Researchers from Florida State University and Florida A&M University are partnering with the government of Honduras on an international, interdisciplinary project to improve health care in rural Honduran communities.

The Global Health Collaboration Project, or GHCP, is an initiative of FSU, FAMU and the medical school of the National Autonomous University of Honduras. Researchers with the project recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Honduran Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology, or SENACIT, to develop a health collaboration center in the country.

“Our goal is approaching public health problems in Honduras through the lens of scientific collaboration,” said Charles Fleischer, director of FSU’s Center on Global Health and a GHCP co-principal investigator. “Research at the center will inform interventions for improving patient care, mitigating potential harms and addressing acute and chronic conditions in ways that are culturally cognizant, feasible, scalable and sustainable.”

Along with physicians, GHCP includes researchers specializing in pharmacy, public health, nursing, engineering, social work and biomedical sciences. SENACIT will share data collected during its work to improve the availability of health data in Honduras and help the center’s mission.

Researchers at the center will work with local populations to learn more about their culture and specific health circumstances and needs. This will provide insight for health care professionals to develop interventions designed for patients. Including input from the populations that the interventions are meant to serve respects their autonomy and makes it more likely that treatment will be effective, Fleischer said.

For example, consider high blood pressure. Non-medication approaches, such as adopting diets designed to treat the condition, have been shown to improve blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease and other chronic conditions. But physicians prescribing such an approach need to take into consideration what patients already eat and what food is available and affordable for them.

“Understanding the dietary practices of the population you are serving is extremely important, because what you’re doing in one area will not always work well in another area,” Fleischer said.

Along with helping to meet patients’ health care needs, the center will provide a learning opportunity for students from the United States and Honduras.

“This interdisciplinary research collaboration between universities in the U.S. and Honduras provides professional development opportunities for students and faculty,” said Fatimah Sherbeny, FAMU assistant professor and co-principal investigator. “It also highlights the importance of diversity, in skills, backgrounds and expertise, in establishing a comprehensive project to improve patient health outcomes in disadvantaged communities.”

For students from FSU and FAMU, potential future opportunities with the center are an opportunity to challenge themselves and grow as researchers and medical professionals.

“It is a unique experience for students from all our programs involved to interact, hear from and learn from each other and from different backgrounds and environments,” said Sunny Narayanan, FSU researcher and co-principal investigator. “This provides perspective, insight, and expands everyone’s understanding of health, culture and our world.”

Florida State University College of Medicine student Sean Wimberley (M.D. Class of 2025) won the formal research poster competition at the Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians’ annual meeting March 25 in Orlando.

One of 39 finalists for the competition among residents and medical students, Wimberley’s research examined the reasons why people miss their medical appointments at FSU Primary Health, most of whom represent an underserved community. 

Wimberley, who participated in the 2022 Summer Research Fellowships at the College of Medicine, had previously presented his poster at the college’s research fair.

“Going into the conference, I was not sure how my project would fare against the other presenters,” he said. “What I did know was the issues I addressed are complicated and do not have a simple solution. Having that recognized by the judges and my peers was both validating and rewarding.”

The lone finalist from the FSU, Wimberley won the medical student section of the competition.

“I believe part of why I was recognized is because my research topic can be applied to several practices and specialties,” Wimberley added. “One resident who viewed my poster mentioned we recognize many of the barriers patients face in trying to attend appointments, but seeing the data makes the problem even more tangible for everyone to see.  
 
“Aside from the award, it was most gratifying to see my peers and the judges not only recognize this issue among the underserved, but they were truly interested in hearing about potential solutions, as well as where to take this project into the future.”

In addition to the individual honor, the FSU College of Medicine’s Internal Medicine Residency Program will be advancing to the final round at the fall Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians’ scientific meeting in Tampa.

The team of doctors Stephanie Evans, Gizzy Reyhanoglu, Jimmy Brown and Joseph Tubito were trained together under Tallahassee Regional Campus clerkship faculty member Dr. Vincent Riesgo.
 

Isabella Coscarella, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, is a finalist for the 2023 Graduate Student Excellence in Visual Arts Award, sponsored by the Florida State University Graduate School.

Coscarella’s “Flow of Life” entry is an immunofluorescence microscopy of human-induced pluripotent stem-cell cardiomyocytes, which are treated with fluorescent markers to show specific proteins of interest to researchers studying cardiomyopathies.

She is fourth-year doctoral candidate in the laboratory of Associate Professor Jose Pinto. Coscarella’s work will be on display in the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows (HSF) House for several weeks. Her framed image will be accompanied by this artist statement, which explains its significance:

This is an image of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) cardiomyocytes. These cells were reprogrammed into stem cells using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and mutations associated with cardiomyopathy were introduced. Cardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart muscle in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood effectively. Since heart diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States of America, it is crucial to research the major causes of the pathology. Cardiomyopathies can be genetically inherited or acquired throughout life. Acquired cardiomyopathy can be a result of viral infections, autoimmune diseases, infiltrative disorders or inflammatory factors, and there is no cure as of today. Cardiomyopathies can trigger a variety of different alterations in morphology and function of proteins related to the contractility of the heart and therefore the heart’s performance. Then, it is important to investigate the functionality of proteins and its presence (or expression) in certain conditions. In the image, marked proteins that exert mechanical forces (such as myosin – green – and troponin – purple) show their expression, checking the presence of contractile apparatus of these cardiac cells. Over the years, scientists try to find ways to target these proteins and develop specific medications that would act directly on them, helping the heart to pump properly. If these specific targeted proteins are treated and start working correctly again, the muscle recovers its pumping mechanics. With the heart working properly, a patient originally diagnosed with cardiomyopathy can now live normally and have a higher quality of life.

The top three entries for the graduate student category will be selected by a final jury and the winners will be announced at the HSF Excellence in Visual Arts Exhibition on April 15.

Each winner selected will be awarded $500. In addition, a $250 People’s Choice Award will be determined by an audience vote at the event.
 

Eight College of Medicine students were honored earlier this month for their performances in a value-based, interprofessional care competition sponsored by Choosing Wisely STARS – Students & Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship.

The five teams, composed of Florida State University medical and nursing students and Florida A&M University pharmacy students, spent two hours working on a patient case, then gave 10-minute presentations, which were scored by a panel of three physicians.

“The top three teams were recognized, and the first-place team was a true interprofessional team,” said Jonathan Appelbaum, professor of internal medicine at the College of Medicine and STARS faculty advisor. The winning team was made up of FSU medical student Aly Savage (M.D., ’26) and FAMU pharmacy students Feglynn Jean-Baptiste and Joel Connor Stengel.

The second-place team members were Imad Raza (M.D., ’26), Stephanie Connor (M.D., ’26) and Madison Flowers (M.D., ’26). The third-place team members were Elizabeth Ruelke (M.D., ’26), Chrisi Myers (M.D., ’26), Casey Easterling (M.D., ’26), and Kelly Arnold (M.D., ’26).

The competition was organized by Anwar Khan (M.D. ’25) and Jackie Lutz (M.D. ’26), the College of Medicine’s STARS representatives for the current academic year.

STARS was created in Canada in 2015 and begun in the United States in 2017. There are chapters at more than 50 U.S. medical schools and more than 500 students have participated in the program, which creates communities of like-minded change agents dedicated to improving the value and affordability of health care for patients and their families.

“The goals of this competition were to have students of various disciplines – medical, physician assistant, pharmacy and nursing – work together to present the concepts of value-based health-care provision and emphasize practical applications,” Lutz said. “This was done through addressing real-world problems in the health-care field as demonstrated through a patient case.”

Value-based health care is a delivery model that pays providers based on patient health outcomes. Providers are rewarded for helping patients live healthier lives in an evidence-based way. It differs from a fee-for-service system that pays providers based on the amount of health-care services they deliver. The “value” in value-based health care is derived from measuring health outcomes against the cost of delivering those outcomes.

Built on the concept of “leading from where you stand,” students create innovative programs to teach other students how to care best for patients at lower costs. Students also push for including principles of high-value care in the medical school curriculum, said Appelbaum, a physician who also serves as chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences and director of M.D. education.

Last year, Appelbaum was honored with a Faculty Excellence Award by Choosing Wisely STARS. He served as a mentor and judge for the students participating in the competition, along with Gregory Todd, M.D. and Stephen Sandroni, M.D.

“Value deficits are common in health-care systems and as future leaders in health care, we must play a key role in recognizing and addressing these value deficits to, in turn, create more equity in health-care access and outcomes,” Lutz said.

This was the second year of the STARS case competition. The winning team is eligible to advance to national competition.