News at USA Health

Robert A. Barrington, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, received $49,730 through the 2019 College of Medicine Faculty Intramural Grants Program Research Awards to further investigate a rare lung disease.

The article, highlighted on the cover, was also selected as the editor’s choice for the edition.

Residents from the USA Health department of pathology recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Xiangming Zha, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and cell biology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, was one of five faculty members recently awarded the 2019 USA College of Medicine Faculty Intramural Grants Research Award.

Natalie Bauer, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, was recently among one of five faculty members to receive the 2019 USA College of Medicine Faculty Intramural Grants Research Award. The award, which provides funds through an annual competition, targets five full-time basic science faculty members.

The Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, where Macaluso serves, was established by Congress in 2016 as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. It focuses on the development of a report to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on the findings and any recommendations of the group for the federal response to tick-borne disease prevention, treatment and research, and how to address gaps in those areas.

A new study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology shows that patients who experience gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have better results – both short and long-term – after having the LINX procedure than those who treat their GERD with medical therapy.

Phillis’ presentation was titled “Prevalence of Scurvy in Surgical Patients” and was sponsored by William Richards, M.D., professor and chair of surgery. She also worked closely with Madhuri Mulekar, Ph.D., professor and chair of mathematics and statistics.

An anti-cancer compound developed at USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute is showing promise in pre-clinical studies – one involving pancreatic cancer and the other involving breast cancer. The compound, MCI-715, was developed by Gary Piazza, Ph.D., and his lab team at the Drug Discovery Research Center at MCI.

In an effort to understand the causes of disproportionate breast cancer outcomes in women, researchers at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine will explore whether and how socioeconomic difficulties affect human biology, leading to a higher cancer risk.

Luis del Pozo-Yauner, M.D., Ph.D., has devoted his professional life to the scientific research of amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, a disease that occurs when the bone marrow produces abnormal antibodies.

Silas Leavesley, Ph.D., professor of chemical and bimolecular engineering at the University of South Alabama, and Thomas Rich, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at the USA College of Medicine, recently received the 2019 USA Center for Lung Biology Murray Bander Faculty Development Award. The award – which is given to one or two investigators each year— seeks to foster innovative discoveries in pulmonary research and promote faculty development.