Forehead buried in a surgery console, Savannah Summy, 16, appeared intent on tying a knot in the suture thread using micro-movements of the robotic instruments she controlled remotely. Nearby, interactive robot arms outfitted with graspers and needles were poised over a small cushion holding the surgical string.

Dr. Lennox Hoyte, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of robotic surgery at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Tampa General Hospital, demonstrated the twisting wrist action that could help Summy loop the string by guiding the robot arm.

“It’s like you’re turning a key,” said Summy as Dr. Hoyte’s keyhole analogy clicked.   “There’s definitely a learning curve, but it’s very cool.”

Savannah Summy, 16, seated at the surgery console, concentrates on operating the robotic arms nearby to tie surgical string, with encouragement from a fellow USF Stem Academy student.

Summy got an enthusiastic high-five from a fellow student after successfully completing the precision task with step-by-step coaching from Dr. Hoyte, a pioneer in urogynecologic robotic surgery.

A student at Clearwater High School, Summy was one of 22 rising junior and senior high school students across Florida, including one from Georgia, who participated last week in the STEM Academy on Diabetes & Medicine, a USF Pre-College summer program. Another group of 18 students completed the program this June.

Both groups visited TGHwhere they were provided the opportunity for some supervised hands-on practice with one of the hospital’s state-of-the-art surgical robotic systems.

This robotics session led by Dr. Hoyte scored as “a major wow factor” with students, said Richard Pollenz, PhD, professor of cell biology and director of USF’s Office for Undergraduate Research, who develops and manages the STEM Academy program.

One of the supervised exercises students practiced at Tampa General Hospital was using the robot to flip a penny.

The academically intensive six-day residential program immerses students in scientific inquiry, creative activities and hands-on research, with the intent of fanning the flames of their interest in the critical STEM fields – science (including the health sciences), technology, engineering and math. USF and other public universities are working to boost the number of students selecting and graduating with hard-core science and technology majors.

Now in its third year, the USF STEM Academy has demonstrated some early success. Ten students from the course’s 2012 and 2013 sessions enrolled at USF and several are pursuing STEM disciplines in the Honors College, Dr. Pollenz said.

In addition to trying their hands at manipulating the robot arms to tie knots and flip pennies, the students practiced a simulation exercise in which they cauterized tiny blood vessels.

Other activities last week included extracting DNA from their own cheeks to perform a DNA gel electrophoresis, conducting field research at Fort DeSoto Park with USF College of Marine Science faculty and students, visiting several university research centers to network with faculty, working in groups to problem solve, and interacting with STEM Academy mentors to develop creative solutions to a Grand Challenge Problem on diabetes.

Dr. Lennox Hoyte, director of robotic surgery at USF Health and Tampa General Hospital, coaches a student (not pictured) guiding the robot to flip a penny, while some USF STEM Academy students observe. The group watches the procedure in real time on a monitor above (not pictured).

One morning the students toured the USF Diabetes Center with Clinical Director Dr. Henry Rodriguez to learn about the education and research conducted there. They pricked their fingers to draw their own blood, just like people with type 1 diabetes do several time a day to test their blood sugar. The next day they used high-end digital pipettes to conduct an ELISA assay to measure the amount of insulin in their blood.

“These are experimental procedures typically carried out by college sophmores and juniors,” Dr. Pollenz said.

For Summy, who has type 1 diabetes, the laboratory exercise was a fascinating glimpse into the basic science underlying management of the chronic disease.

“I’m interested in doing something in the diabetes field, but I’m trying to determine whether I want to work in patient care or in a research laboratory,” she said. “Do I want to be a pediatric endocrinologist, or help develop the science and technology that may lead to advances or a cure?”

Giving students the opportunity to explore career options available to those with STEM degrees is an important aspect of the program, along with promoting scientific inquiry, relationship building and teamwork.

“Students who enter college with exposure to state-of-the-art STEM research are uniquely positioned to engage in undergraduate research activities that will enhance their academic performance and provide them with a competitive advantage in the job market and admission to graduate and professional programs,” Dr. Pollenz said.

“My goal is to inspire them to keep their scientific minds alive — to ask meaningful questions and think about how technology can be developed to solve complex human problems,” Dr. Hoyte said.

“It’s all about teaching these students how to collaborate and apply their knowledge.”

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Savannah Summy

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Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Families filled the USF College of Public Health auditorium earlier this month, eager to see their second-graders walk across the stage to receive their first white coat as part of graduation from King’s Kids Academy of Health Sciences (KKAHS).

The young learners are the inaugural class for the newly formed charter school, which places an emphasis on health sciences and is helping build a pipeline for healthcare professionals who will help ease the shortage of healthcare providers, especially minority professionals.

The school, which started with kindergarten, first and second grade and targets underserved low-income school-age students of the East Tampa area, had a successful first year, said Maria Stroud, director of KKAHS.

Lennox Hoyte, MD, associate professor in USF’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Morsani College of Medicine, acts as a mentor to the program and, on graduation day, congratulated the graduates on their accomplishment, giving them words of support as they move forward.

USF supports the school with faculty and students, who help coordinate mentors and /or tutors, plug into the school as guest speakers, help on career days, offer support for various science and health projects, etc.

And hopefully inspire students to consider health careers.

KKAHS Principal Maria Stroud helps put a white coat on Thomas Scott, who was instrumental in helping start the school when he was on the Tampa City Council.

Dr. Lennox Hoyte (left) with KKAHS Principal Maria Stoud.

Video:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xIMEFvU3ds

The robot-assisted cervical stitch surgery, performed through the abdomen, was a first for Tampa General Hospital

Tampa, FL (Oct. 26, 2012) — A long-delayed dream came true  this week at Tampa General Hospital when Cynthia Coniglio finally delivered a healthy baby girl at 38 weeks. Over the years, Coniglio, 38, struggled through lost pregnancies because her cervix was too short to close tight enough throughout pregnancy to keep the baby in place.

For years, surgeons have treated insufficiencies of the cervix in pregnant women with what’s called cerclage – a single stitch to hold the cervix in place and help prevent a miscarriage or preterm birth. Also known as “cervical stitch surgery,” the procedure is traditionally done through the vagina, but when this is technically difficult or impossible the cerclage can be done through the abdomen.

Cynthia Coniglio snuggles with her baby daughter Raven, just a few days old.

 Coniglio had already experienced a failed transvaginal cervical stitch surgery and lost part of her cervix to other previous complications when she sought out USF Health’s Maternal Fetal Medicine team at Tampa General.  Her 18-month-old daughter Clover was born several months prematurely, and requires special medical care.

“I just couldn’t to go through another emotional rollercoaster of a miscarriage or spending months in the neonatal intensive care unit,” said Coniglio, who lives in Brooksville, FL.  “I believed if anyone could save my pregnancy it would be physicians at a teaching hospital, because they try new things.”

Coniglio’s complex case lended itself to innovative thinking about how to best reduce risk to mother and baby. 

Valerie Whiteman, MD, interim director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at USF Health, enlisted the help of  Urogynecology Director Lennox Hoyte, MD, an expert in laparoscopic gynecological surgery using the da Vinci robot.  In June, once Coniglio reached 12-1/2  weeks of pregnancy, Dr. Hoyte and Whiteman used the daVinci robot to create the cerclage through the abdomen, and seal the cervix long enough for Coniglio’s healthy delivery.

It was the first robot-assisted transabdominal cervical cerclage at Tampa General Hospital. 

USF Health’s Dr. Lennox Hoyte, left, and Dr. Valerie Whiteman, right, with patient Cynthia Coniglio and her new baby girl, at Tampa General Hospital.

“Cynthia’s cervix was so short that it was like keeping the baby in a house with no foundation,” Dr. Whiteman said. “Most cervical cerclages are still done transvaginally, but that wasn’t feasible here, so we decided to go in from above (with several small stitches through the abdomen).”

“When you’re negotiating the tight spaces of a pelvis, with a pregnant uterus and big blood vessels, there’s no room for error,” she said. “The beauty of the robot is that it can articulate in places that the surgeon’s hands can’t, thereby reducing potential risks.”

Laparoscopic, or minimally invasive surgery, involves the doctor making several small incisions used to slip in tiny cameras and specially designed surgical instruments to perform the procedure.  Surgeons manipulate these instruments inside the body remotely with devices similar joysticks, while visualizing what’s happening from video monitors near the operating table. 

Dr. Hoyte describes the process like “operating with chopsticks.” The integration of robotics into this process allows surgeons to precisely direct challenging procedures as if they were using their own hands and fingers. The dexterity and superior visualization of the robotic system helps complex surgical procedures, such as an advanced cervical cerclage, go more smoothly, he said.

But, Dr. Hoyte emphasized, the real story is not the technological advances but the happy outcome for all.

Coniglio’s cervix remained stable for the rest of her pregnancy. She delivered a full-term, 6-pound, 14-ounce, 20-inch baby girl, Raven, by C-section on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

“It’s amazing; I cried when she was born. She looked so big and healthy,” Coniglio said. “She wouldn’t be here without Dr. Whiteman and Dr. Hoyte.” 

-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.

–          Tampa General Hospital –

 Tampa General Hospital is a 1,018 bed acute care hospital and is the only Level 1 trauma center on the west coast of Florida. It is the primary teaching hospital for the University of South Florida College of Medicine. It also serves as the region’s only burn center, adult solid organ transplant center and provides specialized rehabilitation services. Tampa General has established centers of excellence in the following clinical areas: cardiac, neurosciences, digestive disorders, orthopedics, infectious disease, high risk and normal obstetrics, and pediatrics. 

Photos by Eric Younghans/USF Health Communications

Media contacts:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications, (813) 974-3303 or abaier@health.usf.edu
Ellen Fiss, Tampa General Hospital, (813) 844-6397 or efiss@tgh.org

Like students in most schools, a group of elementary students in East Tampa started classes last month excited about the year ahead.

But this group is a little different. Uniforms are scrubs. Guest speakers are doctors, nurses, and the like. And field trips will be to area laboratories and maybe hospitals.

This group is the inaugural class for the King’s Kids Academy of Health Sciences, a new charter school putting an emphasis on health sciences and aiming to build a pipeline for healthcare professionals who will help ease the shortage of healthcare providers, especially minority professionals.

King’s Kids Academy of Health Sciences (KKAHS) earned approval to open from the School Board of Hillsborough County earlier this year. The school is targeting underserved low-income school-age students of the East Tampa area.

In designing its extensive curriculum that includes modules for learning about health and sciences and inspiring students to consider health careers, KKAHS has connected with many community health groups, including USF Health. Lennox Hoyte, MD, associate professor in USF’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Morsani College of Medicine, is acting as a mentor to the program, and sees the school as a good way to help ease the shortage in healthcare providers.

“It is important for these young kids to see a pathway for becoming healthcare professionals,” Dr. Hoyte said. “And starting early – demonstrating, as well as experiencing, aspects of health careers – is an ideal model for keeping that pathway open.  There is a dramatic shortage of healthcare professionals, especially minority healthcare professionals. So a curriculum like this can provide a high payoff for the community, the region, and the state, as well as the individual.”

In addition to Dr. Hoyte, pre-med students, medical students and faculty can be mentors and /or tutors, plugging into the school as guest speakers, helping on career days, offering support for various science and health projects, etc. As the school grows (it is starting with kindergarten, first and second grades only), the partnership has the potential to expand, as well.

Dr. Lennox Hoyte

“We are very excited to connect with USF Health and see USF students come in and work with our children,” said Maria Stroud, director of KKAHS.  “It is so important to have them there to instill in our kindergartners, first-, second- and third-graders the message that they can define who they will be, even at this young age, and say to them ‘hey, you can start building on this now.’ That’s a magnificent message.”

Also helping bridge the charter school with USF is Hiram Green, director of Community Engagement, who serves on the KKAHS board of directors.

Hiram Green

“As we work to transform healthcare, it is important for us to connect with our various communities and to use our intellectual capital to make them better,” Green said. “A school such as this could help implement a reversal of debilitating conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, infant mortality, and other chronic diseases that continue to plague our community. Starting with these children, we have an opportunity to put in their minds early, the necessity for good nutrition and the knowledge of science, things they will need in the future, whether they go into healthcare fields or not. Just for the betterment of themselves.”

For more information about the free, public school, and to enroll your child (KKAHS is still accepting students), visit King’s Kids Academy of Health Sciences web site.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications