Dr. Seeger, an internationally recognized leader in the field of vascular surgery, devoted his career to advancing patient care, educating future surgeons, and conducting research to solve medical and surgical problems. Committed to the success of the UF College of Medicine, he dedicated all but one year of his medical practice to Shands at UF and the UF Health Science Center.

“The UF College of Medicine has lost a great leader, skilled surgeon, compassionate physician, gifted teacher, inquisitive scientist and good friend,” said Dr. Michael L. Good, interim dean. “Jim’s dedication and contributions to UF, his patients and students were unparalleled, spanning decades, touching and improving the lives of thousands.”

Though he was passionate about all aspects of vascular surgery, his brilliant analytical mind and his obsession for details were gifts that allowed him to be an innovative leader in the business practice of surgery, said Dr. Kevin Behrns, chairman of the department of surgery.

Dr. James M. Seeger, professor and chief of vascular surgery and endovascular therapy.

“His determined work behind the scenes led to many changes in surgical practice and improvements in the care of patients,” Behrns said.

Dr. Thomas S. Huber, professor of vascular surgery for the College of Medicine and acting division chief said Seeger’s colleagues admired him for his work ethic, honesty and commitment to patient care and education.

“Dr. Seeger was the consummate academic surgeon in all aspects,” Huber said.

Dr. Seeger joined the University of Florida in 1982 as an assistant professor of surgery and rose rapidly through the academic ranks, serving most recently as associate chairman of the department of surgery. In 1989 he established the division of vascular surgery, serving as its first and only chief, leading a dynamic team of surgeons and staff committed to improving patient care and advancing surgical science. In 2008 Dr. Seeger was appointed the Cracchiolo Professor, a professorship position endowed by the Cracchiolo Foundation.

He also served as chief of vascular surgery for the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1982 to 1999. He contributed as a Research Career Development program specialist in surgery for the Veterans Administration Central Office in Washington, D.C. from 1989 to 1991.

Dr. Seeger contributed widely to advances in the field, including the areas of lower extremity disease, arterial occlusive disease and endovascular stent grafts. He performed the first endovascular stent graft repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at Shands at UF and through his leadership fostered a team of vascular and cardiovascular surgeons who currently rank in the top 10 nationally in performing minimally invasive repairs in both the abdominal and thoracic aorta.

His greatest passion was the vascular surgery fellowship program. Under his tutelage as director, more than 25 physicians went on to become accomplished vascular surgeons, many of whom are current leaders within the field. While devoting himself to training future surgeons graduating from UF programs, he also made an impact on the national level, maintaining an active presence in the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery and most recently serving as chairman of the Clinical Curriculum Committee.

Dr. Seeger’s research interests included peripheral arterial disease and aortic surgery. He worked for several years on the postoperative inflammatory response associated with major aortic reconstruction, and the role of this inflammatory response in the development of single and multi-organ failure after aortic repair. Past investigations, in conjunction with the UF Center for Biomaterials in the College of Engineering, sought to develop new techniques for use of endovascular stents for drug delivery. Dr. Seeger held an adjunct professor position in the UF Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

He was a member of more than 20 professional organizations, including the American Surgical Association, Society of Vascular Surgery and the American College of Surgeons. His leadership roles within medical societies were extensive, serving as president of the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, Florida Vascular Society, and the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery. He served for six years on the Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery. He was serving his second term on the Society for Vascular Surgery’s board of directors.

Dr. Seeger wrote numerous book chapters and published and presented extensively on his work. From 2002 to 2008 he served as co-editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery. For more than 15 years, he served as Associate Editor of the Yearbook of Surgery, which provides a selection of published research articles that represent significant advances and statements of important clinical principles in surgery.

Dr. Seeger received his bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed his general surgery residency training at the University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals. Between completing his internship and general surgery residency, he served as a General Medical Officer in the United States Navy. Following his residency, he completed a Vascular Surgery Fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine.

Dr. Seeger is survived by Carolyn, his wife of more than 36 years.

Paul Okunieff, M.D.

Dr. Paul Okunieff has been named director of the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center and chairman of the UF College of Medicine department of radiation oncology, effective Dec. 1.

A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Okunieff is currently the Philip Rubin professor in radiation oncology and chair of the department of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he leads a successful radiation oncology clinical practice and research program. He also is director of the university’s Robert A. Flavin Radiosurgery Center. Prior to his appointment at Rochester in 1998, Okunieff served as branch chief of radiation oncology at the National Cancer Institute, overseeing clinical-translational research for the intramural NCI program.

Okunieff is board-certified in therapeutic radiology and is among the pioneers of in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of tumors. In addition to his experience in building a large and highly collaborative clinical oncology program, he will bring with him tens of millions of dollars in active federal and other extramural grant funding. Many members of his research team will join him in Gainesville.

Okunieff succeeds Dr. Joseph V. Simone, an internationally recognized leader in cancer care, research and education who headed the Cancer Center and helped to advance an alliance with UF, Shands HealthCare and the Moffitt Cancer Center that was forged in 2008, and Dr. Robert J. Amdur, a professor and interim chair of the department of radiation oncology since 2006.

“Dr. Okunieff is a perfect match for the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, senior vice president for health affairs at UF’s Health Science Center and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “At a time when we are opening a new Cancer Hospital, developing our already world-renowned Proton Beam Therapy Institute in Jacksonville with a plan to add a radiosurgery center at that site, enhancing our research program with a focus on translational and clinical research, and establishing a National Cancer Center consortium arrangement with Moffit Cancer Center, Paul’s extensive background in all of these areas and his extraordinary record of achievement are just what we need in Florida.”

Okunieff’s research includes a novel method to measure radiation-induced DNA fragments in the bloodstream to estimate radiation exposure, and the identification of molecules that provide genetically based protection against radiation hazards. In addition, he has planned and active protocols to study the treatment of metastatic cancers with radiosurgery, with plans to establish radiosurgery protocols using proton therapy.

UF’s Proton Therapy Institute is one of six proton beam facilities in the country.

He holds three patents, one for a method of predicting and treating brain tumor spread using MRI and external beam radiation, one for Esculentoside A, an agent that has been studied for its anti-inflammatory effects and one for the use of certain drugs that block interleukin-1 activity in the prevention of and therapy for radiation toxicity of normal tissues.

“One of the main reasons I’m coming to Florida is that there is a unique opportunity — with the scientists and clinicians that are at the University of Florida both in Gainesville and Jacksonville, and with the proton beam and the cooperative cancer venture with Shands HealthCare and the Moffitt Cancer Center — to actually identify categories of patients with metastasis who are still curable, and identify approaches to following patients with cancer so as to have early detection of any metastatic disease,” Okunieff said. “The notion that together we can identify opportunities to cure people that currently are not given that hope and actually achieve that in a fairly substantial number of patients because we have technologies like the proton beam, because there is so much excellence in clinical care and such a history of that at UF, and because the university is so broad in scope and has so many facets that can be brought to bear to achieve the needed technologies, to do the breakthrough science needed to implement a new paradigm for the treatment of cancer … that’s the main reason I wake up in the morning and why I want to come to Florida.”

Okunieff’s arrival is expected to help build additional opportunities for UF, Shands HealthCare and Moffitt Cancer Center to collaborate across the spectrum of cancer patient care, research and educational activities. That includes offering new clinical trials to large numbers of Floridians that will likely speed discoveries that benefit these patients, he said.

“It will be an unparalleled opportunity; there won’t be any other cancer center collaboration with that scope,” Okunieff said, adding that he also has an interest in the centers’ mutual interest in cancer survivorship programs.

Okunieff will further invigorate UF and Shands’ cancer programs, said Dr. Michael Good, interim dean of the UF College of Medicine.

“His approaches to radiation treatments will save lives for our patients, particularly those with multiple metastases, and shape the treatments prescribed in the future,” Good said. “He and his research teams are working in exciting areas to better understand how to measure the effects of radiation — both intended and unintended — on humans. Because they are genetically based, the technologies he is developing have the potential to diagnose not just cancer, but other diseases as well.”

Okunieff is an outstanding clinician and health-care provider as well as a world-renowned researcher, said Timothy Goldfarb, Shands HealthCare CEO, who added, “He will help us bring the most innovative and unique therapies to the patients and communities we serve through our Gainesville and Jacksonville academic medical centers. This is an exciting time for the UF and Shands HealthCare system as we open the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF and further our resolve in the fight against cancer.”

Okunieff completed a postdoctoral fellowship in medicine at Harvard Medical School, followed by a fellowship in radiation medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science and in biological science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He was an assistant professor in radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School from 1988 to 1993.

Okunieff has published widely in the literature and is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. He is radiation oncology chair for the Southwest Oncology Group, one of the largest of the NCI-supported cancer clinical trials cooperative groups in the United States. He also is a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and serves on several committees that oversee the safety and quality of therapeutic radiation delivery.

In addition, he is a past president of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue. He also is past a member of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group’s executive committee and a past chair of its translational research program. He is a sought-after speaker in his field and has delivered dozens of lectures nationally and internationally.

“I particularly enjoy growing people’s careers, that is, identifying stars and helping them to achieve their best,” Okunieff said. “That’s one of my drives for wanting to be the Cancer Center director — having academic children, if you will.”

Kenneth I. Berns, M.D., Ph.D.

The director of the University of Florida Genetics Institute has been named to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a key federal panel that advises on matters of national security and public health.

Kenneth I. Berns, M.D., Ph.D., has accepted an invitation to serve on the board for a term ending June 14, 2012, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

As one of a group of advisers to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, Berns will provide security oversight of what is termed “dual-use” research — legitimate biological research that could be misused to pose a biologic threat to public health or national security.

“Fundamentally it’s a question of evaluating whether life sciences research and technologies used to advance human, animal and plant health can also be used to threaten public health and safety,” said Berns, a former dean of the College of Medicine and Vice President for Health Affairs. “The government wanted to bring the scientific community and the public into the process, which is the reason for my involvement.”

The group recommends strategies for efficient oversight of federally conducted or supported dual-use research, taking into account national security concerns and needs of the research community. The challenge the board faces is to protect scientific discovery and creativity, while preventing the use of science for harm.

“It is a compliment to UF and its faculty to be asked to serve the nation on important commissions, boards, panels and committees,” said Win Phillips, UF’s vice president for research. “The Advisory Board for Biosecurity will make critical recommendations, and it is important to have highly qualified individuals such as Dr. Berns advising on such matters.”

In addition to Health and Human Services and NIH leaders, the board advises the heads of all federal departments and agencies that conduct or support life-science research. It is directed by Dr. Amy Patterson. Berns’ service on the biosecurity board will be in addition to his UF duties.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Berns has served on many scientific advisory committees, including the Genetic Biology Panel of the National Science Foundation, the Virology Study Section of the NIH, the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Virology-Microbiology panel chair of the American Cancer Society, the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee Chair of the NIH and the National Advisory Research Resources Council of the NIH. He has also served similar roles for the EPA, the U.S. Army and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center.

Steindler’s reappointment began Oct. 15 for a term that ends Aug. 13, 2012.

Located at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute, the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research works with hospitals statewide to collect and share tissue taken during brain surgeries.

The tumor specimens are valuable to basic and clinical scientists who trying to find ways to disable brain tumors by understanding how they develop and grow.

Gregory Schultz, Ph.D.

After 20 years as a University of Florida researcher, Gregory Schultz, Ph.D., has been named to replace Colin Sumners, Ph.D., as director of the college’s Medical Sciences Research Program.

In his new role, Schultz will be in charge of the administration of the college’s research track, will control the program’s funding and will select students who are eligible for graduation with honors.

Schultz, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of the Institute for Wound Research, earned his doctorate from Oklahoma State University in biochemistry and completed three years of postdoctoral research at Yale University.

At UF, he has served on the College of Medicine admissions committee for six years and has been the president and secretary of the faculty council. His research involves the molecular regulation of wound healing, and he encourages medical students to seek research opportunities at UF through the Medical Sciences Research Program.

“Medical students who actually get engaged in research projects have a better understanding of the process of discovery that occurs in both the clinic and the lab,” he said. “Participating in research firsthand helps us train medical students to become better physicians.”

Once students gain a clear idea of their specialty, the program matches them with a professor or faculty member who has either participated in research before or who has similar goals and areas of interest as the student.

Schultz said he does not plan to make many changes, as the program was successful under Sumners. He hopes to improve the research rotations for third-year students and maintain the momentum of grant funds from groups such as the American Heart Association.

“I hope to get students involved in a meaningful research experience,” Schultz said. “Participating in the research program will give medical students a competitive advantage on residency applications.”

Jamie Beth Conti, M.D.

Jamie Beth Conti, M.D., has been named chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine in the department of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

For the past year, Conti has served as the interim chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine. Conti is a 1987 graduate of UF’s College of Medicine and received her internal medicine residency training at Georgetown University Hospital and Emory University Hospital. She completed cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology fellowships at UF before joining the faculty in 1994.

Conti is currently a professor of medicine and holds the American Heart Association/Palm Beach-Martin County Chapter Teaching Chair in cardiology. She served as director of the clinical cardiac electrophysiology section in the division of cardiovascular medicine at UF. In 1999, she received the prestigious American College of Cardiology Proctor Harvey Teaching Award. She has held leadership positions in the American College of Cardiology, the Heart Rhythm Society and the American Heart Association. Conti also has an excellent record in clinical research where she has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on numerous clinical trials. Her clinical and research activities have resulted in over 100 publications.

“Dr. Conti has also made significant contributions to the success of the nationally ranked division of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Florida,” wrote Edward R. Block, M.D., distinguished professor and chairman of the department of medicine, in a recent announcement to COM faculty and staff.

“Under her guidance and leadership, the Clinical Electrophysiology Section at this institution has generated a national reputation and has developed a number of innovative clinical programs.”

The Shands at UF stroke team, from left, Andrea Gabrielli, M.D.; LIbby Brooks; Brian Hoh, M.D.; David Decker, M.D.; Michael Waters, M.D., Ph.D.; Bayard Miller, M.D.; Chris Firment, M.D. Photo by Sarah Kiewel

Shands at the University of Florida has been designated as a comprehensive stroke center, one of 15 in the state and the only one in North Central Florida.

The Agency for Health Care Administration designation lasts for two years. It identifies Shands at UF as a hospital actively participating in the full range of stroke care and research.

Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the American Stroke Association. Each year about 700,000 people nationwide experience a new or recurrent stroke.

The Shands at UF stroke program is dedicated to preventing diagnosing and treating strokes, providing the latest technology and medications, and treating the stroke patient’s entire needs. Care is coordinated from the first point of contact with the patient, whether through the emergency department, the stroke program’s inpatient or outpatient services or the rehabilitation ward.

Michael Waters, M.D., Ph.D., director of the stroke program and assistant director of neurology at the College of Medicine, has brought together a multidisciplinary team of neurologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, critical care physicians, emergency department physicians, rehabilitation specialists, nurse specialists and pharmacists who have a special interest and expertise in stroke and cerebrovascular disease.

Wilmer Nichols, the director of basic cardiovascular research at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine from 1976 to 2002 and now an adjunct professor of medicine.

Wilmer Nichols has done a lot in his lifetime. He grew up working on farms as the son of sharecroppers, joined the Navy at 17 and served in the Philippines during the Korean War. He earned a general equivalency diploma and, later, a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics, worked for NASA on the first manned flight into space as well as the Gemini and Apollo flights, and co-edited four editions of “McDonald’s Blood Flow in Arteries,” a well-known hemodynamics textbook.

This week Nichols, the director of basic cardiovascular research at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine from 1976 to 2002 and now an adjunct professor of medicine, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from ARTERY, the Association for Research in Arterial Structure and Physiology.

John Cockcroft, M.B., Ch.B., ARTERY’s president and a professor of cardiology at Wales Heart Research Institute in Cardiff, will present the award to Wilmer on Friday at ARTERY 9, the organization’s yearly meeting. This year the meeting takes place at Queens’ College in Cambridge, England.

Nichols, who has been an ARTERY member for four years, is the second recipient of the award, which was instituted last year. Michel Safar, M.D., a cardiologist in Paris, received the award in 2008.

Nichols said he did not expect to receive the award this year.

“I was surprised when I was asked to be this year’s recipient of the lifetime achievement award,” he said, “because there are so many other well-qualified people out there to receive the award.”

Cockcroft said Nichols was selected to receive the award because “he has been one of the leading figures in the world in terms of research into large arterial function, especially stiffening of the large arteries.

“Over his lifetime he has made many contributions that have led to significant changes to the way that physicians view the cardiovascular system and in the way that clinicians assess cardiovascular risk,” Cockcroft said.

Nichols developed an interest in cardiovascular physiology and arterial function studies while working as an engineer for NASA.

“The first Apollo spacecrafts had problems with high-frequency noise, so they were unsafe for astronaut flight,” Nichols said.

Nichols and his colleagues used a Fourier series analysis, a mathematical technique that he reasoned could be used to study the human heartbeat as well.

Nichols went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama Medical School under Donald A. McDonald, a pioneer in hemodynamics. McDonald had similar ideas about the use of Fourier techniques in hemodynamics and is the original author of “McDonald’s Blood Flow in Arteries.”

Since earning his Ph.D., Nichols has helped develop heart and circulation models and worked in numerous countries, including Australia, the Netherlands and England. He was one of several pioneers of the idea that hypertension is more accurately diagnosed through systolic blood pressure, instead of diastolic pressure, as once universally believed.

Nichols worked with Michael O’Rourke, a cardiologist in Australia, who developed a system that uses radial artery tonometric pressure tracings to monitor central aortic pressure without invading the body.

“That’s the pressure that the heart pumps against,” Nichols explained. “It’s not the pressure in the arm, but it’s the pressure right outside the heart.”

This measurement is more helpful, he said.

“There have been at least three large clinical trials that have shown that … central aortic pressure is better than brachial pressure for predicting cardiovascular risk and also outcome,” Nichols said, adding that he was not directly involved with these studies.

Nichols is currently involved with two other clinical trials at UF involving radial artery pressure tracing.

Anthony A. Bavry, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine

Anthony A. Bavry, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine, has been named the Stop Heart Disease Researcher of the Year by the Florida Heart Research Institute.

Bavry was recognized by the FHRI Saturday at the annual meeting of the Florida chapter of the American College of Cardiology in Kissimmee, Fla., for his work in the prognosis and treatment of vascular diseases. The award is presented annually to the researcher whose work has had an extensive impact on the advancement of the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

“The future in cardiovascular medicine belongs to those who can translate clinical knowledge into patient care,” said Kathleen DuCasse, chief executive officer of the Florida Heart Research Institute, who presented the award.

Bavry also received $25,000 to support U.S. research from the Florida Heart Research Institute’s subsidiary, the Florida Heart Research Foundation. Funds are made available from proceeds of the sale of the Stop Heart Disease license plate.

“Vascular diseases are responsible for a tremendous number of deaths,” Bavry said. “In fact, vascular disease kills more patients than cancer or infectious causes. There is a lot that we can learn to better prevent and treat the manifestations of this disease.”

Bavry graduated with honors from UF, where he earned both undergraduate and medical degrees. Before returning to UF as a junior faculty member in 2008, Bavry completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Arizona, serving as chief resident. He then attended Harvard University and earned a master’s degree in public health. Bavry also completed a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he served as chief fellow.

Bavry’s honors and awards include recognition by UF for excellence in teaching residents and fellows. He was a finalist in the Northwestern University Cardiovascular Young Investigators’ Forum and won first place in “Best of the Best Abstracts” at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention’s 29th Annual Scientific Sessions. Bavry was honored at the Second Annual Cardiology Fellows’ Clinical Research Conference as the Distinguished Young Investigator for his contribution to cardiovascular research and received the Best Research Project award from the Cleveland Clinic’s Fellows Research Grand Rounds.

Board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology, Bavry has already authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, written seven book chapters and edited his own textbook, “Acute Coronary Syndromes in Clinical Practice,” and is currently editing two more.

“Since joining our faculty, he continues to make a notable impact. He is mentoring a number of our fellows on various research projects,” said Carl J. Pepine, M.D., a professor of medicine at UF’s College of Medicine, in Bavry’s nomination letter.

“I cannot envision a better recipient for this award than Anthony Bavry. He is on a path of excellence and I am delighted that he is a member of our faculty.”

But recently, the UF assistant professor of medicine conquered an unknown of his own by co-editing his first textbook, “Cancer Microenvironment and Therapeutic Implications,” which was published in April.

During Cogle’s time in Italy two years ago, Gianfranco Baronzio, approached him about collaborating on a book. They agreed that the cancer microenvironment—all the interactions around and among cancer cells—deserves more focus in discovering more effective treatments for cancer rather than focusing solely on the genetic aspects.

The book targets physician-scientists like Cogle, who leave the clinic hoping that their lab work will someday make a difference in their cancer patient’s lives.

“When you have one foot in the lab and one foot in the clinic,” he said. “You live every day with a sense of urgency that is a tremendous inspiration to try to find answers for cancer patients.”

More than half of the book focuses on making clinical applications of therapies more effective and also describes some new therapies.

Cogle wrote one of the book’s chapters and did a majority of the editing, drawing mainly on his experience as a professor to communicate ideas.

His UF colleague, Dietmar Siemann, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of research in the Department of Radiation Oncology, co-authored a chapter with a colleague in Denmark about increasing the effectiveness of radiation treatment. Siemann said the book offered the opportunity to take many different ideas about cancer treatment under the unifying principle of manipulating the microenvironment for better therapies.

He knows the challenges of editing and writing a book, having been an editor himself. Since he’s known Cogle for about five years and is currently working on a few papers with him, Siemann saw these qualities in his fellow researcher.

“He’s a pretty energetic and keen guy,” he said. “I’m not surprised that when he had the opportunity to do something like this that he would be interested in doing it.”