Two clerkship faculty members of the College of Medicine’s Tallahassee Regional Campus were honored March 28 by the Capital Medical Society. Andrew Wong, M.D., received the I.B. Harrison, M.D., Humanitarian Award, and John Katopodis, M.D., received the Outstanding Physician Award.

“[Wong] is one of the people in the group that constantly pushes to improve our practice and meet the community needs,” said Mark Fahey, M.D., his colleague/introducer at the awards dinner. “Andy has always been there to pitch in and help fix things and make things better for patients, colleagues, community, and the up-and-coming future of medicine – our students. As orthopedists we fix things!”

Here is an excerpt from Katopodis’ introduction by Doug Murphy, M.D.: “Being FMA president is essentially a full-time job, yet John was able to perform his duties as president while handling a busy cardiology practice and a new son at the same time! ... John is a physician’s physician.... He is well read and respected throughout Florida. However, don’t ask him an in-depth question on cardiology unless you have an extra 20 minutes!”

Washington Hill, former OB-GYN clerkship director and current Sarasota Regional Campus community board member, recently received the Rutgers University-Camden Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hill was honored alongside his brother, George Hill:  2019 Rutgers University-Camden Chancellor's Awards

The Hills were recognized as part of the university’s 2019 Chancellor’s Awards for Civic Engagement.

Florida State University's recent faculty awards ceremony included honors for two people from the College of Medicine.

Robert J. Tomko Jr. was recognized with the 2018-19 University Graduate Teaching Award and Benjamin Smith received the 2018-19 University Undergraduate Teaching Award.  Both were recognized for their work with the College of Medicine's physician assistant program. In addition to being honored at the Faculty Awards Dinner at the FSU Alumni Center, each will receive a $2,000 honorarium from the university.

The winners were selected by a committee of faculty and students who reviewed nominations, student questionnaires and support materials.

The University Teaching Award recognizes teaching excellence as multi-faceted, involving areas such as providing a positive role model to students, imparting a respect for truth and a love of learning, challenging students' thinking and assumptions, showing respect for all persons, and innovative instructional techniques.

From l-r, Benjamin Smith, FSU President John Thrasher, Robert J. Tomko Jr., and Jim Zedaker, associate dean and director of the School of Physician Assistant Practice.

In case you missed them, here are some recent news items about the College of Medicine and its faculty and students.

• College of Medicine research faculty members Emily Pritchard and Cesar Rodriguez have worked with a team of FSU student-entrepreneurs over the past two years. The team won a grand prize of $10,000 in the annual InNOLEvation Challenge Business Model Competition in March.
  
  FSU News: FSU student-entrepreneurs win awards for addressing real-world problems
  
  
  The team, InnoHealth Diagnostics, also made it to the April 17 final round of the ACC InVenture Prize competition, a “Shark Tank”-style business competition.
  
  FSU News: FSU student-entrepreneurs compete at 2019 ACC InVenture Prize Competition
  
   
• Like other medical schools across the nation, FSU’s College of Medicine held Match Day on March 15. Graduating medical students received notification of where they will enter residency training.
  
  FSU News: College of Medicine announces Match Day results (video)
  
  Tallahassee Democrat: Graduating med students get ‘matched’ with residency programs
  
  
  Naples Daily News highlighted the eight newest residents who will start with the FSU College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health this summer.
  
  Naples Daily News: Southwest Florida hospitals get resident names for Match Day
  
   
• In late March, Autism Institute Director Amy Wetherby and her team unveiled their latest breakthrough, BabyNavigator.com. The resource, which garnered national attention, is designed to help parents identify early signs of autism.
  
  TODAY.com: Early signs of autism for infants and toddlers
  
  FSU News: New website walks parents through early childhood development, alerts them to early signs of autism
  
  WTXL: FSU’s ‘Baby Navigator’ website aims to alert parents to early signs of autism (video)
  
  Apalachicola Times: FSU website alerts to autism signs
  
  Tallahassee Democrat: FSU’s Baby Navigator alerts parents to early signs of autism
  
   
• Roughly 78 percent of farmworkers in the U.S. are migrants. Those migrants are completing the bulk of the grueling, thankless tasks on farms across the country to help keep grocery stores’ produce shelves stocked. Clinical Associate Professor Javier Rosado at the College of Medicine’s Immokalee Health Education Site elaborates on the mental health crisis many migrant farmworkers face.
  
  Huffington Post: The mental health crisis hidden behind grocery store vegetables
  
   
• The annual Dance Marathon at FSU took place the first weekend of March. The largest student-run philanthropy on FSU’s campus revealed a record-breaking fundraising total of $2.21 million at the conclusion of the 40-hour event. That money allows the College of Medicine to continue funding its pediatric outreach programs.
  
  FSU News: Dance Marathon at FSU raises record-breaking amount (video)
  
  Tallahassee Democrat: FSU Dance Marathon students dance the night – and day – away for good cause
  
   
• In the AMA’s Moving Medicine podcast series on physician well-being, College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty shared the outpouring of grief following a medical student’s suicide and outlined the FSU Wellness Committee’s efforts to create a culture that promotes wellness for students.
  
  AMA: Moving Medicine: Physician Well-Being, Part 3 with John P. Fogarty, M.D. (audio)
  
   
• Jennifer Carrion, a physician from Lee Memorial Hospital, visited the College of Medicine’s SSTRIDE class at Immokalee High School earlier this month to speak about her journey into family medicine.
  
  Immokalee Bulletin: Dr. Carrion visits SSTRIDE at IHS
  
   
• In early April, the Tallahassee Regional Campus held its Wine Tasting Gala to raise money for medical student scholarships. Tallahassee Campus Dean Sandeep Rahangdale spoke to WCTV ahead of the event.
  
  WCTV: In the Spotlight: FSU College of Medicine Wine Tasting Gala (video)
  
   
• FSU College of Medicine alumna Francoise Marvel (M.D., ’12) helped create the first cardiology app for Apple’s Care Kit. Now she’s working on Corrie Health, an app to help heart attack survivors with their recovery. Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, wrote about Marvel’s successes and where she gets her inspiration.
  
  Thrive Global: Heart attack survivors can thank her dad for new recovery tools
  
   
• FSU College of Medicine alumna Ashley Chandler (M.D. ’11) is among those practicing the most advanced form of reconstruction surgery available today for breast cancer survivors. The technique has just emerged in the Pensacola area.
  
  Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola doctor performs reconstructive surgery for breast cancer survivors
  
   
• A study from Assistant Professor Robert Tomko made headlines in late February. He and his team discovered a critical missing step in the production of proteasomes and found that carefully targeted manipulation of this step could prove an effective recourse for the treatment of cancer.
  
  FSU News: New clue for cancer treatment could be hiding in microscopic molecular machine
  
  Technology Networks: Cancer treatment clue hiding in microscopic molecular machine
  
  NewsMedical: Key to treat deadly cancers could lie deep within complex machinery of human cell
  
   
• U.S. News and World Report published its annual list of the 10 medical schools with the lowest acceptance rates. The FSU College of Medicine ranked fourth on the list with an acceptance rate of 2.4% for fall 2018 applicants.
  
  U.S. News and World Report: 10 med schools with the lowest acceptance rates
  
   
• KynderMed Inc., co-founded by College of Medicine Professor James Olcese, announced that a recently concluded NIH-funded clinical study conducted at Harvard's Brigham and Women’s Hospital provided additional clinical support for KynderMed’s core developmental technology focused on reducing preterm birth.
  
  Business Insider: KynderMed announces publication of favorable Harvard clinical study results
  
   
• In a WebMD article, Alice Pomidor, professor of geriatrics, comments on how pets are able to combat loneliness in older adults, which can lead to healthier aging.
  
  WebMD: Our pets help ease the aging process, poll finds
  
   
• Jim Foley recently hosted his own “celebration of life” to commemorate 30 years that he has overcome what was supposed to be his own death sentence. Foley was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1988 and was later also diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic infection that can be life-threatening to people with weakened immune systems. Jonathan Appelbaum, chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences, treated Foley on and off for seven years and commented on his journey in an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  
  Las Vegas Review-Journal: HIV-positive for 30 years, Las Vegas man hosts life celebration
  
   
• Leon County is celebrating the 10th year that its children’s agencies and health-care professionals have offered free developmental screenings for kids. Angel Trejo, now retired from the Department of Children and Families, helped start the screenings. He says they’ve now expanded to include the FSU College of Medicine and focus more on maternal health.
  
  WFSU: Leon’s free developmental screening for kids celebrates 10th anniversary
  
   
• In February, The Famuan reported on two health-policy issues members of the College of Medicine are involved in. The first is the Tobacco Free Florida AHEC Tobacco Program’s push to strengthen the health-care system to deliver effective tobacco-use treatments.
  
  The Famuan: Florida faces challenges in State of Tobacco Control report
  
  
  The other is the Tallahassee-Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls’ effort to focus on maternal mental health and sexually transmitted diseases in 2019. Joedrecka Brown Speights, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, comments on the most important issues faced by women and girls in Tallahassee.
  
  The Famuan: Panel tackles women’s health issues