Summer/Fall, 2017  




From the Desk of Dr. Sinnott...

As summer days slowly begin to transition into cooler times, the academic year advances with new trainees, eagerly ready to tackle some of the most important moments of learning in their life. As Dr. Margaret Hamburg once said, " Patients do not put their trust in machines or devices.  They put their trust in you. You have already spent years studying, training, doing research and seeing patients. And you likely have many more years of education before you." Within all facets of life, and especially in medical school, persistence is the guiding principle for a successful learning experience. 

In Patient Centered Teaching, we welcome 33 new categorical and 7 preliminary interns that will contribute to our Internal Medicine department's premiere internship program. In Patient Centered Research, we continue to reach new heights as our USF researchers lead the way with new research projects and conducting research on existing projects. In Patient Centered Care, Dr. Mark Moseley addresses the evaluation of Quality Metrics and how they will impact the Internal Medicine department and USF Health moving forward.

We are deeply saddened by the tragedies of hurricane Harvey in Texas, hurricane Irma in Florida, hurricane Maria through Puerto Rico as well as the devastating earthquake in Mexico. During these difficult times, our hearts and thoughts are with all of the families and friends affected by these tragic events. We would like to once again, recognize all USF volunteers that helped our community and a s pecial thanks to the volunteers who organized the entire recovery process and skillfully trained volunteers who worked tirelessly to help our community during and after the passage of Irma. The compassion you showed to people in need is an inspiration for us all.

Warm regards,

John Sinnott MD FACP
James Cullison Professor and Chairman
Department of Internal Medicine
Morsani College of Medicine
University of South Florida 
Inside this Issue Top
Patient Centered
Teaching

Patient Centered
Research

Patient Centered
Care






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Take a Moment TakeAMoment

To study the phenomena of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to study books without patients is not to go to sea at all. - Dr. William Osler

Welcome Aboard! Welcome
New Faculty

David Weill, MD
Director, Institute for Advanced Organ Disease and Transplantation Professor of Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Dr. David Weill is the director of the new Institute for Advanced Organ Disease and Transplantation. Dr. Weill earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1990 at Tulane University Medical School. He finished his residency training in Internal Medicine at Parkland Hospital, University of Texas - Southwestern in 1993, and completed his fellowship in Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine and Lung Transplantation in 1996 at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC).

Dr. Weill is the former director of the Center for Advanced Lung Disease and the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also past chair of the Pulmonary Transplantation Council of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation. He served 10 years on the editorial board of the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation and in several capacities for the United Network for Organ Sharing, including as a member of the Thoracic Committee, a member of the National Lung Review Board, and a member of the Membership and Professional Standards Committee.

Dr. Weill will bring together four organ transplant programs under singular leadership. He will support efforts to enhance the national reputation of Tampa General Hospital's transplant program by increasing research efforts and continuing to recruit top notch talent. 


Nelson Aldana, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Dr . Nelson Aldana comes to us from Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from National University of Colombia School of Medicine in Bogotá. He completed his residency in 2010 at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, and his fellowship from Rush University Hospital / John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago in 2015.

Dr. Aldana participated in quality improvement projects, research activities and is a member of the American Thoracic Society, the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Physicians. He was in the top 3% of his class at the National University of Colombia, School of Medicine. Dr. Aldana is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine.


Madeline Candelario-Cosme, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism

Dr . Candelario-Cosme earned her Doctor of Medicine in 2012 from Universidad Central del Caribe and completed training in Internal Medicine in 2015 at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. She then moved to Tampa to complete her fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at USF. Dr. Candelario-Cosme is board certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is currently board eligible for Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Certification. She is fluent in both Spanish and English.


Juan Carlos Cardet, MD MPH
Assistant Professor
Division of Allergy & Immunology

Dr . Juan Carlos  Cardet is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology. He specializes in the treatment of patients with asthma, chronic urticaria , chronic rhinitis, and other allergic and immunologic diseases.

Dr. Cardet received his B.A. degree in Biology from Harvard University in Cambridge in 2004, his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Puerto Rico in 2008, and his MPH degree from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston in 2017. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Connecticut in 2011, and his fellowship training in Allergy and Immunology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, MA in 2014. He served as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and as the Assistant Director of the Asthma Research Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital from 2014 until this past June .

Cheryl Clark, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Dr . Cheryl Clark earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of North Carolina. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee and her fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Florida, Shands Hospital.

Dr. Clark is a board certified Intensivist and has practiced as a Pulmonary-Critical Care physician for eighteen years. She has worked in medical, surgical, neurosurgical, cardiac surgery intensive care units, and e-ICU's. She is experienced in endotracheal intubation, cricothyrotomy, percutaneous tracheostomy, central venous access, bronchoscopy, thoracentesis, paracentesis, arterial line placement, tube thoracostomy, continuous renal-replacement therapy, and ICU ultrasound.

Charlotte Derr, MD RDMS FACEP
Associate Professor
Division of Emergency Medicine

Dr . Charlotte Derr grew up in Sarasota and graduated from USF Morsani College of Medicine. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dr. Derr is a registered diagnostic medical sonographer and is recognized as a national expert in emergency ultrasound applications. She has published several articles on point-of-care ultrasound use in the emergency department. Dr. Derr is a certified Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians (FACEP), a Diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) and an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) instructor. She has also received recognition as a USF team captain for several Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Sonogames, an ACEP's Heroes of Emergency Medicine award and named Best Lecturer during her residency at USF in 2006 and 2008.


Martin Guerrero, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr Martin Guerrero, was born in Nicaragua, grew up in Miami and then went on to graduate from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia with a Doctorate in Medicine.  He completed his residency in combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Guerrero's clinical practice includes the full spectrum of adult and pediatric medicine. Having volunteered as a physician for migrant workers throughout his residency at USF, Dr. Guerrero has a special interest in under-served populations and minimizing the gap in health disparities. Additionally, he is deeply interested in promoting medical education of both medical students and resident physicians. 


Asef Mahmud, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr . Asef Mahmud grew up in Florida. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the USF Morsani College of Medicine. He also completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at USF.

Dr. Mahmud's clinical practice includes the full spectrum of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. His special interest is in development and application of affordable and portable medical technology and devices for under-served patients as well as in Quality Improvement in the health industry.

Priya Malik, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr. Priya Malik grew up in New Delhi, India.  She graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and she completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Malik previously worked as a hospitalist at both Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the University of Michigan Medical Center. 

Antony Nguyen, MD
Hospitalist
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr . Antony Nguyen grew up in Tampa and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Florida State University College of Medicine. He graduated from the USF Morsani College of Medicine, Internal Medicine residency program in June 2017.

Dr. Nguyen has worked as a research assistant at Moffitt and is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Medical Association. 

Anand Parekh, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr . Anand Parekh earned his Bachelors of Arts and Economics with a minor in Religion from the University of Florida. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from USF Morsani College of Medicine in 2010. Dr. Parekh completed his residency at USF in 2014 and completed his fellowship in Internal Medicine at USF this past June.

Dr. Parekh was the USF Internal Medicine Leadership Council Resident Chair and the Hillsborough County Medical Association Resident Liaison. He has also had several leadership roles including USF Internal Medicine Intern Coaching Program and USF Quality Improvement Committee among others.

Avani Patel, MD
Hospitalist
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr. Avani Patel received her Bachelor's of Science in Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida in 2006. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Florida State University in 2014. Dr. Patel completed her Residency in Internal Medicine at USF this past June, training at Tampa General Hospital, Moffitt Cancer Center and the James A Haley VA Hospital.

Dr. Patel has received several honors and awards including the FSU College of Medicine Mission Scholarship, Phi Beta Kappa inductee and the University of Florida Behavioral Medicine Outstanding Researcher award. Dr. Patel has also volunteered at the USF BRIDGE Clinic and has completed medical service trips to Peru, Guatemala, and Ecuador. She is proficient in Gujarati and has a working knowledge of Spanish.


Santosh Reddy, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr . Santosh Reddy earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 2014 from Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He completed his residency at USF in June. Dr. Reddy has received several awards and honors including Intern of the Month, Exemplary Resident Award, and AP Scholar with Distinction.

Dr. Reddy has served as a clinical preceptor for year 3 medical students to teach advanced communication skills for special patient populations.


Nirmal Sharma, MD
Assistant Professor
Advanced Lung Diseases & Lung Transplantation 
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Dr. Sharma attended medical school at Stanley Medical College, India. He then completed  his residency in Internal M edicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, followed by a clinical and research fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).   He then was appointed Assistant Professor in pulmonary transplantation at UAB. 

His research and clinical interests relate to lung transplantation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Dr. Sharma has published several high impact research articles related to lung transplant outcomes including  extracorporeal life support technologies, and the  airway microbiome in lung transplantation. He serves as a faculty on the USF-TGH lung transplant team and will be pursuing his research interests at his laboratory at the USF Morsani College of Medicine.  


Jacqueline Young, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Hospital Medicine

Dr . Jacqueline Young grew up in Orlando and received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Florida International University in Miami. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from USF Morsani College of Medicine and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at USF.

Dr. Young's clinical practice includes the full spectrum of inpatient Internal medicine and she will be seeing patients at TGH.
New Staff

Joseph Ashmore ARNP-C
Family Nurse Practitioner
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Joseph Ashmore ARNP-C is a family Nurse Practitioner specializing in Pulmonary Medicine.  He has more than 20 years experience as a Registered Nurse. Joseph obtained a master's degree from USF and has worked in Primary Care, Correctional Medicine, and Pulmonary Medicine. He was most recently employed as the Director of Chronic Disease Management directing care for patients in office, hospital, long term acute care centers, and skilled nursing facilities for a busy pulmonary practice.


Maya Bethea
Administrative Assistant
Internal Medicine Residency Program

Ms. Bethea joined the Internal Medicine Residency Program as an Administrative Assistant in June 2017. She has lived in Central Florida for her entire life. Ms. Bethea is currently pursuing a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Political Science at USF. She hopes to use her degree to help bridge gaps of cultural misunderstanding through outreach and education.


Cayla Fezzie, MS
Laboratory Manager, Biological Scientist
Division of Allergy & Immunology

Cayla Fezzie attended Florida State University for her undergraduate studies and then earned her MS in Biology. While at FSU, she studied conditioned taste aversions in rats.  Mrs. Fezzie will be working in Dr. Juan Carlos Cardet's laboratory, researching the relationship of enterolactone and asthma.

Appointments and Promotions Appointments
Ulyee Choe DO, Promoted to Associate Professor
 
Dr. Choe is Director of the Florida Department of Health-Pinellas County. He completed his ID Fellowship in the Department of Internal Medicine in 2011 and was appointed a member of our faculty that same year.

 

Lynette Menezes PhD, Promoted to Associate Professor
 
Dr. Menezes is Assistant VP for International Medicine - USF Health and Assistant Dean for International Medicine- Morsani College of Medicine. She has been a faculty member in the Division of Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine since 2005.

 
Richard Oehler MD, Promoted to Professor
 
Dr. Oehler is an attending faculty at the James A. Haley VA Hospital and the Director of ID Clinical Education. He is also the co-creator and webmaster for  IDPodcasts.net . He has been with the Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine since 2002.

 
Patient Centered Teaching, Research & Care
Patient Centered Teaching Teaching
IM Residency Program Welcomes PGY-7 Trainees

 
This year, the Internal Medicine Residency Program welcomed 33 new categorical interns and 7 preliminary interns, our largest group.  Click here for larger image.

IM Cares Offered Free Health Screenings to Internal Medicine Staff

IM Cares welcomed third year medical student volunteers who offered health screenings in August, 2017 to Internal Medicine staff. The students performed free blood pressure, height and weight checks, vision tests and health consultations. The students also offered reading material that covered a range of topics such as meditation for health, lowering blood pressure and a DASH eating guide.

IM Cares plans to facilitate free health screenings several times throughout the year.
Patient Centered Research PatientCenteredResearch
Narasaiah Kolliputi PhD, to Receive a  USF Research & Innovation Award

Dr. Narasaiah Kolliputi , Associate Professor, Division of Allergy and Immunology, was selected for the 2017 Faculty Outstanding Research Achievement Award. The annual awards, which are part of an open competition judged by the USF System Research Council, are given to USF faculty members who have received national and international peer recognition for their research in the previous calendar year.
 
Dr. Kolliputi was also invited to serve on the October 2017 Lung Injury, Repair and Remodeling study section, National Institutes of Health.

Patient Centered Care PatientCenteredCare
Thank You to All Volunteers


We would like to thank all volunteers that tirelessly helped our community during and post hurricane Irma. Please see below for a few highlights:

" Dr. Doug Holt directed the operations of two special needs shelters, at the USF Sundome and the Strawberry Crest school in Plant City. He has more details in terms of number of patients etc. but here is what I sent the USF leadership as I was at the USF Sundome from Saturday morning until Monday morning.
 
Dr. Doug Holt, Mr. Mike Wagner and his team did a phenomenal job operating the special needs shelter at the USF Sundome. There were around 497 enrolled occupants and 300 caregivers and volunteers. They provided shelter to a total of 797 individuals.
 

The volunteer's service was remarkable, especially our two second year medical students from the international medicine scholarly concentration Amelia Ordonez and Ian Ciesielski. Ian is a certified EMT and they both worked from Friday through Monday constantly assisting patients and providing truly compassionate care. Dr. Zach Gales, pulmonary fellow and Dr. Eric Zhao, hospital medicine (IM) were amazing, volunteering  all weekend, handling acute medical needs with help from Dr. Marian Menezes, USF affiliate clinical faculty in pulmonary and critical care and Dr. Joette Giovinco from FOX News on Saturday and Sunday. I have attached pictures. There were members from a USF student organization University Emergency Medicine Student Association that did a fabulous job from Friday through Monday helping out day and night. There were many nurses and other volunteers that provided all the care needed for these patients. Our international physicians Drs. Shaopeng Yang and Haibin Zhong also assisted.
 
Patients and caregivers were immensely grateful, smiling and thanking the volunteers. One of the local pastors played the keyboard and saxophone to entertain everyone at dinner time and just before bedtime giving people a sense of peace while the storm was raging outside."

- Lynette Menezes, PhD

" I would like to recognize all our Internal Medicine clinic staff for their dedication before and after hurricane Irma. Staff worked until the last minute on Thursday 9/7/17 to ensure all scheduled and walk in patients were seen and care was provided. After the storm staff reported to work Wednesday to conduct business as usual. Many if not all of the staff had ongoing issues at home related to Irma, but came to work without complaint so we could continue to provide excellent care to our patients. Many staff were without electric power at their homes, working through damage repairs to their homes, dealing with child care issues (all county schools were still closed), dealing with personal and family stressors and more. I was very impressed and proud of how all staff continued to report for work and care for the patients even though their own families and situations were turned upside down.
I cannot single out any one individual to recognize. Our staff as a whole went above and beyond to provide excellent compassionate care to our patients during this very difficult time in our nation's history."

- Joe Kirkner, BSN

Please take a look at our hurricane gallery here.
Mark G. Moseley MD MHA FACEP, on Quality Metrics

It is a sincere honor and pleasure to have this opportunity to work with you to optimize the quality and safety programs in the Department of Internal Medicine.  While I know the care that you provide to patients is outstanding, the challenge of present day academic medicine groups is the need to align that care with data we are increasingly being required to report across a spectrum of publicly reported metrics, national ranking systems, and direct to consumer marketing.  This is a daunting challenge, but incredibly important as it goes to our success on pay for performance measures (which increasingly is how we are compensated by payers) and our reputation (clinically and academically).  

In the coming weeks, I will be working with Dr. Sinnott and Mr. Lifshin to get out to our Divisions and learn more about our present processes with an aim to focus and enhance them to highlight the strength of our Department.  I look forward to facing this challenge with you all.   
Concussion Center opens, giving patients greater access to USF Health experts

USF Health has opened a new Concussion Center, offering health care providers across the Tampa Bay area with a facility dedicated to treating patients of all ages who have head injuries and symptoms of concussion.

To continue reading, click here.



Byron Moran MD, Invited Guest in WEDU TV Show on Concussions

Dr. Byron Moran  was part of a panel discussion relating to concussions on a local PBS show. Dr. Moran joined the "That's all I'm Saying" show with Tampa Bay Times columnist, Ernest Hooper.

Click here to view video.





Announcements Announcements
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~ New Grand Rounds Schedule ~




Highlights Gallery Gallery
Achievements and Awards Achievements
Dr. John Carter, Press Ganey Quarter #1 Top Performer.
First Quarter 2017 Winners Earn Press Ganey Awards

Winners for the first quarter in 2017 have been named based on their stellar work as noted in patient satisfaction surveys for the USF Physicians Group. The high marks earned them awards that are part of the USFPG's Press Ganey Employee Recognition Program, an effort to recognize those with top scores in each quarterly report.

The ongoing award program recognizes those who excelled in providing USF Health patients with exceptional care and service. Named each quarter based on that quarter's survey results, winners are from four categories: provider, nurse practitioner/physician assistant, nurse, and office staff.  To read the full article, click here .

Yohan Perera, fourth-year medical student and executive director of the USF BRIDGE Healthcare Clinic, accepts a $3,000 donation for the clinic from the Rotary Club of Temple Terrace past president Kathleen Armstrong, PhD, and Richard T. Downs, current president. Also pictured are Clinic volunteers and Rotary Club members.
BRIDGE Clinic receives donation from Temple Terrace Rotary Club

The USF BRIDGE  Clinic received a $3,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Temple Terrace on Sept. 19, 2017.  This is the club's third year supporting the student-run clinic through their annual BrewFest fundraiser, according to Richard Downs, Rotary Club president.

"These are great volunteers doing a great service for the community and we are excited and proud to support them," Downs said.

Erin Angell, a fourth-year medical student and BRIDGE communications director, said generous donations are how the clinic continues to operate.  "We are very grateful to the Rotary Club of Temple Terrace for including the BRIDGE Clinic in their BrewFest and for their continued support and contributions throughout the year," Angell said.  To read the full article, click here .

Seongseok Yun MD PhD, Receives  ASH Award

Sponsor: American Society of Hematology (ASH)
Award: 2017 ASH Research Training Award for Fellows (RTAF)
Title: The role of c-MYC and TFEB in the acute myeloid leukemia leukemogenesis
Project period: July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018
Award amount: $70,000
PI: Seongseok Yun, MD, PhD
Research mentors: John Cleveland, PhD, Associate Center Director of Basic Science, Moffitt Cancer Center and Daniel Sullivan, MD, Executive President and Associate Center Director, Clinical Investigations, Moffitt Cancer Center.  Award URL:  http://www.hematology.org/Awards/Award-Recipients/2150.aspx
 
Dr. Yun is a second year hematology/oncology fellow in the Department of Internal Medicine. His research is focused on defining new vulnerabilities that can be therapeutically exploited for improving the outcome of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Specifically, Dr. Yun's research plan is designed to test the tumor suppressor functions of transcription factor EB (TFEB) in AML, and to develop novel therapeutic approaches to improve survival outcomes.

Narasaiah Kolliputi, PhD Invited to Serve as RCMB Member

Dr. Narasaiah Kolliputi was invited to serve as a new member  of the RCMB (Respiratory, Cell & Molecular Biology) Program Committee for ATS 2017-2018. He will be reviewing and evaluating ATS 2018 abstracts, programming and attending the annual RCMB organizational meeting during the ATS.


Publications & Abstracts Publications


Click here for the Internal Medicine Summer Publications list.

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