April 1, 2008. University of South Florida, College of Public Health, Tampa Bay.
Writers for the New York Times interviewed USF Faculty member Hamisu Salihu, MD, PhD, as a world expert on stillbirth for the April 1, 2008 article entitled “Seeking Answers to Stop Another Stillbirth”. The New York Times story appeared in the publication’s Personal Health section.

Dr. Salihu, Researcher and Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the USF College of Public Health, was interviewed regarding the importance of fetal autopsies, given the limited research that exist to date on the causes of stillbirth.

Stillbirth is defined as the death of a fetus at 20 weeks of gestation or more. Nationwide, experts say in nearly half of all stillbirth cases the cause remains a mystery, leaving couples to grapple with the frightening possibility that this may happen again and again. In the New York Times article, Dr. Hamisu stressed that a fetal autopsy is the single most important step a couple can take in order to know what caused their tragedy to occur and the likelihood it may happen with future pregnancies. “If autopsies were done routinely, we’d know a lot more about the causes of stillbirth and, probably, more about how to prevent them,” said Dr. Salihu, an obstetrician-gynecologist and researcher. The reasons for not having the fetal autopsy vary. In many cases, medical insurance companies may not cover the cost of the autopsy - about $1,000 or more. In other cases, the couple fails to authorize it, overwhelmed by grief.

“a leading researcher in the field…”
USF’s Dr. Salihu, identified in the national story as “a leading researcher in the field”, said physicians should not engage in the common practice of reassuring couples that stillbirth is unlikely to recur, even in cases where the cause of their stillbirth is unknown.

Interviewed at USF Health about the New York Times article, Dr. Salihu had this to say: “My team has been studying stillbirth and stillbirth recurrence for several years now, and as reflected in the New York Times Report, my published work in the field remains a leading reference not only in the United States but the whole world. We and others have delineated certain characteristics that stand out as markers for stillbirth recurrence, and these include: a prior history of stillbirth, a prior history of small for gestational age (SGA) baby, chromosomal or genetic fetal anomalies, and persistent maternal medical conditions which may be genetic or non-genetic. However, in the majority of cases, we do not know the cause (the so-called unexplained stillbirth), and this is perhaps the most frustrating thing for affected couples. This underscores the need for more in-depth research in this relatively neglected area of Infant Health if we are to advance in knowledge and intervention that will be effective in preventing stillbirth or its recurrence.”

National prominence in research…
Dr. Salihu recently received a one-year, $254,000 W.K Kellogg Foundation grant to help community coalitions develop evidence-based action plans to reduce high black infant mortality rates in seven Florida counties. He will work with a team of diverse multidisciplinary faculty and staff at the USF College of Public Health, the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies and Florida A&M University.

Click here to view New York Times article/ April 1, 2008/ “Seeking Answers to Stop Another Stillbirth” by Jane E. Brody

Story by Lissette Campos & Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications

Tampa, FL (April 2, 2008) — Miami-Dade County Health Department Administrator Lillian Rivera, RN, MSN, PhD, has been named the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health for 2008 by the University of South Florida College of Public Health.
The College bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments and leadership have contributed significantly to the field of public health in Florida. Rivera was honored at an awards ceremony at 4 p.m., April 2, at the USF College of Public Health.

As head of the Miami-Dade County Health Department, Rivera manages more than 1,000 employees and a $67-million annual budget. She joined the department in 1990 as nursing director and has served as administrator since 2003, except for a six-month stint as Florida’s deputy health officer in 2007.

Following Hurricane Andrew, Rivera organized nurses assisting in the recovery efforts and was instrumental in securing $5 million in CDC grants to support the needs of a community devastated by the disaster. She established multidisciplinary and multicultural Community Health Action Teams to reduce the incidence of communicable diseases. As a result of September 11th and subsequent anthrax cases in Florida, Rivera developed a comprehensive bioterrorism response system for public health. She helped create the Miami-Dade Hospital Preparedness Consortium to work with the county in coordinating healthcare emergency preparedness and hospital surge capacity and the Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade to combat increasing rates of chronic disease.

She spearheaded the funding initiative to open two new clinics in the underserved communities of West Perrine and Little Haiti, and recently obtained legislative funds to replace the main clinic complex in the Health Care District of Miami-Dade.

Rivera established an Office of Quality Management and introduced a management model to improve the organization’s operational effectiveness, customer value and overall results. Under her tenure as administrator, the health department in Miami-Dade has twice won the Governor’s Sterling Award (2002 and 2006), the state’s most prestigious award for performance excellence.

A public health leader with numerous awards, Rivera serves as president of the Florida Sterling Council, an advisory group member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pipeline to Practice: Nurse Leader on Boards program, and a founding member of the Children’s Trust of Miami-Dade County.

She earned her MSN degree from the University of Puerto Rico and a PhD in health administration for Warren National University. She is a certified healthcare risk manager, a graduate of the Executive Institute for Community Health Nurses (UNC-Chapel Hill) and a fellow of the RWJ Nurse Executive Program.

The Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health Award was initiated by USF in 1988, and nominations are solicited from public health practitioners across the state. Past honorees have included Lillian Stark, director of virology at the Florida Department of Health Tampa Branch Laboratory; Jean Malecki, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department; and University of Miami epidemiologist Lora E. Fleming, MD.

- 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.

Photo Gallery

- News release by Anne DeLotto Baier/USF Health Communications

For more information on Public Health’s GHIDR team, click here.

Two researchers from the College of Public Health’s Global Health Infectious Diseases Research team have recently written publications on the newest treatments for one of the oldest and still among the most prevalent scourges — malaria.

Wilbur Milhous, PhD, professor of global health and associate dean for research for the College of Public Health, is a co-author of the new book Artemisinins in Malaria Therapy. Dennis Kyle, PhD, professor of global health, is a co-author of the paper “Malaria: progress, perils and prospects for eradication” appearing in a special April 2008 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Artemsinins in Malaria Therapy presents a comprehensive and innovative assessment of the historical use and recent developments in the treatment of malaria. Dr. Milhous wrote the book with Qigui Li and Peter Weina, former colleagues at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Division of Experimental Therapeutics, and the text culminates more than 24 years of his work as a small molecule drug developer at WRAIR. It is available online through NOVA publishers.

Wilbur Milhous, PhD

The authors describe a new class of antimalarial compounds that may assist in winning the battle against this age-old killer. Artemisinins are antimalarials derived from the sweet wormwood plant Artemisia annua, which was used in ancient Chinese Medicine for treatment of malarial-like conditions. The modern version of these compounds, which clear parasites from the blood more rapidly than other antimalarial agents, were recently been recommended by the World Health Organization as the first line of therapy for most cases of malaria. Used in much of the world, artemisinins represent an improvement in the safety and effectiveness of treatment for severe malaria.

Dr. Milhous was the first scientist to conduct in vitro testing of arteminisin extracts from plants actually growing along the Potomac River, down the road from WRAIR, and has since been fascinated with the molecule, resulting in numerous publications and patents.

Dennis Kyle, PhD

Dr. Kyle, who also worked with Dr. Milhous at WRAIR, was one of seven internationally renowned malaria experts invited by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Journal of Clinical Investigation to write a state-of-the-art malaria review paper for a special issue of the journal. Dr. Kyle, along with David Fidock of Columbia University, wrote the section on drug discovery and parasite biology.

The authors note that the emergence of artemisinin resistance is one of the greatest threats to renewed global efforts to eradicate malaria. “Discovery and development of new antimalarial drugs, separate from artemisinins, must proceed so that replacements will be ready if and when ACTs reach the end of their clinical life,” they write.

Dr. Milhous and Dr. Kyle are members of a core group of USF global health infectious disease researchers who are international leaders in understanding, tracking and controlling malaria and other insect-borne tropical diseases.

- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier/USF Health Communications

Public Health Dean Donna Petersen, ScD, is USF’s representative to the Indo-U.S. Joint Collaboration in Environment and Occupational Health.

College of Public Health Dean Donna Petersen, ScD, recently returned from intensive meetings in India, where she helped tackle the challenge of reducing fatalities from traffic accidents. With the world’s highest rate of road fatalities, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have joined with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Agency for Toxic Substance & Disease Registry to work on reducing this urgent public health problem. Dr. Petersen is USF’s representative to the Indo-U.S. Joint Collaboration in Environment and Occupational Health, which is helping oversee the initiative.

Pedestrians and bicyclists account for 70 percent of the road deaths in India and motorized 2-wheeler riders for 25 percent.

“We first had a very rich discussion with a wide range of people involved in this issue—the chief of police; transportation officials; trauma, hospital and health officials and many other agencies and sectors,” Dr. Petersen said. “There is no 911 and no real agreement on how to set this up, what number to use. As of now, in one area, you call something like 33-22413724 for fire, 33-99313954 for police, and so on.”

Clearly a major concern of the group “is trauma and how to respond within the first critical hour, along with providing trauma treatment/care management” she recounted.

India has the world’s highest rate of road fatalities.

Following this multi-agency meeting, those involved in health care were driven from the New Delhi meeting on the road to Agra for further meetings with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

“This is where reality hit!” Dr. Petersen said. “The road was dark — a highway connecting the two cities, which simply meant nearly everything went faster—taxis, buses, cars, trucks, 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers. The goats, chickens, monkeys, pedestrians were still there too, not to mention the road construction!”

Once the group safely arrived, members followed up from two previous planning workshops. These had led to experimental interventions, such as providing emergency assistance to accident victims on highways and developing plans for a network of trauma centers. Although recognizing the need for a multi-faceted approach with a range of prevention, intervention and management, this particular session focused on the trauma aspects and on building capacity in emergency medicine in hospitals.

“We’re really interested in prevention measures and in surveillance, which will be one outcome, but it’s more likely that College of Medicine folks will become involved in the emergency medicine exchanges—and they have already had some discussions about this,” Dr. Petersen said. “We’ll remain involved to keep our USF Health links with both India and the CDC on this and other health issues.”

Bulls and other animals in the road add to the traffic challenges in India.

- Story by Susan James/USF Health International Programs

- Researchers recommend engineering solutions to improve intersection safety -

Tampa, FL (March 11, 2008) — Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. The effective remedy to red-light running uses engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, which is particularly important to Florida’s elderly drivers, the researchers recommend.

The report was published this month in the Florida Public Health Review, the online journal of the college and the Florida Public Health Association.

“The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don’t work,” said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health.

“Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections. If used in Florida, cameras could potentially create even worse outcomes due to the state’s high percent of elderly who are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash occurs.”

Red-light cameras photograph violators who are then sent tickets in the mail. Hillsborough County Commissioners unanimously agreed earlier this month to install the cameras at several major intersections in the county. The devices could be adopted by more cities and counties if Florida legislators pave the way by changing a state law this spring.

The USF report highlights trends in red-light running in Florida, summarizes major studies, and analyzes the automobile insurance industry’s financial interest in cameras. Among the findings:

• Traffic fatalities caused by red-light running are not increasing in Florida and account for less than 4 percent of the state’s yearly traffic deaths. In contrast, more than 22 percent of the state’s traffic fatalities occur at intersections for reasons other than red-light running.

• The injury rate from red-light running crashes has dropped by a third in less than a decade, indicating red-light running crashes have been continually declining in Florida without the use of cameras.

• Comprehensive studies from North Carolina, Virginia, and Ontario have all reported cameras are significantly associated with increases in crashes, as well as crashes involving injuries. The study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council also found that cameras were linked to increased crash costs.

• Some studies that conclude cameras reduced crashes or injuries contained major “research design flaws,” such as incomplete data or inadequate analyses, and were conducted by researchers with links to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS, funded by automobile insurance companies, is the leading advocate for red-light cameras. Insurers can profit from red-light cameras, since their revenues will increase when higher premiums are charged due to the crash and citation increase, the researchers say.

Langland-Orban said the findings have been known for some time. She cites a 2001 paper by the Office of the Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, reporting that red-light cameras are “a hidden tax levied on motorists.” The report concluded cameras are associated with increased crashes, the timings at yellow lights are often set too short to increase tickets for red-light running, and most research concluding cameras are effective was conducted by one researcher from the IIHS. Since then, studies independent of the automobile insurance industry continue to find cameras are associated with large increases in crashes.

Red-light running can be reduced by engineering improvements that address factors such as signal visibility and timings, wet roads and traffic flow, the USF researchers say.

The researchers suggest local governments follow the state’s lead in designing roads and improving intersections to accommodate elderly drivers, which would ultimately benefit all drivers.

Etienne Pracht, PhD, and John Large, PhD, were the other authors of the USF public policy report. To view the report — Red-Light Running Cameras: Would Crashes, Injuries and Automobile Insurance Rates Increase If They Are Used in Florida? — visit http://hsc.usf.edu/publichealth/fphr/

- 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.

- News release by Anne DeLotto Baier/USF Health Communications

 New anti-malarial medicine treats toxoplasmosis -

The DHFR enzyme from the parasites that cause malaria (blue) overlaid with the enzyme from the parasites that cause toxoplasmosis (red), with those residues involved in significant changes in the presence of the drug displayed in stick format.

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans — more than two billion people worldwide.

In the March issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, a research team based at the University of Chicago Medical Center shows that the drug, known as JPC-2056, is extremely effective against Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, without toxicity. Wilbur Milhous, PhD, a member of the University of South Florida’s Global Health Infectious Diseases Research team, was among the paper’s coauthors.

“JPC-2056 has the potential to replace the standard treatment of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine,” said infectious disease specialist Rima McLeod, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Chicago and senior author of the study. “The drug, taken by mouth, is easily absorbed, bioavailable, and relatively nontoxic. In tissue culture and in mice, it was rapidly effective, markedly reducing numbers of toxoplasmosis parasites within just a few days.”

The idea for a pro-drug approach to improve oral bioavailability was originally developed as a malaria treatment in the late 1980s by teams led by Dr. Milhous and Dennis Kyle, PhD, both formerly with Walter Reed Army Institute for Research in Silver Spring, MD, and now at the USF College of Public Health.

Dr. Milhous and Dr. Kyle worked with David Jacobus of Jacobus Pharmaceutical Company. The original version was somewhat toxic and poorly absorbed orally, but through an intensive process of optimizing the drug’s leading compound, their Integrated Product Team settled on a final drug candidate, which they recently shared with the Chicago team.

“As we continue our work in identifying a partner molecule to combat antimalarial drug resistance, the possibility for a treatment indication against another disease like toxoplasmosis is intriguing,” said Dr. Milhous, associate dean for research and professor of global health at the USF College of Public Health. “It’s all about mentorship and sticking with great ideas to save lives. It’s a concept Dr. Kyle and I learned working together at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and with industry partners — one that our team practices daily with students and colleagues across our Colleges, at the Center for Molecular Diversity in Drug Design, Discovery, and Delivery, and at the Center of Excellence for Biomolecular Identification and Targeted Therapeutics.

“This is another clear and striking example of our College’s global commitment to treatment and prevention of diseases affecting pregnant women and children,” said Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the USF College of Public Health.

JPC-2056 inhibits the action of an enzyme, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), produced by the family of parasites that includes those that cause toxoplasmosis and malaria. It is structurally distinct from the human DHFR.

The new drug was effective against all malaria parasites, even those with multiple mutations that make them resistant to other anti-folate medicines, suggesting that “this family of parasites, including not just Toxoplasma but also various malaria parasites, will not easily develop resistance,” McLeod said.

Toxoplasma infection is “probably the most common parasitic infection in the world, causing very significant disease in those who have immature immune systems or who are immune-compromised,” McLeod said. “New medications are urgently needed.”

The standard medicines to treat the infection can cause severe side effects and many patients become hypersensitive to them. There are no medicines that can eliminate certain latent stages of the parasite’s life cycle. There is no vaccine.

T. gondii infects humans through three principal routes: a newly infected pregnant woman passing the infection to her fetus; consumption of undercooked, infected meat; and ingestion of T. gondii oocysts in food, through accidental contamination from cat litter.

Congenital toxoplasmosis, which occurs in an estimated 1 per 5,000 births a year in the United States, can cause severe vision loss, brain damage and even death.

The annual cost of caring for these children may exceed $1 billion. Also at increased risk are people with compromised immune systems, such as those with cancer, autoimmune disease, AIDS or transplant recipients. Even people with normal immune systems can suffer major organ damage from chronic infections.

This new class of medicine holds “considerable promise for significant advances in the treatment of toxoplasmosis, which damages the eye and the brain,” said McLeod, “as well as malaria, which kills one million children each year.”

The National Institutes of Health, Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation and donations from several private family foundations supported this research.

** Click here for additional information. **

The COPH is pleased to announce an exciting preliminary schedule of events for National Public Health week 2008! This year the theme of NPHW is Climate Change and the Nation’s Health, as noted on the national site at http://www.nphw.org/nphw08/default.htm . A summary of the different events which the COPH is offering is listed below and the complete brochure is forthcoming.

The COPH is pleased to announce an exciting preliminary schedule of events for National Public Health week 2008! This year the theme of NPHW is Climate Change and the Nation’s Health, as noted on the national site at . A summary of the different events which the COPH is offering is listed below and the complete brochure is forthcoming.

(I) Recruitment Events

Tuesday, April 1, the COPH will offer open houses and tours of selected COPH laboratories to introduce other interested USF students, particularly undergraduates, to educational opportunities at the COPH.

Thursday, April 10th, the COPH will offer a recruitment networking fair to help match COPH students with potential employers.
(II) Educational Programs

Monday, April 7th, World Health Day, the COPH will offer a free showing and discussion of the movie documentary “Too Hot Not To Handle”

(III) Community Service and Outreach Education Events

The COPH will participate in a variety of exciting community service/outreach events, with a number of community partners and in collaboration with the USF Health Service Corps. (http://www.hsc.usf.edu/ahec/servicecorps.html), including:

Saturday, March 29th: COPH Students will participate in non-clinical health education and fitness events, at a community health fair in Pasco County.
Monday, March 31: COPH Students will lead middle school students in a variety of Health education activities for middle school students at Benito MS.
Tuesday, April 1st: Florida Blood Services will ‘park’ its bloodmobile at the COPH!
Tuesday, April 1st: PHSA and USF Health Service Corps will cosponsor the annual Hope Lodge picnic.
Saturday and Sunday, April 5 & 6th: COPH students can volunteer with other USF Health students at Camp Alegria for Latino cancer survivors.
Saturday, April 5th: COPH Students will participate in non-clinical health education and fitness events, at a community health fair in East Tampa.

(IV) Special Events at the COPH

Wednesday, April 2nd, the COPH will hold its annual awards ceremony and reception, including the Florida Public Health Woman of the Year award, Delta Omega inductees and numerous student awards.

Thursday, April 3rd, the annual COPH Ice Cream Social for COPH faculty staff and students.

Friday evening, April 4th, the COPH Student organizations will collaborate on a Fundraiser/Talent show to raise funds for a non-profit organization, Fundacion Familia Sana

Public Health Professionals from the Southeast & Midwest of the U.S. and the Caribbean Arrive for Special Training

On Feb. 29th, the classroom inside USF’s College of Public Health was filled with two-dozen professionals representing six states, and the island nation of Saint Lucia. While their hometowns and backgrounds were vastly different, they had atleast one thing in common - a passion for public health. The group of twenty four arrived in Tampa the week of Feb. 25th for an intense 5 days of learning via the Capstone Seminar. It’s part of the college’s Public Health Practice Program. Participants learn everything from research analysis & drafting a proposal for legislative funding, to writing a press release & doing interviews with reporters.

“We want to give these public health professionals all the tools they need to be most effective. Any successful effort will involve a variety of skill sets. Getting them to think outside of their comfort zones and beyond their areas of expertise adds incredible value to the public health initiatives they’re working on back home,” says Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Health Practice Program.

Each year, the Dean of the College and faculty create a variety of “scenarios” for participants to experience. For some, the intensity is magnified standing in front of a videocamera, lights and microphone during a mock television interview or news conference. Often times, it is their first time ever in an media interview setting.

“Although all aspects of the Seminar prove useful to the students over time, on this particular weekend, the media training held special significance for one of our students. When she returned to work on Sunday afternoon, she was slated to be interviewed by CNN. She stated that while such a request would have made her quite nervous prior to this weekend, she definitely felt prepared after our media training,” noted Dr. Wathington. “During our class, she (the student) had decided on what her message and main points of emphasis would be on Sunday. Prior to the interview, she reviewed her notes and remembered the techniques she learned here.”

Photo taken during one of the mock interviews. Participants were asked to write down the key messages to be delivered during an interview with reporters. The trick: no matter how complex their project, they had only a small card to write on. (Card seen here in yellow.) The exercise helps interviewees zero in on key pieces of information, in a short period of time.

This year’s Capstone students from the U.S. included public health professionals from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Nevada. While the majority of participants are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the group also included an emergency physician, veterinarian, nutritionist, member of the U.S. Coast Guard, a Navy flight surgeon, a specialist with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the District Medical Officer for St. Lucia, and several employees from the United States Public Health Service. “Advocacy (whether in communities or at the legislative level or through media) is a responsibility of public health leaders and is a tool that can be used for the greater good. This is one of the key points we try to impress upon our students, ” said Dr. Wathington.

“This course is a capstone in the truest sense of the word,” said Dr. Donna Petersen, Dean of the USF College of Public Health. “Our students have opportunities to put to work all the knowledge and skills they have acquired in their Master’s of Public Health (MPH) programs in an intensive, team-based, real-world format and doing so gives them the confidence to go out and make a difference in the health of their communities, here in Florida and around the world.”

The Public Health Practice (PHP) program provides experienced health professionals with the opportunity to obtain a Master of Public Health (MPH) via two options. Students can enroll in an online, distance learning program or enroll in the Executive Weekend program where they are required to attend classes on campus one weekend a month for sixteen months. The culminating experience for both formats is the Capstone Seminar which is held on the USF Health campus for five days. The MPH with a concentration in Public Health Practice (PHP) is a fully accredited program to develop public health practice leadership skills, learn advanced tools to help protect and improve the health of the greater community and expand knowledge of modern health care organizations. For details on the PHP program at the USF College of Public Health, click here.

Newsbrief by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications
Photography by Eric Younghans, USF Health Media Center

Dr. Rony Francois, USF Health alumnus and faculty member, Appointed Assistant Secretary of Louisana DHH Office of Public Health

Baton Rouge, LA (Feb. 20, 2008)– DHH Secretary Alan Levine announced today the appointment of M. Rony Francois, MD, as Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Public Health.

Francois, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida Colleges of Public Health and Medicine, previously served as the Secretary of Health for the State of Florida, one of the largest public health agencies in the United States.

Francois has an extensive educational foundation in public health. He holds undergraduate degrees in Physical Education and Biology and has earned master’s degrees in Exercise Physiology and Public Health. In addition, Francois received his doctorate in Environmental Toxicology/Public Health at USF, where he also graduated from medical school.

“Dr. Francois brings a wealth of public health knowledge and expertise to Louisiana, where he will be a great asset to the Department of Health and Hospitals,” said Secretary Levine. “We will be relying on him as we seek to improve prevention methods and make strides toward improving our public health outcomes.”

Dr. Francois will oversee the daily functions of DHH’s Office of Public Health. He will be work closely with programs such as infectious disease reporting, maternal and child health, food, dairy and drug safety, health safety inspections, immunizations, vital records and statistics, access to primary and rural health care, obesity and the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the HIV/AIDS program, as well as
many other programs and services. He will also be responsible for managing the office’s $330-million annual budget and other administrative duties.

Francois, who served as a Presidential delegate to the swearing in of the President of Haiti as well as serving on public health delegations to the Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, will begin his appointment by the middle of March.

“Dr. Francois is one of the best public health experts in the United States,” said Secretary Levine. “His depth of knowledge and ability to solve problems will be an asset to Louisiana. We are fortunate he was willing to continue his public service here.”

From 2005 to 2007, Francois served as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee. Francois also spent two years as a professional soccer player with the Orlando Lions. He and his wife, Joelle, have three children, Rony, Patrick and Joelle Anne.

At the University of South Florida, Research Day ’08 came and went but not before setting some new records. In addition to this year’s highly publicized 215 poster presentations, a new record, the USF College of Public Health saw its largest number of student presenters in the event’s 18 year history. Between oral presentation by two of its graduate students and poster presentations, the college showcased 30 student projects.

This year’s poster winners from public health included the following students:

Matt Tucker,
Sheila Mohammed,
Teri Malo
Boubakari Ibrahimou.

At left, Dr. Wilbur Milhous, the College of Public Health’s Associate Dean of Research, stands with 2008 winners representing public health.

Graduate students representing the colleges of nursing, public health and medicine were invited to make Research Day’s first ever oral presentations and two of its public health students emerged as winners.

Oral Presentation, COPH Winners:
Brian Vesely, Dept. of Global Health
Cara De la Cruz, Dept. of Community & Family Health

Students were not the only public health stars shinning on February 22nd. COPH Faculty members presenting posters at Research Day 2008 included Dr. Karen Liller, Professor and Associate Dean of Academic & Student Affairs. Dr. Liller collaborated with a colleague from medicine to research sports injuries among adolescents. Their goal is to fully implement and evaluate a Sports Injury Registry for Adolescents to better target prevention and treatment programs.

From L to R: Si-Won Yang, a doctoral student, Dr. Karen Liller and Dr. Jeff Konin.

“This research will allow us to determine the leading causes for sports-related injuries in high school athletes in addition to the determination of exposure data for each sport. This will provide a much better understanding of those sports where we should make an even larger investment in terms of prevention and treatment options”, explained Dr. Liller. “”The development of the Sports Injury Registry for Adolescents is funded by SMART (Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma - Institute) and represents interdisciplinary research that has the potential to involve all the colleges/schools across USF Health.”

Collaborating with COPH’s Dr. Liller were Si-Won Yang, a doctoral student in the College of Public Health & research assistant on this project; and Jeff Konin, PhD, Associate Professor in the medical school’s Dept. of Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and Executive Director of SMART Institute.

Experts say the interdisciplinary medical research translates into better health for patients – in this case, adolescents participating in sports. By joining forces, the team of researchers from medicine and public health focused on identifying injury patterns and trends. Ultimately, their data can be used to reduce, treat and prevent sports related injuries - be they significant, severe or even catastrophic.

“Although we share the same goal, to reduce injuries, we approach the task from different angles”, said Dr. Konin, “From an athletic training perspective, we are intervening on a daily basis, making a difference in these athletes’ lives. From the public health perspective, we are looking at the cumulative findings that all our athletic trainers are putting together to help us better see the big picture. It helps us to see the impact of what we do on a daily basis and how that can help overall prevent these injuries.”

Other faculty presenting posters at Research Day 2008 were:

Dr. Ellen Daley, Assistant Professor in the COPH Department of Community and Family Health and Principal Investigator for three of the research projects represented. They were: Cognitive and Emotional Responses to HPV in Men (funded by the National Institutes of Health), Women’s Health Collaborative (funded by AHEC), and Florida Cervical Cancer Prevention Project (funded by Merck Pharmaceuticals).

Dr. Francis Ntumngia - post doctoral in the Global Health Infectious Diseases Research team. Project: Genetic Variation among Plasmodium Vivax Primate Isolates and the Implication for Vaccine. This study re-validates primates as good models for human vaccine trials against vivax malaria. (research funded by the National Institutes of Health).

Dr. Joerg Karolat - from the Dept. of Environmental & Occupational Health. Project: Reduced GSH Trafficking in Asthmatic Cells Correlates with High Oxidative Stress. This study took a closer look at asthma. Using a 3D cell culture model, Dr. Karolat and team of researchers investigated the effect of oxidative stress that occurs in normal and asthmatic cells at the air-lung interface.

As with most good news, word of the COPH presentations and winners has traveled fast. A college-wide thank you note was sent by Ellen Kent, MPH, Coordinator of COPH Student Research Grants, ERC Coordinator and AHEC Faculty Coordinator for USF Health Service Corps. Special recognitions went to staff members who worked behind-the-scenes Fabian Saenz, Sarita Mendonka, Tina Mutka, Cindy Bucher and the college’s webmaster Chris Bahl. In a culture where mentorship is of high import, the colleges’ messages of appreciation have also extended to faculty members who “took the time to come by and encourage students”. In addition to Dr. Milhous and Dr. Liller, other public health mentoring heroes were Dr. Jeannine Coreil, Dr. Julie Baldwin, Dr. Dennis Kyle, Dr. Azliyati Azizan, and Dr. James Sweat.

Public Health Student Presenters were:

Department of Global Health

Susan Lukas,
Roxanna Eftekhari,
Aimee Signarovitz,
Kelly Fitzpatrick
Matthew Tucker.

EPI/BIO: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Boubakari Ibrahimou
Tanmaykumar Patel
Stephanie Kolar
Manoj Agravat

Department of Environmental and Occupational Health

Jennifer Logan,
Giffe Johnson,
Adam Marty,
Sheila Mohammed,
Kristy Siegel,
Monica Gray

Department of Community and Family Health

Euna August,
Heather Blunt,
Karen Dyer,
Malo, Teri,
Lianne Estefan,
Hollie Fuhrmann,
Hannah Helmy,
Abraham Salinas,
Sarah Smith,
Kamilah Thomas,
Cheryl Vamos,
Mariana Arevalo 

Karen Dyer, BA, Graduate Student. Project: Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Disease in a County-Level Womens Health Needs Assessment.

In addition, a special section of posters was set up for the COPH’s Sunshine Education and Research Center (ERC) , which provides interdisciplinary training programs in occupational health nursing, medicine, psychology, safety and industrial hygiene. Nine ERC students participated in research day, of which three students received special recognition in their respective colleges.

COPH photo gallery under construction here.

Story by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications
Photography by Eric Younghans, USF Health Media Center, with candids from Ellen Kent, USF College of Public Health.