Patients who have been diagnosed with Stage II or III melanoma and have had surgery may be eligible to participate in a new clinical trial at Simmons Cancer Institute at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. The clinical trial is studying the effectiveness of a vaccine for melanoma. Stephen Stone, M.D., professor of dermatology at SIU School of Medicine, is the principal investigator on the study. This Phase III melanoma clinical trial uses a combination of proteins associated with laboratory-grown melanoma cells to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight the cancer. The

A new partnership between Simmons Cancer Institute (SCI) at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield and Litchfield Oncology Institute will expand area cancer patients’ access to cancer care. Sherjeel Sana, MD, assistant professor of hematology/oncology at SCI, will hold clinic hours every Tuesday at the clinic located at 1201 East Union in Litchfield. Appointments can be made by calling 217-545-8000. Sana said SCI physicians also travel to Staunton and Jacksonville. “This is a continuation of our efforts to provide oncology services to patients closer to their homes.”

Memorial Medical Center has launched the Memorial Advanced Hernia Center to assist patients facing complex hernia cases. Dr. John Mellinger, a surgeon with SIU HealthCare, and Dr. James Fullerton, a surgeon with Springfield Clinic, serve as co-medical directors of the Memorial Advanced Hernia Center. "The concept behind the Memorial Advanced Hernia Center is to offer the patients we are here to serve a comprehensive, multidisciplinary and outcome-focused approach to their hernia, including the related conditions and health issues that often accompany and contribute to hernia formation,”

An Aneurysm is a bulge, or weakening, of a blood vessel. They often appear in the aorta (chest or abdominal), brain, back of the knee, intestine, or spleen. A ruptured aneurysm can cause internal bleeding, stroke, and can sometimes be fatal. Aneurysms often have no symptoms until they rupture. Treatment depends on the location, size, and condition of the aneurysm. A brain or cerebral aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder in which the wall of an artery in the brain becomes weak and balloons outward. The ballooned part of the artery is the aneurysm. An aneurysm has thin walls and can leak or

A collaboration of Springfield health care organizations took home top honors at an international meeting for health care leaders held Oct. 6-8 in Chicago. A panel of experts at the International Hospital Federation’s (IHF) 39th World Hospital Congress presented representatives from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Memorial Health System with first prize for the best presentation. The study, “Improving the Success of Strategic Management Using Big Data*”, explored how big data can be used to personalize health care. The School of Medicine and Memorial teamed up through the

Patients of SIU HealthCare now have easy, free and secure access to their personal health information online, allowing them to request appointments, refill prescriptions, view lab results and receive updates to changes in their health record. Launched Oct. 1, the password-protected patient portal, available at SIUHealthCare.org , “allows patients to directly communicate with their doctors’ offices, manage their health and their family’s health online and request prescription refills anywhere using a computer, smartphone or tablet,” said Harald Lausen, DO, MA, chief medical officer of SIU

A new partnership between Simmons Cancer Institute (SCI) at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville will expand area cancer patients’ access to cancer care. Edem Agamah, MD, MS, FACP, formerly of Central Illinois Hematology Oncology Center in Springfield, has joined Simmons Cancer Institute and will see patients on Tuesdays in Jacksonville. Swati Pathak, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at SIU School of Medicine, will begin seeing patients on Mondays in November at Passavant. Pathak is also a member of Simmons Cancer Institute

NIH grant to fund researcher development, increase cancer research scope Research suggests that where you live in Illinois impacts your likelihood of dying from certain diseases, specifically cancer. Low-income, rural communities experience significant cancer health disparities, including lower screening rates, increased incidence, later stage at detection, poorer survival rates and higher mortality. A new National Institutes of Health grant will support a research partnership at the medical schools of Southern Illinois University and Washington University to further investigate the cancer

Tom Miller, MD, chairman and residency program director of SIU Quincy Family Medicine, has received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP). The award is given to a family medicine physician who combines family medicine education and service to the community. Miller will receive the award at the IAFP Annual Awards Banquet on Friday, October 9. Miller, an associate professor family and community medicine, joined the School of Medicine in 1994. He completed a family medicine residency at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. (1992)

Harald Lausen, DO, MA, the chief medical officer of SIU HealthCare and assistant dean for clinical education at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, has been appointed chair of the Bureau of Osteopathic Education for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The AOA Bureau of Osteopathic Education studies the full continuum of osteopathic medical education and makes recommendations to the AOA board on ways to improve osteopathic medical education and policies that support educational accreditation and certification programs. Lausen, a professor of clinical family & community