Clifton Gooch, MD

Tampa, FL (Jan. 29, 2008) – After a national search, the University of South Florida has recruited Clifton L. Gooch, MD, from Columbia University to be Chairperson of Neurology.

“Dr. Gooch has a powerful combination of research as well as taking care of patients,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, vice president for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “He has an ideal background for leading the strategic expansion of the clinical and research activities of the Department of Neurology and building collaboration across the strong neurosciences teams at USF.”

At Columbia University, Dr. Gooch serves as a Professor of Clinical Neurology, founder and Director of the Columbia Neuropathy Research Center and also the Director of the Electromyography Laboratory at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Prior to coming to Columbia he was a member of the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine where he served as Director of the Baylor Neurology Residency Training Program and Director of the Neurology Electromyography Laboratory at the Houston VA Medical Center.

Dr. Gooch has more than 15 years experience in therapeutic clinical trials and neuromuscular physiology, as well as extensive administrative and leadership experience at the institutional and national levels. His research has focused primarily on peripheral neuropathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and myasthenia gravis, though his work has also included compressive nerve injury, myopathy and spinal muscular atrophy, among other disorders.

“Under Dean Klasko’s leadership, the USF College of Medicine has become a place where great things are happening quickly. I look forward to joining this exciting era at USF and helping to lead the Department of Neurology into the national forefront of clinical care, research and education,” Dr. Gooch said. He will begin at USF on May 15, 2008.

Dr. Gooch has served as President of the American Academy of Immunotherapy and as a member of the Board of Directors for Columbia Medical Associates. He has served as Editor in Chief of the journal Advances in Immunotherapy and is a current editorial board member for numerous medical journals, including Neurology,(the journal of the American Academy of Neurology). He is currently on the Board of Directors for the principal specialty organization for neuromuscular disease worldwide, the American Association of Electrodiagnostic and Neuromuscular Medicine (AANEM) and has been an invited speaker and faculty for many academic organizations and institutions throughout the country and internationally.

Dr. Gooch completed medical school and residency in Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, and his fellowship in Neuromuscular Disease at Duke University Medical Center. He holds three board certifications including Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

- 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 $308 million in research funding last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of Florida’s top three research universities.

Read St. Petersburg Times story on Dr. Phelps

Christopher P. Phelps, PhD, a long-time faculty member of the USF College of Medicine and former chair of the Department of Anatomy, died of a massive heart attack on Jan. 27. He was 64. He is remembered by colleagues and friends for his leadership, professionalism, quiet dignity, kindness and grace under pressure.

Christopher Phelps, PhD, and wife Betty

Dr. Phelps, professor of anatomy, joined the College of Medicine as an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy in 1976. He served as interim chair of the department from 1998 to 2001, and then as chair from 2001 through 2006. A strong faculty leader, Dr. Phelps held several key roles in the COM Faculty Council, including president of the organization from 1997 to 1998 and in its earlier form as the COM Faculty Association from 1982 to 1984. He was also a COM representative and executive committee member for the USF Faculty Senate.

"Chris cared deeply about our school and its students, and was dedicated to his research in neuroanatomy and neuropeptides,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, vice president for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine. “This is a terrible, great loss. Our hearts go out to his wife and family.”

“Chris was a dedicated leader and faculty member who contributed much over many years to the mission of the College and University,” said Santo Nicosia, MD chair of Pathology and Cell Biology. “His friendship and personal advice will be missed.”

“This is devastating news. On behalf of the Faculty Senate at the University of South Florida, I extend our sincere condolences to Mrs. Phelps and the faculty in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology for the loss of one of our most respected faculty,” said Michael Barber, DPhil, professor of molecular medicine who is president of the Faculty Senate and USF Board of Trustees member. “Dr. Phelps served with distinction on the Faculty Senate and contributed to many committee activities. His dedication and commitment to the College and University were of the highest order.”

A member of the COM Curriculum Committee, Dr. Phelps directed the Advanced Histology course and co-directed courses in Molecular Medicine, Graduate Neuroscience and Advanced Neuroanatomy.

Over the last year, he had enthusiastically taken on the role as faculty leader for the first-year medical school curriculum, serving as a liaison between course directors and the Curriculum Committee.

“Chris brought to these, often heated, discussions his many years of experience and wisdom as a medical educator and his great love of the students and the college,” said Bryan Bognar, MD, interim Vice Dean for Educational Affairs. “It is impossible to replace his 30 years of experience within the COM. His great strength as a leader was his thoughtful and caring demeanor, professionalism and respect for others. He was a role model, mentor and friend to many, including me.”

In addition to mentoring medical and graduate students, Dr. Phelps reached out to local high school science teachers in the community. He invited their students in for tours of his laboratory or lectures to see how basic science principles are put into practice. First-year medical student Jessica Maloney student recalls meeting Dr. Phelps as a 17-year-old high school senior dually enrolled as an honor student at USF – he was helping teach an anatomy laboratory.

“He was always so excited whenever students were eager to learn. If you were having trouble finding something in anatomy dissecting lab, he’d help guide you,” Maloney said. “I remember once, when I wanted a better, more comprehensive histology book, he went out of his way to go get his own book and let me borrow it.”

Dr. Phelps, far left, who had an avid interest in the arts and humanities, attended a TBPAC performance of the opera LaBoheme this fall with Dr. Lois Nixon and medical students.

His passion for education encompassed more than the sciences. Lois LaCivita Nixon, PhD, professor and director of Medical Humanities, had been working with Dr. Phelps to more broadly integrate the humanities across the four-year medical curriculum. They sat in on one another’s classes to gain a better perspective on how to bridge the sciences and humanities, and she remembers Dr. Phelps reading to students selections of poetry from physician-writer John Stone.

“Chris was a very special person and a good friend, and I’ll miss him,” Dr. Nixon said. “He and his wife had a strong foundation in the arts. They were really interested in literature, the theater, films and music. He always had a sense of wonder about him when he discovered something new – it was a delight.”

Dr. Phelp's research interests included communication among the nervous, neuroendocrine and immune systems that occurs during immune challenge and brain damage. But he started his research career as an honors biology student at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, raising large quantities of Mexican swordtail fish from infancy to study the effects of crowding on ovaries.

In a 2001 article published by Lafayette College, Dr. Phelps describes how he borrowed a professor’s Volkswagen minibus to drive a large number of young swordtails and other acquaria from Easton to his home in Plainfield, N.J. “This made it possible to continue my work over the summer and bring my fish back to college in the fall to complete the work,” he wrote.

During his graduate training, Dr. Phelps was a U.S. Public Health Service-commissioned officer student extern, receiving National Science Foundation and Busch Memorial predoctoral fellowships. He completed a PhD degree in endocrinology-zoology from Rutgers University and conducted postdoctoral anatomy research at the UCLA School of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, where he was a NIH Research Service Awardee.

Dr. Phelps organized the first COM Annual Student Research Symposium in 1982 and served as its chairperson from 1981 to 1985. He was a founding member of the Tampa Bay Area Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience, serving as secretary-treasurer and president of the organization. He was a member of the editorial board of Neuroimmune Biology and an ad hoc reviewer for nearly 20 peer-reviewed journals and agencies.

Dr. Phelps drove to and from USF for 30 years in his classic 1963 Chevrolet Corvette. Originally gold, it emerged midnight blue after a three-year total restoration several years ago.

He followed auto racing and had recently attended events at Sebring, Daytona, and Atlanta.

According to his wife Betty, Dr. Phelps was very family-oriented, keeping in frequent contact with his mother and brothers and spending yearly summer vacations at the Phelps family home on the shores of Lake Champlain in northern Vermont. His hobbies and interests were many and varied as was his love of music, which ranged from classical to blues, folk, and classic rock. An avid reader, he perused the New York Times daily. As a child, he was introduced to books of L. Frank Baum and was a Wizard of Oz fan for half a century. His research on fish led to the lifelong hobby of tropical fish, and saltwater tanks could be found in his office and home. He was a history buff with a great admiration for Thomas Jefferson.

At a very young age, he attained the rank of Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow, and volunteered as a leader of his son’s troop and neighborhood pack for years in Land O’ Lakes. A fan and supporter of the USF Bulls football team, Dr. Phelps had season tickets to home games for the past three years. Friends and family consulted him for medical advice, and he always took the time to provide referrals, information, and support.

Dr. Phelps is survived by his wife Betty, two children Jessica and Adam, his mother Alta Phelps of New Jersey and Vermont, his brothers Lee of Massachusetts and Daniel of New Jersey.

Visitation will be 6 to 8 pm Friday, Feb 1, at Loyless Funeral Home, 5310 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. (US 41) in Land O’ Lakes. The memorial service will be held 10:30 am Saturday, Feb. 2, at Harvester United Methodist Church, 2432 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes. For more information about arrangements please go to the Loyless Funeral Home website.

Donations in Dr. Phelps memory can be made to The Gulf Ridge Council, Boy Scouts of America, Memorial Tribute Fund; the American Heart Association; or the Dr. Christopher P. Phelps Memorial Fund (please make checks payable to the USF Foundation, referencing the Christopher Phelps Memorial Fund, and mail to USF Health College of Medicine, MDC 70, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612).

Story by Anne DeLotto Baier/USF Health Communications

The USF Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Medicine proudly recognizes Dr. Martin Robson – finalist for prestigious Frank Brown Berry Prize.

Dr. Martin Robson, Emeritus Professor of Plastic Surgery at the USF College of Medicine, is one of only 5 physicians in the country selected as a finalist for the prestigious Frank Brown Berry Prize. The annual award in Federal Healthcare recognizes outstanding contributions to medicine originating within the federal sector.
Dr. Robson, a Founding Director of the Institute for Tissue Regeneration, Repair & Rehabilitation at Bay Pines VA Medical Center, was the only finalist from the state of Florida.

Other finalists for the 2007 Berry Prize are from Arizona, Mississippi, Maryland and Washington D.C. The Frank Brown Berry Prize dates back to 1997 - unique to physicians, researchers and health professionals serving at U.S. medical facilities around the globe. The award is given by the U.S. Medicine Institute for Health Studie and is named after Dr. Frank Brown Berry, a 1909 graduate of the Harvard Medical School, noted thoracic surgeon who served in two world wars and the founder of many surgical societies.

The Berry Prize recognition for Dr. Robson comes as no surprise.

"Dr. Robson is one of the preeminent wound healing experts in the world. He is a role model for many plastic surgeons who strive to become research scientists." - said Dr. David J. Smith, Jr. , Division Director of Plastic Surgery & Juan Bolivar Chair in Surgical Oncology at the USF College of Medicine.

With more than 40 years in plastic surgery and burn care, Dr. Robson is an internationally recognized expert in the field of wound healing. Over the years, his work in the laboratory has resulted in new treatment methods for generations of wounded soldiers. Dr. Robson’s current research interests center on the use of adult stem cells to treat burns, spinal cord injuries & traumatic brain injuries and is of key interest at a time of increased combat casualties.

Two Tours of Duty: Serving Abroad & At Home
His medical career has taken him through two tours of duty in the U.S. military. Dr. Robson was a surgeon in Korea in 1969 and 1970 – serving as Chief of Surgery at the Seoul Military Hospital. Decades later, during Operation Desert Storm, he was re-commissioned as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and assigned to the burn center at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas.

“...two of the units that I served with are in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, anything that can be done to help the injured soldiers get back to duty, especially in the all-volunteer Army, makes perfectly good sense to me and it’s what I’ve been doing all my life,” said Dr. Robson.

Wound Care:
In recent years, nearly all of Dr. Robson’s research interests have been directed at injured soldiers and combat casualty care – focusing on burn patients, traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and spinal cord injured patients. His proposed tool for treating all three types of patients is the application of adult stem cells.

“…because of the problem, ethically and socially and religious problems with embryonic stem cells, we focus on adult stem cells. The idea is that adult stem cells can differentiate into cells that body needs to repair itself. They could be useful in traumatic brain injury where you’ve lost nerve cells, or in spinal cord injury where you’ve lost cells from the injury. And then maybe they could regenerate the cells necessary to make skin in burn patients”, explained Dr. Robson.

Illustrating the relevance of this research, Dr. Robson said “Physicians treating burn patients have said that their number one priority is the need for skin – skin that’s ‘off the shelf’ rather than a skin that only comes from the patient himself.”

Citing injured soldiers evacuated to the Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany, as an example, he said “The ideal would be an off-the-shelf skin that they would have available for the evacuated patient in Germany under the present injured soldier evacuation plan.”

Stemming Infection in Wounds:
Dr. Robson also devotes his attention to discovering ways to prevent wound infections. The research is fueled by his frustration with topical antimicrobials that currently exist. “There hasn’t been a new one since about 1973”, he says, “…so we kind of have an ongoing evaluation. Any company that thinks they have an antimicrobial, we have established animal models to study wound infection and these are continually being screened at Bay Pines VA Medical Center.”

“It’s important because no matter what else is going on in a wound, if it’s not in bacterial balance, then nothing else can work”, says Dr. Robson, “The fact that there’s not an adequate topical antimicrobial just continues to be a real need.”

USF College of Medicine & VA:
Throughout his research, Dr. Robson says he has always drawn from his experiences in academia and the Veterans Administration – calling it a “great advantage”. “I think they balance each other amazingly well”, he said, citing excellence in the VA medical system and the credibility & recognition that come from being a part of the university.

Although retired now from active faculty duties, Dr. Robson continues to interact with faculty, residents, research fellows and students in the plastic surgery division of the USF College of Medicine. Summing up why he does that rather than what others might consider a more traditional retirement, he said "It is the stimulus provided by students at every level that keeps the research ideas flowing. Being able to hear the current problems they are having with patients' conditions allows me to suggest possible avenues of investigation."

His love of medical research and our men & women in the armed forces unwavered by the passage of time.

For that and more, USF Health's plastic surgeons proudly salute Dr. Martin C. Robson!

Story by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications

The important new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, supports off-label use of drug-eluting coronary artery stents

Kevin Kip, PhD

Tampa, FL (Jan. 24, 2007) -- New generation drug-eluting stents are no more likely than bare metal stents to increase the risk of heart attack or death in patients receiving stents for off-label indications and appear to be more effective in reducing the need for a repeat procedure, reports a new study in the Jan. 24 New England Journal of Medicine. The study contrasts earlier research suggesting the drug-eluting stents were not as safe as their bare-metal counterparts, especially when used for purposes not officially approved by the FDA.

“On balance, this study provides strong evidence that the use of drug-eluting stents in routine clinical practice is safe, and is, in fact, associated with a significantly lower risk of the need for a second revascularization procedure,” said Principal Investigator Kevin Kip, PhD, executive director of the Research Center at the University of South Florida College of Nursing.

“It is not necessarily the type of stent, per se, but rather the clinical characteristics of the patient that are most likely to predict long-term prognosis.”

Dr. Kip, senior author, conducted the rigorous observational study with lead author and interventional cardiologist Dr. Oscar Marroquin and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he worked before joining USF last year. The team compared the outcomes of patients who received drug-eluting stents with those who received bare-metal stents, using data from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Dynamic Registry. The researchers looked at 6,551 registry patients with significant coronary artery disease who were treated with angioplasty.

Both earlier generation bare metal stents and newer drug-coated stents are used during angioplasty to permanently prop open blocked arteries, improve blood flow, and relieve symptoms like chest pain.

The drug-eluting stents are coated with an anti-inflammatory drug to slow the growth of scar tissue that occasionally renarrows stented arteries in the months after the procedure. But, earlier studies called into question the safety of the drug-eluting stents, particularly when used “off label” – that is, for the types of patients not enrolled in the pivotal clinical trials leading to FDA approval of the newer stents. Based on these studies, an FDA Advisory panel last year concluded that drug-coated stents may increase the risk of blood clots, heart attacks or death when used off label. Off-label includes patients who underwent previous coronary bypass surgery, and those with exceptionally small or large vessels or other anatomic circumstances making the stent more difficult to insert.

Dr. Kip and colleagues confirmed that physicians frequently use both drug-eluting stents and bare-metal stents for off-label indications. They also noted that patients receiving stents off label -- whether bare-metal or drug-eluting -- had more co-existing conditions and poorer one-year outcomes than did patients treated with stents for approved indications.

The researchers found that the drug-eluting stents were at least as safe as their bare-metal counterparts in terms of subsequent deaths and heart attacks. Furthermore, Dr. Kip and Dr. Marroquin found that patients treated with drug-eluting stents experienced significantly reduced risk of a repeat procedure to reopen a blocked coronary artery.

Earlier studies were limited because they did not directly compare bare metal to drug-eluting stents for the same types of patients and procedural indications, Dr. Kip said. “Overall, previous concerns about higher risk of death or heart attack when drug-eluting stents are used in off-label settings appear to have been premature.”

Dr. Kip cautions that drug-eluting stents may not be appropriate in all circumstances, and their clinical cost-benefit must be weighed by the interventional cardiologist and patient.

Patients receiving these stents must be able to take one or more blood thinning medications, such as aspirin or copidogrel (Plavix) for an extended period to help reduce the risk of a blood clot forming in the stent and blocking the artery.

An accompanying NEJM editorial comments on the importance of the study by Drs. Kip and Marroquin and another observational study comparing drug-eluting stents and coronary bypass surgery. While randomized clinical trials are needed before the findings for off-label use of drug-eluting stents can be considered the final word, Joseph Carozzara Jr., MD, of Harvard Medical School writes, “these two studies go a long way toward making (clinical) decisions more evidence-based.”

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 $308 million in research funding last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of Florida’s top three research universities.

From L to R: Dr. George Barbier, USF Health expert in nuclear cardiology, and technician Lisa Miller, certified in diagnostic nuclear services, review images for signs of coronary artery disease.

USF Health Expands Its DIAGNOSTIC NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGY SERVICES

USF Health Cardiology is now offering services and expertise in
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-- The knee-busting injury disproportionately affects female players --

View Newschannel 8 clip on SMART's PEP Program...

Athletes at high risk for ruptured or torn ACLs include those who play basketball.

Tampa, FL (Jan. 24, 2008) -- The University of South Florida’s Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma Institute (SMART) has introduced to area high schools a program to help prevent one of the most common sports-related knee injuries, which disproportionately affects female athletes. Studies show that female high school and collegiate athletes are four to 10 times more likely than their male counterparts to suffer a ruptured or torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) – a central ligament connecting the thighbone to the shinbone.

The “Prevent Injury, Enhance Performance” (PEP) program has been adopted by half of the 10 high schools in Hillsborough County where SMART, a state-sponsored sports safety outreach program, has deployed certified athletic trainers, said SMART Assistant Director Barbara Morris, an instructor in the USF Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. SMART offered the program to the coaches of all girls teams this fall and initially worked with those who implemented all or parts of the training regimen.

“Preventing ACL injuries is much easier and cost effective than treating them,” Morris said. “We want to work with coaches to help decrease the incidence of ACL injuries at the high schools where we have a presence.”

The ACL helps stabilize the knee and is often stretched or torn by a sudden twisting motion while the feet remain planted. Athletes at high risk for this frequently season-ending knee injury include those playing soccer, basketball, football and volleyball – any sport with sharp changes in direction or jumping.

The PEP program was created by the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Foundation in Santa Monica, CA, to decrease the number of ACL injuries in female soccer players but can also be used in other high-risk sports. The strategic 15-minute exercise regimen is designed to be performed two to three times a week during the season. It helps strengthen and stretch stabilizing muscles around the knee, emphasizes proper posture and landing technique, and teaches players how to avoid vulnerable positions. The training drill has been shown to reduce ACL injuries by two to four-fold.

Jason Herring, the head coach for the Freedom High School girls varsity basketball team, worked with Michele McCoy, the SMART certified athletic trainer at Freedom, to integrate the PEP program into his team’s practices three to four times a week.

“We did static stretching before, but this program made more sense to me. I’m definitely pleased with the improvements I’ve seen so far,” said Herring, who in the past sustained an ACL tear while playing basketball with a recreational league. “It’s building on their muscle strength, endurance, agility and balance – all key elements needed to prepare players for the vigorous game of basketball. Injuries will happen in competitive sports, but you want to prevent as many as possible -- so it’s good to be involved a safety program backed by research.”

Coaches are essential role models in persuading student athletes to recognize the importance of injury prevention training, McCoy said. “The girls on Coach Herring’s team now own the PEP program, because he was an enthusiastic proponent and his players understand why the exercises benefit them.”

“ACL injuries are a huge problem – an epidemic among young women athletes,” said Robert Pedowitz, MD, PhD, professor and chair of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.

“If you look at high school students who play competitive soccer and basketball, the vast majority who suffer ACL injuries end up having reconstructive surgery. This type of knee injury requires six months to a year of postoperative rehabilitation.”

Title IX legislation, enacted in the early 1970s, required publicly-funded schools to offer girls and women equal opportunities to play sports. Since then, the number of female athletes in competitive sports has jumped – and so has their incidence of ACL injuries.

Many earlier theories for why young women are more susceptible to the knee-busting injury than men, including differences in hormones and anatomy, have not proven true, said Dr. Pedowitz, who has conducted ACL research. “Many physicians and scientists now believe that neuromuscular performance – factors like the strength and coordination of muscles that make a difference in the landing styles of girls and boys when they run and jump – are driving the higher rates of ACL injury in young women athletes.”

Whether these neuromuscular gender differences are related to sports experience and training or genetics is still debated, but Dr. Pedowitz suspects as more girls train and compete in team sports at younger ages their incidence of ACL injuries may begin to decline.

USF SMART recently began tracking the incidence ACL and other sports-related injuries in Hillsborough County high schools where its certified athletic trainers work. “The purpose of SMART is to identify areas that threaten the safety of Florida athletes and do what we can to change that,” Dr. Pedowitz said. “Through our computerized injury surveillance program, we’ll have the ability to measure the impact of preventive programs such as PEP on our student athletes.”

Coaches, parents of student athletes, or others interested in more information about the PEP program can contact Barbara Morris at (813) 396-9626 or bmorris@health.usf.edu.

- 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 $308 million in research funding last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of Florida’s top three research universities.

Dr. John Sinnott

John T. Sinnott, MD, FACP, has been honored as a finalist for the first annual Physician Mentor Recognition Program of the American Medical Association’s Women Physicians Congress. He was one of 37 nominees for the AMA-WPC Award, which recognizes mentors who have made a difference in the profession of medicine in support of women physicians.

Dr. Sinnott is the James P. Cullison Professor and Director of the Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine at USF Health.

He was nominated by Sally Houston, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Tampa General Hospital. “Dr. Sinnott is always available to provide solace and advice to fellow physicians and is generous with praise and recognition for others,” Dr. Houston wrote in her letter of nomination.

“Dr. Sinnott taught me to teach, grow, mentor and lead,” said Sandra Gompf, MD, FACP, USF associate professor of medicine. “At a women’s faculty development conference, many described stall careers. Not me – associate professor and first woman, and first Hispanic, Faculty President of my alma mater. And, John still drives me: ‘Where to next?’”

Nominees received a special certificate, were celebrated during Women in Medicine Month, and their contributions were highlighted through several AMA vehicles. The mentors were also honored in a special display at the AMA-WPC gala reception at the 2007 Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates in November.

Dr. Sinnott has received many local and national awards, including Outstanding Clinical Professor - College of Medicine, an award that has been retired and named in his honor; Leadership Florida Distinguished Member Award; the Florida Medical Association Award for Leadership in Medical Education; the Ciba-Geigy Education Award; the NBI Award for Humanism in Medicine; and is an honorary alumnus of the USF College of Medicine.

At the University of South Florida, a key component of a million dollar project with the U.S. Department of Education was officially launched this month - a national, educational website on orthotics and prosthetics. In 2005, the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, in partnership with the USF College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering was awarded the million dollar grant by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), Rehabilitation Services Administration. The project is now in its third year of funding. The grant is to develop educational materials for healthcare professionals in prosthetics and orthotics (P&O) and conduct pilot research in establishing best clinical practice for prosthetic choice and wear. The new website, a key component of the projects, was officially launched the week of January 7, 2008.

The Demonstration Project on Prosthetics and Orthotics is a state-of-the-art, educational website where materials are available at no cost to the general public and practitioners. This is part of a three year project focused on research and the development of educational and informative materials for use nationwide.

“In this era of rapid advances in prosthetic and orthotic technology, it is important for practitioners and patients to have access to the best and most current information and clinical evidence as to what constitutes best care", said USF Health's Dr. William Quillen, the project's Principal Investigator (PI), "We hope this website will serve as a convenient and readily available resource.”

Within hours of the website's official launch, the team at the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences began receiving emails from all over the country. Among the comments sent in by educational professionals:
“Thank you very much for the development of this valued resource.",
“a wonderful academic tool …”,
“thank you for the site, it is much needed and well done.”

The website includes a variety of educational modules- all peer-reviewed, objective and evidence based. The site is filled with information available to users in two formats - streaming video and/or notes that can be downloaded. Quizes are also available for each module to assess the user’s understanding of the content. Other materials on the new site include downloadable brochures (trifold and booklet type) on select patient topics. For example, patients who've undergone recent transtibial amputation and/or transfemoral amputation, or patients who are facing their first ankle-foot orthosis will find relevant materials to answer most often asked questions and address common fears & concerns.

Orthotics & Prosthetics patients now have a variety of options to choose from. The newly created website,commissioned by the Rehabiltation Services Administration of the U.S. Dept. of Education, hopes to increase patient awareness and serve as a resource to practitioners.

The newly created website includes a list of text resources and a host of weblinks - all with the goal of providing patients and health practitioners with the most updated information. Additional educational materials will be added to the website through the Summer of 2008.

Dr. Quillen, the project's Principal Investigator, is the Director of the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and an Associate Dean at the USF College of Medicine. His Co-Principal Investigator is Dr. Rajiv Dubey, Professor and Chair of the USF College of Engineering's Mechanical Engineering Department and Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering & Technology Program.

Click here to view national site, Demonstration Project on Prosthetics & Orthotics, proudly based at the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences in Tampa, FL.

For more information, contact M. Jason Highsmith, USF Health SPTRS
at (813)974-3806.

Dr. William Quillen, Director of the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, photographed with Scientific Foundations of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation textbook which he co-edited and was published in March 2007.

Dawn & Donald Archambault with 4 month old son David. Moved by the efforts of USF IVF doctors, they named their son after Dr. David Keefe, Chair of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Doctors Ying Ying and Keefe teased Dr. Shayne Plosker during the January 11th photo shoot. The infant kept turning to look at Dr. Plosker. "Look at this! He's wiggling over to see Shayne!" said Keefe, laughing as he handed over the baby.

Baby David was born in September - USF Physician Dr. Carol Cox delivering him after a difficult 16 hour labor for mom Dawn.

Christine Kilfoyl, RN, Nurse Coordinator for USF IVF, rocks baby David to sleep. "This is what it's all about", said Kilfoyle, "For me, as a nurse, my goal is to help people through this very emotional process and let them know what their options are."

The Archambault Family and their "A-team" from USF IVF.
From L to R: Christine Kilfoyle, RN; embryologist Dr. Ying Ying; Dawn, Donald Archambault with son David; Dr. David Keefe, Chair of Obstetrics & Gynecology; and Dr. Shayne Plosker, Division Director.

Larry Collins, PA-C, ATC

Tampa, FL (Jan. 14, 2008) – Larry Collins, a physician assistant (PA) and instructor at the University of South Florida Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, has been recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA).

Only 200 out of approximately 70,000 PAs practicing in the U.S. have been earned the AAPA's distinction of Distinguished Fellow.

All Distinguished Fellows have demonstrated exceptional contributions to their communities and a commitment to all aspects of health care.

Collins has been a physician assistant in Tampa for more than 17 years and currently treats patients and educates students in the Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at USF.

He earned the recognition for his outstanding contributions to patient care and the PA profession during his years as a physician assistant in Tampa. He has also demonstrated significant dedication and involvement within the Tampa Bay community. Collins continues to volunteer at various athletic competitions across the Tampa Bay area, as well as nationally and internationally.

Collins has worked with the Sports Medicine faculty and staff at USF since 1990 and has also volunteered at the University of Tampa and Saint Leo University. For the past two decades he has provided medical coverage at Friday night high school football games. He has also worked with the United States Olympic Training Program in Colorado Springs and was assigned to the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 2007 Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy.

Collins volunteers yearly for pre-competition physicals for several youth organizations across the Tampa region and helps coordinate medical coverage for local events such as adventure races, triathlons and road races.

He is an avid runner, cyclist and triathlete, having completed several Ironman triathlons. In 2003, he was a member of the FOI/Arthritis Foundation four-man team that raised $40,000 and finished third in the Race Across America (RAAM) -- completing the San Diego to Atlantic City bicycle race in 7 days, 2 hours.

Physician assistants are licensed health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team with their supervising physicians, delivering a broad range of medical and surgical services. The AAPA is the only national organization representing physician assistants in all medical and surgical specialties and is one of the largest medical societies in the United States.

- 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 $308 million in research funding last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of Florida’s top three research universities.