The multisite study may identify measures to help prevent or delay mild cognitive impairment and dementias like Alzheimer’s disease

TAMPA, Fla. (April 19, 2022) – The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program has awarded the University of South Florida total expected funds of $743,661 over the next four years for a multisite clinical study titled “Role of the Microbiome in the Aging Gut and Brain of Floridian Older Adults.”

Hariom Yadav, PhD, was recently recruited to lead the USF Microbiome Research Center and his research focuses on the gut-brain connection (gut-brain axis) in relation to cognitive function.

The multidisciplinary project will investigate how diet influences the gut and oral microbiomes linked to brain health in adults ages 60 and older.

The FDOH consortium grant allows researchers at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine to expand an initial study examining the microbiome in the aging gut and brain, started in Tampa late last year, to three other sites across the state: Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Boca Raton; Miami Jewish Health, Miami; and the University of Central Florida (UCF), Orlando. The consortium’s investigators expect to enroll a total of 400 older participants — both those who are cognitively healthy as well as those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage dementia.

By the time people are clinically diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease, or even mild cognitive impairment, degeneration of neurons in the brain is already quite extensive. For any treatments to stop or delay disease progression, patients at risk for Alzheimer’s must be identified and treated very early, said Hariom Yadav, PhD, an associate professor of neurosurgery and brain repair at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and director of the USF Center for Microbiome Research. “We desperately need noninvasive, inexpensive, clinically validated prognostic markers for Alzheimer’s disease that can be easily measured.”

The USF Health-led clinical research consortium will analyze bacteria composition in stool samples and saliva samples donated by study participants one time at the beginning of the study and then once a year for three to four years. Researchers will track alterations over time in the populations of oral and gut microorganisms, collectively known as the microbiome.

“Our study is the first of its kind in Florida exclusively focused on determining whether microbiome ‘signatures’ (biomarkers) from the gut and mouth can accurately predict an older adult’s risk of developing cognitive decline or dementia,” said Dr. Yadav, principal investigator for the FDOH consortium grant. “We also want to know if the signatures we identify can do that early enough to figure out strategies to delay or prevent those age-related diseases – either by modifying the individual’s diet or the microbiome composition itself.”

Using an interactive mobile app, study participants complete a daily dietary recall questionnaire and yearly tests of their memory, speed of thinking, and other cognitive abilities. Researchers will evaluate the effects of certain types of foods (i.e., protein, fruits, vegetables, dairy, carbohydrates, fermented foods, and junk food) on the growth of specific types of bacteria and see how the mix of bacteria changes if an individual’s diet is modified.

A growing number of studies correlate healthy guts, characterized by a well-balanced diversity of microorganisms, with healthy aging. Alzheimer’s disease is among the growing number of medical conditions linked to an imbalance of microorganisms (more bad microorganisms than good microorganisms) within the intestines. Emerging evidence also suggests that oral health and brain health are connected, including a large National Institute on Aging study linking gum disease with dementia.

Ronald Day and his wife Ardell, both 74, were among the first to enroll in USF Health’s novel microbiome study. Day, a retired pastor and volunteer chaplain at his Tampa continuing care retirement community, said he was intrigued by the idea that gut microorganisms may affect brain function and possibly be altered to combat cognitive decline.

“In the future, I’m hoping researchers learn enough from studies like this to suggest individualized diets, or other interventions, tailored to our own microbiomes,” Day said. “Anything that can help us maintain mental acuity as we age is so important.”

Aging is not a disease, Dr. Yadav emphasized, but as people age it’s particularly important to keep a healthy balance of intestinal microbes so that a potentially harmful strain of bacteria does not overgrow and monopolize the food source of beneficial bacteria. “A healthy gut allows you to adequately absorb the healthier nutrients and keep a check on the stimulation of inflammation, which is a root cause of several age-related conditions, including declining cognitive function that increases the risk for Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” he said.

The investigators collaborating with Dr. Yadav are Shalini Jain, PhD, Amanda Smith, MD, and Ambuj Kumar, MD, MPH, all from USF Health; Peter Holland, MD, of FAU; Marc Agronin, MD, of Miami Jewish Health; and Michal Masternak, PhD, of UCF.

Florida is among 10 U.S. states with the highest rates of Alzheimer’s disease. Approximately 580,000 people in Florida live with Alzheimer’s disease and this number is projected to increase to over 720,000 by 2025, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

For more information about the microbiome in aging gut and brain study, please email jains10@usf.edu or call (813) 974-6281.

Hariom Yadav, PhD, of the USF Center for Microbiome Research, and Ji Li, PhD, of the USF Health Heart Institute  — Photos by Allison Long, USF Health Communications

Two researchers from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine have received Florida Department of Health (FDOH) grants to help advance discoveries in Alzheimer’s disease and in tobacco-related heart disease.

Hariom Yadav, PhD, an associate professor of neurosurgery and brain repair and director of the USF Center for Microbiome Research, was awarded total expected funds of $743,661 over four years from the FDOH Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program. The multidisciplinary consortium project is titled “Role of Microbiome in the Aging of Gut and Brain in Floridian Older Adults.”

Researchers at USF and several other sites across Florida will study how diet affects the gut and oral microbiomes linked to brain health in adults ages 60 and older. Age is a key risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD); no effective treatment exists, and early risk detection remains a challenge. The FDOH-supported research seeks to determine whether unique microbiome signatures can differentiate older adults suffering cognitive decline and ADRD from their healthy counterparts and predict disease progression. The study will also examine whether abnormalities in microbe-derived metabolites, excessive gut “leakiness” and inflammation definitively contribute to cognitive impairment and ADRD—with the ultimate aim of identifying measures to prevent or delay these devastating conditions.

Ji Li, PhD, professor of surgery and a member of the USF Health Heart Institute, was awarded total expected funds of $583,200 over three years from the FDOH James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program. The grant is titled “Sirtuin 1 and Cardiovascular Impairment by Cigarette Smoking.”

Dr. Li’s laboratory has shown that the anti-aging protein sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) plays a role in cardiovascular disease development, and emerging evidence suggests that SIRT1 is a component of signaling pathways that allow cells to sense and react to cigarette smoking. The FDOH-supported preclinical project will test whether and how SIRT1 signaling helps control the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on the heart’s pumping function in hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure). The study’s outcome could lead to the discovery of SIRT1 agonists or other drugs that may reduce damage and death from hypertensive heart disease associated with chronic smoking.

Findings correlate with clinical observations of more fetal abnormalities and other Zika-related health problems in late versus early pregnancy

Tampa, FL (Feb. 2, 2021) — A preclinical study by a University of South Florida Health (USF Health) Morsani College of Medicine research team has discovered a new mechanism for how Zika virus passes from mothers to their children during pregnancy – a process known as vertical transmission.

The researchers showed, for the first time, that specialized cells lining the uterus (maternal decidual cells) act as reservoirs for trimester-dependent transmission of the virus through the placenta – accounting for both the fetus’s greater susceptibility to first-trimester Zika infection and for the more serious congenital defects observed in early versus late pregnancy. They also report that the agent tizoxanide inhibits ZIKA virus in maternal decidual cells grown in the lab, offering promise for preventing perinatal transmission that can cause devastating malformations and brain damage in developing fetuses and infants.

The findings appeared Dec. 1, 2020 in the Journal of Immunology.

The study was led by co-principal investigators Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli, PhD, a USF Health associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and Charles J. Lockwood, MD, USF Health senior vice president, dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology specializing in maternal-fetal medicine.

“If we can better understand Zika virus vertical transmission and successfully block infection in maternal (decidual) cells early in the pregnancy, the virus will not pass through the placenta to reach the fetus and it is less likely to cause severe abnormalities,” said Dr. Guzeloglu-Kayisli, the paper’s lead author.

Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli, PhD, USF Health associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, was the paper’s lead author.| Photo by Allison Long, USF Health Communications and Marketing

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology specializing in maternal-fetal medicine, was a co-principal investigator for the Zika study along with Dr. Guzeloglu-Kayisli. | Photo by Freddie Coleman, USF Health Communications and Marketing

The widespread global alarm caused by the spread of mosquito-borne Zika virus throughout the Americas in 2015-2016 dissipated after the virus all but disappeared in 2017. Yet, resurgence remains possible in areas where the Aedes aegypti mosquito is prevalent, and there is no treatment or vaccine available for Zika virus infection.

While most Zika-infected adults show no symptoms, the virus can cause minor flu-like symptoms, and in rare cases has been associated with Guillain-Barre syndrome. However, Zika poses the most concern for pregnant women, because up to one in 10 newborns of affected mothers suffer Zika-associated birth defects, including smaller than normal head size (microcephaly) that can lead to developmental disabilities and other health problems. Zika has also been linked to pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, preeclampsia and miscarriage. Moreover, timing appears important. Mothers infected in the first trimester are much more likely to have babies with severe Zika birth defects than mothers infected in the third semester.

The placenta, the organ supplying maternal oxygen and nutrients to the growing fetus, has ways to prevent most pathogens, including viruses, from crossing its protective maternal-fetal barrier. A subtype of fetally-derived placental cells known as syncytiotrophoblasts, in direct contact with maternal blood, are assumed to be the site where the Zika virus enters the placenta, leading to potential fetal infection. However, Dr. Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli said, these particular trophoblasts resist Zika virus attachment and replication.

Above and close-up below: A model for mother-to-fetus transmission of Zika virus (green particles) through maternal decidual cell-mediated infection of villi attaching the placenta to the endometrium (uterine lining). | Images courtesy of USF Health first appeared in the Journal of Immunology: doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2000713

To learn more about how Zika gets through the placental wall, the USF Health team began by investigating the cellular and molecular mediators of Zika virus replication. Among their key findings, the researchers:

–  Showed that specialized uterine cells from both pregnant and nonpregnant women were highly infectable by Zika virus. These immunologically active decidual cells, which line the uterus in preparation for and during pregnancy, form the maternal part of the placenta closest to the fetus.

–  Identified a more than 10,000-fold higher expression of the Zika virus attachment-entry receptor in the maternal decidual cells than in the fetal trophoblasts. Once inside the maternal cells, the Zika virus (an RNA virus) hijacks the cellular machinery to make proteins needed to copy its genetic material and churn out new viral particles. The proliferation of viral particles released from the maternal cells are then transmitted through branch-like vascular projections (villi) on the placenta’s surface layer where they can infect fetal trophoblast cells otherwise resistant to Zika virus.

–  Found that the efficiency of viral replication was significantly greater in first-trimester decidual cells than in those from term pregnancies.

–  Concluded that maternal (decidual) cells likely serve as the source for initial Zika virus infection and enhance subsequent transmission through the placenta to the fetus. “Moreover, trimester-dependent responses of decidual cells to Zika virus help to explain why pregnant women are susceptible to Zika infection and why the subsequent effects are more detrimental in the first trimester than in late pregnancy,” the study authors wrote.

–  Demonstrated that tizoxanide, the active metabolite of FDA-approved antiparasitic drug nitazoxanide, effectively impeded Zika virus infection in both maternal decidual cells and fetal trophoblast cells. The drug has been shown preclinically to inhibit a broad range of flu-like viruses and is being tested clinically against coronavirus. The finding warrants further testing of tizoxanide to block perinatal transmission of Zika virus and thereby protect the fetus from harmful outcomes, the researchers conclude.

The team’s work was supported in part by a Zika Research Initiative grant from the Florida Department of Health.

Center connects pregnant women and their families, and the region’s medical professionals, to USF experts in preventing, diagnosing and treating the mosquito-borne virus

Zika virus can be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby during pregnancy.

The photos seen worldwide after the Zika epidemic gripped Brazil and spread across the Caribbean were compelling — depicting infants born full-term yet with small heads and blank stares, held by mothers with faces full of concern and resolve.

But when the Zika epidemic waned last summer, and the last of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel advisories to Miami-Dade lifted, these striking images of infants with microcephaly, one of the most severe potential neurological consequences of active Zika infection in pregnancy, faded into the background. So too did the ongoing news about how pregnant women could protect themselves from the mosquito-borne, birth-defect causing virus.

Still a threat

Florida should not forget the threat Zika poses and its unpredictability, USF Health experts said, noting that the virus still circulates in some countries, and travelers continue to return to the United States after visiting or living in areas at risk.

With vigilance in mind, USF Health recently contracted with the Florida Department of Health (DOH) to establish a Zika Referral Center.  Funded by $600,000 from the CDC through the Florida DOH, the three-year program launched in April. It connects patients and medical professionals with USF’s multidisciplinary team of experts skilled in providing diagnostic, treatment and prevention expertise to expectant mothers, fathers, newborns and infants affected by Zika.

Zika virus spreads through mosquito bites.

“Although there are some theories, we still don’t understand all the components of why congenital Zika syndrome burst onto the scene in Brazil in 2015. We do know pathogens are always evolving, so we need to maintain a heightened sense of alertness even when Zika cases decline,” said the center’s medical director Patricia Emmanuel, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“We will use this CDC funding to educate pregnant women and their families about transmission of Zika and its potential long-term impact on their infants, and to ensure health care workers stay aware of potential exposure in their patients,” Dr. Emmanuel said. “Doing that can help us detect and follow Zika earlier in pregnancy, so we might better understand the full spectrum of the disease.”

The new center establishes on Florida’s West Coast a complement to the existing Zika Resource Team operating out of the University of Miami Health System since 2017.  (The first identified outbreak of mosquito-borne Zika virus infection in the continental United States occurred in Florida in Miami-Dade and Broward counties during summer 2016.)

A multidisciplinary Zika response team

The USF Health center’s Zika response team includes pediatricians, a perinatologist, an obstetrician, a clinical geneticist, a neurologist, an infectious disease consultant, and a newly recruited nurse practitioner who serves as program and case manager.

USF Health and the University of Miami will share prospective data collected, including numbers of expectant women tested for Zika infection and information on the growth and development of infants affected, Dr. Emmanuel said. Starting with Tampa General Hospital, the center’s staff will also provide training for obstetric and pediatric health professionals at regional hospitals in Hillsborough and surrounding counties, as well as health care consultations based on current CDC evidence-based practices and guidelines.

Not all pregnant women exposed to Zika will pass the infection to their developing fetus. But, the most worrisome risk for those who do is that their baby will be born with microcephaly, a serious condition characterized by an abnormally small brain and skull that can lead to seizures, feeding problems, developmental delays and impaired vision and hearing.

Stephanie Ros, MD, director of obstetric services for the Zika Referral Center, says USF Health has played a leading role caring for pregnant women affected by Zika and is equipped with the multidisciplinary expertise and resources to address the complexities of birth defects, including congenital Zika syndrome, before and after birth.

Ready to diagnose, manage women at risk and their babies

“Because the long-term effects of Zika can be so far reaching, no one medical professional possesses all the expertise to properly diagnose and manage every aspect,” said Dr. Ros, assistant professor of obstetrics who specializes in maternal fetal-medicine.  “At USF we can provide one centralized location for patient referrals, where our team remains up to date on the latest protocols for testing and has access to the appropriate tools to take care of women at risk and their babies.”

USF Health is equipped with the multidisciplinary expertise and resources to address the complexities of birth defects, including congenital Zika syndrome, before and after birth.

The USF Health Zika Referral Center is modeled after the highly effective USF Perinatal HIV Program, a collaboration between USF Health’s pediatric infectious disease experts and the regional perinatal community that delivers complex care to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. In Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, no pregnant woman followed by this program has given birth to an HIV-infected baby since 2014, Dr. Emmanuel said.

“It’s a successful network that could be extended beyond Zika to other viral infections, such as hepatitis B or cytomegalovirus, which may seriously affect the health of newborns,” Dr. Emmanuel said.

For more information, visit health.usf.edu/medicine/pediatrics/zika-referral-center.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) has been a long-standing partner of the USF College of Public Health. This year that bond grows stronger with the DOH’s recent accreditation.

In March, the state’s DOH became the first in the nation to achieve national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)’s integrated local public health department system application.

The DOH’s state health office in Tallahassee, in addition to all 67 local health departments, became accredited as a one centralized system. This effort required a huge undertaking by both central office and local health department staff and the various PHAB site reviewers.

“Obtaining accreditation status demonstrates our collective efforts to continuously improve the quality and performance of the public health services we provide on a daily basis to our local community,” said Douglas Holt, MD, professor and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and director of the DOH in Hillsborough County.

Read more… 

By Douglas A. Holt, MD
Andor Szentivanyi Professor of Medicine
Director, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine

(Updated June 24, 2016)

What more is known about Zika Virus Disease (ZVD) and birth defects?

• Additional evidence has been published confirming that ZVD causes microcephaly and other serious brain abnormalities.
• The risk of microcephaly is lower when the mother is infected during the third trimester of pregnancy.
• Asymptomatic ZVD can cause microcephaly.
• A study of pregnant women in Colombia over nine months during a ZVD outbreak is providing some preliminary data:

1. Nearly 12,000 pregnant women reported having experienced symptoms suggesting ZVD.
2. 1,850 of these pregnant women had ZVD that was confirmed by blood testing.
3. 616 of these women were infected during the third trimester of pregnancy and there were no cases of microcephaly or brain abnormalities.
4. There were also four cases of microcephaly in mothers who tested positive for ZVD but did not recall any illness.

• Further studies are ongoing to define:
  1. The full spectrum of congenital ZVD.
  2. Quantity of the risks of fetal microcephaly overall and based upon when during pregnancy the mother is infected.
  3. Whether current or past infection with another flavivirus like dengue influences the risk of congenital ZVD.

Will there be local transmission of Zika in Tampa Bay? That is, will people become infected with Zika by mosquitoes right here in Tampa Bay?

• Local transmission of Zika virus in Tampa Bay is probable.
• The type of mosquitoes that spread Zika are already here. We are entering “peak mosquito season,” which lasts about six months.
• The risk of mosquitoes spreading Zika in the United States is higher for Florida, especially Miami, Orlando and Tampa Bay, because we have more travelers returning from Zika outbreak areas.
• There will continue to be travelers who become infected outside the continental United States and return with live Zika virus in their bloodstream.
• Eventually sufficient numbers of mosquitoes will become infected and likely spread Zika to people here.
• This cycle continues and, as we have seen in other countries, can result in sustained and widespread transmission of Zika.
• What makes Zika especially concerning is that even after mosquitoes no longer carry Zika, women of child-bearing age or pregnant women can also become infected through sex by their partners. Thus, the public health threat of Zika to our community could continue for months after the Zika outbreak ends.

What is being done to prevent having Zika spread by mosquitoes in Tampa Bay?

• Everyone should take steps to prevent mosquito bites:
  1. Remove standing water from inside and outside your home or workplace. Check containers like flowerpots, buckets, animal water bowls, and children’s pools. Scrub them clean and turn them over, or cover them so they don’t collect water.
  2. Use an insect repellent, like bug spray or lotion, registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All EPA-registered bug sprays and lotions are checked to make sure they are safe and work well. If you use sunscreen, apply it first before bug spray or lotion.
  3. Wear a hat, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, shoes and socks when outdoors. Treat clothes, shoes and other gear with bug spray called permethrin or wear treated clothes if you’re spending time hiking, camping, or engaged in other outdoor activities.
  4. Use air conditioning and screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out. Make sure screens on doors and windows don’t have holes or tears.
• Travelers returning from a Zika area are advised to report to their health care providers any symptoms of illness that might be ZVD:  Fever, rash, itching, muscle or joint aches, headache, conjunctivitis or pink eye.
• Anyone infected with Zika should be monitored for two weeks until the virus is no longer in their bloodstream.

What will happen if people become infected by Zika in Tampa Bay?

• A coordinated community action plan will be implemented.
• The Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center would be activated.
• Florida Department of Health (FDOH) will notify mosquito control of a confirmed local transmission. Mosquito control will then conduct aggressive mosquito control activities within a minimum of an expanded 200-yard zone around the residence.
• Mosquito control will conduct enhanced mosquito surveillances and control activities around the residence at least weekly for six weeks.
• FDOH will organize outreach activities in neighborhoods within 1/8 mile of confirmed cases using FDOH employees and community volunteers such as the Medical Reserve Corps.
• State blood banks will be notified to screen blood supply and availability of Zika free products, particularly for pregnant women. Individuals from the impacted zip code(s) will be excluded from donating blood until six weeks after the last identified case of local transmission from the zip code.
• Following confirmatory testing at CDC, a medical advisory for the zip code(s) will be issued, with public notification through media, targeted outreach, health care provider notification and guidance targeted to OB/GYNs, midwives, Healthy Start, and others caring for pregnant women.
• Voluntary isolation will be recommended for infected individuals for 7 to 10 days from the onset of symptoms.
• FDOH will implement active case findings to identify additional infections including door-to-door outreach, enhanced syndromic surveillance, medical record review, and testing additional suspect cases.
• FDOH will provide Zika Prevention Kits to pregnant women through distribution at OB/GYN practices, Healthy Start Programs, CHD clinics and the community outreach activities described above.
• Active surveillance and response will continue until no additional cases are identified for at least six weeks.

During a local Zika outbreak, what will be advised for women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or might become pregnant?

• Pregnant women should take all precautions to avoid mosquito bites.
• Pregnant women should not have unprotected sex.
• Ideally couples (especially if the women is under age 35) should delay becoming pregnant until the Zika transmission ends.
• Women should practice safe sex and consider methods to avoid pregnancy such as Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARCs) such as IUD’s and implantable devices.

Where can I get more information?

• CDC Zika Page: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html/

• CDC Travel Notices: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices

• FDOH Zika Page: http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/zika-virus/

• CDC Microcephaly: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/microcephaly.html

• CDC: Questions and Answers: Zika virus infection (Zika) and Pregnancy: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/pregnancy/question-answers.html

• March of Dimes Zika Information: http://www.marchofdimes.org/

• Zika Virus Disease in Colombia – Preliminary Report: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1604037

• Zika and the Risk of Microcephaly: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1605367

• Zika Virus and Birth Defects – Reviewing the Evidence for Casualty: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1604338

• Zika Virus Infection with Prolonged Maternal Viremia and Fetal Brain Abnormalities: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1601824

• En Español: http://nacersano.marchofdimes.org/embarazo/el-virus-del-zika-y-el-embarazo.aspx

USF Health’s John Curran, MD, was named deputy secretary of Children’s Medical Services (CMS) by the Florida Department of Health.

Dr. Curran, who is professor of pediatrics, associate vice president for Faculty and Academic Affairs at USF Health, and senior executive associate dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, will serve as deputy secretary for Children’s Medical Services (CMS) overseeing the Office of the CMS Managed Care Plan and Specialty Programs, the Division of Children’s Medical Services and CMS area offices. Prior to this new appointment, he had served CMS since 1974 and as medical director for the Tampa Bay Region since 1986 for children with special health care needs.

Dr. John Curran.

“I am pleased that we continue to receive valuable input from the public and our health care community when it comes to caring for Florida’s children with complex medical conditions,” said Interim State Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip. “Dr. Curran is an accomplished pediatrician and has long served the children of our CMS program as a consultant and regional medical director. We are confident his knowledge of pediatric medicine and his extensive leadership experience will guide him as he shepherds CMS into its next chapter.”

“We congratulate Dr. Curran on his appointment as deputy secretary of statewide CMS,” said Patricia Emmanuel, professor and chair of pediatrics at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.  “Dr Curran has worked tirelessly for children in the state during his tenure and has been a major force in assuring access and quality health care.  We are very proud of him and his many accomplishments – and confident that his appointment will help advance children’s health in Florida.”

Dr. Curran is a charter member of the USF College of Medicine faculty (1972) and the founding neonatologist at Tampa General Hospital.

He has taken active and leadership roles in countless organizations including the Society of Air Force Flight Surgeons (he is a Member Emeritus), Florida Medical Association, American Medical Association, Florida Society of Neonatal-Perinatologists, Hillsborough County Healthy Start, Inc., American Lung Association of Gulf Coast Florida, President, American Lung Association of Florida, the Tri Agency Council (American Heart Association of Florida, American Lung Association of Florida, and American Cancer Society, Florida Affiliate), March of Dimes, and Florida Department of Health.

Dr. Curran’s leadership has been recognized with the Abraham Jacobi Award of the American Medical Association, a Lifetime Healthcare Hero Award in the Tampa Bay Region, and the March of Dimes Lawton Chiles Perinatal Award, among many other awards.

In 2013, he was presented with USF’s Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Curran graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s degree and University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine with training in both internal medicine and pediatrics. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Curran served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps and retired as a Colonel.

A former president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Curran has made achievements in legislative initiatives related to child health advocacy and funding of children’s programs.  Recently, he facilitated the development of the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative, a statewide initiative that seeks to improve Florida’s maternal and infant health outcomes through quality improvement processes.

                                                                              -USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, and the USF Physician’s Group. USF Health is an integral part of the University of South Florida, a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

                                                                              -About the Florida Department of Health-

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.

The University of South Florida College of Public Health has named Rhonda R. White, MBA, the 2013 Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health. White directs the Office of Performance and Quality Improvement for the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.

The College bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments and leadership contribute significantly to the field of public health in Florida.  White received the award in a ceremony April 3 at the USF College of Public Health, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Tampa.  Click here for the full list of activities at USF College of Public Health during National Public Health Week.

Donna Petersen (left), ScD, dean of the USF College of Public Health, with this year’s recipient of the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health award — Rhonda White, MBA, director of the Florida Department of Health Office of Performance and Quality Improvement.

A key member of the state’s public health management team, White’s expertise and interdisciplinary approach helps the Florida Department of Health and its partners build and evaluate the infrastructure needed to support efficient and effective delivery of public health services and programs.

Stepping into the public health preparedness leadership role shortly after 9/11, White recognized the state’s vulnerabilities and partnered with public and private entities to protect Florida’s residents and visitors. She led the effort to create the Florida Public Health and Medical Response System, which helped Florida to weather several public health events including the H1N1 influenza outbreak, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Super Bowl, Republican National Convention, and 2012 Presidential Debate.  With the help of White’s leadership, Florida has become a nationally-recognized model in public health preparedness.

Disaster planning is just one of White’s many contributions to the health and well-being of Floridians. In her 24 years with the Department of Health, she streamlined the state’s data collection system and spearheaded an effort to overhaul the smallpox vaccination program, which evolved into Operation Vaccinate Florida. When Gadsden County needed someone to step in and stabilize the health department Ms. White answered the call without hesitation.

“Time and time again, she (White) has taken Florida’s public health partners from where they are to where they need to be to successfully protect, promote, and improve the health and safety of all people in Florida,” said John H. Armstrong, MD, Florida’s surgeon general and secretary of the Department of Health.

Dr. Douglas Holt, director of the USF Health Division of Infectious Disease and medical director of the Hillsborough County Health Department, was among those who spoke about White’s accomplishments as a public health leader.

White earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of South Florida. Her graduate training includes a MBA degree from Florida State University and divinity coursework at Asbury Theological Seminary.

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, PhD, MPH, director of virology at the Florida Department of Health Tampa Branch Laboratory; University of Miami epidemiologist Lora E. Fleming, MD, and Florida’s Division of Environmental Health Director Lisa Ann Conti, DVM, MPH.