There's no place like UF
Highlighting a few of the unique HSC programs that draw patients from across the country and globe
The eye experts
Dennis Brooks, D.V.M., Ph.D., has operated on a Bengal tiger with cataracts, performed eyelid surgery on a potbelly pig named Bacon and flown to Peru to operate on a dog belonging to the Peruvian ambassador to the United States — on live TV.
And those are just a couple of the cases Brooks and his team of veterinary ophthalmologists at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine have worked on over the years.
"Any animal with eyes we will work on," says Brooks, a professor of ophthalmology in the college. "We have probably done more corneal transplants successfully in horses than anyone in the world."
With expertise in all things eye and a particular specialty in restoring vision to horses, Brooks and his team draw patients from distant states such as Vermont, Texas and Colorado and even countries like Argentina. That's no easy feat considering some clients spend 18 hours on the road hauling a horse just to get here.
"Economists should watch veterinarians," he says. "People are counting their pennies, but they are still bringing their animals in for eye problems."
And with promising treatments on the horizon, the number of patients may very well increase. Brooks' team is currently pioneering the use of post-birth placental tissue from horses to repair corneal injuries in animals. — April Frawley Lacey
Doctors helping doctors
The Florida Recovery Center in Gainesville has become one of the top treatment centers in the South for health professionals coping with addiction because of its innovative programs and the expertise of its doctors.
"Our clinicians are the reason that the FRC is so well-known for alcohol, drug and addiction evaluation and treatment," said Mark Gold, M.D., chair of the UF department of psychiatry. "Their determined work and integration of research discoveries has led to FRC program changes that improve treatment and recovery rates."
Led by medical director Scott Teitelbaum, M.D., the FRC treats addicted physicians referred from around the country. It has one of the largest academic faculties in the United States, including medical doctors, Ph.D.s, counselors and support staff focused on the recovery of the patient and family. Interestingly, the FRC has a large number of recovering faculty and staff members whose personal past experiences help patients understand why it is necessary to put drug use permanently behind them. — John Pastor
The littlest survivors
When Lisa Pannett was 16 weeks pregnant with her second child, doctors told her the baby had a zero percent chance of making it.
Her baby was diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a rare defect usually spotted on an ultrasound. A hole forms in the diaphragm that allows abdominal organs to grow into the chest cavity, hindering lung development.
Unwilling to accept the prognosis, Pannett searched online and found David Kays, M.D., chief of pediatric surgery in the UF College of Medicine. Kays and his team use a gentler approach to treat the problem, often delaying corrective surgery until after a baby's lungs gain strength. Because of this, they have a 92 percent survival rate treating CDH babies born at Shands at UF, compared with 50 percent elsewhere.
Pannett traveled from her home in St. Louis to have her baby here so she could be treated after birth. Now 6, Bella, is thriving.
"I really feel like (coming to UF) was God-sent," Pannett says.
But CDH is just one of the rare conditions UF pediatricians specialize in treating. Patients with childhood orphan diseases such as Pompe disease, glycogen storage disease and Prader-Willi syndrome come from all over to be treated here. For example, UF's Glycogen Storage Disease program is the largest of its sort in the world, seeing patients from 45 states and 20 countries.
Many of these tiny survivors are also involved in research studies that could one day help cure their conditions. — April Frawley Lacey
Families committed to a cure
Researchers in the College of Public Health and Health Professions are studying the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy with the help of a special group of young boys and their families. More than 40 boys, ages 5 to 14, who participate in two UF studies travel to Gainesville from as far west as California and as far north as Maine, and from two foreign countries — Spain and Canada.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy only affects boys and by age 12 many need a wheelchair. Patients often die in their late teens or 20s of cardiorespiratory failure. In the United States, about 400 to 600 boys are born with Duchenne every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The UF research team, led by Krista Vandenborne, Ph.D., principal investigator and chair of the department of physical therapy, uses magnetic resonance imaging to produce precise, noninvasive assessments of muscle tissue quality. The images allow researchers to determine the natural progression of the disease, the muscles that should be targeted for therapy and the efficacy of drug interventions.
The families come to UF four to six times over a two-year period. No small feat considering the accommodations families need to make for work and school schedules, the special needs of the boys, who often use wheelchairs.
"The families that participate in the research are tremendously committed," Vandenborne said. "They understand that in order to find a cure we have to work together as a team — the parents, children and researchers." — Jill Pease