DOCTOR VISITS

UB MED DOCTOR VISITS

“I wanted to tackle the issue of preventing infections in children in marginalized communities.”

PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES WORLDWIDE Oscar Gómez, MD, PhD, a leader in mitigation While a medical student in his native country of Colombia, Oscar Gómez saw a disproportionately high number of children with preventable infections compared to adults, and the phenomenon spurred him to action. “In the late 1980s, there were many problems with sanitation in Colombia, and the connection to infectious diseases was not well understood by the public health authorities,” he explains. “When I witnessed the number of children being adversely aff ected by these conditions, I was convinced there should be more preventative measures in place.” In the ensuing three decades, that goal motivated Gómez to pursue a rigorous education. He earned an MD in Colombia, completed a PhD in microbiology and a postdoctoral fellowship in vaccinology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a postdoctoral fellowship in infection biology at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, a residency in pediatrics at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Washington. Aft er serving on the faculties at the University of Iowa and at Vanderbilt University, he joined the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where he is an associate professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics. Today, Gómez is a leader in the study and treatment of childhood infectious gastrointestinal diseases and a physician-scientist dedicated to research in the molecular epidemiology, bacterial

S t o r i e s by Lori Ferguson

pathogenesis and vaccine development of enteric infections in children around the world. His most widespread initiative is the International Enteric Vaccines Research Program (IEVRP). “I wanted to tackle the issue of preventing infections in children in marginalized communities, particularly in low-income countries,” he says. “In some Latin American, African and Southeast Asian countries, information on gastrointestinal infections is either non-existent or scarce, especially for certain pathogens.” IEVRP takes a three-pronged approach to rectifying that shortfall. The program explores the epidemiology of infectious diseases in children from low-income countries; seeks to increase understanding on the mechanisms by which enteric pathogens cause disease; and works to develop ways to prevent infections, either by developing vaccines or by implementing prevention strategies. To that end, Gómez has collaborated with physicians in Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the U.S. to conduct research, teach, obtain research funding and publish fi ndings. Gómez has been equally dedicated to cultivating relationships within the UB community. “Faculty from the Offi ce of Global Health Initiatives at the School of Public Health and Health Professions, the UB Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences, and the Global Medicine program, have been very open to collaboration,” he says. “Interest in global health at UB is amazing. In fact, I’ve found Buff alo to be a very welcoming community, both personally and professionally. My goal is to further develop my enteric research program, to contribute to the health of children and, along the way, to provide education to national and international trainees in infectious diseases and global health.”

“There is a large gap in this care globally.”

INFANT RESUSCITATION, A GLOBAL HEALTH FOCUS Sara Berkelhamer, MD, provides much-needed training Timely intervention makes all the diff erence when providing urgent care. This is especially true for newborns, explains Sara Berkelhamer, MD, clinical associate professor of pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and a specialist in neonatalperinatal medicine. “The greatest risk of non-survival is the fi rst day of life,” she says. “There’s a tremendous opportunity to save lives in the fi rst few moments aft er delivery, and the simplest of interventions can result in a dramatic diff erence in outcomes.” This fact is especially poignant in the world health community, where Berkelhamer invests much of her time and where, in many places, one out of ten babies needs some sort of assistance at birth. “Knowledge of basic resuscitation measures is commonplace among health care providers here in the States, but there’s a large gap in this care globally,” she says. Berkelhamer is committed to changing that through her work with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Helping Babies Survive (HBS) initiative, which was developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization and other partners to reduce neonatal mortality in resource-limited environments. In the past decade, Berkelhamer has traveled to Burma, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and the Philippines, training health care providers through HBS’s simplifi ed resuscitation program: Helping Babies Breathe (HBB). She has also trained facilitators in North America. “All levels of providers can be taught to administer basic, life-saving care such as stimulating the baby, clearing the airway and providing bag-mask ventilation,” Berkelhamer notes. In eight years, more than 800,000 providers have been trained in HBB in some 30 diff erent languages, and the program has been shown to reduce neonatal mortality by up to 47 percent. “HBB’s vision is to have someone present at every delivery who has been trained in basic resuscitation,” Berkelhamer says. For Berkelhamer, involvement in the Helping Babies Survive initiative is a labor of love. “I’ve always resonated with the care of children, and when I started my pediatrics training, I was drawn to the fi eld of neonatology for the tremendous impact that can be made on the outcomes of vulnerable infants.” A native of Chicago, Berkelhamer earned her medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Seattle Children’s Hospital and obtained fellowship training in neonatal-perinatal medicine at Harvard University. While in Boston, she met her future husband, David Rothstein, MD, a pediatric surgeon who is now on faculty at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and who also is dedicated to global health (see coverage on page 10) . The couple worked together at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine before moving to Buff alo in 2014. “We were ready for a change and wanted to live in a place that was not only family friendly but also off ered new academic opportunities for the two of us, and Buff alo was a wonderful fi t,” Berkelhamer says. “The UB community is very supportive of global health initiatives and with the new children’s hospital, medical school and other initiatives, it’s a very exciting time to be in this city.”

From left, Karole Collier, who initiated the Second Look Weekend event, Danielle Dunn, Micha Gooden, Gabriel Gomez-Chaves, Jalisa Kelly and Nazeela Tanweer, all medical students in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Student-initiated effort helps increase diversity in admissions Second-Look Weekend

BY ELLEN GOLDBAUM

Nearly twice as many students from underrepresented groups enrolled in the Class of 2022 at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences than in the previous year.

Thirty-three students out of 180 students in the class are from underrepresented groups, according to data from the Office of Medical Admissions at the Jacobs School.

“In 2017 we had a total of 18 underrepresented students, so we almost doubled the number in 2018,” says Dori Marshall, MD ’97, associate dean of admissions at the Jacobs School and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry.

Among the 33 students are 20 African-Americans, up from eight in 2017. That’s important, Marshall explains, because the number of African-American physicians nationally has remained low. Studies show that a more diverse physician workforce improves the care of the nation’s increasingly diverse patient population and helps mitigate health care disparities.

Even in a diverse state like New York, where AfricanAmericans and Hispanics/Latinos comprise more than 30 percent of the population, they make up just 12 percent of the state’s physician workforce, according to data from the SUNY Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies.

SECOND-LOOK WEEKEND While numerous factors can contribute to higher numbers of underrepresented students, a critical ingredient in 2018’s increase was an event held last May called Second-Look Weekend, which gave accepted students an opportunity to take a closer look at the Jacobs School during a weekend of events designed for them.

The idea for it began with Karole Collier, then a firstyear student at the Jacobs School, who had read an article published by the Student National Medical Association, an organization committed to supporting underrepresented minority medical students.

“It said that medical school administrations are underutilizing their underrepresented students on campus,” recalls Collier, who approached the Office of Admissions and proposed that it sponsor a ‘second-look’

day for underrepresented students. Marshall and her colleagues in admissions were immediately supportive.

Collier took her idea to physicians and businesses on Buffalo’s East Side, a neighborhood immediately surrounding the Jacobs School. She reached out to alumnus Raul Vasquez, MD ’89, founder and president of a large, urban practice called the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network.

“Dr. Vasquez was willing not only to sponsor some meals for the weekend, but he also said if I collected sponsorships, he would galvanize mentors in the community to welcome these students,” Collier explains.

More area physicians agreed to participate, including Emmekunla K. Nylander, MD ’96, an obstetrician-gynecologist; and Willie Underwood, MD, a urologist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Jacobs School officials who participated included Jonathan D. Daniels, MD ’98, a pediatrician and associate director of admissions; David Milling, MD ’93, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs; Luther K. Robinson, MD, professor emeritus of pediatrics; Charles Severin, PhD, MD ’97, associate dean for student and academic affairs; Jaafar Angevin, post-baccalaureate program coordinator; and Dori Marshall, MD ’97.

“We had an incredible turnout,” says Collier, who explains that 28 students attended, some with their parents. “We just need to make sure that the students are galvanized in the same way this coming year, so that we can begin establishing and strengthening long-term relationships and the pipeline.”

PIPELINE PROGRAMS Taking care of that pipeline has long been a focus of the Jacobs School and its Office of Medical Admissions and Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement. Each year, Marshall, Milling, Daniels and Angevin make recruiting trips to local, regional and national meetings to educate prospective medical students from underrepresented groups about the Jacobs School.

They work with pipeline programs at UB, such as the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) for high school students and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) for college students, both funded by New York State.

Efforts also occur through the Early Opportunity Program in Medicine affiliations with local colleges, as well as with two historically black colleges in Mississippi.

The Jacobs School is home to one of New York State’s largest post-baccalaureate programs designed to increase the number of underrepresented students in medical school. Through a partnership with the Associated Medical Schools of New York, the Jacobs School and other participating New York State schools refer underrepresented students who possess the intellectual ability to succeed in medical school but don’t meet certain academic criteria to participate in the academically intense, year-long program. Students receive provisional acceptance from a referring medical school in the state and they matriculate at that school upon successfully completing the post-baccalaureate program.

The Diversity in Medicine scholarship, funded by the New York State Legislature, also plays a role (see article, opposite). It provides medical school tuition for a year to several underrepresented students throughout the state. In return, students must commit to work in a New York Statedesignated medically underserved community.

Currently, three Jacobs School students are recipients of Diversity in Medicine scholarships: Karole Collier, Class of 2021; Natasha Borrero, Class of 2020; and Bradley Frate, Class of 2019.

ABLE TO FOCUS ON SERVING THE UNDERSERVED

Medical school is a daunting financial proposition for anyone, but for those from underrepresented groups it can be a deal-breaker. KAROLE COLLIER, Class of 2021, is part of a statewide effort to change that. She and Bradley Frate, Class of 2019, both graduates of UB’s postbaccalaureate program (see article, opposite) are among 10 statewide recipients of the new Diversity in Medicine scholarship first funded by the New York State Legislature in 2017 and renewed in the 2018 state budget. The renewal means that they will have most of their medical school tuition covered for 2018-19. In return, the students must commit to work in a New York State-designated medically underserved community. Collier, whose family lives in Philadelphia, says that receiving the scholarship was important to her on many levels, including the fact that it provides her with the freedom to focus on the underserved. Her commitment to the underserved began in her teens, when her father spent a year in the hospital after a routine hernia operation, which should have taken just a few days. While her father did eventually recover, the experience opened Collier’s eyes to how health disparities can affect individuals on a deeply personal level. “Like many others, my father, a fairly healthy and compliant 50-year-old, was subjected to limited access, scarce resources and numerous socioeconomic and historical inequities,” she says. While her father was hospitalized, Collier, then an undergraduate, began to conduct research on surgical disparities. She later volunteered at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, where she was exposed to some of the challenges of working with underserved populations. During a summer study abroad program, she traveled to Swaziland, where she studied barriers to treatment for AIDS patients. Collier participates in many activities that provide outreach to Buffalo’s underserved populations. She is president of the UB chapter of the Student National Medical Association, the nation’s oldest and largest organization focused on the needs of medical students of color. She also is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Task Force for Student Academic Environment.