Young, who will begin his new position in March, comes to Louisville from Memphis, most recently serving as director of operations/technology and business development for the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

With more than a decade of expertise in academic health care simulation, he will lead the design, development, integration and strategic direction of the Academic Simulation Center. Young received a bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from the University of Alabama Birmingham, and master of business administration degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

“This position will be vital to promoting a contemporary, innovative and impactful Simulation Ecosystem for UofL,” said Jeffrey Bumpous, executive vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “We are fortunate to have Jarrod Young, an established leader in health sciences simulation, to make the center a learning, research, workforce development and community engagement powerhouse for the region.”

Young said the leadership and vision of the university and local clinical partners shows that Louisville is committed to impacting the future of health care by investing in interprofessional education and training.

“I am honored to join the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center as we collectively aim to support the future of clinical education and patient care through health care simulation,” Young said. “My vision is to support the current health care simulation experts at the university with my knowledge and experience growing a large health science simulation center into a world-class program.”

The new $280 million building on the Health Sciences Center Campus will house the Academic Simulation Center as well as serve students and faculty from UofL’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Public Health and Information Sciences. The space will foster collaboration that supports goals of the university’s and contribute to the elite level of health care education in the region. The university plans to complete the building by fall 2029. 

“Research!Louisville is a great opportunity to explore the important role UofL research plays in our day-to-day lives,” said Kevin Gardner, executive vice president for research and innovation. “That work positively impacts our world, from creating meaningful educational experiences and career pathways for students to developing innovative new technologies and companies.”

The event includes a presentation by author and medical ethicist Harriet Washington on Thursday, Oct. 5 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. at Kornhauser Auditorium on the Health Sciences Center campus presented by UofL’s Office of Institutional Equity and the HSC Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Washington’s latest work is the award-winning “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Experimentation from Colonial Times to the Present.” 

UofL News caught up with V. Faye Jones, a pediatrician and associate vice president for health affairs/diversity initiatives at the UofL Health Sciences Center, and Kiana Fields, coordinator, UofL Office of Diversity and Inclusion, to talk about the importance of Washington’s research.

UofL News: What kind of perspective does Harriet Washington bring to the discussion about racial health disparities?

´ł´Ç˛Ô±đ˛ő:ĚýShe brings great insight into medical ethics and racism, how they intersect with each other. Our work focuses on the harms inflicted on historically minoritized populations by bringing attention to that history now. For many people, it’s the first time they are hearing that history. She tells us about things we may have not delved as deep in as we should have and holds all of us accountable for it.

ąóľ±±đ±ô»ĺ˛ő:ĚýWashington’s been doing this work for decades. She saw a need and a gap within the literature to address the longitudinal atrocities that have taken place. In addition to medical apartheid, she has talked about the erosion of informed consent and how it’s systemic racism.
She incorporates different identities and different systems of oppression and explores the health impacts and the ethical dilemmas that exist as well.

UofL News: What are some of the specific ways Washington has shined a light on little-known history of medical inequity?

Fields: She started going deeper into her research for medical apartheid when she was working in a hospital and saw medical files of kidney failure patients that were different for Blacks and whites. While the files were comparatively similar, in the Black patient’s file, it said imminent demise was expected. That’s when she knew some of her suspicions were true and there was more that needed to be uncovered. One other medical story is about J. Marion Sims, who was known as the father of gynecology. This physician and researcher conducted painful experiments without anesthesia using enslaved women, which ultimately led to important gynecological advances. There is a lack of acknowledgement of the harms that were done in that way.

Jones: First, we need to acknowledge this, showing that these disparities exist and then understanding why they exist, and then developing and implementing strategies to change it. Just like Kiana said about the kidney patients, there are so many things where if you’re black then you get this type of treatment, and if you’re not black you get this. So how is that right? It’s not. You focus on these things so that we can correct and hopefully improve patient care and address health disparities to get us more to that standard of health equity.

UofL News: According to CDC data, Black women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women, with most of the maternal deaths being preventable. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variation in quality health care, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias. How does Washington’s examination of the history of medical inequities help inform the present?

Fields: With Black maternal and infant mortality disparities, we often think that if you were in a higher socioeconomic status that you would be exempt. But a great example of that is Serena Williams. She had preeclampsia for her first pregnancy and the physicians didn’t take her concerns seriously, and so she found herself in a very precarious situation where both her life and her child’s life were in danger.

Jones: When you look at what happened with Serena Williams and the pulmonary embolism, I think it’s important to note that if that can happen to a person of that stature, that wealth and who is that well known, then what is happening to people who don’t have voices? Are they invisible? With Black maternal mortality, it’s amazing how it is present in every community, including in Jefferson County. There is such a disparity there and we must be able to say yes, it exists, and to look into the root causes of it and do something about it, not just talk about it.

UofL News: For those who come to hear Harriet Washington’s presentation on October 5, what questions and reflections do you hope it prompts for people?

´ł´Ç˛Ô±đ˛ő:ĚýOne thing I would hope it would prompt is to ask what does it look like in the health care system and where we are right now where we live and what kind of things can we do? Each one of us can make a difference here. We are not waiting for somebody else to take that banner and run with it, but what can we do as individuals to make that difference? Because each of us have the power to make a change.

Fields: I believe Harriet Washington, in her work, is elevating that we all have a shared responsibility to start to disrupt these systems of oppression and acknowledge and reimagine our health care system to benefit the most vulnerable populations in our society. How do we continue to strive to uncover the hidden voices? How do we continue to not only take action, but also start reconciling the atrocities and healing some of the harm that has been done so that we can create interventions that are long lasting?

for the event.

To make LOUMED a world-class destination, its partners launched their effort in 2021 by conducting an in-depth economic impact report, forming a nine-person board equally representing each partner.

LOUMED’s shared goal of building tomorrow’s world-class medical and education district takes world-class urban planners and designers who have success in revitalizing complex urban districts. City Visions Associates and Gamble Associates have joined the LOUMED team and have proven successes at Rochester’s Destination Medical Center, Boston’s Longwood Medical Area and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

“The Louisville Medical and łÉČËÖ±˛Ą District deserves a high-quality public realm commensurate with its high-quality of care, research and education,” says David Gamble, principal of Gamble Associates.

The strategic plan is designed to improve both the realities and perceptions of public safety, easier and more welcoming access to LOUMED, improved ease of circulation within the campus, both for pedestrians and vehicles and provides a greener campus with areas for employees, patients and visitors to relax. The LOUMED partners are also in discussions with Block by Block to provide security and maintenance services within the LOUMED campus.

“LOUMED is a hub of activity for patients, visitors, employees, students and researchers,” said Barry Alberts, CityVisions Associates’ managing partner. “The campus must be a welcoming, safe and comfortable place for every one of them. The LOUMED partners are committed to taking the necessary actions, as well as working with Louisville Metro and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to ensure that it best meets these goals.”

The LOUMED partners have already worked to cultivate gardens, outdoor gathering spaces, plazas and drop-off areas on their respective properties. Collectively, these “pocket parks” form the framework for navigating the campus, better connecting into a campus-wide network.

The Framework Plan leverages the existence of these institutional spaces and reinforces the pathways between them.

• First Street leverages JCTC’s recent developments and centers new growth around a future campus quad and arts-inspired corridor that crosses Broadway.
• A vacant city-owned correctional facility near Norton Children’s Hospital is transformed into “LOUMED Gardens,” a new central gathering space for all families and care givers to gather and relax.
• One of the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center’s first buildings along Chestnut Street becomes the centerpiece of a connected network of pathways.
• Abraham Flexner Way – already an informal pedestrian pathway for UofL Health – will be improved with new landscaping, lighting, seating, signage, and crosswalks.

The future of LOUMED offers a safe, clean, well-maintained, and well-lit environment, a memorable public space network, ample and easily accessible parking areas, a strong sense of place, strong ties to adjacent neighborhoods with places to live, eat and shop, shared facilities and spaces and most importantly, an image that befits the educational, medical and scientific achievements that occur within its boundaries 365 days a year.

Whitney Nash, PhD, APRN, FAANP, UofL School of Nursing associate dean of practice and service, has been appointed assistant vice president of interprofessional practice partnerships at the .

Nash will be responsible for expanding multidisciplinary practice at the academic health sciences center and forging partnerships with community organizations.

“The future is in interprofessional health education and practice,” Nash said. “Health care providers can no longer afford to practice in silos. Extensive research supports interprofessional education and practice as a mechanism to decrease medical errors and improve patient care.”

Nash will build upon UofL’s existing education and practice programs that incorporate interprofessional health care.

UofL Care Partners, a nurse practitioner-managed primary care clinic housed at the School of Dentistry, opened in 2018 to serve patients at the dental clinic and members of the community with immediate health needs and chronic issues.

The clinic is an outgrowth of an established relationship between the UofL Schools of Dentistry and Nursing, which in 2012 jointly received a $1.1 million federal grant that supported an educational initiative for nursing and dental students to enhance communication between the professions and develop best practices in patient assessment, consultation and management.

Another interprofessional practice site is the Kentucky Racing Health Services Center, a nonprofit clinic run by UofL School of Nursing faculty that has been nationally recognized as an innovative care model. Medical, nursing and dentistry students rotate at the clinic, which serves low-income backside workers of the thoroughbred racing industry.

UofL has translated interprofessional health research into curriculum changes as well.

Faculty members at the UofL School of Medicine developed a national training program to instruct educators at universities across the United States in teaching interprofessional palliative care for patients with cancer. Supported by the National Cancer Institute, the Interdisciplinary Curriculum in Oncology Palliative Care łÉČËÖ±˛Ą has trained thousands of students from social work, medicine, nursing and chaplaincy.

The Interprofessional Curriculum for the Care of Older Adults was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop and evaluate an interdisciplinary geriatric curriculum for medical, nursing, social work, pharmacy, dentistry and law students. The project aims to meet the needs of rural older adults by integrating geriatrics with primary care, maximizing patient and family engagement and transforming the rural health care system.

“As we end American Heart Month, it’s the perfect time to share this wonderful news,” said Mark Slaughter, MD, surgical director of heart transplant for University of Louisville Physicians and Jewish Hospital, and professor and chair, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, UofL School of Medicine.

Dr. Slaughter performed the 500^th transplant on Feb. 21, on a 59-year-old man who had a left ventricular assist device implanted to support his heart until the donor heart was available for transplant. An LVAD is a surgically implanted mechanical pump attached to the heart.

The first heart transplant at the hospital, which was also the first heart transplant in Kentucky, took place on Aug. 24, 1984, performed by the University of Louisville’s Laman Gray Jr., MD. The state and region waited in suspense as 40-year-old Alice Brandenburg received a new heart. The surgery, which took seven hours, was groundbreaking at the time. The UofL and Jewish Hospital transplant team is one of the leading providers of organ transplantation in the country.

“Jewish Hospital is a place where miracles happen every day and patients’ lives are changed forever,” said Ronald Waldridge II, MD, president of Jewish Hospital. “Five-hundred hearts is much more than a milestone. It represents the life-changing impact on our patients, their families and the entire region. Together, with UofL, Jewish Hospital’s Trager Transplant Center is investing in research, technology and advance procedures to increase access to transplant services.”

On Wednesday, doctors and heart transplant recipients gathered at the Jewish Hospital Rudd Heart and Lung Center to celebrate the 500^th milestone and the many lives that have been saved over the years thanks to heart transplantation. 

“The 500^th heart transplant is a reminder of the commitment by Jewish Hospital and the University of Louisville to provide advanced therapies for patients with advanced heart failure,” Slaughter. said. “We’ve come a long way since Dr. Gray broke ground with that first heart transplant more than 30 years ago. Every day, we continue to advance the science of heart transplantation here at UofL and Jewish Hospital. I’m excited about the future of this program, and I’m confident that we’ll mark a lot more milestones over the next 30 years.”

For Dr. Gray, Wednesday’s celebration marked decades of dedication to the heart transplant program.

“After performing the first heart transplant, it means a lot to me to see the 500^th and where we are today,” Gray said. 

Gray continues to research new ways to help patients with heart disease at UofL’s Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, a center focused on bio-adaptive heart innovations, including the integration of heart-assist device, biodfeedback sensors and related technologies. In 2001, Gray and the Trager-UofL surgical team implanted the first fully implantable replacement heart, the AbioCor.

Today, patients like Jeffrey McMahan continue to benefit from the heart transplant program. McMahan was the center’s 479^th heart transplant, and he attended the celebration on Wednesday along with other recipients.

Before his heart transplant, McMahan, 61, was no stranger to the procedure – it had helped save many of his family members. The Memphis, Indiana, resident had four family members receive heart transplants – two by University of Louisville surgeons at Jewish Hospital. In 2015, McMahan learned he, too, needed one.

“I was serving in the military at Fort Knox when I developed a cough,” said McMahan. “It finally got bad enough that doctors flew me to Jewish Hospital, where I was diagnosed with a cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle is weakened. I learned that I would need a transplant in the next 10 years, but that timeframe quickly changed to 10 months after my condition worsened.”

On Aug. 15, 2015, McMahan was added to the organ donor transplant list. A month later, he received the transplant that forever changed his life.

“I wouldn’t have lived without the transplant,” McMahan said. “It means a lot to be here to celebrate the 500^th. I’m forever thankful to the transplant team that helped save my life and gave me more time with family.”

It has been an exciting year for the Jewish Hospital Trager Transplant Center and University of Louisville team. In December 2017, the center – a joint program with the UofL School of Medicine and KentuckyOne Health – broke its all-time record for number of organs transplanted in the center’s 53-year history, with 175 organs transplanted in a year. The center also achieved several other milestones in 2017, including its 5,000^th transplanted organ, its 3,000^th kidney transplant and its 900^th liver transplant. In addition to Kentucky’s first heart transplant, the program is known for performing Kentucky’s first adult pancreas, heart-lung and liver transplants.

But the 500^th heart transplant and other milestones wouldn’t have been reached without organ donors, noted David Lewis, director of Transplant Services at the Jewish Hospital Trager Transplant Center.

“We often encourage people to sign up as organ donors to help save lives. The need for organ donors is unfortunately greater than the number of people who donate, so each day, an average of 20 people pass away while waiting for a transplant in the United States,” Lewis said. “Knowing that we have helped save 500 people in need of a new heart is a wonderful feeling, and it would not be possible without the donors and their families.”

Video of the first heart transplant at Jewish Hospital is .ĚýĚý