In watching his father struggle with kidney stones, William Pearce was inspired to work closely with urologists, which sparked his idea for a new device that greatly reduces the need for recurrent catheterization. Now, about four years later, he is the inventor of a urethral catheter and has a patent securing his idea.

Pearce is a fourth-year medical student in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and is one of few medical students who will graduate already owning a patent. His idea was designed, nurtured, modified and perfected while he was in medical school, as part of the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business in Medicine section of the College’s Scholarly Concentrations Program (SCP). As an academic elective program, the SCP allows students to focus on areas of interest beyond the medical school core curriculum to enhance their overall training. More than 85 percent of USF medical students take part in one of the program’s 10 tracks.

William Pearce.

“The main goal for our Scholarly Concentrations Program is to give students an infrastructure for building unique and creative ideas that are integrated with what they are learning from the medical curriculum,” said Susan Pross, PhD, director of the SCP. “William’s project is a prime example of the success students can have with this program.”

Pearce’s patent is part of an active and successful patent program at USF through its Technology Transfer/Patents and Licensing Office. USF is ranked 10^th nationally and 13^th among universities worldwide for U.S. patents granted in 2014 by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

 Listen to William Pearce speak to the great support he had filing his patent.

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Pearce said the idea for the catheter didn’t happen instantly, but was a process over a lot of time.

“Looking back, it’s not something I could lay a road map for or define a key moment,” Pearce said. “It was a series of steps, that each alone were improbable.”

In following the care his father received for kidney stones, Pearce discovered that a patient could have as many as five attempts by health care providers for inserting a Foley catheter. The recurring insertion attempts results in trauma to the patient, and presents a higher risk for infection.

 Listen to William Pearce explain the dangers of  recurrent catheterization.

“There’s got to be a better way,” Pearce recalled thinking.

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Pearce partnered with a urologist in the Jacksonville area and, following an in-depth literature search, they decided the best approach was to integrate and elaborate on two existing designs. The combined concept resembled the advanced device used by urologists but incorporated a guide that allowed for easier insertion by frontline health care professionals – the people inserting the catheter the first time.

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Pearce filed his application December 2013; and then the waiting began. It wasn’t until mid-2015 when an email alerted Pearce that his patent had been accepted, making is catheter official. But the reality is, his work isn’t done – his next step is to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so the catheter can be tested in clinical settings.

William Pearce with his patent #8,956,340.

His advice to other students looking to bring their ideas to reality and locking in with a patent: start early and seek advice from experts.

 Listen to William Pearce’s tips for others wanting to file a patent.

“The Scholarly Concentrations Program gave me a head start, to be able to get an award to study possibilities and to do the research to see what patents already existed,” he said. “And the experts at the USF Technology Transfer/Patents and Licensing Office were key to helping me fine tune my application and get it filed. And today, I have my first patent.”

Multimedia by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Communications

While today’s physician doesn’t carry a bag full of devices for examining and treating patients – like those of a hundred years ago – they do carry a repository of tools based on experiences and challenges that forms who they are as doctors.

Remembering to use those tools will make you a better doctor, said Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, FACP, vice dean for educational affairs.

Dr. Bryan Bognar.

“Those bags are icons of the medical profession and you, as emerging health care providers, will need a similar collection of tools in your own careers,” he said.

Dr. Bognar was the keynote speaker at this year’s USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Scholarly Concentration Student Symposium, and his analogy helped students see the need for them to pull from their own work, experiences, and challenges within the Scholarly Concentrations Program to help them become better doctors.

Dr. Bognar urged students to make today’s “tool belt” a mix of enduring traits (diagnostic ability, medications, technology, spirit of inquiry, humanism, and professionalism) with emerging traits (inter-professionalism and team building, leadership, information technologies, personalized medicine, globalization, and knowledge of healthcare systems).

Held Oct. 18, the Student Symposium is an opportunity for the mostly second- and third-year medical students to present their preliminary research data. Their projects will likely become their capstone project that culminates their work in their fourth year, so the event is somewhat like a practice run.

This 5th annual symposium featured 28 presentations by medical students participating in the faculty-mentored Scholarly Concentration Program, a college wide program that provides medical students with an elective minor, of sorts, in one of 10 areas, providing them with opportunities for academic endeavors in areas of special interest. The concentrations are:  Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business in Medicine; Health Disparities; Health Systems Engineering; International Medicine; Law and Medicine; Medical Education; Medical Humanities; Medicine and Gender; Public Health; and Research.

Each concentration includes elements of course work, practical application, and scholarly presentation and allows for self-directed learning, enhances interactions between students and fosters relationships between students and faculty.

Some of this year’s 28 medical student presenters with Dr. Bognar (center).

Following Dr. Bognar’s address, the students presented their work. Topics included the mechanics of disease, community involvement, health issues in poor communities, and medical education. Students and their topics included the following:

Matthew Applebaum: “Does a Wider Margin for a 1.0 -2.0 mm Melanoma Lead to Improvement in Oncologic and Cosmetic Outcomes?”

Jessica Glover: “The Effect of Margin Widths in Recurrence and Survival of Breast Conservation Therapy Patients”

Tess Chase: “A Critical Examination of the Biopsychosocial Implications of Pediatric Epilepsy in Germany and the United States”

Latashia-Lika Lelea: “Physician’s and Traditional Healer’s Perspectives, Use, and Effectiveness of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in American Samoa to Help Raise Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity in Mainstream Medical Practices”

Sayeef Mirza: “Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Coronary Artery Disease among Cardiovascular Patients: A KAP Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh”

Blake Housley: “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Cost and Eligibility Model of Medicaid Expansion”

Spencer Bezalel: “Store-and-Forward Teledermatology Improves Access to Care in a VA Dermatology Clinic”

Danielle Grams: “New Frontiers for Medication Safety in Gansu, China”

Hussain Basrawala and Khalil Nasser: “SONOSTATION: A Modern Approach to Image Guided Surgical Intervention”

Maria Echavarria: “Comparative Study of Segmentectomy versus Lobectomy for Lung Cancer Patients via Robotic-Assisted Video Thoracoscopic (RATS) Surgery”

Ashok Shiani: “Degree of Concordance between Single Balloon Enteroscopy and Capsule Endoscopy for Obscure Gastrointestinal Bleeding after an Initial Positive Capsule”

Meghana Vellanki: “Buried Balloon: A Novel Complication from Percutaneous Radiologic Gastrostomy Tube Placement”

Jennifer Le: “Asymmetric Synthesis of Amitifadine via Metalloradical Catalysis”

Paolina Pantcheva: “Treating Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease with Transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells”

Yumeng Zhang: “TCA Cycle-Enhancing Metabolite Supplementation Improves Mitochondrial Function in a Parkinson’s Disease Cell Model”

Robert Ackerman, Shaara Argo and Jennifer Carrion: “Pre-Health Summer Enrichment Program 2014”

Mariella Disturco: “Development and Implantation of a Multidisciplinary Curriculum for Women whom are Obese During Pregnancy”

Shawna Foley: “Mothers for Mutare: Community-Based RUTF Manufacture and Nutrition Training for Relief of Pediatric Malnutrition in Mutare, Zimbabwe”

Jessica Patel, Sonali Ranjit and Nick Kovacs: “Outcomes of Innovation Education and Training for Heath Care Students”

Alexander Glaser and Shaunn Hussey: “Progression from Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever to Dengue Shock Syndrome: A Predictive Model”

Nicole Teal: “forwardHEALTH: A University-NGO Partnership for Community-Based Global Health”

Holly O’Brien: “forwardHEALTH: Youth Empowerment and Education”

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

Fourteen graduating medical students showcased their capstone projects May 3 as part of the inaugural Gallery of Scholarship, held before the annual USF Morsani College of Medicine’s Student and Faculty Awards Ceremony.

The poster presentations summarized their work in the college’s Scholarly Concentration Program and offered a glimpse into their scholarly experiences while at the Morsani College of Medicine.

Started in 2007, the Scholarly Concentration Program provides medical students with an elective minor, of sorts, in one of 10 areas, providing them with opportunities for academic endeavors in areas of special interest. The concentrations are:  Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business in Medicine; Health Disparities; Health Systems Engineering; International Medicine; Law and Medicine; Medical Education; Medical Humanities; Medicine and Gender; Public Health; and Research.

There are 43 graduating seniors in the program this year, all of whom produced capstone projects and received certificates of completion at the annual Student and Faculty Awards Ceremony that followed the Gallery of Scholarship.

Among the 14 who presented their work at the inaugural Gallery of Scholarship — where they shared their scholarly pursuits with faculty, staff, friends, and family members — was Sarah Pullen, whose study looked at empathy levels among medical students.

“I knew about the program before I entered USF and was very interested in participating in it,” said Pullen, who will conduct her residency in psychiatry at the University of Washington in Seattle.  “The Scholarly Concentration Program gave me a chance to get to know faculty better and to pursue my interest in health disparities. It was a great, warm, supportive environment.”

USF graduating medical study Sarah Pullen (right), a scholarly award winner, with family friends.

At the awards ceremony, Pullen was presented with the Thomas and Elizabeth Flannery and William and Mary Tibbels Scholarly Award. Dr. Michael Flannery, whose family members are named in the award, presented it to Pullen.

The Scholarly Concentration Program allows for self-directed learning, enhances interactions between students and fosters relationships between students and faculty. Each concentration includes elements of course work, practical application, and scholarly presentation.

“The concentrations allow students to gain valuable early experience in various fields of study,” said Susan Pross, PhD, director of the college’s Scholarly Concentration Program. “Students are using these concentrations to delve deeper into their area of speciality, as well as trying out areas they’ve just always wanted to know about. The program has become a great recruiting tool because it adds so much value to their education and, as a result, to their careers.”

Susan Pross, PhD, director of the Morsani College of Medicine's Scholarly Concentration Program

The 14 students presenting their capstone projects in the Gallery of Scholarship were:

Margaret Elisa McQueen: “Designing a Regulated Market Solution to Eliminate Organ Shortages: The Case of Kidney Transplantation.” Mentor: William G. Marshall Jr., MD, MBA, Finance and Administration, Department of Psychiatry.

Sarah A. Pullen: “Empathy Study: Does Participation in Health Disparities Scholarly Concentration Affect Empathy of Medical Students?” Mentor: Desiree Rivers, PhD, USF Department of Family Medicine.

Lauren E.  Mullinax and Tanvi R. Patel: “Trouble in Paradise:  An Eye-Witnessed Account of Pediatric Health Problems Exacerbated by Sociocultural Circumstances of Panama’s Ngobe-Bugle Tribe.” Mentors: Eduardo C. Gonzalez. MD, USF Department of Family Medicine

Matthew C.  DuMouchel: “Occupational Hazards of Immigrant Agricultural Workers.” Mentor:  Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH, USF College of Public Health.

William G. Carson, III: “Treatment of Type II Endoleaks with Ethylene-Vinyl-Alcohol Copolymer (Onyx).” Mentors: Kamal Massis, MD and Bruce Zwiebel, MD, Department of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

Dana M. Cruite: “Enhancing the Degeneration of ABeta Amyloid in APP+PS1 Mice Using rAAV Vector Expression of Neprilysin and Insulysin.” Mentor:  David G. Morgan, PhD, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute.

Nicholas C. DeVito: “Patterns of Metastases and Correlation with Prognosis in Solitary Fibrous Tumor Hemangiopericytoma at Moffitt Cancer Center. Mentor: Anthony Conley, MD, Sarcoma Program, Moffitt Cancer Center.

Jennifer M. Eatrides: “Axillary Ultrasound in Breast Cancer and MRI in Surgical Planning of Breast Cancer.” Mentors: M. Catherine Lee, MD, Nazanin Khakpour, MD, FACS and John Kiluk, MD, FACS, Comprehensive Breast Program, Moffitt Cancer Center.

R. Evans Heithaus, Jr.: “The Impact of a Fundamental of Laparoscopic Surgery and Virtual Reality Training Program on Surgical Performance:  A Blinded Randomized Validation Trial.” Mentor: Steve Goldin MD, PhD, USF Department of Surgery.

Clara H. Kraft: “Phosphorylation Dynamics Regulate Hsp27-mediated Rescue of Neuronal Plasticity Deficits in Tau Transgenic Mice.” Mentor: Chad Dickey, PhD, USF Department of Molecular Medicine

Harry Lomas, IV: “Post Chemoradiation SUV is Highly Predictive of Disease Free Survival and Overall Survival in Esophageal Cancer.” Mentor: Ravi Sridhar, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center.

Andrew M. Pepper: “Evaluation of Expandable Endoprostheses in Pediatric Musculoskeletal Oncology.” Mentor: G. Douglas Letson, MD, USF Department of Orthopaedics, Sarcoma Program, Moffitt Cancer Center.

Erika S. Reese: “Comparing BMI, FAST Score and Energy Expenditure in Division I Intercollegiate Female Athletes.” Mentor: Eric Coris, MD, USF Department of Family Medicine.

Story by Sarah A. Worth, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.