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!

Top-Tier Honorific Society Recognition
Dr. Susan Emmett, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been selected for election to the prestigious American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Emmett will be only the sixth otolaryngologist in the country and the fifth individual from UAMS in any specialty to be elected to the society, which honors the top echelon of physician-scientists. ASCI selects only 100 physicians each year across all specialties for membership. One of the most highly funded investigators in otolaryngology, Dr. Emmett has led groundbreaking research in hearing health disparities and the use of telemedicine to improve access to care. At UAMS, she directs the Center for Hearing Health Equity and holds an additional appointment in the College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology. 

This is great news for UAMS in addition to a well-earned honor for Dr. Emmett. Having faculty who are members in top-tier honorific societies helps to raise our national profile among academic medical centers and research institutions. Congratulations, Dr. Emmett.

Humanitarian Award
Dr. Gloria Richard-Davis, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Executive Director of the UAMS Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will be honored as a Humanitarian of the Year by the Just Communities of Arkansas organization at a celebration this Thursday. The annual awards recognize Arkansans who have demonstrated significant commitment to building inclusive communities. Dr. Richard-Davis is nationally recognized for her work to address health equity issues and disparities that women of color experience in reproductive medicine. She has mentored and coached students, residents and faculty at UAMS and beyond, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in women’s health. Read more about her work and why she is being honored in this profile of Dr. Richard-Davis on the Just Communities of Arkansas website. Congratulations on this special honor, Dr. Richard-Davis.

100 Top Arkansas Doctors
You can count on UAMS faculty physicians being a strong presence on the annual Castle Connolly Top Doctors list, and 2023 was no exception. The roster of UAMS faculty who made the peer-nominated, rigorously reviewed list is now available on the UAMS website. The list of top doctors across the state is also in this month’s Arkansas Times. Castle Connolly recognized 100 colleagues who practice at UAMS Medical Center, Arkansas Children’s, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and Baptist Health. Among them are three faculty physicians who have been named Castle Connolly “Rising Stars” for demonstrating excellence in their specialty early in their career: Dr. Mitchell Jenkins (Infectious Disease), Dr. Heather Williams (Gynecologic Oncology), and Dr. Adam Wolfe (Radiation Oncology). Congratulations to all!

Global Guidelines for Down Syndrome Care
Dr. Terry Harville, Professor of Pathology and Internal Medicine, will again lend his expertise to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation as national experts prepare the second edition of the “GLOBAL Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome.” Dr. Harville will write evidence-based guidelines for the evaluation of hematologic malignancies and for celiac disease in adults with Down syndrome. He was also a coauthor of the first edition, a landmark publication that was published in JAMA in 2020. Read more about the initiative in this news release from the foundation.

Family Medicine Residency Education Network
The Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) will develop an Arkansas Family Medicine Residency Network Educational Collaborative with support from the American Board of Family Medicine Foundation. The foundation awarded an initial grant of $5,000 for the network, which will support graduate medical education innovation and outcomes, professional collaboration, and the sharing of best practices to enhance population care across the state. Leaders in the initiative include Dr. Shashank Kraleti, Garnett Chair of Family Medicine and Director of the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line, Dr. Julea Garner, Director of the Baptist Health/UAMS Family Medicine Residency Program, and Dr. Diane Jarrett, Director of the DFPM Office of Communication and Departmental Relations.

Myeloma Center Surpasses 1,000 Publications
A shout-out to the team in the UAMS Myeloma Center, which reached a milestone earlier this year with the publication of its 1,000^th article. The Myeloma Center has been producing internationally recognized scholarly work since the publication of an article about multiple myeloma therapy in Cancer Research in 1989. Sandy Mattox, MNSc., RN, has been tracking the publications for many of those years. Dr. Frits van Rhee, Clinical Director of the center and a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, discusses the team’s commitment to helping patients beat myeloma in a UAMS news story about the milestone. “One valuable way we show that commitment is through research that breaks new ground in understanding the disease and developing new treatments to defeat it,” he said. 

Honoring Service to UAMS
Finally this week, congratulations to team members from across the College of Medicine and university who received UAMS Employee Service Awards last week. The annual awards recognize employees after each five years of service. The College of Medicine’s Dr. Robert Arrington, Professor of Pediatrics, is being honored for a remarkable 50 years of service.

Dr. Arrington shaped neonatal care in Arkansas over the decades and has remained a steady presence in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He served as Chief of the Neonatology Section from 1980-2014, ushering in many advances in care and helping to train hundreds of pediatric residents and fellows. He has received many honors at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s for his work, including the 2019 College of Medicine Master Teacher Award.

Here are lists of recipients by years of service and by UAMS division/area. Kudos to all of this year’s honorees for your service to our college, university and state.

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!

Paving the Way for More Primary Care Physicians for Arkansas
UAMS’ extensive efforts to recruit and retain medical students from rural or underserved communities – with the goal of generating much-needed primary care physicians in those areas and across the state – received a boost with a recent $17.6 million grant renewal from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The four-year Medical Student Education (MSE) program award will continue and expand efforts that were initiated as part of $19.6 million in HRSA grant funding for 2019-2023.

I join with Dr. Richard Turnage, Vice Chancellor for UAMS Regional Campuses, Professor of Surgery and the Principal Investigator on the grant, in thanking the many faculty and staff members who have contributed to these initiatives. Special thanks to Dr. Marcia Byers, Senior Director of UAMS Regional Campuses and an Assistant Professor in the COM Department of Family and Preventive Medicine; Robin Howell, Senior Program Manager; and Amber Fluharty, Director of Operations, for their excellent work on the renewal. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

National Honor for Family Medicine Residency Director
Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Gibson-Oliver, Assistant Professor and Program Director for the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program, on being selected for the 2024 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) New Faculty Scholars Award. The honor is part of a program to develop future leaders in academic family medicine through mentorship, networking opportunities and financial support to attend and present at the STFM Annual Spring Conference. In a congratulatory letter, the STFM noted Dr. Gibson-Oliver’s “outstanding leadership potential.” She is only the second Arkansan to receive the STFM honor in the program’s 35-year history. In 2016, the award went to Dr. Shashank Kraleti, who is now the Garnett Chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Director of the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line.

Improving Arthroplasty Across the U.S.
A shout-out to Dr. Jeffrey Stambough, Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, for his work to improve orthopaedic care across the country as a member of the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) Steering Committee. The AJRR, which operates under the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), recently published its 2023 Annual Report on hip and knee arthroplasty procedural trends and patient outcomes. The AJRR is the preeminent registry of its kind, with the 10^th anniversary edition representing more than 3.1 million primary and revision hip and knee arthroplasty procedures performed between 2012 and 2022.

Geriatrics Team Shines at Conference
Department of Geriatrics faculty and team members represented UAMS well at the recent annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Tampa, Florida, delivering 11 presentations. These included three posters co-authored by second-year medical students Mohib Hafeez, Milenko Petrovic, Esther Park and Blake Eddington; and three postdoctoral fellows: Dr. Ambika Verma, who received an award for her presentation, Dr. Pankaj Patyal and Dr. Shakshi Sharma. Assistant Director of Programs Amanda Pangle, Dr. Gohar Azhar, Dr. Xiaomin Zhang and Geriatrics Chair and Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Director Dr. Jeanne Wei also were coauthors.

Young Research Colleague Published in Nature
Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) Chair Dr. Fred Prior and colleagues in DBMI, Neurology and Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences were understandably proud when they learned that Nature Scientific Reports had accepted an article first-authored by a junior research colleague, Anu Iyer. Ms. Iyer worked on “A machine learning method to process voice samples for identification of Parkinson’s disease” under the mentorship of Dr. Prior and other UAMS researchers while she was still a student at Little Rock Central High School. She is now a freshman at Georgia Institute of Technology. Other UAMS coauthors and research team members include Aaron Kemp, Dr. Yasir Rahmatallah, Lakshmi Pillai, Aliya Glover, Dr. Linda Larson-Prior and Dr. Tuhin Virmani. Read the Nature Scientific Reports article here. You can also learn more about her work at UAMS in this 2022 feature on the DBMI website.

“Double Vision” is Good – at National Conference
Faculty and residents in the Department of Ophthalmology and UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute presented 12 papers and other publications at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting in San Francisco. UAMS was also represented at the conference by ophthalmic professionals Megan Brown, Erin Clemons and Shakellia Hawkins. Megan and Erin competed as the “Double Vision Team” in the “Who Wants to Be a Super Tech?” competition, earning first place in their round and second place overall. Congratulations!

Crossing the Finish Line
Finally this week, congratulations to Brendon Hogge, a second-year medical student at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus, on competing in the Ironman World Championship in France this fall. While medical school is grueling academically, the Ironman competition challenges the physical ability and stamina of competitors with a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. Read about Brendon’s path to the championship in this UAMS web story. Well done!

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!

Chancellor’s Awards of Excellence
Five outstanding UAMS faculty members, including four from the College of Medicine, received Chancellor’s Awards of Excellence at the Chancellor’s Town Hall yesterday. The awards recognize exceptional and innovative contributions to education, clinical care, scholarly work, faculty mentorship and service. Please join me in congratulating these honorees:

Clinical Innovation | Dr. Misty Virmani
Dr. Virmani, an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, was honored for her commitment and instrumental leadership in the development of the Arkansas Milk Bank. The state’s first donor milk bank opened in September and will help ensure a ready supply of donor breast milk for sick and vulnerable infants in neonatal intensive care units around the state. Dr. Virmani serves as Executive Medical Director of the milk bank and Director of Breastfeeding Medicine at UAMS.

Scholarship | Dr. Pearl McElfish
Dr. McElfish, a Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Office of Community Health and Research at the UAMS Northwest Campus, was recognized as one of the most impactful researchers at UAMS, with more than 200 published manuscripts and extramural grants totaling more than $180 million. Significantly, her leadership in translational research and population health has improved the health of the Marshallese community and other vulnerable populations.

Faculty Mentorship | Dr. Robert E. “Bobby” McGehee Jr.
Dr. McGehee, a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, was honored for his long commitment to mentorship at UAMS through direct mentoring of students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty, and the creation and leadership of programs designed to nurture a strong and diverse mentorship culture. Dr. McGehee has served in many leadership roles during his three decades on the faculty, including Dean of the Graduate School from 2004 until earlier this year.

Community/Institutional Service | Dr. Kevin Phelan
Dr. Phelan, a Professor of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, was recognized for developing and directing the highly successful ArkanSONO Outreach Program, along with development and implementation of the Clinical Procedure Teaching and Learning Laboratory. ArkanSONO has used ultrasound and other imaging modalities to enhance learning and stimulate interest in STEM careers in K-12^th grade students since 2017. The program was an outgrowth of Dr. Phelan’s pioneering teaching techniques using point-of-care ultrasound devices to teach living anatomy to medical students.

Educational Innovation | Dr. Tiffany Haynes
Dr. Haynes, an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in the College of Public Health, was lauded as an exemplary teacher, devoted mentor and student advisor, effective academic administrator, and productive researcher. She was praised in particular for encouraging her students to explore and address health disparities in their communities through visual storytelling.

Ensuring Educational Research Integrity
Dr. Carol Thrush, Professor of Surgery and Internal Medicine and an educational research leader in the COM Graduate Medical Education Office, was among the experts from educational institutions, federal funding agencies, professional associations and accreditation agencies participating in a national summit on the state of research integrity and education. The Nov. 8-9 event was hosted by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) and held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washinton, D.C. The summit’s aim was to help foster a culture that makes badly done research “unthinkable.” Dr. Thrush presented on the topic of institutional commitment and shared leadership and assessment strategies. The APPE will release a report with strategies and suggested next steps in early 2024.  

Multiple System Atrophy Center of Excellence Designation
UAMS has been selected as a 2023 Center of Excellence by the Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) Coalition, thanks to the hard work of the Movement Disorders Program team with the application process led by Dr. Tuhin Virmani, Associate Professor of Neurology. The MSA Center of Excellence Program is designed to ensure access to the highest quality of multi-disciplinary clinical care and supporting services for patients and families affected by MSA. Along with Dr. Virmani, the team includes Assistant Professors Dr. Hillary Williams and Dr. Aditya Boddu, Rachel Sloan, APRN, Kathryn Stafford, RN, Delores Chandler, RN, Kristie Cervantes, LPN, and Neurology Chair Dr. Rohit Dhall.

Influencing Molecular Pathology Clinical Practice
Dr. Susan Harley, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Director of the Molecular Diagnostics Lab at UAMS, was elected by members of the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) to serve on the AMP Clinical Practice Committee. During her two-year term, Dr. Harley will lend her expertise to the committee’s review, analysis and presentation of data that guides current test reporting and interpretation practices for clinical laboratories across the country.

Excellence in GME Administration
A shout-out to three Graduate Medical Education (GME) team members who recently achieved certification as a Training Administrator of Graduate Medical Education (TAGME). The Department of Internal Medicine’s Jennifer Cushing, Residency Program Manager, and Sarah Brennan, Program Coordinator, along with Corinne Morphew, Program Coordinator for the Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology Fellowships, completed a rigorous and comprehensive process that demonstrates advanced competencies and a high commitment to the role of residency and fellowship administration. They join four other current UAMS GME administrators who hold the prestigious TAGME certification.  

Infectious Disease Fellow Designation
Congratulations to Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease faculty members Dr. H. Kathy Liverett, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Ryan Dare, Associate Professor, on being named Fellows of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). The designation is one of the most prestigious honors in the field of infectious disease, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated exceptional professional excellence and have provided significant service to the profession.

National Pain Medicine Conference
UAMS was well represented at the recent American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans. Chronic Pain Medicine fellow Dr. Bryan Slepicka was one of 25 fellows nationally selected to participate in an Advanced Interventional Pain Management Course and Workshop held during the meeting. Anesthesiology residents Dr. Humaira Saleem and Dr. Shawn Shoham and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residents Dr. Suzanne Abou-Diab and Dr. Ibrahim Samarra’e presented posters on a range of pain medicine topics. Congratulations also to Dr. Jarna Shah, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Program Director for the Pain Fellowship, on her appointment as Vice Chair for the Women in Regional and Acute Pain Medicine Significant Interest Group.

Article Showcases Pediatric Clinical Informatics Section
A new article by Dr. Obeid Shafi, Assistant Professor in the Clinical Informatics Section of the Department of Pediatrics, sheds light on the critical role of electronic health records (EHRs) in pediatric care. “Defining Electronic Health Record Standards for Child Health: A State-of-the-Art Review” was published in Applied Clinical Informatics and showcases the work of the Clinical Informatics section, positioning them as leaders who are shaping the future of pediatric health IT. Coauthors include Assistant Professor Dr. Daniel Liu and Professor and Section Chief Dr. Feliciano Yu. Read more in the Department of Pediatrics Newsroom.

Putting Patients First
A staff member recently shared an example of how compassion and going the extra mile for our patients makes all the difference for those who receive care at UAMS, along with their families. Dr. Kalaivani Sivakumar, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Medical Director of the Heart Restoration, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Cardiac Transplant Program, and Chase Paladino, APRN, took the time to visit a patient at home and make sure she was doing well after an extensive hospitalization. “This was a compassion call, not a requirement of their jobs,” said the staff member, who is a relative of the patient. “My loved one was so happy to see them, she cried. The whole family was very impressed and thankful.” Kudos to these outstanding team members and to all of you who exemplify 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!

“The Last Lecture” to Honor Dr. Kent Westbrook
Congratulations to Dr. Kent Westbrook, Distinguished Professor of Surgery, on being nominated and selected to deliver the inaugural talk in “The Last Lecture” series presented by the UAMS Emeritus Society. The honorific lecture will be held annually to pay tribute to a late-career or retired faculty member and, just as importantly, to share the honoree’s wisdom and insights with faculty, staff and students across UAMS.

Dr. Westbrook has served as a leader at UAMS for five decades. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he worked with colleagues to develop comprehensive cancer programs at UAMS. Dr. Westbrook co-founded what is now the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute in 1984 and served as its founding Director for 14 years. He directed the Division of Surgical Oncology for 11 years. Dr. Westbrook also has made an immeasurable impact on UAMS through philanthropic initiatives and as a champion for our mission and programs across the state.

In short, Dr. Westbrook exemplifies the spirit of “The Last Lecture.” As many know, he is also an engaging and entertaining speaker. All are invited to hear Dr. Westbrook’s talk on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 4:00 p.m. in Walton Auditorium on the 10^th floor of the Cancer Institute. (Please note this location has changed since the initial announcements about this event.)  A reception will follow. The lecture also can be viewed virtually via this link.

Addressing Disparities in Asthma & Allergy Research
Dr. Tamara Perry, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Allergy and Immunology Section, will share her expertise at an upcoming workshop of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The two-day workshop will convene experts with knowledge and experience in engaging diverse populations in asthma and allergic diseases research, to strategize how to optimize research recruitment to better understand and address disparities. Dr. Perry will moderate a session on Dec. 4 focusing on the epidemiology of health disparities in allergic disease.

Five Star Rankings for UAMS Specialty Care
We received excellent news recently that Healthgrades, a key resource for consumers looking for a health care provider, has awarded UAMS five stars – its highest rating – for treatment of heart failure, pneumonia and respiratory failure, and cranial neurosurgery. This is the third straight year our neurosurgery team has earned the five-star rating. The ratings reflect the excellence and deep commitment to providing high-quality care of many clinical team members across multiple specialties, the Cardiovascular, Integrated Medicine and Neurosciences service lines, and others. Learn more about the new ratings in this UAMS news release. Congratulations and kudos to all.

Mental Health Needs of the Incarcerated
It is staggering to realize that about half of the people in U.S. jails and more than one-third of those in U.S. prisons have been diagnosed with mental illness. Dr. Lisa Evans, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Pulaski County Regional Stabilization Unit, is doing outstanding work to help ensure law enforcement teams and mental health care providers are prepared to address crisis situations and meet the mental health care needs of those who are incarcerated. A $500,000, three-year grant from the federal Bureau of Justice will bolster these efforts by creating well-trained crisis response teams of Little Rock police officers and social workers. Read more about the initiative in the UAMS Newsroom. 

Evidence-based Innovation Award
The Arkansas Medicaid Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program received the inaugural Evidence-based Health Policy Innovation Award from the Center for Evidence-based Policy based at Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr. William Golden, Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health and Medical Director of the Division of Medical Services for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, accepted the award on behalf of the program at an Oct. 25 ceremony. The Arkansas PCMH program, now in its 10^th year, was recognized for achieving robust participation of primary care clinics across Arkansas and improving the viability of care for Medicaid patients in a rural state.

Supporting Health Care Entrepreneurship
Arkansas entrepreneurs from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds will benefit from a groundbreaking new initiative directed by BioVentures President and Department of Surgery faculty member Dr. Kevin Sexton and co-directed by Dr. Eric Peterson (Pharmacology/Toxicology) and Dr. Robert Griffin (Radiation Oncology). With support from a nearly $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Arkansas Collaborative for Technological and Innovative Venture Equality (ACTIVE) will serve as an early-stage technical assistance program and incubator for disadvantaged business owners working to develop health technology and health care businesses. UAMS-based BioVentures LLC was one of 43 recipients receiving grants under the Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program. Dr. Sexton participated in a ceremony and roundtable discussion on the program at the White House in August.

Golf Lab to Help Patients Lead Active Lives
A shout-out to the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery on the reopening of the renovated golf laboratory within the UAMS Biomechanics Lab. An anonymous gift funded improvements to the Biomechanics Lab and the creation of dedicated space for golf-focused research. This space has been renamed in honor of renowned Arkansas golfers Dan Snider and the late Jon Zieske. The Biomechanics Lab is used for clinical and biomechanical research to better understand how patients move before and after orthopaedic procedures and for numerous studies involving gait, balance and movement. As Professor and Chair Dr. Lowry Barnes notes in this UAMS news story, the upgraded facility will improve our ability to help patients stay active and live their best lives.

Family Medicine Update 2023
Kudos to the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Community Health and Education Division, and team members from across our college and UAMS who made the 2023 Family Medicine Update and Tobacco and Disease Symposium a great success. Special thanks to Andrea Hooten, Marybeth Curtis, Colleen Lassiter, and Alysia Dubriske for their leadership and hard work on the continuing education conference. The event was held virtually Oct. 24-27, hosting national experts as well as UAMS clinicians and faculty presenters.

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 Alumnus Award
Congratulations to Dr. Analiz Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Director of Neurosurgical Oncology and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Neurosurgery, on receiving the 2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award in the M.D./Ph.D. category at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine this month. The award honors alumni whose work has made a significant mark in the medical sciences and has brought distinction to Case Western. Dr. Rodriguez earned her doctorate in pathology in 2008 and medical degree in 2009 in the NIH-sponsored Medical Scientist Training program at CWRU. Since joining the UAMS faculty in 2017, Dr. Rodriguez has achieved growing national recognition for her expertise in glioblastoma and neurosurgical oncology, and for her contributions to national initiatives to increase diversity and reduce health disparities in cancer research.

Otolaryngology Expertise Shared Nationally
Dr. Susan Emmett, an Associate Professor in the COM Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, was an invited lecturer for the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Science in Communication Disorders. The Oct. 24-25 NIH virtual workshop was held to identify needs and opportunities within D&I research in communication disorders. Dr. Emmett was also a speaker and faculty member for the Oct. 20-22 Otology Fellows Congress and Advanced Course in Ear and Skull Base Surgery hosted by UAMS for the sixth year. Dr. John Dornhoffer, Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology, co-chaired and spoke at the event, which drew 23 fellows and 10 expert instructors from 10 countries.

Chancellor’s Circle Grants Support Ingenuity
Congratulations to the College of Medicine teams and faculty and staff across UAMS who received Chancellor’s Circle Grants this year. Thirteen grants totaling $213,000 will support a wide range of initiatives that reflect ingenuity and excellence across our mission areas. For example, the Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program, a BioVentures project, will teach medical students to critically evaluate needs in the practice of medicine and help instill an innovator mindset. The Office of Graduate Medical Education will use a grant to help identify and provide professional development for newly emerging leaders. A grant to the Culinary Medicine program will be used to provide cooking demonstrations and information on healthy, low-cost meal prep for community members at the 12^th Street Community Café. And much more. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

Radiology Challenging Case Competition
A shout-out to everyone who made the second annual Department of Radiology Challenging Case competition this fall a successful and fun educational event. The project matches senior medical students who are applying for radiology residency training with faculty mentors to format and then present a challenging Diagnostic Radiology or Interventional Radiology case. Faculty members Dr. Sateesh Jayappa and Dr. Charles James co-directed this year’s competition as well as the inaugural project. Congratulations to M4 student Haley Feezell on winning the Best Presentation Award (mentor Dr. Janice Murphy); and Brandon Allen on earning the Runner-Up Presentation Award (mentor Dr. Robert Dixon). Radiology Interest Group President and M3 student Humam Shahare and Past-President and Radiology intern Dr. Dhruba Dasgupta encouraged medical student participation. Thanks also to moderators Dr. Murphy, Dr. Kelli Schmitz and Donna Ashlock and judges Dr. Scott Harter, Dr. Mahesh Matapathi and Dr. Kala Buddha.

ENT Surgeon Named FACS Fellow
Dr. Graham Strub, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been named a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). Dr. Strub has provided outstanding pediatric care for patients since his recruitment to UAMS and Arkansas Children’s in 2018. Dr. Strub also was recently named to the Editorial Board for Nature: Scientific Reports, which will benefit from his research expertise in the molecular biology of vascular anomalies.

12^th Street Health and Wellness Celebrates 10 Years
Community has always been at the heart of the UAMS 12^th Street Health and Wellness Center, so a Fall Festival was the perfect way to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the student-led clinic. The center, which provides free health screenings and health management services, has provided care for more than 7,000 patients since opening in January 2013. Hundreds of College of Medicine students, along with their peers from other UAMS colleges, have volunteered at the center while gaining valuable interprofessional learning experiences with UAMS faculty. Kudos to M4 student Nadia Safar, Executive Director of the Student Board of Directors, Deputy Executive Director and M3 student Brittany Tian, and fellow student volunteers for helping to organize the festival. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

First Anniversary for Mental Health Services at 12^th Street
As the 12^th Street Health and Wellness Center celebrated its 10^th anniversary, the Department of Psychiatry’s mental health clinic marked its one-year anniversary of providing care at the center this month. The clinic was spearheaded by third-year Psychiatry resident Dr. Wesley White, who had volunteered at 12^th Street while he was a student and recognized the need for providing mental health care in addition to the other services provided for members of the 12^th Street community. Dr. White enlisted the assistance of several faculty members to launch and conduct the monthly mental health clinics. The team has treated patients for anxiety, depression and trauma. Dr. Samuel Olson serves as the Faculty Director, with Drs. Jessica Coker, Greer Sullivan, Shona Ray-Griffith, Laura Dunn, Abigail Richison and Payton Lea serving as attending physicians.

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!

Expanding Mental Health Resources for Arkansas
Arkansas youth and young adults will benefit from expanded mental health resources thanks to recent grants from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas and the leadership of College of Medicine faculty. A $1.6 million grant will be used to create a multifaceted Pathways to Wellness Program that will be led by Dr. Nikki Edge, Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, and Dr. Laura Dunn, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry. The program will build on two previous programs, the Trauma Resource Initiative for Schools (TRIS) and UAMS Health AR ConnectNow. TRIS is led by Dr. Sufna John, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr. Edge. A second grant will provide $714,809 to launch an adolescent and young adult addiction treatment program in the Psychiatric Research Institute. Dr. Srinivasa Gokarakonda, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr. Jason Williams, Professor and Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, will oversee the program. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

International Leadership in Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Dr. William Steinbach, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Child Health, began serving a two-year term as President of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) during the society’s IDWeek 2023 conference in Boston last week. Dr. Steinbach will provide outstanding leadership for PIDS, the world’s largest organization of professionals dedicated to the treatment, control and eradication of infectious diseases affecting children. Dr. Steinbach is internationally known for his expertise and research into the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal infections and other infections, which are leading killers in patients with lowered immune systems. At Arkansas Children’s, Dr. Steinbach also serves as Pediatrician-in-Chief and holds the Robert H. Fiser Jr., M.D., Endowed Chair in Pediatrics.

Reality Check on Obesity in Arkansas
Dr. Dinesh Edem, Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Director of the Medical Weight Management Program, provided an insightful reality check for recent national numbers that seemed to indicate a drop in obesity in Arkansas as well as an improvement in the state’s national obesity ranking. Dr. Edem’s expertise was central to an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last week. Dr. Joe Thompson, Professor of Pediatrics and President and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) also was among the experts who provided important context for the latest report from the Trust for America’s Health. Dr. Edem also was interviewed recently for an article in About You magazine about the pros and cons of the latest weight loss drugs.

International Presentation on Long COVID
Dr. Terry Harville, Professor of Pathology and Internal Medicine, was a Visiting Professor and invited speaker for the recent Association des Patients Immunodeficents dus Quebec (APIQ) annual meeting in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Harville presented an update on Long COVID, including the groundbreaking research that has been conducted at UAMS by Dr. Harville, Professor and Division of Nephrology Chief Dr. John Arthur and other colleagues into the involvement of an antibody that attacks the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). After the well-received presentation, APIQ leaders invited Dr. Harville to return for next year’s conference.

Women of Impact
The Women’s Foundation of Arkansas and Soiree magazine recently honored the “Top 100 Women of Impact in Arkansas 2023,” including several College of Medicine and UAMS team members. The list profiles women who are making a difference through their work and service, including the COM’s Julie Joyce, J.D., Senior Manager of Community Partnerships in the Department of Internal Medicine Division of Community Health & Research at the UAMS Northwest Campus; Dr. Jerrilyn Jones, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of the Medical Scholars in Public Health Postbaccalaureate Program; Dr. Nirvana Manning, Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology; and Dr. Jeanne Wei, Professor and Chair of Geriatrics and Director of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. The list also includes women serving in other areas of UAMS and several who are making a difference at partnering organizations, such as Arkansas Children’s President and CEO Marcy Doderer, FACHE. Congratulations to all – and, more importantly, thank you for your commitment to improving the lives of Arkansans.

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!

Student Volunteers, Faculty Make “Girlology” a Hit
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s “Girlology” workshop continues to draw “sell-out” crowds of pre-teen and teenage girls along with parents or other caregivers. On the heels of a very successful event in Springdale last month, faculty and medical student volunteers welcomed the largest turnout yet on Sunday with close to 700 participants in two sessions on the Little Rock campus. Launched in 2022, the program provides thoughtful information about puberty and related health and social topics. OB/GYN Chair Dr. Nirvana Manning and faculty physicians Dr. Laura Hollenbach and Dr. Kathryn Stambough have done an outstanding job developing and growing this program.

“We couldn’t do it without our student volunteers,” emphasizes Dr. Manning. “They register attendees, help with props, assist the children during question-and-answer sessions and during breaks, and more. They provide such great energy and help so much in making the families feel more comfortable.”

Second-year student Ashton Jones took the lead inorganizing fellow students for Sunday’s event. Other student volunteers included Macie Cain, Lauren Camp, Alex Carrasquillo, Makenzie Cole, Rachel French, Khristina Huff, Sarah Mitchell, Katie Pacheco, Ashton Rogers, Emily Pavlovic-Segal and Lane Tupa. (See photos here.) The Northwest Arkansas program on Sept. 17 was presented in partnership with the UAMS Office of Community Health and Research and Arkansas Children’s Northwest. Kudos to all for making this program so successful.

Musculoskeletal Research in the Spotlight
The UAMS Musculoskeletal community is having a strong showing at the meetings of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), Pre-Meeting on Osteocytes, and the Endocrine Fellows Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia, this week. Faculty, postdocs and students will present six invited talks, seven oral presentations and 15 posters (two oral and six plenary) and receive several awards. Post-doctoral fellows and student honorees include: Most Outstanding Translational Abstract recipient Dr. Japneet Kaur; Young Investigator Award winners Dr. Adriana Carvalho and Hayley Sabol; Travel Awardees Alicen James, Aric Anloague, Mohsin Ali and Ana Resende-Coelho; and Plenary Poster winner Dr. Alongkorn Kurilung. Dr. Melda Onal, Assistant Professor, also received a Travel Award and was one of many faculty presenters and lab leaders from the departments of Physiology and Cell Biology, Internal Medicine/Endocrinology, Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Informatics, and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Read the full schedule of UAMS presentations and honorees here.

IDSA Fellow Designation
Dr. Bobby Boyanton Jr., M.D., Professor of Pathology and Pathologist-in-Chief and Section Medical Director of Molecular Pathology at Arkansas Children’s, has been named a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). The highly competitive designation is one of the most prestigious honors in the field of infectious disease and reflects Dr. Boyanton’s nearly 20 years of service in clinical laboratory diagnostics, medical education and research in the areas of clinical microbiology and molecular infectious diseases.

Keynote Address Highlights Simulation Education
Dr. Karen Dickinson, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Interprofessional Education (IPE) Simulation and Clinical Skills Training, presented “Computer Assisted Surgery and Training” at the Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference (SBEC) in September. Her invited keynote address provided an overview of technology-enhanced simulation education in health care and summarized current evidence for efficacy and recommendations for application as part of an educator’s toolkit. The SBEC was conceived by bioengineering professionals from academia and industry located primarily in the southern United States in 1982. It has grown to become a global event that regularly attracts attendees from all over the world. 

Rising Stars in Spine Surgery
Congratulations to Dr. Samuel Overley, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of the Spine Surgery Fellowship, on being featured as one of “10 spine surgeons younger than 45 to know” in Becker’s Spine Review. The national shout-out wasn’t the first for Dr. Overley, who was honored by the North American Spine Society last year in its “20 Under 40” list in SpineLine. It’s worth noting that Associate Professor and Orthopaedic Spine Division Director Dr. David Bumpass was featured in SpineLine’s inaugural list in 2018. The 2023 list includes Dr. Abduljabbar Alhammoud, who completed a fellowship at UAMS in 2022-2023 and is now at the University of Arizona. That’s a great track record for our Orthopaedic Spine Surgery team.