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.

M.D/Ph.D. Student to Train at Cambridge
Congratulations to second-year medical student Nicole Occidental on receiving a prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship to complete the Ph.D. portion of her M.D./Ph.D. dual-degree program at the University of Cambridge in England. Nicole, who grew up in Little Rock, is one of only 35 Americans selected to be a part of the 2025 entering class of Gates Cambridge Scholars from around the world, and the first from UAMS.

Nicole’s future as a physician-scientist and aspiring pediatric neurologist is incredibly promising. As an intern in the UAMS Translational Training in Addiction T32 program last summer, she worked with Dr. Andrew James, Professor and Interim Director of the Psychiatric Research Institute’s Brain Imaging Research Center. Her research used fMRI to investigate the stability of individuals’ resting state connectivity and their brain representations of motor function. In October, she will begin working toward her doctorate in the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge.

These exceptional accomplishments were just the latest for Nicole. While an undergraduate student at Northeastern University in Boston, she earned a full U.S. Fulbright Students Program scholarship to work toward her Master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Read more about Nicole in this story from Northeastern.

Enhancing Emergency Behavioral Health Care
Dr. Michael Wilson and colleagues in the departments of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry were integral in the creation of the first-ever national Focused Practice Designation in Emergency Behavioral Health. The new certification from the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABEM) is open to both psychiatrists and emergency medicine physicians and will help to substantially improve the standard of care for behavioral health patients. Dr. Wilson, an Associate Professor in both the Division of Research and Evidence-Based Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry, worked extensively to build support for the initiative. The ABEM committee that considered the new designation also noted the impact of multiple letters of support from faculty in the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute. Dr. Wilson has been selected to serve on the ABEM Emergency Behavioral Health Task Force to help implement the new designation by the end of 2025. He also has been named President-Elect of the American Association of Emergency Psychiatry.

Rising Star in Endocrinology
Spyridoula Maraka, M.D., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, has been selected to receive the Rising Star in Endocrinology Award from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE). The award will be presented at the AACE annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, in May. It recognizes physicians who are within 10 years of completing their endocrine fellowship and have demonstrated actionable outcomes in leadership, teamwork and/or innovation in keeping with the organization’s mission to elevate clinical endocrinology for global health. An internationally recognized expert in thyroid disease, Dr. Maraka has served in several leadership and other roles in the Endocrine Society, the American Thyroid Association and other leading organizations in the field.

Guiding Orthopaedic Clinical Decision Making
Dr. Jeff Stambough, Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, was recently reappointed to a second two-year term on the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) Steering Committee. The AJRR is the world’s largest registry of hip and knee replacement by annual procedural count, with data on more than 4 million procedures from throughout the United States. The data is collected, analyzed and reported on to guide clinical decision making for improved quality of care, patient safety and treatment outcomes. The AJRR publishes an annual report on its data, accompanied by a supplement report that provides further analysis and updates. Dr. Stambough served as Deputy Editor for the AJRR 2024 Annual Report Supplement, released this month during the AAOS annual meeting in San Diego.

Spine Team Celebrates Milestone
A shout-out to the neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and entire UAMS spine team on the completion of more than 500 robotic spine surgeries. UAMS began offering the minimally invasive procedures to correct degenerative conditions and deformities, remove tumors and treat injuries, while reducing recovery time, in 2020. Read more about the spine team’s recent celebration of the milestone in the UAMS Newsroom.

NWA Students Welcome “Sweethearts” to Campus
Kudos to the medical students at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus who helped host the campus’ first ever “Sweethearts” educational program in partnership with the Northwest Arkansas American Heart Association (AHA) on March 3. The campus welcomed 11 10^th-grade girls for an evening focused on cardiovascular health. With the help of Chloe Cline (M3), Sydney Steed (M2), Zoe VonDoloski (M1) and Lily DeSpain (M1), the high school students performed ultrasound scans of the heart on a standardized patient, listened to normal and abnormal heart sounds using auscultation manikens, and used the SECTRA table to visualize CT imaging of the heart and its relationship to other organs. (Here are some photos from the event!)

The Little Rock campus has hosted AHA “sweethearts” for several years, most recently in January, with the help of many faculty, postdocs and student volunteers from our Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy.

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.

Distinguished Speaker at UCLA
Dr. James Suen, Distinguished Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, will deliver the Samuel and Della Pearlman Lectureship in Health Equity at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) this evening. Dr. Suen will bring great insights to his talk, titled “Health Equity and Lessons of Life.” He is internationally known for his expertise in head and neck cancers, vascular lesions of the head and neck, and diseases of the larynx. Dr. Suen served as Chief and then Chair of Otolaryngology from 1974 to 2017 – the longest tenure for an Otolaryngology Chair in the country. His impact on cancer care for Arkansans has been immeasurable, thanks to his integral work to co-found what is now the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute as well as his exemplary care of patients.

Boosting Training for Childcare Providers
Childcare providers across the state have better access to evidence-based training in matters related to caring for children with autism, behavioral concerns, and mandated reporting thanks to Department of Pediatrics Professors Dr. Jayne Bellando and Dr. Maya Lopez, along with Research Associate Michelle Trulsrud and colleagues in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Research and Evaluation (RED) Division. More than 9,900 providers have accessed several online courses from Dr. Bellando, a pediatric psychologist, and Dr. Lopez, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, since they became available on RED’s “Naptime Academy” platform in 2023. The comprehensive, updated courses were among several that the pediatric specialists in the Healthy Childhood Arkansas group began developing in 2012. Prior to the collaboration with RED, the group was able to reach about 2,000 childcare providers each year.

Clinical Documentation Rock Stars
Kudos to the newest Chart Champion Stars recognized by the UAMS Medical Center Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) team. Dr. Kelsey Besett, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, was honored for her clear, complete and concise documentation for complex medical diagnoses. The Obstetrics and Gynecology Intern Class – Drs. Anna Claire Pilkington, Ashley Clement, Kristen Stringfellow, Sally Clark and Savana Kuhn – earned a collective nomination for their thorough discharge summary documentation. The honorees were highlighted in the February-March Chart Champions newsletter.

Journal Focuses on Respiratory Hazards of Climate Change
Dr. Manish Joshi, Professor of Internal Medicine in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, served for the ninth consecutive year as Section Editor for an issue of Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine focusing on obstructive, occupational and environmental diseases. Dr. Joshi coauthored the introductory editorial, which discusses respiratory hazards of climate change, environmental exposures and diverse topics on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Dr. Thaddeus Bartter, a Professor in Pulmonary and Critical Care, contributed to the highlighted article, which explores the impact of climate change on respiratory health, including current understanding and knowledge gaps.

Cardiovascular Publication
Dr. J.L. Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Cell Biology and Pharmacology and Toxicology, and colleagues recently published an article in the Nature journal NPJ Cardiovascular Health. The review article addresses risk factors for myocardial infarction in South-Asian populations, where cardiovascular disease is an up-trending public health challenge. The article highlights the potential role of machine learning and deep learning for improving diagnostic and predictive accuracy. UAMS-affiliated coauthors include Associate Professor Dr. Subhi Al-Aref, fellow Dr. Nitesh Gautam, third-year medical student Meena Chatrathi, 2024 graduate Dr. Ryan Pohlkamp, and former resident Dr. Vignesh Chidambaram.

National Award to Support Student’s Research in Melanoma
Third-year medical student Hannah Wu has received a Medical Student Award from the Melanoma Research Foundation to support work she will be doing during a research year at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston over the 2025-2026 academic year. The $3,000 award will be used for her research aimed at discovering immunotherapies for melanoma – an interest piqued when she was a Partners in Cancer Research (PCAR) intern in the lab of Dr. Alan Tackett in 2023. Her project for next year is titled “Investigating T cell tolerance in nevi and its role in melanoma prevention.” Hannah will return to UAMS to complete her senior year in 2026-2027. Dr. Sara Shalin, Professor and Chair of Dermatology, is her career advisor. Congratulations, Hannah!

Off and Running
Finally this week, a shout-out to our students, trainees, faculty and staff who participated in the Little Rock Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and 5K races last weekend. Special congratulations to freshman medical student Hashane Abeyagunawardene, who took third place overall in the Half Marathon with an impressive time of 1:15:34. Click here to see celebratory photos of Hashane and several other students who participated!

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.

Well-Earned Retirement
This week, we are saying farewell to Dr. Richard Turnage as he retires after 17 years of exceptional service to the College of Medicine and UAMS in many key leadership roles. Dr. Turnage started here as Chair of the Department of Surgery in 2008-2016. He has served as Executive Associate Dean for Clinical Sciences in our college and, importantly, as Chair of the COM Admissions Committee. Dr. Turnage has also served UAMS in many senior clinical roles including Chief of the Medical Staff, Chief Service Line Officer, CEO of UAMS Medical Center and Vice Chancellor for Clinical Programs. Since 2021, he has served as Vice Chancellor for Regional Campuses.

Dr. Turnage has graciously taken on many other major leadership posts in times of transition – including Interim Dean in 2015 – and each time, he has helped to ensure the continuing success of our mission. I have been very fortunate to have Richard’s office next door to mine this past year, my first at UAMS. He has been a great resource for our college and for me personally.

COM team members are invited to a retirement reception for Dr. Turnage at 4:00 this afternoon in the Hospital Lobby Gallery. We’ll have a few remarks honoring Richard starting at 4:15. I hope you can join us.

Congratulations, Richard, on your very well-earned retirement!

National Leadership in Pediatrics Education
Dr. Sowmya Patil, Professor of Pediatrics and Section Chief of General Pediatrics, has been appointed Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Pediatrics Education (COPE) for a four-year term starting in July. COPE functions as a think tank within the AAP for discussion, consensus building and collaboration with respect to emerging issues in pediatric medical education. Dr. Patil is a passionate educator and has served on COPE as an elected member from District VII for six years. She has held many roles as an educator, including her previous post as Course Director for Practice of Medicine II at UAMS. She also serves as a member of the education committee for the Arkansas Chapter of the AAP.

Keynote Talk Highlights Clinical Research Experiences
Dr. Analiz Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Director of Neurosurgical Oncology and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Neurosurgery, was the plenary speaker at the 16^th annual Focused Research and Inquiry Experience (FIRE) conference at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine last Friday. Dr. Rodriguez shared her insights on “Finding your Path in Clinical Research” with medical students and others at the conference, which celebrates medical student research. Her own path to becoming a highly regarded clinician-scientist started during her days as a M.D./Ph.D. student at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned her doctorate in pathology in 2008 and medical degree in 2009.

ACGME Board Appointment
Dr. Dale Blasier, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, has been appointed to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Board of Appeals in Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Blasier will bring a wealth of experience to his six-year term on the board. At UAMS, he served as Program Director for the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency from 2003 to 2021, earning numerous honors including three awards for outstanding teaching in the department along with the college’s Residency Educator Award in 2018, Master Teacher Award in 2022, and several Red Sash Awards from medical students. At the national level, Dr. Blasier has served as an American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Oral Board Examiner since 1996 and has held numerous previous academic leadership roles with the ACGME Resident Review Committee, the American Orthopaedic Association and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.    

Student Tutoring Initiative Showcased at Conference
Fourth-year medical student Will Wilkins presented an overview of an initiative he is leading to help second-year students enhance their Step 1 exam performance at the Innovations in Medical Education online conference hosted by the University of Southern California this month. A volunteer tutor in the UAMS Educational and Student Success Center for the past two years, Will created the Student Teaching Network (STN) as a framework for providing M2s with earlier and more frequent exposure to Step 1-style questions. In addition to boosting their test-taking skills and confidence about the high-stakes exam, the STN aims to help the students serving as tutors to become better educators. Along with Will, the tutors include M4s Alleigh Stahman and Madie Richards and M3s Lauren Banko, Sadie Beeman, Dane Richey and Drew McFall. At the conference, Will shared preliminary data showing increased test confidence among the 48 initial M2 participants. Dr. Jasna Vuk, a learning specialist in the Student Success Center, was co-author on the poster.

Emergency Medicine Resident Elected to National Board
Second-year Emergency Medicine resident Dr. Yusuke Kishimoto has been elected as the first resident in the nation to serve on the Board of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s (SAEM) Academy of Emergency Ultrasound (AEUS). As Dr. Kishimoto contributes to the emergency ultrasound community at the national level, his efforts will also further advance UAMS’ national prominence in the subspecialty. At UAMS, Dr. Zachary Lewis serves as Chief of the Division of Emergency Ultrasound in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Jason Arthur serves as the Program Director for the Clinical Ultrasound Fellowship, and Dr. Dan Holleyman serves as the Assistant Program Director for the Clinical Ultrasound Fellowship. Dr. Lauren Evans serves as Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director.

Students Present Surgical Research
Second-year medical students Ryan Beallis, Anders Nowell and Brooklyn Ray did a great job presenting their research at the prestigious Academic Surgical Congress in Las Vegas this month. Ryan’s research focused on the impact of chronic anticoagulation on trauma patient bleeding profiles and bleeding progression. Anders presented on opioid administration in a surgical intensive care unit and the impact of persistent opioid use. Brooklyn’s research focused on outcomes of a preoperative optimization program for elective hernia surgeries. The students’ mentors included Department of Surgery faculty members Dr. Hanna Jensen, Dr. Joe Margolick and Dr. Kyle Kalkwarf, and former faculty member Dr. Kevin Sexton. Several other students and faculty members contributed to the research projects.

Dermatology Research Conference
The Department of Dermatology recently hosted the Southern Dermatology Consortium Annual Research Day, providing an opportunity for residents, medical students and faculty to discuss research and network with participants from other schools in the region. UAMS residents presenting talks included Dr. Madison Stokes and Dr. Jennifer Good, who won first place for her presentation, “Arkansas Medicaid: Dermatology Practitioners’ Perspectives of Dermatologic Medication Coverage Among Selected States.” M4 medical student Evan Hicks took home first place honors for student poster presentations for “Intralesional Candida Antigen Treatment of HPV lesions in Immunocompromised Patients: A Systematic Review.” M3 student Mary Phillips, M2 Alaina Baggett and M1 Nicki Hooten also presented posters.

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.

Surgical Association Leadership
Congratulations to Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman, Professor and Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery, on her election as First Vice President of the Southern Surgical Association (SSA). The prestigious appointment reflects Dr. Henry-Tillman’s national and international recognition in breast surgical oncology and her many contributions to the SSA including initial service as Chair of the SSA Leadership Development Program. As First Vice President, she will co-preside over the SSA’s annual Scientific Session next December, among other activities. At UAMS, Dr. Henry-Tillman is a leader in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute as well as the Department of Surgery and a beloved champion for patients from Arkansas and around the world. 

National Leadership in Geriatric Psychiatry
Dr. Prasad Padala, Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Program Director for the Baptist Health-UAMS Psychiatry Residency, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP). Dr. Padala has served in several capacities within the AAGP including Co-Chair of the Research Committee and Chair of poster and oral sessions. Significantly, he has become known as a champion for trainees and young faculty through his leadership of the “Building your Research Career” symposium at the organization’s annual meeting for over a decade, along with other work. His longstanding mentoring efforts culminated in the establishment of a named scholar this year in the AAGP Scholars Program, a pipeline for future Geriatric Psychiatrists. Kudos, Dr. Padala.

Top 5 Most Read Paper
An article by Dr. J.L. Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Cell Biology and Pharmacology and Toxicology, and colleagues was one of the top 5 most read papers in the American College of Cardiology’s JACC: Advances in 2024. Published as a State-of-the-Art Review, the article discussed the impact of COVID-19 infection on the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Dr. Mehta served as senior author, and Dr. Vignesh Chidambaram, a graduate of the UAMS Internal Medicine Residency Program, was first author. Other UAMS-affiliated coauthors included Associate Professor Dr. Subhi Al’Aref, former faculty member Dr. Tushar Tarun, and Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship graduate Dr. Murrium Sadaf.

Groundbreaking Psychiatry Advances for Arkansas
Dr. Laura Dunn, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI), did a great job updating the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees on the impactful work in psychiatry being done at UAMS for patients across the state. Speaking at the board’s recent monthly meeting, Dr. Dunn highlighted groundbreaking programs including the UAMS Health Six Bridges Clinic, which provides care for young people ages 12-21 with substance use disorders. She also shared information about the UAMS Health Odyssey Clinic for patients and families affected by schizophrenia, and noted how UAMS was the first in the country to provide an innovative therapy for treatment-resistant depression called SAINT (Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy). The talk was well received by the Board of Trustees and covered by news media, including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 

Sociodemographic Factors in Prenatal Care
The Institute for Community Health Innovation, led by Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., continues to publish excellent scholarly work on a wide range of health topics impacting Arkansans. Most recently, a study in the March issue of Preventive Medicine demonstrated that Arkansas mothers who live in rural areas, and/or who have a Medicaid-covered birth, are less likely to receive early prenatal care or have an adequate number of prenatal visits. The research team also found that Black and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander populations were more likely to have later or fewer than the recommended number of prenatal care visits. Dr. Clare Brown, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, was a coauthor with Dr. McElfish on the study. Dr. McElfish shares insights about impacts of those findings in this UAMS news article.  

Teach the Teacher
A shout-out to all who made the 16th annual Teach the Teacher Symposium a great success. The symposium last Friday included sessions on teaching and advising neurodivergent students in both classroom and clinical settings. UAMS presenters included Pediatrics faculty members Dr. Angie Scott, Dr. Chayla Slaton and Associate Dean for Student Affairs Dr. Becky Latch; Albrey Love, DNP, from the College of Nursing; and Michelle Zengulis, Title IX and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator. Many other faculty, residents and students presented posters on educational research topics. Special thanks to Dr. Karina Clemmons, Assistant Dean for Medical Education and Professor of Medical Humanities,and Dr. Latch for leading the symposium. Kudos also to Michael Anders, Associate Professor in the Office of Educational Development, and to Jennifer VanEcko, Program Manager in COM Academic Affairs, for her organizational contributions. Learn more about the presentations and posters here.

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.

National Physician Advisory Leadership
Congratulations to Dr. Ahmed Abuabdou, Chief Clinical Officer for UAMS Medical Center, on his appointment as President-Elect of the American College of Physician Advisors (ACPA). Dr. Abuabdou will bring extensive experience in clinical leadership, physician advisory programs and hospital medicine to his upcoming role as President, which starts in October. Dr. Abuabdou, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, has served at UAMS since 2012. He established the UAMS Physician Advisory Program in 2016 and served as the Physician Champion for the Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) Program from 2016 to 2022. The ACPA is the leading national organization working to cultivate and support leaders in case management, hospital utilization, CDI, revenue cycle and health care regulation.    

Editor-in-Chief for Drug Metabolism Journal
Dr. Grover P. Miller, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has been named Editor-in-Chief of Drug Metabolism Reviews, the journal of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics. The journal publishes reviews on a wide array of drug metabolism research including environmentally toxic chemicals, absorption, metabolism and secretion. The journal draws from leaders in academia, industry, and government research on the biological impacts of foreign, biologically active (xenobiotic) compounds to human health. Dr. Miller brings extensive expertise in the metabolic activation and clearance of small molecules, particularly in relation to pharmacological and toxicological effects.

Psychiatric Journal Leadership
Dr. Laura Dunn, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, has been named Interim Editor-in-Chief of Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice. The peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the American Psychiatric Association is dedicated to building on the psychiatric knowledge base to help move research findings toward clinical application. Dr. Dunn brings expertise in general psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, along with extensive experience from numerous clinical, educational and administrative leadership roles, to her editor post. She has served as the Marie Wilson Howells Professor and Chair of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychiatric Research Institute since her recruitment to UAMS from Stanford University School of Medicine in early 2022.

Family Medicine Residency Education Network
The Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) is launching the Arkansas Family Medicine Residency Network Educational Collaborative in February with a boost from the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Foundation. The foundation has just awarded a $75,000, three-year Seed Programming Grant, following an initial $5,000 grant in 2023 when the DFPM team began planning the initiative. The network will support collaborative efforts by all UAMS-affiliated Family Medicine programs to build a robust training framework, support practice transformation, and develop partnerships benefiting both residency programs and community health. Leaders in the initiative include Dr. Shashank Kraleti, DFPM Chair and Director of the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line, Dr. Julea Garner, Vice Chair for Community Health and Engagement and Director of the Baptist Health/UAMS Family Medicine Residency, and Dr. Diane Jarrett, Director of Communication and Departmental Relations.

Groundbreaking Orthopaedic Procedure
A shoutout to Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Associate Professor Dr. David Bumpass and Assistant Professor Dr. Matt Landrum and team for performing the first-ever robotic-assisted Shilla surgical treatment for scoliosis. The groundbreaking procedure was performed at Arkansas Children’s. It combines the precision and minimally invasive benefits of the Mazor robotic guidance system for spinal surgery with the internationally recognized Shilla technique – a procedure invented at Arkansas Children’s by now retired Professor Dr. Richard McCarthy. The Shilla technique corrects spinal curve in children while allowing the spine to grow naturally without requiring repeated surgeries.

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.

Neuromodulation Strategies for Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
Dr. Debopam Samanta, Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Arkansas Children’s, is the lead and primary author on an important new article providing the first clinical guidelines for neuromodulation therapies to treat one of the most severe forms of epilepsy. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is often resistant to seizure medications, and while emerging research suggests neuromodulation therapies can be an effective alternative, selecting and managing the appropriate neuromodulation therapy has remained challenging. The guidelines from Dr. Samanta and colleagues in the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium (PERC) were published in Epilepsy Research.

American Cancer Society Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr. Jessica Kelliher, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, on receiving a highly competitive fellowship award from the American Cancer Society (ACS). Dr. Kelliher will use the $217,500, three-year award for a research project aimed at exploiting DNA repair in cell therapy for solid tumors, in the lab of her mentor, Assistant Professor Dr. Brian Koss. Dr. Alan Tackett, Distinguished Professor and Executive Associate Dean for Research in the College of Medicine, is a co-mentor. The grant is the second ever ACS fellowship awarded to a UAMS postdoctoral fellow, following the 2022 ACS fellowship award to Dr. Kirk West.

American Heart Association Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr. Rami Shahror, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, on receiving a prestigious American Heart Association fellowship. The $176,020 award will support his work for the next two years. Dr. Shahror is investigating the role of myeloid HDAC3 enzyme in retinal neurovascular injury with his mentor, Assistant Professor Dr. Abdel Fouda, and co-mentor Dr. Nancy Rusch, Distinguished Professor and Chair. The project aims to identify new therapies for diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults, by targeting the enzyme histone deacetylase 3 in immune cells.

National Neurology Recognitions
A shout out to Dr. Abhilash Thatikala, PGY-4 resident and Academic Chief Resident in the Department of Neurology, on his recent national honors including being named to the Editorial Board of Clinical Neuroimaging, the journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging. Dr. Thatikala also has been awarded a highly competitive scholarship to attend the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in San Diego in April. In addition to having travel and attendance costs covered, he will participate in special programs for scholarship recipients. Both honors reflect Dr. Thatikala’s quickly growing stature in the field.

Emergency Medicine Residents on a Roll
Our Emergency Medicine residents are on a roll this year with honors and presentations at national and international conferences. Most recently, PGY2 resident Dr. Brian Slayyeh received the highly competitive Michael Spadafora Travel Award from the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) to attend the annual scientific meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, in April. He will present a poster on snakebite antivenom adverse events. PGY3 Dr. Brooke Yasgur also will be presenting a case report in Vancouver, as well as at the Annual Congress of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists in Glasgow, Scotland, in May. This past fall, PGY2 Dr. Jack Sudduth presented an abstract at the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization annual meeting in Detroit.  Congratulations to all.

Question of the Day App
Dr. Khushboo Verma, PGY-4 resident and Administrative Chief Resident in the Department of Neurology, is helping neurologists, trainees and medical students around the world through the popular “Question of the Day” (QOD) app offered by the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Verma is serving on the app’s workgroup alongside Dr. Humaira Khan, Assistant Professor and Program Director for the Neurology Residency. The workgroup is exclusive, comprising eight experienced neurologists and their respective mentees. Following a monthly curriculum, the QOD app provides continuing medical education (CME) to national and international neurologists, fellows and residents, as well as a separate track of questions for medical students.

Podcast Features BioVentures Initiatives
The UAMS BioVentures Podcast continues to showcase promising initiatives supported by the technology transfer office, including the three UAMS research teams that received inaugural AR Health Ventures Accelerator (ARHVA) awards last year. The Jan. 10 episode featured an interview with Dr. Gyan Sahukhal, Assistant Staff Scientist in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and his project to target biofilm regulators when treating staph infection. Dr. Samir Jenkins, Research Instructor in Radiation Oncology, kicked off the ARHVA series in October with his project focusing on a new approach to chemotherapy using liposomes. Another episode featured Dr. Mitch McGill, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the College of Public Health, and his project to develop new biomarkers to detect liver injury. You can catch all episodes of the BioVentures Podcast here.

Medicaid Expansion & the Marshallese
UAMS Northwest Regional Campus senior medical student Robert Brand is the first author on a recently published study into the impact of Medicaid expansion for the Marshallese population served by the UAMS North Street Clinic. The study, published in the Journal of Regional Medical Campuses, demonstrated a significant increase in the use of health care services by previously uninsured Marshallese patients in 2021-2022, following the expansion. The findings could aid policymakers in designing and implementing strategies for increasing access and utilization in target populations. Coauthors included UAMS faculty members Dr. Sheena CarlLee, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, and Dr. Hanna Jensen, Assistant Professor of Surgery.

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.

Breakthroughs in Medicine
UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Research Institute clinician scientists were integral in two of the seven “breakthroughs that changed medicine in 2024” highlighted in a retrospective article published by National Geographic in December.

One of the breakthroughs was the development of “partial heart transplants” to provide lifesaving replacement heart valves that will continue to grow with infants who are born with faulty heart valves. Dr. Taufiek Konrad Rajab, Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, pioneered the procedure. His collaborative work with coauthors at Duke University was published in JAMA last January.

National Geographic also noted the FDA approval of the drug Omalizumab to reduce the risks posed by life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods. The approval stemmed from the work of Dr. Stacie Jones and Dr. Amy Scurlock, Professors in the Department of Pediatrics Section of Allergy and Immunology, and their peers in the NIH Consortium for Food Allergy Research. The Omalizumab trial was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February.

Congratulations to these outstanding faculty members and their research teams!

Distinguished Service Award
Congratulations to Dr. Alan Diekman, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Urology, on being selected to receive the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Andrology (ASA). Dr. Diekman is nationally recognized for his research into the molecular mechanisms of reproductive biology and has been active in the ASA for over two decades. He has served in numerous leadership roles and as ASA Treasurer coauthored the organization’s five-year strategic plan in 2021. He will be recognized in a March 30 ceremony at the annual conference of the ASA and the International Society of Andrology (ISA). 

National Family Medicine Programs
A shout-out to Family and Preventive Medicine Assistant Professors Dr. Lauren Gibson-Oliver and Dr. Rachael Goodwin, who have been selected to participate in faculty development programs sponsored by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) in 2025. Dr. Gibson-Oliver, Program Director of the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine Residency, will participate in the STFM Emerging Leaders Fellowship. Dr. Goodwin, who practices and teaches at the UAMS North Central Campus in Batesville, has been chosen for the STFM New Faculty Scholars Program.

Clinical Documentation Stars
Kudos to Dr. Katy Marino, Associate Professor in the Division of Thoracic Surgery, and Dr. Stephen King, Assistant Professor in Family and Preventive Medicine, who were recently named Chart Champion Stars by the UAMS Medical Center Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) team. Dr. Marino was recognized for her detailed, well-explained query responses that “vastly improve the DRG assignments for her patients and accuracy in coding and billing.” The CDI team noted that Dr. King frequently contacts coding specialists to provide polite, personable feedback and rationale for codes he is dropping, and that he helps to “improve understanding of the standpoints between the physicians and the coders.” Both were highlighted in the November-December Chart Champions newsletter. 

Mobile Vision Screening Hits the Road
A shout-out to the Department of Ophthalmology on the successful rollout of the new GoVision mobile vision screening unit. As Professor and Chair Dr. Paul Phillips notes in this UAMS news story, the initiative is poised to significantly improve vision care access for children and adults across Arkansas. UAMS received a grant from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas to support the program. Special thanks to resident Dr. Zain Chauhan, who was the lead grant writer, along with resident Dr. Abdel Elhusseiny and Professor Dr. Ahmed Sallam, for their work on the initiative. Kudos also to Shelli Madison, Sajida Chauhan, Megan Brown and Angela Johnson, and to residents Dr. Alex Kwok and Dr. Joshua Shin, who joined Dr. Chauhan for the inaugural screening event at the Huda Academy in Little Rock.

National Behavioral Neurology Leadership
Dr. Anthony Davis, Associate Professor of Neurology, has been elected Vice Chair of the Behavioral Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). His two-year term will start in April. The election is a wonderful recognition of Dr. Davis’ national stature in the field. Kudos to Dr. Davis as well for his ongoing work to expand behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry services at UAMS.

CMS Expert Panel Appointment
Dr. Stephen Foster, Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) at the UAMS Northeast Regional Campus in Jonesboro, has been selected to serve on the Technical Expert Panel (TEP) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM) Development and Maintenance for Eligible Clinicians project. At UAMS, Dr. Foster also serves as Director of the DFPM Office of Digital Health and as Medical Director of Population Health for the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line. As a member of the TEP, he will join with other experts and stakeholders to provide input on the prioritization and development of eCQMs that support CMS’ quality program goals.

Editorial Board Appointment
Dr. Josh Kennedy, Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Allergy and Immunology Section, will lend his expertise as a member of the Editorial Board of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, for the next two years. Dr. Kennedy’s research has focused extensively on the intersection of asthma and the effects of the common cold virus, as well as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Last year, he received a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead a five-year study to help clarify the viral and host factors that lead to severe disease in children infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Prestigious Echocardiography Accreditation
The UAMS Cardiac Noninvasive Laboratory has received accreditation for adult transesophageal, stress and transthoracic echocardiography from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). As Dr. Paul Mounsey, Professor and Director of the Cardiology Division in the Department of Internal Medicine, notes in this UAMS news story, the prestigious accreditation is a testament to the hard work, dedication and excellence of the entire cardiac noninvasive team. Special thanks to Dr. Srikanth Vallurupalli, Associate Professor and Medical Director, and Randi Booker, MHA, Manager and Technical Director of the lab.

Student Travel Award, Research Honor
Congratulations to second-year medical student Grace Turbyfill on her recent research honors, including a prestigious travel award from the Medical Toxicology Foundation to attend the American College of Medical Toxicology annual meeting in Vancouver, B.C., in April. She also has been invited to do an oral presentation at the Southern Society for Pediatric Research/Southern Regional Meeting in New Orleans in February. Her research, completed as part of our Pediatric Honors Program, focused on evaluating the impact of a simplified treatment regimen for acetaminophen toxicity. Dr. Erica Liebelt, Professor and Medical and Research Director for Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Pharmacology and Toxicology, is Grace’s program mentor.

Graduate School Celebrates Students and Mentors
The scientific achievements of students and contributions of their faculty mentors were in the spotlight at the recent UAMS Graduate School Winter Awards Reception. Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented to M.D./Ph.D. student Amie Brint and graduate students Katherine Deck, Christian Mitchell and Dakota Redling. Excellence in Mentoring Awards went to their mentors, respectively: Dr. Robert Griffin, Professor of Radiation Oncology; Dr. Shengyu Mu, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Dr. Abdel Fouda, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology; and Dr. Kimberly Stephens, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. Many other students received Achievement Awards or were recognized for other accomplishments, and several additional faculty members received Mentor Awards. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.