A well-deserved congratulations to our quarterly award winners for the third quarter of 2023! These team members have been awarded based upon their lasting commitment to patients and our organization, as shown in Press Ganey’s patient satisfaction scores.

Front Desk Staff: 17 Davis IM – Pulmonary, with a score of 100%, ranking them in the 94^th Percentile nationally

Denise Edwards, MD, Pamela Muma Women’s Health Center lead physician.

Kristin Launikitis, APRN, and her Colorectal Surgery team.

USF Concussion Center team.

17 Davis IM-Pulmonary team.

 

Douglas Haladay, Douglas Haladay, PT, DPT, PhD, MHS, professor and director of the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Douglas Haladay, PT, DPT, PhD, MHS, and a collaborative team of physical therapy educators recently received the Physical Therapy Learning Institute Influencer Award.

The award is given to a presentation that has the potential to have a positive influence toward excellence in physical therapy education and is consistent with the vision and mission of PTLI.

Dr. Haladay’s presentation was Development of an Evidence-Based Practice-Specific Entrustable Professional Activity for DPT Students. The purpose of the study was to develop an activity to measure the use of evidence-based practice for DPT students for the provision of patient care that is absent from current performance evaluation tools.

Dr. Haladay is professor and director of the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“Receiving this award is an incredible honor,” Dr. Haladay said.  “This recognition reinforces my dedication to fostering excellence in PT education.  I am deeply grateful for this acknowledgement and excited to continue shaping the future of physical therapy education.”

Highlighting the podcast’s impact and reach, the article in Open Forum Infectious Diseases offered a detailed history of the podcast series, its growth, and goals ahead. The article was authored by USF infectious disease experts Ju Hee Katzman, MD, and Richard L Oehler, MD.

Called the USF Health IDPodcasts, the podcast series launched in 2007 by Dr. Oehler and John Sinnott, MD, as a way of taking infectious disease teachings of USF faculty, residents and students to a wider audience. Content covers the history of medicine, HIV and AIDS care, public health, tropical medicine, hospital acquired infections, STDs, and infections in immunocompromised patients.

The series started small and typically included scholarly work by faculty in the Division of Infectious Disease in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Successful engagement helped the series grow and, today, IDPodcasts now includes “hundreds of hours of curated ID presentations from more than 90 fellow and faculty presenters, mostly from USF-affiliated presenters and select outside guest contributors. In addition, its YouTube channel hosts more than 300 presentations, has tens of thousands of subscribers, and is approaching 2 million lifetime views.”

Dr. Cuevas is professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and associate dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs in MCOM, and associate vice president for Faculty and Academic Affairs at USF Health. In his many roles in the Office of Faculty Affairs, Dr. Cuevas works with departments across MCOM, offering information, resources and counsel regarding curriculum policy, procedures, and implementation.

He was presented with his Culture Coin by Charles Lockwood, MD, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

In her Culture Coin nomination of Dr. Cuevas, Judette Louis, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in MCOM, noted that Dr. Cuevas “is always generous with his time, thoughtful and pragmatic. He has been a tremendous support.”

USF Health’s Heather Petrelli, MA, PhD, recently received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy 2023 Administrative Services Section Award for Sustained Contribution to Administrative Practice in Pharmacy Education.  The award recognizes an exceptional leader for implementing sustained services and/or programming that enhances administrative practice, professional development and leadership, and scholarship that contributes to the mission of the Administrative Services Section.

Dr. Petrelli is associate dean for student affairs, assistant professor for the Department of Pharmacotherapeutics and Clinical Research, and acting associate dean for academic affairs in the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy.

“Dr. Petrelli continues to be a juggernaut and well-respected colleague across the academy.  This award honors her exceptional contributions to administrative practice across several of the academy including student affairs, academic affairs, leadership development and assessment.,” said Kyle M. Sousa, PhD, chair of the Section, in his notice of Dr. Petrelli’s accomplishment to the Taneja College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Sneed is professor, senior associate vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Sneed received the award for his on-going work in his profession and in the community, including his research and clinical interest in pharmacological treatment of patients with cardio-metabolic disorders, examining health care disparities, and emerging health technologies. His recent work includes IN-SHAPE (Inter-professional Student Health Assessment Project and Evaluation, which addresses cardiovascular disparities in Tampa.

USF has active collaborations with students visiting both universities, and USF faculty and a graduate student recently visited the universities as part of long-standing collaborative affiliations. The affiliation with Gifu University, which is based in the USF Health College of Public Health, is an example of several connections USF and USF Health have around the world that offer research, education and study-abroad opportunities. In addition, it is an example of the cross-college collaboration and interprofessional education and practice taking place at USF.

Included on this recent trip was Dr. Haru Okuda, MD FACEP FSSH, professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, associate vice president of USF Health Interprofessional Education Program, and executive director and CEO of the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS); Atsuko Sakai, professor in USF Judy Genshaft Honors College; and Emma Underwood, a masters and PhD student in the USF Health College of Public Health, who is spending a summer conducting research at Gifu University.

The visit to Gifu University included lectures given by the USF team, tours of the university and hospital, meetings with faculty, clinical staff, and leadership, including the president of the Gifu University, and cultural immersive events. The Gifu collaboration has extended to an additional USF partner in Thailand, with Gifu now sending a medical student next year for research with USF affiliate faculty in Mahidol University.

A well-deserved congratulations to our quarterly award winners for the second quarter of 2023! These team members have received these awards based upon their superior commitment to patients and USF Health, as shown in Press Ganey’s patient satisfaction scores.

The quarterly award program serves to recognize those who have achieved high performance in providing USF Health patients with outstanding care for every patient, every time. These team members are chosen based on that quarter’s survey results and represent winners from four categories: provider, nurse practitioner/physician assistant, nurse/assistant, and front office staff.

Megan Spiewak, MD, USF Health Department of Pediatrics.

Caitlin Papa, APRN, USF Health Department of Cardiology, with (left) Joel Fernandez, MD, USF Health and Tampa General Hospital CHF and Chronic Disease director, and Mark Moseley, MD, MHA, FACEP, USF Tampa General Physicians president.

Jacquelin Mendoza (left) and Edna Dixon representing the Brandon Healthplex IM-Pulmonary team.

The South Armenia Cardiology front desk team.

Dr. Rebecca Lopez with Dr. Doug Casa, chief executive officer of the Korey Stringer Institute. Dr. Casa presented Dr. Lopez with the 2023 Rebecca L. Stearns Korey Stringer Institute Alumni Award at the KSI Annual Award Ceremony in May.

Rebecca Lopez, PhD, ATC, CSCS, professor and director of Post-professional Graduate Advanced Athletic Training Program in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, recently earned the 2023 Rebecca L. Stearns Korey Stringer Institute Alumni Award.  The award is presented by the University of Connecticut for graduates who demonstrate exceptional dedication and work in carrying forward the mission of the Korey Stringer Institute.

Dr. Lopez, who joined USF Health in 2010, received the award for her service roles that contributed to positive changes in the profession, including her work on the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee and its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Task Force. She was recognized and presented with the award in May at the Institute’s annual awards ceremony.

The Korey Stringer Institute, named after a Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman who passed away from exertional heat stroke, provides research, education, advocacy and consultation to maximize performance, optimize safety and prevent sudden death for the athlete, warfighter and laborer.

Kathleen Curp, events planner for USF Health Development, MyVan John, assistant director of marketing for USF Health Communications, Cindy Kostelnik, senior fiscal and business analyst for USF Health Office of Research, and Desiree McCutcheon, research project manager for the Bridge2AI: Voice as a Biomarker for Health, each received a USF Health Culture Coin June 6 from Charles Lockwood, MD, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

From left, Dr. Yaël Bensoussan, Desiree McCutcheon, MyVan John, Kathleen Curp, Cindy Kostelnik, and Dr. Charles Lockwood.

The four were central to the coordination and successful implementation of the Voice AI Symposium, a 1-day interactive event to advance discussion about the impact voice can have on health care. The unique, first-of-its-kind symposium, held April 19 in Washington DC, brought together experts in the voice biomarkers including industry, startups, academia, researchers, patients, patient advocacy groups and underserved/underrepresented communities. Interactive discussions touched on topics related to voice AI research, including clinical evidence and technology, applications for health tech and health care, ethics and legal implications and trust in AI solutions through panels and interactive forums.

“A big thank you to all of you for taking on the added effort and energy needed to host the Voice AI Symposium in Washington DC in April – it was a resounding success,” said Dr. Lockwood at the Culture Coin presentation. “You’re an example of the power of USF Health.”

Also present was Yaël Bensoussan, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and the director of USF Health Voice Center, who co-leads the Voice as a Biomarker for Health study and co-led the symposium.

“Everything at our symposium went perfectly because of you all,” Dr. Bensoussan said. “I even heard from the NIH team how impressed they were with our team in organizing the event, which is a clear reflection of your work and efforts.”

Kathleen Curp.

MyVan John.

Cindy Kostelnik.

Desiree McCutcheon.