Chris Lesher

Physiology & Cell Biology: A New Name and Bright Future for UAMS College of Medicine Department

A basic science department in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has adopted a new name to better represent the expertise of its faculty, research programs and long history of excellent teaching.

Teresita Bellido, Ph.D.

The name change for what is now the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology was one of the first initiatives of Teresita Bellido, Ph.D., who began serving as professor and chair in July 2020. The department was previously known as the Department of Physiology and Biophysics.

The change was unanimously supported by the department’s faculty and was approved by Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the College of Medicine, in December.

“Our new name definitely better reflects the identity of our department and the research and teaching we do,” said Bellido. “We are very actively recruiting new faculty members, and we wanted to have a name that truly represents our faculty. This is also important for recruiting graduate students.”

One of seven non-clinical departments in the college, Physiology and Cell Biology and its faculty members work to discover and advance biomedical knowledge that informs health care. Basic science faculty members teach first- and second-year medical students the foundational scientific concepts that are crucial for the practice of medicine. Basic science faculty also teach aspiring scientists in the UAMS Graduate School.

Physiology is the study of how living organisms function, how their tissues and organs interact, and of the underlying mechanisms at the molecular, cellular and organ levels. Cell biology is the study of the structure and function of the cell, which is the basic unit of organismal life. Understanding the basic biology is indispensable for discovering mechanisms of disease and developing therapeutic approaches. Teaching and research by the department’s faculty cover different aspects of physiology and cell biology.

Coming Home

Bellido’s recruitment to UAMS from the Indiana University School of Medicine, announced in 2019, marked a return to what the Argentina native considers her “second home.”

After completing her doctorate in biochemistry and an initial postdoctoral fellowship in Argentina, Bellido continued her training at Indiana University. There, she worked with Stavros Manolagas, M.D., Ph.D., who subsequently recruited her to UAMS following his own recruitment to Arkansas. Bellido served in the UAMS Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the UAMS and VA Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases (both of which Manolagas continues to lead) from 1993 to 2008, when she was recruited by Indiana University.

Bellido remained focused on her research while at Indiana as her reputation as an international leader in bone and mineral research continued to grow. She served as president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) in 2019-2020, overseeing the successful conversion of the organization’s annual meeting to a virtual format as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded. Bellido also has been long active in faculty development and mentorship, both at UAMS and Indiana University, earning her leadership awards at Indiana and from ASBMR.

In 2019, the UAMS College of Medicine began recruiting for a new Physiology and Biophysics chair to succeed Michael Jennings, Ph.D., who was stepping down from the role after 25 years of years of service. Bellido realized she was ready to contribute in a leadership capacity and excited about the opportunity at UAMS.

“This was my home and my university home for 15 years, and the prospect of returning was attractive to me,” Bellido said. “UAMS is a great institution with excellent resources for researchers and supportive leadership.”

In addition to her role as department chair, Bellido was named an Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Scholar. The ARA is a public/private partnership that supports recruitment and retention of top researchers, with the aim of bolstering jobs and economic opportunity in the state.

“Dr. Bellido really hit the ground running as chair, and her energy and commitment to understanding the needs of her department have been commendable,” said Westfall. “Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, she has succeeded in engaging her faculty and truly listening to them as she guides the department.”

Building on Strengths

Bellido began working to establish strong communication with her administrative team and faculty in the months preceding her full-time start as chair in July 2020. That March, she appointed a faculty committee, headed by Patricia Wight, Ph.D., to help her assess the department’s faculty recruitment needs.

The department has a major role in medical student education at UAMS. Physiology and Cell Biology colleagues teach in numerous courses, and four faculty members, Mike Jennings, Ph.D., Frank Simmen, Ph.D., Jerry Ware, Ph.D., and Herschel Conaway, Ph.D., are course directors for modules taken by first- and second-year medical students. Jennings also serves on the College of Medicine Curriculum Committee and as co-chair of the Active Learning Steering Committee. Faculty members are also integral to graduate student education at UAMS, with Rosalia C.M. Simmen, Ph.D., serving as director of the Cell Biology and Physiology Track for the UAMS Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Sciences and as a course director, and Patricia Wight, Ph.D., and Vladimir Lupashin, Ph.D., serving as course directors.

Physiology and Cell Biology is the home of the UAMS Advanced Microscopy Core facility, which is directed by Brian Storrie, Ph.D., and serves the needs of researchers from all UAMS colleges as well as outside clients from Arkansas and beyond.

The department is also home to the faculty leaders of Arkansas INBRE, which has received $78.5 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences over the last 20 years to promote and support mentorship-focused biomedical research for undergraduate college students and faculty across the state. Lawrence E. Cornett, Ph.D., serves as principal investigator and director, and Jerry Ware, Ph.D., serves as program coordinator and associate director.

After Dr. Bellido’s recruitment, four faculty members in Physiology and Cell Biology are now contributing to UAMS’ strength in musculoskeletal research. Roy Morello, Ph.D., is an expert in rare bone diseases. Melda Onal, Ph.D., studies gene regulation in bone. Jesús Delgado-Calle, Ph.D., a new recruit recently funded by the National Cancer Institute, studies cancer in bone. Dr. Bellido’s own research spans from osteocyte biology to mechanisms and treatments of bone diseases.

“One of our current strengths is that we have an outstanding group of educators, including senior faculty members who have been teaching for many years,” Bellido said. “We also have strong research programs led by well-established faculty members. However, faculty recruitment is vital for us in order to maintain and build on what we are doing for many decades to come.”

Recruiting is underway for two assistant professors whose research interests will build on existing strengths in the department, including bone biology, intracellular membrane trafficking, platelet physiology, cancer biology and molecular neurobiology. Bellido and her colleagues are particularly interested in recruiting faculty to contribute to the development and expansion of campus-wide centers of excellence in cancer and musculoskeletal biology.

“COVID put the brakes on some of the things we initially wanted to do to jumpstart faculty recruitment last year, but we have been very creative and work around the hurdles of social distancing,” Bellido said, noting that the positions have drawn a flood of applicants who are being interviewed virtually.

“Our faculty and administrative staff are second-to-none,” Bellido said. “I am very excited about what we can accomplish together, and I look forward to growing the department, with the continued support of College of Medicine and UAMS leadership, and to provide opportunities for new faculty members, students and postdoctoral fellows to excel.”

Family Medicine Resident Wins Prestigious NIH Travel Grant, Sees Future in Health Policy

By Amy Widner

COVID-19 really made Alexa Martin, M.D., a third-year resident in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, see the “big picture.”

Thankfully, the last six months have also made her feel like she can tackle it, because of leadership experiences and educational opportunities she couldn’t have imagined before.

“I think I was always interested in the big picture, but sometimes as a med student and resident you’re so focused on learning that you can get task-oriented – focusing on one skill at a time, one patient at a time,” Martin said. “The COVID-19 pandemic really reminded me of the big picture of what medicine is all about – improving human health.”

Martin received the highly competitive and prestigious travel award from the National Institutes of Health and the National Medical Association to attend the NMA’s 2020 annual Convention and Scientific Assembly, which was held virtually in August.

She was recommended for the award because of the leadership role she held with UAMS’ drive-thru COVID-19 screening and testing triage that sprang up quickly in the early days of the pandemic’s impact on Arkansas.

“When the triage was only a few days old, they started pulling some of the residents in to help,” Martin said. “I did my first shift, and I did a good job at it and didn’t complain too much while I was sweating under my PPE. When it was time to go, my replacement didn’t show up, so I stayed on, and they were like, ‘hey, you’re good at this, can you train the next shift?’ So I did, and that’s how it all started.”

Martin ended up as a physician lead, training others who volunteered or were assigned to help. She spent all her spare time reading up on the latest on the disease. She and a few other residents turned out to have a knack for understanding systems and workflow, so when it came time to identify gaps and make improvements, she gave valuable feedback.

She was one of the staff members who suggested that the Family Medicine Clinic create a special clinic dedicated to acute respiratory illnesses so that patients who didn’t need hospitalization could still get valuable care in a time when fears were high but hospital beds were scarce. She also participated in the first mobile triage unit to take the skills of UAMS across the state. Their first stop was Helena.

“It was really good experience to see how quickly we could make changes and come up with solutions,” Martin said. “More than once since then in the hospital I’ve run into professors who under any other circumstances would outrank me, and they’ll say, ‘hey, you were the one that trained me my first day at triage!’ It’s humbling, but also empowering to have an experience as a resident where you see that you can really step into a leadership role and make a difference.”

It was through the COVID-19 triage that Martin met Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., executive director of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UAMS, who recommended she apply for the NIH travel award, which would have covered travel and expenses for the weeklong conference if it had been held in person.

Although the conference was held online, Martin said she still benefitted from learning about the opportunities the NIH offers for early-career physicians who are interested in research or academics. The award came with the title of 2020 academic medicine fellow, and Martin was featured in the conference program under that header and was able to do plenty of networking – even virtually – because of the prestigious distinction.

“I met so many people and learned so much,” Martin said. “I didn’t know there were so many avenues for research and funding to help with loan repayment. It was great to see all of these avenues that I didn’t know about.

“The COVID-19 pandemic had already made me start thinking about whether I should pursue a master’s in public health and go into issues dealing with community and population health, maybe getting involved with state or federal health offices or the Surgeon General’s office – places where you can practice medicine but also be involved in policymaking. This travel grant and fellowship helped me see what the next steps on that path might be.”

Accolades – August 26, 2020

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!

What a Year for Research!

Researchers at UAMS, the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System collectively accomplished a 43% increase in research funding in Fiscal Year 2020, bringing in $158.1 million in grants through June 30. College of Medicine researchers garnered $97 million of this funding, a 60% increase over last year, and received an all-time high of 272 awards.

When Dr. Shuk-Mei Ho, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, reached out to me about the phenomenal accomplishments of COM researchers, she said, “This is not just numbers and dollars; it is a cultural change.” I encourage you to take a moment to read this UAMS news story about the success of our research enterprise in FY 2020 and what may lie ahead.

This is truly good news during a difficult time. (By the way, about $5 million of the FY 2020 grants and contracts at UAMS are COVID-related.) Many thanks to all of you who made this happen!

Distinguished Chairs in Geriatrics

Congratulations to Dr. Gohar Azhar and Dr. Arny Ferrando on becoming the newest recipients of Endowed Chairs in the Department of Geriatrics and Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. These are well-earned honors for both of these Professors, reflecting their stellar careers and ongoing contributions and service on behalf of older Arkansans

Dr. Azhar, Director of Clinical Research and Co-Director of Cardiovascular Aging Research, assumed the Jackson T. Stephens Distinguished Chair in Geriatrics Clinical Affairs. Nationally recognized for her research, Dr. Azhar also leads the Walker Memory Center and practices geriatrics primary care in the Thomas and Lyon Longevity Clinic. Read more about Dr. Azhar and this Distinguished Chair.

Dr. Ferrando, Co-Director of the Center for Translational Research in Aging and Longevity, assumed the Wes Smith Distinguished Chair in Geriatrics for Longevity, Health Promotion and Frailty Prevention. Dr. Ferrando is a leading expert on skeletal muscle protein metabolism and its relation to muscle function and performance. Read more about Dr. Ferrando and this Distinguished Chair.

Ethics in the COVID Era

Since the pandemic began, Dr. Laura Guidry-Grimes, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, has been at the forefront of national conversations aiming to address ethical concerns related to COVID-19. Her contributions include professional blog posts on Bioethics Forum and Bioethics.net, publications in The Hastings Center Report and Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, and collaborations on national guidelines for ethicists and hospitals. These colossal efforts testify to Dr. Guidry-Grimes’s commitment to protecting vulnerable populations and represent UAMS at the national level. Congratulations and thanks to Dr. Guidry-Grimes!

National Surgical Fellowship

The Council of the American Surgical Association (ASA) has selected Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman, Professor of Surgery and Chief of Breast Oncology, for a prestigious national fellowship. Dr. Henry-Tillman was named the recipient of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) 2021 ASA Surgical Leaders Fellowship Grant. The fellowship will include week-long programs at two host institutions. Congratulations to Dr. Henry-Tillman on this outstanding and well-earned honor.

National Cardiology Award

Congratulations Dr. Bob Morrow, Professor of Pediatrics and former longtime Chief of Pediatric Cardiology, on being selected to receive the 2020 Founder’s Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Morrow will be recognized during the AAP virtual annual meeting in October for his pioneering work in pediatric heart transplantation and other important contributions to the field nationally. Dr. Morrow served as Pediatric Cardiology Division Chief in 1996-2011 and went on to serve as Associate Dean for Children in the College of Medicine and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Palliative Care Study

Dr. Sarah Beth Harrington, Associate Professor and Director of the Division of Palliative Medicine, and the Department of Surgery’s Dr. Kevin Sexton, Associate Professor, and Dr. Ron Robertson, Professor and Chair, are among the co-authors on an important new study regarding the value of palliative care for seriously ill surgical patients. “Impact of Palliative Care Utilization for Surgical Patients Receiving Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation: National Trends (2009-2013)” was published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. The study, discussed in this UAMS news story, found that these patients are discharged from the hospital sooner when they receive palliative care. Great job, team.

Reappointed

Dr. James C. Yuen, Professor and Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, has been invited to serve an additional term as a member of the American Board of Surgery-General Surgery Certifying Exam Consultant Committee in Skin and Soft Tissue. Members of the committee will meet virtually to update the oral examination administered nationally to qualifying candidates for the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Yuen has lent his expertise to this national committee since 2017. Congratulations Dr. Yuen.

Plasma Poster

Dr. Benjamin Rollins, a second-year Pathology and Laboratory Medicine resident, and Dr. Tina Ipe, Associate Professor and Division Director of Transfusion Medicine, will present a poster at the American Society for Apheresis virtual annual meeting in September. Their poster is titled “Therapeutic Plasma Exchange for Neuroinvasive West Nile Virus Infection.” Collaborators included Assistant Professors Dr. Aaron Wyble (Transfusion Medicine) and Dr. Nidhi Kapoor (Neurology). Congratulations to all.

Robotics Opportunity

A shout-out to Dr. W. Conan Mustain, Assistant Professor in Colorectal Surgery, and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System surgeons Dr. Theresa McCallie and Dr. Kim Jackman, for their initiative to provide a Robotic Surgery Skills Lab for General Surgery residents. Robotic surgery is becoming increasingly important in the field of general surgery, but with the newest, and typically expensive, robotic technology in high demand for surgical use with patients, it can be hard for General Surgery trainees to have the chance to practice new skills with the equipment. Read about this forward-thinking initiative in the UAMS Newsroom.

Poem for a Pandemic

Dr. Priya Mendiratta, Professor of Geriatrics, wrote her first poem ever as the pandemic swelled early this summer. She posted her ode to “Mask Up My Friends” on social media, and it soon caught the attention of the American Geriatric Society. Her poem has just been published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, as Geriatrics colleagues from around the country continue to circulate and highlight Dr. Mendiratta’s thought-provoking poem.

Do you know someone – faculty, staff, student, resident or fellow – who deserves accolades? Send me your idea, courtesy of COMInternalCommunications@uams.edu.

Accolades – August 19, 2020

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!

DCOC Renewal

Congratulations to Dr. Jeannette Lee, Professor of Biostatistics, and Dr. Jessica Snowden, Associate Professor and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, on the $39 million, five-year renewal of the Data Coordinating and Operations Center (DCOC) for the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network. Dr. Lee and Dr. Snowden serve as Co-Principal Investigators on the grant from the National Institutes of Health, which was first awarded to UAMS in 2016.

The DCOC facilitates the development, implementation and reporting on multicenter clinical trials that address the health needs of children living in IDeA states, which are disproportionately rural and medically underserved, and where there are more limited opportunities for children to participate in clinical research. Dr. Lee, Dr. Snowden and their team will also collaborate with clinical investigators at the network’s 18 sites to enhance the clinical trials workforce and the environment for conducting clinical trials in these states.

The exemplary letters of support the UAMS team received from the network’s clinical sites late last year perhaps foreshadowed this renewal, which speaks volumes about Dr. Lee and Dr. Snowden’s leadership and commitment to excellence. Way to go!

What is an Expert?

Dr. Jamie Watson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, has a new book coming out that explores what it means to be an “expert” and why segments of society are increasingly skeptical about experts and what they have to say. Published by Bloomsbury, “Expertise: A Philosophical Introduction,” examines implications for concepts relating to expertise in politics, religion, society and more. Congratulations, Dr. Watson.

Re-Invited

Department of Pathology Assistant Professor Dr. Ericka Olgaard and Professor and Interim Chair Dr. Jennifer Laudadio have been invited to repeat their short course “Minding your Ps and Qs: Process and Quality Improvement for Anatomic Pathology Services” at the 2021 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) meeting. The invitation to repeat the course at next year’s virtual meeting in March stems from positive reviews from course attendees at the live 2020 meeting. They were originally selected to deliver the course through a competitive application process. Congratulations to these outstanding colleagues.

National Appointment

Congratulations to Dr. Robert Griffin, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, on his recent election as the standing radiobiologist member on the nominations committee for the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). With more than 10,000 members, ASTRO is the largest professional organization in the field of radiation oncology, and Dr. Griffin will be a great addition to its nominations committee.

Eczema Education

A shout-out to the Department of Dermatology’s Dr. Jay Kincannon and Dr. Vivian Shi for their initiative, in collaboration with Alison Caballero’s team in the Center for Health Literacy, to develop better educational materials for patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema), as well as caregivers and health care providers. The team recently received an education grant from Pfizer for the project, which aims to help patients better manage their eczema.

Study Selected

Fourth-year Anesthesiology resident Dr. Stephanie Kierstead and Dr. Indranil Chakraborty, Professor and Director of the Division of Neuroanesthesiology, will present a poster at the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC) virtual annual meeting in September. The SNACC selected their study, “Comparative Evaluation of Incidence of Post-Induction Hypotension Using Propofol Vs Etomidate in Cases of Acute Ischemic Stroke Undergoing Endovascular Thrombectomy Under General Anesthesia at UAMS: A Retrospective Chart Review.” Congratulations to both.

Giving & Gratitude

Finally this week, I would like to share a thank you note from M.D./Ph.D. student Bukola Odeniyi, the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Michael Jennings and Paula Jennings Endowed Scholarship. Dr. Jennings, who served as Chair of Physiology and Biophysics for 25 years, and Mrs. Jennings generously created the scholarship for third-year medical students who are interested in medical or health-related research. Having completed the four-year graduate school portion of her dual-degree program, Bukola has just begun her third year of medical school. As you will see from her note, she is an ideal recipient of this new scholarship!

“I am very happy and grateful to be the first recipient of the Dr. Michael Jennings and Paula Jennings Endowed Scholarship. Thank you so much for your generous support as I complete my M.D./Ph.D. education. With this award, you are investing in my goals of making health care more accessible to underserved populations. I plan to accomplish this goal through my clinical practice and research, especially in the area of cardiovascular health.

Once again, I am very thankful to Dr. Jennings and his wife, Mrs. Paula Jennings, for this generous financial support, and also to have had Dr. Jennings as a professor.” — Bukola Odeniyi

Do you know someone – faculty, staff, student, resident, or fellow – who deserves accolades? Send me your idea, courtesy of COMInternalCommunications@uams.edu.

Accolades – August 12, 2020

Dedicated to the Underserved
This year’s College of Medicine freshmen have an extraordinary new opportunity, the Honors Program for Rural and Urban Underserved Primary Care Medicine, thanks to the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Dr. Leslie Stone. Dr. Stone is Director of Medical Student Education in the department and Co-Director of the Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) grant we received last fall to expand our efforts to train more primary care physicians and other health professionals for Arkansas. The new honors track will provide experiential opportunities and additional studies in issues that are essential to caring for underserved Arkansans. Kudos to Dr. Stone for his tireless work on behalf of the underserved and educating the future physicians who will care for them.

Statewide Leadership
Congratulations to Dr. Jose Romero, Professor of Pediatrics, on his appointment by Governor Asa Hutchinson as Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health. We have been very fortunate to have Dr. Romero’s nationally recognized expertise in viral diseases available to us at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital since he joined us as Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in 2008. As Arkansas continues the battle against COVID-19, our entire state is now benefiting from his expertise. Dr. Romero announced several months ago that he planned to step down from his division leadership role this summer. He began serving as Interim Secretary of Health last month, succeeding Dr. Nate Smith as he moved on to a position with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more in this Governor’s Office new release.

Caring for Arkansans in Tough Times
A shout-out to the Department of Psychiatry for its remarkable work to maintain connections with patients during the pandemic. The Walker Family Clinic in the Psychiatric Research Institute saw more patients in April through June, all via televideo, than in January through March. The Child Study Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital also cared for more patients in April-June. Meanwhile, AR-Connect is providing urgent statewide care for many patients who are struggling with mental health conditions related to the pandemic or other issues, through its 24-hour call center. Kudos to all.

Banner Day
Dr. Taren Swindle, Assistant Professor in the Research and Evaluation Division of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, just had a banner day. Her honors on August 6 included completing the 2020 Health Disparities Institute and being named an HDRI Scholar by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; being invited to serve as a National Institutes of Health Early Career Reviewer this fall; and having a paper highlighted in a national press release. The release from Elsevier, publisher of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, focuses on a study led by Dr. Swindle into the potential for young children to positively influence food habits at home after experiencing a healthy-eating educational intervention in Head Start program. Well done!

NIH Appointment
Dr. Alan Tackett, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has been invited to serve as a standing member of the NIH Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics-1 (MCT1) Study Section, one of the major review boards for evaluation of cancer research by the Center for Scientific Review. The four-year appointment recognizes Dr. Tackett, who also serves as the Scharlau Family Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at UAMS, as a leader in this field. Congratulations to Dr. Tackett.

Published in JAMA
Congratulations to the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine’s Dr. Hakan Paydak, former faculty member Dr. Krishna Pothineni, and UAMS Cardiology fellow Dr. Swathi Kovelamudi on the publication of their case report in JAMA Internal Medicine. Dr. Pothineni, who recently moved to the University of Pennsylvania, is first author, and Dr. Paydak served as senior author on “Tachycardia in a Patient with Heart Failure, Telemetry Tales.” This stellar team, along with additional residents, fellows and faculty in Internal Medicine, also recently had a paper accepted for publication in Clinical Medicine Insights: Cardiology, and continues to collaborate on innovative cardiology research.

NIH/NMA Honor
Congratulations to third-year Family and Preventive Medicine resident Dr. Alexa Martin, who received a highly competitive and prestigious travel award from the National Institutes of Health and the National Medical Association to attend the NMA’s 2020 Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly. The conference was held virtually and wrapped up last week.

Grateful Patients and Families
Dr. Yasthil Jaganath, Chief Resident in Family and Preventive Medicine, continues to draw raves from patients and colleagues. Last year, I received a wonderful message from a COM team member about his compassionate care. Last week, the Department of Pediatrics’ Dr. Karen Young wrote to let me know about the spontaneous words of praise Dr. Jaganath received from the father of a patient he saw at Arkansas Children’s. In fact, the father described Dr. Jaganath as the best doctor his children have seen in many years of receiving outstanding care at ACH. He said Dr. Jaganath was respectful, thorough and friendly and that he did a great job answering questions. Way to go Dr. Jaganath!

Building Up
On the heels of the massive effort to create the online COVID-19 course for our M3 and M4 medical students, Drs. Karina Clemmons, Karl Boehme, Martin Cannon, James Graham and Riley Lipschitz surveyed students about the course. The team has just published what may be the first reported description and corresponding evaluation of the educational content of such a course in a medical school setting. “Building Up While Shutting Down: An Academic Health System Educational Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” was published in the journal MedEdPublish. Thanks to these colleagues and the many others who worked so hard on the well-received course, the content of which has since been offered to many other learners and health care professionals.

Above and Beyond
UAMS entrance screeners are heroes in our fight against COVID-19. We know how important they are in keeping everyone on campus safe, and we’ve all benefited from their efforts to get us on our way as quickly as possible. Dr. Manisha Singh, Associate Professor in the Division of Nephrology, arrived on campus yesterday with little time to spare to get to a lecture when she realized she had forgotten her ID badge. Screener Kristie Brown, RN, had the solution. She walked Dr. Singh over to Creative Services to obtain a replacement badge and even offered to pay for it if needed. “While talking to her, I realized she has done this for other physicians too!” said Dr. Singh. “She took away any stress I had over my missing badge, kept the rules and was considerate above and beyond my expectations.”

Accolades – August 5, 2020

Safety First, Last, Always
Thanks to the hard work of many UAMS faculty and Arkansas Children’s staff members, Arkansas Children’s Hospital achieved remarkable safety outcomes in FY 2020. President and CEO Marcy Doderer, FACHE, outlined the accomplishments in a message to team members last week. I join with Ms. Doderer in expressing gratitude for the entire team at ACH, with special thanks to the safety-focused leaders in these areas:

Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI): Dr. Katherine Irby, Anna Gaspar

Surgical Site Infections (SSI): Dr. Greg Albert, Michele Honeycutt

Unplanned Extubations (UPE): Dr. Matt Malone, Dr. Amy Huggins, Randy Willis

Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infection (CLABSI): Dr. Michele Moss, Dr. Parthak Prodhan, Dr. Daniel Ashton, Sabra Curry, Ellen Mallard, Carol Oldridge

Pressure Injury (PI): Dr. Gresham Richter and the ENT Service, Kristan Cooper

Patient Safety Officer: Dr. Chris Edwards

Surgery Safety: Dr. Sid Dassinger

VP Quality and Safety: Dr. Jared Capouya

Director of Quality: Stephanie Evans

Stroke Recognition
A shout-out to the UAMS Stroke Center, which recently earned two national awards and continued recognition for its excellence in treating stroke patients from around the state. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association awarded UAMS the Get with the Guidelines Target: Stroke Honor Roll and the Gold Plus Quality Achievement award. UAMS has maintained Gold Plus status for the past six years! Congratulations to Stroke Program Director Matthew Mitchell, Medical Director Dr. Sanjeeva Onteddu, Associate Professor of Neurology, and the entire team.

Global Honor
The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Global Health Educators Collaborative has awarded the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Dr. Bill Ventres the 2020 Gabriel Smilkstein Memorial Award. The award recognizes Dr. Ventres for his “outstanding contributions to the growth and development of family medicine education around the world.” At UAMS, Dr. Ventres is Associate Professor and the Ben Saltzman, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Rural Family Medicine. He has received numerous honors here and internationally for his three decades of clinical work with socially and economically marginalized patients, his work to develop educational and clinical programs in family medicine, and more. Congratulations to Dr. Ventres on this latest honor!

Enhancing Women’s Health
Kudos to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Dr. Nirvana Manning, Director of the Women and Infants Service Line, and the entire team behind the opening this week of the UAMS Health Women’s Center on Midtown Avenue. The new center consolidates several previous locations and services to improve multidisciplinary care for women. Special thanks to Service Line Nursing Director Penny Ward, Service Line Administrator Paul Stover, and Project Manager Paul Williams.

Making an Impact
Fourth-year medical student Jacob Carter sent me a wonderful email about the dedication and impact of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine’s Dr. Hakan Paydak in his M4 ECG course. “I have yet to meet an instructor or individual so dedicated and passionate about furthering the education of students,” Jacob wrote, emphasizing the extraordinary amount of time Dr. Paydak spends with students. “I truly believe that he made a significant impact on my future career and taught me life lessons outside of medicine that I will carry with me. He reminded us every single day that the most important rule was to be kind to people.” He noted that Dr. Paydak’s patients echoed these thoughts, advising Jacob to “be like Dr. Paydak.”

When I told him about Jacob’s letter, Dr. Paydak beamed, saying he “will be a great internist and hopefully a cardiologist in the future.” As for himself, Dr. Paydak said, “I love what I do, and I do what I love!”

An Orange, A Chicken Breast …
Third-year Obstetrics and Gynecology resident Dr. Meredith McKinney has been selected for the Harrith M. Hasson Award for Best Presentation Promoting Education or Training from the Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeons (SLS). Dr. McKinney will present her intriguingly titled video demonstration, “Use of an Orange and Chicken Breast in Simulation Training of the ExCITE Model,” at the SLS virtual meeting on September 2. ExCITE (extracorporeal C-incision tissue extraction) is a surgical technique used in minimally invasive gynecologic procedures. Congratulations to Dr. McKinney and her mentor, Dr. Luann Racher!

Giving Matters
Dr. Sara Tariq, Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Dean for Student Affairs, inspires many through her dedication to teaching and our students, compassionate patient care, service to the community and underserved, and her passion for justice and equality. In her honor, a faculty member and their family, who wish to remain anonymous, have given generously to establish the Sara Tariq, M.D., Endowed Scholarship. With the aim of increasing diversity at UAMS, the scholarship will be granted to students from underrepresented groups. We are incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Tariq and those who share her vision as colleagues. If you would like information about contributing to this endowment or want to learn more about supporting students while honoring a colleague, please contact Jim Smith, Director of Development, at JGSmith@uams.edu or (501) 454-9527.

Spreading Kindness
One standout in our ongoing battle with COVID-19 is how so many are going above and beyond across our mission areas. Another is the sincere appreciativeness of fellow UAMS team members. I receive many notes from colleagues confirming that your hard work does not go unnoticed.

Dr. Katherine Irish-Clardy, Residency Program Director at UAMS West in Fort Smith, recently sent a shout-out to Melissa Vandiver and the Student and Employee Health Services team for their tireless work in COVID screening and the kind, thoughtful assistance they provide for faculty and staff.

I also want to share a note from the Department of Geriatrics’ Dr. Priya Mendiratta about our Pulmonary and Critical Care physicians, who work day and night with COVID-19 patients, including older Arkansans. To them, Dr. Mendiratta wrote:

“I often think of you with such admiration as you have the hardest task at the moment. While all of the staff and all others are heroes in this pandemic, I wanted to so thank Dr. Harmeen Goraya, Dr. Rajani Jagana, Dr. Jose Caceres, Dr. Anand Venkata, Dr. Emily Kocurek, Dr. Larry Johnson and Dr. Nikhil Meena. Thank you for putting yourself selflessly in the way of danger to save others every day. Thank you for your hard work, resilience, humility, kindness and strength in the face of such adversity, and for working day and night to save people in this state. I cannot express my gratitude and admiration in words. Our patients have so appreciated all of you.”

I would like to add my own thanks to all – not only for your hard work, but also for noticing and expressing gratitude for the contributions of others. This is spreading kindness!

$420,000 Gift Realizes Alumnus’ Longtime Wish to Support Education and Training of Family Physicians

By Benjamin Waldrum

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a $420,000 gift from the estate of Jack T. Steele, M.D., to finalize the creation of the Jack T. Steele, M.D. Endowed Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine.

Jack T. Steel, M.D.

Endowed chairs allow UAMS to recruit and retain top leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients. A chair is established with gifts of at least $1 million, which are invested and the interest proceeds used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. An endowed chair is among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields. UAMS will announce a professor to the Steele Chair at a later time.

Steele, a 1952 College of Medicine graduate and longtime supporter of UAMS, died March 6. Over several years, he gave more than $620,000 toward the creation of an endowed chair. Together with the $420,000 estate gift, Steele’s combined lifetime giving to UAMS exceeds $1million.

“We are grateful for the late Dr. Steele’s generosity and longtime support for our university and college,” said Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the College of Medicine. “As a family physician, Dr. Steele understood how important primary care physicians are for our patients and communities, and this has never been more true than today. The Jack T. Steele, M.D., Endowed Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine will support outstanding education and training of family physicians for generations to come.”

“Practicing medicine was integral to my dad’s identity,” said son Jeffrey Scott Steele, M.D. “He had a difficult time retiring completely from his practice and continued to work at least part-time, well beyond the age when most would have retired. Even after retiring he maintained his state medical license and satisfied the required continuing medical education.”

Steele was born in 1926 in Lynn, Arkansas, and moved to Walnut Ridge at age 3. He was a cadet at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1945-1946, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1948 with degrees in psychology and philosophy. In 1952, he graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine (now UAMS), and completed an internship with the St. Louis City Hospital. He then served as a Navy physician from 1954-1956. Steele had a longtime medical practice in the greater St. Louis area, including Ferguson and Bridgeton. Four of his sons are physicians.

Swabbing to Save Lives

For the past four years, second-year medical students in the UAMS College of Medicine have called on students in the class behind them to pay it forward as they learn about blood cancers and other diseases that can make a bone marrow transplant a lifesaver.

Year after year, COM freshmen have delivered.

Sophomore Madison Caldwell organized the fourth-annual bone marrow registry drive for freshmen as first-year students completed their hematology/oncology course on Feb. 5. Her classmates Cole Howie, Emily Lorince and Elliot Taylor assisted, helping to distribute the paperwork and sterile swabs students used to collect their own saliva samples.

Student handing envelopes and forms to students at table — Sophomore Madison Caldwell (right) led this year’s bone marrow registry drive for freshman medical students.

“Many blood disorders and blood-associated malignancies require bone marrow transplant for treatment, and sometimes bone marrow transplants can be curative for these diseases,” Caldwell explained after the drive. “However, because of our diverse gene pool, it can be difficult to find a match for a patient’s bone marrow. The more people who register to donate bone marrow, the more likely it is that these patients will be able to find a match.”

In fact, at least three UAMS medical students have gone on to donate life-saving bone marrow after registering in drives on campus or elsewhere in previous years.

“The M1s (freshmen) are best able to grasp the importance of bone marrow transplant as they learn about hematology-oncology, which is why we hold the annual registration drive for them,” she said. “I volunteered to lead this year’s drive because I discovered how important bone marrow transplants and the registry are as an M1. This is also a great way to get involved with the M1 class.”

Student swabbing — Josh Welch swabs his cheek to collect a sample for the DKMS bone marrow donor center and the National Bone Marrow Donor Program.

There’s no doubt the tradition will continue. Freshman Chelsea Smith lent a hand this year and plans to lead the drive for next year’s M1s. For her, the opportunity to help future blood cancer patients is personal.

“I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia as a kid, and even though I didn’t need a bone marrow transplant, I saw the difference they made in the lives of other cancer patients,” Smith said. “Experiencing these situations firsthand is very impactful and life-changing.

Student working on a form — Freshman Taylor Wilson fills out paperwork to participate in the bone marrow registry drive.

“We can easily become desensitized to leukemia and lymphoma when studying these diseases academically, and I hope that registering and potentially volunteering to donate bone marrow made leukemia and lymphoma a bit more personally relevant to the med student community. I loved seeing so much participation from my class.”

More than 50 students registered during the drive, and students noted that many other classmates had actually registered at previous drives while in college or through other opportunities.

“I registered at UCA (University of Central Arkansas) four years ago,” freshman Kelley Broadbent said as she kept classmate Austin Squires company while he swabbed the inside of his cheek to collect a sample. “Like many others, I have had a personal impact with cancer, an aunt who struggled and wasn’t able to get a bone marrow transplant,” Broadbent said. “It’s important to be that person who makes a difference for someone else if you can.”

Squires agreed. “This is a chance to potentially help someone with a serious illness, and registering and donating if you match is not that big of a deal,” he said. “If you can save a life, that is pretty cool.”

Student in background holding up pin — Sophomore volunteer Elliot Taylor shows a promotional pin from DKMS, the organization facilitating UAMS’ bone marrow registry drive, declaring “I (heart) Swabbing.”

The UAMS drives were coordinated through DKMS, an international nonprofit bone marrow donor center affiliated with the National Bone Marrow Donor Program.

Recent Faculty Appointments

Department of Internal Medicine

Fenghuang “Frank” Zhan, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the faculty as a Professor of Internal Medicine and Research Director of the UAMS Myeloma Center. Dr. Zhan received his medical degree and a doctorate in cancer molecular genetics from Hunan Medical University in Changsha, P.R., China. He holds a dental degree from West China Medical University in Chengdu. He previously served in the UAMS Myeloma Center from 2002 to 2008 and most recently was a Professor of Medicine at the University of Iowa and an Adjunct Professor in the University of Iowa’s College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics.

First UAMS TEDx Talks Generate Excitement, Appreciation

By Yavonda Chase

TED talks focus on “ideas worth spreading.”

Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, speaking on stage — Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, welcomes attendees to the first TEDxUAMS.

That philosophy was on display Feb. 7 as UAMS held its first ever TEDx talks in its Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.

Nearly 200 people in the audience and another 100 people at simulcast locations eagerly awaited the 10 Team UAMS members who took the stage to tackle a wide variety of issues including physician burnout, mental health, abuse, the power of social media in medicine and more.

“TEDxUAMS was an amazing success, and one I hope we can replicate soon,” said Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. “Months of hard work went into putting on an event of this magnitude, and I want to applaud Organizational Development’s Lisa Wymer and Shelby Fray for spearheading a multi-departmental effort that included Classroom Technology, Communications & Marketing and Campus Operations.”

Wymer said she wanted to bring TEDx to UAMS “because events like these bring people together and spark collaboration and innovation.”

The 10 speakers were selected during an audition process in October. Since then, Wymer and Fray have been working with each speaker to refine their presentation.

College of Medicine faculty members Jerad Gardner, M.D.; Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.; Jennifer Hunt, M.D.; and Paulette Mehta, M.D., grab a letter for a quick photo following their presentations.

“The topics presented by our speakers were purposely varied in subject but also deliberately personal,” said Wymer. “I hope TEDxUAMS felt like a celebration of our team — the innovators, the survivors, the ‘outside of the box’ thinkers — basically a celebration of everything that makes UAMS great.”

Kicking off the presentations was Paulette Mehta, M.D., MPH, professor of hematology and oncology, as she shared how she uses poetry to stay emotionally healthy when treating cancer patients.

She noted that just as patients experience psychological distress on their cancer journey, so do their physicians. Expressive writing helps relieve some of that distress, she said before sharing excerpts from her poetry.

Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health’s Behavior and Health Education Department, tackled the issue of mental health in the United States. She wanted to make sure the audience knew that “It’s OK to Not Be OK,” so she wore the motto emblazoned across her white T-shirt.

Presenter Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D., (right) talks to a TEDx talk attendee during a break.

“Too often we look at mental health through a window instead of a mirror. We see other people’s problems but not our own,” she said. “We need mental health to become about us for a change to happen.”

Wendy Ward, Ph.D., director of interprofessional faculty development in the UAMS Office of Interprofessional Education, took the stage as a patient instead of a health care expert.

Her recent shoulder surgery reinforced her belief that team-based health care provides the best health care, she said, noting that even though she had an amazing surgical and occupational therapy team, there was something missing. Other professionals, including a clinical pharmacist to help manage her pain and a psychologist to help with her fears of never being normal again, were needed on her team for her to really have the best care possible.

She encouraged other patients to advocate for a team-based approach with their care.

“We need team-based health care because we are whole people,” she said. “The future of health care is team-based care, and we deserve the future now.”

Amber Booth-McCoy encouraged audience members to practice intentional inclusivity.

Closing out the morning session was Amber Booth-McCoy, senior diversity specialist in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Booth-McCoy welcomed the crowd to her funeral and read her obituary as she explained how she was killed by kindness and colorblindness.

“I am not just an African American woman, but being an African American woman shapes how I move through the world,” she said. “When someone tells me ’they don’t see color,’ they are devaluing my life experiences.”

She shared a story about a 7-year-old African American boy in one of UAMS’ summer camps who has already internalized fear. During preparations to celebrate the end of the camp with water balloons and water guns at a local splash pad, he asked her if she had told the police they were going to have water guns at the park.

She discussed her fear that childish pranks could result in injury or death for her 14-year-old son and his friends. She stressed that this constant fear is a very real part of her life.

“Kind and colorblind is killing millions around the world. The cure is intentional inclusivity,” she said.

Audience members found themselves laughing and crying during the day's presentations. — Audience members found themselves laughing and crying during the day’s presentations.

After a break for lunch, Jennifer Hunt, M.D., M.Ed., chair of the Department of Pathology in the College of Medicine and the Aubrey J. Hough Endowed Professor of Pathology, tackled imposter syndrome, or self underappreciation syndrome, which affects 70% of women and 50% of men.

She confessed she has an internal mean girl, named Alice, who belittles her and tries to make her feel she isn’t worthy.

“Alice is holding women back and contributing to the gender leadership gap,” Hunt asserted.

Hunt challenged the audience to ask themselves three important questions: 1) Who is your Alice? 2) What is she keeping you from doing? and 3) What would you accomplish if you stuffed her in the trunk?

Kimberly Jones, who works with UAMS Northwest Community Health & Research, shared with the crowd the story of her childhood abuse. She warned the audience that so often we focus on the so-called “signs of abuse” that we miss other types of abuse that don’t come with bruises.

Kimberly Jones bravely shared her story of being abused as a child and how that abuse affects her still. — Kimberly Jones bravely shared her story of being abused as a child and how that abuse affects her today.

Over two years when she was a young teenager, her mother and grandfather died, her father was emotionally abusive and she was raped twice. Through all that, no one ever noticed.

“I didn’t look abused, so no one ever reached out,” she said, adding that she was so ashamed of what was happening she certainly didn’t reach out to anyone for help.

Jones was one of several speakers to receive a standing ovation for her presentation.

Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., the College of Medicine’s associate dean for Faculty Affairs, tackled physician burnout in his presentation. He recounted the death of a friend and colleague on Oct. 7, 2013, to suicide — a death in which burnout played a role.

For Messias, who is also a professor of psychiatry, meaningful work is a solution to burnout. Finding meaning in one’s work brings with it a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose, he said. It often requires reframing our internal storytelling from one that is negative (I have PTSD) to one that is redemptive (I am growing from the traumas in my life). Ultimately, finding meaning in one’s work brings with it transcendence, or a sense that you are connected to something bigger than you, he said.

Kevin Ryan, J.D., an associate professor for Health Policy and Management and associate dean for Student and Alumni Affairs in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, pushed the audience a bit out of their comfort zones, challenging them to admit that “Anti-Vaxxers Love Their Children Too.”

Joe Thompson, M.D., had advice for audience members on how to life well and die fast. — Joe Thompson, M.D., had advice for audience members on how to live well and die fast.

While stressing that he is a firm believer in the benefit of vaccines to prevent disease, Ryan said the villainization of those who don’t vaccinate their children hasn’t been helpful.

“Anti-vaxxers are trying to protect the health and well-being of their children the best way they know how,” he said. “Instead of demonizing them, we need to learn how to talk to each other so that we can educate them on the benefits of vaccination.”

Joe Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., president and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, urged listeners to make good investments in their personal health by exercising and eating healthy foods.

“We all want to live well and die fast,” he said. “These days we are living longer, but our last decades aren’t necessarily healthy ones.”

As people age, he encouraged them to ask the important “what if” questions. He touted three steps for planning for one’s later years: 1) Create a single-page medical history that lists all of your diagnoses and medications; 2) talk about the end of life you want and create an advanced directive that reflects your wishes; and 3) make copies of that document to keep in easily accessible places and give to your friends and family.

Claudia Carberry said she really appreciated the health care focus of the day's presentations. — Claudia Carberry said she really appreciated the health care focus of the day’s presentations.

The final presenter was Jerad Gardner, M.D., an associate professor of pathology and dermatology who has a sizable social media following. His talk “Facebook and Rare Cancer Changed My Life,” discussed how joining a rare cancer support group on Facebook changed the course of his career.

“The first time I answered a question in the group, they embraced me,” he said. “They said I was the first doctor to join the group and try to educate them.

“Knowing how much it means to those patients to better understand their disease put a fire in my soul to do more. I may be exhausted and tired, but I’m not burned out. I know my job has meaning.”

He encouraged other physicians to use social media to reach their patients and predicted that Facebook groups are going to change how rare diseases are treated.

Throughout the day, videos of earlier TED talks from around the world were shown, often expanding on themes being discussed by the UAMS speakers.

Audience members said they were wowed by the day’s presentations.

“My favorite part of the day was finding out that all of these ideas are right here at UAMS,” said Mande Corbett, coordinator for Stocked & Reddie, the UAMS food pantry. “Dr. Messias’ burnout talk really resonated with me. I find meaning in what I do, but my intensity level can get off balance. It was a good reminder for me to check myself.”

Claudia Carberry, a registered dietitian and member of the kidney transplant team, said she really appreciated the health care focus of so many of the presentations.

“Collectively, the speakers gave us ideas on how to prevent burnout, and do our jobs in a caring and compassionate way.”

The presentations are being edited, Wymer said. Once that process is completed, they will be uploaded to the TEDx YouTube channel to be curated by TEDx.