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!
International Collaboration
Dr. Spyridoula Maraka, Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and a leading expert on thyroid diseases in pregnancy, is the senior author on an article published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, the world-leading endocrine research journal. The article stems from an international collaboration across institutions from 12 countries that aimed to assess whether thyroid function test abnormalities during pregnancy are associated with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. Dr. Maraka also was recently invited to serve on the American Thyroid Association Task Force that is updating guidelines for the diagnosis and management of thyroid disease during preconception, pregnancy and postpartum. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom. Congratulations on these latest accomplishments, Dr. Maraka!
Fellowship Accreditation
A shout-out to Dr. Rebecca Cantu, Associate Professor of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and Director of the newly established Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship, for her hard work and success in achieving initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Dr. Cindy Nguyen will pause from her role as an Assistant Professor to train as the state’s first pediatric hospital medicine fellow starting in July. Pediatric Hospital Medicine is the newest pediatric subspecialty, with Arkansas’ four board-certified pediatric hospitalists all at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s.
Sharing Pathology Expertise
The Department of Pathology will be well represented at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) annual meeting later this month. As a member of the USCAP education committee, Dr. Matt Quick will be faculty for a special course, “Seeing the Light: How to Help Medical Students Discover the Hidden Gem of Pathology,” as well as serve as an invited speaker for “Hot Topics: Diagnostic Issues in Vulvar Pathology” and in other integral activities. Third-year resident Dr. Azin Mashayekhi, who is mentored by Dr. Quick, will present her research on P53 expression in mucinous borderline tumors with intraepithelial carcinoma.
In addition, Dr. Murat Gokden has served as the American Association of Neuropathologists Liaison officer to USCAP for six years and co-chairs and moderates the AANP Companion Society Meeting. Pathology Chair Dr. Jennifer Laudadio has been invited to serve as faculty for a short course, “Minding your Ps and Qs: Process and Quality Improvement in Anatomic Pathology,” for the third year.
Med School in the Pandemic
The pandemic has reshaped the medical school experience for aspiring physicians across the country. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) talked with five medical students about their experiences, including UAMS junior Austin Morgan. In the newly released video, Austin comments on how students entering clinical training had to “learn on the fly” a little more than their predecessors due to limitations on pre-clinical simulations with standardized patients. But Austin astutely noticed something that hasn’t changed. “What I have seen in the hospital,” he said, “is the continued diligence by the attendings and the residents, the nursing staff and all of the health care professionals, in providing high-quality patient care, even during the pandemic.” Great job, Austin!
Three-Minute Thesis
Bravo to all of the competitors and finalists in UAMS’ annual Three-Minute Thesis (3 MT) competition – and congratulations to the winners. COM senior Jackson Mosley won first place for “Correlating Ytrium-90 PET/CT Absorbed Dose with Tumor Response from Glass-Microsphere Radio Embolization.” His mentors were Dr. Jeff Lynch (Interventional Radiology resident) and Dr. James Meek (Radiology). Second place went to third-year medical student Christine Hsu, for “Authentic versus Replica: Diagnosis of Papilledema versus Pseudopapilledema in Children Using Oral Fluorescein Angiography.” Her mentor was Dr. Paul Phillips (Ophthalmology).Graduate School Ph.D. candidate Lance Benson received the People’s Choice Award for “A Salty Immune System: CD8+ T Cells and the Pathogenesis of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension.” His mentor was Dr. Shengyu Mu (Pharmacology/Toxicology).
Kudos to Dr. Melanie MacNicol (Neurobiology/Developmental Sciences), Dr.Tom Kelly (Pathology) and Dr. Antino Allen (College of Pharmacy) for serving as judges at the finals, all of this year’s mentors, and very special thanks to Dr. Bobby McGehee, Graduate School Dean and Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics..
Arkansas Children’s Honors Excellence
Finally this week, congratulations to the phenomenal faculty members and teams at Arkansas Children’s who recently received annual awards for their contributions to clinical care, research, quality improvement, teamwork and more. If you check out the video tributes for each of these awards, you will see dedication and passion for improving the health of children in action!
Dr. Franscesca Miquel-Verges, neonatologist and Medical Director of Neonatal Transport at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, received the Ruth Olive Beall Award for exemplifying the values of safety, teamwork, compassion and excellence, and for championing recent efforts related to communication and handoff. Learn more in this video tribute.
The Section on Community Pediatrics, led by Dr. Eddie Ochoa, received the Drs. Joanna J. & Robert W. Seibert Award for outstanding teamwork, communication and collaboration in the care of patients and their families. Learn more in this video tribute.
Dr. Jessica Snowden, who serves as Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Vice Chair for Research among many other leadership roles, received the Dr. Robert H. Fiser Jr. Research Achievement Award for her impact on research to improve the health of children in Arkansas and beyond. Learn more in this video tribute.
Dr. Snowden and Dr. Rebecca Cantu received the Diane S. Mackey Quality Award for their leadership of a hospital-wide project to improve influenza rates in children. Learn more in this video tribute.
The Dr. Tom Ed Townsend Award, presented to a community physician or practice for excellence and support of Arkansas Children’s, went to UAMS alumnus Dr. Meghan Repp of the Central Arkansas Pediatric Clinic in Benton. Here is Dr. Repp’s video tribute.