Thursday, October 27, 2011

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.

What You Need To Know About Breast Cancer Detection and Treatment

This month is full of activities to raise awareness for breast cancer, and the University of South Alabama is doing its part to remind women of the importance of routine breast examinations.

Dr. Lynn Dyess, professor of surgery at the USA College of Medicine, says that one in eight women get breast cancer, making awareness important for all women.

According to Dr. Dyess, primary risks of breast cancer include family history, late pregnancies, late menopause, and early menarche – or starting menstrual cycles early in life.

USA Children’s & Women’s hospital is in tune to those risks, and Dr. Dyess says they have a unique perspective on patient care at the time a mammogram is done. “At USA Children’s & Women’s, you’re not sent away with results to come in two weeks,” Dr. Dyess stated. “Emotionally, women get anxious about a mammogram. At our hospital, a radiologist views your film before you even leave and gives you a brief overview of the results.”

This patient-centered service contrasts with many other hospitals where breast imaging is not interpreted immediately -- this can delay the complete evaluation for two to three weeks.

Dr. Dyess also pointed out that women should start getting annual mammograms at the age of 40, but that women under 40 should learn how to complete self-breast exams. “Young women need to learn, even if it is controversial. It is beneficial, and young women need to check and be familiar with themselves so they know when something is wrong.”

Breast cancer isn’t just in women, either. Dr. Dyess said that for every 100 women with breast cancer, it is expected that there will be one case of male breast cancer.

Dr. Dyess says she values breast cancer awareness month especially when many cases of cancer can be caught early. “It puts an emphasis on being aware of breast cancer and reminds women of the importance of breast self-examinations and getting mammograms. That’s crucial.”

Eran and N.Q. Adams Endowed Scholarship in Neurology to be Awarded at Lecture

The  University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s neurology department will award the Eran and N.Q. Adams Endowed Scholarship in Neurology at the department’s third annual Eran and N.Q. Adams Endowed Lecture and Visiting Professorship in Neurology. The lecture will be held Tuesday, November 8, 2011, at 8:00 a.m. in the USA Medical Center’s second floor conference center.

This year’s lecture, titled “Disorders of Orthostatic Intolerance-Syncope, Orthostatic Hypotension and Postural Tachycardia Syndrome,” will feature Dr. Roy L. Freeman of Harvard University, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Center for Autonomic and Peripheral Nerve Disorders in the department of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Mass.

Dr. Freeman's research and clinical interest is in the physiology and pathophysiology of the small nerve fibers and the autonomic nervous system. He is also an expert on the neurological complications of diabetes, neuropathic pain, the autonomic complications of Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy, and the diagnosis and treatment of autonomic and peripheral nervous system disorders.

Dr. Freeman received his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) from the University of Cape Town Medical School in South Africa. He completed his neurology residency and served as chief resident in neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Mass.

Dr. Freeman is the principal investigator on National Institute of Health funded studies on the pathophysiology of orthostatic intolerance, autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy, and hypoglycemia and the autonomic nervous system. Dr. Freeman is the chairman of the World Federation of Neurology research group on the autonomic nervous system. He is a co-editor of Autonomic Neuroscience – Basic and Clinical, associate editor of the Clinical Journal of Pain, and on the editorial board of Clinical Autonomic Research.

The Eran and N.Q. Adams Endowed Scholarship was established to support, in the early stages of their careers, young physicians engaged in neurology who wish to gain a better understanding of dysautonomia. Third and fourth year medical students at USA were invited to submit applications for the scholarship that included a unique research or learning opportunity.

For more information on the lecture and the scholarship, contact Nicole Sheehan at (251) 445-8262.