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!

Patent for Stroke Treatment
Congratulations to Dr. William Culp, Professor Emeritus in Radiology, and Dr. Robert Skinner, Professor Emeritus in Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, on their new U.S. patent for “Dodecafluoropentane Emulsion as a Stroke and Ischemia Therapy.” Dodecafluoropentane Emulsion (DDFPe) efficiently takes oxygen from the lungs and releases it to ischemic tissues in patients. In a Phase Ib/II clinical trial at UAMS, DDFPe was shown to be safe. Their work, published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology in 2019, also showed that the treatment resulted in significant improvements in acute stroke patients. Dr. Evan Unger of the University of Arizona also is a holder on the patent. Major collaborators in the research of DDFPe included UAMS’ Dr. Aliza Brown (Neurology), Dr. Sanjeeva Onteddu (Neurology), Dr. John Lowery (Laboratory Animal Medicine) and Dr. Paula Roberson (Biostatistics).

Spinal Cord Disorders & Women’s Health
Dr. Laura Hobart-Porter and Dr. Kathryn Stambough presented on gynecological and reproductive considerations in females with spinal cord disorders at the recent national meeting of the Academic Association of Physiatry in Anaheim, California. Dr. Hobart-Porter, Associate Professor and Section Chief for Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Department of Pediatrics, served as Course Director for the educational session. Dr. Stambough, Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, specializes in pediatric and adolescent gynecology and presented along with Dr. Hobart-Porter.

Emergency Ultrasound National Appointment
Dr. Jason Arthur, Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, has been elected as an Education Officer on the Academy of Emergency Ultrasound (AEUS) Executive Committee. AEUS is an international forum of clinician sonologists with the common goal of advancing patient care and safety through the use of bedside ultrasound. As an Education Officer, Dr. Arthur will help to develop the educational program for the annual AEUS Business Meeting and didactic submissions for the Society of Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting, along with other educational initiatives related to emergency ultrasound.

Pediatric Grand Rounds Speaker
Dr. Ariel Berlinski, Professor of Pediatric Pulmonology, recently shared his expertise on aerosol delivery in children at the University of Mississippi Medical Center Pediatrics Grand Rounds. At Arkansas Children’s, Dr. Berlinski serves as Medical Director of the Pulmonary Diagnostic Laboratory, Medical Director of Respiratory Care Services and Director of the Arkansas Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Center. Dr. Berlinski also directs the Pediatric Aerosol Research Laboratory at Arkansas Children’s Research Institute.

Students Present at National Conference
A shout-out to second-year medical student Cade Haynie and third-year student Robert Kiss for doing a great job on their podium presentations at the Carrell Krusen Neuromuscular Symposium, an annual national conference held at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Aravindhan Veerapandiyan, Assistant Professor in Pediatric Neurology, mentors the students. Cade discussed his research into caregivers’ opinions on multidisciplinary care for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Robert presented his research on pathological variability of ACTA1 myopathy, a congenital neuromuscular disease.

Putting Patients First
UAMS team members in the Pulaski County Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit and the Northwest Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSUs) are steadfastly focused on providing excellent care for persons in mental health crisis who encounter law enforcement due to their psychiatric condition. Some of the patients, also called guests, in these CSUs are dealing with opioid use disorder – and even more have lost a friend or family member to an opioid overdose.

Both of the CSUs have been approved to participate in the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership’s Naloxone Community Hero Project. The Pulaski County unit received a credit, worth almost $50,000, to purchase 1,000 doses of naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, from the Arkansas Naloxone Bank. The Northwest CSU received a $14,250 credit to purchase 300 naloxone kits. These doses will be available to send home with guests, who will also receive training on how to use the medication. The program will help prevent future overdoses, which is truly putting patients first. Kudos to CSU Directors Dr. Lisa Evans (Pulaski County) and Kristen McAllister, LCSW, (Northwest) and their teams.

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!

Arkansas Children’s Honors Excellence
Each year, Arkansas Children’s honors individuals and teams who exemplify its core values and mission to improve the health and lives of children across Arkansas. Congratulations to the College of Medicine faculty who are among the honorees of the 2022 awards announced last week. The links below are videos featuring the honorees. If you have a moment to watch, you’ll see that all of these awards are richly earned. Thanks to all of these honorees for their service to our college, Arkansas Children’s and our state.

Ruth Olive Beall Award
Two physicians were presented this award for consistently displaying Arkansas Children’s core values:Dr. Charles Bower, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Arkansas Children’s Northwest; and Dr. Kendall Stanford, Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. 

Drs. Joanna J. & Robert W. Seibert Award
The Pediatric Psychology Team received this award for teamwork, communication and collaboration. Dr. Brandi Whitaker, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Section Chief for Pediatric Psychology, directs this team. Dr. Nicholas Long, Professor of Pediatrics, served as Director from 1987 to 2022.

Dr. Robert H. Fiser Jr. Research Achievement Award
Dr. Elisabet Børsheim, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center Physical Activity Core Laboratory, received this honor. The award is presented to a scientist in the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute for extraordinary research that will have a lasting impact on the health, development and well-being of children and their families.

Diane S. Mackey Quality Award
This award recognizes a team whose project utilized rigorous scientific methods resulting in meaningful improvements in care. It was presented to the “Improving the Identification and Diagnosis of Pediatric Hypertension in Primary Care” Project Team. Dr. Laura Sisterhen, Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the General Pediatric Clinic, leads this team.

Prestigious Grand Rounds
Dr. Laura Hollenbach, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecologyand Director of the Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Division, recently shared her gynecological expertise as the Pediatric and Obstetrics and Gynecology Grand Rounds speaker at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Dr. Hollenbach represented the Arkansas Children’s Vascular Anomalies Multidisciplinary Team in educating trainees and faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine on the presentation, evaluation and treatment of vascular anomalies of the female pelvis.

Passing it On
Senior medical student Caleb Nissen did a great job presenting his educational research on peer mentoring at the Innovations in Medical Education virtual conference hosted by the University of Southern California. Caleb discussed the positive effects of peer mentoring of third-year medical students by fourth-year medical students on clinical skills and stress. Most importantly, the insights Caleb gleaned from his project with mentor Dr. Jasna Vuk, Associate Professor in the Educational and Student Success Center, will be shared with next year’s M3s and M4s to help organize their peer mentoring.

Residents and Students Shine at Conference
A shout-out to the UAMS residents and medical students who presented at the 8^th Annual Southern Dermatology Consortium Resident Research Day last month. Third-year Dermatology resident Dr. Patrick Phelan received the resident presentation award for clinical mastery for his talk, “A Clinical Approach to Parsing Panniculitis.” Third-year resident Dr. Khiem Tran presented “A New Immune Evasion Mechanism in Melanoma.” Second-year medical student Kayla Perry presented “Dermatology Practitioners’ Perspectives Regarding Arkansas Medicaid Coverage of Dermatologic Medications,” which drew praise from participants from other states who were interested in her findings and how their state compared. Swetha Atluri, a visiting third-year medical student who is completing a research fellowship with Associate Professor Dr. Vivian Shi, received the award for the best presentation from a medical student, for “Biologic use during pregnancy and breastfeeding in dermatology – an evidence-based review.”

Pediatrics Proves Power in Numbers
UAMS was well represented at the recent Southern Regional Meeting of the Society for Pediatric Research in New Orleans. Dr. Joana Mack, Assistant Professor in the Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Program Director for the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship, led a group of over 40 Pediatrics trainees and faculty members attending the meeting. Collectively, they presented 19 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations. Peers from other states took note of how supportive the UAMS colleagues were of one another, with comments such as, “Here comes the group from Arkansas” whenever one of our trainees was preparing to present.

National Proteomics Symposium
For the seventh consecutive year, the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute hosted a national symposium that enables proteomics directors and staff from across the country to share insights and best practices for enhancing their crucial services in support of cancer research. The Cancer Institute is home to the National Institutes of Health-designated IDeA National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics, which is directed by Dr. Alan Tackett, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Deputy Director of the Cancer Institute. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

Geriatric Education Development Awardee
Congratulations to Dr. Leah Tobey on being selected as an Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative (AGEC) Junior Faculty Development Awardee. Dr. Tobey is a doctor of physical therapy in the Interventional Pain Clinic, an Instructor in Psychiatric Research Institute’s Center for Health Services Research, and clinical educator for AGEC in the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. She joins two awardees for the year-long program who were announced last summer, Dr. Lee Isaac, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr. Caitlin Price, an Assistant Professor in the College of Health Professions Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Dr. Tobey is dedicated to improving the quality of life for older Arkansans through self-care management, optimal, evidence-based therapies and education.

Transforming Lives
For the third consecutive year, team members in the Department of Ophthalmology and Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute volunteered their time to provide transformative, sight-giving cataract surgeries at no cost for Marshallese patients. Thanks to these volunteers, six formerly blind individuals will see spring unfold around them in Northwest Arkansas. The team effort followed on the successes of events in 2021 and 2022. I join with Ophthalmology Chair and Jones Eye Director Dr. Paul Phillips in thanking faculty members Drs. Joseph Chacko, Carina Sanvicente, and Ahmed Sallam; residents Drs. Aric Clegg and Zia Siddiqui; administrative staff members Shelli Madison, Valarie Robinson and Shannon Coleman; and all of the clinical team members who made this initiative possible.

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!

Necessity Leads to Opportunity
The temporary closure of a specialized learning laboratory for otology/neurotology trainees at Oklahoma University College of Medicine led to an enhanced learning opportunity for residents at OU and UAMS. With the OU temporal bone lab closed for renovations, OU’s Dr. Alex Bien joined forces with Dr. John Dornhoffer, Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UAMS, to conduct a combined temporal bone lab for residents of both schools over two recent weekends at UAMS. Consisting of both didactic lectures and dissections, the temporal bone lab is a crucial component of otolaryngology residency education – and UAMS’ lab is considered one of the best in the country.

Dr. Dornhoffer said the dual-institution lab gave residents a unique learning experience and an opportunity to “socialize and compare notes outside of the lab.” Now, the two programs hope to make it an annual collaboration. UAMS Assistant Professor Dr. Robert Saadi and Otology fellow Dr. Anna Bareiss also served as course instructors.

EM Leadership Development
Dr. Sarah Greenberger, Associate Professor and Residency Program Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine, has been accepted for the 2023-2024 class of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine/Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine (SAEM/AACEM) Emerging Leader Development Program (eLEAD). The highly competitive, year-long program is designed to help emerging leaders in the field further develop their leadership skills, and to provide networking and other opportunities. I join with Dr. Rawle “Tony” Seupaul, Emergency Medicine Chair and Executive Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, in congratulating Dr. Greenberger on this well-earned opportunity.

Outstanding Reviewer
Dr. Carol Thrush, a leader in educational research in the COM GME Office, has been named an Outstanding Reviewer for 2022 by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the editors of ACGME’s Journal of Graduate Medical Education. The honor stems from her contributions as a peer reviewer for multiple manuscripts and her high reviewer ratings. This national service to scholarly work is an extension of Dr. Thrush’s strong commitment to high-quality scholarly work by residents, students and faculty in our college and her contributions to many excellent publications through her roles as a Professor in the departments of Surgery and Internal Medicine as well as the GME Office. Kudos, Dr. Thrush.

Insights into Aging
Researchers in the Department of Geriatrics recently published two articles on different aspects of aging. First-year postdoctoral fellow Dr. Ambika Verma was first author on “P. gingivalis-LPS Induces Mitochondrial Dysfunction Mediated by Neuroinflammation through Oxidative Stress,” published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The article sheds light on the links between periodontal disease and neurodegenerative disease in older individuals. Professor Dr. Gohar Azhar was the first author on “Differential plasma protein expression after ingestion of essential amino acid-based dietary supplement versus whey protein in low physical functioning older adults,” published in GeroScience. The article expands on the team’s findings in a recent clinical trial that demonstrated the superiority of a dietary supplement composed of essential amino acids. Professor and Chair Dr. Jeanne Wei was senior author on both of the recent publications, and many lab team members were coauthors.

Gold Standard for Consulting
Dr. Abhilash Thatikala, a second-year Neurology resident, is “the gold standard” for specialty consultants called to the Emergency Department to assist with patient cases and the teaching experiences they present. Emergency Medicine residents selected Dr. Thatikala as their newest Consultant of the Month in recognition of his expertise, teaching and collegiality. As one resident wrote, “Dr. Thatikala updates you quickly on the plan and always does what’s best for the patient, all while being the most kind, efficient, and pleasant person ever, even when he’s swamped with consults.” Kudos to Dr. Thatikala for his outstanding work.

Putting Patients First
Patients who suffer from severe headaches are grateful for the expert, compassionate care provided by headache medicine specialist Dr. Scott Lucchese, Associate Professor of Neurology. A patient recently explained in a post-visit survey how much Dr. Lucchese’s “great attention to detail” and willingness to take the time needed to address concerns means. “I never leave his office with any unanswered medical questions,” the patient wrote. “He is a 5-Star Neurologist who is genuinely concerned about his patients, and his pleasing disposition is highly commendable.” Kudos to Dr. Lucchese for putting patients first.

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!

Aiding the Cancer Moonshot
A shout-out to Bill Bennett, an Instructor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, who created an extensive suite of tools for image de-identification and curation for The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), the National Cancer Institute-supported public database housed at UAMS. We have just learned that the U.S. Department of Defense is adopting these tools, called Posda, to support the federal “Cancer Moonshot” program. The de-identification of clinical images is crucial for making data safe for sharing and publishing in the collaborative pursuit of new therapies for fighting cancer. I join with Dr. Fred Prior, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biomedical Informatics and Director of the TCIA, in thanking Bill for sharing his expertise at UAMS over the past seven years, and in wishing him all the best in his upcoming retirement.

National Leadership in Gynecology
Dr. Kathryn Stambough, Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is lending her expertise as a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Clinical Consensus Committee for Gynecology. She is the only currently serving member from Arkansas and was instrumental in formulating the recent publication of updated practice guidelines for the medical management of menstrual suppression. Dr. Stambough serves as a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist at Arkansas Children’s and as Assistant Program Director for the OB/GYN Residency Program at UAMS. Kudos to Dr. Stambough for her national leadership as well as her excellent work in gynecological care and education.

Rising Star in Thoracic Surgery
Dr. Lauren Johnson, a fourth-year General Surgery resident currently completing a dedicated lab research year, received the “Looking to the Future” scholarship from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). The Looking to the Future program identifies rising stars in thoracic surgery and provides mentorship, career development workshops and other opportunities to participate in leadership programs. The scholarship covered travel and participation in the recent STS annual meeting in San Diego. Congratulations, Dr. Johnson.

Groundbreaking Collaboration
The Department of Neurosurgery’s Dr. Erika Petersen and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery’s Dr. John Bracey and Dr. Mark Tait are collaborating with the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research (I³R) at the University of Arkansas and other partners on a groundbreaking technology and clinical trial with the potential to make meaningful sensations of touch, grip force and hand-opening possible for patients with upper limb amputations, using neural-enabled prosthesis. Dr. Petersen is a Professor and Director of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery. Dr. Bracey, an Assistant Professor, and Dr. Tait, an Associate Professor, are hand and nerve specialists. Read more about this exciting work in the UAMS Newsroom.

Striving for Sustainability
UAMS’s sustainability efforts are featured in a newly published article by Dr. Kristie Hadden, Associate Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics and Senior Strategy Associate in the UAMS Office of Strategy Management; Christina Clark, MBA, Vice Chancellor for Support Services and Chief Operations Officer; Dr. Stephanie Gardner, UAMS Provost and Chief Strategy Officer; and Dr. Cam Patterson, Chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. The article, “UAMS’s Response to Climate Crisis: Using energy savings to fund sustainability at an Academic Health Center,” is in the February issue of the Journal of Healthcare Contracting.

104 and Cancer Free
And finally this week, I would like to share a story about an incredible patient – and the healing care initially provided by Dr. James Suen, Distinguished Professor and former Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, nearly 50 years ago. Camden resident Maddie Upton first saw Dr. Suen and received treatment for mouth cancer in 1974. The now 104-year-old cancer survivor and Dr. Suen have maintained a special friendship as doctor and patient ever since. You can read more about Ms. Upton, from her birth during the last months of World War I to the positive attitude she exudes today, in the UAMS Newsroom.

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!

12^th Street Celebrates 10 Years of Service
The student-run UAMS 12^th Street Health and Wellness Center marked 10 years of service to the community in January – a decade that also has provided a phenomenal amount of interprofessional clinical learning experiences for medical students and their peers across UAMS. In 2022 alone, the center saw 800 individual patients and logged over 59,000 student volunteer hours. In January-November, 270 College of Medicine students volunteered at the center. Another accomplishment for the 12^th Street team in 2022 was the integration of the EPIC electronic medical record system.

Let’s have a round of applause for the student volunteers and faculty leaders at the center. COM senior Brett Frazier is Executive Director and junior Nadia Safar is Deputy Executive Director on the Student Board of Directors for the 2022-2023 academic year, and many fellow students serve in other board positions. Next year, Nadia will serve as Executive Director and Brittany Tian, currently a sophomore, will serve as Deputy Executive Director. Congratulations to all of the students who were recently elected to serve on the board in 2023-2024.

The 12^th Street Faculty Leadership Team includes Medical Director Dr. Elizabeth Gath, Professor of Internal Medicine, and Center Director Dr. Melissa Halverson, Associate Professor in the College of Health Professions, Department of Physician Assistant Studies. Dr. Billy Thomas, Professor of Pediatrics, served as the center’s Founding Medical Director.

Otolaryngology Textbook Published
Dr. Gresham Richter, Professor, Vice Chair and Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, was a senior editor on the recently published sixth edition of “Bailey’s Head and Neck Surgery – Otolaryngology.” The comprehensive, two-volume work is one of the leading and longest-published textbooks in the field, designed for both practicing otolaryngologists and residents. Dr. Richter served as the senior editor for content relating to pediatric otolaryngology. UAMS Otolaryngology faculty members Dr. Adam Johnson, Dr. Abby Nolder and Dr. André Wineland also contributed to chapters in the book. 

National Leadership Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr. Stephen Foster, Assistant Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine at the UAMS Northeast Regional Campus, on being selected for the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program. Dr. Foster has been pegged as an up-and-coming leader since completing his residency as a Co-Chief Resident at UAMS Northeast and joining the faculty in 2021. His fellowship nomination drew enthusiastic support from Program Director Dr. Scott Dickson and Little Rock Family Medicine faculty Dr. David Kelley, Dr. Leslie Stone and Dr. Bill Ventres. They cited Dr. Foster’s work on quality improvement initiatives, implementation of the EPIC electronic medical record system across regional campuses, and team-building efforts for residents and staff in Jonesboro. His recent honors include being selected as a 2023 UAMS Implementation Science Scholar.

Advanced Biotherapies Certification
Dr. Gina Drobena, Associate Professor of Pathology, Division Director of Transfusion Medicine and Medical Director of Apheresis, recently became one of the first across the country to become credentialed as a Certified Advanced Biotherapies Professional (CABP). She is the only person in Arkansas and neighboring Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana to hold the new certification from the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB). Congratulations, Dr. Drobena.

Journal Highlights Pulmonary Expertise
For the seventh consecutive year, Dr. Manish Joshi, Professor of Internal Medicine in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, served as Section Editor for an issue of Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine focusing on obstructive, occupational and environmental diseases. Dr. Joshi contributed the introductory editorial for the issue, which also included two review articles by UAMS faculty. Pulmonary Medicine’s Dr. Jose Caceres and Dr. Anand Venkata contributed an article on asbestos-associated pulmonary disease. Dr. Krishna Kakkera, Dr. William Atchley and Dr. Thaddeus Bartter (Pulmonary Medicine) and Dr. Maneetha Kodali (Geriatrics) contributed an article on the interrelationships between ageing and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Team UAMS Answers Call for Emergency Blood Drive
And finally this week, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who turned out for the “pop-up” emergency blood drive at UAMS last Wednesday, even though the ice storm kept many team members away from campus. The drive, conducted by the Arkansas Blood Institute/Our Blood Institute (OBI), was crucial for maintaining life-saving blood supply during a week when inclement weather forced the cancellations of multiple drives and donor appointments. An astounding 76 team members signed up to volunteer after the announcement went out that morning – including 32 new donors. By the end of the four-hour drive, 61 units of blood had been collected.

“Not only did UAMS step up and allow us to hold an emergency pop-up blood drive, but you all exceeded any expectation we had,” said Lindsey Beaver, OBI Director of Donor Recruitment. “We cannot express our gratitude enough for the efforts and success you had, and most importantly for understanding the severity of blood supply and showing up during this emergency.”

I join with Dr. Michelle Krause, Senior Vice Chancellor for UAMS Health and CEO for UAMS Medical Center, in thanking all who donated blood. Special thanks also to Clinical Lab Manager Ann Jacob and Dr. Aaron Wyble, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Medical Director of the UAMS Blood Bank, and everyone who helped to coordinate the drive on short notice.

The need for blood remains critical, and I encourage COM team member to donate if you can. The next blood drive at UAMS is scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 14-15. For more information, please see this UAMS announcement.

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!

First for Arkansas Kids with Epilepsy
Arkansas children with epilepsy receive world-class care thanks to UAMS and Arkansas Children’s team members across multiple disciplines. In the surgical arena, a historic first for the state occurred Jan. 23 with the first deep brain stimulator (DBS) implantation of a patient with epilepsy at Arkansas Children’s. The procedure was performed by Dr. Viktoras Palys, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Surgical Director of the Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and Dr. Gregory Albert, Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery. DBS for children with epilepsy remains relatively rare across the country. In fact, Dr. Palys performed the first adult case for a patient with epilepsy in Arkansas in December 2020. Last November, Dr. Palys and Dr. Albert performed another first for Arkansas – the first pediatric laser ablation (LITT) surgery for epilepsy. Kudos to these outstanding neurosurgeons and their colleagues.

National Diversity Award
Congratulations to Dr. Ramona Rhodes, Associate Professor of Geriatrics, on being selected for the Richard Payne Outstanding Achievement in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). Dr. Rhodes will be honored at the AAHPM annual meeting in Montreal in March for her work to improve care for diverse, vulnerable and underrepresented patient populations. Dr. Rhodes serves as Associate Director for Health Services Research in the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. 

Prestigious Grand Rounds
A shout-out to Dr. Analiz Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of Neurosurgical Oncology, who presented the Neurosurgery Grand Rounds at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine last week. Dr. Rodriguez’s talk was on “Future Directions in the Management of Recurrent Glioblastoma.” Dr. Rodriguez continues to gain national recognition for her expertise, and we are fortunate to have her at UAMS.

National Program Directors Honor
Dr. Shashank Kraleti, Associate Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine and Program Director for the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine Residency, has been named a recipient of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD) Program Director Recognition Award at the Silver level. The award is based on accomplishments in areas including scholarly activity, peer and professional development, service to family medicine organizations, and advocacy. This is just the latest of several national honors for Dr. Kraleti, who received the AFMRD award at the Bronze level in 2021. Last fall, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) selected Dr. Kraleti for the 2023 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award, which will be presented later this month. In October, he was featured in the American Academy of Family Physicians’ “Family Doc Focus.”

ED Consultant of the Month
Dr. Marina Joseph, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, has been selected as the new Consultant of the Month by Emergency Medicine residents. The monthly honor highlights collegial faculty and residents from across the COM – and their impact on both residents and patients in the Emergency Department. As one resident wrote, “Dr. Joseph maintains an elevated level of professionalism and kindness that complements her clinical expertise and confidence well.” Well done, Dr. Joseph.

AHA Predoctoral Fellowships
Congratulations to UAMS graduate students Lance Benson and Soumiya Pal on their predoctoral fellowship awards from the American Heart Association. Lance, who works in the lab of mentor and sponsor Dr. Shengyu Mu, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, will use his one-year award for a project titled “Inappropriate activation of CD8 cells contributes to the pathogenesis of hypertension.” Dr. Nancy Rusch, Distinguished Professor and Chair, is a co-sponsor. Dr. Yuet-Kin “Ricky” Leung (also in Pharmacology) and Dr. Lu Huang (Microbiology and Immunology) are collaborators on Lance’s award. Dr. Mu is also a co-sponsor and Dr. Rusch is a collaborator on Soumiya’s award, for “Mechanism of lymphatic contractile dysfunction in hypertension.” He is a student in the lab of mentor and sponsor Dr. Amanda Stolarz, Assistant Professor in the College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Congratulations & Kudos to our Anatomical Scholars
And finally this week, a well-earned shout-out to the six third-year medical students who served as Anatomical Scholars for the Human Structure module this year. All six actively participated in the weekly journal club and served as teaching assistants in the fall course for freshmen, as well as conducting multiple scholarly research projects. The students prepared four abstracts that have been accepted for presentation at the American Association for Anatomy meeting in Washington, D.C., March 25-27 and will receive travel grants from the Lutterloh Trust for Medical Education Excellence to attend the conference.

Congratulations and thank you to the Anatomical Scholars: Brett Glenn, Larkin Harris, Savana Kuhn, Monroe McKay, Brooke Nunn and Marc Reed. Their abstracts address multiple aspects of the Anatomy Scholars program and its impact in gross anatomy and M1 education, including the benefits of supplemental teaching by “near peers,” student satisfaction, resource utilization and student performance, and the success of traditional vs. digital human anatomy curricula. Faculty collaborators and mentors included Module Director Dr. David Davies, Professor of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, Dr. Hanna Jensen, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Radiology, and Dr. Jasna Vuk, Associate Professor in the Educational and Student Success Center.

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!

Biochemistry Expertise in the National Spotlight
Dr. Kevin Raney, Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, capped a three-year term as President of the Association of Medical and Graduate Departments of Biochemistry by overseeing the association’s annual meeting in Clearwater, Florida, this month. Dr. Jon Lorsch, Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, presented a virtual talk during the conference – and gave high praise to two nationally prominent research cores at UAMS.

Dr. Lorsch lauded the National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics – which is supported by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the College of Medicine and the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute – saying it may very well be the best in the nation. The Proteomics core is operated by Dr. Sam Mackintosh and Dr. Ricky Edmondson and led by Dr. Alan Tackett. Dr. Lorsch also praised the Bioinformatics Core facility, noting that UAMS’ use of Cloud Computing increased data analysis throughput by six-fold. The Bioinformatics Core is led by Dr. Stephanie Byrum. Congratulations to all of these outstanding Biochemistry and Molecular Biology faculty colleagues.

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Appointment
Dr. Aline Andres, Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Developmental Nutrition and Associate Director at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC), will lend her expertise as one of 20 nationally recognized scientists appointed to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The committee will review the current body of nutrition science and develop a report reflecting its independent, science-based advice for the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) to consider as the agencies develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030. Dr. Andres is highly regarded for her research into the effects of prenatal and postnatal nutrition on child growth and development, particularly in the first 1,000 days of life. At the ACNC, she also leads the Clinical Research Core. Congratulations to Dr. Andres on this well-earned appointment.

Nationally Recognized Brain Surgery & Stroke Care
Recently announced rankings and honors from Healthgrades are a reminder of the excellence of our cranial neurosurgery and stroke programs. For 2023, Healthgrades ranks UAMS among the top 5% of hospitals across the country for cranial neurosurgery. UAMS also received a Cranial Neurosurgery Excellence Award for the second year in a row, was named a Five-Star Recipient for Cranial Neurosurgery and, for the second consecutive year, for Treatment of Stroke. Special thanks to Dr. J.D. Day, Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences Service Line Director; Service Line Administrator M.J. Orellano; Stroke Program Medical Director Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy Onteddu, Associate Professor of Neurology; Stroke Program Director Marzella Backus, MNSc, RN; and the many other outstanding team members who made these distinctions possible. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

Advances in Cancer Research
Dr. Zhiqiang Qin, Associate Professor of Pathology, and Dr. Lu Dai, Assistant Professor of Pathology, recently published two papers. An article in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology reports on the importance of IL1 signaling molecules in Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) pathogenesis and tumorigenesis, which may represent attractive therapeutic targets against these virus-associated diseases. The second paper, published in PLOS Pathogens, discusses the development of new HDACs/BRD4 dual inhibitors targeting virus-associated lymphomas. Research staff members Dr. Jungang Chen and Dr. Zhengyu Wang made major contributions to both studies. Additional UAMS collaborators included the Dr. Hong-Yu Li, a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Steven Post, Professor of Pathology, and Dr. Samantha Kendrick, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Family Medicine National Fellow
Dr. Sujit Kumar Kotapati, Assistant Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine and Medical Director of the UAMS Health Neighborhood Clinic on Financial Center Parkway, has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP). Dr. Kotapati will be recognized at an upcoming AAFP Fellowship Convocation. Congratulations, Dr. Kotapati, and thank you for your service and clinical leadership. 

Celebrating CRNAs & Physician Anesthesiologists
This week (Jan. 22-28) is National Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) Week, and next week (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) is Physician Anesthesiologists Week. As we celebrate our team members across these two professions, I join with Dr. Jill Mhyre, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, in thanking our CRNAs and physician anesthesiologists for their hard work and crucial contributions to taking excellent care of our patients throughout the year.