From left, Joanne Leahy, executive director of marketing, William O’Neill, Joshua Hare, and Jeni Vazquez, director of marketing.

UHealth/Miller is the proud recipient of an Emmy Award for Stem Cell Therapy: Healing Force of the Future, the fourth episode in the television documentary series Breakthrough Medicine. The award ceremony for the Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Awards was held on December 4, with more than 400 guests in attendance from television markets across Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Puerto Rico. The show won in the category of Public/Current/Community Affairs.

In their acceptance remarks William O’Neill, executive dean for clinical affairs and chief medical officer of UHealth, and Joshua Hare, the Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine and director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, thanked President Donna E. Shalala and Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt for their vision in creating the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute and for their support of the documentary series.

“Thank you also to our patients for their courage and for sharing their stories with the community,” added O’Neill.

The Stem Cell episode first aired in July of 2010. It will re-air Saturday, January 8, as part of a series of shows to run during the month on WPLG, Local Channel 10. The series also will include the newest episode, “Bariatric Surgery: Changing Lives.”

Two other Breakthrough Medicine episodes—“To Walk Another Day: Leg Saving Transplant Surgery,” showcasing orthopedic surgical innovations and the Miami Tissue Bank, and “Sports Injuries Threaten Active Futures,” highlighting the breakthroughs of UHealth Sports Medicine—also were nominated for Emmys.

The Breakthrough Medicine series debuted in April 2009 with the first show, “Mending Broken Hearts: Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement.” Since then, hundreds of thousands have viewed subsequent episodes and have seen first-hand what sets UHealth/Miller apart as doctors and scientists discover cures for diseases, save lives with new surgical procedures, and give hope to patients who feared they might not see another day.

The Breakthrough Medicine series, produced by Daniel Brian Associates, is managed by the UHealth Office of Marketing under the direction of Joanne Leahy, executive director, and Jeni Vazquez, director and in-house series producer. For more information about the series, please contact the Office of Marketing at 305-243-3453.

Also at Saturday night’s award ceremony, NBC6 reporter Diana Gonzalez and cameraman Steve Paine won an Emmy in the Continuing Coverage category for their series of news stories about the Miller School’s medical relief effort in Haiti. They specifically told the story of Baby Jenny, who was treated by UM doctors in Haiti, airlifted to Miami for lifesaving continuing care, and later reunited with her family from Haiti in Miami.