NSU Horizons Spring 2010

that now offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral pro- grams, both in the classroom and online. “It’s Dr. Lippman’s insight and vision that led to establishment and growth of the nursing program,” Davis said. “He was also at the forefront in recognizing the need for the creation of online and live programs for working health care professionals.” The program’s meteoric rise and success attracted benefactors such as Baptist Health South Florida. The hospital annually offers 80 scholarships for entry- level nursing students at NSU. In exchange, recip- ients agree to work at one of Baptist’s three hospitals after graduation. Nursing’s homerun was followed by an encore: the creation of America’s fourth Anesthesiologist Assistant Program in 2006. In 2008, 29 students became the rst graduating class in the program, which is now offered at NSU’s main campus and the Tampa Student Educational Center. NSU is the only university in Florida to offer an Anesthesiologist Assistant Program. Florida is one of 22 states that allow anesthesiologist assistants to ply their trade. “Increasing the number of anesthesiologist assis- tants will open up more access for patients to have surgery,” said NSU program director and professor Robert Wagner, M.M.Sc., AA-C. Lippman and Davis also teamed up recently to expand the College of Allied Health and Nursing’s Physician Assistant Program to student educational centers in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Fort Myers. OTHER GROWTH Beyond the classroom, Lippman was instrumental in creating a multimillion-dollar research program at HPD during a time when NSU’s health-oriented research was in its infancy compared to the University of Miami and University of Florida. “He has been the most vital cog in developing and stimulating research at HPD,” Greber said. Under his watch, cancer research grew signi cantly at NSU’s Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research. The institute’s executive director, Appu Rathinavelu, Ph.D., and his team are developing state- of-the-art medications to treat breast, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. Meanwhile, endodontics professor Peter Murray, Ph.D., and his colleagues are cloning new teeth using adult stem cells harvested from existing teeth. The researchers have secured $1.7 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health for their dental stem cell research. “Research is essential to a university’s success,” Lippman said. In addition to research, the College of Osteopathic Medicine has increased its medical missions to the Caribbean and South America to provide health care to impoverished communities. Also, the colleges of dental medicine and optometry have opened more community clinics to help people who don’t have regu- lar access to care, and the College of Pharmacy is now offering classes in West Palm Beach and Puerto Rico. So what’s next? Well, the sky is the limit for someone with as many boundless new ideas and as much passion as Fred Lippman. “At a time when education and health care are the only sectors of the economy that are adding jobs, Fred [Lippman] is in the perfect place to ensure that Nova Southeastern is positioned to help South Florida meet the growing demand for health professions,” Rich said. Q 25 HORIZONS FREELANCE WRITER JONATHON KING CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE.