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!
Rising Star in Research
Congratulations to Dr. Taren Swindle, Assistant Professor in Family and Preventive Medicine, on being selected as the 2021 recipient of the Norman Kretchmer Award in Nutrition and Development from the American Society for Nutrition (ASN). Dr. Swindle will be recognized at the ASN’s Nutrition 2021 virtual conference in June. The Kretchmer Award is given to a young investigator for a substantial body of independent research in the field of nutrition and development with potential to improve child health. At UAMS, Dr. Swindle is being promoted to Associate Professor effective July 1.
Award-Winning Research
Congratulations to the Department of Anesthesiology’s Dr. Nadir El Sharawi, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Jill Mhyre, Professor and Chair, on their tied first-place finish in the Gertie Marx Research Competition at the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology annual meeting for a study titled “The ED90 of Intrathecal Chloroprocaine for Cervival Cerclage Placement: An Up-Down Sequential Allocation Dose-Response Study.” This multicenter study was completed with colleagues at Duke University, including Dr. Cameron Taylor, a 2018 graduate of the UAMS Anesthesiology Residency.
Resident Published
Fourth-year Medicine-Pediatrics resident Dr. Emily Sanders is the lead author on a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Pediatrics. “Cardiac Manifestation among Children with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome” identified differences in in-hospital mortality based on the type of cardiac manifestations, with increased risk observed for patients with multiple cardiac involvement, cardiac arrest, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation deployments. Co-authors included the College of Public Health’s Dr. Clare Brown; Dr. Richard Blaszak and Dr. Brendan Crawford in Pediatric Nephrology; and Dr. Parthak Prodhan in Pediatric Cardiology – Dr. Sanders’ primary mentor on this research. Dr. Sanders will begin a Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at UAMS/Arkansas Children’s this summer.
Geriatrics Presenters
Department of Geriatrics faculty, staff and fellows did a great job at the American Geriatrics Society annual conference last week. Geriatrics fellows Drs. Elizabeth Eoff, Jametria Howard-Jones and Shami Nandy all presented posters. Their mentors were Professor and Chair Dr. Jeanne Wei and Professors Dr. Gohar Azhar and Dr. Priya Mendiratta, Fellowship Program Director. Dr. Mendiratta and the College of Nursing’s Dr. Pam deGravelles were session presenters for “Using an Integrated Approach to Geriatrics Fellowship.” Other collaborators were Associate Professor Dr. Denise Compton, Dr. Wei, Dr. Azhar, Fellowship Coordinator Joni Pharis, Education Coordinator Patty Summons, and the Simulation Center team. The Geriatrics education team also was involved in mentoring early-career geriatricians and poster-judging during the meeting.
EM Consultant of the Month
Congratulations to Dr. Ramez Awad, Assistant Professor in the Hospital Medicine Division of the Department of Internal Medicine, on being the first attending physician selected by Emergency Medicine residents as their Consultant of the Month. Residents honored Dr. Awad for “treating patient care like a TEAM SPORT with patient well-being as the top priority.” They appreciated Dr. Awad for following up with them on outcomes stemming from their diagnoses, to help them learn from those cases, and much more. A shout-out also to graduating EM resident Dr. Laura Werline, who has overseen the monthly honor since its inception a year and a half ago. Many residents from other specialties have been honored, and now a stellar faculty member!
Book Chapter
Dr. Faiza A. Khan, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, and Dr. Jill Mhyre, Professor and Chair, authored a chapter on Obstetric Hemorrhage in the newly published book “Obstetric Anesthesia Practice,” edited by Alan Kaye and Richard Urman and published by Oxford University Press. Congratulations.
National Committee
Dr. James C. Yuen, Professor and Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, has been reappointed to an additional term on the American Board of Surgery-General Surgery Certifying Exam Consultant Committee in Skin and Soft Tissue. Dr. Yuen has shared his expertise on the committee since 2017.
Best of the Best
I was delighted to hear that two of our colleagues, Dr. Sarah Cobb and Ebonye Green, APRN, were honored in AY Magazine’s Best of 2021 list. Dr. Cobb, an Assistant Professor in the Neurology Division of the Department of Pediatrics, was voted best neurologist by AY readers across the state. Ms. Green, APRN for the Department of Neurosurgery and Lead Advanced Practice Provider for the Inpatient Neuroscience Service Line, was voted best nurse practitioner. Way to go!
Life-Saving Dedication
An attending transplant surgeon sent me a fantastic example of what makes our surgical residents so amazing. One recent night, second-year General Surgery resident Dr. Sarah Martin completed a non-surgical procedure to facilitate life-saving nephrology care for a transplant patient while also caring for three Level-1 trauma cases. “Heroisms like this happen every single day and night in our service,” the faculty member said. “UAMS surgical residents seamlessly go far above and beyond to cover patients’ needs, no matter if surgical, nephrology or hepatology-related. They willingly step in to ensure the very best care for extremely complex and often very sick patients; and all this despite their otherwise hectic surgical residency duties.”
Honoring our Colleagues
Finally this week, I want to congratulate our many College of Medicine team members who were honored for their excellence as part of annual ceremonies such as Honors Convocation and Dean’s Honor Day, and in annual traditions such as the Chancellor’s Teaching Awards and our college’s Red Sash and Gold Sash recognitions.
The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology’s Dr. Sung Rhee received the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. And at Honors Convocation, Dr. Rhee received the Sophomore (M2) Golden Apple Award for the sixth consecutive year.
This year’s other outstanding Golden Apple Awards recipients are: M1: Dr. Alan Diekman (Biochemistry/Molecular Biology); M3: Dr. Nicholas Gowen (Internal Medicine); and M4: Dr. Lindsey Sward (Obstetrics and Gynecology). This is the eighth consecutive Golden Apple for Dr. Diekman. Dr. Sward has received Golden Apples from either the junior or senior class for four straight years, and seniors chose her to deliver the faculty address at Honors Convocation for the second year in a row.
College of Medicine seniors chose fourth-year Child Neurology resident Dr. Paul Drake as the Resident of the Year.
I was profoundly moved by the kind words of appreciation for my service from Dr. Stephanie Gardner, Dr. Erick Messias and others at our Dean’s Honor Day Ceremony this Monday. It has been my honor to serve at UAMS for the past 23 years.
It was equally gratifying to watch the video tributes to our faculty who are receiving promotions in rank this year and to hear the enthusiastic, heartfelt presentations to 15 of our award-winning colleagues from their nominators during the ceremony.
Watch for the ceremony video and stories about our honorees in the May issue of the COMmunication and on the UAMS and COM websites next week. For now, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate:
Staff Awards Recipients: Bailey Snellgrove, B.A.; Aaron D. Warren, B.A.; Laura Jones, APRN; Shannon Giger, M.H.A.
Faculty Honorees in Education: Dr. Sara Tariq and Dr. Riley Lipschitz; and in Research: Dr. Tamara Perry
Residency Educator Award winners: Dr. Alice Alexander and Wyvonne Ora, B.S.
Clinical Excellence Award Recipients: Drs. Hunter Gibbs, Elena Ambrogini, Benjamin Tharian, Benjamin Davis, Zachary Lewis and Jon Rubenow
Last but not least, I know you will all join me in congratulating the College of Medicine Class of 2021 on their many accomplishments!