Frank Morsani, attending the ceremony with wife Carol, was among 16 new inductees to USF’s Next Greatest Generation Veteran Fund Hall of Honor. The Morsanis stand next to a poster summarizing his military service during the Korean War.

The University of South Florida honored military veterans past and present at a ceremony held Nov. 6 – Election Day – inducting 16 new members into the 2018 Next Greatest Generation Veteran Fund Hall of Honor.

“What better day than this to honor those who have sacrificed to keep our country safe and retain for us the privileges of freedom… including the right to vote,” said Steve Blair, vice president of development for the USF Foundation.

Among the inductees was Korean War veteran Frank Morsani, who attended the ceremony at the USF Marshall Student Center with his wife Carol.  USF Health’s medical college and its Center for Advanced Healthcare on the Tampa campus are named after the Morsanis.

Larry Braue, EdD, director of the USF Office of Veteran Success, welcomed honored military veterans and guests to the ceremony.

“Many of you know Frank from his business success or his philanthropic work.  I know him as a kind and humble man who willingly took his personal time to teach, coach and mentor our student veterans,” said Larry Braue, EdD, director of the USF Office of Veteran Success.  “His military service shaped his life and helped build his foundation of lifelong service to others.”

Frank Morsani served as a U.S. Navy Petty Officer Second Class during the Korean War, working as a ship welder and later stationed in the Sea of Japan as an aviation hydraulic mechanic, including performing round-the-clock, combated-related aircraft repairs. When he returned to the U.S., he was assigned to an aircraft squadron that developed and evaluated air tactics and techniques for the delivery of special weapons.

Among the military veterans receiving special recognition at the 2018 Honor Roll induction ceremony were, from left: Anthony Ekonomou, Technician 4, U.S. Army; Thomas Gates, Capt., U.S. Air Force; James Rutherford, Capt., U.S. Navy; O. Eugene Powell, Col, U.S. Army; Dr. Karen Berkman (representing father Harold Berkman, Staff Sgt., U.S. Army), Frank Morsani, Petty Officer 2, U.S Navy; Miguel Lopez, Sgt. First Class, U.S. Army; and Robert (Bob) Sullins, Col., U.S. Army.

The Next Greatest Generation Veteran Fund, launched last year by the Office of Veteran Success, provides programs and services, including competitive academic awards and scholarships, to help veterans successfully transition from military life to college campus to a career.

The fund extends a helping hand from the generation of veterans called to duty in the 20^th century (World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War) to USF students who have served in the 21^st century, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  “By contributing to this fund,” Braue said, “donors make a tangible difference in the lives of our student veterans, helping provide crucial support during a time of critical transition.”

A roll call of military veteran inductees, living and deceased, was done by USF student veterans Joshua Pericles (left) and Stephanie Bauman, both Pat Tillman scholars.

The 16 veterans, living and deceased, inducted into the Class of 2018 Hall of Honor join the 27 charter veterans inducted last year (Class of 2017). The name, rank, branch and time of service for each combat veteran memorialized by family members or friends is engraved in plaque permanently displayed in the Office of Veteran Success.

Veteran-centered programs continue to expand for the approximately 1,850 student veterans currently enrolled at USF.  For the last four years, Military Times magazine has ranked USF as one of the top two universities in the country for student veterans. Click here for latest rankings.

Inductee Miguel Lopez (holding poster) is surrounded by family and friends. Lopez, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Army, is the father of Rose Bland (far left), director of the USF Shimberg Health Sciences Library.

USF Vice President of Development Steve Blair with the poster of his father James Blair, a Class of 2018 Honor Roll inductee, who served as a U.S. Navy aviation ordnanceman during the Korean War.

The Next Greatest Generation Veteran Fund Honor Roll was launched in 2017 by the USF Office of Veteran Success to honor veterans from the 20th century, while providing much-needed support to USF student veterans of the 21st century.

-Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications and Marketing

The research suggests Accelerated Resolution Therapy may be an option for veterans who do not respond optimally to conventional therapies endorsed by the Department of Defense and VA

Tampa, FL (Dec. 2, 2013) –Accelerated Resolution Therapy, or ART, is a brief, safe, and effective treatment for combat-related symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans and U.S. service members, researchers at University of South Florida College of Nursing report in a new study. They found this newer treatment — a combination of evidence-based psychotherapies and use of eye movements — was shorter and more likely to be completed, than conventional therapies formally endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.

The findings appear online today in advance of December’s print issue of Military Medicine, the international journal of AMSUS.

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Kevin Kip, PhD, FAHA, professor and executive director for the Research Center at the USF College of Nursing, led the team of scientists and clinicians who conducted the first randomized controlled trial of ART in a military population. The trial enrolled 57 service members and veterans, primarily from the Tampa Bay area.

“Based on this trial and an earlier study completed at the USF College of Nursing, we believe that accelerated resolution therapy may provide the quickest way to effectively and safely treat post-traumatic stress disorder,” Dr. Kip said. “Our goal is to obtain enough evidence and interest to warrant classifying ART as a potential first-line treatment for PTSD among both civilian and military personnel.”

“Dr. Kip’s work on this project has been phenomenal,” said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, senior associate vice president of USF Health, and dean of the College of Nursing. “ART has been a cornerstone of RESTORE LIVES at USF Nursing as we continue developing research and education to advance the health care received by veterans, service members and their families.”

ART works in two phases to alleviate psychological trauma symptoms and related disorders such as depression and anxiety.

The patient first visualizes in his or her mind a prior traumatic experience which typically elicits uncomfortable physiological sensations like tightness of the chest, increased heart rate and sweating.  Then, through talk therapy and a series of rapid left-to-right eye movements in which the patient follows the clinician’s hand back and forth, the sensations are minimized. In the second phase, and with similar clinician input, the patient “replaces” the distressing images they have seen with positive ones in a way that the original distressing images can no longer be accessed. ART is delivered in two to five one-hour sessions, requires no homework, and no written or verbal recall of the traumatic experience.

Diego F. Hernandez, PsyD (left), a licensed clinical psychologist, demonstrates Accelerated Resolution Therapy, as veteran Brian Anderson follows his hand movements.

“Through this therapy, we’re able to quiet down and separate physiological symptoms that come with re-envisioning a traumatic experience,” Dr. Kip said. “We can also alter or replace the traumatic images and add positive material to them. We are changing how images are remembered in the brain.”

It worked well for Brian Anderson, a former Green Beret, 10-year Army veteran and director of the Pasco County Veteran Services and Stand Down program.  He had tried an endorsed first-line PTSD treatment known as prolonged exposure therapy, which was very lengthy and worked for a while, but then symptoms like hyper-vigilance returned.

“ART changed my life,” Anderson said. “This brief therapy took the bad memories that constantly resurfaced and put them in the proper order or long-term storage; it was almost like I was thinking about a time in history. As a veteran, I would much rather go through a therapy that works, in only a few sessions, than sit through intensive and grueling sessions that last as long as 16 weeks.”

In this study, researchers compared ART to a non-therapeutic PTSD treatment called attention control (AC) regimen. Clinicians treated half of the 57 study participants (29) with ART, and the other half (28) received AC, which consisted of either physical fitness assessment and planning or career assessment and planning. After initial treatment, both groups received a three-month follow-up assessment.

“Before and after these interventions, we compared the response analyzing reductions in PTSD symptoms, depression and anxiety, and the results were very impressive,” Dr. Kip said. “In an average of less than four ART sessions, participants had very substantially reduced symptoms of PTSD, while those who received AC did not.”

After the AC regimen, all veterans had the opportunity to receive ART, and in the full study, 94 percent completed treatment. Favorable results persisted at three months.

Kevin Kip, PhD, executive director for the Research Center at the University of South Florida College of Nursing, led the team of scientists and clinicians who conducted the first randomized controlled trial of ART in a military population.

The USF College of Nursing recently began its fourth and largest ART study. Researchers will recruit 200 veterans and service members suffering from PTSD, including a high representation of those who were sexually abused or previously treated with other PTSD therapies. They will also study the cost-effectiveness of ART, and further examine how and why the therapy works.

PTSD is a prevalent, disabling disorder that can emerge following a life-threatening event or traumatic experience. Those experiences create chronic symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, sleep disturbances, mood swings, and loss of interest in life. According to PTSD Foundation of America, one in three troops returning from combat suffers PTSD symptoms, although less than 40 percent seek help. The organization also reports that at least five active duty military members attempt suicide every day.

“Accelerated resolution therapy is giving hope to many veterans who felt like they had no hope,” said Lt. Col. (Ret.) Lawrence A. Braue, EdD, director of the USF Office of Veterans Services. “I look forward to the day when this treatment is widely available across the country. USF College of Nursing faculty and staff genuinely care about our veterans, and that means the world to any veteran.”

For more information about ART or current studies visit USF College of Nursing’s RESTORE LIVES.

Article citation:
“Randomized Controlled Trial of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) for Symptoms of Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” by Kip, Kevin E.; Rosenzweig, Laney; Hernandez, Diego F.; Shuman, Amy; Sullivan, Kelly L.; Long, Christopher J.; Taylor, James; McGhee, Stephen; Girling, Sue Ann; Wittenberg, Trudy; Sahebzamani, Frances M.; Lengacher, Cecile A.; Kadel, Rajendra; and Diamond, David M; Military Medicine, Vol. 178, No. 12, December 2013, pp. 1298-1309(12)

-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 43rd  in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu.

-RESTORE LIVES at USF NURSING-

Through ‘RESTORE LIVES AT USF: Education and Research to Rehabilitate and Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families’, USF College of Nursing faculty develop life enhancing treatments through nursing research, and educate nurses with the knowledge and skills specific to the needs of the military, veterans and their families. The ART study is an example of type of innovative research that the USF College of Nursing is developing to improve the health of our honored service members and veterans.

Video and photos by Andy Faza, USF College of Nursing Communications 

Media Contact:
Vjollca “V” Hysenlika, College of Nursing Communications
(813)974-2017 or vhysenli@health.usf.edu