A library is traditionally thought of as a place kept under strict orders of silence and is filled with wall-to-wall books that have a nostalgic, musty smell. While group study rooms are available, they are not the central focus.

The Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange is the future of medical libraries: an epicenter of collaboration and technology. Located on the second-floor mezzanine of the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute (MCOM+HI) in Water Street Tampa, the Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange is an almost completely digital database of medical information. At this time, there are only 18 physical books reserved for MCOM’s use in the Knowledge Exchange.

“Resources are available wherever our students and faculty are and 24/7,” said Rose Bland, MA, MPA, AHIP, director of the Shimberg Health Sciences Library at USF Health. “Libraries are changing for what the needs of the people are. We do need quiet spaces, but the Knowledge Exchange is meant to be a place where people can meet and collaborate.”

Floorplan of the Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange; part of the second-floor mezzanine in the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine + Heart Institute.

Some of the other exciting features of the Knowledge Exchange are a large-scale video visualization wall for multimedia presentations, an executive-style reading room, public-use computers, an IT help desk, and a space for technology demonstrations and recording lectures for online learning. A medical database that is wherever you need it to be is also an important asset for distance-learning students and staff spread across multiple campuses. Beyond the access to the digital database, “there will be digital-learning tutorials created by the librarians on topics, such as how to do a quick search in PubMed or how to use EndNote, that students can access when they are studying at one in the morning and they need a quick refresher,” said Larry L. Cramer, Jr, assistant director of library operations. Students and staff can also use the video conferencing capabilities outfitted in the Knowledge Exchange for a Microsoft Teams session or watch a live, face-to-face screen capture tutorial by a librarian.

The visualization wall is an interactive screen that can be used in its entirety to give presentations or be broken up into sections for multi-use collaborations, including annotations, web browsing and rotating 3D models.

“Keeping pace with the rapidly evolving world of health data and technology is critical in today’s health care environment. The Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange is aptly named, as it will serve that goal by facilitating information sharing and collaboration among students, health professionals and entrepreneurs,” said Florida Blue CEO Pat Geraghty in a 2017 interview with USF Health Development after giving a $1 million gift to support the Health Knowledge Exchange. “USF and the Tampa Bay community are well positioned to be a center of health knowledge and learning. We are very proud to be a part of this public facility, which aligns so closely with our own mission of helping people and communities achieve better health.”

The Florida Blue Knowledge Exchange offers digital access to a medical database and 5,000 sq. ft. of space for collaboration.

The 5,000-square foot space is not only a resource for Morsani College of Medicine and Taneja College of Pharmacy students, but also Heart Institute researchers, USF Health and Tampa General Hospital patients, residents and the downtown community. Dedicated research librarians for each area will be available in the Knowledge Exchange but they are also a central part of the building as a whole. Librarians will go into the lecture hall and around the collegia spaces to work and meet with the students. Rose Bland imagines being able to see a health care provider and a Heart Institute researcher meeting together in the Knowledge Exchange and pulling in a librarian for collaboration.

A spectacular view of Water Street Tampa can be seen from inside the Executive Reading Room.

The Florida Blue Knowledge Exchange expands the research and education support of the Shimberg Library, which will remain open at the USF Health Tampa campus. SonoSim check out will be the only resource that is removed from the Shimberg Library and brought to Water Street Tampa. The Tampa Bay community can look forward to a grand opening of MCOM+HI in early 2020.

The USF Health Heart Institute recently hosted its inaugural scientific conference, marking another milestone in the young Institute’s short history and setting a standard for future collaborative work that seeks to halt cardiovascular disease.

The 1^st Annual Scientific Colloquium was held Sept. 24 on the USF campus and welcomed several dozen faculty researchers from throughout the USF research community.

At the inaugural Heart Institute Scientific Colloquium are, from left, Sam Wickline, Lee Sweeney, Sami Noujaim and Charles Lockwood.

“This is a key moment for the USF Health Heart Institute and we are proud to launch an event that showcases impactful cardiovascular research,” said Samuel Wickline, MD, professor and the Tampa General Hospital Endowed Chair for Cardiovascular Research, interim chair of the USF Health Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, and director of the USF Health Heart Institute.

“This inaugural Heart Institute Scientific Colloquium welcomed scientists from across our field to hear about new approaches to heart research. We also know this event is a great example of our collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to scientific discovery. Real progress in cardiovascular research happens when the scientific community works together.”

The Heart Institute in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) conducts several collaborative projects with researchers from Duke, Stanford, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (NY), University of Michigan, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and others, he said.

“This Colloquium offers a glimpse of that, showing how our Heart Institute researchers are working with experts from other institutions.”

The keynote speaker for the Colloquium was Lee Sweeney, PhD, professor of pharmacology and therapeutics and director of the Myology Institute at the University of Florida. His talk, titled “The Dilated Cardiomyopathy Associated with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,” addressed ways to improve heart failure in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the most common fatal genetic condition in children. DMD affects mostly boys and is caused by a genetic mutation that prevents the body from producing dystrophin, a protein essential for strong muscle fibers, including those by the heart.

Dr. Lee Sweeney presents his work on cardiomyopathy associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“Dr. Sweeney’s work dovetails beautifully with efforts taking place in the Heart Institute,” Dr. Wickline said.

In addition to Dr. Sweeney, two current Heart Institute research scientists offered overviews of their current research: Jerome Breslin, PhD, and Sami Noujaim, PhD.

Dr. Breslin, professor of molecular pharmacology and physiology at MCOM, presented “Targeting S1P Receptors to Reduce Inflammation and Microvascular Permeability.”

“Our work focuses on finding new ways to reduce the negative impact of inflammation after injury or during disease,” Dr. Breslin said. “Specifically, we are identifying the molecular signaling pathways that initiate, sustain, and resolve leakage of plasma proteins from the blood into the surrounding tissues, which is what causes swelling. To date our work suggests a key role for a compound known as sphingosine-1-phosphate, which is normally released by circulating blood cells, as a key contributor to maintain the walls of blood vessels and reduce plasma protein leakage.”

And Dr. Noujaim, associate professor of molecular pharmacology and physiology at MCOM, presented “Antiarrhythmic Block of Potassium Inward Rectifiers in Atrial Fibrillation.”

“Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia seen in the clinic and is increasingly recognized as a disease of aging, and as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality,” Dr. Noujaim said. “For instance, it has been found that AF independently increases mortality and that it is associated with dementia, and is a major risk factor for stroke. AF is very challenging to treat with currently used antiarrhythmic drugs. It has been found that the aberrant working of a class of proteins called cardiac potassium channels perpetuates AF. My lecture showed how we used a widely prescribed antimalarial drug to correct the function of these potassium channels, and consequently stop AF. Our studies used mathematical modeling, and sophisticated experiments, from the level of the single molecule, all the way to the patient’s heart to understand how this antimalarial drug could stop AF and restore the heart’s normal rhythm. We hope that such studies will help us to find a novel class of therapies that can potentially be effective in treating AF.”

Dr. Lee Sweeney’s work focuses on cardiomyopathy associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The Colloquium was also a celebration of what’s to come, Dr. Wickline said.

“We’ve had a busy year so far with progress on our building in downtown Tampa, great success in recruiting more prominent scientists to our Heart Institute roster, and increases in research funding,” Dr. Wickline said. “This momentum, and these close collaborations, indicate that people are perking up their ears about USF Health, the Heart Institute and all of our developments here.

“But we aren’t stopping here,” he added. “This is an exciting time for cardiovascular disease research and, over the next year, we will see more research emphasis on regenerative medicine, heart failure, bioinformatics, and molecular and functional imaging. As our Heart Institute continues to outfit our building and our team, we continually seek foundational research and philanthropic funding and collaborative opportunities.

“All of this will help us attract the best and the brightest and truly impact cardiovascular disease.”

Photos by Torie Doll, USF Health Communications

In the laboratory and the clinic, Dr. Thomas McDonald focuses on inherited heart diseases that can lead to potentially deadly heart rhythm disturbances

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mdWzfFOqHY

Sudden cardiac death most often makes the news when athletes in peak physical condition collapse and die while exercising or competing.  This spring, Zeke Upshaw, 26, a basketball player for the Grand Rapids Drive, a G-league affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, collapsed face-down on home court during the final minute of a game and later died at the hospital. A medical examiner ruled that he had suffered sudden cardiac death.

“Sudden cardiac death is when someone, usually otherwise healthy and often young, tragically drops dead – without any warning,” said Thomas V. McDonald, MD, a professor in the USF Health Department of Cardiovascular Sciences.

Most of the 200,000 to 450,000 sudden cardiac deaths each year in United States are caused by heart rhythm disturbances  provoked by certain strenuous activities, prescription medications, recreational drugs, or other triggers. “Sometimes it just happens in your sleep.  The most severe and earliest form would be sudden infant death, or SIDS,” Dr. McDonald said.

Physician-scientist Thomas McDonald, MD, a professor in the USF Health Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and member of the USF Health Heart Institute, with his laboratory team.

Dr. McDonald was recruited to the USF Health Heart Institute in October 2017 from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, where he was a professor of both cardiology and molecular pharmacology. He also co-directed the thriving Montefiore-Einstein Clinic for CardioGenetics, the first such interdisciplinary clinic in metropolitan New York for families at risk of sudden cardiac death from arrhythmias.

At USF Health his laboratory continues to focus on the fundamental causes of heart conditions passed from one generation to the next — and what can be done to help prevent disease and its consequences.  The hereditary conditions he studies include those affecting the heart’s electrical system to cause arrhythmias, like long QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome, and those affecting heart muscle, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy.  While rare, these conditions can substantially increase an individual’s risk for sudden cardiac death and devastate families.

In long QT syndrome, the heart takes longer than normal to recharge between beats. This electrical disturbance, called a prolonged QT interval, can often be seen on an electrocardiogram (ECG) like the one pictured here.

Dr. McDonald has also started a USF Health Cardiogenetics Clinic, modeled after the Montefiore-Einstein center he co-founded, to evaluate and treat families in which members succumb to unexplained sudden cardiac death or SIDS, or where suspicion of an underlying, hereditary heart rhythm disturbance exists.

His work bridging the laboratory and clinic has implications for a much larger population than people with relatively rare inherited cardiac disorders.  Dr. McDonald points to growing evidence of the interplay between genetics and environmental factors like diet, exercise and stress.

“By studying these rare or uncommon cardiac diseases,” he said, “we may uncover more generalizable biochemical pathways that could be influenced to harm the heart given the wrong environment — even in genetically unaffected families.”

 Studying uncommon (inherited) heart diseases to gain better insight into more common ones.

Dr. McDonald lifts a container including pluripotent stem cells from storage in liquid oxygen. Alexander Bertalovitz, PhD, (right) an assistant professor of cardiovascular sciences who helps manage the cardiogenetics laboratory, followed Dr. McDonald to USF Health from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Pinpointing the meaning of genetic variants of “unknown significance”

Dr. McDonald analyzes genetic changes, or mutations, which may lead to malfunctioning of ion channels that create electrical signals in the heart.

His team has spent the last few years characterizing the function of 1,000 different mutations found in cardiac ion channel genes associated with hereditary rhythm conditions such as long QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome. The researchers recreate the genetic variations in a cellular model and use automated electrophysiology techniques to analyze how the mutations affect the ion channel’s ability to correctly generate each heartbeat. All these variations have been cited in published scientific literature; however, it is still largely unclear which ones truly increase the risk of abnormal rhythms leading to palpitations, seizures, fainting or sudden death – and which are benign.

The research project is supported by a five-year, $1.7 million R01 grant from the NIH’s National Health, Lung and Blood Institute.

“Our ultimate goal is to work with other investigators to create a NIH-curated public database that physicians and genetic counselors could access to find out whether a genetic variant is likely, or unlikely, to cause a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm disturbance in a patient or their family members,” Dr. McDonald said.

As genetic testing is becomes more common, a growing challenge is that lab reports of people referred for DNA sequence testing often come back listing many “variants of unknown significance,” Dr. McDonald said. “That drives physicians and patients crazy because they don’t know what that means… what do they do with that information?”

Dr. McDonald with Jiajia Yang, a PhD student in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology.

An important step toward improving the guidance that doctors offer individuals with inherited heart disorders would be the ability to more precisely distinguish between disease-causing mutations and mutations with little or no harmful physiological effects through a resource like a scientifically validated database, he added.

Recommended treatment options for long QT are life-long and vary, including regular cardiac monitoring, taking medication such as beta blockers, restricting strenuous sports activities, or sometimes implanting pacemakers or defibrillators to help control abnormal heartbeats.  So, for example, if DNA testing of a child or young adult revealed a long QT genetic variation characterized as having little risk of leading to sudden cardiac death, prescribing beta blockers and routine cardiac monitoring might be the best preventive therapy – avoiding the long-term management and small, but real, lifetime risk of complications from an implantable device.

 Dr. McDonald comments on the focus of his laboratory’s research on genetic variations.

Opening Tampa Bay region’s first CardioGenetics Clinic

The twice-monthly Cardiogenetics Clinic, which opened in March, is held at USF Health Cardiology’s Armenia Avenue location. The new clinic is staffed by a team with the expertise to address the diverse medical, psychological, social and ethical issues arising when evaluating genetic heart conditions that predispose patients to sudden cardiac death.

Dr. McDonald — with certified genetic counselor Melissa Racobaldo (far left) and clinical geneticist Christopher Griffith, MD — leads a comprehensive discussion of family medical history with a patient and his mother referred to the USF Health Cardiogenetics Clinic.

“When I arrived there was no formal cardiogenetics program in the greater metropolitan area of Tampa Bay where 4 million people live — so the prospect of building one from scratch was very attractive,” said Dr. McDonald, who specializes in adult cardiology. He leads the clinic working with USF Health faculty members Christopher Griffith, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and a clinical geneticist; and Melissa Racobaldo, a genetic counselor; as well as Gary Stapleton, MD, a pediatric interventional cardiologist from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. USF College of Public Health students specializing in genetic counseling are expected to join the clinic in coming months.

Many with congenital cardiac conditions have no signs or symptoms. Patients and their families referred to the clinic typically have experienced a history of arrhythmias or other cardiac events, or suffered the unexpected death of a loved one.

During the initial visit, families meet with team members for a cardiac history and examination, review of medical records and/or autopsy reports, and baseline tests that include an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram.  Based on the family’s medical history, a tree-like chart known as the DNA pedigree is created to identify familial genetic patterns and sudden unexpected deaths linked to cardiac disorders.  “The most important genetic test is still a complete family history,” Dr. McDonald said.

Certified genetic counselor Melissa Racobaldo consults with Dr. McDonald about a patient.

DNA testing is usually only recommended when the team discerns that the pattern of cardiac-related events is highly likely to be genetic rather than environmental.  For instance, a family history indicating that a few relatives died from heart disease in their 80s might be considered environmental.

If a mutation is found in one of the genes known to be associated with a dangerous cardiac arrhythmia, then the first (affected) patient who got tested receives immediate counseling by a cardiologist, and genetic testing and counseling will be offered to all at-risk relatives. Different heart rhythm genetic mutations have different effects on ion channels, so individualized remedies are required.

“Genetics is still quite complex to most people, so we try to make our explanations understandable and not so scary,” said Dr. McDonald, who has co-authored several articles on how patients are affected by cardiogenetic testing, including in the journals Qualitative Health Research and Personalized Medicine.

“Our dominant message is ‘we’re here to provide information, which gives you knowledge, and knowledge gives you power to manage your life and to help the next generation.”

A pedigree, which depicts the relationship between individuals and relevant facts about their medical histories, can be used to help understand the transmission of genes within the family. Dr. McDonald points to a square indicating the presence of a particular genetic trait in a male.

The Cardiogenetics Clinic will offer patients access to the latest clinical trials for new drugs or devices. Dr. McDonald was recently named USF site lead investigator for a world-wide Phase 3 study testing the effect on walking endurance of an investigational medication for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy caused by a rare genetic mutation. This form of heart disease, in which inadequate pumping of blood causes the heart to become weaker, can lead to heart failure.

“Heart in a dish” as a drug screening tool

Interested in drug discovery for inherited heart diseases lacking effective medications, Dr. McDonald’s lab has begun collecting blood cells from USF Health cardiomyopathy patients who provide informed consent.

The adult blood cells can be genetically reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with the potential to develop into any cell type in the body, including heart cells.  The goal is to model the early stages of inherited heart disease with patient-specific cells grown in a petri dish, working out at a molecular level how the disease does its damage to heart muscle.

 On the horizon: Modeling inherited heart diseases using pluripotent stem cells

Dr. McDonald and Maliheh Najari Beidokhti, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences.

“Once you do that,” Dr. McDonald said, “you can use the ‘heart disease in a cell culture dish’ to screen any number of drugs or chemical compounds for their potential therapeutic benefit.”

Dr. McDonald is also collaborating with colleagues in the USF Health Department of Neurology to look at rare genetic mutations for nervous system diseases, such as certain types of muscular dystrophy and ataxias, which can lead to severe heart damage,

Dr. McDonald received his bachelor’s degree in zoology from USF in 1977 and MD degree from the University of Florida.  He completed a residency in medicine and research fellowship in cardiology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. At Stanford University School of Medicine, he conducted fellowships in clinical cardiology and interventional cardiology, as well as a postdoctoral research fellowship. He spent 22 years as a faculty member at Albert Einstein College of Medicine before joining the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine last fall.

Continuously funded throughout his career by the NIH or the American Heart Association (AHA), Dr. McDonald has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications.   Among his many high-impact papers was a 2013 article published in FASEB.  The NIH-supported study was among the first to report that synonymous (silent) changes in DNA traditionally considered neutral may adversely affect the processing speed and efficiency of ion channels associated with the heart arrhythmia syndrome Long QT and alter disease severity.

Dr. McDonald has served on multiple study sections of the NIH and AHA. He was elected in 2011 as an AHA Fellow-Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council.

Dr. McDonald says his clinical practice helps inform and complement the translational science he conducts in the laboratory.

Some things you may not know about Dr. McDonald

• During high school, he worked one year as a head cook for a restaurant in Winter Park, Fla., before entering college. “It made me realize that hard work is important, but also motivated me to study so I could make a living by using my head more than my hands.”
• Wife Kami Kim, MD, also a USF Health physician-scientist, is a professor with joint appointments in the Department of Internal Medicine and in the Department of Global Health. They met in the cardiac intensive care unit at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center when Dr. McDonald was a resident and Dr. Kim was rounding as a medical student.  Their two sons, both studying theoretical math, are Clayton, 24, a PhD student at Boston College, and Vaughan, 20, starting his junior year at Harvard University.
• McDonald enjoys bicycling, Japanese cooking, and nearly exclusively reads fiction – “it’s another window on the human condition.” His two favorite books are One Hundred Years of Solitude, an acclaimed novel by Nobel Prize-winning Latin-American author Gabriel García Márquez, and Infinite Jest, a literary bestseller and unconventional comedy by David Foster Wallace.

-Video and photos by Torie M. Doll, USF Health Communications and Marketing

Historic achievement places USF in the top category of Florida’s universities and comes with millions of dollars in new funding that will benefit the Tampa Bay region’s future

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSYOcsKRrCo

TAMPA, Fla. (June 28, 2018) – The University of South Florida can officially stand side by side with the University of Florida and Florida State University as the best universities in the state. The Florida Board of Governors voted unanimously on Thursday to formally designate USF as a “Preeminent State Research University,” recognizing the institution’s high performance and strong trajectory toward national excellence.

Preeminence represents the culmination of USF’s many years of careful strategic planning, focused allocation of resources and determination of thousands of students, faculty and staff. The designation comes with millions of dollars in additional funding, carries prestige that will benefit USF in many key areas, including new student and faculty recruitment, and will enhance the economic development of the Tampa Bay region.

“This validates our efforts over more than a decade to transform USF into a premiere institution of higher education, rivaling peers twice our age,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “This critical designation will have an exponential impact on our continued efforts to grow our research enterprise, provide the highest-quality education to our students, strengthen our partnerships and help us make an even bigger difference in our community.”

The Florida Preeminence program, written into state law in 2013, rewards high-achieving universities based on 12 metrics, including graduation rates, student retention rates, research expenditures and the number of patents awarded. In order to earn Preeminence, a university must meet or exceed at least 11 of the 12 benchmarks.

In 2016, USF was designated as the state’s first “Emerging Preeminent State Research University” for meeting nine of the 12 requirements. Since that time, USF’s six-year graduation rate and student retention rates have improved to qualify for full Preeminence.

“Achieving Preeminence is a testament to USF’s longstanding commitment to student success, world-class research and faculty excellence,” said USF Board of Trustees Chair Brian Lamb. “We want to thank the Board of Governors, our Governor and our state Legislature for their continued support of higher education. Preeminence positions the university to compete for the very best talent nationally and globally, which accelerates the growing reputation of the university and the Tampa Bay community.”

This year, USF and the other Preeminent universities will each receive an increase of approximately $6.15 million in new, recurring funds through the program. The amount of additional dollars awarded for Preeminence each year is determined by the Legislature and Governor through the annual state budget.

USF will use the new funding to invest in student success initiatives, attract nationally prominent faculty members and enhance research activities in strategic areas, such as heart health and medical engineering. Those two fields are important as USF moves forward with plans to open the new Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute facility in late 2019 as part of Water Street Tampa.

“USF is relentless in its focus on student success, increasing its graduation rates, boosting its national rankings, and working to enhance performance in a number of areas that are important to students, families and taxpayers. I congratulate them on becoming the state’s third Preeminent university – this is a very important milestone,” said Marshall Criser III, chancellor of the State University System.

A new website launched today by USF, www.usfnewera.org, is designed to explain the benefits of Preeminence, detail the historic journey to earn the designation and update supporters on the university’s progress.

Inspired by the Preeminence designation, the USF Foundation has also established the USF New Era Fund. Gifts will support faculty recruitment, student success, scholarships and other critical efforts that impact students.

Justin Doherty, senior chemistry major, University of South Florida.

One USF student will soon experience something an undergraduate student rarely gets to experience and on one of the biggest stages for biomedical research. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) awarded Justin Doherty, a senior chemistry major, a travel award and invited him to give an oral presentation on research he conducted at the USF Health Heart Institute.

He will be the only undergraduate speaker in the Division for Translational and Clinical Pharmacology’s Young Investigator Awards session, along with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to share his research at the Experimental Biology 2018 conference, April 21 to 25, in San Diego, Calif.

“I really couldn’t believe it,” he said about his invitation from the society. “I’m not taking this for granted. I’m very excited and very honored by the invitation.”

Doherty’s research inquiry stemmed from unmet medical needs, whereby effective chemotherapies for cancer patients are disrupted due to treatment-induced toxicity. The goal of his research is mitigating the toxicity to keep patients on effective anticancer treatments.  The new therapy he and his research colleagues chose was a Rapamycin nanoparticle, which simultaneously enhances self-detoxification capability and inhibits inflammation. Using well-accepted research models, they introduced the nanoparticle as a pre-treatment to a broadly-used chemotherapy, Cisplatin, which, according to his early results, helped alleviate the acute kidney injury associated with Cisplatin treatment.

Justiin Doherty and his mentor Hua Pan, MBA, PhD.

Doherty credits his success to his mentor, biomedical engineer Hua Pan, MBA, PhD, an assistant professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Cardiovascular Sciences Department and a member of the USF Health Heart Institute.

“Her mentorship has been invaluable.  She holds me to an extremely high standard, which has allowed me to progress,” he said. “Dr. Pan has given me a lot of freedom and trust to conduct research in the lab.”

Dr. Pan compliments Doherty for his willingness to dedicate time to his research in the midst of a rigorous class and exam schedule.

“He’s exceptional. Not only very smart, but also dedicated and devoted to creating value for our patients,” she said. “The scientific training and research experience will certainly help him stand out among his peers when he goes to medical school.” She added, “We appreciate the generous donations made to the USF Health Heart Institute, which will have unparalleled impacts on global health care and talent development for many generations to come.”

Doherty will attend Oxford University to pursue his master’s in immunology this Fall.  He hopes to enter medical school when he returns stateside.

TAMPA, Fla. (June 21, 2017) – Florida Blue’s $1 million gift to the USF Health’s Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute building in downtown Tampa was recognized by the USF Board of Trustees last week with the naming of its medical library.

“We are thrilled to see Florida Blue support the Morsani College of Medicine’s move to downtown Tampa as a million-dollar investor,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “Florida Blue stands as a strong advocate for USF and the health of Floridians, and we value their partnership.”

More than a medical library, the Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange will serve as a hub for connecting people and ideas in the new USF downtown building. As libraries depart from housing stacks of printed collections, the Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange will instead host the research  librarians who can help students, researchers and patients access an ever-expanding trove of digital information.

The 5,000-square-foot Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange will be located inside the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa.

“Medical knowledge is expected to double every 73 days by the year 2020, which greatly affects the way we need to train tomorrow’s doctors,” said Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “The Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange will become a central resource in helping our students learn how to navigate these emerging discoveries to serve their future patients.”

The 5,000-square-foot Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange will be open to the public and feature a large-scale video wall for multimedia presentations, an executive-style reading room, a reference desk, and a space for technology demonstrations and recording lectures for online learning.

“Keeping pace with the rapidly evolving world of health data and technology is critical in today’s health care environment. The Florida Blue Health Knowledge Exchange is aptly named, as it will serve that goal by facilitating information sharing and collaboration among students, health professionals and entrepreneurs,” said Florida Blue CEO Pat Geraghty. “USF and the Tampa Bay community are well positioned to be a center of health knowledge and learning. We are very proud to be a part of this public facility, which aligns so closely with our own mission of helping people and communities achieve better health.”

“Florida Blue’s generous gift fulfills our vision to create a technology rich knowledge environment to support learning, discovery, and patient centered care. The impact of this gift will be better health for our community and the world,” said Rose Bland, MPA, MA, AHIP, director of the Shimberg Health Sciences Library.

In addition to the USF Downtown expansion, the Florida Blue Foundation has supported other areas of USF Health and the Muma College of Business, and is a corporate member of USF Women in Leadership and Philanthropy.

“It is through the philanthropic investment of community partners like Florida Blue that we will complete the vision of USF Downtown,” said USF Foundation CEO Joel Momberg. “We are grateful for Florida Blue’s generosity and leadership.”

Story by Davina Gould,  USF Health Development

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2017) — The University of South Florida today unveiled preliminary renderings of the future home of its USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa.

The renderings offer an early look at USF’s newest state-of-the-art facility, which will combine under one roof a medical school to teach the next generation of physicians and a cardiovascular research institute to pioneer new discoveries for heart health. The $152.6-million building features angles and facets offering unique viewpoints from within and ample windows to allow reflective light into work and learning spaces.  Skanska/HOK is the design/build team constructing the new USF facility.  

“These early renderings are another powerful sign of how significant the University of South Florida’s growing presence in downtown Tampa is today,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “Co-locating our medical school and heart institute in the vibrant urban area of Tampa will attract more top-tier students and cardiovascular researchers, and energize our intent to bring more biotechnology, biomedical and pharmaceutical firms to this region. We are excited about seeing the construction of this fantastic facility over the next two years, as well as its lasting impact on the Tampa Bay economy.”

The USF Health building will be a key anchor in a $3-billion real estate development by Strategic Property Partners, the joint venture between Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment, LLC. The group is developing 53 acres in downtown Tampa into a multi-use, urban waterfront district that will promote a walkable, sustainable, healthy environment for downtown Tampa residents, workers, students and visitors.

“The University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute will be an anchor for SPP’s project and for the larger downtown community. The school’s impact will extend beyond its physical presence and be felt throughout the urban core, bringing energy to the area with its students, researchers, and professors,” said Vinik.  “I am delighted that USF is one step closer to seeing this project come to fruition.”

Located at the corner of South Meridian Avenue and Channelside Drive, the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and the USF Health Heart Institute is expected to open in late 2019. The building will include learning and conference spaces, an auditorium, laboratories, faculty offices and a clinical research and care unit.

Among its many advantages, the new location puts the medical school closer to its primary teaching hospital Tampa General and the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation, a competitive advantage for teaching tomorrow’s physicians, said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

“News of the move to downtown is already having an impact on student and faculty recruitment,” Dr. Lockwood said. “In fact, since the announcement of our move, the number of applications to our medical school has increased 170 percent, or by nearly 2,500 students per year, the caliber of students applying is increasing as well, and we’ve recruited 12 of the 31 NIH-funded cardiovascular scientists who will conduct leading interdisciplinary biomedical research at the Heart Institute.”

Construction of the USF downtown facility is expected to begin August 2017, with building completion expected by late 2019.  The medical school and heart institute will be built with a combination of state and private funding.

-USF-

The University of South Florida System is a high-impact, global research system dedicated to student success. The USF System includes three institutions: USF; USF St. Petersburg; and USF Sarasota-Manatee. The institutions are separately accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. All institutions have distinct missions and their own detailed strategic plans. Serving over 48,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.6 billion and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.

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

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 29, 2016) – The University of South Florida announced today that it has received a $3.5 million gift from Tampa General Hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. The gift will be used to establish an endowed faculty chair in cardiovascular sciences and to create a neurosciences research fund to examine brain and nervous system diseases through the Morsani College of Medicine and its Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute.

Tampa General Hospital is USF Health’s primary teaching hospital and primary cardiology practice site.

Tampa General Hospital has served as USF’s primary teaching hospital since the medical school first opened in 1971, and hundreds of students from USF’s medical, nursing and physical therapy programs receive clinical training at Tampa General each year.

“Over many decades, USF and TGH have been dedicated partners in medical research and education; this donation underscores how deeply committed we are to improving the health and well-being of our community,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft.

“This gift highlights the continued investment in the Morsani College of Medicine that we’ve seen from the community, state and our philanthropic partners during the USF: Unstoppable campaign,” said Joel Momberg, CEO of the USF Foundation. “There is so much promise and possibility in this transformative project that began with the generosity of Carol and Frank Morsani, and continues with the support from the health care professionals at Tampa General Hospital.”

Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, said we are deeply grateful to Tampa General Hospital for their incredible generosity that will help fund and strengthen our key initiatives in cardiovascular sciences and neurosciences.

“By establishing an endowed chair in our Heart Institute, this gift will not only enable us to explore all aspects of cardiovascular health including sorting out the differences in heart disease between men and women, but also it will provide life-saving preventions and treatments for heart disease and other cardiovascular disorders,” Dr. Lockwood said. “We are also pleased that this gift will advance our research efforts in neurosciences at the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute.”

Tampa General Hospital has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the top-ranked cardiology and heart surgery practice in Tampa Bay, and the specialty is ranked #35 in the nation. Tampa General is USF’s primary cardiology practice site, where most of the university’s inpatient and outpatient cardiac services are provided and all inpatient cardiovascular clinical trials are conducted. The hospital is also the flagship affiliate for USF’s department of neurosurgery and brain repair.

“We’re working with the Morsani College of Medicine every day to improve the heart and brain health of patients across Florida,” said Jim Burkhart, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “With this gift, we want to help USF Health expand its research efforts and help ensure that our patients receive the most innovative care possible.”

The USF Health Heart Institute integrates innovative biomedical research with advanced clinical care to find new ways to prevent cardiovascular diseases, tailor personalized treatments for patients, and improve the heart health of the Tampa Bay community. The institute will be co-located in the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine building in downtown Tampa. The Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute is another premier academic research center at USF Health, dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

– 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, and the USF Physicians 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 health.usf.edu.

###

The USF: Unstoppable Campaign is a comprehensive fundraising effort by the University of South Florida System to celebrate the energy, vision, and future of one of the country’s most exciting and engaged universities. Our people and programs, our ideas, our research, and our solutions comprise an ambitious plan to enhance healthcare, science, technology, education, business, the arts, and global partnerships.

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

Tampa, FL (July 27, 2014) — Long-time Tampa cardiologist Xavier E. Prida, MD, joined the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, Aug. 1 as an assistant professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences where he will play a vital role in clinical education and care.  He comes to USF Health from St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he practiced nearly 27 years.

Dr. Prida will help teach medical students and residents and see patients at USF Health’s south and north campus locations – the South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare adjacent to Tampa General Hospital and the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare on the USF Tampa campus.  He plans to join the TGH medical staff, providing consultative services and performing procedures in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory.

Interventional cardiologist Dr. Xavier Prida joins USF Health from St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he practiced for nearly 27 years.

“Dr. Prida is one of the most well-known and respected cardiologists in the Tampa Bay region.  We are fortunate he joined us,” said Arthur Labovitz, MD, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and an acting director of the USF Health Heart Institute. “His addition to the department will help advance our primary mission to elevate the level of cardiac care across the region.”

Dr. Prida specializes in consultative cardiology, which offers comprehensive analysis of an individual’s cardiovascular condition and related diseases to help the patient and doctor jointly develop the best treatment plan.  He is an expert in interventional procedures, such as cardiac catheterization, angioplasty and stenting, with a special interest in managing acute coronary syndromes, studying health and disease outcomes, and improving quality of care.

“We have added a superbly trained interventional cardiologist in Dr. Xavier Prida,” said Sally Houston, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officerwith Tampa General Hospital. “He is a welcome addition to our team and will only enhance the outstanding cardiac care we deliver every day at Tampa General.”

Dr. Prida is a fellow of three premier professional societies – the American College of Cardiology, the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, and the American College of Chest Physicians.

At St. Joseph’s since 1987, he held positions as director of the coronary care unit, chief of the Department of Cardiology, director of medical education and quality outcomes, and, most recently, medical director of the adult cardiac catheterization laboratories.

As regional co-director of the American Heart Association’s Mission Lifeline Accelerator program, Dr. Prida was instrumental in helping integrate local systems of care to improve outcomes for patients who suffer a life-threatening type of heart attack known as STEMI, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, or both.

“Dr. Prida played a key role in working with the community and EMS to get patients into hospital cardiac catheterization labs faster, reducing the time it takes to open blocked arteries,” Dr. Labovitz said.

Dr. Prida received his MD degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 1980.  He completed residency training in internal medicine at New York Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, and served as assistant chief resident at Memorial Hospital/Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute. Following a fellowship in cardiology at Shands Hospital/ University of Florida College of Medicine, he was appointed instructor of medicine/chief resident in the Department of Medicine there.

Dr. Prida says he looks forward to returning to an academic health center after many years in private practice.

“Students and residents ask questions from different, independent perspectives, and that often opens new avenues of inquiry and discovery,” Dr.  Prida said.  “I’m thankful to the all the patients, institutions, physicians and staff who have educated me over the years.  In this next stage of my career, I want to pass on what I’ve learned from others to help educate the next generation of physician leaders.”

He sees a bright future for USF’s growing clinical cardiology group – the largest in Tampa at the region’s only academic health center.

With Dr. Labovitz’s leadership over the last few years, Dr. Prida said, the USF Health Department of Cardiovascular Sciences “has become a flagship program increasingly relevant to the community it serves.”

                                                                                                                                      -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

USF Health Communications media contacts: 
Lisa Greene, lgreene@health.usf.edu, or (813) 974-4312
Anne DeLotto Baier, abaier@health.usf.edu, or (813) 974-3303