USA Welcomes Nephrologist Dr. Emad Al Jaber to Internal Medicine

Dr. Emad Al Jaber recently was appointed assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and serves as a nephrologist with USA Physicians Group.

Dr. Al Jaber earned his medical degree from the University of Khartoum, Faculty of Medicine in Khartoum, Sudan. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. He then completed a geriatric medicine fellowship at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and a nephrology fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He is a member of the American Society of Nephrology and National Kidney Foundation,

Dr. Al Jaber is accepting new patients. To make an appointment, call (251) 470-5890.

USA Welcomes Dr. Osama Elkadi to Pathology

Dr. Osama Elkadi recently was appointed assistant professor of pathology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a pathologist with USA Physicians Group.

Dr. Elkadi received his medical degree from Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt, and completed his pathology residency at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. He completed his neuropathology fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University and his cytopathology fellowship at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Dr. Elkadi is a member of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology and American Society of Cytopathology.

Dr. James Toldi Joins USA Family Medicine

Dr. James Toldi recently was appointed assistant professor of family medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and serves as a family medicine and sports medicine physician with USA Physicians Group.

Dr. Toldi earned his medical degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, Fla. He then completed his residency training in family medicine and sports medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Fla., and a fellowship in sports medicine at the University of New Mexico College of Medicine in Albuquerque, N.M.

Prior to joining USA, Dr. Toldi served as a sports medicine physician at San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center in San Diego. He also brings experience as a Division 1 collegiate team physician at San Diego State University, the University of New Mexico and Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr. Toldi said he is excited to bring this expertise to the patients at USA Health.

He is a member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association.

Dr. Toldi is accepting new patients. To make an appointment with him, call (251) 434-3475.

Richard Trieu Participates in NIDDK Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes

Richard Trieu, a second-year student at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, spent the summer at the University of Washington in Seattle, studying type 2 diabetes as part of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes.

Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health through the NIDDK, the program allows medical students to conduct research under the direction of an established scientist in the areas of diabetes, hormone action, physiology, islet cell biology or obesity at an institution with one of the NIDDK-funded research centers during the summer between the first and second year or second and third year of medical school. 

Trieu worked with the University of Washington's Dr. Steven Kahn, an endocrinologist and principal investigator of a basic science research lab focused on type 2 diabetes.

"My project looked at an inhibitor of β-cell death, apoptosis repressor with caspase recruitment domain (ARC)," Trieu said. "We investigated whether the reduction of endogenous ARC would increase β-cell death in unstressed mouse islets."

At the end of the summer, Trieu – along with 130 other students from more than 70 medical schools – traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to present at the NIDDK scientific symposium for all program participants.

"It was interesting to see how institutions prioritized their curriculum and student programming," he said. "We presented our summer research projects to each other in moderated groups, which exposed me to a lot of interesting fields within diabetes and nephrology from multiple research perspectives (clinical, translational and basic science)."

Trieu said the NIDDK summer program was a great opportunity to explore the city of Seattle for the first time and to hone in on the type of research that interests him. The goal of the program is to help medical students gain a better understanding of career opportunities in biomedical research as well as a comprehensive understanding of diabetes, its clinical manifestations and its unsolved problems.

"Given that this was my first time to investigate a topic outside of neuroscience, I found it interesting to see the similarities and differences in methodology and logic between the two fields," said Trieu, who earned his bachelor's degree in neuroscience from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2017. "It was nice to focus on one topic over the summer and try to understand it on a deeper level. Since my principal investigator is a practicing endocrinologist, I also got a glimpse on how he balanced his career in research with clinical career."

With his first year of medical school at USA under his belt, Trieu said he had a solid foundation of biochemistry, immunology, anatomy and the cardiovascular system that he was able to pull from when conducting research over the summer.

"However, I think the most important part of my education so far was learning to think about the totality of a disease. My time at South Alabama has challenged me to understand how a disease presents, is diagnosed, is treated, and its epidemiology," he said. "My training here allowed me to better understand the cell death process that underlies type 2 diabetes as well as better appreciate the clinical relevance and patients affected by the pathology."

Learn more about the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the NIDDK Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes.

Pediatrics Grand Rounds Set for Sept. 21

Dr. Aaron Wallender, medical director at Gulf Coast Cleft and Craniofacial team in Pensacola, Fla., will present “Comprehensive Care of Cleft Lip and Palate” at September's pediatrics grand rounds.

The lecture is set for 8 a.m. Sept. 21, in the conference room on the first floor of the Strada Patient Care Center.

Dr. Wallender will discuss the standards of care for cleft lip and palate, provide a treatment timeline to address common issues that develop in growing patients, and provide resources for providers to give patients and their families.

The event is open to USA faculty, staff and students. A light breakfast, coffee and beverages will be provided.

For more information, contact LaTasha Williams at latashawilliams@health.southalabama.edu or (251) 415-8688.

Dr. Perkins Receives HRSA Grant for Opioid Misuse Training

Dr. Allen Perkins, professor and chair of family medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, recently received a $100,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the training of individuals who deliver and/or support the treatment of opioid use disorder. The funding is part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ overall strategy to fight the opioid epidemic.

Alabama continues to be among the top states for narcotic prescribing, and the opioid crisis is affecting the Mobile community, in particular. According to Dr. Perkins, of all the prescriptions written for Medicare recipients in Mobile, 7.7 percent are for opioid analgesia, compared with the national average of 5.5 percent.

"The need to educate care providers regarding safe and effective use of opioid analgesia is acute given the availability of this medication in the community," Dr. Perkins said.

The training is being integrated into USA's medical education program through the addition of training modules on the screening, identification and management of opioid dependency and misuse in the primary care setting. The modules are required of all learners who rotate through the clinical site, impacting 25 medical students, 18 family medicine residents, and 10 physician assistant students annually.

Screening for opioid misuse is initiated using a validated single-question screen: “How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for non-medical reasons?" Training care providers includes developing and implementing strategies to counsel or refer individuals who screen positive as appropriate, as well as using alternative medical treatment to combat opioid addiction.

"This dovetails nicely into our currently funded project, 'The Complex Patient in the Primary Care Medical Home,'" Dr. Perkins said. "We have developed educational modules to ensure that all learners are familiar with health literacy, cultural humility, and the principles of the Patient Centered Medical Home."

For family medicine residents, faculty have created self-guided educational content around complex patients, and content related to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is being incorporated into this effort, Dr. Perkins said.

In the clinical setting, care providers currently screen patients for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). They have begun screening for opioid misuse as well, Dr. Perkins said, and those who screen positive are referred to behavioral health counselors and students embedded in the clinical delivery activities.

"We are excited about the opportunity to improve patient care with the addition of opioid misuse screening and referral for treatment," Dr. Perkins said.

USA Welcomes Cardiologist Dr. Farnoosh Rahimi to Internal Medicine

Dr. Farnoosh Rahimi recently was appointed assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and serves as a cardiologist with USA Physicians Group. 

Dr. Rahimi earned her medical degree from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. She then completed her residency training in internal medicine at Georgetown University/ Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, Conn. 

She is board-certified in internal medicine and a member of the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography. 

Dr. Rahimi is accepting new patients. To make an appointment, call (251) 445-8242.

USA Hosts Southern All of Us Network Regional Meeting

From left, are Dr. Bruce Korf, professor and chair of genetics and director of the Heflin Center for Genomic Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Dr. Errol Crook, professor and Abraham Mitchell Chair of Internal Medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities, and principal investigator for the All of Us Research Program at USA; Dr. Mary Townsley, senior associate dean of the USA College of Medicine; and Dr. Beth Lewis, professor of preventative medicine and chair of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Not pictured are Dr. Allen Perkins, professor and chair of family medicine at the USA College of Medicine, a family medicine physician with USA Physicians Group, and co-principal investigator for the All of Us Research Program; and Dr. Martha Arrieta, director of research at the USA Center for Healthy Communities and community engagement lead for the All of Us Research Program. 

The University of South Alabama recently hosted the second regional meeting of the Southern All of Us Network (SAoUN) at the Strada Patient Care Center. Comprised of 11 universities and medical facilities in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, the SAoUN is part of the All of Us Research Program.

All of Us is a nationwide research program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with the goal of advancing precision medicine, which is the individualized prevention, treatment and care for people of all backgrounds. While health care is often one-size-fits-all, All of Us aims to change the future of health by tailoring care to the individual.

The All of Us Research Program seeks the participation of 1 million people or more to reflect the country's rich diversity and to produce meaningful health outcomes for communities historically underrepresented in biomedical research. Over time, participants will share information about their health, and all identifying information will be protected. Researchers will use this data to conduct thousands of studies on health and disease, and what they learn could improve health for generations to come.

In October, USA Health expects to begin recruiting for the All of Us Research Program at three locations: USA Stanton Road Clinic, USA Family Medicine Center, and USA Mastin Clinic.

To learn more about the All of Us Research Program, visit www.JoinAllofUs.org.