Ashley Turbeville & Charlene Jordan Earn Certification For Research Administrators

Ashley W. Turbeville (left), director of health system grants administration and development at the University of South Alabama Health Sciences Division, and Charlene Jordan (right), financial operations specialist at the USA Center for Lung Biology, have successfully completed the Certification Examination for Research Administrators.

The designation of Certified Research Administrator (CRA) indicates that an individual has met the Research Administrators Certification Council's eligibility requirements and has demonstrated a level of knowledge necessary for a person to be a professional research or sponsored programs administrator. Turbeville and Jordan are two of eight people in Alabama with the certification.

Candidates must pass the written examination developed by the Council and administered by the Professional Testing Corporation. The examination tests a broad base of fundamental information required to meet the demands and responsibilities of the profession.

As CRAs, Turbeville and Jordan will give advice, service and direction to the Research Administrators Certification Council, an independent non-profit organization based in New York. The certification is valid for five years.

Turbeville has been a USA employee for over 17 years. She began her career in radiology administration and later worked in cell biology and in the office of sponsored programs. She served as associate director of the office of grants administration before her appointment as director in 2007. Turbeville completed her undergraduate degree and her master’s in business administration at USA.

In 2009, Turbeville also completed the Research Administration Management Program with Huron Consulting, a management consulting firm. The training program is designed to allow research administration professionals to enhance their knowledge and ability to deliver high-quality service to the research community. Grants administrators from seven institutions of higher education completed the one-year program.

Jordan, who has been working with the USA College of Medicine for close to 20 years, was first hired in the division of pediatric cardiology and then transferred to the department of pharmacology. When the Center for Lung Biology was established in 2002, she served as the center’s coordinator and was later chosen as the financial operations specialist. Since 2005, Jordan has served as the director of PERCIPIO, the Art and Science program sponsored by the Center for Lung Biology to increase community awareness about ongoing biomedical research performed at USA.

The Research Administrators Certification Council was formed in 1993 as an independent non-profit organization. The council is composed of active certified research administrators whose role is to certify that an individual, through experience and testing, has the fundamental knowledge necessary to be a professional research or sponsored programs administrator.

Dr. Maggie Pyle, director of sponsored programs at USA, and Steve Croft, associate director of sponsored programs at USA, also completed the Certification Examination for Research Administrators.

Family Medicine Graduate Dr. Heather Cannon Joins USA Student Health Center

Dr. Heather Cannon was recently appointed as a full-time staff physician for the Student Health Center at the University of South Alabama.

She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in biology and biochemistry from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., and she received her medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson, Miss.

Dr. Cannon conducted her internship and residency training in family medicine at USA, where she was chosen as co-chief resident.

Dr. Cannon is certified by the American Board of Family Practice. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Medical Society of Mobile County.

To make an appointment with Dr. Cannon, call (251) 460-7151.

Medical Student Research Day Set For Aug. 6 - Dr. Jane Reusch To Lecture

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s 37th annual Medical Student Research Day will feature Dr. Jane Reusch, professor of medicine and biochemistry at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center.

The event will take place August 6, 2010, in the Medical Sciences Building. Oral presentations will begin at 9 a.m. and poster presentations will begin at noon. Dr. Reusch’s lecture, “Cyclic AMP Response Element Binding Protein: An Unexpected Journey in Translational Medicine,” will take place at 11 a.m. in the Medical Sciences Building Auditorium.

Dr. Reusch also serves as a staff physician and director of the Diabetes Team and Microscopy Core at the Denver VA Medical Center.

She made the fundamental observation that CREB, the cAMP Response Element Binding Protein, is a pivotal intermediate through which diabetes, hyperglycemia and oxidative stress exert their detrimental effect on cellular differentiation. Inappropriate regulation of CREB expression and phosphorylation leads to de-differentiation or death of many cells and target organs. She initially identified that insulin promoted CREB activation. This aspect of insulin action is critical for the insulin-induced differentiation of pre-adipocytes into mature adipocytes. Diabetes leads to an inappropriate regulation of CREB, which contributes to diabetic complications by loss of differentiation, promotion of apoptosis and ineffective metabolic adaptation.

Dr. Reusch has received numerous honors and awards including the Research Associate Award from the Veterans Administration and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International Research Award. She served as president of the American Federation of Medical Research. Dr. Reusch is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Dr. Reusch received her medical degree from the University of Minnesota. She conducted her internship and residency training at the University of Colorado Affiliated Hospitals and completed a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

The USA Summer Research Program is a 10-week program that allows medical students to gain a better appreciation for biomedical research and the contribution it makes to the applied science that is needed to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

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

High School Students Visit Medical School During Summer Scrubs Program

Ben Shepherd, a second-year medical student at the University of South Alabama, works with high school students participating in Mobile's Summer Scrubs program.

The program, sponsored by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, allows students to visit the medical school and other healthcare sites in Mobile and Baldwin County.

According to Dr. Cindy Stanfield, director of the health pre-professional program at USA, the Summer Scrubs program allows high school students to learn about health careers early. “This will hopefully increase the students’ enthusiasm and encourage them to work hard in high school by taking college preparation and advanced coursework,” she said.

While the high school students were visiting the medical school, USA College of Medicine administrators talked with them about career options, and USA medical students presented scientific lectures for the teens.

USA College of Medicine Welcomes Dr. Juan G. Ochoa

Dr. Juan G. Ochoa was recently appointed as associate professor of neurology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. He will also serve as program director for the neurology residency program at USA.

Prior to joining USA, Dr. Ochoa, whose clinical experience focuses on the medical treatment of epilepsy, served for 10 years as the Electroencephalography (EEG) lab director at the Neuroscience Institute and the clerkship director of neurology at the University of Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.

EEG refers to the recording of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity and is used to diagnose epilepsy, a brain disorder involving repeated, spontaneous seizures.

Dr. Ochoa received his medical degree from Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Columbia. He conducted his family practice residency at Jamaica Hospital in New York and his neurology residency at State University of New York. In addition, he completed a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy at Montefiore Hospital Medical Center in New York and a fellowship in medical education at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.

Dr. Ochoa is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Epilepsy Society and the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society.

To make an appointment with Dr. Ochoa, call (251) 660-5108.

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