June 10, 2021 – With an increase worldwide in clinician stress and burnout ― worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic ― Baptist Health South Florida has named Ana Viamonte Ros, M.D., as its first Chief Well-being Officer. Dr. Viamonte Ros, also medical director of Palliative Care and Bioethics Services at Baptist Health, will lead an initiative to make mental health wellness and overall well-being a priority. It will include developing system-wide strategy and support to help all Baptist Health physicians, clinicians and employees facing the stress, anxiety, exhaustion and depression common in the healthcare industry today.
 
“As a best workplace, we want to ensure our physicians and staff are supported in their quest for well-being in every way,” said Brian E. Keeley, Baptist Health president and CEO. “We are excited that Dr. Viamonte Ros will put mental health and well-being at the forefront of our organization. Her experience, knowledge and passion for improving mental health and well-being will greatly benefit our Baptist Health family.” In addition to her role in palliative care and bioethics, Dr. Viamonte Ros brings a wealth of experience working with a wide variety of healthcare issues, as she was Florida’s first State Surgeon General, and the first woman and Cuban American to head the Florida Department of Health.
 
Prior to COVID-19, studies showed that 50 percent of physicians reported symptoms of burnout, and a New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Insights publication stated that 70 percent of clinical leaders and executives surveyed recently believe the problem will worsen in the next two to three years.
 
“Clinician burnout is a long-standing problem and we have an opportunity to improve the health and wellness of our caregivers and staff, which, in turn, allows them to continue to provide the highest quality care to our patients,” said Dr. Viamonte Ros, who received her medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also has a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health, where she received the Gareth Green Award for Excellence in Public Health, the highest student award.
 
Across the nation, increased patient loads, long hours and adapting to complex new technology are among the factors that may contribute to mental and physical health issues among caregivers.
 
“It is critical that we make it a priority to focus on the total well-being of all Baptist Health employees, who work tirelessly to care for our community every day,” said Adriene McCoy, Sr. Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Baptist Health. “We will base our program on best practices and evidence-based care models that will equip physicians and employees with the tools they need to live healthy, happy lives.” This includes additional well-being education and coping mechanisms, enhancing access to confidential resources and support, and fostering a community culture that eliminates any stigma that can occur when people reach out for help. It will also mean reviewing the healthcare infrastructure and making changes in the way people work.
 
“This will be a comprehensive program,” Dr. Viamonte Ros said. “It will not only look to minimize the source of stressors but will emphasize recognizing the signs of distress instead of waiting for someone to ask for assistance. It’s about optimizing total well-being.”
 
 
 
About Baptist Health South Florida
Baptist Health South Florida is the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 11 hospitals, more than 23,000 employees, 4,000 physicians and 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has internationally renowned centers of excellence in cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and sports medicine, and neurosciences. In addition, it includes Baptist Health Medical Group; Baptist Health Quality Network; and Baptist Health Care On Demand, a virtual health platform. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net/Newsroom and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
 


June 10, 2021 – Following a recent vacancy in the Vice President position, The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FCAAP) has appointed two new Officers to its Board of Directors, effective June 1, 2021.
 
“On behalf of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, I’m thrilled to announce that Dr. Thresia Gambon has accepted the nomination to move up to Vice President and Dr. Juan Felipe Rico has accepted the nomination to move up to Treasurer. I thank them both for agreeing to serve and look forward to working with them in their new roles,” said FCAAP President Lisa Gwynn, DO, MBA, MSPH, FAAP.
 
 
 
 
Thresia Gambon, MD, MBA, MPH, FAAP will vacate the Treasurer role and serve as Vice President for the remainder of the 2020‐2022 term. She will also assume the role of Chair of the Chapter’s Legislative Committee for the remainder of the 2021 term.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Juan Felipe Rico, MD, FAAP will vacate the Region 3 Representative role to replace Dr. Gambon as Treasurer for the remainder of the 2020‐2022 term. The Region 3 Representative position will remain vacant as the position is up for election this summer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The moves are a result of Vice President and Legislative Committee Chair Toni Richards – Rowley, MD, FAAP relocating to Philadelphia to pursue a position with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Dr. Richards – Rowley was a tremendous asset to the Chapter and a fantastic advocate for Florida’s kids. We thank her for her tireless efforts and wish her all the best in her new endeavor,” concluded Dr. Gwynn.
 
About FCAAP
Through its more than 2,500 members, the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics promotes the health & welfare of Florida’s children and supports pediatricians & pediatric specialists as the best qualified providers of their healthcare. Learn more by visiting www.fcaap.org.
 


Sponsorships for in-person events had been temporarily paused due to COVID-19
 
June 10, 2021 – Lee Health is pleased to announce it is reopening the review process of corporate sponsorship requests for in-person events. In mid-April, the health system resumed sponsorship requests for virtual and outdoor events. All sponsorships for events had been temporarily paused due to COVID-19.
 
Any interested organization can now apply online by visiting Lee Health’s Community Contributions Program website at www.leehealth.org/about-us/community-affairs/sponsorship. Instructions and eligibility requirements are listed on the site.
Lee Health is dedicated to giving back to the community and, through its Community Contributions Program, provides support to registered 501(c)(3) organizations in Southwest Florida. 
 
Lee Health will consider requests for support of new and ongoing programs, education and/or awareness or other community outreach activities that support community health and human services, education and workforce development, and other community needs. 
Each request will be considered for particular alignment with any of the following health priorities as identified by our most recent Community Health Needs Assessment.
•Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder
•Nutrition, Physical Activity & Weight
•Cardiovascular & Respiratory Diseases
•Access to Healthcare Services
 
For in-person event consideration, Lee Health will review COVID-19 precautions in alignment with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and Lee Health Infection Prevention. Requests for support should include COVID-19 precautions in the application to expedite the process. 
 
Guidance from the CDC states that fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance. For unvaccinated people who are attending a small, outdoor gathering with fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people, they are safest when they wear a mask, stay 6 feet apart and wash their hands frequently, according to the CDC. For more information, visit the CDC’s Choosing Safer Activities page. 
 
 
 
About Lee Health
Since the opening of the first hospital in 1916, Lee Health has been a health care leader in Southwest Florida, constantly evolving to meet the needs of the community. A non-profit, integrated health care services organization, Lee Health is committed to the well-being of every individual served, focused on healthy living and maintaining good health. Staffed by caring people, inspiring health, services are conveniently located throughout the community in four acute care hospitals, two specialty hospitals, outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers, primary care and specialty physician practices and other services across the continuum of care. Learn more at www.LeeHealth.org.
 
 
 


June 10 2021- The Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade County will be hosting the 2021 Annual Event and Awards Ceremony virtually which will include the Florida Worksite Wellness Awards on Friday, October 1, 2021. The combined event will highlight the initiatives promoted by the Consortium and its partners, as well as, recognize the important strides that local businesses have made in improving employee health and well-being. This year we are celebrating “Fall into Healthy Habits.”

 
Event:Consortium Annual Event & Awards Ceremony Location:Virtual Meeting Platform
Date:Friday, October 1, 2021
Time:10:00am-12:00pm
 
The event will recognize the work of the Consortium members and committees as well as Florida businesses that have demonstrated workplace wellness programs and whose employees have achieved positive health outcomes. The event  provides community members from  diverse backgrounds with a unique opportunity to come together in an effort to reflect, analyze, develop, and advance strategies to increase the health of the Miami-Dade community. For this year’s theme "Fall Into Healthy Habits", attendees will have the exciting opportunity to learn from national leaders in the field of public health, learn best practices on how organizations are promoting healthier lifestyles in their workforce and how to achieve health equity in their communities. The Consortium for A Healthier Miami-Dade invites you to submit your nomination as a small, mid- sized or large worksite for the 2021 Florida Worksite Wellness Awards. Call for nominations are now open and are due by Friday, July 16, 2021.
 
At this year’s event, we will have two keynote speakers. Dr. Marissa Levine, a professor of the Practice Pathway, from the University of South Florida, College of Public Health. She will be discussing health equity and how to leverage community partnerships to improve Public Health. Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky, former dean of the school of education and human development at the University of Miami, where he currently serves as Professor of Educational and Psychological Studies and Vice Provost for Institutional Culture. He will be discussing the importance of mindfulness and wellbeing in the workplace.
 
In the area of public health, one agency alone cannot do it alone; however, through transparent and integrative collaboration, the Consortium’s vision of a healthy environment, healthy lifestyles and a healthy community for all Miami-Dade County residents and visitors can be fulfilled.
 
The Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade was established in 2003 by the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County to address the increasing rates of chronic disease in the community. The goals of the Consortium are to:
 
•Integrate planning and assessment processes to maximize partnerships and expertise of the community in accomplishing its goals.
•Increase the percentage of adults and children who are at a healthy weight.
•Build and revitalize communities so people can live healthy lives.
•Increase access to resources that promote healthy behaviors.
 
The Consortium is guided by the goals and objectives established in Healthy People 2030. It is comprised of over 400 organizations, all united by the common belief that through collaboration and prevention-focused initiatives, Miami-Dade County residents can live longer, healthier, and happier.
 
The 2021 Annual Event and Awards Ceremony is in part being sponsored by West Kendall Baptist Hospital, one of the many partners of the Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade.
 
The event is open to the community with a $25.00 registration fee. To register and learn more, please click here.
 
For additional information on the event or to submit a nomination for the Worksite Wellness Awards, please visit https://www.healthymiamidade.org/annual-event-and-award-ceremony/ or contact 305-278-0442.
 
About the Florida Department of Health
 
The Department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.
 
Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.
 


FAU Schmidt College of Medicine Study Conducted on Older Adults with Familial and Genetic Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease  
 
June 10, 2021 — Increasing evidence shows that physical activity and exercise training may delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In aging humans, aerobic exercise training increases gray and white matter volume, enhances blood flow, and improves memory function. The ability to measure the effects of exercise on systemic biomarkers associated with risk for AD and relating them to key metabolomic alterations may further prevention, monitoring, and treatment efforts. However, systemic biomarkers that can measure exercise effects on brain function and that link to relevant metabolic responses are lacking. 
 
To address this issue, Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine and Brain Institute and Ozioma Okonkwo, Ph.D., Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and their collaborators, tested the hypotheses that three specific biomarkers, which are implicated in learning and memory, would increase in older adults following exercise training and correlate with cognition and metabolomics markers of brain health. They examined myokine Cathepsin B (CTSB), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and klotho, as well as metabolomics, which have become increasingly utilized to understand biochemical pathways that may be affected by AD. 
 
Researchers performed a metabolomics analysis in blood samples of 23 asymptomatic late middle-aged adults, with familial and genetic risk for AD (mean age 65 years old, 50 percent female) who participated in the “aeRobic Exercise And Cognitive Health (REACH) Pilot Study” (NCT02384993) at the University of Wisconsin. The participants were divided into two groups: usual physical activity (UPA) and enhanced physical activity (EPA). The EPA group underwent 26 weeks of supervised treadmill training. Blood samples for both groups were taken at baseline and after 26 weeks.
 
Results of the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology, showed that plasma CTSB levels were increased following this 26-week structured aerobic exercise training in older adults at risk for AD. Verbal learning and memory correlated positively with change in CTSB but was not related to BDNF or klotho. The present correlation between CTSB and verbal learning and memory suggests that CTSB may be useful as a marker for cognitive changes relevant to hippocampal function after exercise in a population at risk for dementia. Plasma BDNF levels decreased in conjunction with metabolomic changes, including reductions in ceramides, sphingo- and phospholipids, as well as changes in gut microbiome metabolites and redox homeostasis. Indeed, multiple lipid metabolites relevant to AD were modified by exercise in a manner that may be neuroprotective. Serum klotho was unchanged but was associated with cardiorespiratory fitness. 
 
 “Our findings position CTSB, BDNF, and klotho as exercise biomarkers for evaluating the effect of lifestyle interventions on brain function,” said van Praag, corresponding author, an associate professor of biomedical science, FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine, and a member of the FAU Brain Institute and the FAU Institute for Human Health & Disease Intervention (I-HEALTH). “Human studies often utilize expensive and low throughput brain imaging analyses that are not practical for large population-wide studies. Systemic biomarkers that can measure the effect of exercise interventions on Alzheimer’s-related outcomes quickly and at low-cost could be used to inform disease progression and to develop novel therapeutic targets.” 
 
CTSB, a lysosomal enzyme, is secreted from muscle into circulation after exercise and is associated with memory function and adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Older adults with cognitive impairment have lower serum and brain CTSB levels. BDNF is a protein that is upregulated in the rodent hippocampus and cortex by running and is important for adult neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and memory function. Klotho is a circulating protein that can enhance cognition and synaptic function and is associated with resilience to neurodegenerative disease, possibly by supporting brain structures responsible for memory and learning. 
 
“The positive association between CTSB and cognition, and the substantial modulation of lipid metabolites implicated in dementia, support the beneficial effects of exercise training on brain function and brain health in asymptomatic individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” said van Praag.  
 
Study co-first authors are Julian M. Gaitan, a researcher and exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Hyo Youl Moon, Ph.D., a faculty member at the Seoul National University; co-authors Matthew Stremlau, Ph.D., National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health; and faculty members, professors Dena B. Dubal, M.D., University of California San Francisco; and Dane B. Cook, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education. 
 
This work was supported by grants from the Alzheimer’s Association (NIRGD-305257), the Extendicare Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (K23 AG045957, R01AG027161, P50 AG033514, and UL1RR025011). This work also was supported in part by the NIA Intramural Research Program, the FAU Brain Institute, Jupiter Life Sciences Initiative, and the Florida Department of Health’s Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research program.
 
 
 
 
About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine: 
FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 157 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU’s commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. The Consortium currently has five Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residencies including internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and neurology.
 
About the FAU Brain Institute:
Inaugurated in 2016 on the John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter, Fla., the FAU Brain Institute, supports research, education and community outreach among more than 100  faculty level researchers at FAU and its affiliate research centers. One of FAU’s four pillars that guide the University’s goals and strategic actions, the Institute seeks to unlock the secrets of brain development, function and plasticity and how the mechanisms uncovered can be compromised to drive devastating brain disorders. From the study of neuronal development and signaling to investigations of brain diseases including addiction, autism, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, researchers from FAU’s Brain Institute seek to generate knowledge that benefits society. For more information about the Institute and its members, visit www.ibrain.fau.edu.
 
About Florida Atlantic University: 
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.