Back in 2007, four University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) students started a student-run free clinic with a couple of exam rooms at the Hillsborough Health Department and an idea to help the underserved communities surrounding the university.

“We wanted to establish somewhere (that) is more a pillar for the community,” said Waldo Guerrero, MD, one of the co-founders of the BRIDGE Clinic. “What really drove the idea of the clinic was having a more substantiable way to provide care to the underserved folks.”

Fifteen years later, the BRIDGE Clinic encompasses more than 20 exam rooms in The USF Carol and Frank Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare and the volunteer services of USF students from medicine, pharmacy, public health, social work and physical therapy. The experience not only helps the students care for their neighbors but also assists their health care education.

“It was a great opportunity for me to be able to give back to the community while also getting a lot of hands-on experience,” said Marissa Maldonado, a fourth-year MCOM medical student.

The clinic has grown in response to rising demand for medical services among the uninsured and underserved in the community. The US Census Bureau reports that 14.9 percent of people 65 and under lack health insurance, and the Florida Department of Health says that 15.7 percent of employed people in Hillsborough County do not have insurance.

“The proudest moments are every Tuesday night after clinic is done, “said Eduardo Gonzalez, MD, co-medical director of the BRIDGE clinic. “Patients were seen and provided wonderful care that they otherwise they would not have been able to obtain.”

Donations are welcome to maintain and grow the clinic.

“Whatever gift is given, it will be used,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “It will be used 100 percent in the caring of patients.”

USF Health dean of Public Health, Dr. Donna Petersen, discusses the importance of public health especially during pandemics like COVID-19. Dean Petersen stresses the importance of following CDC guidelines — washing hands thoroughly, wearing a mask and maintaining social distance — to avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19. Dr. Petersen leads the COVID-19 Task Force, and lays out plans to reopen USF to students, faculty and staff.

It’s an exciting time at USF Health. Colleges across health disciplines celebrated the new fall semester, welcoming more than 1,600 new students to different programs.

In this blog post, we break down the numbers from each USF Health college, school and program including Morsani College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Public Health, College of Pharmacy and School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences.

USF College of Nursing

The USF College of Nursing welcomed 678 students this fall, an impressive increase in undergraduate and graduate programs.

The college enrolled 395 students in the graduate programs — including 225 new students in the master’s programs, 50 students in the CRNA program, 112 students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice, eight students in the PhD program and 30 students in the pain management certificate.

The college has also enrolled 253 students in the undergraduate program, with 150 students in the RN-BS program, 82 students in the upper division sequence and 21 in the veteran to bachelor’s program (VCARE).

USF College of Nursing’s RN-BS students for Fall 2017.

USF College of Pharmacy

USF College of Pharmacy enrolled 126 students in the college’s PharmD and Masters of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology programs.

This fall, the college welcomed its seventh group of 101 students to one of the top PharmD programs in the country. The college’s masters of pharmaceutical nanotechnology enrolled 25 new students.

The new group of PharmD students, class of 2021. 

Morsani College of Medicine

Morsani College of Medicine welcomed 174 students to its prestigious MD program. Forty-eight of those students are in the SELECT program, which recruits and develops students with the intellectual perspective, empathy, creativity and passion to change patient care, the health of communities and the medical profession.

USF Health Morsani College of Medicine celebrates the new Class of 2021 at the Tampa Museum of Art.

Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs

The MCOM’s Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral programs enrolled 280 students this fall.

Of the 17 matriculates in the medical science PhD program, five come from underrepresented ethnic groups in the life sciences. The average GPA is 3.49.

The program also welcomed 263 students to its various master’s degrees and concentrations, including:

• 150 in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences
• 29 in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences, Health Sciences concentration (100% online)
• 15 in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences, Aging & Neuroscience concentration
• 26 in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences, Anatomy concentration:
• 10 in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences, Women’s Health concentration
• 7 in the Master of Science in Medical Sciences, Molecular Medicine concentration
• 4 in the Master of Science in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• 2 in the Master of Science in Biotechnology
• 20 in the Master of Science in Advanced Athletic Training

Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences

The USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences welcomed 52 Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students to its class of 2020 this fall.

USF College of Public Health

USF College of Public Health welcomed 295 students to their undergraduate and graduate programs.

The college enrolled a record number of 31 new students into its DPH program this fall.

The college also brought in 171 students in the master’s in public health program, 14 students in the MSPH program, nine students in the master’s in health administration, 58 students in the BS program and 12 in the PhD program.

New USF COPH students attend fall 2017 orientation.

Stay tuned, more to come…

It was an exciting day at USF Health as hundreds gathered to celebrate the grand opening of a new USF Health Fitness Center on April 3 at the USF Health WELL. The new fitness center is a satellite facility of the USF Campus Recreation Center.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, USF Health leaders introduced the state-of-the art fitness center to USF Health faculty, staff and students.

“USF Health is all about health and wellness,” said Joe Ford, assistant vice president for USF Health Shared Student Services. “This new fitness center is a testament to our commitment to that mission and the health and well-being of our faculty, staff and students.”

From left: Edmund Funai, MD, chief operating officer for USF Health and vice president for strategic development for the USF System; Joanne Strobbe, MsEd, senior associate vice president for administration, finance and technology, chief financial officer for USF Health, and vice dean for administration, finance and technology for USF Health Morsani College of Medicine; Donna Petersen, ScD, senior associate vice president of USF Health, dean of the USF College of Public Health and interim dean of the College of Nursing, and Joe Ford, assistant vice president for USF Health Shared Student Services, pictured with Rocky the Bull before the ribbon-cutting. 

The 12,000 square-foot fitness facility is a full-service center providing high-tech cardiovascular and strength equipment, web-enabled treadmills, locker rooms with showers, and a fitness studio dedicated to Zumba, aerobics, yoga and meditation classes. The treadmills have full-functioning screens to check email, browse the web and even listen to lectures. The Well Fitness Center is open 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

“I am excited to see such a high-quality fitness center on our side of campus,” said Mayah Knight, undergraduate student at the USF College of Nursing. “As USF Health students, we spend so much time studying, in the classroom or in clinical settings, so it’s nice to have a space dedicated to our wellness where we can go work out and decompress.”

USF leaders and students cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the USF Health Fitness Center.

The fitness center is available to all USF Health students, faculty and staff. Students can use the fitness center for free. USF Health employees, excluding other personal services (OPS) employees, will receive a $240 taxable benefit from USF Health to pay for the annual membership. To be eligible, employees must OPT-IN to the benefit and agree to the terms and additional tax deductions. For more information, click here.

“We’re thankful to USF Health for opening such a beautiful recreation center,” said Kathleen Flach, academic director for the physician assistant program at USF Health. “It’s convenient, it’s new, and it gives us the chance to get out of our offices, take a break and exercise.”

Dominique Richardson, fitness coordinator at the USF Campus Recreation demonstrates workout equipment to students and staff.

“This center is so convenient for me as it’s right across from my office,” said Chad Whistle, director of student affairs at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “I can easily work out at the fitness center, get lunch or a smoothie across the hall at the Rising Roll, and go back to work — all in one hour.”

Rocky the Bull tests the new treadmill at the USF Health Fitness Center.

USF Health will work closely with the main campus recreation team to manage the day-to-day operations of the fitness center.

“We’re happy to work with USF Health and bring fitness opportunities to health students, faculty and staff,” said Eric Hunter, director of the USF Campus Recreation. “It was harder for USF Health community to go to the main campus recreation center and get their exercise, so this will fulfill that need.”

USF Health promotes health and wellness, and the new fitness center reflects that mission. Ford said that USF Health couldn’t have done this alone.

“It took a village to make this happen,” Ford said. “Everyone from USF and USF Health leadership, USF Campus Recreation and USF Student Government played a role. We’re also grateful to Williamson Dacar Associates for designing a beautiful space — bringing our vision to life.

Story by Vjollca Hysenlika
Photos by Frederick Coleman 

A group of USF College of Public Health undergraduate students hit the streets to help count the homeless during the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative (THHI) annual point-in-time count.

Seventeen students, led by Elizabeth Dunn, adjunct instructor in the Department of Global Health at the USF College of Public Health, participated in the county-wide effort counting homeless individuals at six different locations in the Tampa area. During interactions with the homeless, students conducted surveys, collected data and handed out basic hygiene items.

Students Jay Rajyaguru and Anthony Woodson help count the homeless during the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative (THHI) annual point-in-time count.

Jay Rajyaguru, a third-year student, said meeting people who live on the streets of Tampa was a life-changing experience.

“It was eye-opening to approach the homeless, talk to them and hear their personal stories and struggles,” Rajyaguru said. “They became homeless because they went through hard times, so lending a hand, even for a few minutes, was a great feeling.”

THHI, an organization created to reduce and end homelessness in Tampa and Hillsborough County, works with local agencies to conduct a homeless count to help the state determine proper funding for shelter and services in Hillsborough County. The census is requested by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“Getting involved with THHI gave our students an opportunity to practice administering a public health survey, collect data and speak one-on-one with those experiencing homelessness,” Dunn said. “This also allowed them to think about preparedness for some of the most vulnerable populations that are in dire need of shelter and assistance.”

Student Jordan Snead said interacting with the homeless taught the students skills they cannot learn in the classroom.

“Getting out there and giving back to the community helps us become better public health professionals,” Snead said. “This type of work teaches us communications skills, leadership and philanthropy. So, I’m glad I did it.”

Students Anthony Woodson, Jordan Snead and Jay Rajyaguru get ready to hit the streets and give back to the community.

Homelessness is a concern in the Tampa Bay area. According to Florida Department of Health, more than 8,000 people are currently homeless in Tampa Bay. Of those, more than 1,900 are homeless in Hillsborough County.

Lesa Weikel, senior program manager at THHI, said she is grateful to USF students who volunteered.

“It takes a lot of volunteer hours and effort to canvas a big county like Hillsborough County, so we appreciate any help we can get,” Weikel said. “We do a homeless count every year to get an insight into the homeless population to learn about their backgrounds, demographics and compare that data to previous years – so we can help the state provide adequate funding.”

USF College of Public Health students have a passion for community work. Most of those who participated in the homeless count are also part of the USF Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which is a program that helps teach disaster response skills to USF students, faculty and staff.

“I encourage other USF students to get out and help those in need, because this is all happening at our doorstep,” said student Anthony Woodson.

Story and photos by Vjollca Hysenlika

The University of South Florida commemorated National Peace Corps Week at the College of Public Health with its annual Peace Corps Festival, March 2.

Returned Peace Corps volunteers shared stories and experiences from abroad, while guests sampled international dishes as they celebrated USF’s role as a top producer of Peace Corps volunteers and international volunteerism.

USF System President Judy Genshaft highlighted USF’s recent ranking in the Peace Corps 2017 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list.

The Peace Corps currently ranks USF third in the nation for the most graduate alumni volunteers and in the top 18 among large colleges and universities for the most undergraduate alumni who volunteer worldwide.

USF celebrated National Peace Corps Week at the USF College of Public Health’s Peace Corp Festival on March 2. (From left, front row): Returned Peace Corps volunteer Kevin Orner, College of Engineering; USF World’s AVP for Research Innovation and Global Affairs Kiki Caruson; College of Engineering Dean Robert Bishop; USF System President Judy Genshaft; returned Peace Corps volunteer and USF Peace Corps recruiter Wilnie Merilien; Patel College of Global Sustainability’s Peace Corps Program Director Kelly Gaskell; and College of Public Health Peace Corps Program Director Jesse Casanova. (From left, back row): College of Public Health Dean and College of Nursing Interim Dean Donna Petersen; Patel College of Global Sustainability Interim Dean Richard Berman; College of Arts and Sciences Dean Eric Eisenberg; and College of Arts and Sciences Peace Corps Program Director Christian Wells. (Photo by Zachary Murray, USF College of Public Health)

“It’s another recognition of our great success and inspiring our students to help their communities across the world,” Genshaft said.

In addition, USF has been ranked by the Chronicle of Higher of Education as the number one producer of Fulbright Scholars in the U.S. for 2016-2017, according to U.S. Department of State and Institute of International Education data.

Genshaft also announced four new Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship Programs at USF in public health, civil and environmental engineering, applied anthropology and global sustainability.

“Paul D. Coverdell Programs offer financial assistance to graduate students who return from the Peace Corps volunteer program and it gives our service-minded volunteers great incentive to enroll in graduate studies at the best place ever, the University of South Florida,” she said. “Coverdell Fellows share the passion for world experiences across university and help to inspire others to advance to the Peace Corps and take advantage of this great program that we have.”

Returned Peace Corps volunteer Valerie Rojas speaks about her experiences abroad in Cambodia. (Photo by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health)

USF has also launched a Peace Corps Prep program, designed to enhance the experience of undergraduate students by preparing them for international development fieldwork and potential Peace Corps service, according to Genshaft. This new program will be implemented in concert with the Global Citizens Project, a university-wide initiative that aims to enrich undergraduate education through curricular and co-curricular experiences.

The Diversity Abroad Network, a professional consortium of educational institutions, government agencies, for-profit and non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing diversity and excellence in international education, named USF the recipient of the 2017 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion in International Education (EDIIE) and Global Student Leadership Award on March 2.

“Thank you for all you do,” Genshaft said. “Thank you for making this a top tier school in global issues in every way possible.”

Dr. Joseph Dorsey, an adjunct faculty member at the USF Patel Center for Global Sustainability, speaks about his time as a volunteer in the Ivory Coast. (Photo by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health)

Peace Corps program directors and deans from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Public Health and the Patel College of Global Sustainability also spoke on the importance of the programs in their respective colleges.

“The distance between public health and peace in the Peace Corps is not a long one,” said Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the College of Public Health and interim dean of the College of Nursing. “We know that health is absolutely critical to people having hope, and hope is absolutely critical to people pursuing peace, so this has been a great partnership for us.”

Guests were invited to sample food from across the globe during the festival. (Photo by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health)

“What we all share, all of us, is a passion for healthy people, for healthy communities and for a healthy environment,” said Eric Eisenberg, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “It makes me feel great to know that we are all pulling in the same direction and that a common language is the language of the experience of the people who live in the world, not the language of our disciplines or the language of theory or method. It’s a beautiful thing,”

USF’s Peace Corps recruiter and returned Peace Corps volunteer, Wilnie Merilien, also a master’s student in the College of Public Health, gave closing remarks.

Wilnie Merilien, returned Peace Corps volunteer and current USF Peace Corps recruiter (Photo by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health)

“Peace Corps has definitely confirmed my passion for the field of public health,” she said. “This week we are celebrating 56 years of friendship, service and peace, so thank you for coming out and joining us as we celebrate our local Peace Corps community.”

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

The University of South Florida continues to make Zika a research focus. That’s evident through various research projects currently in the works.

To bolster those efforts, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) recently awarded USF three grants totaling $2.45 million to conduct Zika-related research to help stop the spread of the mosquito-borne virus within Florida and beyond.

USF’s award was part of $25 million in FDOH Zika research funding announced Feb. 1 by Gov. Rick Scott to help expedite development of a vaccine to prevent Zika infection, understand and mitigate long-term impacts of the virus on children and adults and develop innovative, cost-effective Zika testing methods. USF was among the top three universities in the state to receive the most funding.

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

“While Zika is not as prevalent in the winter months, we cannot let our guard down. The threat remains real in Florida and across the country,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “These new grants are very appreciated and much needed in advancing our efforts to develop vaccines and treatments and to provide better screening tests during pregnancy to protect babies from potentially devastating Zika-related birth defects.”

FDOH oversaw the grant review, which awarded applicants through a competitive process based on recommendations by the Biomedical Research Advisory Council.

The Zika virus is an infectious disease that spreads from the Aedes species mosquito. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dangerous mosquito typically lays eggs near standing water, and the virus can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus, and through sex, blood transfusions, and laboratory health care exposure. Currently, no vaccine exists to fight Zika.

As of Feb. 1, the CDC reported 4,973 travel-associated and locally-transmitted Zika cases in the United States, with 1,069 of those in the state of Florida alone.

The three state grants awarded to USF are described below:

Studying how Zika infects the fetus

Dr. Lockwood, an obstetrician specializing in high-risk pregnancies, and a group of fellow researchers in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morsani College of Medicine, were among those to receive a share of the multimillion dollar award. He and co-principal investigator Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli, PhD, assistant professor, were awarded $1.14 million to study cellular and molecular mediators of  Zika virus replication and investigate how Zika gets through the placental wall, which usually acts as a barrier to keep the developing fetus safe from viruses.

Ozlem Guzeloglu-Kayisli, PhD, assistant professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. 

“This project will examine various tissues and strains of the Zika virus to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the disease, and understand how it’s transmitted from the pregnant woman to the fetus,” Dr. Guzeloglu-Kayisli said. “Our goal is to help prevent viral transmission – and to ultimately protect pregnant women and their babies.”

Facilitating Clinical Trials for a Zika Vaccine

Thomas Casale, MD, a professor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, received $1.11 million to establish an integrated Zika clinical research trial network in Florida.  He will work with a team of faculty from the Morsani College of Medicine’s Division of Allergy and Immunology, Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine, Department of Molecular Medicine and from the USF College of Public Health to design and study new diagnostics and treatments for Zika and other emerging infectious diseases.

Thomas Casale, MD, professor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. 

“This grant will allow us to bring an integrated team of experts from USF Health and the local community with a diverse level of expertise on Zika to study new diagnostics, new therapies, and develop a platform that educates students and the public about this dangerous virus,” Dr. Casale said. “We hope that this collaboration will help address this public health threat, which is clearly important not only for our state, but the entire nation and the world.”

Identifying Natural Products to Combat Zika

A third grant went to USF immunologist Michael Teng, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Teng received $200,000 to study rapid identification of natural products with antiviral activity against Zika. He will collaborate with Bill Baker, PhD, professor in the USF Department of Chemistry.

Michael Teng, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“We will leverage our existing expertise in virus research to study an important emerging human pathogen, which effects the health of Floridians,” Dr. Teng said. “This also gives us an opportunity to establish an interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Baker to identify potential lead antiviral compounds, derived from fungal species isolated from Florida mangroves.”

For more information about Zika research at USF, visit http://www.usf.edu/zika/.

Story by Vjollca Hysenlika 
Photos by Vjollca Hysenlika & Eric Younghans

When it comes to simulating a large scale crisis, USF College of Public Health students in the master of science in public health (MSPH) occupational medicine residency program are getting as close to the real deal as possible.

Through a partnership with the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics in Tampa, students have the opportunity to take part in emergency management preparedness and training. It prepares them for handling a large scale disaster and triage of multiple patients with varying degrees of injuries and illness.

The VA’s “SIM BUS” contains mannequins dressed with mock injuries to fit six different scenarios.

Dr. Ronald Figueredo, COPH occupational medicine resident, examines a patient exposed to a rail car oil shipment explosion. (Photo by Anna Mayor)

The most recent simulation included patients with an array of chemical exposures from chlorine gas to ammonia.

Upon entering the bus, residents are provided information cards noting the status of the patient’s injuries. They utilize critical thinking skills and make decisions on how they would triage the patients, categorizing who needs care first, according to Dr. Eve Hanna, occupational medicine faculty in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.

Trainees in the program are resident physicians from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Residents complete clinical rotations at locations in Tampa including the VA, Tampa General Hospital, local private occupational medicine clinics and OSHA.

Occupational medicine is a board certified medical specialty with a focus on worker populations, diagnosis and treatment of work-related injuries, illnesses and exposures.

The simulation training happens twice a year for students in the MSPH occupational medicine residency program.

Residents of the COPH’s occupational medical residency program and instructor Dr. Eve Hanna (third from left) take a moment to show some USF school spirit following the simulation training. 

“It’s a higher form of learning,” Dr. Hanna said. “In order for all parts of your mind to be engaged you have to be doing something. In a lecture you’re just sitting there and taking the information in, so once you become an active participant you learn and retain the information better.”

Dr. Theodore Aquino, chief resident of occupational medicine at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said that coming from a military background, he’s had experience in dealing with mass casualty scenarios and that in emergency scenarios providers must triage patients to do good for the greater number of people.

“There is no replacement for real world training, but a close runner up would definitely be a simulation,” he said. “We’re taught see one, do one, teach one, so if you can’t necessarily see one or do one in a live scenario, live emergency, or live patient, a simulation is the next best thing,” he said.

Chief resident of occupational medicine at USF, Dr. Theodore Aquino, works to triage patients during the simulation. Trauma categories were defined as immediate care (red), delayed (yellow), minor (green) or expectant (black). 

Dr. Janet Sprehe, program director of simulations at the VA, manages all simulation education.

She said the VA obtained the simulation bus in August of 2015 and it has been used to train USF College of Public Health medical doctors and residents and USF College of Nursing students, as well as University of Tampa nursing students. The bus has been used for trainings across the Tampa Bay area, including at MacDill Air Force Base and the Hillsborough Emergency Management Command Center.

VA nurses, including emergency room and ICU nurses, provide clinical coaching as students make decisions regarding each patient.

“We have had over 700 people utilize the bus in training,” she said. “It’s great to see everyone liking what we’re training them on. Our goal is to keep simulating different types of emergencies to help people be prepared in what they need to do.”

The bus is equipped to provide medical services in the event of a disaster and, according to Sprehe, could be ready for operation within an hour.

Dr. Brandon Dawkins, a senior occupational medicine resident, said the simulation helped him become more familiar with how it feels to make a critical decision that will help to minimize harmful effects.

“It was difficult at first to understand how to balance the varying levels of triage during the simulation,” Dawkins said. “As a clinician one is trained that everyone who presents to the health care system will get the full complement of resources available. This is very different from an emergency or disaster situation as there are more constraints on time and resources. This creates a situation where attempting to give the full complement of resources to a patient without proper triage may result in injury or death that could have been prevented.”

For resident Dr. Dwayne Wilson, the simulation training was a new and helpful experience.

“Basically, preparation is the key to responding to an event, the more you plan, the more you prepare, the more reflexive memory to assess a patient or disaster event, so that’s why I feel this really helps,” he said.

COPH occupational medicine resident, Dr. Dwayne Wilson, checks the pulse of a patient who was exposed to a mixture of bleach and ammonia. 

The occupational medicine residency program at the COPH is a two-year concurrent academic and practicum training program, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

For more information about the program visit the program’s website or contact Kelly Freedman, program coordinator, at kfreedm1@health.usf.edu.

Photos by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1.

Vickie Lynn, a USF College of Public Health doctoral student living with HIV, has joined a national campaign discussing intimate partner violence and HIV.

“Although it took me a very long time, I can talk about it now,” Lynn said. “There are many women in relationships who are experiencing intimate partner violence, and they don’t see a way out.”

Greater Than AIDS, a national community group focused on educating the public about HIV/AIDS, launched the new campaign, Empowered: Women, HIV and Intimate Partner Violence, to highlight the stories of women living with HIV who survived abuse and moved forward.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who experienced intimate partner violence, including both physical and emotional abuse, have an increased risk of HIV infection.

Vickie Lynn, MSW, MPH (Photo by Anna Mayor)

“In the general population one in three women experiences intimate partner violence; for women living with HIV, its one in two women,” Lynn said.

In the late 1980s, Lynn was 18 years old and living in Tampa when she met the man she thought she would marry. However, he turned out to be both physically and emotionally abusive.

Her breaking point was the day he beat her with a billy club, covering her head to toe in blood. She left that day and never looked back.

A few years later, she received news that would change her life. She found out that she was living with HIV and had contracted it from her former, abusive partner.

“When they told me I was living with HIV, they also told me that I had three years to live,” Lynn said. “Emotionally, I wasn’t dealing with it very well. Friends stopped calling me, my mother wouldn’t hug me anymore; she washed everything I touched with bleach. The stigma from the very get-go was very difficult. I started doing a lot of drinking and I decided if I was going to die, I was going to go out with a bang.”

Lynn said she was severely depressed and started hanging with the wrong crowd, abusing alcohol and drugs. Her health deteriorated and within a few years it had progressed to an AIDS diagnosis.

“I ended up losing my job, my health insurance, my place to live, my hope and sleeping under a street bridge,” she said. “I literally had a nervous breakdown.”

Weighing barely 85 pounds, with less than 50 T-cells, numerous opportunistic infections and no access to health care, Lynn said she felt the end was close.

It wasn’t until an AIDS Service organization stepped in and offered her housing that her outlook began to change.

In the mid-1990s, after regaining access to health care, she started taking new antiretroviral medications and, according to Lynn, found hope for the future.

“I started feeling human again and I don’t know where I got the inspiration from, but I thought ‘If I had a second chance at life what would I do?’ and I had always wanted to go to college and that’s what I did,” Lynn said.

She worked to obtain her associate’s degree from Hillsborough Community College, then her bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees, both at USF, one from the College of Public Health and the other from the School of Social Work.

She is currently a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Family and Community Health at the COPH. Her research interests involve exploring system and organizational level factors affecting the delivery of integrated health care services for people living with HIV.

Lynn, who has been living with HIV for the past 30 years, said she wanted to be part of the Empowered campaign to give hope to other women who may be in a similar situation.

“I want to educate other women and let them know that even if you have experienced trauma or abuse or if you’re living with HIV you can still have a productive, wonderful life” she said. “I want to be the voice for women who don’t have a voice or can’t find their voice.”

She hopes to continue working in Florida at the institutional level to help bridge the gap between research and practice with a focus on integrated health care services for people living with HIV.

“We want to reduce the transmission of HIV, but we’re not doing a great job of increasing access to care or maintaining people in care and treatment, and that’s troublesome,” Lynn said. “This is why integrated care is so important. Holistically addressing the physical health, mental health and social service needs of people living with HIV can improve retention in care, improve health outcomes and increase quality of life, while controlling costs and reducing transmission.”

Lynn said HIV is the reason she is where she is today.

“This is the reason I’m passionate about public health. This is the reason I’m passionate about mental health and changing the public health care system,” she said. “HIV does not discriminate. It doesn’t matter who you are, how much money you make, what race you are, or your sexual identity.”

As World AIDS Day commemorates on Dec. 1, Lynn is reminded of the hundreds of friends she has lost to the virus and why she is so passionate about working to address the issues she’s become so familiar with.

“World AIDS Day, for me, is just being grateful for all the people who have worked hard to allow those of us living with HIV to have a life worth living,” she said. “God allowed me to live for a reason, I don’t know what that is yet. But, every day I just try to do the best I can, and if I touch someone’s life in a positive way, that’s great.”

For more about the campaign, visit: empowered.greaterthan.org. To watch the videos related to the campaign, visit: youtube.com/greaterthanaids.

Construction is underway for the new WELL Student Center, a one-stop student services location for all USF Health students. While student fees have covered 75 percent of construction costs, urgent philanthropic support is needed to complete the current phase of construction in 2016.

The WELL (Wellness, Engagement, Leadership and Learning) Student Center fosters an interprofessional, collaborative learning environment for students in medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacy, physical therapy and the biomedical sciences.

Artist’s rendering of the WELL Student Center exterior.

The new student center will be located in the heart of the USF Health section of the main University of South Florida campus at the site of a former medical clinic. The renovated building will feature an expansive dining facility, a fitness center, a performing arts and aerobics studio, a meditation room, a lactation room for nursing mothers, multipurpose and study space, and a convenience store.

“The WELL is a great investment for USF Health students because it provides a private, quiet, central location to study, work on group projects together, or meet other students on a similar track,” said Chereka Singh, president of USF’s Undergraduate Public Health Student Association.

“Immediately as a student at USF Health I realized the need for interprofessional teams to maximize patient care.  The WELL Student Center offers aspiring health professionals an environment like nowhere else to communicate and develop together,” said USF College of Pharmacy student Matt Schneller,

For more information or make a gift, visit the WELL Student Center website today.

Rendering of the WELL’s dining facility.

Article by Davina Gould, USF Health Development