Veritas, Vol. 41, No. 06, March 1999

              Veritas
March 1999
Volume 41 • Number 6
For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami
Medical specialists first to apply new skin to newborn
Thanks to the University of Miami/Jackson Children’s Hospital, a South Florida baby born with an extremely painful and potentially lethal skin disorder is the first in the world to benefit from the application of a new, labora-tory grown “bio-engineered skin.”
Made from a mixture of living human cells and collagen derived from cows, the skin is commercially known as Apligraf.
Eight-week-old Tori Cameron, born with nearly 70 percent of her body covered in blisters, suffers from epidermolysis bullosa, a disease so unforgiving the slightest friction on her skin can result in painful blisters and lead to scarring, recurring infections, and raw spots similar to second-degree burns. This disorder can also cause blistering in the linings of the airway and the esophagus, making breathing and eating painful or difficult.
But dermatologists at the UM/ Jackson Children’s Hospital, conducting clinical trials on bio-engineered skin, are treating Tori with Apligraf. “This product may be an ideal

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Anna Fallabella (left)y assistant professor of dermatology, and Lawrence Schachner (right), director., pediatric dermatology, apply the revolutionary skin over most of baby Tories little body, while her father (center) closely looks on.
graft and make a world of difference for children like Tori, who do not have normal anchoring of their skin,” says Lawrence Schachner, director, pediatric dermatology. “Epidermolysis bullosa
has forms in which structural anchors are decreased in number or missing altogether, so the skin blisters and erodes very easily. With this unique graft, its our hope that the new cells
will eventually take over, colonize Tori’s skin, and allow for better anchoring and cohesion.”
Currendy, medical science offers no effective treatment to reduce the anguish of this disease. As a result, babies like Tori are so vulnerable to skin injury they often sleep on special beds, eat liquid diets, and suffer blistering from normal activities such as crawling, walking, and even eating. If Apligraf can make the skin more cohesive, then the mummy-like wrappings applied to these children to protect them from injury may no longer be necessary.
“Previously, we were forced to treat the blistered areas with dressings only. So from a wound healing perspective, this is a very exciting development,” says Anna Falabella, assistant professor of dermatology. “We are going to make a positive impact on the quality of her life.”
As a result of all the publicity surrounding the University’s medical firsts, about 15 children from throughout the United States will be coming to the Department of Dermatology this month for similar treatment.
University hosts memorial tribute to Dante B. Fascell
The University of Miami
honored the late Congressman Dante B. Fascell, one of South Florida’s most noted statesmen and a distinguished trustee and alumnus of the University, at a memorial service held in January at the Gusman Concert Hall on the Coral Gables campus.
President Edward T. Foote II, who presided at the public event, University Board of Trustees Chairman Leonard Miller, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, 11 th Judicial Circuit Judge Jeffrey Rosinek, Holland & Knight Senior Partner Chesterfield Smith, and VITAS Healthcare Corporation CEO and Chairman Hugh Westbrook all paid tribute to Fascell. U.S. Senator Bob Graham, who could not attend the memorial, sent a touching letter of remembrance that President Foote read in his absence.
The tribute honored Fascell for his public serv ice and his lifelong devotion to South Florida. The program included performances by students and faculty from the School of Music, the St. Andrews' Pipe Band of Miami, and students from the Dante B. Fascell Elementary School.
Several of the tributaries recalled Fascell's annual Labor Day picnics, during which the St. .Andrews pipe band would always open. And so, fittingly, did the stirring music open “the celebration of the life of a very good man,
who touched the lives of each person and made the world a better place,” said Foote, to an audience of about 500 friends, dignitaries, and family members, including the late congressman’s wife, Jeanne-Marie Pelot.
Everyone who spoke at the service recalled the same man, one who was down to earth, full of humility, and always ready to help. Leonard Miller remembered Fascell “as a very uncommon leader, who never forgot his roots and never forgot the common touch.”
Jeffrey Rosinek recounted a story when he was a high school teacher and put in a call to his congressman. “I couldn’t believe [Fascell] called me himself,” said Rosinek, who went on to describe the once-in-a lifetime opportunity Fascell arranged for his students— to meet with many high-ranking government figures during their class trip to Washington, D.C. “It was an experience that touched us all—an experience of a lifetime,” said Rosinek.
Fascell’s grandson Benjamin Diamond seemed to echo all the speakers’ sentiments when he said that the great man his grandfather was in public was exactly who he was in priv ate.
Know n for his compassion, honesty, and fairness, Fascell served as a United States congressman for 38 years and was regarded as Congress' leading expert on Latin .America and the Caribbean. In 1991, he was instrumental in obtaining significant federal funding
(From left to right) President Edward T. Foote II, University Board of Trustees Chairman Leonard AI Hier, Mia m i- Dade County AI ay or Alex Penelas, 11th Judicial Circuit Judge Jeffrey Rosinek, Holland dr Knight Senior Partner Chesterfield Smith, and VITAS Healthcare Corporation CEO and Chair-man Hugh Westbrook all shared fond memories of the late Dante B. Fascell.
for the North-South Center, a public policy institute that specializes in the study of Western Hemisphere relations. In recognition of his support, the center was named the Dante B. Fascell North-South Center in October of 1998. That same month, he became one of only 360 .Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Fascell attended the University of Miami on a full scholarship and graduated from the School of Law in 1938.
He served on the University’s Board of Trustees, the Visiting Committee of the School of Law*, and the lawr school’s Building Committee. He was aw arded an honorary Doctor of Law s degree from the University in 1988.
Upon his retirement from Congress, Fascell entered the private practice of law’ and continued to serve the public through his many communin’ affiliations. At his death on November 28, 1998, he was a partner at the law’ firm of Holland & Knight.