OU College of Medicine Magazine Winter 2021

Students Making a Difference [ Wi n t e r 2021] [ Wi n t e r 2 0 21 ]

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OUMEDIC INE

The OU College of Medicine, like all medical schools, continues to meet the challenges produced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes inherent to 21st century healthcare. Without a doubt, these are times of gratitude and admiration for our faculty, residents, students and staff and the ways they are shaping our profession.

In this issue of the magazine, you will read about many inspiring people and projects.

Collectively, our students have contributed thousands of hours toward organizing and holding vaccination clinics for those on campus and for people in the community. Their efforts and ingenuity have allowed our faculty to remain dedicated to patient care.

Without our students, we simply could not have vaccinated as many people as we did — more than 50,000 Oklahomans in 2021 alone.

You’ll also read about academic excellence in a story about a student receiving a national honor for his commitment to underserved populations, and in another story about a student recognized for her dedication to military service and her journey to becoming a physician. This academic year also brought good news about student satisfaction.

In the annual survey conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges, our students’ overall satisfaction rate is again above the 75th percentile. Of particular note, more than 70% of our courses and clerkships were ranked in the top quartile nationally, and 33% of those were above the 90th percentile.

Dean’s Message

Our research endeavors continue to flourish, which is reflected in impressive levels of grant funding and publications in high-impact journals. Research also continues to be highly collaborative as College of Medicine investigators seek out partnerships with their colleagues in other colleges on campus. You can read about our vision research program, a collaboration with Dean McGee Eye Institute, that received a $2.9 million renewal of a grant that funds several cores of specialized equipment. Another story details the years-long work by one of our clinician-scientists to take her research from an idea to a national clinical trial now underway.

In the patient care section, one of the stories you’ll see is about our Pediatric Psychology Program, in which psychologists are embedded with the care teams serving patients both at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and in outpatient clinics. This type of care allows providers to collaborate to best meet the needs of each child and family.

In the OU-TU School of Community Medicine section, you’ll read about a new effort from the Office of Research Development and Scholarly Activity to incorporate more diverse participants into studies. In addition, the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology have launched a new program to provide an extra layer of training in prenatal care to family medicine physicians on the obstetrics track.

The achievements and dedication you’ll read about in this issue are what make me excited about the future of the OU College of Medicine and the profession of medicine in general. Our faculty, students, residents and staff have been exceptionally resourceful during a time of uncertainty and change. Their steadfast compassion for those we serve, combined with their innovative ideas, assure me that the profession of medicine is in good hands.

John P. Zubialde, M.D. Executive Dean, OU College of Medicine

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contents MEDICINE

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Senior Vice President and Provost, OU Health Sciences Center Jason Sanders, M.D., MBA Executive Dean, College of Medicine John Zubialde, M.D.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4. Merger Official

With the signing of documents, OU Health officially becomes Oklahoma’s first comprehensive academic health system. The merger of clinics and hospitals creates new, singular leadership, operational and financial functions.

7. New Department Chairs

The OU College of Medicine welcomed new chairs in the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Department of Dermatology.

22. What Causes ‘Chemo Brain’?

Executive Editor Jon Brightbill Associate Dean for Executive Affairs

A geroscience researcher received federal funding to study “chemo brain,” formally known as chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment. Up to 75% of cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy have symptoms such as difficulty focusing and making decisions.

Assistant Vice President of Development, OU Health Sciences Center Stacey Maxon

15. Innovative Imaging

Editor/Feature Writer April Wilkerson Contributing Writer Valerie Pautsch Medicine is published twice a year by the OU College of Medicine. For more information or to submit news for the Class Notes section, contact: April Wilkerson, Editor april.wilkerson@ouhealth.com Medicine is online at

medicine.ouhsc.edu

A bone marrow transplant physician at Stephenson Cancer Center launched a clinical trial to investigate a promising new method of determining whether bone marrow is growing after a patient receives a transplant.

31. High Student Satisfaction

OU College of Medicine student satisfaction is above the 75th percentile nationally, according to results of the most recent Association of American Medical Colleges survey sent to graduating medical students.

32. Growing in Diversity

The OU College of Medicine’s efforts to increase diversity among its student body is paying off. For the Class of 2025, the college matriculated its highest number ever of African American students. In addition, a record number of students from Oklahoma applied.

23. Pediatric Psychology

Providers in the Pediatric Psychology Program in the Department of Pediatrics address the mental health of their young patients, many of whom are facing serious diseases and chronic conditions. By embedding themselves in individual clinics, psychologists provide care specific to each child.

The University of Oklahoma, in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, disability, political beliefs or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes, but is not limited to: admissions, employment, financial aid and educational services.

25. First of Its Kind

Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to: Bobby J. Mason, University Equal Opportunity Officer and Title IX Coordinator, 405-325-3546, BJM@ou.edu, or visit ou.edu/eoo.html.

37. Academy of Teaching Scholars Renamed

Copies of this magazine were printed at no cost to the taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma. © 2022 University of Oklahoma

A thoracic oncologic surgeon performed the first reconstructive surgery of its kind on campus by using components generated by 3D printing to replace the bones in a patient’s chest.

34. Race as Research Variable

The Office for Research Development and Scholarly Activity at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine created a set of guidelines to help researchers consider how race plays a role in the research question being explored.

The Academy of Teaching Scholars, the OU College of Medicine’s group to foster teaching and educational scholarship, has been renamed The Jerry Vannatta, M.D., Academy of Teaching Scholars after he made a $1 million gift to the group.

43. Alumni Day Scheduled for Spring

After cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Alumni Reunion Day has been scheduled for May 6. Classes ending in 2 and 7 will be honored.

COVER PHOTO:

Students in the OU College of Medicine and across the OU Health Sciences Center have contributed their skills and time to organize COVID-19 vaccine clinics, administer vaccines, and meet other needs caused by the pandemic, all while learning lessons that they will carry with them into their careers.

The OU College of Medicine Alumni Association is on Facebook.

Like us at www.facebook.com/oucomalumni

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OU College of Medicine Executive Dean John Zubialde, M.D., seated right, and G. Rainey Williams Jr., Board Chair of University Hospitals Authority and Trust, sign documents creating OU Health.

Historic Signing Creates New Health System for Oklahoma Oklahoma healthcare has taken a major step forward with a historic agreement signed in the summer of 2021 between the University of Oklahoma and the University Hospitals Authority and Trust to merge their clinics and hospitals into Oklahoma’s first comprehensive academic health system – OU Health.

“Today marks an extraordinary moment decades in the making for Oklahoma in our quest to become a healthier state,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “The healthiest states have one thing in common: an academic health system that brings together patient care, research and the training of tomorrow’s health care leaders. Before today, we had each of those pieces, and while they worked together, they operated separately with different management structures.

Now, this merger unlocks unlimited potential as we bring together research-driven care and education that will make Oklahomans healthier, lead to economic prosperity and move our state forward.”

The merger creates new, singular leadership, operational and financial functions. As a result, OU Health will offer a seamless patient experience, improve care outcomes, and provide more access to the latest treatments found nowhere else in the state.

“As an academic health system, we now have all key participants at the table making strategic decisions for a single enterprise,” said G. Rainey Williams Jr., Board Chair

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of University Hospitals Authority and Trust. “This merger aligns OU Health with the healthcare model that has proven successful in enhancing healthcare for the healthiest states in our nation and will propel our campus for the next 50 years.”

The merger also brings the research and education missions of the enterprise into closer alignment with the care of patients. Enhanced collaborations between physicians and researchers will transform patient care as they search for new answers to complex medical problems. In addition, the new organization will reinvest clinical earnings into research and educational activities.

Executive Dean of the College of Medicine Dr. John Zubialde added: “This is an exciting new era in the history of the OU College of Medicine. Oklahomans will benefit from the latest in research-driven advancements and increased access to healthcare, and the next generation of OU-trained physicians will carry our tradition of excellence into the future.”

While the official merger and signing is a long-awaited achievement for OU Health, growth and changes have already been underway, even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new eight-story North Tower of the OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center opened in fall 2020, bringing 144 additional beds, 32 new operating rooms and advanced technologies. There is also an

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ongoing modernization of IT infrastructure and the implementation of Epic, the new electronic health record that will facilitate conversation among healthcare providers across the enterprise.

Disease Center of Excellence, joining an innovative national network of 31 medical centers dedicated to expanding access and advancing care and research for patients diagnosed with rare diseases.

“The official signing of the merger represents the culmination of a vision, but it is only the beginning of our growth and the innovations that will be developed to address the healthcare needs of Oklahomans,” said Senior Vice President and Provost of the OU Health Sciences Center and Acting Board Chair of OU Medicine, Inc. Jason Sanders, M.D., MBA. “We already have assets found nowhere else in the state — such as the National Cancer Institute-Designated Stephenson Cancer Center; a Level 1 Trauma Center; and Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, a comprehensive facility for children and mothers.

The future is even brighter because of a merger that optimizes our ability to provide the highest quality of care to everyone who needs our services.”

The program is led by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), with a goal to foster the sharing of knowledge between experts across the country, connect patients to appropriate specialists regardless of disease or geography, and to improve the pace of progress in rare disease diagnosis, treatment and research.

“We are so excited to be selected as a NORD Center of Excellence. I have been involved with rare diseases for over 30 years, and I truly feel that it will take a village to advance of our knowledge and making meaningful impacts on rare disease studies and management. Therefore, having this designation and being able to work with other centers is extremely important. I also believe OU Health has a unique position to offer to this community,” said Anne Tsai, M.D., medical director of Clinical Genetics Services for OU Health and a professor in the OU College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics.

People living with rare diseases frequently face challenges in finding a diagnosis and quality clinical care. In establishing the Centers of Excellence program, NORD has designated clinical centers across the United States that provide exceptional rare disease care and have demonstrated a deep commitment to serving patients and their families using a holistic, state-of-the-art approach. NORD selected each center in a competitive application process requiring evidence of staffing with experts across multiple specialties to meet the needs of patients, as well as significant contributions to rare disease patient education, physician training and research.

Any disease that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States is considered rare, according to the National Institutes of Health. There are over 7,000 rare diseases and 25 million to 30 million Americans estimated to be living with rare diseases. More than 90% of rare diseases lack a treatment that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

OU Health offers testing, treatment and education for a wide variety of rare diseases. Because genetic diseases make up a large portion of rare diseases, the OU Health genetics team, working with colleagues in internal medicine, nephrology, urology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and pediatrics, offers consultation in person or via telemedicine for birth defects, genetic conditions and metabolic conditions, as well as newborn screening.

Anne Tsai, M.D.

OU Health Joins New NORD Rare Disease Centers of Excellence Network

Researchers from multiple disciplines at the OU Health Sciences Center, the academic partner of OU Health, conduct studies into various aspects of rare diseases. In addition, the OU College of Medicine offers robust education and training opportunities, including a master of science degree in genetic counseling, a medical genetics residency program, and clinical genetics laboratory training.

OU Health, Oklahoma’s comprehensive academic healthcare system, has been designated as a NORD Rare [ Wi n t e r 2 0 21 ]

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“We are excited to announce that Dr. Dunn will serve in this critical and dynamic role for OU Health and OU Health Partners,” said Harold Burkhart, M.D., Acting CEO for OU Health. “Since we officially formed OU Health in July, he has provided leadership on an interim basis, and his guidance has been essential as we have merged our hospitals and physician group into a single entity providing seamless patient care. By joining the senior leadership team on a permanent basis and formally taking the helm of OU Health Partners as President, he will continue to elevate OU Health with his skills and passion for academic healthcare.”

OU Health Partners is the new physician and provider practice created by the unification of key elements of the health system into a single enterprise known as OU Health.

The OU Health Partners Board oversees the practice, the largest such group in Oklahoma, providing more specialty and subspecialty expertise for adults and children than anywhere in the state.

John Zubialde, M.D., OU College of Medicine Executive Dean and Board Chair of OU Health Partners, said he is proud to partner with Dunn in this highly important role for OU Health.

“Ian is an outstanding physician and executive. He has put his heart and soul into advancing the Department of Neurosurgery from the moment he joined us. His leadership has also been instrumental in the process of transitioning physicians and other providers to the new OU Health Partners structure. He has been central to our work on several major system initiatives, including our focus on equity in healthcare, availability to our patients, the patient experience, the enhancement of our nursing workforce, and much more,” Zubialde said.

Dunn came to OU Health from Boston, where he was faculty in the Department of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and director of the Center for Pituitary and Skull Base Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He earned his medical degree at Harvard and completed his general surgery internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his neurosurgery residency at Children’s Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he also served as chief resident. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer genomics at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Broad Institute in Boston, and a clinical fellowship in skull base neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences/St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.

Ian F. Dunn, M.D.

Dunn Named Chief Physician Executive OU Health neurosurgeon Ian F. Dunn, M.D., has been named Chief Physician Executive for the OU Health enterprise, President of OU Health Partners, and Vice Chair of the OU Health Partners Board of Directors.

Dunn joined the enterprise in 2018, serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the OU College of Medicine. His broad experience as a physician, researcher and educator has been transformational for the campus, and he will now provide crucial leadership as OU Health continues its integration as the state’s only comprehensive academic healthcare system.

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He is a member of numerous national professional societies and gives presentations nationally and internationally on complex brain tumors at the skull base. He is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and 40 chapters of various scientific and/or medical publications in neurosurgery.

“I am grateful to be named to these leadership positions and am excited to be a part of OU Health’s future as we develop new and innovative ways to care for our patients,” Dunn said.

“One of our philosophies is ‘Patients First,’ and that is the driving force for every decision we make at OU Health. I am excited to help lead our enterprise into the future.”

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Pamela S. Allen, M.D.

New Chairs Named for Dermatology, Radiation Oncology The OU College of Medicine has named two new chairs — Pamela S. Allen, M.D., as chair of the Department of Dermatology and Jerry Jaboin, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, as chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology.

Pamela S. Allen, M.D. Allen, who holds the Carl J. Herzog Chair in Dermatology and the faculty rank of associate professor, earned her medical degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California. She completed her internal medicine residency at Charles R. Drew University/King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, then her dermatology residency with the OU College of Medicine.

She has spent her entire medical career with the Department of Dermatology in the OU College of Medicine. She has maintained a busy clinical practice at OU Health Physicians Dermatology and its satellite clinics; at the Devon Outpatient Clinic in downtown Oklahoma City; and, previously, providing tele-dermatology for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Her administrative positions have included serving as Director of the Dermatology Residency Program; Section Chief for Dermatology at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center; Cosmetic Director for the Department of Dermatology; Director of the Medical Student Clerkship in Dermatology; Vice Chair and Interim Chair of the Department of Dermatology; and Medical Director of the OU Health Physicians Dermatology Clinic.

Allen is the founder and director of the Mark Allen Everett, M.D. Skin of Color Symposium, which educates physicians, advanced practice providers, medical students and residents/fellows about the unique features of skin of color, as well as cultural diversity.

Allen has published many dermatologic articles and has served as principal site investigator on multiple clinical trials related to psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, and ethic skin. She has given numerous presentations to church, school, community and medical organizations on local and national levels.

She has been active as an educator, mentor and advisor for medical students, residents and faculty. She has also served as advisor for the Dermatology Interest Group for medical students, guiding them as they organized the annual campus-wide Melanoma Screening Fair. In addition, she supervises medical students and residents treating uninsured patients at Good Shepherd Clinic.

Allen is a member of numerous committees and organizations, including the OU College of Medicine Diversity Alliance Task Force; the college’s Admissions Interview Subcommittee; the Graduate Medical Education Committee at the OU Health Sciences Center; OU Health CEO Search Committee; OU Health Physicians Council; the Oklahoma State Medical Association; and the Skin of Color Society. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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Jerry Jaboin, M.D., Ph.D., MBA

Jerry Jaboin, M.D., Ph.D., MBA Jaboin comes to the OU College of Medicine from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where he served as Associate Professor and Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine.

Jaboin earned his medical degree and a doctorate in genetics from Howard University and the National Cancer Institute in Washington, D.C. He completed the preliminary medicine intern year of his residency at Franklin Square Hospital Center in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by his residency in radiation oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Following his training, Jaboin served as a clinical staff physician at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri, and medical director of the Mercy Clinic Radiation Oncology — Chub O’Reilly Cancer Center. In addition, while with the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, he proposed and helped to develop the Mercy Neuro-Oncology Multidisciplinary Clinic, and initiated and chartered the Mercy Springfield Strategic Oncology Team.

Jaboin next served as the Executive Vice Chairman for the Department of Radiation Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Among his many accomplishments, he

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re-established the brachytherapy program, established the palliative radiation oncology program, and created a quality and safety program.

An active educator and mentor for scientists and trainees, he has regularly lectured on radiation therapy topics and mentored medical students, residents and doctoral students.

Throughout his career, Jaboin has encouraged and supported diversity, equity and inclusion.

As a researcher, he has actively participated in translational and clinical projects to move bench discoveries to the bedside.

He has served as principal investigator and co-principal investigator on numerous clinical trials related to the detection and treatment of cancer, pain control and quality of life, and other areas, and he has been an author on more than 100 journal articles and contributed several chapters for radiation oncology books. In addition, he has served as an editorial board member and associate editor of several journals.

Jaboin is a member of numerous national and international professional organizations, including the Radiological Society of North America, Society of Neuro-Oncology, American Association of Cancer Research, and many others. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Radiology.

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Franklin earned her medical degree and completed her family medicine residency at the OU College of Medicine.

She also completed several types of fellowship training in leadership and operations at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine; Lean/Six Sigma Fundamentals Certification Program; American Academy of Family Physicians Predoctoral Directors’ Institute; and Association of Departments of Family Medicine Senior Leaders Fellowship.

During her time at OU, Franklin has maintained a busy clinical practice, serving as medical director for the OU Health Physicians Family Medicine Center, while also teaching medical students and residents. She leads various initiatives in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and for the campus as a whole. She developed a standardized workflow for chronic pain management in the Family Medicine Center and created a pain medicine curriculum for students and residents to identify the mechanisms of chronic pain and to tailor management of that pain to the mechanism, focusing first on non-pharmacologic treatments. She has developed numerous other teaching materials on family medicine topics.

She is a member of the implementation committee for EPIC, the new electronic health record for OU Health, as well as the OU Health IT Transformation Council.

She is also a member of the COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach Committee. She has held leadership roles with the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians as well as Prevent Child Abuse Oklahoma. She has written a book, “Expecting Twins, Triplets, and More: A Doctor’s Guide to a Healthy and Happy Multiple Pregnancy.” She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Rachel M. Franklin, M.D.

OU Health Names Physician Executive Leader Family medicine physician Rachel M. Franklin, M.D., has been named Physician Executive for the Community Health and Primary Care Division at OU Health. As part of the leadership team for OU Health, she will oversee the division’s patient care services and help expand healthcare access to people across Oklahoma.

Franklin will continue to serve as Vice Chair and Regents’ Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the OU College of Medicine. She has cared for patients and served on faculty for 15 years, and brings that experience and expertise to her new leadership role.

“We are excited to announce Dr. Franklin’s new position with OU Health,” said John Zubialde, M.D., Executive Dean of the OU College of Medicine. “Her skills in leadership and innovation are extensive. She is the ideal physician to lead this division.”

As Physician Executive for the Community Health and Primary Care Division at OU Health, Franklin will oversee the division’s clinical care operations, including ambulatory and inpatient care services, telehealth, and clinically integrated networks.

She will champion the delivery of high-quality healthcare and the values of consistency, safety and patient experience, and she will work with the enterprise executive team to expand primary care services.

“Dr. Franklin has a deep dedication to our comprehensive academic healthcare system, and her insight and leadership are invaluable,” said Ian Dunn, M.D., OU Health Chief Physician Executive and Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at OU College of Medicine.

“She embraces the critical importance of community health and will guide our enterprise as we increase our ability to provide patients the medical home that is so foundational to their health and well-being.”

Franklin added: “In primary care, we address the majority of our patients’ healthcare needs, and we are advocates for them when they need other medical services. Because of that, we develop strong relationships with our patients that often span many years. Those tenets of medicine are so important, and I am excited to lead this division as we continue that patient-centered care and broaden our network to many more Oklahomans.”

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Cookson is a graduate of the OU College of Medicine, and he completed his residency training at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He completed a urological oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and he holds a master’s degree in Management of Health Care from Vanderbilt University.

Cookson returned to Oklahoma in 2013, after serving for 15 years at Vanderbilt University, where he served as Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery.

In addition to his busy clinical practice at OU Health, Cookson is active as a researcher. He oversees several ongoing clinical trials, and is an international leader in research that has advanced care for urologic cancers.

Among his many achievements is leading a trial that proved the effectiveness of an oral medication for metastatic prostate cancer, the first treatment advance for that disease in many years. Cookson is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed research publications and 30 chapters of various textbooks in urology and urological surgery.

As Chief Surgical Officer for Cancer Services for both OU Health and Stephenson Cancer Center, Cookson will oversee the breadth of surgical options for children and adults with all types of cancer. One of every six Oklahomans seeking cancer treatment is cared for at Stephenson Cancer Center, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center. Surgical suites at both Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health and the University of Oklahoma Medical Center provide the most advanced technology for surgical procedures, including 32 new operating rooms for adults at the newly opened eight-story North Tower. Cookson also brings substantial expertise in minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery.

Michael S. Cookson, M.D.

OU Health Names Chief Surgical Officer for Cancer Services OU Health urologist Michael S. Cookson, M.D., has been named Chief Surgical Officer for Cancer Services for the OU Health enterprise and for OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center. He continues to serve as Chair and Professor of the Department of Urology in the OU College of Medicine and Chief of Urology at Stephenson Cancer Center.

Cookson brings years of service in academic medicine to his new roles and will guide OU Health as it advances its mission of providing high-quality, innovative surgical care to patients with cancer.

“We are excited to announce Dr. Cookson’s new leadership positions for OU Health as a whole and for Stephenson Cancer Center,” said John Zubialde, M.D., Executive Dean of the OU College of Medicine. “His extensive experience in surgical innovations, and his commitment to research-driven patient care, will propel our enterprise as we expand the services we provide to patients across Oklahoma and beyond.”

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“As part of our clinical strategic plan at OU Health, we are building a pathway to care for even more Oklahomans who have been diagnosed with cancer. Dr. Cookson is the ideal person to help lead that surgical growth for our comprehensive academic healthcare system,” said Ian Dunn, M.D., OU Health Chief Physician Executive and Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at OU College of Medicine. “We care for more patients with complex conditions than anyone else in the state, and Dr. Cookson’s surgical proficiency and leadership are invaluable to our enterprise.”

As chair of the Department of Urology, Cookson oversees the education of medical students and residents preparing for careers in pediatric or adult urology. He is also a member of numerous state, national and international organizations, including currently serving as president of the Society of Urologic Oncology and the South Central Section of the American Urological Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and holds the Donald D. Albers, M.D. Endowed Chair in Urology at the OU College of Medicine.

“I am excited about this opportunity to lead our cancer surgical mission at OU Health,” Cookson said. “OU Health is poised for growth in all areas of our mission, and we are eager to serve even more patients with the services that only a comprehensive academic healthcare system can provide.”

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Michelle Callegan, Ph.D., earned a federal grant to study how Staphylococcus aureus begins an infection of the eye.

Researcher Earns Grant to Study Staph Eye Infections Staphylococcus aureus, one of more than 30 types of staphylococcal bacteria, can be devastating to vision when it infects the eye. To better understand how the bacterium begins the infection process, a researcher at the OU College of Medicine and Dean McGee Eye Institute has earned a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Eye Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health.

During her career, Michelle Callegan, Ph.D., Director of Vision Research at Dean McGee Eye Institute, has investigated various pathogens that cause infections of the eye, including Klebsiella and Bacillus. Her current focus on Staphylococcus aureus brings her full circle — when she was a graduate student, she developed the first-ever research model of staphylococcal keratitis, an infection of the cornea that can threaten vision if not treated promptly.

aureus is able to circumvent the eye’s immune defenses.

Staphylococcus aureus is a very “sticky” bacterium because of its ability to adhere to tissue, she said. Once stuck to the surface, Staphylococcus aureus forms abscesses and secretes toxins that kill surrounding cells.

That is the case in Staphylococcus aureus keratitis, an infection that can result in corneal perforation and the need for a corneal transplant. Keratitis is common in contact lens wearers who do not take proper care of their lenses, Callegan said. The bacterium acts similarly in exogenous endophthalmitis, an infection inside the eye that can occur after surgery or an injury to the eye.

“Staphylococci live in and on us, and most of the time they don’t cause problems,” Callegan said. “But when Staphylococcus aureus is able to start an infection, it can cause serious complications anywhere in the body, including the eyes. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus is on the Centers for Disease Control’s list of serious threats because of antibiotic resistance.”

Staphylococcus aureus also displays unique behavior in endogenous endophthalmitis, in which an infection originates elsewhere in the body then travels to the eye via the bloodstream. Whereas some bacteria, like Klebsiella, can only cross the barrier between the bloodstream and retina if the vasculature is “leaky” (sometimes caused by conditions like diabetic retinopathy), Staphylococcus aureus can cross the barrier even when it has maintained its integrity.

Callegan’s research team was the first to prove that aspect of Staphylococcus aureus’s behavior.

Researchers understand less about how Staphylococcus aureus begins an infection in the eye than they do subsequent parts of the infection process. Callegan decided to focus on that initial part of an infection, when Staphylococcus

“Staphylococcus aureus isn’t stopped by the barrier — it will go across vasculature that is leaky or intact,” Callegan said.

“We don’t know why Staphylococcus aureus ignores the ocular barrier. It will produce an abscess almost anywhere.

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The eye is just another place that, if the bacterium can find its way in, will create problems. And if such infections aren’t treated properly, people can lose their vision.”

With her new grant, Callegan aims to better understand why Staphylococcus aureus is able to circumvent the body’s ocular defenses and cause blinding infections.

Although staphylococcal species share characteristics, Staphylococcus aureus is among the most dangerous for the eye and the body.

“The more bacteria that we work with, the more we discover that they’re all very different. Different species have different ways of interacting with the immune response in the body.

It’s worth investigating them individually, but if you can pinpoint aspects of these different organisms that are similar, you can target these factors and develop new treatments to fight them,” said Callegan, who is also a professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Microbiology and Immunology in the OU College of Medicine.

Research reported in this story is supported by the National Eye Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, under the award number 1R01 EY032073-01A1. The project has also received support from Presbyterian Health Foundation in Oklahoma City.

This image from the research lab of Jody Summers, Ph.D., shows the choroid of the eye.

OU College of Medicine researcher Jody Summers, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Cell Biology, recently discovered that one of the body’s regulators of inflammation, a protein called Interleukin-6 (IL-6), plays a role in the development of myopia, thereby becoming a potential target to prevent or slow the condition. Summers published her findings in the influential journal eLife.

“The prevalence of myopia is increasing and is predicted to affect half of the world’s population by 2050,” Summers said.

“With that increase, there is a greater likelihood that myopia will occur in people at a younger age. In some cases, myopia increases the risk of other serious eye conditions like retinal detachment, glaucoma and macular degeneration. Our study suggests that if we could target IL-6, it may be a means of controlling eyesight.”

Myopia typically occurs when the sclera (the white part of the eye) expands, causing the eye to be longer than normal.

As a result, the light entering the eye is focused in front of the retina, instead of on the retina, resulting in blurry distance vision. That “defocus” also occurs when people wear glasses or contacts to correct myopia, but have blurry vision when they remove them.

Jody Summers, Ph.D., discovered that a protein called Interleukin-6 plays a role in the onset of myopia.

Researcher Discovers Protein in Development of Nearsightedness

“The increase in IL-6 is triggering a cascade of events that cause the eye to try to correct its size so that it is the right size for its focus,” she said. “Our hypothesis is that IL-6 is playing a positive role in that it detects when the eye is too long and then stimulates subsequent changes in an effort to get the eye to stop growing.”

Millions of people are affected by myopia (nearsightedness), in which they can see close objects clearly, but distance vision is blurred. Glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery can improve vision, but don’t fix the underlying problem itself.

But what if there were a way to address the actual cause of myopia?

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Summers’ main focus for the study was on the choroid — the vascular layer between the retina and sclera — because molecules that could affect scleral growth are likely synthesized in the choroid or pass through it on their way to the sclera. She discovered that just at the moment of “defocus,” there was a rapid increase of IL-6 in the choroid.

The finding is important because once an action like that of IL-6 has been identified, researchers may be able target it with a drug in an effort to control eyesight. Summers is the first researcher to demonstrate the association between IL-6 and eye size. IL-6 is a cytokine, a type of protein that regulates inflammation in the body. It is released by muscle cells during

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exercise, when people have a fever or become injured, and, more recently, in those who are battling the “cytokine storm” involved in COVID-19.

“Researchers hadn’t been thinking about myopia as an inflammatory process; we thought of it more as a neural process,” Summers said. “But in this case, IL-6 seems to be playing a role.”

Summers also made an ancillary finding concerning atropine, the drug used to dilate pupils. Atropine is being studied around the world as a potential treatment for myopia.

When Summers used atropine in her investigations, IL-6 again increased, suggesting that the positive effect of atropine in slowing eye growth was due to increased IL-6 in the choroid.

While her findings are promising, there is much more work to be done, Summers said. She plans to continue replicating her findings and to develop a way to control IL-6 directly in her experiments.

“This is exciting because it may give us a new way of approaching myopia,” she said.

Summers received a bridge grant from Oklahoma City-based Presbyterian Health Foundation, which allowed her to earn the National Institutes of Health award that funded this project.

innovations to drive research that ultimately will improve the quality of life for patients seeking care for their vision.

Vision research is among the most highly funded areas of investigation at the OU Health Sciences Center. The current grant was originally awarded in 2011 and included several “cores” of specialized equipment available to vision researchers across the campus and at the neighboring Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF). The grant renewal expands those cores, giving researchers additional tools to more quickly translate their findings into treatments.

“The amount of this grant renewal is based on the fact that most of our individual researchers hold R01 grants from the National Eye Institute, which is considered the gold standard in vision research funding,” said Michelle Callegan, Ph.D., Director of Vision Research at Dean McGee Eye Institute and Professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Microbiology and Immunology in the OU College of Medicine.

“Because our vision researchers have been so successful in attracting federal grant funding, we were able to renew this P30 grant, which not only advances their efforts, but helps us to recruit new vision researchers and trainees interested in vision science.”

The grant will also fund the creation of a new core in Ocular Immunobiology, providing researchers advanced methods of analyzing the immunological underpinnings of eye disease.

“There is an immune-related slant to every model of eye disease,” Callegan said, “so the development of this core is really important to us.” The Ocular Immunobiology Core will be led by Darren Lee, Ph.D., whose own research focuses on autoimmune uveitis, an inflammation of the eye that is the third-leading cause of blindness in the United States.

Vision research takes place at Dean McGee Eye Institute and across the OU Health Sciences Center.

Vision Research Receives $2.9 Million Boost at OU Health Sciences Center, Dean McGee Eye Institute The vision research program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Dean McGee Eye Institute recently received a five-year, $2.9 million grant renewal from the National Eye Institute. Called a P30 Vision Core grant, it supports the work of researchers in 21 laboratories with advanced equipment, sophisticated software, and other

Other cores include a Model Imaging Core that allows researchers to analyze visual function and other physiological parameters of eye disease models. The core also includes an emphasis on genotyping to ensure the genetic consistency of research models. It is led by Raju Rajala, Ph.D., whose research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases of the retina. The Cellular Imaging Core provides sophisticated equipment that allows researchers to visualize physiological processes at the cellular and subcellular levels. That core is directed by Michael Elliott, Ph.D., whose research focuses on cellular membranes and how they control cellular signaling in vision.

“The technology in these cores is very expensive. One individual researcher could not afford the equipment that we have,” said Callegan, who leads the overall administration of the grant. “Not only do many different researchers use the equipment, but the cores also facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers from ophthalmology, physiology, pathology, microbiology and other areas across campus, as well as OMRF.” Since the original P30 grant was awarded in 2011, vision research has significantly increased at the OU Health Sciences Center and Dean McGee Eye Institute. Nearly 30 research laboratories across the OU Health Sciences Center and at OMRF are focusing on eye diseases, and multidisciplinary collaborations between vision and non-vision research

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laboratories have flourished. Several new vision researchers have been recruited, launched their own laboratories and gained their own independent funding.

“Many exciting things have occurred because of this P30 grant,” Callegan said. “This funding has provided resources that our investigators otherwise would not have access to, and it has advanced research toward our ultimate goal, which is improving and restoring vision.”

Research reported in this story is supported by the National Eye Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, under the award number 2P30EY021725-11.

findings are the culmination of a first-of-its-kind trial funded largely by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Within 15 years of a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, 60% of participants had at least one diabetes-related complication, and nearly a third of participants had two or more complications, according to results of the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY) follow-up study, called TODAY2. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Until recent years, children almost never got Type 2 diabetes; it has primarily been a disease of adults. Because one-third of U.S. children are now overweight, more and more young people are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes,” said Jacob E. “Jed” Friedman, Ph.D., director of OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center. “This study shows that severe complications can develop from that diagnosis while patients are still in young adulthood. We previously called Type 2 diabetes ‘adult-onset diabetes,’ but that definition no longer fits the disorder.”

TODAY2 involved 500 original participants from the TODAY study, which began in 2004. TODAY was the first major comparative effectiveness trial for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes in youth. At the time of enrollment, participants were between the ages of 10-17, had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes for fewer than two years, and were overweight or had obesity. The average age of participants after the TODAY2 follow-up was 26 years.

The study compared three treatments for managing blood glucose: metformin alone, metformin plus rosiglitazone, and metformin plus an intensive lifestyle intervention. Metformin is the only oral medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes in youth.

Participants in TODAY2 were monitored annually for signs of diabetes complications, including heart disease, kidney disease, diabetic foot complications, and to report other health events. Diabetic eye disease was assessed once during the study, at the seven-year study visit.

Overall, researchers saw a steady decline in blood glucose control over 15 years. In addition: • 67% of participants had high blood pressure • Nearly 52% had dyslipidemia, or high fat levels in the blood • Nearly 55% had kidney disease • 32% had evidence of nerve disease • 51% had eye disease.

Jeanie Tryggestad, M.D.

Study Shows Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes Results in Serious Complications

Rates did not differ based on the original TODAY study treatment group assignment.

A clinical study at the OU Health Sciences Center has found that people with Type 2 diabetes diagnosed during youth — as young as 10 years old — have a high risk of developing complications at early ages and have a greater chance of multiple complications within 15 years after diagnosis. The

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In addition, certain participants had a higher likelihood to develop multiple complications over time, with 28% developing two or more over the follow-up period.

Participants who belonged to a minority racial or ethnic group, or who had high blood glucose, high blood pressure, and dyslipidemia were at higher risk for developing a complication.

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“Until recent years, children almost never got Type 2 diabetes; it has primarily been a disease of adults.”

The TODAY study’s diverse cohort is representative of the U.S. youth diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Study participants had regular, intensive diabetes management through the study at no cost during the original TODAY trial, which researchers note may have actually lowered the rate of complications.

The TODAY and TODAY2 studies were conducted at the OU Health Sciences Center and 14 other centers in the United States. The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., served as the data coordinating center. The OU Health Sciences Center, the largest of the 15 clinical sites in the trial, also partnered with many tribal nations and communities, including the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, the Cherokee Nation, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma City Area Office of the Indian Health Service.

“The TODAY study offered unique scientific opportunities and has led to important scientific discoveries. Equally important is the study’s leadership vision for promoting tribal engagement and treating its tribal partners with the respect and dignity that tribal nations are deserving of,” said Sohail Khan, MBBS, MPH, CIP, Director of Health Research at the Cherokee Nation.

During the initial years of TODAY in Oklahoma, the study was led by Kenneth Copeland, M.D., now Professor Emeritus in the Section of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, of the OU College of Medicine. Following his leadership, the study has been directed by two other faculty members in the section, Associate Professor Jeanie Tryggestad, M.D., and Section Chief Steven Chernausek, M.D. “The TODAY study has demonstrated that youth-onset Type 2 diabetes is much more aggressive than Type 2 diabetes in adults,” said Tryggestad, who serves as the study’s local principal investigator. “Youth experience multiple complications very early in their disease process.

This demonstrates the need to aggressively treat youth-onset Type 2 diabetes as well as continue to strive for better treatment to prevent the disease progression.”

This work was completed with funding from NIDDK/NIH grant numbers U01-DK61212, U01-DK61230, U01-DK61239, U01-DK61242, and U01-DK61254; the National Center for Research Resources General Clinical Research Centers Program; and the NCRR Clinical and Translational Science Award Program.

TODAY received additional support from Becton, Dickinson and Company; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Eli Lilly and Company; GlaxoSmithKline; LifeScan, Inc.; Pfizer; and Sanofi Aventis.

Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, M.D., is co-leading a national clinical trial studying a new imaging technique for bone marrow transplants.

Physician-Scientist Investigating New Bone Imaging Method in Clinical Trial With the lifesaving potential of a bone marrow transplant comes an anxious few weeks of waiting to see if the patient begins producing new cells. A hematology oncologist at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center is the co-leader of a national clinical trial that could revolutionize the field with an imaging technique that provides an early look at a transplant’s likely success or failure.

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The clinical trial represents more than 15 years of work

by Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, M.D., professor in the Department of Medicine. Her research was launched in response to a tragic outcome for a patient with leukemia who received a bone marrow transplant. For about four weeks, she cared for her patient while waiting until the point when available laboratory and clinical diagnostic techniques could determine if the bone marrow had repopulated. The transplant had failed, and because the patient had been without white blood cells for several weeks after chemotherapy, she eventually succumbed to an infection and died.

Holter-Chakrabarty was determined to find a way to see, soon after a transplant, whether the bone marrow is growing. “That was the state of the science at the time – we didn’t have the diagnostic capability of predicting if a transplant would be successful,” she said. “It was very upsetting to lose my patient because I couldn’t tell whether her cells where growing. I am hopeful that this clinical trial will let us know early on whether a transplant is working, so that we can take different steps to intervene if needed. Waiting four to six weeks is too long.”

Holter-Chakrabarty’s research trajectory began after reading a publication by scientists in the Netherlands who had used a new imaging agent called fluorothymidine (FLT) in positron emission tomography (PET) for solid tumors like breast and lung cancer. In that case, FLT imaging provided an excellent view of the bones but a poor look at the breasts and lungs.

Holter-Chakrabarty realized that those researchers’ problem was her solution – an imaging agent that could light up the bones to reveal whether marrow was growing.

FLT’s potential is in how it differs from the current standard imaging agent, FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose). Because FDG is tied to glucose, when used for imaging, it recognizes any cell that is active, whether dividing or because of inflammation.

However, the thymidine in FLT only distinguishes cells that that are dividing – the exact behavior of a bone marrow transplant that is working as intended.

Holter-Chakrabarty first tested FLT imaging in the laboratory, where it allowed her to see bone marrow repopulating in mice whose marrow had been irradiated. She then tested it in a small clinical trial in bone marrow transplant patients who were at low risk of failure because of the similarity of the donor’s marrow. Again, that trial demonstrated that FLT imaging could accurately predict early marrow growth, as well as the safety of FLT. In the current trial, Holter-Chakrabarty is testing FLT imaging in patients whose type of bone marrow transplant puts them at a 10-12% chance of failure. In particular, the patients have undergone cord blood transplants, which use donated cells from a mother’s placenta, and haplo-identical transplants, which are matched by half, usually siblings or parents of the recipient. Patients will undergo imaging one day prior to transplant, at five to nine days after transplant, and again 28 days after. In another cohort, patients who are not producing new cells by day 24 will undergo a single FLT image to determine whether the transplant is delayed or has failed.

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“The more we know about the biology of the process, like understanding which proteins are in particular places and what types of modifications occur in the cells, the more we can be very direct and prescriptive about how we make changes to help the patient early on.”

The trial also will allow Holter-Chakrabarty to study different biomarkers to learn more about why some transplant recipients are more at risk for failure than others.

“The more we know about the biology of the process, like understanding which proteins are in particular places and what types of modifications occur in the cells, the more we can be very direct and prescriptive about how we make changes to help the patient early on,” she said.

The clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will enroll 50 patients at three centers: OU Health, Emory University and the University of Michigan. Holter-Chakrabarty’s colleagues at the two other sites lead the project with her. If successful, the trial will mark a major leap forward for bone marrow transplant physicians and the blood cancer patients they treat. Patients whose bone marrow transplants fail only have a 30% survival rate over three years. Moving closer to improving those odds is gratifying, Holter-Chakrabarty said.

“It has been very exciting to reach this point,” she said.

“To be able to see bone marrow growing in a human while you’re doing the transplant is a first for our field. This trial is addressing the very problem I faced when I lost my patient all those years ago, and it will provide hope for our patients in the future.”

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Wild, who was the lead author on the publication, studied data from the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-term research project that focused on strategies for preventing heart disease and several other conditions in post-menopausal women. In the hormone therapy trial, the largest of its kind in the world, 27,347 post-menopausal women ages 50 to 79 were enrolled from 1993 to 1998 across the United States; some received hormone therapy and some received a placebo. Because a large amount of data about the women’s overall health had been gathered when they enrolled, and the trial continued to analyze them for nearly 18 years, there was a treasure trove of information about which women ended up with cardiovascular disease.

To examine that data, Wild used two different cardiovascular risk scoring systems. One is from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, and the other is called the Framingham Risk Score. The two scoring systems are similar in that they assess vital signs like age, race, total cholesterol, HDL (the “good” part of cholesterol), systolic blood pressure, use of blood pressure medication, diabetes and smoking status. The Framingham score differs because it substitutes body mass index (BMI) for HDL cholesterol.

Robert Wild, M.D., Ph.D., MPH

At the conclusion of the study, the evidence was clear: Both cardiovascular risk scoring systems were a better predictor of cardiovascular disease than chronological age and years since menopause.

‘Vascular Age’ Assessment Important Before Starting Hormone Therapy For women who are talking to their physicians about hormone therapy for the relief of menopausal symptoms, the decision isn’t always straightforward. Hormone therapy brings an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but so does midlife itself — simply because of the aging process and an increase in risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity.

Robert Wild, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, a physician-scientist at the OU College of Medicine, published a breakthrough study in the journal Menopause that provides clarity on the subject.

His research shows that determining a woman’s “vascular age” is a better indicator for cardiovascular disease risk than her chronological age or years since menopause.

For years, physicians have typically considered a woman’s age and how long she’s been in menopause to decide whether hormone therapy is sufficiently low risk. However, that doesn’t always provide the clearest answer. A 52-year-old woman who smokes, is overweight and has high cholesterol faces a much higher cardiovascular risk than a 65-year-old woman who has few risk factors. Wild’s study demonstrated that measuring a woman’s cardiovascular disease risk, or vascular age, is a much better tool for making decisions about hormone therapy.

“What this study tells us is that we have to look at the true risk of cardiovascular disease independent of age,” Wild said. “Age certainly plays a role, but it is modified by other risk factors.

We have to make individualized decisions instead of using a broad brush stroke.”

“This is a landmark study because it is contrary to what the prevailing argument has always been,” Wild said. “It is the culmination of a lot of years of work, and it’s gratifying that it is now published and is being heard. It’s important for our management of patients because it allows us to begin to quantify risk and refine it above and beyond a simple age estimate.”

Over the years, hormone therapy has led to polarization among medical fields. Cardiologists tend to be against hormone therapy, while gynecologists and primary care physicians have been more likely to prescribe it to ease their patients’ symptoms. However, Wild’s study provides a middle ground and an enhanced method of predicting risk. He said he hopes the approach quickly becomes part of clinical practice. The risk scoring systems are easy to use, he said, and many health systems have integrated them into their electronic health records.

Wild is also incorporating his study results into his work as an educator of medical students and residents. He is developing a clinic, particularly for those going into primary care and obstetrics and gynecology, that will give them more in-depth experience with menopause management.

The research also should be empowering for patients, who can share in the decision-making process about starting hormone therapy or changing doses if they’ve already begun.

“We have to individualize our decisions about hormone therapy,” Wild said. “This study validates that we can do that because we can better estimate vascular age.”

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Study results show that older adults’ immune systems respond to immunotherapy.

Study Shows Patients Over 80 Benefit from Immunotherapy for Certain Cancers Patients 80 and older who are treated with single-agent immunotherapies for some cancers benefit from these innovative treatments and have somewhat comparable outcomes to younger people who received the same type of treatments for similar cancers, according to a landmark study published today in the journal JAMA Oncology. Abdul Rafeh Naqash, M.D., a clinical trials physician at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, is senior author of the study, which suggests that older adults’ immune systems, when stimulated with immunotherapies, could indeed be up to the challenge of fighting certain types of cancers.

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Immunotherapy drugs are anti-cancer agents that stimulate the body’s immune system to target and control tumors. These agents have shown promise in controlling some tumors more than others and have transformed the treatment landscape of some cancers over the past decade.

“Not all patients benefit from immunotherapy, which is why there is a significant need to understand which clinical and biological factors contribute to favorable or unfavorable outcomes for patients with cancer,” said Naqash, an assistant professor in the Section of Hematology/Oncology.

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Often, oncologists prescribe combination therapies, such as chemotherapy with an immunotherapy drug, or two types of immunotherapy, to treat certain cancers. To keep comparisons uniform, Naqash’s research group only looked at patients receiving single-agent immunotherapies. Because of that sole focus, the study suggests a single-agent immunotherapy drug may be sufficient in some cases to prompt an immune response, control the cancer, and avoid the side effects associated with combination therapies, which is especially important in an age group that tends to be frail.

“Oncologists should have multidisciplinary, patient-centric discussions, taking into account the type of cancer, the patient’s functional status, their goals of care and any additional medical conditions, when deciding on a treatment course,” Naqash said. “Oncologists should not immediately lean toward palliative care or non-treatment simply because of a patient’s age,” Naqash said.

The study also showed that while patients 90 and older received benefits from immunotherapy, they also experienced slightly more side effects than those 80 to 90, and ultimately discontinued treatment earlier. This indicates that older adults may have a lower threshold for side effects and warrant closer monitoring while receiving immunotherapy, Naqash said.

Abdul Rafeh Naqash, M.D.

An international team of physician-researchers, led by Naqash and his collaborator from Vanderbilt University, Caroline Nebhan, M.D., conducted the study. They were seeking to address a shortage of information that exists about treatment response, side effects and survival rates among people with certain types of cancer who are 80 or older and treated with immunotherapy. Although some cancer-related clinical trials enroll older patients, they tend to be age 65 to 75. Naqash estimates that less than 5% of cancer-related treatment trials involving immunotherapy include people over 80.

In this study, researchers retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 928 patients with cancer, age 80 and older, who were treated with single-agent immunotherapies at 18 academic medical centers across the United States and Europe. Three types of cancer were primarily reviewed — non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and genitourinary tumors, including prostate, bladder and kidney cancer.

“We found that patients over age 80 had promising and comparable treatment response and survival, and no significant difference in side effects, compared to previously reported outcomes for younger populations with similar cancers,” Naqash said. “Because immunotherapy depends upon the patient’s immune system to activate anti-cancer effects, this study suggests that certain elements of the immune system maintain integrity even as we age.”

Naqash’s study is considered a “proof of principle” publication, a necessary first step for advancing knowledge about cancer treatment in older patients. The next stage will be to create randomized clinical trials to further assess and validate the findings, by enrolling patients in the same age range and investigating specific types of cancer treated with immunotherapy. Naqash, in collaboration with colleagues at other institutions, also plans to analyze blood samples and genetic sequencing of tumors to better understand how the tumor microenvironment changes as people age. This information will be used to identify potential targets for treating various cancers.

Naqash’s current publication in JAMA Oncology, a top cancer research journal published by the American Medical Association, represents the most extensive study to date that elaborates on outcomes for adults 80 and older whose cancer was treated with immunotherapy. The study is also an important reminder that older patients are underrepresented in cancer clinical trials, he said.

“We should try to incorporate older patients in clinical trials whenever and wherever they can be,” he said. “By doing so, we will have better data so that physicians and their patients can make treatment decisions that are age-appropriate, rather than relying upon and extrapolating data that are primarily drawn from younger populations.”

Naqash is part of the Oklahoma TSET Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program at Stephenson Cancer Center, where he develops and conducts phase 1 clinical trials with the aim of creating innovative therapies to treat cancer and improve the lives of patients. He is known nationally for his work on cancer immunotherapy outcomes in unique patient populations, and he has led several international efforts to investigate immunotherapy-related side effects in patients with cancer.

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irritability, appetite suppression, headaches and stomach aches. A2A medications had a smaller amount of side effects, primarily daytime sleepiness.

The difference between the two medications is what they target in the brain – stimulants work on dopamine receptors and A2A medications work on alpha 2 receptors. Although stimulants are considered controlled substances because they run the risk of addiction in older, primarily adult, populations, they are actually the most well-studied class of medications in all of pediatrics, Bax said. However, until this study, researchers understood less about how well A2A medications worked as compared to stimulants in preschool-age children.

Ami Bax, M.D.

National Study Compares Two ADHD Medications for Preschool-Age Children In the largest analysis of its kind to date, OU College of Medicine researchers were part of a multisite study that compared the effectiveness and side effects of two different types of medications used to treat Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in preschool-age children.

The results, which found comparable effectiveness between the two medications, will guide further studies in an age group that is experiencing a rise in ADHD diagnoses.

“This study is important because the diagnosis of ADHD in preschool-age children is now at 2%, which is higher than it has been in the past. Children with ADHD are more likely to be expelled from preschool, and academic under-achievement is more common,” said Ami Bax, M.D., who led the study for the OU College of Medicine and serves as Section Chief for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics.

OU College of Medicine researchers participated in the study along with six other sites across the United States as part of the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Research Network (DBPNet). Collectively, they analyzed the outcomes of 500 preschool-age children who had been prescribed either a stimulant medication or an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist (A2A) medication to treat symptoms of ADHD. The medications were prescribed between 2013 and 2017; about one-third of the study population was prescribed an A2A medication and the rest received a stimulant medication. Stimulant medications for ADHD have been well-studied, are effective, and are more commonly prescribed, Bax said, but less is known about how well A2A medications work, particularly among preschool-age children.

The study found that both types of medications were effective for treating ADHD. The stimulants were slightly more effective than the A2A medications, Bax said, but the stimulants also had a few more side effects, including

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“Stimulants, when used appropriately, are safe and effective,” Bax said. “But this study was the first time that A2A medications had been analyzed in a large group of preschool-age children. The takeaway from the study is that both types of medications were effective in treating ADHD, with stimulants being slightly more effective but having more side effects. Depending on the severity of ADHD in children and how well they respond to different medications, we now really have two options that have some research to back them.”

When ADHD is diagnosed in preschool-age children, the first line of treatment is typically behavior therapy to guide parents in interactions with their children, an approach that is quite effective, Bax said. The study showed that only 45% of children received behavior therapy prior to medication, which may point to the shortage of behavioral therapists, particularly in rural states like Oklahoma. Bax and her study colleagues advocate for and highly recommend parent behavioral management therapy as the first-line treatment for preschool-age children with ADHD, but the study’s primary focus was the two types of medications, which physicians may prescribe when children need additional support.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Bax said the next step for the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Research Network (DBPNet) is to further verify the data by creating a prospective randomized clinical trial in which preschool-age children are enrolled and assigned to receive one of the two medications.

Using the same data set, researchers published a related study that demonstrated telephone visits are just as effective as in-person visits to manage ADHD medications in preschoolers. While most diagnoses and medication prescriptions for ADHD were made during an in-person clinic visit, adjustments to the medications were often accomplished over the phone, Bax said. The data used in the study occurred before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes the results even more relevant today.

“Telephone management is important because if we have wait until the next in-person visit to adjust medications, it would slow our progress toward reaching the right dosage,” Bax said. “During the pandemic, we have relied even more on telephone and virtual visits, so this study shows us that with frequent, close communication, we can get to the right medicine and the right dose faster.”

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The study also demonstrated the importance of earlier screening for atrial fibrillation in patient populations considered high-risk. Guidelines currently recommend screening for asymptomatic atrial fibrillation beginning at age 65. However, eight of the 15 patients identified with atrial fibrillation in this study were between 50 and 65, Stavrakis said.

“We had hypothesized that because American Indians have a higher incidence of risk factors, we would find atrial fibrillation in younger ages,” he said. “We recommend that screening in American Indians start at a younger age. In addition, because American Indians are significantly underrepresented in research studies in general, we need to conduct further studies focusing on Indigenous populations.”

Stavrakis said the study participants were compared to a group of about 1,200 people in the same age range who were patients at the clinic but not enrolled in the study. In that group, doctors identified three cases of atrial fibrillation during standard screening. “Using the standard care, you find significantly fewer numbers of cases,” he said.

Stavros Stavrakis, M.D., Ph.D.

Study Detects ‘Silent’ Atrial Fibrillation in American Indians Using Smartphone-Based ECG

All patients in the study who were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation were started on blood thinners to decrease the risk of risk of stroke. However, over the course of a year, the clinic increased its overall use of blood thinners in patients not in the study but diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

A study by researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center demonstrated the effectiveness of using a smartphone-based electrocardiogram (ECG) to detect atrial fibrillation among American Indians, a population with increased risk factors for the condition.

Atrial fibrillation, which causes an irregular heartbeat, can lead to stroke, blood clots and heart failure. About half of atrial fibrillation cases are asymptomatic, and 40% to 50% of people with the condition don’t know they have it. For some people, having a stroke is the first time they know they have atrial fibrillation.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, was conducted in partnership with the Absentee Shawnee Tribal Health System. Patients age 50 and older who were coming to see their primary care provider, and did not have a prior diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, had the option to participate in the study, which ultimately enrolled 1,019 people.

Upon their arrival at the clinic, study participants placed their fingers for 30 seconds on a small ECG that connected to an app.

The ECG identified 15 patients who had “silent” atrial fibrillation, meaning they had no symptoms. “That is about 1.5% of the study’s enrollment, but to put that into perspective, when we do the same type of ECG in Caucasian populations, we find 0.4% with atrial fibrillation. In the population we worked with, silent atrial fibrillation was three times higher,” said the study’s lead author, cardiologist Stavros Stavrakis, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine.

“We attribute that to raising awareness about atrial fibrillation in the clinic in general among the physicians, nursing staff and patients,” he said.

The next step for Stavrakis and his team is to conduct a larger, randomized study in which some patients are screened with the smartphone-based ECG and others are not. He envisions a future where such devices are routine in primary care clinics, or people use them at home if they are in a higher-risk population.

The study is also an important element of the OU Health Sciences Center’s ongoing partnerships with Oklahoma’s American Indian tribes. The Absentee Shawnee Tribe is a partner in the Oklahoma Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which unites non-profits, American Indian communities, public agencies and primary care providers in research addressing the poor health outcomes of Oklahomans.

“Dr. Stavrakis and his team here at the OU Health Sciences Center and Dr. Marty Lofgren and his team at the Absentee Shawnee Health System worked beautifully together. This research would not have been possible without mutual respect and clear understanding of what we were trying to accomplish and the benefits for the community. This type of partnership should be the goal of any research partnership,” said Lancer Stephens, Ph.D., member of the Kitikiti’sh tribe, Associate Core Director for the Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources, and Associate Dean for Sovereignty, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the Hudson College of Public Health at the OU Health Sciences Center.

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patients are suffering from chemo brain. Furthermore, older adults are at the highest risk of developing cancer, and they may already be experiencing some of the cognitive challenges associated with aging, such as dementia. Adding another deficit can significantly impact the functioning and independence of older patients, leading to faster decline even after they have survived cancer.”

Csiszar, who received the grant from the National Cancer Institute, focuses on aging and age-related cognitive impairment in her research lab. As it turns out, chemo brain has some similarities. In reviewing the scientific literature, Csiszar realized that the human brain after chemotherapy looks similar to the accelerated brain aging research models that she uses in her other projects. She began forming some ideas and, in collaboration with several OU colleagues in cancer treatment and research, began studying chemo brain.

Csiszar knew that because of the blood-brain barrier, chemotherapy agents are not able to enter the brain tissue and directly cause damage. Nor are the neurons damaged because they are resistant to chemotherapy agents. Her hypothesis is that chemotherapy is damaging the endothelial cells of the brain vasculature, the network of blood vessels that is key to healthy brain functioning. Endothelial cells are on the lookout for drugs and changes in circulation, and they respond with regulation of blood flow, barrier capacity and inflammation. When endothelial cells are damaged — because of chemotherapy, for example — they undergo cellular senescence, which puts them in a suspended state.

Researchers call them “zombie cells.”

Anna Csiszar, M.D., Ph.D.

OU College of Medicine Researcher Earns Grant to Study ‘Chemo Brain’

“Senescent cells are unable to fulfill their normal function, but they are also unable to die,” Csiszar said. “That’s why they are called ‘zombie cells.’”

Up to 75% of cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy are affected by “chemo brain,” with symptoms such as difficulty focusing, processing information, learning new tasks, and planning or making decisions. Thus far, scientists have not been able to pinpoint the exact cause, but a researcher at the OU College of Medicine has been awarded a $1.6 million federal grant to study a promising new hypothesis.

Chemo brain is an underrecognized but potentially debilitating side effect of cancer treatment. The phenomenon, formally known as chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment, can arise while patients are undergoing treatment, and it can persist months to years later. Because cognitive symptoms range from mild to severe, and can be hard to identify because of other factors like fatigue or depression, doctors may not recognize the early signs, and there are no strategies to prevent or reverse the problem once it begins.

“It’s very frustrating for cancer survivors to experience these long-term side effects,” said Anna Csiszar, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher in the Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “It often causes problems in the workforce when people are unable to focus on their work. And because the survival rate for cancer is increasing, more and more

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Csiszar believes that “zombie cells” impair the flow of blood to the brain and set off a cascade of changes that eventually lead to cognitive impairment. She also aims to prove through her research that eliminating the “zombie cells” will prevent or reverse cognitive impairment. Pharmaceutical companies are already developing drugs, for other indications, that will selectively eliminate “zombie cells,” she said.

Csiszar’s project is part of a growing gero-oncology research group at OU. She oversees a large tissue bank for the Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, which other researchers use for projects that span both aging and cancer. Her funding from the National Cancer Institute to study chemo brain underscores the value of collaborations between clinicians and basic science researchers to improve the lives of Oklahomans, she said.

“There is truly an intersection between geroscience and cancer biology, prevention and treatment,” she said.

“These teams represent the future of research, and we have wonderful momentum on our campus.”

Research reported in this story is supported by the National Cancer Institute, a component of the National Institute of Health, under the award number 1R01CA255840-01. Local funding organization Presbyterian Health Foundation also provided support.

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Because physicians have a limited amount of time to cover many things, we can save them some time and enhance overall patient care by diving deeper into the areas that we have expertise in as psychologists. In turn, a patient who is healthier mentally is going to function better overall and have improved treatment adherence. We have a great team, and I believe an integrated team provides better care,” said Amy Cherry, Ph.D., director of the Pediatric Psychology Program and an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Section of General and Community Pediatrics.

The Pediatric Psychology Team is comprised of 11 psychologists, nine with faculty appointments in the Section of General and Community Pediatrics and two in the Section of Hematology-Oncology. Three are integrated in primary care clinics and the rest provide care and consultations in specialty clinics and on inpatient floors, in disciplines that include gastroenterology, rheumatology, endocrinology, nephrology, cystic fibrosis, and others. The team has grown steadily over the past 15 years and is considered a model for both traditional mental health services and care that is provided for patients with specific medical diagnoses.

Pediatric psychologists are integrated into the care teams for both inpatient and outpatient children’s services.

J. Carrick Carter, Psy.D., is the director of psychosocial services for the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Children, where the psychology team meets with all patients newly diagnosed with cancer and provides care and support to families as needed throughout treatment.

The center has several specialty clinics, including the Brain Tumor Clinic, the Neurocutaneous Syndromes Clinic, the Sickle Cell Clinic, the Bleeding Disorders Clinic, and the Cancer Survivorship Clinic.

The team’s initial role is to simply meet patients and families where they are in handling the heavy news of a

Psychologists Meet Needs of Children, Families in Integrated Care Model A team of OU Health pediatric psychologists — integrated within Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and multiple primary care and specialty clinics — provides mental and behavioral health services that are crucial for the overall well-being of children and their families.

On any given day, psychologists support a family whose toddler has received a difficult cancer diagnosis, an adolescent with diabetes who will soon be caring for his own health as an adult, a student experiencing anxiety at school, and youth in a multitude of other scenarios.

Because they are part of interdisciplinary care teams, the psychologists collaborate with physicians and other healthcare providers to meet each child and family’s specific needs. That approach, while still mostly found in academic healthcare settings, is recognized for its ability to best deliver care in the biopsychosocial model.

“The psychology field is moving toward integrated care as an effort to decrease stigma, increase access to care, improve care management, be more cost-effective and lower risks.

Amy Cherry, Ph.D.

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Noel Jacobs, Ph.D.

J. Carrick Carter, Psy.D.

cancer diagnosis. “We try to normalize the large spectrum of natural responses to something that is challenging,” Carter said. “We also assess a family’s needs — for some families, they’re very practical needs, like where they are going to stay during treatment when they live three hours away. Then we follow them during the treatment process. Maybe a child is trying to get used to being poked with a needle all the time, or they’re struggling with being away from home. We teach them some skills to handle things like that.

“Research tells us, and my clinical experience supports it, that most families are very resilient and are able to find a new norm, find the support they need, figure out the practical aspects of the situation, and manage very well. We are there to help them along the way,” Carter added.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Survivorship Clinic, which helps families and patients who have survived cancer learn to manage treatment-related issues and side effects, as well as the reality that they will be at risk for secondary cancers and illnesses.

“Research shows that some children who survive cancer will have problems with mood, memory, relationship-building, attention, and in other areas,” Carter said. “We also work on health maintenance behaviors, like diet, exercise and adherence to medication, because those are important for their long-term health. And a lot of times, parents are more likely to develop a trauma response to their child being diagnosed with cancer than the child is. The family functioning can change after that, so we address those situations as well.”

Pediatric psychologists play a crucial role in helping young people learn to manage their chronic conditions without the help of parents and to develop confidence in engaging with medical providers, in preparation for transitioning to an adult services doctor. Elements of transition readiness work include helping adolescents understand their medication dosages and reading lab reports, setting reminders for their

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appointments, and prioritizing their mental health and well-being as part of managing their medical condition.

Noel Jacobs, Ph.D., who works in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Clinic, said that young adults, once living independently, may end up needing emergency care for health situations that could have been prevented. He begins working with patients on transition readiness at age 14 or soon after. The time of transfer to an adult healthcare provider is based on the patient’s overall readiness and conversations with both the patient and the medical provider. If patients need to transfer before they are fully ready — if they are moving to another city, for example — the healthcare team works with them to find the best clinic and provider, and Jacobs tries to remain in contact until they’ve had their first visit with the new provider, if not longer.

“For example, my patients who have inflammatory bowel disease or those who have received a liver transplant are more likely to live with extra stress on a daily basis, in addition to the stress that day-to-day life brings us,” Jacobs said. “I tell my patients that I’m a ‘quality of life’ doctor because I care about them feeling capable about the things they want to do, having fun in their lives, and feeling empowered in their medical care.”

Pediatric psychologists working in primary care clinics play an important role in addressing overall mental and behavioral health. They care for patients with traditional issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma and school problems, typically seeing them the same day they see their medical doctor. A psychologist’s skills also are important for topics like weight management, vaccine hesitancy or smoking cessation. For patients who are diagnosed with a chronic condition, such as asthma, psychologists help them understand what will be required to manage the condition over the long term.

“Any type of chronic health condition is going to require some behavior change,” Cherry said, “whether it is taking medicine,

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include students working toward master’s and doctoral degrees, pre-doctoral interns and post-doctoral residents.

The psychologists also interact with medical residents from pediatrics and family medicine. For many trainees, it’s their first exposure to integrated care.

“I tell our trainees that it’s important to listen and meet people where they are,” Carter said. “We need to use our training and knowledge, but it’s important to approach every interaction with a family as a unique interaction, rather than feeling like we’re reading from a script. We need to get to know these families and hear their stories, worries and struggles, and to learn about their lives outside the walls of our clinics and hospital so that we can tailor our recommendations based on their specific needs. Sometimes our work is difficult, but it’s very meaningful and an honor to be present with people when they come to us for their care.”

Ryan Blucker, Ph.D.

changing your diet or exercising. Our job is to assess where families are, help them identify their reasons/motivation to work on some of those things, and assist them in overcoming barriers to behavior change.”

Ryan Blucker, Ph.D., is the psychologist at the Super Niños Clinic, located off campus at the Latino Community Development Agency. One of the most important ways that mental health has been integrated into the clinic is through the use of routine mental health screening forms, just as families complete medical forms on their first visit. The forms not only provide information that might need follow-up, but they help to normalize children receiving both medical and mental health services.

“That’s at the heart of integrated care — for psychologists and medical providers to work together in a system so that patients and families understand that this is all healthcare,” Blucker said. “When families understand that their children are being screened because everyone who comes to the clinic is screened, it helps to reduce some of the stigma about mental health. I’ve seen a shift among our patients who recognize that this is just a normal part of care. Quite a few families now call the clinic directly and ask for an appointment with me rather than waiting to be referred. That’s an encouraging sign that mental healthcare is not only acceptable, but it’s something that families have been thinking about.”

As part of an academic health system, the pediatric psychology team conducts a variety of research studies, often focusing on quality improvement. Current projects include assessing protocols for responding to post-partum depression; studying adjustment issues for families of newly diagnosed cancer patients; and creating strategies to address interpersonal conflict and violence.

The team is also active as educators, working with several levels of trainees to prepare them for their careers. They

Matthew Reinersman, M.D., performed OU Health’s first reconstructive surgery using 3D-printed components.

Surgeon Implants 3D-Printed Sternum Thoracic oncologic surgeon Matthew Reinersman, M.D., performed OU Health’s first reconstructive surgery using components generated by 3D printing technology.

Reinersman’s patient had her sternum removed as part of a lifesaving cancer surgery, but the resulting gap in the bony structure was a source of pain, making breathing and speaking difficult. The patient had undergone two previous reconstructions, but available materials were not rigid enough

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to contain bulging lung tissue, which caused considerable discomfort.

Reinersman implanted the titanium segments crafted specifically for this patient. Scans provided accurate images of the defect, and a sterile model was designed to ensure a precision fit before the final prosthetic was printed and placed.

Relief was nearly instantaneous. Reinersman worked for months with an Indiana-based lab based to create a titanium sternum bone.

“It’s a pretty ingenious concept. There are plates that go between ribs, screwed into the plate and then into her ribs.

Other plates are placed for stability of the whole structure,” Reinersman said. “It was amazing in that it fit exactly — like it was her own natural sternum.”

“Our kids are the most direct beneficiaries of these enhancements, but philanthropic support helps us better serve entire families who are reassured that every conceivable measure is directed toward the healing and restored health of their loved ones.”

“We can never overstate our depth of gratitude for the generous support of donors like Presbyterian Health Foundation,” said Jon Hayes, president of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. “This response to practical needs makes a difference in ways that really count. Advanced technologies and innovative therapies are essential, but comfort is a cornerstone of compassionate care.”

The funding is being used to purchase high-quality infusion chairs for the Jimmy Everest Center, which will maximize the comfort of children undergoing cancer treatment for long periods. Enhanced environments minimize the effect of isolation and other precautions that must be observed to protect patients with weakened immune systems.

Presbyterian Health Foundation made a gift toward patient care in cancer and cardiology at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health.

PHF Gift Enhances Children’s Hospital Presbyterian Health Foundation in Oklahoma City donated $100,000 to Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health to elevate the care of patients being treated at the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases and at the Children’s Heart Center.

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The donation also will provide much-needed equipment upgrades for Children’s Heart Center, including a stress exercise system and non-invasive blood pressure monitoring capability. A treadmill, as well as upright and recumbent ergometer eBikes, represent practical technological advances that are both diagnostic and rehabilitative. In addition, patient rooms will be enhanced with décor that is more child-friendly.

Hayes said long-standing support from Presbyterian Health Foundation helps to ensure exceptional care and a healing environment. “We’re committed to providing pediatric care that’s second to none,” Hayes said. “Our kids are the most direct beneficiaries of these enhancements, but philanthropic support helps us better serve entire families who are reassured that every conceivable measure is directed toward the healing and restored health of their loved ones.

‘Little things’ aren’t superficial. They’re often the big things that make hospitalization less fearful and stressful.”

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Students from across the OU Health Sciences Center played an integral role in organizing and staffing COVID-19 vaccine clinics.

Students Play Critical Role in Vaccinating Oklahomans When COVID-19 vaccinations arrived, the logistics of making them available to faculty, staff and the public were considerable. Locations and supplies needed to be secured, a workflow had to be developed and, importantly, hundreds of volunteers were necessary for the process to run smoothly.

Into those roles stepped OU Health Sciences Center students, whose time and skills led to the vaccination of more than 50,000 Oklahomans in 2021.

OU College of Medicine students have been key in the effort, providing 60% of the volunteer hours among trainees and working alongside their fellow students in the Colleges of Pharmacy, Nursing, Dentistry, Allied Health, Public Health and the Graduate College. Not only have they learned about a global virus in real time, but they allowed the enterprise to vaccinate many more people than otherwise would have been possible.

“Even though we are still in the developmental phase of our careers, this entire experience with vaccine clinics has allowed me to realize my potential as a student — even though I’m not yet licensed, I can still have a pretty sizable impact on the patient population. One of our biggest goals has been to empower all students to realize the same potential in themselves,” said Tram Le, a member of the College of Medicine Class of 2023 and chair of the student-led Unity Clinic.

In January 2021, as vaccination efforts were expanding, the students of Unity Clinic were brought on board to help vaccinate the mass influx of people seeking their shots on campus. Unity Clinic is not a physical building but a mobile, student-led effort that is housed in the Office of

Dale Bratzler, D.O., MPH, background, OU’s Chief COVID Officer, works with students as they train to give vaccinations.

Interdisciplinary Programs at the OU Health Sciences Center.

Typically, students volunteer hundreds of hours each year caring for patients at Oklahoma City’s charitable clinics and working at health fairs and educational events. Because many of those activities had been halted due to the pandemic, students were eager to help with vaccinations.

The students quickly mobilized to recruit and schedule additional volunteers; help create a workflow for each step of the process, from registration to monitoring patients after their shots; train students to give injections if they had not already

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Students draw doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in preparation for a vaccine pod at Good Shepherd Clinic at First Baptist Church in downtown Oklahoma City.

Students held vaccine clinics around central Oklahoma, including at Thunder basketball games.

been trained; secure personal protective equipment and plan for infection control; and more. As vaccine clinics grew in size, more student volunteers came on board — about 375 served from January to mid-July 2021. The total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered through Unity Clinic volunteers comprised 1.2% of all vaccinations in the state of Oklahoma and 11.1% in Oklahoma County.

The vaccine clinics also served as fertile ground for quality improvement projects on vaccine efficiency. In January 2021, the highest vaccination rates achieved were 62, 85 and 103 vaccinations per hour. In March 2021, the highest rates were 142, 168 and 204 vaccinations per hour. Students began organizing larger clinics, including a one-day “mega-pod” clinic in Norman where nearly 4,000 people were vaccinated.

“What was so incredible about that was that we had zero doses left over,” said Danial Gebreili, M.D., founder and former chair of Unity Clinic who is now in his residency. “It was a very logistically challenging process given that there were people who registered who didn’t show up, and people who showed up who didn’t register. Throughout that process, the wait time was nearly zero and we had no waste of vaccines. During a time when vaccines were limited, that was absolutely crucial because one vaccine could save lives.”

As they continued holding clinics, the students realized that there were people who, for various reasons, were not able to make it to larger vaccine clinics. So they decided to organize “strike team vaccine pods” to offer smaller, targeted clinics in the communities where people live. They have partnered with churches, schools, community centers, charitable clinics and other venues to provide vaccines to people who were often among the most underserved populations.

“It was a humbling experience,” Le said. “We learned how to approach and communicate with each community population individually. There was no standardized process for addressing vaccine hesitancy in everyone, for example.

Just because I was wearing a white coat didn’t mean that I automatically knew how to care for people in each different community.”

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By working such a significant number of hours, students took some of the pressure off the current healthcare workforce, most of whom could not afford to leave their existing patient care roles. The depth and breadth of the students’ organization meant that only a few clinician supervisors were needed at each vaccine clinic. Without fail, students were the first to arrive at each vaccine clinic and the last to leave, in addition to their planning time in between.

“Our doctors and nurses were under a tremendous amount of stress due to COVID-19,” Gebreili said. “If we as students didn’t step up to help, there would have been an additional burden on a health system that was already overstretched.”

Students also looked after each other’s well-being and schedules. When Le needed time to prepare for her board exams, she had ready help to take on her work, including students Jarad Anderson, Christa Bellack, Bryan Sloan, Brandon Moritz and Kiana Prather from the College of Medicine and Addison Davis and William Atkinson from the Hudson College of Public Health.

Working toward a health profession degree during a global pandemic has been a time of unique learning opportunities that students will take into their future careers.

College of Medicine Associate Dean for Student Affairs Mark Fergeson, M.D., said students gained an appreciation for the large interdisciplinary response required for a public health emergency.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a historic moment, and what the students will take from it is invaluable,” Fergeson said. “The bombing of the Murrah Building in downtown Oklahoma City occurred in 1995 when I was a second-year medical student. I have vivid memories of organizing students to go to the site and to work at Red Cross headquarters. Doctors, nurses, public health officials, clergy, law enforcement and everyone in between responded to the disaster together. That has stayed with me all these years. That’s what this pandemic will be for students. They’ll take the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers and the memories of being part of a pandemic response.”

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“It has helped me to better understand that providing care as a doctor on my own is not nearly as valuable without the talents of other healthcare professionals.”

“This is a wonderful acknowledgement of the excellent work of the IPE Unity teams regarding COVID vaccinations, and how effectively that work was represented in the presentation,” said Valerie Williams, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development. “I am so happy for all involved with the COVID info, vaccine pods, and the most recent iteration of strike teams to be recognized by association with this one presentation. Being acknowledged by and among national peers via the Nexus Summit is a fabulous accolade.”

Margaret Robinson, left, associate director of the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs, is pictured with three of the many student volunteers at COVID-19 vaccine clinics: Addison Davis, a master’s degree student at the Hudson College of Public Health, and medical students Danial Gebreili (now a resident) and Tram Le.

About 375 students from across the OU Health Sciences Center helped during several months of vaccination clinics in 2021. The three highest percentage of student volunteers were from the College of Medicine at 60%, followed by the College Nursing at 11.2% and the College of Pharmacy at 8.8%.

The clinics allowed students to work cooperatively with their peers in different disciplines in a way they might not have done otherwise. Students gained an appreciation for each other’s training and the roles they play in healthcare, such as pharmacy students’ expertise in the storage of and accountability for each vaccine dose, and nursing students’ practiced prowess at giving injections.

Interdisciplinary Student Poster on Vaccine Clinics Earns Recognition Students from all seven colleges at the OU Health Sciences Center volunteered thousands of hours to organize and carry out vaccine clinics on campus and around central Oklahoma.

Students captured the highlights of their service in a poster presentation, for which they were awarded the George E. Thibault, M.D., Nexus Award at the annual Nexus Summit.

The Nexus Summit is a conference held by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education.

Students who took part in the poster are part of Unity Clinic, a student-led interdisciplinary clinical experience housed within the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs at the OU Health Sciences Center. The award recognized the students for operationalizing vaccine clinics to meet the administrative challenges of large-scale vaccination events. Their poster and presentation was titled “IPE (Interprofessional Education) in Practice: Putting Shots in Arms.”

The experience provided a new understanding of just how important interdisciplinary care will be in their future careers, said College of Medicine student Brandon Moritz, who presented the poster during the virtual Nexus Summit.

“It has helped me to better understand that providing care as a doctor on my own is not nearly as valuable without the talents of other healthcare professionals,” Moritz said. “The unique talents that reside in a nurse or pharmacist or allied health professional are ones that I’m not equipped to do, and if they can do it better, and it benefits the patient, that’s the way to go every time. We also teach each other on interdisciplinary teams, and what we learn helps the patient to receive the best care possible.”

In addition to Moritz, students serving as authors on the poster were Jarad Anderson, Christa Bellack and Tram Le of the College of Medicine and Addison Davis and William Atkinson from the Hudson College of Public Health.

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Brandon Moritz was honored by the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved for his extensive efforts in caring for underserved populations

Association of Clinicians for the Underserved Honors Student for ‘Going Above and Beyond’ Even before he considered becoming a physician, Brandon Moritz was caring and advocating for underserved populations, a commitment that has only deepened during his time as a medical student at the OU College of Medicine. That dedication recently garnered national attention when he was honored by the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved with its Health Professional in Training Award.

Moritz, a member of the Class of 2023, was selected for the honor among health profession students from numerous disciplines around the nation. His efforts perfectly fit the award criteria of “going above and beyond” to address the healthcare needs of underserved populations.

“To encounter a student leader who has the gift of leadership — the ability to truly light up a room with inspiration and to transform ideas into engagement — is rare,” said OU College of Medicine Executive Director for Academic Affairs Lin Goldston, MHA, who nominated Moritz for the award.

“Brandon has never let the global COVID-19 pandemic slow him down. He has forged creative ways to provide access to care and improve health among the underserved population in Oklahoma City, and he helped lead the mobilization of hundreds of student volunteers to organize COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Oklahoma. His contributions to caring for underserved populations are vast and immeasurable.”

Moritz, who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, volunteered in a variety of projects from an early age. His parents laid the foundation for serving others, he said, and he was exposed to activities in which volunteers cared for the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and social needs of others. During his college years, he volunteered with Service Over Self, an organization providing home renovation and reconstruction in Memphis inner-city communities, and for several months he served in rural areas of Haiti through mobile outreach clinics with the organization Mission of Hope.

and began envisioning my career as serving marginalized communities that historically have had little access to care,” Moritz said.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Arkansas, Moritz moved to Philadelphia, where he worked for Esperanza Health Center, a federally qualified health center providing primary care services in a primarily underserved, Spanish-speaking community. Because of the clinic’s location in an area considered a “regional opioid epicenter,” that work also introduced him to the ravages of the opioid crisis.

Once he was accepted into the OU College of Medicine, Moritz discovered new outlets for caring for underserved populations. In his first year, he was named president of the OU Community Health Alliance (OUCHA), which serves the uninsured and underinsured populations of Oklahoma City while also creating an educational experience for students.

Brandon Moritz prepares to give a COVID-19 vaccination. He was among the student leaders for vaccine clinics.

“It was in Haiti that I solidified my desire to become a doctor

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2026 and 2027 over the long term, and future classes may be added as well.

Another element of Moritz’s recognition by the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved was his efforts to organize COVID-19 vaccine clinics and administer vaccines, both on campus and in the community. As a volunteer coordinator and member of the COVID-19 vaccine clinic leadership team, he facilitated trainings on how to give injections, coordinated student volunteer efforts, worked long hours at each clinic, and provided analysis of vaccine clinic data for internal use, reports and posters.

Medical student Brandon Moritz looks in a patient’s ear at Crossings Community Clinic in Oklahoma City.

Medical students, along with many of their peers in other colleges at the OU Health Sciences Center, care for patients at about 15 local charitable clinics. OUCHA carries out many other initiatives, including the Bridges to Access Conference, which focuses on issues concerning access to care in underserved populations, as well as the Stop the Bleed program, in which students train the community on how to use tourniquets and pack wounds in the case of a severe injury. Other activities take students into local elementary schools and community organizations to provide preventive health information.

“It’s been really life-giving work,” Moritz said. “That’s something one of my mentors told me before I started medical school — to pursue the part of medicine that fills you up and reminds you of why you pursued medicine in the first place. One of the greatest needs in our country is primary care, especially in communities that have very few doctors and resources.”

Moritz has developed an additional partnership with Crossings Community Clinic in Oklahoma City, where he came on staff before he began medical school. He developed a gap year internship for pre-med and pre-health students to gain experience before they begin their health profession education. The program, now in its third year, is paying off — interns from the first two years are being admitted to medical school. He also worked with the clinic staff to design a chronic disease management program focusing primarily on patients with hypertension and diabetes. As part of that work, he helped to hire a social worker to provide additional resources to patients. In addition, he wrote grants that allowed the clinic to purchase colposcopy equipment for women’s health and a spirometer to assess lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This year, Moritz began serving as a Graduate Research Assistant for both OU College of Medicine Academic Affairs and the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs at the OU Health Sciences Center. As part of that role, he is conducting a study to gather data about whether student involvement with underserved populations influences their eventual career and volunteer decisions. He will be following the Classes of 2025,

With a little over a year left in his undergraduate medical education, Moritz is planning for his future. He hopes to match into a combined residency of internal medicine/ pediatrics and join a program with a major emphasis on caring for underserved communities. Ultimately, he sees his career at the intersection of clinical care, conducting research, and educating the next generation of physicians about the importance of caring for those who historically have been overlooked and underserved.

“I’m a major proponent of an asset-based approach — looking inside a community to see the talents and resources that are already there, then working alongside them to create change from the inside out. That is a more sustainable approach than pouring money in from the outside or telling a community what they need,” he said.

“These communities are filled with incredibly smart and gifted people who have been marginalized and, because of that, don’t have the same resources and access to healthcare that other communities do. I am a far better person for having been given the opportunity to listen and learn from them. They’re my neighbors and are equally deserving of having access to the resources and services that can help them lead a fulfilling and healthy life. Their well-being is my well-being.”

College’s Student Satisfaction Rate Above 75th Percentile The OU College of Medicine received impressive results from the most recent student satisfaction survey conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The college’s overall student satisfaction rate is again above the 75th percentile. Notably, more than 70% of courses and clerkships were ranked in the top quartile nationally, and 33% of those were above the 90th percentile. The AAMC sends the survey each spring to all graduating medical students; the recent results reflect the input from the Class of 2021.

This survey is especially important to schools of allopathic medicine because the accrediting body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), places as much weight on student satisfaction scores as any other outcome,

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including standardized exam scores. The survey is anonymous, allowing students to be as frank as they’d like.

“We’re very proud of these outcomes,” said Christopher Candler, M.D., Ed.D., Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. “We work hard to meet students’ needs. The fact that students gave our college such high marks is a testament to our faculty, our curriculum and curriculum support services, our Student Affairs staff, and many others throughout the college.”

The excellent student satisfaction ratings came during a busy and demanding year. In addition to the overall challenges presented by COVID-19, the college transitioned to a virtual process for admissions and residency interviews.

A new multi-campus student management system, called the Leo Project, was implemented to replace MedHub for undergraduate medical education. The OU-TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa made extensive changes in preparation for the upcoming implementation of the Longitudinal Integrated Curriculum, as well as a condensed three-year medical school track for select students going into a primary care discipline. In addition, the college’s Continuous Quality Improvement and Curriculum Evaluation processes were revamped, and the Student Affairs office implemented new academic advising and wellness activities.

“When we look at the data for groups who are underrepresented in medicine, including African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and people from rural areas of the state, we are moving in the right direction,” said Robert Salinas, M.D., Assistant Dean for Diversity for the College of Medicine. “We still have a lot of work to do, but some of the programs we’re offering may be helping those students who aspire to become physicians.”

Programs organized through the Office of Diversity include Club Scrubs, the Mini Medical School Experience, and the SPARK Summer Program, all geared toward high school students who are interested in healthcare careers. The annual Representing Oklahoma and Diversity (R.O.A.D.) Conference fosters interest among those who are underrepresented in medicine.

In addition, the college is now in its second iteration of OU Med REV UP!, an intensive five-month course that prepares college students to apply to medical school.

The medical readiness program breaks down some of the barriers that underrepresented minorities face when considering medical school, particularly preparation for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Scores on the MCAT are a significant factor in admission to medical school, yet many people from rural and underrepresented populations can’t afford the price tag for prep courses, which often cost thousands of dollars. OU Med REV UP! is free and gives students one-on-one mentoring and guidance as they prepare for the MCAT and create a medical school portfolio.

“If we can recruit a more diverse workforce from tribal, rural and underserved communities, there’s a good chance that they will return to their communities to practice and elevate the health status of the population they care for,” Salinas said.

For the current first-year medical school class, the college also had a record high number of applicants who live in Oklahoma — 456. Because state law requires that each class be comprised of at least 75% Oklahoma residents, a larger pool of qualified applicants is encouraging, Salinas said.

Sydany Tran, a member of the Class of 2025, was inspired to become a physician so that she can provide equitable treatment to people from unserved and underrepresented communities.

Student Body Diversifying; Record Number of State Residents Apply The OU College of Medicine is welcoming increasingly diverse medical student classes, including the highest number of African Americans matriculating with the Class of 2025.

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Twelve students identified as African American as they began medical school in fall 2021. That’s an increase over the previous high of seven African Americans students in a single class. The college’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement conducts a variety of outreach and recruitment programs in order to build a more diverse student body.

Overall, there were 2,824 applications, 310 interviews conducted, and 164 selected for the Class of 2025. Students came from 36 different undergraduate institutions with 59 different majors, the top three being biochemistry, biology, and chemical biosciences.

“Our increasingly diverse student body brings valuable experiences and insight to the medical education journey,” said Sherri Baker, M.D., Associate Dean for Admissions.

“I am also grateful to our Admissions Board and interview subcommittee. They are a committed group of 120 faculty, practicing community physicians, and students who spent more than 2,400 hours evaluating and interviewing applicants.

I am incredibly grateful for their dedication and hard work in selecting the Class of 2025.”

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“Through my work at the charitable clinics, I see patient populations that are similar to what I saw in Nigeria — people without health insurance who cannot afford healthcare.”

Christiana Obioma

Third-Year Student Named Tillman Scholar Christiana Obioma, a member of the OU College of Medicine Class of 2023, was named a 2021 Tillman Scholar, an honor that reflects her dedication to military service and her plans to improve the lives of vulnerable populations through accessible healthcare.

Obioma grew up in Aba, Nigeria, where she often saw people suffering because of the lack of healthcare. People with chronic conditions like diabetes were frequently unable to manage their health, and others died from illnesses that would be easily survivable in other places. Having access to a hospital and its resources, including something as vital as oxygen, was not guaranteed.

Obioma decided that she wanted to find a way improve the health and well-being of people like those she knew growing up. Her journey to becoming a doctor, however, began with military service. In 2015, two years after she arrived in the United States, she enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve. She had been drawn to the organization and its values, and she became a combat medic with the 469th ground ambulance unit. She helped to provide medical services to military personnel, assisted with ambulance transports and learned basic emergency and medical skills.

“I grew so much from being in the military,” she said. “I learned time management, organizational skills and medical skills. It was an opportunity for me to grow professionally and personally.”

Her time as a combat medic also solidified her desire to become a physician. After applying to multiple medical schools, she was excited to accept admission from the OU College of Medicine so that she could stay in Oklahoma.

Now a third-year medical student, she is glad to be in clinics and hospitals gaining clinical experience. She also works with her peers to provide interdisciplinary care to patients at charitable clinics in the Oklahoma City area.

“Through my work at the charitable clinics, I see patient populations that are similar to what I saw in Nigeria — people without health insurance who cannot afford healthcare,” she said. “Being able to help those patient populations has meant so much to me. I think I will be interested in a primary care field because those are the patient populations I want to reach.”

Obioma has worked with her fellow students to launch a campus chapter of the Student National Medical Association, which is dedicated to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.

Obioma was one of 60 Tillman Scholars selected in 2021 from thousands of applicants nationwide. The Tillman Scholars program is part of the Pat Tillman Foundation, named for a former National Football League player who enlisted in the U.S. Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and ultimately lost his life while serving in Afghanistan.

Tillman Scholars are service members, veterans and military spouses who are beginning their next chapter as public and private sector leaders in a variety of fields. In addition to receiving a scholarship, Obioma joins a global network of peers, mentors and industry leaders and has access to lifelong leadership development opportunities.

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TULSA — OU -TU SCHOOL OF COMMUNIT Y MEDICINE

An evolving document created by the Office for Research Development and Scholarly Activity serves as a set of guidelines for increasing diversity in research studies.

Office Creates Guidelines for Using Race as Research Variable Although research globally has made strides toward inclusivity, the reality is that most studies focus on people who are white, well-educated and from industrialized, economically advantaged and democratic societies. The Office for Research Development and Scholarly Activity (ORDSA) at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine created an evolving set of guidelines to help researchers incorporate diverse study participants and conduct studies whose outcomes can be applied to the multiplicity of society.

Although the effort originates from the ORDSA office, many faculty and administrators across campus have contributed while also seeking perspectives from national experts and people in the community representing the diversity of race, ethnicity and cultures. A portion of the guidelines address appropriate language to describe various populations.

Other sections focus on statistical analysis involving race as a variable, as well as reporting results, including implications for practice and policy.

“Researchers tend to over-sample people who look like us,” said Sarah Beth Bell, Ph.D., a social psychologist in the ORDSA office. “When we do that, we can’t translate our findings to everyone. Representation matters when it comes to recruiting research participants.”

The document produced by the group is called Guidelines for Using Race as a Variable in Your Research. It is a starting point, not a finished product, and will change as the team continues to discover small and large ways of increasing diversity in research. The document is already being expanded with guidelines about sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and accessibility as they apply to research.

Kent Teague, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine, said the group plans to seek input across OU’s three campuses and further design

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the guidelines as a resource for both individual researchers and research administrative offices. Overall, the initiative is more of a marathon than a sprint.

“We want this to be a checklist of best practices and, going forward, something that becomes integrated throughout our university,” Teague said. “The systemic issues of underrepresentation and discrimination that we see in the political and social realms are also built into the research realm, which affects who we study and how we report and describe our results. This is about doing the best science for all the populations we study and we serve.”

Others involved with the initial creation of the project include research statistician Heather McIntosh, ORDSA program manager; Marianna Wetherill, Ph.D., MPH, and Mary Williams, Ph.D., representing the Hudson College of Public Health; and Jasmine Willis-Wallace, Ed.D., Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for OU-Tulsa.

Medical students, residents and graduate students who conduct research have begun referring to the guidelines as they carry out their projects, and the first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Research Award was presented during the last research forum. The guidelines also correlate with the institutional goal of increasing diversity among research faculty and trainees.

“We are coming up with a list of recommendations for departments to consider,” Bell said. “For example, when women chair hiring committees, 23% more women are hired.

When people of color chair hiring committees, 118% more people of color are hired. Just as we are focusing on research within diverse populations, we want to take the next step and focus on hiring, training and retaining a diverse research faculty, who will then serve as role models for students and trainees across the spectrum.”

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TULSA — OU -TU SCHOOL OF COMMUNIT Y MEDICINE

Family medicine residents who plan to offer obstetrics care are being offered an extra layer of training through a new program at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine.

Family Medicine Residents to Receive Extra OB Training Through the creation of an innovative new program, the OU-TU School of Community Medicine is providing an additional level of training for family medicine residents who plan to offer obstetrics care when they begin their own practices.

A total of 16 family medicine obstetrics track residents will rotate through several clinical sites, including the Okmulgee Indian Health Center of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation; the college’s own sites on the Schusterman campus at 41st and

The program, made possible by a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, is a collaboration between the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It sends family medicine residents into rural, tribal and underserved areas of Oklahoma to provide prenatal care under the supervision of attending physicians. Ultimately, the program aims to foster a desire among residents to practice in rural Oklahoma, and to give them the skills to provide the obstetrics care that is lacking in many areas of the state.

“Oftentimes, patients in rural areas receive almost no prenatal care,” said Karen Gold, M.D., chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and principal investigator of the grant. “A lack of transportation or being unable to leave work often prevents them from driving to Tulsa for the approximately 10 visits they need from their first trimester through delivery.

If we can offer these services in rural areas, we can detect problems before they have a chance to become bigger problems that could send them to the emergency room.

Patients deserve to have access to prenatal care no matter where they live.”

Viviane Sachs, M.D.

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TULSA — OU -TU SCHOOL OF COMMUNIT Y MEDICINE

Yale, the OU Health Physicians clinic at 11th and Lewis, the Tisdale clinic in north Tulsa, and at Hillcrest Medical Center, where they will spend part of their time working in Labor and Delivery. Plans are underway to expand into other rural and tribal communities surrounding Tulsa. Didactic and simulation training will further immerse residents in obstetrics care for pregnant women with hypertension, preeclampsia, diabetes, substance use disorder, and other conditions that pose risks for both baby and mother.

“This program is not a fellowship. This is additional training that provides residents with the confidence and skills to provide basic obstetric care, typically non-operative, when they leave residency,” Gold said. “Family medicine residents receive training in many different areas, but we want to provide them another layer of training in obstetrics, which is one of the highest risk areas of medicine. Some may choose to offer prenatal care only in their practice and work with a hospitalist group to deliver babies, and others will choose to deliver babies themselves. We want them to feel comfortable and competent to do all of that.”

“In rural areas, residents will be exposed to a different type of care because they won’t have the same resources available to them as they do in urban areas,” said family medicine physician Viviane Sachs, M.D., associate principal investigator for the grant. “That can be challenging, but one of our goals is to give residents more tools to help patients in these populations.”

Among those tools are telehealth and teleconsults, which have become much more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. While everything can’t be addressed virtually, much of the assessment, education and ordering of tests can be accomplished, and patients can go to labs near their homes for blood tests. If residents and attending physicians need additional help, they have 24/7 access to specialists on the Tulsa campus.

“Five years ago, we would never have imagined that we could manage a pregnant patient through telehealth, but in many cases, we can manage conditions while the patient is in her own community and not send her to the hospital every time something comes up,” Gold said. “Our hope is that we can save the patient some travel while still providing a high level of care that will detect any problems right away.”

Audrey Corbett, M.D., is the new Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine.

Corbett Named Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs The OU-TU School of Community Medicine has named Audrey Corbett, M.D., as its new Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs.

Corbett will also serve the clinical practice at OU Health Physicians Tulsa as Chief Medical Officer.

James M. Herman, M.D., professor and Dean of the OU-TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa, said Corbett is a proven leader, having previously served with distinction as an internal medicine hospitalist, a role she will continue periodically throughout the year.

“Dr. Corbett brings fresh insights and energy to these important leadership positions. I extend my enthusiastic congratulations, with great confidence for our continued growth and success,” he said.

The program will also connect participating residents with the work of doulas and the care they provide throughout a pregnancy. In addition, community outreach will be incorporated, introducing residents to programs like the Take Control Initiative, which provides education and free clinical services for long-acting reversible contraception in the Tulsa area, and Strong Tomorrows, which provides services to expectant and parenting teens at Tulsa Public Schools.

Board-certified in internal medicine, Corbett earned her medical degree at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa, followed by internal medicine residency at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Before her arrival in Tulsa, Corbett was an instructor of hospitalist medicine, first with the University of Colorado, Aurora, then Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard Medical School, Boston. In addition to her previous experience as an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Corbett has expertise in patient safety and has served on safety committees for the University of Oklahoma and St. John Medical Center, Tulsa.

“We really want to cover the full gamut of prenatal care,” Sachs said. “Not only by providing exams and tests at clinics in patients’ communities, but also education on how to have a healthy pregnancy. These opportunities will put our residents ahead of the game in obstetrics as they finish their training and begin their careers.”

Corbett has received numerous awards as a clinician and educator, and has significant contracts, grants and sponsored research projects. Her credits also include a lengthy list of abstracts and presentations to local, regional, national and international audiences as well as a volume of studies published in scholarly journals.

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Bruna Varalli-Claypool, PA-C, left, welcomes new full members of the Academy of Teaching Scholars, including Tammy Yanovitch, M.D., Stephanie DeLeon, M.D., and Darlla Duniphin, DHSc, PA-C.

Bruna Varalli-Claypool, PA-C, center, welcomes new associate members into the Academy of Teaching Scholars, including Rob Jackson, Ph.D., left, and Guilherme Barreiro, M.D., Ph.D.

Winners of preclinical awards from the Academy of Teaching Scholars are, from left, Kathryn Klump, M.D., Ph.D., Gregory Blakey, M.D., Mohammad Madhoun, M.D., and Audrey Corbett, M.D. Presenting the awards is Frederick Miller, Ph.D., right.

Receiving Graduate Medical Education Awards from the Academy of Teaching Scholars are, from left, Emily Fisher, M.D., Robyn Cowperthwaite, M.D., Andrew Melson, M.D., and Casey Windrix, M.D. Presenting the awards is Frederick Miller, Ph.D., right.

Academy Welcomes New Members, Presents Honors Medical educators were celebrated during the Academy of Teaching Scholars Education Week in September at the OU College of Medicine.

During a week of seminars, workshops and poster presentations, the ATS also inducted new members and presented teaching awards in the areas of preclinical, clinical, graduate medical education, and PA education.

New full members welcomed into the ATS are: • Kristina Booth, M.D., Department of Surgery, Oklahoma City campus • Stephanie DeLeon, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Oklahoma City campus • Darlla Duniphin, DHSc, PA-C, PA program, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Oklahoma City campus • Tammy Yanovitch, M.D., Department of Ophthalmology, Oklahoma City campus

New associate members are: •

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Zain Asad, M.D., Department of Medicine, Oklahoma City campus Guilherme Barreiro, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Surgery, Oklahoma City campus Heather Burks, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oklahoma City campus Shashank P. Behere, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Oklahoma City campus M. Blake Evans, D.O., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oklahoma City campus Sarah Grimes, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oklahoma City campus Christina Harris, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Oklahoma City campus Rob Jackson, Ph.D., Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tulsa campus Kellie R. Jones, M.D., Department of Medicine, Oklahoma City campus

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Kathryn R. Lindsay, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oklahoma City campus Suhair Maqusi, M.D., Department of Surgery, Oklahoma City campus Yashas Nathani, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Oklahoma City campus Shashank Shettar, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology, Oklahoma City campus Joseph Sisk, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology, Oklahoma City campus Christine Vo, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology, Oklahoma City campus Houssein Youness, M.D., Department of Medicine, Oklahoma City campus

New trainee member is: • Kohli Uday Recipients of the Dewayne Andrews, M.D. Excellence in Teaching Awards are: Preclinical Education Awards: •

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Mohammad Madhoun, M.D., Department of Medicine, Oklahoma City campus Gregory Blakey, M.D., Department of Pathology, Oklahoma City campus Kathryn Klump, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Oklahoma City campus Audrey Corbett, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine, Tulsa campus

Clinical Education Awards: •

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Jeremy Johnson, M.D., Department of Surgery, Oklahoma City campus Kaitlyn Kulesus, D.O., Department of Anesthesiology, Oklahoma City campus Alexander Raines, M.D., Department of Surgery, Oklahoma City campus Andrew Liew, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Tulsa campus

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Robyn Cowperthwaite, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Andrew Melson, M.D., Department of Ophthalmology, Oklahoma City campus Casey Windrix, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology, Oklahoma City campus Emily Fisher, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, Tulsa campus

PA Education Awards: • Darlla Duniphin, DHSc, PA-C, PA program, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Oklahoma City campus • Eva Garringer, Ph.D., PA program, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tulsa campus

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Jerry Vannatta, M.D., left, professor emeritus and former executive dean of the OU College of Medicine, is presented a vase in recognition of his gift to the Academy of Teaching Scholars. With him are Executive Dean John Zubialde, M.D., and Sheila Crow, Ph.D., Dean of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development.

Former Dean Makes Major Gift to Academy of Teaching Scholars The Academy of Teaching Scholars, OU College of Medicine’s group to foster teaching and educational scholarship, has a new name: The Jerry M. Vannatta, M.D. Academy of Teaching Scholars.

Vannatta, David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Professor Emeritus of Humanities in Medicine, and former Executive Dean of the OU College of Medicine, made a $1 million gift to further the academy’s work of nurturing, recognizing and rewarding teaching excellence among faculty.

He was recognized during the fall 2021 awards ceremony and new member induction.

“Dr. Vannatta’s laser focus on excellence and innovation in medical education has been unwavering over the years,” said OU College of Medicine Executive Dean John P. Zubialde, M.D. “His leadership and support have helped the OU College of Medicine become a leading medical education institution nationally. This gift furthers our ability to transform education and shows the tremendous dedication of its author. We are truly proud to have our academy named in his honor.”

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The Academy of Teaching Scholars (ATS) is composed of OU College of Medicine faculty members who are passionate about medical education. Members provide service to the college’s educational mission by supporting ATS activities and initiatives, which include faculty development and recognition, mentoring and scholarship, and recognition and awards.

Membership in the academy is based on evidence of excellence in education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted areas in which medical education and training can be adapted to fill the needs of the healthcare industry. The leadership of the ATS believes it has a role and a responsibility to focus on faculty development strategies and interventions that allow participants to understand that, by shaping their teaching approach to the current demands of the profession, their purpose is sustained and expanded. Vannatta’s generous gift will help ATS address these needs.

“Dr. Vannatta’s gift will also have a significant impact on the growth and development of the college’s medical humanities program, which will now be housed in the ATS program,” said Dr. Sheila Crow, OU College of Medicine Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development. “Under the ATS leadership, the humanities program allows us to continue the critical dialog about health, healthcare and the human condition. The ATS will provide students, residents and faculty with knowledge of the humanities, encourage scholarly activity, and bridge the gap between humanities and medical care to better support our community.”

Vannatta’s donation will be used to support several initiatives, including a self-paced medical teaching certificate and a teaching scholars program aimed at developing future leaders in medical and healthcare education with a focus on the core components of educational scholarship, curriculum development and the humanities.

Vannatta served as executive dean of the College of Medicine from 1996 to 2002. He currently is engaged in curriculum design and faculty development for the Oklahoma City University Physician Assistant Program and teaches humanities of medicine at both OCU and the OU College of Medicine.

Vannatta has a long history and interest in academic teaching and faculty development. He has received numerous teaching awards from the OU College of Medicine, including the prestigious Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award and the Edward Young M.D. Lifetime Achievement Award. He is probably best known for his love of literature and medicine and for building the College of Medicine’s medical humanities program. Vannatta was instrumental in establishing multiple curricular and extracurricular humanities educational activities, including Blood & Thunder, a medically themed arts journal published by OU College of Medicine students.

Arlan Richardson, Ph.D.

Researcher Honored as OSU Agriculture Champion OU College of Medicine geroscience researcher and faculty member Arlan Richardson, Ph.D., was honored by Oklahoma State University as a 2021 OSU Agriculture Champion.

Richardson is Professor of Research in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, director of the Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center on Aging, and a senior research career scientist at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

The OSU Agriculture Champion Award recognizes individuals who are not graduates of the Ferguson College of Agriculture at OSU, but who have brought distinction to OSU Agriculture and have demonstrated a continuing interest and commitment in agricultural sciences and natural resources.

Richardson earned his bachelor’s degree from Peru State College in Nebraska and his doctoral degree in chemistry at OSU. He is an adjunct professor for OSU’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences.

John Gustafson, department head for OSU’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, nominated Richardson and emphasized his strong connection to the department by the establishment and continued funding of the Dr. Arlan Richardson Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Undergraduate and Graduate Research Scholars Endowment fund.

“Professor Richardson has become a quintessential example of an OSU science graduate program success,” Gustafson wrote in the nomination packet. “He is richly deserving of recognition as a Champion, as he has consistently brought accolades back to our department and Division and actively supports our department’s multiple missions.”

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FACULT Y ACHIE VEMENTS

research needed to cure diseases of the pancreas and to train the next generation of pancreatologists.”

At the OU College of Medicine, Li has earned a significant amount of federal funding for his research on pancreatic cancer and continues to advance the field with his investigations.

He has published articles for several consecutive years in the journal Gastroenterology, the world’s leading journal on GI tract disease.

His latest publications have focused on the protein ZIP4, which transports zinc throughout the body. Each study has focused on a different role for ZIP4, which serves as a “master switch” for several things to occur in pancreatic cancer. In one publication, his lab discovered that ZIP4 plays a role in the onset of cachexia, a muscle-wasting condition that affects at least 80% of people with pancreatic cancer. The next publication focused on how the overexpression of ZIP4 causes pancreatic cancer cells to be more resistant to chemotherapy. In the most recent study, his lab found that when ZIP4 is overexpressed in patients with pancreatic cancer, it essentially prompts the tumor cells to transform themselves in a manner that allows them to stealthily travel to the body’s other organs.

Min Li, Ph.D.

Physician Named to Foundation Board

Li to Serve as President of American Pancreatic Association in November Min Li, Ph.D., George Lynn Cross Research Professor of Medicine, Surgery and Cell Biology in the OU College of Medicine, has been designated president-elect of the American Pancreatic Association. He will begin serving as president in November 2022.

The American Pancreatic Association (APA) is the largest professional organization for physicians and researchers specializing in pancreatic diseases. Recognizing that progress in understanding, diagnosing and treating pancreatic diseases requires multidisciplinary analysis, the APA encompasses multiple disciplines, including surgery, medical oncology, gastroenterology, radiation oncology, pathology, and basic science research. The APA also works closely with non-profit organizations to raise funding for pancreatic cancer research.

“Serving as president-elect of the APA is a big honor for me, and it is a recognition of our work on pancreatic cancer research,” Li said. “I am thrilled to join the APA leadership and serve this amazing organization to help people suffering from devastating diseases. My goal is to work with other leaders in the field to raise more awareness for pancreatic cancer research and treatment nationwide, and to expand the APA family. Our mission is to foster clinical and basic science

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Robert Salinas, M.D., a family medicine and palliative care physician and Assistant Dean for Diversity in the OU College of Medicine, has been named to the board of trustees of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. He will serve a three-year term.

As the only physician on the board of trustees, Salinas said he hopes to work with the foundation and the organizations it supports to address healthcare disparities and foster well-being in the community.

“The collaboration of an institution like the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Community Foundation can create change that will elevate the overall well-being of the community,” he said. “I am grateful to represent the university and partner with the foundation.”

Salinas has been connected to the mission of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation for about a decade through his service as president of the board of directors for the Hospice Foundation of Oklahoma. It has a permanent endowment fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to support and promote palliative and hospice care in Oklahoma.

“I am proud to welcome a dynamic and talented individual to our board,” said Nancy Anthony, president of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. “He brings incredible experience and a tireless passion for serving the community. We look forward to working with Dr. Salinas to advance the foundation’s mission.”

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ALUMNI

Skuta, Williams Honorees at Evening of Excellence Gregory L. Skuta, M.D., and G. Rainey Williams Jr. are the 2022 honorees at the Evening of Excellence, to be held this spring at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Skuta will be honored with the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Medical Service, and Williams with the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Community Service.

To learn more about the date and tickets, visit medicine.ouhsc.edu/alumni/eoe.

Sponsored by the OU College of Medicine Alumni Association, the annual gala raises funds for researchers.

During its 36 years, Evening of Excellence has raised $5.7 million. In turn, the OU College of Medicine Alumni Association has awarded $3.6 million in seed grants to 162 researchers, who use the funds to further their investigations and apply for federal grants.

During the 12 years of Skuta’s leadership, the organization brought in over $45 million in donations, which made possible not only the expansion but a number of other initiatives. These include the renovation of the third floor of the Acers Pavilion into The Chickasaw Nation Center of Excellence for Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Degeneration; the acquisition of two femtosecond lasers plus numerous other critical pieces of technology; the recruitment of six vision scientists, 17 ophthalmologists, and four optometrists; and the recognition of faculty with numerous awards as well as the establishment of four endowed positions.

Skuta has contributed to more than 120 publications, book chapters and educational products. He served as a principal investigator for the National Eye Institute-sponsored Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study and the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study. In addition, he was a member of the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee for the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study. He has delivered lectures and presentations at more than 250 meetings throughout the world.

Skuta served as president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2014 and received the AAO Life Achievement Honor Award. He currently serves as the chair of the AAO’s Foundation Advisory Board and is a member of the Academy’s Board of Trustees. He is a board member and treasurer of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research/Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, and he serves on the board of directors for the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company.

Gregory L. Skuta, M.D.

Gregory L. Skuta, M.D. Skuta is a native of Illinois and received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Illinois. He completed an ophthalmology residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as chief resident, and a glaucoma fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. Skuta served on faculty at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center from 1987 to 1992, when he was recruited by David W. Parke II, M.D., to join the faculty at the Dean McGee Eye Institute.

In 2009, Skuta was named the third president and chief executive officer of DMEI and Edward L. Gaylord Professor and Chair of the OU College of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology. During his tenure, he oversaw completion of the $47 million expansion of DMEI, which included construction of the David W. Parke II, M.D. Pavilion and renovation of the Thomas E. Acers, M.D. Pavilion, which together doubled laboratory space and greatly increased clinical capacity.

In addition, Skuta is a past president of the American Glaucoma Society and American Eye Study Club, an emeritus director of the American Board of Ophthalmology, a past member of the board of governors of the World Glaucoma Association, a past member of the board of directors of the American Glaucoma Society Foundation, and a past director-at-large for the Oklahoma Academy of Ophthalmology. He is listed among the Best Doctors in America and Castle Connolly Top Doctors. Skuta and Anne, his wife of 37 years, have three adult children, two children-in-law, and one granddaughter.

G. Rainey Williams Jr. Williams is president of Marco Capital Group, a privately owned investment partnership operating in Oklahoma, Texas and the southwestern United States. Marco has been an active private investor over the past 25 years, investing in a broad number of private equity, real estate and other alternative investments. Williams has led Marco since it and its predecessors were established in 1989.

Williams serves as lead independent director of BancFirst Corporation and has served on the boards of numerous private companies such as American Trailer Works, Inc., Benham Investment Holdings and Titan Spine, Inc. Currently, he serves as chair of the University Hospitals Authority and Trust, as co-chair of OU Health, Inc., and chair of the Investment Committee of Presbyterian Health Foundation, Inc. Williams has served as an adjunct professor in the

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ALUMNI

G. Rainey Williams Jr.

graduate program (MBA) at Price College of Business at OU. He is a former chairman of the YMCA Retirement Fund in New York, the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and has served as senior warden of All Souls’ Episcopal Church.

He has also held significant offices and/or board positions for numerous charitable organizations on and off the Oklahoma Health Center campus, including Dean McGee Eye Institute, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, the United Way of Metro Oklahoma City and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

Williams earned a bachelor of business administration degree in finance from Southern Methodist University and a law degree from the OU College of Law. Williams and his wife, Casey, have been married for 33 years and are the parents of three adult children: Rainey III, a second-year resident in internal medicine at OU; Sam, a vice president at the investment firm Rhone Group in New York; and Grace, a registered dietitian at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Robert Hillis, ’59 M.D., Lawton, Oklahoma John Holliman, ’75 M.D., Oklahoma City Dale Hughes, ’62 M.D., Norman, Oklahoma Oliver Jones, ’57 M.D., La Jolla, California Joseph Messenbaugh, ’58 M.D., Nichols Hills, Oklahoma Danny Minor, ’71 M.D., Tahlequah, Oklahoma Robert Moose, ’61 M.D., Thomas, Oklahoma James Morris, ’70 M.D., San Diego, California Marvin Peyton, ’71 M.D., Oklahoma City Dorothy Purgason, ’70 M.D., Big Spring, Texas Jimmie Reed, ’65 M.D., Nowata, Oklahoma Robert Royse, ’58 M.D., Goldsby, Oklahoma Lenore Rozsa, ’83 M.D., Tulsa, Oklahoma Virgil Shepherd, ’58 M.D., Oklahoma City Bryan Swan, ’90 M.D., Miami, Oklahoma Horace Townsend, ’59 M.D., Soddy Daisy, Tennessee David Watters, ’74 M.D., Woodland Hills, Utah Joan Webb, ’59 M.D., Prescott, Arizona Jasper Wheeler, ’52 M.D., Boise City, Oklahoma Kenneth Whittington, ’68 M.D., Oklahoma City

Alumni Day Scheduled for May After two cancellations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alumni Reunion Day has been scheduled for Friday, May 6.

Planning for the event is underway, and alumni can check for updates at medicine.ouhsc.edu/reunion. Alumni are also encouraged to provide an update on their careers and activities by filling out the Class Notes form on the website.

Classes celebrating their reunions year end in 2 and 7, ranging from 1957 to 2017.

For more information, email the OU College of Medicine Alumni Association at oucomalumni@ouhsc.edu.

In Memoriam Chinwe Ajalla, ’18 M.D., Tulsa, Oklahoma William Bernhardt, ’58 M.D., Midwest City, Oklahoma John Bullen, ’72 M.D., El Reno, Oklahoma Carl Camp, ’62 M.D., Norman, Oklahoma James Chapman, ’71 M.D., Ardmore, Oklahoma Jimmy Costin, ’78 M.D., Blue Springs, Mississippi Paul Davis, ’75 M.D., Ponca City, Oklahoma William Dawson, Jr., ’73 M.D., Ballwin, Missouri Corinne Dinges, ’18 M.D., Oklahoma City John Gray, ’78 M.D., Tulsa, Oklahoma Richard Grisham, ’58 M.D., Mankato, Minnesota Meldrum Harvey, ’64 M.D., Mineola, Texas William Heath, ’56 M.D., Lookout Mountain, Georgia Roger Hensley, ’80 M.D., Michigan

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Scan this QR code to submit Class Notes for Alumni Reunion Day

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FRIENDS OF MEDICINE

Pelofsky Ends Distinguished 51-Year Career in Neurosurgery As a kid from Brooklyn whose family earned barely enough money to survive, Stan Pelofsky knew his dream of becoming a doctor was highly unlikely. Today, as he looks back on his 51-year career as a neurosurgeon in Oklahoma, he is filled with gratitude for the impossible dream that came true.

Pelofsky, whose mother and father immigrated to New York from Poland, grew up in a small apartment in Brooklyn, his parents working hard at several jobs to support the family. Pelofsky’s goal of becoming a doctor seemed lost until an unexpected connection with Oklahoma occurred. His older brother, who was in the Air Force, was being sent to Oklahoma State University to earn his doctorate in electrical engineering. His brother encouraged Pelofsky to join the military as well, but he didn’t want to at the time. Instead, he applied to several medical schools and asked for scholarships.

Stan Pelofsky, M.D.

“I was accepted into a few medical schools on the East Coast, but they were too expensive,” he said. “I had applied to the OU College of Medicine because my brother was in Oklahoma, and they accepted me and gave me a scholarship.

From that point on, I’ve always had a debt to repay to the state of Oklahoma because I couldn’t have had my career without the medical school and the scholarship.”

After earning his undergraduate degree at Long Island University in Brooklyn, Pelofsky entered the OU College of Medicine in 1962, graduating in 1966 with top honors. He stayed on campus for his internship year, focusing six months each on surgery and medicine. Then one day in 1967, he opened a letter from the U.S. government saying he was being drafted into the Navy. His first assignment was at the San Diego Naval Hospital, where he worked as a general medical officer in a walk-in clinic. Because he was more familiar with surgery, he spoke with the surgery department chairman, who gave him the lone resident spot in surgery that had not been filled. His first assignment was on the neurosurgical service.

“The only thing I knew about neurosurgery was the TV show ‘Ben Casey,’” Pelofsky said. “I became the general medical officer for this group of 10 Navy neurosurgeons and helped with cases, did histories and physicals, anything they needed me to do.”

At the end of that year, Pelofsky was notified that he would be going to a field hospital (MASH Unit) in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Because he had been exposed to neurosurgery, he was again assigned to the neurosurgical unit, and while he was there, decided that he would indeed like to become a certified neurosurgeon himself.

“The issue was, how do you become a neurosurgeon when you’re in Da Nang?” Pelofsky said. “I wrote a letter to Dr. John Schilling, chairman of the Department of Surgery (at the

OU College of Medicine) and said, ‘I’d like to be a neurosurgeon, but I can’t come for an interview because I’m 9,000 miles away in Vietnam. Is there any way you can help me?’”

Months later, he received good news in the mail: He would have a neurosurgery residency spot waiting for him when he got out of the military. In 1969, he came home and started his residency, working at a total of five hospitals on campus and around Oklahoma City. When he finished his four years as a resident, he joined the practice of what is now known as Neuroscience Specialists in Oklahoma City, later serving as president of the group. He and his partners also developed the Neuroscience Institute in Oklahoma City. Working with the architect of the new building, Pelofsky helped develop and design the glass pyramid structure, imbuing it with his love of science and art. In 1999, he and his partners developed and built the Oklahoma Spine Hospital.

Pelofsky’s clinical focuses were brain surgery, pituitary surgery, peripheral nerve surgery and surgery of the spine.

His colleagues have long characterized him as a doctor who always put his patients first and prioritized communication with both patients and families. For Pelofsky, it was as simple as listening to his mother’s advice.

“When my mother learned that I was going to be a doctor, she said, ‘Just be nice.’ And I’ll tell you, just being nice is the key to establishing a healthy, positive and productive patient-doctor relationship,” he said. “Let the patient talk.

Let them tell you what’s wrong without interrupting them.

In two or three minutes, they’ll tell you, 95% of the time, what’s the matter with them and give you a direction into how to diagnose and treat them.”

“When patients come to a neurosurgeon, they are often scared and hurting,” he added. “When I see a patient for the first time, I break the ice by saying, ‘Hey, what’s a nice person like you doing in a place like this?’ They realize I’m a human being and I’m interested in what their issues are and how I can help them. It sounds so simple, but it’s amazing.”

In addition to his legacy of excellent patient care and surgery, Pelofsky changed the neurosurgical field through his service to national and international neurosurgical organizations. His initial involvement was as president of the Oklahoma State Neurosurgical Society for eight years, followed by serving as president of the National State Council of Neurological Societies. In 2001, he was elected president of the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons, the largest neurosurgical association in the world. He worked with the organization for 20 years on clinical, academic and research issues. In 2013, he was presented the Lifetime Neurological Service Achievement Award. He served in various capacities with many other state and national organizations.

Pelofsky retired in 2020 in a process he compares to landing a plane. “After 51 years, I landed the plane and tried to make it a smooth landing,” he said. “I walked away from it feeling totally connected to this state, to my profession and to the OU College of Medicine.”

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University of Oklahoma College of Medicine P.O. Box 26901 Oklahoma City, OK 73126-0901

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