Pictured below from left to right, are Campbell Foundation Trustee Bill Venuti, Massimo Caputi, Ph.D., and Program Officer Kenneth Rapkin presenting Dr. Caputi with a check for his research. The Campbell Foundation has funded more than 130 separate HIV/AIDS research projects at facilities throughout the United States and the world since 1995.  Drugs currently used to treat HIV patients cannot completely eliminate the virus. Unfortunately, because of the high HIV mutation rate, new multi-drug resistant strains are appearing with growing frequency.

Recent setbacks in the vaccine development have accentuated the need for the development of drugs with new mechanisms of action. With funds from the Campbell Foundation, Dr. Caputi and his team plan to use modified proteins, which can be purified in large amounts, to inhibit HIV replication in T cells (the main cell type targeted by the virus). "We believe that these research projects will play an instrumental role in the development of new treatments for HIV," said Dr. Caputi. The protein, discovered in Caputi's laboratory, essentially disrupts the mechanisms regulating the transcription and processing of the viral messengers.

Sun-Sentinel recently interviewed members of our Health Careers Outreach Program (HCOP) to highlight success stories like Brawn's incredible journey. Brawn Nelson knew he wanted to be a doctor at 8 years old, but faced steeper odds than most. He and his mother emigrated to the U.S. as refugees from Haiti and had almost nothing. Fortunately, through our HCOP program, Nelson had the chance to become fully immersed in medical training by middle school. 

Now 18 and headed to the University of Florida on a full scholarship, he's a model graduate of HCOP. In four years, HCOP has graduated about 75 students. To sustain the program, the Quantum Foundation recently awarded HCOP a $300,000 grant. Leaders at Quantum say the initiative is critically important. "Our county is very diverse," said Quantum Vice President of Programs Randy Scheid. "And one way that you can promote quality of care is to ensure that the workforce mirrors the population." The program can be life changing for the students, too. "A lot of these kids are coming from families where they're the first one to attend college," said Dr. Nirmala Prakash, assistant director of diversity and head of HCOP. In middle school, students attend classes taught by our medical students who volunteer their time. In high school, they work on the same cadavers as our medical students. "Experiences like those can make all the difference for students as they work toward medical school," said Dr. Prakash.

Palm Healthcare Foundation Awards $125,000

Joseph G. Ouslander, M.D., recently received a $125,000 grant from the Palm Healthcare Foundation (PHF). His team consists of Jill Shutes, M.S.N., G.N.P.-B.C., Mark Goldstein, George Luck, M.D., Usar Suragarn, M.S.N., R.N., David Sandau, and Glenn Pfaff, M.S.N., R.N. The grant was designed to train Home Healthcare Aides and Family Caregivers by utilizing an extension of the INTERACT program. "This grant is very important for a number of reasons. There is a national network of PACE programs so we can potentially seek funding for a much larger project. The grant will also provide preliminary data to integrate INTERACT with Dr. Jim Galvin's Family Function Focused Care intervention for patients with dementia. We have already begun discussing collaborating on a major grant using a combination of interventions," said Dr. Ouslander. Training will consist of simulation methodologies to identify early interventions required for home based patients involved in the PACE program and will provide them with the tools to communicate their health issues appropriately to healthcare providers.

FAU Ranks #13 for Medical School Financial Aid by Graduateprograms.com 

Graduateprograms.com is pleased to announce its spring 2015 Top Medical Schools for Financial Aid. Program rankings, compiled using data gathered between September 1, 2012, and March 31, 2015, encompass reviews posted by more than 3,000 medical students participating in over 120 medical schools nationwide. Ratings are based on a 10-star system (with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best). For specific rankings for medical schools, please click on therankings page (The "Dean's list," including financial aid, is on the left of the page).

The Top 20 Medical Schools for Financial Aid 

1. The University of Chicago
2. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
3. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
4. University of Pennsylvania
5. University of California-Irvine
6. University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester
7. University of Washington 
8. Harvard University
9. University of New Mexico
10. Vanderbilt University
11. Stanford University
12. Yale University
13. Florida Atlantic University
14. Weill Cornell Medical College
15. University of Virginia
16. University of Michigan
17. University of Cincinnati
18. Dartmouth College
19. St. George's University
20. Texas A&M University

Dean appointed to AAMC's Council of Deans

David J. Bjorkman, M.D., M.S.P.H., Dean and Executive Director of Medical Affairs, was recently appointed a Council of Deans Administrative Board Member for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for a three-year term beginning in November. The Council of Deans of the AAMC provides continuing improvement of the nation's medical schools, working to identify issues affecting academic medicine and developing strategies to achieve the various medical school missions. This body addresses policies guiding the association in its service and advocacy functions, programs for the advancement of institutional management, and support for the deans' leadership role in guiding individual schools toward excellence in medical education, research and patient care.