The Ryan White Program at The University of Toledo Medical Center is encouraging families to openly discuss HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

The program’s support group, Young, Gay and Empowered is sponsoring a speaker and forum entitled “A Mother’s Story” at 6 p.m. Monday, July 25 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 1201 Madison Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

According to the Lucas County Health Department the number of HIV/AIDS infections among young people ages 15-24 has significantly and consistently increased during the last eight years. This age group accounted for 42 percent of the HIV/AIDS cases in 2014.

“The largest growing demographic for new HIV infections is young African-American men and men of all races and ethnicities who have sex with other men,” said Richard Meeker, manager of fundraising and special projects. “We need to encourage these young men to talk to their families and seek the care they need to live healthier lives.”

Kennyetta White, minority outreach coordinator, agreed saying many young people face social stigmas that keep them from seeking help.

“It is our goal to reach beyond these stigmas to encourage young men to get tested and if they are diagnosed with HIV, link them to support and health services and retain them in the support program long term,” she said.

Toledoan Toni Epperson will serve as keynote speaker. She will share the story of her son, David, who kept his HIV diagnosis a secret until it was too late.

“We had a close relationship and I thought he would tell me anything,” she said. “What I later learned was he was too afraid to come forward. He thought he would be shamed for his diagnosis and wanted to protect me from that. My son’s secret killed him.”

Epperson said she wants to tell young men that their lives matter and they don’t need to die needlessly.

“There is help out there,” she said. “I want them to know they are not alone and that they do not have to go through what David went through. I want them to know I care.”

Media Coverage
The Blade (July 26, 2016)

The only academic program in the country designed to prepare individuals to coordinate and oversee the organ and tissue donation and transplantation process will graduate its 100^th student in August.

The graduation celebration and awards night will be 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 26 at Heatherdowns Country Club and earlier that day the senior capstone case studies will be presented 9 a.m. in Collier Building Room 1050 on UT’s Health Science Campus.

The University of Toledo’s Master of Science in Biomedical Science Human Donation Science program prepares individuals to facilitate the organ donation process from beginning to end. They serve as a liaison between the donor’s family, medical staff, organ procurement organization and transplant center.

“It’s the best job in the world,” said Rachel Baczewski, certified procurement transplant coordinator at Life Connection of Ohio and 2013 graduate of the program. “It’s so rewarding to know that I’m providing comfort to families who have lost a loved one and assisting in saving the lives of other patients. Each family gets a piece of my heart.”

Coordinators must pull together a team of medical professionals, facilitate medical testing and ensure all laws are followed while compassionately and diplomatically communicating with the donor’s family.

“It’s a tough job and organ procurement organizations were seeing a high level of turnover among their coordinating staff,” said Linda Miller, assistant professor and director of UT’s Human Donation Science Program. “We wanted to see better training programs and higher retention rates. We developed this program as a result.”

Students enrolled in the Human Donation Science Program receive a multidisciplinary education covering all components of organ donation and complete coursework in medical science, management, human resources and law. They also receive clinical training and complete two internships prior to graduation.

“I wanted the opportunity to advance in the field of organ donation, so I left my job in North Carolina to come to UT for this program. It was the best decision I ever made,” said Lori Rankin, a student in the program. “I feel I have an even better educational foundation and I have received excellent training for every aspect of the job.”

Ali Morgillo, senior coordinator at Life Connection of Ohio agreed. She said students who have graduated from UT’s program are better equipped to handle the challenges of the position.

“The program really prepares students for the realities of the job. They have critical clinical background and relationship-building skills and are flexible and driven to do well. They are more successful as a result,” she said.

Eighty percent of the graduates from the program, now in its 13^th year, remain employed in the field. Many have been promoted to leadership and research positions. There are only 58 organ procurement organizations in the United States, resulting in a small network of coordinators who come to know each other well.

“When an employer sees that someone is a graduate of UT’s program, they take notice. It makes us very marketable,” said Rankin, who is already pursuing new employment leads.

“Half of our coordinators graduated from the Human Donation Science program,” said Kara Steele, director of community services for Life Connection of Ohio. “We are seeing a continual increase in the number of registered donors, which should translate into an increase in transplants, and that ups the demand for highly skilled coordinators to facilitate the donation process.”

Ohioans can make the decision to be an organ donor when obtaining or renewing their driver’s license.

“It’s the best way for someone to make their final wishes known,” Morgillo said. “It makes the donation process easier on families when they know it was part of their loved one’s plan to donate their organs.”

It makes it easier on the coordinators as well who see a lot of sadness as a part of consulting with donor families.

“Before I go to work my daughter tells me to make people happy and fix them,” said Samantha Muir, certified procurement transplant coordinator at Life Connection of Ohio and 2013 graduate. “Getting a letter of appreciation from a donor or recipient family, to hear how you have made an impact on their life, makes the long hours and emotional days worthwhile.”

The migration of cancer cells away from the primary tumor and their subsequent metastasis to distant organs is the leading cause of mortality among breast cancer patients.

A University of Toledo biologist is the recipient of a two-year, $151,100 grant from The National Institute of Health’s National Cancer Institute to study how cancer cells spread in the body.

Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata, assistant professor of biological sciences, will lead a UT Department of Biological Sciences research laboratory to conduct new cancer research entitled, “A Novel RhoG Protein Interaction Network in Invadopodia.”

Cancer cells gain the ability to invade other tissues and enter the bloodstream by forming actin-rich membrane protrusions called invadopodia that degrade the extracellular matrix (ECM).

Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata

“This study is one of three our lab is currently conducting to learn more about how triple negative breast cancer metastasizes in the body,” Garcia-Mata said. “It is our goal to learn more about how these protrusions form and to identify the upstream regulators and downstream effectors of the formations. Once we understand how these invadopodia form, we can begin to research treatments to prevent or slow their progress.”

“There is exciting medical research ongoing at The University of Toledo,” said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. “This new two-year award is a credit to UT’s high-quality basic research which is typically unheralded work requiring several years of diligence and persistence. But this research often results in powerful breakthroughs that benefit untold millions. It is important that federal funds continue to support such basic medical research.”

Kaptur is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, which has oversight over the National Cancer Institute.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (July 22, 2016)

With the help of a helicopter, four tons of structural steel will be installed inside the tower of University Hall on Friday, July 15 to reinforce the 85-year-old structure.

W.R. Meyers, Co., of Napoleon, Ohio, will use the helicopter crane to lift the steel beams from the sidewalk area in front of University Hall facing Bancroft Street above the building and then into the tower with the help of crews stationed inside.

The work will begin about 5 p.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m., with the best photo opportunity around 6 p.m. Members of the media and the public interested in watching are advised to do so from the field across campus located between Goddard and Drummond roads.

“The helicopter crane helps deliver materials to hard to reach places, making these types of projects faster and safer,” said Jason Toth, associate vice president for facilities and construction. “This structural steel framework being installed inside our iconic bell tower will support the structural concrete to ensure it will greet students for years to come.”

University Hall, which will be vacated prior to the delivery of the steel, was the first building constructed on the UT Main Campus in 1931 when it was built in 11 months by 400 men. The building was designed by the architectural firm Mills, Rhines, Bellman and Nordhoff in the collegiate gothic style that has been replicated in buildings across campus.

The tower reaches 205 feet tall and features four clock faces, each 11-feet in diameter, and the chimes that mark the half-hours and hours of the day.

The University worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to be sure that all the peregrine falcons that reside in the tower are able to fly and will be able to leave the area during the commotion.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (July 15, 2016)

An international expert on emergency preparedness for mass casualty events will speak at The University of Toledo at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 in Collier Building Room 1000A on Health Science Campus.

Dr. Arie Eisenman, head of internal medicine at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Israel, and co-chair of Partnership2Gether Medical Task Force, will discuss how countries and medical institutions have organized effective responses to large scale trauma events.

Eisenman will explain the best practices, procedures and checklists the Galilee Medical Center uses to triage and care for patients. The government hospital is located six miles from the Lebanese border and has provided medical care for more than 1,000 Syrian casualties over the last three years.

The lecture is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo.

A University of Toledo microbiologist will receive nearly $2 million in federal research funds to study Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease and develop new therapies for treating patients affected by the condition.

The National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Dr. Mark Wooten, UT professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology $1,948,415 over five years to identify the mechanisms that allow B. burgdorferi to evade immune clearance in skin and other host tissues.

“Traditionally it has been difficult to study this bacterium since it can only survive within animals and not in artificial cultures,” Wooten said. “Our group has been able to develop advanced microscopy models that allow us to directly observe the bacteria

Dr. Mark Wooten

within the skin of living mice over extended periods of time without harming the animal. We will use these methods to continuously monitor how the infection develops, which we believe will identify the key mechanisms that allow the bacteria to evade the host’s immune response.”

Wooten said data gathered from the study could be used to provide new targets for Lyme-disease therapies.

“This is further national recognition for the important research being done at The University of Toledo,” Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur said. “Lyme disease affects 300,000 Americans each year, a number far greater than previously thought and 40 percent of whom end up with long-term, serious health concerns. There are no current tests available to definitively prove if the Lyme organism is eradicated or that the patient is cured. Research such as this will help us to know more about Lyme disease.”

Media Coverage
13 ABC (June 11, 2016)

Starting this week, University of Toledo undergraduate and graduate student volunteers joined physicians, nurses and other health professionals as a part of a patient’s care team at The University of Toledo Medical Center.

Students pursuing a health-related career such as nursing, pre-med, pharmacy, social work or health care administration began rounds as patient advocate assistants (PAA) to provide a unique service to patients during their stay at UTMC.

A part of the Service Excellence Department, the patient advocate assistant serves as a patient resource, answering questions, facilitating communication between patients and hospital staff, troubleshooting when challenges arise and ensuring patients are comfortable while they are recovering in the hospital.

“Communication issues are the main criticism patients have with hospitals nationwide,” said Debra O’Connell, UTMC patient advocate. “This program will help improve two-way communication with our patients and their family members while providing a unique learning opportunity for UT students enrolled in various health-related careers.”

The field of health care is complex and patients and their family members can find a hospital stay overwhelming.

Allison Gerren and Mahbod Pourriahi, UT patient advocate assistants talk with UTMC patient, Louis Turley during his recent hospital stay.

“It’s not always easy for a patient to ask their physicians questions about their care, or they may think of something after the doctor has finished rounds,” said UT student Mahbod Pourriahi, a patient advocate assistant studying bioengineering. “That’s where we come in. We spend time visiting with the patient, understanding their concerns and gathering any questions they may have for their health care team.”

Patient advocate assistants also ensure patients are resting comfortably during their stay.

“We visit patients on their second day in the hospital,” said future UT medical student Allison Gerren, a patient advocate assistant. “I was expecting to meet patients who were sad or in a lot of pain, but instead I found patients smiling and laughing and happy to talk with me. It brightens my day and I look forward to doing rounds.”

Ten students have completed the training program and 15 additional students are entering phase two of training. The students will begin regular rounds within UTMC’s cardiovascular unit and medical/surgical step-down and neurology units. There are plans to expand the program to other areas of the hospital as more students enter the program.

“The program is another way UTMC strives to provide excellent patient care while training future doctors, nurses, pharmacists and hospital administrators,” said Dustin Ballinger, UTMC Cardiovascular Unit nursing director. “This program provides another avenue for checking in on our patients and receiving their feedback.”

Students also benefit from the opportunity to build relationships with medical professionals, get real-world experience interacting with patients and practice communication and customer service skills.

“We want each and every patient to know that they are our priority,” said O’Connell. “Patients and their families should feel comfortable with all decisions and plans that are made during their stay. We encourage patients to be more active during consultations with physicians. The goal of this program is to provide the best care possible for the patient.”

The students in the program said they have learned valuable skills from the training experience and are ready to begin visiting their own patient caseload.

“The training has really helped me to become more comfortable approaching and talking to people in need of care,” Pourriahi said. “I think working with patients now will make me a better and more receptive doctor in the future.”

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (June 3, 2016)

The University of Toledo Health’s Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center and University of Toledo Physicians were selected to participate in a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pilot program designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of oncology specialty care.

UT Health will participate in the five-year program along with 195 other physician groups as a part of Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot plan to accelerate cancer research. The Oncology Care Model pilot began July 1 and ends June 20, 2021.

The goal of the Oncology Care Model is to enhance the care delivery process through nationally-recognized clinical guidelines for beneficiaries undergoing chemotherapy. These enhanced services could include:

• Coordination of appointments with providers within and outside the oncology practice to ensure timely delivery of diagnostic and treatment services;

• 24/7 access to care when needed;
• Arrangement of diagnostic scans and follow up with other members of the medical team such as surgeons, radiation oncologists and other specialists that support the beneficiary through cancer treatment;
• Ensuring data from scans, blood work and other tests are received in advance of patient appointments; and
• Access to additional patient resources, such as support groups, pain management services and clinical trials.

“The Dana Cancer Center’s treatment plans and programs are designed to provide our patients with this sort of comprehensive
care and support,” said Chris Kosinski, clinic manager at the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center. “We are proud to be a part of this national best practice model. We continually seek to improve patient care and the Oncology Care Model will provide oversight and guidance as we work to facilitate advanced treatment and recovery from one of the most aggressive and invasive diseases we fight today.”

The Oncology Care Model represents a shift of basing provider payments on the quality of care delivered rather than quantity. Practices are encouraged to improve care and lower costs through episode- and performance-based payments that reward high-quality patient care. The model is one of the first CMS physician-led specialty care models and builds on key points from other innovative programs and private-sector models.

“The feedback we receive from the data collected during this initiative will serve to strengthen and optimize our nationally-accredited oncology program,” said Allen Seifert, director of the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center. “We are proud to be a part of a group of providers dedicated to putting the patients’ needs first.”

In 2015 the cancer program at UT Health was one of only 47 cancer providers to earn the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. The award recognizes cancer programs that achieve excellence in providing quality patient care. Additionally, the center was named one of “100 hospitals and health systems with great oncology programs” by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (June 7, 2016)

The University of Toledo will host high school seniors interested in science careers at a new camp this month.

Students will explore current topics in science through hands-on lab exercises, faculty presentations and small group discussions during Shimadzu Pharmaceutical Sciences Summer Camp on Monday and Tuesday, June 27-28, in the Frederic and Mary Wolfe Center on UT’s Health Science Campus.

The two-day camp provides a hands-on learning opportunity for students to explore several pharmaceutical fields including pharmacology, toxicology and cosmetic science. Attendees will work side-by-side with current UT Pharmacy students and professors in laboratories using the latest technologies to gain more information about science careers and the college experience as a whole.

“These students are our next generation of scientists,” said Dr. Amanda Bryant-Friedrich, UT associate professor of medicinal and biological chemistry and director of the Shimadzu Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Research Excellence. “We are pleased to provide this unique opportunity to young people as they explore occupations available in the STEMM fields.”

During the past decade the demand for highly skilled workers in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) field has risen sharply and the U.S. Department of Commerce projects an employment growth of 17 percent in STEMM occupations between 2008-2018.

The camp is sponsored by a multi-year grant from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments and supported by Amway. A global leader in analytical technologies, Shimadzu’s mission is to contribute to society through science and technology. UT dedicated in January the new laboratory made possible with a $250,000 donation from Shimadzu that features a mass spectrometer that is capable of analyzing samples with a high degree of accuracy and unmatched speed.

A University of Toledo researcher seeks to find the answers to how high blood pressure is inherited.

Thanks to a three-year, $231,000 grant from the American Heart Association, Dr. Sivarajan Kumarasamy, assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and a member of UT’s Center for Hypertension and Personalized Medicine, is able to launch a new lab to continue research in identifying genetic biomarkers for hypertension and renal failure.

Dr. Sivarajan Kumarasamy

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. and worldwide. As many as one in three people are hypertensive, whereby they are at an increased risk for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. While it can be treated with medication, much remains to be learned about the reasons why some individuals are more likely to develop high blood pressure and kidney disease.

“Some lifestyle behaviors such as salt intake, smoking and physical inactivity put individuals at an increased risk of developing hypertension, but high blood pressure can also run in the family,” Kumarasamy said. “If your parents or other close blood relatives have had high blood pressure, you are more likely to develop it too.”

His study explores the role a specific gene called Regulated Endocrine Specific Protein 18 (Resp18) plays in the development of hypertension and kidney failure. The function of this molecule is unknown, but using a cutting-edge genetically engineered rat mutant model of this gene, Kumarasamy has discovered a novel link between this gene and hypertension.

This new funding will allow him to further examine the molecular mechanism connecting this gene to blood pressure regulation and kidney disease.

“Preliminary results are promising that we can identify a biomarker,” he said. “I am grateful for the excellent opportunity provided by my mentor, Dr. Bina Joe to study a piece of this genetic puzzle and begin my research career.”

The results of Kumarasamy’s study could be used to diagnose or predict hypertension or kidney defects. Long term results of his research also could have implications for diabetes and other medical conditions related to renal failure and hypertension.

“Dr. Kumarasamy has been a postdoctoral trainee and a junior faculty member associated with my laboratory since 2009. Securing this Scientist Development Grant is not only a reflection of his training at UT, but an attestation from our peers at large that he is ready for an independent research career,” said Dr. Bina Joe, chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and director of UT’s Hypertension and Personalized Medicine Center. ”This funding will help advance his research and broaden our knowledge of how specific genes function in the context of hypertension.”

The American Heart Association sponsors Scientist Development Grants to support and encourage highly promising beginning scientists in cardiovascular and stroke research. UT’s Center for Hypertension and Personalized Medicine is the only comprehensive multidisciplinary hypertension research center in northwest Ohio. Its goal is to find alternative preventative and therapeutic strategies for hypertension and its associated diseases.