Good nutrition is an important weapon in the fight against cancer. Eating right can help patients feel better and stay stronger during cancer care, but treatments can often cause nausea and reduce a patient’s appetite.

“Each patient’s experience with chemotherapy and other cancer treatments is different,” said Jodi McClain, a nurse practitioner at The University of Toledo Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center who organized the event. “It is our goal to help our patients maintain a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle to support their immune system and boost their energy levels.”

Cancer patients are invited to learn about the benefits of proper nutrition and view a cooking demonstration of meals designed just for them at a free wellness seminar called Get the Most from Your Diet During Cancer Treatment and Beyond at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 19 at the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center on the UT Health Science Campus. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m.

The evening will include nutrition information from Kristi Mason, board certified specialist in oncology nutrition for UT Health, and a cooking demonstration by Jake O’Leary, executive chef at Extra Virgin Catering Services.

“We will review what it means to follow a healthy diet and discuss ways that patients can maintain their calorie and nutrient intake during treatment,” Mason said. “Many patients find they better tolerate small meals or a liquid diet, so we will focus on high-protein, nutrient-dense meals and smoothies.”

The event is a part of the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center Wellness Information Series.

While many people remember to protect themselves from sunburn when it’s sunny outside, University of Toledo Health physicians recommend taking daily precautions to prevent developing skin cancer because damaging rays from the sun can penetrate cloud cover and cause skin damage.

One in five people will develop skin cancer, making it the most common cancer in the United States with nearly six million cases treated each year. May is National Skin Cancer Awareness and Prevention Month and is a good time to review how to protect us from the sun.

Chaudhuri

Dr. Prabir Chaudhuri, professor and surgical director of The University of Toledo’s Eleanor N. Cancer Center recommends avoiding the sun during its peak hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., if possible. If exposure is unavoidable, take these precautions:

• Wear lightweight, long-sleeve shirts, hats and sunglasses;
• Liberally apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen of at least 30 SPF every day and reapply often, especially when sweating or swimming; and
• Do not assume a “base tan” from a tanning booth protects you from sunburn or UV damage.

“Using a tanning bed in an effort to avoid sunburn and skin damage is a myth. Tanning beds use intense UVA rays to darken skin, but UVB rays from the sun are what cause sunburns,” Chaudhuri said. “Both are dangerous and we know that tanning, whether indoors or out, causes cumulative damage to the skin, which can result in skin cancer.”

Melanoma is most common among older adults and senior citizens, but Chaudhuri says people of all ages can develop these malignant tumors.

“People with dysplastic nevi, a family history of skin cancer, extreme sun exposure or who have medical conditions which suppress the immune system need to be particularly vigilant in protecting themselves against melanoma,” Chaudhuri said. “Children are especially at risk because they have their whole lives to accumulate skin damage due to sun exposure.”

Dysplastic nevi are benign moles that can appear on any part of the body. They range in size and can be light pink to very dark brown in color. Dysplastic nevi are usually genetic and start to appear in late childhood and may increase in number with age. As many as one in 14 individuals have at least one of these atypical moles.

One of Dr. Chaudhuri’s patients says he monitors his skin carefully for changes because dysplastic nevi run in his family.

“I have a lot of moles, and I’m always looking for changes in their color and shape,” Thomas Fischer said. “I’ve had two melanoma removed. It makes me very anxious because I am likely to get it again and I know it can progress. It’s important to keep up with it.”

Regular skin-self exams are important in identifying potential skin cancers. All areas of skin should be checked, not just areas that see regular sun exposure. Melanomas have been found on the scalp, groin areas and bottoms of the feet. The appearance of any skin irregularities or changes in existing moles should be examined by a trained physician in an effort to find and treat melanoma in its earliest stages.

“I visit Dr. Chaudhuri every six months now due to my risk of recurrence,” Fischer said. “After spending years at the lake, skiing and getting tan, I realize there’s a tradeoff. All that sun catches up to you eventually.”

Chaudhuri says a checkup takes just a few minutes and problem spots can be identified and removed quickly.

He said, “If caught early, melanoma typically responds well to treatment, but the best treatment for any disease is always prevention.”

The University of Toledo Department of Surgery is inviting the community to honor the 39-year-old general surgery resident who lost his battle with colon cancer last month.

A Celebration of Life memorial service for Dr. Cyrus Chan will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 13 at UT’s Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center on Health Science Campus.

“Our resident, friend and colleague lived his life so beautifully to help heal patients and teach medical students,” Mary Burda, UT residency education coordinator, said. “He always had a positive, passionate attitude and deserves to be beautifully remembered. Please join us as we share stories, memories and laughter.”

Dr. Cyrus Chan

To ensure Chan’s legacy lives on, friends and fellow doctors created an endowed scholarship for medical students and an endowed award for residents that will be presented annually through the UT Foundation in his name.

Tributes may be made to the Dr. Cyrus Chan Endowed Scholarship Fund or the Dr. Cyrus Chan Teaching Award in Surgery at give2ut.utoledo.edu.

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In an emergency situation, nurses not only have to think about their own safety, but also the well-being of the patients in their care.

To be better prepared to survive a violent encounter, UT Health nurse leaders will participate in a simulation of an active shooter in a hospital setting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, in the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center on the UT Health Science Campus.

The University of Toledo Police Department will lead the exercise for the 25 members of the nursing leadership team at UT Medical Center who will participate in the realistic scenario involving UTPD officers and patients in need of assistance. The nurses previously have received ALICE training, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate, from the police department.

“You really don’t know how you will act in a violent encounter until you are in that situation or you’ve had this type of training. We want our nurses to be able to respond, not only for their own personal safety, but also for the health and safety of their patients,” said UT Health Chief Nursing Officer Monecca Smith, who will be among the participants in the drill.

A UTPD officer will simulate an active shooter entering the building and moving into patient areas, which for this drill will be the second floor advanced clinical simulation center. The nursing staff will be caring for patients with varying levels of medical issues, such as a baby with a high fever and a middle-aged man in cardiac arrest, and will need to make split-second judgments on whether to hide, flee or fight back.

The drill will take about 30 minutes with a debrief session afterward in the simulation center’s theater on the first floor to discuss how the nurses responded.

Since 2011, the UT Police Department has been providing ALICE training to campus and the northwest Ohio community. This is the first active shooter exercise held for a clinical environment.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (May 3, 2016)

To help bring awareness to HIV as a serious, growing public health issue, especially among young minority populations, The University of Toledo Ryan White Program will show its short film, “The Downside,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in the Driscoll Alumni Center Auditorium.

“The Downside” explores how societal stigma around sexuality leads to the spread of HIV despite advanced research, prevention and treatment methods. The short film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring HIV experts.

“The goal is to get people to ask questions. The thing I’d like to see change with minority populations is with the stigma and fear. HIV is so stigmatized in these populations,” said Kennyetta White, minority outreach coordinator of the Ryan White Program, which offers comprehensive medical care for people living with HIV.

Each year, the Ryan White Program hosts several events to bring awareness to HIV, which include a fashion show in December and masquerade ball in November.

According to White, these events have led many more people to be tested for HIV and educated on the disease. Her hope is that this awareness continues to grow and the program can reach more people.

“The program is special to me because I can educate people about HIV. I love what I do. The goal is to save lives,” White said.

About 150 people are expected to attend the free, public event.

As the fight to prevent and control the spread of the Zika virus in the United States heats up, several University of Toledo scientists are hosting a Science Café to address concerns from the community.

The free, public event titled, “Emerging Viruses: Ebola, Zika and Beyond,” will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 at Calvino’s restaurant located at 3141 W. Central Ave. in Toledo.

The informal discussion, which is organized by the scientific research society Sigma Xi at UT, will be led by Dr. Douglas Leaman, professor and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences; Dr. Scott Leisner, associate professor who studies virus-host interactions; and Dr. Travis Taylor, assistant professor and virologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology.

“Our experts are here to help educate people in the Toledo community who may be worried about our vulnerability in northwest Ohio or how to protect loved ones from becoming infected,” Carol Stepien, Director of UT’s Lake Erie Center and ecology professor, said. “Through these ongoing Science Café events, we seek to engage the public, advance general knowledge and promote what our university researchers are doing.”

The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus linked to birth defects, including microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and brain damage.

Brazil reported a startling increase in cases last fall. The virus has been spreading in Mexico, Central America and South America. It is now becoming prevalent in Florida and other southern U.S. states. More than 300 U.S. travelers have been infected with the virus after returning from an outbreak country.

Ebola is a deadly virus found in several African countries and transmitted through contact with blood or secretions from an infected person.  The virus first arrived in the United States in 2014 through infected travelers or medical evacuations.  Two people treated for Ebola in the United States died.

For more information about the upcoming Science Café, visit utoledo.edu/nsm/lec/sigma_xi.

Media Coverage
NBC 24 (April 20, 2016)

More than 123,000 adults and children in the United States are waiting for life-saving organ transplants, according to Donate Life America. For Donate Life Month in April, University of Toledo Health is partnering with Life Connection of Ohio and Community Tissue Services to spread awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation.

UT Health will kick off Donate Life Month with a flag-raising ceremony 10 a.m. Monday, April 4 outside the main entrance of Mulford Library on the UT Health Science Campus. Representatives from Life Connection of Ohio whose lives have been touched by organ, eye and tissue donation will give brief remarks at the event.

The Green Chair will be at the flag-raising ceremony and on the Health Science Campus in April to help raise organ donation awareness. When it’s empty, the chair represents the overwhelming sadness from the loss of someone who was waiting for an organ transplant that didn’t come in time. But when someone is sitting in the chair, it showcases a transplant recipient’s second chance at life. The tagline of the Green Chair Campaign is “Don’t let another chair go empty” because encouraging more people to register as donors means there will be fewer empty chairs.

To learn more about organ, eye and tissue donation, call 800.262.5443 or visit www.lifeconnectionofohio.org.

Media Coverage
NBC 24 (April 4, 2016)
WTOL 11 (April 5, 2016)
The Blade (April 5, 2016)

The University of Toledo Medical Center offers Toledo-area patients investigational therapies that contribute to the growth of science and improved health care across the country.

UTMC participated in clinical studies that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of four treatment options in the last three years.  These are now accepted as safe and effective for widespread commercial use.

Dr. Mark Burket

“By being more selective, we have become more successful,” Dr. Mark Burket, chief of the UT Health Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, said.  “What we have accomplished as a small academic hospital is extremely rare.”

“It is hard for a single research trial to lead to FDA approval,” Stephanie Frank, clinical research coordinator for cardiovascular medicine at UTMC, said. “A lot of centers across the country do 15 or more studies a year for medical companies developing new drugs or devices, and reach a dead end.  Hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested only to discover the new products did not show a benefit to patients.”

“Clinical trials are the most important part of the drug development process in determining whether new drugs are safe and effective, and how to best use them,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Most recently, the FDA approved a device called the Astron stent to treat people with disabling pain in their legs because of a hardening of the arteries.  Part of the Bioflex trial, Astron is a new stent that is permanently inserted into the body and holds open the iliac artery that supplies the leg with blood.

“The 45-minute procedure can produce dramatic change in quality of life,” Burket said.  “After suffering for years, I had one patient enrolled in the trial who was finally able to hike with her husband again.”

Burket was selected as the national principal investigator for the four-year Bioflex trial which included about 20 other sites such as Yale University and Washington Hospital Center.

In addition to Astron, the FDA also approved two other devices tested in UTMC studies dealing with peripheral vascular disease treatment within the last few years:  Lutonix, a drug-coated balloon catheter, received marketing authorization in 2014 and Zilver PTX, a drug-coated stent for the femoral artery, in 2012.

Burket recently published a related article in the American Heart Association’s Circulation journal about therapies in cardiovascular medicine titled, “Drug-Eluding Stents are the Default Strategy for Superficial Femoral Artery Intervention Now.”  He argues they have been evaluated in a large number of patients over a long follow-up period with outcomes superior to other treatment options.

Also, last year the FDA approved a cholesterol medication called evolocumab which was evaluated in a UTMC clinical trial.

“These clinical trials for medical products under development are opportunities for UTMC patients, especially those who have not had success with what is already on the market. The patients cannot get these investigational devices or use the investigational drug unless they are part of one of these clinical trials,” Frank said. “Our success in FDA-approved trials shows we are picking and choosing the right studies that we believe will benefit our patients, and hope companies will continue to invest in us for good cutting-edge research trials in the future.”

“We understand that some patients have run out of options and want to try something that is not fully tested, and we want to support them in these situations without exposing them to undue risks,” Woodcock said. “But we also need to make sure that, ultimately, all patients get a treatment that has been shown to work. The clinical trial process gives everyone the full picture on the safety and effectiveness of a drug before it is used in the population at large.”

Sharon Olds, a 67-year-old patient from Putnam County, signed up for the Zilver PTX trial at UTMC after a series of heart problems.  In one day, she says she had a minor heart attack and multiple strokes.

“I’ll try anything at my age,” Olds said.  “I am also willing to do anything to help younger people.  When the doctor asked me if I wanted to be in the Zilver trial, I said, ‘Sure.’ I’ve had the drug-coated stent in my leg now for about two years.  I have not had any problems with it and I can do everything I want to do. I’m happy with my doctors and I think the Good Lord is sitting with me, too.”

A family medicine physician who recently recovered from Ebola contracted during medical mission work in Liberia, a neonatal pediatric specialist with a focus on improving the health of mothers and babies in Pakistan, and an orthopedic surgeon working to correct spinal defects for people in Africa are members of the 14th class to be inducted into The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences’ Medical Mission Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony recognizing Dr. Richard Sacra, Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta and Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei will be held 7 p.m. Saturday, March 19 in Collier Building Room 1000 on UT’s Health Science Campus. 

For more than two decades, Dr. Richard Sacra has worked with Serving in Mission, an international Christian organization, as a medical missionary in Liberia, West Africa. He is a family medicine faculty physician at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and divides his time between Massachusetts and Liberia.

In September 2014, he contracted Ebola virus disease in Liberia, even though he was not treating known Ebola patients. He was evacuated by air ambulance to the University of Nebraska’s Biocontainment Unit in Omaha. Along with ICU-level care, he was given an experimental drug and blood serum from a colleague who was infected first. Sacra was released after 20 days when his blood tested negative for the virus and full recovery took several months. He returned to his work in Liberia in January 2015.

He began his career in Liberia in 1995 in the midst of the civil war. After he and his family evacuated during an outbreak of fighting in Monrovia in 1996, he returned in 1997 to help re-open Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital, which had been looted and vandalized. From 1998 to 2010, Sacra lived and worked in Liberia full time with his wife and three sons, directed the medical staff at the hospital, and taught medical students at the University of Liberia Medical School. When they began to see patients with HIV and AIDS, he initiated a program at the hospital to provide treatment, education and support to those who were living with HIV.

When Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta launched his career, neonatal pediatrics was barely a concept in his home country of Pakistan. Today, he is credited as a major force in putting the health of mothers and their babies on the development agenda not just in Pakistan, but around the world.

He is founding director of the Centre of Excellence in Women & Child Health at the Aga Khan University, with campuses in South-Central Asia, East Africa and the United Kingdom; the Robert Harding Chair in Global Child Health and Policy; co-director of SickKids Centre for Global Child Health; senior scientist at the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children; and professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Nutritional Sciences and Public Health at the University of Toronto.

He is a leading researcher in newborn and child survival, maternal and child under-nutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies. In Pakistan, he has been a driving force in improving maternal and child health through his efforts with the Lady Health Workers program and in advocating for changes to national and provincial health and nutrition policies.

Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei has dedicated his life to correcting incidents of pervasive spinal defects found among many of his African countrymen. As founder and president of the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine, he has helped provide orthopedic medical care to underserved populations in West Africa and other developing nations since 1998. 

Born in Kumasi, Ghana, one of the poorest areas of Africa, Boachie-Adjei and his family immigrated to the United States in 1972. His career has included serving as assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Minnesota; clinical assistant professor at the University of Southern California and assistant clinical professor at the University of California College of Medicine in Irvine; and associate medical director at the Southern California Complex Spine and Scoliosis Center.

In 2014, Boachie-Adjei said he left the Hospital for Spinal Surgery in New York to devote his time and talents on one of the most debilitating medical conditions in Ghana. He holds several patents for devices used in spine surgery.

In addition to inducting these hall of fame members, Dr. Daniel M. Johnson, UT president emeritus, will receive the Lawrence V. Conway Distinguished Lifetime Service Award, and the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences Alumni Community Award will be given to Dr. Pamela J. Oatis.

Johnson became president of UT in 2001 and in 2006 helped lead the merger with the Medical University of Ohio. While serving in higher education leadership positions for more than 30 years, he developed collaborations and partnerships among public universities, government entities, industrial corporations and international organizations. Johnson has been an ardent promoter of the Global Medical Missions Hall of Fame Foundation.

A 1981 graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Oatis is a pediatrician who has worked with children and families at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center Family Care Center in Toledo for almost 35 years. She heads the Mercy Family Care Team, which connects families to a medical provider to care for them and their child, palliative care for children who are chronically ill, and family counseling. Oatis also is a clinical faculty member at UT’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences. 

The Medical Mission Hall of Fame was founded in 2004 by Dr. Lawrence V. Conway, UT professor emeritus of finance, to honor individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing the medical well-being of people around the world. In 2006, the Medical Mission Hall of Fame became affiliated with the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences. The hall of fame can be seen in the lobby of the Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center.

RSVPs are requested for the free, public event: Call 419.530.2586 or 1.800.235.6766, or email medmissionhof@utoledo.edu.

Click here to download photographs of the individuals being honored.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (March 21, 2016)
The Blade (March 16, 2016)

Children who are abused could be more likely to experience migraines as young adults, according to a study by a University of Toledo neurologist.

The link between migraine and abuse was stronger for emotional abuse than for physical or sexual abuse, said Dr. Gretchen Tietjen, the Clair Martig Endowed Chair in Neurology at UT and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Emotional abuse showed the strongest link to increased risk of migraine,” said Tietjen, who will present her research at the American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting April 15-21 in Vancouver, Canada. “Childhood abuse can have long-lasting effects on health and well-being.”

Dr. Tietjen

In the study, emotional abuse was assessed by asking, “How often did a parent or other adult caregiver say things that really hurt your feelings or made you feel like you were not wanted or loved?”

The study included data from 14,484 people age 24 to 32. About 14 percent reported they had been diagnosed with migraines. The participants were asked whether they had experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse in childhood. Physical abuse was defined as being hit with a fist, kicked, or thrown down on the floor, into a wall, or down stairs. Sexual abuse included forced sexual touching or sexual relations. About 47 percent of the participants answered yes to having been emotionally abused, 18 percent physically abused and 5 percent sexually abused.

Of those diagnosed with migraines, 61 percent said they had been abused as a child. Of those who never had a migraine, 49 percent said they were abused. Those who were abused were 55 percent more likely to experience migraine than those who were never abused after accounting for age, income, race and sex.

Those who were emotionally abused were 52 percent more likely to have migraine than those who were not abused, after accounting for other types of abuse as well as age, income, race and sex. In contrast, those who were sexually or physically abused were not significantly more likely to have migraine than people who were not abused.

The relationship between emotional abuse and migraine remained when researchers adjusted the results to take into account depression and anxiety. In that analysis, people who were emotionally abused were 32 percent more likely to have migraine than people who were not abused.

Tietjen noted that the study shows an association between childhood emotional abuse, a very common occurrence, and migraine. It does not show cause and effect, although the finding that the likelihood of having migraines increases with increasing number of abuse types is suggestive of it.

“More research is needed to better understand this relationship between childhood abuse and migraine,” Tietjen said. “This is also something doctors may want to consider when they treat people with migraine.”

Tietjen’s latest research builds on previous studies that show a connection between maltreatment in childhood and headaches later in life.

A study lead by Tietjen published in the Dec. 24, 2014 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, showed a higher connection between people who were emotionally or sexually abused with migraine than those who had tension-type headaches.

Her body of research has shown that early life stress is associated with blood markers of inflammation and clotting, as well a number of different medical and psychiatric conditions in adulthood.

Click here to download photo of Dr. Tietjen.