognized for its successful “Tools for Schools” donation program, an annual drive that collects new school supplies and distributes them to families at the University Area Back to School Health Fair, where children receive free immunizations and physicals.

RELATED STORY:
Community partner recognizes Dr. Holt's leadership, service

Dr. Holt accepts his award from MaryEllen Elia, superintendent of the Hillsborough County School District.

Douglas Holt, MD, FACP, recently received the USF Area Community Civic Association’s Edwin Radice Distinguished Service Award for his leadership in public health and community partnering. Dr. Holt is director of the Hillsborough County Health Department (HCHD) and professor and associate director of the USF Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine. The Edwin Radice Award recognizes individuals or groups who have consistently “given of themselves for the enrichment of others and betterment of their communities.”

In addition, the county’s “Back to School Coalition,” received a Community Appreciation Award for its initiative to ensure all Hillsborough County children entering a Florida school for the first time receive physicals and immunizations. Margaret Ewen, HCHD immunization program manager, accepted the award on behalf of the department.

Both awards were presented Oct. 13 at the civic association’s 20th Annual Awards Ceremony, attended by more than 1,000 people, including legislators, city and county commissioners, school board representatives and other community leaders.

Dr. Holt was recognized for his leadership and support of the Back to School Coalition and USF Health’s BRIDGE Healthcare Clinic.

Each year before the start of the school year, more than 3,500 children receive free physicals and immunizations at eight strategically located Back to School Coalition sites across Hillsborough County. The service has reduced the number of clients filling the Health Department clinics and reduced the wait time for appointments at pediatrician’s offices after school has begun.

Dr. Holt has been a pioneer in raising awareness among USF medical students about the importance of giving back to communities in need. He helped to establish the student-run BRIDGE Clinic, which brings free primary care and social services to uninsured people living adjacent to USF in the heart of the University Area Community. BRIDGE (Building Relationships and Initiatives Dedicated to Gaining Equality), operates out of the health department’s University Area Health Clinic. Each week USF students in medicine, physical therapy and social work provide faculty-supervised care to underserved patients.

Under Dr. Holt’s leadership, the Hillsborough County Health Department has initiated new alliances with community organizations and universities to advance the public health system and better leverage its available funding. Dr. Holt directs the fourth largest of Florida’s 67 county health departments. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the USF College of Medicine and been a faculty member since 1989.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications

RELATED Story:
BRIDGE Clinic, USF Health Service Corps awarded for community service

A special forum at USF on Wednesday, Nov. 4, will focus on how water usage and responses to shortages here in Tampa Bay can have global environmental and health implications. The Tampa Bay chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the USF College of Public Health are sponsoring “The Global Water Crisis: Solutions from Tampa Bay,” at the USF College of Public Health auditorium, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, in Tampa. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Noel J. Brown, president and CEO of Friends of the United Nations, is an internationally recognized expert on global water issues and champion of environmental sustainability. Dr. Brown and others have noted the unprecedented demand on water resources can have profound implications for the world’s water supply, protection of human health and the viability of aquatic ecosystems.

A panel discuss will feature Mary Mulhern of the Tampa City Council and Karl Nurse of St. Petersburg City Council, as well as Frank Mueller-Karger, PhD, of the USF College of Marine Science, Dr. David Randle, managing director of Waves of Change, and Phil Compton, regional representative of Sierra Club Florida.

For more information go to www.psr.org/tampa.

COPH students provided the health education materials, while trained USF nursing and medical students supervised by USF Health and health department nurses and physicians, administered the vaccines.

Dr. Donna Petersen gets her shot from nursing students Natalie Bercini and Courtney Abreu.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

It was all part of a gala to launch the public phase of the most comprehensive capital campaign in USF’s history. The goal: to raise $600 million. More than 500 donors, alumni, faculty, staff and friends were on hand to hear the announcement by Judy Genshaft, president of the USF System, USF Foundation CEO Joel Momberg and Campaign Chair Les Muma.

The USF Health exhibit presented a vision of Health 2020.

So far, the campaign has raised $317 million in donor gifts and pledges.

“Tonight is a night to celebrate two things: perseverance and promise,” said Genshaft. “Our students are solving big problems. Our faculty is changing the world. USF is building the university of the future. We believe our mission to serve the educational, economic and health needs of our community, Florida and the world are too important to be deterred or delayed.”

President Judy Genshaft displays a test tube full of USF Health's favorite beverage: a Health-tini.

Two of the campaign’s most significant early gifts have gone to benefit projects at USF Health. Frank and Carol Morsani donated $10 million, used to help build the Frank and Carol Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare, as well as for sports facilities.

Muma and his wife, Pam, donated $6 million to fund neonatal research, as well as to build an neonatal intensive care unit at Tampa General Hospital. They gave another $3 million to athletics.

At Tuesday’s event, the USF Marshall Student Center was transformed by nearly two dozen exhibits showing off USF programs. At the USF Health exhibit, guests were treated to the “Health-tinis,” full of pomegranate antioxidants and delivered in mock test tubes. Video monitors featured Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine, sharing USF Health’s vision for the future of health care, Health 2020, along with a montage of images from medicine, nursing and public health.

NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders gets his balance checked by physical therapy students Heather Matako, left, and Elizabeth Morgan.

Physical therapy students helped guests measure their balance using a Biosway Balance machine. Guests who stood on the machine’s platform – including a spell with their eyes closed, teetering on a block of foam – got to see how they compare to others their age on several measures of balance. Physical therapists can use the data to develop therapies to improve balance and prevent falls.

He may be the CEO, but Dr. Stephen Klasko still delivers babies...real or, in this case, simulated.

The star of the show may have been the exhibit’s youngest member: the simulator baby. Faculty members from the College of Nursing dressed the baby in a “Future Bull” T-shirt and named him Rocky to mark the occasion. A steady stream of visitors came to play with Rocky, hearing him cry, feeling his heart beat, and even watching him turn blue because of breathing difficulties. Each time, of course, he was swiftly rescued by clinical instructor Jenny Molloy and teaching lab assistant Freida Lahti, who demonstrated some of the skills that nursing and medical students learn by caring for Rocky.

Dee Jeffers, program director in the College of Public Health’s Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, stopped by and was captivated. She donned a stethoscope and listened to Rocky breathe.

“I didn’t know we did this,” she said. “There’s so much happening at USF, you just can’t keep up with it. The knowledge explosion for students – it’s amazing.”

Freida Lahti helps Baby Rocky's simulated breathing return to normal.

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

The event helps the Division raise much-needed funds for its fellowship program.

“The U.S. population is aging rapidly and, at the moment, there is only one geriatric specialist for every 2,500 Americans over age 75,” said Vincent Perron, MD, chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at USF. “By 2030, there could be just one geriatrician for every 20,000 older patients.”

The special guest speaker for the third annual gala will be Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. The evening also includes a silent auction, Spanish guitar music, impersonators, and classic Flamenco dancing.

Tickets cost $125 per person or $1,250 for a reserved table for 10. Doors open at 6 p.m. The Tampa Yacht and Country Club is at 5320 Interbay Blvd., Tampa.

Please RSVP by Nov. 1 by calling 974-2460 or emailing LRodrig1@health.usf.edu.

Click here to read about the critical shortage of geriatricians.

Chris Madramootoo, a cardiac sonographer, is administered a flu shot by medical assistant Leticia Moorer.

No time to break away from work to get a flu shot? That's no longer an excuse for those working at USF Health's South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare. Each Friday since mid-September a mobile cart has rolled through all floors of the STC to provide free seasonal flu shots.

As of Oct. 9, 225 USF Health employees, practitioners, residents and students have been vaccinated, said Kim Clifford, a clinical nurse manager at the STC. "The staff love it. We believe this convenience encourages more of our healthcare workers to get vaccinated."

The STC flu cart service runs through Nov. 20. So quit your excuses and roll up your sleeve... you'll even get to pick out a lollipop after the shot!

USF-TGH general surgeon Dr. Sharona Ross addresses guests at the launch of the USF Women in Surgery initiative.

The USF Women In Surgery initiative, the first Tampa area professional and academic organization dedicated to encouraging more women to pursue careers in surgery, was formally launched last month. About 100 people attended the group’s inaugural program Sept. 26 at the home of Sharona Ross, MD, an assistant professor of surgery and director of surgical endoscopy at USF Health and Tampa General Hospital.

Most attendees were women, including undergraduate students, graduate and PhD students, medical students, USF Health physician interns and residents, and USF-TGH attending surgeons.

Dr Ross, together with a distinguished panel of guests, addressed the Women in Surgery attendees. The speakers stressed the importance of developing and furthering an organization dedicated to addressing issues that arise when steering more women toward careers in surgery, as well as in providing effective and practical remedies for those issues.

L to R: Lindsay Rumberger, Linda Barry, Krista Haines, Lori Starr, Linda Richetelli, and Dr. Ross.

Across the country, including at USF, more than 50 percent of medical school students are female. Yet, Dr. Ross said, only a fraction of those women actually choose careers in surgery. A 2006 article published in the journal Archives of Surgery concluded that, while women were not more likely than men to be deterred by lifestyle, workload issues or lack of role models in deciding on a career in surgery, the surgical culture and personality were sex-specific deterrents to women.

Dr. Ross said she plans to work with a growing team of innovative and highly motivated students and professional colleagues to develop the USF Women in Surgery organization into a national resource for women who want careers in surgery.

The Women in Surgery kickoff meeting drew a large group of women, including undergraduate students, graduate and PhD students, medical students, interns and residents, and USF-TGH attending surgeons.

USF Women in Surgery will sponsor its first regional program, The 1st Annual Surgical Career Symposium, on Feb. 27, 2010, in Tampa. The symposium will feature keynote speaker Julie Freischlag, MD, the William Stewart Halsted Professor Chair and Department of Surgery Surgeon-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

For more information about USF Women in Surgery or the upcoming symposium, please contact Dr. Ross at sross@health.usf.edu or 813-844-4006.

At last month's FSN annual meeting in Lake Buena Vista, FL, Reza Behrouz, DO, , and Ali Bozorg, MD, both assistant professors in the USF Department of Neurology, and third-year neurology resident Elizabeth Carroll, DO,were elected to various positions. Their new FSN roles are: Dr. Behrouz, co-chair of the Website/Communication Committee; Dr. Bozorg, executive board member; and Dr. Carroll, resident board member.

These three joined three USF neurology faculty members who already serve on the society’s Board of Directors --- Charles Brock, MD,, associate professor and director of the neurology residency program; Rossitza Chichkova, MD, assistant professor and neurology clerkship director; and David Decker, MD, assistant professor. Dr. Brock is an FSN executive board member; Dr. Chichkova is secretary-elect; and Dr. Decker is treasurer-elect and chair of the Website/Communication Committee.

USF neurology residents presented 18 of the 26 research posters at the FSN annual meeting and several USF neurologists were featured speakers.

The Florida Society of Neurology, one of the three largest and most developed state neurology societies in the country, is dedicated to promoting high quality care for patients with neurological disorders and their families, education for physicians and allied health professionals, and advocacy. FSN is closely associated with the American Academy of Neurology through its State Affairs Committee.

The USF College of Medicine welcomed a new department earlier this month: Urology

Urology was a division in the Department of Surgery and in Clinical Affairs prior to this, but with its continuing growth, the time had come for Urology to become its own entity.

Dr. Jorge L. Lockhart was named the founding chair of the Department of Urology Sept. 1. After training at Duke University and the University of Uruguay, Dr. Lockhart came to USF in 1987 from the University of Miami. Dr. Lockhart is an internationally recognized leader in the field of urinary diversion and pelvic reconstruction. He has directed and developed the USF Urology residency program since that time, and under his guidance, it has steadily grown.

Dr. Lockhart will be joined by three other full-time faculty members: Raul Ordorica, MD, associate professor and chief of urodynamics and reconstruction; Rafael Carrion, MD, assistant professor and chief of andrology and sexual dysfunction; and new faculty member, David Hernandez, MD, assistant professor, who joins USF after training at the Brady Urological Institute of Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Lockhart said part of urology’s success is due to its relationships with its affiliate hospitals, which include Tampa General Hospital, the James A. Haley VA Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center. The urology residents also receive training in pediatric urology at Nemours Children’s Clinic in Orlando. The affiliates help make the program attractive to residents, who want to come here because of the varied surgical experience, Dr. Lockhart said.

Dr. Lockhart is working to recruit two new faculty members and expects to increase the number of urology fellows and the amount of research funding.

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications

A presentation on successfully integrating basic science material across medical school departments earned him the 2009 Promising Medical Education Scholar Awards at a regional meeting for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

And a vote by USF medical students from all four years nominated him for the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award, an act that “blows my mind,” he said, because, although he didn’t go on to win the award, he “certainly won by getting to work with and teach the best medical students around. A humanistic pathologist. Go figure.”

Dr. Wheeler and a friend at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

For the AAMC, Dr. Wheeler, associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology and in the Department of Internal Medicine, teamed up with Susan Pross, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine, and Stanley Nazian, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, to present “Techniques in Integration in Course-Based Curricula,” at the AAMC’s Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA)  regional meeting last spring in New Orleans.

All three are course directors for their areas and developed methods for integrating content across courses, including joint calendaring, question vetting sessions, and joint conferences for students.

The presentation won and, as the lead presenter for the session, Dr. Wheeler earned the 2009 Promising Medical Education Scholar Award. The annual award recognizes the most outstanding medical education presentation by an SGEA member.

AAMC judges noted that Dr. Wheeler’s work “was highly rated both for your presentation skills as well as for the content and design of your presentation.”

“At the USF College of Medicine, we’ve developed several mechanisms for enhancing true integration between departmentally based courses,” Dr. Wheeler said. “I’m very honored to receive this award and am very mindful and appreciative of my colleagues Drs. Pross and Nazian for helping me achieve this recognition for our workshop.”

Dr. Wheeler’s win will be formally announced at the SGEA business meeting in the fall at the AAMC’s annual conference.

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications

Sept. 8, 2009 -- The USF Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center will hold its “Imagine” research fundraising gala on Saturday evening, Sept. 12, at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center’s Morsani Hall, 1010 W.C. MacInness Place, in Tampa.

The gala will include a food and wine tasting and silent auction from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A Fun and Funky 70s Show with the TBPAC cabaret singers will follow from 9 to 10 p.m. in the Jaeb Theatre. It should be a night to remember!

The message of the evening is “Hope Through Research,” and funds raised will go to support the Center, its research efforts, and outreach programs including exercise and Tai Chi classes for patients.

“We have made great strides in understanding the mechanisms of Parkinson’s and continue our work to identify innovative therapies that will slow, and hopefully one day stop, progression of the underlying disease,” said Dr. Robert Hauser, professor of neurology and director of the Movement Disorders Center.

Established in 1986, the USF Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center is designated as one of only 41 National Parkinson’s Foundation Centers of Excellence worldwide. At the forefront of testing new medications to combat movement disorders, the Center also offers surgery including deep brain stimulation for patients who no longer benefit from drug therapy, and injections of botulinum toxin for a variety of movement disorders.

Please call (813) 844-4547 for more information.

Dr. David Keefe

August, 31, 2009 -- David Keefe, MD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at USF Health, has accepted a position as the Kaplan Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tish and Belleview Hospitals.

Catherine Lynch, MD, has been appointed interim chair of OB/GYN by Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the USF College of Medicine.

“While this is a loss for us, I’m happy that Dr. Keefe is able to take this step and wish him well as he tackles the Big Apple. I’d like to thank him for all he has done to elevate our own department,” Dr. Klasko said.

“The mark of a great academic leader is a department with many members of the faculty who feel empowered to excel. That is what Dr. Keefe has accomplished in OB/GYN and why we are so optimistic about the future. In the more than four years that Dr. Keefe has been here, our OB/GYN department has gained recognition as one of the top 25 programs in the country in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report ranking.”

Dr. Catherine Lynch

Professor and Chief of the Division of General OB/GYN, Dr. Lynch was a key member of Dr. Keefe's leadership team in building the department. “Dr. Lynch a proud graduate of our medical school and also graduated from the USF Health Leadership Institute -- a great example of one of our own achieving success,” Dr. Klasko said.

Dr. Keefe came to USF to head the OB-GYN Department in 2005 from Brown University School of Medicine in Providence, RI. He is well-known for his work as one of nation’s leading reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists, researching ways to improve in-vitro fertilization success rates and how women lose their fertility with age.

A recent top medical news story described how U.S. researchers used the Oosight imaging system to develop a gene transfer technique with potential to prevent inherited diseases from being passed from mothers to their children through mutated mitochondrial DNA. That system was based on innovative imaging technology originally developed by scientists at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, in collaboration with Dr. Keefe.

Dr. Keefe’s leadership has helped bring other top-notch talent to USF. He significantly expanded the department’s reproductive medicine team, which now offers cutting-edge in-vitro fertilization services at satellite locations across West Central Florida as well as in Tampa. He also developed a high-quality research and treatment team for pelvic floor disorders.

New USF medical students don their first white coats.

August 21, 2009 -- Each August they arrive, eager to begin a rigorous journey leading to the MD degree. But before the marathon comes the warm-up.

A two-week orientation course “The Professions of Medicine” – a rite of passage marking the new USF medical students’ entry into a career in medicine – culminates today with the White Coat Ceremony where they receive their first white coats. The ceremony represents a symbol of humanism, emphasizing the importance of balancing excellence in science with compassionate care.

When the medical students arrive there’s such a rush of adrenaline -- a palpable excitement mixed with a degree of anxiety. It creates a real electric feeling that invigorates the faculty who will be working with these brand new physicians-to-be,” said Steven Specter, PhD, associate dean of student affairs for the USF College of Medicine.

The Professions of Medicine course provides overall “context to the content” the students will study over the next four years and offers insight into the practice of medicine, Dr. Specter said.

Beginning DPT student Amy Dameron teams up with new medical student Jonathan Lopez to get a history from a standardized patient during the Professions of Medicine orientation course.

The medical students, who completed the course alongside incoming physical therapy (DPT) students, practiced team building skills, got to know their peers and started developing a rapport with faculty. They attended a session on the molecular basis for metabolic syndrome, practiced a foot exam on a patient with diabetes, and completed social and nutritional histories on standardized patients. In small groups they discussed interprofessionalism, diversity and cultural sensitivity. They learned how to protect themselves against pathogens they may be exposed to during their rotations through hospitals and other clinical settings. They got certified in basic life support and advice about maintaining life balance while coping with the tremendous workload of medical school.

This College of Medicine Class of 2013 is an impressive bunch, with an average GPA of 3.72. The incoming students include 37 USF graduates as well as graduates from a broad mix of Florida’s other public and private universities. The out-of-state students include graduates of Duke, Emory, Princeton and MIT. The entering class is diverse; 13 percent of the students are from racial/ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine – Blacks, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and mainland Puerto Ricans.

But statistics tell only part of the story. The students themselves tell the rest. They include students like Yarelies Malave-Diaz, who wants to be a physician “serving where the need is greatest;” Krist Bowman, who served his country as a combat medic before entering medical school; and Aaron Block, who will extend his graduate education an extra year to earn a MD/MPH dual degree.

Yarelies Malave-Diaz aspires to be a doctor who "serves where the need is greatest."

Yarelies Malave-Diaz
Yarelies Malave-Diaz, 23, says she was inspired to become a doctor in her senior year of high school after shadowing a pediatrician who demonstrated exceptional compassion and concern for parents of sick children. She credits USF’s Pre-Medical Summer Enrichment Program with helping pull her out of an undergraduate “academic rut” and boosting her confidence to become a competitive medical school applicant. Through PSEP, she was connected to Tampa’s Judeo Christian Health Clinic where she volunteered as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking patients who worked but could not afford health care insurance.

“The whole experience opened my eyes what a career in medicine could be,” says Malave-Diaz, who plans to apply this year to the National Health Service Corps. “I realize the great needs of families with language barriers and other extenuating circumstances. I want to be a physician who cares for patients in underserved communities.”

Malave-Diaz received her bachelor’s degree in Microbiology cum laude from USF and completed a master’s degree in interdisciplinary medical sciences at USF this May. A member of USF’s International Health Services Collaborative, she joined medical, nursing, pharmacy, and public health students when the group traveled to the village of Oma, in Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, Panama, for a service project this spring. They provided health care and education in the village’s busy health clinic and built latrines and aqueducts to supply running water to the rural community.

Krist Bowman
Krist Bowman, 30, served four years as an active duty Army combat medic in Fort Hood, TX, where he treated injuries and medical conditions like heat illness suffered by soldiers during battlefield training exercises. His unit was nicknamed “Wolfpack.”

Inspired by the dedication of physicians and physician’s assistants he worked alongside at the army base hospital, he started thinking seriously about becoming a physician. After his assignment at Fort Hood, Bowman served another four years in the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve. On standby for deployment to Iraq, he was not called for duty before his discharge in 2005. While a reservist, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to start earning his bachelor’s degree in biology at USF.

As an undergraduate student, he volunteered as a tutor for the Brain Expansion Scholastic Training (B.E.S.T) headed by Tampa physician Dr. Dexter Frederick. The not-for-profit program, sponsored in part by the USF College of Medicine’s Area Health Education Center, aims to encourage underrepresented youth who aspire to be health professionals. Bowman mentored middle-school students in inner-city Tampa, helping them sharpen their memorization skills with science and anatomy facts, and honing critical thinking by playing chess with them.

As an older, nontraditional medical student, the military veteran says he may bring a different perspective and more finely tuned problem-solving skills to medical school than someone with less life experience. “I’m glad to be here,” Bowman says. “There’s a climate of inclusion at the USF College of Medicine and a drive for excellence that I appreciate.”

Krist Bowman, left, and Aaron Block after the USF White Coat ceremony, a rite of passage marking MD students' entry into a career in medicine.

Aaron Block
A career in health may have been programmed in Aaron Block’s gene pool. Block, 23, has a father who is a family practice physician and served as an administrator for a small Florida hospital. His mother is a dietitian. His extended family includes physicians, nurses, a surgeon and a phlebotomist.

Block, who has elected USF’s dual MD/MPH program, will graduate a year later than his classmates. He’ll complete his requirement for the master’s degree in public health the year following completion of his third-year clerkships, and return to finish his medical coursework in the fifth year.

“I believe the public health degree will broaden my capabilities and help me become a more well-rounded physician,” Block said, adding that the innovative and integrated medical school curriculum is one of the things that appealed to him about at USF.

At its best, Block says, medicine encompasses health – keeping people healthy as well as striving to heal the sick. “It’s not just about science and medications or surgeries,” he said. “It takes into account biological, environmental, psychological, social and lifestyle factors that affect patients and how we care for patients.”

Block earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and physical anthropology with honors from The Ohio State University in 2008. In the months before starting medical school at USF, he worked as a rehab tech at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville, helping nurses and physical therapists with functional therapy and wound care.

# # #

The Class of 2013 files out of the USF Health auditorium, wearing their spanking new white coats. They’ll have to pace themselves to finish the medical school marathon. There will be highs and lows. Still, today, surrounded by proud family and friends, they are full of promise and ready for the challenges ahead. The future of health care awaits.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Jonnie Perez came from Stanford to USF to serve as MD Admissions Director. He's a former pro soccer player.

Eight years ago, the day that Tampa’s only Major League Soccer team, the Tampa Bay Mutiny, folded in 2001 seemed to have little connection to the USF College of Medicine.

But fate works in strange ways, and the collapse of the Mutiny set in motion the events that led soccer midfielder Jonnie Perez, who tried out for the professional soccer team, to a different career -- and, this summer, to become the Director of MD Admissions for the USF College of Medicine.

USF persuaded Perez to leave the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he spent six years as assistant director of admissions before returning to Tampa Bay.

“It was a tough decision, but there’s so much potential here,” said Perez, 39. “I envisioned myself being at Stanford for 20 years. But when this came along, it was one of these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.”

So Perez and his wife, Jessica, their 8-year-old daughter Alya and dog Sasha packed their bags for Tampa. They have fond memories of Tampa: Alya was born at Tampa General.

“Knowing there are leaders like Dr. Klasko, Dr. Monroe, who I could come here and be mentored by” helped tip the balance in USF’s favor, he said.

Perez grew up in Tucson and Indiana, spent some time in the Army and played pro soccer in the USL for the LA Fireballs and the Tucson Amigos, teams in the developmental league for Major League Soccer. He trained in Brazil at the Bauru Futbol Athletic Club. But he also completed his undergraduate and graduate at Indiana University, and was close to an MPH when he got a chance to try out for the Mutiny.

After Perez’s soccer dreams died, he moved to non-profit work, working for the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs as the Director of Individual Services before going to the University of Evansville to work as an Admissions and Outreach Counselor. From there he moved to Stanford. While at Stanford, Perez was involved in establishing a set of best practices for admissions, managing the paperless Medical School Admissions (MESA) web base application, as well as recruiting, marketing, advising, leading admissions student activities, and other duties.

Perez chats with incoming students at a diversity session he helped facilitate.

Now that he’s at USF, Perez plans to enhance the best practices standards for admissions and build a web-based application.

He also thinks that USF’s curriculum will help attract prospective students, with its scholarly concentrations program, interdisciplinary curriculum, renowned faculty, diverse student and patient population and technologically advanced hospital and clinics as well as such new projects at the Lehigh Valley campus.

“We have a fantastic curriculum here,” he said. “It’s evolving in such a distinguished way.”

Of course, with 3,000 applicants for each class of 120 students, USF gets to choose the students that will be the best fit. Perez tries to work with those many applicants by “being a motivator and a realist at the same time,” he said.

The ultimate decisions involve more than just who has the highest GPA or MCAT score, he said.

“We’re looking for students in Florida and nationwide who have strong accomplishments outside the classroom through clinical, leadership, humanism, research, innovation and service experiences,” Perez said.

He’s happy to see applicants from prestigious schools, but he tries to keep his eyes open to see the potential in applicants from elsewhere as well.

“You can’t underestimate the schools that don’t have big names,” he said. “Everyone deserves a chance to have that opportunity – there are always diamonds out there that you have to search for at all schools.”

Perez is looking for new opportunities himself at USF. Although he has completed a Graduate Certificate in Health Studies, he plans to complete his MPH here at USF Health and then pursue a PhD in public health with a focus on rural and international health disparities. He’s optimistic that he can do that and reach his goals for the future of the admissions process.

“Being a dreamer, a visionary… if you think about creating it, it can happen,” he said. “I really believe that.”

Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Dr. David J. Smith, Jr.

Following a national search, David J. Smith, Jr., MD, was recently selected as the new chair of surgery at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

“The chair of such a vitally important USF department is a community asset,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine, when he announced the appointment. “I have every faith that Dr. Smith will continue the upward trajectory of USF Surgery achieved by Dr. Richard Karl and Dr. Larry Carey. He is a proven leader who will help raise the bar for surgical care in Tampa Bay.”

Dr. Smith, professor of surgery and director of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, served as interim chair of surgery since last fall. He holds the Juan Bolivar Endowed Chair in Surgical Oncology, and is recognized for his abilities to perform a variety of intricate difficult surgeries, from hand surgery to breast reconstruction to body contouring after massive weight loss. He has held a variety of national leadership posts, including as president of the American Association of Hand Surgery, chairman of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Plastic Surgery, and president of the American Association of Academic Chairmen of Plastic Surgery.

“An academic surgery department must be known for three things – delivering superb clinical care, providing the highest quality education program possible, and creating benchmark research programs that support the clinical enterprise,” Dr. Smith said. “I will work with our divisions within Surgery to augment all three of those missions in a growing healthcare market.”

Dr. Smith was recruited to USF to direct the medical school’s plastic surgery division in 2004. He came to Tampa from the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, MI, where he headed of the plastic surgery section for 16 years. At USF, he worked quickly to develop a full spectrum of plastic surgery services, both reconstructive and cosmetic. He also established an integrated plastic surgery residency program -- a six-year accredited program that builds a strong general surgery framework while maximizing plastic surgery training.

Dr. Smith’s research focuses on wound healing, particularly as it relates to burn injuries. He has helped elucidate the effect of inflammatory cascades on healing. He has also studied the effects of different wound dressings on the prevalence of infection and on the resulting healing and scar formation. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and several corporations.

Dr. Smith received his MD degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He conducted a residency in general surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, and another in plastic surgery at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis. He completed a fellowship at the Christine Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, KY.

A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Smith is a visiting faculty member at St. Bart’s Medical School, University of London.

Dr. Charles Brock

Charles Brock, MD, a USF Health neurologist specializing in pain management, was recently named the new associate dean of VA Affairs for the USF College of Medicine.

Serving as the college’s primary liaison to the Tampa Bay area’s VA healthcare system, Dr. Brock works closely with Edward P. Cutolo, Jr., MD, chief of staff at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, and George VanBuskirk, MD, chief of staff at Bay Pines VA Medical Center in St. Petersburg. He stepped into a role held nearly 20 years by Peter (Jeff) Fabri, MD, who is retiring as associate dean for graduate medical education at the end of the year and took on VA Affairs in addition to his GME responsibilities.

“I look forward to enhancing the existing educational and clinical research collaborations between USF and our partner VA hospitals and helping foster new ones when the opportunity arises,” Dr. Brock said. “I can only aspire to the success that my mentor Dr. Fabri has had in this role for so many years.”

Dr. Brock, associate professor of neurology, has been chief of Neurology Service at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital since 2001. He has taken on many leadership positions, including as director of USF’s neurology residency program and pain management fellowship program and as medical co-director of the James A. Haley VA’s comprehensive chronic pain rehabilitation program.

A native of Plant City, Dr. Brock obtained his undergraduate degree through USF Honors program and earned the MD degree at USF in 1993. He completed his neurology residency training at USF, serving as chief resident in the final year. He conducted a fellowship in pain management at USF before joining the faculty in 1998, and is board certified in both neurology and pain management. His clinical and research interests include pain management, with a special focus on neuropathic pain syndromes, and multiple sclerosis.

“I often say that USF is training the physician leaders of the future, and Dr. Brock is the living proof. He is a home-grown talent,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO of USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “His expertise in neurology and commitment to improving pain management make him the perfect candidate to ensure that we provide the top-quality care that our veterans deserve.”

The USF College of Medicine began its affiliation with the VA health system in the early 1960s when the Veterans’ Administration, working with area legislators, helped prod the state to build a new medical and nursing school on the USF campus so the schools could share their teaching and treatment resources with the Tampa VA hospital. That partnership continues to strengthen in recent years with Florida’s burgeoning population of veterans and the addition of James A. Haley VA's polytrauma unit, the busiest of four in the VA system to treat a new generation of combat injuries suffered by soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today, 75 percent of the 688 physician residents and fellows at the USF College of Medicine rotate through the college’s affiliated VA hospitals during their residency training here. Approximately 155 USF medical faculty have affiliate or courtesy appointments at James A. Haley VA Hospital and 60 at Bay Pines VA Medical Center.

“It’s a partnership with mutual benefits that extend beyond the Tampa Bay area,” Dr. Brock said. “The VA is invaluable in helping USF prepare medical and nursing students, residents, and ancillary health professionals to deliver excellent clinical care, wherever they end up practicing.”

Dr. Brock lives in Tampa with his wife, Allison, and daughters, Taylor, 5, and Haley, 2.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Dr. Charles Paidas

Charles Paidas, MD, MBA, was recently appointed the associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and executive associate dean for Clinical and Extramural Affairs at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Paidas is professor of surgery and pediatrics and division director of Pediatric Surgery.

“I already have great respect for Dr. Paidas’ talents as a surgeon and leader in his field,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, vice president for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “Now, I’m pleased to see him take on these added leadership duties. His vision and accomplishments are the ideal fit to help us lead the college forward.”

As the new GME associate dean at the college, Dr. Paidas will oversee 688 physicians-in-training across 87 residency/fellowship programs – an operation totaling $49 million.

As executive associate dean, he serves as Dr. Klasko’s senior administrative academic advisor and represents Dr. Klasko at university and outside events when the dean cannot attend. Dr. Paidas will also work closely with Robert Belsole, MD, CEO of the USF Physicians Group and vice dean for Clinical Affairs, to advance clinical operations and the college’s medical mission.
Dr. Paidas steps into the position of GME Associate Dean that was filled for 16 years by Peter (Jeff) Fabri, MD, PhD – the first and only person to hold the job at the medical school. Dr. Fabri has decided to give up his administrative responsibilities at the end of this year.

“It’s an honor to succeed such a fine steward of resident education at USF, and I look forward to consulting with Dr. Fabri,” Dr. Paidas said.

Dr. Paidas will collaborate with Alicia Monroe, MD, the college’s vice dean for Educational Affairs, to build a faculty development program that addresses both graduate and undergraduate medical education. “You cannot graduate outstanding medical residents without a pipeline of quality medical students,” he said. “And faculty development – cultivating superb teachers – is one of first steps in aligning undergraduate medical education with graduate medical education.”

Dr. Paidas joined USF in 2004 to establish the Division of Pediatric Surgery. He came from Johns Hopkins University, where for nearly 20 years he trained and had a successful career as a pediatric surgeon and NIH-funded clinician scientist. While at Hopkins, he also earned a MBA degree.

At USF, Dr. Paidas maintains an active clinical practice and has worked to expand pediatric surgical services with the COM’s primary teaching hospitals. He recruited a critical mass of pediatric surgical faculty, and plans to apply for a fellowship training program in pediatric surgery.

Dr. Paidas has played an active role in the Vice President and Dean’s senior management team and is a member of the COM Executive Management Committee and Finance. He is also program director for general surgery.

Board certified in pediatric surgery, general surgery, and surgical critical care, Dr. Paidas operates an active basic science laboratory in human embryogenesis. His clinical expertise spans all aspects of pediatric surgery with an emphasis on congenital abnormalities of the colon and rectum, chest wall deformities, childhood solid tumors and trauma.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 3, 2009) – The University of South Florida system has asked its dean of public health to lead and mobilize the university's strategic initiatives in global affairs.

After extensive study by a faculty task force, USF President Judy Genshaft, has appointed Donna Petersen, ScD, as the interim executive director of USF World and of the Patel Center for Global Solutions. Petersen is dean of the USF College of Public Health and will launch the new role. She will make recommendations for a permanent position.

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      These are a few of the things Dr. Peter (Jeff) Fabri already plans to start doing next year, when he semi-retires:

      Teach his grandson to ski; work on his boat, his bonsai and his gourmet cooking skills; get to know his soon-to-arrive second grandchild; fish more; listen to all the works of J.S. Bach.

     And, for good measure, learn to play the mandolin.

     To most people, this sounds like an ambitious list of goals.

     Not to Dr. Fabri.

     But then, Dr. Fabri is not most people. He's winding down a multi-faceted career spent as a surgeon, dean and advisor to scores of students. He's the kind of guy who gets a PhD in engineering on the side, is always impeccably dressed, and is an expert sailor to boot. Colleagues describe him as the ultimate Renaissance man.

     So maybe it's not surprising that Dr. Fabri insisted that these are not, in fact, goals.

     "No more goals," he joked. "I have lived all my life with goals."

     We shall think of them as relaxation activities.

    Dr. Fabri training for an around-the-world race.

       Dr. Fabri, 61, who has been associate dean of graduate medical education for 16 years, has decided to give up his administrative responsibilities at the end of the year. He plans to continue work on his research interests about three days a week.

     Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF College of Medicine, praised Dr. Fabri's high standards and reputation for fairness.

     "Jeff's experience and judgment have been an invaluable help to me in moving our graduate programs forward," he said. "Jeff's principled leadership has been the glue that binds these programs together."

     Dr. Fabri is the first and only person to hold the job at the medical school.

     "He put accountability and oversight in place," said Dr. John Curran, associate vice president for academic and faculty affairs, as well as a charter faculty member at USF. "Before that, everyone did their own thing. He changed the culture."

     During that time, Dr. Fabri has overseen and expanded USF's residency programs, which sprawl across Tampa Bay at several different hospitals. He's helped re-institute the medical school's orthopedics residency, which already is getting 500 applicants for four slots. He's won praise from national experts by starting an unusual course in patient safety.

      In addition to his work as a surgeon and serving as the associate dean for veterans' affairs, Dr. Fabri has been a significant national voice for graduate medical education. He's served on many national boards, including the Governing Council of the Section on Medical Schools of the American Medical Association, two steering committees of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and as the Designated Institutional Official to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and to the National Resident Match Program.

     "Jeff is one of the great guys around this place because he's always willing to pitch in to do something to benefit students," said Dr. Steven Specter, associate dean for student affairs.

        Dr. Fabri in the classroom, 1990.

     Dr. Fabri always takes time to help senior medical students who are graduating out of cycle or having trouble finding a residency to match to, Dr. Specter said.

     "Even though his role is with residents, he's always an advocate for students," he said.
When he first became a doctor, Dr. Fabri didn't plan to spend most of his career helping young doctors learn. But when the opportunity arose, he thought it would be a way for him to learn as well.

     "I don't think I've ever turned down an opportunity to learn something new," Dr. Fabri said.

     That chance, some 34 years ago, turned into a career devoted to graduate medical education.

     Dr. Fabri would like to see more teaching that brings together students from different disciplines. During his career, he's mentored medical students and residents. But he's also advised doctoral students in biochemistry, education, psychology, and engineering, as well as graduate students in nursing and physician assistants. He and a colleague recently started an innovative patient safety course open to students from many fields.

      "If you pay attention to what you're doing, all these students have something to contribute - and that is not the way medical education has been taught," Dr. Fabri said. "Medical education has been taught as the exclusive purview of physicians. But I've learned there's a lot we can learn from other people."

     Others have learned a lot from him. Dr. Bryan Bognar, associate professor of internal medicine, has known Dr. Fabri for years as a colleague. But Dr. Bognar also knows Dr. Fabri as a teacher, since he took Dr. Fabri's safety course last year, when he was completing his MPH degree.

     "He's one of the smartest people I know," Dr. Bognar said. "I want to be just like him when I grow up."

      What impresses Dr. Bognar the most is that Dr. Fabri keeps stretching. Dr. Bognar pointed to Dr. Fabri's pursuit of his PhD as an example.

     "He has a way of keeping himself out of his comfort zone," Dr. Bognar said. "It would be so easy for someone like Jeff to sit back and rest on his achievements. Getting his PhD speaks volumes about Jeff."

     Dr. Curran also remarked on the range of Dr. Fabri's talents, calling him "one of the brightest and widest minds at this institution."

     "I call him my favorite Boy Scout," Dr. Curran added. "He always wants to do the right thing."

     Every program has its own challenges, and at USF, that challenge for Dr. Fabri has been running residency programs at so many different hospitals, separated by several miles, each with their own way of doing things.

     "There's a micro-culture at each (hospital) institution," Dr. Fabri said. "So trying to maintain an (educational) institutional culture is very difficult. It requires constant work."

     But what Dr. Fabri is most proud of is achieving that unity of purpose and mission.

     "I believe that we have a real culture of graduate medical education as an institution, that has overcome the geographic boundaries and transcended the differences," he said. "A large part of that is because we have crafted a set of principles that have allowed us to make consistent decisions and have a consistent direction."

      A rare moment: at rest.

     Starting Jan. 1, Dr. Fabri will move in a different direction. He'll cut back to working three days a week, doing research on health systems engineering. He'll study ways to make health care safer, more effective and more efficient.

     "I hope to make a difference," he said.

     And the mandolin?

     Dr. Fabri's sister gave him one - "a very nice mandolin" - as a wedding gift almost 40 years ago. He's kept it for decades without learning to play it.

     "I've never had time," he said.

     We wonder why.

      -- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications

      -- Lead photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications; sailing photos courtesy of Dr. Fabri; classroom photo, USF Health archives

RELATED STORIES:
- Dr. Paidas fills new roles in Graduate Medical Education, Clinical Affairs
- Dr. Brock named Associate Dean for VA Affairs

David Morgan, PhD

David Morgan, PhD, professor of molecular pharmacology and physiology, was recently named chief scientific officer at the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute.

The Byrd Institute this month was legislatively established as a center within USF, and Dr. Morgan will oversee both clinical and basic research at the facility, said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and the Byrd Institute. A leading neuroscientist in the field of Alzheimer’s research, he will also continue his duties as the director of basic neuroscience research for the College of Medicine.

Dr. Morgan said he plans to work with colleagues at USF Health to make progress on three initiatives over the next year:

• Creating a state-of-the-art center for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and using this knowledge to deliver the right drugs to the right patients.

• Building a research team of highly interactive scientists, each of whom works on a different piece of the Alzheimer’s puzzle and understands how to share this expertise with others.

• Starting a patient-dignity initiative that uses students to help patients find their way through the maze of medical offices and procedures and advises patients and families about what to expect during their clinical visits.

Our success will require support from federal, state and private philanthropic sources,” Dr. Morgan said. “We want to create a first-class center for the 21st century that will be ranked among the world’s leading Alzheimer’s research centers – where scientists in our laboratories upstairs can rapidly test their ideas with patients seen in our clinics downstairs.”

Dr. Morgan joined USF in 1992 from the University of Southern California School of Gerontology. He holds a PhD degree in neurobiology from Northwestern University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neurogenerontology at USC.

Working with USF colleagues, Dr. Morgan was instrumental in creating a mouse genetically modified to develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms early in life. Using this Alzheimer’s mouse model, Dr. Morgan’s research focuses on testing therapies that could delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease, determining the role that inflammation plays in the brain, and exploring the development of antibodies to prevent the buildup of beta-amyloid, the substance that clumps into plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. He is a recipient of research grants from the National Institute on Aging and the American Federation of Aging Research. His work has been published in Science, Nature and Journal of Neuroscience.

In other news at the USF Health Byrd Institute:

• Amanda Smith, MD, interim director of the Eric Pfeiffer Suncoast Alzheimer’s and Gerontology Center, is taking on a new role as medical director of the Byrd Institute. She’ll be responsible for the clinical operations there.

• Huntington Potter, PhD, professor of molecular medicine, will continue his work as director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, a statewide project sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and housed at the Byrd Institute.

• A new board has been formed to advise Dr. Klasko on scientific issues. Dr. Clifton Gooch, MD, professor and chair of neurology, will chair the Byrd Institute Scientific Advisory Board. Other board members are Robert Deschenes, PhD; David Diamond, PhD; Francisco Fernandez, MD; Junius Gonzales, Bruce Lindsey, PhD; Dr. Morgan, Huntington Potter, PhD; Paul Sanberg, DSc, PhD, and Dr. Smith.

USF Health Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair

USF Health’s Department of Neurological Surgery and Rehabilitation has been one of the top 10 departments in the nation in attracting research funding, and is now changing its name to reflect its dedication to developing new therapies for patients. The new name, USF Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, reflects USF Health's commitment to high-impact science as the underpinning of health care.

Below is a departmental letter explaining the name change. This department works closely with other clinical departments focused on the brain, including the Department of Neurology, and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine.

USF Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair

Why the name change? The name change from the Department of Neurological Surgery and Rehabilitation to Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair represents the true strength of the department, which is harnessing a balanced approach between its clinical mission and its research expertise in clinical, translational, and basic research and education.

With 12 full-time neurosurgeons based at USF-Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and 12 full-time research faculty members housed in the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair (CABR), the blended departmental name of these two collaborative entities demonstrates to the College and University the unity of the CABR with USF Neurosurgery. This name change fits the description of our department as one of the most distinct clinical and basic science neurosurgical departments in the nation. It highlights the department’s core interest in treating brain disorders, capturing the current worldwide theme of translational research, especially focused on the field of regenerative medicine emphasizing the use of neurosurgical tools for brain repair.

Indeed, the theme of neurosurgery and brain repair epitomizes the roadmap of hot topic research areas solicited by NIH, VA, DOD and other federal agencies and private foundations. Our goal is to attract and train prospective medical students, residents, fellows and faculty members who have interest in developing their career in a department with a solid clinical faculty and a strong research arm. Equally important, drawing from our milestone achievements in lab-to-clinic cell-based neurosurgical therapies for Parkinson’s disease and stroke, we envision continuing our leading role in introducing safe and effiective treatments for brain disorders, thereby saving lives and improving the quality of daily living for patients who otherwise face a fatal or morbid prognosis.

In summary, the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair appeals to academia, as well as the public and media, to recognize our department as a unique nurturing environment for physicians and scientists in advancing evidence-based applications of cutting-edge laboratory discoveries to the clinic.

Harry van Loveren, MD
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair

Paul R. Sanberg, PhD, DSc
Director, Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

- Photo by Matthews Photography, Inc.

The entire campus of USF Health is going smoke-free, starting Nov. 19, the same day as the annual Great American Smoke-Out.

But the signs announcing the pending ban went up last week, making the end all but official.

Sign installer Bill Gaw posts the news.

"We're doing this because we are a health institution, and promoting a smoke-free environment at USF Health is perceived to be one more instance of USF Health promoting good health habits," said Steven Specter, PhD, associate dean for student affairs and leader of a task force to implement the ban.

The task force also is publicizing programs to help smokers kick the habit, said Leila Martini, assistant director of tobacco prevention and cessation for USF's Area Health Education Center Program.

"It's hard to quit, so we're trying to help them," she said. "We're trying to make it as easy as possible."

The push to move smoking off campus started with medical students who were disturbed by the contradiction of a school promoting health yet allowing unhealthy behavior, Dr. Specter said. Around the same time, AHEC received funds to put together a smoking cessation program.

The students also are working on a plan to lobby legislators for outdoor smoking to be banned on medical school campuses, Dr. Specter said.

State law already bars smoking indoors in most public places.

The ban will extend around the entire USF Health campus. That means the Colleges of Nursing, Medicine and Public Health, but also patient care spaces, such as the Morsani Center, the Children's Medical Services building, and the medical clinic; and outlying buildings, such as the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute.

The ban will extend the smoke-free area on the USF campus. Last year, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute enacted a smoking ban on its campus.

However, the ban will be enforced gently. There will be no smoking police. Instead, if people are seen smoking on campus, they will be given a business-size card explaining the ban and listing phone numbers for smoking cessation programs.

So far, Dr. Specter hasn't heard directly from anyone opposed to the ban. He approached one of his employees, a smoker, and asked him about it.

"His response was, ‘I'll just have to not smoke here,' " Dr. Specter said. "I'm sure there are some smokers who are unhappy, but nobody's come forward."

Task force member Gary Stein, MPH, tobacco programs coordinator for the Hillsborough County Health Department, praised USF Health for enacting the ban.

"Tobacco is the only thing sold in the U.S. that, when used as directed, kills its user," he said. "USF Health, by its name and its nature, is the harbinger of health. It doesn't make sense for USF Health to facilitate the use of tobacco."

Other members of the task force are: Dr. Mathis Becker; Dr. Dennis Penzell; Danielle Schutz; Dr. Lonna Gordon, a 2009 graduate of the College of Medicine; Dr. Daniel Mauriello, a 2008 graduate; and medical student Byron Moran.

******
Need help quitting?

The task force is referring smokers to these programs:

Florida Quit Line 1-877-U-CAN-NOW
USF Employee Assistance Center 974-5469
USF Counseling Center 974-2831
USF Student Health Services 974-2331
Florida Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network 1-87-QUIT-NOW-6 (1-877-848-6696)

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Dennis Ledford, MD, a professor of medicine and pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at USF Health and the James A. Haley VA Medical Center, is scheduled to speak about “Asthma In and Out of Pregnancy” on the July 12 Focus on Females show.

In addition to Dr. Hoyte and Dr. Ledford, dermatologist Mary Lien, MD, and gastroenterologist H. Juergen Nord, MD, have represented USF Health on past shows.

The radio healthcare program is intended to help consumers become informed about their individual medical problems, through dynamic and interactive educational programs. Physician guests answer real questions and provide practical, ready-to-use information on a wide variety of topics, the program’s website says. “Participation empowers families to better partner with their doctors.”

If you’d like to have your case discussed, call the show between 12:30 and 1 p.m, or call in during the show to ask a question or comment. In Hillsborough, call 813-289-1860, and anywhere else toll free, 877-969-8600. Podcasts of past shows are available at www.focusonfemales.com/radio.php, and shows are also streamed live from that site.

Barbara Morris, assistant director of the SMART Institute, presents Coach of the Year Award to Gaither HS Coach Thomas Payne.

The Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma Institute held its first annual SMART Appreciation Event for coaches, parents, athletic trainers and their families June 2 at the USF Health Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare. Inaugural awards were presented for Coach of the Year, Parent of the Year, and Comeback Athlete of the Year to those receiving the most nominations from the SMART certified athletic trainers working in the Hillsborough County high schools.

Thomas Payne, a defensive backs football coach for Gaither High School, was recognized as 2009 Coach of the Year. This award was given to a coach who supported the school’s athletic trainer, allowed them to complete their responsibilities and accepted decisions regarding student athletes’ health.

“Coach Payne truly understood the importance of an athletic trainer in the secondary setting and supported the SMART sports safety mission,” said Barbara Morris, MS, ATC, assistant director of the SMART Institute. “He donated large amounts of athletic training supplies to Vicki Kean, the SMART ATC at Gaither. And, during the fall sports banquet, he left during the ceremony to search for a florist so that Vicki and her USF athletic training student could be presented with flowers as a token of the team’s appreciation.”

Chap Celerin, a parent from Brandon High School, was named Parent of the Year for supporting the delivery of athletic training services to the school’s student athletes. Celerin was cited for enthusiastically and quickly assisting the SMART athletic trainer at Brandon, without interfering with the athletic trainer’s job responsibilities.

Demetrice Devlin, a student at Blake High School, won the Comeback Athlete of the Year award. Devlin suffered a potentially career-ending injury during the third football game of the season, and through hard work, dedication, a positive attitude and proper rehabilitation guidance from SMART athletic trainer Sharvettye Frazier, he returned to play the last few games of the season.

Attendees had the opportunity to meet USF Health orthopedic surgeons and USF Bulls team physicians and to tour the Morsani Center.

Morris with Parent of the Year Chap Celerin (Brandon HS)

Morris with Comeback Athlete of the Year Demetrice Devlin, a student at Blake HS.

A contributing editor to Flying, Dr. Karl is an avid pilot type rated in the Boeing 737. In the recent issue’s “Gear Up” column he writes about new experiences in both is new job and newfound leisure time.

For full article, click here.

"Until now, and I am delighted to see the University of South Florida changing that, it's not the way we have taught," said Dr. Leape as he gave Friday's commencement address. "In teams, you create a product much better than the sum of its parts."

Dr. Leape, an adjunct professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, is one of the founders of the National Patient Safety Foundation and an author of the landmark 1999 Institute of Medicine report on medical errors. He has written more than 125 papers on quality of care and patient safety.

Dr. Leape praised USF Health for having medicine, public health, nursing and physical therapy under one roof.

Teamwork is so important that only the founding principle of the patient safety movement ranks before it, Dr. Leape told the graduates. Throughout his career, Dr. Leape has stressed that the blame for medical errors should not fall on individual health providers. Instead, medical errors often are rooted in system failures.

"The driving concept in patient safety is that people make errors because they're human, but not because they're bad," Dr. Leape said.

Dr. Lucian Leape chats Friday morning with USF leaders at the graduation breakfast. L to R: Dr. Louis Saco, CEO and chairman of the Watson Clinic; Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine; Dr. Leape; and Dr. Peter J. Fabri, associate dean of graduate medical education.

In an interview before his speech, Dr. Leape praised USF Health for its innovation in starting an interdisciplinary course on patient safety last year.

"This has been the big learning," Dr. Leape said. "Safety comes from people working together in teams, where everybody brings a different perspective. It's something we haven't done in the past."

The course is co-directed by Dr. Peter J. Fabri, associate dean of graduate medical education, and Jay Wolfson, USF associate vice president of health law, policy and safety.

Dr. Leape began his address by charging USF's graduates to remember that their work is "a sacred trust."

"It is your responsibility to justify that trust," he told them.

Dr. Leape, who graduated from medical school 50 years ago this month, said his generation didn't foresee how critical and far-reaching the problem of medical errors would be. But now, he said, he hopes this generation of graduates can envision a time when medical errors will no longer happen.

"You are coming into the profession at a time when we have more power than ever before to do more good than ever before," he said.

Dr. Leape prepares for the USF College of Medicine commencement ceremony.

Already, Dr. Leape said, he sees hospitals who have worked so hard on patient safety that their patients do not get central line infections or ventilator-associated pneumonia.

"We know that safe health care is not yet within our grasp," he said. "It is within our sight."

--- Story and photos by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications

When it comes to caring for patients, Dr. Stephen Klasko is an impatient man.

He wants to give patients the kind of care that everyone else will be providing 10 years from now.

Today.

As the CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF College of Medicine, Dr. Klasko is in charge of educating tomorrow’s doctors, nurses and public health professionals. But he has another mission as well: improving the care that USF doctors and health care providers give to patients.

When USF began to talk about renovating its health clinic, Dr. Klasko decided that wasn’t enough. He didn’t want to provide the same kind of care a little bit better. He wanted to give USF Health patients a whole new kind of care.

“We’re not going to do the same old thing,” Dr. Klasko said. “We’re going to build the center for the future.”

That idea eventually bloomed into two new centers for patients. The Carol & Frank Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare opened last summer, and the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare opened in 2007. They’re the embodiment of Dr. Klasko’s vision to provide care that is built around the patient’s needs.

First, Dr. Klasko wanted USF to treat patients according to their medical needs, rather than by the school’s faculty departments.

“Patients don’t view their lives as departments,” he said. “If you have a headache, you don’t know whether you have a neurologic headache, a family practice headache, a psychiatric headache or a neurosurgical headache. But in Tampa, you’d have to go to four different doctors to find that out.”

He talks about all this with the zeal of a missionary. Dr. Klasko is a high-energy guy: he talks fast, and with conviction, ready to convert everyone to his cause. When he talks, he’s rarely still. He rolls his chair, taps his foot.

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

Now approaching his five-year anniversary leading the medical school, Dr. Klasko has built a reputation as an innovator. He came to USF in 2004 after serving as dean at the Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Klasko holds an MBA as well as an MD and advocates an entrepreneurial approach to medicine.

Dr. Klasko has been known to use unconventional means to make a point. He’s the co-author of a book, The Phantom Stethoscope, designed to help doctors understand the business side of medicine. It features a medical resident who has been abducted by aliens, then returned to earth.

“He’s a breath of fresh air,” said Dr. Bill Dalton, CEO of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, the nationally-ranked cancer center next door to the medical school. “He’s very, very patient-oriented, but he’s also physician-oriented. He looks at what makes it easier for the physician to do their job and deliver it to the patient.”

As an OB/GYN, it especially irks Dr. Klasko that many women have to go to their annual gynecological exam, get a prescription there for a mammogram, make a separate appointment for that exam, and then wait for days to hear the results.

“It takes nine days to get a mammogram done,” for many patients, he noted.

At the Morsani Center, patients don’t have to make separate appointments at different locations for testing. Instead, it’s one-stop shopping – and one appointment instead of three.

The Carol and Frank Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare

The way the new centers are set up makes it easier for doctors to consult with each other about a patient’s care, said David L. Keefe, MD, chair of USF’s Ob/Gyn Department.

“I’ll see a patient and become aware she needs to see one of my colleagues, and I’ll pop around the corner” and ask that doctor to stop by, Dr. Keefe said. “You can see the patient feels a tremendous sense of relief, for not being tossed around. Hopefully, we can navigate them through in a smooth way.”

Similarly, Dr. Klasko has changed some of USF’s key specialties to organize them around the medical treatment, rather than a department.

USF’s division of cardiovascular services, for example, includes cardiologists and surgeons. Its sports medicine program includes orthopedists, family practitioners trained in sports medicine, and physical therapists.

During his first year at USF, Dr. Klasko also re-organized the health colleges to bring medicine, nursing and public health closer together. The new enterprise was dubbed USF Health. It encourages faculty members from different colleges to work on joint research projects and requires students to take classes in different colleges.

South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare

The next addition to USF Health will be a Doctor of Pharmacy program, approved in January by the state’s Board of Governors. USF hopes to enroll the first students in Fall 2011.

Like USF’s other new enterprises, the pharmacy program looks forward. Students will learn to use electronic prescriptions and medical records. It’s part of Dr. Klasko’s commitment to extending the use of electronic prescribing. He’s also working on a project to help teach Tampa Bay doctors how to use e-prescribing software.

Dr. Dalton likes Klasko’s approach to the e-prescribing effort.

“Doctors are notoriously very conservative, and frankly not risk-oriented when it comes to trying new things,” Dr. Dalton said. “But Steve is very good at communicating what (e-prescribing) tries to do.”

REACHING HIGHER

At times, Dr. Klasko’s passion for change has ruffled feathers. His pursuit of building a hospital for USF has drawn fire from some community hospital leaders in Tampa Bay, who say it would take business from theirs. Dr. Klasko, however, says such a hospital would improve health care for Tampa Bay residents and draw patients, researchers and biotech industries to the area.

“Our mission is to be the driver for making the community healthier,” he said. “We will raise the bar for health care in Tampa Bay.”

Dr. Klasko shares his vision with Drs. Michael and Anna Parsons at the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare opening.

That drive for excellence has helped Dr. Klasko attract doctors from top medical schools around the country. Over the past few years, he’s brought in leading faculty members from the Cleveland Clinic, the University of California San Diego, and Brown University.

Dr. Keefe, for example, came to USF in 2005 from Brown, where he was an associate professor and the director of Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence and at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.

It turns out that Dr. Keefe became aware of Klasko’s work years earlier, when he read The Phantom Stethoscope and became a fan.

“That kind of energy and passion and vision are all too rare in health care today,” Dr. Keefe said. “The dean’s approach is a blueprint of what’s laid out for us. It fits the challenges we face” to reform health care.

STALKING A KILLER

One of Dr. Klasko’s top priorities for USF Health is to reshape the treatment of one of the nation’s leading killers: diabetes.

He wants to build on the success of one of USF’s leading researchers, Jeffrey Krischer, PhD. Dr. Krischer, who holds the Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research, has won $389 million in federal grant funding for epidemiological research into the causes of Type 1 diabetes, as well as ways to prevent and cure the disease.

USF is working to expand its clinical research, expand its existing diabetes education center, and establish a center that will provide diabetes patients with the best possible care.

Diabetes patients often see 8 or 9 different doctors who don’t communicate with each other, and research has shown that only about 55 percent receive appropriate care, Klasko pointed out. Such gaps can mean extra expense, such as different doctors repeating the same test. But they can also mean that needed preventive care, such as a simple annual eye exam, gets missed, and the opportunity to spot a serious medical problem early is lost.

“We can improve quality and lower costs at the same time,” Dr. Klasko said.

Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine was the first USF Health clinic to move in and set up shop on the third floor of the Morsani Center.

Ultimately, Dr. Klasko wants USF to build a hospital that specializes in diabetes care – an unusual move that would make Tampa Bay “one of the centers of the world in diabetes care,” he said.

It’s an ambitious list: transforming USF’s diabetes care, winning community support for such a hospital, and finding money to build it. Dr. Klasko knows none of it will be easy. But as a long-time marathon runner, he’s fond of quoting from an Adidas sneaker campaign: “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion... Impossible is nothing.”

Dr. Klasko is training for a marathon now. He refuses to give up the sport, despite the limits on his time and the pain of three knee surgeries.

“There’s 90 million excuses to not finish it, but there’s no reason you can’t,” he said. “The harder it gets, the more I recognize how important it is to do.”

He brings the same lessons to leading USF Health.

“When you think about what we owe our patients, what we owe our community,” Dr. Klasko said. “The more I realize that we have to push harder.”

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Now USF has taken the step of establishing a new policy that governs the interactions between members of the USF Health community (faculty, residents, staff, students, etc) and pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

The new guidelines were formally adopted April 9. Among the issues clearly addressed are gifts and meals, samples, clinical site access by pharmaceutical and device representatives, outside speaking and consulting relationships, and interactions with pharmaceutical and industry representatives in educational settings.

“I deeply appreciate the critical role USF faculty play in evaluating new medications and educating our patients and students about them,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “In a future of pharmacogenetics, we cannot separate ourselves from the critique, testing and evaluations of medications in an evidence-based practice. At the same time, faculty at all medical schools need to ensure that relationships with for-profit health entities are disclosed, approved and managed.”

It’s easy. It protects you from embarrassment. It’s required.

The new USF policy comes in the context of a national push by the public, policymakers and medical leaders for academic health centers to play a leadership role exerting tighter controls on ties between physicians and drug and device makers. Since 2007 the American Medical Student Association, through its PharmFree Scorecard, has graded medical schools across the country on the presence or absence of policies addressing conflict of interests that may arise from industry marketing.

Medical students were an integral part of creating the new USF guidelines, which were also developed by faculty and leaders, said John Curran, MD, associate vice president for Faculty and Academic Affairs at USF Health. “Students stimulate the faculty to think in new ways about educating tomorrow’s doctors about best practices.”

For more information on the new USF guidelines, click here.

This is just one of many motivational phrases, along with some strong determination, helping more than five dozen USF Health employees stay on track with Weight Watchers at Work, an on-site program that started here in January as part of the USF Health Wellness initiative.

The 17-week program gives USF Health employees a more convenient option for connecting with one of the most successful and longest-running weight loss programs around.

Each week, participants weigh in to track their progress and hear ideas and tips about staying focused on their goals. Meetings are held on the USF campus and at the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare, and are led by Mandelyn Hutcherson, who lost more than 65 pounds herself using Weight Watchers. At these weekly meetings, she is part counselor and part cheerleader to USF Health program participants, helping them get over hurdles and celebrating accomplishments.

“It’s not work for me, that’s for sure,” Hutcherson said. “And these meetings help keep me highly accountable.”

Mandelyn Hutcherson leads Weight Watchers at Work meetings at USF Health.

Milestones are celebrated, including losing 5 and 10 percent of body weight. In fact, so far, almost half of the 69 USF Health employees who started the Weight Watchers at Work program in early January have already lost 5 percent of their body weight. Nine employees have lost 10 percent of their body, and one member has already reached her goal weight.

“The numbers continue to astound me,” Hutcherson said. “Members from the two USF Health meetings combined have already lost nearly 700 pounds. At this rate, they might even reach a cumulative weight loss of 2,000 pounds or a ton this calendar year!”

The next 17-week session is scheduled to begin on May 5 at the South Tampa Center and May 6 at USF Health. For more information about signing up, visit http://health.usf.edu/wellness/weight_watchers.htm or contact USFWellness@health.usf.edu.

What Mandelyn wants you to know about Weight Watchers at Work:
• Weight Watchers is the number one doctor-recommended weight loss program and has 45 years of experience helping members around the world lose weight.
• Think there are lots of steps and details to keep up with in order to succeed? Wrong. With the new Momentum plan, there are two simple things to remember: make wiser food choices and track what you eat.
• Missed the January start? No excuse because you can join at any time, paying for the remaining weeks of the 17-week session.

MEMBER SUCCESSES

Rebecca Staropoli, Department of Ob/Gyn
“With Weight Watchers, I don’t feel like I’m on a diet, being denied anything or being punished like with other diets.”
Total weight lost to date: 25 pounds

Melissa Leggat, College of Nursing
“The convenience of these meetings is a huge factor. They are motivating and are an incentive for succeeding.”
Total weight lost to date: 24 pounds

New Weight Watchers at Work Series Begins in May
The two 17-week series are scheduled to begin as follows:
• Tues., May 5, in STC5051C at USF Health South Tampa Center
• Wed., May 6, in Room 2005 at College of Nursing
Weekly meetings will be held April through August with confidential weigh-ins starting at 11:45 a.m. and the meetings beginning at 12:15 p.m.

Sign Up/Information Sessions
Attend a meeting or the information session to register: Information sessions are scheduled:
• Tues., April 21, in STC5051C at USF Health South Tampa Center
• Weds., April 22, in Room 2005 at College of Nursing
11:45 – Confidential weigh-ins start / 12:15 – 12:45 – Meeting time / Information session near conclusion of meeting.
Didn't have a chance to attend an information session to register? Faculty, staff and students can still register either by attending a meeting or by sending an e-mail to USFWellness@health.usf.edu. Don't forget to bring your checks or credit card for payment!

General Information about Weight Loss Program at USF Health
Program Length 17-week series (1 meeting per week)
Enrollee Costs • New series beginning in May: $186
                      or
• $10.94 per week for remaining weeks through April 29th
Payment Options • Cash
• Check (please date the check May 5 and make it out to Weight Watchers)
• Credit Card
• Split Payment by check (3 checks of $62, make all payable May 5, however the checks will be deposited at the beginning of each month of the series: the first one beginning of May, the second beginning of June and the final beginning of July.)

Length of Meetings: 15-30 min pre-meeting confidential weigh-in, then a 30 min meeting. Total: 45-60 Minutes.

11:45 – Confidential weigh-ins start
12:15 – 12:45 – Meeting time
Start Dates: South Tampa Center: Tues., May 5, STC 5051C, and College of Nursing: Weds., May 6, Room 2005

David Leffers, MD

University of South Florida orthopedic surgeon David Leffers, MD, a widely-recognized authority in sports medicine, has been appointed chair of the USF Health Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.

Dr. Leffers takes over for Robert Pedowitz, MD, who established and led the fledgling department through its pivotal growth during his two-year tenure. Dr. Pedowitz has accepted a position as Orthopaedic Surgery Chair at his alma mater, the University of California-Los Angeles, which has a nationally ranked top 10 medical school.

“There are many heroes in the story of orthopedics at USF, Dr. Leffers and Dr. Pedowitz among them,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “Four years ago USF Athletics Director Doug Woolard made it clear he wanted USF doctors to be the team doctors for the USF Bulls. To make that happen Dr. Leffers joined the College of Medicine. Dr. Pedowitz arrived to build the department, and Dr. Doug Letson built the new residency program, which became an instant success. I can’t thank all of them enough.”

“USF and the Tampa Bay community are my home. I welcome the challenge of working with an excellent group of faculty to advance the department, building upon the solid foundation established by Dr. Pedowitz,” Dr. Leffers said. “Moving forward, we will further strengthen our residency program directed by Dr. Letson and our relationships with community partners.”

Dr. Leffers, who has a longstanding affiliation with the USF College of Medicine, joined the faculty full-time as an associate professor in 2006. A team physician for the USF Bulls since 1984, he has cared for professional and amateur athletes and teams across the Tampa Bay area. He is among the core group of faculty who worked with Dr. Pedowitz to create the Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.

Among the accomplishments of this faculty in building an integrated orthopaedics and sports medicine initiative:

• Accreditation of the USF Orthopaedic Surgery Residency training program, which was re-established after 15 years without an orthopedic training program in the Tampa Bay region. The program has expanded from six to 16 residents since July 2007 and attracts top applicants from across the country. Orthopaedic residents train at several facilities that had not previously hosted any USF residency programs (University Community Hospital, Lakeland Regional Hospital/Watson Clinic, St. Joseph’s Hospital) along with traditional teaching partners (Tampa General Hospital, the VA System and All Children’s Hospital). In addition to the residency, the USF Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship, one of few in the state, has been accredited.

• The USF Athletic Training and Education Program (ATEP), previously housed in the College of Education, was integrated into the Department. The undergraduate athletic training program is the first in the country housed in an orthopaedics department. The program recently underwent its accreditation site visit and passed with an exemplary review under the guidance of Program Director Micki Cuppett, EdD. All positions have been filled for the upcoming academic year from a highly-qualified candidate pool.

• The USF Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma (SMART) program continues its push to improve sports safety statewide under the direction of Executive Director Jeff Konin, PhD, ATC, PT, vice chair of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. SMART has placed 10 full-time certified athletic trainers in area high schools that previously had no formal health care available for student athletes. They are collecting data for a Sports Injury Surveillance Registry that will facilitate vital studies needed to prevent injuries in young athletes.

• The department has led the way in using the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare, for surgery and for collaborating with the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences to create a comprehensive sports health team.

• The department’s basic science core, developed under the leadership of David Birk, PhD, provides a strong pathway for interdisciplinary, high-impact musculoskeletal research at USF. This program will exploit the cutting-edge resources provided by the Lisa Muma Weitz Advanced Microscopy and Cell Imaging Core.

Dr. Leffers obtained his medical degree from the University of Tennessee and completed his residency training at the University of Southern California, followed by fellowship training in sports medicine at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in California. He is a member of the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Orthopedics Society of Sports Medicine, the National Athletic Trainers Association and the Southern Orthopedic Association.

“Dr. Leffers will lead a department with stellar faculty and a bright future,” Dr. Klasko said. “We look forward to continuing to establish the worldwide reputation of orthopaedics and sports medicine at USF.”

Barbara Morris, MS, ATC, CSCC, ROT, assistant program director of USF Health’s Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma (SMART) Institute, won the organization’s Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year award. The award is given to an athletic trainer who has displayed a high level of professionalism and whose contributions have improved the profession above and beyond their employment setting. Morris, who teaches in the USF Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine’s Athletic Training Education Program, is a certified athletic trainer, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, and a registered orthopaedic technologist. She oversees the SMART Outreach Program, which provides ATC coverage and care to Tampa Bay area high schools.

Morris is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the Southeastern Athletic Trainer's Association, the Florida Athletic Trainer's Association, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the American Society of Orthopaedic Professionals. She earned a master's of science degree from the University of Central Arkansas, specializing in kinesiology, and is working on a doctorate in health sciences from Nova Southeastern University.

Gianluca Del Rossi, PhD, ATC, was selected as the ATAF’s College/University Athletic Trainer of the Year. The award is given to a college or university athletic trainer who displays a high level of professionalism and whose contributions have improved the profession and the ATAF. Dr. Del Rossi, who teaches in the Athletic Training Education Program, is an assistant professor in USF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and director of Sports Medicine Research.

He earned his PhD in Athletic Training and Sports Medicine from the University of Florida and has been a certified athletic trainer for more than 10 years. He chairs the Scholarship Committee of the Southeastern Athletic Trainers' Association and is the Florida representative of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Research and Education Foundation.

The University of South Florida College of Public Health has lined up a full week of events and activities for 2009 National Public Health Week, from March 27 through April 7, which is World Health Day.

Taking a cue from the national celebration with its theme “Building the Foundation for a Healthy America,” COPH is kicking off the week with a focus on youth in a public health teach-in. The week also includes activities centered around wellness with a fun walk and health fair on March 27 featuring Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999 and a USF alumna.

These are just a few of the many options taking place. Click here to check out the full schedule of USF's Public Health Week activities.

Donna Petersen, (far right) ScD, dean of the College of Public Health, and Miss America 1999 Nicole Johnson (second from right), a USF alumna, led a Fun Walk around the college's campus, ending with a health fair outside the Chiles Center (below).

- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications (top) and Ellen Kent

Janine Overcash, PhD, ARNP

In teaching nursing students the intricacies of doing patient assessments, Janine Overcash, PhD, ARNP, makes it clear that the typical patient is not what is depicted on Grey's Anatomy. "Older patients are the primary consumers of health care services. I try to sensitize student to the fact that much of the time, as a nurse in a hospital setting, that's who they will be seeing," says Overcash, an assistant professor of nursing at USF Health.

In addition, if current demographic trends continue, cancer will become primarily a disease of older individuals, she says. And that means nursing students must focus on combining the principles of caring for the elderly with the special circumstances involved in caring for the older person with cancer — Overcash’s area of expertise, as well as her passion.

“I have always wanted to be a nurse,” says Overcash. “I became interested in aging and care of older adults while in high school volunteering in a nursing home.” During graduate school at USF, she conducted research in aging and advancing nursing care of the older adult, specifically geriatric assessment, and working at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center focused her on geriatric oncology. The recipient of a prestigious Hartford Foundation post-doctoral fellowship, Overcash has published widely on topics including aging, the role of the nurse in geriatric oncology, older women with breast cancer, constructing comprehensive geriatric assessments and geriatric nursing protocols for best practice.

Overcash says that the curriculum in USF’s College of Nursing is demanding, but students are highly motivated and committed to achievement. She particularly enjoys teaching undergraduates and sharing stories about her experiences as a young nurse. “We work hard but we laugh a lot, too.”

That sense of camaraderie along with an office door that is always open to students enables Overcash to carry out what she believes is one of the most important roles of a university professor — mentorship — including modeling a positive outlook towards the nursing profession. “One of the first things my students hear me say is how much I love nursing.”

She also loves her teaching at USF. “USF provides the tools for academic success for students as well as faculty,” she says. “It’s an energetic and positive place to work.”

http://www.health.usf.edu/nocms/publicaffairs/now/FLV/Match_Day_2009_proposal.flv

Julie Contes stood in front of the Match Day crowd at Skipper's Smokehouse Thursday and opened the envelope that would determine her future.

And then she froze.

Contes stood quiet for so long that her mother wondered why she didn't just speak up, and tell everyone where her residency would be.

But Contes just stared, her eyes welling with tears.

The crowd didn't know, but Contes was looking at a piece of paper that only looked like the real thing. "Congratulations, you have matched," it began, under official-looking letterhead.

"Program name: Love. Institution: Marriage."

Under that, two words, three question marks.

Dr. Steven Specter, associate dean for student affairs, gently prompted her: "Read it, Julie," he said.

But he's not here, she wanted to say.

She read aloud the two words on the page.

"Marry me."

Skipper's erupted in cheers and applause, as Contes' boyfriend, 2006 USF College of Medicine graduate Johnny Gibbs, strode to the front, holding out The Box.

More cheers, as he went down on one knee. Contes was shaking so hard that Gibbs could hardly put the ring on her finger.

But then, she had thought Gibbs was in Texas, on call as an orthopedics resident.

"Oh my God," she said. More tears. More applause.

Gibbs took months to plan the proposal. After three years of long-distance dating, he wanted Contes to know that he hoped to marry her no matter where in the country that Match Day sent her. And he wanted it to be a complete surprise.

First he called Dr. Specter, to make sure he felt it would be appropriate. Then Gibbs bought the ring, three months in advance.

Then there were the elaborate apologies to Contes for having to miss Match Day, and the lies about how he tried to get somebody to cover his shift. In Texas, the plans for what to say if Contes called the hospital ("He's in surgery.") Finally the trip here, and hiding out in the car outside Skipper's to make sure she didn't spot him beforehand.

Gibbs had it all arranged, right down to making sure that Contes' name would be eleventh in line - her lucky number.

So after all that, the real envelope was a little anti-climactic. But with the crowd still cheering, Contes finally opened that one too. It held more good news: She'll do her anesthesiology residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. That means she and Gibbs will finally be together.

As the couple walked away from the stage, Specter gave the final verdict.

I don't think most of you heard her answer, he told the crowd.

It was yes.

-- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
-- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
-- Filmed and Edited by Jean-Rene Rinvil, USF Health Communications

RELATED ARTICLES:
- The waiting is the hardest part
- USF COM Class of 2009 Match Results
- National Residency Match Program, 2009 Stats

Sitting on a couch with a kitchen set in the background, the panel of moms chats about the on-going challenges parents face while raising their children, including homework, bullying and nutrition issues.

Dr. Glass was selected from the hundreds who auditioned for the series, which is filmed in Orlando.

In addition to Dr. Glass, who is a child psychiatrist in Tampa and a volunteer faculty member with the USF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the panel includes a teacher, another physician and a stay-at-home mom, all from the Orlando area.

“We all talk from a parent’s perspective,” Dr. Glass said. “We pull some ideas from our professions and include helpful tips in our conversations, but don’t speak as ‘doctor’ or ‘teacher.’ Our voices are as parents.”

The moms also vary in the educational choices they are making for their children, with two choosing public schools, one choosing private religious school, and the fourth choosing homeschooling.

This variety of backgrounds and educational choices brings variety to the conversations and seems to help offer multiple options for tackling parenting challenges.

Short biographies, also on the web site, help the web audience get to know each of the moms a bit more. So far, segments have touched on homework tips and bullying. A blog on the web site helps keep the conversation going.

So what was it like for Dr. Glass, who doesn’t have a background in broadcast media, to audition, go on a studio set, and allow cameras into her home to film her husband and two daughters?

“It’s been a blast,” Dr. Glass said. “The concept is working women with different backgrounds sharing ideas and experiences to help other parents. And my family is enjoying it, too.”

Dr. Glass graduated from the USF College of Medicine in 2000. She completed her general adult psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the USF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, where she served as chief resident for both programs.  Her husband is Frank Glass, MD, professor in the USF Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery.

The waiting is almost over. The crowd has all packed into Skipper's Smokehouse - medical  students, their husbands, wives, parents, even a few babies.

The air hums with expectation.

Soon they will know. And they will celebrate the next stage in their lives on the long journey to becoming a doctor.

"This has just been a long day in coming," says student Jessica Keshishian. "It sort of symbolizes the culmination of everything."

Even if the news isn't what they want to hear.

But soon they will know.

Over 57 years, Match Day has become a quirky tradition at medical schools across the country. On the same day, nearly 30,000 young people find out whether they will receive graduate medical training in the program of their choice.

All at once, they will know: their hopes fulfilled or their dreams crushed.

***
Jonathan and Jessica Kesheshian talk about the couples match...

It's Wednesday, and in one more day, they will know.

"It's a mixed emotion of being excited and being nervous," says student Lonna Gordon. "You worry about, ‘Did I make the right decision?'...But it's out of my hands. It's in God's hands at this point."

Gordon is seeking a residency in pediatrics. She's waiting to see whether she'll get her top choice, the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston. She loves the history of the city and the closeness to the beach. Next on the list: Orlando Health, Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, and USF.

By now, most students know they have matched somewhere . The question is whether it's where they want to be. Each year, a few days before Match Day, the students who haven't matched to a program are told in advance, giving them a few days to "scramble" for the open spots in residency programs around the country.

Everyone is thinking about it, but talking about it can be awkward.

"It's a very public thing, but at the same time, it's a very private thing," Gordon says. "Some people don't want to say where their top choice is."

For Jessica and Jonathan Keshishian, the anxiety is doubled. They're the only married couple in the class, so they're seeking two spots in the same program: USF, the University of Florida, or Orlando Health.

"The match is scary," Jessica says.

Jonathan jokes that he has no worries. Jessica is so smart, he says, that he can go anywhere.

"I love being couples matched to her," he says. "Anywhere I want to go will be like, ‘Oh,yeah, you can come, just because we want your wife.' "

***
The Day arrives for Jonathan and Jessica...

The day arrives, and the waiting is almost done. Student Jason Jennings is shooting for the stars. He wants to go into orthopedics, which has become one of the nation's most popular specialties. And his first choice is Duke, one of the nation's top programs. Jennings didn't set out to pick a competitive specialty; he was a physical therapist before med school, so it was a natural choice.

Now, at Skipper's, he's philosophical.

"You just do what you can do, and everything will take care of itself," he said.

On the other side of Skipper's, Jessica Keshishian can't stand it anymore.

"Some schools go out to dinner, and everyone opens up their envelopes at the same time," she said. "This is nerve-racking, one by one."

It's about to get worse.

Finally, it begins. Dr. Stephen Klasko, dean of the USF College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, welcomes them all, and tells them they're the best class ever. President Judy Genshaft congratulates them.

The envelopes start going out.  One to a student wearing this T-shirt: "Trust me, I'm a doctor." Students find out they're heading to USF, Brown, Cedars-Sinai. Still, the Keshishians, Lonna Gordon, Jason Jennings, all are waiting.

One woman jumps up and down with glee. "Honey, we can buy the house," a woman calls out, when she sees she's going to USF.

Then it's the Keshishians. They open their envelopes together.

"You're stuck with us another three years!" Jessica yells. They're staying at USF.

Emory, UCSF, USF again. Finally, Dr. Steven Specter, associate dean of student affairs, calls out: Jason Jennings. Jennings reads the envelope.

Then he smiles as he tells the crowd: Orthopedics...Duke.

Then another student to USF, then Wake Forest. It's Gordon's turn.

"Orlando Health," she tells the crowd.

It's her second choice, but she claps her hands as she walks back to her family. Her mother gives her balloons and flowers. Hugs all around.

Lonna embraces her future as a medical doctor...

It's all over, and there are pictures and photos and more hugs. "It was great," Jennings says.

Jessica Keshishian can't stop smiling.

"We got exactly what we wanted," she grins.

Now they know.

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
- Slide Show Production by Klaus Herdocia, USF Health Communications

RELATED ARTICLES:
- Congratulations, you have have matched
- USF COM Class of 2009 Match Results
- National Residency Match Program, 2009 Stats

President Barack Obama’s lift of the eight-year ban on embryonic stem cell research, has scientists and researchers buzzing. These individuals feel strongly about the impact it could have on treatment and cures for certain diseases.

Paul Sanberg, DSc, PhD, distinguished professor of neurosurgery and director of the University of South Florida Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair has been interviewed about what this means for researchers. “This clearly is a very important part of our medical future,” Dr. Sanberg said. “[But] to clear the path for this without giving additional money to the National Institutes of Health will be disappointing. I hope the stimulus package also includes an increase in embryonic stem cell funding.”

Dr. Sanberg also expressed concern that any monies redirected to stem cell research could divert funds from other critical avenues of research. "If it's a normal competitive process, it will take money away from other programs," he told HealthDay.

Dr. Sanberg was interviewed locally by four televison stations and The Tampa Tribune. The story was also covered nationally by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, LEX 18/NBC, WFIE 14/NBC and Empowher.

USF Health clinical psychologist Eric Storch co-leads the program focusing on cognitive-behavioral therapy

Top experts in diagnosing and treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder come to the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg this weekend, March 6-8, for a unique training program.

Some 30 mental health professionals, doctors and university graduate students will immerse themselves in a three-day intensive training program hosted by the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation. The program is the only one of its kind to provide thorough, comprehensive, certified training at little cost to the participants.

Leading the training are Dr. Alec Pollard, Founder and Director of the Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute Anxiety Disorders Center, and Dr. Eric Storch, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of South Florida. Dr. Storch specializes in the cognitive behavioral treatment of adult and childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as other obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders. Dr. Tanya Murphy, professor and Rothman Endowed Chair of Developmental Pediatrics at USF, is also among the program’s distinguished faculty.

The Obsessive Compulsive Foundation’s Behavior Therapy Institute (BTI) supplements where traditional psychotherapy training lacks. Because there are so few trained OCD experts, it takes an average of 14 to 17 years for an OCD sufferer to receive proper treatment. That means years of life-altering debilitation, fear and anxiety due to the complicated aspects of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

“Patients are suffering trying to find effective treatment. It’s a devastating illness,” said Jeff Szymanski, OCF executive director. “Yet there is effective treatment. We need to increase our ability to help patients find treatment, reduce the stigma about OCD and get these patients contributing to society again.”

Eric Storch, PhD

The team at the USF Health Rothman Center of Neuropsychiatry has extensive experience using intensive outpatient cognitive-behavioral therapy to help reduce or eliminate obsessions and compulsions. Cognitive-behavioral therapy safely and incrementally exposes patients to doses of what they fear to help prevent a compulsive response.

“Our research has shown that behavior-cognitive therapy is associated with an 85 percent response rate in children and adults with OCD,” said Dr. Storch, whose work has been supported by the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation. “However, dissemination of this treatment remains very limited, and results in many people not receiving appropriate, evidence-based care, as well as considerable functional impairments.”

The program will be held at the USF Education & Conference Center in St. Petersburg. The BTIs are held just three times each year, in different parts of the country.

In the past 15 years, the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation’s BTIs have trained more than 450 professionals to identify OCD and then design and implement proven exposure response prevention therapies.

“The Behavior Therapy Institute was developed to help address the shortage of therapists properly trained in the cognitive behavioral treatment of OCD,” Pollard said. “This is a training model that is intensive, comprehensive and clinically useful, but is also more accessible than long-term fellowships and externships.”

The three-day training includes real-life case studies, small student to faculty ratios and several follow up correspondence. After completing the requirements, students earn a certificate and are added to the OCF resource list accessible to OCD sufferers and referral services.

OCD affects more than 3 million Americans and is most often begins in adolescents and young adults, though often is undiagnosed for years.

The Obsessive Compulsive Foundation is the foremost resource about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related illnesses. It is an international organization that exists to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about OCD, educate the mental health community about the latest treatments and research, connect people suffering from OCD with treatment providers, and advance research for more effective treatments. For more information about the OCF, visit www.ocfoundation.org.

Dr. Jorge Marcet, left, with Jerry Baranowski, a colorectal cancer survivor.

Read related story on how USF is advancing colorectal cancer research...

Jerry Baranowski remembers the day he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer following a screening colonoscopy in January 2007.

“The gastroenterologist came in as I was coming out of the anesthesia and he didn’t sugar coat anything. He said ‘You have cancer and we want you in surgery next week,’” said Baranowski, 62, a retired chief financial officer for a Tampa-based civil and environmental engineering firm. “I was shocked and I don’t shock easily.”

Today, the Crystal Beach resident is a survivor of advanced colorectal cancer, which he attributes in large part to the efforts of Jorge Marcet, MD, professor and director of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at USF Health, and his team. In fact Baranowski’s so grateful, he has organized a charity golf tournament to benefit Dr. Marcet’s nationally-recognized research initiatives to develop minimally invasive approaches for treating colorectal cancers. Drawing on his experience as the owner of Paradise Sports, a business Baranowski started to arrange golf event packages, he has assembled more than 50 sponsors and an impressive prize package for the charity event.

The First Annual Classic at the Claw will be held Sunday March 15 at the USF Claw Golf Course, 13801 North 46th St in Tampa. Pre-tournament festivities begin at 11:30 a.m with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. The first-place team will win a trip for four to the 2010 Phoenix Open valued at $5000.

The tournament was purposely scheduled to coincide with Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March. “I hope to build this into a yearly event that will end up raising significant funding for Dr. Marcet’s research efforts,” Baranowski said. “Dr. Marcet’s main interest is to raise community awareness about the importance of colorectal cancer screening.”

Dr. Marcet, who doesn't routinely play golf, says "if the field fills like I hope it does I'll offer to drive a golf cart -- if not, I'll be out there whacking a ball!"

Colorectal cancer – the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States in men and women -- is one of the most preventable cancers. “Most of these cancers begin as polyps, noncancerous growths on the inner wall colon or rectum that could be detected and removed during a screening colonoscopy,” Dr. Marcet said. “The message everyone needs to hear is that screening saves lives.”

A recent large Canadian study in the Annuals of Internal Medicine concluded that colonoscopies reduce the risk of dying from colorectal cancer by 60 to 70 percent. However, Dr. Marcet said, the survival rate is as great as 90 percent when the tumors are detected and removed in their earliest stages – something more likely to happen when patients pick an experienced colonoscopist and diligently follow the prescribed bowel cleansing regimen the day before screening.

While there has been an unprecedented reduction in the overall incidence and death rates from colorectal cancer in the last several years, death rates remain higher and declines have been slower among African-Americans. The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports that even greater progress would be possible by increasing access to and use of colorectal screening tests. Colonoscopy, considered the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening, uses a lighted instrument to examine the rectum and complete colon. (Other screening tests include the fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy and barium enema.) Only half of people age 50 or older, for whom screening is recommended, have received the recommended tests, according to ACS.

“Unfortunately, even today many patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the advanced stages when the disease is more difficult to treat,” Dr. Marcet said.

Baranowski ‘s own cancer, a large tumor in the left colon near the rectum, was diagnosed in an advanced stage. He had no family history of colorectal cancer, but had experienced some rectal bleeding when he underwent his first colonoscopy at age 50. He was diagnosed with and treated for hemorrhoids after that initial colonoscopy. The symptoms flared occasionally and by the time he was due for a physical examination at age 60 had gotten to the stage of concerning him. As part of his physical, his family doctor recommended another screening colonoscopy just to rule out colorectal cancer.

“The important lesson is that any bleeding from the rectum or blood in the stool is abnormal and needs to be quickly checked out,” Dr. Marcet said. “Many of the patients I’ve diagnosed with colorectal cancer delayed seeing a doctor because they thought it was just their hemorrhoids, and occasionally even a doctor may have said it’s their hemorrhoids.”

After the shock of receiving the cancer diagnosis wore off, Baranowski’s positive and competitive nature took over. He researched everything could about his type of colorectal cancer and its treatment and got the names of three surgeons most qualified for his type of case.

“Dr. Marcet was at the top of the list. He has a reputation for handling the most complicated procedures, and the information he provided my wife and I about what to expect was very detailed,” Baranowski said. “And this may sound funny, but one thing that stood out about Dr. Marcet was that when I shook hands with him, he had a good touch – confident but not too aggressive. I figured if I had to have surgery, I wanted a surgeon with a deft touch.”

Baranowski ‘s battle with cancer has been a two-year ordeal. Treated with radiation and chemotherapy before surgery to help shrink the tumor, he underwent several months of chemotherapy after the operation. His surgery was more complex procedure than anticipated, requiring removal of the rectum and a colostomy. Then, after he finally completed his colorectal cancer treatment, a follow-up scan detected a spot on his lung. The cancer had metastasized. Dr. Marcet referred Baranowski to a pulmonary specialist for surgery to remove the lung cancer. More chemotherapy followed.

“ I just now feel like I’m finally starting to get my energy back,” said Baranowski, who is working out with a personal trainer, playing golf and enjoying spending time with family and friends. He knows that the cancer may recur, but remains optimistic about living each day to the fullest.

“I feel fortunate, but I know my whole prognosis would have been better if we could have gotten to the cancer earlier,” Baranowski said. He hopes by sharing his experience, he can persuade others to overcome any qualms about scheduling that potentially life-saving colonoscopy.

“I have several friends in their early 50s and 60s who were putting off having a colonoscopy – but have since gone ahead and had one.”

For more information about the 1st Annual Classic at the Claw to benefit colorectal cancer research at USF Health, please call (727) 638-7793.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications/Media Center

This is Research Day, an annual event that brings together some of the latest work of graduate and postgraduate students and residents from throughout USF Health, as well as across the University campus. The day-long event is a prime opportunity for collaboration, since it bridges several colleges, schools and disciplines, and acts as a perfect “practice run” for many of the presenters whose work is destined to garner recognition at national and international research meetings.

Research Day 2009 will be on Friday, Feb. 20, and promises to offer a great sampling of the enterprising research at USF, with investigators from seven different USF colleges participating.

“The recognition that most discoveries are made at the interface of disciplines has had a dramatic impact on our strategy for recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students, development of required infrastructure, and has prompted us to rethink the purpose, value and vision of our graduate programs” said Abdul Rao, MD, MA, DPhil, senior associate vice president for USF Health and vice dean for research and graduate studies for the College of Medicine. “This presentation of scholarly work exemplifies our commitment to interdisciplinary research and defines and establishes new potential partnerships for collaboration and synergy.”

There will be 166 poster presentations on display throughout the USF Health Rotunda. In addition, the outstanding work of eight researchers has earned them an invitation to present their work in an oral session. These eight presenters are:

From the College of Medicine: Lindsey Boone (PhD student), Lorent Duce (second-year medical student), William Kong (PhD student), Tara Schwetz (PhD student) and Panida Sriaroon, MD (resident).

From the College of Nursing: Pamela Malone-Quarles (PhD student).

And from the College of Public Health: Patricia Spencer (PhD student), and Marissa Zwald (MPH student).

The poster sessions will be 8 to 10 a.m. in the USF Health Rotunda and the College of Nursing Foyer and Atrium areas. The oral presentations will be 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in room MDA 1096.

At 1 p.m., the three selected USF Health Distinguished Professors will be recognized by their respective deans. The three outstanding faculty members who will be recognized during this event are:

Dr. David V. Sheehan, professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Studies and Director, Depression & Anxiety Research Institute, College of Medicine.

Dr. C. Hendricks Brown, professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, College of Public Health.

Dr. Susan McMillan, professor, College of Nursing.

This will be followed by the 13th Annual Roy H. Behnke, MD, Distinguished Lectureship, which begins at 1:15 p.m. in MDA 1096. This year’s guest speaker is John Carlos Burnett, Jr., MD, director of the Cardiorenal Research Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. His talk is titled “Natriuretic Peptides and Drug Discovery for Cardiovascular Disease: Translation from Bench to Bedside.”

The day concludes with the much-awaited awards ceremony from 2:15 to 3 p.m., also in MDA 1096.

Click here to view the USF Health Research Day flyer

- Story by Sarah Worth, USF Health Communications

During her 12-year tenure, Patricia Burns, PhD, RN, FAAN, built a thriving, nationally-prominent USF College of Nursing

Tampa, FL (Feb. 9, 2009) – After a highly successful 12-year career, Patricia Burns, PhD, RN, FAAN, has announced that she will step down as Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of South Florida. Dr. Burns is well respected in the nursing profession and the Tampa Bay community for her immeasurable contributions towards making life better through research, education and healthcare.

"I will miss the College of Nursing a great deal; however, the time has come for me to embark on a path towards a new chapter in my life,” Dr. Burns said. “I will always cherish my years at the College of Nursing and I’m looking forward to continuing a relationship with the community that I have been so much a part of for the past 12 years.”

In the Tampa Bay area, nursing shortages and nursing faculty shortages are greater than the national average. Under Dr. Burns’ leadership, the USF College of Nursing has developed new advanced degree programs and created innovative education models to fill this need in the profession. She established the Clinical Collaborative Initiative, a partnership between local healthcare agencies in the Tampa Bay area and the USF College of Nursing. The Initiative gives students seeking bachelor’s degrees the opportunity to reside in a single agency for clinical coursework. Students are often eligible and qualified to serve as nurse technicians, and employed by the agency after the first semester.

Addressing the Nursing Shortage
“The USF College of Nursing has fostered innovative programming between the community and college to address the nursing shortage by expanding student numbers and needs for more educators and enhancing the research focus within hospitals,” said Sandra K Janzen MS, RN, CNAA-BC, associate director of patient care services at James A Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida, “This forum is an exemplary model of community and academic collaboration that addresses current and future needs while systematically exploring innovative ideas together.”

The College of Nursing has built healthcare partnerships across 10 counties in Florida and forged collaborations across the University, state, nationally and internationally. The College’s exchange program with the University of Panama is now in its third year. To date, three delegations totaling nearly 45 nursing students have participated in the program, a hands-on community health learning experience.

Clinical community partnerships are imperative for preparing nurses in advanced clinical roles as much needed educators and researchers. One such partnership is the College’s longstanding collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center, the only comprehensive cancer center in Florida designated by the National Cancer Institute. USF offers the only oncology nursing master’s program in the state.

Innovative Graduate Nursing Programs
The College’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Nurse Anesthesia, and Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) advanced graduate degree nursing programs epitomize Dr. Burns’ vision of the ideal innovative education model. One of the first colleges in the country to offer the CNL and DNP programs, USF has graduated some of the first nurses in the country with these degrees. Started in Fall 2006 in response to the nationwide demand for more anesthesia providers, USF is only the third public university to offer the nurse anesthesia program out of seven accredited nursing programs in Florida. USF’s program is the first in the Tampa Bay area. In Fall 2008, 100 percent of USF’s charter class of 12 nurse anesthetists graduated with a job already lined up.

Nursing baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral program students and graduates provide safe competent healthcare in hospitals across the greater Tampa Bay area, a testament to the significant community impact of the collaborations Dean Burns initiated.

To facilitate the growth of research initiatives in the College and bring together diverse faculty and student research interests, Dr. Burns created a Nursing Research Center within the College. The Center has significantly broadened the College’s research portfolio, including multidisciplinary collaborations, and substantially upgraded its research infrastructure and capacity, including enhanced administrative support and expertise in data management, project management and statistical analyses.

Strengthening Research Collaboration
Recently, the College of Nursing increased its research awards by 64 percent and achieved its goal of raising both public and private funding by 40 percent – resulting in the highest percentage jump for a single college in research funding at USF for FY 2007-2008. The University’s overall research funding for FY2007/2008 rose by 17 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Dr. Burns further strengthened the College’s research endeavors by establishing a Biobehavioral Laboratory. Scheduled for completion this year, the laboratory will support the Research Center and the College’s Center for Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). Occupying more than 2,000-square-foot of space, it will house state-of-the art equipment for conducting blood assays, such as inflammatory markers, stress hormones, proteomics, and RNA and DNA analyses. The facility will also include multiple patient rooms for conducting physical examinations, clinical measurements, and treatments for health care and research purposes. Enabled by the College’s productive research environment and clinical partnerships, the PNI Center pursues research, education, and the translation of knowledge into clinical practice.

The College of Nursing’s collaborative structure encourages a community of scholars and clinicians interested in related topics. This benefits the college by providing a framework for research studies and partnerships. Ultimately, this strong research foundation benefits patients through evidence-based clinical care -- another way Dr. Burns’ leadership has profoundly influenced healthcare in the Tampa Bay community.

Continued community support and individual contributions are vital to the future of the College of Nursing. As dean, Dr. Burns fostered a large increase in financial donations to the College; endowments have grown by more than $5 million during her 12-year tenure.

Building National Prominence
The College has received national support and accolades as well. The USF Master’s Program in Nursing was recently ranked 72 by U.S News and World Report -- a large jump from 115 scored when the program was last ranked in 2003. The USF profile included in the 2009 Princeton Review "Best 368 Colleges" praises the College of Nursing. Among the candid comments of USF students surveyed for the book: “There’s a great nursing program.”

USF’s nursing programs have steadily flourished to accommodate a growing student population. As of Fall 2008 the College of Nursing had 1,888 students enrolled across its baccalaureate, masters, doctoral and continuing education programs – up from 628 students in Fall 1999. Dr. Burns oversaw the College of Nursing facility’s much needed physical expansion. Members of the College, University and community gathered to dedicate the new building in May 2005 and celebrated renovations that tripled the size of the College of Nursing facility, from 25,000 to 75,000 square feet.

In 2007, Dr. Burns launched the College on an exciting and momentous endeavor – a comprehensive five-year strategic planning process. Carefully constructed through student, faculty, staff, alumni and community involvement, the strategic plan has set the mission, vision, goals and values to help guide the College of Nursing to future success and prominence regionally, nationally and internationally.

As her lasting legacy Dean Patricia Burns leaves a successful, nationally-recognized College of Nursing built upon innovative education models, collaborative clinical partnerships, advanced practice graduate degree programs and a facilitative multi-disciplinary scientific research infrastructure.

- Story by Ashlea Hudak, College of Nursing Communications

Laura Moody, the anchor of Fox-13 News Good Day, Tampa Bay, broadcast two live spots from the USF College of Nursing Simulation Center Wednesday morning, Jan. 28.

The live shots led into a taped feature exploring why the nursing shortage continues despite no slack in demand for nurses in today's tough economic climate. The segment included interviews with USF College of Nursing student Jamie Simpson, who will graduate in May, and CON Associate Dean Sandra Cadena. While many companies are laying off employees, the nursing profession appears recession-proof. Ninety percent of all USF nursing students have jobs lined up before they graduate, and Dr. Cadena said she doesn't expect that to change.

The program was shown on the big screen in the USF College of Nursing gathering space.

Fox-13 News anchor Laura Moody checks out one of the patient simulators before her live broadcast from the USF College of Nursing's simulation center.

- Newsbrief by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photo by Ashlea Hudak, USF College of Nursing Communications

Since 2006, Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the College of Medicine and CEO for USF Health, has challenged COM students to a yearly basketball game with USF Health faculty and staff.

This year was no different –- the students won... again! The team from the Class of 2011 pulled it out at the end by a score of 45 to 33.

Click here for a longer version of the game day videoclip above. It was created by second-year med student Ryan Naughtin, who with his wife runs a photography and video service.

The game was played this fall in the USF Sundome, and the winners took home Klasko’s Cup and bragging rights.

Members of the faculty-staff team, in addition to Dr. Klasko, were Kevin Sneed, Jose Abisambra, Tracy Womble, Eric Coris, Javier Cuevas, Ronnie Britt, Craig Bobik, Seena Salyani, Ben Glover and Toni Rajic.

Members of the student team were Matt Assing, Danny Roura, Byron Moran, Chad Rudnick, John Emerson, Jason Perry, Andy Myers, Courtney Smiley, Sumeet Thareja, Matt Scott, and Kyle James.

- Newsbrief by Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Lina Naughtin, Lina Naughtin Photography and Video

“There is an increasing trend for institutions of higher education to go where their alumni are -- on line,” said Natalie Preston-Washington, MPA, manager of Career Development and Field Placement for COPH. “The USF COPH group on LinkedIn was born on November 3. In a little over two months, membership has grown to include more than 80 people -- including students, alumni, faculty, HR representatives and friends of the college.”

For more information on the USF-COPH LinkedIn group, including a link to the site, click here.