Gumbo Chili Showdown T-shirts - On Sale NOW!

T-shirts and tickets are now available for purchase.  Follow this link for details:  http://www.gumbochili.com/ .

AOA Visiting Professorship Scheduled

Dr. Charles M. Bryan, Heyward Gibbes Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, is the guest speaker for the University of South Alabama AΩA 2010 Visiting Professorship.

Dr. Bryan’s contributions to medical literature have been focused in the areas of infectious disease and medical history. His work has been published in more than 100 journal articles, 250 editorials, and six books. Dr. Bryan is a Master of the American College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and a Fellow in the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Dr. Bryan attended Harvard College and received his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency and fellowship at Vanderbilt University. He is one of the charter members of the USC School of Medicine, where he served as director of the division of infectious diseases and chair of the department of medicine until 2000.

All College of Medicine faculty are invited to attend the following lectures:

Wednesday, Feb. 24 – 1:00 p.m.
Oliver Wendell Holmes: Physician and Man of Letters
USAMC Conference Center

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m.
Health Care Reform: Will We Ever Get It Right?
Mobile Country Club – Sponsored by the Providence Foundation

Thursday, Feb. 25, 8:00 a.m.
AOA Visiting Professorship Lecture (CME – approved)
Aequanimitas Redux: The Relevance of William Osler
USAMC Conference Center

Thursday, Feb. 25, 3:00 p.m.
Building Character: How and When for Today’s Physicians
Main Campus Library Conference Center

2010 Summer Medical Student Program Proposal Deadline Extended

The 2010 Summer Medical Student Program call for proposal deadline has been extended to Friday, Feb. 26. All faculty members are invited to submit research proposals that would provide a quality research experience for an incoming or first year medical student. Projects will be evaluated based on the testable hypothesis or objective, plan of research and educational value to the student. The proposal should state the roles and duties of the medical student and the level of commitment of mentor(s). Proposals are limited to one page.

Projects that show well-designed basic science, translational or clinical research proposals with a clear objective that is achievable within the 9 to 10 week research period will be given priority. Basic science projects focused primarily on techniques without addressing a specific aim or clinical projects that focus on chart review or data entry alone without rigorous epidemiological or biostatistical analysis of clinical data will be declined.

Students will conduct their projects from June 1 through August 5 and present their findings on August 6, 2010 at the 37th Annual Medical Student Research Day. Implicit in the submission of a proposal is that the faculty member will commit the time necessary to ensure students have a meaningful research experience and provide all materials for the research and presentation.

Please visit the COM Medical Student Research website at: http://www.southalabama.edu/com/summerresearch.shtml .

Then click or paste this link in your url address bar to submit your proposal: http://www.southalabama.edu/com/pdf/2010callforproposals.pdf .

For more information, please contact Ms. Natalie Kent, Coordinator at 461-1548.

Howard F. Mahan Lecture - "Race, Medicine and Research: Re-examining the Infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Its Legacy"

The University of South Alabama Department of History will present the Ninth Annual Howard F. Mahan Lecture on Tuesday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center.

Dr. Susan Reverby of Wellesley College will be presenting a lecture entitled "Race, Medicine and Research: Re-examining the Infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Its Legacy." The lecture will be based upon her research focusing on the infamous study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service beginning in the 1930's.

Dr. Reverby is an internationally known scholar of American women's history, the history of medicine, and the history of public health and nursing. Throughout her career, Professor Reverby has served on a number of national health advisory committees including the Legacy Committee on the Tuskegee Syphilis Study that successfully lobbied then-President Bill Clinton to offer a public apology in 1997 to the surviving men and their heirs.

The lecture and reception are free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Department of History at 460-6210 or visit www.usouthal.edu/history .

COM Alum, Former Family Medicine Chair To Be Honored

Dr. Frank V. deGruy, III, chair of family medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, will receive a USA National Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award at the annual awards gala on March 11, 2010. The event will be held at the USA Mitchell Center on main campus.

Cocktails will begin at 6 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m.

Tables and individual tickets are available for purchase. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Carol Kittrell at 460-7084.

Retirement Reception Slated

A reception will be held for University of South Alabama retirees on Feb. 23, 2010, at 3:30 p.m. in John Counts Room at the USA Mitchell Center on main campus. For more information, contact Angie James at 460-7545.

College of Nursing Recognized for Influenza Prevention Efforts

Dr. Ron Franks, vice president for health sciences at USA, recently presented an Outstanding Service Award 2009 to Tom Meyer, assistant professor of adult health nursing, recognizing the integral support the College of Nursing provided in making this year's flu shot clinics so successful. Approximately 4,000 vaccinations were given to USA employees and their family members.

Internationally renowned trauma surgeon Dr. Kenneth L. Mattox presented two lectures this week on the care of trauma patients. Both talks were made possible by the William A. L. Mitchell Endowed Lecture in Traumatology and Surgical Care.

From the left are Dr. Charles B. Rodning, professor of surgery; Dr. Richard P. Gonzalez, associate professor of surgery, Dr. Kenneth L. Mattox, guest lecturer and chief of surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; and Dr. William Richards, professor and chair of surgery.

Press Register - Medical School Romance

Click story (left) to read a story published in the Press Register about two third-year medical students at USA who were recently engaged.

Med School Cafe' - Surgical Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

This week's Med School Café lecture featured Dr. William Richards, professor and chair of surgery at the USA College of Medicine. In the lecture, titled "Surgical Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes," Dr. Richards outlined the latest bariatric procedures available for treating obesity. 

A repeat lecture is now being scheduled on the USA Medical Center campus.  If you are interested in attending, email kebarnes@usouthal.edu for details.

Distinguished Scientist Seminar: “Mechanotransduction in Acute Lung Injury"

The next Distinguished Scientist Seminar will be presented by Dr. Christopher Waters on March 4, 2010, at 4 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building auditorium. His seminar is titled “Mechanotransduction in Acute Lung Injury."

Currently, Dr. Waters is professor and vice-chair in the department of physiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine in Memphis, Tenn.

Dr. Waters’ research focuses on acute lung injury and drug transport in the brain. His research seeks to identify the levels of mechanical forces and the types of lung injury that cells experience in vivo. His research also focuses on developing in vitro models to evaluate cellular responses, and to identify mechanisms by which mechanical forces are transduced into biological signals.

His long-term goals are to understand the regulation of drug transport in the CNS, to develop in vitro and in vivo models to test camptothecin analogs, and to define parameters that can be used to compare drugs and ultimately improve therapy for children with primary CNS tumors.

Dr. Waters completed a B.S.E. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, an M.S. from University of Miami, and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

For more information on Dr. Waters’ research, visit http://physiol.utmem.edu/~watersc/index.php .

For additional information, contact Natalie Kent at (251) 461-1548.

Snow Pictures

On Friday, Feb 19, Mobilians were surprised to find snow that STUCK for the first time since 1993. Below are some pictures that show how USA College of Medicine employees and their families enjoyed the unusual weather.

Vanessa Williams from High Risk Obstetrics and Linda Mills from Pediatric Developmental strike a pose

Arlisha Johnson and Linda Mills from Pediatric Developmental brave the flurries!

Dr. Hattie Myles, COM Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, can't believe it!

Emily Alford, from COM Student Affairs, came prepared with her umbrella.

The North side of campus near the Medical Sciences Building Parking Lot

First and second year medical students take a quick break to enjoy Mobile's rare snow.

Meagan Courtney, a third year medical student, poses for a picture while Dean Naritoku, M.D., and Greg Lipscomb, a resident, take pictures of the snow

Wow!  Lite accumulation behind the CSAB .

Flurries seen looking out of the Mastin Building at USA Medical Center.

Emma Davis in the Health Services Foundation Compliance and Reimbursement department waves her arms in excitement as the snow falls around her.

The snow actually accumulated outside of the new Health Sciences Building.

Snow on USA's campus.

Rhonda Smith catches student leaving the Medical Sciences Building as it snows on campus.

Marian Zambrano outside the Mastin Building at USA Medical Center.

Three Mile Creek as seen from the Mastin Building.

Lynda and Rich Touart observe the snow from their home.

Sheryl Waltman's deck is covered in Chunchula, Alabama.

Sheryl's daughter, a student at USA, plays with her dogs in the snow.

Dr. Charles Hamm's photo reminds us what REAL SNOW looks like. This was taken on recent trip to Washington, D.C.