This item has the following downloads:

ThePost_NOV09 ( PDF )

UNIVERSITY of
FLORIDA


I r


B


II I I


PiTy


.... . ... . w
..........












On the Cover
The HSC has received 75 grants totaling
$72 million from the National Institutes
of Health as part of the federal stimulus
package. This month, The POSTtakes a
closer look at how some scientists are
using the one-time-only opportunity to
grow their research and what the funding
means for science and for the community.


Table of Contents
0 POST-it
0 New Hospital: Shands, next generation
0 Patient Care: Tribute to AGH
* Administration: New PHHP dean
) Patient Care: Horses helping people
* Education: CPR training
* Cover Story: Stimulus grants at the HSC
Q (Extra)ordinary Person: Slande Celeste
Research: Veggie science
Q Jacksonville: H1N1 trials
Jacksonville: Breast Health Center
Distinctions
In Memoriam: James Seeger
@ Profile: Carolyn Tucker


- DISCOVERY BY MRI


UI Jnr.thesiologist Mark J.
kR '... M.D., and radiologist
S..i I )eitte, M.D., were
among a learn of researchers who
confirmed the effectiveness of a
longstanding medical procedure
used when anesthesia is
administered to patients. The
procedure, known as Sellick's
maneuver, has come under fire by
critics in recent years, but UF
scientists have used magnetic
resonance imaging to show that it
works and that doubts about its
effectiveness are based on a
misunderstanding of what physical
changes happen in the neck during
the procedure. 0


Uil 1ei


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te iciest news end HSC events


COTET
















CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS
I,,, I'HHPI Heal3 h I,,: ,: .:lert 0 I, 1n:Ihl- Irn 1 e : el, .
A.:11.1.3non3~~~ ~ ~ ~~~~ ja p noiga s.1 .r.nia or and:1 Kap11 a n I t.:ur n llo 1:
IA,, Ii ,rI i I: _:I lon,,,r I o._ I 1., 11 0 (IF 3 e Il, ':-I r. 1 ,11 3,11 ,:I : I 1 1 l ll1 11 1 h l k:':

,lu: ,nci no n 1- ,:ellen, :e 3 I h, [ rl,)1.3 1 1 i tle : h lee ,,ne.,,n.,,ne W it: li l
,-I ,:,h I1: I I ,l ll l n ,ht f hai l lli : IN ,1 1 1),\ ,. : 1:' 1 1013 P l l : I l (11 11 t:1,
A: Ili, n l, I ( I l 3I I (I r (l nIli lu rl: II [I'l 1,.: I 3 : I : ,: I ,- -I
: I nilt: I _n, _F n :I ,l, e 'd Flr Ill,-W ,n I, _
Fl'i ii :l..iI lh:e n le IlI Il I l1. l 1 d 1it HF I j' I' I I Ille ,, Il ,i 1 n :i F 1it
HIt:qe Ih ,n -i I,,. -n 11' 4 VV in, Avte I,, h,
Irt l h lloJuI o lul l -h 1 il1 ,,lelrIa ar 1 13 ,'1* iI I,:I'

I t-gt- t- [1






WE JUST LIKED THIS PICTURE
A goldC I vt rtd D It 1l HEt;ai in mnnEtr huilln g [1 1 im ir uII
m1iI ; d o[ 3 1 ill c ii. Tit Mu gliy M l jr ii [Elt runI A [ir
wil[h br A.it, Alll l ;i lll[ [L 14.t bu OLIl tll0`6 t'dt gltd
rlo l [ni CouLlt oflt-w u, D ry ,[ri L;, DEn[il C lGilt COu nu : I butl0,
[L gr I, iF Hu. ont llii n,1 P r dit, 0: t. 16? D ntil 3 t ud ,,tilL
Jo,;l Ii Ptrry Ilt h1 .lN 1 n I I Ol UId.


WHAT STUDYING DID TO THEIR BRAINS ...
,,, an. I era I 1 1 .a h .:: VVhII. P ,leh li a [ I. hlh ,, )Iic t e l'v r ,lh F_ i ve h t ,:, ,,l Fh,:i lIl.t :l,,n

1Aly_ a I TI w ..: a an.:1, [,l.: l.elle I- liteinl ThvIe Fin,:I n i:Ih nne:l 1.-. ne-v :I h,_h [1.-.
Iliamll n ii l. : It rl i e ll.:ld 3n d3 _: I _, i[t vII : li" 3n,:

I-h_',- I:lea n I I: ve, I h : I l,:II .:3I I t I I it : l -11 :l r, l- l.- e 1 :
i Ih le an o hr 1. a ll stla I, Ifel. T heSah l and s I Itn l te a line et 3 I erVilen iI hinI ol ,,I Iel
i I ~ ~~ler.,] l, o l Iall. ;lie .an:l. shtlele eni I.e.]lar _: ot holill, ,:a .'. ,, ._:1,: r,, 3,:l.eve rl.4 _:Pile
-llo all 1 ,,Ilay ;,:l ,,, '








GET FIT
Starting in January, employees of the Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare
will have another way to stay fit. The Shands Fitness and Wellness Center will open in
the South Campus parking garage, located on Southwest 13th Street. The center will
feature cardio and strength training equipment and will offer personal training and
medical fitness programs. Memberships are available for one-,three- and six-month
periods. Employees' spouses and domestic partners also may purchase memberships.
S. For more information, visit http://shands.org/find/outpatient/rehab/wellnesscenter/
default.asp or call 352-273-7117.


http://news.health.ufl.edu


aii


I

!







NEWHOSPIAL


By Elizabeth Connor


the


generation


On Nov. 1, Shands HealthCare opened the new
500,000-square-foot, $388-million Shands Cancer
Hospital at UF. An extension of the Shands at UF aca-
demic medical center, the new tower features 192 private
beds and also houses the Shands Critical Care Center
for emergency and trauma services. This month, The
POST brings you some tidbits about the new addition.


aill1ei


f the new Shands Cancer Hospital at UF were a
person, it would be a woman. From the undulating
lines of the foyer marketed as "The Sail" by the
building's architects to the soft, secondary colors used
throughout, this building wants to comfort and nurture.

What you've read about the new Shands Cancer Hospital undoubtedly focuses on
what the facility has the 192 private beds, the snazzy glassed-in exterior stairwell,
the Aquilion One 320-detector row CT scanner. But as the hospital propels itself into
the 21st century, it is also defined by what it left behind:
Operating ampitheather. Forget those television vignettes with concerned
physicians looking over a surgery from on high. The 12 operating rooms at the Shands
Cancer Hospital provide unprecedented ability for the clinicians to share and save
almost any clinical event of a typical surgery.
Flat-screen monitors and at least two mobile computer workstations can capture a
real-time overview of the operating room and the surgical field, endoscopic and similar
images, patient vital signs and other clinical data. Up to four images can be captured
and displayed on a single screen simultaneously, allowing physicians to process
disparate information quickly and eliminating the need for separate computers.
A conventional hospital kitchen. For the first several months of operation, the
Shands Food and Nutrition Services team at Shands Cancer Hospital will plate patient
meals with food prepared at the main kitchen on the Shands at UF North Campus.
Starting July 1, patients in the new building will be able to order meals from the
Shands Cancer Hospital's own kitchen as they would from room service at a hotel -
from a broad menu during kitchen hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The kitchen staff will have
real-time electronic access to information showing each patient's dietary needs; they
will even be alerted when a patient fails to order a meal as expected.
The Shands at UF kitchen was designed to enable staff to prepare 1,200 patient
meals per day for 400 patients, allowing them to expand with the growth of the Shands
at UF South Campus. Eventually, Shands plans to build additional towers on the new
campus to serve a total of 1,200 patients.
Franchised restaurants for staff and visitors. The 122-seat Terrace Market Cafe on
the third floor of the Shands Cancer Hospital is run by the same vendor company that
operates the Shands at UF food court. This will offer the food service teams the
flexibility to switch out menu items to reflect the season or customer preferences,
Shands Food Service Director Bill Notte said.
Overhead fluorescent lights. In corridors where patients will be transported across
the hospital, architects have banished glaring overhead lights whenever possible in
favor of softer, indirect lighting. Instead, patients will see art on the ceiling, at least in
the elevators.
Tiny windows. Current technology makes possible the oversized energy-efficient
windows and shades at the Shands Cancer Hospital, but the decision to install them is
driven by a desire to bring as much light into a patient's room as possible, said Brad
Pollitt, Shands HealthCare's vice president for facilities. The shank of the building sits
close to Archer Road, but the windows' coating will reflect heat and light without
blinding nearby drivers and pedestrians.
To ensure that nurses have visual access to each patient, a glassed-in charting area
off the corridor straddles every two rooms.
All of the features of the hospital were designed for the eventual transition of all
patient care in Shands at UF to the South Campus. The North Campus would focus on
teaching and academic activities, Pollitt said. Q


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te iciest news end HSC events I










The nf

EMERGENCY MEDICINE


Dr. Joseph Adrian Tyndall stands in the new emergency department at the
Shands Critical Care Center.

By April Frawley Birdwell
he emergency department at Shands at UF was built to handle about 25,000
patients a year. The problem was about 55,000 people were coming.
"We have a huge catchment, 13 counties. We provide care for a lot of people,"
said Joseph Adrian Tyndall, M.D., chair of the College of Medicine department of
emergency medicine. "We were at 55,000 patient visits a year in essentially the same
square footage. That led to problems of crowding and throughput. We were doing this
while trying to advance teaching and academics in that clinical space."
Before 1984, the hospital's emergency department had been tucked in an even
smaller space near what are now the hospital's loading docks. So, the idea of moving to
a center three times the size with double the number of patient spaces quadruple if
needed wasn't just an ordinary, let's-pack-the-stethoscopes-and-go kind of moment
for the department. Its Nov. 1 move to the Shands Critical Care Center, which houses
emergency and trauma services, was a colossal shift and huge step forward in the
advancement of emergency medicine at UF.
During the past two decades, emergency medicine at UF has evolved from a division
within the department of surgery to a full-fledged department with a residency
program, a Level 1 trauma center and a staff of physicians board-certified in providing
emergency care.
Now, the department has a space where doctors can see 100,000 patients a year. Also,
it's probably the only emergency department in the country with a 320-detector row
CT scanner a powerful imaging device that can help doctors diagnose conditions in
minutes instead of hours or even days just down the hall.
"A lot of communities don't have this kind of advanced care," Tyndall said. "I am
proud of it."
The department began working with management engineers a year and a half ago to
walk them through how patients are seen, information that was used to help design
the space and plan staffing.
Because the new emergency department is bigger than the old Shands at UF and the
Shands AGH emergency areas combined and because Shands AGH closed the
nursing and ancillary staff was almost doubled to meet the needs of patients. Several
new faculty members have joined the department as well, and more could be
recruited next year, Tyndall says.
"I look at this as the beginning step of being able to take even better care of
patients," Tyndall said. "It's not just the physical space or the equipment. It is the
people involved. It is the process of making sure the entire institution focuses on
throughput so patients can be quickly seen and moved to where they need to be. It is
the recognition of all of that. This move is just the beginning." 0


Going


By Kimberly Rose
o, you've read about the 192 beds, the fancy 320-slice
scanner and the other advances of the new hospital.
Did we mention it's pretty green, too?
The commitment to use environmentally sustainable
construction methods to build the hospital earned Shands
HealthCare the silver Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design designation per the U.S. Green
Building Council rating system.
"We used insulated windows that are treated to reduce
solar glare and white rooftops designed to reflect heat," said
Brad Pollitt, Shands HealthCare vice president for facilities.
"The facility's air-conditioning heat wheels help to recover
lost energy, and irrigation and drainage systems use
reclaimed water. We provide showers for employees who bike
to work and special parking for hybrid cars."
Pollitt says Shands is now being considered for gold-level
LEED certification and could be one of a few academic
medical centers nationwide to achieve this rating.
Shands also partnered with Gainesville Regional Utilities
to establish the GRU South Energy Center to provide 100
percent of the hospital's energy needs. The on-site power
plant will ensure uninterrupted power, independent of the
city's energy grid, regardless of a prolonged outage elsewhere
in the community. It will efficiently convert fuel into
electricity and provide 46 percent savings compared with
traditional fossil fuel-burning generations. Officials estimate
this will save 27 million kilowatts per year, enough to power
about 3,000 homes. Q





Breakaway doors in treatment rooms for fast access
A 9-second elevator ride from the helicopter pad
Radiology on site for quicker access to scans
Special rooms and waiting area for children


http://news.health.ufl.edu


aii






PATIN AR


Thanks forth.


eVipm/fr//


By April Frawley Birdwell
ohe contractions started in
the middle of the movie.
Surprised her baby might
actually arrive on its due date, the
mother quickly gathered her two
daughters to leave, abandoning
the film, Ironically, it was titled
"Born Free."
They rushed to Alachua General Hospital. Thirteen
minutes later, Pegeen Hanrahan was born. Thirty-
nine years later, Hanrahan, now Gainesville's mayor,
would have her own daughter at the hospital.
But on a steamy October day, Hanrahan said
goodbye to the place where she and her daughter
entered the world during a tribute to honor the
hospital, which closed its doors after 81 years Nov. 1.
"It is like anything in life, you have to work past the
grief for a rebirth," said Hanrahan, her voice cracking
with emotion as she addressed the 300 people who
gathered at the hospital for the tribute. "God bless
you, all of you, who have helped everyone get through
the moments of their lives here at AGH."
On March 15, 1928, Alachua County's first hospital
opened with 25 nurses, 12 doctors, 58 beds and two
operating rooms. The cost of a hospital stay was $2.50


H


-S.
*4,' I


Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan recalls
her birth and her daughter's birth at Shands
AGH during a tribute to the hospital in
October. Shands AGH, Alachua County's
oldest hospital, closed Nov. 1. (Below) The
AGH Auxiliary had been a lasting tradition at
AGH since 1953. Members of the Auxiliary
opened the hospital's coffee and gift shops,
established its volunteer program and helped
furnish units during the hospital's growth.





a day and a major surgical procedure cost about $15,
said Jodi Mansfield, chief operating officer for Shands
HealthCare, whose children also were born at AGH.
"They had a gala party that the entire community
came to," said Timothy Goldfarb, CEO of Shands
HealthCare. "Interesting enough, exactly nine months
later the first baby was born at AGH."
The hospital grew, admitting as many as 3,600
patients a year during the 1930s and 1940s, and its
name was changed from Alachua County Hospital to
Alachua General Hospital in 1949. By the 1950s, the
hospital had 176 beds and its own nursing school,
Mansfield said. The nursing school, in operation from
1945 to 1957, disbanded when the UF College of
I/ Nursing opened.
In 1996, Shands bought the hospital, which by the
time of its closing had grown to be a 377-bed facility
with 1,150 employees. But because of declining
revenues and budget shortfalls, the decision was made
last year to close the hospital, relocating its services to
Shands at UF as well as the new Shands Cancer
Hospital and Shands Critical Care Center.

transferred to positions within Shands HealthCare.
"A community is stitched with 1,000 threads," said
UF President Bernie Machen. "Alachua General
Hospital was a place where those threads came
together in a safe, seamless and sturdy line.
-- "We owe much to this hospital for (Gainesville's)
development as a great place to live and work." Q


aill1ei


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te iciest news end HSC events I





















It's




Interim dean earns top job in PHHP



By ill Pease


Michael G. Perri, Ph.D., has been named dean of the UF
College of Public Health and Health Professions.
Perri joined the college's faculty in 1990 and has served as the interim dean since June
2007. A professor in the department of clinical and health psychology, Perri has held several
administrative positions in the college including associate dean for research and head of the health
psychology division.
"Under the leadership of (nursing dean and associate provost) Kathleen Long, Ph.D., R.N., as chair of
the search committee, we conducted a vigorous national search for this critical position at the Health
Science Center and University of Florida," said Joseph Glover, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for
academic affairs. "After reviewing an extremely strong field of finalists, the search committee was
uniformly supportive of Dr. Perri as the best fit for the next dean of the College of Public Health and
Health Professions. I enthusiastically concur."
Perri's research findings have had a significant impact on theory, research and clinical care related to
behavioral treatment of obesity. He has contributed to more than 120 scientific publications and has served
as principal investigator or co-investigator for more than $30 million in research grants and contracts
from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and private industry. His
current studies involve the development of effective programs for the management of obesity in
underserved rural communities. In 2008, Perri received the American Psychological Association's Samuel
M. Turner Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Research in Clinical Psychology.
"UF and its Health Science Center will benefit greatly from Dr. Perri as the dean of the College of
Public Health and Health Professions," said David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health
affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. "During his tenure as interim dean, Dr. Perri
successfully spearheaded the college's public health accreditation. He also stabilized a shaky financial
foundation and launched several initiatives to foster collaboration across public health and the health
professions disciplines, including the establishment of a funding program for interdisciplinary pilot
studies and the founding of the Florida Trauma Rehabilitation Center for Returning Military Personnel."
Perri is a diplomat of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a fellow of the American
Psychological Association, the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Obesity Society. He was recently
appointed associate editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the leading peer-reviewed
journal in the field of clinical psychology.
Perri earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri Columbia. Before
arriving at UF he served on the faculty at the University of Rochester, Indiana University and Fairleigh
Dickinson University.
"I am honored and excited about the opportunity this appointment presents," Perri said. "The college
has accomplished a tremendous amount over the past five years. We are now at the starting point to go on
to more significant achievements through our collaborative efforts in education, research and service." 0


College of Medicine
dean candidates
U F has selected nine candidates to
interview to become the next College
of Medicine dean. The interviews will
take place in mid-November. The candidates
are: Valerie P. Castle, M.D., chair of the
department of pediatrics and communicable
diseases at the University of Michigan; David
L. Epstein, M.D., M.M.M., chair of the
department of ophthalmology at Duke
University; Arthur M. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D.,
the Magee professor and chair of the
department of medicine at Jefferson Medical
College; Francisco A. Gonzalez-Scarano,
M.D., chair of the department of neurology at
the University of Pennsylvania; Michael L.
Good, M.D., interim dean at the University of
Florida; Gabriel G. Haddad, M.D., chair of
the department of pediatrics at the University
of California, San Diego; Thomas A. Pearson,
M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., senior associate dean for
clinical research and director of the Rochester
Clinical and Translational Science Institute at
the University of Rochester; Robert C.
Robbins, M.D., a professor and chair of
cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University;
and David S. Stephens, M.D., vice president
for research at Emory University.


http://news.health.ufl.edu


ialm







ENT CAR


UF vets first to use new MRI unit to get

By Sarah Carey

Anew clinical imaging system now in place at the UF Veterinary

Medical Center will enable veterinarians to obtain diagnostic

images of previously inaccessible and larger parts of the body,

such as the upper legs of horses, veterinarians say.


The new 1.5 Tesla Titan MR, made by Toshiba,
has never previously been used by any academic
veterinary medical center in the United States and
will provide private practitioners and pet owners
with a highly sophisticated tool for pinpointing and
treating disease in their animals.
"There are many advantages to the Titan,
notably its 71-centimeter patient aperture known
as the open bore which will be a benefit in
examining large animals," said Clifford "Kip"
Berry, D.V.M., a professor of radiology at UF and
chief of the VMC's radiology service.
Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is used in
veterinary medicine to look inside an animal's body
to evaluate diseases and other problems. The new
MR will provide veterinarians with a more detailed
anatomic picture through high-resolution imaging
and will enable them to image arterial and venous
blood flow with the injection of an intravenous
contrast medium, UF veterinarians said.
Berry said the new equipment is "faster, bigger
and better" than what has previously been available


and provides UF with one more powerful tool to
give veterinarians and their clients the most
advanced imaging services.
"There is more space available inside the
machine to accommodate patients, which should
allow for better imaging of the mid to upper
extremity of horses," Berry said. "The Titan also is
quieter than existing MR equipment, making it less
likely that acoustic noise will awaken patients
during diagnostic examinations."
The equipment is designed so animals should not
have to be repositioned during an MR study.
Veterinary technologists also have the flexibility to
load large animal patients into the equipment from
the back end.
The VMC's new MR unit and the 8-slice
multidetector row Toshiba Acquilion CT unit now
available at UF are among the most powerful
imaging tools currently available for veterinary
diagnostics in the Southeast.
The MR unit allows highly detailed images to be
obtained in multiple planes of bone and soft tissue


inside animals


in all species. Foot, fetlock, suspensory ligaments,
carpus, hock and heads can be examined through
MRI in the horse, while spiral CT may be used for
3-dimensional reconstruction in complex fracture
repair planning of the extremity or stifle in large
animals. In small animals, both modalities are
routinely applied to neurologic and orthopedic
cases at the VMC, with additional studies
performed for radiation planning and metastasis
evaluations.
"MR allows for exquisite distinction between
normal and abnormal tissues," Berry said. "The use
of specialized sequences further increases the
ability to distinguish between different types of
pathology ranging from hemorrhagic infarctions to
primary brain tumors and inflammatory
disorders."
Matthew Winter, D.V.M., an assistant professor
of diagnostic imaging at UF's VMC, added that
MR also reveals bone, tendon and ligament
pathology and can show bone bruising, meniscal
damage and ligament tears that go undetected
when using traditional radiography.
"All of our radiologists have strong interests in
cross-sectional imaging, which gives UF a unique
ability to serve the advanced imaging needs of
Florida veterinarians," Winter said. Q


Uill1ei


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te latest news and HSC events I









Honoring artists

History wall dedicated to Shands Arts in Medicine artists


By Kim Libby
Nineteen years ago, the Shands Arts in Medicine program began with just two artists and
one bone marrow transplant unit. Today, it has grown to include visual, literary and
performing artists and designers serving the entire Shands HealthCare community.
The program has helped hundreds of people feel better, which made Allison Wickham and
other volunteers decide to say thank you to those who make it happen.
Wickham, a former intern and current employee of the program, coordinated the first Artists
Appreciation Day in 2008 as a way to celebrate and honor the artists and administrators. It in-
cluded a half-hour long show and small trophies along with baskets of gifts. But as the program
grew another year stronger, she knew the festivities had to grow with it.
The second annual event was held Sept. 24 as a luncheon for 12 artists, program administra-
tors and influential volunteers. At the event, an oral history wall was unveiled and dedicated to
the artists. It includes biographies of everyone from the program's founders to current staff,
with quotes and messages from volunteers and administrators about their work.
The wall, currently on display outside the AIM office, will be preserved on a 30-by-60-inch
piece of Plexiglas and moved to a new location at Shands.
For artist Paula Patterson, a dramatist in residence, the wall was a chance for her work to be
immortalized.
"Someday when I'm gone, my grandchildren can bring their kids to Shands hospital and see
what a great program their grandmother was a part of," she said.
Wickham hopes the event will grow each year with increasing support and is already brain-
storming ideas with fellow volunteers for 2010.
"This year, the wall was a great chance for everyone to walk down memory lane," she said. Q


PATIN AR


Shands Arts in Medicine volunteers Kelly Cuddihy and Jessica
McElroy paused to check out the oral history wall on display outside
the AIM office near the Shands at UF cafeteria.


A\ fe Good Samaritan helps golden retriever get
A new leash on life heart treatment


College of Veterinary Medicine cardiology resident
Dr. Mandi Schmidt, left, and student Heather
Rogers, right, pose with Anne Liebermann and
Tucker in September.


By Sarah Carey
Thanks to a grant from a Good Samaritan and
UF Veterinary Medical Center cardiologists,
Tucker, a 2-year-old golden retriever with
severe heart disease and no other chance for help, is
back home in Fort Myers, Fla., with a new leash, er,
lease, on life.
"Today I walked him and he walked me 70 per-
cent of the time," said Anne Liebermann, Tucker's
owner. "He was really raring to go. When we first
got him at the age of 4 months, he could do about a
block and that was it."
His condition worsened to the point that he
showed increasing signs of stress, including faint-
ing, with minimal exercise and exertion.
"We knew when we got him that he was sick,"
Liebermann said. "We didn't have the cash or the
funds to do anything other than normal mainte-
nance but just decided we would give him as good a
life as we could while he was with us."
Liebermann brought Tucker to Gainesville in
mid-September on the advice of her veterinarian,
who had learned about a congenital heart disease
study underway at the VMC. The veterinarian be-
lieved Tucker might be a candidate.
After examining the dog, however, Amara
Estrada, D.V.M., an assistant professor of cardiolo-


gy, and her team determined Tucker did not qualify
because his particular heart disease did not meet
the study's criteria.
"He not only had really bad heart disease, his
owner also was unable to afford an interventional
procedure to treat him," Estrada said.
About two years ago, however, an anonymous cli-
ent generously donated $4,000 to the cardiology
service to help the owners of cats that suffered from
heart disease but who could not afford care.
Although Tucker was a dog, the funds had not
been spent because there have not been any viable
feline candidates, Estrada said. Cardiology resident
Mandi Schmidt, D.V.M., contacted the donors to
ask if they would allow Tucker's medical expenses
to be covered. The owners agreed. Soon thereafter,
cardiologists performed a cardiac catheterization
and effectively ballooned his pulmonary valve.
A week after the procedure, Tucker was no longer
fainting and his owner described him as "like a new
dog," Schmidt said.
Liebermann added she had not realized how
much Tucker's illness had taken out of him.
"If we hadn't heard about the study at UF we
never would have taken him up, so everything re-
ally fell into place," she said. Q


http://news.health.ufl.edu


ai, l






PATIN AR


Hel ping h


ves


HSC students, faculty involved in program that uses horses for occupational therapy

ByJessica Metzger and Laura Mize


Christopher Williams, 7, loves trotting along on
P.J., short for Princess Jasmine. He squeals
in excitement when the volunteers and
occupational therapist Cathi Brown, M.Sc., O.T.R./L
coax the horse to trot faster. Once P.J. slows down
again, Brown has Christopher place his hands on his
helmet to work on his balance.
Christopher hardly realizes he is doing therapy. He just thinks it's fun.
Christopher has autism. Bryan Williams, the boy's father, said they have been
coming to Horses Helping People, or HOPE, an organization that specializes in
serving people with disabilities through equine-assisted therapy, since April.
Sessions at HOPE have replaced the at-home therapy Christopher used to
receive. Bryan Williams says his son is more alert and responsive than before he
started going to HOPE.
Started in 2000, HOPE relies solely on donations and help from volunteers,


including many from UF's Health Science Center.
Amy Anderson, a riding instructor at HOPE, is a student in the College of
Public Health and Health Professions' Master's in Occupational Therapy
program. Brown is a graduate of the program.
Numerous members of the organization's board of directors and advisory
committee also work at the Health Science Center.
Kristen Shimeall, HOPE's executive director, says these people make a big
difference for the people receiving therapy at HOPE.
"Our riders get attached to our volunteers and look forward to seeing them
every week," Shimeall said. "For our riders, it's not just coming out and riding a
horse, they are developing bonds with both the volunteers and the horses."
HOPE operates at a 40-acre farm in Archer, Fla.
Patients like Christopher benefit from equine therapy because it focuses on
improving their balance, coordination and flexibility. Brown and volunteers play
games with the patients and have them perform certain exercises while they ride
the horses. Throwing a ball back and forth while atop the horse, for example,
works on balance.
Patients begin their therapy sessions by brushing and dressing the horse for 30
minutes, with help from an occupational therapist. Shimeall said the repetitive
actions involved help improve sensory perception and memory.
Stephanie Helinger, 21, an animal science major in UF's College of
Agriculture, began volunteering at HOPE in May. She prepares the horses and
leads them during therapy sessions.
"I know how much horses have really helped me in my life, and I can really
imagine how much help they are to those with disabilities," said Helinger, who
began riding lessons when she was 10. "At first the kids are quiet, but they really
get into it. They make me more thankful for my life."
Dale Ginder, 7, comes to HOPE because he has Duchenne muscular dystrophy,
the most common and fatal form of the disease. Dale's muscles don't produce
dystrophin, which is what the muscles need to fix themselves after even daily use.
As he damages his muscles, they are being replaced with fat.
"Ultimately, these boys die from heart and or lung failure since these are also
muscles," explained Rick Ginder, Dale's father. "(For children with Duchenne),
the progression is typically in a wheelchair by 10 or 12 and death in their early
20s, sometimes younger and in some cases older. Later in life he will lose the use
of most muscles and will need assistance with almost everything."
Riding horses at HOPE is one way Dale is making the most of his youth.
"It is supposed to be one of the fun ways to maintain their core strength," said
Rick Ginder. "He sees it as learning to ride a horse rather than therapy. While
his older brother does basketball and football, Dale gets to ride.
"As parents we are trying to make his life as much like his friends so that he
has memories to look back on when he won't be able to do even these things." 0


Horses Helping People helps people with disabilities using equine therapy.


U^ I Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te latest news and HSC events








Saving lives in

Sav I I " ,,


lo,


a


minutes or less ...
UF CPR & Safety Training Center
expands to reach community

By Kim Libby
T raining to save a life can now be accomplished
in record time -just 22 minutes thanks to
a new course offered by the UF CPR & Safety
Training Center.
A part of the College of Medicine since July 1, the center is now offering "CPR
Anytime" to anyone in the Gainesville community.
Participants attend a live class for 20 minutes to learn the correct way to perform
breaths, compressions and cycles, and leave with a kit to practice at home. The
package includes an instructional video, a booklet from the American Heart
Association and a personal CPR Mini Anne Manikin. The manikin features a tab for
an adult or child and audible clicking during compressions to ensure the student is
pressing hard enough into the sternum. The cost for the adult CPR course and kit is
$30, while the cost for infant CPR is $35.
"The goal with this program is for people to feel comfortable about giving bystander
CPR," said Victor Martinez, the program's community outreach coordinator. "That
way, if you ever feel unsure, you can just pop in the DVD and refresh your skills."
Even though the program does not certify a student in CPR, the training will
ensure you are equally prepared, said Wes Henderson, program development
coordinator. After a person becomes unresponsive for four to six minutes, brain
damage is possible. The response time for emergency services can be seven minutes or
longer, so taking action could save someone's life, he said.
The center plans to use the 20-minute program as part of their Gator Saver
Initiative, which includes six events in the upcoming year throughout the community.
The largest program is "CPR in the Schools." The center plans to provide adult/child
CPR Anytime kits to 2,000 graduating seniors of the Alachua County Public School
System and offer them extra credit if they train five family members, bringing the
total to 10,000 people trained.
The next main Gator Saver Initiative event is the Gator Saver Day, which will be
held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 24. During this event, organizers will bring the
20-minute CPR Anytime kits to participants throughout the Gainesville community
in a mass training session. The center is hoping to raise $128,000 to cover the cost of
all of the events it has planned for the year.
"Right now, the national survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital
is 6 percent," Henderson said. "Our goal is to increase that percentage so that individuals
can be responsible and Gainesville can become a heart-safe community." 0


Interested in classes?
The CPR & Safety Training Center offers courses in a
wide variety of areas, including:
Adult, Child and Infant CPR, Advanced Cardiac Life
Support (ACLS,) Healthcare Provider (BLS), Airway
Management, Bloodborne Pathogens, AED and First Aid
Training, Disaster Preparedness, First Responder, Wilderness
First Responder, Advanced Wilderness First Responder,
Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguarding, Low-tech Navigation and
Pet First Aid. The center is in the process of adding classes in
Maritime First Aid, Maritime First Responder and Coast
Guard Certification for Medical Person on Duty.
For any of the training courses offered, the staff is able to
hold classes in doctors' offices and large groups as well as at
the center. For more information, visit the Web site at
http://cpr.med.ufl.edu or call Wes Henderson at 352-682-5259.


http://news.health.ufl.edu


am







00ERSTR


Money doesn't grow in Petri dishes. If it did, scientists would all drive fire-en-
gine red convertibles and the stagnating National Institutes of Health budget
for research funding wouldn't have hit science as hard as it did during the past
few years.
But after several years of heightened competition for dwindling health research dol-
lars a cut-throat environment that has made it particularly difficult for fledgling sci-
entists to get established science got a bit of a welcome change this year. In February,
Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), part of
which promised several billion to the NIH and other agencies to dole out to scientists.


A*"












"It was like opening the spigot of a fire hydrant," says David Guzick,
M.D., Ph.D., UF's senior vice president for health affairs and president of
the UF&Shands Health System. "We went from a very dry situation to one
where all of a sudden we had to drink from the fire hose of ARRA without
leaving valuable opportunities scattered around us."
So far, about $5 billion in these one-time-only funds have been allotted
to scientists across the country for research. Of that, UF Health Science
Center researchers have received about $72 million from the NIH. The
window of opportunity was small, too. After the NIH announced the avail-
ability of these funds, researchers had about 10 weeks to submit proposals.
HSC faculty quickly submitted about 400 grant applications.
"Our faculty were extraordinarily active in their grant submissions,"
Guzick says. "And judging from the $72 million of results so far, they were
extraordinarily meritorious in the quality of their science. And there are
some grants that are still in the review process, so the final figures could be
a lot higher."
Aside from keeping scientists on the path toward discovery, this infusion
of dollars to labs across campus could generate as many as 1,100 new jobs in
the community, Guzick says. An investment in science here can have a mul-
tiplier effect down the road as innovation travels from the lab to companies
that turn discoveries into commercial products and eventually to society,
which benefits from better medicine and technology, he added.
Seventy-five NIH grants have been funded in the HSC alone, more than
anywhere else in Florida. The money will help UF researchers study every-
thing from diabetes and HIV to ethnic differences in pain and biomarkers
for various diseases. The largest of these grants was awarded to investigator
Marco Pahor, M.D., the director of UF's Institute on Aging. Pahor's grant is
the largest federal award ever given to study the prevention of movement dis-
ability in older adults.
In Pahor's case, funding for his study will continue from other federal
sources after the stimulus funds expire in two years. But for many research-
ers, the biggest question is what happens next? The stimulus funds were a
one-time shot in the arm. Unless more federal dollars are pumped into
funding science, many research projects started now might not continue.
"In 2011, we might be in jeopardy," says Stephen Sugrue, Ph.D., senior
associate dean for research affairs in the College of Medicine. "Once you
fire up the engines to higher rpm's it's very difficult to downshift. When
you downshift, you are laying people off, which causes many problems, and
science suffers."
In an average year, for example, about one quarter of College of Medicine
grants expire and only about 20 percent of those are renewed without inter-
ruption to funding, Sugrue says. With the extra competition sparked by the
ARRA grants, renewals could become even tougher to get, too.
Apart from what the future funding outlook holds, two other more im-
mediate grant concerns could affect researchers' chances of getting their
grants funded in the upcoming year, Sugrue says. First, the NIH has
changed how it scores popular R01 proposals. Instead of scoring the overall
grant, review panels are now specifically scoring on five individual catego-
ries: significance, approach, innovation, investigator and environment.
The NIH has also scaled down how long it wants grant proposals to be.
Instead of 25 pages, proposals are required to be 12 pages starting in
January.
"Their goal is to really get away from the minutia of methodology and
highlight the impact of the science and the training background of the re-
searcher," Sugrue says. "This is one of the big problems in science, we want
to communicate in detail, but in doing so we may lose the big picture."
And getting all people to understand the big picture and what makes a
scientific proposal significant also could help government leaders appreci-
ate why such projects should be funded, too.
"The goal is anybody should be able to read the first few pages of your
proposal and get it," Sugrue says. 0


The LIFE study
Many studies have shown that regular physical activity improves physical
performance. And the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
recommends that adults engage in least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity
or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week, as well as
muscle-strengthening activities. Still, little is known about whether
exercise can actually help prevent major mobility disability, defined as the
inability to walk a quarter of a mile or four blocks. To fill this gap in
scientific knowledge, UF researcher Marco Pahor, M.D., and colleagues
received a six-year, $64.4 million grant from the National Institute on
Aging. The grant is the largest federal award UF has ever received and the
largest given to any institution for a study of this kind. About half the
grant is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009. For older adults, staving off disability could help them maintain
their physical independence and enhance the quality of their later years.
"We all know that physical activity is good for our health, but the definitive
evidence whether it can prevent disability in older people whether you
can prevent them from being unable to walk is lacking," said Pahor,
director of the UF Institute on Aging and principal investigator of the
study. The new study, called the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence
for Elders, or LIFE study, is a phase 3 randomized controlled trial of 1,600
sedentary adults age 70 to 89 who are at risk of disability and will be
conducted at eight institutions around the country. Czerne M. Reid


-I


Marco Pahor, OI-


http://news.health.ufl.edu


,iall


~~1 -j~.
.*IK




V
Ilk!


Facebook for scientists
Imagine a Web site like Facebook, but instead of using it to share videos or post quizzes like
"What '80s song are you?" scientists could scour a national network of researchers, only a few
mouse clicks separating them from information needed for a scientific breakthrough.That's
the goal of a $12.2 million National Center for Research Resources grant awarded to UF and six
collaborating institutions across the country. During the next two years, researchers will
implement a new type of networking system at the seven schools that eventually will link
researchers across the country and world to like-minded peers and potential collaborators. By
making it easier for scientists to find each other, researchers will be able to improve their ongoing
studies and forge collaborations that could lead to new discoveries, said Michael Conlon, Ph.D.,
interim director of biomedical informatics for UF and the principal investigator on the grant.
"Scientists have problems finding each other," Conlon said. "We often find that researchers have
pretty good networks with students or with scientists at institutions where they received their
degree or worked before. But they don't always know people even at their own institutions." The
new program will draw information about scientists from official, verifiable sources and make it
available using a type of technology called the Semantic Web. Although users will still view the
information on what looks like regular Web pages, the software developed by Cornell University
researchers called VIVO actually collects the facts a person wants and assembles its own
page. -April Frawley Birdwell





Muscle degeneration


eedejrli teimnN led b\ Krintj \ jndeib,.rne, Ph D.
J3j ir, t he t_.llee ,.t Publih Heailh and Health
Pr&' ul'e% 'i-n' depiartmi enl i tt pl\-i.ual tilerip\, a'. e
received $3.3 million to support three studies on the
prevention or treatment of muscle degeneration. In the
largest study, UF and University of Pennsylvania
scientists will investigate drug therapies that can inhibit
or reverse muscle atrophy caused by disuse. Researchers
expect to identify at least one, and as many as three, new
drug interventions that show promise for improving
muscle regeneration. "The drugs used in the study are
either approved for human use or they are in clinical
development, so they can be translated quickly from the
animal model to human clinical trials," Vandenborne
said. The research team will also develop a new animal
model for spinal cord injury studies that more closely
re eiible% pi r Un n rd r\ i lii TIhe ne, ud\
e\pe. l. it. .reite tr reru it leiu 1E ti ,.dul \ u lr 1d uIAtt
i i',b f i l-hridJ J d Pen nl I'. N id% --1 1 ?I// PIcI



-*7, Cn' ,' c ,'_, -', .e'; ,, ,,


(>om /eft) Chks Barnes, Va/pie 23as, M.L.5.
2a //ace AcLendon, A.5.L.5., Jalh'C/ asse//, M.L.S.3
Atchiae/ Con/on0, Ph73).^ Sa-ra 4asse// Sonza/ez,
Ph?).;^ and ree.arch^ers ho co//a/orated on7 the 5r-ant.


The fall guy
R on Shorr, M.D., M.S., a professor of aging and geriatric research at UF and director of the
Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, received $1.6 million
from the NIH to study whether a new Medicare rule eliminating payment for treatment of
injuries associated with in-hospital falls will lower the rate of falls among people who are
hospitalized. Using data from 3,000 nursing units at 1,000 hospitals, the researchers will look at
whether the rule has the intended effect of reducing falls and the unintended negative effect of
increased use of physical restraints to keep people anchored to beds or chairs. The rate of falls and
restraint use in the 27 months before the rule came into effect and the 27 months after will be
analyzed. There are no measures that have proven effective at reducing the rate of patient falls.
Study field sites are UF, Methodist Health Care in Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, Louisiana
State University, University of Tennessee and University of Kansas. Czerne M. Reid

A. ^ ,- ,---- ^-------


5.:




II:^



! 4-"


I-.


Understanding 'Ouch!'
P in JII.LI, pL.pIL Jiiir.i.niI r ,, L.\Jrr pl>.. ,luJii.L hJ\L. ,h,,'.r IhJii
,\1! l *\r-Arn n.!i UIiJF irid [ [ipiri pL.,p! iL d iL hJ' I. ir, .i
i>.,pri,., i,, pun hr i N ,.hul. pf.,LpLlL Ihi. quL.l!,,r !, '.h\ Q'( "[I[I "I
I)Lriin ii\ ILLJ!Lh I. i 1 llir.!mirr. I'h 1). J p1l ...i I '1 ,i, i urnii\
dJLnri I, \ Jrind hb hj\ ii jl ,i>r, hi hLIn iud\ !r Lihrin dillJ i LiLr -I. ir
pj!n p !iLpI!irn Ii \L.ji, jnd I!\Ld J I$. ', -- !!tillirn :!jn II[! m ihL Ni1I
jil i ihi, \>ji h- IL ud\ ,'.h ih>i ,'.hii jnd ,\li Jn-,\mr Ji i n, d ill>i in
ih.! i.L,pri,. i.- pj]r! li-, jiihi iii \\ h.rn ih. ,l ii Julu, pJLkji.:. %'%j,
rinnrur L.J. hL. ippi!.id h in jI dd, J i. j r-j, jni inrd i!.L.L *|. $ I ,I1111i I,, J|,.
rid ,Ui h.w'. hi, ludJ\ pJil!.lpjri,' pL!. L.pI!inri I pjr! dilli., I ,n- hLJ Ih\
irdi\ p LduJ[,. I .. "M jn\ p.,pl, dL ni kn,,'. IhLL. ji. ihii dipJ 11 L ir
pjim ." I ,hn Ji x, "I\ I A '[ '. n %jni I'' t-" i>.> ih.,M. dipJl il11.,. %'.. hj\'. i,,


uridLin .iird v'. h.!i, i h.\ L.,Lrn-i. Il..rny 1,. \.\ L.rripk\. hul iL. Jl'. IuLI
ii\irni i., 1--k Ji 'L0.iIJ J'p.L.lI Ji.-i I.Jd iih i JLL ihii rrin!hi L1AL. uL "m.'r
- d~i.J, ..i h.,'. i., iJ i iji .rn li I-A['Id FiI::'/ X BiJ.:' II


14 M


aillleo*i


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te latest news and HSC events










Sea science
enidri. L. th, 1. PIh F i i prt-,e ...t.r Irtr l1. Lir' depirrlm ieli
,- I edi, iliJ mi, hlrlii. tr re .ei.ed 'P32-,441 trtii ithe Nititn.-i l
t Inl er I In utute it. help further h11I LI ti 1 the bitl' Ji iind
chem i ,l-r\ ,i, Ir zit,,le_ teriia i iiiiar ie a it- ba terli, j in kI ." n Ji
blue-green ilzie. h rtw, ir n the [ Ri.ridi Ke\> neir Ke\ L.irit., prtduJ e
an antiki;nter niiuriul prtdUI .J e ilk lir `izitle A- ni mii rle dr.u
researcher Lue> .-h 1 .t-Lund il hi lir _iz- ,le t- p .il e iz\ iie nu ii -
histore de .e P Ie. pir .iri_ qi ti iit -lr e thell b ,d\h Bet JLbe
Luesch d r .I I b. r hi'. e ilre LI\ reprtd.JI ed the henisi l K truo ture tl 1
largaztle i, i the lib. he nt htpe- it. ue i it help pr.-Ju e iiire ellet '. e
or m ore %-pe ik, ,i _eni ui* inl ier ki Li''"


s-f


Toxic exposure
MIr. i.tr 1, inr lll1l l-ri m -i d L it i pttl \ 1. I I.I in [ i L Ir rti l 1 idlrifif in ri r i cr., lm:i.k.
.ind .i.rc.-im Alihtu.h r-in- i p,. liic' ,ir nr ri, k tI., h-unl -iir., i I'.. .irc d rincr,tut L i n
,. criEn prLc. ni. in i.r .i.L ir-i.uini i-t I, ui.i.r Liundc.r i.im nd hid c\p,.tl rc i.t. i.. '. Lc h nl i1il.
could affect po.ipk, and i.h. cnl ir, nmini,i r .carL hcr I'rm i.h. LIF (,> tIl ," cl rinr m.Jr\ A inL I arL
studying li, r iand rcpro dulii I.,M\iLi.\ in Iihh -R cA.crhLr. NmniL\ D)nr l,.,.., Ph D-) ind ,olkitl .u.i
David Barbcr. Ph -) rL.li. cd S??2iir11i1 'rm.i ni. lrom i.h. Ni.i, nild Inii.ti.ui. ,lI c En irinmi ni.ril Hc.mlih
Sciences to il.id\ ht- i h\iL Lh., cM n IL.nmi Li tmml>i r Ik I ,Oiunrd i1. Supcri'Lrlu d I.,1\1L '.l 11.~c i Liuld
affectinglixcr 'lunr ii in ,rid rcpro du t.iLn in lmrcmtL ,tiih h:i4 F l t.iLid\ c i .,i dcrii.ll mrcn hAmrini i
underlying Ii'cr i.t\l ii\ -irid dJi. rminri 1 ih,1 c'r rc prcI L ui \ urlidcritilicd rcpriOdu t Ll 11 I. i. ,1
chemicals SuiLh -, itri. hlr, riclh\i lri. Ihcn.rncr rid L.iJmiud mi f-h i .L hc.nmiL l ciL.ic ,l thc.c
chemicals vill Kb oi.mpparcd i., i.h. .ic l i.ti ,l pc.i.4 id. i thdc i. il lin4t I r in i.th. nr irn.nm ni.rii J.piT .
being bannt d Ir 3ri \L.,r -II itru'r. c\pi. Jd 1i Fri.c. hirn., ,rd 211 \L ,r lIai r \,.L .,Li r d,,. n ,. itih
disease how irc \,iL c cL r ri1 it i.riL 11it. i., i i c i.khl. \p, Lirc.u r c ., id DI n- l ,.,.. LIF pr, ic .,r ,t
physiological icr n in i.hc (,ll '. ,, \cilrinA r\ i. ldi inc I A,.c hiri hi.- in iri.n Il h, Lh.i: 14. L',,d
model for h,,. 4imil.ir c\p,.1urc. .Lould :iicl. huimin hcI lhi.h I[.,,I /** a I,., ,, ,//


Calling all ataxia experts
\ri ..nh dJ i: iI-i n hrji n Jic 44 c L. I h Al/h ir.im .r'-
Sind P.irkirnion'., dJ, i>i..r L.in rLJ. h into I. ILr rni diLJ l
E I p.b:, i..i I-.lp p.i.ni. Bu i. rn I triin r I. dtnc. l.r i.th
I l1 rii \ i. p rtilic l. i.i.t ii.i\ii, 1i routip .,dlbj:ihlrii-n
di J rdc.r. thi.-i r10. p1.4 plp ,i i.h-i.r bhiliniLc and .i.Itrdiriii.i.n
SLi- ri ur.t l.l,-ii i r. i. J i r\ ini i.t Lh iri-n i i .ii. ih i.hL lp l' i
r m million i r.mni. I'rorr i.hL N'.iiin.it l InI.ii.tIu .l' N cl" ur.l.t:iL.-i
Dt )i.rdJLr :rid ,iri.k i.t, ci.d-blim h aI rnimiiit,>n. idc rin.c -.,rk ,>1
phiI\ iim nr *L i. Ii i. i. iih \p .ri. I linii l .l. \i r' m.irL h
"A I it. luimL I L\pl.in l ii p iin.1i. i. [F \ irmpT .i'rri ;il.;i\ ;i ;ire
*ir-iil.r it. ,.hi. h[i ppLni hc n O l T-I t mci tncL-1. '.i. i.,, -iutl h ilith. i l
ini., i.thcir m\ i.iTi," *i\A II tiubrrn in\ M IL) M i pr, t 4ic. r ,>1
S n>ur, l,. \ I I i.th L UIF (:,> Il,'. A ,l'd inI A i.;I\I;I L-In Ibk
hircdi. ir\ .>r ii. Lould K brou hi. t .>n 1ri i.r.>k .. r trr,-iir- or
>i.th.r nLjd ial prolh mn "O ur lr1 i. ..,r>i.l 14 i., firnd -i i r i.riim .nii
J1 mrrAk priil..ni' 11l% iMI.r," hair ,, nr ur.,> in i.h-. (I ( l .,l > lM di in. in rld print Ip.il
""- I~r '1-1 i. 4 ,0 i.,I r i i.h h. prin i. "But. ihl. Lmmr -.r n thr,- .Jid .l :,t:,\i:
'.1ih Ji4. .-i 4u h a4 Al/h.lmn-.r'. P.-arkin ,on'. H. riln 'i.,in ..n'
-id A L[' I th.-i riciur.rri r J ng d\ino B\ li.ud\iri- 1 -ii.- i\ i, j ,.. :.irl
> r..iil. ir1l4 -il,1 iri.i I.1it. ricu r.I d .J rnr.r i.r 1.1 L prO>. rIn 1.i ll.i|
h.l-i,- L dl 'L.-L.' "-- 7,,.,,. 6 ';,,.,,


- r


VT?


J T .' i'p,.." .- '


Exercise science
J ud\ Dlp, IPh 1), in .J.... -i pi..I..i ..I ph\i..l..I \ jrnJ luni tonal genomics, won a $415,000
gir i I..rr i NII I i, LuJ\ h.'. w a i. Iil J J hliL in raill hood vessels can limit exercise
jpj!hilii in I h LIJd i\ h 1 i am h i r ir i .. ..I. -L li a pl ..!-, that causes reduced blood flow
Shcn ihc h..J\ rnccdJ 11 mri, uL h Ja JuL inr, ph!\ IaJl JI I\ Hi\ 1 )ui iri, exercise, the lining of blood
\c..c!. .uLh a. mIi-.. .l in .kU..llA mu.L1 .\pjnJ h.auL of the production of nitric oxidt
'Vh laJi Lh!, hj' l..uri I hai j hmILJI LJIIJ Idl 14 hlp, irmuljie nitric oxide production, but thii
lc, ..I 11 1, j\ jiljh, i Ja pi., ,p IjahrI. I. -, I.. u. nii !!i ..\IJ p ..Juction. Delp will try to solve that
pii'rkm irn I ji mrJI. uir, nUrI.. ih!h jp\ Ii. impi-i. ih! ,II. ahillii\ to make their own BH4, and by
U\ it ,-i.ii j nrr jriii iJ iI, i nrI hjrIL1 ni r I IL i \IJ p i Ju>i irn Czerne M. Reid


--


http://news.health.ufl.edu


7 4
e-7 Z! 1 / 1- 1 -' -







(EXRAORDNR AESO


A little bit of



SUngL i

Haitian M.P.H. staff member gives

back to homeland, community



By Alyssa LaRenzie

Slander Celeste is busy being fabulous.

The line borrowed from The Eagles sums up the Haitian-born
Master of Public Health internship coordinator to a T. She stays
busy with her volunteer and public health education work, but it isn't really
work to her. It's just fabulous.
With a big smile and a hearty laugh, Celeste, whose first name means
"sunshine" in Creole, describes almost every aspect of her life as "fabulous."
Though she's lived in the United States for most of her life, Celeste has
traveled back to Haiti many times, most recently with a group of UF faculty
and staff as part of the Sante pou Lavi project. Sante pou Lavi, which means
"Health for Life" in Creole, hopes to set up a sustainable base for student
learning, community service and research in Haiti. As the internship
coordinator, Celeste is thrilled students will have the opportunity for
international work in a location where help is needed.
"We don't want to go and do one-week trips because that only benefits the
students," Celeste said. "We want to be able to make a difference in the
community as well as allow the M.P.H. students to develop practical skills."
As a Haitian-American, Celeste plays an important role in the group. On
the last trip, she performed needs assessments for the communities and
provided a great deal of translation assistance.
Celeste's knowledge of culture, language and health education makes her
an invaluable member of the team, said Gina Murray, a member of Sante
pou Lavi and the educational coordinator for the Program for
Interdisciplinary Education.
During her time as a UF student, Celeste was chosen for the Coca-Cola
World Citizenship Program, working with the humanitarian organization
World Vision International. Her knowledge of English, French and Creole
allowed her to translate many important documents and conduct numerous
assessments as she stayed in Haiti working for an extra year with the group.
Seeking economic opportunities, Celeste's parents moved to the U.S.


aill1ei


when she was a child, leaving her and her sister, Manoucheka, with their
grandmother. As a Haitian child during the violent era of Jean-Claude
Duvalier, known as Papa Doc's son, Celeste can remember her grandma
hiding her and her sister under the bed amid gunshots.
Celeste followed her parents to the United States at 6 years old, flying into
the John F. Kennedy Airport and experiencing frightening escalators and
parking garages for the first time.
Celeste said she didn't develop such a great appreciation for her culture
until she moved away from her family's home in Altamonte Springs, Fla., to
Gainesville for school, where she earned her bachelor's degree in health
science education and her master's of public health. Seeing so many
different cultures opened her up to the importance of celebrating her own
background. Eventually, her interests in public health and her heritage
would merge and bring her back to her homeland.
"That's a huge part of our identity," Manoucheka Celeste said. "To be able
to do something positive rather than just going and vacationing. I think it's
a no-brainer for her."
Manoucheka said her sister, the oldest child, was always the leader of the
pack when they were growing up. Now, the "worker bee" chooses how to
spend her time carefully to spread the sunshine across many causes.
Though many of her public health efforts focus on Haiti, Celeste keeps
busy in her own community, too. A self-described "avid wannabe gardener,"
Celeste volunteers with the Edible Plant Project, a nonprofit nursery and
collective. She also started two school gardens and one community garden
during her time working as a health educator consultant for the Levy
County Health Department.
Celeste continues to work on the Sante pou Lavi project and is looking
forward to the next trip later this fall.
"She's very positive. She never has anything negative to say. She's always
so gracious and complimentary," Murray said. "She's fabulous, what can I
say?" Q


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te latest news and HSC events.














Eat your vegetable


Compounds in plant-based foods help fight obesity, disease


By April Frawley Birdwell


T he cheeseburger and French fries might look
tempting, but eating a serving of broccoli or leafy

greens first could help people battle metabolic

processes that lead to obesity and heart disease, a new

UF study shows.


Eating more plant-based foods, which are
rich in substances called phytochemicals,
seems to prevent oxidative stress in the
body, a process associated with obesity and
the onset of disease, according to findings
published online in advance of the print
edition of the Journal of Human Nutrition
and Dietetics.
To get enough of these protective
phytochemicals, researchers suggest eating
plant-based foods such as leafy greens,
fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes at the
start of a meal. Using what is known as a
phytochemical index, which compares the
number of calories consumed from plant-
based foods with the overall number of
daily calories, could also help people make
sure they remember to get enough
phytochemicals during their regular meals
and snacks, said Heather K. Vincent, Ph.D.,
the lead author of the paper.
"We need to find a way to encourage
people to pull back on fat and eat more
foods rich in micronutrients and trace
minerals from fruits, vegetables, whole
grains and soy," said Vincent, an assistant
professor in the UF Orthopaedics and
Sports Medicine Institute. "Fill your plate
with colorful, low-calorie, varied-texture
foods derived from plants first. By slowly
eating phytochemical-rich foods such as
salads with olive oil or fresh-cut fruits
before the actual meal ... you're ensuring
that you get the variety of protective,
disease-fighting phytochemicals you need
and controlling caloric intake."
The researchers studied a group of 54
young adults, analyzing their dietary
patterns over a three-day period, repeating
the same measurement eight weeks later. The
participants were broken into two groups:
normal weight and overweight-obese.
Although the adults in the two groups


consumed about the same amount of
calories, overweight-obese adults consumed
fewer plant-based foods and subsequently
fewer protective trace minerals and
phytochemicals and more saturated fats.
They also had higher levels of oxidative
stress and inflammation than their normal-
weight peers, Vincent said. These processes
are related to the onset of obesity, heart
disease, diabetes and joint disease, she
added.
"Diets low in plant-based foods affect
health over the course of a long period of
time," Vincent said. "This is related to
annual weight gain, low levels of
inflammation and oxidative stress. Those
are the onset processes of disease that
debilitate people later in life."
Oxidative stress occurs when the body
produces too many damaging free radicals
and lacks enough antioxidants or
phytochemicals to counteract them.
Because of excess fat tissue and certain
enzymes that are more active in overweight
people, being obese can actually trigger the
production of more free radicals, too.
Because many phytochemicals have
antioxidant properties, they can help
combat free radicals, Vincent said.
Phytochemicals include substances such as
allin from garlic, lycopene from tomatoes,
isoflavones from soy, beta carotene from
orange squashes and anythocyanins from
red wine, among others.
"People who are obese need more fruits,
vegetables, legumes and wholesome
unrefined grains," she said. "In comparison
to a normal-weight person, an obese person
is always going to be behind the eight ball
because there are so many adverse
metabolic processes going on."
Instead of making drastic changes, people
could substitute one or two choices a day


with phytochemical-rich foods to make a
difference in their diets, Vincent said. For
example, substituting a cup of steeped plain
tea instead of coffee or reaching for an
orange instead of a granola bar could
increase a person's phytochemical intake for
the day without even changing the feeling
of fullness. Over time, replacing more
pre-packaged snacks with fresh produce or
low-sugar grains could become a habit that
fights obesity and disease, Vincent said.
"We always want to encourage people to
go back to the whole sources of food, the
nonprocessed foods if we can help it,"
Vincent said. "That would be the bottom
line for anyone, regardless of age and body
size, keep going back to the purer plant-
based foods. Remember to eat the good
quality food first." 0


http://news.health.ufl.edu


afl






RSARC


A trigger for colon cancer?

UF finding sheds light on cells' transition from colitis to cancer

By Jennifer Brindise
UT F researchers have grown tumors in mice using cells from inflamed but noncancerous colon
tissue taken from human patients, a finding that sheds new light on colon cancer and how it
might be prevented.
Scientists observed that cancer stem cells taken from the gastrointestinal system in patients with a
chronic digestive disease called ulcerative colitis will transform into cancerous tumors in mice.
The finding, featured on the cover of the Oct. 15 issue of Cancer Research, may help explain why
patients with colitis have up to a 30-fold risk of developing colon cancer compared with people without
the disease.
New understanding of the link between colitis and cancer could lead to diagnostic tests that would
evaluate tissue taken from patients with colitis for signs of cancer stem cell development, thereby
identifying patients who may be at greater risk for cancer.
"Ultimately it would be great if we could prevent colitis or treat colitis so it never gets to the
cancerous stage," said UF College of Medicine colorectal surgeon Emina Huang, M.D., who is a
member of the Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at UF's McKnight Brain
Institute.
Although colonoscopy is very effective in screening and preventing colon cancer for most people, for
patients with colitis no diagnostic tests work well because the inflamed tissue makes identification of
INA HUANG, M.D. precancerous changes difficult.
According to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, approximately 700,000 people have colitis in the United States.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that cancer of the colon and rectum will claim the lives of about 50,000 people this year.
UF scientists gathered colitic tissue from humans and chemically screened it for colon cancer stem cells, also called tumor-
initiating cells. These cells were then isolated and monitored in mice to see if tumors would grow.
Huang said these findings shed light on that fact that it may not be just the cancer "seed" cell, but the "soil" in this case
inflamed colon tissue that plays a role in the development of cancer.
"Is it the seed, is it the soil or is it their interaction?" she said. "We think probably both, but now we have a new way to look at it
and a new method of attack." 0




The need for screening

Grant to help UF doctors deliver cancer care to needy Floridians

By Elizabeth Connor
U F is one of three academic medical centers in Florida that will provide screening and care for colorectal
cancer under a new $850,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Only a minority of Floridians ever receives colon cancer screening," said Thomas George, M.D.,
director of UF's gastrointestinal oncology program and a member of the UF Shands Cancer Center. "We are
targeting people with the most to gain. For them, this screening could mean the difference between life and
death."
Colon cancer screening under the grant is targeted at those ages 50 to 64 with little or no health insurance
coverage, said Susan Fleming, R.N., a cancer program administrator with the Florida Department of Health.
Shands at UF, along with grant partners Jackson Memorial Hospital at the University of Miami and Moffitt
Cancer Center in Tampa, will provide follow-up care at no charge for any cancers detected in the screening. THOMAS GEORGE, M.
Program organizers are working with local county public health units, the College of Medicine Equal Access
Clinic and selected faculty practices to help identify people who may be eligible for the screening at UF.
The five-year program began July 1 and services are slated to begin Jan. 1.
Part of the grant funds will be used for colorectal cancer education and awareness. Other grant efforts will
seek to identify the cultural, geographic and other barriers that can deter people from getting screened for colon
cancer.
In 2009, colorectal cancer will claim about 50,000 lives in the United States, about evenly divided between
men and women, according to the American Cancer Society. Florida colorectal cancer deaths during 2009 are
estimated to be about 3,500. 0


I18


Uill1ei


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te latest news and HSC events I


EM


U.







JACSNIL


TESTING






UF part of trials to test H1N1 vaccinee
in HIV-infected \\omen, children




MOBR, M..D..


it 4
C


By Czerne M. Reid


The UF Center for HIV/AIDS Research, Education and Safety in
Jacksonville is taking part in national clinical trials of the 2009
H1 N1 influenza vaccine among children, youth and pregnant
women who are infected with HIV.


The trials' aim is to determine how well higher-
than-usual doses of the vaccine trigger a protective
immune response in the study populations. The
trials will help clarify whether candidates need one
or two doses and will allow continued evaluation of
the vaccine's safety. The strength of the response
- and how long it lasts also will be evaluated.
Clinical trials have shown that a 15-microgram
dose of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine protects healthy
adults and older children. But children, youth and
pregnant women who have HIV might not be as
well-protected by the same doses. Trial participants
will receive two 30-microgram doses of vaccine by
injection 21 days apart.
"In the immune-suppressed population there is
always a concern that they may not be able to
respond to the vaccine," said Mobeen Rathore,
M.D., director of the UF Center for HIV/AIDS
Research, Education and Safety also known as
UF CARES who is leading the UF trials. "We
give the vaccine realizing that it may or may not
work provided it is safe."
The FDA-approved study vaccine contains
inactivated 2009 H1N1 influenza virus and cannot
cause infection.


HIV compromises the immune system, making
people more vulnerable to attack from disease-
causing agents. Pregnant women who have HIV are
at increased risk because of their pregnancy in
addition to a suppressed immune system. The 2009
H1N1 influenza appears to cause a much higher
mortality rate among pregnant women than among
others. But even with the "regular" seasonal flu,
pregnant women are at increased risk of sickness
and death, including fetal death.
Children generally are at higher risk from H1N1
influenza because their immune systems are not as
well-developed as those of older persons. In
addition, adults have some level of protection
against the 2009 H1N1 flu virus because of previous
exposure to similar flu viruses, something young
children generally lack.
One trial will enroll 130 pregnant women age 18
to 39 who are in their second or third trimester.
Women will take part in the study until six months
after delivering their babies. Their newborns will
be studied during the first six months of life.
The other trial will involve 140 children and
youth age 4 to 24 who were infected with HIV from
birth. They will be followed for seven months from


enrollment.
Blood samples from subjects will be analyzed to
determine the level of antibodies produced against
the 2009 H1N1 flu virus and how those levels
change over time. Newborns will be tested to see
how many maternal antibodies were transferred to
them from their mothers.
Participants at UF's study site will come from
existing patient groups with which UF CARES
works. The organization is the largest
comprehensive HIV education program in North/
Central Florida and performs NIH-funded HIV/
AIDS research in infants, children, adolescents and
women including pregnant women. The program
is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers,
physicians and other health professionals.
The vaccine trials are being conducted at 35 sites
and eight sub-sites around the United States and
Puerto Rico that are members of the International
Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials
Group. The National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases and the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development, both part of the National
Institutes of Health, are sponsoring and funding
the trials.
But Rathore, who is trained as a vaccinologist,
isn't just concerned about people who are in the
trial population.
"Whether one is participating in the study or not,
I think it's important that everybody get the H1N1
vaccine to protect ourselves," he said. Q


http://news.health.ufl.edu


afilI


.o,1-E







JACSNIL


Jacksonville center focuses


on patients battling breast cancer

By Kandra Albury


D anielle Horsley noticed the lump
in her left breast when she was
laying on her back in bed.
Horsley, 37, knew there was a possibility that the lump could
be the unthinkable breast cancer. Just a year earlier, one of
her sisters had been diagnosed with the disease at age 29.
The next morning, Horsley contacted her gynecologist, Brent
Seibel, M.D., a UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville assistant
professor of obstetrics and gynecology.
"I found it on a Wednesday night, called Thursday morning,
and Dr. Seibel saw me on Friday at 11 a.m.," Horsley said.
Within 24 hours of her call, a treatment plan was quickly put
into action. Seibel, who sees patients at Emerson Medical Plaza,
referred Horsley to a multidisciplinary team of physicians at the
Breast Health Center, located in the same building.
The Breast Health Center is focused on the prevention, diag-
nosis and treatment of breast cancers. The center's collaborative
team of physicians includes specialists in oncology, radiation
therapy and breast surgery. The team also includes one of only
two fellowship-trained breast surgeons in the Jacksonville area,
Laila Samiian, M.D.
After a mammogram and ultrasound confirmed an abnormal-
ity was present, Horsley met with Samiian, a UF assistant pro-
fessor of surgical oncology who specializes in treating breast
cancer. Samiian evaluated Horsley and performed a biopsy on
the same day to rule out cancer in the lymph nodes. By the time
her pathology results were back, Horsley had an appointment
scheduled with Samiian as well as a plastic surgeon.
"Her biopsy showed that she had a very aggressive, fast-grow-
ing breast cancer," Samiian said. "We had to move as quickly as
possible to improve her outcomes."
Because her younger sister had been treated for breast cancer
and tested positive for BRCA mutation the gene that increas-
es a woman's risk of developing breast cancer Samiian felt
that Horsley would be at high risk for developing additional
breast cancers in the future. So she recommended a prophylac-
tic bilateral mastectomy, which involves removal of the diseased
breast as well as the unaffected breast.
Five weeks after Horsley discovered the lump, surgeons re-
moved both of her breasts at Shands Jacksonville. During the
same operation, the breast reconstruction process began.
Surgeon Christopher Vashi, M.D., placed expanders in Horsley
to prepare for her permanent implants, an operation that would
be performed months later.
Samiian said surgical removal of both breasts is more com-
mon now than it was several years ago due to advances in tech-
nology such as MRI, genetic testing and breast reconstruction
options.
"Some women may have had a previous breast cancer treated


h\ IumpI P L..mi\ jnJ jJiji ..n jnJ .nJ up J.Ul..pirg j ,. .'nJ
bhl. lue Ljrn .." 'j !miijrin jiJ
In ,,rrm >J .. pjiirni Ljrrnn I hj\ ijJijiirn j ,.,- nJ Iirrn
and undergo mastectomy. They may choose to have the unaf-
fected breast removed as a preventive measure to reduce the risk
of another breast cancer and to achieve better symmetry during
plastic surgery reconstruction.
Horsley underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy during the
16 weeks following her surgery. On Sept. 1, seven months after
finding the lump, she returned to Shands Jacksonville to have the
expanders removed and the permanent implants put in by Vashi.
"In several months, we will raise a mound of tissue to create a
nipple," Vashi said. "Once that has healed, we will then tattoo
the areolas and this will hide the scar from the nipple flap."
Vashi said the reconstruction process from start to finish
takes about a year, giving the patient a break between proce-
dures to heal.
After the areola is tattooed, a final touch-up procedure fol-
lows that could include anything from scar revision to aesthet-
ics. These are usually short, small procedures that can be done
in the physician's office.
In the meantime, Horsley is resting and slowly getting back into
the swing of things as she waits to schedule her final procedures.
"It was just over two weeks from me finding it to diagnosis,
with ultrasound, mammogram and biopsy in between," said the
mother of three. "I'm just truly grateful for all of my physicians
at Shands and everyone who helped me through this." Q


Danielle Horsley -with
husband Todd and
children Emily, 15,
Shelby, 4 and Parker, 12
- is recovering after
doctors with UF's Breast
Health Center in
Jacksonville removed
both her breasts to treat
a fast-moving cancer.


:2o1,:


Uill1ei


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for the iciest news end HSC events.







DITICTON


Several College of Nursing faculty members were recently honored by the Florida Nurses Association as a part
of their Centennial Great 100 Nurses. The Great 100 Nurses were nominated by their peers and selected as
representing excellence in diverse areas of nursing practice. Among the College's faculty honorees were: Andrea
Gregg, D.S.N., R.N., an associate professor and Jacksonville campus director, for nursing advocacy; Pamela
Pieper, M.S.N., A.R.N.P., a clinical associate professor and pediatric surgery nurse practitioner/clinical nurse
specialist for the department of surgery at Shands Jacksonville, for clinical nursing; Joan Castleman, M.S.N., R.N.,
a clinical associate professor, for community nursing; Jo Snider, Ed.D., R.N., an associate professor, for nursing
education; Jennifer Elder, Ph.D., R.N., a professor and department chair, for research; and Kathleen Long,
Ph.D., R.N, dean and a professor, for role model in nursing advocacy, research and education. Those selected were
honored at the FNA Centennial Celebration banquet held in late September.


COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

KENNETH I. BERNS, M.D.,
Ph.D., the director of the UF
Genetics Institute, has been
named to the National Science
Advisory Board for Biosecurity,
a key federal panel that advises
on matters of national security
and public health. Berns
accepted an invitation to serve Kenneth 1. Berns
on the board for a term ending
June 14, 2012, according to the Department of
Health and Human Services. As one of a group of
advisers to Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius and National Institutes of Health
Director Francis S. Collins, Berns will provide
security oversight of what is termed "dual-use"
research -legitimate biological research that
could be misused to pose a biologic threat to
public health or national security.

MILDRED MALDONADO-MOLINA, Ph.D., an
assistant professor of epidemiology and health
policy research, received the 2009 National Award
of Excellence in Research by a New Investigator
from the National Hispanic
Science Network. The award
recognizes Maldonado-
Molina's work related to
methodology applications to
drug and alcohol prevention
science. In May, she also
received the ECPN Early Career
Award from the Society for
Prevention Research. Mildred Maldonado-Molina

GREGORY SCHULTZ, Ph.D., a professor of
obstetrics and gynecology and director of the
Institute for Wound Research, has been named
director of the college's Medical
Sciences Research Program. In
his new role, Schultz will be in
charge of the administration of
the college's research track, will
control the program's funding
and will select students who
are eligible for graduation with
honors.


COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY

HENRIETTA L. LOGAN,
Ph.D., a professor of
community dentistry and
behavioral science and
director of the Southeast
Center for Research to Reduce
Disparities in Oral Health,
was one of 30 UF faculty
members who received a UF Henrietta L. Logan
Research Foundation Professor
award. Logan was selected for her notable record
of research and strong research agenda likely to
lead to further distinction in her field. This three-
year award includes a $5,000 annual salary
supplement and a $3,000 grant.

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

ROWAN J. MILNER, B.V.Sc.,
an associate professor of
oncology, was appointed
associate chief of staff of UF's
small animal hospital. Milner,
who is board certified in both
small animal internal medicine
and in oncology, will be in
charge of the hospital's day- Rowan J. Milner
to-day operations. Milner joined
UF's veterinary faculty in 2001. He was associate
chair of the department of small animal clinical
sciences in 2008 and was oncology service chief
until assuming his new position in July.



COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

BIN LIU, Ph.D., an
assistant professor of
pharmacodynamics, was one
of 10 UF faculty members to
receive the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute Distinguished Bin Liu
Mentor Award for 2009-2010.
The two-year, $10,000 award recognizes faculty
members who are actively engaged with training
of undergraduate students in research. Liu has
mentored 21 undergraduate students, including 10
at UF.


L. DOUGLAS RIED, Ph.D., an
associate dean for the college,
has been named dean of the
Southwest Oklahoma State
University College of Pharmacy.
Ried came to UF in 1990 as
an associate professor and
served as an assistant dean
from 2000-06. Ried also L. Douglas
served as a professor in the
colleges of Public Health and Health Professions
and Medicine. Diane Beck, Pharm.D., a professor
in the college, has been appointed as interim
associate dean for curriculum and assessment in
Ried's absence.


College of Pharmacy honors
Three UF College of Pharmacy faculty members
were named to leadership positions for the the
Florida Pharmacy Association in July during its
annual meeting in St. Augustine, Fla. Karen
Whalen, Pharm.D., a clinical associate
professor and assistant director of the UF
College of Pharmacy St. Petersburg campus,
was installed as the 2009-2010 president of the
FPA; William Riffee, Ph.D., a professor and
dean of the College of Pharmacy, was named
speaker-elect of the FPA; Carol Motycka,
Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor and
assistant dean and director of the UF College
of Pharmacy Jacksonville campus, was elected
chair of the education council of the FPA.


http://news.health.ufl.edu


"UNOl


21]











SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HEALTH AFFAIRS


MELANIE FRIDL ROSS,
M.S.J., E.L.S., has been named
director of the Health Science
Center Office of News &
Communications. After serving
as interim director for the past
year, Ross will continue to lead
the office's communication
efforts, working in cooperation
with Shands HealthCare and UF
University Relations.


Melanie Fridl Ross


JACKSONVILLE
Three College of Medicine-Jacksonville emergency
medicine residents won the first annual Emergency
Medicine Residents' Association Resident SimWars
Competition Oct. 6. Emergency medicine residents
Jack Forrest, M.D., Mark Laperouse, M.D., and
John Lissoway, M.D., battled five other residency
teams from around the country in this interactive
simulation competition. The teams challenged each
other on simulated patient care, as an expert panel
rated their teamwork, communication, leadership,
medical care and management of the patient.


Cancer Center names new director
Paul Okunieff, M.D., has been named director of the UF Shands Cancer
Center and chair of the College of Medicine department of radiation
oncology, effective Dec. 1. A graduate of Harvard Medical School,
Okunieff is currently the Philip Rubin professor in radiation oncology
and chair of the department of radiation oncology at the University of
Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he leads a successful
radiation oncology clinical practice and research program. He also is
director of the university's Robert A. Flavin Radiosurgery Center. Prior to
his appointment at Rochester in 1998, Okunieff served as branch chief of
radiation oncology at the National Cancer Institute, overseeing clinical-
translational research for the intramural NCI program. Okunieff succeeds
Joseph V. Simone, M.D., an internationally recognized leader in cancer
S care, research and education who headed the Cancer Center and helped
..~ *. to advance an alliance with UF, Shands HealthCare and the Moffitt Cancer
Center that was forged in 2008, and Robert J. Amdur, M.D., a professor
and interim chair of the department of radiation oncology since 2006.
"Dr. Okunieff is a perfect match for the University of Florida and Shands
HealthCare," said David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health affairs at UF's Health
Science Center and president of the UF&Shands Health System. "At a time when we are opening a new
Cancer Hospital, developing our already world-renowned Proton Beam Therapy Institute in Jacksonville
with a plan to add a radiosurgery center at that site, enhancing our research program with a focus on
translational and clinical research, and establishing a National Cancer Center consortium arrangement
with Moffit Cancer Center, Paul's extensive background in all of these areas and his extraordinary record
of achievement are just what we need in Florida."


A gifted surgeon

Dr. James M. Seeger, a professor and chief of vascular sur-
gery and endovascular therapy, died Oct. 21. He was 62.
An internationally recognized leader in the field of
vascular surgery, Dr. Seeger devoted his career to advancing pa-
tient care, educating future surgeons and conducting research to
solve medical and surgical problems. He dedicated all but one
year of his medical practice to Shands at UF and the UF Health
Science Center.
"The UF College of Medicine has lost a great leader, skilled
surgeon, compassionate physician, gifted teacher, inquisitive
scientist and good friend," said Michael L. Good, M.D., interim
dean of the college. "Jim's dedication and contributions to UF,
his patients and students were unparalleled, spanning decades,
touching and improving the lives of thousands."
Dr. Seeger joined UF in 1982 as an assistant professor of sur-
gery and rose rapidly through the academic ranks, serving most
recently as associate chairman of the department of surgery. In
1989 he established the division of vascular surgery, serving as
its first and only chief, leading a dynamic team of surgeons and
staff committed to improving patient care and advancing surgi-
cal science. He also served as chief of vascular surgery for the
Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1982 to
1999.
His greatest passion was the vascular surgery fellowship pro-
gram. Under his tutelage as director, more than 25 physicians
went on to become accomplished vascular surgeons, many of
whom are current leaders within the field.
Dr. Seeger's research interests included peripheral arterial
disease and aortic surgery. He worked for several years on the


aill1ei


and leader

postoperative inflammatory response
associated with major aortic recon-
struction, and the role of this inflam-
matory response in the development
of single and multi-organ failure af-
ter aortic repair.
Though he was passionate about
all aspects of vascular surgery, his
brilliant analytical mind and his ob-
session for details were gifts that al-
lowed him to be an innovative leader
in the business practice of surgery,
said Kevin Behrns, M.D., chair of
the department of surgery.
"His determined work behind the


scenes led to many changes in surgical practice and improve-
ments in the care of patients," Behrns said.
He was a member of more than 20 professional organizations,
including the American Surgical Association, Society of
Vascular Surgery and the American College of Surgeons. He was
serving his second term on the Society for Vascular Surgery's
board of directors.
Dr. Seeger is survived by Carolyn, his wife of more than 36
years.
Please join the UF Department of Surgery in honoring the
life and achievements of Dr. Serger on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Family and friends will receive guests beginning at 4 p.m., with
the service beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the UF Health Professions,
Pharmacy and Nursing Auditorium. --Jennifer Brindise 0


Visit us online @ http://news.health.ufl.edu for te latest news and HSC events I


JAMES M. SEEGER, M.D.







mPIE


Healthy cc, ks,


keAltk8 families


How one UF professor and

her team are reducing health

disparities one church at a time


CAROLYN TUCKER, PH.D.


By Jessica Metzger

As Carolyn Tucker, Ph.D., takes the stage,
she invites everyone to stand and sing
with her, "One love, one heart. Let's get
together and feel alright."
She uses this song as a motivational tool in her new Health-Smart Church
Program, which brings church members, pastors, communities and families
together to help improve African American health. The pilot program targets
African-American women facing issues such as obesity or hypertension to
both identify barriers to healthy behaviors and find ways to help them adopt
healthier lifestyles. Why target women? In African-American families, the
woman is often the center of the household; if she changes her behaviors, the
family will follow, Tucker said.
"It is a sad fact that most of chronic diseases that occur in Florida and the
U.S. have the highest prevalence among African-Americans, followed by
Hispanics/Latinos," said Tucker, a UF professor of psychology and
community health and family medicine, and an endowed term professor of
health disparities in the College of Medicine. "We African Americans are
over-represented with regard to seemingly every chronic disease, and that has
to change."
The program was recently developed into a DVD that outlines Health-
Smart Behaviors and how to overcome barriers like not having a safe place to
exercise or time to prepare a healthy breakfast. Aside from directly teaching
participants, the program also involves turning churches into health
promotion centers, with church leaders and pastors receiving training to be
health empowerment coaches.
"Some people believe they can't exercise because they're too fat to exercise
and they feel embarrassed. This is a barrier," Tucker said. "That's one of the
reasons we are focusing on having churches become health promotion
centers people often feel more comfortable in their church setting, as
opposed to going to a gym or a public place."
Kendall Campbell, M.D., an assistant dean of minority affairs for the
College of Medicine and director of UF's Eastside Community Practice, is a
co-investigator of the Health-Smart Church Program. Participants come by
his clinic and he keeps track of their blood pressure, body-mass index,


triglycerides and cholesterol levels.
"It's a way to infiltrate the community, especially underserved minorities.
Churches are the core hub of these communities; it's the way to get access to
the people," Campbell said. "I'm a physician, I fight health disparities every
day. The Health-Smart Church Program and its focus on Health-Smart
Behaviors is just one component. It's a good start and a new approach."
Each participating church was given a treadmill and a balance beam scale,
and with the help of graduate and undergraduate students, each is
implementing a walking group, cardio-dance class and other physical exercise
classes, Tucker said.
In addition to the health empowerment coaches, each family is assigned
one student member from Tucker's research team. These coach consultants
call the family weekly and discuss their progress and any problems they may
be facing. Soon, church members will take over these roles and will
implement all aspects of the program.
"Being a part of an African-American church, I see the problem firsthand,"
said Deloris Rentz, a community research coordinator for the program. "I
think getting the churches involved is a good way to research some of the
health issues. I think Dr. Tucker has the right idea in that the African-
American church has a tremendous impact on the community. It's one of the
best ways historically to get the African-American community involved in
promoting their own health."
Rosa Williams, a community member partner who makes contacts with
community groups and recruits participants, said she has known Tucker for a
long time and respects her methods, dedication and manner.
"I got involved because I like her and I like what she does. She's very
concerned about people, especially minority health," Williams said. "She's a
very unique person. She keeps going when most would stop."
Tucker said her two goals are to train the next generation of researchers
interested in community health promotion and to reduce health disparities by
empowering communities and families to take charge of their health. To do
this, she typically works 14- to 16-hour days, but it's worth it, she says.
"When people ask what inspires me, I am reminded that a major part of my
inspiration comes from the words of my grandfather, who always told me,
'Anything worth doing ain't easy, and anything worth having is worth
working hard to achieve.' I think that reducing health disparities and
promoting health are both worth doing." G


http://news.health.ufl.edu


Imm








SE A


Shoulder pads designed by College of Medicine
researchers are helping players at the high school,
college and professional levels keep their cool during
those steamy early season football games. Dr. Nik
Gravenstein (far left) and Sem Lampotang, professors
in the department of anesthesiology, were part of the
team that came up with the idea that led to the
Temperature Management System, which blows cool air
through football pads. Marybeth Horodyski, director of
research at the UF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Institute, oversees testing of the equipment.






Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, a second-year zoological
medicine resident at the UF Veterinary Medical Center,
holds an 8-month-old giraffe named Geoffrey on Nov. 5
while veterinary technician Sarah Purcell, right, feeds him
a bottle. Geoffrey is recuperating from arthroscopic
surgery performed on his right front hock.


The helicopter pad atop the new Shands Cancer Hospital at UF is
a mere 9-second elevator ride to the Shands Critical Care Center
on the first floor.


Published by
,-,lh-I -I l ,

Senior Vice President,
Health Affairs; President,
UF&Shands Health System
F ,.i -- ,- 1 1 I, 1 : -, F ,

Director, News &
Communications
I ,, I -- I:

Editor
- I I- :, I ':,' .I i I
:, I II .h ,


Senior Editors
I1 1 1 :I , 1 I F I .11 : .1 : I I 1 :, I : 1

Designer

Staff Writers


-, I:,,1 1- :, I- .I -II 1 1- -
IH ,,., T :, -, : ,, ,,:,1, ] :,,:,1,

I- I I,,,.:,H :,,,- ::.I L:, .,
-,,, I : 1,11 F. I-

I 1,: .I ,,,-,, I :,,,, -- I :
IH :,11: :1.,[ : ,- I,,, h r,-4 :1 : '.'- -


Contributing Writers
I I :,1 ,- I,,_ I ,, I_ J. .I ,


Photo Editor
S: P I I
Support Staff

I I ,, I:, I I ll -
I r,, I I,,i,

I l, In -* I -, i i,-,, , 1



, 1", ": ,',I: , '- : ,, 11 -


I T I. 1 1 1 i-,

1. II 10 1 1, 1- d ,I


Health Science Center

UF UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA