MUSC Catalyst 3-13-2015

INSIDE: Health & Wellness

March 13, 2015

Inside Losing Weight

6

Wellness expert shares keys to success.

Women’s history month

7

MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA

Amputee softball team knocks out life’s curves

By J. Ryne Danielson Public Relations

T

he Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team will play alumni from The Citadel’s 1990 College World Series baseball team Saturday, March 21 at Joe Riley Stadium. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. The game starts at 11. Admission and parking are free, and there will be reserved seating for veterans and their families.

The WWAST plays exhibitions, celebrity tournaments and community games against able-bodied teams in order to raise awareness, educate and inspire the public about the strength and resilience of American servicemen, servicewomen and veterans.

Patricia Coker–Bolt, Ph.D., associate professor in MUSC’s Division of Occupational Therapy, is on the committee that is bringing the team to Charleston. “When I heard the stories of the players and realized the sacrifices they made for us and our country, it was easy to volunteer to help,” she said.

General Manager David Van Sleet started the Wounded Warrior team in 2010. As a United States Army veteran and a 30–year employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs who managed VA prosthetics programs, he saw the need for such an organization. “I’d always played, coached and managed softball teams,” Van Sleet said.

“When I saw our guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, how many amputees there were, I thought they needed something to bring

Hollings Cancer Center administrator lives her calling.

3 Weight

Management

5 Meet Robin

8 Success Secrets t h e C ata Ly s t onLine http://www. musc.edu/ catalyst

Vol. 33, No. 28

photo by Lisa Macias

Leonard Anderson shows off his batting skills.

photo by Ryne Danielson, Public Relations

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Leonard Anderson, right, and Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team general manager David Van Sleet take questions from physical therapy students in their prosthetics and orthotics course on March 4. them back into society and let them be athletes again.”

With the help of a congressional grant obtained by the University of Arizona, the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team played its first game in March 2011 in Tucson, Arizona. However, the funding soon ran dry.

“The guys asked ‘where do we go from here?’” Van Sleet said. “I told them, ‘We go home because we don’t have any money.’”

Thanks to private fundraisers, the team was able to raise enough for three more games.

“In 2012, we played three games in three days,” he said, “Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. And the Washington Post did an article on us. Within two months we were on HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, in Sports Illustrated and on ESPN. That projected us forward.”

There were 11 players on the original team. The team has now grown to 30 players from all across the country, ranging in age from 23 to 53. They play more than 100 games every year, up from just a handful of games when they started.

“Every player is an amputee,” Van Sleet said. “We have every amputation possible.” He believes being a member of the team has enhanced its players’ therapy, both physically and mentally. “They’re around guys who have the same issues and problems. They can joke and talk about their conditions, what’s working for them and what’s not working. It’s given them another chance to have a real life. It’s certainly improved their social lives.”

Leonard Anderson, of Chester, South Carolina, agrees. He has played for the team for a year and a half. Anderson lost his left arm and part of his right hand to an improvised explosive device in

See Warrior on page 3

2 The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015

Cooking series: A taste of African Heritage The MUSC Office of Health Promotion deliver an overall body workout that will and Sodexo present a free cooking series challenge and improve muscular endurance, titled “A Taste of African Heritage.” This strength, cardiovascular fitness, core strength nationally recognized community cooking and control. Participants will receive a free program explores the traditional, culturally day pass to the Wellness Center. Email muscrich diet and the connection between good empwell@musc.edu to register. food and good health. q Quit Smoking in 2015 — MUSC is This free class will be held over five conducting a research study to see if Saturdays starting April 18 from 10 to 11:30 magnetic stimulation can reduce nicotine a.m. and is open to anyone age 16 or older cravings and make it easier to stop smoking. from the greater Charleston community.

Payment for participation is provided and Each class starts with a lesson on the free parking is available. For information, heritage of African–American cuisine, contact Scott Henderson, 792-5560.

Susan Johnson followed by a hands-on cooking and tasting q Chair massages — Free massages component. In addition, participants will are offered to employees midday on be invited to participate in two specially designed Wednesdays. Check broadcast messages for locations exercise classes at the MUSC Wellness center and will and times. receive informational booklets with recipes, and other q Farmers Markets — Fresh fruits and vegetables are incentives. Classes will be held in the ART Auditorium available from local farmers on Fridays from 7 a.m. to and cafeteria with free parking in the Courtenay garage 3:30 p.m. at the Horseshoe. attached to ART. MUSC Wellness Center Those interested in registering are encouraged to do q Piloxing Barre — This class is a well-rounded, low so as soon as possible — there are a limited number of impact fusion of ballet, Pilates and boxing, which uses spots. To learn more or register, visit www.muschealth. com/nutrition/wellness or by contact Debbie Petitpain, the ballet barre for support and resistance. It is an excellent overall endurance and toning workout that Sodexo Wellness Dietitian at 792-9644. improves flexibility, balance and stablization. Mondays at 5 p.m., Thursdays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at noon.

Wellness Events q Wellness Wednesdays — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 11, Children’s Hospital lobby: Bite Size (portion control); MUSC Urban Farm and March 18, ART Lobby: Quality of the Bite; March q Midday Work and Learn — 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., 25: Children’s Hospital Lobby: GigaBite (technology Tuesdays and nutrition) q Early Bird Maintenance — 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., q Take the March Monthly Mindful Challenge: bite Wednesdays into better snacks — opt for 100 calories (or less) of q Sunset Work and Learn — 4 to 5 p.m., Thursdays satisfying foods (nutrient-rich choices preferred). To q Third Saturday Family-friendly Work and Learn — 9 begin, take the challenge first survey at http://tinyurl. to 11 a.m., March 21 com/oy3k175. A link to the final survey will be sent at q Lunch and Learns — 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., Thursday, the end of the month to those who take the first one.

March 19: Verde, a popular restaurant on King Street q Employee Fitness Series — 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., (downtown) and Coleman Boulevard (Mount Pleasant) March 18. Physio-ball Workout. This free class will will discuss fresh and delicious wholesome products.

Health at work

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The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015 3

WaRRioR

Air Force Tech.

Sgt. Leonard Anderson and Azza on patrol in Afghanistan.

Continued from Page One

Afghanistan.

Anderson was on a routine patrol with his service dog, Azza, whose job it was to find IEDs. “We got caught on a bad day,” he said. “The IED went off, and we couldn’t get away from it. I took the brunt of it head on. She was on the other side. She didn’t sustain any injuries.”

Azza came to visit Anderson several times during his recovery and was eventually retired to his care. “We’re a pair,” he said. “We’re a team. When she was retired out to me, it was just as much for her as it was for me.

She doesn’t want to be separated from me, so she goes everywhere I go now. It’s a two–way street.”

Anderson said he heard about the WWAST six months into his recovery. He quickly made joining the team a goal.

“I played ball well before I got hurt,” he said. “They hid the team from me for a little while, because they figured I’d try to do too much too quickly. But, you have to have goals. You don’t win the war without fighting the battles. The more little battles you fight and win, the more likely you are to win the war.”

“When I say war, I mean life,” he added.

After a serious injury, even daily routines become battles. But, Anderson believes, “The biggest adversity you’ll ever face in life is yourself. Lack of confidence, lack of discipline, lack of structure.”

Anderson said that the team provides that structure,

photo provided

photo by J. Ryne Danielson, Public Relations

Leonard Anderson and retired military service dog Azza. which many feel is missing once they leave the military — the same structure he credits with turning his life around. “To be honest, when I joined the Air Force, I was immature, and I was young. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I wasn’t the best of kids in high

school. I made some really poor decisions. The military was about the only route I could have gone to get my life together.”

“Once I became a part of the military,” he continued, “I immediately matured up, and then it became about my country. At first, it wasn’t about serving my country; it was just about taking a step in life. Then, I fell in love with it, and it became about more than me.”

Anderson said he learned a lot from the military, about himself and about life. He sums up his philosophy succinctly: “Let nothing get in your way. Let nothing stop you. Be the best at everything you do.”

Eight players from the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team will give a talk at the College of Health Professions Friday, March 20 at noon in room A204.

Anyone is welcome to attend. For more information or to volunteer with the team, contact Patricia Coker-Bolt by email at cokerpc@musc.edu.

Telemedicine, technology aid in weight loss success

By Ryne Danielson Public Relations

New telemedicine programs are extending the MUSC Weight Management Center’s reach statewide.

The Weight Management Center has been working to address the health challenges posed by obesity and excess weight since it opened in 1974. Drawing from the expertise of a diverse team of physicians, psychologists and registered dieticians, the WMC focuses on longterm, sustainable lifestyle changes.

The WMC’s most popular Focus program, which is offered in 15-week, 23-week and 27-week options, is now available as a virtual program called Focus Carolina. The traditional Focus program requires in-person visits each week, but Josh Brown, assistant professor and director of Clinical Services and Training at the WMC, said this requirement limits which patients the center is able see.

“People who live out in Colombia, Orangeburg or Myrtle Beach aren’t

going to drive to Charleston each week for 15 to 27 weeks to come in for a weight loss program,” he said. “With Focus Carolina, it’s the same program, except we’re offering it virtually.

Employees here have lots of family and friends throughout the state. We’d like for those employees to let their family and friends know that we have one of the top 15 weight management centers in the country, and they can participate in our most popular programs – not watered down, the exact same programs, but delivered online.”

“It’s very simple on the user’s end,” Brown continued. “Our software is bandwidth-flexible. We’re not going clinic to clinic, as with a lot of telemedicine, we’re going directly to the user – to their phone, tablet or home computer. So, we have to be able to adjust to the level of bandwidth that they can accept on their end. All the patient

has to do is click a link that they will receive in their email.”

The WMC also offers professional home weight monitoring. This program includes a Fitbit Aria wi-fi enabled scale and 12 months of both access to an online tracking system and monitoring by weight management professionals.

“We provide users specific, personalized video feedback,” Brown said. “We review everything they put into the account – from the scale, which syncs automatically – or if they have a Fitbit, that syncs automatically too.

We can monitor their food intake and activity level and the psychologists, the dieticians, the exercise physiologists will review it and make recommendations based on their input and their goals.”

Brown said the Focus Carolina and the professional home weight monitoring programs work well together, helping to increase accountability for patients

who aren’t able to weigh in person each week, but clients do not have to participate in one of the WMC’s more expensive programs to take advantage of the professional weight monitoring service.

“You can be doing Weight Watchers, you can be doing Nutrisystem – whatever program – on your own, but we can monitor you. Most of those programs don’t have that component,” Brown said.

“People can and do weigh themselves,” he continued. “But people tend to do a pretty good job in rationalizing why their weight isn’t going down or why it’s creeping up. ‘It’s my birthday, it’s a holiday, I was on vacation.’ Some patients manage to rationalize every 10 pounds until they just can’t deny it anymore. But, with the scale, knowing we’re watching and we’re here to help – that carries more weight, so to speak, than if they were on their own.

Accountability is key. The more often

See Weight on page 11

4 The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015

New scale helps people target visceral fat

By DaWn BRazell Public Relations

T

he good thing about numbers is they don’t lie.

That’s what personal trainer Katie Blaylock loves about the newest “Track your Progress” tool the MUSC Wellness now has to motivate members and community participants in its programs to stay committed to their wellness goals.

Using an InBody composition analyzer, fitness consultants use the analysis from this bioelectrical impedance analysis “scale” to give clients a report card.

MUSC Wellness Center Director Janis Newton said she loves the simplicity of the tool, which just takes seconds, and its accuracy. The InBody has a 98 percent correlation with gold-standard measurement methods, such as DEXA or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

“We’re excited to be able to offer this to our members and to the public. This is open to anyone, whether they are a member or not,” said Newton. The printout includes a body composition history for those who take the post test so people can see how effective their wellness program is in changing their body-fat composition, a more important measure than just weighing on a scale.

A single pre-test and consult costs $30.

A package of both pre- and post-test, generally repeated after 90 days, runs $50 (People who are pregnant or have pacemakers cannot be tested). Packages

photo by Sarah Pack, Public Relations

MUSC personal trainer Katie Blaylock sets Jim Mitchell up on the InBody machine at the MUSC Wellness Center. Mitchell and his wife are participating in the Healthy Charleston Challenge. also are available for businesses and corporate wellness programs to provide as options for their employees.

In adding the InBody, the Wellness Center joined the ranks of such institutions as Mayo and Cleveland

clinics, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Navy Seals. The InBody570 uses multiple frequencies to provide intra and extracellular water body readings and segmental bio-impedance analysis with eight electrodes to gather its readings.

Nominees sought for faculty service award Nominations for the MUSC Foundation’s Distinguished Faculty Service Award are being accepted.

This annual award was enacted by MUSC’s board of trustees to recognize and honor faculty members of the institution who, over a substantial portion of their careers, have provided exceptional and sustained service and contributions in teaching, research, health care or public service to the university and the citizens of South Carolina.

Up to three awards may be made and each honoree will receive a $3,000 contribution. Nominations from faculty, staff and students will be accepted.

To nominate someone, a written justification to

include a typed or printed narrative of no more than two single-spaced pages directly addressing the contributions made by the nominee to MUSC and those the institution serves must be included. A copy of the nominee’s curriculum vitae or professional resumé also should be enclosed. Additional letters of endorsement are encouraged in order to demonstrate the breadth of the nominee’s contributions.

This deadline is April 24. For information, contact 792-2228 or email higakimc@musc.edu.

Nominations should be submitted to the attention of Mark S. Sothmann, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs and provost, 179 Ashley Avenue, Colcock Hall, MSC 002, MUSC.

The telling feature for Blaylock, though, is seeing how it makes her clients become more serious about their wellness goals.

Typical scales fail to give the whole picture. Anyone can starve themselves for a few days and see the numbers on a traditional scale change, she said. The InBody report seems to help people understand better how body fat is a more important measure than weight on a scale. The report shows body composition, muscle–fat analysis, obesity analysis, a segmental lean analysis, a visceral fat level and water ratios.

Blaylock’s favorite reading is a person’s visceral fat level because it not only shows what’s invisible but is a critical health measurement.

The fat that lies just under your skin, called subcutaneous fat, is what most people worry about. Visceral fat is deep inside, found in the abdomen and surrounding vital organs. It is thought to increase the risk for many chronic diseases, such as heart attack and diabetes, and has been linked to increasing the risk for certain cancers.

“It’s so scary for your internal organs to have this fat around them,” Blaylock said, pointing to the section of the report that lists visceral fat. “I will tell them, ‘If nothing else on this paper changes, this is what needs to change.’”

To schedule an appointment, contact 792-9238 or via email at blaylock@musc. edu.

Outstanding Clinician Award nominations being accepted Nominations for the 2015 MUSC Foundation’s Outstanding Clinician Award are being accepted. The award honors fulltime faculty who have made outstanding contributions to patient care at MUSC. Currently active clinicians who commit a significant portion of their time caring for patients in ambulatory or inpatient settings are eligible for this award. Nominees should be role models for residents, students and their faculty colleagues. The deadline for nominations is April 24. Nominations may be submitted to Mark Sothmann, Ph.D., 179 Ashley Ave., Colcock Hall, MSC 002, MUSC.

The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015 5

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6 The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015

Health coaching key to success in losing weight

By DaWn BRazell Public Relations

B

e very afraid if you get summoned for a “Come to Janis” meeting.

At least that’s what some participants of Healthy Charleston Challenge say about the new director of the MUSC Wellness Center. Sometimes when participants struggle with a “weak” moment during the challenge, which is an intense 12–week weight-loss and activity competition, they get sent by their personal trainer to Janis Newton to be inspired.

Newton, named center director in December 2014, laughs at the name of the meeting, adding it’s really no big deal. It’s just a pep talk. Just looking at her 5–foot– 5–inch, 123–pound frame, it would seem there would be nothing intimidating about meeting with her. Then she opens her mouth, and it becomes clear how she’s gotten her reputation as a straight, no-holds-barred, shooter.

“If someone comes and says they’ll try, I say ‘there is no try — either you do it or you don’t.’ I read between the lines and point out how they might change their mindset,” she said, relying on her 40–plus years in the health and fitness business. “I do know how people marginalize and rationalize fitness and nutrition. I’m a reality check.”

Newton, who at 63 is just as comfortable teaching Tae Bo as she is sitting behind her administrator’s desk, walks the walk. The former director of the center, Bobby Shaw, did a great job of making the center one of the best wellness centers in the area, and she wants to continue that momentum. Exciting additions the center now offers include integrative health coaching, nutrition counseling, post–rehab fitness evaluation and training and an InBody Track Your Progress program.

The aim is personalized fitness and wellness. If one fad or method of weight loss worked for everyone, then it wouldn’t be so difficult, she said. But just as personalized medicine is revealing one treatment doesn’t work best for all, so wellness professionals are finding a need to customize wellness plans.

The center is hiring two new integrative health coaches and an additional nutritionist to augment existing services, such as nutritional consultations and personal training. People can choose from the services on an a la carte basis to meet their needs. Newton says many times people know what to do as far as being active and eating better, but they don’t know how to make it happen specifically in their lives. They don’t know how to recognize their barriers and form habits to overcome them.

Those are fighting words for Newton, who knows it can be done. The following are her top three wellness

photos by Sarah Pack, Public Relations MUSC Wellness Center Director Janis Newton, right, helps lead a Tae Bo class at the Wellness Center. secrets, distilled from decades in the fitness industry and interviews with thousands of participants in the Healthy Charleston Challenge and other wellness programs who have surprised themselves by finding success.

1. Commit - focus like your life depends on it.

Newton, who recently did a grueling hike to Machu Picchu, a 15th–century Inca site located in the Andes Mountains, was almost at the top when her group found a bridge over a ravine was out. In its stead were two parallel 10–inch wide planks across a steep drop.

The group could cross the 50–foot divide or go back.

“We were hiking along feeling good about ourselves when we saw this makeshift bridge over a ravine that meant certain death if you fell.”

Her mind kept going back to how she couldn’t do this, warring with the advice she routinely gives others about being willing to get out of your comfort zone to achieve wellness goals.

“We’re used to getting what we want when we want it and not having to do something unpleasant,” she said, repeating the advice she often gives as a fitness professional. “We have to get out of our comfort zones to learn to do healthier behaviors. Before you know it, we drop back to our former habits because it’s safe and

comfortable, even if it’s not healthy.”

Newton felt this situation went beyond the typical ‘get out of your comfort zone,’ but not wanting to hike back down without making it to the top, she decided to commit. She tried four times, four different ways, including doing a wide straddle to walk both planks and scooting along on her rear. Nothing was working.

Finally she did what she named the “Helen Keller” method, using a stick to help with depth perception.

She slowly tapped, took a step – tapped, took another step – her way across the ravine.

“The stick, the tap and the focus are what got me across. When I crossed that bridge, I had 100 percent focus on the rhythm and the footwork. It’s a lesson I’ve learned works with any goal in your life. You pick a priority and focus on that like you’ve never focused on anything in your life before. We truly don’t focus like we can or should. Our minds are all over chasing different distractions.”

That brings her to her second coaching nugget.

2. Taking time to pause can lead to greater momentum to effect change.

Another life experience that has helped her coach others and implement her wellness goals is doing

See Coaching on page 9

The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015 7

Hollings administrator takes path to success

By Mikie hayes Public Relations

G

irl Scout cookie season. That much–awaited, but oh–so–short, period of time each year when eager troops try to sell as many boxes as is humanly possible and optimistic troop leaders schlep hundreds of cases of Thin Mints, Trefoils and Samoas from home to home and booth to booth.

Busy with her sixth grade troop, Anita Harrison is one such leader, knee–deep in cookies, encouraging entrepreneurship and building tomorrow’s leaders. And that’s just in her spare time.

So how does a busy woman juggle leading her daughter Harper’s Girl Scout troop, organizing community service for all of Mount Pleasant’s troops, selling cookies and coordinating booth sales, teaching Sunday school, participating in the Healthy Charleston Challenge and raising two kids? Oh, and by the way, serving as top administrator of the state’s only National Cancer Institute– designated cancer center?

It’s been said if you want something done, ask a busy person. Clearly the word is out on whom to ask.

Every March, MUSC celebrates National Women’s History Month.

This year’s theme, “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives,” provides the ideal opportunity to recognize Harrison, whose story is one of dedication, vision, leadership and heart — qualities she exhibited from a young age.

Considered a high achiever in high school, she was selected as a one of 100 young women in North Carolina to attend Girls State — a weeklong workshop for future leaders to learn about the legislative process and to discuss current public policy issues.

As part of the program, the girls toured the prison system. “That experience transformed my thinking about how in society we treat folks,” Harrison said.

“The women’s facility was substandard — the women were in horrific conditions.

Learning about the types of women that

wind up in prison — people with drug problems, without resources, no access to legal counsel. I wanted to understand why as a society we were allowing this.”

Then a woman who had done time in prison spoke to them. It was a domestic violence case where the husband who suffered a cocaine addiction had held a gun to her and her kid’s heads. “She shot him while trying to defend her kids and herself,” Harrison recounted. “But she had no money for defense and ended up serving 25 years. She spoke to us the very day she was released. Having obtained her GED and a college degree in prison, she was dedicating the rest of her life to changing the enormous disparities within the North Carolina corrections system.”

The dual experience had a huge impact on Harrison. “The injustice of it all. It really made me want to do something about it. I thought I was destined to work in public policy corrections research,” she said.

When she graduated from high school, she attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an economics major and worked for the Institute of Government, the “think tank” for the North Carolina legislature, researching and advising legislators on all laws they were considering.

Harrison took every opportunity to study economic public policy because, she said, money drives decision making.

“That was my passion. I was very vocal and active in speaking up for domestic violence victims, working in shelters and trying to change laws.”

For her master’s degree in public policy, she undertook a massive project comparing the costs, benefits and recidivism rates of 13 North Carolina penal correction programs, which led to her publishing a book at the young age of 23.

While still in graduate school, she fell in love with a young man, Danny Reed, whom she married. They moved to his hometown of Winston–Salem, North Carolina. Blindly, she sent her resume

photos provided HCC administrator Anita Harrison, third from right, participates with her all-Hollings Cancer Center team in the Spring 2015 Healthy Charleston Challenge.

Anita Harrison, right, and son, Harrison Reed, join Sen. Fritz Hollings at the cancer center’s NCI designation event. to Wake Forest University, and it landed in the cancer center biostatistics and clinical trials office. It just so happened, at the time, Wake Forest, one of the country’s oldest NCI–designated cancer centers, was looking for someone to run their clinical trials office. That move changed her future. a Path to hoLLings Fortunately, methods she had used to determine things like recidivism rates in corrections research were the same used to analyze cancer data. “I was 24 years old. I didn’t know anything about cancer at the time, but anyone who

did research used a statistical analysis program. I was a SAS guru who could write code and clean data like nobody’s business. It was a great skill set.”

And one that paid off. After developing the first electronic clinical trials data capture system and training the clinical trials staff at Wake Forest, she and her husband moved to California when he was accepted into seminary school. Her boss at Wake Forest called a colleague at the University of California San Francisco and told him he was sending him a superstar. She never interviewed. She was hired sight unseen to run clinical trials at the cancer center at UCSF and to assist in the preparations for them to become NCI-designated.

California was not to be their final destination — in fact, far from it.

Two years later, her husband took a ministerial internship in St. Louis. Her UCSF supervisor called a colleague at Washington University; it just so happened they were starting a cancer center. Harrison was the first employee of what later became the Siteman Cancer Center and moved from clinical trials into a leadership role as the associate director of administration.

For the next six years, she was in

See Women on page 11

8 The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015

Winners in weight loss share success secrets By helen aDaMs Public Relations

I

f you need a little inspiration to lose weight and get healthier this spring, the following stories about four amazing people may be just what you need.

All of them realized they needed to change their ways and actually did it through the Healthy Charleston Challenge. The intense 12-week program at the Medical University of South Carolina’s Wellness Center is for people at least 25 pounds overweight. In order to permanently change their lifestyle habits, they work with a team of experts, including personal trainers, a registered dietitian, exercise physiologists and a psychologist during the program.

The program works, as you’re about to see. It has won national honors, including Best Behavior Modification Program in the Nation. But the best

way to judge the challenge is to see the dramatic impact it’s had on four people living in the Charleston area. Even if a structured program like the challenge is not for you, what they learned about losing weight and keeping it off can help anyone who wants to make healthy changes.

Chef foLLoWs neW reCiPe Ben Ellsworth’s weight climbed to 285 pounds while he was working as a chef in a Charleston restaurant. “I would feed my customers healthy food, but not myself,” he said while taking a break from riding his bike in Hampton Park.

“I’d get the servers excited about the health benefits of the dishes I was making, then I’d go home and eat Taco Bell and Ramen noodles because it was cut fast, quick and easy.”

One day, he ran into a friend he hadn’t seen in a while. “I was like, what

photo by Sarah Pack, Public Relations Epsom salt and massages help Renee Jefferson stick with her new exercise program. She lifts weights and does cardio a few times a week. happened?” His friend had dropped 62 pounds through the Healthy Charleston Challenge. “I thought, sign me up,” Ellsworth said.

He lost five pounds during his first

week in the challenge, but had trouble consistently losing weight in the weeks that followed. “Then, the last three weeks, I really got my wind,” Ellsworth

See Winners on page 10

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CoaChing Continued from Page Sic contemplative trainings with monks and priests at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner. Newton is a wellness consultant for the Mepkin Priest Program, helping them with their wellness and fitness goals. She said it’s been an incredible experience and that one of the most challenging experiences of her life was attending a contemplative training weekend.

“It was like meditation on steroids.”

Used to a packed schedule and long hours, Newton struggled with learning the new discipline that helped her discover a new dimension of herself.

It let her tap into how her life had become imbalanced in some ways. When wellness coaches work with clients, they examine what is stressing individuals and keeping them from being active, from sleeping or eating well or from being able to slow down enough to complete a thought.

Sometimes it’s not adapting to a diet or exercise plan that’s the main barrier for a person in becoming healthier, she said. “Sometimes it’s just one tiny thing or mindset they can change,” she said, citing an example of a participant who was so controlling that it was derailing all her wellness efforts. “First, she had to slow down and see that and then let go of that. It was a barrier to her fitness goals.”

Newton participated in a biofeedback study that taught participants to calm themselves to the point where she jokes she had to practically learn how to put herself in a coma. The experience illustrates how much control everybody has over their inner thoughts and choices. Often in integrative health coaching it’s about getting people to use their breathing and be mindful of what they really think and feel, she said. This is not counseling, which some people also may need, but rather a focused look at what is keeping them from making habits to develop a healthier lifestyle.

“It all ties together when it comes to health and wellness. Sometimes it’s just that one thing that you can change that makes all the difference. It can be that one moment that helps to define your life,” she said, adding that it goes far beyond just teaching someone how to do

Newton celebrates making it to Machu Picchu.

photo provided Newton assists Jody Hollar with technique in using an exercise band at the MUSC Wellness Center.

photo by Sarah Pack, Public Relations a bicep curl or have the proper squatting technique.

“Health coaching is becoming very big. You cannot approach someone’s life without getting into the spiritual, mental and emotional parts of a person’s life. Each area of your life represents certain stressors. Coaches can help you see that one little change in this area can positively affect all the other areas in your life.”

3. You have to redefine your life at every age.

Though Newton is committed to exercise every day, she doesn’t do the routines at the intensity she used to.

Often as people age, they would rather quit being active rather than admit they

need to adjust what they do.

What works in one stage and age of life can’t always be applied to another, she said.

“You can’t fool Mother Nature. At birth, you start aging. I would not be where I am today without adjusting my workouts and recommitting to being as fit as I can for my age. I exercise every day. That’s not negotiable in my life. It doesn’t have to be a kick-butt workout, though. Sometimes it’s just a mindful walk. You do have to put some demands on your body. At some point, you have to make yourself sweat.”

What has her excited about coming to work is showing Wellness Center members and community participants how they can redefine themselves, too.

“I can present a physically active regimen for anyone, no matter what their physical limitations are, to help them remain active,” she said.

A growing program at the Wellness Center is the field of post-rehabilitation consultations. Injury and illness are two of the top reasons exercisers get derailed from their wellness goals. These consultations show people how to stay active despite the aches and pains from an injury or a medical procedure. “Often they don’t know what’s appropriate, and they’re scared of being active.”

Whether people are in rehab or just trying to get back on track with their wellness goals, Newton said she wants to make it easier, which is why the Wellness Center is offering a la carte style tools, from nutrition counseling to health coaching, to help people redefine themselves in a healthier way.

“Everyone wants to change a behavior but sometimes they are not willing to change a habit to support that goal. We want to be able to facilitate behavior change and have it all under one umbrella, so they can plug in the puzzle pieces they need to have more clarity and structure to reach their fitness goals.

And, even more importantly, to better manage the disease processes they have.”

Being part of an academic medical center allows the Wellness Center to capitalize on new research on neuroplasticity of the brain and epigenetics — how people’s diets and other behaviors intersect to shape their genes and health.

“The neurobiology of exercise as it applies to the infrastructure of the brain is a new, emerging research field showing exciting potential in chronic disease prevention and even the ability to improve success in everything from alcohol and drug recovery to the management of chronic diseases we have.”

The human body was designed to be active and functions best that way, she said.

“If you don’t do what you’re supposed to in one stage of life, it will come back to bite you in another stage. The reverse also is true. I just like to make it easier for people to experience success – at any age or stage. That’s what I love best about the job.”

10 The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015

said. “I started running a lot more.” He also started riding his bike.

Exercise wasn’t his only change. He quit smoking, cut back on alcohol and started eating chicken, greens and healthy snacks such as air popped popcorn with vinegar powder. By the conclusion of the challenge, he’d lost 43 pounds, making him the first place finisher in the men’s category.

Now, he bikes, jogs and does push ups, planks and wall sits. He also plays outside more with his children.

“I take the kids to the park a lot more. I used to look for excuses to avoid it.”

Professor Changes Life after Loss Citadel professor and Assistant Dean Renee Jefferson was no stranger to exercise. She’d worked out at the Wellness Center for years and noticed the signs for the Healthy Charleston Challenge. But she wasn’t ready to commit to it until she experienced the loss of a loved one. “My mother died in 2013. The following fall (2014), I said, ‘This is it.’”

Her weight had risen to 370 pounds. “That’s the most I’ve ever weighed in my life.”

Jefferson was teaching graduate students at night, so she was able to join a group that exercised together five days a week.

They climbed stairs, ran, lifted weights and exercised past the point many of them thought they could handle.

Jefferson invested in Epsom salts to soak in and found a good massage therapist.

She also started selecting fresh foods and scrutinizing ingredients. “That was a mind change,” she said.

Her hard work paid off. “At the end of 12 weeks, I lost 20 pounds and 10 inches. I went from not jogging at all, to now, I can run a mile.”

Jefferson has kept up her fitness regimen since her challenge ended, starting a new exercise program in January 2015. “It’s slow and steady, so I know now I can keep doing this.” friends team UP to Win

the past few years. First, her husband died. She moved to the Charleston area to be near family. Then, she got some scary news from her doctor.

“I was on the verge of becoming insulin-dependent with diabetes,” Kobbe said. “That was the biggest thing that made me realize I needed to change my lifestyle.”

The next change for Kobbe was one that has made her healthier, happier and closer to her good friend Karen Walters. They’re related — sort of. Walters is Kobbe’s brother’s sister-in-law.

Like Kobbe, Walters Kobbe and Walters needed to lose weight and get into better shape. She wanted to quit having to return to the larger size clothes she saved for when her weight was up. “I put on weight so quickly and I can lose it, but I can never keep it off.

My goal was to learn how to keep it off,” Walters said.

Together, they decided to join the Healthy Charleston Challenge. The Wellness Center put them on a team that exercised several days a week for 12 weeks. “The workouts were really hard, but worth it,” Walters said.

But Kobbe was right behind her. “I know I wouldn’t have lost as much weight without Karen and our

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teammates,” Kobbe said. “We all kept each other going and motivated.”

During the final days of the challenge, Walters and Kobbe were almost even. “I looked at Sue and told her I couldn’t let her win,” Walters said with a smile.

In the end, they both won. Walters lost the highest percentage of weight (19 percent) and Kobbe lost the most pounds (47).

“I’m off one medication for high blood pressure,” Kobbe said. “My blood glucose level is a lot lower, and I have so much more energy.”

Walters said she also has more energy. “I feel a whole lot better, but I still worry,” she said. She doesn’t want the weight to return.

So they’re still exercising together, walking the Ravenel Bridge and the beach and working out with a trainer. They’re also continuing to use what they learned about eating well.

Kobbe cut back on dining out and started reading food labels. “They have to have less than five ingredients, and I have to be able to pronounce them,” she said. The challenge’s five-ingredient rule means most junk food is out. Kobbe also plans her meals and uses Sunday to prepare her weekday dinners.

Walters also makes careful choices. “I am extremely conscious of what I eat. No processed foods. I eat a lot of fish, chicken and a variety of vegetables with sweet potatoes or brown rice. No salt.”

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Continued from Page Seven

charge of preparing Washington University to apply for NCI designation, which it received, first submission.

Her solid national reputation as a go–to person for earning NCI designation earned her a call from the NCI, asking her to review other cancer centers. In 2001, she began reviewing two or three centers every year as they vied for designation or renewal of their designation.

When her husband was offered his first church in 2001, they were soon on their way to Norfolk, Virginia.

A stellar reputation and good connections once again landed her a prime position — this time at Eastern Virginia Medical School. “I was the school’s one and only grant writer. You name it — I wrote a grant about it. I was particularly drawn to projects examining health disparities, harkening back to my public policy interests in college. I also taught the resident research courses in internal medicine and family medicine and had every single resident write, submit and complete a research project. By the time I left, I had three national winners.” hCC Priority 1: nCi designation In 2004, the Hollings Cancer Center was busy seeing more than 1,200 new cancer patients a year. However, it had a small NCI grants portfolio and only 47 patients were enrolled in investigative trials to find new and better ways of caring for various cancers. The center, in other words, was highly regarded as a superior place to receive care, but because there were few faculty engaged in the types of cutting-edge research that would make the center nationally prominent, the center simply was not getting the attention of the NCI. Then-dean of the College of Medicine, Jerry Reves, M.D., explained that while the center had made steady progress since its opening in 1993, the one goal that had remained elusive was achieving that designation.

Prospects, he added, looked downright bleak.

In 2004, Reves recruited a new center director,

WeighT Continued from Page Three people weigh, up to once a day, the better they do at managing their weight.”

This isn’t the WMC’s first foray into telemedicine.

The center works with businesses and public agencies to provide worksite telehealth programs. Clients include Boeing, South Carolina First Credit Union and the City of Charleston. The WMC has partnered with the Area Health Education Center and four rural clinics to launch Wellness Connect, a program to expand access to underserved areas of the state.

“Wellness Connect allows us to reach many more South Carolinians who, whether by geography or finances, wouldn’t otherwise be able to access the professional weight management services they need,” Brown said.

Andrew Kraft, M.D., who began taking steps to drive Hollings to the next level. He immediately set out to recruit a top-notch administrator — one with a solid NCI track record.

Harrison was just that person, and in 2005, it was her turn to move the family, this time to Charleston.

“Getting the NCI designation was the number one thing on my job description. It said, ‘obtain NCI designation,’ whatever that means and everything that means,” she laughed.

Reves said, "One of the best things to happen to the Hollings Cancer Center was the recruitment of Anita Harrison to assist Cancer Center Director Dr. Andrew Kraft in their unflagging effort to attain NCI designation. Anita had the experience, knowledge and most of all the determination to write and rewrite, practice and practice again our site visits and ensure a near perfect application. Her tireless effort and dedication to this crucial task is a large reason that we have been successful in both applications."

Harrison said: “The NCI designation is the coveted crown jewel. Every medical school wants to have it. But when I got here, we still had a long way to go.”

Because of her experience, Harrison quickly assessed what areas needed building, strengthening or changing.

“We needed infrastructure,” she said, “including prevention and control and physician-scientists if we were going to be competitive.”

The first priorities were to build a top-notch clinical trial office and ramp up efforts to recruit faculty who would dedicate themselves to promising laboratory discoveries that would eventually translate into promising new treatments for cancer patients.

“It was a huge undertaking,” she continued. “We had no defined membership, no defined research programs, a lot of holes in shared resources or cores.

Given my background in trials, what really struck me was that the year before I arrived, we had only placed 47 people in clinical trials. I thought, ‘Oh my.’ When

See Women on page 12 Sessions take place every other week with patients meeting professionals from the WMC via videoconference at their local clinics, which are located throughout South Carolina in Seneca, James Island, Bamberg and Prosperity.

Brown is encouraged by the popularity of the Weight Management Center’s new programs. “We’re really excited. We’ve got folks who have never been in one of our programs signing up. It’s gaining traction across the board.”

MUSC employees are eligible for discounts, and any MUSC employee can payroll deduct the cost of the Focus or Focus Carolina program over 12 months or the cost of home weight monitoring over three months.

For information the Weight Management Center, visit http://www.muschealth.com/weight.

12 The CaTalysT, March 13, 2015

WoMen

Continued from Page Eleven

we went in for the last round in 2013, we had enrolled 367 people in one year.”

The NCI expects a center to have 10 percent of its patients enrolled in clinical trials to apply. “In 2008, we went in with 12 percent and in our renewal in 2013, 14 percent — we came a very long way from having less than 1 percent in 2005.”

Doing so, however, demanded a change in institutional culture. “Dr. Reves was our biggest supporter. He was very clear with everyone that nothing was more important to him than clinical trials. He said every patient should be screened for a clinical trial.”

That became the norm and efforts paid off. Numbers across the board increased — a clear measure of productivity. Kraft, she said, recruited 75 new faculty members to the HCC, 15 of whom were physician scientists. Grant submissions and awards also were up.

“In 2004, we had NCI grants totaling less than $4 million. By 2008, when we first submitted our application for the NCI designation, we had more than

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$12 million in NCI grant dollars. By our renewal in 2013, we were up to $18 million.”

It’s been a journey Harrison is proud of and doesn’t take for granted.

“We’re very fortunate here,” she said of the Hollings Cancer Center.

“Administrators aren’t typically in the same building with patients. What I love about Hollings is, in this sevenstory building, we have so many people coming at this from very different perspectives. Devoted people helping patients, treating patients, scientists working in labs to find cures and develop vaccines to cure cancer or prevent cancer. We’re working on lipids and cancer, genetics and cancer, immunology and cancer, cancer prevention and control. We cross 23 departments.

Major breakthroughs are coming out of Hollings.”

It all comes down to the patients for her. “When you get on the elevator, you can’t help but be struck. You can be standing next to a cancer patient. All the emotions they are feeling are palpable.

And then to be able to ride up to one of the research floors and know how hard

Anita Harrison, middle, and the Hollings Cancer Center leadership team celebrate their NCIdesignation renewal in 2013.

they are all working to find cures for these patients. Every day knowing that together we are making a huge difference — I just love what I do.”

When Harrison received word she was being honored during National Women’s History Month, she was completely surprised. “I found out many people on my team were involved — it felt really good to know I’m highly regarded among my peers. I work with some extraordinary women, and it’s always nice to be recognized.”

Her staff said she leads by example.

Whether it’s at work or church, on her challenge team or leading scouts, she admits that’s what she strives to do. “In Girl Scouts, our mantra is ‘Discover, connect, take action.’ That’s what we do every day at Hollings. We discover a project, we connect with the right people, we make it happen. This was my calling.”

Editor’s note: In honor of Women’s History Month, The Catalyst will feature women who make a difference at MUSC.

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