Department of Medicine Annual Report 2018 by University of Miami Department of Medicine

HEALING & PREVENTION EDUCATION DISCOVERY

Table of Contents

Chairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Message

By the Numbers

3 AROUND THE CLOCK: Follow six of our physicians through a day in the Department of Medicine 18 OVER THE YEAR: A look back at the most important moments of 2017-2018

Learner Demographics

Division Highlights and Publications

Faculty Listing

Philanthropy Spotlight, Administration Listing

Editor: Laura J. Pinzon Director, Business Operations

Photography: UM Biomedical Communications, Jenny Abreu

Design, Editorial & Project Management Consulting: Sabia Communications, Inc.

Published by the Chairman's Office of the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. All contents, ÂŠ2018 University of Miami. Reproduction in whole or in part without previous written permission by the editor is prohibited.

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Chair’s Message Welcome to the 2018 Annual Report of the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. In this year’s report, we focus on our talented, hard-working and compassionate faculty who work “around the clock.” As faculty members of the Department of Medicine, our primary focus is always our patients. They are at the center of everything we do and the reason we work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – working towards the improvement of the care we provide, the discoveries that can lead to groundbreaking results and the teaching of our future physicians. This report will take you on a journey as we follow a few of our faculty members throughout their days and even nights. You will see firsthand their dedication to furthering our missions. The individuals featured in this report represent only a small selection of our many extraordinary faculty and staff. As Chairman, I am proud of the many accomplishments the Department had this past year and I hope this report gives you a better understanding of what it means to be a faculty member of the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. All my best,

Roy E. Weiss, MD, PhD Professor of Medicine Chair, Department of Medicine Kathleen & Stanley Glaser Distinguished Chair in Medicine Rabbi Morris I. Esformes Endowed Chair in Medicine and Endocrinology University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

By the Numbers 75%

CLINICAL ACTIVITY KEY FACTS

FY17

FY18

60%

INCREASE

Net Patient Revenues....... $48,909,083 ..... 54,497,991 ............11% 45%

Work RVUs.............................. 825,952 .......... 913,017 ............11% Outpatient visits..................... 152,329 .......... 172,478 ............13%

30%

Inpatient visits........................ 132,150 .......... 151,897 ............15% Procedures................................ 71,955 ............ 95,221 ............32%

15%

New patient visits..................... 33,702 ............ 37,866 ............12% Admissions................................. 4,401 .............. 7,477 ............70%

FY17

TRANSPLANTS

FY17 FY18

FY18

Kidney............................................319................... 320

Liver...............................................132................... 136

4% 5%

3% 6%

Pancreas...........................................28..................... 50

Intestine...........................................20..................... 19 25%

Heart................................................26..................... 35

59%

55%

Lung.................................................13..................... 24

23%

TOTAL............................................. 538..................584

RESEARCH SPENDING

RESEARCH FUNDING SOURCES

Total Grants and Contracts in Millions of Dollars (6% increase over FY17)

FY18 Extramural Research Funding (Total Award Budgets)

35 35

30 30

Higher Education...$559,233.55

13%

23 25

For Profit...........$13,091,685.67

25 25

20 20

Federal..............$15,469,062.73

Non-profit...........$4,428,826.99 2%

44%

State....................$1,323,963.77 TOTAL.....................$34,872,772.71

15 15

38%

10 10

FY2014 FY2014

FY2015 FY2015

FY2016 FY2016

FY2017

FY2018* FY2018

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HEALING & PREVENTION EDUCATION DISCOVERY WE ASKED SIX OF OUR 350 FACULTY MEMBERS A SIMPLE QUESTION: WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

After they stopped laughing, each one said there was no such thing— and that this was the best part about being a physician in the Department of Medicine.

A R us that O everyUday hasNthe potential D to be theTday anHexperiment E They taught

finally works, the day a trainee masters a new procedure, the day your patient starts to feel better. One day is usually a mix of all three, plus lots of reading, lots of meetings and lots of coffee. Our faculty members fit a dizzying variety of ideas in one mind and activity in one day. They are teachers, caregivers, scientists, parents, spouses, friends and community members, 24 hours a day. Meet Amar, Sandra, Joe, Ernesto, Stefanie and Priya as we follow them Around the Clock.

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PRIYAMVADA RAI, MD Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology Aim Leader, Tumor Biology/Tumor Initiation and Progression, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

“ I T ’ S N O T R E A L LY R E S E A R C H UNTIL WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON.”

TRAINING California Institute of Technology (BS) University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Biophysics) Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Postdoctoral Fellowship) Dr. Rai’s laboratory develops molecular strategies to reactivate or enhance tumor suppressor pathways. The National Institutes of Health’s Center for Scientific Review named Dr. Rai to the Tumor Cell Biology Study Section in April 2018, and the journal Nature Communications recently published her work on a novel therapeutic target for incurable prostate cancer.

AMAR DESHPANDE, MD Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology Assistant Dean for Medical Education and Competency Assessment, Miller School of Medicine

“ L E A R N E R S A N D FA C U LT Y W O R K I N G TOGETHER MAKE A LIFE-SAVING DIFFERENCE.”

Vice Chief for Education, Division of Gastroenterology Faculty Advisor, Department of Community Service TRAINING University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (MD) University of Miami - Jackson Memorial Hospital (Residency) University of Miami - Jackson Memorial Hospital (Fellowship) Dr. Deshpande is a Miami man for life. Out of high school he enrolled in a Bachelor of Science and Medical degree combination program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and he hasn’t left since. He’s passionate about advancing clinical care and research for inflammatory bowel disease, educating the next generation of doctors and making a difference in the community he loves.

ERNESTO BERNAL-MIZRACHI, MD Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine Division Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Deputy Director, Beta Cell Biology and Signal Transduction, Diabetes Research Institute

“THIS IS AN EXCITING TIME TO T R E AT PAT I E N T S, W E C A N TA I L O R THERAPY FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL.”

TRAINING Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia (MD) University of Miami - Jackson Memorial Hospital (Residency) Washington University in St. Louis (Fellowship) Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi is an endocrinologist leading his field in clinical care and basic and translational research for diabetes. In addition to his role leading the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the Department of Medicine, he’s also a director at the University’s Diabetes Research Institute, the world leader in cure-focused diabetes research, as well as at the Lennar Foundation Medical Center’s Comprehensive Diabetes Center. 4

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STEFANIE BROWN, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program, University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital

“WHEN YOU COME UP WITH A CRAZY OR NOVEL IDEA, YO U A R E S U P P O RT E D.”

Vice Chair of Education, Department of Medicine Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, Miller School of Medicine TRAINING University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (MD) Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (Medicine-Pediatrics Residency) Dr. Brown heads the internal medicine residency program at University of Miami – Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she guides 251 learners each year. Prior to this, she was Program Director for our Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency program. Her research focuses on academic medicine and curriculum development, and she’s a dedicated MedicinePediatrics physician.

SANDRA CHAPARRO, MD Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Cardiology Director, Heart Failure/Transplant Fellowship, University of Miami – Jackson Memorial Hospital TRAINING Universidad El Bosque Medical School, Bogota, Colombia (MD)

“WE’RE MAKING LIFE AND DEATH D E C I S I O N S. W H E N YO U P R E S E N T A CASE, YOU ARE THAT PATIENT’S ADVOCATE.”

University of Missouri – Columbia School of Medicine (Residency) University of Missouri – Columbia (Fellowship, Cardiology) Cleveland Clinic (Fellowship, Transplant Surgery) Dr. Chaparro is a cardiologist specializing in heart failure and heart transplantation at the Miami Transplant Institute. In addition to outpatient clinics and inpatient service, she performs invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterizations, heart biopsies, and defibrillator and pacemaker implantations. Even with a full clinical schedule, as an academic physician she’s also dedicated to educating trainees as the Director of the Heart Failure/Transplant Fellowship, and to contributing to research aims through clinical trials for new medicines and devices.

JOSEPH D. ROSENBLATT, MD Professor of Medicine Chief, Division of Hematology Associate Director for Faculty Development

“ TO Q U OT E T H E TA L M U D, ‘ T H E JEALOUSY OF SCRIBES CREATES KNOWLEDGE.”

TRAINING UCLA School of Medicine (MD) UCLA School of Medicine (Internship and Residency) UCLA School of Medicine (Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology) Dr. Rosenblatt is a longtime leader at the University of Miami, and currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Hematology of the Department of Medicine. In addition to seeing patients in clinical and inpatient oncology settings, he also contributes his expertise as a researcher investigating tumor immunology, and as a member of boards providing expertise on difficult cases and guiding the future of the hematological malignancy programs at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

For Department of Medicine faculty, fellows, and residents, the workday starts early — or continues from the night before. The hour between 7am and 8am might be the most difficult time to find an empty conference room on campus. Division conferences and case review committees take advantage of the time before physicians begin morning inpatient rounds and disperse to all corners of the campus to their clinical, research, and educational duties.

07:00 AMAR DESHPANDE

Below: Gastroenterology Fellow Mona Rezapour and Amar Deshpande speak with a patient about her upcoming procedure.

Amar waits in the ever-crowded elevator bank at the Don Soffer Clinical Research Center, on his way to a morning of back-to-back meetings. He’s with the gastroenterology fellow on call, who contacted him earlier this morning for advice about an inpatient with suspected gastrointestinal bleeding. “When you’re a resident on call, you’re always on campus and able to examine the patient. As a fellow taking call at home, it’s a unique educational opportunity to learn how to make decisions about urgent patient care even when not physically present.” It’s a skill fellows will use later in their careers when they are on calls with patients and deciding whether a clinic visit or test is necessary. Amar and the fellow make a plan for the patient’s care and visit her together before heading to the Gastroenterology Division’s morning conference. Amar’s next meeting is with the curriculum renewal task force he leads as the Assistant Dean for Medical Education and Competency Assessment. “After developing a preliminary

four-year scheme for the medical school curriculum, we’re starting to work on what that looks like on a more granular level. Some proposed changes include more integration of the basic sciences with the clinical clerkships, the use of more active learning methodologies, and earlier exposure to a clinical environment.” Having experienced the Miller School of Medicine as an undergraduate, medical student, resident, fellow, and faculty member, Amar has a unique viewpoint on ways to keep the School a national leader in medical education. “We’re gathering perspectives from all over the health system as we think about where to move our curriculum. On the task force we have faculty, student and resident learners, health system experts, and patient advocates.”

07:30 SANDRA CHAPARRO The first tough decision of the day for Sandra is where to park, which is surprisingly difficult when you spend the day crisscrossing the 153-acre medical complex. This morning she chooses the lot nearest Jackson Memorial Hospital, where the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI) is holding its weekly meeting to discuss potential cases. A cardiologist specializing in heart failure, she devotes all her time to clinical care. Sandra sees outpatients and inpatients at UM and Jackson, and performs invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterizations, heart biopsies, and implantations of percutaneous heart devices, defibrillators and pacemakers. As a member of MTI, she also sees patients through the process of receiving heart transplants. “For patients under consideration for a mechanical heart device or a transplant, we evaluate every aspect of their health. We review their lab results, see how they have responded to medical therapy, and we hear from social workers, transplant coordinators and psychologists.” Patients may be ineligible for the program if they are not in compliance with their current medical regimen, have missed clinic appointments, or if they have drug and alcohol abuse problems. U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

This morning Joe presents the case of a man in his late 40s previously treated for indolent lymphoma. His disease has relapsed aggressively, and the physicians review his prior history and compare pathology and radiology results from the first occurrence and the relapse. “Every lymphoma case is totally unique, has its own unique biology. We reviewed the cytogenetics and genomic profile of the disease, to give us a better handle on how it might respond to different treatments and whether the patient might benefit from enrolling in a clinical trial.” Conference members include Drs. Izidore Lossos, Director of the lymphoma program, Craig Moskowitz, a newly arrived lymphoma expert who also serves as the Physician-inChief of the Oncology Service Line, Alvaro Alencar,and Juan Pablo Alderuccio, and stem cell transplant specialists Lazaros Lekakis and Amer Beitinjaneh, as well as experthematopathologists, Francisco Vega, Jennifer Chapman, and Offiong Ikpatt. With over 150 years of combined experience in the same room, debates are spirited. “To Today, Sandra presents the case of quote from the Talmud, ‘The jealousy of scribes Barbara, a 67-year-old woman with heart failure who was declined at another transplant creates knowledge.’ We have a room of experts institution because of her comorbidities. Sandra each offering opinions and justifications. The goal of the discussion is to develop a consensus feels strongly that Barbara is a candidate for listing in the transplant registry. Now she’ll see on a treatment plan with the best chance of success and minimum side effects.” if her MTI colleagues agree. “In this meeting we’re making life and death decisions. When 08:00 ERNESTO BERNAL-MIZRACHI you present a case, you’re usually the patient’s Ernesto starts his clinic at the Lennar primary provider and you’ve gotten to know them and their family. You are their advocate.” Foundation Medical Center, the University’s new facility on the Coral Gables campus and the home of the Comprehensive Diabetes 07:30 JOSEPH ROSENBLATT Joe arrives at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. “This is an exciting time to treat patients at Lennar, because we have novel Center for the weekly lymphoma conference. As the only university-based cancer center and therapies and technology available, including an individualized approach using phenotyping Cancer Center of Excellence in South Florida, tools to tailor therapy for each patient.” The Sylvester provides patients with access to expert physicians as well as the most advanced Comprehensive Diabetes Center at Lennar technology in the region. Each week, attendings together with the Diabetes Research Institute provide state of the art therapy for patients from Hematology, Radiation Oncology, with diabetes. Pathology and other specialties meet to review difficult lymphoma cases and discuss treatment options. D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Left: Sandra Chaparro reviews a patient’s latest laboratory results before examining them in her clinic at UHealth Tower.

Below: During “Match Day” festivities, graduating medical students line up around the envelopes that will tell them at which program they have matched with for their residencies.

At the Center, patients have access in one location to their endocrinologist, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute ophthalmologists, podiatrists, kidney specialists, cardiologists, dieticians, nutrition educators and other specialists. Through this multidisciplinary approach, we strive for the best diabetes management for patients while mitigating the increased risk for other health problems. In June 2018, the American Diabetes Association issued a Certificate of Recognition to the Center for its commitment to patient education, which includes both one-on-one and group education and collaboration across specialties. “Diabetes can sometimes be a challenging disease, and I like to inspire confidence in my patients to take control of it by constantly being aware of what their body is telling them through their glucose levels or symptoms.

Diabetic education is crucial to my patient’s progress.”

08:00 STEFANIE BROWN Stefanie enters her office to continue onboarding plans for the next class of internal medicine residents. As director of the internal medicine residency, she’s responsible for seeing 127 medical school graduates through their three years of residency. Each fall, she and her associate program directors face the mammoth task of selecting next year’s class. “We go from 5,000 applications to just 400 physicians selected for interviews. Then for three months, we’re hosting between 50 and 90 candidates every week.” After the sessions are over, Stefanie and her team review feedback from every interviewer about every interviewee. The result of this six-month long process is a list of applicants ranked from 1 to 400.

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“Our review is holistic – we’re looking at strengths and interests that align well with our curriculum and that make for a well-rounded cohort.” Looking at individual applicants and the mix of strengths in the class gives residents the opportunity to share skills and collaborate. “Like the NIH, we believe that great minds think differently. Diversification of experiences and people breeds creativity and innovation.” The third Friday in March is Match Day, practically a holiday for everyone involved in medical education. Graduating medical students find out where they’ll complete their residencies. “My favorite moments are seeing the medical students and their families realize that they are at the end of a road that started for most many, many years ago and they are finally reaching the reward. We hand out baseball hats that say Internal Medicine to anyone who matches with our program. In that way, it is like the NFL draft, only with a much lower salary.”

08:30 PRIYAMVADA RAI Aboard the Metrorail, Priya starts the day with a virtual pile of academic articles saved on her phone. “Biomedical research is empirical. An hour spent familiarizing ourselves with the current research findings in the field can save us a dozen futile hours on the bench.” After hiking up the seven flights of stairs to her office in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, “to get the blood pumping,” Priya looks over the previous day’s data from her team (sometimes acquired late at night), crafts a to-do list for herself and defines the experimental goals of the lab for the day. A typical day’s experimental roster for the lab consists of testing the effects of drugs or drug combinations on the growth and survival of cancer cells. “The success of these experiments depends critically and intricately on the number and types of cells used, the concentration of reagents, the duration and conditions of treatment, and timing of measurements. Hours can be spent just

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optimizing and troubleshooting the conditions for a particular experiment before it can be successfully carried out.” The morning duties accomplished, it’s time for the first coffee of the day. She meets longtime collaborator Dr. Robbins, Professor of Surgery, at the coffee shop at Calder Library. “To paraphrase the Beatles, I get by with a little (or a lot) of help from my colleagues, and they are the best thing about working at UM.” She mentions a frustrating problem the lab encountered with a chemical inhibitor that has chemotherapeutic potential. Dr. Robbins has extensive expertise in drug development, and by the time they finish discussing the data and its implications, they agree that the most likely explanation is that he tumor-promoting activity of the protein is distinct from its better-understood catalytic activity. The way to test this idea is to use a modified version of the protein (called “catalytically dead”) in the protein-depleted cells to see if this can revert the tumorinhibitory effects. Priya heads back to the lab with a solution for her team.

Above: Collaborators Priya Rai and David Robbins meet for coffee at Calder Library and discuss experimental results.

Activity picks up on campus as patients arrive for clinic visits and procedures, researchers dive into the day’s experiments, and fellows and residents gather for rounds and lectures. One thing conspicuously absent from everyone’s agenda? Lunch.

10:00 JOSEPH ROSENBLATT

Below: Joe Rosenblatt and two Hematology/Oncology fellows discuss a patient’s medical history before rounds at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Joe departs to attend on the inpatient Hematology/Oncology ward at Jackson North Wing 3. He and Hematology/Oncology Fellow Constantinos Sdrimas, Internal Medicine Resident Brian Pico, Interns Blake Daniels and Matthew Feldman, Pharmacist Marcos Viera and several medical students visit each of the 12 inpatients to review their progress from the prior day. “We had an incredibly challenging assortment of patients. Our patients included a woman with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia and an extremely low platelet count whose religious beliefs prevented her from accepting blood transfusions, a patient with newly diagnosed myeloid leukemia currently serving a prison sentence, a nasopharyngeal cancer case with involvement

of the cranial nerves, and patients with Natural Killer (NK)/T-cell and T-cell hepatosplenic lymphoma, two of the rarest lymphomas in the U.S.” The team also admitted a woman from the Caribbean with untreated advanced breast cancer and bilateral pleural effusions, who was immobilized due to bone involvement, and had to overcome the challenge of administering chemotherapy to a patient with a chest tube. “We often see these types of rare cases at Jackson. One of the real highlights for me during rounds is the medical students interjecting teaching points. An enterprising medical student, Valerie Armstrong, took the initiative to research theologically approved treatments for our patient who could not accept transfusions.” Despite the array of complex cases, Joe made time to present on topics such as the management of diffuse B-cell lymphoma and the newest technologies in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. “We had a little time to spare for extra teaching.” He also routinely took the team to hematopathologists to review bone marrows and biopsies so they could develop an appreciation for the complexity of hematopathologic classification and treatment planning, hoping to spark his trainees’ interest in hematology-oncologic careers. “I think we all had a lot of fun, while learning a great deal.”

11:00 STEFANIE BROWN Stefanie stands at the center of a hurricane of internal medicine residents, figuratively and literally. For the past hour, they’ve been rushing around the room taking part in what’s affectionately called “lecture speed dating.” Today is one of their weekly academic half-days, where they gather as a group for academic instruction outside of daily rounds. An idea implemented by Dr. Judith Hurley, the Hematology/Oncology fellowship program director, during “speed dating” sessions small groups of residents rotate to four faculty members or fellows giving short

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lectures in each corner of the room. In addition to traditional lectures, the longer format of the academic half day allows for a variety of teaching methods, including small groups and team learning. “This is one of the best parts about being in academics at UM, where innovation is valued. When you come up with a crazy or novel idea, you are supported.” Since taking on leadership of the program three years ago, “Dr. B” has overseen the evolution of both the curriculum and its teaching methods. The most dramatic recent change was the advent of block scheduling for residency rotations in 2015. Instead of having clinic time spread throughout the year, residents have two solid weeks of time to follow their patients and pursue other interests. The newest addition to the curriculum is the urban health track, led by Dr. Michael Mueller, which gives residents the option to learn primary care in an urban environment, including special rotations in psychiatry, gynecology and working in federally qualified health centers. “This is really where we’re moving with the residency. We’re finding programs and residents that are interested in working in an environment like Jackson and University of Miami Hospitals and Clinics and hoping to encourage more residents to go into primary care.” Since the start of her tenure, the number of residents pursuing primary care has gone from two to eight each year. Another popular new offering is a healthcare administration elective run by UHealth hospital administrators. “They receive training on how a hospital actually runs: healthcare economics, quality improvement, the patient experience, billing and compliance.” The program is so popular its size was increased to meet resident demand and plans made to include medical students next year. “We’re providing career development at an early stage for future leaders, so that when they leave us they have the experience that leads to the job that they want.”

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12:00 AMAR DESHPANDE Amar heads to the UHealth tower for an afternoon slate of procedures, where he performs endoscopies and colonoscopies. “I’m passionate about medical education, but clinical work is why I became a doctor. With outpatients, inpatients, and patients undergoing endoscopic procedures, it’s also an opportunity to teach while providing care.” Owing to South Florida’s unique demographics, the Center is home to one of the nation’s most extensive databases of Hispanic patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It has become a vital resource for faculty and learners alike, especially as all fellows engage in research during their training. “Many fellows have successfully published articles based on analyses of the database, and these studies have also become an opportunity to involve internal medicine residents and medical students in research early on.” The Crohn’s and Colitis Center provides tertiary care for complicated IBD cases throughout the region and in Latin America. “Miami’s a rich environment for those of us who want to treat and understand these diseases. We see thousands of patients with complicated IBD in both the clinic and at procedures.” Taking advantage of the wealth of combined clinical, educational and research expertise in the Center, the Gastroenterology Division is

Above: Daniel Pirela and Stefanie Brown during a presentation at the weekly Academic Half Day for internal medicine residents.

Above: Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education Alex Mechaber connects with new MD students.

one of only about a dozen programs to provide an extra year of training specifically devoted to IBD. Amar runs into Dr. Abreu, the Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center and one of many faculty members whom he’s considered a mentor since his days as a trainee. They discuss the progress of one of the Center’s clinical trials, which involves combining a novel therapy with an established one to assess possible synergistic effects. “Through our research program, we have the opportunity to provide treatments patients wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. You find the best solution for your patient while also contributing to our greater understanding of the disease.”

13:00 SANDRA CHAPARRO During her afternoon clinic, Sandra and the heart failure fellow working with her discuss whether a patient may be a candidate for a new heart failure device clinical research trial. At any given time, Sandra is contributing to four studies. Right now, she’s helping to test new medicines, devices and stem cell therapies. “We’re treating patients in clinic and simultaneously evaluating whether they might be candidates for trials. We have a range of

options based on the health of the patient, but sometimes we are able to offer the option of a novel treatment.” For established interventions or those still in the trial stage, Sandra ensures that patients have all the information they need to participate in decisions about their care. “Even though some procedures may be elective or routine, a complication can happen at any moment. You have to be prepared for the worst and make sure that everyone understands the risks.” Even for a full-time clinician, working in an academic medical center means making time to contribute to the education of cardiology fellows and internal medicine residents. Sandra is the program director for the heart failure fellowship and heads the medical mechanical circulatory support program. Trainees shadow her in clinics and procedures, and she helps them develop abstracts and publications and meeting. She also mentors a group of residents and fellows who have presented results in prestigious journals and at national and international meetings.

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14:00 ERNESTO BERNAL MIZRACHI After wrapping up his clinic, Ernesto heads back to the medical campus to divide the rest of his day between leadership duties and research. “I dedicate time throughout the day to writing and reviewing grants, editing manuscripts, reading the literature, and thinking. I have meetings throughout my day where I get to meet with other departments and plan and discuss collaborations. I also like to visit faculty in their offices to discuss cases, future projects and studies.” In addition to serving as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, he is also the Deputy Director of Beta Cell Biology and Signal Transduction for the Diabetes Research Institute, where he mentors Institute faculty and provides advice on different research projects. The Institute is the world leader in cure-focused Diabetes research and is working to find a biological cure that allows for the restoration of natural insulin production. If he’s not in the office, Ernesto’s likely in his research laboratory, where he and his team perform basic and translational research to uncover novel therapies for diabetes or its complications. Today, he’s meeting with Drs. Blandino-Rosano, Saar Werneck De Castro, Jara, Pecanha, and Lubaczeuski to discuss

the progress of their research program in islet biology. In particular, they discuss strategies for future grant proposals on alpha and beta cell biology. “Communicating with my team is essential to my day. Whether it’s with the division administrator, office staff, nurses in the clinic, or the research associates in my lab, communicating with them is a priority to keep my work balanced.”

15:00 PRIYAMVADA RAI An afternoon coffee in hand, Priya returns to Rosenstiel for a meeting with her trainees, Cancer Biology Program PhD students Jaya Samaranayake, Clara Troccoli and Rolando Lyles. She says students are responsible for some of the lab’s best ideas. After terminating an experiment that wasn’t working, Priya’s first postdoc pushed on (against all advice) and ran with another idea. Several years later, the lab still uses the model system he developed for prostate cancer research. “Invariably the most important things we have found have emerged from some completely unexpected observation in the lab. Once an unanticipated result is established to be technically sound and all the controls work as they should, I will reach out to my collaborators and see what they have to say.” Left: Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi and Manuel Blandino discuss imaging results as part of their research aimed at finding a cure for diabetes.

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She calls her good friend and collaborator, Dr. Kerry Burnstein, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, to discuss the next steps of their multi-PI grant and the strategy for the follow up grant to NIH they are planning on the role of oxidative stress in promoting incurable prostate cancer through altering androgen receptor activity. Recently, one of her current students found that androgen receptor, a critical driver of prostate cancer, is very high in tumors responding to a new drug treatment. Pursuing this observation has led to an exciting multi-lab-centered project with potential for revitalizing the understanding of incurable and terminal prostate cancer arise from the treatment-responsive tumor. Dr. Burnstein was intrigued and mentioned a research proposal addressing the implications of this unexpected result through their collaborative expertise would perfectly fit a multi-investigator DOD application. Priya and

her team rushed to get in the letter of intent for this multi-principal investigator grant, were invited to submit the application and were eventually awarded a $1.2 million grant for their prostate cancer research.

16:00 STEFANIE BROWN As a Medicine-Pediatrics trained physician, Stefanie has patients who’ve just been born and patients nearing their 100th birthdays. “My goal when I went into medicine was to treat whole families. I like taking care of the grandmother and the mother and the baby, the husband and the wife and their children.” The ability to visit the doctor together is convenient for parents and children alike, and deep relationships form as physicians see families grow and change. “I’ve seen patients through middle and high school, graduating college and starting their careers, and even had some come back to me with their own children.”

Right: Priya Rai in her laboratory, where she and her PhD student trainees work on enhancing tumor suppressors to treat cancers.

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Left: Amar Desphande and Continuing with the same physician Dr. Julio Frenk, President of the through adolescence and early adulthood University of Miami, at a Mitchell benefits patients as well. “When children age Wolfson Sr. Department of out of their pediatrician’s office, they lose a Community Service event. relationship with the doctor they’ve known all their lives. It’s especially stressful if they have complicated medical histories.” Working next door to the pediatrics clinic at Jackson’s Ambulatory Care Center allows Stefanie to ease that transition for her new patients. Today, Dr. Audrey Ofir walks over with a new patient who’ll start seeing Stefanie at his next visit. “Med-Peds and Peds have a similar mindset, so it’s an easier transition for patients, As clinics wrap up and the last meetings of the day wind down, especially when the doctor they’ve grown up physicians take time to decompress and spend time with family, often with can give them the option to stay with a returning to their patient care and research late at night. UM colleague.”

17:00 AMAR DESHPANDE Amar returns to his office to discuss this weekend’s health fair with students in the Mitchell Wolfson, Sr. Department of Community Service (DOCS). Amar is faculty advisor to DOCS, a nationally-awarded student organization that runs ten health fairs and four weekly clinics serving over 2,500 medically underserved people per year. DOCS volunteers provide preventive, primary and subspecialty care in temporarily converted spaces such as community schools as well as in established clinics. This weekend they’ll be heading ten minutes north of campus to Liberty City, one of Miami’s most disadvantaged communities. Amar recalls a recent event during which DOCS provided free sigmoidoscopies, examinations of the lower large intestine. “During one of the procedures, we found and removed a cancer from an uninsured patient.” The patient would not have otherwise had the opportunity to undergo a preventative screening. “We’ve seen this situation many times in DOCS events. Without the studentled program, that patient likely would not have not known about their disease until it had significantly progressed. Learners and faculty working together made a life-saving difference.” D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

18:00 JOSEPH ROSENBLATT Joe prepares to head home after a meeting of Sylvester’s Site Disease Group for Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma, led by Drs. Izidore Lossos and James Hoffman. Site Disease Groups exist at Sylvester for every type of cancer and gather experts to shape a clinical and research program approach to specific diseases. “We meet regularly to discuss the status of ongoing therapeutic and non-clinical trials we’re conducting in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, stem cell transplant and cellular therapy.” The group reviews details about the progress of the trials, such as patient accrual, and considers possible future trials based on new ideas, including investigator-initiated trials. “This also leads to spirited debates. We want to prioritize efforts to have the best possible clinical trial portfolio for patients and the most promising approaches to treatment.” Joe’s own research laboratory lab focuses on tumor immunology and immunotherapy and works to develop novel fusion proteins that may have a role in disrupting metabolic and lymphatic supply or boosting immune response to solid tumors and lymphomas. Under a Small Business Innovation Research grant funded by the National Cancer Institute, they are currently working to move one such

Above: Joe Rosenblatt, his wife Lily and five of their young grandchildren on a hike in the woods.

Above: Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, his wife Yasmina and their three daughters.

Below: Joe Rosenblatt greets Edmundo Carvalho Mauad, MD, PhD, Director of Brazil’s Barretos Cancer Hospital, during a ceremony to commemorate a new collaborative research agreement with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

protein into clinical trials in breast cancer. His collaborators include Research Associate Professor and Lab Manager Seung-Uon Shin, PhD, Research Assistant Professor Yu Dana Zhang, MD, Assistant Scientist Hyun-Mi Cho, PhD and Christian Elledge, a PhD student from the University’s Cancer Biology program. Joe is leaving campus a bit earlier than usual tonight to spend time with Lily, his wife of 41 years, and three visiting grandchildren: Maddie, age 5, Max, age 3, and Sheyn, age 18 months. “There’s only one person who can get me into a swimming pool, and that’s Maddie. When she’s visiting we use it every day of the week. Sheyn’s the newcomer and is just a great kid, one prolonged smile. Max doesn’t listen to a thing I say and he’s an auburn redhead – just like I used to be before I became a division chief.”

“Getting home and spending quality time with my wife and three daughters, that really provides the highlight of every day.” Between plays at his twin daughters’ soccer practice, Ernesto has some of his most productive reading and thinking time. He alternates between cheering them on and taking the opportunity to read something besides a medical journal. “Based on the pace of science, my reading time is mostly getting up to date with advances in my area of research. However, I am currently reading The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights by Daniel Goldman.” When his daughters are off to bed, Ernesto wraps up the day’s pending tasks, reviews papers, or prepares for the next day’s meetings. After that? “I unwind, or try to at least!”

19:00 ERNESTO BERNAL-MIZRACHI

20:00 STEFANIE BROWN

On his way out, Ernesto does one last circuit between his office and research space. “I wrap up the day with my assistant, Ms. Castro. We usually follow up with patient care needs or requests, and review tomorrow’s schedule.” At the lab, he looks over the results and challenges of the day and discusses ongoing experiments with his associates, which he thinks through on the drive home.

Judging by her inbox, Stefanie is one of the most popular people on campus. With 200-300 new emails accumulating by the end of every day, she’s taken a page from the residency curriculum and created a block schedule of her own. “I block two half-hours a day for e-mail -otherwise I’d doing that all day.” With so many requirements from national and local medical and education boards, it’s easy to get caught up in reports and meetings. “Someone wise once told me that you have to schedule time to be creative. I set aside time for my own development, so that I can think about a new research project or an addition to the curriculum that might be interesting.” Stefanie also makes time for life outside of work, whether it’s spending quality time with her rescue rat terrier/chihuahua mix, Manny, or hosting a near constant stream of family from New Jersey seeking the Miami sun. She’s at pottery class every Saturday, and a variety of exercise classes throughout the week. “I do Pilates, circuit training, spinning, yoga – well, I’m not that good at yoga. But that’s the point. Sometimes you just need some time doing something for pure enjoyment.”

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

undruggable oncogene.’ We had stumbled upon an indirect way to reduce its levels in cancer cells.” This is also Priya’s time to write. She reviews experimental designs, analyzes data, drafts manuscripts, and comes up with the best way to convey the big picture results of her team’s work. “My work gives me a tremendous sense of purpose, a chance to look at the natural world in a way very few people are afforded. When the going gets tough, I focus on the discovery aspect. It’s what makes my job fun, and why I got into biomedical research in the first place. Once the science part is going well, the rest always follows.”

Left: Stefanie makes time for pottery class every week to help de-stress.

23:00 SANDRA CHAPARRO

22:00 PRIYAMVADA RAI When it’s time to decompress, Priya spends time with her family, exercises, tends to her garden or enjoys the greatest perk of living in Miami – lying by the ocean. She heads home each night for dinner with her husband, a fellow scientist, and her young children, then uses the quiet night time hours to think. “Ideas come to me during all sorts of odd moments, usually when my mind is not on science. I once had a breakthrough about something we were struggling with in the lab while exploring the ruins of one of the oldest civilizations in India.” At the time, they were investigating the effects of targeting a novel protein on inhibiting lung cancer formation driven by Ras, the most commonly mutated oncogene. As she and her family wandered through the intricate stone-lined structural remnants, it occurred to her that the oxidant levels in these tumor cells were controlled by the Ras oncoprotein. “This was an exciting breakthrough for us, as Ras is called ‘the D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Sandra typically ends her day at home on UChart, the health system’s electronic medical records program. After an evening with her family, she finalizes the notes and billing for the day. Tonight, she gets to call a patient and her family with good news. After waiting months for a heart transplant, the patient is finally getting one in just a few hours. UHealth physicians have made that call to transplant recipients over 580 times this year. “She was a little nervous with the idea of an open heart surgery, but hopeful that her transplant was going to be successful. It is a roller coaster of emotions for the patient and the family and my role is to support them at all times.” Once a transplant is scheduled, a dynamic process begins with many members of the team working late at night to have all the pieces in place prior to the actual surgery. Sandra must also make sure the patient is prepared for the rare situation of cancelling the case if the organ is suboptimal. “Patients and their families go through so much with this disease. With patients I’ve followed for years, it’s especially difficult when we know we’re nearing the end stage. You become friends. Just that smile and that hug when they are glad to see you – that’s what motivates me.”

Above: Sandra Chaparro, her husband Christos and their son Harry.

OVER THE YEAR Although no day is the same, each academic year has rituals and traditions that shape life at the Department of Medicine. Here’s a look at FY 2018: July 2017 Students became residents, residents

became fellows, and some fellows even became assistant professors! The start of a new year means fresh faces in the Department, where trainees work with faculty in every aspect of our mission.

August 2017 We held new faculty orientation to

past year, and to plan great things for the future. At “SODA,” the department also took the opportunity to honor faculty members. Winning George Paff Teaching Awards were Drs. Warren Kupin, Mathias Salathe, Dan Sussman, Joseph Esterman, Pasquale Benedetto and Sibi Krishnamurthy. Dr. Kupin also won Best Clerkship Module in the MD and MD/MPH tracks, and Gauri Agarwal won Best MD/MPH Clerkship. Dr. Joshua Hare won the Schally Research Award, and Drs. Elio Donna and Peter Hosein won Distinguished Clinician Awards, Dr. Judith Hurley the Distinguished Educator Award and Dr. Allan Rodriguez won the Diversity Award. This year’s winner of the Barkin/Rogers Outstanding Mentor Award was Dr. Michael Kolber.

welcome the 30+ faculty that joined us this year. Sessions from research to benefits help new professors get acquainted with their new home at the U.

December 2017 Students from all over the country descended on the campus as the Department of Medicine decided which of 5,000 applicants will qualify to rank in the top 400 and be eligible to match at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Internal Medicine residency.

February 2018 After a months-long review by their peers and experts in their fields at other institutions, the faculty voted on which members would attain promotion and tenure. This year, Drs. Carlos Alfonso, Wayne Balkan, Yvonne Diaz, Lina Shehadeh, Reshma Mahtani and Marco Ladino Avellaneda were promoted to Associate Professor. Drs. Mauricio Cohen, Ana Palacio, Ivonne Schulman and Leonardo Tamariz were promoted to Professor. Dr. Dana Ascherman of Rheumatology received tenure at the rank of Associate Professor and Dr. Alejandro Caicedo of Endocrinology received tenure at the rank of Professor.

March 2018 As Internal Medicine Program Director

June 2018 The UHealth Comprehensive

Upper right: Physicians, staff and learners at the 4th Annual

Dr. Stefanie Brown says, Match Day is like the NFL draft, but with much lower salaries. Graduating medical students and their families gather to see where they will spend their residencies and celebrate years of hard work. The Department also held its annual Research Day, named for beloved cardiologist Dr. Eugene Sayfie.

Eugene J. Sayfie, M.D. Research

May 2018 Dr. Weiss delivered his State of the

lence in research by either a

Department Address, bringing together all our faculty to review the successes and challenges of the 18

Day in March 2018. Above: Maria T. Abreu and Alessia Fornoni were each awarded a 2018 Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity, which recognizes UM faculty who have demonstrated excelsingle unique achievement or many years of high-quality scholarly productivity.

Diabetes Center at the Lennar Foundation Medical Center received a Certificate of Recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for its diabetes selfmanagement education program. Assuring high-quality education for patient self-care is one of the primary goals of the ADA’s Education Recognition program. By achieving ADA standards for education, the Center’s reaffirms its commitment to helping patients assume a major part of the responsibility for their diabetes management, potentially avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions and some acute and chronic diabetes complications. The Center’s multidisciplinary approach includes the coordinated efforts of endocrinologists, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute ophthalmologists, podiatrists, nephrologists, cardiologists, sleep specialists, dieticians and diabetes nurse educators. Bringing all these specialists and resources together in a same-day/same-location experience allows the Center to provide individualized treatment plans that improve patient experience, disease management and health outcomes. U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

Learner Demographics DATA SUMMARY

MEDICINE PROGRAMS AND DIRECTORS

Internal Medicine Residents Number Total IM Residents................................................ 126 Med-Peds Residents............................................... 20 Residents with Advanced Degrees (MBA, MPH, PhD, MS)............................................ 8

INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY Stefanie Brown, MD Vice Chair for Education

33%

26%

CARDIOVASCULAR Carlos Alfonso, MD

Resident Education % Medical School in Florida.................................. 26 Medical School in U.S. outside of Florida........... 41 Medical School Outside the U.S......................... 33

41%

Resident Ethnicity % Hispanic or Latino ............................................. 40 White ................................................................ 28 Asian................................................................. 18 Black or African American................................... 8 Other .................................................................. 6

CARDIOVASCULAR- ADVANCED HEART FAILURE/ TRANSPLANT Sandra Chaparro, MD CARDIOVASCULAR – ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY Raul Mitrani, MD

6% 8% 40% 18%

Resident Gender % Female............................................................... 43 Male.................................................................. 57

CARDIOVASCULAR-INTERVENTIONAL STRUCTURAL HD FELLOW Eduardo de Marchena, MD

28%

ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES AND METABOLISM Atil Kargi, MD

Resident Outcomes % Matches............................................................... 100 Job Placements....................................................... 70 Staying at UM/JMH................................................ 40 Staying in Miami.................................................... 58 Internal Medicine Fellows Number Total Internal Medicine Fellows.................... 131 Cardiology.............................................................. 22 Cardiology - Interventional....................................... 3 Cardiology - Electrophysiology................................. 2 Cardiology - Heart Failure......................................... 1 Cardiology - Structural............................................. 1 Pulmonary, Critical Care......................................... 22 Endocrinology.......................................................... 7 Gastroenterology................................................... 15 Geriatrics.................................................................. 8 Hospice and Palliative Care...................................... 5 Hematology/Oncology............................................ 16 Hepatology............................................................... 2 Infectious Diseases................................................. 11 ID Transplant............................................................ 2 Nephrology............................................................. 10 Rheumatology.......................................................... 4 Fellow Ethnicity % Hispanic or Latino ............................................. 42 White ................................................................ 28 Asian................................................................. 21 Black or African American................................... 5 Other .................................................................. 4 Fellow Gender % Female............................................................... 45 Male.................................................................. 55

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

CARDIOVASCULAR – INTERVENTIONAL Alexandre Ferreira, MD

GASTROENTEROLOGY David Kerman, MD GERIATRICS Jorge Ruiz, MD

43%

57%

HEMATOLOGY-ONCOLOGY Judith De Leo Hurley, MD HEPATOLOGY Cynthia Levy, MD

HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE Khin Zaw, MD

21%

42%

INFECTIOUS DISEASES Paola Natalia Lichtenberger, MD INFECTIOUS DISEASE TRANSPLANT Michele Morris, MD

28%

MEDICINE-PEDIATRICS Antonia Eyssallenne, MD NEPHROLOGY Oliver Lenz, MD

55%

45%

PULMONARY, CRITICAL CARE David De La Zerda, MD RHEUMATOLOGY Carlos Lozada, MD

Division Highlights & Publications CARDIOVASCULAR DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: Launched new clinical programs

for leadless pacemaker insertion and left atrial appendage occlusion for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. LECTURE SERIES: The Division of Cardiology held

its first “Pioneers in Cardiology Lecture Series” with special guest, Dr. Eugene Braunwald, the Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and the founding Chair of the TIMI Study Group at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The Pioneers in Cardiology Lecture is held during the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds with an additional Community Lecture that welcomes community physicians to participate. This program afforded the Cardiology Fellows the opportunity to interact with the guest speaker and seek mentorship with an international icon of cardiology. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: During Heart Month,

February 2018, the Division successfully implemented its very first community campaign for coronary artery disease screening, offering a $25 coronary calcium scoring test for appropriate patients. Over 300 patients participated in this UHealth Calcium Scoring Campaign.

Above: C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD delivers the Cardiology division’s annual Louis Lemberg lecture.

safety issued by Health Canada (Nawrot et al., 2003), this study is a systematic review of data on potential adverse effects of caffeine published from 2001 to June 2015. Wikoff D, Welsh BT, Henderson R, Brorby GP, Britt J, Myers E, Goldberger J, Lieberman HR, O’Brien C, Peck J, Tenenbein M, Weaver C, Harvey S, Urban J and Doepker C. Food Chem Toxicol. 2017 Nov;109(Pt 1):585-648. doi: 10.1016/j. fct.2017.04.002. Epub 2017 Apr 21. PRIMARY MYOCARDIAL FIBROSIS AS AN ALTERNATE

FACULTY AWARDS: Michael Dyal, MD - Florida

PHENOTYPE PATHWAY OF INHERITED CARDIAC

Chapter of the American College of Cardiology Fellow’s Choice Award; Eduardo de Marchena, MD - Alumni Hall of Fame Award from University of Miami

STRUCTURAL DISORDERS. Data from 4,031

EDUCATION: Started a simulation laboratory

for catheterization procedures, under the supervision of Fellowship Program Director Carlos Alfonso, MD.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE POTENTIAL ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION IN HEALTHY ADULTS, PREGNANT WOMEN, ADOLESCENTS, AND CHILDREN. Awarded “Best Paper of 2017” by

Food and Chemical Toxicology. An update to the foundational publication on caffeine 20

consecutive autopsies demonstrate that a significant subgroup of non-ischemic sudden cardiac deaths express as primary myocardial fibrosis alone, without expression of the primary conditions associated with the genes with identified variants. This has implications for screening of family members SCD victims with PMF and positive postmortem genetic studies. Junttila MJ, Holmström L, Pylkäs K, Mantere T, Kaikkonen K, Porvari K, Kortelainen M-L, Pakanen L, Kerkelä R, Myerburg RJ, Huikuri H. Circulation. 2018 Jun 19;137(25):2716-2726. doi: 10.1161/ CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032175.

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M, Banerjee MN, Tompkins BA, Khan A, Schulman IH, Landin AM, Mushtaq M, Lowery MH, Byrnes J, Hendel RC, Cohen MG, Valasaki K, Pujol MV, Ghersin E, Miki R, Delgado C, Abuzeid FA, Vidro-Casiano M, Saltzman R, DaFonseca D, Caceres LV, Ramdas KN, Mendizabal A, Heldman AW, Mitrani RD, Hare JM. Circ Res. 2017 Nov 10;121(11):1279-1290. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.311827. Epub 2017 Sep 18.

FOCUSED UPDATE OF THE 2016 ACC EXPERT CONSENSUS DECISION PATHWAY ON THE ROLE OF NONSTATIN THERAPIES FOR LDL-CHOLESTEROL LOWERING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK. This article

was created by an expert consensus panel assembled by the American College of Cardiology to provide guidance on the appropriate use of non-statin therapies in those who are already receiving treatment with evidence based-statins. It has been considered to be the definitive document on this subject in the field of clinical lipidology and preventive cardiovascular medicine. Lloyd-Jones DM, Morris PB, Ballantyne CM, Birtcher KK, Daly DD Jr, DePalma SM, Minissian MB, Orringer CE, Smith SC Jr. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017 Oct 3;70(14):1785-1822. doi: 10.1016/j. jacc.2017.07.745. Epub 2017 Sep 5.

TRANSFEMORAL APPROACH FOR CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY AND INTERVENTION: A COLLABORATION OF INTERNATIONAL CARDIOVASCULAR SOCIETIES.

DOSE COMPARISON STUDY OF ALLOGENEIC MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH ISCHEMIC CARDIOMYOPATHY (THE TRIDENT STUDY).

This study highlights the crucial role of cell dose in the responses to cell therapy. Determining optimal dose and delivery is essential to advance the field, decipher mechanism(s) of action and enhance planning of pivotal Phase III trials. Florea V, Rieger AC, Difede DL, El-Khorazaty J, Natsumeda

Below: Cardiologist Eduardo de Marchena and Suresh Atapattu, Research Coordinator, for International Medicine demonstrate a transcatheter aortic valve replacement device to a patient. The TAVR program at UHealth marked its 10th anniversary this year

The aim of this study was to examine the current practice and use of transfemoral approach (TFA) for coronary angiography and intervention. There is significant variability in preferences for femoral access technique. Even though recommended best practices advocate for fluoroscopic and ultrasound guidance, most operators use palpation alone. Femoral angiography is also not consistently used despite guideline recommendations. The lack of adoption of imaging guidance for vascular access deserves further investigation. Damluji AA, Nelson DW, Valgimigli M, Windecker S, Byrne RA, Cohen F, Patel T, Brilakis ES, Banerjee S, Mayol J, Cantor WJ, Alfonso CE, Rao SV, Moscucci M, Cohen MG. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2017 Nov 27;10(22):22692279. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2017.08.035.

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL TRIALS: Conducted 15 phase I studies in

patents with renal and hepatic impairment. PILOT INVESTIGATIONS: Initiated pilot

investigation into management and natural history of hypertensive urgency and pilot research program in hypertension health disparities. Conducted two original pilot investigations in pathophysiology of hypertension. EDUCATION: Developed curriculum for elective in

Clinical Pharmacology/Clinical Research.

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R e po r t 2018

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS EMETINE INHIBITS ZIKA AND EBOLA VIRUS INFECTIONS THROUGH TWO MOLECULAR MECHANISMS: INHIBITING VIRAL REPLICATION AND DECREASING VIRAL ENTRY.

This mechanistic study suggests that the widely available drug emetine may interfere with some of the pathways that enable Ebola and Zika virus infections. Yang S, Xu M, Lee EM…Preston RA, Jayaweera DT, Zheng W. Cell Discov. 2018 Jun 5;4:31. doi: 10.1038/ s41421-018-0034-1. eCollection 2018. SINGLE-CENTER EVALUATION OF THE PHARMACOKINETICS AND SAFETY OF THE ANGIOTENSIN II RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST AZILSARTAN MEDOXOMIL IN MILD TO MODERATE HEPATIC IMPAIRMENT. This

study demonstrated that the antihypertensive drug azilsartan is well-tolerated in patients with liver disease. Furthermore, liver disease does not significantly inhibit the metabolism of azilsartan and does not lead to excessively high drug levels. Dudkowski C, Karim A, Zhao Z, Alonso AB, Garg D, Preston RA. J Clin Pharmacol. 2018 Jan;58(1):48-56. doi: 10.1002/ jcph.970. Epub 2017 Jul 27.

Weight Management Program: directed by Dr. Iacobellis, has a multidisciplinary approach with conventional dietary counseling and pharmacological treatment and the use of novel diagnostic testing. Pituitary Specialty Clinic: developed by Drs. Ayala and Kargi to help pituitary disease patients connect with a multidisciplinary team of endocrinologists, neuro-radiologists, ophthalmologists and neurosurgeons. Endocrine Testing Center: provides state-ofthe art dynamic testing to aid in the diagnosis and management of endocrine disorders. It is the only one of its kind in South Florida and plays a vital role for the community. RESEARCH FUNDING: Department physicians

were awarded $2.3M in research funding by several granting agencies to investigate novel approaches to treat diabetes, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome and basic mechanisms of endocrine diseases. The division also extended its base of junior faculty seeking grant funding. The junior faculty members applying for grants include Drs. Baidal, Valderrabano and Jara. FACULTY RECOGNITION: Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi:

ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES & METABOLISM DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: Overall, the division increased

new patient visit volume to 64%, increased total arrived visits by 38% and third next available appointment average wait time decreased from 49 days to 31 days. The division launched four new patient care initiatives: Bone Specialty Clinic: run by Drs. Valderrabano and Lagari, clinic patients can have a bone density scan on the same day as their visit, improving efficiency and ensuring better understanding of test results. The clinic has revived the endocrinology imaging center at the Diabetes Research Institute, which now serves as the imaging site for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis in their participation in the RoBaCO trial.

standing member and reviewer of the NIH Cellular Aspects of Diabetes and Obesity Study Section (CADO), and member of the American Diabetes Association Pathway Mentor Advisory Group. Dr. Caicedo: standing member of the NIH Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Study Section (MCE). Dr. Kargi: question writer at the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME or USMLE). Dr. Goldberg: member ACC/AHA Cholesterol Guidelines Committee, NIDDK U34 Grant Reviewer Author, NIDDK publication, Diabetes in America 3rd Edition, NIDDK TODAY Study OSMB member. Dr. Almaca: 2018 New Investigator Pilot Award from the Human Islet Research Network (HIRN). Dr. Valderrabano: travel award for the 2017 ASBMR for “Older Men with Decreasing Hemoglobin Have a Higher Risk of Future Hip Fracture: The Cardiovascular Health Study”

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS: THE PERICYTE OF THE PANCREATIC ISLET REGULATES CAPILLARY DIAMETER AND LOCAL BLOOD FLOW.

Almaca et al. study pericyte cells, which wrap around capillary endothelial cells, in the islets of the pancreas and show that islet pericytes help control local blood flow by adjusting islet capillary diameter. They further show that this mechanism in lost in diabetes, which may lead to inadequate insulin supply. Almaça J, Weitz J, Rodriguez-Diaz R, Pereira E, Caicedo A Cell Metab. 2018 Mar 6;27(3):630-644.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.02.016. PARACRINE INTERACTIONS WITHIN THE PANCREATIC ISLET DETERMINE THE GLYCEMIC SET POINT. It is

not known if there is a leading organ that maintains blood glucose levels within the narrow physiological range. Rodriguez-Diaz and colleagues show that the pancreatic islet serves as the systemic glucostat and that paracrine glucagon input from alpha cells is essential for setting the glycemic set point. Therapeutic strategies using glucagon receptor antagonists to lower glycemia should thus be reassessed. Rodriguez-Diaz R*, Molano RD, Weitz JR, Abdulreda MH, Berman DM, Leibiger B, Leibiger IB, Kenyon NS, Ricordi C, Pileggi A, Caicedo A*, Berggren PO*.Cell Metab. 2018 Mar 6;27(3):549-558.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.01.015. KCNE1 AND KCNE3 MODULATE KCNQ1 CHANNELS BY AFFECTING DIFFERENT GATING TRANSITIONS. The

voltage-gated potassium channel KCNQ1 is a widely expressed membrane protein that plays diverse roles in human physiology. Inherited mutations of KCNQ1 have been linked to multiple channelopathies, including deafness, epilepsy, and cardiac arrhythmia. The study describes for the first time the difference in the molecular mechanism of how the KCNE1 D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Above: Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi and the staff of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism

and KCNE3 beta subunits alters the voltage activation of KCNQ1 channel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. BarroSoria, R, Rosamary Ramentol, Sara, I. Liin, Perez, M. E., Robert, S. Kass and Larsson, H.P*. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Aug 29;114(35):E7367-E7376. doi: 10.1073/ pnas.1710335114. Epub 2017 Aug 14. LOSS OF MTORC1 SIGNALING ALTERS PANCREATIC Α CELL MASS AND IMPAIRS GLUCAGON SECRETION.

These studies uncovered a potentially novel role of nutrient signals in maintenance of postnatal α cell mass and identified a previously unknown function of this pathway on glucagon secretion during fasting and hypoglycemia by modulation of KATP channel subunit expression (SUR1 and Kir6.2) and channel activity. Bozadjieva N, Blandino-Rosano M, Chase J, Dai XQ, Cummings K, Gimeno J, Dean D, Powers AC, Gittes GK, Rüegg MA, Hall MN, MacDonald PE, Bernal-Mizrachi E. J Clin Invest. 2017 Dec 1;127(12):4379-4393. doi: 10.1172/JCI90004. Epub 2017 Nov 6. LOSS OF MTORC1 SIGNALLING IMPAIRS β-CELL HOMEOSTASIS AND INSULIN PROCESSING. This

study evaluates the molecular mechanisms responsible for pancreatic islet β-cell failure, a central factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. Here we show that β-cell-specific loss of mTORC1 causes diabetes and β-cell failure due to defects in proliferation, autophagy, apoptosis and insulin secretion. Finally, it is possible that modulation of mTORC1 could provide a useful therapeutic tool to improve the β-cell in pathological conditions. BlandinoRosano M, Barbaresso R, Jimenez-Palomares M, Bozadjieva N, Werneck-de-Castro JP, Hatanaka M, Mirmira RG, Sonenberg N, Liu M, Rüegg MA, Hall MN, Bernal-Mizrachi E. Nat Commun. 2017 Jul 12;8:16014. doi: 10.1038/ncomms16014. 23

EXECUTIVE MEDICINE: Under the new leadership

GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE

of Dr. Stephen Avallone, the vision of Executive Medicine is to make the University of Miami Health System a leading destination for top quality executive and concierge healthcare with a global reach. Concierge medicine provides a direct primary care option for those individuals who seek more dedicated time with their physician and healthcare team.

DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS ALL OF US: In May of 2018, the University of

Miami was awarded $60 million as part of the NIH’s ambitious $1.5 billion All of Us Research Program. UM is the lead partner in the SouthEast Enrollment Center (SEEC) which also includes the University of Florida and Georgia’s Emory University and Morehouse College of Medicine. The goal of SEEC is to enroll about 100,000 of the more than 1 million people whom will be recruited across the U.S. over the next five years. The project is led by Division Chief Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo and Drs. Stephan Züchner and Margaret A. Pericak-Vance from the Department of Human Genetics. If interested in joining, please go www.joinallofus.org

MEDICAL CONSULTATION SERVICE AT JACKSON (MOD): Building on our existing strengths and

excellence in teaching and clinical service delivery at Jackson this year the Division of General Internal Medicine was asked to take over the medical consult service at JMH. Our Division will be working to develop a high level educational experience for our residents and create a first class medical consultation service for patients being cared for by other specialties at JMH.

ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION (EJAF): Funded by

the Elton John AIDS Foundation, CHAMP (Community-Based HIV Awareness for Minority Populations) is an innovative HIV testing strategy that uses community health workers (CHWs) to facilitate home-based rapid HIV testing (HBHRT) in non-traditional locations within South Florida’s Black neighborhoods. Since our last grant renewal, we have more than doubled our enrollment, made significant strides within our immigrant population, and had a noteworthy impact on the sustainability of these outcomes in the community. To date, we have helped over 3,500 people complete HBHRT, access HIV care, or improve their knowledge of HIV prevention.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS: ETHICS, BIG DATA AND COMPUTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH. This paper argues that

Below: UM’s famous Sebastian the Ibis celebrates the launch of the All of Us Research Program with the Division of General Internal Medicine.

traditional views of “secondary data use” are misguided and have impeded the growth of biomedical knowledge. It is an important statement about the need for analyzing all health data without unnecessary restrictions. Salerno J, Knoppers BM, Lee LM, Hlaing WM, Goodman KW. Ann Epidemiol. 2017 May;27(5):297-301. doi: 10.1016/j. annepidem.2017.05.002. Epub 2017 May 10.

POPULATION HEALTH: Thanks to the leadership

of Dr. Yanisa Del Toro and the hard work, dedication, and consistency of our General Medicine faculty, there has been dramatic improvement in our Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures for primary care. We have 4.9 stars on Medication adherence and 3.71 stars in other metrics such as DM population and Care for the elderly. The overall rating of 4.1 stars is a major accomplishment for a program that began just three years ago.

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

HPV SELF-SAMPLING FOR CERVICAL CANCER

Above: Geriatrics and

SCREENING AMONG ETHNIC MINORITY WOMEN IN

Palliative Medicine fellows

SOUTH FLORIDA: A RANDOMIZED TRIAL. To compare

a community health worker (CHW)-led HPV self-sampling intervention with standard cervical cancer screening approaches, a total of 601 Black, Haitian, and Hispanic women aged 30-65 years in need of cervical cancer screening were recruited, 479 of whom completed study follow-up. As compared to more traditional approaches, CHW-facilitated HPV selfsampling led to increased cervical cancer screening among ethnic minority women in South Florida. Carrasquillo O, Seay J, Amofah A, Pierre L, Alonzo Y, McCann S, Gonzalez M, Trevil D, Koru-Sengul T, Kobetz E. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Jul;33(7):1077-1083. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4404-z. Epub 2018 Mar 28. REFINEMENT OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: A PROGRESSIVE PERSPECTIVE. A highlight of some

of the limitations of the ACA and potential areas for refinement, which concludes that the ACA fell far short of the goal of achieving universal coverage and that the coverage made available through the ACA was not equitable. In addition, the ACA expanded coverage by building onto a highly fragmented, inefficient, and costly health system. Thus, it did little to control health costs. A more fiscally prudent approach would have been built upon more successful existing programs, such as a Medicare for All. Carrasquillo O, Mueller M. Annu Rev Med. 2018 Jan 29;69:29-39. doi: 10.1146/annurev-med-090916-120540. Epub 2017 Oct 13. D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R e po r t 2018

GERIATRICS & PALLIATIVE MEDICINE

gather at their annual

DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS

awards ceremony.

CLINICAL CARE: The division expanded its

presence to the Lennar Foundation Medical Center in Coral Gables as well as UHealth clinics in Kendall and Deerfield Beach, and Palliative Medicine expanded its service line with the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to continue collaborating on a multidisciplinary patient care approach for pain management. EDUCATION: Palliative Medicine continued

expansion of clerkship training in the area by giving medical students the opportunity to participate in palliative care consults and clinics with the help and supervision of Khin Zaw, MD. The Palliative Medicine Fellowship added a newly implemented fellow track for Pediatrics and Palliative Care. FACULTY RECOGNITION: Dr. Marcio Soaresâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

performance as a teacher, mentor and supporter of education was recognized by students and residents in a recent PULSE 360 survey, who ranked him among the top ten faculty. VETERAN CARE: As part of the Geriatric Research,

Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the Bruce W. Carter VA Medical Center, a part of the Miami VA Healthcare System, faculty participated in eight clinical demonstrations for improving care of older veterans and organized the International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia in February 2018.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS DRAMATIC REDUCTION IN 30-DAY READMISSIONS THROUGH HIGH-RISK SCREENING AND TWO-PHASE INTERDISCIPLINARY CARE. Thirty-day readmissions

are common, serious, and costly. Most important, often they are preventable. The purpose of this quality improvement study was to evaluate an interdisciplinary, two-phase intervention to reduce 30-day readmissions among high-risk medical patients. Labrada M, Mintzer MJ, Karanam C, Castellanos R, Cruz L, Hoang M, Wieger R, Aguilar E, Florez H, Ruiz JG. South Med J. 2017 Dec;110(12):757760. doi: 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000000745. METFORMIN AND AGEING: IMPROVING AGEING OUTCOMES BEYOND GLYCAEMIC CONTROL. In a

world where the population is ageing, there is growing interest and demand for research evaluating strategies that address the ageing process. After 60 years of successful use of metformin in our pharmaceutical armamentarium, we are learning that, beyond improving glycaemic control, metformin may have additional mechanisms and pathways of action that need further study. Valencia WM, Palacio A, Tamariz L, Florez H. Diabetologia. 2017 Sep;60(9):1630-1638. doi: 10.1007/s00125017-4349-5. Epub 2017 Aug 2. GLYCAEMIC CONTROL AND GLYCAEMIC VARIABILITY IN OLDER PEOPLE WITH DIABETES. Florez HJ. Lancet

Diabetes Endocrinol. 2018 Jun;6(6):433-435. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(18)30069-X. Epub 2018 Apr 16.

DIGESTIVE HEALTH: GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: During FY2018, the Divisions

of Gastroenterology and Hepatology combined as a Digestive Health Service line under the direction of Paul Martin, MD, who was appointed Division Chief for both divisions. The Digestive Health Service Line made significant improvements during FY18. Both the medical campus outpatient clinical services and the endoscopy unit were consolidated to a single 26

Above: Maria Abreu and colleagues at the Crohnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Colitis Center.

location at UHealth Tower. Services were also expanded and include: fibroscan, nutrition consults and social work services. The Crohnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s & Colitis Center remains at UMHC where it can now expand given the move of general GI services to UHT. The C&C center continues to thrive and provide exceptional care to the community. RESEARCH MILESTONE: Under the Direction

of Maria T. Abreu, MD, The Division was awarded the first National Institutes of Health T-32 grant in the Department of Medicine, entitled Translational Research Training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The primary goal of this T32 program is to provide an organized and comprehensive, research training experience to adult and pediatric gastroenterology fellows and post-doctoral PhDs who are committed to a career in digestive health research. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Gastroenterology and

Hepatology faculty and fellows participate annually in the Mitchel Wolfson, Sr. Department of Community Service (DOCS), which sees over 2,500 patients per year in over 10 health fairs, and four weekly clinics. Within this program, in 2018 divisional faculty and fellows expended over 229 hours screening underserved patients for colon cancer and hepatitis C. Drs. Amar Deshpande and Daniel Sussman are working with residents to determine screening rates of colon cancers at health fairs. Dr. Sussman is collaborating with other UM investigators, Drs. Natasha Solle and Erin Kobetz, on an outreach to the firefighter community to improve utilization of colorectal cancer screening. U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

FACULTY AWARDS: Maria T. Abreu, MD:

and the mechanism by which this occurred. Results: Results demonstrate that oral exposure to PCB 153 is genotoxic to IECs and induces downstream inflammation and barrier dysfunction in the intestinal epithelium. These experiments help explain the cascade of events leading to bowel injury in IBD. Phillips MC, Dheer R, Santaolalla R, Davies JM, Burgueño J, Lang JK, Toborek M, Abreu MT. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2018 Jan 15;339:24-33. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2017.11.027. Epub 2017 Nov 29.

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity, Appointed to American Association of Professors, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America Honorary Book of Hope Award. Jamie Barkin, MD: James L. Borland Senior Award, the highest award given by the Florida Gastroenterologic Society for achievements and contributions to the field of gastroenterology. Oriana Damas, MD: Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Research Internship Award; Amar Deshpande, MD: Appointed, American Board of Internal Medicine for GI Examination, College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Community Service Award. Mohit Girotra, MD: Digital Communications and Publications Committee of ACG; Lower GI Committee, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Digestive Diseases Week 2018 Abstract Reviewing Committee. Daniel Sussman, MD: Paff Award for Teaching 2nd Year Medical Students

CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE (CD) INFECTION AND PATIENT SPECIFIC ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE TESTING REVEALS A HIGH METRONIDAZOLE RESISTANCE RATE. The aim of this study was to define

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS HANDBOOK OF LIVER DISEASE (FOURTH EDITION).

This is a comprehensive but accessible guide to the management of liver disease. Friedman LS, Martin P. eds. Elsevier Inc. Publisher; Philadelphia 2018. HISPANICS COMING TO THE US ADOPT US CULTURAL BEHAVIORS AND EAT LESS HEALTHY: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE.

Below: Dr. Emory Manten and fellows during a gastroenterology clinic.

the antimicrobial resistance patterns for CD. CD-positive patients with presence of imidazole-resistant genes from stool DNA extract was a common phenomenon, while vancomycin resistance was uncommon. Similar to treatment of other infections, antimicrobial resistance testing should play a role in CDI clinical decision-making algorithms to enable more expedited and cost-effective delivery of patient care. C. difficile infection is a major threat to hospitalized patients resulting in increased costs and mortality. This paper shows that the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for this infection may be ineffectual due to resistance. Barkin JA, Sussman DA, Fifadara N, Barkin JS. Dig Dis Sci. 2017 Apr;62(4):10351042. doi: 10.1007/s10620-017-4462-9. Epub 2017 Jan 23.

The majority of Hispanics change their diet upon immigration to the USA and eat poorly irrespective of the presence of IBD. Future studies should examine gene–diet interactions to better understand underlying causes of IBD in Hispanics. Damas OM, Estes D, Avalos D, Quintero MA, Morillo D, Caraballo F, Lopez J, Deshpande AR, Kerman D, McCauley JL, Palacio A, Abreu MT, Schwartz SJ. Dig Dis Sci. 2018 Jul 7. doi: 10.1007/s10620-018-5185-2. INTESTINAL EXPOSURE TO PCB 153 INDUCES INFLAMMATION VIA THE ATM/NEMO PATHWAY.

Investigation of the effects of PCB 153 on the intestine and whether PCB 153 affected intestinal permeability or inflammation, D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

CANNABIS-INDUCED ACUTE PANCREATITIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Cannabis is the most

frequently consumed illicit drug in the world, with higher prevalence under the age of 35 years. Cannabis was first reported as a possible cause of acute pancreatitis (AP) in 2004. The aim of this systematic review is to examine cannabis use as an etiology of AP. The study found that cannabis is a possible risk factor for AP and recurrent AP, occurring primarily in young patients under the age of 35 years. Toxicology screens should be considered in all patients with idiopathic AP. Ingestion of cannabis is often not disclosed by patients. This study illustrates that it needs to be considered in the etiology of acute pancreatitis. Barkin JA, Nemeth Z, Saluja AK, Barkin JS. Pancreas. Pancreas. 2017 Sep;46(8):1035-1038. doi: 10.1097/MPA.0000000000000873. THE IMPACT OF RACE ON SURVIVAL AFTER HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN A DIVERSE AMERICAN POPULATION. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

incidence is increasing at differential rates depending on race. The study aimed to identify associations between race and survival after HCC diagnosis in a diverse American population. In this diverse sample of patients, survival among Blacks is the shortest after HCC diagnosis. Survival differences reflect a more advanced tumor stage at presentation rather than severity of underlying liver disease precluding treatment. Improving survival in minority populations, in whom HCC incidence is rapidly increasing, requires identification and modification of factors contributing to late-stage presentation. Florida has a high incidence of primary hepatocellular carcinoma and this study highlights that non-medical factors, namely race, affect survival. Jones PD, Diaz C, Wang D, Martin PM, Kobetz EK. Dig Dis Sci. 2018 Feb;63(2):515-528. doi: 10.1007/s10620017-4869-3. Epub 2017 Dec 23.

HEMATOLOGY DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: The Division continues to rapidly

expand clinical activity and sees patients at Sylvester facilities in Miami, Kendall, Coral Gables, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Plantation and Deerfield Beach Clinics as well as at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The number of new patient visits increased from 2,702 in FY 2017 to 3,767 in FY 2018. Clinical trial contracts have increased from $3,376,803 in 2017 to $4,811,795 in 2018. RECRUITMENT: Craig Moskowitz, MD, Professor

of Medicine, and former Chair of Lymphoma Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joined the division to serve as Physician in Chief, Oncology Service Line, in the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Moskowitz is an internationally regarded lymphoma expert and investigator. The Division recruited two new assistant professors: Terence Bradley, MD, recently matriculated from the UM Hematology/ Oncology to augment efforts in leukemia and Fellowship, and Trent Wang, DO, MPH, former hematology/oncology fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center who completed a Sylvester Stem Cell Transplant Fellowship. FUNDING AWARDS: Several Division of Hematology

investigators received significant peer reviewed funding in 2017-2018. These include: Stephen Nimer, MD, renewed his NCI RO1, “Targeting p300 and lysine acetylation in AML” and also is principal investigator on a new and highly prestigious Leukemia Lymphoma Society SCOR award focused on “Interventional epigenetics in myeloid malignancies”. Joseph Rosenblatt, MD, and Seung-Uon Shin, PhD, received a NCI SBIR award as academic principal investigator and coinvestigator for development of a novel antibody-endostatin fusion protein targeting EGFR in solid tumors. (1R43CA195882-01A1).

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

Jonathan Schatz, MD, received a new NCI STTR award entitled “Developing a Novel Platform for Rapid Identification of Drug Targets and Anti-Targets” (NIH/NCATS R41TR002293-01A1). Ramiro Verdun, PhD, was awarded a new R01 entitled “Identify the mechanisms of LMO2-mediated inhibition of homologous recombination and establish PARP-targeted synthetic lethality as a new therapy for DLBCL.” (R01GM121595) Izidore Lossos, MD, was awarded a prestigious Jaime Erin Follicular Lymphoma Research Consortium Foundation Award to investigate follicular lymphoma pathogenesis and treatment. Marzenna Blonska, PhD, received a Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation award to study the role of Beta-arrestin loss in lymphoma pathogenesis. Juan Carlos Ramos, MD, received a new NCI R01 to investigate the role of IRF-4 in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma linked to HTLV-1. NOVEL THERAPIES: The Stem Cell Transplant

and Cellular Program under the leadership of Krishna Komanduri, MD, PhD, continued to expand clinical and research efforts. The number of Stem Cell Transplants has increased from 54 in 2011 to 240 annually during 2017-2018. Our program is the sole South Florida site for administration of CAR-T cells, a novel gene therapy technology (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells), and is currently conducting adoptive T-cell clinical trials in both hematologic malignancies including DLBCL, mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, ALL and multiple myeloma, as well as support similar studies in a variety of solid tumors. FACULTY RECOGNITION: Antonio Jimenez Jimenez,

MD, is the lead accruer of patients nationally on the National Marrow Donor Program 15MMUD protocol for haploidentical transplant. Krishna Komanduri, MD, served as the outgoing President of the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation. Neil Weinreb,

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Above: Drs. Gilberto Lopes, Sergio Serrano (Brazil) and Joseph Rosenblatt sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil’s Barretos Cancer Hospital to initiate collaborative research in Medical Oncology and Hematology.

MD served on the FDA panel highlighting the association between Baucher’s Disease and Multiple Myeloma. Joseph Rosenblatt, MD, joined the board of FLASCO. Alvaro Alencar, MD, chaired the 1st international meeting (SINTOMA) of the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) and the SCCC, and has organized a new Hematology inpatient service at UHealth Tower. Yeon Ahn, M.D., became an emeritus professor, and continues to conduct research on the hemostatic effects of red cell microparticles.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS PRMT5 INTERACTS WITH THE BCL6 ONCOPROTEIN AND IS REQUIRED FOR GERMINAL CENTER FORMATION AND LYMPHOMA CELL SURVIVAL. Lu X, Fernando T,

Lossos C, Yusufova N, Liu F, Fontán L, Durant M, Geng H, Melnick J, Luo Y, Vega F, Moy V, Inghirami G, Nimer S, Melnick AM, Lossos IS. Blood. 2018 Aug 6. pii: blood-2018-02-831438. doi: 10.1182/blood-2018-02-831438. MGUS, LYMPHOPLASMACYTIC MALIGNANCIES, AND GAUCHER DISEASE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CLINICAL ASSOCIATION. Weinreb NJ, Mistry

PK, Rosenbloom BE, Dhodapkar MV. Blood. 2018 May 31;131(22):2500-2501. doi: 10.1182/ blood-2018-02-834689. Epub 2018 Apr 12.

HOSPITAL MEDICINE

TARGET-BASED SCREENING AGAINST EIF4A1 REVEALS THE MARINE NATURAL PRODUCT ELATOL AS A NOVEL

DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS

INHIBITOR OF TRANSLATION INITIATION WITH IN VIVO

CLINICAL CARE: In a programmatic integration

ANTI-TUMOR ACTIVITY, CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH.

Peters TL, Tillotson J, Yeomans A, Wilmore SC, Lemm E, Jiménez-Romero C, Amador L, Li L, Amin AD, Pongtornpipat P, Zerio CJ, Ambrose AJ, Paine-Murrieta G, Greninger P, Vega F, Benes CH, Packham G, Rodríguez AD, Chapman E, Schatz JH. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 1;24(17):4256-4270. doi: 10.1158/10780432.CCR-17-3645. Epub 2018 May 29.

of the community with the vision of both the Department of Medicine and UHealth, the Division expanded its inpatient service at UHealth Towers in FY2018. Faculty provide evidence-based practice and patient-centered care while ensuring optimal care transition. The Division plans to continue expanding its services in FY2020.

AXICABTAGENE CILOLEUCEL CAR T-CELL THERAPY IN

HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY INTEGRATION: Along with

the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Dr. Jorge Florindez spearheaded the creation of an inpatient acute Leukemia/Lymphoma Unit at UHealth Towers. A new multidisciplinary rounding approach applies internal medicine practices to hematology/oncology inpatients, focusing on the patient’s progress, needs, support system and success after they leave the inpatient setting.

REFRACTORY LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA. Neelapu

SS, Locke FL, Bartlett NL, Lekakis LJ, Miklos DB, Jacobson CA, Braunschweig I, Oluwole OO, Siddiqi T, Lin Y, Timmerman JM, Stiff PJ, Friedberg JW, Flinn IW, Goy A, Hill BT, Smith MR, Deol A, Farooq U, McSweeney P, Munoz J, Avivi I, Castro JE, Westin JR, Chavez JC, Ghobadi A, Komanduri KV, Levy R, Jacobsen ED, Witzig TE, Reagan P, Bot A, Rossi J, Navale L, Jiang Y, Aycock J, Elias M, Chang D, Wiezorek J, Go WY. N Engl J Med. 2017 Dec 28;377(26):2531-2544. doi: 10.1056/ NEJMoa1707447. Epub 2017 Dec 10.

GETTING AHEAD OF SEPSIS: Dr. Olga Tarasova

started the journey for “5 to Thrive” at UHealth through the Sepsis Committee. This is a quality improvement initiative focused on providing high quality care in a cost effective manner to patients. Targeting challenges such as early recognition, rapid treatment, care coordination and appropriate documentation, results have put UHealth in the top 25% of all hospitals.

CARM1 IS ESSENTIAL FOR MYELOID LEUKEMOGENESIS BUT DISPENSABLE FOR NORMAL HEMATOPOIESIS.

Greenblatt SM, Man N, Hamard PJ, Asai T, Karl D, Martinez C, Bilbao D, Stathais V, McGrewJermacowicz A, Duffort S, Tadi M, Blumenthal E, Newman S, Vu L, Xu Y, Liu F, Schurer SC, McCabe MT, Kruger RG, Xu M, Yang FC, Tenen D, et al. Cancer Cell. 2018 Jun 11;33(6):11111127.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2018.05.007.

FACULTY AND STAFF RECOGNITION: Marcia Santana,

Left: Maria Delgado-Lelievre of Hospital Medicine discusses hypertension with a patient at UHealth.

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, was named Nurse Practitioner (NP) of the Year at UHealth Towers for 2018. The award recognizes NPs who demonstrate excellence in clinical practice, contribute toward increasing awareness and recognition of NPs and engage in community service. Dr. Maria Antonietta Mosetti and her colleagues won first place for their poster “Effectiveness of a one-day, simulation based Point of Care Ultrasound Course for pre-hospital providers” at the Emergency Medical Services World Expo 2018..

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS HEMOLYTIC-UREMIC SYNDROME: FINDINGS OF POST-ACUTE RENAL FAILURE IN LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. Salwa-Zurawska

W, Zurawski J, Wozniak A, Bortkiewicz E, Burchardt P, Kwiatkowski P, Seget M, Tabaczewski P. Ultrastruct Pathol. 2017 May-Jun;41(3):227-233. doi: 10.1080/01913123.2017.1292436. Epub 2017 Mar 15.

Above: FL State Senator Oscar Braynon II, Miller School of

POSTOPERATIVE DELIRIUM IN A 64-YEAR-OLD

Medicine Dean Henri Ford,

WOMAN. A 64 year old surgical patient with

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL),

atypical delirium: the approach to altered mental status in consultative medicine. Imm M, Torres L, Kottapally M. Cleve Clin J Med. 2017 Sep;84(9):690-698. doi: 10.3949/ ccjm.84a.16102.

IDEA Exchange benefactor Joy

IMPROVING HIV PREVENTION IN VULNERABLE

Fishman, and Hansel Tookes

POPULATIONS INCLUDING SEXUAL MINORITIES AND

of Infectious Diseases at the

OPIOID USERS: Dr. Rodriguez has continued to

opening of Florida’s first needle exchange program, an initiative spearheaded by Dr. Tookes since his time as a resident

INFECTIOUS DISEASES DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS IMPLEMENTING NEW HIV PREVENTION STRATEGIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA: Miami is at the epicenter of an

HIV/AIDS epidemic that continues unabated in Florida. Five of the top 20 metropolitan areas for HIV/AIDS diagnoses are in Florida. Combating the epidemic will require new and innovative strategies aimed at reducing new infections. Several ID faculty (Drs. Doblecki Lewis, Kolber, Rodriguez, Stevenson) were invited to join a taskforce, convened by Senator Rene Garcia, that was charged with developing a strategic plan to reduce HIV incidence in the region. The taskforce, referred to as getting-to-zero, prepared a dossier that centered on use of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and rapid testing to identify new infections and to protect at-risk individuals from acquiring HIV infection. In the past year, ID faculty have been working with the Florida Department of Health, Community Health groups and the City of Miami Beach to begin operation of mobile clinics that will implement PrEP in Miami neighborhoods that have high concentrations of vulnerable individuals. Our goal is to identify infected individuals who are not on therapy and engage them in care as

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

well as reducing new infections through PrEP. It is hoped that these efforts will help reduce HIV incidence in the region.

at UM/JMH.

work on expanding research in HIV prevention in sexual minorities in Miami Dade. Dr. Rodriguez and collaborators are part of the East American Cohort to study HIV Acquisition among Transgender Women . This is multi-site, longitudinal cohort of transgender women in the eastern and southern U.S. (Boston, New York City, Baltimore-Washington, Atlanta, and Miami metropolitan areas) to characterize risk factors for HIV acquisition, access to biobehavioral HIV prevention methods, and linkage to care for those who HIV seroconvert. Over the last year, Dr. Rodriguez has worked with Dr. Tookes in facilitating access to HIV care and expanding research to the opioid user population in Miami Dade and are conducting a NIDA clinical trials protocol 0067: “Comparing Treatment for HIV Infected Opioid Users in an Integrated Care Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) Scale Up” in the UM/JMMC Adult HIV/AIDS clinic from subjects mainly accessing Dr. Tookes’ needle exchange program. INCREASING ACCESS TO MEDICATIONS: As more HIV

infected people are reached through ID’s remote services, the population of individuals who need intensive support has grown. These individuals are often very mistrustful of traditional care facilities due to the stigma they face, and often feel unable to travel away from their established safe spaces for fear of harassment or arrest. Even individuals who may have stable housing and access to transportation 31

may visit the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) pharmacy for medications but have only one option in the entire countyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one site in Little Havana that serves over 5,000 patients. ID faculty (Drs. Tookes, Rodriguez, Kolber) successfully pursued a new partnership with the Florida Department of Health to be an authorized third party to pick-up medications at the ADAP pharmacy and safely store 30- and 90-day supplies for clients, who can retrieve them when they visit for their regular exchanges. SUPPORT OF PATIENT-BASED RESEARCH STUDIES:

The University of Miami, VAMC, JMH campus has an extraordinarily diverse patient population yet accessing this population for clinical research studies has been challenging. The Division of Infectious Diseases recently established a new Research Unit (Dr. Alcaide, Unit Director) to facilitate enrollment of subjects for research studies. The Unit operates with support from the UM AIDS Institute (Dr. Stevenson, Institute Director) and the UM Center for AIDS Research. Since beginning operations in 2017, the Unit has assessed 1,205 patients for inclusion in research studies of which 1,148 were recruited and 838 retained in research studies. Importantly, of subjects recruited to research studies, 1,095 were minority patients who are typically underrepresented in research studies. FACULTY AWARDS: Funding in the Division

continues to expand in pace with new initiatives being pursued by Division faculty. Drs. Doblecki Lewis and Stevenson have received $500,000 from the Florida Department of Health and City of Miami Beach to expand PrEP efforts in the region. Dr. Rodriguez is co-investigator on a $1.5 million NIAID multicenter award to characterize risk factors for HIV acquisition, access to biobehavioral HIV prevention methods, and linkage to care for those who HIV seroconvert. Dr. Stevenson received a new $1.25 million award from NIMH to identify cellular reservoirs that maintain HIV 32

persistence in infected individuals on effective antiretroviral therapy and $1 million (5th year of funding) from the Florida Department of Health to facilitate and coordinate research aimed at identifying an efficacious AIDS vaccine as well as strategies for curing HIV infection.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS A BIO-BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION TO DECREASE INTRAVAGINAL PRACTICES AND BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS AMONG HIV INFECTED ZAMBIAN WOMEN, A PILOT STUDY. Alcaide ML, Chisembele M, Malupande

E, Rodriguez VJ, Fischl M, Arheart K, Jones DL. BMC Infect Dis. 2017 May 12;17(1):338. doi: 10.1186/s12879-017-2436-3. PATTERNS AND CORRELATES OF PARTICIPANT RETENTION IN A MULTI-CITY PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. Doblecki-

Lewis S, Liu AY, Feaster DJ, Cohen SE, Elion R, Bacon O, Coleman M, Cardenas G, Kolber MA. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2018 Sep 1;79(1):62-69. doi: 10.1097/ QAI.0000000000001724. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AIDS. Hope, T, Richman, D,

Stevenson, M (eds). Springer Verlag, 2018. ARBOVIRUSES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOLIDORGAN TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS AND DONORS.

Morris MI, Grossi P, Nogueira ML, Azevedo LS. Transplantation. 2018 Feb;102(2S Suppl 2):S42-S51. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000002011. BACTERIAL VIRULENCE PHENOTYPES OF ESCHERICHIA COLIAND HOST SUSCEPTIBILITY DETERMINE RISK FOR URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS. Schreiber HL

4th, Conover MS, Chou WC, Hibbing ME, Manson AL, Dodson KW, Hannan TJ, Roberts PL, Stapleton AE, Hooton TM, Livny J, Earl AM, Hultgren SJ. Sci Transl Med. 2017 Mar 22;9(382). pii: eaaf1283. doi: 10.1126/ scitranslmed.aaf1283. DECREASE IN EOSINOPHILIA AS A MARKER OF RESPONSE TO THERAPY IN SOLID ORGAN TRANSPLANT CANDIDATES WITH STRONGYLOIDES INFECTION: A SINGLE-CENTER EXPERIENCE. Simkins J, Anjan

S, Camargo JF. Transpl Infect Dis. 2018 Jun 13:e12954. doi: 10.1111/tid.12954. U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: The number of new patient

visits increased 7% in FY2018. Clinical trial contracts were awarded $12,878,660 in 2018. Jaime Merchan, MD, successfully led the Phase I Clinical Trials Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to a new level of growth, with significant increase in novel early therapeutic trials, including first in man oncolytic virus studies, novel targeted and immunotherapies. In 2017, the Phase 1 Program achieved the important milestone of enrolling 100 patients in one single year. FACULTY RECOGNITION: Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA,

FAMS, presented one of the plenary abstracts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This was one of four studies selected out of 6,000 submissions and establishes pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor as the new standard versus chemotherapy for patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer who express PD-L1 with a tumor proportion score of at least 1%. Craig Lockhart, MD, was named Track Leader, ASCO Annual Meeting 2018 Scientific Committee, Track - Non-Colorectal GI Track.

Above: Dr. Lockhart and the Medical Oncology faculty.

D, Quinn DI, Moreno V, Doger B, Mayer IA, Boni V, Calvo E, Loi S, Lockhart AC, Erinjeri JP, Scaltriti M, Ulaner GA, Patel J, Tang J, Beer H, Selcuklu SD, Hanrahan AJ, Bouvier N, Melcer M, Murali R, Schram AM, Smyth LM, Jhaveri K, Li BT, Drilon A, Harding JJ, Iyer G, Taylor BS, Berger MF, Cutler RE Jr, Xu F, Butturini A, Eli LD, Mann G, Farrell C, Lalani AS, Bryce RP, Arteaga CL, Meric-Bernstam F, Baselga J, Solit DB. Nature. 2018 Feb 8;554(7691):189-194. doi: 10.1038/nature25475. Epub 2018 Jan 31.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS

SHORT REPORT: FOLLOW-UP OF BAHAMIAN WOMEN

COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF OSIMERTINIB IN THE

Butler R, Bobrowski D, Akbari M, Curling D, Lunn J, Ho C, Panahi S, Llacuachaqui M, Donenberg T, Hurley J. Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2018 Mar;6(2):301-304. doi: 10.1002/ mgg3.363. Epub 2017 Dec 20.

FIRST-LINE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH EGFRMUTATED ADVANCED NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER. Established that even medications

with significant clinical benefits may not be cost-effective if price is too high, establishing grounds for price negotiations and increased access to new molecularly targeted agents, Aguiar PN Jr, Haaland B, Park W, San Tan P, Del Giglio A, de Lima Lopes G Jr. JAMA Oncol. 2018 Aug 1;4(8):1080-1084. doi: 10.1001/ jamaoncol.2018.1395. HER KINASE INHIBITION IN PATIENTS WITH HER2- AND HER3-MUTANT CANCERS. Potential therapeutic

utility of treating patients with HER pathway mutated tumors. Hyman DM, Piha-Paul SA, Won H, Rodon J, Saura C, Shapiro GI, Juric

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R e po r t 2018

WITH A BRCA1 OR BRCA2 MUTATION. Narod SA,

DUAL SRC AND MEK INHIBITION DECREASES OVARIAN CANCER GROWTH AND TARGETS TUMOR INITIATING STEM-LIKE CELLS. Simpkins F, Hew K, Jang K,

Yoon H, Zhao D, Mills G, Ince T, Slingerland JM. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 29. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-3697.. VITAMIN C PROMOTES APOPTOSIS IN BREAST CANCER CELLS BY INCREASING TRAIL EXPRESSION. Sant D, Mustafi S, Gustafson C, Chen J, Slingerland JM, Wang G. Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 28;8(1):5306. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23714-7.

KATZ FAMILY DIVISION OF NEPHROLOGY AND HYPERTENSION DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: Expanded outpatient clinics

to allow for a new educational experience for fellows in the private ambulatory setting and to provide additional access for patients. A new Coral Gables dialysis unit lead by Dr. MunozMendoza became affiliated with the University of Miami. Dr. Pagan joined the faculty as a Transplant Nephrologist. CLINICAL RESEARCH: Developed a new clinical

research facility staffed by three study coordinators under the leadership of Dr. Contreras. More than ten NIH and industry sponsored clinical trials are currently enrolling for diseases that are very prevalent in our patient population. In collaboration with the Miami Transplant Institute, Drs. Guerra, Ortigosa-Goggins and Fornoni were awarded a $1.5M U01-NIH grant to investigate the outcome of kidney transplantation in African Americans and the influence of a certain risk allele in transplant outcome as well as in kidney donation. BASIC RESEARCH: 80% of post-doctoral fellows and

graduate trainees in the Division were awarded training grants from either the NIH or AHA. Drs. Merscher and Fornoni were also awarded a new $1.2M R01 NIH grant to study the biology of sphingolipids in the context of kidney disease. Dr. Schulman was invited to chair a study session at AHA. Dr Al-Ali Hassan joined the Katz Drug Discovery Center to accelerate drug discoveries in kidney disease. EDUCATION: Dr. Sosa established a new

interdepartmental program for the implementation and execution of quality improvement projects in all affiliated hospitals and clinics. Dr. Mithani became the Associate Director of the fellowship program and worked closely with Dr. Ladino and Dr. Lenz to improve the educational experience of our fellows. Dr. Dejman developed a new fellowship website for the Division.

AWARDS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Ms. Susan

Martin, Sr. Division Administrator, received the very prestigious Patriotic Employee Award from the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Kupin received the best clinical course award from MD and MPH class of 2018 and the George Paff Teaching Award from the MD and MPH class of 2020. Dr. Guerra received the Health & Human Services Award from Miami Dade County. Dr. Fornoni received the Provost Scholar Award. The Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension received an award for phenomenal participation in the 4th Annual Eugene J. Sayfie, MD Research Day.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS INFLAMMATION AND ELEVATED LEVELS OF FIBROBLAST GROWTH FACTOR 23 ARE INDEPENDENT RISK FACTORS FOR DEATH IN CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE. Few

large-scale prospective studies have examined inflammation and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and none tested the interrelationships among inflammation, FGF23, and risk of death. The study is a prospective investigation of 3,875 participants in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study with CKD stages 2 to 4 to test the associations of baseline plasma interleukin-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and FGF23 levels with all-cause mortality, censoring at the onset of end-stage renal disease. Munoz Mendoza J, Isakova T, Cai X2, Bayes LY, Faul C, Scialla JJ, Lash JP, Chen J, He J, Navaneethan S, Negrea L, Rosas SE, Kretzler M, Nessel L, Xie D, Anderson AH, Raj DS, Wolf M; CRIC Study Investigators. Kidney Int. 2017 Mar;91(3):711-719. doi: 10.1016/j. kint.2016.10.021. Epub 2016 Dec 22. HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION IN ESKD PATIENTS. With

the availability of safe and effective treatment options for patients with kidney disease, it is important that nephrologists be familiar with the therapeutic possibilities best suited for those with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) infected with Hepatis C Virus (HCV). The study presents two patients as a discussion point for the treatment of HCV infection in patients

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

PROBING INSULIN SENSITIVITY IN DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE: IS THERE A STRONGER ROLE FOR FUNCTIONAL IMAGING? After reviewing the limitation of

currently available strategies to determine insulin resistance (IR), this review article focuses on imaging techniques that could be utilized to determine renal IR and that could be tested to predict kidney disease development and progression. Granda ML, Amarapurkar P, Fornoni A. Clin Sci (Lond). 2018 Jun 5;132(11):1085-1095. doi: 10.1042/CS20171490. Print 2018 Jun 14.

PULMONARY, CRITICAL CARE AND SLEEP MEDICINE DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: The Cystic Fibrosis Center

with ESKD. Ladino M, Roth D. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018 Jul 31. pii: CJN.03700318. doi: 10.2215/CJN.03700318.

Above: Pulmonary division

APOL1 GENOTYPE AND RENAL FUNCTION OF BLACK

for Innovation and Diversity at the

LIVING DONORS. Black living kidney donors are

Department of Medicine.

professor Marilyn Glassberg, Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program and Vice Chair

achieved Re-Accreditation and received a Quality Improvement Award given for the team improvements in the center. Launched Quality Improvement Initiative CFF FUN LLC to ensure CF patient needs are met through multi-specialty treatment and quality care.

at higher risk of developing kidney disease than white donors. The study examines the effect of the APOL1 high-risk genotype on postdonation renal function in black living kidney donors and evaluated whether this genotype alters the association between donation and donor outcome. Doshi MD, Ortigosa-Goggins M, Garg AX, Li L, Poggio ED, Winkler CA, Kopp JB. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2018 Apr;29(4):1309-1316. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2017060658.

Faculty Recognition: Alex Abreu named Chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) Accreditation Committee, Alejandro Chediak named Interim Division Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Division, Tanira Ferreira named UHealth System CMO, Hayley B. Gershengorn named Associate Editor of Annals of the ATS in Critical Care Medicine and Erick Palma named Interim Division Chief for Division of Hospital Medicine

LOWER KIDNEY ALLOGRAFT SURVIVAL IN AFRICAN-

FACULTY TEACHING/ACADEMIC AWARDS: Jorge

AMERICANS COMPARED TO HISPANIC-AMERICANS WITH LUPUS. It is unknown if African-Americans and

Hispanic-Americans with lupus have similar outcomes after kidney transplantation. This study assesses whether African-Americans compared to Hispanic-Americans have worse kidney allograft survival after risk factors of rejection and other prognostic factors were matched between both groups. Gonzalez-Suarez ML, Contreras G. Lupus. 2017 Oct;26(12):12691277. doi: 10.1177/0961203317699287. Epub 2017 Mar 21.

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Cabrera won the JMH Internal Medicine Residency Program - Best Faculty Teacher Award, Elio Donna was named DOM Clinician of the Year and Waleed Sneij received the JMH Med-Peds Residency Program - Clinician of the Year Award COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Elio Donna served in

the “Misioneros del Camino” medical mission Sumpango, Guatemala. Fellow Kori Ascher organized the fundraiser Just Breathe: A Night for Pulmonary Fibrosis. At the San Juan Bosco Medical Student Clinics, faculty volunteer and assist in serving the uninsured and under35

insured working poor of Miami who live within 200% below the poverty line, providing basic health care needs within the specialty.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS AIRWAY AND PULMONARY BETA-2 ADRENERGIC VASODILATORY FUNCTION IN CURRENT SMOKERS AND NEVER-SMOKERS. This paper shows that

inhaled beta-adrenergic agonists are both bronchodilators (known) and vasodilators (new observation) in healthy smokers. This study was a lead-on to a more clinically relevant study that will look at these effects in patients with COPD ihat is associated with pulmonary hypertension. Hurwitz B, Mendes ES, Schmid A, Wanner A. Chest. 2017 Mar;151(3):650-657. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2016.12.008. Epub 2016 Dec 21. AN UNCONSCIOUS PATIENT WITH A DNR TATTOO AND MORE ON AN UNCONSCIOUS PATIENT WITH A DNR TATTOO. Ethical and legal issues raised

from honoring a DNR tattoo went viral and have raised the question of the utility of non-standard methods of relaying goals of care wishes at end of life when rendered unconscious. Holt G, Sarmento B, Kett D, Goodman K. New England Journal of Medicine. Also: More on an Unconscious Patient with a DNR Tattoo. Holt GE, Kett D, Goodman KW. N Engl J Med. 2017 Nov 30;377(22):2192-2193. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc1713344. TRENDS IN USE OF DAILY CHEST RADIOGRAPHS AMONG US ADULTS RECEIVING MECHANICAL VENTILATION. This retrospective cohort study

of 512,518 patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the US, determined that 63% received a chest radiograph every day up to seven days following mechanical ventilation initiation, despite recommendations to avoid this practice. This understanding will allow for initiatives to de-adopt this rampant and unnecessary practice to both improve care quality and reduce cost. Gershengorn HB, Wunsch H, Scales DC, Rubenfeld G. JAMA Network Open. 2018;1(4):e181119. doi:10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2018.1119.

TARGETING PULMONARY ENDOTHELIAL HEMOGLOBIN

α IMPROVES NITRIC OXIDE SIGNALING AND REVERSES PULMONARY ARTERY ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION.

The authors discovered that pulmonary artery endothelial cells from patients with pulmonary hypertension upregulate expression of hemoglobin alpha (Hb α). The study further shows that an increase in Hb α scavenges nitric oxide (NO), contributing to endothelial dysfunction and that inhibiting the interaction between endothelial H α and endothelial nitric oxide synthase liberates NO and reverses endothelial dysfunction. These finding suggest a paradigm change in the understanding of NO diffusion control and the role of Hb α, and support a role for targeting the Hb α – NO axis in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Alvarez RA, Miller MP, Hahn SA, Galley JC, Bauer E, Bachman T, Hu J, Sembrat J, Goncharov D, Mora AL, Rojas M, Goncharova E, Straub AC. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2017 Dec;57(6):733-744. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2016-0418OC.

RHEUMATOLOGY DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS CLINICAL CARE: Adopted the newly minted

Patient Access Guidelines which as a result reduced the next available appointment wait time as well as increased new patient visits by 18%. Continued to offer specialized clinics in the following: rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, autoimmune muscle disease, rheumatic lung disease, systematic vasculitis and mixed connective tissue disease. RESEARCH: Dr. Ascherman and Dr. Glassberg of

Pulmonary Medicine were awarded $400,000 in research funding from Genentech to investigate molecular markers of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Earned over $600,000 in research support for trials spanning diseases including RA, systemic lupus erythematosus, mixed connective tissue disease, myositis, scleroderma, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Still’s Disease, gout and vasculitis conducted by faculty including Drs. Ascherman, Carpintero, Greidinger, Lozada and Pala. U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Drs. Young and

Above: Faculty and staff leaders of

Greidinger are conducting studies of rheumatological diseases affecting U.S. veterans through collaboration with the Miami VA Medical Center. They and their colleagues are studying gout and the risk of cerebrovascular accident in scleroderma in veterans.

the Division of Rheumatology.

AWARDS AND SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY: Dr. Lozada

was elected President of PANLAR (La Liga Panamericana de Asociaciones de Reumatologia), the rheumatology organization for Latin America. Dr. Ascherman was appointed Chair of the Science Panel of the Myositis Association.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS AN AUTOIMMUNE BASIS FOR RAYNAUD’S PHENOMENON: MURINE MODEL AND HUMAN DISEASE.

This paper identifies for the first time specific autoantibodies as the cause for ischemic Raynaud’s Phenomenon and describes the first induced animal model of Raynaud’s. This work revolutionizes the understanding of Raynaud’s pathogenesis and introduces major new approaches for Raynaud’s treatment. Ascherman DP, Zang Y, Fernandez I, Clark ES, Khan WN, Martinez L, Greidinger E. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018 Sep;70(9):1489-1499. doi: 10.1002/art.40505. Epub 2018 Jul 25. EXACERBATION OF MURINE EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE MYOSITIS BY TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR 7/8.

This paper demonstrates that the Ascherman murine model of anti-Jo-1 myositis can reconstitute all the major clinical manifestations of human anti-synthetase syndrome in a pattern dependent on innate immune stimulation. This work emphasizes the relevance of innate immunity to myositis pathogenesis even in antigen driven diseases. Sciorati C, Monno A, Doglio MG, Rigamonti E, Ascherman DP,

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Manfredi AA, Rovere-Querini P. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018 Aug;70(8):1276-1287. doi: 10.1002/art.40503. Epub 2018 Jun 27. RATES OF SERIOUS INFECTIONS IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS RECEIVING TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR INHIBITOR THERAPY FOR CONCOMITANT AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES. This paper assesses the risk of

infetcions in HIV+ rheumatic disease patients treated with anti-TNF biologics. This work supports the idea that anti-TNF drugs have an acceptable safety profile for use in HIV+ patients with rheumatic disease. Wangsiricharoen S, Ligon C, Gedmintas L, Dehrab A, Tungsiripat M, Bingham C 3rd, Lozada C, Calabrese L. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2017 Mar;69(3):449-452. doi: 10.1002/acr.22955. AUTOREACTIVE T CELLS TO CITRULLINATED HSP90 ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INTERSTITIAL LUNG DISEASE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. This study shows that T

cells reactive to citHSP90 are linked with ILD risk in RA. This work supports the idea that antibodies to citHSP90 are a mediator rather than just a marker of interstitial lung disease risk in RA. Chen J, Song S, Liu Y, Liu D, Lin Y, Ge S, Ascherman DP. Int J Rheum Dis. 2018 Jul;21(7):1398-1405. doi: 10.1111/1756185X.13316. B LYMPHOCYTES IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND THE EFFECTS OF ANTI-TNF-Α AGENTS ON B LYMPHOCYTES: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. A literature review of

the effects of anti-TNF agents on B cell biology. This paper combines basic immunology insights from the immunology of aging with clinical insights in rheumatoid arthritis to generate a novel research program to improve protective immunity in patients with RA. Pala O, Diaz A, Blomberg BB, Frasca D. Clin Ther. 2018 Jun;40(6):1034-1045. doi: 10.1016/j. clinthera.2018.04.016. Epub 2018 May 23.

CARDIOVASCULAR

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY

Marcela Perez-Bustamante, MD Maria del Pilar Solano, MD Rodrigo Valderrabano, MD Francesco Vendrame, MD, PhD Staff Physician Rtika Abraham, MD

Jeffrey Goldberger, MD, MBA Division Chief

Richard A. Preston, MD Division Chief

Professors of Medicine Nanette H. Bishopric, MD Simon C. Chakko, MD Eduardo J. De Marchena, MD Chunming Dong, MD Daniel Dries, MD Jeffrey Goldberger, MD, MBA Joshua M. Hare, MD Robert J. Myerburg, MD Rafael F. Sequeira, MD

Professors of Medicine Barry Materson, MD (emeritus) Richard A. Preston, MD Associate Professor of Medicine David Afshartous, MD

ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES & METABOLISM

Associate Professors of Medicine Martin S. Bilsker, MD Mauricio G. Cohen, MD Raul Mitrani, MD David M. Seo, MD

Research Professor of Medicine, Immunology and Microbiology Ricardo Pastori, PhD Research Associate Professors Renzhi Cai, PhD Alejandro Diego CaicedoVierkant, PhD Tengjiao Cui, PhD Armando Mendez, PhD Research Assistant Professors Joana Almaca, PhD Rene Barro-Soria, PhD Manuel Blandino, PhD Lisa Rafkin, PhD Rayner Rodriguez-Diaz, PhD

GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE

Assistant Professor of Medicine Lina Shehadeh, PhD Professor of Clinical Medicine Maureen H. Lowery, MD

Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, MD Division Chief

Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Eugene J. Bauerlein, MD Sandra Chaparro, MD Claudia A. Martinez-Bermudez, MD Carl E. Orringer, MD Eugene J. Sayfie, MD Alan H. Schob, MD

Professors of Medicine Rodolfo Alejandro, MD Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, MD Ronald Goldberg, MD Karl Muench, MD Alberto Pugliese, MD Jay Skyler, MD Jay Sosenko, MD Roy E. Weiss, MD, PhD

Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Carlos E. Alfonso, MD Sharon N. Andrade-Bucknor, MD Amit Badiye. MD Michael Dyal, MD Roberto A. Miki, MD Litsa K. Lambrakos, MD Robert B. Stang, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine David Baidal, MD Professors of Clinical Medicine Rajesh Garg, MD Gianluca Iacobellis, MD, PhD Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Alejandro Ayala, MD Atil Kargi, MD Violet Lagari-Libhaber, DO Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Zeina Hannoush, MD Mark Jara, MD Jason Levine, DPM Silvia Gra Menendez, MD Bresta Miranda-Palma, MD

Gauri Agarwal, MD Howard Anapol, MD Monica Broome, MD Stefanie Brown, MD Alexandra Calandriello, MD Gregory Coleman, MD Gloria Coronel-Couto, MD Yanisa Del Toro, MD Bruce Eisenberg, MD Antonia Eyssallenne, MD, PhD Alexis Federman, DO Robert Federman, MD Annette Fornos, MD Sherin Ghali, MD Lilliam Guzman, MD Brian Hagenlocker, MD Melanie Helfman, MD Margarita Llinas, MD Sudha Lolayekar, MD Meaghan McNulty, MD, MPH Michael Mueller, MD Elizabeth Parra-Garnica, MD Carla Rabassa, MD Hector Rivera, MD Hiram Rodriguez, MD Stacy Rubin, MD Andrea Sosa Melo, MD Maritza Suarez, MD James Trice, MD Jacobo Wajner, MD Alan Yesner, MD Amalinnette Zito, MD Manuela Calvo, MD Kendra Van Kirk, MD Research Professor Kenneth Goodman, PhD

Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH Division Chief Professors of Clinical Medicine Panagiota Caralis, MD, JD Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH Laurence Gardner, MD Daniel Lichtstein, MD Alex Mechaber, MD Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Yvonne Diaz, MD Michael Federman, MD Mark Gelbard, MD Marco Gonzalez, MD Erin Marcus, MD, MPH Hilit Mechaber, MD Paul Mendez, MD Ross Scalese, MD Joan St. Onge, MD Frederick Williams, MD Judi Woolger, MD

Research Associate Professor Chi Zhang, PhD Associate Professor, Educator Sonjia Kenya, PhD Research Assistant Professor Sonjia Kenya, PhD Assistant Professor of Professional Practice Adrian Reynolds, PhD

Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

GERIATRICS & PALLIATIVE MEDICINE

Marcio Soares, MD Interim Division Chief Professors of Medicine Silvina Levis-Dusseau, MD Guy Howard, PhD Bernard Roos, MD (Emeritus) Bruce Troen, MD (Emeritus) Michael Mintzer, MD (Emeritus) Associate Professors Evan P. Cherniack, MD Stuti Dang, MD, MPH Carlos Perez-Stable, PhD Maria Rose van Zuilen, PhD Jorge Ruiz, MD Assistant Professors Enrique Aguilar, MD Joel Danisi, MD Jenny Drice, MD Miriam Gutt, PhD Juan Carlos Palacios, MD Luis Samos-Guitierrez, MD Julia Sanchez, MD Marcio Soares, MD Khin Zaw, MD Karin Zachow, MD

GASTROENTEROLOGY

Assistant Professors of Medicine Oriana Damas, MD Paul Feldman, MD Roberto Fogel, MD Mohit Girotra, MD David Kerman, MD Marcelo Larsen, MD Emory Manten, MD Howard Manten, MD Enrico Souto, MD Clinical Instructor Jodie A. Barkin, MD

HEMATOLOGY

Joseph D. Rosenblatt, MD Division Chief Professors of Medicine Yeon Soong Ahn, MD John Byrnes, MD Krishna Komanduri, MD Izidore Lossos, MD Stephen Nimer, MD Joseph D. Rosenblatt, MD Assistant Professors of Medicine Marzenna Blonska, PhD Justin Watts, MD Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Amer Beitinjaneh, MD Mark Goodman, MD Juan Ramos, MD Jonathan Schatz, MD

Paul Martin, MD Division Chief Professors of Medicine Maria T. Abreu, MD Jaime S. Barkin, MD Paul Martin, MD Jeffrey B. Raskin, MD (Emeritus) Associate Professors of Medicine Amar Deshpande, MD, FACG Jose Garrido, MD Daniel Sussman, MD

Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Juan Pablo Alderuccio, MD Alvaro Alencar, MD Ney Alves, MD Roberto Cano, MD Jonathan Cohen, MD Thomas Harrington, MD James Hoffman, MD Antonio Jimenez, MD Lazaros Lekakis, MD Denise Pereira, MD Steven Weiss, MD

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Research Professor Arthur Zelent, PhD

HOSPITAL MEDICINE

Research Associate Professors Wenche Jy, PhD Seung-Uon Shin, PhD Ramiro Verdun, PhD Eric Wieder, PhD Research Assistant Professors Cara Benjamin, PhD Xiaoyu Jiang, PhD JonaYe Xu, PhD Yu Zhang, M.D.

Erick Palma, MD Interim Division Chief Professor of Medicine Barry Materson, MD, MBA

HEPATOLOGY Associate Professor Efren Manjarrez, MD

Paul Martin, MD Division Chief Professors of Medicine Lennox J. Jeffers, MD (emeritus) Paul Martin, MD Eugene R. Schiff, MD Assistant Professors of Medicine Leopoldo B. Arosemena, MD Patricia D. Jones, MD, MSCR Maria D. Hernandez, MD Eric F. Martin, MD Professor of Clinical Medicine Christopher B. O’Brien, MD

Assistant Professors Tanya Clarke, MD Aldo Pavon Canseco, MD Maria Carolina DelgadoLelievre, MD Jorge Florindez, MD Armen Henderson, MD Rafael Enrique Hernandez Oquet, MD Matthew Imm, MD Maria Antonietta Mosetti, MD Deepak Mummidavarapu, MD Brent Parris, MD Allan Rubinfeld, MD Wassim Samra, MD Joao Miguel Serigado Soares Da Costa, MD Asaad Trabolsi, MD Keren Shahar, MD Olga Tarasova, MD Piotr Tabaczewski, MD Jessica Zuleta, MD

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Cynthia Levy, MD Kalyan R. Bhamidimarri, MD, MPH

Mario Stevenson, PhD Division Chief Professors of Medicine Gordon Dickinson, MD Margaret Fischl, MD Michael Kolber, MD Mario Stevenson, PhD

Professors of Clinical Medicine Gio Baracco, MD Jose Castro, MD Luis Espinoza, MD Michele Morris, MD Allan Rodriguez, MD Thomas Hooton, MD Dushyantha Jayaweera, MD Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Lilian Abbo, MD Maria Alcaide, MD Catherine Boulanger, MD Susanne Doblecki-Lewis, MD Paola Lichtenberger, MD Isabella Rosa-Cunha, MD Stephen Symes, MD Michael Bergman, MD Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Shweta Anjan, MD Folusakin Ayoade, MD Jose Camargo, MD Hector Bolivar, MD Jose Gonzales Zamora, MD Alexis Powell, MD Antoine Salloum, MD Jacques Simkins-Cohen, MD Candice Sternberg, MD Hansel Tookes, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine Breelyn Wilky, MD Professors of Clinical Medicine Judith Hurley, MD Mohammad Jahanzeb, MD Charles Vogel, MD Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Gustavo Fernandez, MD Peter Hosein, MD Chukwuemeka Ikpeazu, MD Gilberto Lopes, MD, MBA, FAMS Alejandra Perez, MD Catherine Welsh, MD Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Carmen Calfa, MD Reshma Mahtani, DO Raja Mudad, MD Lawrence Negret, MD Cesar Perez, MD Agustin Pimentel, MD Pearl Seo, MD Frances Valdes-Albini, MD Luis Villa, M.D. Israel Wiznitzer, MD Research Professor Niramol Savaraj, MD

Research Assistant Professor Mark Sharkey, PhD

Research Associate Professor Priyamvada Rai, PhD

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY

KATZ FAMILY DIVISION OF NEPHROLOGY AND HYPERTENSION

Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Giselle Guerra, MD Mariella Ortigosa-Goggins, MD Ivonne Schulman, MD Marie Anne Sosa, MD

Mehdi Mirsaeidi, MD, MPH Sheyla Paredes-Aller, MD Andreas Schmid, MD Waleed Sneij, MD Maria G. Tupayachi-Ortiz, MD Alejandro Vilasuso, MD

Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Adriana Dejman, MD Marco Ladino Avellaneda, MD Adela Mattiazzi, MD Zain Mithani, MD Jair MuĂąoz Mendoza, MD

Research Professor Philip L. Whitney, Ph.D.

PULMONARY, CRITICAL CARE AND SLEEP MEDICINE

Eric L. Greidinger, MD Division Chief Associate Professor of Medicine Dana P. Ascherman, MD Alejandro D. Chediak, MD Interim Division Chief

Professor of Clinical Medicine Carlos J. Lozada, MD

Professors of Medicine Horst J. Baier, MD Robert M. Jackson, MD Matthias A. Salathe, MD Roland M. Schein, MD Adam Wanner, MD

Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Eric L. Greidinger, MD Elaine C. Tozman, MD

Professors of Medicine Bach Ardalan, MD Pasquale Benedetto, MD Lynn Feun, MD Marc Lippman, MD Albert Craig Lockhart, MD Stephen Richman, MD Joyce Slingerland, MD Jonathan Trent, MD, PhD Associate Professors of Medicine Jaime Merchan, MD Rakesh Singal, MD

Professors of Clinical Medicine Marilyn K. Glassberg, MD Daniel H. Kett, MD Andrew Quartin, MD Alessia Fornoni, MD, PhD Division Chief Professor of Medicine Alessia Fornoni, MD, PhD David Roth, MD Professors of Clinical Medicine Gabriel Contreras, MD, MPH Warren Kupin, MD Oliver Lenz, MD, MBA

RHEUMATOLOGY

Research Associate Professor of Medicine Sandra Merscher, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine Gregory E. Holt, MD, PhD

Albert Craig Lockhart, MD Division Chief

Research Assistant Professor Eliana P. Mendes

Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Gustavo Carbone, MD Maria F. Carpintero, MD Schartess Culpepper-Pace, MD Elana Oberstein, MD Ozlem Pala, MD Christine Savage, MD Larry Young, MD

Associate Professors of Clinical Medicine Michael A. Campos, MD Alejandro D. Chediak, MD Elio Donna, MD Shirin Shafazand, MD, MS Assistant Professors of Clinical Medicine Alexandre R. Abreu, MD Roger A. Alvarez, DO Sixto Alejandro Arias, MD Jonathan Auerbach, MD Jorge L. Cabrera, DO Rafael Calderon-Candelario, MD, MSc David J. De La Zerda, MD Lesley A. Farquharson, MD Tanira B. Ferreira, MD

U H ea l t h | U n i v er s i t y o f M i a m i M i l l er Sc hool of Med i c i ne

Philanthropy We appreciate our many donors and grateful patients, and extend our deepest thanks to all who support our mission to advance medical science, develop new treatments and cures, train new generations of physician-scientists, and improve the health of those in Miami, South Florida and beyond. In addition to donations received for the endowed chairs pictured below, we have received many additional gifts throughout the year, that are gratefully appreciated. DR. DAVID ROTH AWARDED ENDOWED CHAIR FOR TRANSFORMATIVE WORK IN TRANSPLANT NEPHROLOGY Over the course of his 35-year career at the University of Miami, David Roth, MD has dedicated himself to building a kidney transplantation program now regarded as one of the best in the country. He was presented the David Roth, MD Endowed Chair in

President: Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, PhD CEO, UHealth and SVP of Health Affairs: Edward Abraham, MD Dean and Chief Academic Officer: Henri R. Ford, MD, MHA

DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP Chair: Roy Weiss, MD, PhD Vice Chair for Administration: Anna Carol Herman-Giddens, RN, BSN Vice Chair for Appointments, Promotion and Tenure: Oliver Lenz, MD, MBA Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs: Michael Kolber, MD Vice Chair for Education: Stefanie Brown, MD* Amar Deshpande, MD effective 10/1/2018 Vice Chair for Innovation and Diversity: Marilyn Glassberg, MD Vice Chair for Research: Matthias Salathe, MD* Maria Abreu, MD effective 6/1/2018 Associate Vice Chair for Quality: Maritza Suarez, MD Executive Director, Clinical Operations: Carlos Prieto Executive Director, Finance: Andres P. Macia Director, Business Operations: Laura J. Pinzon

Transplant Nephrology thanks to the extraordinary

DIVISION CHIEFS

generosity of longtime supporters Peggy and Harold

Cardiovascular: Jeffrey Goldberger, MD, MBA Clinical Pharmacology: Richard Preston, MD, MSPH, MBA Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism: Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi, MD Gastroenterology: Paul Martin, MD General Internal Medicine: Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine: Olveen Carrasquillo, MD, MPH (Interim)* Marcio Soares, MD [(Interim) effective 6/1/18 Hematology: Joseph Rosenblatt, MD Hepatology: Paul Martin, MD Hospital Medicine Erick Palma, MD (Interim) Infectious Diseases: Mario Stevenson, PhD Medical Oncology: Craig Lockhart, MD Nephrology and Hypertension: Alessia Fornoni, MD, PhD Population Health and Computational Medicine: David Seo, MD Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine: Matthias Salathe, MD* Alejandro Chediak, MD (interim) effective 6/1/2018 Rheumatology and Immunology: Eric Greidinger, MD

Katz. “I am grateful to be alive and want to do all we can to treat, and possibly eradicate, this disease for Left to right: Dr. Edward Abraham,

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI LEADERSHIP

future generations,” said Peggy Katz.

Peggy Katz; Seated - Dr. David Roth

GRATEFUL PATIENT ENDOWS CHAIR IN MEDICINE AND ENDOCRINOLOGY FOR DR. ROY E. WEISS In recognition of his work searching for new treatments and cures for thyroid and pituitary gland disorders, renowned endocrinologist and Chair of the Department of Medicine Roy E. Weiss, MD, PhD, was presented with the Rabbi Morris I. Esformes Endowed Chair in Medicine and Endocrinology. Philanthropist and entrepreneur Rabbi Morris I. Esformes has shared an over 30-year bond with Dr. Weiss. “It’s very difficult in one’s lifetime to partner up with someone whose passion, emotion, and love for his fellow human beings is comparable to that of Roy Weiss,” said Esformes.

DIVISION ADMINISTRATION

Back row, left to right: Fay Weiss, Norman and Eleanor Weiss, Dr. Edward Abraham, Delecia Esformes, Rachel and Samuel Chavin, Jack Esformes; Seated, left to right: Dr. Roy Weiss, Rabbi Morris Esformes and Morris Chavin

D epartmen t o f Medic in e C h air man ’s R e po r t 2018

Cardiovascular: Jennette Prieto Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism: Cristina Calderon-Parra Gastroenterology: Carol Cottrell General Internal Medicine: Sarah Quadri Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine: Iliana Vera Hematology: Stephanie Reinoso Hepatology: Carol Cottrell Hospital Medicine: Iliana Vera Infectious Diseases: Maria Piega Medical Oncology: Stephanie Reinoso / Dalia Rojas Nephrology and Hypertension: Susan Martin Population Health and Computational Medicine: Priscilla Acosta Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine: Rolando Briceno Rheumatology and Immunology: Anouk Gachelin

University of Miami Health System delivers leading-edge patient care by top-ranked physicians. Powered by the Miller School of Medicine’s groundbreaking research and medical education, UHealth provides life-saving care. UHealth is a comprehensive network of six hospitals, two dozen outpatient facilities, 1,200 doctors, and more than 8,000 associates. As the region’s only university health system, UHealth is a vital component of the South Florida community.

Department of Medicine, Chairman’s Office Don Soffer Clinical Research Center Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine University of Miami 1120 NW 14th Street, Suite 310 Miami, FL 33136 305.243.9120 medicine.med.miami.edu