From TheJetsons to I, Robot, science fiction writers have illustrated both exciting and frightening visions of the impact computers, robots or other forms of artificial intelligence (AI) could have on society and mankind. As technology has become increasingly integrated into our lives, the prospect of living with super-intelligent machines has become not only conceivable, but perhaps inevitable.

Roman Yampolskiy, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering, will share his insights into the current and future reality of artificial intelligence at the next Beer with a Scientist event.

“Many scientists, futurologists and philosophers have predicted that humanity will achieve a technological breakthrough and create Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), machines that can perform any task as well as a human can,” Yampolskiy said. “It has been suggested that AGI may be a positive or negative factor in all domains, including technology and economy. I will attempt to analyze some likely changes caused by arrival of AGI.”

Yampolskiy is interested in AI, AI safety, cybersecurity, digital forensics, pattern recognition and games related to artificial intelligence. He has written a book, “Artificial Superintelligence:  A Futuristic Approach,” that addresses issues related to ensuring this technology remains beneficial to humanity.

The event begins at 8 p.m. onWednesday, Mar. 15, at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. in Louisville. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

UofL cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D., created the Beer with a Scientist program in 2014 as a way to bring science to the public in an informal setting. Once a month, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer, other beverages or menu items is not required but is encouraged.

Organizers add that they also encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

For more information and to suggest future Beer with a Scientist topics, follow Louisville Underground Science on Facebook. Upcoming dates:  April 5, May 17, and June 14.

Proposals are now being solicited from faculty to submit a biomedical summer research project for medical students at the University of Louisville.

The student’s stipend support and poster production costs are covered by the School of Medicine’s Summer Research Scholar Program (SRSP) and NIH training grants. 

To submit a project, visit http://louisville.edu/medicine/research/students/srsp/faculty-project-submission      

Deadline is March 10, 2017.

Amy Holthouser, M.D., and Stacie Steinbock were honored by Louisville Business First as “Best Innovators” for their work in educating future physicians regarding the best care for LGBTQ patients at the 2017 Health Care Hero Awards. Holthouser, associate dean for medical education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and Steinbock, director of the UofL LGBT Center Office at the Health Sciences Center, received the award for their work in launching the eQuality Project, a national pilot program at UofL for developing curriculum for medical students to better meet the health-care needs of LGBTQ patients. The event, held Feb. 23 at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, recognized professionals making a significant impact in the Louisville health-care community.

“We are proud to be recognized by leaders in our business community with this award,” Holthouser said. “By teaching physicians how to take better care of all patients, we believe we make the Commonwealth of Kentucky a healthier environment for businesses to invest in the future.”

The eQuality Project was established at UofL to ensure that individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), gender nonconforming or born with differences of sex development (DSD) receive the best possible health care. The UofL School of Medicine is the first in the nation to incorporate competencies published in 2014 by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) related to provision of care for LGBT and DSD individuals.

“While this category only allowed up to two people to be named, the success of this project is due to a huge team of people contributing in many different ways,” Steinbock said. “This innovative work is made possible by the compassionate, brave leadership within the School of Medicine.”

Holthouser and Steinbock were among five winners at the 2017 Health Care Heroes program honored for their impact as a manager, provider, innovator or in community outreach. A total of 19 health-care professionals and a specialty health-care facility were finalists for the awards. Finalists for the innovator award from UofL also included Jason Chesney, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, and Darryl Kaelin, M.D., chief of the Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Kathrin LaFaver, M.D., the Raymond Lee Lebby Chair for Parkinson’s Research, was a finalist in the provider category, and the Kentucky Racing Health Services Center through the UofL School of Nursing was a finalist for the community outreach award. Winners were selected by a team consisting of Business First editors and the publisher.

To educate physicians, researchers, social workers and nurses in the Middle East on current research and treatments for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Robert Friedland, M.D., professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Louisville, has co-organized the Seventh International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders in the Middle East (ICAD-ME). The number of individuals with AD and related disorders in the region is rising due to the rapidly aging population and public health systems have not kept pace with recent developments in treatment.

“There is little awareness of dementia in the region because of prevailing biases about the loss of function in healthy aging,” Friedland said. “People in the Middle East need to know that it is never normal for a person at any age to be demented.”

Friedland, the Mason and Mary Rudd Endowed Chair in Neurology at UofL and an organizer for the previous six ICAD-ME meetings, will discuss his research into the relationship between gut microbiota and neurodegeneration, and provide information on potential preventative measures to delay the onset of AD. In addition, he hopes to learn about special features and needs of the region’s population.

The conference will cover topics including the history of Alzheimer’s disease and its basic pathophysiology, pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies, ethical and legal issues, and aging as it is addressed in the Koran and the Bible. The event, sponsored by the United States National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging and Biogen, will take place Feb. 23-25, 2017 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Additional organizers are Changiz Geula, Ph.D., professor at Northwestern University, Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., professor at Barrow Neurological Institute of Phoenix, and Abdu Adem, Ph.D., professor at United Arab Emirates University.

In a welcome statement, the organizers expressed a desire to continue educational events in the Middle East:  “We believe that we need to ensure a continuity of such meetings in the Middle East in order to demonstrate our common aim to conquer Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders as well as our solidarity as scientists and physicians across borders, ethnicity, religion and gender.”

February 13, 2017

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The bugs in our gut can help fight bugs from outside our bodies.

Nathan Schmidt, Ph.D., has published research showing that microbes in the gut of mice can affect the severity of illness suffered from infection with Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria. To pursue this research further, Schmidt, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has received a five-year research grant of $2.6 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health. In his new research, Schmidt intends to determine which microbes are responsible for protecting against illness and to learn more about the mechanism behind that protection.

“Now we are hoping to determine which bacteria or metabolites are interacting to determine the severity or lack of severity of illness in the individual,” Schmidt said. “If we can identify the bacteria, it raises hope that we can target those mechanisms to prevent severity of the disease, thereby reducing illness and death from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Globally, malaria afflicts more than 200 million people and causes more than 400,000 deaths each year, with 90 percent of cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. However, many more individuals are infected with the Plasmodium parasite but do not become seriously ill. Schmidt’s research aims to learn more about why some people become seriously ill while others do not.

In 2016, Schmidt published research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) revealing that mice having one community of microbiota colonizing their gut were less susceptible to severe infection from Plasmodium than mice with a different community of microbiota. In this research, Schmidt showed that when the microbiota from the mice experiencing low or high levels of illness were transplanted to mice that previously had no microbiota (germ-free mice), the transplanted mice had similar levels of disease following infection as the low and high donor controls, respectively. These results demonstrate that it was the gut microbiota causing differences in disease severity. In another series of experiments, he treated mice with antibiotics followed by doses of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria in lab-cultured yogurt. The parasite burden in the susceptible mice decreased dramatically and symptoms of illness were reduced in the mice treated with the yogurt.

Schmidt believes the antibiotic allowed the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria introduced in the yogurt to colonize the gut, thereby controlling the Plasmodium population.

“Enteric bacteria provide a competitive environment for other bacteria to grow and survive in. Treatment of mice with antibiotics provided an opportunity for the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria to grow and provide protection against severe malaria. Alternatively, it is possiblethe Lactobacillus prevented recovery of bacteria that cause severe malaria,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt hopes to further isolate which bacteria are responsible for protecting the host from illness and tease apart the mechanisms by which they influence Plasmodium populations and immune response. This should allow collaboration with other researchers to test those effects in humans.

“Nathan’s current findings and the proposed studies will enhance our understanding of how microbiota may modulate host immunity to malaria, which could explain why some individuals develop severe disease while others suffer milder symptoms. This is an understudied area with many opportunities,” said Nejat Egilmez, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Schmidt is one of a growing number of researchers investigating links between gut microbiota and disease across the UofL Health Sciences Center campus.

“The role of commensal microbiota in host physiology and health is a highly active, cutting-edge area of research amounting to a new paradigm in medicine,” Egilmez said. “In addition to Nathan, several of our faculty, including Drs. Michele Kosiewicz, Krishna Jala and Hari Bodduluri, have ongoing projects exploring the link between host microbiota and diseases such as autoimmune disorders, infectious disease and cancer. The new award will create opportunities for future collaborations not only amongst these individuals but also with others in the department who study the more basic processes underlying host immunity and microbial pathogenesis.”

February 20, 2017

We all are home to trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses and more, referred to as the microbiota. These organisms evolved along with us, inhabiting various ecological locations in and on our bodies, and are important to our health.

Robert Friedland, M.D., professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Louisville, has conducted research showing that the microorganisms in the intestines can affect the brain, and may be responsible for causing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. He will discuss this research and other valuable insights on microbiota at the next Beer with a Scientist event.

“These partner microbes have more than 100 times more genes than our own DNA. Since they are dependent upon our diet for their nutrition and sustenance, we can substantially alter the microbiota through alteration of food intake, performing a type of ‘gene therapy,’” Friedland said. “We will discuss the role of the microbiota in health and disease and review what people can do to lower their risk of cancer, stroke, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's diseases.”

Friedland is a clinical and research neurologist and has researched neurodegenerative diseases and other brain disorders associated with aging for more than 30 years. He is collaborating on research projects with investigators in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Japan.

The event begins at 8 p.m. onWednesday, Feb. 15, at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. in Louisville. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

UofL cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D., created the Beer with a Scientist program in 2014 as a way to bring science to the public in an informal setting. Once a month, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer, other beverages or menu items is not required but is encouraged.

Organizers add that they also encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

For more information and to suggest future Beer with a Scientist topics, follow Louisville Underground Science on Facebook. Upcoming dates for events:  March 15. 

On January 1, 2017, the Kentucky Lions Eye Bank in Louisville and the Lexington Lions Eye Bank merged into a single Eye Bank serving the entire state of Kentucky and portions of West Virginia. The Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation, the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky are proud to announce the unification of all Eye Banking services, including procurement of donor tissue and distribution of corneas for transplant, into one organization serving the entire state of Kentucky.

“This merger is the culmination of 25 years of negotiation and work behind the scenes to better serve the people of Kentucky,” said Tom Van Etten, of Louisville, past Lions Eye Foundation chair.

Previously, the Louisville Lions Eye Bank, affiliated with the University of Louisville, served the western part of the state; the Eye Bank of Lexington, affiliated with the University of Kentucky, served the eastern part of Kentucky and parts of West Virginia. The new Kentucky Lions Eye Bank serves the same geographical area as Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) to effectively coordinate corneal donation with organ and tissue donation statewide. 

Corneal transplantation is a separate procedure that replaces all or part of a diseased cornea, improving sight, stabilizing diseased eyes and improving comfort in patients with severe corneal pathology. In 2015, there were 79,000 corneal transplants performed in the United States, and there were 470 donors of ocular tissue from Kentucky. Cornea transplants have a 95 percent success rate, and the lifetime economic benefit of corneal transplants performed in 2013 in the United States was $5.5 billion. The leading indication for corneal transplantation in 2016 was keratoconus, followed by corneal edema, Fuchs dystrophy and corneal scars.

The newly merged Kentucky Lions Eye Bank positions the state of Kentucky to efficiently coordinate with other eye banks in the United States to provide corneas for transplant in the state of Kentucky and assist with medical needs elsewhere when possible.

For the immediate future, the laboratories at the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky will remain functional as operations will continue in both cities. They gradually will be centralized in Louisville over the next five years.

“The merged Eye Bank will be an asset to the state of Kentucky and should provide the resources for the state to be a national provider of donor ocular tissue to restore sight and to assist in research of blinding diseases,” said Henry J. Kaplan, M.D., chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Louisville.

For more information or to make charitable donations, contact the Louisville Lions Eye Bank (502) 852-5457 or the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation at (502) 583-0564. The website of the new organization will be www.kylionseyebank.org.

The University of Louisville Center for Women & Infants (CWI) at UofL Hospital has been named a Baby-Friendly Designated birthing facility by Baby-Friendly USA. The designation is awarded to birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding.

Baby-Friendly USA implements the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in the United States. BFHI is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

The UofL Center for Women & Infants is the only Downtown Louisville facility and the fourth facility in Kentucky to earn the designation. Currently there are 405 active Baby-Friendly hospitals and birthing centers in the United States and more than 20,000 worldwide.

The designation is awarded to birthing centers that follow the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, offering breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies. The Baby-Friendly designation is given after a rigorous on-site survey is completed and is maintained by continuing to practice the Ten Steps.

“The process to earn Baby-Friendly Designation truly involved a team effort,” Libby Smith, R.N., nursing director of the CWI, said. “The staff, providers and leaders throughout the CWI work together for the common goal. Providers support breastfeeding from the beginning of the patient’s prenatal care through delivery, and then while mom and baby are in the hospital. The pediatric providers support mom and baby throughout their care, also.

“The greatest congratulations are for the nurses and the lactation team who provide the support for the family. There is a lot of education that takes place in the CWI, and a lot of support when mom is tired and just wants to give up; everyone encourages her to keep going. The Baby-Friendly Designation has been awarded because our staff works hard to make mothers and babies their priority.”

“This Baby-Friendly Designation is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work by leadership and staff at CWI. We knew in our hearts we were ‘baby friendly,’ but the designation is a very exciting confirmation for us,” said Therese Spurling, R.N., who is board certified in lactation consulting by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners.

The CWI is home to Labor & Delivery, High-risk Antepartum Units, Mother/Baby Unit and the Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Units. It was created by leaders in the field of maternal-fetal medicine and neonatology and high-risk obstetrics and gynecology to achieve the best results possible for newborns and their mothers. In addition to the highest quality physician-provided obstetrical, newborn and neonatal care for mother and baby, the CWI has implemented innovative services including care provided by Certified Nurse Midwives, family centered Cesarean sections, tub labor and centering pregnancy. The CWI also has been a long-time leader in the field of Kangaroo Care. For information, visit www.uoflcenterforwomenandinfants.org or call 502-562-3094.

To provide the best care for patients and the best training for physicians, the University of Louisville Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and UofL Physicians Eye Specialists regularly upgrade diagnostic and other equipment. Several of these displaced items have been put to use more than 5,000 miles away to improve care for patients in Ghana.

Until recently, Friends Eye Center in Tamale, Ghana, lacked basic ophthalmic equipment and the center’s surgical microscope was outdated and cumbersome. The center, directed by Seth Wanye, M.D., provides vision care for nearly 3 million residents of the West African nation and serves as a training site for future ophthalmologists.

Henry J. Kaplan, M.D., chair of the UofL Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, visited Friends Eye Center during a medical mission trip several years ago.

“Most of the equipment they had was non-functional. The equipment we gave them we no longer use because of the acquisition of more technologically advanced diagnostic devices,” Kaplan said. “Many of the people there have totally lost their eyesight and are dependent on their relatives and other support structures, which presents an enormous economic burden.”

Wanye, who regularly visits UofL to enhance his surgical skills, was visiting Louisville in 2015 when Kaplan offered to donate the equipment to his center in Ghana.

“It was like a dream come true,” Wanye said. “It helps me perform thorough examinations of the eye so I can identify other problems, not just the cataract that you can see. It also gives the patients comfort and they are fascinated.”

Shipping large items to Africa is not a simple process, however, and it was nearly a year before the equipment reached the center. Thanks to multiple organizations that shared the expense and worked to transport the instruments, the Friends Eye Center now has a slit lamp, which allows Wanye to examine his patients’ eyes more precisely, a better surgical microscope, chairs for both the surgeon and the patient, and an auto refractor for determining eyeglass prescriptions.

Wanye, who was the only ophthalmologist serving the Northern and Upper West regions of Ghana until a colleague joined him last year, also works with future physicians in the center to introduce them to the specialty of ophthalmology. Most Ghanaian medical students choose other specialties since ophthalmology is not a medical priority in Ghana.

“You have so many other diseases that are killing people. They say eye diseases don’t kill so they are overlooked,” Wanye said. But he has seen that restoring vision allows individuals to regain their independence and enables children to go back to school.

“When you go out into the villages, people are poor, they don’t have money but they are blind. So we will get the resources and do the surgery.”

Wanye receives funding from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Unite for Sight and the Lions Clubs International to provide eye screenings and perform between 2,000 and 4,000 cataract surgeries each year. In addition to screenings and surgeries on location, Wanye provides care for patients in the Friends Eye Center.

“To be one doctor that serves millions of people is not a trivial task. He does it because of a love and conviction for the good that he is doing. I really do admire what he’s doing and that’s why we are more than happy to assist him,” Kaplan said. This is the first time UofL’s ophthalmology department has donated equipment to a foreign health-care organization.

Wanye hopes to establish a regular exchange between UofL ophthalmologists and the center, similar to a program in which residents and faculty members from the UofL Department of Pediatrics travel to the Tamale Teaching Hospital several times each year. Tamale is an official sister city to Louisville.

“My dream is to have some continuous program, especially with the residents’ program here, so we would have residents coming to Friends Eye Center,” Wanye said. In the meantime, he is grateful to UofL for the donated equipment. “We know how valuable they are and how expensive they are. They will help us deliver more quality service to our people. Thank you to everyone at UofL,” Wanye said.

February 6, 2017

Photo courtesy Friends Eye Center, Ghana

A study at the University of Louisville will provide insight into cultural and religious influences on the experiences of Muslim cancer survivors living in the United States.

The results will be used to develop culturally and religiously sensitive interventions, such as support groups for Muslim cancer survivors, to improve quality of life and health outcomes.

Funded by more than $28,000 in grants from the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation and the American Nurses Foundation, the study is led by UofL School of Nursing Assistant Professor Fawwaz Alaloul, Ph.D., and focuses on Muslims of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent who reside in the United States.

“Previous studies conducted in Islamic countries showed that the religion and culture of Muslims have a great influence on their experience and how they perceive their cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship after treatment,” Alaloul said. “This study will help us understand the influence of religion, faith and cultural practices on their cancer experience.”

Studying Muslim cancer survivor experiences has become increasingly important as the Muslim population continues to grow in the United States. Lack of understanding by health care providers of Muslim cancer survivor experiences within the context of culture can create barriers that may interfere with health outcomes, Alaloul said.

Prior research has shown that some Muslim cancer patients use herbs and other dietary supplements to treat disease or manage symptoms and they do not share this information with health care providers. The supplements might interact with prescribed medication, adversely impacting treatment outcomes. Patients might also refuse to take medications that contain swine-derived gelatin because Muslim law forbids the consumption of pork and they do not disclose this to their providers.

“We need to make sure health care providers are aware of these differences when treating Muslim patients,” Alaloul said. “If providers are aware of these issues, they will better identify, understand and meet patients’ religious needs, which can reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes.”

Muslims are less likely to disclose their cancer diagnosis to their community and even some relatives because they think the information is too personal. Withholding their health status means the patient forgoes emotional support from the community. Cancer support groups tailored for Muslims could improve quality of life, Alaloul said.

To see if you qualify to participate in the study, contact Alaloul at fawwaz.alaloul@louisville.edu or 502-852-8396. Study participants should identify as Muslim, speak and read English, Arabic or Urdu, be at least 18 years old and be one to five years post-cancer diagnosis. Interviews can be done in person, over the phone or through video conference.

A new research program at the University of Louisville will focus on developing better methods for studying lung inflammation and allow for new research into causes and potential therapies for lung diseases that affect millions of Americans. Thanks to a pledge of $1.05 million over five years from the GSG III Foundation, Inc., the UofL School of Medicine will create the Gibbs Lung Research Program at the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (CII). The program will use established research and existing partnerships at CII to develop improved methods for studying diseased lungs and to explore new treatments for inflammatory lung disease.

“Given the number of people in Louisville and Kentucky who suffer from lung diseases, from COPD to cystic fibrosis to asthma, we are happy to support the community by creating a program that can ultimately lead to life-changing therapies for the people of Louisville and across the United States,” said George Gibbs, chair of the GSG III Foundation, which is based in Louisville.

Lung disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) alone affecting 13.5 million people. Inflammation of the lungs is often the first sign of more serious lung disease. However, scientists have limited methods for studying inflammation in lungs to better understand how and why it occurs and to develop treatments.

“Other than lung cancer, most people do not understand the extent of the problem of lung disease,” said Laman Gray Jr., M.D., executive and medical director of the CII. “Inflammatory lung diseases are debilitating and affect millions of individuals. What is worse is the scientific world has limited capabilities for studying these diseases. This gift from the GSG III Foundation will allow us to develop expanded modeling opportunities with the goal of reducing human suffering from lung disease.”

More than 70 percent of donor lungs are unusable for transplant. Support from University of Louisville Hospital and Jewish Hospital, both part of KentuckyOne Health, will enable the program’s investigators to obtain donated human lungs that cannot be used for transplant. Researchers in the new program plan to develop techniques to sustain these donor lungs over a longer period of time, allowing them to study the causes of inflammation as well as test potential therapies.

The goals for the program are three-part:

-Establish an ex vivo human lung model allowing lungs that are unsuitable for transplant to be brought to CII for research. The donated lungs will be enclosed in a sterile plastic dome, attached to a ventilator, pump and filters. The lungs will be maintained at normal body temperature and treated with a bloodless solution containing nutrients, proteins and oxygen.

-Develop methods for long-term support of the ex vivo lungs. Current processes enable the lungs to be supported for up to 12 hours, which is long enough to transport them for transplant, but not long enough for meaningful study.

-Once these techniques are in place, researchers in the program intend to use the research models explore areas of potential benefit, including:

• Cell therapy – Explore the use of stem and regenerative cells isolated from a patient’s own fat tissue to treat lung inflammation.
• Mechanics – Develop improved methods of respiratory support by studying the biomechanics of diseased lungs and the benefits of ex-vivo lung perfusion, a method of strengthening lungs outside the body.
• Gene expression - Understand the course of dysfunction and dysregulation among the more than 40 different cell types within the lung and profile the functional changes that occur in diseased lungs and compare the gene expression to healthy lungs.

The program’s investigators will include Gray, James B. Hoying, Ph.D., division chief, cardiovascular therapeutics, Stuart K. Williams, Ph.D., division chief, bioficial organs, George Pantalos, Ph.D., professor of surgery and bioengineering, Victor van Berkel, M.D., cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, and Shizuka Uchida, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, all of UofL.

UofL researchers hope the Gibbs Lung Research Program ultimately will become a comprehensive lung research program, leading to valuable treatments that will slow or reverse the course of lung disease, improving quality of life for millions of people.

About the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute

Since opening in 2007, the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute has focused on the discovery, development and implementation of innovative treatments for cardiovascular disease. The CII’s main goal is to foster a world-class collaborative, integrated, multi-disciplinary enterprise encompassing basic, translational, clinical and population research in cardiovascular disease, affecting individuals throughout their entire lifespan, from prenatal life to death. The CII is a partnership effort of the University of Louisville and the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence.

The UofL School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and University of Louisville Physicians Orthopedics have added three new faculty members:  Rodolfo Zamora, M.D., Lonnie Douglas, M.D., and Jon Carlson, M.D. 

“We are very excited about the growth in our practice and  to be able to offer orthopedic specialty care in upper extremity, musculoskeletal oncology, sports medicine, hip and knee arthroplasty and foot and ankle,” said Craig Roberts, M.D., M.B.A., chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Zamora, a native of Chile, specializes in orthopedic oncology and serves as chief of musculoskeletal oncology for UofL Physicians. His areas are benign bone and soft tissue tumors, bone and soft tissue sarcomas, metastatic disease procedures, orthopedic limb-salvage procedures, infections and orthopedic trauma.

“My professional philosophy is to be as close as possible to my patients. I love to have direct communication with them and referring physicians, medical oncologists and medical radiotherapists,” Zamora said.

Zamora is actively involved in research, with interests including navigation systems in orthopedic oncological surgeries, surgical resections, pelvic and lower extremity, external fixation, osteosarcoma and cryosurgery/cryotherapy.

Douglas is a former college football player who specializes in sports medicine, orthopedic trauma and general orthopedics. He completed a sports medicine fellowship with world-renowned sports surgeon James Andrews, M.D., and has served as an associate team physician for the Washington Redskins and Auburn Tigers, as well as a consultant for the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Rays. Douglas has been involved in research and presented nationally and internationally. He received the Brower-Harkess Research Award at the Kentucky Orthopaedic Society’s annual meeting in 2013.

Carlson specializes in orthopedic trauma. He is a published researcher on a variety of orthopedic topics. His areas of expertise include complex fractures of the pelvis, hip, knee and extremities, as well as post-traumatic arthritis and degenerative arthritis of the hip and knee.

“Many patients with fractures about the hip and knee joints go on to develop post-traumatic arthritis. Joint replacement surgeries are often an important option with a proven track record and continue to be among the most successful operations in all of medicine,” Carlson said.

“The key to providing excellent care is communication among all members of the health-care team, both inside and outside the hospital, as well as with the patient, their family and loved ones. I look forward to serving my patients.”

We’ve heard the mantra for years:  Avoid obesity and the diseases that accompany it by eating less fat. But recent reports seem to contradict this advice. So what do we know about how the fats we eat affect our bodies?

At the next Beer with a Scientist, L. Ashley Cowart, Ph.D., will explain what we know – and what we don’t know – about dietary fat and health.

“Lots of information is presented in the media in a dogmatic way, but current science is revealing highly nuanced information on dietary fat and health, and recent studies have contradicted what we thought we knew,” Cowart said. “I will present current scientific data that challenge commonly held notions about dietary fat and health risks of obesity.”

Cowart is associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical University of South Carolina. Her work focuses on understanding how dietary intake of fats alters cellular processes leading to diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. By understanding how different fats alter different cellular processes, her group hopes to find therapeutic targets to help treat various conditions. Cowart is the first out-of-state speaker at a Beer with a Scientist event and only the second speaker not affiliated with UofL.

The event begins at 8 p.m. onWednesday, Jan. 18, at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. in Louisville. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

The Beer with a Scientist program began in 2014, the brainchild of University of Louisville cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D., who created the series with the idea of making science accessible to the public in an informal setting. Once a month, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer, other beverages or menu items is not required but is encouraged.

Organizers add that they also encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

For more information and to suggest future Beer with a Scientist topics, follow Louisville Underground Science on Facebook. Upcoming dates for events:  February 15, March 15.

Meeting the burgeoning need of older adults for community-based support is the focus of the Feb. 8 lecture of the Spring 2017 Optimal Aging Lecture Series, sponsored by the University of Louisville Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging and the UofL Alumni Association.

Barbara Gordon, director of social services of the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA), will present a discussion entitled “Access to Community-Based Services: Challenges and Opportunities.” The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the University Club, 200 E. Brandeis Ave.

Louisville is a health care hub and is proposing to be an age-friendly city, yet many older adults struggle to access the programs, services and support they need to maintain their quality of life. Funding and policy neglect can further exacerbate these challenges at both the local and state levels. If left unaddressed, Louisville and Kentucky will be incapable of meeting either the current needs or the future demands of an aging population. Gordon will address how creative collaboration can revive and strengthen this support for an uncertain future.

Gordon has been with KIPDA for 14 years after workingwith the Cabinet for Health Services as a branch manager for  Elder Rights, Special Initiatives and Supports Branch in the Office of Aging Services. Her experience serving older adults includes working as a home care case manager serving older persons in Southwestern Kentucky, working with older adults with mental health issues at the Barren River Community Mental Health Center, and as a senior citizen center director in Franklin County. Gordon also is an instructor at the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work and is the current president of the Southeast Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

Admission is $25 per person and includes lunch. Reservations are required online. Click here to register. For information, call 502-852-5629 or email OptimalAging@louisville.edu.

As ubiquitous in university life as textbooks, laboratories and parking complaints, the named lectureship is an important component of the education, research, patient care and service provided by the University of Louisville.

“The value of such lectures comes from both the person in whose name the lecture is delivered and the content of the lecture itself,” said Malcolm DeCamp, M.D., chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern University. DeCamp delivered the fifth annual Laman A. Gray Jr., M.D., Lecture in December, organized by UofL’s Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. The lecture is named to honor the long-time UofL cardiovascular surgeon who pioneered mechanical hearts and devices and now serves as executive and medical director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute.

“A lecture such as the Laman Gray Lecture provides an opportunity to invite a thought leader in a specific field to provide enrichment to a community of providers they may not have access to,” DeCamp said. “Invited lecturers provide a different perspective, new knowledge and a cross-pollination of thought and ideas. They broaden the horizons of practitioners, trainees and students and give them a glimpse of things coming down the road.”

A former Louisvillian who earned his medical degree at UofL in 1983, DeCamp said he was honored to give a lecture named for Gray. “I grew up there (in Louisville) and know him. He represents the surgeon-scientist-engineer and is known for trying to think of engineering ways to reverse the problems caused by disease,” DeCamp said. “The Cardiovascular Innovation Institute is a bricks-and-mortar testament to the promise he created.

“We physicians all like doctoring and taking care of patients, but he adds the dimension of scientist to it.”

DeCamp’s lecture, “Interventions for Emphysema: Beyond Best Medical Care,” examined the current state of treatments for the disease. While lung volume reduction surgery has been shown to help patients live longer and have a better quality of life, the procedure isn’t as well known among practitioners and therefore isn’t recommended as much as perhaps it should be, he said.

“A 1,200-patient study found that significant patient improvement was durable five years after surgery,” DeCamp said. “Several non-surgical procedures currently show promise but they are as yet unproven. Why don’t we support procedures of excellent efficacy?”

It is a message that Mark Slaughter, M.D., chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, believes is important to hear.  “Staying abreast of the latest data and research is imperative in the field of cardiovascular surgery,” Slaughter said.

“Events such as the Laman Gray Lecture and speakers who have the credentials of a Malcolm Decamp constitute one important way in which we can help educate our students, residents, faculty and referring physicians on the latest advances and can then translate that knowledge into best practices for our patients.”

The Laman A. Gray Lecture is supported by a generous gift from Hank and Donna Wagner.

Anne Koch, D.M.D., a highly accomplished endodontist, underwent gender affirming surgery, transitioning from male to female at age 63. After a period of adjustment, she has renewed a career in dentistry that includes advocating for better health care for transgender individuals. Koch will share her experience Jan. 17 from 12-1 p.m. at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, HSC Auditorium in Kornhauser Library, as part of the LGBT Certificate Series.

Koch will address gender affirming surgery, creating a welcoming office environment for LGBTQ patients, risks associated with prolonged cross-sex hormone therapy, and surgical options for both female-to-male (FtM) and male-to-female (MtF) patients. As a health-care professional as well as a transwoman, Koch is in a unique position to share her own medical and surgical transition experience and answer questions from health-care students and professionals.

Koch is adjunct assistant professor of endodontics and a member of the Board of Overseers for the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. She received both her D.M.D. and Certificate in Endodontics from the University of Pennsylvania and is the founder and past director of the Postdoctoral Program in Endodontics at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Following her clinical and academic career, Koch formed her own successful technology and development company, Real World Endo. The author of more than 150 articles in the field of endodontics, Koch has presented more than 1,000 lectures worldwide.

The program is offered in collaboration with the UofL American Student Dental Association Chapter (LASDA), the UofL American Dental Hygienists Association (ADHA), UofL Dental Continuing Education, and the LGBT Center Satellite Office on HSC.

The event is free and all are welcome whether or not they are participating in the LGBT Certificate Series. Attendees are asked to register, and lunch is provided with RSVP at https://goo.gl/S5Eayz.

The program qualifies for dental continuing education credit. For dental CE visit https://goo.gl/vLZSdv.

For refugees who have fled their home countries, resettling in a completely new culture can be overwhelming. Not only are they often unable to speak the language, they face bewildering systems of health care, money, transportation and more. Some have never even used electricity.

“One of the common things is how a microwave works because microwaves are freaky,” said Bethany Hodge, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor and director of the Global Education Office of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. “If you are coming from a place where you didn’t have electricity, let alone microwaves where you put something in a box and push a button and it’s flaming hot and you burn yourself because you don’t see it coming, it can be frightening.”

Students in the School of Medicine were introduced to the struggles of resettling refugees and the agencies that assist them in Kentucky at “Refugees and Our Competencies,” a Compassion Rounds presentation hosted by the UofL chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) on Nov. 30. Hodge and Rahel Bosson, M.D., assistant professor in the UofL School of Medicine and director of the Refugee Health Program, familiarized the students with some of the health concerns of these individuals and issues confounding their introduction to the U.S. health-care system.

Refugees may have health problems related to trauma or injury experienced in their home countries, as well as health conditions that have been neglected during their transition from a life in peril to resettlement in the United States. Hodge coached the students on how to navigate these issues sensitively in conducting a health history and physical. To complicate matters further, the patients may have different naming or date customs, and missing or fragmented medical records.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the international body governing refugee status, refugees are individuals who have been forced to flee their home country because of persecution, war or violence. Typically, they leave their home countries for refugee camps in neighboring nations. Fewer than 1 percent of refugees who apply to UNHCR are resettled in a third country such as the United States, Canada or a European country. Most of the approximately 2,500 refugees arriving in Kentucky annually in recent years have come from Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Iraq. Refugee resettlement in Kentucky is coordinated by Catholic Charities’ Kentucky Office for Refugees.

Through the UofL Refugee Health Program, part of the UofL Global Health Initiative of the Department of Medicine, individuals are provided health assessments, immunizations, school physicals and other services. Bosson said the program addresses health and other needs to enable refugees to become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.

“Refugee health is complex, and health is really more than just the absence of disease. We address the varied components of a person’s health through partnerships in community health, education, social services and economic empowerment,” Bosson said. “The idea is to help these refugees move from a mode of survival to a platform where they can thrive and succeed.”

MeNore Lake, a fourth-year medical student and co-chair of the UofL GHHS chapter, also founded the Kentucky Refugee Outreach Program in which medical students are collaborating with the Refugee Health Program, UofL School of Nursing and Kentucky Office for Refugees to reach the newly arrived refugees in Louisville. The group is designing a standardized orientation plan for familiarizing newly arrived refugees with the U.S. health-care system.

“We are working on a process for telling them:  What can you expect the first time you go to see the doctor here in the U.S.? What are the levels of care that we have? What happens if you call 911? What are other options?” Lake said. “These are things we may take for granted because we have grown up in this country, but something that helps them transition to life here in Louisville and America.”

The refugees’ acclimation to life in Kentucky is supported by Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc.,Migration and Refugee Services of Catholic Charities and the International Center in Bowling Green. These organizations help with setting up apartments for the new residents, language instruction and help in finding employment and transportation. The agencies try to help the refugees become self-sufficient within eight months of their arrival.

The Gold Humanism Honor Society recognizes students, residents and faculty who are exemplars of compassionate patient care and who serve as role models, mentors and leaders in medicine. GHHS members are nominated by their peers. The society is a nationwide program of the Gold Foundation.

December 21, 2016

Teddy bears, baby dolls, miniature cars and, of course, doctor play sets were among 886 toys collected by resident physicians at the University of Louisville School of Medicine this holiday season for underprivileged children in the Louisville area. For the second year, UofL’s House Staff Council, the representative body for resident and fellow physicians, led a collection for Toys for Tots, receiving donations from individual residents and fellows as well as School of Medicine faculty, staff and medical students.

In 2015, the first year of the drive, the group collected 570 toys in just six days. This year’s collection began early in December.

“It’s important to think about the kids in our community. They are our future,” said Mitesh Patel, M.D., a third-year resident in the Department of Psychiatry. “There is so much bad stuff in the world that it’s nice to see that kids can have a nice Christmas. It’s just a small thing that we can do as physicians to help support our community.”

To inject some friendly competition into the effort, Stock Yards Bank & Trust offered a luncheon and plaque to the three residency programs bringing in the highest ratio of toys. The winning program, Psychiatry, collected more than 300 toys, or 8.5 toys for each resident physician in the program. Radiology residents collected 5.6 toys per resident for second place. The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Services was third with 3.8 toys per resident.

Patel spearheaded the drive for the Department of Psychiatry, which also won the competition last year, and plans to ensure his department continues their winning streak.

“We plan to win next year – if radiology lets us,” he said.

Erin Priddy, M.D., a radiology resident, is community engagement chair for the House Staff Council and helped organize this year’s drive. She already has ideas about how to increase overall participation next year.

“I hope that it will continue to grow. I think if we have an appointed delegate for each program that could help as far as communication,” Priddy said. “I would like to break a thousand.”

Staff members of the Office of Graduate Medical Education counted and packed the toys in 11 large donation boxes, which were picked up by a Toys for Tots coordinator on Dec. 15.

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program collects new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distributes those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

December 20, 2016

The University of Louisville (UofL), University Medical Center (UMC) and KentuckyOne Health today (Dec. 13) announced they have agreed to redesign their partnership with a vision to better support the future of health and wellness in Louisville and across Kentucky. UofL and KentuckyOne Health will continue their academic affiliation, which includes decades-long Academic Affiliation Agreements with Jewish Hospital and Frazier Rehab Institute. The Joint Operating Agreement established in 2012 will be revised, bringing management of University of Louisville Hospital (ULH) and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center (JGBCC) to UMC. This decision was agreed upon by all parties as the most effective way to collaborate in care for the community, moving direct operations of the academic medical center to UMC and ensuring continuation of innovative and high-quality patient care and clinical training via KentuckyOne Health facilities.

“The dynamic nature of the health care landscape requires organizations to explore innovative approaches and relationships for the delivery of care,” said Gregory C. Postel, M.D., interim executive vice president of health affairs at UofL. “Today, we are presented with a very different environment than when we signed the joint operating agreement and revised the academic affiliation agreement in 2012. We are pleased with our shared accomplishments yet understand that changes were necessary to address ongoing challenges and ensure we are able to respond nimbly to the unique needs of our care facilities, particularly the academic medical center.”

“We are pleased to move into the next phase of our relationship with University of Louisville. Our longstanding partnership at Jewish Hospital dates back several decades prior to KentuckyOne Health. Since the formation of KentuckyOne Health, we have partnered in many areas and will continue to do so for many years to come, including working together on our innovations to meet the health needs of our community,” said Ruth W. Brinkley, president and CEO of KentuckyOne Health. “During the past four years of our partnership, we have implemented significant improvements to enhance the health of our patients and the communities we serve. This includes the installation of an electronic health record system, and many other updates and enhancements to the University of Louisville Hospital.”

“It is important to emphasize that the transition of care will be seamless for our patients, physicians, employees and community partners,” said Joan Coleman, interim CEO of University Medical Center. “We are committed to continuing the facility improvements and staffing initiatives that began during our partnership and look forward to seeing them through to completion. We will be active with focused transition teams working closely with current leaders, physicians and employees across the Downtown Louisville campus to ensure continued high-quality care, support our employees and shape the future of health and wellness.”

The agreement, effective Dec. 14, 2016, establishes the framework for future partnerships between the organizations and resolves all disputes previously raised. Key aspects of the agreement include the following:  KentuckyOne Health, UMC, and UofL, working together, will continue to implement projects involving up to $44.8 million in capital investments at ULH by July 1, 2017; KentuckyOne Health has agreed to complete the funding of the joint investment proposals as set forth in the Academic Affiliation Agreement; The University of Louisville will release its rights to three seats on the KentuckyOne Health Board of Directors; and the University Medical Center is expected to take over the management of the University of Louisville Hospital on July 1, 2017.

The University Medical Center, University of Louisville and KentuckyOne Health will work together over the next six months to facilitate a successful transition for both the management of ULH and JGBCC, and the Academic Affiliation Agreement between the organizations for programs at other locations. Ongoing information and details on the transition will be provided to patients, community partners, employees and physicians as the process evolves. Transition teams focused on key areas of patient care, employee engagement and infrastructure are being assembled, drawing from the shared expertise currently in place at ULH, JGBCC, KentuckyOne Health, UMC and UofL. These teams will guide the continuation of initiatives underway, including patient care quality and safety programs and recruitment and retention of top nursing talent, while also shaping the future operations and leadership structure.

Partner Profiles:

University Medical Center (UMC): Comprised of the University of Louisville Hospital (ULH), the James Graham Brown Cancer Center (JGBCC), and the Center for Women and Infants (CWI) is an integral part of the University of Louisville’s academic health center. Its first priority and concern is the welfare of patients and therefore provides, without regard to economic status, the highest quality patient and family centered inpatient and outpatient hospital-based services; supports the educational and research missions of the University of Louisville’s Health Sciences Center; and initiates outreach to meet community needs.

The University of Louisville Health Sciences Center is the city’s only academic medical center. Approximately 1,000 faculty members are involved in education, research and clinical care. The UofL HSC is home to more than 650 medical and dental residents, 3,000 students pursuing degrees in health-related fields within the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Public Health and Information Sciences, as well as 14 interdisciplinary centers and institutes. Approximately $140 million in extramural funding enables researchers to uncover the causes of disease and better ways to prevent, treat and cure those diseases. Patients are seen at the Ambulatory Care Building, The James Graham Brown Cancer Center, the UofL Health Care Outpatient Center and University Hospital, which is the primary adult teaching hospital for the School of Medicine. University Hospital’s public mission is steeped in history and now is most clearly visible through its provision of nearly $90 million of health care to the uninsured annually.

KentuckyOne Health,the largest and most comprehensive health system in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations, including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.  The system is made up of the former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System, along with the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. KentuckyOne Health is proud of and strengthened by its Catholic, Jewish and academic heritages.

Three area organizations are teaming up to sponsor a free legal clinic for people facing cancer and their families and caregivers on Dec. 5.

The Kentucky Cancer Program at the University of Louisville, Louisville Bar Association and Louisville Pro Bono Consortium are sponsoring the clinic, which will be held 6-7:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 5, at Gilda’s Club of Louisville, 633 Baxter Ave. Free parking is available behind the building and across the street from the club.

At the clinic, attorneys will be available to offer help with life-planning documents under Medicare Part D, including wills, powers of attorney, health care surrogacy and living wills. They also will provide guidance on employee benefits during illness and government assistance that is available such as Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security disability insurance.

Although admission is free, RSVPs in advance are needed at 502-852-6318. For additional information, contact the Kentucky Cancer Program at pam.templejennings@louisville.edu or 502-852-6318.