| October 14, 2004 |
Building health care teams of the future |
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Medical educators from around the world meeting at an international conference in Scotland heard how USF faculty are collaborating across disciplines to teach medical and nursing students. Paul Wallach, MD; (right) associate dean for Curriculum and Medical Education (OCME), presented USF's own innovative exercise that promotes the interaction of USF medical and nursing students while testing their basic physical examination skills. The project, which is earning USF a strong reputation for building health care teams of the future, is spearheaded by Dr. Wallach, Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH, (left) assistant professor in OCME and Family Medicine, and Judith Karshmer, PhD, (center) associate dean of nursing. |
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Beginning in 2003, first-year USF medical and nursing students served as standardized patients for second-year medical and second semester nurse practitioner students undergoing their Observed Structured Clinical Exams. Fourth-year medical students and senior nurse practitioner students were trained to assess the students' clinical performance. An evaluation of the intercollegiate OSCE indicated this pilot project improved collaboration and strengthened the physical exam skills of all participants. Photo by Eric Younghans. Return to top | |
Department of Defense awards USF College of Nursing disaster management training funds |
A new $434,000 U.S. Department of Defense contract to the USF College of Nursing will help prepare the Tampa Bay region's nurses and other health professionals to most effectively respond to potential bioterrorist attacks or other mass casualties. "We have a shortage of nurses and other professionals trained to handle civilian or military disasters," said Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN, dean of the College of Nursing and principal investigator for the project. "The USF College of Nursing is uniquely positioned to provide quality bioterrorism education that integrates the interests of the community." The one-year contract will allow the College to work with hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and home health agencies to create an interdisciplinary disaster and trauma management program with an emphasis on bioterrorism education. The College will evaluate the specific training needs of these community health partners before developing the program. Congressman C.W. Bill Young, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, helped USF obtain the disaster preparedness funding. Tampa's proximity to MacDill Air Force Base, Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant and a Superfund site in Tarpon Springs makes the need for coordinated trauma and disaster preparation in West Central Florida even more pressing, Dr. Burns said. "Many health care facilities in the community are developing or have already started bioterrorism education programs," she said. "We will work closely with our clinical partners to identify gaps and overlaps in training, address unmet needs and strengthen links in the existing network." The first classroom course will be offered in spring 2005 as an elective for USF nursing students and as continuing education for health care personnel from the community. Future courses may be offered in other formats, including distance learning. The college's learning resource center houses state-of-the-art equipment that will help instructors provide hands-on training in simulations of disasters. For example, robotic patients, programmed with life-and-death scenarios in real time, can be used to practice skills such as safe administration of medications and immunizations, wound care and ventilation techniques. The goal is to provide participants with the assessment, technical and communication skills critical for managing mass casualty events that could otherwise quickly overwhelm local health care and emergency preparedness systems, Dr. Burns said. Return to top |
New research park will link scientists and entrepreneurs |
USF's initiative to boost biotechnology research and business partnerships is a good fit with Dr. Stephen Klasko's advocacy of an entrepreneurial academic model for the Health Sciences Center. "Faculty should be looking at innovative and collaborative opportunities in two research buildings that will open very soon," said Dr. Klasko, dean of the USF College of Medicine and vice president for Health Sciences.  Early in 2005, the USF Research Park will open two new buildings – the first phase of the university's plan to develop an 87-acre research park into a hub for biotechnology and life sciences research as well as entrepreneurship. The $45 million project will add more than 230,000 square feet for laboratories and offices for research faculty and corporate partners and house the Center for Biological Defense and an expanded business incubator. "Previously there has not been a mechanism that systematically links USF researchers to businesses in need of research partners," said Rod Casto, PhD, associate vice president for research and economic development. "USF's research park will provide that partnership." "The new research park will provide the tools and infrastructure needed to launch new technologies such as new drug delivery systems or medical screening tests," said neuroscientist Paul R. Sanberg, PhD, DSc, associate vice president for biotechnology development at HSC. "It's an incredible opportunity for Health Sciences Center faculty interested in taking research that has the potential for commercialization from the laboratory to the clinic." The first of the two buildings under construction is a 130,000-square foot, four-story Interdisciplinary Research Building (IDRB) set to open in April 2005. The facility is dedicated to grant-funded research in new and emerging technologies in the life sciences and bioengineering. Laboratories initially housed here are expected to include research in robotics, bioengineering, tissue culture and cell repair, drug delivery and gene therapy. USF researchers, recommended by a scientific advisory board, will occupy the IDRB based on industry trends and funding sources. "It is intended to attract and complement interdisciplinary faculty teams working on state-of-the-art research that may eventually be applied in the marketplace," Dr. Casto said. The second building is a 100,000-square foot, three-story Business Partnership Building scheduled for completion in January 2005. The facility will include university and community-based start-up companies, including some that relocate from the existing incubator in University Technology Center II (see story on page 2 for HSC faculty startups) as well as small to mid-size corporate tenants. These companies will benefit from easy access to top USF researchers, graduate students and entrepreneurial support services such as help with business plans, market research and raising capital. The IDRB and Business Partnership Building will be connected by an atrium that promotes interaction between USF researchers and entrepreneurs. The following are some major components of the new complex: • Center for Biological Defense — USF researchers in the biodefense center, directed by public health professor Jacqueline Cattani, PhD, are developing faster, more effective technologies for detecting bioterrorist agents that could threaten the nation's food or water supply, ports and transportation networks, and other vital elements of the U.S. economy. The Center's labs will occupy the top floor of the IDRB. • Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue – Also scheduled to move to the IDRB is the rescue robot response team of engineering and computer science professor Robin Murphy, PhD, the only unit of its kind in the country. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Murphy used her robots and expertise to search for bodies and survivors at ground zero. Recently some robots were outfitted with noninvasive, inexpensive medical sensors. The Global Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Action at the College of Public Health has collaborated with Dr. Murphy's group. • Core Laboratories – Planned for the IDRB, core laboratories would offer USF researchers and community businesses, on a fee basis, access to highly specialized equipment operated by trained technicians. Such equipment, used for tasks like high-resolution imaging, protein analysis, tissue culture and nuclear magnetic resonance, is often too expensive for individual researchers and small biotech businesses to purchase and maintain. • Shared Laboratory Facility – Open, unassigned laboratory space in the Business Partnership Building will be available for incubator companies to conduct basic experiments. From the shared laboratory arrangement, growing companies can rent individual laboratories for more specialized product development and testing. • USF Connect — This umbrella program ties together under one roof the economic development resources offered to entrepreneurs and businesses by the region's prominent, industry-specific organizations. USF Connect works through the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator, Center for Entrepreneurship, USF Small Business Development Center, Florida Medical Manufacturers Consortium and the Florida High Tech Corridor. Return to top |
HSC faculty turn science into business at USF incubator |
| Three high-tech companies started by HSC faculty will be among the more than dozen tenants to move into USF's expanded business incubator when the new building opens next year. The following HSC-affiliated startups currently operate out of University Technology Center II while awaiting completion of the Business Partnership Building in USF's Research Park. Other faculty will move from USF space. For example, Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, is moving a major research team into the Research Park. Medegy — James Studnicki, ScD, MPH, MBA, a professor of public health who conducts health outcomes research, is president and one of three founders of this health care information management company. Medegy collects, mines, warehouses and disseminates data for clinical and community health applications. The company was one of the first start-ups to move into the university's business incubator, known as the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator (TBTI), in 2002. Dr. Studnicki said the company's steady stream of revenue has been pumped back into research and development of software and information systems, and its technology is licensed from the university. In addition, faculty start-up companies like Medegy provide research and employment opportunities for USF graduate students. "It's a win-win situation," Dr. Studnicki said. "The incubator creates a very enriching environment that taps into the university's many resources and also provides students with real world experience directly related to learning and research at the university." Saneron CCEL Therapeutics — Neuroscientist Paul R. Sanberg, PhD, DSc, and anatomist Don Cameron, PhD, are co-founders of this company. Saneron focuses on developing Sertoli cells and umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells for treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury and stroke, and more recently cardiovascular disease. Saneron has collaborated with faculty from the USF Center for Excellence in Aging and Brain Repair on six small business technology transfer and innovation research grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as several Florida Hi-Tech Corridor grants. The biotech company also has research and development collaborations based on USF technologies with the University of Minnesota, Medical College of Georgia, the University of Miami, and the University of Connecticut. TransGenex Nanobiotech — Molecular biologist Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, is a founder and scientific advisor to this fledgling company that develops very tiny particles (nanoparticles) to precisely deliver drugs or genes within the body for treatment of cancer, asthma and respiratory infections. Dr. Mohapatra, who received an executive MBA from USF in 1999, directs Basic Research at the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Joy McCann Culverhouse Airway Disease Center. Since moving into the incubator in April, TranGenex has hired more employees and advanced its pre-clincial research, Dr. Mohapatra said. "The collaboration between university, faculty and the start-up company is much more feasible and likely to be successful when all are in close proximity." The TBTI will increase its size 12-fold, from 5,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet, as part of the new Business Partnership Building. A partnership among the university, the community and business leadership, the incubator is supported financially by the USF Research Foundation, Hillsborough County, the City of Tampa, and the Florida High-Tech Corridor. Return to top |
Stem cells given intravenously reduce stroke damage |
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Stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood, then given intravenously along with a drug known to temporarily breach the brain's protective barrier, can dramatically reduce stroke size and damage, Medical College of Georgia and USF researchers found. Their work was published in the October issue of the American Heart Association journal, Stroke. |
In the News |
| News that the USF College of Nursing earned a $434,000 federal defense award to help train health care professionals to prepare for a disaster was cited in the Sept. 28 Tampa Bay Business Journal, the Sept. 30 Tampa Tribune and the Oct. 1 Medical News Today. H. James Brownlee, MD, chair of Family Medicine, commented in the Sept. 8 St. Petersburg Times on a study looking at fitness versus fatness as a predictor of heart disease and diabetes. Joel Strom, MD, director of Cardiovascular Disease, was quoted in a Sept. 8 Tampa Tribune story following former President Clinton's open-heart surgery. Dr. Strom noted that the idea that heart disease progresses slowly is a common misconception. The finding by virologist Peter Medveczky, MD, that THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, might inhibit cancer-causing herpes viruses, was covered worldwide, including in the Sept. 15 BBC News, webindia123.com, The Times of London, Science Daily, and the Rocky Mountain News. USF Psychiatrist Humberto Nagera, MD, commented in the Sept. 15 St. Petersburg Times on the FDA's recommendation that a label be put on antidepressants warning of their higher risk for children and teens. Dr. Nagera cautioned that the risk of suicide is much greater if depression goes untreated. USF dermatologist Neil Fenske, MD, discussed treatment for toenail fungal infections Sept. 16 on WTSP Ch. 10's Life Around the Bay. Dr. Fenske also commented on the growing number of physicians performing cosmetic surgery to boost their income for a cover story in the Sept. 13 Tampa Tribune. Gynecologic oncologist Shaheen Tedjarati, MD, assistant professor of interdisciplinary oncology, was interviewed for a Sept. 27 St. Petersburg Times article on the search for a reliable screening test for deadly ovarian cancers. Neuroscientist Paul Sanberg, PhD, DSc, received worldwide coverage of his paper on using injections of umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells to repair stroke damage in rats. The study, a collaboration of Medical College of Georgia and USF, was covered by HealthDay News, Medical News Today, India Times, United Press International, Forbes, Science Blog, the Augusta Chronicle, the Arizona Republic and the Indianapolis Star, among others. Infectious diseases specialist Daniel Haight, MD, who directs the Polk County Health Department, commented in the Sept. 28 New York Times on how the series of hurricanes to hit Florida in the last six weeks has speeded disaster response time by government officials as well as community reaction to public service announcements. Pediatrician and health policy researcher Lisa Simpson, MB, BCH, MPH, recently attended a legislative briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss gaps in research and spending for children's health care. Dr. Simpson's remarks, including that the United States has higher infant death rates and lower immunization rates than many other countries, were picked up by WebMD. In a segment Oct. 1 on WFLA News Ch. 8, geriatric psychiatrist Amanda Smith, MD, of the USF Suncoast Gerontology Center, discussed the center's participation in a new clinical trial looking at the safety and effectiveness of Huperzine A in treating early Alzheimer's disease. The drug, a natural cholinesterase inhibitor, is derived from an herb used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. abaier@hsc.usf.edu Return to top |
Former U.S. Surgeon General to speak at COPH for Hispanic Heritage Month |
| Antonia Novello, MD, New York State Health Commissioner and former U.S. Surgeon General, will speak 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, at the USF College of Public Health Auditorium. Dr. Novello's presentation "Challenges in Public Health in the 21st Century: A Call to Action" is part of USF's celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Her talk is co-hosted by the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine and Nursing and the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute in partnership with the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) and ENLACE. Dr. Novello is the recipient of MOSI's 2004 Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding Hispanic scientists who promote a greater public understanding of science and motivate Hispanic youth's interest in science. A native of Puerto Rico, Dr. Novello, a pediatric nephrologist, was appointed Surgeon General in 1990 following a distinguished public service career at the National Institutes of Health. She was the first woman and first Hispanic to ever hold the position of highest ranking doctor in the U.S. government. Return to top |
Lock it up! Common sense can thwart thieves |
| Recent thefts at HSC have raised awareness for keeping things locked up, said Sgt. Mike Garry, who directs the police office at HSC. "We're an easy target because of larger office buildings," he said. "Access means they can walk through and look for opportunities." Sgt. Garry said that simple steps can be the most effective for keeping thieves out. He suggests closing and locking doors when you leave (even for a few minutes), locking personal items in a lockable draw, and not letting people you don't know have access to someone's office. If you see any suspicious activity, call 911. For more information, call 813-974-2417. Return to top |
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