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Strength
The UF Institute on Aging

UF Health Science
S. CENTER
Celebrating 50 Years

UP FRONT

Table of Contents
POST IT
ADMINISTRATION Barrett's to-do list
O POINT OF VIEW Sam Proctor
S50TH ANNIVERSARY Visionaries
S50TH ANNIVERSARY Time Capsule

PATIENT CARE Heart Center
& FIVE QUESTIONS Keeping the weight off
@ COVER FEATURE Institute on Aging
@ RESEARCH Advance Directives
DISTINCTIONS

@ DISTINCTIONS Service Pin Ceremony
@ EDUCATION Medical Professionalism
@ JACKSONVILLE Cancer's Genetic Profile
@ EXTRAORDINARYY PEOPLE Iris Campbell
@ BACKPAGE Smiley Hill

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O N TH E COVER T 4 IIn on AgingiBs buil a wol-ls team of rsacesfrp vnto adrhbit
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Center Drive project
delayed through September

Unfavorable weather conditions and the
unexpected discovery of abandoned
underground utilities have delayed the
scheduled completion of the Center Drive
chilled water project by at least three
weeks. Under the revised plan, the work
should be completed in late September.
The current single-lane detour using
synchronized traffic lights will remain in
place until the project is finished. The bus
stop and pedestrian walkway will remain in
place for the duration of the work. PPD
officials apologize for the inconvenience
and thank all who have been affected for
their patience and understanding.

Please contact Jeff Bair, PPD, with any
questions at 392-1405 x408.

C21

POST IT

SIGNATURE UF GENETICS
INSTITUTE EVENT SLATED
A plant scientist from the University of Arizona,
a National Institutes of Health section chief and an
expert in epigenetic inheritance from Washington
University will be among the featured lecturers at
Florida Genetics 2005, a symposium scheduled for
Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 at the Reitz Union.
Epigenetics is the focus of this year's symposium,
sponsored by the UF Genetics Institute, the Center for
Mammalian Genetics, the Plant Molecular and Cellular
Biology Program and Health Science Center Libraries.
However, poster abstracts covering any aspect
of genetics research from UF researchers are
encouraged for submission through Oct. 15.
Vicki L. Chandler, Ph.D., a Regents professor of
plant sciences at the University of Arizona, will talk
about epigenetic control of gene expression in plants
during the opening session on Nov. 30. Also that
day, Gary Felsenfeld, Ph.D., chief of the physical
chemistry section and the molecular biology lab
at the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive
& Kidney Diseases, will discuss the relationship
between chromatin the chemical substance of
chromosomes and gene expression.
The following day, Eric J. Richards, a professor of
molecular genetics and plant biology at Washington
University, will talk about the role of DNA methylation in
cementing inherited epigenetic gene expression states.
UF researchers, postdoctoral associates and
students are encouraged to submit abstracts in any
area of genetics for the poster sessions. Visit the
seminars and events section of the UFGI Web site at
www.ufgi.ufl.edu/ to submit an abstract or for more
information.
John Pastor

GATORS GIVE IN A MILLION WAYS

PLAY GOLF. FIGHT CANCER.
SUPPORT RESEARCH.
Play golf and fight cancer at the second annual
Central Florida FPTI Golf Classic set for Monday,
Oct. 17 at the Heathrow Country Club in Orlando.
This year's event will benefit the UF Shands
Cancer Center, specifically the Florida Proton
Therapy Institute, the Southeast's first proton therapy
center. Tournament proceeds are earmarked for
research programs at the center, which will open in
Jacksonville next summer.
For more information, call Larry J. Shertz at (407)
804-0507, e-mail Ishertz@cfl.rr.com, or visit the event's
Web site at informationfairway.com (key word: proton).

NEW WEB CALENDAR ANSWERS
THE QUESTION, WHASSUP?
On any workday, the Health Science Center has
more guest lectures, seminars, grand rounds and
research fairs going on than you can shake a laser
pointer at.
Many of these events are of interest to folks outside
a specific department, college or discipline. (Can you
say interdisciplinary?) Flyers, closed-circuit television
billboards and assorted electronic calendars help
publicize these events, but can be limited by any
number of factors.
To enhance visibility and awareness of these
myriad educational opportunities, the HSC Office
of News & Communications has begun posting an
automated, Web-based events calendar on the home
pages of the office and the HSC. Users not only can
see events scheduled over the next 30 days, they also
can post their own academic activities by registering
as a "calendar client."

The University of Florida Community Campaign, themed "Gators Give in
GAITORS GIV.E a Million Ways," kicks off Sept. 26 and runs through Oct. 7 with a goal of
ia reaching the $1 million mark.
S-IL! "With a campus community of more than 12,000 faculty and staff, each
r of us has a wonderful opportunity to join others in helping to fund the
critical services extended by the 76 charitable agencies that work every
S day to improve the lives of all Gainesville residents," said UFCC chair and
= dentistry Dean Teresa A. Dolan.
Although the university contracts with United Way to serve as the fiscal
agent for the campaign, responsible for distributing donations to the 76
participating agencies, only about 30 agencies are members of United
Way. The remaining 46 organizations are community health charities and
unaffiliated non profit agencies serving the Gainesville area.
The organizations supported by the UFCC may provide low-cost clinical
services to the working poor or shelter to abused women and children. They
may fund research to ease human suffering from diseases such as diabetes,
cancer or Alzheimer's, or they may extend end-of-life care for Gainesville's elderly and ill. All of them work to
improve the quality of life in the Gainesville area.
Last year, nearly 6,000 UF faculty and staff demonstrated UF's commitment to its community by raising
$928,466 during the UF Community Campaign, which was administered by United Way.
Pledge cards will be distributed during the first few days of the campaign. Donation designations for specific
agencies made last year will not roll over this year, so be sure to designate on the pledge card which agencies
should receive your donation. Payroll deduction is available and convenient.
For more information and to learn how your donation can improve the lives of people in our community, visit
www.ufcc.ufl.edu.

The registration process is quick and easy, allowing
clients to enter their event information into a data
collection form. Event sponsors can also call the
News & Communications office at 273-5810 and
have the staff enter the information.
Find the events calendar at www.news.health.ufl.
edu/calendar.asp.

UF REPORTS RECORD AMOUNT
OF RESEARCH AWARDS, NEARLY
$500 MILLION
Research awards to UF rose 5 percent to a record
$494 million in 2004-05, due in part to a 10.8
percent increase in federal funding and a 16.5
percent increase in foundation awards.
UF's Health Science Center accounted for just more
than half of the university's total, with its six colleges
receiving a record $257.1 million, up 9 percent. The
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences saw its
awards increase nearly 17 percent to $84.4 million.
The College of Engineering remained steady at
$63.3 million, as did the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, at $47.4 million.
Awards from federal agencies such as the National
Institutes of Health and the National Science
Foundation, which account for 64 percent of UF's
total, rose $30.9 million between 2003-04 and last
fiscal year. Despite a leveling off in the NIH budget,
awards from that agency -UF's largest funding
source -rose 15 percent to $130 million. Awards
from NSF rose 10 percent to $46.6 million.

SUNDAY LIBRARY HOURS CHANGE
The HSC Library will now open at 1 p.m. on
Sunday, instead of 10 a.m. This permanent change
to Sunday's schedule includes Circulation, Reserves
and the Informatics Lab. Other scheduled hours
remain the same. The HSC Library's regular service
hours are:
Mon -Thu: 7:30 a.m. midnight
Fri: 7:30 a.m. 7 p.m.
Sat: 8 a.m. 5 p.m.
Sun: 1 p.m. midnight
Informatics Lab and Reference Desk service hours
may be found on the library's Web site at:
www.library.health.ufl.edu.

ne _3

ADMINISTRATION

Each August, UF Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Douglas Barrett pulls duty in the pediatrics ward at Shands at UF, an activity he says is "a
great reminder of what this place is all about." With him are (from left) Dr. Lakshmi Katakam, senior pediatrics resident; Amanda Hammock, fourth-year
Pharm.D. student; Dr. Volha Ihnatsenka, first-year family practice resident; and Dr. Allison Haller, first-year pediatrics resident (with back to camera).

Expanding research tops Barrett's to-do list

By Tom Fortner
On the southwest corner of Mowry Road and Gale Lemerand Drive, the
angular, six-story structure that goes by the generic-sounding name of
"Cancer-Genetics" continues to take form. Begun just over a year ago, the
building that will provide an additional 280,000 square feet for health and life
sciences research is steadily steaming toward completion next spring.
That kind of full-speed-ahead progress makes Doug Barrett smile. Expanding
the Health Science Center's research programs is at the top of the "to-do list" of
the senior vice president for health affairs. New research space at the HSC is
fundamental to helping the university climb into the top tier of public research
universities. And that's why, with Cancer-Genetics well in hand, Barrett has duly
noted it and moved on.
"We're already thinking that, A, what a wonderful opportunity the opening of
Cancer-Genetics is, and B, now we have to get on to the next ones," Barrett said
recently during a break from his annual monthlong commitment to the pediatrics
inpatient service.
The "next ones" include another structure with a generic-sounding title, the
Biomedical Sciences Building, slated to house the university's advanced
bioengineering and bioimaging resources, among other things, and a facility that
will be home to a universitywide initiative addressing emerging pathogens with the
potential to afflict man, animals and plants. Through the sustained work of Barrett
and many others, these projects have now been positioned as among the
university's top legislative funding priorities. And like Cancer-Genetics, both these
facilities will be thematically oriented with participation of scientists from
across the university rather than college- or department-oriented.
"The paucity of research space has been one of our overriding concerns," Barrett
said. "It is also true that our teaching spaces were built in the '60s and they are in
need of work as well. But in terms of the order of magnitude of the problem,
certainly research space is critical to getting the research enterprise growing at the
pace that it needs to be in order to achieve our goals."
Of course, new buildings alone will not boost UF in the rankings; new and
improved research programs and the people who run them will also be necessary.

So Barrett is increasingly turning his attention to the challenge of "expanding the
resource base" in other words, finding the money to pay for the people as well as
the buildings.
"We have to be extraordinarily energetic and effective in growing the resource
pie for the deans and department chairs to be able to attract established
investigators and the teams that come with them to make a quantum leap in the
research enterprise," he said.
Emerging pathogens and specific neurological disorders will be two of the areas
requiring this kind of investment.
At the same time, Barrett said, it will be important to provide new funding to
existing faculty research teams who are extraordinarily productive to ensure their
programs "have what they need to be successful."
Expanding the resource base for these purposes makes it imperative that Barrett
and the UF leadership team do a good job of explaining those needs in Tallahassee
and Washington. Barrett was pleased with the way that relatively new team came
together last year and, for example, made the case for the state's obligation to fund
basic medical education rather than shift some costs to Medicaid reimbursements
earned by the UF physician practice. That outcome will have a substantial benefit
to the College of Medicine this year.
Speaking of the team, Barrett was pleased to have a hand in recruiting the last
member of President Bernie Machen's executive team. He led the search committee
that brought Janie Fouke to UF from Michigan State University. He described
Fouke as an energetic, creative and decisive leader. "Grass won't grow under her
feet," he said with a laugh. "She makes a decision and then we're down the road."
With a background in biomedical engineering and pulmonary physiology, Fouke
should also be someone who will communicate well with colleagues at the HSC.
In terms of his overall assessment of where the HSC is in its quest to be uttered
in the same breath as health centers at Michigan, North Carolina, Alabama and
Washington, Barrett said much work remains to be done.
"There are some examples of early progress, and some examples where we have an
extraordinarily long way to go," he said. "But we're headed in the right direction." O

C4

POINT OF VIEW

Preserving history

Oral historian Sam Proctor leaves a wealth

of stories behind

By Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig

amuel Proctor, Ph.D., who passed away July 10 at the age of 86, perhaps did
more than any other individual to preserve the history of UF.
In following this pursuit, the university's historian worked to restore
historic buildings, served on numerous committees and, most importantly for the
Health Science Center, developed a program of identifying the founding faculty and
administrators and interviewing them.
A warm, congenial person, Proctor conducted his interviews to not only capture
events through eyes of the founding deans and faculty members, but also to
provide a wealth of detail about their families, their origins, their lives and about
Gainesville in those early years. Because of his work, the HSC's collection contains
transcriptions of irreplaceable oral histories from more than 50 people, many of
whom are no longer alive.
These interviews, transcribed through the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project,
also are a pleasure to read; they offer a window on the past, capturing the early years
of the HSC. But they also show something of the character of Samuel Proctor,
historian, UF historian and founder of the campuswide, indeed the statewide, oral
history program.
His interviews were long and complete.
At the conclusion of a notable three-hour session with Hugh "Smiley" Hill, M.
D., who passed away in August, Proctor remarked he was "very happy with this
interview"- a typical reaction from a man who loved talking to people and who
often remarked that the interview was a "wonderful experience" for him. He
wanted others to share this pleasure and usually asked the subject whether he also
enjoyed the interview. Often it was a wonderful experience for the interviewee as
well, as exemplified by Hill's response to Proctor's question. Hill said, "I think it
was a very thorough interview. Nobody has taken the time or the trouble to sit
down and talk with me for so long. It was refreshing, and I have certainly enjoyed
chatting with you."
Jerome Modell, M.D., professor emeritus of the College of Medicine's
department of anesthesiology, remarked, "Being interviewed by Proctor was like
talking to a best friend."
And, Modell added, because Proctor genuinely enjoyed people and talking to
them and he put them at ease, he was able to get information that no one else could.
Proctor probably knew more about the history of UF than any other single
individual, and was an expert on Seminole and Southern history generally. He also
is a man to whom the HSC owes a debt of gratitude because, thanks to him, the
upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations of the HSC, the colleges of Medicine and
Nursing, and the Library will be much richer.
In his years on the job, Proctor interviewed George T. Harrell, M.D., founding
dean of the College of Medicine, Dr. Mark Barrow, member of the first graduating
class of the College of Medicine, Dr. Melvin Fried, one of the founding members of
the department of biochemistry, and Dr. Samuel Martin, founding chair of the
department of medicine and vice president of the HSC, and Martin's wife, Ruth.
The HSC collection also contains interviews with Dorothy Smith, founding
dean of the College of Nursing, Perry Foote, dean of the College of Pharmacy,
Daryl Mase, founding dean of the College of Public Health and Health
Professions, and many others.

Sam Proctor (right) presenting his book on Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte
Broward to UF President J. Hillis Miller.

What if Proctor had not taken the time to capture vital health center history? If he
had not recognized that the founding of these colleges in the 1950s was a unique
historical event and not worked hard to capture the past? Without his energy,
initiative and vision, huge portions of the HSC history would have been lost forever.
In saving this history, Proctor also provided an opportunity for many of his
friends and colleagues to remember, and even savor, their own lives.
In concluding an interview with Robert Cade M.D., co-creator of Gatorade, Proctor
said, "I hope perhaps you remembered a lot of things that you thought you had
forgotten," to which Cade replied, "I did, and it was a pleasure talking with you."
Proctor's legacy at the HSC continues with a College of Nursing oral history
project run by Ann Smith, and a HSC-wide program.

Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig is the HSC archivist. She received her undergraduate degree in
biology from Brown University, and her master's degree, also in biology, from the University
ofPennsylvania. Prior to coming to UF, Ms. Stoyan-Rosenzweig was on the faculty at the
Washington State University Writing Center and History Department, where she taught
English composition and history, particularly the History of Medicine.
For a complete listing of the interviews, go to http://web.history.ufl.edu/oral/, click on
Visit the Oral History Collections and view the names and some summaries under UF
College of Nursing and UFHealth Center. Q

ne 5m

50TH ANNIVERSARY

Some call them visionaries:

Early HSC leaders changed the face of health care in Florida
By April Frawley Birdwell and Tracy Brown

o-
-4U

-r

(From left) 1) A set of blocks were a model of the UF Health Science Center. 2) Architect Jefferson Hamilton, College of Medicine Dean George T.
Harrell and Provost Russell S. Poor break ground for the Health Science Center in 1954. 3) J. Hillis Miller, UF's fourth president, died before his vision
of a UF health center was complete. 4) Harrell discusses the health center with Poor (left) and Wendell Stanley. 5) Nursing Dean Dorothy Smith (center)
and colleagues stand near the health center construction site.

T hey looked like an ordinary set of blocks.
But the wood rectangles George T. Harrell, M.D., took to doctors' offices
and television appearances were so important he tried to keep Barbara Walters
from taking a commercial break on the Today Show so he could set them up just so.
A model of what the UF Health Science Center would become, the blocks represented
a vision conceived when J. Hillis Miller became the university's fourth president in
1947. Government leaders realized the state needed a medical school in the 1940s. But
Miller envisioned something bigger: a health center, with schools of nursing, dentistry

be," he said. "They worked well together and became extremely close friends."
Harrell was an easy choice to be the first dean. He had an eye for detail and specific
ideas about medical training. He and Miller saw eye to eye on many of these ideas,
according to an interview Harrell with the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.
"He had very strong views about medicine and tying it into the community," said
Heather Harrell, M.D., his granddaughter and a UF assistant professor of internal
medicine. "He was involved in every aspect of planning the medical school."
Harrell lobbied for student study cubicles to reinforce the importance of self-study

and other health professions as well.
And somehow, after the state authorized schools of nursing
and medicine at UF, the right people came together to help
Miller create it. Some, like Russell S. Poor, Ph.D., sought the
challenge. Others, like Harrell and Dorothy Smith, the
College ofNursing's founding dean, dreamed ofrevolutionizing
their fields.
But each added something to Miller's vision that made the
UF HSC one of the most novel health undertakings of its
time, UF historians say.
"There's nothing like it," said Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig,
archivist for the HSC. "The people involved were amazingly
visionary."
After UF was chosen as the site for state medical and
nursing schools, Miller pulled in architect Jefferson Hamilton
to start designing. He later chose Poor, director of university

50

HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER

U

YEARS
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
vision U innovation U continuity

relations at the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, to map the new health
center's needs.
Poor's field was geology, but newspaper stories from the time tout his reputation
in education circles. He was later chosen to be the health center's first provost.
"I know he was very proud of having seen that school come out of the ground," said
Poor's son, Robert, of his father. "We often wonder what he would think of it now."
Poor, Hamilton and Harrell, the first College of Medicine dean, worked well
together, and met nearly every day while the center was being built, said Mark
Barrow, M.D., one of UF's first graduating doctors who has written several articles
on health center history.
"It was built over a sinkhole and was more complicated than they thought it would

and believed windows should be a certain height. He also felt
medical training should include other disciplines too,
particularly humanities.
Like Harrell, Dorothy Smith, M.Ed., believed in the
interdisciplinary approach. Smith and Harrell even hoped
medical and nursing students could work together, perhaps
even take some of the same classes. That idea never came to
fruition, Stoyan-Rosenzweig said.
Smith also dreamed of a new form of nursing education-
a school where knowledge-based clinical excellence was
the norm. She challenged established practices and her
ideas laid the groundwork for advanced nursing practice
and the shift in nursing research to clinical effectiveness
and outcomes.

"This quiet, unassuming woman demonstrated great
courage and the ability to change the outdated traditions of
professional nursing," said Gloria Weber Calhoun, D.S.N., A.P.R.N., a graduate of
the College of Nursing's first class and a clinical associate professor of nursing at
Vanderbilt University. "Our unspoken curriculum encouraged the attitudes and
values of personal power, especially for women. Dean Smith demonstrated this
through her behaviors and ability to think outside the box."
Miller died in 1953, three years before the colleges of Medicine and Nursing
opened. But the leaders he chose carried out the vision he first espoused in 1947.
"We shall not be content to sit on our laurels," Miller wrote in the foreword to
the 1953 Medical Center Study, which outlined the needs of the HSC. "We believe
we have the incentive and the ability to follow through to a conspicuous and
successful goal." 0

C61 *

50TH ANNIVERSARY

What would you put in a time capsule?

By Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig

hanks to the enthusiastic and thoughtful
suggestions from students, faculty and staff,
people opening a Health Science Center time
capsule 50 years from now may know something
about our addictions well, at least our love of
coffee as well as our concerns with HIPAA
regulations, our growing reliance on cell phones (does
that constitute an addiction?), how we work with
patients and many other details about how we live.
What do you think should be included in the new
capsule? Some suggestions are published below.
There is still time to recommend items of today that

will become relics of tomorrow. The items put in
this capsule will certainly reflect more about our
daily life than perhaps the contents of the original
capsule, which was planted in the Medical Science
Building cornerstone in 1955. This cornerstone,
originally outside the building, is now in a generator
room in the ARB, a sign in itself of how much the
Health Center has changed and grown during the
past 50 years.
If you are curious about the contents of this
original capsule, be sure to attend the Nov. 4 Faculty
and Staff Appreciation Day, with the deans of the

colleges of Nursing and Medicine, the director of the
HSC Libraries and the senior vice president for
health affairs (and perhaps Elvis) for the unveiling
the original capsule contents. This event will mark
the beginning of a year of 50th anniversary
celebrations that include burying the new capsule on
March 31, 2006.
Once the Time Capsule Committee makes its final
selections, items will be sent to a time capsule company
for packaging and the new capsule will be placed in an
area of designated green space or at least an area that
will not change as UF continues to expand.

A sampling of your suQgestions so far:

... Perhaps a stuffed hippo from our
Privacy Office collection, which reflects
HIPAA legislative protections that will
have vanished with advancing years.
Susan A. Blair, Privacy Officer, Office
of Sr. Vice President for Health Affairs

... Include a cellular phone, or a
BlackBerry. I don't know a single
person that leaves the house without
one of these communication devices.
Just think of how much the mobile
phone has changed in the past 20 years,
let alone 50! Could you imagine trying
to get a hold of a doctor or patient w/o
the convenience of a cell phone?
Elizabeth Victor
Program Assistant, Office for
Research Support, College of Nursing

... I was thinking a parking pass
because I think parking at UF is a big
issue. A copy of the recent UF survey
and also a copy of The Alligator.
Another thought would be footage of
the fans at a Gator game something
with sound of course! I know I'm
always amazed at how loud it gets in the
stands of the Swamp!
Kathleen Conture, Office of Graduate
Education, COM Office of the Dean

... A UF Parking Ticket
:-) "Tedeschi, Juli B."

MEE

IUS NuTnMoN INFORhMjON
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... A coffee cup from the Java Hut
along with a small menu and prices.
Venita J. Sposetti, D.M.D.
Assistant Dean for Admissions and
Financial Aid, College of Dentistry

... Clothing: scrubs, sneakers, slip-
ons, lab coat. Miscellaneous:
prescription pad, cards used by
residents to record lab tests, various
preprinted order sheets, drug company
giveaways: pens (the drugs listed on the
pens will be long out of date), notepads,
sticky pads, etc.
George Caranasos, M.D.

...A tile or something representative
of the Arts in Medicine program,
something from Wendy's, perhaps the
nutritional info (we all eat there too
much), an orange ribbon (so that we can
continue to keep the memory of
Caroline Cody alive along with her
dreams to help the underserved),
something from equal access or the
mission trips.
Thanks,
Karen Bodnar

Please submit suggestions for time capsule
contents online at the time capsule page via
the 50th anniversary Web site: http://
50years.health.ufl.edu.

III

d:J ,,,,.

ne 7

PATIENT CARE

New UF center at heart of care

for congenital cardiac conditions

By Melanie Fridl Ross

U F surgeons and pediatric cardiologists have
joined forces to establish the UF Children's
Heart Center, a move officials say will
improve care for both children and adults born with
complex cardiac conditions.
The center will provide coordinated care to
patients with congenital heart disease at UF from
diagnosis to treatments that incorporate medical and
surgical management and follow-up.
With more than $3 million in funding from
Shands at UF, the UF College of Medicine and
Children's Medical Services, the center represents a
major new investment in pediatric cardiology and
congenital heart surgery programs and unites the
expertise of specialists in pediatric cardiology,
invasive electrophysiology, cardiac imaging and
interventional procedures, heart transplantation,
congenital heart surgery, nursing and more.
Cardiac surgeon Mark Bleiweis, M.D., director of
the Children's Heart Institute at the Children's
Hospital of Orange County in California, will head
the center. His appointment takes effect Sept. 15.
"Our center will be able to provide care for the
entire spectrum of congenital heart disease, from the
smallest premature newborn to the adult with
congenital heart disease, which would include
complete repair of very complex heart problems to
heart transplantation if necessary," Bleiweis said.
Approximately 225,000 babies are born in Florida
every year. Of those, about 1 of every 150 newborns
has some form of congenital heart disease, including
structural problems of the heart and its vessels, and
heart rhythm abnormalities.
"The approach to care provided through this
center will enable even the most complex patient to
be cared for by UF physicians," said Barry Byrne,
M.D., Ph.D., professor and associate chairman of
pediatrics and a pediatric cardiologist whose
research focuses on developing genetic therapies for
cardiovascular disease.
Terry Flotte, M.D., chairman of pediatrics on the
Gainesville campus, said the center represents "a
modern model," and called Bleiweis "a very gifted
surgeon and somebody who has a very positive
approach to this integration of care between the
different disciplines."
"We're extremely enthusiastic about his ability to
make this program successful," Flotte said.
Bleiweis also will serve as an associate professor of
surgery and pediatrics at UF's College of Medicine.
While in California, he introduced new programs
such as the comprehensive treatment for hypoplastic

left heart syndrome and completed complex cardiac
repairs in very small babies, including a premature
neonate weighing less than 3 pounds.
As more children with congenital heart disease
survive longer, pediatric cardiologists are
increasingly overseeing their care well into
adulthood. In fact, in the United States, there are
now more adults than children living with congenital
heart disease. In addition, these physicians also are
caring for adults with previously untreated
congenital heart diseases. These patients have their
own unique set of problems.
"We do have a large population of adults with
congenital heart disease," Byrne said. "For the most
part, those patients are cared for by pediatric
cardiologists. It's an emerging specialty within
pediatric cardiology."
The center will seek to recruit additional faculty
and personnel, including a Shands Children's
Hospital pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist, an
additional cardiac surgeon, a congenital heart
surgery nurse practitioner and a research
coordinator. In addition, six intermediate-care
pediatric beds in the pediatric intensive care unit on
the 10th floor of Shands at UF will be upgraded to
pediatric intensive care unit beds. The intermediate
care beds will revert back to a fourth-floor unit,
where they were previously located. Hospital officials
also anticipate dedicating an operating room and a
cardiac perfusion team to pediatric cardiac cases.
The UF College of Medicine faculty in
Jacksonville has for a number of years teamed with
Wolfson Children's Hospital to provide advanced
pediatric cardiology care and cardiac surgery to
patients in the region and will work with the center
to offer a seamless set of services.
"UF and Wolfson Children's Hospital have worked
together traditionally in many ways and are helping
to coordinate the care of these patients," Flotte said.
"They do have a joint cardiac catheterization
conference and use a lot of teleconferencing and
telemedicine technology to make the relationship
work."
The center will draw patients from the primary
referral areas of south Georgia, the Panhandle east to
Jacksonville, the Space Coast south to Melbourne and
West Palm Beach, and the Gulf Coast south to Ocala.
Many cardiac services are provided by UF
physicians in Gainesville and Jacksonville, but each
locale also has its areas of emphasis. In Gainesville,
for example, faculty have special expertise in heart
transplantation and cardiac magnetic resonance

Cardiac surgeon Mark Bleiweis, former
director of the Children's Heart Institute at
the Children's Hospital of Orange County in
California, has been chosen to head the UF
Children's Heart Center, which will provide
care to children and adults with congenital
heart disease.

imaging, while those in Jacksonville are particularly
noted for pediatric cardiac electrophysiology. Both
campuses have strong programs in echocardiography
and catheter-based interventional procedures. Patient
care also will be bolstered by a range of clinical and
basic science research programs, particularly efforts
focused on the study of cardiomyopathies.
UF physicians, for example, can review
echocardiograms sent to them by community
physicians around the state, and if they are normal,
patients who otherwise would have had to travel to be
seen can save the trip, said Thomas Chiu, M.D., a
professor and chairman of the department of
pediatrics on the Jacksonville campus.
With the recent addition of a new surgeon to the
Jacksonville campus, Chiu added, officials also hope
to double the number of open-heart surgeries
performed annually.
William Cance, M.D., a professor and chairman of
the department of surgery in Gainesville, called the
development of a multidisciplinary center of
excellence with a team of physicians from multiple
specialties "a critical step to provide the best care to
children with heart disease."
Flotte said, "As much as we're excited about the
growth in patient volume and high-tech
developments associated with this new center, the
bottom line is we're very confident this will let us
give better care to our patients, to kids who are born
with congenital heart disease in the region." 0

8

PATIENT CARE

Shands at UF medical center

joins list of top hospitals

in U.S. News & World Report

By Lance M. Skelly

Shands at UF once again has joined the prestigious ranks of America's
top medical institutions in the 16th annual U.S. News & World Report
guide to "America's Top Hospitals."
Included among the nation's 50 top academic medical centers, Shands
at UF was recognized in nine clinical specialty areas in this year's
comprehensive report for excellence.
Just 176 hospitals (out of 6,007 hospitals nationwide) scored high
enough this year to rank in even a single specialty, and the hospitals in
this list fit a certain mold. These are often referral centers because their
physicians see sicker patients and perform higher volumes of complex
procedures. They follow, develop and often propose advanced treatment
guidelines and conduct research that migrates from labs and computer
databases to the bedside.
"Being recognized among some of America's top hospitals is always
an outstanding achievement and everyone associated with Shands at the
University of Florida takes great pride in this recognition," said
Timothy Goldfarb, Shands HealthCare CEO. "More than anything,
however, these rankings reinforce the message to our community that
some of the very best medical research and care from bench to
bedside can be found right here at Shands and the UF Health
Science Center."
According to the news magazine, the finalists considered for ranking
are part of an elite group. To be eligible, hospitals had to either belong to
the Council of Teaching Hospitals, be affiliated with a medical school or
have at least nine of the 17 technology services listed.

Lance Skelly is a public relations coordinator with Shands HealthCare
Marketing & Public Relations.

UF&SShands

The University Of Florida Health System

U olg 26

Geriatics:02

Neurlog & N
Respiratry Disoders: 3

Kidney Disease: 36ri~LZ

Gyncoogy 3

Ear, Nose & Throat: 3

Heart & Heart Surgery: 43lL

September is Pain Awareness Month
SRobert Yezierski, Ph.D., a professor of orthodontics,
Neuroscience and anesthesiology and director of UF's
Comprehensive Center for Pain Research, is also the
newly elected president of the Florida Pain Initiative.
He and the initiative now lead a statewide effort to
distribute information related to the impact of chronic
Yezierski pain in Florida as one of the goals for September's
Pain Awareness Month.
The Florida Pain Initiative, a member of the American Alliance of Cancer
Pain Initiatives, is a statewide resource to improve the quality of life for
Florida's residents through the promotion of pain relief by education,
clinical practice and patient advocacy. In 2003, the Florida Pain Initiative

conducted a groundbreaking Florida pain survey, discovering that Florida
residents carry a significantly higher burden of chronic and untreated pain
than the national average.
Yezierski and the group are taking a leadership role in the creation of the
Florida Pain Coalition, which currently includes 12 health-care organizations
in the state with the goal of creating a voice for pain advocacy through
education, awareness and research.
Yezierski has been instrumental in planning the organization's annual
pain awareness program. This endeavor includes the nationally acclaimed
Power Over Pain campaign designed to heighten public understanding of
the impact of untreated pain, patient rights and responsibilities in pain care,
appropriate ways to communicate with health professionals about pain and
ways to access pain treatment.
-Lindy McCollum Brounley

0 0 9

FIVE QUESTIONS

Keeping the weight off

Congratulations! You've lost weight and you
look terrific. But in actuality, your hard work is
just beginning. Many people struggle with
sustaining weight loss over the long term. In

most weight loss studies, participants gain
back 50 percent of the lost weight within 18
months after the completion of treatment.
Weight-loss researcher Michael Perri, Ph.D.,
associate dean for research at the College of
Public Health and Health Professions and a
professor in the department of clinical and
health psychology, spoke to the POST about
the challenges of weight loss maintenance.

Supported by a $2.6 million grant from the
National Institutes of Health, Dr. Michael Perri
leads a study to examine the effectiveness of
a treatment plan designed to help rural
women overcome barriers of limited access to
health care and cultural differences in order
to lose weight and keep it off.

Why is it so hard to keep the weight off?
It's probably a combination of biology, environment and psychology. After somebody
has been in a period of losing weight, their body adjusts to taking in less food and their
metabolic rate slows a little bit, making it easier to regain weight if they eat more than
their body needs. From an environmental point of view, food is around us all the time.
So when somebody's finished the process of losing weight they're just surrounded by lots
and lots of temptations. If they experience a lapse in their weight management program,
combined with the fact that their bodies are essentially primed to gain weight, they will
experience a weight gain that's larger than they anticipated. Then the psychological part
comes in. Many folks see the weight gain as evidence that they don't have the ability to
sustain weight loss. They kind of give up and abandon any changes that they've made
in their habits.

What weight-loss maintenance strategies are effective?
One interesting series of studies has looked at people who have lost weight and kept
it off over the long run. It seems that there are three key elements to their success.
One is that they're very vigilant about keeping track of what they eat and most of
them weigh themselves regularly. They also stay very active, commonly getting close
to the equivalent of an hour a day of walking. The third strategy is how much they eat.
Surprisingly, a typical woman reports that she needs to stick with about 1,400 calories a
day to sustain her weight loss, less than most people would expect.
We should also look at what we have learned from clinical trials. Generally we find
that programs that offer opportunities to get advice and guidance after the initial year
of weight loss are more successful than programs that don't offer such services. We've
learned that using meal substitutes products like Slim* Fast- for one or two meals
a day can be helpful because people have fewer choices they need to make. Also, it
appears that certain medications can be successful for sustaining weight loss. And the
final component is social support getting together with peers who are working on the
same problem.

What are some common mistakes people make
once they've reached their goal weight?
The first mistake is thinking that you're done. The programs that promise quick fixes
such as losing 30 pounds in 30 days, are recipes for disaster. People need to make
long-term changes in their diet and activity. Another mistake people make is thinking
that there is a magic bullet or single specific kind of food or approach that is the only
way to be successful, such as low carbohydrate or low fat or whatever it might be. The
overwhelming amount of evidence that we have now shows that overall changes in
energy consumption and expenditure are more important than any dietary component.

ci_ue

What advice would you give someone who has
entered a weight-loss management phase?
During the weight-loss phase, people have a good idea of what they should eat to
reduce their weight and typically have lots of reinforcement from others. People come
up to you and say, "Oh, I notice you've lost weight, you look great." But when people
get into the weight-maintenance phase, it's unclear how much they should eat and
there are probably fewer supports for maintenance only, not weight loss. People rarely
come up to you and say, "Hey, you look great, have you stayed at the same weight?"
Also, relapses are inevitable given our society's emphasis on eating, so almost everyone
is going to experience some times when they falter in their eating or physical activity
routines. Being able to bounce back from these slips and recognizing that it doesn't
have to be the beginning of the end is crucial.

How should the health-care field approach weight control for patients?
I think we've gotten to the point where we recognize that excess weight is more than just
an issue of people being unhappy with their appearance. It's a problem that contributes
to many different illnesses and diseases, including five of the 10 leading causes of
death in the United States. We also need to acknowledge that obesity is a multifaceted
problem that no one sector of professionals can solve by itself. From a public health
perspective, it's going to take the efforts of health-care providers, educators, business
leaders, people in the food industry, restaurateurs and others.
When treating people who are already obese or overweight, we often run into health
insurance barriers. It's not uncommon for health insurers to pay for people who are
severely obese to get help, but not people who are mildly or moderately obese. So we
have the uncomfortable situation of people not being heavy enough to be treated until
they get heavier and sicker. Another obstacle is that oftentimes health providers are not
aware of the health benefits that can come about with modest weight losses. The typical
person who is overweight doesn't need to lose 40 or 50 pounds to benefit. Weight
losses as small as 10 to 15 pounds can be very meaningful in terms of reducing the
risks of diabetes, high blood pressure and certain metabolic conditions. O

II

Clinical and health psychology graduate student Mary Murawski (right), a group leader for the weight loss treatment program
in Levy County, provides instruction on how to examine nutritional labels on prepared foods. Shown with her are (from left)
participants Jenny McCarthy, Sarah Miller and Patricia Daniels.
_____________ssoA

COVER STORY

BUILDING

ON

STRENGTH

The UF Institute on Aging reborn

By Denise Trunk

Pam Duncan, associate director of the UF Institute on Aging, and
colleague, Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, chief, division of career
development, discuss the details of a grant proposal.

he problems facing older Americans are problems most everyone will
confront eventually.
The bleak version of human aging: Lean muscle mass decreases, fat
increases, strength wanes, activity level declines and hope for a vibrant future
gradually fades. Disease or injury occurs, health-care bills pile up and the children
drag out the rocking chair.
The new UF Institute on Aging's vision of aging: Loss of muscle strength and
mass are halted by hormone therapy and healthy diet. The causes of inflammation
and cell death are identified and avoided with diet, exercise, applications of
nanotechnology and gene therapy. Energy levels stay consistent longer, disease is
warded off into old age, physical and mental function remain high. Quality of life
is extended.
To make this vision a reality and create a powerhouse for research and
rehabilitation of aging-related illnesses in Florida, the Institute on Aging aims to
marshal the vast resources of the university's colleges, such as Medicine, Public
Health and Health Professions, Nursing, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and
Engineering, not to mention the expertise of researchers at UF's Rehabilitation
Engineering Research Center on Technology for Successful Aging, the Malcom
Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center's Geriatrics Research, Education and
Clinical Center, its Rehabilitation Outcomes Research Center, and its Brain
Rehabilitation Research Center, the UF Brooks Center for Rehabilitation Studies,
and UF's McKnight Brain Institute.
The need is certainly upon us.
The century may be young, but the rate at which the elderly population those
65 years old and over is growing already has greatly exceeded total population
growth nationwide. Consider this: The number of elderly Americans increased by
a factor of 11, from 3 million in 1900 to 33 million in 1994. In comparison, the total
population, as well as the population under 65 years old, only tripled.
Not surprisingly, Florida, with its warm climate and lack of state income tax, has
by far the highest proportion of elderly citizens of any state in the nation. Almost
19 percent of its residents, approximately 2.2 million people, are 65 or older,
according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
In addition, of 6.8 million disabled older Americans, approximately 580,000 live in
Florida. These people have difficulties with activities such as using the telephone,

going shopping, eating, dressing, toileting or bathing, and they use a large part of the
state's health-care resources, accounting for much of its expenditures.
UF has redoubled its efforts to meet the need for aging research that focuses its
resources on preventing and rehabilitating illness in the elderly to improve and
extend the quality of life.
"We have to be leaders in understanding and solving the problems of an aging
America," said Douglas Barrett, M.D., senior vice president for health affairs, of
the emphasis on the need for aging research in UF's strategic plan.
The first steps in building a strong, unified program were to create the
department of aging and geriatric research in the College of Medicine and bring
aboard a leader with a strong clinical background. This effort was led by C. Craig
Tisher, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine.
Marco Pahor, M.D., a professor of medicine and former director of the Sticht
Center on Aging at Wake Forest University, came to UF in February to head the
IOA and chair the new department.
"With our centers, institutes and affiliations, we already have considerable
strength in gerontology, rehabilitation and working in social problems associated
with the aged," Barrett said. "The addition of Dr. Pahor builds the geriatric research
component. He will bring new clinical trials and research programs to UF."
Pahor's mission is clear, to bring UF to the forefront of aging research and
rehabilitation, not just for the nation but for the world. He has begun by plotting
strong and simple goals for the institute that dovetail with the university's ongoing
research efforts, as well as answering the call of the National Institutes of Health's
Roadmap for Medical Research- a series of progressive initiatives that seek to
transform biomedical research and accelerate its
discoveries by funding multidisciplinary efforts.
"Geriatric medicine does not have a target organ like
cardiology, that focuses on the heart, or neurology. Or
even a disease like cancer, for oncologists," Pahor said.
"Our main target is function, trying to maintain people
functioning as long as possible and maintaining their
quality of life. Or if they become disabled, targeting
their rehabilitation of disability. For this reason, the
theme on which our entire research effort focuses is Pahor

CI 2

prevention, rehabilitation."
Pahor said the IOA's first research goal is to understand which mechanisms lead
to disabilities.
"There are several reasons why people become disabled they can get a stroke
or a hip fracture or a chronic disease that can lead up to a loss in function and
capacity to do daily activities," Pahor said. "Whatever the cause, there is always
one characteristic that is always present and that is loss of muscle strength and
muscle mass, which is called sarcopenia. So we are looking also at what causes
sarcopenia. We are looking at how we can intervene with potential risk factors,
both from pharmacological interventions and through therapeutic interventions
such as physical exercise. And also, we have a line of research focusing on
rehabilitative research to treat it once it has occurred."
Pahor said the IOA plans to develop this research through to phase three
clinical trials.
"We already have in place a rather strong basic science group," Pahor said.
"There is a strong health services research, psychological group, but clinical
research or focusing on larger trials or larger epidemiologic studies needs to be
developed. That is one of my main goals here, to integrate the other areas toward
the clinical research program."

Other key areas of research include:
Brain rehabilitation
Stroke
Hormone therapy
Obesity and aging
Stem cell research and gene therapy o i

Mulligan
An exercise in collaboration
Not only is aging not a unidimensional phenomenon, aging-related research is
not a solo enterprise. Aging is by definition a phenomenon that involves all aspects
of human beings, not just their health care, including social, cultural, health,
physical and mental health, family and social context aspects. Participants in these
research efforts can be jointly appointed or find their academic home within the
new Department of Aging and Geriatric Research.
One is Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Ph.D., whose research focuses on cell death,
calorie restriction and inflammation. He joined the department to further
investigate mechanisms of aging and to head up career development for junior
faculty in the IOA.
The department's offices and the IOA occupy part of the fifth floor of the 1329
Building, 9,600 square feet dedicated to clinical investigation in the Butler
Building and another 1,500 square feet of wet labs on campus.
The IOA's executive board and executive committee also emphasize the
multidisciplinary approach comprising members from the various centers,
colleges, departments, divisions and institutes.
The IOA's associate directors are Pam Duncan, Ph.D., director of the VA (Aging
and) Rehabilitation Outcomes and Research Center; Michael Perri, Ph.D.,
associate dean for research in the College of Public Health and Health Professions;
and Thomas Mulligan, M.D., the Ruth S. Jewett professor of medicine and
chairman of the division of geriatrics in the department
of medicine. He is also director of the Geriatrics
Research, Education and Clinical Center, or GRECC, at
the closely affiliated VA Medical Center.
Ann Horgas, an associate professor and associate dean
for research in the College of Nursing, serves on the IOA
executive committee. She is one of the country's leading
nurse researchers on pain and aging and is completing a
National Institutes of Health-funded study on methods to
assess pain in nursing home residents with dementia. Horgas

"The College of Nursing is excited about the new Institute on Aging building on
the strengths of gerontology and geriatrics across the campus, and the CON faculty is
eager to collaborate with the new IOA," Horgas said.
"Aging is not just about treating one disease and so where UF has the unique
ability to really be the pre-eminent place for aging research is by coupling its
strengths in geriatric medicine with the basic and clinical sciences and the
behavioral and social sciences and to look at the full spectrum of aging," she added.
Indeed, Gainesville has an impressive cluster of research groups that are devoted
to aging. The IOA is in a position to bridge these, said Tom Mulligan.
"The IOA crosses all boundaries. I'm of the opinion that we need to do what we
can to break down barriers between divisions, departments and schools so we can
best collaborate," Mulligan said. "I see this as a jigsaw puzzle. If we can put it all
together, we can become the pre-eminent center for aging in the nation."
To address the multifaceted conditions of aging requires a team approach,
Pahor agreed.
"Because aspects related to disablement in older people impact on so many
different areas, you need a truly interdisciplinary team to address it from a
comprehensive plan," he said. "The IOA is a forum to accomplish this because we
want to attract scientists, behavioral, basic, clinical scientists to the same room,
addressing the same question from different aspects. This is how the IOA is being
framed. This is how our department is framed. Also, this approach is exactly the
NIH Roadmap for research from which all new grants and new initiatives are
being directed. They are all framed among translations of science among
different disciplines."

Answering the call
An initial project uniting those affiliated with the IOA is the planned
submission of a grant proposal seeking funding for the creation of a Claude D.
Pepper Older Americans Independence Center here at UF.
The total amount awarded for the competitive grant would be approximately $4.2
million in fiscal 2006 and $3.2 million in fiscal 2007.
There are 10 of these centers nationwide, funded for the purpose of increasing
independence in older Americans. Pepper Centers provide support for research, to
develop and test clinical interventions, and for core laboratories in the basic
sciences. They are what Duncan calls "the gemstones of aging research."
Pahor was the head of a Pepper Center at Wake Forest and Duncan was the co-
director of the University of Kansas Pepper Center.
"The Pepper Center at the University of Kansas was very instrumental at
helping us understand recovery after stroke," Duncan said. "It was really the
platform from which we helped design a large walking recovery program for stroke
survivors. With that leadership and previous experiences, Pahor and I continue to
be very active in Pepper Centers. I sit on the advisory panels for the University of
Michigan Pepper as well as the University of Pittsburgh.
"We need to be at the forefront of understanding how we deal with the psycho-
social issues and family issues of aging. So this is an opportunity for us to build
world-class programs linking aging and rehabilitation," she added. "I think that by
taking advantage of the opportunity we have and the talents we have, we can provide
a platform for researchers to become successful and we can become competitive."
Michael Perri, the associate dean for research in the
College of Public Health and Health Professions, said
there are a lot of positives to the increased collaboration
that is beginning to occur.
"The 'be all, end all' is not the Pepper," Perri said. "We
need to learn more, discover more and share that with
other people. That can happen without a Pepper.
Hopefully, the collaborations that came together to get out
the Pepper will continue regardless. Extending what we
are all doing to the people who need it." Perri

13

RESEARCH

Advance directives A picture is worth a thousand words

By April Frawley Birdwell

ay Moseley sees the trouble with advance health-
care directives every time he speaks to a group of
senior citizens: Several in the crowd always know
someone who had a living will but whose end-of-life
decisions were not honored anyway.
Ambiguity, objections and even fear cause families
and physicians to ignore the decisions listed in advance
directives more often than most people think, violating a
patient's right to refuse treatment, says Moseley, Ph.D, a
UF bioethicist. But he and two other researchers have
envisioned an idea that could make end-of-life decisions
easier to decipher.
Videotaping an advance directive would allow people 7C
to express medical decisions to their physicians and .
families in a way legal documents do not allow face to .
face, the researchers explained recently in the Archives of
Gerontology and Geriatrics.
"Studies have shown that advance directives, in spite
of the idea that we should honor an incapacitated
person's wishes, just simply don't work very well,"
Moseley said. "There's this growing frustration out
there that written advance directives aren't working and
there don't seem to be any alternatives. We're offering
an alternative."

Moseley said the problem isn't the message of advance
directives, which have been used for about 30 years and
allow people to plan ahead for their health care should
they become seriously ill. Advance planning can keep
people from battling about end-of-life decisions in court,
like the family of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman in a

Pat (left) and Manny Lucoff discuss their living wills with Ray Moseley, a UF bioethicist. Moseley
and other researchers think videotaped advance directives could give people more insight into
their loved ones' wishes.

persistent vegetative state whose husband and parents fought for years about
whether her feeding tube should be removed.
But a written advance directive doesn't always stop the bickering among
families, Moseley said. Seeing a relative explain his or her decision in a video could
quell some of the discord, the researchers suggest. A videotape could spur
discussions at home about death, too.
"None of us like talking about end-of-life issues," he said. "We are a death-
denying culture. But that's only one little part of (the problem). The big part of it is
the medium."
A written advance directive often raises more questions for doctors than the
document answers. Physicians don't always know if their patients were coherent
when they signed the form or what they meant by certain terms like "terminal."
And many physicians in hospitals are caring for incapacitated patients they've
never met before, let alone when they were healthier and still coherent. This
confusion about a life-or-death issue can force doctors to make conservative
treatment choices, ones that may not coincide with what a patient expressed in an
advance directive, Moseley said.
"Some of the most difficult situations difficult for families, patients and
physicians revolve around advance directives," said Robert Hatch, M.D., a UF
associate professor of medical education who contributed to the report along with
another researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Hatch said a doctor with a full hospital schedule probably faces an advance

directive problem every other month.
Most doctors are uncomfortable relying on a legal document to determine
whether a patient lives or dies, said Kenneth Goodman, Ph.D., a University of
Miami bioethics professor and director of the Florida Bioethics Network.
But with technological and medical advances keeping patients alive longer
than they did 50 years ago, advance directives are becoming increasingly
important, he said.
"Advance directives are a very important way to let your wishes be known," he
said. "(Video) is a very creative way of demonstrating what you want. I think it's a
good idea."
The researchers don't think the written form of advance directives should be
scrapped, though. They see video as a supplement. While many states would
accept a video, some states require an advance directive be signed to be legally
binding. In Florida, an advance directive does not have to be written but must be
witnessed to be legal.
Moseley notes that video living wills may not solve every problem. He said he
thinks the idea needs to be studied further and people need to learn to accept
others' wishes so a patient's rights are never violated. But for most families and
doctors, Moseley said video is one step closer toward a conversation and,
potentially, one step closer toward acceptance.
"Our goal should be to honor a patient's wishes as best we can, and a video living
will would significantly help," he said. O

Cl

RESEARCH

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading
cause of blindness in older adults, yet researchers
are still in the dark about many of the factors that
cause this incurable disease.
But new insight from UF and German researchers
about a genetic link between rhesus monkeys with
macular degeneration and humans could unlock
secrets about the earliest stages of the disease, when
severe vision loss could still be stopped.
The researchers pinpointed a chromosome region
and genetic markers for macular degeneration in
humans and rhesus monkeys, findings recently
published in the online edition of the journal
Experimental Eye Research. Linking the disease in
monkeys to the disease in humans allows
researchers to study how it progresses in the
animals, which could lead to better treatments and
even a cure.
"Stopping the development of the disease is
something the monkeys will help us do that we
can't do with humans," said William W. Dawson,
Ph.D., a UF professor of ophthalmology and
physiology and a co-author of the study. "This is a
big step forward in dealing with the disease."
The researchers studied seven genetic sites in the
monkeys that correspond to human chromosomes
linked to macular disease. One of those areas, the
findings confirm, contains genes that predict age-
related macular degeneration in humans and rhesus

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monkeys. Dawson and other researchers have
suspected for years that the disease was very similar
in humans and monkeys, but these findings finally
establish that. This discovery, he said, will allow
researchers to delve deeper into what causes the
disease and could be the first step toward repairing
the genetic defects linked to it.
According to the National Eye Institute, nearly
2 million Americans have advanced age-related
macular degeneration, a disease that develops when
a small, light-detecting part of the retina called the
macula breaks down. Seven million more
Americans have an intermediate form of the disease
and millions more are expected to develop it within
the next 15 years.
The disease can be controlled, but there is no
known way to reverse the vision loss it causes.
Knowing more about the earliest predictors of
macular degeneration could help doctors treat the
disease before extensive vision loss occurs and may
even prevent it in some people. The early risks
associated with macular degeneration have been
difficult for researchers to study in humans, and as
a result, doctors know little about this aspect of the
disease, Dawson said.
"It's difficult to follow closely the aging of a
human over a specific period of time," he said.
"People wouldn't tolerate a controlled (living)
environment for weeks and years." Q

Database could improve research at UF
Shands Cancer Center
The UF Shands Cancer Center has adopted an innovative
new database researchers say will benefit patients and
improve the quality of clinical trials conducted there.
The Velos eResearch program has organized findings and
patient information from current and past clinical trials into
one centralized database researchers and staff members can
access at any of the Cancer Center's three offices.
Velos eResearch also helps researchers and staff
members stick to timelines and monitor patients and
results more closely, said Robert Marsh, M.D., director
of the center's clinical trials office and a UF professor of
hematology and oncology.
"It's going to allow us to analyze our clinical trials more
closely," Marsh said. "I think it's going to raise the quality of
the work we do."
Merging all of the information from each of the Cancer
Center's three offices, which previously used different
databases, into one comprehensive system allows
employees to access information more efficiently.
Streamlining information also should increase the level of
patient care in clinical trials because staff members are able
to access the most up-to-date information about each of their
patients no matter where they work in the Cancer Center.
Currently, there are 125 clinical trials open to patient
enrollment. The Velos eResearch database manages 400
trial protocols and the files of 6,000 patients from current
and past trials.
Velos, a Fremont, Calif.-based company that has been
building software for the health-care industry since 1996,
maintains the information on a secure server that complies
with federal health privacy laws.
April Frawley Birdwell

UF researcher gets $11 million to study
genes, blood pressure drugs
A University of Florida scientist has been awarded an $11.1
million, five-year grant to lead a large group of genetic
researchers in an effort to help people with high blood
pressure.
Researchers at medical centers at UF, the Mayo Clinic
College of Medicine in Minnesota, Emory University in
Atlanta and the University of Texas at Houston will study 800
patients to find ways to tailor drug prescriptions to people's
unique genetic make-ups, according to Julie Johnson,
Pharm.D., director of the UF Center for Pharmacogenomics
and the study's principal investigator.
The award is part of the Pharmacogenetics Research
Network initiative, a nationwide collaboration of scientists
supported by the National Institutes of Health to study how
an individual's genes affect the way he or she responds to
medicines.
"It's often trial and error when a patient is treated for high
blood pressure," said Johnson, a professor at UF's colleges
of Pharmacy and Medicine and an executive committee
member of the UF Genetics Institute. "There are more than
40 drugs to treat hypertension, but any given one will work
in only about 50 percent of the individuals. That means it
takes longer to get people the medicine that's right for them,
and during the process they wind up taking more drugs than
they need to." John Pastor

William W. Dawson (above) and German researchers have pinpointed a genetic link between
humans and rhesus monkeys that could unlock clues about age-related macular degeneration.

Genetic links could unlock clues

to leading cause of blindness

By April Frawley Birdwell

ne j15

DISTINCTIONS

DENTISTRY

ANA P. DECASTRO, a dental
senior, was selected by the
American Association of
Women Dentists to receive
the 2005 Colgate Research
Award. The $500 award
"salutes and encourages
students to excel" in dental
research, and it is presented
to junior or senior dental
students who have shown "academic distinction
and demonstration of excellence in research."

TERESA A. DOLAN, D.D.S.,
M.P.H., was one of two
women dentists honored with
the American Association of
Women Dentists' 2005 Lucy
Hobbs Taylor Award. Dolan
was tapped by the association
to receive the award because
of her excellence as a role
model for all women dentists
and for representing the spirit and ideals of
the award, which celebrates Lucy Hobbs Taylor.
In 1886, Hobbs Taylor was the first woman to
earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Dolan
will receive the award during the October
American Dental Association Annual Meeting in
Philadelphia.

NICHOLAS GRIMAUDO,
D.M.D., Ph.D., an associate
professor and director of
oral health maintenance,
treatment planning
and operative dentistry,
received the Florida Dental
Association's UFCD Dental
Educator of the Year award
during the Florida National
Dental Congress held in Orlando.

MARCIO GUELMANN,
D.D.S., an associate
professor of pediatric
dentistry, has been appointed
chair of pediatric dentistry
after an exemplary year
serving as interim chair.
As chair, Guelmann is
charged with developing
pediatric faculty through
encouraging board certifications and fostering
faculty academic and research collaborations,
emphasizing interdisciplinary collaborations
with Shands at UF, the College of Medicine and
the Craniofacial Center. He will also work with
faculty and the college's Curriculum Committee
to review and revise pediatric dentistry
curriculum for the D.M.D. Program, and will
facilitate the development of a combined
pediatric dentistry certificate and public health
master's degree program.

ROBERT H. SELWITZ, D.D.S.,
M.P.H., has received joint
appointment as clinical
professor of public health
services and research with the
UF College of Dentistry and
dental director for the Duval
County Health Department.
Selwitz' responsibilities
will be to administer the
DCHD dental program with an annual budget
of more than $2.1 million, and to participate
in interdisciplinary public health research and
clinical instruction of the college's dental public
health residents and D.M.D. students. Selwitz
comes to UF from the National Institute of Dental
and Craniofacial Research, where he served
as chief of the population research and health
promotion branch and director of the agency's
residency program in dental public health. He
is board-certified in public health dentistry and
earned his dental degree from University of
Detroit Mercy and his master's in public health
from the University of Michigan.

LIBRARY

MICHELE TENANT, Ph.D.,
M.L.I.S, the HSC Libraries'
Bioinformatics Librarian for
the UF Genetics Institute and
the HSC Libraries, has been
asked by the director of the
National Library of Medicine
to serve on the planning
panel for "NLM Support
for Genomic Science of the
21st Century," which will help create the NLM's
2006-2016 long range plan. Tennant has also
been named to the editorial board of the Journal
of the Medical Library Association and she will
specialize in papers related to bioinformatics,
genomics, genetics and molecular sciences.
Additionally, at the recent Special Libraries
Association's annual conference, Tennant was
presented with the Distinguished Member Award,
which is the highest award bestowed by the SLA's
Biomedical and Life Sciences Division.

PAMELA SHERWILL,
M.L.I.S., the liaison librarian
to the College of Nursing,
and Beth Layton, M.L.S.,
M.B.A., the HSC Libraries'
deputy director, produced
an interactive tutorial on the
Cumulative Index to Nursing
and Allied Health Literature
database that was honored
by acceptance to the Association of College and
Research Libraries' peer-reviewed instructional
materials Web site. Their tutorial was the first of
its kind to address the CINAHL database, and it
has received acclaim in the fields of nursing and
allied health.

MEDICINE

SCOTT TEITELBAUM, a clinical professor in the
psychiatry department at UF's McKnight Brain
Institute and director of adolescent addiction at
Florida Recovery Center, spoke to entertainment
industry writers and news reporters about the
effects of cocaine on teenagers during a media
conference at ABC Television Network in New
York recently.
The National Youth Anti-Drug Media
Campaign of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy selected
Teitelbaum to appear on a panel with Llewellyn
Wells, a TV and film producer whose credits
include "West Wing," and Tom Harrigan,
chief of enforcement operations for the Drug
Enforcement Administration.

NURSING

ANN HORGAS, Ph.D., R.N.,
the associate dean for
research, has been elected
a fellow in the American
Academy of Nursing.
The academy awards
fellowships to individuals
who have made outstanding
contributions to effective
nursing through practice,
research, creative development, scholarly work,
the influence of public policy or a combination
of these. Fellows also must show the potential to
continue making significant contributions to the
field of nursing.
Horgas, an associate professor who has been
at UF since 2000, is one of the country's leading
nurse researchers on pain and aging and is
currently conducting a National Institutes of
Health-funded study on methods to assess pain
in nursing home residents with dementia.

MONIQUE WHITE, a third-
year student, was awarded
the National Black Nurses
Association's Dr. Lauranne
Sams Scholarship by the
Gainesville chapter of the
NBNA.
White was one of four
students nationwide to be
awarded with the scholarship
at the national association's 33rd Annual
Conference in July.
The Dr. Lauranne Sams Scholarship, named
for the founder and first president of the NBNA,
is awarded to a student nurse who represents
the leadership, commitment to service and
scholarship of Dr. Sams.
The NBNA provides annual scholarships for
student nurses to grow and better contribute their
talents to the health care of their communities.

C161

DISTINCTIONS

MEREDETH ROWE, Ph.D.,
R.N., an associate professor,
has been named a fellow of
the Gerontological Society
of America.
Rowe currently is the principal
investigator of a National
Institutes of Health-funded
study to develop a night alert
prompting system designed
to prevent dementia patients from nighttime
wandering, which can cause injury or death.
Fellowship within the Gerontological Society
of America represents the highest class of
membership and acknowledges the superior
contributions made to the field of gerontology.
Rowe has written numerous publications on
topics such as dementia, care after coronary
artery surgery, chronic illness, and the impact
of the caregiver on patients with dementia.
Rowe also is a fellow of the Hartford Institute of
Gerontological Research.

PHARMACY

VERONIKA BUTTERWECK,
Ph.D., an assistant professor
of pharmaceutics, has
been elected to the U.S.
Pharmacopeia Dietary
Supplements Botanicals
Expert Committee. She
will be involved in setting
USP standards for dietary
supplements and herbals
during the next five years.

CARRIE HASKELL-
LUEVANO, Ph.D., an
associate professor of
medicinal chemistry, has been
elected to the Council of the
American Peptide Society.
She will serve a six-year term, .. ..
which serves as a board of
directors for members from
more than 30 countries.

JULIE JOHNSON, Pharm.
D., a professor and chair of
the department of pharmacy
practice, has accepted
an appointment to the
editorial staff of the journal
Clinical Pharmacology and
Therapeutics. CPT is one
of the most widely read
and respected journals in
the pharmacy profession. Her responsibilities
will include reviewing scientific articles,
commissioning special reviews for the journal
and acting as a primary advocate for the journal
among scientific and professional colleagues.

DOUG RIED, Ph.D., a
professor of pharmacy
health care administration
and assistant dean for
curricular affairs and
accreditation has been
appointed to a three-year
term as associate editor of
the Journal of the American
Pharmacists Association.
JAPhA is a peer-reviewed forum for original
research, review, experience and opinion articles
that link science with contemporary pharmacy
practice to improve patient care. The American
Pharmacists Association is a leader in providing
timely, high-quality information and education
for health-care professionals, and is an advocate
for improved health through the provision of
comprehensive pharmaceutical care.

GREG WELDER, a new
pharmacy student, begins
his academic career this fall
with the American Heart
Association/American
Stroke Association Student
Scholarship in Cardiovascular
Disease and Stroke. Welder
began his work this summer,
under Issam Zineh, Ph.D., an
assistant professor of pharmacy practice, studying
the anti-inflammatory effects of the cholesterol-
lowering drug Lipitor. The $2,000 scholarship
gives students an early opportunity to work in the
laboratory to stimulate careers in research.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH PROFESSIONS

HARRISON JONES,
a rehabilitation science
doctoral student with
a concentration in
communication and
swallowing science,
was awarded the Larry
Director Graduate Student
Scholarship from the Florida
Association of Speech-
Language Pathologists and Audiologists. He also
received a Graduate Student Scholarship from
the UF Women's Club.

KIMBERLY MILLER,
a graduate student in the
department of clinical
and health psychology,
was awarded a two-year
National Research Service
Award from the National
Institutes of Health to
support her research on -
emotion in Parkinson's
disease. She is also the recipient of the Manfred
Meier Neuropsychology Scholarship, given by
the American Psychological Foundation.

LAURA WILLIAMS,
a graduate student in the
department of clinical and
health psychology, is one
of 10 students nationally to
be named to the Student
Advisory Board of the Society
of Pediatric Psychology.
Board members represent the
interests of students in society
programming, structure and training, and they
encourage student participation.

VETERINARY MEDICINE

JOSEPH A. DIPIETRO,
D.V.M., dean of the College
of Veterinary Medicine, is one
of a select group of scholars
who have been selected to
participate in the 2005 Food
Systems Leadership Institute.
The institute emphasizes
advancing and strengthening
the food system by developing
strong and effective leaders prepared to bring
cultural change to food system organizations,
with a special focus on the country's land grant
universities.
DiPietro, who is president of the American
Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, also
was recently appointed to the board of directors
of the National Commission on Veterinary
Economic Issues.
The NCVEI's mission is to improve the
economic base of the veterinary profession,
ensuring that the delivery of veterinary care
and service meets the needs of society. The
commission develops and implements strategies
to ensure the future relevance, direction,
responsiveness, capacity and economic health of
the veterinary profession.

JULIE LEVY, D.V.M., Ph.D., an
associate professor of small
animal medicine, was named
the 2005 Outstanding
Woman Veterinarian of the
Year by the Association for
Women Veterinarians.
Levy co-founded Operation
Catnip, which works to reduce
the feral cat population, and is
a well-known advocate for homeless and feral cats.

0 0 17
ue*V~

DISTINCTIONS

HSC recognizes its most dedicated staffers

On June 2, HSC employees were recognized for their long-term commitment and dedication to the University of Florida with mementos of the university. The five-, 10- and
15-year recipients received a service pin, as did the 20- and 25-year recipients, who were also given a Gator hat and a paperweight. The 30-year recipients received the same
gifts as the 20- and 25-years recipients plus a $100 check, and the 35-year employees received the same mementos and a $150 check.

Dentistry
5 Years
Patricia Chesborough
Paula Colvin
Stacey Goodman
Kathleen Leigh
Ligia Ortega
Federico Perez
Mindy Register
Pauline Roberts-Coleman
Julie Thompson

10 Years
Elizebeth Apple
Karen Barfield
Amy Corbitt
Grace Gulecas
Joanne Kwiatkowski
Jan Large
Carmelit Lucarelli
Marti Parsells
Irene Sweeney
Jerri Wainer

15 Years
Ronda Anderson
Cynthia Bachus
Opal Fullmore
Jennifer Gollwitzer
Linda Kubitz
Patricia Matthews

20 Years
Beverly Mays
Lee Mintz
Carolyn Peragine
Mitchell Salisbury

25 Years
Jacqueline Hopkins

Gloria Pagington
Jerilynn Stillwell
Ken Tomlinson

30 Years
Joan Ridgell

Medicine
5 Years
Mabelissa Acevedo
Jon Akers
Dawn Allen
Stephanie Anderson
Rosemary Asare
Daniel Ashton
Melissa Bass
Christine Baxley
Tina Bradshaw
Barbara Breeze
Gary Brown
Curtis Browne
Barbara Bryant
Robin Byrd
Amy Cheatwood
Jenika Christmas
Amado Diaz Jr.
Renee Dubault
Sabrina DuBois
Linda Ebbeling
Lawrence Ebersole
Arthur Flowers
Elaine Francis
Wanda Frazier
Barbara Frentzen
Kimberly Frost-Pineda
Fengqin Gao
Margarita Garlin
Deborah Godwin
Virginia Graham

Timothy Grzywa
Diane Hammon
Lisa Harvey
Ethel Holder
James Horne
Barbara Howe
Kelly Johnson
Kim Jordan
Tammy Kegley
Lynn Kennedy
Dianna Kish
Irina Korytov
Donna Krause
Karen Lanzetta
Rachel Lepanto
Wei Li
Amanda Lowe
Twana Manning
Kimberly Manucy
Brenda Martin
Kim McElroy
Julia Messick
Craig Meyers
Felecia Milton
Donna Ohern
Lawrence Oshins
Karen Perrin
Glenn Philipsberg
Teresa Polbos
Christy Popp
Edith Sampson
Marlene Sarmiento
Joseph Schentrup
Cynthia Schuhmacher
Elizabeth Shadden
Shanna Silcox
Jamie Sims
Renee Smith
Sandra Smith
Scott Streibich

Susan Tanner
Kathy Taylor
Natalie Thomas
Paul Tran
Gregory Tyler
Geri Underhill
Heiman Wang
Martha Wester
Marylou Wilder
Isabelle Williams
Susan Wright
Rhonda Yates
Melanie Zawoy
Meilan Zheng

10 Years
Marilyn Barnes
Nordice Burnham
Karen Byer
Peggy Cissna
Valerie Cloud
Peggy Comerford
Roberta Cook
Catherine Cooper
Mary Courts
Nancy Dinwiddie
Lorraine Duncan
Susan Fitzwilliam
Robert Gibson
Janet Gilbert
Mary Hancock
Sally Harvin
Benjamin Hawkins
Sharon Hennessy
Leonard Herring
Susan Link
Julie Ludlow
Michael Matheny
Debra McKeown
Annie McPherson

Victor Mercado
Linda Miller
Teresa Mixson
Claudette Nelson
Jane-Ann Norton
Connie Philebaum
Wilhelm Schwab
Melinda Sheffield
Marguerite Smith
Douglas Spinney
Stephanie Stevens
Diane Strong
Cynthia Tannahill
Jeffrey Thinschmidt
Mary Thomas
Maryellen Toombs
Arthur Watson
Donna Wegener

15 Years
Judith Allen
Patrick Anthony
Cynthia Batie
Mary Blundell
Alice Boyette
Elizabeth Bruce
Vince Chiodo
Linda Curry
Donna Davis
Dorothy Davis
Barbara Debarr
Margaret Dermott
Bridget Desue
Jana Dew
Laura Dickinson
Margaret Dukes
Mary Eckert
Pamela Feaster
Nigel Flinchum
Candace Fossum

20-year employees (back row, from left): Alex Trapp, Shirlene Harver, Cynthia Karle, Carolyn Peragine, Beverly Mays, Lee Mintz, Lisa Vannocker, Tim Vinson,
Sharon Milton-Simmons, Barbara West, Robert Lockwood, Judy Harrell, Chuck Poulton, Mitchell Salisbury, Shirley Rushing, Dan Arrington.
(Front row, from left): Drucilla Tulip-Valerio, Ann Case, Pat Siter, Jessie Runge, Lettie Herman, Judith Adams, Sally Kimberly, Cassandra Jackson, Ron Dearinger.

DISTINCTIONS

25-year employees, (back row, from left): Vicki
Durrance, Griffen Sundeen, Fred Grant, William
Richardson, Lynn Raynor, Donna Desmond-Kuhn, Faye
Brown, Frances Edwards.
(Front row, from left): Jerilynn Stillwell, Lisa Booher, Mary
Opel, Jacqueline Hopkins, Virginia Simmons, Debbie
Hodge, Debra Couch.

Nancy Hargrove
Laurie Hartnett
Shirley Hatch
Mary Hoffman
Jessie Hoffner
Mary Hoyt
Erin Jackson
Donna Johnson
Songa Jones
Kendra Kuck
Inez Lucas
Lesley Myers
Mary Newman
Glennice Peters
David Pittman
Glenda Railey
Rhoda Reed
Lori Robinson
Vicki Sabatella
Hazel Shaw
Ronald Smith
Robbie Stringfellow
Sherri Swilley
Wendy Walters
Rebecca Wichman
Naomi Williams
Charlotte Wood

20 Years
Judith Adams
Sandra Clark
Ronald Dearinger
Kirsten Faircloth
Shirley Filer
Linda Galloway
Judith Harrell
Shirlene Harvey
Mary Heflin
Lettie Herman
Cynthia Karle
Salli Kimberly

Margo Kramer
Patricia McKey
Sharon Milton-Simmons
Deana Nance
Winston Poulton
Shirley Rushing
Imogene Seeger
Patricia Siter
Beverly Watson
Barbara West

25 Years
Faye Brown
Donna Desmund-Kuhn
Vicki Durrance
Fred Grant
Deborah Hodge
Valerie Holmes
Georgia Johnson
Mary Opel
Lynn Raynor

30 Years
Ruth Klockowski
Jerilyn Stoner
Deborah Wetherington

35 Years
Kathryn Smith

Nursing
5 Years
Kenneth Foote

15 Years
Cornelia Frazier

35 Years
Dorothy Joseph

Pharmacy
5 Years
Susan Griffith

10 Years
Laura Faux
Deborah Kemp
Janet True

15 Years
Samuel Algee
Yun-Ju He

20 Years
Gladys Kallman
Tim Vinson

30 Years
Terry Whisenant

Public Health and
Health Professions
5 Years
Chiara Carmolli-Anderson
Kevin Hanson
Vera Hemphill
Mary Porumbescu
Holiday Rogers
Robin Shenk
Wendy Thornton

10 Years
Sarah Hayden
Tonia Lambert

15 Years
Diane Johns

20 Years
Jessie Runge

30 Years
Vikki Carter

Veterinary Medicine
5 Years
Honore Busch
Elizabeth Farmer
Karen Hickok
Tanya Holland
Lisa Holtzendorf
Delena McTeer
Brandee Moody
Lila Pittman
Julie Poncier
Susan Starke
Lashand Williams
Mary Wood
Brandy Woodley

10 Years
Alice Bliss-Dodd
Gary Geiger
Lottye Manns
Gertrude Nichols
Abby Rabe
Karen Scott
Theresa Torres

15 Years
Judy Chastain
Sharon Hewett
Elise Lee
Danielle Mauragis
Mary Ring
Brenda Sigmon

20 Years
Jay Gilbreath
Sandra King
Brett Rice
Anthony Ross
Ana Zometa

25 Years
Debra Couch
Frances Edwards
Kathleen McCartin
Virginia Simmons

30 Years
Annie Hahn

30-year employees, (back row, from left): Mae O'Neal,
Bennie Crawford, Terry Whisenant, Vicki Carter, Jerilyn
Stoner, Joan Ridgell, William Privet.
(Front row, from left): Mae Richardson, Cathy Owen,
Ruth Klockowski, Debbie Wetherington, Annie Hahn,
Charlotte Eberle.

19

DISTINCTIONS

Animal Care Services
15 Years
Angie Boykin
Joanne Gordon
Leonard McDonald

20 Years
Alex Trapp

Physical Plant
Division
5 Years
Kenneth Berry
Ayesha Britt
Donald Blair
Steven Craig
Tamiru Gebremariam
James Gibson
Gary Morrison

Dorothy Joseph, a senior accountant with the College of
Nursing, Ulysses Ellis Jr., of the Physical Plant Division
and Kathryn Smith, of the College of Medicine, were
recognized for 35 years of service.

10 Years
Rodney Rucker
Donald Wood

15 Years
Leslie Becker
David Crabtree
Ira Cruce
Leo Gengler
Ike Smith III
Luis Vazquez
Allen Wade

20 Years
Jeffrey Fletcher
Clifford Pegler
Jimmy Singletary Jr.

25 Years
Gerald Hoyt
Earnestine Murphy
William Richardson
Mary Smith
Dorothy Strong

30 Years
Sarah Bradley
Bennie Crawford
Adell Davis
William Privett
Mae Richardson
Joann Ryles
Lewis R. Scott
James Taylor

35 Years
Ulysses Ellis Jr.

Student Health Care
Center
5 Years
Tavis Glassman
Ursula Hicks
Mary Homza
Anthony Kelly
Rhonda Larson
Joy Lawton
Bonnie Olson
Candice Rogers
Mary Thorkildson
Rebecca Yale

10 Years
Phillip Arnold
Barbara Cribbs
Vivienne Crooks
Glynda Harris
Melanie Harrison
Pamela Taylor

15 Years
Beree Darby
Chari Martin
Rankin Van Arnam

20 Years
Drucilla Tulip-Valerio

25 Years
Victoria Sustana

30 Years
Charlotte Eberle
Cathy Owen

Senior Vice President,
Health Affairs
5 Years
Richard Deason
Jessica Hacker
Debbie Ann Hawkins
Marilyn King
Amy Osborne
Kimberley Smith

10 Years
Vicki Crafton-Zinn
Dennis Hogue Jr.
Edra ljames
Rita Jacques

15 Years
Donald David
William Peel
Dorothy Smith

20 Years
Daniel Arrington
George Barnett
Ann Case
Cassandra Jackson
Robert Lockwood
Lisa Vannocker
Katharyn Ward

25 Years
Lisa Booher
William Silk
Griffen Sundeen

30 Years
Mae O'Neal

GRANTS

College of Nursing autism researcher receives

more than $1 million in funding from NIH

By Tracy Brown

A UF autism researcher whose program focuses on the in-
home training of fathers to better communicate and play
with their autistic children recently received more than $1
million in funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Jennifer Elder, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., an associate
professor and department chairwoman in the UF College
of Nursing, will lead a four-year study that will further
Elder expand training of fathers to learn effective
communication techniques to better connect with their
autistic children.
Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first
three years of life and is characterized by problems interacting and
communicating with others.
Elder's previous study found that teaching fathers how to talk to and play
with their autistic children in a home setting improved communication,

increased the number of intelligible words the youngsters spoke by more than
50 percent and helped dads get more involved in their care.
Elder and her research team plan to continue their research with a larger
group of fathers and fine tune the interventions used based on their experiences
in this study. They also plan to show fathers how to train their spouses in the
techniques, and then evaluate the effectiveness of that approach. The team will
note the effects of father training on parental stress and family cohesion.
In addition, the team is developing a Web site to broadcast training "booster"
sessions via the Internet to a subset of participating fathers. Fathers will be able
to view these training sessions and hear comments on how to improve upon
their play sessions with their children.
"In addition to answering important questions related to autism," Elder said,
"interventions and procedural methods in our proposed work may have wider
applications and prove critical in developing future research with a variety of
challenging childhood disorders."

C2

EDUCATION

Medical students get dose of ethics, behavior training

By April Frawley Birdwell

UF medical students learn more than anatomy facts and science in class. Learning to be professional is an
important aspect of medical education too, and college leaders emphasize this from orientation to graduation.

ceremony highlighting the symbolism
of the white coat and what being a
physician means.
"Our school (leaders), as well as
others, always say there is a hidden
curriculum," said Kyle Rarey, Ph.D,
associate dean for program evaluation
and development. "And the hidden
curriculum is professionalism."
Learning professionalism isn't like
learning anatomy though. No course
deals solely with the concept, but it's a
running theme, and administrators try
to instill the importance of appropriate
behavior in students before they even
step foot on campus.
New students write a class code of
ethics that each student signs, and
medical students are also encouraged
to work together as a team.
While first- and second-year
medical students most commonly are
disciplined because of academic
problems, third- and fourth-year
medical students, residents and fellows
are more often cited for a lack of
professional behavior. Only a few
members of each class run into
problems like these, though, Duff said.
There may be no Professionalism

Adam Brank learned things any budding doctor needs to know when he
was a UF medical student human anatomy, the effects different drugs
have on the body and the physiology of blood vessels.
He learned something that wasn't taught in textbooks, too. He learned how to be
a professional and the importance of treating people with respect, qualities medical
educators say are just as important as the thousands of facts students grapple with
each year.
Through the years, the idea of teaching professionalism in medical schools has
become increasingly important. The trend is a hot topic at national conferences,
and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education now lists
professionalism as one of six key competencies medical residents should possess.
At UF, College of Medicine leaders have taken an even stronger stance on
medical professionalism, naming it the top competency in the college and stressing
it from day one of medical school.
"The symbolism we try to convey is you gain a certain power (as a doctor), but
with that power and authority comes a tremendous obligation," said Patrick Duff,
M.D., associate dean for student affairs. "You have an obligation to put the patient's
welfare above your own self-interest. You have a higher standard."
Faculty members describe professionalism as a certain attitude, qualities like
being honest, humble, quietly competent, committed to learning and respectful of
patients, peers, staff members and faculty.
Professionalism is emphasized at UF in classes and even in special ceremonies.
Second-year medical students are presented with their first white coats during a

101 course, but appropriate behavior is
key in classes like Essentials of Patient Care. One-fifth of a student's grade in this
class is based on professionalism, said Rebecca Pauly, M.D., division chief of the
internal medicine department and one of the professors who teaches the class.
"Professionalism, to me, is something that's a quality in a person, but it can be
cultivated," she said.
Students actually learn best from the professors they observe, which makes it
crucial for faculty members to be good role models, Pauly said. They also learn
from their own progress, watching tapes of their interactions with standardized
patients, who are trained to work with students. These patients rate their
perceptions of students too.
Brank, now an internal medicine intern, still thinks about the speech of a
professor, whose wife was seriously ill, that defines for him the importance of
teamwork in medicine.
"He said there is no place for mean-spirited competition between each other.
One day it is going to be one of our classmates taking care of one of our loved
ones," he said.
Students also grade each other on their professional behavior, observations
administrators later use to nominate students for the Chapman Society, a
humanism honors society that recognizes caring qualities.
Brank, a member of the Chapman Society, now sees how important being caring
and professional is every day in the patients he treats.
"If they know you are doing the best you can to help them," he said, "they return
that by being kind and gracious to you." O

EaWanjiT21)

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JACKSONVILLE

New grant allows researchers to study

bladder cancer's genetic profile

By Patricia Bates McGhee

Dr. Charles Rosser (left) and Steve Goodison (right) have received a $447,719 grant from the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program to
study smoking's effects on bladder cancer.

wo UF HSC Jacksonville researchers are looking for clues about smoking's
effects on bladder cancer, thanks to a James and Esther King Biomedical
Research Program grant awarded them by the Florida Department of Health.
Charles Rosser, M.D., an assistant professor of urology in the department of
surgery, and Steve Goodison, Ph.D., an associate professor and director of research in
the department of pathology, are among 16 recipients selected for the 2005 statewide
awards. They will receive $446,719 over three years for their research.
"The grant is looking at diseases that could be tobacco-related, so from a
urologic oncologist's standpoint the most frequent tobacco-related disease I see is
bladder cancer," Rosser said.
Indeed, in the United States smoking is the No. 1 cause for bladder cancer and
bladder cancer is the third leading tobacco-related disease after lung cancer and
heart disease.
Bladder cancer is a predominately male disease, with women accounting for only
20 percent of diagnosed cases, according to Rosser, who said that may not hold true
for smoking-related cases.
"It's also probably a little more prevalent in Caucasians than in African
Americans, and we don't really know why," he said.
"The general public knows how smoking can affect the lungs and the heart but
probably knows little about its effects on the bladder," he added. "But the same
toxins produced by smoking that hurt the lung and the heart get into the
bloodstream, are excreted into the urine and then sit in the bladder, sometimes for
extended periods of time."
Goodison says men are probably more prone to have obstructive voiding systems.
"This means they cannot empty their bladder completely, so these toxins are
there," he explained, "and they're bathing the lining of the bladder."
Cells are normally shed from the wall of the bladder into the urine as part of the

natural turnover of the tissue.
"DNA is still in the cells, so we're going to look at the DNA in those shed cells
present in the non-invasively obtained urine and see if there are any genetic
abnormalities or changes," Rosser said.
Then the researchers will conduct genetic tests and correlate it back to the
patient's clinical status.
"We will correlate all the clinical information including history of
smoking with what we get from the urine sample," Goodison said. "The long-
term clinical outcome of the patients is another piece of the puzzle that will also be
correlated with the genetic profile."
The study might also identify a genetic predisposition to the disease, perhaps
related to a less-sufficient clearance of the toxins.
According to Goodison, urine samples are obtained non-invasively and offer a
very accessible sample for molecular biology analysis.
"This means that bladder biomarkers could really help clinically because you
could easily screen both asymptomatic people and people with bladder cancer to
look for recurrence," he said. "It's an area where you can really do some good and
in a tangible timeframe."
What Rosser and Goodison hope to find is a genetic profile associated with the
onset of bladder cancer or a genetic predisposition to the disease that can be used
for screening, followed by earlier detection and intervention.
Similar studies have been done, with the largest collecting 40 samples, said
Goodison.
"Other studies may come out in the meantime, but ours will be the biggest to date if
it goes to plan," he said. "If we understand the genetics of the tumor, we can gain
valuable insight into tumor biology and start to understand the molecular basis of
tumor progression. This, in turn, could open up other avenues of basic research." Q

C221

EXTRAORDINARYY PEOPLE

Iris Campbell

Calm amid the student

services storm
By Tracy Brown

Outside of work,

my family,

especially my

grandchildren, are

my pride and joy!

Iris Campell (seated), a program assistant for the colleges of Public Health and Health
Professions, Nursing, and Pharmacy, assists new students in the HPNP's Student Service Center.

Amid the madness of student registration and scheduling appointments,
dealing with pressures of three different colleges and handling aggressive
parents who want to ensure their child receives the best advisement, you
will find a very compassionate woman by the name of Iris Campbell.
Campbell, program assistant for the colleges of Public Health and Health
Professions, Nursing and Pharmacy in the Student Services Center of the complex
housing the three colleges, usually arrives in the early morning to make all of her
necessary preparations, but when 8 a.m. actually hits, there is never a dull moment.
Her day is filled with addressing student questions, making appointments,
reserving classrooms for speakers or events, serving as the liaison between students
and faculty, and handling a slew of other activities that come her way.
Before beginning as the program assistant in the HPNP Complex in November
2002, Campbell worked in the UF dean of students' office.
"I earned a great deal of insight on how to better assist students to suit their
specific needs," Campbell said. "The university offers a lot of places for students to
retreat to in order to deal with personal issues."
In the beginning, Campbell was forced to battle this demanding position alone,
but those days have passed. Now, some of her load is shared with fellow program
assistant Tina Pruitt.
In this position, Campbell has been faced with many extraordinary incidents
where students have shared not only academic issues but also personal concerns.
"Students come to me, sometimes, just to talk about things going on in their life.
It is not always related to school," she said.
Some of her most memorable moments are when she has had to deal with
irate parents.

"Some parents call the office and demand to speak with their child's adviser,
because they feel their child may have received some ill-advisement on an academic
issue. I have learned to look over their anger because I know they only want what's
best for their children."
Campbell was born in Fort Gullick, Panama Canal Zone. Her parents are from
San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, but they raised Campbell in the United States. Her
mother, father and sisters currently all live in Florida, and Campbell takes pride in
her family's closeness.
From childhood to her adult life, Campbell has been immersed in military life.
Her father served in the Army for 30 years, and her husband served in the U.S.
Marine Corps. Her only son is currently in the Air Force. He has served in
England for five years but is expected to return to the United States next summer.
Her eldest daughter is a graduate from the UF Fisher School of Accounting and is
now a certified public accountant. Her youngest daughter is a current student at
UF and also served in the Army Reserve.
"Outside of work, my family, especially my grandchildren, are my pride and
joy!" she said.
For Campbell, the most exciting moments at work are those when she can share
in students' and faculty members' happiness and satisfaction; for example, when
students tell her that they have been accepted to their program or when she is able
to resolve a problem for faculty members so they can continue with more pressing
assignments.
Campbell always enjoys going the extra mile to help out a student or faculty
member. "It really makes me feel like I have contributed in making a difference,"
she said. 0

23

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BACKPAGE

Dr. Hugh "Smiley" Hill (left) was a mentor to many young medical
professionals during his 42 years at UF, including Dr. Robert Brown (right).

- -q

Published by
UF Health Science Center
Office of News & Communications
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
Douglas J. Barrett, M.D.
Director, News & Communications
Tom Fortner
Editor
Denise Trunk
Senior Editors
Melanie Fridl Ross, John Pastor
Designer/Photographer
Lisa Baltozer, Mickey Cuthbertson
Staff Writers
Tracy Brown, Sarah Carey, Tom Fortner,
April Frawley Birdwell, Linda Homewood,
Lindy McCollum-Brounley, Patricia McGhee,
John Pastor, Jill Pease, Melanie Fridl Ross,
Denise Trunk
UF Health Science
CENTER

Support Staff
Cassandra Jackson, Beth Powers, Kim Smith
Intern
Leah Cochran
The POST is the monthly internal newsletter for
the University of Florida Health Science Center,
the most comprehensive academic health center
in the Southeast, with campuses in Gainesville
and Jacksonville and affiliations throughout
Florida. Articles feature news of interest for and
about HSC faculty, staff and students. Content
may be reprinted with appropriate credit.
Ideas for stories are welcome. The deadline
for submitting items to be considered for each
month's issue is the 15th of the previous month.
Submit to the editor at dtrunk@ufl.edu or deliver
to the Office of News & Communications in the
Communicore Building, Room C3-025.
www.news.health.ufl.edu

k. J^- 1

Legendary medical

school dean dies

By April Frawley Birdwell

Dr. Hugh M. "Smiley" Hill, M.D., knew just what to do

when a worried medical student confided that his wife
was pregnant, again, and money was tight.
"He said, 'When it's due, I'll deliver it,'" Dr. Robert Brown, a
former student, recalled of the conversation he had with the
former associate dean of student and alumni affairs two
decades ago. "He said, 'Hey Bob, I'll take care of it, just keep
coming, keep studying.'"
Dr. Hill, considered a legend among College of Medicine
alumni and a champion of students during his 42 years at UF,
died July 31 in his Gainesville home. He was 81.
To many alumni, the name Dr. Smiley Hill is synonymous
with UF's College of Medicine. He spoke to students at
orientation and except for the inaugural 1960 graduating class
he placed the ceremonial hood on every graduating doctor at
UF until he retired in 2001.
Students honored him with the Outstanding Clinical
Teacher award 12 times and with the prestigious Hippocratic
Award four times, even though no professor was originally
supposed to win the award more than once.
"There is a rare person who is irreplaceable, and Smiley
leads my list," said Robert Watson, M.D., senior associate dean
for educational affairs, at Dr. Hill's packed memorial service
Aug. 3. "He was a treasure no other medical school has had the
good fortune to share. There was, and will always be, only one
Smiley Hill."
But he almost never became a doctor, let alone a teacher of
doctors. The young Hill wanted to be a wrestler, but a college
injury sidelined him and World War II led him into a career he
never imagined.
Trained to be a surgical technician, he treated troops
wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and earned the Soldier's
Medal of Heroism for saving an injured soldier from drowning.
His war experiences also sparked a lifelong love of medicine.
After graduating from Davidson College, where he earned
the nickname Smiley, he entered medical school at Johns
Hopkins University. He came to UF as an obstetrics and
gynecology professor in 1959.
To Brown, Dr. Hill will always be the man who saved his life,
who encouraged him and helped him find financial aid to keep
his family afloat while he studied. Brown called Dr. Hill every
Thanksgiving to thank him and gave his fourth child, the one
Dr. Hill delivered, the middle name Hugh.
"If it wasn't for Dr. Hugh Hill, I would still be in Dixie,
Ga.," Brown said. "I would not be a doctor. He didn't care if
you were black, brown, polka-dot ... if you were a student he
was there for you."
Dr. Hill is survived by his wife, Ann Lazonby Hill, of
Gainesville; and daughter, Grace, of Washington, D.C. 0

	Front Cover
	Center Drive project delayed through...
	Post it
	Barrett's to-do list
	Preserving history
	Visionaries
	Time capsule
	Heart center
	Patient care briefs
	Keeping the weight off
	Institute on Aging
	Advance directives
	Research briefs
	Distinctions
	Medical professionalism
	Cancer's genetic profile
	(Extra)ordinary people
	Smiley Hill