http://med.miami.edu/news/ News from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine en jprather@med.miami.edu Copyright 2013 2013-05-16T19:37:12+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/pap-corps-annual-gift-reaches-3.6-million-this-year Motivated by its more than 21,000 volunteers, The Pap Corps: Champions for Cancer Research presented its annual gift – this time a check for $3.6 million – to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Miller School of Medicine. Presented at The Pap Corps May 9 President’s Meeting at the Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, the check is part of the group’s $25 million commitment to Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami. In a message read by W. Jarrard Goodwin, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Sylvester/University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Miller School, and CEO of the University of Miami Health System, thanked volunteers for their spectacular efforts. 2013-05-16T19:37:12+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/miller-school-awards-medical-degrees-to-the-class-of-2013 With great exuberance and pride, and a huge sigh of relief, graduates of the Miller School of Medicine’s Class of 2013 took the Hippocratic Oath and were awarded their diplomas at commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 11, at BankUnited Center. The graduation program marked the end of four years of intense medical education, preparing the 187 graduates to be physicians. On this day, the focus was on their monumental achievement, celebrating with family and friends, and looking toward the future. As physicians, Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., reminded the graduating class that they “have a remarkable opportunity to prevent illnesses and help those who are sick and in need of medical care. It is a privilege to discover the ways to return them to the best life possible.” 2013-05-14T12:36:29+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/dipen-j.-parekh-m.d.-receives-gold-cystoscope-award-for-his-contributions-t Dipen J. Parekh, M.D., professor and Chair of Urology and the Dr. Victor Politano Endowed Chair in Clinical Urology, is the 2013 recipient of the American Urological Association’s prestigious Gold Cystoscope Award. Presented at the association’s annual meeting in San Diego May 8, the award recognizes urologists who have made outstanding contributions to the profession within 13 years of completing their residency training. Among the world’s most experienced robotic surgeons for urologic malignancies, Parekh received the award of excellence for establishing programs in urologic oncology and robotic surgery and for pursuing transformative research that promises to change clinical practice. 2013-05-09T17:02:26+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/nih-awards-40-million-in-grants-to-reduce-stroke-disparities-in-the-u.s The Miller School of Medicine is launching a new Florida Puerto Rico Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities funded by a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “Our mission is to improve the treatment and prevention of stroke among Hispanics,” said principal investigator Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., professor and chair of neurology, and Olemberg Family Chair of Neurological Disorders. “Initially, we will seek to identify any disparities in acute stroke care and secondary stroke prevention by race, ethnicity, and region,” Sacco said. “Then, we will draw on those findings to educate physicians and other healthcare professionals about evidence-based approaches to improve the quality of care for stroke patients.” The five-year Florida Puerto Rico Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities (FL-PR CReSD) is part of a national collaborative initiative sponsored by the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Under the guidance of the Miller School, with the active participation of the University of Puerto Rico and the American Heart Association, the FL-PR CReSD will examine both the acute and follow-up care provided to stroke patients in Florida and Puerto Rico. 2013-05-01T13:30:02+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/um-study-in-jama-pediatrics-promotes-public-health-solutions-for-intellectu In 2002, the Miller School’s Jeffrey P. Brosco, M.D., Ph.D., was intrigued by a question Sargent Shriver posed during a board meeting at the Mailman Center for Child Development. The statesman wondered whether the programs and policies he and his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver had championed for decades to reduce the burden of intellectual and other developmental disabilities were actually working. A developmental pediatrician and medical historian, Brosco, professor of pediatrics and Associate Director of the Mailman Center, refocused his research to find a precise answer to Shriver’s question, which goes to the heart of the current debate on how best to improve health in the 21st century. On April 29, JAMA Pediatrics published part of the answer by highlighting his latest study, which examines the relationship between medical interventions in early childhood and the increasing prevalence of later intellectual disability, as an Online First article. 2013-04-29T21:34:54+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/urology-chair-dipen-parekh-m.d.-treats-baseball-hall-of-famer-andre-dawson- Long known for his courage on the baseball field, Andre Dawson recently faced an even bigger personal challenge. “When I found out I had prostate cancer, I was scared to death,” said Dawson, 58, who was elected to the Hall of Fame after a stellar 21-year career. “But I tackled my cancer head on, and did what was necessary to get better. Now, I hope that sharing my story can save others’ lives.” At an April 25 news conference at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dawson emphasized the importance of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening followed by prompt treatment if cancer is discovered. “At some point, every older male will encounter an enlarged prostate issue,” said Dawson, who is still active in Major League Baseball as special assistant to the president of the Miami Marlins. “That’s why screening for cancer is so important. If you can detect it early enough, you can treat it and be cancer free.” 2013-04-26T19:28:37+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/j.-william-harbour-m.d.-inducted-as-inaugural-holder-of-the-dr.-mark-j.-dai With nearly two decades separating their training at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, renowned ophthalmologists Mark J. Daily, M.D., and J. William Harbour, M.D., had not met before this week, when their mutual regard for the nation’s No. 1 eye institute and shared vision for pioneering research and patient care brought them together. A 1970s graduate of Bascom Palmer’s residency and fellowship programs, Daily is on the faculty of Loyola University’s medical school in Illinois, where he also established his successful vitreoretinal practice at Wheaton Eye Clinic in 1978. But on April 22, he returned to Bascom Palmer to dedicate the Mark J. Daily, M.D., Endowed Chair to Harbour, who joined the Miller School faculty last year as professor of ophthalmology, Vice Chairman for Translational Research at Bascom Palmer, and a member of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. 2013-04-24T20:46:24+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/school-surgeon-becomes-only-woman-in-florida-to-hold-american-surgical-asso Omaida Velazquez, M.D., F.A.C.S., professor of surgery and Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, made history this month, becoming the only woman in Florida who is a member in the American Surgical Association (ASA), the oldest and most prestigious association of surgeons. Inducted at the association’s 133rd Annual Meeting in Indianapolis April 4-6, Velazquez joined the elite group composed of the nation’s most prominent surgeons from the country’s leading academic medical institutions. 2013-04-23T12:30:48+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/researchers-find-that-combined-anti-hiv-therapies-may-protect-childrens-hea In addition to preventing the spread and transmission of HIV, the combination drug therapies now used to treat the once-fatal virus that causes AIDS appear to protect the hearts of children born with HIV, according to a multicenter NIH-funded study led by the Miller School’s Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D. Published online April 22 ahead of print publication in JAMA Pediatrics, the study, “Cardiac Status of Children Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Who Are Receiving Long-term Combination Antiretroviral Therapy,” found that HIVinfected children who received highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, for several years had healthier hearts than HIV-infected children who in the early 1990s were not treated with antiHIV therapy, or were treated with only one drug. 2013-04-22T20:01:07+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/school-health-clinics-expand-to-include-dental-and-counseling-services Fueled by a $4 million federal Health Care Innovation Award, the Miller School has added mental health services and expanded dental services to the primary care programs of the School Health Initiative. The program, in operation for a decade, has served 11,000 Miami-Dade County public school students in nine schools and is positioned to be a national model. Originally funded by the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, the School Health Initiative established a primary care program staffed by Miller School doctors in four elementaries, two middle schools and three high schools in North Miami, North Miami Beach and Overtown. Joycelyn Lawrence, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine and community health, has led the team of nurses and nurses’ aides who have been providing primary care, lab visits, vaccines and social work services. “In addition to those services, we wanted to deliver care in a more holistic approach,” Lawrence said. “We wanted a more comprehensive model to further address the needs of our students and their families.” 2013-03-26T12:00:21+00:00