DERMATOLOGY FELLOWSHIP: The College of Medicine and Dermatology Associates of Tallahassee together are offering a one-year fellowship that will provide intensive training in all areas of procedural dermatology. The program, designed to accept one fellow per year for training, has received formal accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, effective July 1. Get details of this fellowship.

INNOVATORS: Thirteen researchers from the College of Medicine – two more than last year – were among those honored at Florida State’s Eighth Annual Innovators Reception in late 2012. The annual event is sponsored by the Office of Intellectual Property Development and Commercialization. Twelve of the College of Medicine honorees have a past or present link to the Department of Biomedical Sciences. In alphabetical order, they are Virginia Baker, Ph.D., former postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Department Chair Richard Nowakowski; Professor Pradeep Bhide, Ph.D.; Research Assistant Professor Ewa Bienkiewicz, Ph.D.; Professor Michael Blaber, Ph.D.; Professor Myra Hurt, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research and graduate programs; Assistant Professor Sanjay Kumar, Ph.D.; Associate Professor Choogon Lee, Ph.D.; Associate Professor James Olcese, Ph.D.; Professor Mike Overton, Ph.D.; Raed Rizkallah, Ph.D., research associate in the Hurt lab; Associate Professor Branko Stefanovic, Ph.D.; and Assistant Professor Jacob VanLandingham (pictured here), Ph.D. Also recognized was Michele Manting, M.D., M.Ed., formerly in the Department of Clinical Sciences. Researchers from across the campus were recognized for their work in the fiscal year ending June 30. Read specifics on the work for which each faculty member was honored.

NOTEWORTHY PAPER: Professor Michael Blaber, Ph.D., had what an anonymous reviewer called “a highly original and thought-provoking” manuscript published in the top-tier journal PNAS. “Simplified protein design biased for prebiotic amino acids yields a foldable, halophilic protein” was co-authored by former graduate students Liam Longo and Jihun Lee. The reviewer noted: “This manuscript bears on one of the very deep questions of biology, the original formation of polypeptides before the advent of life. It is particularly noteworthy as a rare example of an experimental study based on a testable hypothesis in this area…. This manuscript breaks new conceptual ground in investigating and resolving a question of interest to a wide range of readers, using a rigorous experimental approach.”

OUR EDUCATION MODEL: The December edition of Academic Medicine gave its readers two insights into the College of Medicine. It published “Florida State University College of Medicine: From Ideas to Outcomes,” co-authored by Dean John Fogarty, M.D., Senior Associate Dean Alma Littles, M.D., Associate Dean for Medical Education Lynn Romrell, Ph.D., Executive Associate Dean Bob Watson, M.D., and Senior Associate Dean Myra Hurt (pictured here), Ph.D. In addition, it published “Discovering a Different Model of Medical Student Education,” written by Watson. Excerpt: “The founding of [the College of Medicine] occurred before I joined the faculty. As it was being established as a medical school and in its early years, I was among its most vocal doubters and critics. But actually working at this new medical school has convinced me that a different kind of medical school can be highly effective in the formation of future physicians.”

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Washington Hill, M.D., who until recently was the Sarasota Regional Campus OB-GYN clerkship director, has received Sarasota Memorial’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Hill, a perinatologist who manages high-risk pregnancy patients, was nominated by his peers and selected by a committee of physician leaders. He joined Sarasota Memorial’s medical staff in 1992 and developed the hospital’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Department and Maternal Transport Program, providing vital care to at-risk mothers and babies throughout the region for two decades. Hill has held professorships at multiple universities and been widely published in medical journals. He has organized and presented at numerous conferences, sharing the latest research and advances in his field. At SMH, he has provided years of exceptional leadership, serving as chief of staff in 2008 and OB-GYN Department chairman from 1997 to 1999 and 2001 to 2006. In January, Hill retired from his practice and took a leave of absence from the hospital. He has joined his wife, Pauline, in Rwanda to help build a high-quality and sustainable health system as part of Duke University’s partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative/Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program. 

EXEMPLARY: Dennis Mayeaux, M.D., clerkship director for family medicine at the Pensacola Regional Campus, received the 2012 Exemplary Part-Time Educator Award from the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. “There is something extraordinarily special about being recognized and appreciated by the next generation for making them work harder,” Mayeaux said after learning of the award. “If we can continue to reinforce to our newest physicians that a career in medicine is first and foremost a journey into public service, they will become the greatest physicians yet.”