Dr. LaTanya L. McNeal, Executive Dean for Palm Beach State College’s Belle Glade campus, was recently appointed to the Lakeside Health Advisory Board, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County’s hospital advisory board. The board advises the Health Care District Board of Commissioners on issues related to the overall health and wellness of Glades residents, visitors and underserved members of the community.

Dr. McNeal is an educator with 23 years of experience in secondary and post-secondary education. Prior to her recent promotion to Executive Dean, she served as Assistant Dean of Student Services. Dr. McNeal is the Chair of the Glades area Advisory Board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, serves as an AdvanceED External Review school accreditation team member for the state of Florida and is a member of the Lake Okeechobee Regional Economic Alliance (LORE). She also serves on the Glades Career Readiness Roundtable (GCRR), the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center advisory board and the Pahokee Rotary.
 
Dr. McNeal obtained her bachelor’s in biomedical sciences and master’s in educational leadership from the University of North Florida. In 2018, she obtained her doctoral degree in higher education and organizational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.


Curaleaf Florida celebrated the company’s 50th dispensary in the country, and Jensen Beach’s first medical cannabis treatment center.

Pictured (l-r) Maria Perez, VP of Sales; Breno Laredo, Dispensary Lead; Jessica Mestas, Dispensary Manager; Natasha Acre, Assistant Dispensary Manager; Yesenia Garcia, Marketing Director; Brandon Manuilow, Training Manager; Stephanie Kronen, Outreach Manager; Colleen Fay, RN, Curaleaf Patient; Vinit Patel, Regional Dispensary Operations Manager.


West Kendall Baptist Hospital has received a Community Benefit Achievement award from the Florida Hospital Association (FHA) for its efforts to improve the health of the community. The honor recognized West Kendall Baptist Hospital in the 150-beds and under division. The award highlighted the Healthy Hub, where more than 25,000 free health screenings have been performed since opening in the hospital lobby in 2015.

The Healthy Hub is a one-stop health kiosk that provides screenings such as blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, body fat and weight. Aiming to improve overall fitness and balance ― and decrease the risk of falls ― TRX MAPS was added last year. It measures mobility, muscle activation, posture and symmetry as participants do three squats and then provides results and suggested exercises to target problem areas.
 
A dedicated registered nurse is on site to provide education and motivate participants to improve their health and return for reassessment. She also gives them “green” prescriptions to encourage them to visit local parks and green spaces. If they do not have a primary care physician or need a specialist, they are referred to one. On occasion, participants are whisked to the emergency room if results indicate a potentially dangerous problem.


Some of the world’s leading experts from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania and Florida International University will join Miami Cancer Institute on January 24-25 for the inaugural Symposium on Immunotherapies for Hematologic Malignancies.

Held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Coconut Grove, the symposium aims to provide updated information about advances in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, blood and marrow transplants and immunotherapies.
 
Hematologists, oncologists, pathologists, radiation oncologists, palliative care staff, medical oncologists, hematology nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals will partake in the two-day summit, which will provide information on new immunotherapies and potential treatment combinations. Attendees will also hear updates on evolving immunologically and molecular-based system therapies, and how these therapies can be combined with autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants.
 
Sponsored by several top-tier biopharmaceutical and biotech organizations, Celgene, Genentech, Janssen, Sanofi, Jazz, Novartis, Atara, EUSA Pharma, Kite, Medgene, the symposium will provide a wealth of new information from every presentation. Attendees can expect many presentations that feature primary principle investigators who have immediate insights into the results of clinical trials. In particular, there will be sessions dedicated to the latest approaches using CAR-T cells, as well as how to use these treatments effectively with stem cell transplantation.
 
The Miami Cancer Institute symposium will feature multiple short sessions that cover all types of hematologic malignancies, allowing attendees to get a full snapshot of current therapies and clinical trials.
 
Visit https://cme.baptisthealth.net for more information about accreditation, registration and the summit agenda. Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit is available for the summit.


 

Darnell Williams, Trulieve Statewide Events Coordinator, with Charles Felix, Cannabis News Publisher, at the opening of the new Trulieve Lakeland dispensary.