UM Neurology Chair Publishes Stroke Study Findings in
New England Journal of Medicine
8/28/2008

Miller School neurology chairman Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., M.S., who is also the Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Disorders and Miller Professor of Neurology, Epidemiology and Human Genetics, co-led the largest secondary stroke prevention trial ever conducted.

New findings from the largest secondary stroke prevention study ever conducted will help physicians determine the medications most likely to prevent second strokes in their patients.  Two original articles that detail the findings from the Prevention Regimen for Effectively avoiding Second Strokes (PRoFESS®) trial have been published online by The New England Journal of Medicine.

“Preventing a second stroke is vitally important as a recurrent stroke is the most feared outcome of every stroke survivor and frequently more disabling than the first stroke,” said Ralph L. Sacco, M.D., professor and chairman of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and one of three co-chairs of the study.  “This is why it is so important that we find the best medication or combination of medications that will reduce the risk of recurrent stroke.  PRoFESS® is the first trial to directly compare the efficacy and safety of two antiplatelet agents.”

Top South Florida Heart Surgeon Moves Practice to University of Miami Health System
8/25/2008

Donald Williams, M.D., renowned cardiac surgeon, is leaving Mount Sinai to join UM as professor of medicine. (Photo courtesy of The Miami Herald)

One of South Florida’s top heart surgeons is moving his practice to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to join the rapidly growing cardiovascular powerhouse at the University of Miami Health System (UHealth).   Donald B. Williams, M.D., is leaving Mount Sinai Medical Center on Miami Beach after 19 years and bringing his two partners to be part of the UHealth team.

William O’Neill, M.D., executive dean for clinical affairs, says the Miller School is “excited and pleased to welcome the most recognized and experienced cardiothoracic surgery practice in South Florida to the University of Miami Hospital.”  O’Neill, a renowned interventional cardiologist, says incorporating Williams and his team into the UM faculty “will be a major pillar in a growing and superior cardiac center.  Their expertise, in addition to the other great talent we have assembled, will quickly place the cardiac program at University of Miami Hospital among the nation’s top-tier programs.”

Sylvester Researcher Discovers Key Molecule That Triggers Immune Response
8/24/2008

Study Published in Nature Could Lead to Treatment of Viral Cancers

Glen N. Barber, Ph.D., professor of medicine and Eugenia J. Dodson Chair in Cancer Research, co-leader of the Viral Oncology Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, working in his lab.

Scientists have long been working to uncover the mystery of what sparks the body’s immune system.   Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have discovered a key component in that puzzle: a new molecule that recognizes a virus infection and initiates the signal to generate an immune system response.  Glen N. Barber, Ph.D., professor of medicine and Eugenia J. Dodson Chair in Cancer Research, and Hiroki Ishikawa, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow, have published their findings in the September issue of the prestigious journal Nature.

Drug Discovery By University of Miami Experts Will Lead To Better Treatments For Kidney Disease
8/24/2008

Peter Mundel, M.D., professor and director of the Miami Institute of Renal Medicine (left), Jochen Reiser, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension (center), and Christian Faul, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension (right), on the steps of the Batchelor Children’s Research Institute.

Nephrology physician-scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have discovered a critical pathway of a commonly used immunosuppressant drug, cyclosporine.  The finding, made by Peter Mundel, M.D., professor and director of the Miami Institute of Renal Medicine, Christian Faul, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Jochen Reiser, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, will make it possible to identify drugs that hold the benefits of cyclosporine in treating kidney disease, without its long-term ill effects.

The discovery has been published in the September issue of the premiere research journal Nature Medicine.

UM Hospital Thanks Teen Volunteers for Service at
"Come Grow with Us" Luncheon
8/19/2008

Come Grow with Us volunteer Edwin Ruel, recipient of the program's Certificate of Merit award and UM Hospital's Auxiliary scholarship.   Senator Frederica S. Wilson with the Come Grow with Us summer volunteers.

In her trademark hat, this one pink and trimmed in silver sequins, state Senator Frederica S. Wilson captured the attention of her audience at University of Miami Hospital, including the 25 teenagers she was there to recognize and praise.

The teens work alongside mentors at University of Miami Hospital as part of the “Come Grow with Us” volunteer program, which develops leadership and professional skills in young people and encourages them to pursue a career at the hospital. At the luncheon and awards ceremony on August 15, Wilson and UM Hospital leadership thanked the teens for their service and dedication.

“You should all be proud of yourselves,” said Wilson, a Miami Democrat who works closely with the hospital in her role as founder of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a dropout prevention intervention program for young “at risk” boys.

The Miller School Welcomes 198 New Students – Its Largest Freshman Class
8/8/2008

Mark T. O’Connell, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, addressing the Miller School of Medicine’s Class of 2012 during orientation in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building.   Fresh faces: University of Florida graduate Kristen Dunlap (left), Robert Duerr, a University of Michigan graduate, and Connie Chung, graduate of Northwestern University, are part of the Miller School’s largest freshman class.

After graduating from college, Kristen Dunlap took a year off to work in a doctor’s office in Savannah, Georgia.  While the experience was rewarding, she was eager to embark on her own journey -- four years of clinical rotations, lectures and late nights at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine – to fulfill her quest to become a great physician.

“I am so excited,” Dunlap said Thursday during orientation in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building fifth-floor auditorium. “UM has a great reputation for medical education and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Dunlap, a University of Florida zoology graduate, is one of 198 students in the Miller School’s newest and largest freshman class. The class, including 48 students at the regional campus at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, is also the most qualified, with grades and résumés that made them stand out among 4,500 applicants. They have undergraduate majors as diverse as neuroscience and psychology, theater arts and pure physics.
 

Start! Heart Walk Kick-Off Inspires Action
8/6/2008

Dean Goldschmidt, M.D., encourages the Miller School community to participate in the Start! Heart Walk.   Pedro Calcines leads his fellow Wellness Center instructors Miguel Figueroa and Janelle Diaz in a “boot camp” class demonstration.

Hundreds of Miller School faculty and staff visited the Medical Wellness Center on August 5 to find out more about the Start! Heart Walk, a 5K event benefiting the American Heart Association on October 11 in Tropical Park.

“I’m sure all of you have a friend or a family member affected by heart disease,” said Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., a cardiologist and an avid runner who is serving as “executive champion” of the event. “We want to do something about it, and we can.”

In fulfillment of its ongoing commitment to support heart and stroke research, the Miller School is sponsoring the Start! Heart Walk as a part of a larger partnership with the American Heart Association. Team captains selected from each Miller School department will recruit their coworkers, friends, and families to participate with the goal of raising $250 per team.

Tuesday’s kick-off program, which was designed to increase awareness about the walk and to encourage enrollment, included a brief nutrition primer from Sheah Rarback, R.D., director of the Mailman Center’s Nutrition Division, who encouraged everyone to eat five fruits and vegetables each day without sacrificing meals that taste good. “Food is about enjoyment and pleasure, not about deprivation,” she said.
 

Seed-One Ventures Invests in UM Start-up Company to Develop Broad-Based Therapies for Cancer and Other Diseases
8/6/2008

Eckhard Podack, M.D., Ph.D.

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Seed-One Ventures have announced the formation of Heat Biologics Inc. to develop two related platform technologies which introduce a novel lung cancer vaccine and asthma therapy, with potential applications in the treatment of a number of other inflammatory diseases.  The two treatments were developed by Eckhard Podack, M.D., Ph.D., Sylvester Distinguished Professor of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Miller School. 

Seed-One Ventures forms new companies based on cutting-edge technologies and breakthrough medical therapies.

This collaboration is the work of UM Innovation, the University of Miami’s home of technology advancement which develops university-generated treatments or devices, and works with businesses to take that technology into the marketplace.  Under the umbrella of UM Innovation, the Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research produced the lung cancer vaccine, which is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials, and subsequently matched both groundbreaking treatments with Seed-One Ventures.