Studies led by USF’s Dr. Stephen Liggett shed light on genetic variability of adrenergic receptors and how they might best be used to treat disease

Dr. Stephen Liggett, who leads the research enterprise for the Morasani College of Medicine and for USF Health, also oversees a genomics laboratory working on NIH-funded studies. Behind him is a radioligand binding machine used to determine the number of receptors in each cell.

While significant progress has been made managing asthma over the last two decades, about half of all asthmatics achieve optimal control of this chronic inflammatory disease using currently available medications.  Similarly, only about 50 percent of patients with congestive heart failure, which occurs when the heart is too weak to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, have an average life expectancy of more than five years.

More still needs to be  known at the molecular level about these common diseases to identify potential new targets for drug therapies, said Stephen B. Liggett, MD, associate vice president for research at USF Health, vice dean for research at the Morsani College of Medicine, and professor of internal medicine and molecular pharmacology and physiology.

What ties these two diseases together are the receptors on cardiac muscle and on smooth muscle of the airways. Dr. Liggett’s laboratory helps shed light on the genetic variability of adrenergic receptors and on how these receptors can best be used for treatment. The genetic studies have been particularly useful in developing the concept of pharmacogenetics, a tailoring of therapy based on an individual’s genetic makeup, for heart failure and asthma.

“Twenty years ago we had a handful of medicines for high blood pressure, and today we don’t use any of them. Now, we have a whole new group of more effective (antihypertensive) drugs with much fewer side effects,” he said.  “And, I’m sure that one day, we’ll have more tools in our toolbox to better treat heart failure and asthma – drugs that work better for subgroups of people as defined by their genetic makeup and environmental exposures.”

 Dr. Liggett comments on some of his laboratory’s contributions to the field over his career.

The research team led by Dr. Liggett, center, includes Ashley Goss, Hiwot Zewdie, Donghwa Kim, PhD, and Maria Castano. Not pictured: Alexa Woo, PhD.

Mining a “superfamily” of receptors for better drug targets

Dr. Liggett leads a USF team that studies the genetic, molecular biology, structure and function of G-coupled protein receptors, or GPCRs, the largest family of human proteins.  More than 800 GPCRs have been discovered within cell membranes in the human body, Dr. Liggett said, and one or more of these receptors plays a role in virtually everything the body does, including controlling thoughts in the brain, sight and smell, uterine contraction and relaxation, blood pressure, cardiac, lung and kidney function, to name just a few.

Consequently, malfunctions of GPCR signaling pathways are implicated in many chronic diseases including asthma and cardiovascular diseases.  Already this “superfamily” of receptors accounts for nearly half the targets of all prescribed drugs. But, a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the GPCR signaling network and how it maintains a healthy cell or responds to pathogens could lead to the design of drugs that more precisely target diseases with greater effectiveness and fewer side effects.

Dr. Liggett began his work with GPCRs in 1988 as a Howard Hughes Institute postdoctoral research fellow in the Duke University Medical Center laboratory of mentor Robert Lefkowitz, MD. Dr. Lefkowitz was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Brian Kobilka, MD, for groundbreaking discoveries revealing the inner workings of GPCRs.

Building upon his interest and advanced training in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Dr. Liggett began early in his career to concentrate on one of the classes of GPCRs known as adrenergic receptors, which are stimulated by the hormone epinephrine and the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. They are involved in increasing the rate and force of contraction of the heart, as well as constriction and dilation of blood vessels throughout the body and of airways in the lung. For the last 28 years, he has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the molecular basis of beta-adrenergic receptors in asthma.

Biological scientist Ashley Goss

Dr. Liggett is the principal investigator of a four-year, $1.12-million R01 grant from the NIH’s National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute (NHBLI) that seeks to understand how beta-adrenergic signaling is regulated to influence the development and treatment of asthma. Over his career, he has also been awarded millions of dollars in NIH funding to explore the role of genetic variations of GPCRs in heart failure, including whether those variations may alter how effectively drugs work in individual patients.

Bitter taste receptors in a new place

Dr. Liggett is also currently a project principal investigator for a five-year, $2-million NHBLI P01 grant examining how airway smooth muscle bitter taste receptors might be applied as new treatments for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Using a genomics-based method that Dr. Liggett pioneered, his team had previously identified bitter taste receptors, initially thought only to exist on the tongue, deep inside the lung at the airway smooth muscle and demonstrated they act to open the airway. “When activated, they appear far superior to the beta-agonists commonly prescribed to patients to open their airways during an asthma attack,” said Dr. Liggett, who published the discovery and the need for alternatives to current bronchodilators in Nature Medicine and other journals.

Overall, discoveries emerging from Dr. Liggett’s research have yielded more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, many highly cited and appearing in top journals such as Nature Medicine, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the New England Journal of Medicine. His work has been cited by other papers more than 26,000 times. He also holds 18 patents detailing potential new targets for drug therapy or genetic variations of known drug targets and how they might be used to predict response to medications and customize treatment.

 The serendipity of finding bitter taste receptors on smooth airway muscle in the lungs

Laboratory assistant Hiwot Zewdie

Among some of his laboratory’s major findings:

– While at the University of Maryland, Dr. Liggett’s team worked with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to sequence for the first time the entire genomes (more than 100 different strains) of all known rhinoviruses, a frequent cause of respiratory infections including the common cold. The groundbreaking work, published on the cover of Science, provided a powerful framework for large-scale, genome-based epidemiological studies and the design of antiviral agents or vaccines to combat rhinoviruses. “I originally suggested sequencing 10 strains, and then my collaborator asked why not do them all,” he said. “This made the difference between a mediocre proof-of-concept paper and a full article in Science. I learned that it is important to think big if you want to make a real difference”

–  Discovered and characterized genetic variations that may predict which patients with congestive heart failure respond best to a life-saving beta-blocker drug.  These landmark studies occurred over several years and were published in Nature Medicine twice, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences three times. “This is a good example of the progression of an idea over time, where every year or so an unexpected turn of events occurred, and new insight was gained,” he said.

– While at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Liggett, working with colleagues at Washington University and Thomas Jefferson University, found that a genetic variation of an enzyme, which inhibits beta-adrenergic receptor signaling, confers “genetic beta-blockade” in cardiac muscle and protects against early death in African Americans with heart failure.  The findings, published in Nature Medicine, provided insight into individual variations in disease outcomes. Another key study from Cincinnati revealed that a certain combination of genetic variants within a single gene conferred low vs. excellent responses to inhaled beta-agonists in treating asthma. These combinations, called haplotypes, had never been identified in GPCRs. The work was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Liggett’s groundbreaking research sequencing all known human rhinoviruses, a frequent cause of respiratory infections, was featured on the April 3, 2009 cover of the journal Science.

Advancing outside his field of study

Dr. Liggett joined USF Health in 2012 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, where he was associate dean for interdisciplinary research and professor of medicine and physiology. He received his MD degree at the University of Miami and completed both a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO.

Within two years, he advanced from a postdoctoral research fellowship in Dr. Lefkowitz’s laboratory at Duke to tenured associate professor and director of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.  By the time he left Cincinnati for the University of Maryland in 2005, he held an endowed chair in medicine and directed the university’s Cardiopulmonary Research Center.

Though he had no significant wet-lab experience, Dr. Liggett was fascinated by the emerging science called “molecular biology” and was undeterred from branching into a field of study in which he had no formal training.

He secured a position as assistant professor at Duke following his fellowship there, and figured out how to sequence adrenergic receptor genes from a patient’s blood. While routine now, such genetic testing had not been done previously.  He unexpectedly kept finding multiple variations (called polymorphisms or mutations) in genes coding for the same receptors, so he sought out the advice of some classic geneticists.  At the time, Dr. Liggett said, their traditional thought was modeled after diseases like cystic fibrosis — if a person had the genetic mutation they developed the disease, if the mutation was absent they did not.

“There was no consideration for common genetic variants and how they might affect disease risk, progression, or response to treatment. It simply was not in their thought process,” Dr. Liggett said. He was told “it’s probably nothing and don’t quit your day job.” He did not take their advice.

 Some advice Dr. Liggett would give to emerging young scientists

Assistant professor Donghwa Kim, PhD

Instead, he returned to the laboratory to sequence and clone receptors from many different populations with asthma and heart failure, showing that the receptor genes did indeed differ from one individual to another, generally with several common “versions.” His team also created “humanized” mice expressing the human genes for asthma and heart failure so they could begin to understand the physiology of the receptors. They began to find that some genetic alterations increased receptor function, some decreased the drug’s affinity to bind (responsiveness) to a receptor, and still others altered how the receptor was regulated.  And, through NIH-supported clinical trials, the researchers correlated outcomes observed in patients undergoing drug therapies with the genetic variations uncovered in the laboratory.

“If there’s a lesson to be learned here by young investigators, I’d say it’s that you can collect information from experts in the field, but you need to use your gut to ultimately decide on whether to pursue a line of research or not,” Dr. Liggett said.

Personalized medicine challenge: Common diseases, multiple genetic variations

Realizing personalized medicine’s full potential will require a better understanding of how environmental variables – including diet, exercise, the gastrointestinal microbiome (gut bacteria) and toxin exposure – combine with genetic variations to affect disease and its treatment, he said. “Personalized medicine faces its greatest challenges in the common diseases like asthma, atherosclerotic heart disease and heart failure, because they involve multiple variations in multiple genes that interact with the environment to give you a disease – and also provide a set-up for unique ways to treat the disease.”

Biological scientist Maria Castano

Dr. Liggett was one of the first physicians recruited for what would become the USF Health Heart Institute.  He recalls that he still had the letter of offer in his pocket when he stood before the Hillsborough County Commission in 2012 to help USF Health leadership pitch the need for a cardiovascular institute to include a focus on genomics-based personalized medicine.  The county joined the state in funding the project, and Dr. Liggett was instrumental in the early planning stages of the Heart Institute before the arrival of its founding director Dr. Samuel Wickline.  The institute is now under construction in downtown Tampa as part of the new Morsani College of Medicine facility, a key anchor of Water Street Tampa. Already, 21 of the 31 institute’s biomedical scientists who will investigate the root causes of heart and vascular diseases with the aim of finding new ways to detect, treat and prevent them, have been recruited.

“There’s an excitement here and philosophy of excellence that’s rewarding to see,” Dr. Liggett said. “We have a strategic plan in place, including moving ahead to expand research in cardiovascular disease, infectious disease and the microbiome, and the neurosciences. Our departments are recruiting at a good pace, and the faculty we’re bringing in all have NIH funding and are highly collaborative.”

Dr. Liggett is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science – one of only five Morsani College of Medicine faculty members to receive that prestigious honor.  He is also an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American College of Chest Physicians. Last year, he was one of 30 scientists nationwide selected to join The Research Exemplar Project – recognition of his outstanding reputation as a leader whose high-impact, federally-funded research yields novel and reproducible results.

Over his career, he has served on several NIH study sections and on the editorial board of high-impact journals relevant to fundamental biochemistry as well as heart and lung diseases.  He is currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of Personalized Medicine.

 The potential of new treatments for asthma and heart failure

Dr. Liggett holds 18 patents detailing potential new targets for drug therapy or genetic variations of known drug targets, which might be used to predict response to medications and customize treatment.

Some things you may not know about Dr. Liggett:

• He has asthma, which helps motivate his research toward finding better treatments for this common lung disease affecting one in 12 people in the United States.
• Restores vintage cars, primarily DeLoreans. Although he recently finished bringing a funky lime green 1974 Volkswagen Thing back to life, and over the holidays restored a 1973 VW camper. 

• Lives with wife Julie on the beach in Treasure Island, where they enjoy surfing, paddle boarding, and photography.
• Has three children – Elliott, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Cal Tech in Pasadena, CA; Grace, who recently completed her master’s degree in public health at USF; and Mara, an undergraduate student studying social work at Florida Atlantic University, and two step-children — Madison, an undergraduate at the University of Florida, and Tripp, a senior at St. Petersburg Catholic High School. He also has three grandchildren, ages 2 to 9.

Photos by Sandra C. Roa, and audio clips by Eric Younghans, University Communications and Marketing

Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, Distinguished University Health Professor and director of the Health Informatics Institute at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, has been appointed Vice Chair of Research for the college’s Department of Internal Medicine.

In his new role within Internal Medicine, Dr. Krischer – who attracts record federal research dollars to USF – will work with leadership to recruit National Institutes of Health R01-funded researchers and mentor junior faculty with the goal of strengthening federal research funding in basic, translational and clinical sciences.

Jeffrey Krischer, PhD

Dr. Krischer has a longstanding commitment to diabetes research and to understanding the mechanisms of autoimmunity and disease progression.  His NIH-funded research in the latest Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research report totals more than $64 million, making him the #1 highest funded principal investigator in the world.

Dr. Krischer oversees the Health Informatics Institute in the Morsani College of Medicine. The Institute coordinates, analyzes and maintains research data from several international, NIH-sponsored clinical networks investigating the causes and outcomes of type 1 diabetes, including The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY), Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, and the Trial to Reduce IDDM in the Genetically at Risk (TRIGR). Members of the Institute have funding from industry, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and the NIH for studies in oncology, type 2 diabetes, molecular biology and “big data” (‘omics).

He is also principal investigator for a major NIH data coordinating center that supports the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, which addresses the challenges of diagnosing and treating rare diseases. The Network includes more than 250 university medical centers worldwide.

Dr. Krischer holds a USF Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research and is director of the USF Diabetes Center. He is a professor and head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Pediatrics, with joint appointments as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and in the Department of Neurology.

Dr. Krischer received a PhD in applied math from Harvard University. Before joining USF in 1993, he was professor and chief of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine. For 10 years Dr. Krischer served as Associate Center Director and Chief Information Officer for Moffitt Cancer Center.

Closely huddled by attentive residents and students, USF physician Charles Edwards, MD, performs his daily rounds of patients inside Tampa General Hospital. Dr. Edwards is a hospitalist and as such, he and his team care for hospitalized patients until they are well enough to be discharged. Patient stays range anywhere from 12 hours to many months.

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Regardless of stay length or ailment, these in-house doctors known as hospitalists lead a team of other specialists such as physical therapists, nurses and pharmacists, to best provide safe and efficient patient care.

“We see every type of patient at this hospital so it’s hard to say that there is a typical pattern and that’s one of the unique challenges for a hospitalist,” said Dr. Edwards.

During patient visits, Dr. Charles Edwards takes time to connect with his patients to learn about their lives and individual challenges that may effect health outcomes.

The hospitalist role is fairly new in medical practice, just two decades since the position first began to appear. Its purpose was to eliminate needless transportation time for primary care doctors so they could focus more on office visits and so that the hospital can provide immediate personalized care to their patients. Currently there are 34 USF Health hospitalists working at Tampa General Hospital.

“We are here, we are here 24 hours a day. Available immediately to see patients, if needed,” said Dr. Edwards who takes pride in connecting with his patients, “though [my care] may not continue, while they’re here [I’m] going to care for them as much as their primary care doctor does.”

On a typical morning you’ll find Dr. Edwards and his team reporting on their patients’ progress with details about medication, mental status and sleep or eating patterns. They will see between 15 to 20 patients throughout the day. However, patient care involves more than bedside visits. For physicians like Dr. Edwards, responsibilities extend into his personal life and he is passionate about it. He might read more about the symptoms of a patient he’s not sure about or catch up on the latest from his favorite medical journal.

Residents and students evaluate patients’ progress with Dr. Edward’s guidance.

Dr. Edwards’ profession is not just about patient care, it’s an “innate curiosity about medicine,” and a balance of at least four other roles. In addition to being the director of the Division of Hospital Medicine, vice-chairman for Clinical Operations in the Department of Internal Medicine and chief of staff at TGH, he is also an associate professor at USF Health’s Morsani College of Medicine.

Patient records are updated as Dr. Edwards and his team complete morning rounds.

“Without a doubt teaching is my main inspiration,” said Dr. Edwards. “The one thing I can do and enjoy, [is to] go around with my students, residents and my team to see our patients.”

Many doctors were inspired to pursue their profession by personal reasons, or wanting to do something important in life. Dr. Edwards had these reasons, but his active role as an educator is a daily reminder of the benefits of his kind of work.

“I’m constantly around other people who are learning,” said Dr. Edwards. I constantly have to try and teach younger physicians and that’s one of the best ways to learn, is to teach. They certainly keep you on your toes.”

Dr. Charles Edwards and his team provide non-surgical patient care throughout Tampa General Hospital.

Aside from his patients, mentorships and dedication to keep up with medical advancements, Dr. Edwards has his mind set on the future of hospital medicine.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to make the hospital safer,” said Dr. Edwards. He’s referring to the main challenge his profession faces: The transition of patient care.

Caring for patients has a multi-level set of tasks that include bedside visits, medical charting, preventing infections, avoiding unnecessary tests, not delaying patient stays, and the continuum of patient care beyond their hospital stay.

“One of the things that you must do is make sure you understand the challenges a particular patient is going to face when they’re discharged so that you can try to best address them,” said Dr. Edwards. “But it is often a source of anxiety when patients leave the hospital.”

The final stage of Dr. Edwards’ care involves updating the patient’s records and sharing the hospitalization charts with the primary doctor. Patient medical information is private and protected by federal HIPAA laws, which limit how hospitalists and primary doctors can exchange records.

Medicine, as most professional fields, has been increasingly harnessing the powers of technology. The transition of patient care is eased by the standardization of electronic health records and USF Health’s Physicians Group patients will benefit even more with its transition to EPIC– the same EHR used at TGH, thus providing a stronger continuity of care. With a unified records system, interdisciplinary caregivers can access thorough medical data about a patient. Hospitals, clinics and physicians can share details about their patient’s outcome and will help relieve the worry that hospitalists have when treating or discharging patients. But for Dr. Edwards, the best assurance has a personal touch.

“Technology will certainly play a big role in improving the transition of care in the future, but there’s no substitute for good old-fashioned verbal communication with fellow colleagues.”

Story and multimedia by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Office of Communications. 

Devoting time to the needs of the community is at the heart of a new scholarship for USF medical students.

Called the Dr. John Sinnott Merit Scholarship in Medicine, the scholarship is named after John T. Sinnott, MD, FACP, FIDSA, chair of the USF Health Department of Internal Medicine, the James A. Cullison Professor of Medicine, and director of the Florida Infectious Disease Institute. The scholarship was initiated when John Ekarius, former chief operating officer for USF Health, provided its first donation. More than 50 donors have added to that seed money to grow the gift to about $33,000.

John Ekarius (right) announces the scholarship named for Dr. John Sinnott (left), with Dr. Margarita Cancio-Cabrerra and Dr. Douglas Holt.

“One can see the impact of John’s legacy by watching alumni interact with him,” Ekarius said. “His repeated winning of the Golden Apple teaching award symbolizes his dedication to the school and its future. John represents the best of the Morsani College of Medicine.”

The first word of the scholarship came when Ekarius made a surprise announcement about it at an Internal Medicine event in December. Taken aback, Dr. Sinnott was clearly moved by the gesture.

“John came up with an amazing surprise and a unique honor,” Dr. Sinnott said. “The scholarship he started in my name will assist many students as they pursue their dream of a career in medicine.”

In working with USF Health Development to fine tune the details for the scholarship, Dr. Sinnott determined that a student’s work within his or her community should be central to the tenets of the scholarship’s criteria.

“Some of my most rewarding experiences have been in working in our comunity,” Dr. Sinnott said. “This scholarship program will inspire our students to ‘give back’ to our school and community.”

The inaugural scholarship will be awarded for Fall 2014. For more details about the scholarship or to make an additional contribution to it, contact Patrick Henry, director of Development for the Morsani College of Medicine, phenry1@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-4803.

The infectious diseases expert will lead the medical school’s largest department

Tampa, FL (Nov. 28, 2012) – John T. Sinnott, MD, the James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine, has been appointed chair of Department of Internal Medicine at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.  Dr. Sinnott has served as Director of the college’s Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine, and as the Associate Dean of USF Medicine International.  His new leadership role begins Dec. 1. 

 Dr. Sinnott is the third chair in the history of USF’s Department of Internal Medicine, the medical school’s largest department. He succeeds Allan Goldman, who served as chair for 18 years and is now the associate dean of graduate medical education, and Roy Behnke, the founding chair in 1972.

Dr. John T. Sinnott

 “Dr. Sinnott has led our Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine into an internationally recognized powerhouse,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.   “He is a veteran, valued and creative leader who will work with faculty to develop a vision and strategic plan for a department he describes as ‘nutrient-rich and primed to lead in medicine, research and education.’”

 “Technological advances in medicine are outstripping its humanity while business models are dramatically changing our practices,” Dr. Sinnott said. “I hope to inspire the Department of Internal Medicine to meet these challenges and synthesize a new model — a patient-centered academic department, where energized faculty conduct research, teach students and deliver outstanding care.”

Dr. Sinnott’s accomplishments across his nearly 30 years at USF include:

–          Long-regarded as a master clinician, he has trained 96 infectious disease subspecialists and countless medical and graduate students.

–          He has assembled an extensive network linking USF and the public health departments in Hillsborough and Polk Counties as well as with the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories in Tampa.  His work led to a nationally-recognized model for academicians working with health departments.

–          A federally-funded researcher, he is the principal investigator for a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant. This grant evaluates and provides technical assistance to 30 sites across the U.S. serving HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis C. It also explores optimal treatment regimens and provides alternative approaches to care for resource-poor areas.

–          His interest in innovative education spurred him to forge partnerships with training programs worldwide, including in India, China, Thailand, Colombia and Panama. These successful collaborations have yielded numerous exchanges between USF and global partners, as well as grant-funded activities in India and China.

–          Under his tenure as Division Director, USF has been at the forefront of biodefense and initiatives in response to emerging infectious diseases threatening Floridians and visitors to the state.  The Division has grown from three to 17 faculty members.  Fellowships have increased from two to 10 trainees.

–          A proponent of integrating healthcare education and technology, Dr. Sinnott worked with Dr. Richard Oehler to develop IDPodcasts.net, a premiere infectious diseases learning resource on the web, and other mobile device applications for clinicians and students.  Most recently, Dr. Sinnott created the content for USF’s first commercial app available on iTunes, MD Stats, a tool for medical students to interactively learn the basics of medical statistics.

Dr. Sinnott succeeds Dr. Allan Goldman, right, as chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He is the third chair in the history of the USF medical school’s largest department.

Dr. Sinnott is co-director of the USF Health Signature Interdisciplinary Research Program in Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Disease. Over the years, he has served as chief of medicine, vice chief of staff, and the first university physician ever elected chief of staff at Tampa General Hospital.

After Dr. Sinnott was selected “Most Outstanding Clinical Professor” by students for six consecutive years, the competitive prize was retired and renamed the “John Sinnott Award for Outstanding Clinical Professor.” 

He has received numerous other awards from local to international levels. These include the Florida Medical Association Award for Leadership in Medical Education, the NBI Award for Humanism in Medicine, the Leadership Florida Distinguished Member Award, the Florida HIV/AIDS Red Ribbon Excellence Award, and, recently, the 2011 Healthcare Educator of the Year Award by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. He was inducted into the Leon G. Smith Infectious Disease Institute Hall Of Fame, has been a finalist for the Association of American Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine award, and is consistently listed among The Best Doctors in America. He has been recognized for his global medicine achievements by the princess of Thailand and by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Maharashtra India.

Dr. Sinnott received his master’s degree in microbiology from USF and a MD degree from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in infectious diseases and tropical medicine at USF before joining the university’s Division of Infectious Diseases as a faculty member in 1983.

 Board certified in both medicine and infectious diseases, Dr. Sinnott is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.  He has published more than 180 abstracts, articles and textbook chapters, many with students and trainees.

-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 Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications 
(813) 974-3303 or abaier@health.usf.edu