As 2013 winds down and USF Health  moves into 2014,  we reflects on some highlights and accomplishments over the past year.

And, we look ahead in the New Year to renewing our commitment and efforts to improve life in the Tampa Bay area and around the world — through education, research, service and patient care.

The University of South Florida broke ground for its USF Health Heart Institute, a $50-million proposed facility that will combine advanced research and technology with the best cardiovascular care to benefit patients with heart disease, diabetes and stroke.  USF Health will continue working with governmental, hospital and community partners to make the institute a reality.

The USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), the world’s largest freestanding center of its kind, passed its first year with more than 14,000 learners from all 50 states and more than 60 countries. CAMLS completed a feasibility study with Panama to build a CAMLS-like facility and is also exploring expanding its academic entrepreneurial business model to Brazil, Mexico and Lebanon.  Healthcare professionals and students aren’t the only beneficiaries of CAMLS’  leading-edge, extensive resources for simulated learning.   In December, the USF Health doctors at CAMLS teamed up with the Florida Aquarium to help diagnose an injured sea turtle, Freud.

The USF College of Nursing continued to attract international attention for its research and education to benefit veterans and service members.  Recently published research by a USF Nursing faculty team suggests accelerated resolution therapy (ART), a brief new therapy to ease symptoms of psychological trauma, may be an option for veterans who do not respond optimally to conventional therapies endorsed by the Department of Defense and VA.  The college began its fourth and largest ART study, which will recruit 200 veterans and service members to study the cost-effectiveness of the therapy and further examine how and why it works. The college also received the largest of nine federal grants to help veterans with healthcare skills earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

The Florida Covering Kids & Families program at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, USF College of Public Health, this summer received the largest navigator grant in Florida – and second largest in the country.  The one-year $4.2-million federal grant to help eligible uninsured individual get health care through the Health Insurance Marketplace drew widespread media attention to the USF navigators and their partners statewide. National coverage included stories in the News York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Associated Press, TIME magazine, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.

The USF Health Diabetes Home for Healthy Living opened in August, ushering a new approach to diabetes care.  The new one-stop facility in the Westshore area of Tampa offers diabetes patients a relaxing, home-like environment with every aspect of care to successfully and proactively manage their chronic condition.  The medical home is the newest addition to USF’s leading research, education and clinical care initiatives making life better for those with chronic illnesses like diabetes.

USF President Judy Genshaft appointed Donna Petersen, ScD,  and Harry van Loveren, MD, interim leaders of USF Health after healthcare innovator Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, was named to lead a prominent Philadelphia university and hospital system.   Dr. Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, serves as interim CEO of USF Health, and Dr. van Loveren, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, as interim dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, while the national search for USF Health’s next CEO and medical school dean continues.

The USF College of Pharmacy continued to advance on a fast track as it grows toward a projected complement of 400 students. The incoming College of Pharmacy Class of 2017 represented the largest class in the highly competitive school’s short history – with 107 students selected from among 800 applicants. This past summer the college — with an innovative, rigorous curriculum emphasizing a collaborative approach to patient care and research — was awarded accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

The Doctors of USF Health campaign introduced this spring informed patients and families across the region that the region’s only academic medical center provides access to the most advanced health care available.  The brand identity linked to USF Health’s launch of a newly designed patient care website with access to nearly 400 highly specialized healthcare professionals.

The first class of USF SELECT students, having completed their first two years of learning at the Morsani College of Medicine, moved to Allentown, PA, to begin two years of clinical education at Lehigh Valley Health Network.  The innovative program, which welcomed its charter class in Fall 2011,  gives students unique training in leadership development, intense coaching, and the scholarly tools they need to become empathetic, passionate physician leaders who will be catalysts for change.

Construction began in March on the USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages, setting the stage for a new era and range of health care for residents of “America’s Healthiest Hometown,” the nation’s largest community of people over 55. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Jan. 24, 2014, for the 25,000-square-foot facility, designed as a collaborative complement to The Villages’ expanding primary care network. USF Health doctors representing several specialties will provide high-level care at the new center,

A new master’s degree program in Physician Assistant Studies, based in the Morsani College of Medicine, was approved by the USF Board of Trustees in March 2013. The first class for the interprofessional, two-year PA program will start Summer 2015, initially accepting 24 students, with plans to increase that capacity. The program is an important step forward in addressing the state’s increasing shortage of primary care practitioners.

Tampa General Hospital approved a new long-term affiliation agreement with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. The “evergreen” agreement automatically renews each year.  The strengthened partnership will help Tampa Bay’s only quaternary hospital and its only academic medical center to enhance what both institutions do best:  provide leading care for patients and teaching and training opportunities for residents and students.

The USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and the University of West Florida announced a physical therapy partnership program that will offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree in Pensacola. The collaborative program, approved by the Florida Board of Governors in January 2013, will start in Summer 2014.  It will expand access to UWF students interested in pursuing a DPT and help meet a state-identified need for more physical therapists in a largely rural region of the state.  USF Physical Therapy also continues to lay the foundation for a new PhD program in Rehabilitation Sciences, which was approved by the USF Board of Trustees in December.

The USF College of Public Health greeted new students this fall with a record number of online offerings. Demand for the college’s online public health degree programs has exploded this year — with enrollment more than doubling since the middle of the last decade. The college’s advances in distance learning have been noted in the Guide to Online Schools, which uses data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics to rank colleges with the best quality and most affordable online programs. USF Health is home to the nation’s first online master’s degree in health informatics and to seven online master’s degree programs in public health.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

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The director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging yesterday visited the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, the state’s only freestanding Alzheimer’s center offering clinical assessment, laboratory research, education and care under one roof.

NIA Director Richard Hodes, MD, introduced by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute CEO David Morgan, PhD, spoke about the NIA’s initiatives to build momentum in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.   He also met with NIA-funded researchers from across USF and toured the Byrd Institute’s Center for Memory CARE.

Dr. Richard Hodes (left), director of the National Institute on Aging, and Dr. David Morgan, CEO of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, listen as a faculty member explains his research project.

The NIA supports biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social research related to the aging process, healthy aging, and age-related diseases and disabilities.  It is the primary federal agency funding and conducting Alzheimer’s disease research.

NIA-funded research at USF is approximately $3.5 million yearly, and  60 percent of the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute funding is from NIA, Dr. Morgan said.

While working to understand the basic mechanisms of normal and abnormal aging, and to discover new treatments, prevention, and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Hodes said, the NIA also has a responsibility speed the translation of existing knowledge into practical therapies and public information.  The NIA also funds research to improve the quality of life for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers.

Dr. Hodes outlined research advances since the first genes linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease were identified in the early 1990s.  These have included the development of mice genetically modified to exhibit the brain pathology of Alzheimer’s disease, genome-wide studies driving an integrated systems approach to find genes and networks that distinguish a brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease, and the identification of biomarkers to help with earlier detection and track disease progression.

L to R: Dr. Amanda Smith, medical director of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, Institute CEO Dr. David Morgan: NIA Director Dr. Richard Hodes; U.S. Rep Kathy Castor, Institute Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Edwin Weeber, and Institute Associate Director Dr. Jessica Banko.

Most recently, revolutionary advances in imaging have allowed researchers to visualize nerve-killing Alzheimer’s amyloid proteins in the brain years before symptoms such as memory loss first appear. This innovative technology “gives us the ability to do clinical studies we could not do in the past,” Dr. Hodes said.

For example, he cited a new NIA randomized controlled clinical trial that will involve people at high risk for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and test whether an immune therapy helps prevent amyloid accumulation or facilitates its clearance from the brain in these genetically-predisposed individuals.   Using imaging technology, investigators will track amyloid lesions in the brains of study participants who receive the investigational amyloid antibody and those who don’t.

“Over time they can see whether the treatment makes a difference or not,” Dr. Hodes said. “The goal is to find a way to intervene (early) before irreparable damage is done to the brain.”

Institute team members, including Director of Education Eileen Poiley (far left), led Dr. Hodes on a tour of the Center for Memory CARE.  Here they pause at the family room/kitchen area designed for the comfort and convenience of patients and caregivers.

Another emerging area of study for NIA is looking at how genes may interact with the environmental and behavioral factors to influence age-related cognitive decline.

Following his formal talk, Dr. Hodes met with about 20 USF faculty members supported by the NIA to learn more about their areas of study.   Their work includes such research as investigating the link between hearing and cognition; evaluating electrophysiological biomarkers for early-onset cognitive decline; testing nutritional approaches, like blueberries and spirulina, for protection against neural cell degeneration; searching for drugs or gene therapy to manipulate the chaperone proteins that regulate the fate of a hallmark Alzheimer protein known as tau; examining the role that the protein reelin plays in regulating and changing nerve cell connections in the region of the brain where new memories are formed; exploring cell-based therapies for Alzheimer’s disease; and using visual and auditory cues to help people with dementia remember better.

USF President Judy Genshaft greets Dr. Hodes.

Dr. Hodes was impressed by breadth and strength of  USF’s interdisciplinary aging research and recognized the distinctiveness of the Byrd Institute’s Center for Memory CARE, a one-stop multispecialty memory care center especially designed for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers, Dr. Morgan said.  USF President Judy Genshaft and Stephen Klasko, MD, outgoing senior vice president of USF Health and medical school dean, accompanied Dr. Hodes on his tour of the facility.

USF faculty members whose research is supported by NIA met with Dr. Hodes to share the scope of their work.

Dr. Marcia Gordon (left), professor of molecular pharmacology and physiology, and Dr. Meredeth Rowe, professor of nursing, are among the NIA-supported faculty members at USF.

Dr. Hodes gets a look at the control room for the Institute’s onsite CT/PET scanner, which helps diagnose dementia and support drug discovery.

Dr. Hodes chats with Dr. Stephen Klasko, outgoing senior vice president of USF Health and medical school dean.

Dr. Hodes, a leading immunologist, has directed the National Institute on Aging since 1993 and devoted his tenure to developing a strong, diverse and balanced research program.

 Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Tampa, FL – (June 20, 2013) – Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, has been named as the new president of Thomas Jefferson University and president and CEO of TJUH System.

Dr. Klasko, who presided over the creation of USF Health and is the longest-serving dean in the College of Medicine’s history, is known as a healthcare innovator.  Under his tenure, USF Health has opened the world’s largest simulation center, aimed at improving patient safety; opened new healthcare centers designed with patients at the center; and started a new physician leadership program with a new vision for teaching future doctors.

“We will miss Steve and his innovative and energetic presence at USF and we are grateful for the work and vision he brought to us over the past nine years,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “Steve did not just bring a transformative philosophy about what health care should and could be to the Tampa Bay Region, but put his ideas into action.”

Thomas Jefferson University announced Dr. Klasko’s appointment Thursday in Philadelphia. Dr. Klasko is taking on a new role as the first person to lead both Thomas Jefferson University and the TJUH System.

“It has been 15 years since the University and the Hospital have shared a common leader, but, in a quickly changing healthcare environment, there is a real advantage to having the academic and clinical missions of a major medical center like Jefferson truly intertwined,” said David Binswanger, chair of Thomas Jefferson University’s Board of Trustees.  “Steve Klasko brings dynamic and innovative leadership to take advantage of Jefferson’s rich history, vast expertise and extraordinary patient care and drive it in amazing new directions.  Steve’s experience as a physician and business leader who transformed USF Health makes him uniquely qualified for this exciting opportunity.”

“I am truly honored to be leading one of the finest academic health centers in the nation,” said Dr. Klasko, “with a rich medical history and stellar reputation for academic excellence, innovative research and compassionate patient care.  This is by far one of the greatest opportunities to come along in a decade, to forge Thomas Jefferson University, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital System and Jefferson University Physicians into the model for healthcare revolution.”

At the same time, Dr. Klasko said, he is proud of the work that his USF Health colleagues have accomplished, and believes that USF Health will continue to act as a leader in transforming health.

“At USF Health, we believe that we can – and must – shape a vision of the future that promotes better health,” Dr. Klasko said.

Dr. Klasko also praised President Genshaft’s leadership.

“None of what we have done at USF Health would be possible without President Genshaft’s energy, drive and vision of what USF can become,” he said.

A national search to replace Dr. Klasko will begin shortly, President Genshaft said.

-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.

Media contact:
Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications, (813) 974-4312  or lgreene@health.usf.edu

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:

 Elliot Sussman, MD, Chairman, The Villages Health and Professor of Medicine, USF Health, and former Chairman of Board of AAMC, former President and CEO of LeHigh Valley Health Network, and former faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania:

“Steve Klasko has been a force for change for the better in his 9 years at USF Health. His creativity in building partnerships, which embrace the classic academic triad of education, patient care and research, has been key to his success. These partnerships, exemplified by CAMLS, SELECT and The Villages Health, mark USF Health’s emergence as an innovator in American health care. Bringing Steve’s energy and creativity to Philadelphia, William Penn’s City of Brotherly Love, can only benefit Thomas Jefferson University and the greater Philadelphia community.”

Jona Raasch, CEO, The Governance Institute:

Medicine needs more thinkers like Steve Klasko. He is a forward thinking leader who values change and understands the importance of transforming the healthcare industry by keeping the patient in the center and engaged in the process. Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital has solid foundation and excellent faculty that will benefit from Steve’s leadership in moving to the next plateau of medical education, population health and value.

Robert L. Brent, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology, Radiology, Jefferson Medical College, A. I. DuPont Hospital for Children:

“The Jefferson Community will be welcoming their new President, Steve Klasko, who has unlimited enthusiasm, a wealth of new ideas and a charismatic and warm personality. An added benefit is his wonderful first lady, Colleen.”

Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD, MACP, President/CEO, Association of Academic Health Centers:

“Dr. Klasko is an outstanding choice to lead Thomas Jefferson University.  He brings a critically important skill to the position, one that is even more vital in today’s challenging times for academic health centers: The ability to bring academic and business components together to create something far larger than the sum of their parts.  This “virtuous cycle” is essential in order for academic health centers to thrive in an environment where new models and new ideas are a high priority.  I look forward to his accomplishments in his new position.”

Joel Momberg, Senior Vice President for Advancement, CEO USF Foundation, University of South Florida:

“Steve Klasko describes himself as a birther of babies. Truth is he is both the creator of USF Health and the OBGyn who transformed the delivery and teaching of medicine in the Tampa Bay Area. Steve is a renaissance man. He can run a marathon, DJ a party, write a few books and do a great impression of Jake from the Blues Brothers, helping his students raise money for their Clinic. Steve Klasko will be missed.”

Jeffrey Lowenkron, MD, CEO, Doctors of USF Health:

“At my first meeting with Steve I was impressed with his futurist perspective. He said, ‘If we know something will happen in 5-10 years, why would we wait for it to occur before we planned.’ This perspective drove some of the recent programs that are in process now: SELECT, CAMLS, Villages, the Heart Center for Genomics Research, etc. The other part of Steve’s legacy will be molded by the people he has recruited, virtually all looking to be part of Steve’s vision for an optimistic future for health care.”

Paul Sanberg, PhD, DSc, Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, University of South Florida:

“Steve Klasko has a laser focus on the future, and as a result on innovation and creativity. He gave us that focus at USF, and will do the same in Philadelphia.”

Kevin B. Sneed, PharmD, Dean, University of South Florida College of Pharmacy:

“Dr. Klasko ignited a vision and passion here within USF Health for the future of healthcare in this country.  He championed the notion that health is better served by interprofessional teams, and was a strong advocate for our pharmacy program.  He has challenged the health and academic systems to think much bigger than the past 25 to 50 years of health in this country…. USF, and the entire Tampa Bay region, is better because of his vision and passion for progressive healthcare in the future.”

Jim Burkhart, President and CEO, Tampa General Hospital:

“I’ve known Dean Klasko for just three months, but in that time we’ve established a very positive working relationship. While I’m sorry to see him move on, I understand that this is an exciting opportunity for him. I wish him nothing but success.”

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

The new laboratory, focusing on genomic science to find new diagnostics and therapies for cardiovascular disease, was built with the support of Hillsborough County

Framed patents lining a wall in the newly opened USF Health Heart Institute Genomics Laboratory contain scientific language like polymorphisms and adrenergic receptors.  But application of the entrepreneurial research described in those patents may lead to new therapies based on an individual’s DNA or predict which patients are most likely to benefit from existing drugs.

“It’s ground breaking,” Stephen Klasko, MD, CEO for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, said of the research behind the patents held by Stephen Liggett, MD, who was recruited last year to lead the university’s genomics and personalized medicine research and who will direct the new laboratory.

L to R: Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, and Dr. Stephen Liggett, vice dean for research at MCOM, with Hillsborough County Commissioners Ken Hagan (chair), Sandra Murman and Mark Sharpe.

Dr. Klasko welcomed university and community leaders May 14  to the grand opening of the 7,550-square-foot laboratory, built on the fifth floor of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. The celebration was an opportunity to thank Hillsborough County Commissioners for their forward-thinking support of the transformative space focusing on genomic science within the Heart Institute, and showcase how USF Health is transforming health care.

“A lot of people talk about molecular genomics and regenerative therapies, and a lot of people are doing great clinical research,” Dr. Klasko said. “We’re going to be the first place to bring together all that technology and research to really get something done on behalf of patients.”

Shelled-in space at the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute was built out to house the Genomics Laboratory, so that basic science research could begin before construction of the freestanding USF Heart Institute. The cost of the laboratory’s construction, equipment and initial recruitment of researchers, was $2 million, half of which was funded by an economic development grant from Hillsborough County.

Last year, the state and country awarded USF a total of $8.9 million to move forward in creating a Heart Institute that will pursue innovative research to find new diagnostics and therapies for cardiovascular disease – a leading cause of hospitalizations, deaths and lost productivity in Florida and nationwide. The Legislature approved a second appropriation of funding for the Institute this session, and a final appropriation is expected next session.

Dr. Klasko welcomed university and community leaders attending the grand opening of the USF Heart Institute Genomics Laboratory.

The Institute’s proposed location will be in the center of the university’s health campus, which includes Moffitt Cancer Center, the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, and the Morsani College of Medicine and James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital. The research facility will also be near Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute, which is collaborating with USF Health on the local arm of a national clinical trial testing a new gene treatment for heart failure.

This proximity of these leading medical institutions will help the Heart Institute create meaningful research collaborations and leverage vital resources “that will make the real difference,” said Leslie Miller, MD, director of the USF Health Heart Institute.

“It’s an exciting time,” Dr. Miller said. “New drugs and biologic therapies we’ll discover here hopefully will have an immediate impact and translate into a reduction in cardiovascular mortality.”

The 15 patents lining one wall of the Genomics Laboratory were issued to Dr. Liggett and colleagues for genomic research discoveries applicable to diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Liggett, vice dean for research at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said the genomics laboratory is the “seed” for the larger Heart Institute to come.

The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art machines for sequencing DNA.  That and other advanced technology will allow USF researchers to study the differences in DNA among individuals to help unravel how diseases emerge and to discover targeted therapies tailored to the patient’s genetic makeup.

The scientists who work in the lab will address such questions as: Do certain genetic variants predispose an individual to certain diseases?  Do they modify the course, or severity, of particular diseases? Can they predict an individual’s response to treatment?

“This whole concept of one drug fits all, which we know doesn’t really work, is going to stop right here,” Dr. Liggett said.

While the new genomics lab will initially focus on heart research, it will eventually branch out to other diseases. “In fact,” Liggett said, “one cannot study heart disease without also studying atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes and metabolism, to name a few. So, we will be comprehensive.”

Dr. Miller outlines plans for the freestanding USF Heart Institute, which will be constructed in the center of the USF Health campus near other leading health institutions.

Dr. Liggett, who explained what scientists will do in the new genomics laboratory, holds up a test tube, which he said contains his DNA. “It’s labeled sample #1, because, back in 1991, I was the first person whose DNA I ever studied.”

In March 2012, Dr. Liggett and Dr. Miller joined Dr. Klasko in appearing before the Hillsborough County Commission to lay out the visionary plan for creating the USF Health Heart Institute.

“Given the importance of the University of South Florida as a key economic engine and its standing as a research leader among universities, it was an easy decision for the Board to support this lab,” said Ken Hagan, chair of the Board of County Commissioners. “When innovative thinking is matched with widespread community support, dramatic change can occur.  It will mean healthier lives for all and a healthier economic environment for Tampa Bay.”

Hal Mullis, vice chair of the USF System Board of Trustees, leads the board’s Health work group.

Hagan credited his fellow commissioner Mark Sharpe with championing the proposal for the institute.

“The transformation of health requires radical thinking and brave disruptors who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo,” Sharpe said. “Health care and heart care is going to be changing right here in Tampa Bay, and we’re thrilled to be part of it.”

Ken Hagan, chair of the Hillsborough County Commission, said the county was proud to partner with a leading research university and the state to pursue the creation of the USF Heart Institute.

Commissioner Mark Sharpe said transforming health and heart care requires disruptive innovation, and Tampa Bay is ready to meet the challenge.

The commissioners attending the opening donned white lab coats and helped unveil a plaque recognizing the county’s contribution to advancing genomic research at the USF Heart Institute.

While economic development is a critical piece of the Heart Institute’s evolution, Dr. Liggett noted that the ultimate goal of the research is to improve and save lives.

“I’ve been at the bedside of patients with heart disease, asthma, COPD and other diseases,” said Dr. Liggett, a physician with basic science expertise.  “Patents, jobs and spin-off companies will come out of our work here, but in the end we want to help the human condition – and that is what we are going to do.”

 Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

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The Tampa Bay region is well positioned to become an epicenter for empowering innovation in health care with its strong portfolio of assets — including one of the country’s fastest growing universities (USF) with an innovative academic health center (USF Health), the state’s only NCI-designated cancer center, a thriving hospital and healthcare delivery system, and a large cluster of advanced medical device manufacturers.

But it will take commitment, collaboration, creativity, trust and leveraging of resources by all the region’s key healthcare players to connect the dots and realize the region’s full economic development potential.

Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, is one of the area’s influential leaders pushing for disruptive innovation of the healthcare industry in the Tampa Bay region.

That was the consensus of those who spoke May 13 at MediFuture 2023:  Healthcare Disrupted, a seminar presented by the Tampa-Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. and attended by nearly 500 business, community and university leaders.  The MediFuture goal was the brainchild of Rick Homans, CEO of the EDC;  Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, and others who want the region to aim high in creating a patient-centered healthcare system where innovative thinking is the norm.

Dr. Klasko participated in one of event’s two panel discussions titled “Researching and Developing the Technologies of Tomorrow.” He was joined by William Dalton, MD, PhD, founder and CEO of M2Gen, and Dr. Leonard Polizzotto, vice president of Draper Laboratory.

The number of innovative products on the market today is about a third the level in the 1970s and entrepreneurs find it increasingly difficult to line up investors for start-up ventures, even though “our economy is awash in capital,” said keynote speaker Clayton Christensen, best-selling author and business professor at Harvard University. Christensen coined the term “disruptive innovation,” which he also calls “empowering innovation.”

Keynote speaker Clayton Christensen, a Harvard business professor, coined the term “disruptive innovation.”

Disruptive innovation, often driven by new technology, transforms complex products  and services into something that is affordable and accessible – and in the process creates jobs.

It is not the same as efficient innovation, which typically eliminates jobs while freeing up capital, or sustaining innovation that keeps improving the same product, possibly replacing jobs without the guarantee of creating additional ones.

An example of disruptive innovation in health care is the development of technology for kidney dialysis. That life-sustaining blood cleansing process has moved from hospitals to outpatient facilities, and the next stage of mobile technology now under development, Christensen said, will enable dialysis to be done safely at home, less expensively and with better outcomes for patients.

“It’s important to keep investing in sustaining innovation in our existing facilities, but what really creates opportunities is when we use the resources we have to enable lower-cost venues of care and lower-cost caregivers to do ever-more sophisticated things,” Christensen said. “You’ll be shipping those products around the world because people always use more when it becomes affordable and accessible.”

L to r: USF Health’s Dr. Klasko joined Dr. William Dalton of M2Gen and Dr. Leonard Polizzotto of Draper Laboratory in a panel discussion moderated by Alexis Muellner, managing editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Panel moderator Alexis Muellner, managing editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal, asked Dr. Klasko and his fellow panelists to look 10 years into the future and trace what steps Tampa Bay leaders must take to make the opportunity for healthcare transformation a reality by 2023.Anchored downtown by USF Health CAMLS, Dr. Klasko said he envisions the area as a “mini-Silicon Valley” nationally known for its innovative information technology, biomedical engineering and common-sense solutions to health care.

“We will have developed the critical mass, learned from each other, invested in each other and behaved like a thriving cluster on the verge of a chain reaction,” he said. “The ability to create a one-stop shop for personalized medicine, medical tourism, leading simulation education, and clinical research turned out to be a major draw for companies.”

Dr. Klasko responds to the moderator’s question as Dr. Dalton, right, looks on.

He drew laughs and applause when he concluded:  “By 2023, it would be so obvious that the Tampa Bay area was the epicenter of innovative health care that the state legislature calls USF the ‘first really, really preeminent university in the state.”

Dr. Klasko and Dr. Dalton agreed that the region must break down any silos and move boldly, not incrementally, to become the center of change. It will take collective will and hard work to marshal the resources and creative partnerships needed.  Otherwise, Dr. Klasko said, those opportunities may be taken over by other organizations outside the state or country.

“As a community we’re going to have to decide whether we are truly going to be disruptive, which requires more capital and takes longer to realize the investment,” Dr. Dalton said.  “Tampa Bay can lead by demonstrating that we can create strategic partnerships, recognize who brings what to the table, and build the ecosystem to meet the needs of all the stakeholders in the healthcare system, including patients and clinicians.

Rick Homans, CEO of the Tampa-Hillsborough Economic Development Corp., which hosted MediFuture 2023. USF was a sponsor of the inaugural event.

A MediFuture 2023 group will reconvene June 26 at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation to begin creating the roadmap to achieve disruptive innovation in the region’s healthcare industry.

“There will be a lot of new products and services invented, developed and deployed to make this change happen, and there’s no reason why that can’t be done right here to create jobs in Tampa Bay,” Homans said.

Video by Allyn DiVito, USF Health Information Systems, and photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

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THE VILLAGES, FL (March 11, 2013) – Construction began Monday morning on the new USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages, setting the stage for a new era and range of health care available for residents in “America’s Healthiest Hometown.”

Once the center opens in October, residents of The Villages, the nation’s largest community of people over 55, will be able to receive high-level care from faculty physicians who operate at the forefront of medical knowledge. USF Health doctors who represent several specialties will be providing care at the 25,000 square foot facility.

The center is designed as a collaborative complement to The Villages Health primary care network, which is now expanding and will soon operate seven different offices in The Villages for residents to choose from, allowing them to receive the best health care without leaving their neighborhood.

USF President Judy Genshaft visited the center for groundbreaking ceremonies Monday morning, along with Trustees Hal Mullis and Debbie Sembler.

“Today marks a great step on our journey to creating a whole new model of health care here in ‘America’s Healthiest Hometown,’ The Villages,” said President Genshaft.

The unique partnership provides a model for comprehensive care that is truly centered around the patient, said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

“Working together, we will be able to provide better health for The Villagers over the entire spectrum of care,” Dr. Klasko said. “Villagers will have a medical home with a patient-centered primary network, access to the best academic specialists, and technology services that include shared electronic records and telehealth opportunities. The mission of USF Health is “making life better” and this partnership will be an embodiment of that mission.”

The partnership between The Villages and USF Health is a great model for how academic medicine can improve health, said Elliot Sussman, MD, MBA, chair of The Villages Health.

Monday’s groundbreaking: Dr. Steve Klasko, USF President Judy Genshaft, Dr. Elliot Sussman, Trustee Debbie Sembler, Trustee Hal Mullis

“We are delighted to have our great primary care doctors working with the specialty physicians of USF Health,” Dr. Sussman said. “This partnership will give Villagers access to seamless care that starts with having a Villages Health doctor who knows them and their medical history and can provide top-notch regular care. When they need a specialist, that doctor can connect them to a network of specialists offering the most cutting-edge treatments right here in The Villages.”

Work on the Specialty Care Center project began after USF’s College of Public Health conducted a record-setting survey of the Villagers, asking about their health needs and goals. More than 37,000 Villagers responded, making this the largest such survey of an aging population.

“We found what was working and what wasn’t and what you need to be at your best and healthiest,” Dr. Klasko told the crowd Monday morning.

The survey, which won the Erickson Award for Excellence in Research, will yield national recommendations for healthy aging. It is already being used in planning the Specialty Care Center. Villagers surveyed showed a high level of interest in a model that provides coordinated care and gives them a medical home.

“We’re bringing back the days of Marcus Welby, when physicians work together with one goal — making you healthier,” Dr. Klasko said.

After Monday’s groundbreaking, President Genshaft, the Trustees, and Dr. Klasko joined Dr. Sussman, Dr. Joseph Hildner, chief medical officer of The Villages Health on a tour of the new primary care center run by The Villages Health.

The center features rocking chairs out front, “visit rooms” instead of exam rooms and special space dedicated to patient education. Everything is designed with patients in mind, Dr. Hildner said.

Dr. Sussman and Dr. Hildner talk about their vision for primary care with patients at the center.

“It’s a welcoming, friendly place to go to,” he said. “It’s not the usual experience of going to your doctor…and you’re never more than a 10-minute golf cart ride away.”

Dr. Jeff Lowenkron, CEO of the USF Physicians Group, talks about the new USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages.

The patient experience is designed to do more than be more pleasant. By engaging patients to take charge of their health, allowing doctors to spend more time with each patient, and setting up a coordinated network, Dr. Hildner believes Villagers will lead healthier lives, with fewer crisis events, such as heart attacks.

“We’re excited about working with USF and being able to do outcomes research to prove that,” he said.

–– Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
— Video by Allyn DiVito, USF Health Information Systems

USF Health CEO Stephen Klasko, MD, with Elaine Thompson, PhD, president and CEO of Lakeland Regional Health Systems, Inc.

March 1, 2013 (Lakeland, FL)  — Upon the  recommendation of Elaine Thompson, PhD, president and CEO of Lakeland Regional Health Systems, Inc. , the Lakeland Regional Medical Center/LRHS Board of Directors announced  today that Lakeland Regional continues to move ahead with its goal of becoming a teaching hospital by developing an academic affiliation agreement with USF Health.

“We continue to talk with Lakeland Regional Medical Center about the direction and composition that our proposed health model system might take, and I am very pleased with the way in which our relationship continues to develop,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. 

“CEO Elaine Thompson, PhD, and President Mack Reavis, MD, have  demonstrated a deep interest in academic rigor and excellence. They are strong advocates for the promise of academic medicine, and we greatly appreciate their clear vision for how Lakeland Regional can help the community’s health by becoming a teaching hospital.”

Read more …

Jim  Burkhart becomes Tampa General Hospital’s new CEO on Monday, March 4, marking a new era  in USF Health’s longstanding partnership with its major teaching hospital.

Burkhart joins Tampa General  from Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, a private, not-for-profit teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Florida.  He was president and chief executive officer at Shands Jacksonville since 2010, after serving as president and adminstrator there since 2003. 

Jim Burkhart

“We welcome Mr. Burkhart to the Tampa Bay region, and we look forward to working with him,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, CEO of USF Health  and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, who served on the search committee for Tampa General’s new CEO.

Under Burkhart’s leadership, the operations and financial position of Shands Jacksonville was successfully repositioned.  He also built collaborative relationships and alliances with both academic faculty and community-based physicians that significantly affected the recruitment of key additions to the medical staff and faculty.

“I believe Jim is the best choice to lead Tampa General into the future.  He has demonstrated strong leadership at a fully integrated academic medical center, and will be a great partner for USF Health at our primary teaching hospital,” Dr. Klasko said. “Once Jim has settled in, we will explore new ways in which USF Health and Tampa General can work together for the benefit of our patients and families.  We believe we can strengthen an already close relationship, and that our futures are aligned.”

The collaboration will help meet a state-identified need for more physical therapists

Tampa, FL  (Jan. 23, 2013)  – The University of South Florida (USF) and the University of West Florida (UWF) will be able to move forward to create a pilot program offering a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree in Pensacola.  The partnership program was approved last week by the Florida Board of Governors, which serves as a key step in advancing its implementation.

The Board’s approval follows the Florida Legislature’s appropriation last year of $1 million to help fund the USF-UWF Doctor of Physical Therapy education partnership program.

The collaborative program will expand access to UWF students interested in pursuing a DPT and help meet a state-identified need for more physical therapists in a largely rural region of the state.

“This is an exciting educational partnership for health care in Florida,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.  “We are grateful that state lawmakers, the Florida Board of Governors, UWF President Judy Bense, and USF President Judy Genshaft have all recognized the critical need for more physical therapists to meet the future healthcare needs of Floridians.”

If other requirements by accreditation organizations are met as expected, students will begin applying for the program in July 2013 and start their studies in summer 2014.

The partnership will allow the USF Health School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences to expand enrollment in its nationally-ranked, three-year DPT degree program by as many as 12 additional students a year.  The newly created slots will be competitively available to UWF graduates who meet USF’s DPT admissions requirements.  When fully implemented, up to 36 qualified UWF graduates could be enrolled in the program.

Students would spend their first year of physical therapy studies at the USF Health campus in Tampa. The final two years of the three-year program would be spent in classrooms at UWF’s Pensacola campus and clinical internships conducted at hospitals and outpatient sites across the state’s Panhandle.

William S. Quillen, DPT, PhD, leads the nationally-ranked USF Health School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences.

“Together USF, with our cutting-edge physical therapy education program emphasizing inter-professional collaboration, and UWF, which provides impressive pre-professional health sciences education, will help meet this rapidly growing demand for physical therapy services.” said William S. Quillen, DPT, PhD, director of the USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and associate dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“This partnership will provide a valuable opportunity for UWF students to participate in USF’s nationally recognized Doctor of Physical Therapy program,” said Martha Saunders, PhD, UWF Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. “Partnerships like this are important because they maximize the state’s resources, build on successful programming and provide needed support to our community. We appreciate the support of both institutions’ Board of Trustees as well as the Florida Board of Governors, and I am looking forward to more collaborations in the future.”

The University of West Florida in Pensacola serves a largely rural region of the state in need of more physical therapists.

The Board of Governors conducted a statewide analysis regarding the physical therapist workforce demand. Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO) data and online tools indicate that the Pensacola area is a remote pocket of high-demand in the state for physical therapists, with more than 160 openings advertised in Fall 2012.

Florida public and independent universities awarded an estimated 392 professional DPT degrees during 2011-2012. The FDEO projected workforce demand for physical therapists is 492 annually to the year 2020.

“Northwest Florida is home to healthcare organizations, such as Andrews Institute, that are known throughout the United States for their quality physical therapy programs,” said George Stewart, PhD, Director of the UWF School of Allied Health and Life Sciences. “This program will produce qualified professionals who are prepared to enter this competitive workforce. The regional healthcare community has been extremely supportive of this endeavor, and we will use their expertise and facilities for internships, clinical rounds and more. We look forward to meeting their need for trained physical therapists.”

-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.

                    – University of West Florida-

With campuses in Pensacola and along the Emerald Coast, the University of West Florida serves a student population of more than 12,500. UWF’s mission is to provide students with access to high-quality, relevant and affordable undergraduate and graduate learning experiences; to transmit, apply and discover knowledge through teaching, scholarship, research and public service; and to engage in community partnerships that respond to mutual concerns and opportunities and that advance the economy and quality of life in the region. It was named one of “America’s Top Colleges” by Forbes Magazine in 2011 and 2012. Small class sizes and personalized attention from dedicated faculty are what make UWF “different by design.” 

Media Contacts:
Megan Prawdzik, University of West Florida
(850) 474-2658, or mprawdzik@uwf.edu

Anne DeLotto Baier, University of South Florida (USF Health)
(813) 974-3303, or abaier@health.usf.edu

Several clinical trials starting at USF Health’s new Heart Institute this year will offer gene and stem cell therapy approaches to healing damaged hearts

Over the past 18 months, David Skand has been hospitalized four times, twice in intensive care. In June, the 70-year-old Tampa Bay Downs racetrack veterinarian found himself in the hospital once again. This time was different, though. This time he was filled with hope.

Skand is the first of 10 USF Health patients enrolled in a clinical trial for a genetically-engineered drug designed to treat chronic heart failure. The drug, developed in Shanghai, China, signals a patient’s own cells to remodel the heart.

Senior research nurse Bonnie Kirby speaks with trial participant David Skand and USF Health Heart Institute Director Dr. Leslie Miller.

It is the first of several trials getting under way at USF Health’s new Heart Institute. The institute, which was recently awarded $8.9 million in state and county funding, is focused on regenerative medicine using the latest in gene and stem cell therapy, as well as genomics-based personalized medicine.

“This is a significant change in thinking and goals,” says USF Health Cardiovascular Sciences Chair Dr. Leslie Miller, a renowned cardiologist and leading international specialist in heart failure and transplantation who leads the institute. “We are not just helping improve heart function, we are driving the heart’s native repair mechanisms.”USF is one of 10 sites for the randomized, double-blind study—the first test of the drug in the United States. For some patients, the drug, called Neucardin, could mean the difference between a heart transplant and a simple drug infusion.

Of the 120 patients who will eventually be enrolled in the study, 80 will receive the active form of the drug, while 40 will receive a placebo.

Dr. Leslie Miller says it is important for patients, like David Skand, to hear from him, as well as the research coordinator, about the risks and benefits of a trial.

“It’s thrilling,” says Skand, who was diagnosed with chronic heart failure in 1993. “I think this is going to help a lot of people in this country.”

He’s not worried about the possibility of receiving the placebo. “I have a 66 percent chance of getting it,” he says with confidence. “But the point is, you are still getting evaluated by the top doctors and the top nurses and undergoing really tremendous diagnostic procedures every day.”

For eight hours a day over 10 days in late June, Skand received either the drug or placebo through a small subcutaneous cathether. Studies to date show minimal side effects from the drug, occasionally a little nausea. Doctors continue  to follow Skand closely since he left the hospital after the extended infusion, particularly in the first six months when the greatest change in heart function would likely occur.

“The best would be an improvement in my ejection fraction,” Skand says, referring to the amount of blood his heart pumps out with every beat. “That would make a big difference for me. I’d be less tired; I could do more things, like walking and climbing stairs. And it would help my mental outlook a great deal.”

A radiologist at the institute reads a CT scan of the heart.

The Neucardin trial is the first of five planned trials—three gene therapy trials and two stem cell trials—at the institute this year. The trials are focused on preventing and reversing disease processes. There’s also a major study in partnership with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) to identify genes that are markers of atherosclerosis and other forms of coronary artery disease.

The need for new diagnostic tools, such as the use of genomic markers to detect and predict disease, and new therapies, such as stem cell and gene therapy, is indisputable. In Florida alone, cardiovascular disease accounts for 40 percent of all hospitalization and deaths. Estimates put the state’s costs for cardiovascular care at $17 billion by 2020.

But the problem isn’t isolated to Florida. According to Miller, cardiovascular disease is the biggest health risk in the world.

“The data is unequivocal. One in four people in the U.S. have cardiovascular disease. By 2020, it will be one in three,” he says. “The new Heart Institute is a critical step toward saving lives by finding new diagnostic tools that will allow earlier detection and better prevention, as well as new and improved therapies to improve outcomes.”

Patients enrolled in the Neurocardin trial are closely monitored after leaving the hospital, particularly in the first six months.

The ACC selected the Heart Institute as its partner for the first-ever trial linking genomic screening with its clinical database of patients.

“The ACC has millions of patients enrolled in registries and all the data for every type of cardiovascular disease,” Miller says. That data could help researchers identify individuals at risk for disease, allowing doctors to intervene long before a heart attack.

It could even help identify, early-on, children who may be at risk for developing the same heart condition as their parents.

“We want to do some out-of-the-box thinking about interventional treatments,” Miller says. “We might be able to introduce a statin at an early age to retard the development of atherosclerosis.”

Genetic markers have already been used in other fields to predict the likelihood of disease and introduce interventional treatments.

Cancer researchers, for example, have found that a significant percentage of women with breast cancer carry the genetic marker BR2a. The correlation is so strong, Miller says, that an increasing number of women who carry the gene are choosing to undergo a double mastectomy to prevent or reduce their risk for the disease.

Along with understanding risk, genetic discoveries could help doctors identify which treatments are most effective for individual patients as well as provide insight on appropriate dosing.

The gene and stem cell therapy trials offered by the institute will focus on preventing and reversing cardiovascular disease processes.

It’s the future of cardiovascular care and it places USF at the center of some of the most advanced research in the world, which is attracting leading scientists.

In March, Dr. Jennifer Hall, a nationally prominent cardiovascular genomics researcher joined the institute in March.  Her work in translational genomics—using a patient’s own genetic code to guide medical care—will be key to the ACC study.

But, USF Health’s focus on personalized medicine isn’t limited to heart disease. In June, Dr. Stephen Liggett, a nationally prominent researcher in genomics-based personalized medicine,  joined USF Health as associate vice president of personalized medicine and director of the Center for Personalized Medicine and Genomics.  Liggett’s initial collaborations will include Miller’s work at the Heart Institute.

“This field is moving so rapidly,” says Miller, calling this the most exciting time of his career. “A tube of blood allows us to have your whole DNA analyzed—a huge array of data to put in usable form for doctors to take care of patients.”

Skand, a racetrack veterinarian, says the new drug could make a big difference, enabling him to do more things and improving his outlook on life.

It’s the kind of research that could revolutionize healthcare, according to Dr. Stephen K. Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

“We believe that the technology developed here will herald a new day and that USF Health will be able to partner with the best industry and academic partners throughout the world to develop these new personalized and genetic approaches to health.”

Postscript:   Dr. Skand notes he has felt much better in the initial months following the drug infusion, but neither he nor the healthcare practitioners involved in the blinded clinical trial will know whether he received active drug for likely a year.

Story by Ann Carney/Reprinted from USF Magazine,  Fall 2012
Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications