Vol. 2, Issue 4

Feb. 20, 2006

IOEs - Creative Educational Models

/ COPH One of 12 to Join Kellogg Foundation’s Engaged Institutions Initiative. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has selected the USF College of Public Health as one of 12 schools and graduate programs of public health for the Foundation’s Engaged Institutions Initiative. Member institutions, selected from 26 applicants, will work on eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities in their communities – one of the most pressing social justice issues facing America. The Foundation-sponsored Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) will intensively collaborate for one year with teams from each of the 12 institutions to develop and implement education and research strategies focused on eliminating health disparities. The USF team includes Karen Liller, PhD, Hana Osman,PhD; Julie Baldwin, PhD; Carol Bryant, PhD; David Hogeboom; Barbara Kennedy, MPH; Paul Monaghan, PhD; Kay Perrin, PhD; and Aurora Sanchez-Anguiano; MD, MPH,all of the College of Public Health; David Chiriboga, PhD, FMHI; Leslene Gordon, PhD; Health Department; Peter Gorski, MD, and Darlene Shearer, PhD, Chiles Center; Bill Haley, PhD, School of Aging Studies; Cynthia Selleck, DSN, AHEC; and Leisa Stanely, MPH, Healthy Start.
  • Physical Therapy students Tanya Quinones, Ana Shenko and Koren Purdom, MSPT Class of 2006, were among the USF Health students who conducted screenings of migrant workers Feb. 8 at Tampa Bay Downs. The second-year physical therapy students performed posture evaluations and general musculoskeletal screenings of the workers, who bend and lift extensively in the course of their duties. They also provided information on ergonomics, proper lifting techniques and muscle strengthening exercises.
  • Laura Lee "Dolly" Swisher, PT, PhD, associate professor of Physical Therapy, coordinated with Laurie Woodard, MD, associate professor of Family Medicine; Cindy Selleck, ARNP, DSN, program director of the Area Health Education Center; and LoisLaCivita Nixon, PhD, MAT, MLitt, MPH, professor of Internal Medicine, topresent "Murderball: A Movie and Disability Discussion." Some 120 physical therapy, medical and medical ethics students, faculty and family members attended the film viewing and discussion Feb. 9. On hand for discussion were Joe Soares, a coach with Great Britain's wheelchair rugby team who is quadriplegic and co-stars in the documentary, and Lauren Rosen, PT, MPT, ATP, program coordinator for the Motion Analysis Center at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and an international classifier for wheelchair rugby.Cristina Spiegel, coordinator of education for Family Medicine, and Nissa Bailey, also helped organize the event.

IOEs - Research Really Matters

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USF Surgeon Awarded NCI Funding for Cancer Vaccine Study. Emmanuel Zervos, MD, associate professor of surgery, was awarded $500,000 by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, for a grant entitled “A Phase II Study of Direct Tumor Injection of TNFerade™ Followed By KLH-Pulsed Autologous Dendritic Cells in Patients with Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer.” The clinical trial will evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and immunologic and anti-tumor effects of locally-delivered, activated dendritic cells and a TNF-alpha producing adenoviral vector (TNFerade™, GenVec, Inc.) into pancreatic tumors. Researchers will also explore the relationship between baseline and induced apoptosis, immunologic response, and clinical response to this combined therapy. The study seeks to determine the safety and feasibility of a novel adoptive immunotherapy strategy combined with local apoptosis induction in patients with locally advanced or low-volume metastatic pancreatic cancer. Dr. Zervos will be supported by the immunotherapy expertise of James Mulé, PhD, director of Cell-Based Therapies at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, and his colleagues in the Department of Surgery.

  • John Sleasman, MD, Robert A. Good Professor and Chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, recently received$447,000 in competitive grant renewal funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for a 5-year project titled “HIV-1 Genotype on Therapy Response in Children.”
  • Michael Hoffmann, MD, professor of Neurology, reported on a USF Health/TGH study showing that a fifth of young adults (ages 18 to 49) whose blood vessels ruptured inside their heads abused drugs and 41 percent had malformed blood vessels, known as arteriovenous malformations, aneurysms or other vascular disorders. The findings were reported Feb. 17 at the American Stroke Association’s International Conference 2006in Kissimmee, FL. Ali Malek, MD, was co-author of the study, which was one of nine out of hundreds selected by the ASA to highlight with a news release.
  • Barbara Hansen, PhD, professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, joined Frank Hu, MD, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, and Katherine Flegal, PhD, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a symposium titled “Obesity and Mortality: Controversy, Research and Public Policy” Feb. 17 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Hansen reported on her long-term studies with rhesus monkeys showing that lifetime calorie restraint to prevent obesity is the most powerful way to reduce age-related health problems such as high blood pressure and high triglycerides and to prevent or delay the progression of insulin resistance to diabetes.
  • More than 125 representatives from industry and labor, professional societies, academia and public health officials attended the Feb. 13 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Town Hall Meeting hosted by the USF College of Public Healthat the USF Marshall Center. USF’s town hall meeting was one of 13 scheduled at universities across the country to help influence national research on workplace health and safety. Panel members greeting the attendees included Rony Francois, MD, PhD, Florida Secretary of Health and a COPH alumnus and former faculty member; Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the College of Public Health; and Stuart Brooks, MD, director of the college’s NIOSH-funded Sunshine Education and Research Center (ERC); which conducts and disseminates research related to worker illness and injury particularly relevant to Florida. NIOSH officials at the meeting took the day’s public comment back to Washington to help design the National Occupational Research Agenda, or NORA.
  • John Sandy, PhD, Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics; Anna Plaas, PhD, Internal Medicine/Rheumatology; and Michael Vanauker, PhD, Chemical Engineering, were awarded a $200,000 interdisciplinary research grant from the National Arthritis Foundation to develop an innovative nanoparticle approach to treat joint injury and inflammation.
  • Mary Evans, PhD, professor of Nursing, presented “Beyond Grant Writing to Successful Funding”at the 3rd Annual Florida Magnet Nursing Research Conference: Nursing Research at the Point of Care, Feb. 9-10, at the TampaConvention Center.
  • Cecilia Jevitt, PhD, assistant professor of Nursing, presented "Integrating Obesity into Prenatal Care." at the Southern Nursing Research Society 20th conference, Feb 2-4, in Memphis, TN.
  • Several faculty from the School of Physical Therapy participated in the American Physical Therapy Association's Combined Sections Meeting, Feb. 1-5, in San Diego.Murray Maitland, PT, PhD, assistant professor of Physical Therapy, conducted the seminar "How Do You Know Your Treatment Works? A Call for the Evolution of Professional Concepts About Evidence." Laura Lee "Dolly" Swisher, PT, PhD, associate professor of Physical Therapy, helped direct “Ethical Decision Making in Geriatric Residency: Clinical and Academic Environments.”Kathleen Rockefeller, PT, ScD, assistant professor of Physical Therapy, attended the conference as vice president of the Occupational Health Special Interest Group, and will oversee an effort establish a formal "alliance" with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
  • Sanjay Athavale, a third-year medical student, has been awarded a 2006 Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship from the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha. The highly-competitivefellowship comes with a $4000 stipend to support the student’s research project.

IOEs - Entrepreneurial Academic Practice

  • USF Health Developing High-TechCenter for Medical Learning. USF Health and the USF Research Foundation, in collaboration with Medical Conference Centers, LLC, is developing a $60 to $70-million high-technology advanced medical learning and simulation center with an attached hotel to support USF’s programs for lifelong learning. The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation will be located in the USF Research Park of Tampa Bay on the Tampa campus and will include a research and training center and a hotel. The center includes four core components: surgical skills laboratory, virtual hospital/simulation center, concept development laboratory, and a center for research in healthcare education. Bringing all four components under one roof is unique and expected to draw an international group of health care professionals to the center, said Deborah Sutherland, PhD, associate dean for continuing professional education at USF Health. Dr. Sutherland worked with Alexander Rosemurgy, MD, director of General Surgery, on the concept for two years. The learning center will give USF Health an excellent opportunity for national prominence, said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, vice president for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine.

IOEs - People Excellence

/ Joe Jackson Named Executive Director of USF Physicians Group. (Headshot of Joe here)Joseph M. Jacksonhas been named of Executive Director of the USF Physicians Group (USFPG). Jackson has served in this role in an interimcapacity since June 2005.During challenges, major decisions, and opportunitiesfacing the practice plan overthe last sevenmonths, Jacksonhas demonstrated his experience, knowledge and commitment to lead the practice plan into the future. He has been withUSFPG for 11 years and made many contributions in the areas of managed care contracting, managed care negotiations/renegotiations, credentialing, and business development.Jackson worked with the USFPG Managed Care Committee to negotiate significant improvements in the group's reimbursement rates; he has provided important support to the business planning for the Center for Advanced Health Care; and the USFPG provider credentialing function has been recognized with NCQA certification through four consecutive review cycles.
  • The On-Site Accreditation Review of the proposed Nurse Anesthesia Programresulted in a stellar report for the USF College of Nursing. The College was rated in compliance with every standard of evaluation; several comments of excellence were noted specifically. Representatives from the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programsapplauded Dean of Nursing Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN, and projected full accreditation of the Nurse Anesthesia Program by July 2006.
  • Javier Cuevas, PhD, and Keith Pennypacker, PhD, both associate professors in Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics, were chosen by the Association of University Technology Managers to represent USF at the AUTM meeting March 4 in Disneyworld, Orlando. They will present a technology called a “Novel Therapeutic Approach for Stroke Treatment.”
  • The USF 3rd Annual Medical School Forum was held Jan. 28 at the College of Medicine. The forum was hosted by USF Premed-AMSA in conjunction with the MD Program Admissions Office and Vice Dean for Educational Affairs Paul Wallach, MD. Nearly 225 pre-med students from USF, UCF, UNF, FIU, Eckerd, University of Tampa, Florida Southern, HCC, and many other schools spent the day with state medical school students and admissions representatives from six medical programs. Each had an opportunity to hear keynote speaker Dr. Joe Lezama, explore the USF Health campus, and tour the new Center for Advanced Clinical Learningwith director Dawn Schocken, MPH.
  • The Florida Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (FLICHQ) is proud to announce the creation of the FLICHQ Award for Excellence in Children’s Healthcare Quality. FLICHQ is an initiative of USF, with funding support from the All Children’s Hospital Foundation and other partners. This annual award is designed to recognize programs, organizations, and activities in Florida that have demonstrated high-quality health care, or have implemented strategies to improve the quality of health care, for children and adolescents in any one of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) definition of quality. The IOM defines high quality care as care that is safe, effective, timely, patient-centered, efficient and equitable. For a nomination brochure, please contactAmanda Diers Schall, MA, Division of Child Health Outcomes, at 727-553-3668, or