Florida - November 2013 Archives

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Thomas G. Brott, M.D., a neurologist and director for research at Mayo Clinic in Florida, has been named the recipient of the American Heart Association's 2013 Clinical Research Prize. The award recognizes and rewards an individual who is making outstanding contributions to the advancement of cardiovascular science and who currently heads an outstanding cardiovascular clinical research laboratory, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Brott will be honored on stage during the opening ceremony of the American Heart Association's 2013 annual meeting in Dallas. He is the first Mayo Clinic investigator to receive the prestigious prize, which has been awarded annually by the American Heart Association since 2005. "This award is well deserved. Dr. Brott is a pioneer in the field of stroke and cerebrovascular disease research, and his mission to find the best therapies possible for patients has certainly saved lives," says William C. Rupp, M.D., chief executive officer at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Dr. Brott was a leading investigator in the studies that identified tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) as an effective acute treatment for ischemic stroke. He and his team treated the very first patients using this therapy. Along with his colleagues, Dr. Brott defined the evolution of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage during the first hours after onset. In 1998, Dr. Brott came to Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida where he and his colleagues initiated the first NIH-funded genome-wide screen for stroke susceptibility. Dr. Brott has led federally funded national clinical trials that aim to discover best treatment for stroke and uncover risk factors for the disorder. For example, he is principal investigator for the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST), a study that compares two different treatments for their ability to reduce risk for stroke. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. He also played a key role in designing the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), a tool used internationally that measures stroke-related neurologic deficits.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program of Mayo Clinic, Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville, and Wolfson Children's Hospital has been awarded a three-year accreditation renewal by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). The foundation awarded the accreditation renewal after thorough site visits at all collection, transplantation and laboratory facilities at the three locations. "We are pleased that Mayo Clinic, Nemours Children's Clinic and Wolfson Children's Hospital have met the requirements of the Foundation and have been granted accreditation for their joint Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program," said Phyllis Warkentin, M.D., FACT medical director. "The teamwork and cooperation between all three organizations in the program has never been better," said Blood and Marrow Transplant Program Director Michael Joyce, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville. "FACT accreditation is a promise to our patients that we are adhering to and meeting the highest standards in the field. The hematology/oncology physicians, nurses, laboratory and support staff of Nemours, Wolfson Children's and Mayo Clinic work very hard to achieve maintain these standards." The joint program was created in 2001 to allow for greater collaboration in physician and staff expertise, research and clinical protocols. Wolfson Children's Hospital and Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville, will celebrate their Blood and Marrow Transplant Program's 20th anniversary next year. Many patient referrals to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program come from physicians in Jacksonville, across Florida and south Georgia, across the United States and internationally. Since it was established, the combined program has transplanted patients with a variety of illnesses including leukemia, neuroblastoma, sickle cell disease, bone marrow disorders, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, brain tumors, Ewing's sarcoma, and amyloidosis. Stem cell sources include the patient, immediate family members, volunteer unrelated adult marrow donors or donated umbilical cord blood donor units. More than 970 transplants have been completed during this time. The program shares a single cryopreservation laboratory (where hematopoietic stem cells are frozen and processed) at Mayo Clinic. Mayo maintains the program's adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, and Wolfson Children's Hospital maintains Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant beds on the Hematology/Oncology Unit in the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Tower. The joint program shares information systems, quality and other clinical and administrative staff. "We are excited to receive this accreditation. It is a welcome recognition and 'badge of honor' for our program. It also informs and assures our patients, referring physicians and insurance companies of the highest standards of patient care and laboratory practices in our program," said Vivek Roy, M.D., hematologist/oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida and medical director of the adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.

COLUMBUS, GA. — Building on its reputation for delivering high quality and compassionate care to the communities in which it serves, St. Francis in Columbus, Ga., ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle have received a $7.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to take a new and more expanded approach to identifying drug targets to treat and possibly prevent Alzheimer's disease. VIDEO ALERT: Video resources including an interview with Dr. Ertekin-Taner describing the study can be found on the Mayo Clinic News Network. The investigators are working together to understand the role that innate immunity — the body's defense system — plays in Alzheimer's disease, a disorder of dementia that is rapidly increasing as the population ages. The teams are focused on uncovering and manipulating the key molecular players in innate immunity with an ultimate goal of developing novel therapies for Alzheimer's disease, says neurologist and neuroscientist Nilufer Ertekin-Taner, M.D., Ph.D., one of the grant's two principal investigators from Mayo Clinic in Florida. The other is Steven Younkin, M.D., Ph.D. "When activated, human innate immunity results in inflammation, and previous research on this response to development of Alzheimer's disease has been contradictory because no one has yet looked at the whole picture of this effect over time," says Dr. Ertekin-Taner. "It may be that an initial inflammatory response is beneficial, perhaps even protective, but a lengthy response to toxic proteins acts to kill healthy neurons. "Our goal is to understand exactly if and when an innate immune response is good, and when it is bad, and to identify drug targets that enhance this protective effect and shut down the destructive side of this inflammation."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees welcomed Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, as a new member during a meeting today. The trustees also elected Shirley ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nov. 7, 2013 — Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The research, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, examined national outcomes from endoscopic treatment compared to esophagectomy, surgical removal of the esophagus. VIDEO ALERT: Video resources including an interview with Dr. Wallace describing the study can be found on the Mayo Clinic News Network. It found that endoscopic therapy offered long-term survival rates similar to those for esophagectomy, says lead author, Michael B. Wallace, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.