Repurposing Optinose and Camostat for COVID 19

Dr. Harrison attended Vanderbilt University on a Founder’s Scholarship as a National Merit Semi-Finalist and received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Rollins College after completing an accelerated three-year program. He spent a year in medical research at the University of Kentucky Medical School where he then attended medical school. While in medical school at the University of Kentucky, he studied law at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky and completed internship, Internal Medicine residency and Cardiology Fellowship at the University of South Florida where he was a Special Fellow of the Florida Heart Association. He was acting Director of the Cath Lab at the VA Hospital for 3 months prior to finishing his training. He is a founding physician of the University of South Florida Medical School. He was co-director of the Cardiology Center at Tampa General Hospital for thirteen years and directed noninvasive cardiology for seven years where he started echocardiography and nuclear cardiology. At Tampa General he performed over 14,000 heart catheterizations, numerous coronary angioplasties, cardiac electrophysiologic studies and myocardial biopsies and was a transplant cardiologist on the transplant team for three years. He and his colleagues started the first outpatient cardiovascular health center in Tampa at Memorial Hospital where he is currently the Medical Director and where he has directed the cardiac rehabilitation program. His non-invasive cardiology interests are 3D echo, multi-slice CAT scan imaging of the coronaries, Cardiac PET/CT, Cardiac MRI, and hybrid imaging.

Dr. Harrison received the Founder’s Scholarship to Vanderbilt University, a grant from the Florida Heart Association as a special cardiac Fellow and a grant from the Florida Regional Medical Program to study sudden death. He and his associates originated the paramedic services of Tampa Fire Rescue and Hillsborough County Medical Services and he served as Medical Director for each service for many years. He was also given the key to the City of Tampa by Tampa Mayor Dick Greco for his work with the Fire Rescue paramedics and was honored by Hillsborough County EMS for his founding work when he was a cardiac fellow. He has served in many administrative positions, voluntary groups and government organizations. Among his administrative responsibilities, he was the managing partner of an 11-physician cardiology group and medical service organization for several years. Dr. Harrison is currently the National Director of Advanced Cardiac Imaging of Iasi Healthcare Inc .  which owns and operates 15 acute care hospitals in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. Dr. Harrison was one of first to use the therapeutic hypothermia for Cardiac Arrest patients. He began to use this treatment clinically shortly after the landmark articles were published in February 2002. He is currently integrating hypothermic medicine into the IASIS healthcare system. He has served as a consultant for many national companies associated with cardiac imaging. Dr. Harrison started and directs the Joint Memorial Hospital / University of South Florida Medical School Advanced Cardiac Imaging Program for practicing physicians, cardiac fellows, and medical student training. He is a preceptor for the University of South Florida Medical School, Saba University Medical School of the Netherland Antilles, CSU College of Pharmacy in Chicago, and Midwestern University College of Pharmacy.