November Distinctions

November 2011 Distinctions

Valerie Stanley, with special agent James Casey

An FBI honor

The team coordinator of the First Coast Child Protection Team was honored by the Jacksonville Division of the FBI in October. Valerie A. Stanley was presented the Director’s Community Leadership Award by James Casey, special agent in charge of the local FBI office. Stanley came to the Jacksonville-area team in 1999 as a case coordinator and was promoted to her current role in 2003. UF took over the contract to run the team in 2005. Stanley was nominated by the FBI Cyber Squad, which works closely with the Child Protection Team in investigating crimes with youth victims. “I am very honored and humbled to receive the award,” Stanley said. “CPT is grateful for our relationship with the FBI and their recognition of the benefit using our center when children were involved with their investigations.” — Matt Galnor

 

New neurosurgery leader in Jax

Robert Levy

Robert M. Levy, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the College of Medicine-Jacksonville as chair of the department of neurosurgery. Levy, formerly a professor at Northwestern University, is a preeminent researcher and neurosurgeon specializing in implanting devices to modify brain function and treat chronic pain. Levy hopes to develop the department into a regional and national leader and says the college’s commitment to those goals attracted him. He plans to double the staff to ten neurosurgeons within two years and envisions a neurosurgery residency program within five years. “The potential for building a regional and nationally recognized neuroscience center and neurosurgery department is unbelievable,” he said.

 

Gator Nurses March for Babies

Elizabeth Macari

For the third year in a row, the UF College of Nursing’s student team ranked first in fundraising for Gators March for Babies — a 5K walk/run in support of the March of Dimes. As the UF Nursing Student Association Community Service chair, Elizabeth Macari represented all Gator nursing students in the Gators March for Babies public service announcement that was filmed in front of the college. Macari posed with the Collier Cup, which has been held by CON for three of the march’s eight years on campus. Gators March for Babies will be held this year on Nov. 20.

 

College of Dentistry

Micaela Gibbs, D.D.S., and Ulrich Foerster, D.D.S., were inducted into the American College of Dentists during its annual meeting in October. Gibbs is a clinical assistant professor of community dentistry and behavioral sciences. Foerster is a clinical associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery. They were two of 318 dentists inducted during the most recent ceremony of the oldest national honorary organization for dentists.

Katherine Karpinia, D.M.D., M.S., an associate professor of periodontics, was recently appointed to a three-year term as a member of the UF Institutional Review Board for the Gainesville Health Science Center beginning August 2011.

 

Jacksonville

Joseph J. Tepas III, M.D., a professor of surgery, was named the 2011 Florida Surgical Care Initiative Champion by the Florida Hospital Association in October during the association’s annual meeting in Orlando. Tepas is statewide surgical director for the initiative, designed to improve surgical outcomes of patients while reducing the cost of health care. He has been instrumental in recruiting providers across the state.

 

College of Medicine

Kenneth Cusi, M.D., has been named chief of the division of endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism in the department of medicine. As chief, Cusi will oversee all outpatient and inpatient endocrinology clinics and consultation activities, serve as a mentor for all clinical and laboratory endocrinology research efforts, and mentor faculty members and fellows in the division. Before joining UF, Cusi was a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

 

College of Nursing

Joyce Stechmiller, Ph.D., A.C.N.P.-BC, an associate professor of nursing and chair of adult and elderly nursing, was invited to serve on the editorial board of the Wound Healing Society’s new serial publication, Advances in Wound Care. The Wound Healing Society is a nonprofit organization composed of clinical and basic scientists and wound care specialists and is the premier scientific organization on wound healing. Advances in Wound Care shares the latest developments and advances in the wound-healing field and serves as a comprehensive, authoritative reference.

Donna Neff, Ph.D., A.P.R.N.-BC, an assistant professor of nursing, was funded by the National Boards of Nursing for her study “Foreign Educated Nurses: Effects on Nurse, Quality of Care and Patient Safety Indicator Outcomes.” The study will look at the difference between foreign-educated nurses and U.S.-educated nurses in relation to nurse outcomes (burnout, job satisfaction, and intent to leave) and assessments of quality of care, and patient safety indicator outcomes. It will also study the effect per hospital. The outcome is critical to the regulatory body of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and individual state nursing boards to assure that nurses from other countries are prepared to: care for patients with complex needs; communicate successfully with other nurses, physicians, patients and families; adapt to advanced technology in today’s acute care settings; and successfully transition to practice in the U.S.

Barbara Lutz, Ph.D., R.N., an associate professor of nursing, is the recipient of the 2011 Doctorate-prepared Researcher Role Award from the Association for Rehabilitation Nursing. The award is given to recognize a nurse in a research role who has contributed to the advancement of rehabilitation nursing care. Lutz will also have an article published in the November/December issue of Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation. The article is titled “The Crisis of Stroke: Experiences of Patients and Their Family Caregivers.”

Karen Reed, M.S.N., D.H.Sc., a clinical assistant professor of nursing, is the recipient of the 2011 Educator Role Award from the Association for Rehabilitation Nursing. The award recognizes a nurse in an educator role who has contributed to the advancement of rehabilitation nursing care. Reed also recently learned she won the Association for Rehabilitation Nursing National Writer’s Contest for her article “Bags and Blogs: Creating an Ostomy Experience for Undergraduate Nursing Students.”

 

College of Pharmacy

Reginald Frye, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research, was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy in October at its annual meeting. Fellowship status recognizes the highest levels of excellence in the practice and science of clinical pharmacy and is the highest honor ACCP bestows upon its members.

Carol Motycka, Pharm.D., a clinical assistant professor and assistant dean and director of the UF College of Pharmacy Jacksonville campus, won first place for her poster at the Florida Medical Directors Association annual meeting in October. Motycka was the only pharmacist to exhibit her work, which was titled “Potential Benefits of Warfarin Monitoring by a Clinical Pharmacist in a Long Term Care Facility.”

 

College of Public Health and Health Professions

Sarah Senf, a doctoral student in exercise physiology and a fellow in UF’s NIH-funded Interdisciplinary Training Program in Rehabilitation and Neuromuscular Plasticity, received the Best Contribution Award at the 2011 International Conference on Muscle Wasting for her poster presentation. She studies cellular signaling pathways that regulate skeletal muscle mass during atrophy.