Retired USF professor David Vesely, MD, PhD, has made a $350,000 gift to support the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute expansion in Water Street Tampa.

Dr. Vesely’s support of this building will power an advanced educational environment to better prepare the future doctors of Florida and bring them closer to USF’s primary teaching hospital, Tampa General, and the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation.

“After almost 30 years on the USF medical faculty helping to educate medical students, it is a pleasure to help current and future generations of medical students with state-of-the-art new teaching facilities,” said Dr. Vesely. “USF’s missions of research and education should be enhanced with new research labs in the downtown USF medical building to help eliminate or improve major diseases such as heart disease and cancer.  I hope that having a Heart Institute in the new medical school building will help decrease the number of heart attacks, which took both of my parents’ lives.”

Dr. Vesely had an exceptional career as an academic physician, serving as professor of internal medicine, molecular pharmacology and physiology at the University of South Florida, and chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Medical Center. During his tenure on the USF faculty, he discovered three hormones made by the heart that have had tremendous beneficial effects in the treatment of congestive heart failure, kidney failure and cancer. He authored more than 330 peer-reviewed scientific publications and three books, and received three outstanding teacher awards. He was a frequent speaker at major national and international scientific conferences. Dr. Vesely won a Service to America Medal in Career Achievement for most outstanding research in the last quarter century for the discovery of three hormones which are beneficial for the treatment of congestive heart failure, renal failure and cancer.

USF plans to recognize Dr. Vesely’s generosity by naming the lobby of its auditorium in his honor.

To find out about other naming opportunities at USF in Water Street Tampa, contact Arty Giallourakis at (813) 974-3676.

The USF: Unstoppable Campaign is a comprehensive fundraising effort by the University of South Florida System to celebrate the energy, vision, and future of one of the country’s most exciting and engaged universities. Our people and programs, our ideas, our research, and our solutions comprise an ambitious plan to enhance healthcare, science, technology, education, business, the arts, and global partnerships.