Over the past 10 years, Tom Schlindwein noticed it gradually became more difficult to follow conversations in public places.

“I have most difficulty in a restaurant or a venue where there is a lot of background noise,” Schlindwein said.

The 69-year-old Schlindwein is not alone. Many people find that as they get older, they have difficulty understanding conversations in crowded rooms or when there is significant background noise. Although hearing aids can help, age-related hearing loss can result from not only reduced loudness of speech, but also changes in central auditory processing in the brain. Thus, even with a hearing aid, people may find that understanding speech in noise is a problem.

“I have talked to people with hearing aids who say they do not work well in these situations,” Schlindwein said. “If there is an alternative, I am eager to pursue it.”

Schlindwein is participating in a clinical trial being conducted by researchers at the University of Louisville Program in Audiology for an investigational medication, AUT00063. The drug was developed for adults with age-related hearing loss and difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments.

Jill Preminger, Ph.D., chief of the Division of Communicative Disorders in the Department of Otolaryngology at UofL, is leading the trial of AUT00063, developed by Autifony Therapeutics. She said this medication, which focuses on improving brain-related aspects of age-related hearing loss, may be the first to help individuals with this condition.

“There have been very few drug studies for age-related hearing loss, yet approximately 45 percent of people over the age of 45 have some degree of hearing loss,” Preminger said.

Understanding speech involves distinguishing between similar sounds (such as p and b). These distinctions rely on not only reception by hair cells in the cochlea, which are lost with age, but on optimal function of auditory processing mechanisms in the brain.

“This drug is not targeting an improvement in hearing thresholds (i.e. making things louder), rather it is targeting how sound is processed in the auditory areas of the brain. This may result in improved hearing in noise,” Preminger said.

Coordinators are seeking additional individuals, age 50 to 89, with age-related hearing loss to participate in the trial.  Qualified individuals are those who experience difficulty understanding speech against high background noise but do not use hearing aids. Subjects accepted for the study will receive evaluations by an audiologist and physician and have a 50/50 chance of receiving the study medicine or placebo. Participation may last up to 10 weeks and include compensation.

People who are interested in participating in this clinical trial may call 502-852-5251 or email michelle.bottorff@louisville.edu to see if they qualify. For more information on the study, go to Age Related Hearing Loss Clinical Trial.

November 2, 2015

^{October 28, 2015}

The Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging at the University of Louisville concludes its fall Optimal Aging Lecture Series with “Practical Legal Information for Seniors and Those Who Love Them,” Wednesday, Nov. 11. The lecture will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the University Club, 200 E. Brandeis Ave.

Misty Clark Vantrease and Kelly Gannott, partners at Kentucky ElderLaw PLLC, will engage the audience on how to navigate the financial maze and challenges that aging poses for individuals and their families.

The financial decisions of advancing age can be challenging for both individuals and their loved ones. Families who are faced with long-term care and increasing medical expenses can feel overwhelmed in managing the financial demands of this life-phase. This lecture will provide essential “financial caregiving” tips to help individuals and their families stay financially stable.

The Institute’s Optimal Aging Lecture Series will resume in February for the spring season.

Admission is $17 per person and includes lunch. Reservations are required online. For information, call 502-852-8953 or email ann.burke@louisville.edu.

Roberto Bolli, M.D., chief of the University of Louisville’s Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, will receive the 2015 Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Center. The Schottenstein Prize is among the largest monetary prizes in the United States dedicated to cardiovascular research.

“We congratulate Roberto for achieving this award. He is such a scientist,” said Thomas Ryan, M.D., director of the Ohio State Heart and Vascular Center. “His work on heart muscle protection and regeneration has greatly increased our understanding of the cellular changes that occur during a heart attack and how to minimize and repair the damage that results.”

The Schottenstein Prize was established in 2008 with a $2 million gift from Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein for an endowed fund for a biennial award. The prize goes to a physician or researcher who is an international leader in cardiovascular medicine, cardiothoracic surgery or molecular or cellular cardiology. Bolli will receive his award during a ceremony on Nov. 4 in Columbus, Ohio. The prize includes an honorarium of $100,000.

“I am deeply honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award. I would like to thank the leadership of the University of Louisville for their steadfast support of my research efforts over the past 20 years and all of the members of our research team for their outstanding work and dedication, which have made this recognition possible. The Schottenstein Prize recognizes all of them,” Bolli said. “This award will further strengthen our resolve to advance the research agenda of the University of Louisville, focusing on pioneering studies of new therapies such as the use of adult stem cells to regenerate heart muscle in patients with heart failure and to improve blood flow in patients with peripheral arterial disease.”

Bolli is the Jewish Hospital Heart & Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and serves as director of UofL’s Institute of Molecular Cardiology, scientific director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute and executive vice chair in the Department of Medicine. He has conducted research on preventing damage caused during heart attacks by studying ischemic preconditioning, the phenomenon in which heart muscle exposed to brief periods of stress becomes resistant to the tissue death that might be caused by a heart attack.

Previous biennial Schottenstein Prize winners include Garret FitzGerald, M.D., the McNeil Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Christine Seidman, M.D., professor in the Departments of Medicine and Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Pascal Goldschmidt, M.D., the senior vice president for medical affairs and dean at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

October 29, 2015

_{October 28, 2015}

Olivia Mittel, M.D., assistant dean for student affairs at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, will be among an expert panel discussing human trafficking Saturday, Oct. 31. The event is part of the 70^th United Nations Day Commemoration Conference, hosted by the Kentucky Division of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA).

The event will kick off at 11 a.m. at the University Club Ballroom, 200 E. Brandeis Ave.

At UofL, Mittel is among the team that educates and trains medical students and residents to recognize the signs of human trafficking in patients and to intervene on their behalf.

In advance of the UN Day panel, Mittel shares the following statement:

“It is well known that human trafficking victims suffer severe mental and physical health consequences as a result of their exploitation. Because they often require immediate attention for violence-related injuries, serious psychological illness, pregnancy and substance abuse, health care workers are likely to be the only professionals to interact with these victims while they are being trafficked.

“For this reason, the University of Louisville School of Medicine, together with KentuckyOne Health, are committed to developing training protocols to teach our students, nurses and physicians how to identify these patients and refer them to safety.

“By increasing our efforts to understand the nature and scope of the problem in our community, we can better intervene on behalf of these patients and ultimately play a vital role in the fight to eliminate modern-day slavery.”

Mittel will be joined on the panel with Dianna Anderson, chair, Louisville Metro Human Trafficking Task Force; Amy Leenerts, founder and director, Free2Hope Inc.; and Jeanette Westbrook, UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Other speakers during the UN Day program include Rep. John Yarmuth, District 10 Louisville Metro Councilman Steve Magre and lecturer Ambassador Shabazz. Speakers in the afternoon include Mike Beard, executive director of UN Foundation Advocacy and global health director of the Better World Campaign; and Karen Mulhauser, national chair, UNA-USA.

For information, contact Teena Halbig, 502-267-6883 or teenahal@aol.com.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequently occurring cancer in women. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is present in 99 percent of cervical cancers and is considered to be their cause. While most HPV infections will clear naturally within a few years, there has been no treatment available to hasten or improve the chance of natural eradication.

A new therapeutic vaccine, GTL001, developed by Genticel to clear HPV strains 16 and 18 – the types most likely to cause cancer – is being evaluated for safety in a Phase I clinical trial at the University of Louisville. Unlike prophylactic vaccines, which prevent diseases, therapeutic vaccines fight diseases after an individual is infected in a process known as immunotherapy. Physicians at UofL are seeking women with these infections to participate.Although HPV infections are detected in a Pap smear, there has been no standard treatment to eradicate an infection other than hoping it will clear naturally and monitoring for the development of precancerous lesions. Thus, finding a treatment for HPV will be an important step in preventing cancer. Prophylactic vaccines can prevent some HPV infections, but they are not effective against existing infections.

“While prophylactic vaccines such as Gardasil® are available for those who choose to use them, many women are not choosing to be vaccinated. In addition, most of the women in our population are older than the vaccine movement, so they may not have had the vaccine and may have acquired HPV infections,” said Diane Harper, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., chair of the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at UofL and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

Women age 25-65 who have been diagnosed with HPV 16 or HPV 18are needed to participate in a small Phase I tolerability clinical trial of GTL001 with only a three-month follow-up period. Participants must not have high-grade lesions (HSIL) as determined by Pap smear. In addition, participants must not have received an HPV vaccine and must not be pregnant or breastfeeding.

Participants in the study will receive two injections at six-week intervals, as well as various tests and assessments. All study-related visits, tests and medications will be provided at no cost. In addition, participants may be reimbursed for travel expenses.

Participants will be enrolled through early 2016. Current trial locations include Louisville, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio.

Women who would like to participate in the trial may contact Angela Siegwald at angela.siegwald@louisville.edu or 502-852-2043.

October 28, 2015

Salvatore J. Bertolone, Jr., M.D., professor and previous chief of pediatric oncology and hematology at the University of Louisville, will receive the third annual Marc A. Lehmann Spirit of Service Award for physicians on Oct. 30. The award recognizes Louisville-area physicians in hematology & oncology and is presented in memory of Marc A. Lehmann, a Louisville native and UofL student who succumbed to acute myeloid leukemia in 2012.

The Marc A. Lehmann Spirit of Service Award Foundation endeavors to seek out and identify physicians and support staff in the field of blood cancers and hematology to honor long-standing service to patients and their families that encompasses exceptional proficiency, empathy and understanding. Each year the foundation presents an award to one physician and to three support staff members from the Greater Louisville area.

“I am humbled  by this award – humbled because all I have tried to do is simply what every physician has pledged to do in the Hippocratic Oath:  Remember that there is art to medicine as well as science and that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drugs,” Bertolone said.

Marc Lehmann was stricken with acute myeloid leukemia at age 18, while a student at UofL’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Marc endured an eight-year battle with AML, graft vs. host disease and numerous immunosuppressed blood‐borne infections. Following his death in 2012, his family and friends created the Marc A. Lehmann Spirit of Service Award Foundation to honor his memory and the many compassionate health-care workers Marc encountered during his journey.

George J. Lehmann, III, Marc’s father and president and director of the foundation, said previous award recipients nominated Bertolone for the 2015 award. Committee members and directors then conferred with associates, fellow physicians and affected patients concerning Bertolone’s history of patient care.

“Dr. Bertolone was found, by both the nominating committee and by the Foundation directors, to be a more than suitable nominee,” Lehmann said. “The more telling quality that this process reveals lies in the nearly countless stories and accolades provided by affected members of our community, both lay and physician, who enthusiastically endorse Dr. Bertolone's qualifications.”

Along with one physician, awards are presented each year to one support staff member from each Baptist Health System, KentuckyOne Health and Norton Healthcare. The 2015 support staff recipients are Katherine Mitchell, A.P.R.N., A.O.C.N.P. (Baptist), Melissa Pritchett, B.S.N./O.C.N. (KentuckyOne) and Rebecca Champion, Pharm.D., B.C.O.P. (Norton). The 2015 awards will be presented at a dinner on Friday, Oct. 30 at Vincenzo’s Italian Restaurant.

October 29, 2015

University of Louisville School of Medicine’s associate dean for research has edited a new reference book covering the most current information on the health and environmental risks of arsenic exposure. J. Christopher States, Ph.D., vice chair for graduate education in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UofL, is the editor of “Arsenic:  Exposure Sources, Health Risks, and Mechanisms of Toxicity,” scheduled for release November 2.

Arsenic exposure has been linked to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as several types of cancer, abnormal fetal development and even death from other chronic diseases in humans. Arsenic occurs naturally but also is used in the production of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides, leading to exposure through arsenic-containing drinking water and in some foods, particularly seafood and rice.

Recent research, covered in the book, has produced more details about how arsenic affects the body and what levels of exposure are harmful. Scientists also are studying how an individual’s genetic makeup and exposure to other toxins or diseases can increase damage from arsenic exposure.

“The issue of how to capitalize on these ideas and how to integrate research findings into models of human pathology is a very exciting topic that requires an updated book on arsenic as a toxicant,” States said.

The book uses novel modeling techniques, population studies, experimental data and future perspectives to help readers understand the potential health risks and how research can improve and contribute to characterization and risk assessment of arsenic exposure. It was written to serve as a resource for toxicologists, risk assessors, epidemiologists, environmental chemists, medical scientists and other professionals and researchers in government, academia and industry.

“Arsenic:  Exposure Sources, Health Risks, and Mechanisms of Toxicity” is published by Wiley and will be released on November 2, 2015. It is currently available for preorder.

October 27, 2015

A University of Louisville College of Business professor and his wife have created a new fund to help families with children who are patients of the UofL Physicians-Pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases clinic.

Donations are being accepted by the fund which has been set up to help families pay for expenses not covered by insurance and to help improve the clinic’s ability to treat patients. Approximately $16,000 of the $50,000 goal the family has set has been raised thus far.

The Dr.Salvatore Bertolone Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fund has been created by Michael Barone, Ph.D., professor of marketing, and his wife Geneva to assist families with children who are patients of Salvatore J. Bertolone Jr., M.D., and other physicians at the clinic. Bertolone is a specialist in pediatric cancer and blood diseases with UofL Physicians and chief clinical operations officer for subspecialties with the Department of Pediatrics at UofL.

Nicknamed the “Noah and Dr. B” fund on Facebook and GoFundMe, the fund is named for Bertolone and the Barone’s 16-year-old son, who has been battling a rare brain disorder, inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT), since 2006. Bertolone has treated Noah since the family moved to Louisville from Iowa shortly after his diagnosis.

IPTs are non-cancerous lesions that can affect organ systems but originate in the central nervous system. In Noah, the IPTs have attacked his brain stem, affecting his ability to move, speak, see and maintain balance.

A variety of treatments were prescribed for Noah before Bertolone hit upon a chemotherapy-type drug known as Revlimid® (lenalidomide) and another chemotherapeutic agent, VP-16.

“We kept looking, and then decided to try an anti-inflammatory,” Bertolone said. “Now, Noah is in school every day. He’s walking, and we hope he can keep his disease at bay.”

“After these treatments, Noah saw improvement in just a week’s time,” said Geneva Barone. “His speech is better, his whole body is more mobile, and he has more energy.”

“During the summer, he worked hard in physical therapy, and his balance, strength, endurance and ability to get around greatly improved,” Michael Barone said.

Noah, who is a junior at North Oldham High School, said, “I believe that this disease has been a blessing in disguise because it has allowed me to have relationship with great people such as Dr. B and the others at the clinic.  The care I have received there has made me want to help other kids at the clinic and their families deal with their diseases.”

Noah’s success as a patient of Bertolone’s inspired the family to give back. In December 2014, Michael and Geneva made an initial gift of $10,000 to start the Noah and Dr. B fund, which assists the families of Bertolone’s patients with expenses not associated with their treatment but are just as necessary.

“We know not every family has the means for all the expenses associated with a serious illness of their child,” Michael Barone said. “The fund we have set up is designed to help with those ‘extras’ – gas money, transportation, meals – as well as medical-related expenses that aren’t covered by their health plan.” To date, the fund has been used by the clinic to purchase new infusion pumps used in treatment and to help some families with first-time prescription co-payments.

“We’re looking forward to raising more funds and seeing those monies being used to help the clinic and families in more ways. We have just recently been selected a Kentucky Derby Marathon Charity and are looking for other ways to raise money for the fund. Bottom line, we just want the fund to help families have less to worry about,” he said. “They already have so much to worry about as it is.”

“The fund that Noah’s family has set up is just so typical of that family,” Bertolone said. “They have seen the needs of the patients and the parents in the clinic, and they are just such loving, wonderful people.

“In spite of this overwhelming disease that their son has, they look out and say, ‘What can we do for others who come here (to the clinic) and help make life a little better for them?’”

For more information about this fund, visit the Noah and Dr. B page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NoahAndDrB, and to donate, go to www.gofundme.com/sqb554.

Tickets are still available for the University of Louisville Depression Center’s annual dinner on Friday, Nov. 6, featuring Glen O. Gabbard, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, speaking on “Psychiatry and the Movies.”

Cocktail hour gets underway at 6 p.m. with dinner to follow at the University Club, 200 E. Brandeis St. Admission is $125 per person with proceeds going to support the UofL Depression Center. For information on tickets, email carol.wahl@louisville.edu or call 502-588-4886.

The University of Louisville Depression Center is Kentuckiana’s leading resource for depression and bipolar disorder treatment, research and education. It is a charter member of the National Network of Depression Centers, a consortium of leading depression centers that develops and fosters connections among members to advance scientific discovery and provide stigma-free, evidence-based care to patients with depressive and bipolar illnesses.

Gabbard is the author of more than 300 journal articles and 23 books. He is known for his works on psychoanalysis, psychodynamic psychotherapy, personality disorders, psychiatric evaluation of professionals and more.

The son of professional actors turned a hobby of examining psychiatry in the movies into his first book on the subject and today has something few other psychiatrists can cite: his own listing on the Internet Movie Database. He is author of two books that examine how the profession is portrayed by filmmakers – Psychoanalysis and Film and Psychiatry and Cinema. A third book looks at one of the most dysfunctional families ever created in The Psychology of ‘The Sopranos’: Love, Death, Desire and Betrayal in America’s Favorite Gangster Family.

While filmmakers continue to be fascinated by psychiatry, Gabbard said, they don’t always accurately portray the profession or its practitioners. Hollywood has mostly preferred distortion and stereotype over more true-to-life representations.

“People don't make distinctions between what's reality and what's on the great silver screen,” Gabbard said in a New York Times interview.

Yet inaccurate as such portraits are, they are also compelling. In the same interview, Gabbard recalled a 1980 encounter with a patient who wanted to introduce hugs into the therapy he provided. Why? She had just seen Ordinary People and the psychiatrist in the movie portrayed by Judd Hirsch hugged the patient played by Timothy Hutton. “It helped (Hutton’s character) a lot,” she said, so she was certain it should be part of her sessions with Gabbard.

Occasionally however, he said, screenwriters and directors who tackle the subject of mental disorders and their treatments get it right. In Gabbard's view, The Sopranos is the best depiction of psychotherapy “ever to appear on film or television.” And A Beautiful Mind, director Ron Howard's award-winning drama chronicling the genius and the battle with schizophrenia of the mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1994, is as accurate a portrait of the illness as Hollywood has produced.

Yet most on-screen portrayals fall short, Gabbard said. “The technique depicted is … simplistic and similarly naïve about therapeutic change,” he wrote in an essay in Psychiatric Times.

“While (psychiatrists) can commiserate with one another about the impact such depictions have on our public image and potential patients, we also can learn something about the image we project to those outside our field,” he said. “…no profession likes the way they’re depicted. We may actually take heart from the old Hollywood axiom that there’s no such thing as negative publicity.”

Posted October 21, 2015

Police officers are often first on the scene when someone receives a serious injury. For victims with arterial bleeding, every second that passes puts them at greater risk of dying from their injuries. If emergency medical personnel cannot get there in time, it could be up to the police officer to save an individual’s life.

Thanks to the University of Louisville’s Willed Body Program, 16 Louisville police officers received special training this month in how to stop arterial bleeding – and potentially save a life. At the fresh tissue lab in the UofL Department of Anatomical Sciences & Neurobiology, members of the Louisville Metro Police Department participated in a day-long session to learn how to handle life-threatening arterial bleeds they may encounter at an accident or crime scene.

Emergency Medical Technician Brandon Heming and other emergency medical personnel instructed the officers using cadavers made available in the lab. It was the first such training held at the UofL lab for police officers.

“We are teaching police officers to save lives. No other form of training allows for the realism that is provided by utilizing a tissue lab,” Heming said.

Joe Heitzman, LMPD officer and one of the organizers of the training, said this was the first time many of the officers had worked with cadavers.

“The officers who were in the class had a great learning experience and a lot of them told me that the training was the first time they actually got to see how trauma affects our bodies and how to use a tourniquet correctly to save a life,” Heitzman said. “This was an opportunity that not many officers will ever get a chance at and they were excited about the lab.”

Nicole Herring, Ph.D., director of the Fresh Tissue and Willed Body Programs at UofL, said this type of training is part of the mission of the program, which provides cadavers for medical training within the UofL Health Sciences Center, as well as health-care professional students from Spalding, Bellarmine and Sullivan Universities, and Army Medical Corps team members from Ft. Knox.

“One of our primary goals for the Willed Body Program is not only to provide a resource for education for our medical and dental students, but for health-care professionals in our community as well,” Herring said.

October 20, 2015

At the next Beer with a Scientist event, Ruth Carrico, Ph.D., R.N., associate professor of medicine at the University of Louisville and the associate founding director of the Global Health Initiative, will discuss life before vaccines, what life would be like without them now and what we can expect in the future. This month’s event is held in conjunction with Research!Louisville.

“We will focus on the history of infectious diseases and their impact on society as well as what vaccines have done for us in terms of health and disease prevention. The emphasis will be on smallpox, polio, flu, childhood diseases and pneumonia,” said Carrico, who also is a family nurse practitioner, a fellow of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and clinical director of the Vaccine and International Travel Center.

The program begins at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28 at Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St. A 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session. The timing coincides with the 20^th annual Research!Louisville conference, taking place October 27-30 throughout the city.

The Beer with a Scientist program began in 2014 and is the brainchild of UofL cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D. 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.

Research!Louisville, an annual conference that highlights research conducted by the institutions in the Louisville Medical Center, is sponsored by the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, University of Louisville Hospital/KentuckyOne Health, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation/KentuckyOne Health and Norton Healthcare. For the full schedule of presentations, go www.researchlouisville.org.

October 19, 2015

Technologies to improve bone grafts and cancer immunotherapies, protect lung tissue during radiation treatment, reverse neurological damage and improve recovery from spinal cord injury are among the patents issued to the University of Louisville Research Foundation recently. Two of the inventions have been licensed and are in the process of making their way into the health-care system to improve the lives of patients.

• Bone graft cement - A substitute bone graft material called Trabexus EB has been patented and cleared by the FDA for use by orthopaedic surgeons in patient care. The product, developed by Michael Voor, Ph.D., associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and bioengineering at UofL, along with Robert Burden, M. Eng., a former student and employee of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Lab, is a bone replacement cement that provides both strength and resorbability in bone repairs. Licensed and marketed by Vivorte, Trabexus EB contains specially shaped bone particles, called Trabs, which interconnect to provide a biologically active framework for the bone repair. The specially formulated calcium phosphate that binds the particles together allows the material to flow into irregular void spaces then provides strength while allowing the body to resorb the material and replace it with living bone. Trabexus EB is used by orthopaedic surgeons in repairing bones damaged through injury, tumor or other defects.

• Revolutionary treatment for paralysis - A three-pronged approach to the treatment of paralysis following spinal cord injury has received a patent based on the research of Susan Harkema, Ph.D., and Claudia Angeli, Ph.D., of UofL’s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, along with researchers at UCLA and elsewhere. The treatment method centers on the use of epidural stimulation to activate the spinal cord, along with physical training and medications that when combined, allow individuals with spinal cord injury to have voluntary control of body movements and improve heart, lung and other autonomic functions. To activate the spinal circuits, an electrode array, controlled by the patient, is implanted in the lower spine. Participants in epidural stimulation research at UofL have experienced the ability to move and stand unassisted with some improvements in heart, pulmonary and bladder function.

• Cancer therapy improvement - Haval Shirwan, Ph.D., endowed chair and professor in UofL’s Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, along with Esma Yolcu, Ph.D., of UofL and Kutlu Elpek, Ph.D., now of Boston, have developed a method of using a series of ligands, molecules that bind to cell receptors, to enhance immunotherapies used for the treatment of cancer and chronic viral infections, such as HIV. When diseases such as cancer and HIV have overcome the patient’s immune system, the T cells, which provide a natural immune response, are “switched off.” The patented compositions utilize specific ligands in combination with antigens or infectious agents to reactivate and generate new T cells, allowing the patient’s immune system to respond more vigorously in eliminating the tumors or disease and preventing recurrence. This method of stimulating the immune system has significant potential to make immunotherapies more effective and provide protection against recurrence of the disease.

• Protecting lung function - Software to detect areas of depleted lung function during radiation treatment for lung cancer is the subject of a patent based on the work of Shiao Woo, M.D., chair, and Neal Dunlap, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology at UofL, along with Amir Amini, Ph.D., professor and endowed chair in bioimaging at UofL’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering, and Mohammadrezza Negahdar, Ph.D., now at Stanford University. The group developed 4-D computed tomography (CT) image analysis software that can be incorporated into existing lung imaging used during radiation therapy to detect early changes in lung elasticity. If specific areas of the lung have been damaged by radiation, the treatments can be adjusted to prevent permanent breathing problems. The process also may be used in other lung diseases, such as fibrosis, to detect early changes in lung function.

• Repairing the spinal cord - Fred Roisen, Ph.D., former chair of the UofL Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, along with UofL researchers Meng Qiu, Ph.D., and Chengliang Lu, M.D., and UofL graduate Meng Wang, Ph.D., developed a method for a tissue biopsy from a patient’s nasal passages and from those cells, isolating progenitor stem cells called RhinoCytes. These RhinoCtyes regenerate the spinal cord to repair an injury. The stem cells also can be used in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. The method of generating the RhinoCytes has been licensed from UofL by RhinoCyte, Inc., and is scheduled for a concept study at the University of Louisville Hospital with Phase I/II clinical trials beginning in 2016.

These patents have been awarded to the University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc., in the current fiscal year, which began in July, 2015, according to the office of Technology Transfer & Industry Engagement. That office works with UofL researchers to submit patent applications and negotiates commercialization opportunities for patented technologies. The university received 60 U.S. patents in the past two fiscal years, half of which are related to medical research at the School of Medicine. The Speed School of Engineering is responsible for most of the other patent applications.

UofL is the only university with three of the most prestigious innovation-associated commercialization grants, having received grants from the Coulter Translational Research Partnership, the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps and the National Institutes of Health Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH).

October 19, 2015

Having transformed the curriculum and the educational space in which it is delivered, the University of Louisville School of Medicine was notified by phone yesterday by its accrediting entity that it is in compliance with all educational standards and probationary status has been lifted. UofL anticipates receiving the detailed written report in the coming weeks.

“During the past two years, we have worked diligently to address the concerns raised by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME),” said Toni Ganzel, MD, MBA, dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “We reformed our preclinical curriculum from a discipline-based model to an integrated model with more active learning and engaged pedagogies. We completed a major renovation of our instructional building, implemented new educational technologies and strengthened our educational governance and organizational structure.

“We continue our efforts to assure that we consistently meet or exceed expectations for compliance with LCME standards.”

UofL began implementing a redesigned curriculum in 2011, but significantly increased the speed during the past few years. Separate courses have been integrated to create a better fundamental understanding of the way the human body works in health and disease, and to link all of the courses throughout the four-year program. The faculty and students now are more focused on teamwork, communication, and application of knowledge using enhanced teaching technology and methods to take better care of patients.

The most visible change at the school is the $7.5 million renovation of the instructional building that redesigned the school’s instructional space that opened in 1970, including two large interactive lecture halls that will better meet the needs of current class size and enable UofL to potentially expand its class size to meet the growing physician shortage in Kentucky and beyond. There also are new small group learning labs and classrooms, a new student lounge and expanded student study areas. Additionally, the infrastructure was upgraded to better support innovative, cutting edge academic technologies.

October 16, 2015

Eyas Hattab, M.D., M.B.A, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and neurological surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine, will be appointed as the new chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Toni Ganzel, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the UofL School of Medicine, said that Hattab’s appointment will begin Jan. 1, 2016.

“We are very excited to have a physician researcher and leader of the caliber of Dr. Hattab join us at the University of Louisville School of Medicine,” Ganzel said. “He brings with him extensive experience as a clinician, educator, researcher and leader that will enable us to continue our upward trajectory as a premier metropolitan research institution.”

Hattab is currently the vice chair of education for pathology and laboratory medicine at Indiana University and serves as the director of the residency program. He joined Indiana University in 2002 and has risen through the ranks during the past 13 years.

Hattab earned his medical degree from Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid, Jordan. He completed his residency in combined anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Florida Health Science Center – Jacksonville, where he also served as chief resident. He then performed a fellowship in neuropathology at Stanford University Medical Center and surgical pathology fellowship at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis.

Hattab also earned his Business of Medicine M.B.A. from Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

With a research interest in the diseases and abnormalities of the central nervous system, Hattab has authored more than 80 scientific writings and has been an invited speaker at highly prestigious national and international meetings. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Modern Pathology and reviewer of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute Consensus Committee on Quality Systems and Laboratory Practices. Hattab is an active member of the neuropathology community and serves on several national committees governing the field, including chairing the College of American Pathologists Neuropathology Committee, the CAP Cancer Biomarker Reporting Committee (CBRC) CNS panel and the Lower Grade Gliomas Disease Working Group of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, the National Cancer Institute.

David A. Casey, M.D., has been named chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He has served as interim chair since Jan. 1.

“The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UofL is known for its robust program in academic psychiatry across all areas of education, research and clinical care,” said Toni Ganzel, M.D., MBA, dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “We are fortunate to have Dr. Casey’s expertise in leading the department to continued growth.”

Casey, a professor in the department, has served as senior vice chair and head of clinical services, charged with oversight of the patient care activities of the department. Previously, he was director of the geriatric psychiatric program and he practices as a geriatric psychiatrist with University of Louisville Physicians. He joined the faculty in 1985.

In addition to his clinical service, Casey trains psychiatry residents on topics such as psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychopathology and administrative psychiatry. His interests include Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, geriatric depression, psychiatric education and the history of psychiatry, on which he has lectured and published. He also serves as an editor of Psychiatrists In-Practice Examinationof the American College of Psychiatrists, an evaluation tool that provides comprehensive self-assessment of professional skills for practicing psychiatrists.

Casey received his undergraduate degree in biology with honors and his medical degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Louisville.  He completed his psychiatric residency training at the University of Washington School of Medicine where he served as chief resident. He earned board certification in general psychiatry in 1988 and in geriatric psychiatry in 1991.

Casey’s appointment was approved by the UofL Board of Trustees at its Oct. 8 meeting.

As the Louisville Cardinals and the Florida State Seminoles prepare to face off on the football field Saturday, the two universities will come together in a different type of exchange in the lecture hall.

As part of the ACC Distinguished Lecture Series, University of Louisville School of Medicine Professor Maureen A. McCall, Ph.D., will give a public lecture at the FSU College of Medicine on the impact of eye disease, the search for therapies and the challenges in curing blindness.

The lecture will take place Friday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m. in the Durell Peaden Auditorium & Atrium, 1115 W. Call St. in Tallahassee, Fla. The FSU graduate program in neuroscience is hosting the event. A reception will immediately follow the lecture.

McCall holds joint appointments as professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology and Psychological and Brain Sciences. She came to UofL in 1997.

In August, McCall was named chair of the 20-member Neurotransporters, Receptors and Calcium Signaling Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes of Health. The panel reviews research grant applications, helping determine which are worthy of NIH support. She is the only Kentuckian on the panel, which has representatives from universities in 14 states

The author of approximately 60 journal articles, McCall uses electrophysiological techniques in her research to evaluate normal retinal function, dysfunction caused by blinding retinal diseases, and the restoration of function using a variety of therapeutic strategies. Particular areas of emphasis are in the study of retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma and congenital stationary night blindness.

Each year, outstanding faculty members from ACC schools are chosen to be ACC Distinguished Lecturers. These scholars are invited to make special presentations by other ACC universities.

Honored as current ACC Distinguished Lecturers are Anthony Atala, Wake Forest University; Gregory Boebinger, Florida State University; Rory Cooper, University of Pittsburgh; Stefan Duma, Virginia Tech;  Rob Dunn, North Carolina State; Robin Fleming, Boston College; Peter Holland, Notre Dame; Eric Johnson, Clemson University; Neil Johnson, University of Miami, and McCall.

Each has been identified as an excellent speaker with a strong capacity for catalyzing creative thinking and collaboration. In addition to an award stipend, the ACC Academic Consortium provides financial support to enable each of our 15 universities to sponsor a “distinguished lecture event” involving one of the lecturers on their campuses.  Lectures are to be scheduled during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years.  More information can be obtained from brown@wfu.edu.

To effectively improve the health of people and the delivery of health care, you don’t need everything – just the right things.

That is the premise behind the keynote address at Research!Louisville, to be presented at 1 p.m., Friday, Oct. 30, by Clay B. Marsh, M.D., vice president and executive dean of health sciences at West Virginia University. Admission is free to the event which will be held in Rooms 101/102 of the Kosair Charities Clinical & Translational Research Building at the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, 505 S. Hancock St.

Celebrating its 20^th anniversary, Research!Louisville is an annual conference that highlights research conducted by the institutions in the Louisville Medical Center. Research!Louisville will be held Oct. 27-30 in several locations in the medical center area.

Marsh will present “Leveraging Nature to Create an Anti-Fragile Health Care System: From Black Swans to the Marines.” His address will focus on issues uncovered in the asymmetry found in complex systems, or as author Malcolm Gladwell postulated in his 2002 book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, the Law of the Few.

Gladwell noted that achieving a result – such as making something go viral – requires “connectors,” or people who know many others; “mavens,” people who know the best things; and “salespeople,” people who try things first. With the right grouping of connectors, mavens and salespeople, you don’t need to involve everyone, just the “right” ones to achieve your result.

“This Law of the Few extends to all systems in nature,” Marsh said. “Only a few elements out of many are most important. In health, for example, although a complex series of events define every individual’s health status, one very simple approach is to examine the natural process that makes each of us less healthy: aging.

“In this paradigm, the things that indicate a lower biological age improve health. Things that indicate an elevated biological age decrease health.” From that perspective, Marsh said, we can identify those behaviors and activities that foster health and wellness.

Marsh will discuss how the Law of the Few also can help lead to novel designs in new health care systems that both learn from and meet the needs of people. Health care providers are advised to create systems that embrace and benefit from volatility, and change the model of care from an emphasis on disease to one on health.

“By identifying the key elements that identify health – what it means to be a healthy person – we begin to know how to create the social systems needed to nudge behavior to health and measure it at a personal level,” he said.

Research!Louisville is sponsored by the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center, University of Louisville Hospital/KentuckyOne Health, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation/KentuckyOne Health and Norton Healthcare.

For the full schedule of presentations, go www.researchlouisville.org.

“What Works for Depression” will be presented at the next “Building Hope” lecture sponsored by the University of Louisville Depression Center. Speaking will be Jesse H. Wright, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Depression Center and professor and vice chair for academic affairs of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the UofL School of Medicine.

The program will begin at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, in Room 251 of Second Presbyterian Church, 3701 Old Brownsboro Rd. Admission is free.

The program will examine the most effective methods for treating clinical depression, including effective treatment methods for people who find themselves stuck in a depressive state. Wright also will answer audience members’ questions about treatment for depression.

Recent research indicates clinical depression is a topic Kentuckians are familiar with, either from firsthand experience or through a family member or friend. A 2014 study found that Kentucky is ranked third in the United States for incidence of depression, with 23.5 percent of adult Kentuckians experiencing depression at some point during their lives, compared to 18 percent nationally.

Wright is well-known in the psychiatric profession as an authority on depression and cognitive behavioral therapy. He has authored award-winning books for both mental health professionals and the general public, the most recent being “Breaking Free from Depression: Pathways to Wellness.” He was founding president of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists and is a past recipient of UofL’s Distinguished Educator of the Year Award.

The University of Louisville Depression Center is Kentuckiana’s leading resource for depression and bipolar disorder treatment, research and education. It is a charter member of the National Network of Depression Centers, a consortium of leading depression centers that develops and fosters connections among members to advance scientific discovery and provide stigma-free, evidence-based care to patients with depressive and bipolar illnesses.

For more information, contact the Depression Center at 502-588-4450.

The Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging at the University of Louisville continues its Optimal Aging Lecture Series with “Understanding the Person with Alzheimer’s Disease: Person-Centered Perspectives on Dementia Care,” Wednesday, Oct. 14. The lecture will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the University Club, 200 E. Brandeis Ave.

Benjamin Mast, Ph.D., associate professor in the UofL Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, will debunk stereotypical thinking about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and discuss ways in which “person-centered care” can help improve the quality of life of people with these conditions.

Person-centered care aims to see the person with dementia as an individual, rather than focusing on the illness or abilities lost due to disease. This lecture explores the principles of person-centered assessment and care and how these apply to the individual and their unique experiences of living with dementia.

Admission is $17 per person and includes lunch. Reservations are required online. For information, call 502-852-8953 or email ann.burke@louisville.edu.

A national expert known for “disruptive aging” will challenge perceptions about getting older in an Aging Reconsidered Workshop addressing “Louisville’s Aging Revolution: Becoming an Age-Friendly City.” The one-day event will be held at the Brown & Williamson Club of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Thursday, Oct. 8 from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

The event is free to the public and hosted by the University of Louisville Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging. Reservations are requested at ann.burke@louisville.edu.

This event is part of Bill Thomas’ national Age of Disruption2015 Tour. A medical doctor, Thomas is traveling to multiple states throughout the southeastern United States to spread what he terms his highly disruptive understanding of aging with the mission to inspire positive change for the communities he reaches. In Louisville, Thomas will be featured in four events throughout the day of Oct. 8; another event in Louisville includes a “non-fiction” theatrical performance at the Kentucky Center for the Preforming Arts at 7 p.m.

At the afternoon workshop, participants will learn how to challenge community leaders and members to have a voice and to take charge in making changes to better support livable aging. The afternoon forum will feature a dialogue about age-friendly cities, with participants sharing expectations of what an age-friendly city looks like. The community will be invited to engage with Thomas to develop an action plan in the development of an age-friendly city map for Louisville and surrounding communities.

Thomas’ presentation will be followed by a panel discussion of area aging leaders who have been identified by the institute as community change agents. Panelists include:

• Keith Knapp, President/CEO, Christian Care Communities
• Keisha Deonarine, Economic Development Manager, Louisville Forward: Lifelong Wellness & Aging Care
• Barbara Gordon, Executive Director, KIPDA
• Hannah Ruggles, Western Kentucky University student

“Thomas’ message is invigoratingly simple – the transition into our elder years should not be spent in frenzied disharmony,” said Anna Faul, D.Litt., director of the institute. “To successfully ‘play life’s most dangerous game’ – aging – we need to reimagine and create a clear and satisfying purpose to how we spend the rest of our lives.”

“Everything we think we know about getting older is wrong,” said Thomas, a Harvard-educated physician and author of the book Second Wind: Navigating the Passage to a Slower, Deeper, and More Connected Life. “It’s time we shake ourselves out of the misery of aging and repurpose and restore the wonders and integrity of the second half of life.”

For more information about the Aging Reconsidered Workshop and the Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging, call 502-852-5629.