Robin K. Dreisigacker, J.D.
Associate Dean, Administration, Chief Operating Officer
Robin Dreisigacker served in management and executive roles in academic medical centers for 20 years prior to her recruitment to the UAMS College of Medicine in 2015. Ms. Dreisigacker’s interest in academic medicine was ignited while serving as a project manager on a physician outreach project at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. She has since gone on to hold management and leadership roles in areas spanning operations, strategic planning, communications and government relations at both the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. From 2012 to 2015, she operated a strategic planning/management consulting practice and launched a general civil legal practice in New Mexico. Ms. Dreisigacker received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she was honored with the Health Law Scholar Award. She received a Bachelor of Arts with distinction in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Contact Ms. Dreisigacker: 501-686-5393 | RKDreisigacker@uams.edu
Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs
Dr. Erick Messias was named associate dean for Faculty Affairs in May 2017. He is also a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, where he held leadership positions from 2010 to 2015. Dr. Messias leads faculty processes related to recruitment, evaluation and promotion & tenure. He works with the associate provost for faculty and UAMS Faculty Center to support faculty development and foster professionalism. Dr. Messias received his medical degree from the Federal University of Ceará School of Medicine in Brazil in 1996. He completed his general psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt Program followed by a Master of Public Health, residency in preventive medicine, and Ph.D. in psychiatric epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has held faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins, the Medical College of Georgia and his alma mater in Brazil.
Contact Dr. Messias: 501-526-7668 | ELMessias@uams.edu
Sara Tariq, M.D.
Associate Dean, Student Affairs
Dr. Sara Tariq, a nationally recognized leader in medical education, was named to the newly established position of associate dean for student affairs in April 2019. Dr. Tariq, a professor of internal medicine, has served on the faculty since 2002. She was appointed assistant dean for undergraduate clinical education in 2009. Dr. Tariq has been integral to numerous educational initiatives in the college, including the development of clinical skills education programs, integration of clinical experiences in the first two years of the curriculum, creation of the college’s Academic Houses, and teaching-focused faculty development. Dr. Tariq graduated from UAMS in 1998. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Her national honors include the Herbert S. Waxman Award for Outstanding Medical Student Educator from the American College of Physicians in 2010.
Contact Dr. Tariq: 501-526-5968 | TariqSaraG@uams.edu
Molly M. Gathright, M.D.
Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education
Dr. Molly Gathright, an associate professor of psychiatry, was appointed associate dean for graduate medical education (GME) and Designated Institutional Official for the college in August 2019. Dr. Gathright received her medical degree from the College of Medicine in 2003 and remained at UAMS for a general psychiatry residency and a fellowship in child/adolescent psychiatry. An award-winning educator, she has been active in residency education since joining the faculty in 2008. Dr. Gathright served as program director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency until becoming assistant dean for GME in 2016. Her other leadership roles have included directing the Transitional Year Residency and Faculty Wellness. Her areas of scholarship have focused on professional learning environments and physician burnout. She is a fellow in the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the American College of Psychiatrists.
Contact Dr. Gathright: 501-686-8158 | GathrightMollyM@uams.edu
Frederick “Rick” E. Barr, M.D., M.B.A.
Associate Dean for Children’s Health
Dr. Rick Barr has served as professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics and associate dean for child health in the UAMS College of Medicine and as pediatrician-in-chief for Arkansas Children’s since October 2017. Dr. Barr received his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1988. He completed his residency in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University and continued his training as a pediatric critical care clinical fellow and cardiovascular research fellow at the University of California San Francisco. He was on the faculty and held numerous leadership posts at Vanderbilt from 1995 to 2010 and then at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati in 2010-2011. Dr. Barr was recruited in 2011 to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Children’s of Mississippi/Batson Children’s Hospital, where he served as the Suzan B. Thames Endowed Professor, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and senior associate dean for graduate medical education prior to his recruitment to UAMS.
Contact Dr. Barr: 501-364-5262 | FBarr@uams.edu
Linda L.M. Worley, M.D.
Associate Dean for Northwest Arkansas
Dr. Linda Worley is a professor of psychiatry and nationally recognized psychiatrist who has held numerous leadership roles on the faculty. As associate dean since February 2018, she oversees initiatives to strengthen and grow the college’s burgeoning education, clinical and research programs in Northwest Arkansas. Dr. Worley received her medical degree and completed her general psychiatry residency followed by a year of fellowship training in child psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She first joined the UAMS faculty in 1992. Among many accomplishments, Dr. Worley founded the Women’s Mental Health Program and authored guidelines for the state of Arkansas under UAMS’ ANGELS program. She has been based in Northwest Arkansas full-time since early 2014 and served as the Physician Mental Health Chief Officer for the South Central United States Veterans Integrated Services Network from 2016 until assuming her current post.
Contact Dr. Worley: 479-713-8301 | WorleyLindaL@uams.edu