Here are this week’s Accolades, a roundup of some of the honors and accomplishments of College of Medicine and UAMS faculty, staff, residents, fellows and students I’ve heard about recently.
Inspiring Future Scientists and Clinicians
An important part of our mission is to inspire the next generation of scientists and clinicians. Laboratory experiences and mentoring provided by faculty members, staff and graduate students in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology have contributed to impressive research and award-winning presentations at local, regional and statewide competitions by several Arkansas high school students. Now, students Nyera Ali, Akshara Chevireddy, Carmella Lewis and Meera Patel have been invited to compete in either the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair – the world’s largest STEM research competition for high school students – or the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.
The students’ mentors include faculty members Wayne Wahls, Alicia Byrd and Robert Eoff, Staff Scientist Dr. Reine Protacio, and graduate students Ben May, Reham Sewilam and Bethany Paxton. Kudos to these team members and all of you who devote time to mentoring young Arkansans. For stories about the students and their projects, click here.
National Leadership in Obstetric Anesthesia
Dr. Jill Mhyre, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology as Chair of its Research Committee. Dr. Mhyre will lend her expertise to the society’s work to advance and advocate for the health of pregnant women and their babies through research, education and best practices in obstetric anesthesia care for a three-year term starting in July.
Highschoolers Learn about Kidney Transplants
The UAMS Northwest Regional Campus recently hosted an engaging workshop focused on the kidneys and kidney transplantation for ninth graders from four area school districts. The workshop was co-led by Dr. Kevin Phelan, Professor of Neuroscience, and transplant surgeon Dr. John Montgomery, Assistant Professor of Surgery. Dr. Phelan is Program Director of the NIAID-funded AR Tech DaSH (Arkansas Technology and Data Science in Health & Medicine) R25 grant, which funded the workshop. Thanks also to medical student volunteers Cade Richesin (M1) and Chloe Cline (M3), along with Education Coordinators Ana Sanchez and Sandra Perez. Eighteen students participated in a full day of hands-on activities. Learn more and see photos from the event in this UAMS Northwest Facebook post.
Student Volunteers Still Key to Popular “Girlology” Workshops
Medical student volunteers have been essential to the smashing success of the “Girlology” workshops hosted by Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology about twice a year since 2022. The latest sold-out workshop to help girls ages 8-14 face puberty with greater confidence, held at UAMS on April 6, was no exception. Special thanks to third-year student and volunteer coordinator Ashton Jones, along with students Khadeeja Asif, Shazeena Ashraf, Bailey Bean, Alexandra Carrasquillo, Makenzie Cole, Eliana John, Jade-Michael Matthews, Tessa Moore, Macy Owens and Naya Taylor. OB/GYN Chair Dr. Nirvana Manning and faculty members Dr. Kathryn Stambough and Dr. Laura Hollenbach aren’t resting on their laurels. In addition to hosting future Girlology workshops, they are working to plan Arkansas’ first-ever “Guyology” puberty education program for boys.