News from the UM Miller School of Medicine

Miller School Experts Suggest Broader Definition for Type 1 Diabetes in JAMA Editorial

6.18.2013

In an editorial to be published June 19 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, two of the Miller School’s top diabetes researchers suggest that it may be time to broaden the definition of type 1 diabetes “to include a pre-diabetic state.” Co-authored by Jay S. Skyler, M.D., and Jay M. Sosenko, M.D., the editorial accompanies a new study that shows which children are likely to develop type 1 diabetes.

Research Uncovers Approach That May Decrease Complications of Stem Cell Transplants for Cancer

6.18.2013

The preferred treatment of many high-risk or relapsed hematologic malignancies remains an allogeneic stem cell transplant. However, patients and physicians often face graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a frequent and life-threatening complication. Miller School and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have developed a method to decrease GVHD, while maintaining the benefits of T-cell virus-specific immunity.

Enrique Ginzburg, M.D., Appointed to the Florida Board of Medicine

6.18.2013

Enrique Ginzburg, M.D., professor of surgery, has been appointed by Governor Rick Scott to serve as a member of the Florida Board of Medicine. Joining another UM faculty member on the board, he will serve a three-year term on the quasi-judicial panel responsible for disciplining physicians. A veteran trauma surgeon, Ginzburg also serves as Chief of Surgery at University of Miami Hospital.

UHealth Launches Clinic to Reduce Sudden Cardiac Deaths in Athletes

6.18.2013

UHealth cardiologists are hoping to put more than luck on the side of high-intensity recreational athletes, as well as competitive athletes and others embarking on new exercise programs, by establishing a monthly clinic at University of Miami Hospital focused on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and other inherited and acquired causes of life-threatening heart rhythm disturbances.

Medical Students Celebrate ‘Important Benchmark’ at 18th Annual OSCE Exercises

6.18.2013

The talents of all 155 third-year Miller School students were put to the test this month at the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, where they participated in the 18th annual Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), a medical school rite of passage that tests the students' clinical skills. Nearly 80 faculty members from six departments served as faculty evaluators for the assessment.

Calder Library’s New Class Equips Emergency Responders with Vital Information Tools

6.18.2013

Determined to quickly and easily fill the information gaps that are inevitable in disasters, Calder Library Executive Director Mary Moore, Ph.D., and Research Librarian Kimberly A. Loper, M.L.I.S., have created a class to teach disaster and emergency responders how to navigate authoritative disaster health information resources. The class, Becoming a Disaster Health Information Power User, is now available online.

Miami Project Receives Funding for Axon Regeneration and Spinal Cord Injury Research

6.18.2013

A consortium of discovery science researchers within The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis has received a $2.5 million, 18-month grant from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Titled “U.S. Army Battlefield Exercise & Combat Related SCI,” the award will enable the investigation of new treatments for spinal cord injury.

Miller School Expertise Plays Pivotal Role in International Whole Exome Study

6.12.2013

Miller School researchers co-led an international study that identifies a new genetic syndrome associated with complex hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). Led by Stephan Züchner, M.D., Ph.D., researchers at the Miller School made the discovery possible by lending their widely recognized expertise in computing and interpreting whole exome data.

University of Miami/Jackson’s Holtz Children’s Hospital Ranks Among the Nation’s Best

6.12.2013

Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center is among the nation’s top children’s hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings, published online June 11. The rankings feature 50 hospitals in each of the 10 pediatric specialties. Holtz was ranked in six specialties this year.

Vice Chair of Dermatology Named Practitioner of the Year by Prestigious Florida Society

6.11.2013

Robert S. Kirsner, M.D., Ph.D., professor and Vice Chair of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, has been named Practitioner of the Year by the Florida Society of Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery, the state’s oldest and largest dermatological society. Kirsner accepted the award at the society’s annual meeting May 24-27 in Boca Raton.