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!
Quality First
Our ongoing health care quality and accountability efforts made strides this past year, with UAMS Medical Center advancing to three-star status and 80th in the national rankings tracked for us by the performance improvement organization Vizient. Our recently received scorecard shows UAMS ranks particularly well in metrics related to efficiency, equity and patient-centeredness. Kudos to all whose hard work made this happen, with special thanks to Troy Schmit, M.S., Trenda Ray, Ph.D., RN, Tony Seupaul, M.D., Sofie Morgan, M.D., and Thea Rosenbaum, M.D.
Gold Standard
Dr. Matt Quick, Associate Professor of Pathology, served as the lead author for three chapters in the new edition of the World Health Organization’s “WHO Classification of Tumours – Female Genital Tumours.” One of the chapters describes mesonephric-like carcinoma of the ovary. Dr. Quick helped describe this new entity in gynecologic pathology in 2016 with Dr. Glenn McCluggage, who serves on the editorial board for the reference books. Also known as the “WHO Blue Books,” the series is regarded as the authoritative, international gold standard for the histological and molecular classification of tumors.
COVID & Pancreatitis
The Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology’s Dr. Sumant Inamdar recently published research that strengthens the evidence that patients with COVID-19 are at risk of developing pancreatitis, and that pancreatitis should be included among the gastrointestinal symptoms of the virus. Dr. Inamdar’s carefully designed research was published in the leading journal Gastroenterology. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.
SUPER Project
The SUPER (Serving Underrepresented Populations through Engagement and Research) Project is off to a great start with the recent wrap-up of its Summer Institute. The institute prepared students at Philander Smith College and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to conduct research with mentors at their home institutions and UAMS. SUPER is part of the HBCU Med Track Program and our HRSA-funded Arkansas Medical Education Primary Care Partnership. Kudos to Education Coordinator Renisha Ward, M.Ed., and all who participated in the event. Thanks also to the UAMS mentors, Drs. Antino Allen, Clare Brown, Kristy Caldwell, Alan Diekman, Nakita Heard, Grover Miller and Tremaine Williams. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.
Postdoctoral Scholars
Congratulations to postdoctoral fellow Dr. Zijing Zhang on her Postdoctoral Scholar Award and $200,000 in funding from the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality. Dr. Zhang, who works with Dr. Michael Birrer in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, is studying how biological changes in the ovary due to aging may influence reproductive health. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.
Congratulations also to Dr. Brittany Allman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), on her Loan Repayment Program for Pediatric Research award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases. The two-year award repays up to $50,000 in educational debt per year. Dr. Allman’s research focuses on how maternal obesity can contribute to offspring obesity and impact substrate metabolism in early life. Dr. Elisabet Borsheim serves as Dr. Allman’s primary mentor, with Dr. Aline Andres serving as an additional mentor.
National Talk
A shout-out to MD/PhD student L. Clai Morehead, who has been selected to present a talk at the annual MD/PhD National Student Conference this week. Clai also received a Diversity Award to support her participation in the virtual conference. Her talk, “Caloric restriction mimetics as an adjuvant to immune checkpoint inhibitors for treatment of melanoma,” is one of only six in the conference’s general medicine category, and Clai is among just 24 MD/PhD students chosen to present at the conference. We’re proud of you Clai!
Consultant of the Month
Congratulations to Dr. Timothy Hereford, third-year Orthopaedic Surgery resident, on being named Consultant of the Month by Emergency Medicine residents. The award recognizes residents from other departments for their collegial contributions to clinical care and education in the Emergency Department. Residents applauded Dr. Hereford’s exceptional willingness to help, noting that he often checks for potential cases before being officially consulted. Way to go!