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Health Science Center Jacksonville holds Celebration of Research event

William Livingood Jr., PhD, left, receives this year’s Robert C. Nuss Researcher/Scholar Award from Daniel Wilson, MD, PhD, dean of the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville.
Herman Taylor Jr., MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, was the keynote speaker during Celebration of Research.
Leigh Bragg, MD, receives the first-place award for poster presentations from Daniel Wilson, MD, PhD, dean of the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville.
Alexandra Joseph, MD, receives the first-place award for platform presentations from Daniel Wilson, MD, PhD, dean of the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville.

An accomplished research scientist won the Robert C. Nuss Researcher/Scholar Award at this year’s Celebration of Research event at the University of Florida Health Science Center Jacksonville.

William Livingood Jr., PhD, received the award, which is given each year to a UF faculty member who has a distinguished record of current research that places them among the leaders in their appropriate academic discipline. Livingood is a senior research scientist with the Center for Health Equity and Quality Research (CHEQR) at UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville

He is the principal investigator for a grant to study social media and digital communication, and another to examine costs of STD services in Florida and Georgia. He is also a co-investigator for a grant tied to HIV prevention.

Livingood’s accolade capped the May 15 Celebration of Research event, which included platform presentations, poster viewing, a guest speaker and other award presentations. The event was sponsored by the Office of Research Affairs.

Keynote Speaker

Herman Taylor Jr., MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, was the keynote speaker. He discussed an internationally renowned study he facilitated – the Jackson Heart Study – that examines ethnic health disparities in Jackson, Mississippi.  

The study highlights conditions such as access to care and education that, in particular, correlate with cardiovascular problems among blacks in Jackson. Though the study keys in on a particular group, he said it has widespread application.

“It’s a study that has relevance for all of us who care about American health,” he said. “Health disparity is an urgent, pressing issue.”  

2013 Poster and Platform Presentation Awards

Of the fellows, residents and faculty who submitted presentations for Celebration of Research, six were chosen for platform presentation awards and six received poster presentation awards for their excellence:

Poster Presentation Winners

  • 1st Place: Leigh Bragg, MD, Department of Pediatrics; Blood Culture Volumes Link to Contamination in a Children’s Emergency Center
  • 2nd Place: Kristen McMaster, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Balancing Misoprostol’s Efficacy and Safety: A Meta-Analysis Comparing 25 mcg Versus 50 mcg of Intravaginal Misoprostol for Induction of Labor
  • 3rd Place: Kyle Fleck, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation; The Radiographic Prevalence of Femoral Acetabular Impingement in Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty at a Tertiary Referral Center
  • 4th Place: William Kurban, MD, Department of Medicine; Statins Prevent Dextrose-Induced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Oxidative Stress in Endothelial and HepG2 Cells
  • 5th Place: Prardhana Challapalli, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Maternal and Peri-natal Outcomes in Pre-eclampsia: Impact of Urinary Calcium
  • 6th Place: Melanie Kubik, MD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Surepath Specimen Age Stability for HPV Nucleic Acid Hybridization Assay Testing

Platform Presentation Winners

  • 1st Place: Alexandra Joseph, MD, Department of Medicine; Patients with Left Ventricular Function Improvement After Biventricular ICD Implant Have Decreased Risk of Ventricular Tachycardia or Fibrillation
  • 2nd Place: Tiffanni Walker, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Implementing Hepatitis C Screening in a University Obstetrics Clinic
  • 3rd Place: Shobha Vootukuri, MD, Department of Medicine; Comparison of Strep B Carrot Broth Medium to Lim Broth Medium for Detection of Group B Streptococcus in Prenatal Vaginal/Rectal Specimens
  • 4th Place: Youness Tolaymat, MD, Department of Pediatrics; Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Non-Anomalous Term and Late Preterm Infant: A 20-Year Single Center Case-Control Study
  • 5th Place: Esther Mihindu, DO, Department of Surgery; Unnecessary CT Scans of the Head Continue to be Performed in Children with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
  • 6th Place: Chetan Narasanna, MD, Department of Surgery; Decreased Incidence of Pulmonary Embolism in High-Risk Trauma Patients with Improved Compliance to Protocol-Based Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement