A new initiative called the UofL Bridges to Baccalaureate (ULBB) program will provide a pipeline of support and mentoring for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students enrolled in two-year science degree programs at Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC). The program will be for students who plan to complete a four-year degree at the University of Louisville in a biomedical or health-related field.

ULBB launches this fall thanks to a $900,000 National Institutes of Health five-year training grant. The funding will support eight JCTC freshman the first year, with eight additional students to be added in each of the second through fifth years.

Sham S. Kakar, PhD, MBA, is a professor in the Department of Physiology and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center. Kakar, along with JCTC Dean of Academic Affairs Randall Davis, PhD, are program directors on the grant.

"Our goal is to improve success rates not only of the transfer students in the ULBB program itself, but also to help develop an environment in which more STEM students make a successful transition from JCTC to UofL to biomedical careers," Kakar said.

Highlights of the program include:

• Mentoring, help with courses, career counseling and advising both prior to and after transferring to UofL
• Opportunity to take a UofL biology course at JCTC tuition rate
• Summer research program after first year at JCTC to learn biomedical research skills; $5,000 salary
• Summer research program after second year at JCTC working full-time in a UofL lab conducting research; $5,000 salary
• Research presentation opportunities at local and national scientific conferences
• Networking and planning for next steps after college

The first group of JCTC students are expected to start the ULBB program in October.

Other collaborators on the grant include: Joshua Irving, PhD, chair, Department of Physiology; Cynthia Corbitt, PhD, associate professor, Department of Biology; Adrienne Bratcher, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Exercise Physiology and Paul Florence, MS, professor, JCTC.

Sand volleyball teams from around Kentuckiana are invited to the seventh annual Spike it to Cancer sand volleyball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 10, at Baxter Jack’s Volleyball Cub, 427 Baxter Ave. The tournament will raise funds to support patients at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center through the Mary Jane Gift Quality of Life Fund.

Established in 2013 by Alex and Tommy Gift in honor of their late mother, who passed away from breast cancer in 2010, the Gift Fund helps patients and their families enjoy life while facing a cancer diagnosis. For the past several years, the fund has provided Thanksgiving turkeys for patients at the UofL Brown Cancer Center.

To continue the tradition, the Gifts and former volleyball player Paige Sutton are sponsoring the tournament. Coed Quad Open Division play starts at 9 a.m. (check in at 8:15 a.m.). The Coed Sixes Division will start at about 2 p.m. (check in at 1:30 p.m.). 

Team registration fees of $300 go directly to the fund. A cash prize of $3,000 to be divided among winning and runner up teams has been donated by The Power Agency. To register a team or make a donation, go to the event’s online link.

Ward 426 on Baxter Ave., directly across the street from Baxter Jack’s, has once again agreed to donate a portion of all food and beverage sales throughout the day to the Gift Fund.

“Mary Jane taught us countless lessons throughout the course of her life. Stay Positive. Be thankful. Step away from it all,” Alex Gift said. “The fund can help do this by providing simple gifts to patients that could help improve their quality of life, even if it’s for a short period of time.”

The event has brought in more than $45,000 over six years.

A new Kentucky Rare Disease Advisory Council will bring together the best minds in the Commonwealth to help raise awareness, secure funding and speed the development of treatments and medical protocols that lead to cures.

Gov. Matt Bevin today ceremonially signed a bill establishing the council which will help provide a focus to finding cures for the 7,000 known rare diseases that affect approximately 30 million men, women and children throughout the United States.

“The creation of the Rare Disease Advisory Council will provide an important mechanism to raise public awareness about rare diseases and develop centralized resources for patients, caregivers, and family members,” said Gov. Bevin. “The council will bring together medical professionals and experts from across the state to work on advancing research, diagnosis, and treatment efforts. Kudos to Sen. Raque Adams and the General Assembly for passing this legislation with overwhelming, bipartisan support.”

Gov. Bevin also presented a proclamation declaring August 2019 as Gastroparesis Awareness Month.

University of Louisville physicians and other health care providers were on hand for the ceremonial signing at the Novak Center for Children’s Health.

“We know all too well the challenges and hurdles that people with rare diseases face,” said Kim Boland, MD, interim chair of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine. “The impact felt by patients and families who face these diseases is just as great as any resulting from more common maladies.”

A rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. Jennifer Dunegan is one of the few with the stomach condition gastroparesis. She and her husband Patrick created the support organization, Gastroparesis Support Services Inc. They also serve as ambassadors of the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Patrick Dunegan will now take on the role of inaugural chair of the new council.

“It an honor to advocate for all of those with rare diseases. Following my wife’s gastroparesis diagnosis in 2014, we knew it was important to join with others who face similar difficult rare disease health journeys,” Patrick said.

As part of his work in the council, Patrick said he hopes to secure funding for genetic testing for earlier diagnosis of rare diseases.

This year, the Gold Foundation’s annual essay prompted students with a Maya Angelou quote: “I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”

For one UofL medical student, this quote struck a particularly personal chord. 

“‘Home is wherever I’m with you,’ a patient wrote on a marker board to his daughter. He lay in a hospital bed thin and frail, with the sound of his ventilator whirring in the background, a wash cloth hanging in his mouth to soak up saliva, a fentanyl patch tucked behind his ear. Out of his entire body, he could only use his right hand. In a few hours he would be taken off his ventilator and placed on a morphine pump. His daughter held his hand with tears in her eyes. This is ALS.”

These are the opening words of the winning submission by April Butler, which chronicles her father’s battle with ALS – the disease commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s – from the outside in.

“I had this unique parallel in school about learning anatomy and how the body is supposed to work, and at home I was witnessing the manifestations of what happened when the body didn’t follow the rules we learned,” said Butler, who learned of her father’s diagnosis before starting medical school. “In medical school – especially the first two years – it can sometimes be hard to see in the thick of all the exams and the stress why we’re doing this. I was lucky enough to always have my ‘why’ on the forefront of my mind.”

It’s easy to understand why this perspective on medicine would be shared by the Gold Foundation, whose mission statement includes the evolution of healthcare through both compassion and “scientific excellence.” The Hope Babette Tang Humanism Contest (named for Hope Babette Tang-Goodwin, MD, who devoted her career to treating HIV-infected babies) is overseen by a panel of experts that includes various healthcare professionals, writers/journalists and educators.

There were 300 submissions this year. By winning first place, Butler’s essay will be published in two esteemed medical journals: Academic Medicine, in the October, November, and December issues, and Journal of Professional Nursing, in the September/October, November/December and January/February issues.

“A physician once told me, ‘you will not be able to cure or save every patient in your career. However, you do have the opportunity to heal every patient,’” she writes in The Healing Yellow Raincoat. “I did not truly understand what this meant until my experience with my dad. […] I am thankful for some of his final ‘words’ that I will carry with me throughout my medical career and life: ‘Because of the challenges I face, I am less than half the man I used to be on the outside, but more than twice the man on the inside.’”

Now in her fourth year of medical school, Butler will take this experience with her as she applies for Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residencies this fall.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a common hereditary eye disorder that leads to the gradual deterioration of rod cells causing reduced peripheral vision and night vision. Subsequent loss of cone photoreceptors cause the loss of high-resolution daylight and color vision.

Ophthalmology researchers at the University of Louisville have discovered the loss of vision in RP is the result of a disruption in the flow of nourishing glucose to the rods and cones. This disruption leads to the starvation of the photoreceptors.

In research published today in Cell Reports, the researchers, led by Douglas C. Dean, Ph.D., and Wei Wang, M.D., Ph.D., of the UofL Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, described metabolic changes that result in the reduced availability of glucose in the cells.

As research provides a better understanding of the progression of RP, this knowledge may lead to therapies that could slow or stop this process before the rods and cones are destroyed. In addition to the relevance for RP, the researchers discovered the failure in glucose metabolism in RP is similar to changes seen in lung cancer and may be useful in developing therapeutic targets for both diseases.

“Interestingly, these metabolic changes appear similar to those we also are investigating in other studies into lung cancer in the laboratory,” Dean said. “Both lung cancer and neurons in the retina use glucose as a primary source for their metabolism. Attacking glucose utilization is a major strategy in fighting lung cancer. This unexpected connection in retinal and lung cancer metabolism has led us to link these seemingly unrelated systems to search for common drugs that target both lung cancer and retinal degeneration.”

RP is an inherited disease in which the photoreceptor cells in the retina – rods and cones – deteriorate over time. Photoreceptors absorb and convert light into electrical signals, which are sent through the optic nerve to the brain. Rods, located in the outer regions of the retina, allow peripheral and low-light vision. Cones, located mostly in the central part of the retina, allow perception of color and visual detail.

In RP, rods deteriorate first, causing the peripheral and low light vision loss typically associated with the disease. In later stages, the cones also deteriorate. Without cone function, RP patients lose the high-resolution daylight vision necessary for reading, facial recognition and driving. As a result, this stage of RP vision loss is more debilitating than the loss of nighttime or peripheral vision. RP affects 1 in 4,000 people globally.

This research is supported by grants from the National Eye Institute, BrightFocus Foundation and Research to Prevent Blindness.

Over the next month, 360 students in the health professions will take their first step in establishing the importance of the provider-patient relationship. 

The Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Dentistry each host a White Coat Ceremony encouraging students to enter into an inner, personal contract, accepting the obligations specific to their practice, as they are cloaked with a white coat. 

University of Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD, is expected to give the keynote address to more than 160 medical students during the School of Medicine Class of 2023 White Coat Ceremony on July 28, 3 p.m., at the Louisville Marriott Downtown. 

“The ceremony is designed to clarify for students that a physician's responsibility is to take care of patients, care for the patients and practice humanism in medicine,” said Toni Ganzel, MD, MBA, FACS, dean of the School of Medicine. 

Nearly 50 doctorate of nursing practice students will receive a white coat on Aug. 15 during a ceremony on the UofL Health Sciences Center campus. Presiding will be Sonya Hardin, PhD, MBA, MHA, CCRN, NP-C, FAAN, dean of the UofL School of Nursing. 

One hundred, twenty dental and 30 dental hygiene students will participate in a White Coat Ceremony Aug. 24 at The Palace Theatre for the UofL School of Dentistry’s event. 

David C. Johnsen, DDS, MS, dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, will give the keynote with UofL School of Dentistry Dean T. Gerard Bradley, BDS, MS, DrMedDent, presiding. Johnsen, a pediatric dentist, will speak on critical thinking in learning and professional environments.

Researchers at the University of Louisville have developed an easily reproducible system that enables them to keep slices of human hearts alive for a longer period of time, allowing more extensive testing of new drugs and gene therapies.This new biomimetic culture system mimics the environment of a living organ through continuous electrical stimulation and oxygenation, maintaining viability and functionality of the heart segments for six days. Previous culture systems maintained functional heart slices for no more than 24 hours. The extended viability time will enable improved preclinical testing of new drugs for effectiveness and toxicity.

“This new method maintains fully functional human heart slices for six days in the culture environment. This facilitates testing efficacy of heart failure therapeutics and cardiotoxins on human heart tissue with no need for a living human,” said Tamer M. A. Mohamed, Ph.D., who led the research.

The system provides access to the complete 3D multicellular system that reflects the heart’s functional and structural condition in a living person.

“This system will save time and costs of clinical trials during phase one research, which includes testing for toxicity and proof of efficacy,” Mohamed said. “In addition to drugs, we have demonstrated the system’s effectiveness in testing gene therapy.”

The optimized medium for sustaining the heart tissue slices is described in an article published online last week in Circulation Research, a publication of the American Heart Association. It will appear in the August 30, 2019, print and online issue. Along with Mohamed, the research was conducted by Qinghui Ou, B.Sc., Riham R.E. Abouleisa, Ph.D., and others at UofL, along with colleagues in California, Colorado, the United Kingdom, Germany and Egypt. UofL has a provisional patent application on this technology.

July 25, 2019

Amber Bow knew she was sick, but did not seek treatment for hepatitis C for more than two years. She did not realize just how much the virus was affecting her daily health. After completing an eight-week course of treatment in July, Bow said she feels good again.

“You don’t know how bad it makes you feel until you are well again,” Bow said. “I am getting my senses back and remembering what it’s like to live without the virus. You feel good when you get up in the morning.”

University of Louisville Hospital and community partners will be offering free hepatitis C screenings at 13 locations in Louisville and surrounding counties for World Hepatitis Day on Sunday, July 28.

Hepatitis C, a blood-borne illness, is prevalent in the Louisville area. Kentucky has one of the highest hepatitis C infection rates in the United States. Currently, providers are encouraged to test for hepatitis C only in patients with certain risk factors [SEE SIDEBAR: Known risk factors for hepatitis C] or who are from the Baby Boom generation (born 1946-1964). However, those guidelines may not be leading health care providers to everyone who has the disease.

“A growing body of evidence suggests age and risk-based screening is missing a significant number of people, including children, with hepatitis C infection,” said Barbra Cave, a family nurse practitioner specializing in gastroenterology and hepatology who leads the Hep C Center at UofL Hospital. Cave is helping to organize the local events as part of a global effort by the World Health Organization.

“Up to half of patients who have it may not know they are infected, and people may carry the disease for decades before they have symptoms,” Cave said. “The goal of the World Hepatitis Day screening event is to expand testing and awareness, link more people to curative treatment, and normalize the conversation about hepatitis C. There should be no stigma surrounding hepatitis C. Anyone could have it, including babies.”

Screenings will be offered from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, July 28, at sites in Louisville and Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby and Bullitt counties in Kentucky and Clark County in Indiana. Screening is done with a simple finger prick and results will be available on site in 20 minutes. Hepatitis C experts will be available at all sites to answer questions and help link those affected by hepatitis C to appropriate care.

Free hepatitis C testing sites on July 28

• Mall St. Matthews (2 sites within the mall), 5000 Shelbyville Road, Louisville, KY 40207
• CVS Pharmacy, 1002 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN 47130
• CVS Pharmacy, 2169 Midland Trail, Shelbyville, KY 40065
• Southwest Family YMCA, 2800 Fordhaven Road, Louisville, KY 40214
• Walgreens, 5900 Timber Ridge Dr., Prospect, KY 40059
• Walgreens, 12101 Shelbyville Rd., Middletown, KY 40243
• Walgreens, 2360 Stony Brook Dr., Louisville, KY 40220
• Walgreens, 6620 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY 40291
• Walgreens, 4310 Outer Loop, Louisville, KY 40219
• Walgreens, 152 N. Buckman St., Shepherdsville, KY 40165
• Walgreens, 11099 Highway 44E, Mount Washington, KY 40047
• Walgreens, 807 S. Highway 53, LaGrange, KY 40031
• Walgreens, 200 E. Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202

“We have a local goal to decrease the stigma about hepatitis C, and let people know it is easy to test for and treat,” Cave said. “Some may still remember the old days of treating hep C when treatment was difficult, involving a triple therapy with interferon that lasted almost a year and multiple side effects. Not everyone was a candidate for treatment and some patients opted to not get treated at all.

“Today, hepatitis C is easily curable and relatively inexpensive to treat. Common treatments for hep C are one or three pills, once a day, for 8-12 weeks – with minimal side effects. It is covered by almost all insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid. Cost and side effects are no longer an excuse to defer treatment.”

Left untreated, the disease can cause major complications. It can cause cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer, and is a leading cause of liver transplant. Hepatitis C may also predispose those infected to diabetes and depression, and has an association with joint pain, certain skin disorders and lymphoma.

Partners with UofL Hospital in the screening event include the Louisville Metro Department of Health and Wellness, the Kentucky Department of Public Health, KentuckyOne Health, Volunteers of America, the Sullivan University College of Pharmacy, the nursing programs of Galen University and Bellarmine University, and University of Louisville Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Public Health and Information Sciences, as well as generous sponsors, including Abbvie.

###

SIDEBAR

Known risk factors for hepatitis C

• Born between 1945 and 1965
• A blood transfusion or organ transplant prior to 1992
• Had blood filtered by a machine (hemodialysis) for a long period of time because kidneys were not working
• IV drug use at any point in life, even just once
• Intranasal drug use at any point in life
• HIV or hepatitis B infection
• Health care workers exposed to blood through a needle stick or other contact with blood or bodily fluids
• Exposure to contaminated tattoo equipment, including ink
• Men who have sex with other men
• Prior military service: “Older veterans are particularly at risk due to the use of the old ‘jet gun’ vaccinators by the military and from combat injuries requiring blood transfusion,” Cave said.

Contaminated dental equipment, such as that used before most items were single patient/single use, may also have spread hepatitis C, and Cave said the virus can live on a surface for six weeks if not sterilized properly.

July 25, 2019

At a Beer with a Scientist event four years ago, cancer specialist Jason Chesney, M.D., Ph.D., described clinical trials in immunotherapy being conducted at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center. At that time, the new therapies were showing promise in the treatment of melanoma.

At this month’s Beer with a Scientist, Chesney, director of the UofL Brown Cancer Center, will share just how far those therapies have come in improving treatment of cancer.

Chesney will discuss cutting-edge approaches to stimulate the immune system to eradicate previously terminal cancers, focusing on treatments that stimulate white blood cells called T cells to kill cancer cells using antibodies and viruses. These immunotherapies are proving to be effective for multiple types of cancer.

"These novel immunotherapies are translating to previously terminal cancer patients having normal life spans,” Chesney said. “I believe we will experience a 25 percent decrease in cancer-related deaths in the next five years."

Chesney’s talk begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17, at Holsopple Brewing, 8023 Catherine Lane. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer or other items is not required but is encouraged. Organizers encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

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. At these events, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

July 15, 2019

With a growing older adult population, the potential for elder abuse is a problem that affects the health and human rights of seniors. Leaders of the University of Louisville Trager Institute and Age-Friendly Louisville encourage older adults and their loved loved ones to take steps toward prevention.  

“As a geriatrician, I routinely check for signs of physical abuse, such as unusual weight loss, bruising or skin breakdown, but the form of elder abuse I encounter the most is financial abuse,” said Christian D. Furman, MD, MSPH, AGSF, interim chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Palliative Medicine and Medical Education, Margaret Dorward Smock Endowed Chair in Geriatric Medicine and medical director, UofL Trager Institute. “Older adults are vulnerable to financial exploitation, such as scams, especially when they have dementia. This population is targeted as many receive monthly income (such as pensions or VA checks), have savings and may have a reduced ability to fend off scams.”

She encourages older adults and their family members to sign up for the Kentucky Attorney General Scam Alert service to receive notice of how would-be criminals may try to steal money.

Furman urges older adults to plan ahead financially to prevent this type of abuse.

“I see too many individuals who lose their life savings in situations like this,” she said.

Elder abuse can take on different forms: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. Possible signs include:

• Physical abuse - frequent injuries; multiple bruises in various stages of healing; individual appears to be frightened
• Sexual abuse - fear of a particular person; upset when being changed or bathed; irritation or injuries of the mouth, genitals or anus
• Neglect - obvious malnutrition or dehydration; dirty and offensive body odor; absence  of glasses, dentures or hearing aid
• Financial exploitation - unusual activity in bank account; lack of food, clothing and personal supplies; missing personal belongings such as jewelry, television or art

Age-Friendly Louisville, through the Social Participation, Respect and Inclusion Workgroup, is working to raise awareness of elder abuse in Louisville. In coordination with various social service agencies, the group seeks to improve community cohesion to guard against elder abuse through education.

“It can be hard to imagine that anyone would deliberately want to harm an elderly person, but unfortunately elder abuse does occur,” said Chris Clements, Louisville Metro Retired Senior Volunteer Program coordinator and facilitator for Age-Friendly Louisville. “Some instances of elder abuse are intended to exploit the person through things like scams, and in other cases, neglect can be unintentional like when an older adult’s caretaker does not provide them with basic necessities.”

The Age-Friendly Louisville Social Participation, Respect and Inclusion Workgroup meets the second Tuesday of every month from 2p.m.– 4 p.m. at the Thrive Center, 204 E. Market Street.

To learn more about elder abuse and other Age-Friendly Louisville initiatives, visit www.agefriendlylou.com or contact Natalie Pope at 502-852-7733 or natalie.pope@louisville.edu.

The University of Louisville and several west Louisville community clinics are offering a free June 23 event to educate women about preventing cervical cancer. The disease is preventable by vaccine and treatable if detected early; however, it kills about 70 Kentuckians annually.

The Women’s Wellness event will be 4-6 p.m. Sunday at Louisville Central Community Center, 1300 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd. Women can sign up for screenings and vaccinations; learn from experts, advocates and exhibits; and enjoy music and food.

Speakers will discuss HPV and vaccination; cervical cancer screening, prevention and survivorship; and ways to talk to family members about cancer; a question-and-answer session will follow.

Speakers will include patient advocate and volunteer Aquishala Ware and Drs. Bennett Jenson, UofL James Graham Brown Cancer Center; Andrea Woolfolk, Family Health Center; Giavonne Rondo, Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center; and Sula Hood, Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health.  

Although the event is free, attendees are encouraged to register by calling 502-276-5747 or signing up online at http://bit.ly/wellnesskickoff

UofL’s Kent School of Social Work and School of Public Health and Information Sciences are organizing the event, with grant support from the Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research.

Sponsors include Kentucky Cancer Program, Baptist Health and Gilda’s Club Kentuckiana.

For more information, contact Karen Kayser at 502-852-1946 or karen.kayser@louisville.edu.

University of Louisville Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines^® Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

UofL Hospital earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.

“The UofL Hospital – Comprehensive Stroke Center is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Kerri Remmel, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the UofL Hospital – Comprehensive Stroke Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

UofL Hospital additionally received the association’s Target: Stroke^SM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke.

“We are pleased to recognize UofL Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

June 19, 2019

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky has recognized the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center with a Blue Distinction^® Centers for Cancer Care designation as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. By combining nationally consistent quality criteria with locally effective value-based programs, Blue Distinction Centers for Cancer Care deliver maximum value to members battling cancer by aligning health care payments with improved health outcomes.The designation is available for all cancer types and various care settings, including physician groups, cancer centers, hospitals and accountable care organizations (ACOs).

The UofL Brown Cancer Center received the designation by incorporating patient-centered and data-driven practices to better coordinate cancer care and improve quality and safety under a value based payment model. Blue Distinction Centers for Cancer Care are reimbursed based on how they perform against both quality and cost outcome targets in order to receive incentives and rewards for better health outcomes – rather than traditional fee-for-service. Research has shown that care delivery transformation to improve quality and affordability is most successful when accompanied by transformation to a value based payment model.

“This designation attests to our daily dedication to providing the very best care for each of our patients and to achieving the best possible results,” said Jason Chesney, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UofL Brown Cancer Center. “While outcomes are our greatest priority, we work hard to make sure the people we treat also have the best patient experience.”

“Cancer patients are unique, and so is the care that they receive,” said Jennifer Atkins, vice president of network solutions for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.  “Cancer patients often receive different kinds of specialized care in multiple settings with perhaps surgery at a distant medical center but chemotherapy at a local hospital. Medical professionals and facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers for Cancer Care provide coordinated patient care and communication under a value based payment model.”

In 2018, the UofL Brown Cancer Center also received designation as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Transplants for Adult Bone Marrow/Stem Cell by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, knee and hip replacements, maternity care, spine surgery and transplants while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver. For more information about the program, please visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.

June 17, 2019

The University of Louisville has notified Catholic Health Initiatives and its affiliate, KentuckyOne Health, that it is ending negotiations to purchase KOH’s Louisville assets, which include Jewish Hospital where the university has several service lines and its physicians treat patients and teach medical residents.

Talks were halted because UofL could not find a suitable partner to help fund the acquisition. UofL officials were not willing to put the university at financial risk by taking on the acquisition alone.

“We regret ending our talks with CHI, but we must do what is fiscally responsible for the University of Louisville,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Without a viable partner, we do not have the resources necessary to make the acquisition a reality.”

“KentuckyOne Health is disappointed that the university was not able to secure a financial partner,” said Deborah Lee-Eddie, interim market CEO for KentuckyOne Health. “We will now continue our discussions with other interested organizations.”

UofL and CHI have agreed to several steps as the two parties work on the changes in their relationship.

CHI will extend the Academic Affiliation Agreement to ensure that undergraduate and graduate/resident medical education programs continue at Jewish Hospital and Frazier Rehab Institute. If programs cannot be continued at those facilities, CHI will assign those residencies to another facility requested by the university.

The AAA is an agreement that provides conditions under which the university’s physicians and medical residents provide care for patients, serve in leadership roles for various hospital programs and services and conduct clinical trials that offer innovative treatments unavailable anywhere else in the region.

CHI also has agreed to continue the current professional services, medical directorships and similar provisions included in the Master Services Agreement while it and UofL discuss transition planning. CHI will provide at least 90 days notice before terminating any of those individual agreements.

“Our patients will continue to receive the highest quality care, and our students and residents will continue to receive the education and training they must have to become future providers,” Bendapudi said. “That is our unwavering commitment.”

KentuckyOne’s local properties also include Our Lady of Peace, Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, Jewish Hospital Medical Centers East, South, Southwest and Northeast, Jewish Hospital Shelbyville and the KentuckyOne Health Medical Group.

UofL and CHI have negotiated in good faith on the purchase of the portfolio only since December 2018.

Services provided by UofL physicians at Jewish Hospital include organ transplantation, cardiovascular medicine and neurological surgery. The hospital is home to the only solid organ transplant facility in the region, and UofL’s renowned clinical care and research in cardiovascular medicine and spinal cord injury are conducted at Jewish and Frazier Rehab.

Bendapudi applauded all those who tried to make a deal for the KentuckyOne assets a reality.

“Everyone involved in these talks put dedication and hard work into them, and I thank them all,” she said. “This endeavor did not fail for lack of effort on the part of either party.”

In her own words: UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, Ph.D., provides more information on ending the negotiations here. 

At a recent workshop at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to discuss health risks associated with a potential manned mission to Mars, it became clear just how vitally we humans depend on our Earth’s environment.

“Those discussions forced us to think about how our physiology depends on the attributes of our home planet. The question about what to include in the Mars transport vehicle is a wake-up call for those insensitive to the elimination of biodiversity and poorly conceived urbanization globally,” said Ted Smith, Ph.D., deputy director of the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at the University of Louisville. Smith also is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for NASA’s Translation Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) and organized the workshop.

At the next Beer with a Scientist, Smith will discuss what planning for long-range space travel reveals about the need to preserve our home planet’s health for our own survival.

Smith’s talk will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12, at Holsopple Brewing, 8023 Catherine Lane. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer or other items is not required but is encouraged. Organizers encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

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. At these events, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

Upcoming Beer with a Scientist events:

July 17:  Jason Chesney, M.D., Ph.D., will discuss recent advances in using our own immune cells to cure cancer.

For nearly two decades, a program administered at the University of Louisville has been helping scientists at institutions throughout the state get their foot in the door of biomedical research.   

A five-year, $18.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded earlier this year will continue and enhance the work of the Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (KBRIN), the state’s Institutional Development Award (IDeA). The IDeA program builds research capacities in states with historically low levels of NIH funding by supporting basic, clinical and translational research as well as faculty development and infrastructure improvements. Kentucky is one of 23 states eligible for IDeA funding.

“Our goal is to enhance training in biomedical research for faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate and undergraduate students throughout the state,” said Nigel Cooper, Ph.D., director of KBRIN, based at UofL. “Since 2001, federal funding through the Institutional Development Award program has allowed us to work with other higher education institutions in Kentucky to build a network of resources and education.”

KBRIN includes partner institutions who share biomedical research expertise, data processing and infrastructure with early-stage researchers at partner and outreach institutions, including collaborative networks among scientists, funding workshops and access to equipment that may not be available at the researchers’ home institutions.

The new funding allows KBRIN to add an electron microscopy core, offering researchers access to electron microscopes at UofL, the University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University. To launch this resource, KBRIN has issued a call for proposals for electron microscopy pilot projects, enabling students and researchers to prepare samples and use the electron microscopes. Submissions are due July 15.

Through IDeA, KBRIN also provides funding for research projects to assist early-stage researchers in their work. In addition to advancing research itself, the projects support increased student training and career development, including summer programs and mentored research for undergraduate students.

Amber Onorato, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at Northern Kentucky University, recently received funding from KBRIN to support research that involves the synthesis of novel anti-inflammatory molecules. The KBRIN funds will allow Onorato and a group of her students to further advance the research project and work more closely with a collaborator at the University of Cincinnati to learn biological techniques.

“The funding allows me to spend more time with the students in the lab working on the project and to write grants and publications,” Onorato said. “It also allows me to pay the students who work with me over the summer, which gets more of my students in the lab. The ability to do this research in the field has made them more attractive candidates for professional schools as well as for their future careers.”

In the process of securing IDeA funding through KBRIN, the researchers also improve their potential for future direct NIH funding.

“We provide the infrastructure that allows newer researchers to ‘get in the game,’ but we also provide training for those researchers in the form of feedback on the grant proposals they submit to us for funding. This feedback prepares them to compete for NIH funding,” said Martha Bickford, Ph.D., associate program director of KBRIN.

Justin Yates, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Northern Kentucky University, is an early-stage biomedical investigator who recently obtained funding from the NIH after working with KBRIN over the past four years. He studies the neuro-behavioral mechanisms leading to addiction.

“Being able to conduct research with funding through KBRIN has made me competitive. It enabled me to have my research published, to pay for an undergraduate student to help with the research and to recruit more students,” Yates said. “When you are applying for an R15 (grant from the NIH), an important aspect is training undergraduate students. By showing I could do that, it helped my application score.”

Robert Keynton, Ph.D., interim executive vice president for research and innovation at UofL, said the program is an important resource for developing future biomedical researchers in Kentucky.

“This project is an excellent example of the value of a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional program at building research infrastructure and capacity across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which testifies as to why this is the longest, continuously funded NIH project at the University of Louisville,” Keynton said.

Since 2001, KBRIN has been funded continuously through IDeA, and has received more than $77 million in federal funding. Partner schools include the University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University, Northern Kentucky University, Murray State University, Morehead State University and Centre College, but the network is available to any college or university in Kentucky.

UofL will host the Southeast Regional IDeA Conference Nov. 6-8 in Louisville. In addition to scientific talks and poster presentations, the conference agenda includes workshops to introduce the new electron microscopy core and other facilities, as well as training in specific skills, such as bioinformatics and grant writing.

For women undergoing treatment for cancer, a little encouragement can mean the world.

Lara MacGregor, who lives with metastatic breast cancer, started Hope Scarves in 2012 to provide women undergoing cancer treatment a way to encourage one another by sharing a scarf and a story. In 2015, Hope Scarves established a Metastatic Breast Cancer Research Fund to raise funds to support research and patient care.

For 2019, Hope Scarves has provided a gift of $25,000 to the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center, with an anonymous match of $25,000 for a total gift of $50,000. The funds are designated to bringing more clinical trials for metastatic breast cancer patients to Louisville.

Kentucky has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the United States, and Jefferson County has one of the highest rates in Kentucky. Participation in clinical trials is one way to improve outcomes, not only for the patients who participate, but by bringing more and better treatments to market for all patients.

“Participation in clinical trials benefits not only the patients involved in the trial, but the field of cancer treatment in general,” said Beth Riley, M.D., deputy director for clinical affairs at UofL’s Brown Cancer Center. “Currently, metastatic breast cancer is not curable with standard treatment. By participating in trials, patients in Kentucky not only have early access to novel drugs or drug combinations, but they are helping physicians and scientists learn more about effective treatments and disease characteristics so we can move closer to a cure for this disease. Clinical trials involvement is vital to improve the lives of cancer patients here in Kentucky and worldwide.” 

One patient who benefitted from treatment in a clinical trial at the center is Brenda Craig, a Louisville native who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. After several years in remission, her cancer returned; this time it was stage 4 and more challenging to treat.

“The treatments I was getting were not making me feel good and were not doing anything for my cancer,” Craig said. “When my doctor said, ‘Would you like to try the clinical trial?’ I wanted to live, so I said, ‘Yea! Sure, I’d try it.’”

Her condition improved while she was on the trial treatment, nearly bringing her to remission again. Unfortunately, she had to stop the trial drug when she came down with pneumonia. Nevertheless, she is grateful to have had the opportunity.

“The clinical trial brought me a long way. I was on it 8-10 months and I was doing great,” Craig said. She now is on another treatment, but her cancer has remained stable.

Craig said one of her most important missions on her cancer journey is to support others with the disease, a mission shared by Hope Scarves.

“We are human. We cry and we tell our stories to each other. My story helps you and your story helps someone else. We keep it going,” Craig said. “Even if I don’t make it, I hope I can be an example for someone else, that whatever they did for me, it can help someone else.”

MacGregor, a Louisville resident, has seen clinical trials benefit patients at the UofL Brown Cancer Center, and her own treatment includes a drug tested at the center. She wants Hope Scarves’ funds to invigorate that process.

“There is a huge burden to participate in clinical trials that are only available in another city. You have transportation and lodging to consider, and you are away from your home support system – your family and friends – who truly make a difference when you are fighting this disease,” MacGregor said.

By making more trials available in Louisville, not only local women benefit, but also future patients by allowing more people to participate in the trials, advancing medical research more quickly.

“Clinical trials are the future of cancer treatment, not a last resort,” MacGregor said. “These therapies are the next generation of care and may give patients better outcomes, and we are providing these funds to enable more women to have access to them.”

Runners in the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and Mini Marathon have raised funds for Hope Scarves as a team, Outrunning Cancer, for the past seven years. In 2015, Hope Scarves presented its first gift to the UofL Brown Cancer Center to support basic research. This year, in addition to UofL, Hope Scarves is providing funds for basic cancer research to Johns Hopkins Medical Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer Center at Harvard University.

“It is our intentional strategy to fund both basic science and patient access to care,” MacGregor said.

June 3, 2019

Passport Health Plan andEvolent Health, a company providing an integrated value-based care platform to the nation's leading providers and payers, announced on May 29 that Evolent has entered into a definitive agreement to partner with the current sponsors of Passport in continuing to serve the Kentucky Medicaid market. The current sponsors, which include The University of Louisville, University of Louisville Physicians, University Medical Center, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, Norton Healthcare and the Louisville/Jefferson County Primary Care Association, have been seeking a partner to provide expanded management and operational support, as well as capital through joint ownership of the health plan, and haveselected Evolent as its long-term financial and operating partner.

Per the terms of the agreement, Evolent will acquire an ownership interest in Passport Health Plan and will expand the scope and term of its long-term Management Services Agreement with the health plan. Evolent will also provide interim balance sheet support if necessary to meet near-term regulatory capital requirements.

Passport has provided Medicaid managed care services in Kentucky since 1997 and currently serves more than 300,000 members statewide. The plan employs more than 600 Kentuckians, primarily at its headquarters in Louisville. Evolent has provided extensive services to Passport since 2016, when the organizations formed a relationship to launch the Medicaid Center of Excellence focused on improving health outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky and in several states nationwide.

Passport will be jointly owned and operated through a partnership between Evolent, The University of Louisville, the University of Louisville Physicians, University Medical Center, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, Norton Healthcare and the Louisville/Jefferson County Primary Care Association. The plan will be governed by a newly formed board of directors upon closing with joint representation from the current owners and Evolent Health. Evolent intends to maintain all Kentucky operations under the Passport name and looks forward to building upon the plan’s excellent history of service in the Commonwealth.  

“We strongly believe in Passport’s mission and have been proud to partner with Passport’s leadership team to serve the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Evolent Health Chief Executive Officer Frank Williams. “We are honored by the vote of confidence the owners of Passport have given us to continue to build on an extraordinary legacy of delivering an excellent member experience to Kentucky’s Medicaid beneficiaries. We are confident that by leveraging our value-based care platform and the full scope of our clinical programs, as well as providing enhanced functional expertise, we can drive strong operational and financial performance. We look forward to collaborating with The University of Louisville and other Passport owners—as well as local and state regulatory agencies and other key stakeholders—to continue driving improved health outcomes and critical support to one of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable populations.”

“The University of Louisville helped create Passport Health Plan in 1997, paving the way for what has become a national model for managed care,” said University of Louisville President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi. “Now, we are proud to partner with Evolent Health to begin a new chapter that will continue to spark innovation in the delivery of care.”

“For the past 20 years, Passport has been proud to work with the Commonwealth, our provider partners and other valued supporters to deliver a quality health plan that promotes our members’ best interests and health outcomes,” said Passport Health Plan Chief Executive Officer Mark Carter. “I am confident that Passport has a bright future ahead, thanks to the solid foundation we’ve built and the significant investment, expertise and support that Evolent brings to the table. Evolent and Passport are dedicated to finding ways to bring the West Louisville Health and Wellbeing Campus to life, as we believe it will significantly positively impact the health of the community. Evolent and Passport will be working with developers and key stakeholders to create a definitive plan and select a real estate developer to bring the project to fruition.”

About Evolent Health

Evolent Health partners with leading provider and payer organizations to achieve superior clinical and financial results in value-based care and under full-risk arrangements. With a provider heritage and over 20 years of health plan administration experience, Evolent partners with more than 35 health care organizations to actively manage care across Medicare, Medicaid, commercial and self-funded adult and pediatric populations. With the experience to drive change, Evolent confidently stands by a commitment to achieve results. For more information, visit evolenthealth.com.

About Passport Health Plan

Passport Health Plan is a provider-sponsored, non-profit, community-based health plan administering Medicaid benefits to more than 300,000 Kentuckians. Named the top Medicaid plan in Kentucky by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for 2016-17, Passport has been contracted with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to administer Medicaid benefits since 1997. For details, please visit passporthealthplan.com or call toll-free (800) 578-0603. Passport also operates a Medicare Advantage program, called “Passport Advantage,” for residents of Jefferson, Bullitt, Hardin, Nelson, Breckinridge, Carroll, Grayson, Henry, Larue, Marion, Meade, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble and Washington counties who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. For details, go online to passportadvantage.com or call toll-free (844) 859-6152.

The University of Louisville shared its pioneering work in educating health professionals to provide quality health care to LGBTQ patients with faculty at Harvard Medical School in Boston last month. In New York, the university also received a national leadership award for workforce development for the same work on May 3. Earlier this year, UofL published The eQuality Toolkit, a clinical skills training manual to help others develop the specific clinical skills needed to provide high quality care to LGBTQ patients.

At the Seventh Annual National LGBT Health Workforce Conference, held last week in New York, UofL received the Organization Leadership Award from Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians (BNGAP), an organization founded in 2008 to cultivate a more diverse workforce in academic medicine. The award highlights commitment, scholarship and dedication to the development of a health workforce that is responsive to the unique health issues and disparities of LGBT communities. Previous winners are Penn Medicine and the University of Rochester Medical Center.

A week prior, leaders from UofL’s eQuality program presented Grand Rounds to faculty at the Harvard Medical School Academy on incorporating training for the care of LGBTQ patients into the medical school curriculum. Amy Holthouser, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, Susan Sawning, M.S.S.W., director of medical education research, and UofL School of Medicine alumni Rhiannon Ledgerwood, M.D., and Adam Neff, M.D., presented “Lessons from eQuality at University of Louisville: Successful collaborations for integrating sexual and gender minority health into medical education.”

David Hirsh, M.D., director of the Academy at Harvard Medical School, said the presentation from Holthouser and Sawning inspired the participants, who are planning to launch a similar program at Harvard.

“I was so moved by your advocacy and accomplishments and so taken by your style and grace, strength and conviction, wisdom and humility,” Hirsh said of the UofL group. “The grand rounds made an enormous difference. We will be speaking about it for a long time to come.  I am so grateful to learn from you and to have been present for such an important and transformative launch.”

Beginning in 2014, UofL served as the pilot program for the development of curriculum to incorporate competencies published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) related to provision of care for LGBT individuals and other sexual and gender minorities (SGM). Through the eQuality program, information related to care for SGM patients was embedded throughout the curriculum studied by all students in the UofL School of Medicine.

Jennifer Potter, M.D., professor of medicine and advisory dean and director of William Bosworth Castle Society at Harvard Medical School, invited the UofL team to The Academy at Harvard Medical School, which is responsible for professional development of faculty who teach in the MD program.

“You care about the fact that SGM people experience health inequities,” Potter said of the UofL presenters. “You talk with your colleagues and students about the fact that these inequities are unacceptable. Then you go one step further – you actually TAKE ACTION to address the inequities with sheer grace, humility, positivity, a sense of humor and brilliance ... and in true collaboration with your local SGM community.”

“It is so rewarding to see the work that has been done here at UofL to improve health care for LGBT patients is valued by an institution as highly respected as Harvard,” said Toni Ganzel, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “In addition, it is an honor to receive a national award from a well-respected organization such as BNGAP. We are pleased to be able to share this knowledge with educators and influencers throughout the United States.”

The eQuality Toolkit, published with funding from the National Institute of Health Care Management Foundation, is available to all health professionals at no charge to enhance competency nationwide in caring for LGBTQ patients.

What would you guess is the average age when someone starts smoking?

Perhaps early 20’s? Maybe even 16?

“The average chronic smoker begins smoking at 13.7 years old,” says Daniel Conklin, Ph.D. “And if you know anything about averages, that’s...not good.”

Conklin, a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville, specializes in cardiovascular research and what environmental pollutants do to our bodies. At this month’s Beer with a Scientist, Conklin will discuss smoking and what we do (and don’t) know about the harm caused by electronic cigarettes.

“Essentially, we’re trying to separate fact from fiction. We’re currently part of an American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation Center to investigate emerging tobacco products and their potential to cause harm to the cardiovascular system,” Conklin said. “We’re trying to figure out the best way to regulate these products.”

Scientists have known that conventional tobacco products are associated with cardiovascular disease risk since the 1960s, Conklin said. However, with new technology comes a new generation of health risks and the emerging science showing what vaping does to the body may shock you.

Conklin’s talk will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15, at Holsopple Brewing, 8023 Catherine Lane. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session.

Admission is free. Purchase of beer or other items is not required but is encouraged. Organizers encourage Beer with a Scientist patrons to drink responsibly.

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. At these events, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.