UMMC organ donation, IT, Cancer Institute staff earn praise

MORA lauds UMMC for organ donation promotion

The UMMC campuses in Jackson and Grenada recently have been recognized for promotion of organ donation by the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency.

The nonprofit earlier this month gave Spero Awards to hospital partners, medical professionals, corporate partners and donor ambassadors who work in conjunction with MORA to promote organ, eye and tissue donation to ultimately save and heal lives. Dr. James Wynn, professor of transplant surgery in UMMC’s Division of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery, spoke at MORA’s annual awards banquet.

Among the Medical Center’s Spero awardees:

* Most Supportive Ancillary or Healthcare Staff – Leslye Bastos Ortega, manager of patient advocacy and language services

* Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year – Christy Barrick, an adult ICU nurse practitioner

* Mississippi Lions Eye Bank Gift of Sight Award – UMMC for its work in helping to facilitate sight-saving corneal transplants

* Hospital Excellence Award – UMMC for achieving national organ donation performance standards set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

UMMC’s campuses in Jackson and Grenada also were among 37 hospitals from across the state lauded for enrolling in the Mississippi Hospitals for Hope campaign, which raises awareness for the need of organ, eye and tissue donation and increased registrations.

UMMC Cancer Institute faculty, staff earn plaudits

Several faculty and staff members of the UMMC Cancer Institute have recently received national awards and recognition.

Deirdre Rogers, director of the Mississippi Cancer Research and Registry, was awarded the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries Leadership Award June 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Dr. Ingrid Espinoza, associate professor of preventive medicine in the School of Population Health, and Dr. Christian Gomez, associate professor of pathology in the UMMC Cancer Institute, were each recognized with 2017 American Association for Cancer Research Minority and Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Awards at the AACR’s April 1-5 meeting in Washington, D.C.

Espinoza received the award for her work, “Stemness Markers in Colorectal Cancer: Analysis in a Racially Diverse Population,” while Gomez received the award for his work, “Accumulation of Hepatoma Up-Regulated Protein in Prostate Cancer Cells Inhibits Bortezomib-induced Apoptosis.”

UMMC ranks among nation’s ‘most wired’ health care institutions

According to the 2017 Health Care’s Most Wires Survey administered by the national publication Hospitals & Health Networks and the American Hospital Association, the University of Mississippi Medical Center is among the nation’s “most wired” health care institutions.

One of only three facilities in the state to receive the “most wired” distinction, UMMC was named in the survey for being on the forefront of medical technology despite constant threats to data security.

Cybersecurity challenges are “constant and voluminous,” according to Chantal Worzala, vice president of health information technology and policy operations at the AHA. “It’s a game of cat and mouse and we are the mice, unfortunately. It is challenging to keep up.”

To view a full list of “most wired” health care institutions in the U.S., visit http://www.hhnmag.com/articles/8391-most-wired-hospitals-and-health-system-driving-efficiency-improvement?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign.

UMMC neurologist’s textbook now available

Neurological Aspects of Spinal Cord Injury, edited by Dr. Keith Tansey, professor of neurosurgery, and his colleagues, Dr. Norbert Weidner, a neurologist, and Dr. Rudiger Rupp, an engineer, has been published by Springer.

According to Springer, the clinically focused book covers all neurological aspects relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord disease. It includes innovative neurorestorative therapeutic strategies with significant potential for translation into clinical routine.

The book covers such topics as epidemiology, neuroanatomy, etiology of compressive and non-compressive spinal cord injury, imaging, neurophysiology, neurological sequelae and complications with emphasis on dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Clinically established and preclinical therapies are discussed.

For more information or to order the textbook, visit http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319462912.