April 30 2021 – The following statement is to be attributed to Florida Association of Children’s Hospitals (FACH) Executive Director Dana Ferrell in response to the state’s healthcare budget. 
 
“On behalf of FACH’s 15-member hospitals, their leadership and staff, and the children and families they serve every day, thank you to Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Wilton Simpson, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls for restoring the originally proposed healthcare budget cuts.
 
“The restoration of these funds means that Florida’s children’s hospitals – the backbone of Florida’s pediatric health care system – will continue to deliver services, often below cost, that offer life-changing and lifesaving care for our state’s youngest injured or critically ill residents.
“Moving forward, we remain ready to partner with our legislative leaders on next steps to ensure that Florida’s children have ongoing access to comprehensive and specialized health care when and where they need it.”
 
About the Florida Association of Children’s Hospitals (FACH)
The 15 members of the Florida Association of Children’s Hospitals (FACH) provide the most specialized level of care to children, research cures for diseases that affect children and train Florida’s pediatricians, pediatric specialists and pediatric nurses. Since 1999, they have been the voice for children’s health care issues in Florida through advocacy, education, research and patient care initiatives. For additional information, please visit: www.flchildrenshospitals.org


April 30, 2021 –  Beginning today, anyone over the age of 16 can receive a COVID-19 vaccine at Lee Health. The vaccination clinic is open to the community; you do not need to be a Lee Health patient to get the vaccine.
 
Lee Health recently received a shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is approved for use in those 16 years-old and above. You can schedule your appointment by visiting www.leehealth.org.
 
Appointments are available as early as next week. A parent or authorized guardian must accompany a minor for vaccination. 
 “We are pleased to be able to now vaccinate our 16 and 17 year-olds, and I encourage all teens in this age group to come in with a parent or guardian to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Larry Antonucci, president and chief executive officer of Lee Health. “It would be wonderful if we could get as many students vaccinated as possible before they begin the next school next year.”
 
All self-scheduling appointments must be made online, and Lee Health kindly asks that you not to call our hospitals or physician offices to inquire about vaccine appointments as it overwhelms our phone system and keeps others from reaching us for their care. 
 
A mask is required to enter any Lee Health facility.
You are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving your final dose of the vaccine. For more information on COVID-19 vaccines please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html. 
 
 
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.
 


Aimed to Serve the Emerging Psychedelic Market
 
April 29, 2021 — Dustin Robinson, Esq., CPA, the founding partner of one of the leading law firms in the psychedelic industry, in partnership with seasoned private equity investor Robert Velarde, has launched Iter Investments, a venture capital firm that will aim to deploy capital primarily in businesses operating in and around the burgeoning psychedelic industry. Robinson explains: “Our mission is to help entrepreneurs build great companies that use medical and scientific research to reimagine the health care industry’s approach to addressing mental health disorders.”
 
Robinson sits at the cross-section of many aspects of the psychedelic ecosystem. His law firm has been recognized by Psychedelic Invest as one of the top law firm that specializes in psychedelics. Robinson also co-founded Mr. Psychedelic Law, a non-profit focused on driving legal reform through medical and scientific research. Through Mr. Psychedelic Law, Robinson and his team have drafted various psychedelic bills and resolutions, including a Florida bill filed by State Representative Michael Grieco that seeks to legalize psilocybin mushrooms and decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi. Dustin also co-founded other non-profits in the psychedelic space, including Mind Army, and currently represents the Psychedelic Pharmacists Association. Due to his active involvement in many areas within the psychedelic ecosystem, Robinson has early-stage businesses, investors, doctors, therapists, and other stakeholders reaching out to him for guidance in various capacities. 
 
When Robinson decided to launch Iter Investments, he teamed up with Robert Velarde. Velarde is a seasoned private equity investor with over 25 years of global private equity investment experience in a broad range of industries in US, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Velarde earned his MBA from Harvard University; and has proven experience building and managing private markets investment platforms as a senior leader in institutional, family office, and impact investment firms. 
 
“I believe that Robert’s deep expertise in originating, structuring and managing direct private investments and managing funds, combined with my expertise in the psychedelic space, make us a unique partnership to capitalize and assist this emerging industry,” said Robinson. 
 
Next, Robinson and Velarde built an advisory board to assist the team with opportunity identification, diligence, and portfolio management: 
·Dr. Scott Fisher, MD, is the Psychiatric Lead for Iter Investments. He has his Certificate in Psychedelic Therapy Research from California Institute of Integral Studies; and he is the Lead Facilitator with Segal Clinic in the Usona FDA Phase 2 clinical trial assessing effectiveness of psilocybin for major depressive disorder.
·Dr. Michelle Weiner, DO, MPH, is the Clinical Lead for Iter Investments. Her practice includes psychedelic-assisted therapy through ketamine.
·Edgar Asebey, Esq., is the FDA Lead for Iter Investments. He has over two decades of experience in federal regulation of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
·David Wood, Esq., Ph.D., is the Intellectual Property Lead for Iter Investments. He specializes in patents and other intellectual property in the psychedelic space.
·Andrew Hall, Ph.D., is the Scientific Lead for Iter Investments. He has his PhD in Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy; and he is the Chief Science Officer of Green Scientific Labs.
·Matthew Savarick, is a mental and behavioral health executive, and is an expert in coaching high-performing individuals and teams to reach even higher levels of success.
 
Velarde explains, “Our advisory board represents the end-to-end psychedelic value chain. By creating what we consider to be a team of experts and professionals within the psychedelic industry, Iter Investments aims to provide investors with an unparalleled opportunity to access a broad range of emerging companies in the psychedelic sector. The psychedelic industry has received an increasing amount of acceptance and early-stage firms are looking to scale.  Many believe that there is a current funding gap between psychedelic drug research and mass commercialization. We look to serve that gap while aiming to offer portfolio companies what we consider to be expert guidance to support their growth and success.”
 
 
 
About Iter Investments
Iter Investments is a newly started investment firm that will aim to primarily deploy capital in and around the burgeoning psychedelic industry. Iter Investments will seek to invest with the mission of re-imagining how the mental health and wellness industry delivers care. For more information, visit www.iterinvestments.com or email contact@iterinvestments.com.
 


April 29 2021 – To bolster research to help communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19, the National Institutes of Health is funding $29 million in additional grants for the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities. This funding was supported by the American Rescue Plan. The awards will provide $15 million to 11 teams already conducting research and outreach to help strengthen COVID-19 vaccine confidence and access, as well as testing and treatment, in communities of color. An additional $14 million will fund 10 new research teams to extend the reach of COVID-19 community-engaged research and outreach.
 
“The goal of this effort is to foster community-engagement research in communities which have been hit hardest by the pandemic,” said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). “The alliance is designed to meet people where they are with the help of trusted messengers, including family doctors, pastors, and community health workers, and to forge lasting partnerships to address health disparities.”
 
Eleven research teams received $17 million in grants in 2020 to reach residents at risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Spread throughout the country, CEAL research groups have used different strategies to coordinate educational outreach, raise awareness about the importance of inclusive participation in COVID-19 testing, vaccine uptake, and clinical trials, and conduct research to understand barriers surrounding prevention and treatment. CEAL researchers also study the best ways to address these challenges and establish trust in the scientific process, while equitably distributing COVID-19 resources tailored to each community.
 
“It’s one thing to have strong national messages about the science behind vaccines,” said Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). “It’s another to have those messages delivered by local, trusted sources, who can ensure questions from their communities are honestly and clearly addressed.”
 
For example, mobile units in the Mississippi Delta helped rural residents access COVID-19 vaccines, while pop-up vaccine clinics played similar roles in California, Michigan, and other states. Focus groups in multiple CEAL regions identified information-based needs and perceptions about vaccines and treatment, including concerns about medical mistrust, which guided future outreach.
 
“The most promising scientific discoveries benefit all populations and the way we ensure that is through inclusive research participation and community engagement,” Pérez-Stable added. “CEAL researchers are creating the community-engaged model to transform research practice.”
 
Throughout 2021, CEAL researchers will tap community leaders, trusted organizations, and experts familiar to their communities, including NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) testing centers, state health departments, and certified diabetes educators, and community health workers.  These community assets will partner with each other to strengthen a national response to COVID-19 by focusing on local outreach. As teams within the CEAL Alliance personalize these outreach strategies, they will also share their findings with each other and the broader community of those working to move the country past the pandemic.
 
“The power of community-engaged partnerships extends beyond state borders,” said Catherine Stoney, Ph.D., the CEAL Alliance scientific program lead and deputy director of the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science at NHLBI. “The CEAL Alliance provides a central research hub where findings from one region may inform or guide best practices in another.”
 
CEAL, guided by community-engaged researchers and supported by trusted community organizations and messengers, is an NIH-wide effort co-led by NHLBI and NIMHD.
 
The 10 new research teams joining the CEAL Alliance include:
 
Jose Arturo Bauermeister, Ph.D., M.P.H.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
 
Cheryl Himmelfarb, Ph.D., R.N.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
 
Matthew Kreuter, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Washington University in St. Louis
 
Benjamin Linas, M.D.
Boston Medical Center
 
Vivian Colón-López, Ph.D., M.P.H.
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences, San Juan
 
Molly Martin, M.D. 
University of Illinois at Chicago
 
Pearl McElfish, Ph.D.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
 
Donald Nease, M.D.
University of Colorado Denver
 
Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH
New York University School of Medicine, New York City
 
Lisa Cacari Stone, Ph.D.
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
 
For more information about the CEAL Alliance, visit the NIH COVID-19 communities page.
 
About the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): NHLBI is the global leader in conducting and supporting research in heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders that advances scientific knowledge, improves public health, and saves lives. For more information, visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
 
About the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD): NIMHD leads scientific research to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities by conducting and supporting research; planning, reviewing, coordinating, and evaluating all minority health and health disparities research at NIH; promoting and supporting the training of a diverse research workforce; translating and disseminating research information; and fostering collaborations and partnerships. For more information about NIMHD, visit https://www.nimhd.nih.gov.
 
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.


April 29 2021 – To bolster research to help communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19, the National Institutes of Health is funding $29 million in additional grants for the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities. This funding was supported by the American Rescue Plan. The awards will provide $15 million to 11 teams already conducting research and outreach to help strengthen COVID-19 vaccine confidence and access, as well as testing and treatment, in communities of color. An additional $14 million will fund 10 new research teams to extend the reach of COVID-19 community-engaged research and outreach.
 
“The goal of this effort is to foster community-engagement research in communities which have been hit hardest by the pandemic,” said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). “The alliance is designed to meet people where they are with the help of trusted messengers, including family doctors, pastors, and community health workers, and to forge lasting partnerships to address health disparities.”
 
Eleven research teams received $17 million in grants in 2020 to reach residents at risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Spread throughout the country, CEAL research groups have used different strategies to coordinate educational outreach, raise awareness about the importance of inclusive participation in COVID-19 testing, vaccine uptake, and clinical trials, and conduct research to understand barriers surrounding prevention and treatment. CEAL researchers also study the best ways to address these challenges and establish trust in the scientific process, while equitably distributing COVID-19 resources tailored to each community.
 
“It’s one thing to have strong national messages about the science behind vaccines,” said Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). “It’s another to have those messages delivered by local, trusted sources, who can ensure questions from their communities are honestly and clearly addressed.”
 
For example, mobile units in the Mississippi Delta helped rural residents access COVID-19 vaccines, while pop-up vaccine clinics played similar roles in California, Michigan, and other states. Focus groups in multiple CEAL regions identified information-based needs and perceptions about vaccines and treatment, including concerns about medical mistrust, which guided future outreach.
 
“The most promising scientific discoveries benefit all populations and the way we ensure that is through inclusive research participation and community engagement,” Pérez-Stable added. “CEAL researchers are creating the community-engaged model to transform research practice.”
 
Throughout 2021, CEAL researchers will tap community leaders, trusted organizations, and experts familiar to their communities, including NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) testing centers, state health departments, and certified diabetes educators, and community health workers.  These community assets will partner with each other to strengthen a national response to COVID-19 by focusing on local outreach. As teams within the CEAL Alliance personalize these outreach strategies, they will also share their findings with each other and the broader community of those working to move the country past the pandemic.
 
“The power of community-engaged partnerships extends beyond state borders,” said Catherine Stoney, Ph.D., the CEAL Alliance scientific program lead and deputy director of the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science at NHLBI. “The CEAL Alliance provides a central research hub where findings from one region may inform or guide best practices in another.”
 
CEAL, guided by community-engaged researchers and supported by trusted community organizations and messengers, is an NIH-wide effort co-led by NHLBI and NIMHD.
 
The 10 new research teams joining the CEAL Alliance include:
 
Jose Arturo Bauermeister, Ph.D., M.P.H.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
 
Cheryl Himmelfarb, Ph.D., R.N.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
 
Matthew Kreuter, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Washington University in St. Louis
 
Benjamin Linas, M.D.
Boston Medical Center
 
Vivian Colón-López, Ph.D., M.P.H.
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences, San Juan
 
Molly Martin, M.D. 
University of Illinois at Chicago
 
Pearl McElfish, Ph.D.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
 
Donald Nease, M.D.
University of Colorado Denver
 
Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH
New York University School of Medicine, New York City
 
Lisa Cacari Stone, Ph.D.
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
 
For more information about the CEAL Alliance, visit the NIH COVID-19 communities page.
 
About the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): NHLBI is the global leader in conducting and supporting research in heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders that advances scientific knowledge, improves public health, and saves lives. For more information, visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
 
About the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD): NIMHD leads scientific research to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities by conducting and supporting research; planning, reviewing, coordinating, and evaluating all minority health and health disparities research at NIH; promoting and supporting the training of a diverse research workforce; translating and disseminating research information; and fostering collaborations and partnerships. For more information about NIMHD, visit https://www.nimhd.nih.gov.
 
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.