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.
MVPs Rock!
Congratulations to the five College of Medicine team members who were named Most Valuable Players (MVPs) for 2023. Nominated by colleagues, these individuals were selected as MVPs for their exemplary contributions to their respective programs and our college’s mission, and for simply making UAMS a better place to work. I had the great pleasure of meeting them all in individual presentation ceremonies throughout November and December. The winners were announced in our Spread Kindness newsletter last week, and we will share comments from their nominators in the upcoming February COMmunication newsletter. Meanwhile, for all they do, please join me in thanking our newest MVPs:
Dr. Mauricio Garcia
Associate Professor and Chief, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Dr. Diane Jarrett
Assistant Professor and Director, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Office of Communication and Departmental Relations
Rachel Kelley
Office Manager, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, CORE
Angela Kyzer
Program Manager, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Research and Evaluation Division
Ashley Wilson
Physician Assistant, Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric Heart Surgery
Serving Across Mission Areas
A shout-out to Dr. Tuhin Virmani, Associate Professor of Neurology, for his contributions across our missions of clinical care, research and education. Dr. Virmani is a superb physician-scientist, and he has a passion for teaching and mentoring medical students, residents and fellows in Neurology and other specialties, along with physician assistant students and other young scientists. Likewise, his educational work with patients, caregivers and the community as Director of the Neurodegenerative Disorders Program has helped UAMS to garner national recognitions of excellence for our clinical services in Parkinson’s and related disorders and Huntington’s disease. Dr. Virmani has held numerous educational roles in the department and most recently was named Vice Chair for Education.
International Digital Health Forum
Dr. Spyridoula Maraka, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Program Director of the Endocrinology Fellowship, will be an invited speaker for a forum on digital health at the University of Oxford in the U.K. this Friday. Dr. Maraka was selected for the panel because of her insights as a member of the Endocrine Society panel that wrote a Policy Perspective for the appropriate use of telehealth in endocrinology. In her presentation, she will discuss the effective use of telehealth in the field, including the potential for enhancing access and flexibility in endocrine care for some patients. Dr. Maraka is also internationally known for her expertise in thyroid disease.
Family Medicine Teaching Talks
Dr. Rajalakshmi Cheerla, Associate Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, Clerkship Site Director and Family Medicine Residency Clinic Medical Director at the Baptist-UAMS Medical Education Program, delivered multiple presentations at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Medical Student Education in Atlanta last week. Dr. Cheerla was the lead presenter for a session on conducting an innovative preventive care workshop in clerkship education and for a roundtable discussion on effective clinical teaching in the patient’s presence. She was a co-presenter for a session on designing fourth-year electives in sports medicine.
UAMS Hosts Dermatology Conference
The Department of Dermatology welcomed residents, medical students and faculty from four other schools in the region as the host of the Southern Dermatology Consortium Annual Research Day on the weekend of Feb. 2-3. UAMS residents Dr. Josh Hekmatjah and Dr. Hera Wu presented talks, and Dr. Hekmatjah won first place for his talk, “Allergenicity of 100 popular over-the-counter acne treatments.” UAMS visiting research fellow Caitlyn Dagenet (a medical student at the University of Arizona) and UAMS medical student Jordan Pilkington received first and second place, respectively, for medical student poster presentations. UAMS medical students Mary Phillips, Phoebe Bruffett, Hannah Wu, Mia Alshami and Kayla Perry also presented posters.
EyeWiki Honoree
Third-year Ophthalmology resident Dr. Abdel Elhusseiny has won a prestigious contest sponsored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) for the second consecutive year. Dr. Elhusseiny was one of only four residents and fellows across the country selected as winners of the AAO’s EyeWiki challenge, which recognizes outstanding articles submitted to EyeWiki, an online reference. Dr. Elhusseiny won the challenge for the article “Biosimilars in Ophthalmology.” UAMS co-authors included Professor Dr. Sami Uwaydat and medical student Ramsey Ghaleb. Dr. Elhusseiny will be honored at the AAO Mid-Year Forum in April.
Thoracic Surgery Advocacy
Dr. Matthew Steliga, a Professor in the Division of Thoracic Surgery, and General Surgery residents Dr. Seana Corbin and Dr. Lauren Johnson recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Leadership and Advocacy Program. The UAMS team met with members of the Arkansas delegation including Sen. John Boozman, Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. French Hill as well as with STS leadership, to discuss workforce shortage issues and an initiative to expand coverage for lung cancer screening. Here’s a photo of their visit with Sen. Boozman.