*This information was current on July 9, 2020. It is a rapidly moving pandemic thus this information could change.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so the best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person. The CDC recommends that you:

• Wash your hands often
  • Soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
  • Use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not readily available.
• Avoid close contact
  • Inside your home: if possible, maintain 6 feet between the person who is sick and other household members.
  • Outside your home: put 6 feet of distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your household.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others
  • You could spread COVID-19 to others even if you do not feel sick.
  • The cloth face cover is meant to protect other people in case you are infected.
  • The cloth face cover is especially important when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, but it is not a substitute for social distancing when it is possible.
  • Surgical masks and N95 respirators are critical supplies that should be reserved for healthcare workers and other first responders, but if you are wearing a disposable mask, please properly dispose of it in a trash can.
• Cover coughs and sneezes
  • Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and then throw the used tissue away in the trash.
  • Use the inside of your elbow and do not spit if you do not have a tissue.
  • Immediately wash your hands with soap and water or clean your hands with hand sanitizer.
• Clean and disinfect
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets and sinks.
• Monitor your health daily
  • Be alert for symptoms and take your temperature if symptoms develop.
  • Follow CDC guidance if symptoms develop.

• Direct exposure to a positive case: the CDC recommendation would be self-isolation for 14 days and testing only if symptoms develop.
• Indirect exposure to a positive case: in general, the recommendation would be self-monitoring. No need to isolate, but always wear a mask and social distance while being on the lookout for subtle symptoms.
• No knowledge of exposure: testing is not needed if you don’t have symptoms and you have no knowledge of an exposure to a positive case.

Symptoms can range from mild to severe illness, and appear 2-14 days after you are exposed to the virus. Be on the lookout for cough, fever, chills, muscle pain, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell. Please do not go directly to the emergency room without contacting your healthcare provider first. Tampa General Hospital is NOT a COVID-19 testing site.

• For early detection, the FDA approved test is a nasal swab analyzed by PCR. The CDC recommends testing only if symptoms develop.
• There are a number of ways to receive a nasal swab test in your area:
  • Call USF Health at (813) 974-2201 to make an appointment. The volume of symptomatic patients is so high, we may not be able to test those without symptoms unless the patient’s doctor recommends the test because of significant risk factors.

• • Hillsborough County walk up or drive-thru testing sites, by appointment only. Insurance not required.
    • For more information or to make an appointment, CALL (888) 513-6321 or register online at HillsboroughCounty.org/Coronavirus

• • Pinellas County walk up testing sites, by appointment only. Insurance not required.
    • CALL (727) 824-6900 to make an appointment. Visit COVID19.PinellasCounty.org/testing/ for more information.
  • Pinellas County drive-thru testing sites, no appointment necessary. Insurance not required.
    • Visit COVID19.PinellasCounty.org/testing/ for testing location information.

• • Sarasota County testing sites, by appointment only. Insurance not required.
    • Testing is prioritized for anyone currently experiencing symptoms and individuals who work in a health care setting.
    • CALL (941) 861-2883 to make an appointment. Visit SCGov.net for testing location information.
  • Sarasota and Manatee County walk up or drive-thru testing sites, no appointment necessary. Insurance not required.
    • Visit SCGov.net for testing location information and requirements.

• An antibody blood test can tell you if you had a previous infection. It is not recommended for early detection because it can take 1-3 weeks after infection to make antibodies. It is unknown at this time if having antibodies to the virus can protect someone from getting infected with the virus again, or how long that protection might last.

• Positive with no symptoms: you should stay home for 10 days according to CDC guidelines. The course is unpredictable and within 5 days, many will develop symptoms. As much as possible, separate yourself from other people in your household.
• Positive with symptoms: you will need to isolate for a complete 10 days starting the first day of symptoms and 3 days of being fever-free without treating to suppress a fever. You need to meet both criteria to be able to stop quarantine. As much as possible, separate yourself from other people in your household.
• Notify anyone who may have been exposed to you within the last two weeks to let them know about your positive test result so they can self-monitor.
• Only go to the hospital or call 911 for help if your symptoms escalate into a medical emergency. Notify the operator that you have COVID-19. If possible, put on a cloth face covering before medical help arrives. Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care. Do not leave your home, except to get medical care.

• For information, visit USF Health’s COVID-19 patient resources page.
• Learn more about our Telehealth virtual appointments.
• This information was current on July 9, 2020. It is a rapidly moving pandemic thus this information could change.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 84 million Americans have prediabetes. Unless something is done, 70 percent will eventually be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

That’s why researchers at the University of South Florida in Tampa are calling for more patients to be prescribed metformin, an effective and inexpensive medication that controls blood sugar. It’s currently used by 0.7 percent of patients with prediabetes.

“The data are clear. Metformin is underused and that represents a missed opportunity in addressing the diabetes epidemic, and as we reaffirmed, to reduce healthcare cost,” said Nick Carris, PharmD, an assistant professor at the USF College of Pharmacy.

Nick Carris, PharmD

Dr. Carris is lead author on a study published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association that finds using metformin to treat patients with prediabetes would save approximately $20 per patient each year, resulting in $820 million saved annually in health care costs.

After updating data from the 2012 Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group’s analysis, Dr. Carris concludes metformin should be recommended to patients with prediabetes, as its affordability continues to offset the increased cost of monitoring patients who take it.

“The next step is figuring out systematic ways of starting metformin safely, in right the patients, and without increasing other healthcare costs.”

While lifestyle intervention is the preferred method to prevent diabetes, many patients do not commit to or have the necessary resources to achieve a healthy balance of diet and exercise.

Therefore, Dr. Carris estimates 41 million patients with prediabetes under 60 should be prescribed metformin, contributing to a potential 20 percent decline in Americans diagnosed with diabetes.

When patients take active roles in their own health care, outcomes improve. That’s the premise for a pilot program taking place in the USF Health’s Division of General Internal Medicine through a grant provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The six-month $12,000 study is a pilot project aiming to measure the efficacy of providing patient education group sessions to help patients control their diabetes, said Crystal Jacovino, DO, assistant professor of medicine and co-principal investigator for the study.

Diabetes patients watch a cooking demonstration as part of the nutrition section of the group education program.

“Each month, the group meets to discuss key topics that can help patients better manage their diabetes, from having a better understanding of the disease and its effect on their bodies to managing their medications to nutrition and physical activity,” Dr. Jacovino said.

“Measured against a control group, vitals and blood work will reveal whether the focused group education approach gives patients the information they need to take more active roles in successfully managing their diabetes. When we take a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care we are all working together to help educate our patients and improve their condition.”

Jerry Brown offers cooking tips for eating better carbs, as Dr. Jacovino reads a product label showing nutrition content.

As part of the study, the 12 patients in the education group were chosen randomly among consenting patients meeting the study criteria (Type 2 diabetes, ages 18 to 85 and A1C > 9%). The group of 12 is meeting once a month for six months; the program started in June and is set to wrap up in November. Members of the group also discuss their own concerns with other group members and health care experts and share tips each has learned for improving their own diabetes management. The results will help USFPG providers determine future programs for providing a group medical care model, Dr. Jacovino said.

The project also provides a critical learning opportunity for the resident physicians in training in the Division of General Internal Medicine, said Lucy Guerra, MD MPH FACP FHM, associate professor of medicine, associate director of the internal medicine residency program for USF Health, and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine.

“A major aim of the project and a core component of national resident educational goals is to offer innovative ways of delivering medical care,” Dr. Guerra said. “In this project has involved residents in every diabetic group visit, giving them that opportunity to see firsthand another option that could help their future patients succeed with managing their diabetes.”

Prior to the cooking demonstration, patients are taught best approaches to meal planning.

The education program is also part of a broader effort across the USF Physicians Group to create a patient-centered medical home for patients that coordinates care and reinforces a stronger patient-doctor relationship. In addition, the patient education program in the Division of General Internal Medicine dovetails with USF Health’s overall diabetes efforts that encompass not only patient care but also research and outreach.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

Tampa, FL (Aug. 1, 2016) – Pain is a leading cause of disability in the United States. Abuse of pain prescription opioids is also at an all-time high. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 78 Americans die every day from opioid overdose.

To address this issue, the University of South Florida College of Nursing has developed a pain management certificate to help certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA), physicians, physician assistants (PAs) and other health care practitioners properly diagnose, treat and manage pain.

“We’re proud to be one of the first nursing colleges in the country to offer a top-quality graduate certificate in advanced pain management, starting fall 2016,” said Susan Perry, PhD, director of CRNA and senior assistant dean of the graduate programs at USF College of Nursing. “The graduate certificate will help educate health care providers nationwide on acute and chronic pain to properly diagnose and treat patients who suffer from those symptoms.”

The certificate will first be offered to CRNAs. Starting fall 2017, USF College of Nursing will open the program to other health care professionals. The certificate will be comprised of four different courses, divided into two semesters. Classes will be offered online.

The USF College of Nursing’s pain management certificate will be offered beginning this fall to certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and expanded to other health care professionals next year.

The development of the pain management certificate follows a HB 423 bill, which was approved by the Florida Legislature this March and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in April. The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2017, will allow advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) and licensed PAs to prescribe controlled substances to a seven-day supply — under physicians’ supervision.

“This bill gives primary care health care providers (ARNPs and PAs) the ability to prescribe medications on a limited basis,” said John Maye, PhD, professor and advanced pain management education coordinator of CRNA at USF Nursing. “As advanced health care providers assume more responsibility, it’s important for them to receive background and knowledge to support their decisions.”

Chronic pain can be debilitating, but pain opioids can be more dangerous. Prescription opioids help relieve pain in the short term, according to CDC.  However, opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine and methadone, can become addictive and life threatening – often resulting in accidental overdose or death. One out of four people receiving long-term opioid therapy in a primary care setting struggles with addiction, the CDC reports.

The graduate certificate will help educate health care practitioners nationwide on how to properly diagnose and treat patients suffering from symptoms of acute and chronic pain.

“The numbers are astounding, so we will do everything we can here at USF Nursing to train health care providers and minimize the epidemic that’s overtaking our nation,” said Dr. Perry.

For more information about the USF Nursing’s pain management certificate go to: http://health.usf.edu/nursing/painmgmt.

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and the USF Physicians Group. USF Health is an integral part of the University of South Florida, a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Media contact:
Vjollca “V” Hysenlika, USF College of Nursing Communications
(813)974-2017, or vhysenli@health.usf.edu

The USF College of Public Health will host its annual Free Flu Shot Drive on Friday, Nov. 13.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older get a seasonal flu vaccine each year to reduce the risk of illness, including hospitalization.

The drive is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or while supplies last, at the college, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612.  Shots are administered to adults 18 and older on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees can also visit with health exhibitors.

Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD (right), dean of the USF College of Nursing, administered a flu shot to USF President Judy Genshaft, at one of the College of Public Health’s past yearly Flu Shot Drives.

This is the 19^th year of the college’s popular flu shot drive.  The longstanding community service is a collaboration between the college, USF Health and the Hillsborough County Health Department, which provides more than 1,000 doses of vaccines to help protect against this year’s flu strains.

For additional information, contact Ellen Kent, MPH, at ekent@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3623.

Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications and Marketing

Tampa, FL (Dec. 11, 2014) — Despite emerging evidence otherwise, many college students consider hookah smoking safer than smoking cigarettes, reports a University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health study published this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The study, appearing online in the CDC journal Preventing Chronic Disease, examined the prevalence of hookah use and described social and behavioral factors associated with hookah smoking among students at USF, a large urban public university in Tampa, Fla. The research suggests that future public health campaigns address misunderstandings about the risks associated with hookah use as well as the regulation of such alternative nicotine-delivery devices.

Nationally, hookah smoking has not been targeted with comprehensive health campaigns similar to those warning about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking.

“The biggest surprise was the misperception about the dangers of hookah smoking,” said Jaime Corvin, PhD, USF assistant professor of global health and principal investigator for the study. “In general, the students we surveyed thought it was safer than cigarette smoking. They did not know the risks.”

Hookahs are water pipes used to smoke specially made tobacco that comes in flavors ranging from mint and berries to chocolate. In recent years, while the prevalence of cigarette smoking has declined, the popularity of hookah and other alternative forms of tobacco use, including e-cigarettes, has increased among young adults.

Charcoal used to heat the tobacco in the hookah, which cools and filters the smoke through water, can raise health risks by producing high levels of carbon monoxide, metals, and cancer-causing chemicals, according to the CDC.

While the science is still emerging, data accumulated so far indicates that using a water pipe to smoke tobacco poses serious health risks to smokers and others exposed to its secondhand smoke. Hookah smoking — which delivers nicotine and can be just as addictive as cigarettes — has been linked to lung, stomach and oral cancers, reduced lung function, decreased fertility and heart disease.

“The World Health Organization estimates that one 45-minute session of smoking hookah is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes,” Corvin said.

The 2012 cross-sectional USF study was initiated as a class project by graduate students enrolled in a Global Health Assessment Strategies course taught by Corvin. Shams Rahman, MD, MPH, now a doctoral student in epidemiology and biostatistics at USF, was lead author of the study.

The researchers interviewed 478 undergraduate and graduate students at USF to evaluate their lifetime and current hookah use. Among their findings:

• More than half of the students surveyed (54.4 percent) reported using hookah at some point in their lives. The current prevalence of hookah use among the USF students (within the last 30 days) was 16.3 percent – a finding consistent with other studies surveying college-aged students.
• Hookah smoking was significantly associated with cigarette smoking but not with alcohol use.

• While most respondents acknowledged that hookah smoking has harmful effects, more than half of the sample perceived hookah to be a safer alternative than cigarette smoking, and 13 percent thought hookah wasn’t harmful at all.

• Regardless of their perception of harmfulness, 30 percent of those who never smoked hookah reported they would consider smoking it in the future.

Shams Rahman, MD, MPH (left) now a USF College of Public Health doctoral student was lead author of the study, and Jaime Covin, PhD (right), was principal investigator. The findings prompted the university to launch a health education campaign to raise student awareness about the health risks of hookah.

The reasons why students significantly underestimate the potential hazards smoking hookah were unclear. Corvin suggests the lighter, softer smoke emitted from the water pipe and its fruity, pleasant smell may contribute to the perception that hookah is less risky than smoking cigarettes.

Add to that the highly social nature of the hookah use – often smoked in lounges or cafes while relaxing with friends and tea – and the activity presents an appeal that may be difficult for health education programs to overcome, she said.

As a result of USF’s research findings, the university launched a public health education campaign with the message to students that hookah is as harmful as cigarette smoking, maybe even more so. (Corvin hopes to measure the effects of the campaign in a follow-up study).  Still, nationally, hookah smoking has not been targeted with comprehensive health campaigns similar to those warning about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking.

The study authors recommend that future educational campaigns address misunderstandings about the risks associated with hookah smoking and include e-cigarettes, e-hookah and other emerging tobacco and nicotine delivery devices, as well as the regulation of the sales and marketing of these devices.

Article citation:

Rahman S, Chang L, Hadgu S, Salinas-Miranda AA, Corvin J. ,“Prevalence, Knowledge, and Practices of Hookah Smoking Among University Students, Florida, 2012.”  Preventing Chronic Disease, 2014;11:140099.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.14009

-USF Health-
USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. USF Health is an integral part of the University of South Florida, a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
abaier@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3303

Tampa, FL (Aug. 12, 2014) —  U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor today hosted the nation’s top immunizations specialist Dr. Anne Schuchat, who warned that while recent outbreaks of infectious diseases have garnered international attention, the public should not forget about those infections like HPV that that can be prevented  with vaccines.  The human papilloma virus still causes thousands of deaths each year nationwide.  A safe, highly effective vaccine for boys and girls can prevent the most harmful kinds of HPV and the cancers they cause.

“The girls and boys not vaccinated can result in diseases that may not make the front page of the news, but still be very devastating,” said Dr. Schuchat, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, speaking at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation in downtown Tampa, where she appeared with clinical providers and researchers from USF Health, Moffitt Cancer Center and community leaders.

Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, addresses those gathered to bring attention to the HPV awareness campaign led by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor in collaboration with USF Health, Moffitt Cancer Center and community partners.

“Florida hovers at the bottom when it comes to HPV vaccination rates,” said U.S. Rep. Castor, who earlier this month led the launch of an HPV Awareness & Action Coalition to increase vaccination rates in Tampa Bay. The coalition includes medical professionals, public health researchers and students – including many present today at CAMLS with U.S. Rep. Castor and Dr. Schuchat – to bring this critical public health initiative to the forefront through community outreach and education.

“More than 50 percent of teenage girls in Florida have not received the first dose of the HPV vaccine,” Dr. Schuchat said. She explained that while Florida is ahead of other states when it comes to infant and toddler vaccines, the state lags when it comes to the HPV vaccine and encouraged clinicians and parents to regard it as one of the three, routine vaccinations recommended for 11 and 12-year-old girls and boys. The other two vaccines are:  Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis (Tdap) Vaccine and the Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine (MCV4).

L to R: Dr Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, and Dr. Ellen Daley, professor of community and family health at the USF College of Public Health, whose research focuses on HPV prevention.

“I applaud U.S. Rep. Castor for taking action to address the critical need to increase HPV vaccination rates across our community and our state, with the ultimate goal of preventing disease and improving health,” said Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “At USF Health, we are delighted to support her vision and dedication to protecting today’s young adults from future HPV-related cancers.”

Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, said:  “The USF College of Public Health is honored to contribute to this HPV awareness campaign largely through the efforts of professor Dr. Ellen Daley and her research team. Their community-based work is precisely what this effort needs, because it will take all of us coming together to get the word out that prevention works. We know that HPV causes cancer and that cancer takes lives. We also know that the HPV vaccine works and that it is up to all of us to educate and reinforce these critical messages.”

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In addition to U.S. Rep. Castor and USF Public Health and its graduate students, other members of the HPV Awareness & Action Coalition include Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Baycare, American Cancer Society, Tampa Family Health Center, Hillsborough County Health Department, PITCH (Pinellas Immunization Team for Community Health), Hillsborough County Immunization Task Force, Florida Association of School Nurses, Hillsborough County Health Department, Pinellas County Health Departments, RN Cancer Guides and many more partners.

Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, said: “We know that the HPV vaccine works and that it is up to all of us to educate and reinforce these critical messages.” In the background with Congresswoman Castor are several USF public health graduate students active in community outreach to promote HPV awareness.

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USF Health leader Dr. Lockwood with the CDC top immunization official Dr. Schuchat

News release by Marcia Mejia, Office of Congresswoman Kathy Castor
Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

The new five-year funding for the USF College of Public Health-based center was highly competitive and comes with a new emphasis —  reducing the risks of colorectal cancer in underserved populations

Tampa, FL (June 4, 2014) — The University of South Florida College of Public Health has received new federal funding for its successful Florida Prevention Research Center to conduct innovative public health prevention research among populations experiencing health disparities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded the college’s Florida Prevention Research Center $750,000 to support research that will promote colorectal cancer screenings among underserved populations — initially in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties with plans to later expand to other regions of the state. The $750,000 award is for the first year of a five-year funding period, which will total $4.35 million over five years.

USF was one of 26 academic institutions in 25 states, and the only recipient in Florida, to obtain the highly competitive funding.

Julie Baldwin, left, and Carol Bryant lead the Florida Prevention Research Center. Based at the USF College of Public Health, the center is the only Florida member of a prestigious network of CDC-sponsored prevention research centers.

The CDC awarded a total of $19.5 million to the 26 prevention research centers to work with community partners to translate research results into effective public health practices and policies that avoid or counter the risks for chronic illnesses, including heart disease, obesity and cancer.

With its new emphasis on colorectal cancer screening, the Florida Prevention Research Center will work with research colleagues at Moffitt Cancer Center and state, regional and local partners, including the Florida Department of Health, the American Cancer Society, and many other community-based organizations in Tampa Bay’s tri-county region.

“This is a very prestigious network of centers of excellence,” said Carol Bryant, PhD, distinguished USF Health professor and director of the Florida Prevention Research Center, “Obtaining the new award helps USF reinforce its brand equity as a leader in community-based social marketing and gives us the credibility that allows us to be more effective.”

The national network of centers involves communities in conducting and disseminating research to help ensure that effective, innovative health strategies can be readily shared and applied where most needed.

The Florida Prevention Research Center has been continuously funded by the CDC since it was established in 1998.  Since then the center’s faculty, staff and graduate students have collaborated with community coalitions to design and evaluate social marketing-based interventions, including helping prevent smoking and underage drinking among middle-school youth, curbing eye injuries in citrus workers, and getting children to be more physically active and eat better.  A recent social marketing campaign focused on detering hookah smoking among USF college students.

“We have invested millions of dollars creating an innovative strategy to teach communities how to solve problems by making sustainable changes that can prevent or control chronic diseases and improve overall health,” Bryant said.  “The continuation of funding will help us disseminate this model with a demonstrated return on investment to others.”

The USF center will aim to identify groups at high-risk for the disease who are most likely to respond to prevention marketing strategies with changes in behavior and therefore benefit from the tests that can find colorectal polyps or cancer.

“Our core research project will focus on colorectal cancer screening, because it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women in the United States,” said Julie Baldwin, PhD, professor of community and family health, who will become the Florida Prevention Research Center co-director with Bryant this September as Bryant transitions to retirement in 2016.

“Building upon established partnerships, we plan to identify, tailor, implement, and evaluate a multilevel intervention to increase colorectal cancer screening using community-based prevention marketing for systems change,” Dr. Baldwin said. “We are very fortunate to be able to draw upon our team’s expertise in social marketing and community-based participatory research, as well as our experience in developing and evaluating effective colorectal cancer interventions.”

Julie Baldwin, PhD, center left, and Carol Bryant, PhD, center right, surrounded by members of the prevention research center team, including clockwise from lower left, Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH, Moffitt Cancer Center biostatistics and faculty member in USF MCOM and COPH; Anthony Panzera, doctoral student; Clement Gwede, PhD, Moffitt and faculty member in MCOM and COPH, and co-principal investigator on the research project; Tali Schneider, research associate; Brian Biroscak, doctoral student; Alyssa Mayer, doctoral student; Claudia Aguado Loi, PhD, post-doctoral fellow in the USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences; Mahmooda Khaliq Pasha, center administrator and doctoral student; and Cathy Meade, RN, FAAN, PhD, Moffitt and faculty member in MCOM and CON. Not pictured are Dina Martinez Tyson, PhD, faculty member in COPH and co-principal investigator on the research project, James H. Lindenberger, director of the social marketing group, and William M. Sappenfield, MD, MPH, professor of public health and chair of the COPH Department of Community and Family Health.

The 26 newly funded Prevention Research Centers are:

University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
University of California, San Francisco
Case Western Reserve University
Dartmouth College
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Iowa
Johns Hopkins University
University of Kentucky
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester
Morehouse School of Medicine
University of Minnesota
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
New York University School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Oregon Health & Science University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina at Columbia
University of South Florida
Tulane University
University of Washington
West Virginia University
Yale University

For more information on the Prevention Research Centers nationwide, visit the CDC’s Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/prc.

                                                                                       -USF Health-
USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Media contacts:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications, (813) 974-3303 or abaier@health.usf.edu
Natalie Preston-Washington, USF College of Public Health, (813) 974-7714 or npreston@health.usf.edu

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

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