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.
Transformative Initiative Earns Advocacy Award
Congratulations to Dr. Kapil Arya, Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Neurology, on being selected to receive the 2025 Viste Patient Advocate of the Year Award from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Dr. Arya, who directs the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and spasticity programs at Arkansas Children’s, will be honored at the AAN annual meeting in April for his outstanding work with SMA, including his leadership to implement statewide newborn screening for the rare disease.
If not detected and treated within a few weeks of birth, SMA can be debilitating and often fatal. The Arkansas General Assembly enacted a law requiring newborn screening for SMA in 2019, but a complex system was still needed for the screening to become routine across the state. Dr. Arya developed the system as a UAMS Translational Research Institute Implementation Science Scholar in the UAMS Center for Implementation Research in 2020. (Read more about this transformative initiative in this UAMS news story.) In addition to receiving the AAN award, Dr. Arya will present the AAN’s priorities to congressional lawmakers as part of the “Neurology on the Hill” advocacy program in 2025.
Award Honors Service in Respiratory Care
Dr. Ariel Berlinski, Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Pulmonology, received the 2024 Albert H. Andrews Jr, M.D., Award from the National Board of Respiratory Care (NBRC). The annual award recognizes a physician who has contributed significantly to the development of respiratory care and the organizations supporting the profession. Dr. Berlinski has served as a consultant for the neonatal-pediatric certification issued by the NBRC for the past 17 years. At Arkansas Children’s, Dr. Berlinski serves as Medical Director of the Pulmonary Diagnostic Laboratory, Medical Director of Respiratory Care Services, and Director of the Arkansas Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Center. Dr. Berlinski also directs the Pediatric Aerosol Research Laboratory at Arkansas Children’s Research Institute.
Hypertension Control Champions
Congratulations to Dr. Tabasum Imran, Medical Director of UAMS’ Fort Smith Family Medical Center, and team on being designated as a 2024 Hypertension Control Champion by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as part of the agency’s Million Hearts Campaign. The national initiative recognizes clinicians, practices and health systems that have achieved blood pressure control for at least 80% of their patients with hypertension. Dr. Imran, an Associate Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, also serves as Assistant Service Line Director for Quality in the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line. Clinical Services Manager Brenda Morris and Quality Improvement Coordinator Virginia King also had essential roles in the clinic becoming one of only two in Arkansas to achieve the designation.
National Honor in Bioethics
A shout-out to Dr. Micah Hester, Professor and Chair of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, on his election as a Fellow of the Hastings Center, the premier interdisciplinary professional organization and research institute in the field of bioethics. Hastings Center Fellows are recognized as leaders in areas of global importance in bioethics, and whose work has informed scholarship and public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science and technology. As a leading expert in “pragmatic bioethics,” Dr. Hester has written and lectured extensively on the ethics of patient-professional relationships and end-of-life issues. The Hastings Fellow election was just the latest honor for Dr. Hester. In September, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.
Championing Women in the Thyroid Field
Dr. Spyridoula Maraka, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, has been named Chair-Elect of the American Thyroid Association’s Women in Thyroidology. The organization works to address the unique challenges of women in the field, promote gender equity in the thyroidology workforce, and celebrate the achievements and contributions of women advancing thyroid research and clinical care. Dr. Maraka is an internationally recognized expert in thyroid disease. She also currently serves on an expert panel that develops clinical practice guidelines for the Endocrine Society. At UAMS, she serves as Program Director for the Endocrinology Fellowship.
Anesthesiology Diversity Teaching Initiative Earns Grant
Department of Anesthesiology Professor Dr. Faiza Khan and Assistant Professor Dr. Michelle Tenorio have been awarded a Diversity Mentoring Grant from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). The grant will support an initiative to develop an objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) to teach learners behavioral skills related to communication challenges and diversity, equity and inclusion topics. The ASA grants are aimed at fostering diversity within the anesthesiology community through mentorship-focused projects involving research, education, political advocacy or an organized medicine endeavor.
Supplement Guest Editor
Dr. Bobby Boyanton, Professor of Pathology and Chief of Pathology at Arkansas Children’s, shared his expertise as guest editor for a supplement in the Journal of Infectious Diseases focusing on laboratory and point-of-care diagnostics for pharyngitis. Dr. Boyanton was the first author or lead author on three reviews covering the topics of emerging and remerging pharyngitis pathogens; current laboratory and point-of-care pharyngitis diagnostic testing and knowledge gaps; and diagnostic potential for collaborative pharyngitis biomarkers.
Military Match
Congratulations to our medical students who matched to programs in the U.S. Military Match last week as the next step in their service to our nation and the field of medicine. They include Andrew Brown, who will train in ophthalmology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Luke Livingston, who will train in family medicine at Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. We are all thankful to them and all our military students for their commitment to service. Meanwhile, most of our seniors will have to wait until next March 21, when the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) culminates in Match Day 2025, to learn their match location. We’re rooting for you all!