6
COM Outlook . Winter 2014
COMmunications
On October 22, the
NSU-COM Student
Government Associa-
tion held its inaugural
PINK WARS
event
to support Breast
Cancer Awareness
Month. PINK WARS
featured a two-hour
penny war between
students, faculty
members, and admin-
istration—with com-
petitors stashing cash into jars that represented contestants
(adding one point per penny, while subtracting points for
other amounts of cash).
The contestant with the lowest amount of points at the
event’s conclusion had to dye her/his hair pink. Add-
ing to the excitement, Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni, NSU-
COM dean, agreed to dye his mustache pink if the event
achieved its fund-raising target. When the goal of $1,500
was reached, OMS-II Rita Zeidan became the
winner
and
dyed her hair pink. Monies raised will be donated to a
national breast cancer foundation.
New...Noteworthy
The
Biomedical
Informatics
Program’s
faculty and
staff members,
students,
and alumni
attended the
American Medical Informatics Association
Annual Symposium held November 16-20
in Washington, D.C. The symposium is the
leading scientific meeting for biomedical and
health informatics research and practice. The
Biomedical Informatics Program sponsored a
booth in the exhibit hall to recruit students
and faculty members and to connect with
other biomedical/health informatics entities.
Pictured (from left) are Angel Brana, M.D.,
M.P.H., M.S.B.I. (alumnus), Jennie Q. Lou, M.D.,
M.Sc. (professor and program director), Christine
Nelson (program manager), Clarissa Alexander,
M.S.B.I. (alumna), and Steve Bronsburg, Ph.D.,
M.S., M.H.S.A. (assistant professor)
.
Larkin Community Hospital
, which is one of
Florida’s 12 statutory teaching hospitals and
the largest osteopathic teaching hospital in
the nation, was named Top Urban Hospital
in December by The Leapfrog Group. Larkin,
a member of the college’s Consortium for
Excellence
in Medical
Education,
is the only
hospital in
South Florida
to receive
this elite designation. Hospitals from across
the country were included in the group
considered for the Top Hospitals designation.
The award recognizes Larkin Community
Hospital for demonstrating the highest
standards in quality of care, including lower
infection rates, higher survival rates for high-
risk procedures, decreased length of hospital
stay, and fewer readmissions.
PINK WARS Benefits Breast
Cancer Research
On November 18, NSU-COM’s Pediatrics Club honored
Lisa Gwynn, D.O., M.B.A., CPE, FAAP
, with the Arnold
Melnick Child Advocacy Award for her contributions
to the field of pediatrics. Dr. Gwynn, a 1998 NSU-COM
alumna, serves as medical director for the University of
Dr. Lisa Gwynn Honored with
Melnick Child Advocacy Award
Miami Pediatric Mobile
Clinic/Children’s Health
Fund South Florida Project
and assistant clinical pro-
fessor of pediatrics at the
University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine.
Dr. Gwynn, who has
more than 12 years of ex-
perience in the nonprofit
sector, cofounded the
Darrell Gwynn Founda-
tion in 2002, which is a
charitable organization that supports individuals with
paralysis and offers injury prevention programs in high
schools throughout Florida.
The Arnold Melnick Child Advocacy Award, which is
named after the founding dean of NSU-COM, was estab-
lished by the college’s Pediatrics Club and is presented
each year to individuals in South Florida who promote
children’s causes.
Julian Blitz, D.O.
, a major supporter of Southeastern
College of Osteopathic Medicine (SECOM) when it was
established in 1979 and served as one of its first faculty
members, passed away on December 6. “While he never
sought any positions in the newly minted SECOM, he was
energetically involved,” said Arnold Melnick, D.O., M.Sc.,
FACOP, SECOM’s founding dean. “He was appointed as
clinical associate professor of family medicine, and early on
he assisted in training our students as they rotated through
his practice and hospital.” Dr. Blitz served as president of
the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association in 1964-65
and was named as one of the Great Pioneers in Osteopathic
Medicine by the American Osteopathic Association in 2011.
Dr. Julian Blitz Passes Away at 91
