A review of emerging treatments for Parkinson’s disease by a University of South Florida neurologist highlights advances that may lead to more effective drugs and other therapies for the movement disorder marked by tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and impaired balance. Dr. Robert Hauser, professor of neurology, molecular pharmacology and physiology, and director of the USF Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center, recently published the article “Future Treatments for Parkinson’s Disease: Surfing the PD Pipeline” in the International Journal of Neuroscience. Robert Hauser, MD Dr. Hauser reviews antiparkinsonian treatments in […]

Clearly, USF is meeting a need. Since opening the TEAMS Center two years ago, the simulation training program has hosted more than 2,600 learners and provided more than 12,000 learner hours to healthcare professionals from varied disciplines throughout the Tampa Bay area and from as far away as China. And those numbers are about to increase with the opening in March of USF’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), a state-of-the-art simulation center that includes high-tech robots for training surgeons. The TEAMS (Team Education and Multidisciplinary Simulation) Center […]

Dr. J. Robert Hamill (right), USF affiliate faculty member and past president of the Florida West Dermatology Society, presented the inaugural award to Dr. Fenske. Neil Alan Fenske, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, recently received the 2011 Dermatology of the Year Award from the  longstanding Florida West Coast Society of Dermatology. Dr. Fenske was the inaugural recipient of the new award, which was presented to him Nov. 8 at the society’s quarterly meeting in the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare at USF Health. […]

Mini-apartment to test ability of patients to live on their own helps set new center apart Tampa, FL (Nov. 17, 2011) — The  University of South Florida today opens a distinctive center offering people with memory disorders and their families a full range of individualized, multispecialty services in one welcoming place. The Center for Memory C.A.R.E. (Clinical Assessment, Research and Education), on the second floor of the six-story USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, is designed to support patients and their caregivers while providing convenient access to the latest research, technology […]

Day-long celebration includes announcement of two new multimillion grants for diabetes research To cheers, applause and the snip of scissors across green satin ribbon, USF’s long-standing diabetes program ceremoniously opened its new facility Nov. 14 – World Diabetes Day – on the fifth floor of the Carol & Frank Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare. Families coping with diabetes, community supporters, elected officials, local media, physicians, researchers and support staff crowded into the new Center’s lobby in the morning, craning to see for themselves the opening of a comprehensive center that […]

USF Health will investigate how best to train combat medics to help save soldiers’ lives as part of a university consortium that has received a $5.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. The new USF Health Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation, or CAMLS, will receive at least $750,000 over at least two years. This is the first grant that the CAMLS Tampa Bay Research and Innovation Center has received. USF’s part of the grant will be conducted at CAMLS. “This grant is a milestone for USF Health,” […]

Tampa, FL (Nov. 10, 2011) — Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are chronic, life-long conditions that require careful monitoring and control of blood sugar. When you’re worried, frightened or angry about living with diabetes, the stress you feel can cause your blood sugar levels to run higher.  Stress also indirectly affects diabetes by making it more difficult to for you to remember your medications and blood sugar checks. It may interfere with making healthy lifestyle choices that help control your diabetes. Laura Smith, PhD, clinical psychologist for the […]

Tampa, FL (Nov. 10, 2011) — You don’t have to miss out on eating out because you have diabetes. Like most people trying to maintain healthy diet, you just have to keep track of what you eat and eat certain foods in moderation. Jane Norman, clinical dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the USF Diabetes Center, offers the following tips to make dining out easier: • Control portion sizes.  When ordering at a restaurant that does not allow you to split an entrée with someone else, or does not offer “smaller” […]

Tampa, FL (Nov. 10, 2011) – Planning for your child’s diabetes management at school may seem like a daunting task, but there’s plenty of help available. Amanda Vasquez, clinical social worker at the USF Diabetes Center, offers the following suggestions for parents to help their kids with diabetes at school: • Set up a meeting with the school to discuss your child’s diabetes care needs.  Sit down with your child’s teachers, administrators and/or other personnel to review his or her diabetes medical management plan. If your child is old enough involve […]

Tampa, FL (Nov. 9, 2011)– Using innovative techniques for unbiased counting of brain cells, Peter R. Mouton, PhD, of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute and a diverse team of researchers have confirmed a new theory about a cause of autism. The pivotal study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, confirmed that the brains of children with autism have an overabundance of brain cells produced only before birth, suggesting that autism arises from prenatal processes gone awry. Led by Eric Courchesne, PhD, at the University of California […]