USA Physicians Group Open House a Success

The University of South Alabama Physicians Group held an open house and welcome reception for eight new physicians on Oct. 28, 2011.

The event provided an opportunity for guests to tour the new Heart Center and Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, as well as the newly renovated Mastin Professional Building clinics.

Photos from the event are shown below. Visit www.usahealthsystem.com/openhouse to learn more about the new physicians.  Look for an ad in this Sunday's Mobile Press Register announcing these new physicians.

Next Week's DSS - Dr. Tetsuji Miura

Next week's Distinguished Scientist Seminar at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine will be presented by Dr. Tetsuji Miura, professor and chair of internal medicine II at Sapporo Medical University in Sapporo, Japan.

The lecture, titled "Pro-survival Signaling Pathways in the Heart: Their Regulation and Dysregulation," will take place Nov. 10, 2011, at 4 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building auditorium on USA's main campus.

At Sapporo Medical University, Dr. Miura leads both basic and clinical research groups exploring the novel diagnostic methodologies and therapies for cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Miura's main interest focuses on the cell biology of cardiomyocyte death and protection. His group has recently characterized the novel role of the gap junction in ischemic preconditioning. Since 2006, he has focused on regulation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) in the ischemic cardiomyocyte and has identified several mechanisms by which cytoprotective signaling that inhibits the mPTP is disrupted in diabetic hearts.

Dr. Miura received his M.D. degree at Sapporo Medical University and completed his internship at the U.S. Naval Regional Medical Center in Yokosuka, Japan. He completed a residency and cardiology fellowship in Sapporo, as well as postdoctoral research in the physiology department at the USA College of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. James Downey.

USA To Welcome New Physicians Oct. 28

The USA Physicians Group is holding an open house and welcome reception for eight new physicians who are based at the USA Medical Center campus.

The event, open to the University community, will take place Oct. 28, 2011, from 2-4 p.m. at the Mastin Building lobby at 2451 Fillingim Street in Mobile.

At the same time, tours of the new Heart Center and Epilepsy Monitoring Unit will be given. The reception and open house will also provide an opportunity for guests to tour the newly renovated Mastin Professional Building clinics.

Visit www.usahealthsystem.com/openhouse to learn more about the new physicians. For more information, call (251) 434-3711.

USA College of Medicine Mourns Loss of Dr. James Rohrer

Dr. James Rohrer, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, passed away on Oct. 25, 2011. He was 64.

Dr. Rohrer joined the faculty at the USA College of Medicine in 1979 as assistant professor of microbiology and immunology. He was promoted to associate professor in 1985.

An avid cancer investigator and talented and rigorous immunologist, Dr. Rohrer collaborated with the late USA researcher Dr. Joseph Coggin and retired USA researcher Dr. Adel L. Barsoum for close to 25 years.

During his tenure at USA, Dr. Rohrer was awarded more than $1 million in research grants by the National Institutes of Health to study various aspects of myeloma as well as the development of a vaccine that holds potential for use in cancer treatment.

In addition, Dr. Rohrer was a member of several university committees, including the Diversity, Recruitment and Enrichment for Admission into Medicine (DREAM) program committee, which provides a comprehensive learning experience for economically and educationally disadvantaged premedical students during the two summers prior to their junior and senior undergraduate college years.

He was also a member of the faculty senate at USA from 1985-1988 and 1990-1993 and the College of Medicine Cancer Coordinating Committee from 2002-2005.

Since 1979, Dr. Rohrer has taught immunology and virology lectures to medical students in the medical microbiology and immunology course. He was also involved in teaching students in both the Biomedical Enrichment and Recruitment (BEAR) program and DREAM program at USA.

Dr. Rohrer also served as a reviewer for The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Immunology and the National Science Foundation.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Dr. Rohrer graduated with a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Kansas in 1969 and received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Kansas in 1975. He carried out his postdoctoral studies in pathology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Rohrer was awarded a National Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Leukemia Society of America Special Fellowship during his postdoctoral training.

Visitation will take place Oct. 28, 2011, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Radney Funeral Home, 3155 Dauphin St., Mobile, Ala., 36606. A funeral service will follow at 6:30 p.m.

College of Medicine Research Forum: Abstract Submissions Due Nov. 18

Participants in last year's COM Research Forum

The fifth annual University of South Alabama College of Medicine Research Forum will be held Dec. 9, 2011, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at USA's Main Library. The deadline for abstract submission is Nov. 18, 2011.

The forum will highlight the work of graduate students in the Basic Medical Sciences program, postdoctoral fellows, residents and clinical fellows, who are all strongly encouraged to present their work in posters and/or short talks. New faculty members are also invited to present their work.

Click here for detailed instructions regarding preparation and submission of abstracts. For more information, contact Dr. Jody Brewer at jbrewer@jaguar1.usouthal.edu or Dr. Donna Cioffi at dlcioffi@usouthal.edu.