USF's academic leadership in HIV research and care will combine with Clear Health Alliance's knowledge of Medicaid and specialized HIV/AIDS care services to better serve the HIV/AIDS population in the Tampa Bay area.

Dr. Holt discussed how the joint effort will positively affect the quality of life for those living with the disease.



Basketball legend and HIV/AIDS advocate Earvin "Magic" Johnson spoke at the September 17th press conference announcing the new partnership. Johnson was enthusiastic about the alliance, which will increase access to care in a community with a high rate of HIV/AIDS.

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The USF ID podcasts are on fire! Congratulations to our ID Faculty and Fellows for the growth and success of IDPodcasts.net.  It was recently listed as one of the best Infectious Disease podcast sites in the nation.  The site was created by Dr. Richard Oehler in 2007 with his intent to keep up with the vast growth of social media.  Since 2012, the podcasts have received more publication and approaching 1000 subscribers on YouTube and have over 150,000 views, since Jan, 2012!

 Congratulations to Dr. Jamie Morano, who was recently (jointly) awarded a $475,000 Pfizer Independent Grant for Learning & Change entitled "VaccineLink". The project is a joint collaboration between the Morsani School
of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, and the University of South Florida, College of Medicine Department of Health Policy and Management. The grant will coordinate with the Hillsborough and Polk Health County Health Departments to utilize mobile technologies such as iPad supported electronic surveying and instruction and QR scanning to enhance community-based interventions with the aim of increasing uptake in pneumonia, flu, and pertussis/diphtheria/tetanus vaccines within minority and underserved bilingual communities.

Principal Investigators Dr. Jamie P. Morano (Assistant Professor at Morsani College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases) and Dr. Dawood H. Sultan (Assistant Professor, USF College of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management) with co-Principal Investigator Dr. Meghan Borysova (Post-Doctorate Fellow, USF College of  Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management) are the main grant awardees. Dr. Douglas Holt (Chief, Morsani College of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of Hillsborough County Health Department), Dr. Charurut Somboonwit (Assistant Professor at Morsani College of Medicine,
Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of Communicable Diseases at Hillsborough County Health Department), and Dr. Ulyee Choe (Assistant Professor at Morsani College of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of Polk County Health Department) are key supporters of the grant intervention initiatives.

Drs. Lynette Menezes, Ph D, Assistant Vice President, USF Health International, and Anna R. Guiliano, PhD, of H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center and Research Institute, recently published a paper in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.  In October their paper, "The Role of Monogamy and Duration of Heterosexual Relationships on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Transmission" was featured on the MDLinx website. 

Click here to see the paper on the JID website.

 

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The USF HIV Clinical Research Unit has a new website! Interested in learning about enrolling studies or upcoming events? Click here to visit our new site!

Happy Holidays from USF ID!!

IDWeek 2013

Pictured left to right: Doug Holt, (Director, USF Infectious Disease), Lily Jones, (ID Fellow), Richard Oehler, (USF ID Faculty), and Mitsuya Katayama, (ID Fellow).

In early October, several faculty and fellows attended IDWeek in San Francisco.ID Fellows, Dr. Lily Jones and Dr. Mitsuya Katayama, were selected to present abstracts and both received travel grants. The following poster abstracts were presented: 

Lily Jones (ID Fellow)
* Nitazoxanide Treatment of Intestinal Cryptosporidiosis Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantion

* Surveillance of Macrolide and Clindamycin Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Beta-hemolytic Streptococci in Philadelphia

* with Richard Oehler (ID Faculty) Risk Factors and Management Strategy of Disseminated Mycobacterium Marinum Infection with Bacteremia

Mitsuya Katayama(ID Fellow) and John Toney (ID Faculty)
* Rhinovirus Infection among Patients with Hematologic Malignancy

Jamie Morano (ID Faculty)
* Rapid Hepatitis C Virus Testing: An Innovative pilot Study for Testing and Linking high Risk Populations from a Mobile Healthcare Clinic

Congratulations to all for contributing to the success of the Division!