Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) classified as an effective therapy for PTSD and depression from SAMHSA program

Tampa, FL (Nov. 24 2015) – Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), a brief and safe treatment for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) studied at University of South Florida College of Nursing, has been officially recognized as an effective therapy for veterans, service members and civilians by the National Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices (NREPP).

Diego F. Hernandez, PsyD, (left) a licensed clinical psychologist, demonstrates Accelerated Resolution Therapy, ART for short, with veteran Brian Anderson at University of South Florida College of Nursing.

NREPP, which is part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found ART to be an effective psychotherapy for PTSD, depression, stress, and personal resilience. ART was also classified as a promising therapy for symptoms of phobia, panic, anxiety, sleep and wake disorders, disruptive and antisocial behaviors, general functioning and well-being. See details here.

“The completed studies have shown ART to be a brief, safe and effective therapy for individuals suffering with PTSD and depression – including those who previously tried other therapies provided by the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Kevin Kip, PhD, distinguished USF Health professor and executive director for the College of Nursing’s research center. “So, this recognition from NREPP is a great step toward making ART a first-line or potentially preferred treatment approach for PTSD across civilian and military settings.”

The USF College of Nursing, under Dr. Kip’s leadership, has been exclusively studying ART since 2010. This therapy, founded by licensed therapist and USF ART clinician, Laney Rosenzwieg, LMFT, is part of the college’s Restore Lives – an initiative designed to develop research and education programs that meet the needs of veterans, service members and their families. So far, USF Nursing has completed three ART studies, and more publications are in the works.

In its independent review, NREPP looked at all ART publications and clinicians’ training materials. Key to the review were results from the second ART study, which enrolled and treated 57 service members and veterans. In that randomized controlled trial, ART was shown to substantially reduce symptoms of PTSD in two-thirds of participants in less than four treatment sessions. Details on this study can be viewed here.

Kevin Kip, PhD, executive director of the USF College of Nursing Research Center, has led the college’s studies investigating the effectiveness of ART since 2010.

PTSD is a major public health challenge among veterans, service members and civilians in the United States. According to the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, more than eight million Americans suffer from PTSD, depression or other related symptoms every year. PTSD symptoms can be debilitating, and treatment is extremely costly.

As a result, USF Nursing’s ART clinical team, including Rosenzwieg and Diego Hernandez, PsyD, assistant professor and ART clinical director, have conducted clinical training with military clinicians, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and social workers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and other military bases in Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort. Belvoir, Virginia, and Fort Hood, Texas.

“I’m really proud of this research team including Dr. Hernandez, Rosenzwieg, Sue Girling, senior research coordinator, Trudy Wittenberg, research compliance administrator, and the large cadre of highly skilled ART clinicians,” Dr. Kip said. “Through our collective efforts, we can make major strides in fundamentally changing the way psychotherapy is practiced.”

For more information on ART click here.

–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 50th 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.

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

When lone survivor Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL, came to Tampa Theater this Tuesday evening to kick off the first stop of his multicity Patriot Tour, the audience included a group of USF medical students.

The students, members of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration, were accompanied by two physicians from James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. Many in the group had previously watched the current film Lone Survivor, which depicts the harrowing Operation Redwing mission that spared only Luttrell, and discussed challenges faced by veterans rebuilding their lives after military service.

But the Tampa Theater presentation brought the experience to life.

First-year USF medical student Stefanie Grewe, left, with classmate Paolina Pantcheva. – Photo by Dr. Brooke Baldwin, James A. Haley VA Hospital

“Medicine is about stories, and it’s important for a story like this one to be told,” said Lois LaCivita Nixon, PhD, professor of medical humanities at USF Health. “It’s even more relevant when you consider that an increasing number of the students entering our medical school have served in the military. Their experiences and stories are dynamic and varied, and may add another perspective to how they practice medicine.”

On June 28, 2005, Luttrell and three fellow SEALS were assigned a mission in Afghanistan to kill or capture a high-ranking Taliban leader. During an intense gun battle with Taliban forces, Luttrell was the only member of his team to survive, though he sustained multiple gunshot wounds, a horrific fall, and walked and crawled seven miles to shelter before being rescued by American forces. Luttrell, awarded the esteemed Navy Cross, has worked to honor the sacrifice of his fallen brothers in his best-selling book, which became the basis for the movie , and supported charities focused on helping returning veterans.

Luttrell was joined on the Patriot Tour by other speakers who served on special forces teams, from Navy SEALS to Army Rangers.

Former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell’s best-selling book became the basis for the current movie Lone Survivor.

Their compelling stories were of particular interest to first-year medical student Stefanie Grewe, whose scholarly concentration project is focusing on the life of military heroes after war through film, poetry and real-life accounts.  Grewe plans to meet with veterans to elicit how health care practitioners can better serve them and ease the transition back home. She will document the differences between generations of veterans, from the Civil War through the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“War has a ripple effect not only on the veterans themselves and their families, but on our society as a whole,” said Grewe, who volunteers at the VA hospital each week. “I see there is room for improvement in connecting our students, the public and military heroes to minimize the separation that often exists when veterans integrate back into civilian life.”

Luttrell with members of his Navy SEAL team in Afghanistan

Raymond Cutro, MD, chief of Electrophysiology and Cardiac Catheterization Services at James A. Haley VA Hospital and affiliated assistant professor of cardiology at USF Health, was among the doctors attending Tuesday’s presentation with the students.   Cutro served as a U.S. Marine Corps infantryman in the 1990s, primarily in non-combat roles, including a brief stint in Somalia delivering food to starving Somalis and helping restore order in a chaotic society.

“The physical manifestations of battlefield injuries are often quite clear. But the individual emotional and psychological sequelae of these experiences are something hard to comprehend,” Dr. Cutro said.

“What I think Marcus Luttrell and his crew did well, was illustrating just how complex these issues are, and as health care providers, we must be aware of not only how hard they are to treat, but simply the challenges of recognizing ‘calls for help’ in a very proud population of veterans.”

Photos of Marcus Luttrell courtesy of patriottour.com

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.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_bi0eW_WsU

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

Tampa, FL (Nov. 8, 2012) – Nursing education and research designed to meet the health needs of veterans, service members and their families will be the focus when the nation’s top nurse educators and scientists gather Tuesday, Nov. 13 in Tampa, FL, for a conference hosted by the University of South Florida College of Nursing.  The first annual JOINING FORCES TO RESTORE LIVES: Nursing Education and Research in Veterans Health conference will be held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in downtown Tampa.

The conference is part of USF’s commitment to support the Joining Forces campaign, a comprehensive national initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to give service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.

Keynote speaker James L. Harris, DSN, APRN-BC, MBA, CNL, FAAN, deputy chief nursing officer, Office of Nursing Services, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Washington, D.C, will discuss linking nursing education and research to the Joining Forces initiatives. Dr. Harris helps lead the VA’s 80,000-plus nursing personnel, but the message he will deliver at the conference is vital to all the nation’s registered nurses. While 36 percent of the nation’s 23 million veterans receive health care through the VA, the majority seek care outside of the VA health system, usually at local primary care facilities or hospitals in their communities, a 2009 U.S. VA Services report indicates.  At 3-million strong, nurses comprise the nation’s largest sector of health care professionals.

“The USF College of Nursing is a national leader in educational preparation and nursing research that addresses health care issues unique to service members, veterans and their families,” 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. “We are glad to bring our expertise to the table as we join forces with nursing professionals, educators and nurse scientists across the country in a commitment to this important initiative.”

Nursing education and research experts presenting at the conference will come from 13 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Texas and West Virginia.

Attendees at this first-of-its-kind conference will include global nursing executives, scientists, faculty, researchers, educators, advanced practice nurses and registered nurses interested in supporting veterans’ health education and research.

For event and registration information, please visit the USF College of Nursing website:  http://health.usf.edu/nursing.

-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.

-RESTORE LIVES at USF Nursing-

The USF College of Nursing RESTORE LIVES – Research and Education to Rehabilitate and Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families – directly impacts the lives of veterans and service members. USF has a long history of supporting our nation’s service members, veterans and their families with workforce issues, innovative educational programs and out-of-the-box nursing research conducted by our world class faculty. The USF College of Nursing is Transforming Healthcare, Transforming Lives: Creating the Nursing Leaders of Tomorrow and the Research that Improves Health.

Media contact: 
Ashlea Hudak, College of Nursing Communications
(813)396-9642 or ahudak@health.usf.edu

August 1, 2012 (Tampa, FL) – Researchers at the University of South Florida College of Nursing have shown that brief treatments with Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) substantially reduce symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  including, depression, anxiety, sleep dysfunction and other physical and psychological symptoms. The findings of this first study of ART appear in an on-line article published June 18, 2012 in the journal Behavioral Sciences.

ART is being studied as an alternative to traditional PTSD treatments that use drugs or lengthy therapy sessions. The talk therapy uses back-and-forth eye movements as the patient fluctuates between talking about a traumatic scene, and using the eye movements to help process that information to integrate the memories from traumatic events. The two major components of ART include minimizing or eliminating physiological response associated traumatic memories, and re-envisioning painful or disturbing experiences with a novel technique known as Voluntary Image Replacement.

Diego Hernandez, visiting assistant professor of nursing,demonstrates a technique used in Accelerated Resolution Therapy.

For the initial study, researchers recruited 80 adult veterans and civilians, ages 21 to 60, in the Tampa Bay area. Before receiving ART, patients were tested for symptoms of PTSD and depression, with the vast majority testing positive, 80 percent for PTSD and 90 percent for depression. After treatment using ART, the research team reported a dramatic reversal in symptoms.  In as few as one to four sessions, those showing symptoms had decreased to only 17 percent for PTSD and 28 percent for depression.  Improvements were also seen in trauma-related growth and self-compassion in just one to four treatments.

“From this initial assessment, ART appears to be a brief, safe, and effective treatment for symptoms of PTSD,” the report concludes.“Early results are very promising,” said principal investigator Kevin E. Kip, Ph.D. FAHA, professor and executive director of the USF College of Nursing Research Center. “Most people who came in to be treated had very high scores for PTSD, and after treatment, the majority had very large reductions. The treatment also reduced other symptoms, like depression, as well as improved sleep.”

Lead investigator Kevin Kip, PhD

 According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), PTSD has become an epidemic in the United States. Recent NIH statistics show more than 7.7 million American adults and as many as 31 percent of war veterans suffer from PTSD. They experience mild to extreme symptoms, often with greatly impaired quality of life and physical and psychological functioning. ART is a particularly promising alternative to traditional PTSD treatments, because it uses no drugs, has no serious adverse effects, and can improve symptoms in -few therapy sessions. The compelling results achieved principally with civilians in the first study prompted the USF College of Nursing to seek expansion of a second ongoing ART study, funded by the U.S. Army, to veterans and reservists in Las Vegas.

“As part of RESTORE LIVES at USF, the innovative nursing research being conducted by Dr. Kip and his team demonstrates our commitment to the health and welfare of our nation’s military, veterans and their families,” 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.  “The results that the ART studies have shown so far are truly amazing, and offer new hope to those suffering from PTSD.”

Last week, the USF research team traveled to Las Vegas to conduct the first mobile ART study with military reservists.  “We are happy about our collaboration with USF College of Nursing,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Raul Rojas, commanding officer for the Naval Operations Support Center (NOSC). “We’re honored to be the first West Coast study site for the USF College of Nursing’s ART study. We hope our relationship will help get the word out to those who can benefit from the study.”

ART is one of the five sub-studies of the USF College of Nursing’s Research to Rehabilitate/Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families (RESTORE LIVES) grant funded and administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) at Fort Detrick, MD.

“All the pieces are coming together, with published results on ART effectiveness and our first national study site in Las Vegas. It looks like we are closer to getting a more efficient evidence-based treatment into place that will actually eliminate the traumatic response to memories and bring relief to the troops and their families,” said co- investigator Carrie Elk, PhD, LMHC, CTE, assistant professor and military liaison at the USF College of Nursing.

Article Citation:
Kip, K. E., Elk, C. A., Sullivan, K. L., Kadel, R., Lengacher, C. A., Long, C. J., Rosenzweig, L., Shuman, A., Hernandez, D. F., Street, J. D., Girling, S. A. & Diamond, D. M. (2012). Brief treatment of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by use of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). Behavioral Sciences. 2(2), 115-134. doi:10.3390/bs2020115

–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.

-RESTORE LIVES at USF-

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.

Media contact:
Ashlea Hudak, College of Nursing Communications
ahudak@health.usf.edu or (813) 396-9642 

First Lady mentions USF as example of universities stepping up to care for veterans and their families

Tampa, FL (Jan. 11, 2012) – Today, as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Joining Forces initiative, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida (USF), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) committed to creating a new generation of doctors, medical schools, and research facilities that will make sure our heroes receive the care worthy of their service.

Recognizing veterans and their families’ sacrifice and commitment, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine pledged to mobilize its uniquely integrated missions in education, research, and clinical care to train the nation’s physicians to meet veterans and their families’ unique health care needs, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Dr. Stephen Klasko, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, was among the deans who pledged to leverage their academic missions to train physicians to meet the unique health care needs of the military and veterans communities.

“We are honored to participate in the White House Joining Forces initiative to address the health care needs of military service members and veterans and their families,” said Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine . “USF Health has created a veterans reintegration initiative, including our medical school, partners in physical therapy, nursing and other disciplines and two VA hospitals in Tampa Bay, to serve the heroes who have served our country for so long. Our goal is to show these heroes that their country is there for them, no matter what they’re going through.”

“I’m inspired to see our nation’s medical schools step up to address this pressing need for our veterans and military families. By directing some of our brightest minds, our most cutting-edge research, and our finest teaching institutions toward our military families, they’re ensuring that those who have served our country receive the first-rate care that they have earned,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.

First Lady Michelle Obama announced an initiative of the country’s top medical schools, including USF’s, to ensure care for veterans and their families.

Together, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the AAMC and AACOM are committing to enriching medical education along its continuum to ensure that physicians are aware of the unique clinical challenges and best practices associated with caring for this group; develop new research and clinical trials on PTSD and TBI so that we can better understand and treat these conditions; share their information and best practices with each other through a collaborative web forum created by the AAMC; and grow the body of knowledge leading to improvements in health care and wellness for our military service members, veterans, and their families.

The University of South Florida is helping create a new generation of integrated comprehensive care for veterans and their families:

• USF is ranked fifth nationwide by Military Times Edge magazine for being veteran friendly and is the only Florida university participating in the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.

• The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is affiliated with two major VA Hospitals, including the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital (Tampa, FL), home to one of the five busiest polytrauma centers in the United States. All USF residents and medical students receive part of their training in these VA hospitals.

• The medical director for the new USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation is Dr. John Armstrong, who previously directed medical simulation for the army and has close ties to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.

• Many patents held by USF — ranked ninth worldwide among universities for U.S. patents — are based on medical inventions and therapies in such areas as prosthetics, TBI and brain repair.

• USF is planning a first-of-its-kind Center for Veterans Reintegration, led by Retired Marine Corps General Martin Steele and Dr. Paul Sanberg of the Morsani College of Medicine. This interdisciplinary research, education and treatment facility will propel a unique collaboration among the university, the VA system, Department of Defense and private research and educational entities – all of which are part of the building plan.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden created Joining Forces to bring Americans together to recognize, honor and take action to support veterans and military families as they serve our country and throughout their lives. The initiative aims to educate, challenge, and spark action from all sectors of society to ensure veterans and military families have the support they have earned. The initiative focuses on key priority areas – employment, education, and wellness while raising awareness about the service, sacrifice, and needs of America’s veterans and military families. More information is available at: www.JoiningForces.gov.

– 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 34th in federal research expenditures for public universities.