St. Jude Administrative Director Achieves Certification
Sanford Mann, administrative director of the Division of Anesthesiology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, has earned the professional designation of Certified Medical Practice Executive (CMPE) by the American College of Medical Practice Executives, the certification entity of the Medical Group Management Association.
The designation of CMPE demonstrates that Mann has achieved board certification in medical practice management.
Mann, who is a native of Long Beach, New York, has worked at St. Jude since 2008.
UTHSC Associate Professor Receives $26,818 Grant for Blood Transfusion Research
Mohamad Elabiad, MD, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has received a $26,818 grant from The Gerber Foundation to investigate whether extremely premature infants can safely handle the amounts of lead and mercury acquired through blood transfusions. The award will support a project titled, “Pharmacokinetics of Lead, Mercury and Cadmium in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants After Co-Transfusion with Packed Red Blood Cells.”
If successful, the research will show that blood transfusions are potentially a significant source of heavy metals in this vulnerable population. It is expected that this will lead to new regulations on how blood transfusions are evaluated and cleared, similar to the way donor blood is tested for infectious diseases.
The project began seven years ago with a theoretical study that looked at how much lead and mercury a premature infant would receive when given blood from the average adult in the United States according to Elabiad. Each phase of the investigation raised enough concern for possible heavy metal toxicity for the premature infant for further research. The current investigation will look at proof of direct toxicity from these metals.
Wooddale Art Students’ Work Graces Delta Walls
Art students from Wooddale High School spent their spring break painting a mural on a prominent wall at Delta Medical Center. The theme is “All About Memphis” and the wall just outside the hospital cafeteria now depicts some of the city’s most notable scenes and people, including Elvis Presley,Isaac Hayes, AutoZone Park and Stax.
The Mural can be viewed at Delta Medical Center at 3000 Getwell Road.
Campbell Foundation Elects John C. Weinlein a New Trustee
The Campbell Foundation has elected John C. Weinlein, MD as a new member of its board of trustees.
Weinlein joined the Campbell Clinic staff as a orthopedic trauma surgeon in 2010. He completed his residency in Orthopedic Surgery from the Campbell Foundation in 2009, and an Orthopedic Trauma Fellowship at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis in 2010. Weinlein is conducting research in the field and has published several journal articles. He serves as a clinical instructor of orthopedic surgery in the University of Tennessee, Campbell Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Biomedical Engineering.
UTHSC Director of Endocrinology Named President Of Medicine & Science by Diabetes Association
As the 2015 president, Medicine & Science for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Samuel Dagogo-Jack, MD, director of the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), hopes to “shine a light on” the organization’s work in diabetes research and education around the world.
Dagogo-Jack is now the co-principal spokesperson for the organization, along with the president, Health Care & Education, on matters of science, care and education concerning the disease, which currently affects more than 370 million.
During his one-year term, Dr. Dagogo-Jack will also serve as a member of the board of directors of the ADA.
Saint Francis Honored by American Heart Association
Saint Francis Hospital has been named a Gold Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association (AHA) for “demonstrating a strong commitment to providing a healthy workplace for employees.”
According to the AHA, Saint Francis is in an elite group of awardees for this important initiative.
Saint Francis has put into play a number of healthy initiatives, including healthy menu options in the cafeteria, healthy choices vending machines, discounted membership at its on-campus YMCA, and the Healthy at Tenet program offered by Tenet Healthcare, the hospital’s corporate parent.
The AHA Gold Fit-Friendly Workplace recognition is valid for one year. Worksites must reapply annually.
Methodist Healthcare Foundation Receives $25,000 Grant To Support Patients Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer
Methodist Healthcare Foundation has been chosen as one of 23 grant recipients for the Avon-Pfizer Metastatic Breast Cancer Grants Program: Identify-Amplify-Unify. The funds will be used by the West Cancer Center to develop and implement a program for women with metastatic breast cancer.
“The Avon Grant is going to allow us to reach patients who do not always receive all the information they need regarding what the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer may mean for them. Women are given all of the scientific information, but sometimes they don’t receive information about what this might mean for them and their family,” said Kurt Tauer, M.D., chief of staff at the West Cancer Center.
The Avon-Pfizer Metastatic Breast Cancer Grants Program: Identify-Amplify-Unify, run by Pfizer Inc. and the Avon Foundation for Women, granted a total of $1 million to 23 organizations nationwide to support and educate more than 5,000 metastatic breast cancer patients, their caregivers, and their communities
Memphis Jewish Home Receives Highest Rating
Memphis Jewish Home & Rehab has received the highest rating from US News & World Report in the magazine’s seventh annual Best Nursing Homes survey.
An overall rating of five stars was awarded.
Created by the publisher of Best Hospitals and Best Children’s Hospitals, the Best Nursing Homes 2015 ratings highlight the top nursing homes in each city and state, out of nearly 16,000 facilities nationwide. The goal is to help users find a home with a strong track record of quality care.
To create Best Nursing Homes 2015, the magazine drew on data from Nursing Home Compare, a program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that sets and enforces standards for nursing homes.
UTHSC Team from Department of Genetics, Genomics And Informatics Join Global ENIGMA Consortium Effort
Researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) are part of a global consortium of 190 institutions working to identify eight common genetic mutations that appear to age the brain an average of three years. The discovery could lead to targeted therapies and interventions for Alzheimer’s disease, autism and other neurological conditions.
It is believed to be the largest collaborative study of the brain to date,
An international team of roughly 300 scientists known as the Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis (ENIGMA) Network pooled brain scans and genetic data worldwide to pinpoint genes that enhance or break down key brain regions in people from 33 countries.
“This is a great example of how international collaboration can jumpstart high impact science and genetics. We needed a pool of 30,000 willing subjects and their DNA to drill down to these five new genes,” said Robert W. Williams, PhD, a co-investigator of ENIGMA.
The study could help identify people who would most benefit from new drugs designed to save brain cells, but more research is necessary to determine if the genetic mutations are implicated in disease.
Le Bonheur Organization Wins National Organization’s Support For Asthma-Related Projects Benefiting Low-Income Children
Le Bonheur Community Health and Well-Being, the community-based programs nonprofit branch of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, is one of five organizations to be selected by a Washington DC-based national organization to receive support for projects benefitting low-income, asthmatic children.
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the link between unhealthy housing and unhealthy families, has selected five service recipients to receive support to explore promising Pay for Success (PFS) projects benefitting low-income, asthmatic children.
These funds will provide capacity building assistance to advance and evaluate new models of funding home-based interventions that produce measurable outcomes such as, reducing asthma-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits and missed school days. This program will be based on the asthma-focused PFS project that is being explored in Baltimore, Maryland, by a partnership among GHHI, Calvert Foundation and Johns Hopkins Hospital and Healthcare System.
Additional partners in Le Bonheur’s effort include Le Bonheur’s CHAMP (Changing High-Risk Asthma in Memphis through Partnership) and Memphis CHiLD, a newly established medical legal partnership. Realizing the connection between substandard housing and the health of children, in 2013 Le Bonheur helped convene and co-found a multi-agency coalition called the Healthy Homes Partnership.
