In the ongoing research and treatment of diabetes, the focus is typically on the two forms of the disease that dominate public awareness. Type 1 is caused by the immune system attacking the cells that produce insulin, so that the person requires insulin therapy for life; type 2 is frequently associated with obesity and lack of exercise, resulting in insulin resistance.

But researchers are learning more about patients whose symptoms are classified as “atypical,” thanks to the Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network (RADIANT), led by teams at USF Health, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Chicago, and Massachusetts General Hospital. The USF Health research team is led by Jeffrey Krischer, Ph.D., director of the USF Diabetes and Endocrinology Center and the USF Health Informatics Institute, and includes Hemang Parikh, Ph.D., an associate professor in bioinformatics and biostatistics in the Health Informatics Institute.

Their paper, “Data Mining Framework for Discovering and Clustering Phenotypes of Atypical Diabetes,” was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism in collaboration with Ashok Balasubramanyam, M.D., and Maria Redondo, M.D., Ph.D., from Baylor College of Medicine, and Christiane Hampe, Ph.D., from the University of Washington.

Hemang Parikh, PhD, of the USF Health Informatics Institute

“In addition to type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there is a range of atypical forms of diabetes that affect people who cannot be categorized in the same way,” said Dr. Parikh. “Sometimes, these people – children and adults – are misdiagnosed and receive different treatment than they should get.”

One form of atypical diabetes – monogenic– is due to the dysfunction of a single gene. Another type results from a cluster of genetic disorders and relates to abnormal mitochondrial function. Another is characterized by patients who appear to have type 2 diabetes, yet present with diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication thought to occur only in patients with type 1 diabetes. Yet another affects the manner in which fat is stored.

The new paper furthers the study of these rarer forms of the disease, for which patients’ symptoms and health challenges differ from those with type 1 and type 2. The analysis was conducted through the sophisticated process of data mining – digging through data to discover hidden patterns and is sometimes referred to as “knowledge discovery in databases.”

Dr. Parikh and his team developed a data mining system as part of a program called DiscoverAD (short for Discover Atypical Diabetes). In essence, DiscoverAD relies on a two-step filtering process – first to exclude participants who meet definitions of the typical type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, then to include participants with certain pre-specified atypical diabetes characteristics.

“This is followed by robust analysis to discover novel phenotypes of atypical diabetes (AD) within the filtered group,” Cassandra Remedios, M.S., an assistant in research in bioinformatics in the Health Informatics Institute said. “We purposefully developed DiscoverAD to permit flexibility and efficiency so it can be applicable to various clinical settings with different types of large cohort datasets.”

In the study, two distinct and very different cohorts of patients with diabetes were investigated. The first cohort comprised Hispanic participants with diabetes from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort led by Joseph McCormick, M.D., and Susan Fisher-Hoch, M.B.B.S., M.Sc., F.R.C. Path., M.D., of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center. The second cohort comprised 758 multiethnic children within the Texas Children’s Hospital Registry for New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes study. The investigation allowed them to identify and cluster phenotypes of atypical diabetes. “Due to the large cohort datasets, a manual review would have been extremely time-consuming,” Parikh explained.

The study was conducted as part of RADIANT, which is dedicated to discovering and defining rare and atypical forms of diabetes. RADIANT is comprised of universities, hospitals, and clinics around the United States working to gain a deeper understanding of atypical diabetes. Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Chicago are the national centers of the consortium, and USF serves as the data coordinating center for the entire network.

“This work demonstrates the high prevalence of atypical forms of diabetes in varied populations. The DiscoverAD tool is an innovative and practical tool to identify such patients in different datasets. I believe this could be a foundation for developing criteria that clinicians can use to diagnose their patients with diabetes more accurately and treat them more precisely,” Dr. Balasubramanyam said.

The idea of RADIANT’s study, which is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, is to identify people who have atypical diabetes – which is a cluster of traits, “ Dr. Parikh explained. “It can’t be characterized in just one way. There is heterogeneity in atypical cases.”

The significance of the research lies in the fact that some patients with rare forms of diabetes remain undiagnosed or could possibly receive incorrect treatment. Proper diagnosis, according to RADIANT, “enables targeted therapy, leads to improved quality of life, and aids in the diagnosis of diabetes in other family members.”

Patients with atypical diabetes are treated throughout the country, but frequently as isolated, individual cases, and that has made it difficult to amass a base of knowledge that benefits providers and patients. RADIANT addresses that challenge by creating a centralized database, information, and resources – with the goal of leading to more effective diagnoses and better treatment plans.

“We found in our studies that atypical cases are quite high – comprising about five to eleven percent of diabetes diagnoses,” Dr. Parikh said. “And we also found that many people have been misdiagnosed as either type 1 or type 2 diabetes.”

A key indicator of atypical diabetes is a treatment that does not seem to be working. For instance, some diabetes patients might start losing weight quickly and inexplicably. Others may see glucose levels remain high despite receiving insulin.

“If a person is not responding in a way they should be, that could be a sign,” Dr. Parikh said.

As one of the nation’s leading diabetes researchers, Dr. Krischer has been studying data related to atypical diabetes for several years. Several hundred subjects have been involved in the RADIANT study to gain a greater understanding of atypical diabetes through data mining.

Jeffery Krischer, PhD, at the USF Health Informatics Institute on USF’s campus in Tampa.

 “These new analytic techniques make it easier to recognize atypical forms of diabetes that can lead to better management tailored to individual case’s characteristics,” said Dr. Krischer, who also holds the USF Health Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research. “Not only does this demonstrate the potential of personalized medicine, but the analytics also define computable phenotypes that can be generalized to many data mining situations.”

Dr. Parikh, whose expertise lies in biomedical data analysis, has a personal connection to the study of diabetes. Both of his late grandfathers developed type 2 diabetes and his mother has it as well. That led him to want to learn more about the disease.

He finds his work with RADIANT particularly rewarding, with a collaborative approach to researching and treating atypical diabetes.

“It’s a huge consortium, and we’re the main data coordinating center, which means we focus on the aggregation and management of data from multiple sites,” he said. “Then we work with these different network partners for processing of the biospecimens for high-throughput technologies such as whole-genome sequencing, RNA-sequencing, or metabolomics and deep phenotyping of individuals and/or families.”

The study is ongoing, Dr. Parikh stresses. If somebody suspects they may have atypical diabetes or know someone who might, they can visit the RADIANT website (www.atypicaldiabetesnetwork.org). Visitors are asked to complete a questionnaire and then, based on the responses, could be enrolled in the study.

“There is a considerable number of atypical cases out there that people may not realize,” Dr. Parikh said. “And we want those people to receive the proper diagnosis, to avoid causing diabetes complications over time.”

— Story by Dave Scheiber for USF Health Communications 

This year’s top stories highlight USF Health as an academic medical center.  Stories of patient gratitude, innovative research and development, and affirmation that the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is truly the fastest rising medical school in the country.

Take a look at the top USF Health stories of 2022.

1. USF Health and Weill Cornell Medicine earn funding to further develop artificial intelligence that uses voice to diagnose disease. 

2. A USF Health patient had very few answers to her condition until she met with Dr. Jolan Walter.

3. Congratulations to our USF Health physicians who made the 2022 list of the country’s top doctors. 

4. The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is on the rise faster than any medical school in the country. 

5. A USF Health psychiatry expert explains how the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased number of patients with Social Anxiety Disorder.

6.  No medical school in the country does Match Day like the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. 

7. USF Health and Tampa General Hospital neurosurgeons are the first in Tampa Bay to offer game-changing ultrasound. 

8. USF Health was awarded $3.2 million to develop blood tests designed to detect Alzheimer’s Disease. 

9. Researchers begin to unlock how gut and oral microbiomes are linked to brain health in older adults. 

Hariom Yadav, PhD, (standing) and Shalini Jain, PhD, were recently recruited to research on the gut-brain connection (gut-brain axis) in relation to cognitive function.

10. Take a look at all of the USF Health physicians who made the Tampa Magazine list of Top Doctors in 2022. 

Scientists at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine helped coordinate the study of a drug approved Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.

Approval of the medication, called Tzield (teplizumab-mzwv), marks the first time that a therapy has been shown to delay symptoms in patients at high risk for type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys cells that produce insulin. Insulin is the hormone the body uses to regulate blood sugar. In clinical trials, patients who received Tzield injections took an average of two years longer to move from the early stages of the disease to experiencing symptoms.

“I am very proud of our team at USF that played a key role in the approval of teplizumab as a treatment to delay type 1 diabetes onset in at-risk individuals,” said Dr. Jeffrey Krischer, Ph.D., vice chair for research, Department of Internal Medicine, Director of the USF Health Informatic Institute and USF Health Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research. The study was conducted by TrialNet, funded mainly by the  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) through the Special Diabetes Program. “Approval by the FDA shows great confidence in our ability to design and conduct clinical trials that can lead to bringing new treatments to patients.”

The FDA approved the use of Tzield after a clinical trial of 76 patients who had stage 2 diabetes, in which the disease already has begun destroying cells that make insulin. These early stages of type 1 diabetes, or T1D, can be detected with a blood test. The patients had not yet progressed to stage 3 of the disease, in which they start experiencing such symptoms as frequent urination, excessive thirst, weight loss, and fatigue. Once patients start experiencing these symptoms, they face a lifetime of blood sugar monitoring and insulin injections.

“The onset of Stage 3 T1D is a life-changing moment – once insulin-producing cells are no longer capable of maintaining normal glycemic control, this irreversible condition can lead to the need, in just one year, for a patient, 1,460 finger sticks to check blood glucose levels, around 1,100 insulin injections, and experiencing an average of 127 episodes of hypoglycemia,” said Dr. Eleanor Ramos, chief medical officer at Provention Bio, Inc., in a press release. “These complications can cause stress, fear, and anxiety in patients as they work to manage their T1D diagnosis and provide perspective on the meaning of a delay in the onset of Stage 3.” Provention Bio, Inc., is the maker of Tzield.

During the trial, patients were chosen at random to receive either Tzield or a placebo once each day via intravenous infusion for 14 days. Patients who received Tzield took an average of 25 months longer to move to stage 3 diabetes than those who received the placebo. (Neither patients nor their doctors knew which patients were receiving the medication.) Patients included both adults and children aged 8 and older.

Tzield appears to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes by deactivating immune cells that attack insulin-producing cells, while increasing the proportion of cells that help moderate the immune response.

Laboratory research on the drug was done at Yale University. TrialNet investigators, including USF staff, designed and implemented the clinical trial. USF staff coordinated the TrialNet trial and analyzed the results, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. TrialNet is comprised by the USF data coordinating center and a network of 22 clinical research centers focused on type 1 diabetes. These clinical sites across the country consented and enrolled participants. The drug will soon be available to patients in the U.S.

USF researchers Henry Rodriguez, MD, professor of Pediatrics and in the Health Informatics Institute, and Brian Bundy, Ph.D., associate professor in the USF Health Informatics Institute, were co-authors on the study.

The success of this trial opens the door for new drugs that target mechanisms of diabetes initiation and progression being pursued by TrialNet. It also adds to the imperative to screen individuals earlier in the disease process that can lead to interventions currently being tested to add to these results.

The most common side effects of Tzield include decreased levels of certain white blood cells, rash and headache, according to the FDA. The FDA also included warnings and precautions for premedicating and monitoring for symptoms of Cytokine Release Syndrome, risk of serious infections, decreased levels of a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, and risk of hypersensitivity reactions. All age-appropriate vaccinations should be administered before starting Tzield, and patients should avoid concurrent use of live, inactivated and mRNA vaccines with Tzield, according to the FDA.

In addition to NIDDK and industry funding, the trial was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the National Center for Research Resources; the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; and the American Diabetes Association.

Tampa General and USF Health launch USF Tampa General Physicians, a new physician management service organization to better care for patients of the Tampa Bay region.

Tampa General Hospital and USF Health announced that on Jan. 1, 2022, they officially launched USF Tampa General Physicians (USFTGP), a new organization dedicated to providing a unified management and support structure for physicians of both USF Health and Tampa General Medical Group, making it one of the largest academic medical groups in the state of Florida.

The creation of the USF Tampa General Physicians follows more than a year of transition planning since announcing the broadened affiliation in July 2020.

“Tampa General Hospital is on a path to become the safest and most innovative academic health system in the country and our affiliation with USF Health gets us closer to achieving that vision,” stated John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “USF Tampa General Physicians represents an elevation of our already established and dynamic alliance and will further our collaboration on key priorities and share a greater level of resources.”

USF Tampa General Physicians will help drive growth, improve quality, and increase access to world-class, academic medical care across the community. Academic medical centers provide cutting-edge specialized care for the most complex and challenging illnesses and conditions, as well as provide patients with access to innovative research and clinical trials and train the next generation of health care professionals.

USF Tampa General Physicians will also serve as a recruiting tool for leading academic physicians from across the country and represents a new framework for physician management services. USF Tampa General Physicians will further elevate the reputation of both organizations as the collective force behind the region’s preeminent academic medical center, attract additional research dollars and help support the economic engine of the medical district here in Tampa Bay.

The alliance will benefit patients by elevating and enhancing the growth of West Florida’s leading academic medical center.

“USF Tampa General Physicians is a jointly created academic medical group between USF Health and Tampa General Hospital and represents the best medical care available in the Tampa Bay region and beyond. It is a comprehensive and sustainable affiliation that formally joins shared clinical, research, and teaching efforts from both organizations,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “Ultimately, this organization will help Tampa Bay become a center for the finest health care in Florida, and potentially the Southeastern United States.”

Approximately 1,400 clinical personnel will comprise USF Tampa General Physicians to serve and support physicians employed by Tampa General Medical Group and USF Health. USF Tampa General Physicians will provide practice infrastructure, clinical management, and related operational and administrative support services. The new group also will benefit the private practice physicians on staff at Tampa General Hospital by offering purchased services and management services through the new organization.

USF Tampa General Physicians is currently led by interim co-presidents Dan Vukmer, senior associate vice president and chief strategy officer for USF Health, and Steve Short, advisor for special projects at TGH. A national search is underway to recruit a recognized leader in the field to lead the organization and serve as its first president.

Dear Faculty, Staff, Residents and Students:

In the past few weeks much has been made of the SARS-CoV-2 South African (B.1.1.529) variant. Cable news and social media have exaggerated potential risks causing global stock markets to swoon and prompting much anxiety.  However, in my opinion, the greatest threat of this variant is not illness but its potential to take our focus away from the real public health challenge – the current Delta variant which continues its relentless onslaught fueled by unfounded, irrational vaccine hesitancy and lethal misinformation. The B.1.1.529 variant was first detected in South Africa where it has quickly become the dominant strain of the virus. It has now been identified in about 45 countries and 20 states.  It contains over 50 mutations compared with the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. These mutations include sequences found in endemic coronaviruses causing many common colds. And although B.1.1.529 appears more transmissible than the now dominant Delta variant, it seems to have lower virulence. In fact, to date all cases have been mild to moderate and there have been no fatalities. While that may change, particularly as older, obese, and medically complicated and unvaccinated patients become infected, it is welcome news.

I have been predicting for some time that the COVID-19 pandemic would end with a “whimper and not a bang” as the virus gradually mutates into a form consistent with the coronaviruses that cause a quarter of common colds (see my March 2021 Tampa Bay Times Editorial). From an evolutionary perspective, the most “successful” virus is one that was easily transmissible, generates mild symptoms and does not kill its host.  This is why there are many, many more common colds than deadly Ebola, MERS or SARS-CoV-1 infections.  In fact, one only has to look at the incredible efficiency of the common cold to appreciate that this phenotype is the logical endpoint of mutation-driven viral natural selection.

So while much data needs to be collected to confirm this hypothesis, in the interim, the single most effective tool we have to ensure the public’s health, a vibrant economy and our collective sanity is multi-dose COVID-19 vaccination. So if you haven’t been vaccinated – do it now, and, if you qualify, get your booster shot.  In other words, do what USF Health has done so well over the past two years – follow the science, use common sense and keep calm and carry on.

Sincerely,

Charly

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM
Senior Vice President, USF Health
Dean, Morsani College of Medicine

Development of autoimmunity at an early age associated with more aggressive form of the disease in genetically susceptible children, a USF Health-led study suggests

TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 21, 2021) — New findings from the international The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study add to the growing body of evidence indicating that type 1 diabetes is not a single disease. The presentation and, perhaps, cause of autoimmune diabetes differs among genetically high-risk children, the research suggests.

In a cohort study published July 22 in Diabetologia, lead author Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, director of the Health Informatics Institute at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and TEDDY colleagues compared the characteristics of type 1 diabetes diagnosed in children before vs. after age 6.  The paper’s senior author was Beena Akolkar, PhD, of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

“Our results underscore the importance of taking into account the age at development of multiple autoantibodies when evaluating risk factors for progression to a diabetes diagnosis,” said lead author Dr. Krischer, a Distinguished University Health Professor and co-chair for the National Institutes of Health-funded TEDDY consortium. “When the changing picture of autoantibody presentation is considered, it appears type 1 diabetes at an early age is a more aggressive form of the disease.”

In type 1 diabetes, a misdirected immune response attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the healthy person’s pancreas – a process occurring over months or many years. Four autoantibodies directed against the pancreatic β-cells — glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody (GADA), insulin autoantibody (IA), insulinoma-associated-protein-2 autoantibody (IA2-2A), and zinc transporter 8 autoantibody (ZnT8A) – are thus far the most reliable biological indicators of early type 1 diabetes, before symptoms appear. Not all children who test positive for one or more autoantibodies progress to a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, which requires lifelong administration of insulin to control blood sugar levels and reduce health complications.

Over the last decade, TEDDY researchers have learned more about how the order, timing and type of autoantibodies can help predict which genetically susceptible children are most likely to get type 1 diabetes as they age.

For this multisite study in the U.S. and Europe, the researchers analyzed data from 8,502 children, all at genetically high risk for developing autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. The children were followed from birth to a median of 9 years. Over this period, 328 study participants (3.9%) progressed from a presymptomatic stage in which autoantibodies first appeared in their circulating blood (signaling initial autoimmunity) to the onset of symptomatic type 1 diabetes.

Study lead author Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, directs the USF Health Informatics Institute and is co-chair for the National Institutes of Health-funded TEDDY consortium.

Half of the 328 participants (2.0%) were diagnosed before age 6, while the other half (1.9%) developed diabetes between ages 6 and 12. The aim was to determine whether the younger group diagnosed with type 1 diabetes differed from the older group, which would suggest that a different form of type 1 diabetes emerges in children as they grow older.

Among the findings:

• As expected, TEDDY participants who progressed to diabetes between ages 6 and 12 were more likely to have first-appearing autoantibodies to the pancreatic enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD autoantibodies), while first-appearing insulin autoantibodies (IA antibodies) were much more common in younger children developing the disease.
• The rate of progression to type 1 diabetes was slower if multiple (two or more) autoantibodies appeared after age 6 than if they were present before age 6.
• The significant association of country of origin with diabetes risk found in the younger group declined in the older group. Conversely, the link between certain genotypes and a higher likelihood of developing diabetes significantly increased in the older children.
• Among children 6 and older with multiple autoantibodies, family history did not appear to play a role in whether the child progressed to type 1 diabetes.

“Much of the observed differences in the relationship between genes and environmental exposures can be explained by the age at appearance of autoantibodies,” Dr. Krischer said. “That is important, because it means factors linked with diabetes risk need to be conditioned on age to be properly understood. There may be different environmental exposures occurring at different ages that trigger autoimmunity, or the same environmental trigger may act differently at different ages.”

The research was funded by grants from the NIDDK and several other NIH institutes, JDRF, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and supported in part by NIH/NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Awards.

USF Health attained a 100% score on its most recent Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) assessment, a measurement required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to track how well hospitals and medical groups perform on key areas that benefit patients.

“MIPS helps set standards of care, including standards based on cost, and this strong score demonstrates that we are meeting national benchmarks on how we care for patients,” said Terri Ashmeade, MD, professor and chief quality officer for USF Health.

“This incredible score puts USF Health and its accountable care organizations among the very top of practices in this country, showing that we are maximizing value by achieving the highest possible quality outcomes for the lowest cost.”

The 100% score puts USF Health in the Exceptional Performance category, a significant accomplishment given USF Health’s highly specialized group practice and complexity of its patient population compared to the average practice, she said.

MIPS (Merit-Based Incentive Payment System) is part of the Quality Payment Program authorized under 2015 MACRA legislation that introduced a new Medicare value-based reimbursement system. MIPS is one of the ways the Quality Payment Program aims to reward value and outcomes (rather than just volume of care), tying payments to quality and cost-effective care. Performance is measured through four key areas: quality, improvement activities, promoting interoperability, and cost.

Ensuring that USF Health patients have a smooth transition of care from the hospital back into the outpatient practice and avoid readmission is an example of the continuity of care that MIPS is measuring, Dr. Ashmeade said.

At USF Health, the journey to achieve this outstanding MIPS score speaks volumes to how we are, collectively, advancing toward our primary goal of offering advanced, compassionate care to patients, she said.

TAMPA, Fla (August 11, 2021) – The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine has been selected as a site for a clinical trial testing the Moderna mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months to less than 12 years old.

Moderna intends to enroll up to 12,000 pediatric participants in the United States and Canada in this Phase 2/3 research study, called KidCOVE Study. The USF Health research physicians are seeking Tampa Bay area volunteers to participate in the KidCOVE study to evaluate safety and immune responses.  Enrollment begins for USF Health in coming days.

Image courtesy of Moderna.

“USF Health is pleased to join this national clinical trial to determine the safety and effectiveness of Moderna vaccines in children and younger populations,” said Charles Lockwood, MD, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “Widespread vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19, and this rigorous scientific study may go a long way toward increasing vaccine access in this younger demographic.”

Leading the USF Health effort as principal investigator is Carina Rodriguez, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“This research study can help provide critical information about the safety, reactogenicity and immune responses observed with the vaccine in children and ultimately allow the vaccine to be approved for children,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “A vaccine that prevents COVID-19 disease in children would be a crucial public health tool to help curb the pandemic. We are eager to contribute to the innovative science that is working to bring a safe and effective solution for our younger patients, who are also vulnerable to this health threat.”

SOFIA. BULGARIA. FEBRUARY 24,2021. A Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine vial with sterile syringes

Participants will be seen by the study team based in USF Health’s Department of Pediatrics. Three out of four children participating in part 2 of the KidCOVE clinical trial will receive two intramuscular injections of the vaccine spaced at four weeks apart. The vaccine is made of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), an instructional code that tells cells how to make protein, which help the body’s immune system make antibodies to fight the virus. The remaining quarter of participants will receive injections of a placebo made of saline (sterile salt water) solution.

All participants will be randomly selected to receive the vaccine or placebo. Participants will be followed for 12 months post-vaccination to monitor their health and safety.

Eligibility criteria

Study volunteers must be:

• No younger than 6 months and less than 12 years old
• In good health or with stable chronic conditions

Study volunteers must not:

• Have received an investigational or approved vaccine for COVID-19
• Be currently taking any investigational or approved treatments for COVID-19
• Have tested positive for COVID-19 or been in contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 within 2 weeks prior to vaccine administration
• Have participated in any clinical trial in the past month

Enrollment for the USF Health Moderna KidCOVE Study begins in coming days, via email (usfchildrenscovidvaccine@gmail.com) or phone/text (813-853-1149).

TAMPA, FL (July 15, 2021)* – The incoming first-year students to the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) represent the strongest class academically and the most diverse group of students in the college’s history.

As the Class of 2025 begins coursework July 26, it will set academic records for the medical school by having scored the highest median MCAT score in MCOM’s history, 518, as well as earning the highest average GPA, 3.89. In addition, the incoming class is more diverse than previous first-year classes, with a record 20% from those groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine (URM).

“We could not be more excited to welcome this exemplary new class of medical students,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “I have long said that USF Health is bringing the best and brightest minds to Tampa Bay, and this record-breaking class is further evidence of the growing strength and reputation of the Morsani College of Medicine. Not only is this the highest achieving cohort in our history, but it is also the most diverse, and we cannot wait to see all that they will achieve in medical school and beyond.”

Across the last several years, each of MCOM’s first-year classes has outpaced the class before it with higher MCAT scores and stronger GPAs. This year’s median score of 518 places this class in the 95^th percentile ranking for scores across the country.

And compared to seven years ago, when only 6% of the class was from URM groups, this incoming class includes a far more diverse student body, with 20% from URM groups. Also improving this year is the acceptance and matriculation of more Black men. In 2014, the class included 2% African Americans, and they were all female. This year’s class included 12% Black students, including 11 males.

The MCOM Class of 2025 was selected from a record 6,400 applications, the most applicants in the college’s history, which makes it the most competitive class in the college’s history.  Of the nearly 53,000 applicants attempting to find spots this year in the roughly 150 allopathic medical schools in the U.S., more than 6,400 applied to MCOM, which means that each new MCOM student’s chance of being a part of this class was less than 2.8%.

*This story was updated with more current info that includes MCAT scores, national percentile ranking, and GPAs.

USF Health and TGH patients will provide more complete medical records through the MyChart patient portal in advance of a new federal rule change.

Tampa, FL (Nov. 9, 2020) –Tampa General Hospital and USF Health are now giving patients easier access to their clinical notes, lab results, imaging results and much more via the MyChart patient portal in anticipation of the ONC Cures Act Final Rule (21st Century Cures Act). These changes will give patients greater and faster access to their health information and empower them to be in charge of their health data.

Patients of USF Health and Tampa General Hospital will have this expanded access through their MyChart patient portal accounts.

“This is good news for our patients,” said Mark Moseley, MD, MHA, CPE, FACEP, chief clinical officer and associate vice president for USF Health. “It allows patients to be engaged with their own health care, and access to their medical records is critical to doing that.  While we have always provided our patients with access to lab and test results, we now provide more complete records, including completed notes, and are providing it faster than we have in the past.”

The goal is to provide patients with this greater access in a more automated manner using the Epic MyChart portal and smartphone app, with careful checks and balances in place to assure timely and accurate release of medical information.

“Studies show that when patients have more information available, they are more likely to take action to improve their health,” said Laura Haubner, MD, interim chief medical officer at Tampa General. “We’re pleased to be able to improve access for our patients and help empower them with more knowledge about their own health care.”

This change expands the types of medical records patients receive to include sections of the medical records referred to as notes. This can include notes from consultations, discharge summaries, history and physicals, procedures, and progress notes, as well as imaging narratives, laboratory report narratives, and pathology report narratives.

“Open notes will allow us to partner with our patients in truly unique ways,” said Nishit Patel, MD, associate professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and chief medical informatics officer for USF Health and Tampa General Hospital. “With this new effort, notes will evolve from being tools that just document a visit into critical resources that patients can reference after an appointment to help them better understand their diagnosis and treatment plan. Patients can also more easily engage their loved ones to help them achieve their health care goals. The note becomes the ultimate after-visit summary.”

Tampa General Hospital and USF Health began releasing via MyChart expanded clinical documentation related to visits with either organization on Nov. 2, the original implementation date planned for the federal rule change. Once physicians complete the notes and documentation associated with USF Health appointments, TGMG appointments or TGH inpatient care, those details will automatically be sent to the patient’s MyChart account. This more complete documentation will include lab results, imaging results, and pathology results, along with completed notes related to visits with USF Health or Tampa General providers. There is no charge for the release of records within MyChart.

The federal rule change has now been delayed until April 2021, but TGH and USF Health were prepared for the original Nov. 2 implementation date and proceeded with plans to implement the change on this date.