http://med.miami.edu/news/ News from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine en dcampbell2@med.miami.edu Copyright 2012 2012-02-22T22:18:15+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/UM-Miller-School-of-Medicine-Student-Writes-Essay-in-New-England-Journal How many refrigerators must a repairman fix to be able to afford his coronary-artery bypass surgery? That question, which came out of a discussion Nicholas Rohrhoff had with the man who came to fix his fridge the summer before he began studying at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is part of an inspirational essay the fourth-year medical student wrote for the ‘Perspective’ section of the February 23 issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, a significant accomplishment for a medical student. Moved by his encounter with the repairman, as well as the patients he came across while working at the medical school’s Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Department of Community Service free health fairs, and even the plight of his parents after his father lost his job and health insurance, Rohrhoff stresses the importance of physicians not only treating their patients’ maladies, but caring about their lives. 2012-02-22T22:18:15+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/drif-100m-gift-and-other-donations-celebrated-at-momentum2-launch At a celebration marking the public launch of the University’s $1.6 billion Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami, 740 donors, faculty, administrators and friends broke into applause after Sebastian the Ibis handed an envelope to UM President Donna E. Shalala, who announced that the campaign has so far raised $906 million, including the lead gift of $100 million from the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation. Behind her on stage at UM’s BankUnited Center on February 16, music soared from the University’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, conducted by Frost School of Music Dean Shelly Berg. There was a similar musical overture and a standing ovation when UM Trustee Steve Sonberg, a national board member and former chairman of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, announced the lead gift and the foundation’s commitment to the Miller School’s Diabetes Research Institute to find a cure for the disease. 2012-02-21T13:30:48+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/yvonne-m.-diaz-m.d.-named-chief-academic-officer-for-uhealth Yvonne M. Diaz, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, has been named to the new position of chief academic officer for UHealth-University of Miami Health System. In her new role, Diaz will work in partnership with Michael Lewis, M.D., senior associate dean for graduate medical education, specifically overseeing graduate medical education at University of Miami Hospital. Each year, the Miller School, in partnership with Jackson Health System, trains more than 1,000 residents, most who rotate through Jackson Memorial Hospital, where the highly selective training programs are primarily based. 2012-02-16T13:42:14+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/study-in-jama-drug-for-bladder-infection-not-effective A promising antibiotic to treat bladder infections does not appear to be as effective as once thought, according to a Miller School study. The study, led by Thomas Hooton, M.D., professor of clinical medicine, was published in the February 8 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Bladder infections, also known as lower urinary tract infections, are more common in women than men and usually treated with a short-course of antibiotics, such as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Cotrim, Septra). However, there is increasing resistance to such antibiotics due to their overuse. 2012-02-13T15:10:20+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/clinical-care-and-research-propel-nephrology-division When Jochen Reiser, M.D., Ph.D., the Peggy and Harold Katz Professor of Medicine and vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine, joined the Miller School four years ago as chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, the division boasted an excellent clinical program with a strong focus on kidney transplantation. Transplant nephrologists managed patient care at Jackson Memorial Hospital, one of the nation’s busiest kidney transplant centers. Renal specialists directed four dialysis clinics and one of the state’s largest peritoneal dialysis programs. The fellowship program trained the next generation of nephrologists, including six faculty members, and the pioneering interventional nephrology program, the first at an academic center, was attracting international observers. 2012-02-07T13:27:05+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/miller-school-study-identifies-a-master-regulator-for-schizophrenia A team of researchers led by Claes Wahlestedt, M.D., Ph.D., the Miller School’s associate dean for therapeutic innovation, has pinpointed a “master” regulatory molecule in the brain that is altered in people with schizophrenia. The finding could facilitate the development of better drugs for the debilitating psychiatric disorder that affects an estimated one percent of the world’s population. Published February 6 in the online edition of the prestigious scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA (PNAS), the study, “MicroRNA-132 dysregulation in schizophrenia has implications for both neurodevelopment and adult brain function,” identified a “master” gene regulatory microRNA molecule, miR-132, and found altered levels of miR-132 localized in the frontal region of the brain cortex in schizophrenic subjects. The region is responsible for higher order cognitive function and has been strongly associated with symptoms of schizophrenia, including hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis, social withdrawal, and impaired cognitive function. 2012-02-06T20:09:15+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/stimulation-of-growth-hormone-releasing-hormone-action-may-improve-pneumoni Miller School scientists are part of an international research team that may have found a way to block a second wave of death that can result from pneumonia treatment. Antibiotics are effective at killing pneumococcus – the cause of about 50 percent of pneumonias – but as the bacterium dies, it releases toxins that can still kill patients. Adding an agonist that mimics the action of growth hormone-releasing hormone – which ultimately enables growth – may stop that second wave, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2012-02-06T17:07:22+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/bascom-palmer-marks-50-years-with-major-expansion-plans-global-researc Just in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Chairman Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., has announced plans to significantly expand clinical care and research at all four of its facilities across South Florida. In 2012, Bascom Palmer will double its clinical space in Plantation, and by fall 2013, a free-standing retina center is scheduled to open on the Palm Beach Gardens campus, where patients will have access to clinical trials in macular degeneration and other retinal diseases. Plans are also underway to quadruple clinical space in Naples and expand into Coral Gables. 2012-02-03T21:00:41+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/um-study-find-possible-link-between-diet-soda-and-vascular-risks People who drink diet soft drinks on a daily basis may be at increased risk of suffering vascular events such as stroke, heart attack, and vascular death, according to a new study led by Hannah Gardener, Sc.D., epidemiologist in the Miller School’s Department of Neurology. In contrast, Gardener and her colleagues at UM and Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that consumption of regular soft drinks and a more moderate intake of diet soft drinks do not appear to be linked to a higher risk of vascular events. Their study, “Diet soft drink consumption is associated with an increased risk of vascular events in the Northern Manhattan Study,” was published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on January 30. 2012-02-03T18:01:35+00:00 http://med.miami.edu/news/message-from-the-dean It is with great sadness that I announce that Bill Donelan has decided to retire from his position as the University of Miami’s vice president for medical administration and the chief operating and strategy officer of the Miller School of Medicine and University of Miami Health System. Bill has led a spectacular series of accomplishments since joining the University in 2006. He was responsible for the execution of the acquisition of University of Miami Hospital, the creation of UHealth-University of Miami Health System, the modernization of our revenue structure, the establishment of a clinical information infrastructure, and our successful campaign for sovereign immunity at Jackson Memorial Hospital, among many other extraordinary accomplishments. 2012-02-01T15:57:09+00:00