USA Department of Neurology Relocates

From left to right: Jusmin Patel, PG1, Internal Medicine; Chun "Judy" Huang, PG3 Resident, Neurology; Dr. Christopher Eckstein, assistant professor of neurology; Winn Mathews, third year medical student; Renay Drinkard, CRNP; Kewanna Williams, PA.

On April 2, 2012, the University of South Alabama Department of Neurology relocated its clinical care offices from the offices at Infirmary West to Knollwood Physicians Group at 3301 Knollwood Drive - 4 Medical Park.

The neurology department has recently expanded with the addition of two new faculty members with expertise in multiple sclerosis and stroke. This move will provide improved and expanded space for the growing practice.

To contact the Department of Neurology, call (251) 660-5108.

USA College of Medicine to Present Live Simulcast of TEDMED

From April 10th-13th, TEDMED will gather 1,000 adventurous thinkers and doers, from a wide array of medical and non-medical disciplines, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

For three and a half days, this uniquely diverse community will explore the ideas, innovations and challenges that will help shape the future of health and medicine.

Thanks to a partnership with the American Association of Medical Colleges, the University of South Alabama College of Medicine is able to present a live simulcast of the entire event at no cost. Join us in our immersive learning center, featuring multi-screen projection and surround sound.

Please make plans to come by for all or part of the program.

For more information on TEDMED visit http://www.tedmed.com/home or http://www.tedmed.com/conference/live.

USA COM Welcomes Dr. Deborah Lafky

Dr. Deborah Lafky was recently appointed assistant dean at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. She will serve as director at the Center for Strategic Health Innovation at USA.

Prior to her appointment to USA, Dr. Lafky was a program officer for the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). She was ONC’s subject matter expert, program designer and developer for all aspects of health information technology security and cybersecurity.

“I am excited to be part of the university community and look forward to building on the success of the department,” Dr. Lafky said. “I enjoy being back in the academic environment and look forward to bringing my experiences from both inside and outside the academic environment.”

From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Lafky worked as a research associate at Claremont Graduate University where she was a founding associate at the Kay Center for e-Health. At Claremont, her research centered on health care IT including data security, health information exchange, and personal health records.

Dr. Lafky was the IT director at the University of California, Irvine for the Epidemiology Division of the College of Medicine from 2001 to 2005.  There, she managed a major biomedical informatics installation that supported a 250-member research team on multiple NIH funded programs, including the Cancer Family Registries and Cancer Genetics Network.

Previously, Dr. Lafky served as IT and web manager at the American International Education Foundation in Brea, Calif. She developed a multi-lingual international student recruitment online program under the State Department Education USA program.

Dr. Lafky earned her bachelor of science degree at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa.; master of science degree in information science at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Ph.D. in management information systems at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif.

Dr. Lafky was awarded the HHS Secretary’s Achievement Award in 2008 and 2009, HHS Secretary’s Medal: 50 Projects in 2008, and the Claremont Graduate University Student Best Paper Award in 2004. She received an Americas Conference on Information Systems Best Paper Nomination in 2006 and an IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Nomination in 2004.

Dr. Anthony Martino Tapped To Lead USA Department of Neurosurgery

Dr. Anthony Martino has been named chair of the department of neurosurgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.  Dr. Martino has served as acting chair since Dr. Eugene Quindlen resigned his chair position last April.  Dr. Quindlen served as chair since 1981.

“Dr. Martino is a talented academic physician who has comported himself as a clinical leader within our medical school and in our health system,” said Dr. Samuel J. Strada, dean of the USA College of Medicine.  “During his tenure at USA, he has been instrumental in bringing novel and cutting-edge treatments to both adults and pediatric patients in our region.”

Dr. Martino joined the faculty at the USA College of Medicine in 2005.  Prior to USA, he served on the medical faculty at the University of California at San Francisco, Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H.

Born in Italy, Dr. Martino earned his medical degree from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. He completed his internship at Columbus Hospital in Chicago and his residency at the State Hospital of New York in Syracuse, N.Y.  Following residency training, Dr. Martino completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at San Francisco.

Dr. Martino cares for patients at USA Medical Center, USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital and the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Next Week's DSS - Dr. James Parker

The next Distinguished Scientist Seminar at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine will be presented by Dr. James Parker, professor of physiology at the USA College of Medicine.

His lecture, titled "Starling Forces and Vascular Permeability in the Lung: 30 Years of Evolution,” will take place April 12, 2012, at 4 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building auditorium on USA's main campus.

Dr. Parker received a Ph.D. degree at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Parker’s research interest focuses on a recent large scale clinical study which demonstrated a 22 percent reduction in mortality of patients on mechanical ventilation for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) when tidal volume was reduced from the conventional 12 ml/kg to 6 ml/kg. This clinical study was based on previous animal experiments from Dr. Parker’s laboratory and others showing that alveolar overdistention produces microvascular injury and increased vascular permeability.

An additional recent direction in Dr. Parker's laboratory has been the development of a perfluorocarbon liquid ventilator in conjunction with Mallard Medical Company. This project utilizes a patented method of liquid delivery through a bias flow mode that improves both gas exchange and fluid clearance from the lung compared to conventional tidal liquid ventilation.

For more information on Dr. Parker’s research, click here.