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!
Weathering the Storm
On Monday, I expressed gratitude for all who braved the winter storms last week to be here for our patients. As I said in an email to the COM Team, these selfless individuals represent multiple professions here at UAMS. I extended a special thanks to our hardworking residents. We reached out to our departments for names of those who stayed at the hospital or helped in other ways, and I shared some of those on Monday. Happily, our list has grown, and you can read the updated list here.
We received some amazing stories as well as names. For instance, Dr. John Pagteilan, Chief Resident in General Surgery, shared several examples of remarkable actions by fellow residents. He added, “Through it all, I witnessed the incredible sense of family within our program and unrelenting sense of duty to the care of our patients from all of our residents in this largely unprecedented time.”
As a reminder, this Friday is Thank a Resident Day. Be sure to let a resident know how much we appreciate them!
Teamwork Champion
A round of applause for Dr. Bobby Boyanton, Professor of Pathology and Pathology Service Chief for Arkansas Children’s, this year’s winner of the Drs. Joanna J. & Robert W. Seibert Award for outstanding teamwork. “During one of our most challenging years, Dr. Boyanton stood out as a shining example of why we give this award,” Arkansas Children’s President and CEO Marcy Doderer said in a video tribute. “He collaborated across our entire health system to ensure our COVID-19 testing process was optimized for success.” Watch the video to learn more about Dr. Boyanton and his team’s exceptional work.
Rising Star
Congratulations to Shannon Giger, Service Line and Department Administrator for Emergency Medicine, on being selected to receive the Rising Star Award from the Academy of Administrators in Academic Emergency Medicine (AAAEM). Shannon will be honored at a virtual awards luncheon in March. She is being recognized for a number of activities within the national organization, including her service as Chair of the AAAEM Communications Committee.
Distinguished Service
Ashley Sanders, Manager of Operations and Fellowship Program Coordinator for the Department of Pathology, has been selected to receive the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Administrator Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Pathology Chairs (APC). Ashley will be recognized at the APC annual meeting in July for exemplary work in medical education, her advocacy for GME at the institutional and national level, and her service in the organization’s GME Administrators Section. Congratulations!
Center of Excellence
UAMS has been designated as a Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) Center of Excellence. Congratulations to Dr. Tuhin Virmani, Associate Professor of Neurology and Director of the Movement Disorders Program, and Dr. Rohit Dhall, Associate professor and Director of Neurodegenerative Disorders, who will co-direct the clinic. The designation recognizes the exceptional care Dr. Virmani, Dr. Dhall and their team provide for Arkansans with the inherited, progressively disabling disorder. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.
Podcast Guest
Dr. Gloria Richard-Davis, Executive Director of the UAMS Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor and Director of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, did a superb job as the featured guest of a recent podcast from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Dr. Richard-Davis discussed her own journey and career as well as the future of diversity, equity and inclusion in reproductive medicine. Click here to listen.
In the Spotlight
Dr. Erick Messias and Dr. Paulette Mehta were coauthors of “Successful Aging,” a publication spotlighted in Springer Nature 2020 Highlights, a selection of the most popular and impactful articles and book chapters published last year. Dr. Messias, Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, and Dr. Mehta, Professor of Internal Medicine/Hematology-Oncology, were joined on the project by former UAMS psychiatry resident Dr. Romika Dhar, who is now at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. “Successful Aging” was published in early 2020 as a chapter in Positive Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychology, for which Dr. Messias also served as a co-editor.
Consortium Members
Dr. Linda Larson-Prior (Psychiatry), Dr. Hari Eswaran (Obstetrics/Gynecology/Institute for Digital Health & Innovation) and Dr. Diana Escalona-Vargas (Pediatric Neurology) have been invited to serve on a working group within the University of Southern California’s ENIGMA Consortium. The consortium brings together researchers in imaging genomics, neurology and psychiatry, to understand brain structure and function based on MRI, DTI, fMRI, genetic data and many patient populations. The UAMS colleagues will lend their expertise to the ENIGMA-MEG group, which is performing a meta-analysis of functional brain activity as measured by magnetoencephalography, or MEG.
National Service
Dr. Stanley Ellis, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of Education for the Institute for Digital Health and Innovation, has been reappointed as a Peer Corps member in the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The HLC, formerly the North Central Association, accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in Arkansas and 18 other states. At the conclusion of his reappointment, Dr. Ellis will have served as Peer Corps member for the past 10 years and in this capacity plays an essential role as a peer reviewer in all stages of the accreditation process. Well done.
ASA Fellow
Congratulations to Dr. Indranil (Neil) Chakraborty, Professor of Anesthesiology and Chief of Neuroanesthesia, on being selected as a Fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (FASA). The designation recognizes ASA members exhibiting the highest standards in professionalism, leadership, advocacy for the profession and patient safety, and education.
Nurses Rock
Amid the snowstorm last week, The Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine team’s Jay White, DNP, APRN, sent me a heartwarming message about the team’s specialty nurses. Like many other areas, the team was juggling working remotely, managing greater numbers of telemedicine visits and much more. Ms. White said kudos were particularly in order for Carla Harris, RN, who has selflessly shouldered extra responsibilities in the past and had a particularly heavy load filling in for a colleague who had to be away last week. I want to emphasize how very much we appreciate our outstanding nursing colleagues every day – and especially in challenging times.