Distinctions
Recent honors, awards and achievements from across UF Health
IOM honor
Steven M. Smith, Pharm.D., M.P.H., a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy and medicine, has been selected as the 2014-16 Institute of Medicine Anniversary Fellow in Pharmacy. Anniversary fellows in pharmacy, internal medicine and osteopathic medicine were announced Oct. 20 at the IOM 44th annual meeting at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., which Smith attended.
In commemoration of its 35th anniversary in 2005, the IOM established two anniversary fellows programs in medicine. A two-year pharmacy fellowship was added in 2012 through the support of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Student health center accredited
The UF Student Health Care Center has once again achieved accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. Although more than 5,000 ambulatory health care organizations across the U.S. are accredited by the association, only 220 of these accredited organizations are college health services. Status as an accredited organization means the SHCC has met nationally recognized standards for the provision of quality health care set by the association after an extensive self-assessment and on-site survey by expert surveyors.
New nursing leaders
An international leader in nursing informatics whose work has helped improve electronic communications among health care teams has joined the College of Nursing as the Annabel Davis Jenks endowed professor for teaching and research in clinical nursing excellence. Gail Keenan, Ph.D., R.N., comes to UF from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she served as director of both the Nursing Informatics Initiative and the Nursing Administration Program and as associate director of the Health Systems Science Division in the College of Nursing. As a recipient of more than $7.5 million in research funding, Keenan has focused her research on creating and implementing useful electronic health records. Specifically, her research team has built and refined an electronic plan of care method — HANDS — designed to improve the consistency of documentation and handoff communication.
Jeannie Cimiotti, Ph.D., R.N., has been named the inaugural College of Nursing Dorothy M. Smith endowed chair and the co-director of the Florida Blue Center for Health Care Access, Patient Safety and Quality Outcomes at UF. Cimiotti comes to UF from the Rutgers University College of Nursing, where she served as an associate professor and executive director of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing. Cimiotti’s research focuses on nursing workforce issues and their impact on quality outcomes and patient care. She is the first researcher to establish compelling evidence that poor hospital practice environments and associated nurse burnout undermine best practices for infection prevention.
College of Veterinary Medicine
Maarten Drost, D.V.M., a professor emeritus, was recently inducted into the 2014 Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame. Drost retired from his position as a professor in the college’s department of large animal clinical sciences in 2003. A board-certified theriogenologist, or veterinary reproduction specialist, he is known for his groundbreaking work in embryo transfer technology and the mechanisms of pregnancy recognition and fertility management in cattle. His team at UF was responsible for the world’s first embryo transfer to result in the birth of a water buffalo calf, a landmark achievement that led him to collaborate in production of the first buffalo calves using the same technique in Europe.
College of Medicine
C. Parker Gibbs Jr., M.D., has been appointed deputy director of medical affairs for the UF Health Cancer Center. Gibbs also serves as the Eugene L. Jewett professor of orthopaedic surgery and chief of the UF College of Medicine division of musculoskeletal oncology. Gibbs will report to senior UF Health administrators including Paul Okunieff, M.D., director of the UF Health Cancer Center, Edward Jimenez, interim chief executive officer for UF Health Shands Hospital, and Timothy Flynn, M.D., senior associate dean for clinical affairs in the UF College of Medicine and chief medical officer for UF Health Shands Hospital.
L. Chad Hood, M.D., an assistant professor in the department of medicine and assistant chief of medical services for the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, was awarded the UF Society of Teaching Scholars Sustained Excellence in Medical Education Award. The award recognizes faculty members who have received the College of Medicine Teacher of the Year Award on multiple occasions. Hood is only the tenth individual to receive this recognition.
Jacksonville
Roger Bertholf, Ph.D., a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, is the winner of this year’s President’s Award from the American Society for Clinical Pathology. ASCP is the world’s largest professional organization for pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals. Bertholf is among the society’s more than 100,000 members. The President’s Award is given to members who go above and beyond as volunteers and have provided significant contributions to the society. Among his activities, Bertholf is editor of Lab Medicine, a scientific journal that has become one of the most respected biomedical publications in the country. He’s held that position since 2012.
College of Pharmacy
Katie Vogel Anderson, Pharm.D., a clinical assistant professor in pharmacotherapy and translational research, has been named the 2014-15 Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists president-elect. In her nomination statement, she urged a united effort for advocacy of the pharmacy profession as a whole and in Florida. After serving this year as president-elect, she will be sworn in as president at the 2015 annual meeting.
Rhonda Cooper-DeHoff, Pharm.D., an associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research and pharmaceutics, has been elected as a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Fellowship is awarded in recognition of continued excellence in clinical pharmacy practice or research. She also holds an appointment in cardiovascular medicine in the College of Medicine.
Hartmut Derendorf, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of pharmaceutics, received an honorary membership to the Brazilian Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences at its annual meeting Sept. 24. The award recognizes his contribution to the Brazilian Pharmaceutical Sciences. Derendorf has trained and hosted more than 30 graduate students and visiting scientists from Brazil over the last 25 years.
Larry Lesko, Ph.D., has received a $250,000 award from the Food and Drug Administration for his project, “Model- and Systems-Based Approach to Efficacy and Safety Questions Related to Generic Substitution.” The broad goal of this research is to define a scientific and quantitative process for the FDA to systematically evaluate causes of patient-reported adverse drug reactions, or lack of benefit following substitution of an approved generic drug product.