Friday, June 10, 2022

Meet a Med Student: Jazmyne Tabb

Jazmyne Tabb

Age: 26

Class of: 2023

Hometown: Plainfield, Illinois

Undergrad institution: University of South Alabama

Degree earned: Bachelor of Science in biology

Interests, hobbies: CrossFit, traveling and Netflix

Something unique about me: I ran track at South, and I competed in the Junior Olympics when I was in high school.

Three of my favorite things: Family and friends, my dog Duke, shopping and trying new restaurants

What I enjoy most about being a student at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine: South feels like a family!



Thursday, June 9, 2022

Resident and Fellow Scholarship Exposition set for June 16

The USA Resident and Fellow Scholarship Exposition returns in-person this year. The event is set for Thursday, June 16, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Strada Patient Care Center main conference room. 

The expo is an opportunity for residents and fellows to display their scholarly activities from research projects, quality improvement projects, patient safety, education and advocacy projects, as well as case reports. This year will feature an oral presentation competition session in addition to the poster competition session.

Faculty, staff, residents, fellows, nurses and family are invited to attend. 

Learn more about the expo at www.southalabama.edu/colleges/com/gme/exposition.html

For more information or to RSVP, contact Tomeika Hawkins-Rogers at thawkins@health.southalabama.edu.

FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office to present on healthcare fraud

Members of the FBI Healthcare Fraud Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office will present on issues related to healthcare fraud. The seminars will be of particular interest to physicians, clinical faculty, residents and fellows. 

Presentations are scheduled for Thursday, June 16, from 8 to 10 a.m. in the University Hospital auditorium (https://southalabama.zoom.us/j/97788610445) and again from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Atlantis Room in CWEB 2 (https://southalabama.zoom.us/j/96703119325). 

“Healthcare Fraud Trends and Opioid Investigation Case Study”
Presenter: Laura Walker, FBI supervisory special agent 

“Medical Professionals: Have You Been Ensnared in a Healthcare Fraud?”
Presenter: Paul Baumrind, FBI supervisory special agent 

“Current Health Care Fraud Issues”
Areas of focus: Qui tam (in the medical context), COVID fraud, drug diversion, civil and criminal penalties, recent case examples/words of warning
Presenters: Nina Herring, assistant U.S. attorney, civil healthcare fraud coordinator; and Kasee Heisterhagen, assistant U.S. attorney, deputy criminal chief

Presenter Biographies:

Laura Walker has worked as an FBI agent for 16 years and is currently assigned to the Healthcare Fraud Unit at headquarters managing the healthcare fraud program for the south-central region of the United States. Prior to her current assignment, Walker was a case agent at the FBI’s Washington field office for 12 years. During that time, she managed various types of healthcare fraud and drug diversion cases.

Paul Baumrind is assigned to the Healthcare Fraud Unit in Washington, D.C. He has served as a law enforcement officer since 1995, in three different agencies, including the Baltimore County Police Department, United States Federal Air Marshal Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a special agent in the FBI, Baumrind has worked on the healthcare fraud, organized crime, and public corruption/civil rights squads in Boston. He served as the FBI lead case agent in the case against Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, which resulted in a $2.3 billion settlement and the successful prosecution of the executives of Insys Therapeutics.

Nina Herring is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Cumberland School of Law. She recently started as the civil healthcare fraud coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama and was previously an associate at the law firm of Cory Watson Attorneys.

Kasee Heisterhagen is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and the University of Alabama School of Law. She serves as the deputy criminal chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama and was previously a partner at the law firm of Burr & Forman LLP.

For more information, contact Emily Wilson, Ph.D., at emilyw@southalabama.edu

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Medical students present at M3 Case Report Symposium

Medical students present their cases to faculty at the M3 Case Report Symposium.
Rising fourth-year medical students at the USA College of Medicine presented interesting, rare and novel case studies from their third-year rotations at the annual M3 Case Report Symposium on May 27 at the Strada Patient Care Center.

The symposium, hosted by the USA College of Medicine, drew 55 entries on cases involving a variety of diagnoses from cancer to infectious diseases.

Matthew Joyner earned first place for his presentation on the case of a patient with leiomyosarcoma, a rare malignancy, of the inferior vena cava (IVC), the largest vein in the body. This type of cancer can cause symptoms that mimic biliary disease, such as cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) or liver disease, such as Budd-Chiari syndrome.

“These types of cancers are primarily treated with surgery and involve operating on a major vessel, which can cause severe bleeding, as well as operating around other major organs like the liver, which is also highly vascularized,” Joyner said. “The patient who received this operation recovered well without complications and is now being seen as an outpatient for surveillance for cancer recurrence.”

Only 400 cases of leiomyosarcoma of the IVC have been reviewed in literature since 1871, said Joyner, who worked with surgical oncologist Spencer Liles, M.D., on the case.

Kasey Andrews earned second place for her report on the case of a 7-week-old infant who had been suffering from constipation since birth. The baby was treated in the emergency department after three days of worsening abdominal distension and projectile vomiting. 

Because the child’s history of constipation had required treatment, doctors were concerned about infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, a thickening of the muscle between the stomach and intestines, and Hirschprung’s disease, a condition in which missing nerve cells cause problems with passing stools. Andrews worked with pediatric gastroenterologist David Gremse, M.D., and pediatrician Brittany Mock, D.O., on the case.

After a normal rectal suction biopsy and endoscopic procedure, the infant’s final diagnosis was a severe milk protein allergy. “There were a few premises behind choosing this case including the concept that one diagnosis that can explain all symptoms a patient is experiencing is more likely to be the diagnosis than multiple diagnoses,” Andrews said. “It is more likely to find an uncommon presentation of a common disease than a common presentation of an uncommon disease.”

Donavon Dahmer took third place for his report on a case involving a woman with metastatic melanoma in the liver. As the patient was starting her second round of immunotherapy, she reported problems with vision, including eye discomfort in bright light and cloudy vision. She also suffered from hearing loss, hair loss and white streaks in her hair and eyelashes. In addition, there were signs of inflammatory cell deposits.

Doctors ruled out infectious and metastatic causes and diagnosed her with secondary noninfectious iridocyclitis (OU), acute inflammation of the iris and ciliary body, in both eyes. However, after reviewing her immunotherapy medications, they suspected that the patient’s condition was a side effect of the drug combination Nivolumab/Ipilimumab, described by the FDA to cause symptoms that manifest like Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease, a multisystem autoimmune inflammatory disorder.

The patient was placed on high-dose steroid drops, and later was switched to the chemotherapy and immunosuppressive drug Methotrexate because of complications. Her condition then began to improve and stabilize.

“As an aspiring ophthalmologist, it was a pleasure writing up this case,” said Dahmer, who worked with ophthalmologists Jeffery St. John, M.D., and Christopher Semple, M.D., on the case.

Rising fourth-year medical student Samuel Thomas organized the event, which was the first in-person M3 Symposium since 2019.

“We’re super excited to have this event in person,” Thomas said. “This is a great opportunity for medical students to get experience presenting our case reports.” 

View more photos from the symposium on Flickr.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Phung to present at Precision Medicine World Conference

Thuy Phung, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at the USA College of Medicine and director of molecular genetic pathology and dermatopathology at USA Health, has been invited to speak at the Precision Medicine World Conference (PMWC). The world’s largest precision medicine conference will be held in Silicon Valley, California, later this month. 

Phung is spearheading efforts at USA Health to enhance molecular diagnostics for cancer patients in the Gulf Coast region by establishing rapid single-gene testing as well as actionable, cost-effective next-generation sequencing (NGS) assays. 

In her presentation, Phung will explore and address the gap in molecular testing in underserved communities. “Molecular diagnostics provide important genetic information for informed precision cancer care,” she said. “However, molecular testing, such as broad-panel testing, remains underutilized in oncology practices in community and small laboratory settings.” 

The PMWC expects 3,000 attendees from 35 countries, including recognized leaders in precision medicine, top global researchers and medical professionals, and innovators across healthcare and biotechnology sectors.

College of Medicine to be named after university’s first president

Attending the announcement that the medical school would be renamed the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine were Maxey Roberts and John McMillan, representatives of the USA Foundation, and members of Whiddon’s family.
The University of South Alabama Board of Trustees unanimously approved the naming of the medical school as the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine in recognition of the university’s first president. 

The late Whiddon helped found the university in 1963 and remained at its helm until retiring in 1998. He was a driving force in establishing the medical school, which welcomed its charter class in 1973. 

With the monies from federal and state appropriations as well as the contribution from the USA Foundation, a new medical school building is being evaluated by a group that includes members from the College of Medicine, university administration and facilities. In conjunction with an experienced architect team, they are working on the building design, programming and best location.

A previous version of this story contained outdated information.