Read about other faculty achievements in Top Stories.

BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES:

The lab of Michael Blaber, Ph.D., published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled "Experimental Support for the Evolution of Symmetric Protein Architecture from a Simple Peptide Motif" (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1015032108). The report describes the development of a novel "top-down symmetric deconstruction" method to identify a useful peptide "building block" for protein design. In applying this method to the beta-trefoil protein fold, the results provided compelling support for one of two competing hypotheses for the evolution of this fundamental protein architecture from a much smaller peptide motif. These results indicate that complex protein architecture is feasible despite a simple genome, and also open up a new avenue to the design of synthetic proteins. The report was authored by Jihun Lee (a former postdoctoral researcher in the Blaber Lab, now at the National Institutes of Health) and Blaber.

 Choogon Lee, Ph.D., associate professor, published two papers as the corresponding author. One was published as a review article in Cell Cycle: "PERpetual motion of the circadian negative feedback loop." He was the first author in that article. Another was published as a research article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry: "Stoichiometric relationship among clock proteins determines robustness of circadian rhythms." His two postdocs, Yongjin Lee and Rongmin Chen, and his student, Hyeongmin Lee, were first co-authors.

Lee also is collaborating on an R01 grant titled "NO Dysregulation of the Peripheral Clock in Diabetic Complications."

Lee gave a seminar at an international symposium in Japan as a keynote speaker (see photo). The International Symposium for Time Studies, "The Biological Clock and Healthy Life," was organized by Yamaguchi University's Research Institute for Time Studies.

The lab of Myra Hurt, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research and graduate programs, was published in January in PLoS One. The title: "The Transcription Factor YYI is a Substrate for Polo-Like Kinase 1 at the G2/M Transition of the Cell Cycle." Primary author was postdoctoral fellow Raed Rizkallah. The other authors were Beth Alexander, Hurt's research coordinator; grad student Ari Kassardjian; Bernhard Luescher, professor and researcher in Aachen, Germany; and Hurt, the corresponding author.

CLINICAL SCIENCES:

Jon Appelbaum, M.D., associate professor, in October was invited to Washington to participate in the first White House conference on HIV and Aging.

FAMILY MEDICINE AND RURAL HEALTH:

Gail R. Bellamy, Ph.D., professor and director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Center for Rural Health Research and Policy, in November was elected chair of the Intersection Council of the American Public Health Association. She began her service as chair-elect at the end of the annual meeting. She was also elected to serve a second term as chair of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Rural Health.

Bellamy presented a poster at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference in Denver on Nov. 6. The poster -- "Emergency Department Visits: Health Reform's Canary?" -- summarized a study done by Bellamy, Charles Saunders, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Jianchang Lin, a doctoral student in the FSU Department of Statistics.

Bellamy also gave a presentation at the National Rural Health Association Minority and Multicultural Conference in Tucson in December on the Health Literacy in Diverse Populations project. Andree Aubrey, MSW, LSCW, director of the College of Medicine's Area Health Education Center, is co-director on this project. Javier Vazquez, an FSU graduate, completed his internship for his MPH degree working on this project.

Bellamy is lead author on an article with an anticipated publication date of March in Family & Community Health. The title is "Rural Healthy People 2010, 2020, and beyond:  The need goes on."

GERIATRICS:

John Agens, M.D., geriatrics clerkship director for the Tallahassee regional campus, published an editorial in the current issue of www.bjmp.org: "To D or not to D in the older person..."

Agens did a paper presentation at the Gerontological Society of America's Annual Scientific Meeting in November.

Ken Brummel-Smith, M.D., Charlotte Edwards Maguire Professor and department chair, is co-author of a new article published in the Journal of Aging Research. The article is "Aerobic Exercise and Whole-Body Vibration in Offsetting Bone Loss in Older Adults."

Brummel-Smith has been selected by his peers to be included in the Best Doctors in America 2011-2012 database.

Lisa Granville, M.D., professor and associate department chair, has accepted an invitation to serve as a member of the editorial board of the Geriatrics Review Syllabus, 8th edition.

Alice Pomidor, M.D., associate professor (third from the left in this photo), in October attended the Florida Medical Directors' Association meeting in Orlando. She represented the Florida Geriatrics Society and served as a moderator for one of the conference sessions. Also shown in the photo, from left, are Rosemary Laird, M.D., president-elect of the FGS and clerkship faculty member in Orlando; Cheryl Phillips, M.D., past president and current chairman of the board of the American Geriatrics Society, and chief medical officer of the On Lok Lifeways program in San Francisco; and Inna Sheyner, M.D., secretary/treasurer of FGS, associate professor of medicine, Division of Geriatrics, University of South Florida.

HEALTH AFFAIRS:

Les Beitsch, M.D., J.D., associate dean, has been participating on an Institute of Medicine committee that just published its first of three reports ("For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability").

Henry J. Carretta, Ph.D., MPH (pictured here), assistant professor, has been awarded two grants to purchase data: a Faculty Research Library Material Grant for $13,183 and a College of Medicine Internal Seed Grant of $15,000.

Carretta also has been named a member of the surveillance committee for the Florida Asthma Coalition, as well as the Public Health Practice-Based Research Network advisory committee for the Public Health and Services Tracking Study.

INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION IN MEDICINE & LAW:

In November, Marshall Kapp, J.D., MPH, director of the Medicine & Law Center, presented "Humans Are Mortal?! I'm Calling My Attorney." It was part of a symposium titled "The Great Transition: How Mortality Organizes Behavior in Later Life" at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in New Orleans.

MEDICAL HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES:

Rob Glueckauf, Ph.D., professor, was awarded a three-year grant by the National Institute of Mental Health. The project is "Novel Dissemination of a Group Intervention for HIV+ Women via Web Conferencing." The purpose, according to Glueckauf, is "to evaluate the effects of web-based group dissemination of an adapted, gender-specific version of Health Relationships, a sexual health promotion program for women living with HIV/AIDS and their significant others." The principal investigator is Stephanie Marhefka, one of Glueckauf's former students, now a faculty member at the University of South Florida School of Public Health. Glueckauf is PI of the telehealth core of the project. College of Medicine and Florida State IT experts Wendi Cannon, John Van Wingen, Ph.D., and Ken Johnson are also investigators on the project. The total amount of the award is $665,801.

FORT PIERCE REGIONAL CAMPUS:

Frank Conidi, D.O., has been reappointed a team neurologist for the Florida Panthers. He is starting to work with the NHL and the NHL players association on forming a concussion committee. He has also been giving lectures throughout South Florida to coaches and parents on recognizing sports-related concussion and return to play.

Conidi was co-author of the new American Academy of Neurology position statement on sports concussion, which was published in the Journal of Neurology. In related news, he was elected by his neurology peers to serve on the executive committee of the AAN's Sports Neurology Section; is chairman of the research and education committee for that organization; was a presenter/lecturer at the 2010 annual meeting in Toronto; and has been appointed to serve on an FDA committee to evaluate diagnostic and neuropsychological testing used in sports-related concussion. He also is chairman and founder of The Seeing Stars Foundation, dedicated to research and education on sports-related neurological issues and sports concussion.

Conidi has been appointed co-chairman of the Florida Society of Neurology legislative committee. He recently drafted a sports-concussion bill, which is being discussed with the Florida Legislature. He also is working with the AAN and the U.S. Congress on HR1347, a national concussion bill that would provide guidelines and funding for research and education.

Wayne L. Creelman, M.D., MBA, DFAPA, was honored with the President's Award for 2010 from the Mental Health Association in Indian River County. Kristine D. Sarkauskas, president and CEO, said this when she presented the award: "The 2010 recipient is fairly new to our community, but has offered his support in any and every way, with a smile. He is a wonderful man with a huge heart. He offers his advice and helps me work things out whenever I ask. He thinks about the MHA, financially and clinically, and supports our Annual Fund Drive. In fact, he gave me a large donation today. His commitment to the mental health of our community is evident and we are very lucky to have a man of his stature and wisdom in our corner."

Greg MacKay, M.D., clerkship faculty member in internal medicine, was featured in a TCPalm retrospective on the ways in which Southeast Florida residents reached out to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. He's a member of a Vero Beach group called the Haiti Clinic, which since 2007 has been providing free medical care in a huge shantytown outside Port-au-Prince. TCPalm reported that MacKay organized a total of seven volunteers to run the monthly weekend clinic on Oct. 15-17. He also narrated a short video on the TCPalm website.

PENSACOLA REGIONAL CAMPUS:

Kevin Sanders, M.D., clerkship faculty member in psychiatry, was co-author of "Identity Crisis Involving Body Image in a Young Man with Autism," published in November in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

SARASOTA REGIONAL CAMPUS:

Russell H. Samson, M.D., FACS, RVT, just wrapped up a busy year. He completed his assignment as chief of the Community Practice Advisory Committee for the Society for Vascular Surgery and was then appointed to the society's Clinical Council for a two-year term. He presented multiple invited lectures at the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery as well as at the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, the Florida Vascular Society and the VEITH meeting in New York. He also is an associate editor of the official newspaper of the vascular society, Vascular Specialist, and was published as the author of the section on medical management of vascular disease in the American College of Surgeons textbook of vascular surgery. He contributed two other textbook chapters that will be published this year. He chaired a symposium in Sarasota that instructed vascular fellows on how to build a successful vascular surgical practice. He continues to serve as the director of the noninvasive vascular laboratory at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS:

Stephen Quintero, M.D. (far left photo), and Eron Manusov, M.D., both in Family Medicine and Rural Health, won first place in December in the College of Medicine's MERC (Medical Education Research Certificate) competition to fund a research project. They were awarded $5,000 for the project titled  "Hybridized-Standardized Patients and Hybrid-Patient Simulation: Effectiveness in Teaching Murmurs to Medical Students." In second place in the MERC competition were John Agens, M.D., Geriatrics, Ken Brummel-Smith, M.D., Geriatrics, Jon Appelbaum, M.D., Clinical Sciences, and Suzanne Harrison, M.D., Family Medicine and Rural Health. They were awarded $2,500 in grant funding for this research idea: "Cognitive Assessment by Fourth-Year Medical Students on Required Clerkships Before and After a Required Geriatrics Clerkship." (The competition part is not a part of the usual MERC program, said Dan Van Durme, M.D., chair of Family Medicine and Rural Health.)

Work by Mary Johnson, Ph.D., associate dean for medical education, and Rob Campbell, M.D., assistant dean for student affairs, appears in the latest issue of Medical Science Educator (pages 42-46). Their work is included in a report of the fourth annual meeting of the Learning Communities Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in November. Title: "A Learning Community of Learning Communities."