As runners and their battered feet crossed the Biscayne Boulevard finish line of the ING Marathon and Half Marathon Sunday morning, the nearly 18,000 men and women signaled victory in various ways: Some raised their hands in triumph, some struck happy poses, and some collapsed in the arms of marathon officials who promptly took them to be checked out by Miller School physicians and volunteers who staffed a UHealth clinic at the event.

Among the throng of triumphant was Marc Buoniconti, President of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, who rolled his wheelchair across the finish line with Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., by his side. They broke out in smiles and Dean Goldschmidt, who was participating in his third ING Marathon, made the victory symbol and then hoisted a sign that said, "Run for those who can't."

Dean Goldschmidt, who ran the half marathon, and Buoniconti, who joined the Dean for the last stretch, coordinated the joint victory lap to help bring more attention to the efforts of the Miller School physicians and scientists and their partners who move closer every day to curing paralysis.

A team of physician-scientists from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, including a Nobel Laureate, have demonstrated that growth hormone-releasing hormone agonists (GHRH-A) can stimulate major recovery of the heart injured by a heart attack. GHRH is a master regulator of growth hormone that is produced by the brain. Joshua M. Hare, M.D., Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, was the principal investigator of the study that included fifteen researchers, among them co-senior author Andrew V. Schally, Ph.D., M.D.h.c., D.Sc.h.c., the 1977 Nobel Prize winner for Physiology or Medicine, Distinguished Medical Research Scientist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and distinguished professor in the Department of Pathology at the Miller School of Medicine. Their work is published in the January 18 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After seeing and handling both healthy and diseased organs, nearly 500 science students at Miami's Thomas Jefferson Middle School got a close-up view of the consequences of unhealthy lifestyle choices last month. About 25 members of the Miller School's innovative Community Outreach and Teaching Services, or COATS program, brought the human brains, and healthy and diseased lungs, livers and hearts to the Miami school on Jan. 25 to show students how cigarette smoking, excessive drinking, fatty diets, sedentary lifestyles and other adverse choices affect the body. Founded last year by Mark Salem and Conrad Macon, both second-year students, COATS members have, so far, visited four area schools and are on pace this year to visit one a month - providing unforgettable and invaluable lessons to their future patients. "They're just blown away,'' Salem said. "At first, they think it's going to be a normal lecture but, when we pull out a brain, their eyes pop open. They want to see it up close and touch it. You get all kinds of remarks like, 'I want to be doctor.'"

March 1 is fast approaching, and will mark the first day the entire University of Miami and Jackson Memorial medical campus, from the parking garages and buildings to the courtyards and walkways, will be smoke free. Thanks to a new policy adopted by the Miller School of Medicine and UHealth - University of Miami Health System and Jackson Health System, employees, patients and guests will no longer be permitted to smoke on campus.

The smoke-free policy will cover all property owned or leased by the Miller School and Jackson Health System on the medical campus. In addition to buildings, smoking will be prohibited in all outdoor areas on campus, including the Schoninger Research Quadrangle, parking garages or in vehicles parked on campus. The Jackson North and South facilities also will fall under the smoke-free banner.

The Genetics, Exercise and Research study, or GEAR, continued enrolling participants at the Medical Wellness Center's third annual New Year event last month. The John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (HIHG), in collaboration with the Wellness Center, is enlisting healthy but sedentary individuals willing to participate in a customized 12-week training program. The goal is to enroll 300 participants, mostly from the UM community, and so far 65 have signed up.

Led by co-principal investigators Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., and Evadnie Rampersaud, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and a member of the HIHG, the GEAR team hopes to identify genetic and lifestyle factors that influence how people respond to physical activity. The perks are enticing: Participants will receive two free blood tests and cholesterol screenings, pre- and post-fitness assessments, a month of supervised training and a tailor-made exercise program. Some participants over 50 also will be able to join a small pilot project that uses a specialized computer to combine physical and cognitive exercise. To learn more or to enroll, send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 1-877-686-6444.