MEDIA ADVISORY

CONTACT: Jessica Valceus
(561-542-3025); jv15g@med.fsu.edu

Nov. 29, 2017

FLORIDA STATE MEDICAL STUDENTS TO HOLD HIV/AIDS AWARENESS
CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

In observance of World AIDS Day and the beginning of AIDS Awareness Month, the FSU College of Medicine’s Student National Medical Association will host its third annual HIV/AIDS Awareness Candlelight Vigil on Friday, Dec. 1.

The candlelight vigil is meant to honor the lives of those affected by HIV and AIDS and raise awareness of prevention, early detection, and treatment options. Free mobile HIV testing will be offered from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, and 1 in 7 are unaware that they are infected.

The vigil will take place:

FRIDAY, DEC. 1
6 P.M.
FSU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE ATRIUM
1115 W. CALL ST.
TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

The event will bring together a variety of student and community organizations:
• Black Women in Medicine
• Bond Community Health Center
• Florida Health
• Gays, Lesbians and Allies Advancing Medicine (GLAAM)
• Kappa Psi Psi Healthcare
• Minority Alliance Advocating Community Awareness and Action (MAACA)
• Med Life
• Students Interested in Global Health (SIGH)
• University Health Services
• Women Student Union

Directions to the FSU College of Medicine: From downtown, travel west on Tennessee Street and turn left on Stadium Drive. Parking is available in the parking garage at Stadium Drive and Spirit Way.

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CONTACT: Doug Carlson
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

Jan. 17, 2018

Members of the Florida State University College of Medicine’s first physician assistant class will receive white coats this week in a traditional ceremony symbolizing professional competence and human compassion.

The ceremony will take place:

The College of Medicine graduated its first class of M.D. students in 2005. In August, the college’s new School of Physician Assistant Practice welcomed its first 40 PA students.

PAs provide another layer of primary-care providers capable of strengthening the College of Medicine’s commitment to improving access to care in Florida and beyond. They work as part of a health care team under a physician’s supervision. Students in the FSU PA program spend 27 months learning within the same network of faculty physicians who teach FSU medical students.

CONTACT: Melissa Powell, College of Medicine
(850) 645-9699; melissa.powell@med.fsu.edu

January 2018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State University College of Medicine researcher Michelle Arbeitman is exploring the elaborate courtship displays of male fruit flies to better understand how one’s genetic makeup influences a range of complex behaviors.

Arbeitman has received two grants totaling $2.2 million from the National Institutes of Health. One focuses on genes and epigenetic changes that cause behavioral differences between males and females. The other looks at the nervous system and how different neuronal connections make males and females behave differently.

“The genetics of behavior is an area of research where there are still many unanswered questions, even in a relatively simple model system such as the fruit fly,” Arbeitman said. “It’s important to understand how these processes work, because defects in them will be informative about how mental health and behavioral disorders arise in humans.”

One molecular-genetic mechanism she’s exploring is how DNA modifications that change during the life of an organism — that is, epigenetic changes — occur in response to sex differences and different experiences. Example: the male fruit fly that is rejected by a female.

Scientists previously discovered that a single regulatory gene called fruitless produces male-specific proteins necessary for male reproductive behaviors in fruit flies.

“Things like the environment, sex differences, the stage of development, life experiences and nutrition contribute to differences in DNA modification,” Arbeitman said. “For example, these DNA modifications change during learning and memory formation in humans and the fruit fly. DNA modifications may also underlie adverse life events in humans, like stress and long-term drug addiction.

“What fruitless does is recruit chromatin-modifying enzymes to different regions of the genome, which establishes whether a gene is likely to be turned on. We think that fruitless both specifies the potential for behavior and the maintenance of the potential for the behavior through epigenetic modifications of DNA.”

Her team’s findings may help lay a foundation to better understand human neurological diseases. In certain mental health and behavioral disorders, various genes can be turned on or off due to epigenetic changes, causing them to switch away from their normal or healthy state.

In her second study — backed by a four-year, $1.2 million NIH grant — Arbeitman will also use the fruit fly to study sex-specific differences in neural circuit formation in the brain and how those differences drive reproductive behaviors.

Male and female fruit flies have very similar neuronal architecture, even in the neurons that specify differences in reproductive behaviors.

“The major question here is to understand how differences in males and females arise when neurons get wired together differently during development,” she said.

Arbeitman has previously identified a family of molecules that has an important function in male courtship behaviors.

“We’re studying a set of molecules that direct neuronal connectivity by serving as landmarks to tell one neuron to connect to another,” she said. “It’s not just connections, but also how strong those connections are. We think these differences ultimately create the vastly different behaviors seen in males and females.”

CONTACT: Ron Hartung
850-645-9205; ronald.hartung@med.fsu.edu

January 2018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State University’s research reputation is set to receive a boost with the arrival of a highly regarded behavioral researcher whose focus includes improving the health of minority adolescents.

Sylvie Naar, described as a “force of nature” by her department head in the College of Medicine, has been hired to direct FSU’s new Center for Translational Behavioral Research.

“Dr. Naar is a world-class researcher with a long track record of significant research contributions in the behavioral health sciences,” said Gary Ostrander, FSU’s vice president for Research. “We are excited about the possibilities that this new translational center will bring to our community.”

Jeffrey Joyce, the College of Medicine’s senior associate dean for research and graduate programs, agreed.

“This hire shapes our vision of expanding campuswide, collaborative research,” he said. “She is an internationally recognized expert in reducing health disparities through behavioral interventions, something that fits well with our mission.”

Naar is moving to Tallahassee from Detroit, where she was professor and director of the Division of Behavioral Sciences at Wayne State University. Her FSU title is Distinguished Endowed Professor in Behavioral Health in the medical school’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine.

“I feel so welcomed and appreciated here, and I already feel like the fit is perfect,” Naar said. “I am thankful every day that I can do what I love, merge my passion for scientific inquiry with helping those most in need, and I am doing this in an environment filled with people who have the same passion and mission. The translation of science to real-world practice to improve mental and physical health is why I became a clinical health psychologist.”

Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine Chair Les Beitsch said Naar’s work will fill a void in the department.

“What’s been missing,” he said, “is a way to take the findings and the ideas that people have and immediately test them to see if they can improve people’s lives. That’s what translational research is about. Dr. Naar has been doing that her entire career and now has this huge research enterprise. She’s passionate about what she does.”

Naar is an expert at writing grants that assemble teams of researchers from across the country. Her resume lists 10 active national or international grants and contracts, with total costs exceeding $17 million. In half of those, she has the top role of principal investigator. They involve HIV-related self-management among youth, adherence to asthma medication among urban African-American adolescents, diabetes care in minority youth, and alcohol and food consumption in female college students who have experienced dating or sexual violence, among other topics.

“What I’m most excited about is that translational piece — relatively modest tweaks on interventions tried in a population that needs those services at a very early stage, and seeing what works,” Beitsch said. “Getting them out into the community as soon as possible is really exciting. The timeline that people used to use is 17 years from bench to bedside” — that is, from a researcher’s lab to a patient’s life. “This is more like 17 months.”

Heather Flynn, the department’s vice chair for research, said Naar’s focus on minority health fits well within the college’s and department’s mission. On the other hand, Naar’s focus on adolescent behavioral health and on intervention, or applied research, helps fill a gap in the department.

In addition, she said, Naar’s work is applicable to a broad range of conditions.

“Her multifaceted intervention approach cuts across different populations and diagnoses,” Flynn said. “For example, she’s not doing an intervention that applies only to HIV risk prevention or only alcohol use or only obesity risk. Her interventions can affect a variety of outcomes.

“I have more of the mental health piece, and she brings more of the behavioral health piece — physical activity, diet, exercise, substance use. All these things go together, so I can really see us beginning to collaborate.”

Flynn got the ball rolling on Naar’s move to FSU. She has known Naar about 10 years because both attend conferences and conduct training in a therapeutic technique called motivational interviewing. Only more recently did Flynn discover that Naar’s other research interests paralleled some of her own. She invited Naar to speak at the College of Medicine in April — and one thing led to another.

Flynn said the department had much to offer:

“We have a lot of different kinds of behavioral health faculty — and that’s very unique,” she said. “Dr. Naar can capitalize on the growing FSU Clinical Research Network, and she will have access to populations not always available in a traditional medical school.”

Flynn said Naar really cares about the people in her research studies.

“She’s one of the most inclusive, down-to-earth people I’ve met,” Flynn said. “We’re just so fortunate that this worked out.”

CONTACT: Doug Carlson, College of Medicine
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

Angel Neubrand, BayCare Medical Group
(863) 291-6736; angel.neubrand@baycare.org

Feb. 2, 2018

FSU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND WINTER HAVEN HOSPITAL TO ANNOUNCE NEW FAMILY HEALTH RESIDENCY PROGRAM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State University College of Medicine and Winter Haven Hospital have partnered to provide additional health care access in Polk County.

The partnership establishes a residency program, also known as graduate medical education, for family health physicians.
Media and community stakeholders are invited to attend an announcement of the partnership that will feature guest speakers including FSU President John Thrasher and College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty, M.D.
The announcement will take place:

FRIDAY, FEB. 9
NOON
WINTER HAVEN HOSPITAL AUDITORIUM
200 AVENUE F NE
WINTER HAVEN, FLA.

Attendees are encouraged to use valet parking services at the main entrance of the hospital. Directions and navigation assistance to the auditorium will be provided at the main entrance. Speakers will be available for interviews following the program.

About Florida State University College of Medicine
The FSU College of Medicine was founded in 2000 with a mission to educate and develop exemplary physicians who practice patient-centered health care, discover and advance knowledge and are responsive to community needs, especially through service to elder, rural, minority and underserved populations.

About Winter Haven Hospital
Established in 1926, Winter Haven Hospital is a 529-bed facility accredited by the Joint Commission. More than 300 board-certified physicians comprise its medical staff, covering specialties such as orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, open heart and emergency services.

About BayCare
In 2013, Winter Haven Hospital joined the Tampa Bay area-based BayCare Health System, a leading not-for-profit health care system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 15 hospitals and hundreds of other convenient locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. Inpatient and outpatient services include acute care, primary care, imaging, laboratory, behavioral health, home care and wellness.

MEDIA ADVISORY

CONTACT: Doug Carlson
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

March 14, 2018

On Friday, members of the Florida State University College of Medicine Class of 2018 will find out where they will receive residency training — a defining moment in their medical careers — during a Match Day ceremony.

 The students will simultaneously open envelopes, learning for the first time where they will spend the next several years completing training in the medical specialty they will practice.

Graduating students at M.D.-granting medical schools across the United States receive their match information at the same time through the National Resident Matching Program, the primary system that matches applicants to residency programs with available positions at teaching hospitals in the United States.

The ceremony will take place:

The ceremony can also be viewed online. Visit http://med.fsu.edu/matchday for parking and map information, as well as details about the webcast.

CONTACT: Doug Carlson, College of Medicine
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

March 16, 2018
 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Graduating students in the Florida State University College of Medicine Class of 2018 received notification today of where they will enter residency training this summer.

Of the 108 graduating students who registered in the matching program, 58 (54 percent) matched in a primary care specialty, including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology.

Other students matched today in emergency medicine, general surgery, psychiatry, anesthesiology, orthopedic surgery, neurology, otolaryngology, child neurology, diagnostic radiology, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, radiation oncology and urology.

Eight students matched in Tallahassee, including five with residency programs sponsored by the College of Medicine. All eight will be training at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.

Forty-three students matched in Florida, a state that ranks 42nd nationally in the number of available residency slots. Of those, seven matched with programs sponsored by the FSU College of Medicine (the five in Tallahassee, plus one in internal medicine at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and one in family medicine at Lee Health in Fort Myers).

“Our students continue to match with wonderful programs in Florida and throughout the country,” said College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty. “I’m also pleased that seven of our graduates matched in residency programs that we’ve started in the past seven years. That means more doctors for Florida in specialties where there is a significant need.

“We are continuing to build capacity for graduate medical education so that more of our alumni are able to stay in Florida in the future.”

The residency match, conducted annually by the National Resident Matching Program, is the primary system that matches applicants to residency programs with available positions at U.S. teaching hospitals. Graduating medical students across the country receive their match information at the same time on the same day.

For information about current and past Match Day results, visit http://med.fsu.edu/alumnifriends/residency-match-day-results.

To see where past College of Medicine graduates are practicing, visit http://public.med.fsu.edu/alumni/alumni.aspx?class=2005.

CONTACT: Doug Carlson, College of Medicine
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

April 2018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Light stretching can make a big difference for elderly people with low mobility, according to a new study from a Florida State University-led team of international researchers.

“The benefits of exercise are well known, but elderly people with limited mobility are often less likely to take part,” said the study’s lead researcher Judy Muller-Delp, professor in the College of Medicine. “Our research suggests that static muscle stretching performed regularly can have a real impact by increasing blood flow to muscles in the lower leg. This highlights that even individuals who struggle to walk due to pain or lack of mobility can undertake activity to possibly improve their health.”

The strenuous nature of exercise makes intense physical training uncommon among elderly people with reduced mobility and weak muscles. Muscle stretching, on the other hand, is widely performed as a warm-up or cool-down and is low intensity compared to aerobic exercise.

This means that even very old individuals can perform muscle stretching with minimal risk of injury.

In their study, Muller-Delp and her collaborators from Kansas State University and the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo found that regular muscular stretching performed five times per week for four weeks can increase blood flow to muscles of the lower leg, improve the function of arteries in the muscles of the lower legs and increase the number of capillaries within stretched muscles.

Patients with peripheral artery disease and patients with foot or leg problems related to conditions such as diabetes also could use muscular stretching to improve blood flow to their lower limbs and increase or regain walking function, researchers said.

Their findings were published in the Journal of Physiology.

While the team only tested one specific intervention over a span of four weeks, Muller-Delp said that more stretching could yield increased benefits for older, less mobile individuals.

“It is possible that greater stretch or stretch that increases steadily over the four-week period would have an even greater benefit,” Muller-Delp said. “It is also possible that greater benefit would be seen if the stretching continued for longer than four weeks.”

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the 27th Japan Heart Foundation/Bayer Yakuhin Research Grant Abroad.

CONTACT: Kara Irby, University Communications
(850) 644-0277; kirby@fsu.edu

April 2018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State University has seen a significant increase in the number of applications for graduate school for the upcoming summer term.

The number of applications for admission to the FSU Graduate School has more than doubled since last summer.

There are currently 7,863 graduate students enrolled in FSU advanced degree programs, including the College of Medicine and the College of Law. Since the fall 2017 application cycle, FSU has received more than 10,000 applications for admission to its graduate programs.

“I believe there’s excitement surrounding FSU,” said Mark Riley, dean of the Graduate School. “People are hearing about it, and it is certainly a university on the move. They are hearing loud and clear how spectacular the education opportunities are at this university.”

Riley also credits the use of a new application management and communication system for the increased interest in graduate studies at FSU. In August, the Graduate School, in conjunction with the Office of Admissions, designed, built and deployed a new web inquiry tool for prospective students.

Since its launch, 41 percent of prospective students who completed an initial web inquiry form started a formal application. Of those students who started formal applications, 61 percent actually completed a graduate application.

“This was a game-changer because of our ability to now strategically market to prospective applicants,” said Brian Barton, associate dean for Business Operations at the Graduate School. “Now we are able to not only send marketing messages, but we can personalize those messages. It’s all about creating the connection, so they can visualize seeing themselves here at FSU.”

A new graduate enrollment team also is working behind the scenes to reach prospective graduate students. The positions were created by the Office of the Provost in alignment with the university’s most recent strategic plan and at the direction of the Subcommittee on Graduate Recruitment.

“This is a group of superstars,” Riley said. “A team of four has just come aboard this year, and they are doing incredible things. They are going out to see how we can improve the departments and colleges and work together to further enhance graduate education at FSU.”

Graduate applications for the fall are also trending upward compared to previous years. The university deadline for graduate school admission for the fall semester is July 1.

Increased applications are not the only signs of progress within graduate education at FSU. The reputation of the university’s graduate programs also is improving. Graduate programs in criminology, business, law, education, nursing and engineering all made significant jumps in the U.S. News and World Report 2019 edition of “Best Graduate Schools.”

“Florida State University has a growing reputation for excellence in student success,” said Sally McRorie, provost and executive vice president of Academic Affairs. “The expanding application numbers for our graduate programs indicate their rigor and quality, as well as our strong record of graduate alumni placement in advanced roles in a broad range of careers and professions.”

This year, FSU also received a record number of undergraduate applications. More than 51,000 prospective first-year students applied for admission to the 2018 summer and fall semesters. FSU expects to enroll about 6,200 freshmen in the Class of 2022.

For more information on the Graduate School, visit http://gradschool.fsu.edu.

MEDIA ADVISORY

CONTACT: Melissa Powell, College of Medicine
(850) 645-9699; Melissa.powell@med.fsu.edu

May 15, 2018

The Florida State University College of Medicine will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for its planned new primary-care health center — FSU PrimaryHealth, which is expected to open for patients in early 2019.

Among those participating in the groundbreaking will be FSU President John Thrasher, FSU College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty and Leon County Commissioner Jimbo Jackson.

When it opens, FSU PrimaryHealth will be the first full-service, primary-care health center in southwest Tallahassee, covering a range of primary- and behavioral-health needs. Patient care will be provided by FSU College of Medicine faculty physicians in family medicine and pediatrics.

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place:

Directions: From West Pensacola Street, travel south on Mabry Street to Roberts Avenue. Turn right and continue to the intersection of Roberts Avenue and Eisenhower Street. Parking is available at the site (enter off Eisenhower).