Student-Run Free Clinic to offer free flu shots

The USA Student-Run Free Clinic will offer free flu shots on Friday, Oct. 21, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Vaccines will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. 

“We are grateful to Walgreens and USA Health who are providing a combined total of 100 vaccines,” said Claudia Stephens, a third-year medical student at the Whiddon College of Medicine. “Through this community partnership, we are able to offer flu vaccines to individuals who may not have access otherwise.”  

The USA Student-Run Free Clinic, located at the Salvation Army of Coastal Alabama, 1009 Dauphin St., is staffed by medical students and others enrolled in health and social science disciplines. 

For more information, email srfc@southalabama.edu. 

Arrieta named interim director of USA Center for Healthy Communities

Martha Arrieta, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., was recently appointed interim director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities. Arrieta, who has been with the center in some capacity since its creation in 2003, will now provide continued leadership to ensure the center carries out its mission to help develop enduring healthy communities. 

The Center for Healthy Communities is the lead entity within the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama that is responsible for coordinating community education, research, public service and health activities to help eliminate health disparities, foster access to health care for underserved populations and enhance the capacity of individuals to better participate in decision making about their health.

Serving as director of research at the Center for Healthy Communities since 2006, Arrieta has played an integral role in developing relationships within the community and helping the center remain community-focused. 

“Now, as I assume this new role, I am looking forward to guiding the center into the next stage in its development as a community engagement driving force for the Whiddon College of Medicine, the university, and the residents of communities served through our fundamental academic medicine mission,” Arrieta said. 

As interim director, Arrieta said her overarching goal for the center is to strengthen the capacity to foster and nourish a dialogue with the communities it serves. “Over its 19-year history, the center has been successful in offering value to area residents through its participatory research projects and community informed programs,” she said. “The center’s sustained work is fundamental to becoming worthy of the trust of the communities it collaborates with. Therefore, the center's longstanding platform will be the basis over which to build a deeper and wider connection with community members.” 

During the past 20 years, community engagement has evolved from its initial niche within public health to becoming a recognized interdisciplinary element in the promotion of health equity. “Most notably, both the National Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Medical Colleges now place community engagement at the center of their strategies to foster equitable health outcomes across the nation,” she said. “This is a very exciting time to be a community engagement practitioner, and I look forward to a deeper integration of the expertise and assets of the center into the educational and healthcare delivery functions of the College of Medicine.”

As she takes on additional responsibilities in this new role, Arrieta said she is grateful to the esteemed group of senior staff members in the research core for not skipping a beat. 

“I am fortunate to rely on Jillian Bowers, Mary Williams, Lynette Parker and Dr. Antonette Francis-Shearer, who very capably conduct the research and programmatic functions of the center,” she said. “I am confident that our work as an established community engaged research group in the region will continue at a steady pace, even as we look for new opportunities to expand our research and programmatic footprint.” 

She also credits Roma Hanks, Ph.D., director of the Center for Healthy Communities’ Community Health Advocates Program and professor and department chair in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, for playing an invaluable role in the success of the center thus far. “As the director of the outreach core, she leads the community health advocates program and is a valuable collaborator in many of the center’s research endeavors,” Arrieta said. “I look forward to Dr. Hanks’ continued contributions, which will, no doubt, increase the potential for consolidation and expansion of the center.”

Surgery faculty discuss laser therapy for burns at national burn conference

Andrew Bright, D.O., assistant professor of surgery, and Kimberly Donnellan, M.D., an adjunct faculty member in surgery, present at the Burn Surgeon Forum in Chicago.

Together, Andrew Bright, D.O., a trauma and burn surgeon, and Kimberly Donnellan, M.D, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, both at USA Health, presented information about how laser therapy can help burn patients in an outpatient setting at the Burn Surgeon Forum in Chicago in early October.  

Their presentation – which highlights the breadth of capabilities at USA Health for burn patients – demonstrates the benefits of a collaborative care approach across the inpatient and outpatient setting. 

Bright, who typically sees burn patients in the hospital immediately after a burn accident, works to treat and close acute burn wounds using a variety of techniques. 

“Afterward, patients are left with grafts and healing areas,” said Bright, who is also an assistant professor of surgery at the Whiddon College of Medicine. “Despite modern reconstructive techniques, some of these areas may go on to develop scars. This has to do with the patient’s skin characteristics, healing ability and individual biology. Also, the location and depth of the burns can impact the formation of undesirable scars.”

Once a patient is stabilized and leaves the hospital, Bright and the burn team assess them for functional limitations in the burn clinic, where he can refer patients to Donnellan for laser treatments. “Candidates for these treatments generally have functional limitations and/or skin that does not behave normally, and may have problems with movement,” Bright added. 

In her office at USA Health Midtown, Donnellan, an adjunct surgery faculty member, utilizes the DEKA SmartXide CO2 laser to treat difficult burn cases for children and adults. “After laser treatments are complete, patients are often able to return to work, write, hold a hammer or play basketball again,” she said. “They find their pain is reduced, their range of motion is restored and often, the severe itching has improved.” 

USA Health is one of only a few places in the United States offering this service in an outpatient clinic setting, Donnellan said. “It is the most technologically advanced CO2 laser on the market, allowing us to provide a significant amount of energy in very small columns of the skin without generating heat to the surrounding tissue,” she said. “This technique allows for a shorter recovery time and significantly reduced pain. Because the pain is reduced, we are able to offer this procedure in the clinic setting as opposed to the operating room where general anesthesia is used for pain control.”

The collaboration of care, Bright said, is especially beneficial because prompt results can happen from just one treatment: “Patients diagnosed with limitations in movement seem to have significant reduction of those limitations right away – sometimes even the same day, right after treatment. It can be quite miraculous.”

The collaboration was born from Bright’s desire to improve patient care at the USA Health Arnold Luterman Regional Burn Center, Donnellan said. “He knew I had experience with lasers through my cosmetic practice, so he reached out to see if we could improve burn patients' rehabilitation back into society. We have been elated over the outcomes and how quickly we see improvement.” 

The national meeting, which is designed specifically for burn surgeons, covered innovated ideas and new material in the biology of burns as well as the economics of running a burn center and the role of the burn surgeon as a business and scientific leader. 

Leavesley to present on hyperspectral imaging for tissue diagnosis

Silas J. Leavesley, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and a member of the USA Center for Lung Biology at the Whiddon College of Medicine, is the guest speaker for the USA Department of Pathology's upcoming Research Seminar Series. He is also a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at USA. 

Leavesley will present "Hyperspectral Imaging for Tissue Diagnosis: Seeing Cancer in a New Light" at noon on Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Strada Patient Care Center conference room. 

His research focuses on the development and application of optical imaging and illumination technologies to provide novel biomedical and clinical imaging and detection methods. Specific interests include the application of hyperspectral imaging and analysis methods to microscopy, endoscopy, and small-animal fluorescence imaging. His current research efforts focus on translation of hyperspectral imaging technologies to real-time clinical diagnostic devices with a large improvement in detection sensitivity and specificity, and a low cost.

For more information, contact Patrick Carlisle at 251-471-7753 or pcarlisle@health.southalabama.edu.

Interventional neurologist joins neurology faculty

USA Health is expanding its neurology specialists with the addition of interventional neurologist M. Adeel Saleemi, M.D.

He specializes in endovascular treatments of cerebral aneurysms, acute stroke therapy, cerebral and spinal angiography, preoperative tumor embolization, intracranial and extracranial angioplasty and stenting, and cerebral vascular malformation embolization.

Saleemi, who is also an assistant professor of neurology at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, was interested in joining an academic program with potential for research and heavy clinical volume. He teaches medical students, neurology residents and rotating residents from other services. He is also involved with research and clinical trials for new and advanced treatment modalities. 

He earned his medical degree from Allama Iqbal Medical College in Pakistan. He completed his residency training in neurology at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, followed by a fellowship in vascular neurology and neuroendovascular surgery at Michigan State University/Sparrow Hospital in East Lansing. 

Saleemi is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with certifications in neurology and vascular neurology and board eligible for neurointervention. He is a member of the American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, American Academy of Neurology and the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery.

In addition to English, he is fluent in Punjabi and Urdu.

USA Health Neurology Specialists is located in suite 2E of the Strada Patient Care Center, 1601 Center St. Call 251-660-5108 to make an appointment. 

Meet a Med Student: Madison Hogans

Madison Hogans

Age: 22

Class of: 2026

Hometown: Dothan, Alabama

Undergraduate institution and degree earned:
Auburn University, Biomedical Sciences

What do you enjoy most about being a medical student at the Whiddon College of Medicine?
The thing that I enjoy most about the Whiddon College of Medicine is the family that you gain within the college. I know that no matter how difficult classes may seem at the time or how overwhelmed I may feel, there will always be someone who I can talk to, laugh with, or just take a deep breath with. There are also so many fun things to participate in that the Whiddon College of Medicine offers such as amazing volunteer activities and intramural sports, which provide a great outlet from my normal study routine.

Are you involved in any research, organizations or other initiatives at the College of Medicine?
I am currently a member of the Admissions Ambassador Team, and I am a Primary Care Pathway Scholar.

What are your interests and hobbies?
I play soccer with middle and high schoolers once a week through the Dwell organization and am also involved with the intramural flag football and the soccer team. I also enjoy spending time with family and friends on the weekends!

What is something unique about you?
I am a huge fan of “The Office” and can binge watch all nine seasons all day every day and never get bored!