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.

Availability of H1N1 Vaccine: Target Groups

Click here for the University Response to H1N1 (Swine) Flu...

A MESSAGE TO OUR USF HEALTH PATIENTS

USF Health is actively monitoring the H1N1 virus in an effort to keep all of our patients and employees from contracting the illness. If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, please call your medical provider first to determine whether or not you should come into one of our healthcare facilities for treatment.

Children and young adults (aged 0-24 yrs.) are at an increased risk for getting sick from this flu, but most cases have been mild. Individuals in one of the “special risk” groups including pregnancy, asthmatics, immune suppressed, chronic medical conditions, are at an increased risk for complications from the H1N1 illness and should contact their healthcare provider promptly if they develop flu-like symptoms.

Practicing and teaching your children good hygiene is the most important thing you can do to help prevent the spread of influenza. Wash your hands regularly, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve, don’t share personal items and get a flu shot every year.

USF Health clinics will be offering the “seasonal” flu shot (which does not protect against the H1N1 virus) beginning September 14, 2009, for all patients and employees. A special vaccine for the H1N1 virus will be available at a later date. For up to date information on what USF Health is doing to combat the H1N1 virus, please call our hotline at (813) 844-FLU1. Additional information about influenza, including the H1N1 flu is available at: http://www.flu.gov/

A MESSAGE TO OUR USF HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL

Healthcare workers in the clinical areas can expect to care for patients with the H1N1 influenza infection. Using appropriate standard and transmission-based precautions (Droplet and Contact) will play a key role in preventing the spread of influenza. Effective hand hygiene is crucial to reduce infections and must be performed frequently throughout the day. In addition, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve, don’t share personal items at work and get a Flu shot every year.

A MESSAGE TO OUR USF HEALTH EMPLOYEES

Practicing good hygiene is the most important thing you can do to help prevent the spread of influenza. Wash your hands regularly, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve, don’t share personal items and get a flu shot every year.

For up to date information on what USF Health is doing to combat the H1N1 virus, please call our hotline at (813) 844-FLU1. Additional information about influenza, including the H1N1 flu is available at: http://www.flu.gov/

Click image to download PDF of Poster

RELATED LINKS:

- Self-Triage for Person with Flu-Like Symptoms

- Q & A: Dr. John Sinnott on H1N1 (Swine) Flu

In the Tampa area, more than a quarter (28 percent) of the physicians who made the 2009 Best Doctors in America list works at USF Health.

And when you include the generous volunteer faculty members (those who teach medical students or residents several times each year) and College of Medicine alumni in private practice locally, the numbers go up even more – 48 percent of the list has a connection with USF Health.

The annual list for Best Doctors in America is compiled from surveys of physicians asking them who they would go to for treatment in their specialty. The result is a national listing of 50,000 physicians in more than 400 specialties.

This year, the list included 590 physicians from the Tampa Bay area. Of that 161 are full-time, courtesy or adjunct physicians for USF. The list also included 78 physicians who are volunteer faculty members for USF and 57 alumni of the USF College of Medicine (some of the physicians in other categories are also alumni but were counted only in their faculty category), bringing the total to 295 physicians (48 percent) who have a connection with USF Health.

“Our faculty physicians continue to dominate the Best Doctors in America list and families throughout the Tampa Bay area are the ones who benefit most,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

“These doctors have an incredible impact on the healthcare provided in this community. We couldn’t be more proud of our USF docs and are thankful for all they do.”

USF Health boasts the area’s largest medical practice, with more than 400 physicians treating this region’s residents. They see nearly 350,000 patients each year in dozens of medical facilities – large and small – along the Florida Gulf Coast.

The following is a list of physicians included in the 2009 Best Doctors in America who have a connection to USF Health. Some physicians earned spots in more than one specialty, so this list will total more.

Allergy and Immunology
Morna Jean Dorsey
Roger Williams Fox
Mark Christian Glaum
Alan Barton Halsey
Craig Andrew Kalik
Dennis K. Ledford
Richard F. Lockey
Elena Elizabeth Perez
Mitchel Seleznick
Mandel Reid Sher

Anesthesiology
Alan David Almengual
Enrico M. Camporesi
Rafael Miguel
David Jeffrey Samuels

Cardiovascular Disease
Anne B. Curtis
Debbie Rinde-Hoffman

Colon and Rectal Surgery
Jorge E. Marcet

Critical Care Medicine
W. McDowell Anderson
Allan L. Goldman
Mark Rumbak
David Allan Solomon
Frank W. Walsh

Dermatology
Teresa Pullara Brandt
Basil S. Cherpelis
Peter A. Donelan
Lowella E. Esperanza
Neil Alan Fenske
L. Frank Glass
Timothy Francis Kelly
Stacy Perez
Philip D. Shenefelt

Endocrinology and Metabolism
David Ralph Leonard

Family Medicine
Colin S. Beach
Harrison James Brownlee, Jr.
Adam A. Brunson
Sean T. Bryan
Eric Emmanuel Coris
Thomas E. Esposito
Bruce J. Flareau
Eduardo C. Gonzalez
Pamela C. Grover
Frederic J. Guerrier
Russell M. Hostetler
George E. Hutter
Richard J. Ina
Paul Lewis
Candice C. Linton
Dolores K. Lowe
Yves Morency
John V. Murray, Jr.
Linda P. Murray
Michele D. Pescasio
Joel S. Prawer
Cheryl Reed
Richard G. Roetzheim
Diane M. Rogers
Robert B. Rosequist
Joseph P. Springle
Frank Allan Thompson
Ronald Vicencio
Laurie J. Woodard
Kira Katherine Zwygart

Gastroenterology
H. Worth Boyce, Jr.
Patrick G. Brady
Jay J. Mamel
H. Juergen Nord
Haim Pinkas

Geriatric Medicine
Claudia Beghé-Balducci
John A. Frutchey
June Y. Leland
Hae Kyoung Park
Vincent D. Perron
Ronald Scott Schonwetter

Hand Surgery
Robert John Belsole

Infectious Disease
Margarita Rosa Cancio
Beata C. Herman Casanas
John N. Greene
Daniel Haight
Douglas Allen Holt
Julie Larkin
Jose Montero
John Thomas Sinnott
Chararut Somboonwit
Todd S. Wills

Internal Medicine
Harold M. Adelman
Donald Behnke
Bryan Bognar
Kent R. Corral
Mark Allen Davis
Michael T. Flannery
Kathleen Moss Grizzard
Carol A. Hodges
Richard P. Hoffmann
Deborah A. Humphrey
Jeffrey A. Kooper
Jose (Joe) L. Lezama, Jr.
Cuc Thi Mai
Hugo J. Narvarte
Kevin O'Brien
Lucila Ramiro
Alexander Reiss
Mitchel Seleznick
Elizabeth A. Warner
David Weiland
Susan M. Zimmer

Nephrology
Denise Y. Alveranga
Samuel Steven Weinstein

Neurological Surgery
Mark Greenberg
Kenneth Louis
Donald A. Smith
Fernando L. Vale
Harry R. van Loveren

Neurology
Selim Ramin Benbadis
Edmund Guy Grant, Jr.
Robert A. Hauser
Jan K. Korthals
Kenneth Louis
Juan R. Sanchez-Ramos
Michael Allan Sloan
Paul R. Winters

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Jeffrey L. Angel
Ignacio Armas
Marc A. Bernhisel
Jeffrey K. Carlson
Mitchel S. Hoffman
Michael W. Jaeger
Galen Bruce Jones
Mary Lee Josey
Craig S. Kalter
David L. Keefe
Catherine M. Lynch
Anthony M. Messina
Anna Kristina Parsons
Michael Thomas Parsons
Shayne M. Plosker
James C. Von Thron
J. Kell Williams

Ophthalmology
Craig Berger
Christine E. Callahan
Leonard Edward Cortelli, Jr.
Mitchell D. Drucker
Lewis Groden
Steven Abraham Gross
Geoffrey Malcom Kwitko
Scott E. Pautler
Peter Reed Pavan
Thomas J. Pusateri
David W. Richards
Charles B. Slonim

Orthopaedic Surgery
Glen A. Barden
Brett R. Bolhofner
William G. Carson, Jr.
Heidi Multhopp Stephens

Otolaryngology
Loren J. Bartels
Kestutis Paul Boyev
Thomas Vincent McCaffrey
Tapan Ashvin Padhya
Daniel Vincent

Pain Medicine
Rafael Miguel

Pathology
Jane Messina
Michael Morgan
Santo V. Nicosia

Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
Alan Barton Halsey
Craig Andrew Kalik
Mandel Reid Sher
John W. Sleasman

Pediatric Anesthesiology
George Garcia Alvarez
Michael A. Garcia

Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
James Anthony Quintessenza

Pediatric Cardiology
Alfred Asante-Korang
Jorge Manuel Giroud
James Gifford Henry
Richard Manuel Martinez
Jorge McCormack

Pediatric Critical Care
David Seth Cooper
Perry Boyd Everett
Mark Allan Nichter
David Pettigrew
Daniel J. Plasencia
Dan Riggs
Albert Saltiel
Richard E. Weibley

Pediatric Endocrinology
Barry B. Bercu
Terry J. DeClue
Frank B. Diamond, Jr.
E. Verena Jorgensen
John I. Malone
Allen W. Root
Dorothy I. Shulman

Pediatric Gastroenterology
Daniel T. McClenathan
L. Julio Reinstein

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Jerry L. Barbosa
Michael L. Nieder

Pediatric Infectious Disease
David Michael Berman
Juan Dumois
Patricia Emmanuel

Pediatric Nephrology
Alfonso Campos
Valerie M. Panzarino
Sharon A. Perlman

Pediatric Neurological Surgery
Carolyn M. Carey
Sarah J. Gaskill
Arthur E. Marlin

Pediatric Nutrition
L. Julio Reinstein

Pediatric Ophthalmology
Magda Barsoum-Homsy
Steven Abraham Gross
Derek B. Hess

Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery
Jeffrey B. Neustadt

Pediatric Otolaryngology
Thomas M. Andrews
Wade Russell Cressman

Pediatric Plastic Surgery
Ernesto Ruas

Pediatric Pulmonology
Anthony Kriseman

Pediatric Rheumatology
Robert W. Nickeson, Jr.
Mandel Reid Sher
John W. Sleasman

Pediatric Specialist/Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Jeffrey L. Alvaro
Michael Bengtson
Glenn Catalano
Mark A. Cavitt
Steven Noah Kanfer
Tanya K. Murphy
Kailie R. Shaw
Saundra Stock

Pediatric Specialist/Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Alastair A. Hutchison
Anthony E. Napolitano, Jr.
Lewis P. Rubin

Pediatrics Specialist/Neurology, General
Joseph A. Casadonte
Maria A. Gieron-Korthals
J. Richard Gunderman
Steven Parrish Winesett

Pediatric Urology
Yves L. Homsy

Pediatrics/General
Dipti Patel Amin
Melody M. Baade
Lori A. Bowers
Jose E. Colon
Sharon M. Dabrow
Rani S. Gereige
Gabriele Hosemann
Gerard R. Hough
Patricia L. Jeansonne
Karalee Kulek-Luzey
Mudra K. Kumar
Katherine Lewis
Carol Lilly
Hugo J. Narvarte
Emily T. Perkins
Domenick P. Reina
Christopher D. Reiner
Lynnette N. Ringenberg
Antoinette C. Spoto-Cannons
Jennifer Cohen Takagishi
Christopher L. Tappan
Marianne Trubelhorn

Plastic Surgery
Henry Arvil Redmon
Ernesto Ruas
Karen E. Wells

Psychiatry
Jeffrey L. Alvaro
Glenn Catalano
Maria C. Catalano
Mark A. Cavitt
James R. Edgar
Francisco Fernandez
Jaffrey Hashimie
Steven Noah Kanfer
Tanya K. Murphy
Pauline S. Powers
Deborah C. Roth
David V. Sheehan
Michael Finbar Sheehan
Amanda Grant Smith
Jonathan Taylor Stewart

Pulmonary Medicine
W. McDowell Anderson
Claudia G. Cote
Allan L. Goldman
Daniel Lorch
Richard S. Powell
Mark Rumbak
David Allan Solomon
Frank W. Walsh

Radiation Oncology
Harvey M. Greenberg

Radiology
John A. Arrington
Carlos R. Martinez
Frederick Reed Murtagh
Bruce R. Zwiebel

Rheumatology
Harold M. Adelman
John D. Carter
Laura Cruse
Dennis K. Ledford
Mitchel Seleznick
Kimberly M. Smith
Joanne Valeriano-Marcet

Sleep Medicine
W. McDowell Anderson
Daniel Lorch

Surgery
Michael H. Albrink
Sylvia Deal Campbell
Charles E. Cox
Steven B. Goldin
Michel Murr
Ernest C. Rehnke
Alexander S. Rosemurgy II
David H. Shapiro
Larry R. Williams
Terry E. Wright

Surgical Oncology
Charles E. Cox
Carl Wayne Cruse

Urology
Jorge L. Lockhart

Vascular Surgery
Martin R. Back
Dennis F. Bandyk
John L. Driscoll
Brad Larvin Johnson
Ernest C. Rehnke
Murray L. Shames
Larry R. Williams

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications

Class Size: 120

Sex: Female (61) 51%
Male (59) 49%

Age: 21-24 (85) 71%
25-29 (28) 23%
30+ (7) 6%

Breakdowns:
13% Underrepresented in Medicine (URM)
7% Out of State

Academic Achievement:
Overall GPA 3.72
MCAT 31
College/University:

Florida schools represented:
USF – 37 (17 BS/MD)
UF – 26
UCF – 9 (2 BS/MD)
FSU – 6
UM – 3
FIU – 2
FGCU -1
FAU – 1
Nova – 1
New College – 1
Jacksonville University – 1
UWF – 1
Clearwater Christian College - 1

26 Non-Florida schools represented:
Duke
Princeton
Emory
Auburn
Cornell
Boston College
Tulane
Georgia Tech
Penn, Ohio, Colorado, Oregon State(s)
Washington and Lee
York College/PA
Wash U of St. Louis
University of Michigan
University of Washington
Westminster College
College of William and Mary
MIT
U. Memphis

Source: USF College of Medicine Admissions

Click here for profile of COM Class of 2013

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.

Susan Wier participated in a pilot study at the USF Ataxia Research Center, which led to a dramatic improvement in her ataxia symptoms.

Up until 1991, Susan Wier’s life was pretty typical, filled with the satisfying balance of wife, mother and nurse.

But over the course of several years year, Susan lost her ability to control her own coordination. Three to four times a day, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, and her speech turned drawn and guttural. Every time she walked, even with the aid of a cane or walker, she walked with a wide stance and a wobbling gait. The balance problems caused further injuries, like a broken foot bone, a broken wrist bone and lots of bruising. Eventually, Susan and her family accepted that she would be confined to a wheelchair.

The lack of mobility and control of her own movements limited every activity. Her nursing career ended early, simple tasks became exhausting, and she had to give up one of her favorite pastimes, reading, because uncontrollable eye movements prevented her from focusing. She became dependent on her family for nearly everything, as her husband and children struggled with how to provide the care Susan needed while helping her maintain some independence.

Watch video of Susan before and after investigational treatment:

Susan was familiar with these symptoms because she watched her grandfather suffer and die in his early 70s. In addition, four out of five aunts and uncles were clearly affected by similar symptoms and all died before their late 70s, and three cousins who experienced the symptoms have since passed away, one at the age of 45.

Her family called the mystery illness “our family curse.”

“Our family has a history of eight generations of this,” she said. “And I have three sons and grandchildren that I worry about every day, not only for their health, but for the strain that my deteriorating health and long-time care may have on the quality of their lives.”

This fear pushed Susan to finally find an answer.  In 1991, she, some of her siblings and a cousin participated in an NIH study looking for the gene responsible for a rare disease called ataxia.  The result: the family had the gene and Susan, one sibling and a cousin had ataxia.

“But now we had a name for it,” she said. “The effects of this crippling disease are something I had been acutely aware of since before I knew it by name – before I could no longer walk without assistance and before I knew it was hereditary and feared for my children and grandchildren.”

Finally having a diagnosis has helped Susan and her family cope, but only so much because ataxia has no cure and managing the symptoms is limited. To learn more about ataxia and to share her family’s story, Susan joined the West Central Florida Ataxia Support Group, which offered a lot of practical, emotional and inspirational help. At one of the group’s meetings, Susan heard about a promising study starting at the USF Ataxia Research Center (USF ARC).  Wasting no time, she called and, after finding out everything she could about the research and meeting the physicians there, became the first volunteer for a new study testing the effectiveness of the drug varenicline (a medication used to quit smoking) in reducing the severity of ataxia symptoms.

Right: Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz, director of USF ARC, tests Susan's reflexes. Left: Seok Hun Kim, PT, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, assists Susan as she walks across GaitRite mat in the school's Human Functional Performance Lab.

Watch video (above) of Susan walking across a GaitRite Mat, which tests walking speed, stride length and other gait characteristics. The information helps USF physical therapists evaluate whether therapies such as exercise and medications are effective over time in patients with ataxia or other disorders affecting balance and movement.

The results were dramatic, nearly a complete turnaround. Susan experienced what she describes as an 80-percent improvement in her symptoms and lost 40 pounds because of her increased activity. She even noticed an improvement in her depression, a symptom she hadn’t really acknowledged until she felt so much better.

“I didn’t realize how depressed I was,” she said. “Now I approach every new day with a can-do attitude. It is my sincere hope that much can be learned from this study. Dr. Z. (Theresa Zesiewicz) and her team have been phenomenal. I know that the medicine is not a cure. I still have ataxia, but the symptoms are drastically reduced.”

Susan chats with USF physical therapist Jeannie Stephenson, PT, MS, NCS, who helped evaluate her gait.

Today, Susan still uses a cane, but her mobility is vastly improved. In fact, from lack of use, her wheelchair is now parked in a corner with a sheet over it. Her speech still occasionally falters, but mostly she converses clearly. And the icing on the cake is that she is reading again.

“With this new sense of hope and treatment, I have dedicated myself to helping others live with ataxia and to assisting the medical community in curing it for the generations to come,” Susan said. “My hope is that the comprehensive studies from USF ARC may benefit not only ataxia, but other neurological diseases as well.”

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications
Photos by Eric Youghans, USF Health Communications

USF Ataxia Research Center at forefront of helping patients battling little-known neurological disease

The faces of ataxia are diverse. Shelby Reynolds, left, has Friedreich's ataxia, while Susan Wier lives with spinal cerebellar ataxia.

Within the course of several years Susan Wier went from being a vibrant wife, mother, and nurse to a woman nearly confined to a wheelchair because she could no longer control her mobility (to read Susan's story, click here).

A family history provided a hint of what the early symptoms meant was to come, but it wasn’t until Susan participated in a National Institutes of Health study that she confirmed what was wrong: she had ataxia.  And it wasn’t until turning to the USF Ataxia Research Center last year and participating in a promising study there that she experienced a dramatic improvement in her symptoms. Within a short time, she transitioned from needing a wheelchair for getting around to only occasionally requiring her husband’s arm for support.

Why did Susan have to be subjected to this roller coaster ride, taking her from typical to debilitated to almost normal again? Why should anyone have to go through that?

Ataxia is so destructive, yet little known by the general population. Even in the field of medicine, patients can go undiagnosed and misdiagnosed for years, because physicians may not routinely consider this rare neurological problem when trying to help patients determine what has halted their ability to control their own movements.

That is why the USF Ataxia Research Center (USF ARC) has been so successful. Its sole focus is to make use of multiple areas of science to help patients with ataxia and their families while educating the public and other physicians about the disease (to read more about the USF-ARC and its team of experts, click here).

The USF ARC team takes a multidisciplinary approach to helping patients with ataxia.

USF-ARC has become a model for other academic medical centers because it looks at the whole picture for treating ataxia, said Theresa Zesiewicz, MD, director of USF ARC and professor of neurology at USF. Basic scientists are studying the physiology and genetics of the disease. Pharmacologists are testing responses to medicines at the molecular level. Physical therapists are helping patients regain some control over their movements. And a team of physicians is treating ataxia patients, even providing them access to much needed, and so far very hopeful, clinical studies.

“We are very unusual because we are one of the very few ataxia centers in the country. In addition we offer a full translational approach,” Dr. Zesiewicz said. “That means we have experts in basic science, physical therapy and clinical areas who follow patients along each step of their care. Patients, as well, follow each of these areas, making use of current research and successful treatments for their symptom management.”

USF neurologist Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz directs the USF ARC.

For example, she said, the USF ARC team envisioned very promising possibilities for varenicline (a smoking cessation drug known as Chantix), which immediately opened a door for hosting a pilot clinical trial.

This smaller study has led to two randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials examining the potential of Chantix as the first effective treatment for ataxia.  Dr. Zesiewicz is the principal investigator for both, which recently began enrolling patients at USF and other universities across the country. One trial, sponsored by Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA), is looking at Chantix in adults with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), a particularly devastating neuromuscular form of the disease that usually strikes children and teenagers. The other trial, sponsored by the National Ataxia Foundation and the Bobby Allison Ataxia Research Alliance, is focusing on adults with spinocerebellar ataxias.

Dr. Zesiewicz and colleagues at the USF ARC suspect that Chantix may improve ataxia symptoms by targeting something gone awry with nicotinic receptors in the nervous system.

Those with FA or other types of ataxia should not to begin Chantix without physician monitoring, Dr. Zesiewicz cautioned, because the prescription drug has caused serious side effects in some who have used it to stop smoking.

“As with all research, even if this particular medication isn’t ‘the one,’ our studies will help us better understand the underlying mechanism of ataxia, which could lead to a finding for another hopeful treatment or cure,” Dr. Zesiewicz said.

Research like that conducted in the pharmacology laboratory of USF's Dr. Lynn Wecker seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms of ataxia.

WHAT IS ATAXIA?
Ataxia is a group of neurological diseases in which a person’s movement is uncoordinated. There are several types of ataxia, each with its own severity, but all are characterized by difficulty in controlling balance and movement.

The most obvious symptom is an unbalanced gait, which often makes ataxia patients appear drunk. Speech and eye movements are additional symptoms, and in severe cases, patients may experience swallowing and respiratory problems.

Currently, there is no proven treatment or cure for ataxia.  Though not terminal, the disorder is usually life shortening. Its victims become debilitated -- slowly reduced to walkers, then wheelchairs, and eventually bedridden.

Dr. Zesiewicz examines Shelby Reynolds, 10, who has Friedreich's ataxia.

Many forms of ataxia are hereditary, while others may be induced by medications, infections, toxins or alcoholism.  In the type of ataxia Wier inherited -- spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 -- the gene associated with the ataxia is located on autosomal, or non-sex, chromosomes (SCA 3) and, therefore, affects males and females equally.

For many families, finally getting a diagnosis eases the burden of dealing with ataxia.  They can finally look up information about the disease and find support groups. That is one of the main reasons the USF ARC has the mission of educating the public and physicians about all forms of cerebellar ataxia.

“The response to our ARC has been overwhelming,” Dr. Zesiewicz said. “Patients spearheaded getting the word out through blogs and the internet. This tactic is helping us discover new and effective approaches to better understand and treat cerebellar ataxia, while also searching for a cure.”

The USF ARC works with all types of ataxia but offers a special focus on FA, a progressive neuromuscular disease that typically causes its young victims to be wheelchair bound by their early 20s. “It’s devastating because at a time of life when these kids should be focusing their energies on college and careers, their major goal is staying out of a wheelchair,” Dr. Zesiewicz said.

A series of events is scheduled August 27 through 29 to benefit USF ARC and FARA. It begins with a scientific symposium open to the community Thursday evening, Aug. 27, and culminate with the FARA Energy Ball on Saturday evening, Aug. 29.

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Research may have implications for other neurological disorders affecting balance

Tampa, FL -- An upcoming  symposium at USF Health will bring together scientists, clinicians and patients to discuss promising new research for Friedreich’s ataxia and other ataxias, a group of degenerative diseases of the nervous system that adversely affect balance, coordination and movement.

“Understanding Energy for a Cure” will be held 6:15 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, in Room 1013 at the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare at USF Health, 13330 USF Laurel Drive, Tampa, FL 33612. The symposium, sponsored by the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) and the USF Ataxia Research Center (ARC), is free and open to the public.

Dr. Jeffrey Krischer, professor and director of the USF Pediatrics Epidemiology Center, will speak on “The Challenges and Promise of Rare Diseases Research.”  Dr. Krischer is the principal investigator for a major National Institutes of Health data coordinating center that supports the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, which is addressing the complexities of diagnosing and treating a variety of rare diseases, including ataxias.

Other speakers will be Dr. Theresa Zesiewicz, professor of neurology and director of the USF ARC; Jennifer Farmer, executive director of FARA; and Ron Bartek, president and founder of FARA.  Topics will cover new research, the care and management of ataxia, with an emphasis on Friedreich’s; and patient advocacy. Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine, will moderate a panel discussion on the patient’s perspective of ataxia.

“Research investigating the underlying molecular mechanisms of Friedreich’s and spinocerebellar ataxia may lead not only to treatments for ataxias, but also to more effective therapies for imbalance caused by stroke, tumors and toxins,” Dr. Zesiewicz said.

The USF ARC provides care for patients suffering from imbalance and ataxia, while conducting both basic science and patient-oriented research.  The center has a special focus on Friedrich’s ataxia, a debilitating neuromuscular disease that typically strikes children and teenagers and leaves them wheelchair bound by their early 20s.

The center is currently spearheading several clinical trials in Friedreich’s and spinocerebellar ataxias, partnering with other universities and national organizations, including FARA, the National Ataxia Foundation and the Bobby Allison Ataxia Research Alliance, to bring promising medications to human testing.

For more information, please call (813) 974-5909.

About 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 $360 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.

About FARA
The Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance's (FARA) mission is to marshal and focus the resources and relationships needed to cure FA by raising funds for research, promoting public awareness, and aligning scientists, patients, clinicians, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and other organizations dedicated to curing FA and related diseases.