In case you missed them, here are some recent news items about the College of Medicine and its faculty and students.
- FSU President John Thrasher presented his annual State of the University address in early December. He noted that faculty research is making a difference around the globe and close to home. As an example, Thrasher cited the opening of FSU PrimaryHealth, where faculty and students are providing needed care to an underserved community.
FSU News: State of the University: Thrasher applauds FSU’s culture of excellence
- The university had quite a year in 2019, bolstered by academic and research excellence and student success. The opening of FSU PrimaryHealth also made the list of 2019’s notable achievements.
FSU News: Year in review: Reaching new heights in 2019 - Each semester for the past two years, a handful of art students have visited the College of Medicine’s anatomy lab to create murals and artwork along its walls. "It’s a unique opportunity that not everyone has the chance to be part of — learning what’s beneath the skin that we draw,” said art student Melissa Gonzalez-Lopez.
Tallahassee Democrat: Murals brighten lab where students learn wonders of anatomy
- Nearly 2,700 students graduated from FSU in December including the 37 members of the inaugural class in the College of Medicine’s School of Physician Assistant Practice.
FSU News: Florida State to hold fall commencement Dec. 13, 14
- Fifteen years after earning his medical degree, and eight years after coming to the U.S. from Egypt, Tamer Tadros graduated with the School of Physician Assistant Practice’s inaugural class.
Tallahassee Democrat: PA degree part of long-delayed dream for FSU graduate
FSU News: Inaugural graduate of PA program finds path back to medical career - Garret Morton, a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, was involved in a hit-and-run crash that left him with serious injuries. His wife, Emily Morton, launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical expenses.
WCTV: Hit-and-run victim launches GoFundMe fundraiser to help pay for medical bills
- Senior Associate Dean Daniel Van Durme spoke to WCTV about the severity of this year’s flu season. With the peak of the season fast approaching, Van Durme elaborated on the importance and effectiveness of the flu shot.
WCTV: How bad is this flu season? Experts weigh in
- A recent series of articles in the Fort Myers News-Press documents a 17-year-old girl's struggle with mental health. Elena Reyes, director of the Center of Child Stress & Health in Immokalee, discussed the lifelong harm that can be caused by childhood trauma.
News-Press: Forsaken: Anber's story
- Michael Blaber, a professor of biomedical sciences, has been named to the National Academy of Inventors. The academy highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating work that has made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development and welfare of society.
FSU News: Researchers named to National Academy of Inventors
- FSU’s growing Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences program is helping students find their niche in health care. The program graduated 25 more future health professionals in December.
FSU News: FSU’s growing IMS program to graduate 25 more future health professionals
- Christie Alexander, associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, was elected the 73rd president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. Her installation took place Dec. 7.
Tallahassee Democrat: FSU College of Medicine professor elected president of FAFP
- Alexander also recently appeared on WCTV to discuss the dangers of vaping and strategies for parents to use when talking with their children about vaping.
WCTV: Vaping latest
- Lee Health has partnered with the College of Medicine to expand behavioral health integration to some of its clinical sites to better help patients struggling with anxiety and depression.
NBC2: Health matters: screening for anxiety and depression
- An ordinance that would let Leon County start a needle exchange program to help prevent hepatitis and HIV infections among drug users was adopted by the Leon County Commission. Les Beitsch, chair of the College of Medicine’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, commented on the lack of evidence supporting the belief that syringe exchange programs lead to a cycle of addiction.
Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County Commission votes to adopt needle exchange ordinance
- On WTXL, second-year med student Daniel Schaefer explained the purpose of such programs.
WTXL: Commissioners vote in favor of starting Leon County needle exchange program
- A Gainesville Sun article discussed a state licensing board’s struggle with how best to address mental health and substance abuse among medical students and physicians in Florida. Joan Meek, dean of the College of Medicine’s Orlando Regional Campus, commented on fears, stress and anxiety that medical students may have when they need mental health treatment.
Gainesville Sun: State panel grapples with physician mental health
- In late October, the FSU College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program at BayCare Health System (Winter Haven) received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Markets Insider: Florida State University family medicine residency earns accreditation
The Ledger: Medical News in Polk County (November 2019)
- The FSU College of Medicine and Sarasota Memorial Health Care System are partnering to offer the area’s first hospice and palliative medicine fellowship. It’s one of 13 approved sites in Florida where board-certified physicians can acquire advanced training to address medical and psychological issues that accompany serious illness or end-of-life care.
Sarasota Magazine: FSU, SMH launch new hospice, palliative care fellowship
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: FSU, SMH launch palliative care fellowship
- Irene Alexandraki, Jonathan Appelbaum, Stephen Sandroni, Claudia Kroker-Bode and Ingrid Jones-Ince were mentioned in Florida State’s November 2019 edition of the Faculty and Staff Briefs highlighting honors, awards, publications and more.
FSU News: Faculty and Staff Briefs: November 2019
- A team of researchers in the lab of Professor Mohamed Kabbaj made national headlines for their study on ketamine’s effect on alcohol consumption. The study showed that ketamine can decrease alcohol consumption in male rats that previously had consumed high amounts of alcohol when given unrestricted access several times a week.
FSU News: Ketamine could help men suffering from alcohol use disorder
News Medical: Ketamine can decrease alcohol consumption in men, reveal FSU researchers
Daily Mail: Medicinal ketamine may offer hope to alcoholics
Fox4Now: FSU research says ketamine could treat alcoholism (video)
- The FSU College of Medicine received the 2019 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine. The college is one of 43 U.S. health-profession programs honored and is receiving the award for the third consecutive year.
FSU News: FSU College of Medicine recognized for diversity success
FSView & Florida Flambeau: FSU College of Medicine recognized for diversity success
- In an essay for the Tallahassee Democrat and Jackson County Floridian, Tomeka Norton-Brown, project coordinator for ACTS 2, wrote: “Caregivers are some of the strongest people I know. They’re dedicated, reliable and selfless. In my line of work, we also know that selflessness – though admirable – can be harmful to your health.” Her essay was written in recognition of National Family Caregivers Month in November.
Message for dementia caregivers: You’re not alone
- An article in The New York Times discussed scientists’ findings that people who feel younger than their chronological age are typically healthier and more psychologically resilient than those who feel older. College of Medicine Professor Antonio Terracciano commented on the powerful question of “How old do you feel?”
New York Times: You’re only as old as you feel
Irish Times: Young at heart: How attitude can hold back the years
- Having a vigorous, calm and mature personality during adolescence has been associated with a lower risk for dementia in later life, new research suggests. Terracciano was not involved in the study but commented on its findings.
Medscape: Do personality traits in teens indicate future dementia risk?
- More than 35 percent of U.S. adults ages 45 and older are lonely, based on the UCLA loneliness scale and reported by AARP in 2018. Florida Weekly took a look at how society got so lonely and included comments from College of Medicine Professor Angelina Sutin on her 2018 study linking loneliness and dementia.
Florida Weekly: The loneliness epidemic
- Second-year med student Shanquell Dixon was honored as a Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero of Tomorrow during an October game against the Nashville Predators.
NHL.com: Shanquell Dixon honored as Lightning Community Hero of Tomorrow (video)
- The Department of Geriatrics at the FSU College of Medicine and the USF School of Aging Studies launched a campaign focused on education surrounding pain awareness, pain management, and safe use, storage and disposal of pain medicines.
PRWeb: Flip the Script campaign aims to start conversation about pain among older adults - Sara Jones, a doctoral student in the College of Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, shared top honors at FSU’s Three Minute Thesis competition. Jones earned a $1,000 prize and advanced to a regional competition.
FSU News: Physics student and Biomedical Sciences student share top honors at FSU’s Three Minute Thesis competition - Print | Video | Audio
- College of Medicine alumnus James E. Pilkington (M.D. ’14) returned to his hometown of Lake Wales to practice urology. His return is important to the community, wrote The Ledger. Recruiting urologists has been a frequent need in Polk County, and urology is one of four surgical specialties in which a 2016 workforce analysis predicts the greatest shortages in 2025.
The Ledger: Lake Wales grads return home to practice medicine
- College of Medicine alumna Rachel Cartechine (M.D. ’11) was featured in Florida Today’s Know Your Health Pro series and discussed her passion for the OB-GYN field.
Florida Today: Cartechine wanted to be a ‘baby doctor’ from early age
- As a child, FSU College of Medicine alumna Alrick Drummond (M.D. ’14) struggled with asthma. Visits to her doctor, Elizabeth Yakubu, inspired Drummond to affect lives in the same way Dr. Yakubu did for her. Today, she’s realizing that goal and is a pediatrician at Children’s Health Center.
Florida Sentinel Bulletin: Tampa native launches her career as pediatrician
- The Tallahassee Democrat published a story about Sabal Palm Elementary School and its “wrap-around services.” It’s home to Tallahassee’s first Community Partnership School. As part of the partnership, FSU PrimaryHealth is providing Sabal Palm students access to primary care.
Tallahassee Democrat: Sabal Palm school offers wrap-around services
- Choogon Lee, an associate professor at the College of Medicine, has embarked on a four-year project to uncover molecular secrets about human circadian sleep disorders. He has received a $1.2 million grant from the NIH to aid his research.
FSU News: With NIH support, FSU sleep detective taking closer look at human clock genes – Print | Audio
- The Naples Daily News published an article about the language barrier in Southwest Florida’s growing Mayan community and its impact on a sexual assault case. Javier Rosado, director of clinical research at the FSU College of Medicine’s Center for Child Stress & Health in Immokalee, commented on the often crowded migrant housing in the area that can put children at risk for sexual abuse.
Naples Daily News: Language barrier in Southwest Florida stymies search for toddler’s attacker
- Florida’s state universities, nonprofit labs and for-profit startups netted $693 million from the National Institutes of Health during the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That mark eclipsed the previous record of $650 million, set in 2017, according to a Palm Beach Post analysis of NIH data. The article highlights UF and FSU’s partnership on the $29 million CTSA award.
Palm Beach Post: Winners in gold-standard NIH grants
- AAA projects that approximately 20% of all drivers will be 65 or older by 2030. During a presentation at the American College of Physicians’ annual meeting, College of Medicine Professor Alice Pomidor discussed the difficulty in knowing when patients should hand over their car keys.
Healio: When to ask older patients to stop driving is ‘not cut and dried’
- New research suggests having a pet can help ease the pain of losing a loved one. Pomidor was not involved in the study but commented on the results.
Health24: How four-legged friends help buffer loss of a spouse
- Community Health Centers Inc. announced that Debra Andree will become the health system’s next president/CEO in January. Andree is also the pediatric education director at the College of Medicine.
Apopka Voice: Community Health Centers names Debra Andree new President/CEO
- In an article on WhatToExpect.com, experts including Joan Meek, Orlando Regional Campus dean, weighed in on the issue of caffeine consumption while breastfeeding.
What to Expect: Breastfeeding mom opens up about being shamed for drinking coffee
Meek also commented on breastfeeding struggles new moms face when trying to develop a pumping routine.
What to Expect: Keira Knightley gets real about pumping struggles
- In October, the Capital Medical Society Foundation awarded 10 scholarships to students in their first or second year of medical school at the College of Medicine, and third- and fourth-year medical students at the Tallahassee Regional Campus.
Tallahassee Democrat: Capital Medical Society awards 10 scholarships - The Class of 2021 from the College of Medicine’s Fort Pierce Regional Campus visited the A.E. Backus Museum as part of a special Dean’s Rounds program.
TC Palm: FSU med students explore connections between arts, health care and wellness - The Fort Pierce Regional Campus also gathered its faculty members, staff and students for a night of appreciation and academic updates in October. Select students and faculty members received scholarships and awards.
TCPalm: FSU College of Medicine honors faculty, students at Fort Pierce campus