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!

NMA Surgical Leadership
Congratulations to Dr. Jonathan Laryea, Professor and Chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery, on his appointment as Chair of the Surgical Section of the National Medical Association (NMA). The NMA is the largest and oldest national organization representing African American physicians and their patients and a leading force for parity and justice in medicine and the elimination of health disparities. At UAMS, Dr. Laryea also serves as Medical Director of the Cancer Service Line. Dr. Laryea will provide stellar leadership for the NMA Surgical Section as Chair through August 2023.

National Statisticians Honor
Dr. Paula Roberson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics in the College of Medicine and Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, has been awarded the American Statistical Association (ASA) Founders Award, the ASA’s highest honor. Already a Fellow of the ASA, Dr. Roberson was recognized at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington, D.C., last week for three decades of distinguished service to the organization and the profession. She has held numerous roles within the ASA, including President of the Arkansas Chapter, leadership of the Council of Chapters, and as a member of many committees including Women in Statistics, the Joint Committee on Women in Mathematical Sciences, and awards committees. Congratulations, Dr. Roberson, on this well-earned honor!

Safer Care for Agitated Patients
Dr. Michael Wilson, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry, is at the forefront of national initiatives to provide better care for Emergency Department (ED) patients who are severely agitated due to mental illness or drug intoxication – and de-escalate crises that can result in violent assaults on ED providers. Dr. Wilson’s insights are highlighted in a new special report in Emergency Medicine News about the impact of Project BETA, the Best Practices in the Evaluation and Treatment of Agitation. Dr. Wilson was senior author on a key earlier article on Project BETA in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open. Project BETA guidelines underlie many of the protocols currently in use in the UAMS Emergency Department, including the order set for behavioral health patients developed in coordination with Psychiatry. Well done.

Camp Laughter
A shout-out to the Arkansas Children’s and College of Medicine team members who made this year’s Camp Laughter, a beloved event for cleft and craniofacial patients and families, so much fun. The event at Camp Aldersgate is also important to patients and families because of the opportunity to share and learn from one another’s experiences. Leaders of the multi-disciplinary effort included Dr. Larry Hartzell and the ENT/Cleft team, Dr. Sagar Mehta and the Plastic Surgery/Craniofacial team, Dr. Kirt Simmons and the team in Pediatric and Special Needs Dentistry, and the Audiology, Speech and Nutrition teams at Arkansas Children’s. Very special thanks to Camp Coordinators Sarah Valdez, Jordan Davis, Dana Thomas and Nicolle Boswell.

Student to Present Nationally
Congratulations to third-year MD/MPH student Blaire Taggart, who will be giving an oral abstract presentation at the annual Thrombosis & Hemostasis Summit of North America in Chicago tomorrow. She will present the “Role of a multidisciplinary ‘Period’ Clinic for management of adolescents with abnormal uterine bleeding – a single institution experience.” The presentation is the result of her work toward an Honors in Pediatrics with coauthors and mentors Dr. Divyaswathi Citla-Sridhar, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Shelley Crary, Professor,of the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology; and Dr. Laura Hollenbach, Associate Professor in the  Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Way to go, Blaire!

Helping Duchenne MD Families
The Comprehensive Neuromuscular Program team at Arkansas Children’s did a great job co-hosting a recent workshop for families impacted by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disease that causes progressive muscle degeneration in about 1 in 5,000 male births. The team partnered with the non-profit CureDuchenne on the workshop, which drew families of boys with DMD, or the similar condition Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), from Arkansas and neighboring states. Several team members shared information on the neuromuscular program and current developments in the field. Kudos to Dr. Aravindhan Veerapandiyan (Pediatric Neurology); Dr. Kindann Fawcett (Postdoctoral fellow and nutritionist); Tiffany Boyd, RN; Dr. Amit Agarwal (Pulmonology); Dr. Shipra Bansal (Endocrinology); Dr. Vikki Stefans (Developmental Pediatrics/Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation); Dr. Seth Sorensen (Neuropsychology); Wanda Mitchell, RN; and Melissa Hicks-Wittman, PT.

International Teaching
Dr. Ariel Berlinski, Professor of Pediatric Pulmonology, has been invited to share his expertise in an upcoming webinar on pediatric respiratory care organized by the Respiratory Therapy Program at Chang Gung University in Taiwan. 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.

EM Ultrasound & Lawsuits
Department of Emergency Medicine faculty members Dr. Jason Arthur, Dr. Zachary Lewis and Dr. Gregory Snead were co-authors on a paper first-authored by former faculty member Dr. Brian Russ that examined malpractice lawsuits relating to point-of-care emergency ultrasound. The team of emergency ultrasound experts found that not performing an ultrasound appeared to convey the greatest legal risk for emergency medicine providers, lending further credence to the conclusions of previous studies. The study indicates that performance of point-of-care ultrasound may convey a protective legal effect. The article was published this month in the Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Program Coordinators Rock!
And finally this week, as we look forward to GME Professionals Day this Friday, I want to take a moment to thank our GME Program Coordinators for their hard work, creativity and dedication to the professional and personal success of our residents and fellows. As Dr. Molly Gathright, Vice Dean for GME and Designated Institutional Official, said in this recent announcement, this is a great opportunity to consider how important Program Coordinators are to our training programs. These outstanding professionals are an important part of our mission to train the next generation of physicians for Arkansas and beyond. I join with Dr. Gathright in encouraging all residents, fellows, program directors and department leaders to do something special for your Program Coordinator this Friday. They truly rock!

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!

White Coats & Welcomes
It was an honor to welcome the Class of 2026 and watch as they donned the symbol of the highest ideals of the medical profession at the White Coat Ceremony last Friday evening. The ceremony was in person after two years of virtual ceremonies during the pandemic. And in a historic first, some of our new freshmen joined us from the stage at Fayetteville’s Butterfield Trail Village while others completed this rite of passage at Robinson Center in Little Rock.

Kudos to Dr. Sara Tariq, Associate Dean for Students, and the entire Academic Affairs team for their spectacular work on this very special event. Thanks as well to Dr. Linda Worley, Associate Dean, and our UAMS Northwest faculty; and to Dr. Becky Latch, Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Pediatrics, for her inspiring keynote address.

Each year during the ceremony, the Honors Council presents White Coat Awards to students from the upper classes who were chosen by their peers for exemplifying the qualities of integrity and professionalism during the previous year. Congratulations to sophomore Smit Patel, junior Chase Brazeal and senior Kaitlin Rose.

Pease join me in welcoming our new Freshman Class!

Third NEJM Article of the Year
Congratulations to Dr. Katherine Irby, Associate Professor in the Critical Care Medicine Section of the Department of Pediatrics, on her third publication in the New England Journal of Medicine in the past year (and fourth during her career). Her latest NEJM article, coauthored as a member of the multi-center Overcoming COVID-19 Investigators group, is “Maternal Vaccination and Risk of Hospitalization for Covid-19 among Infants.” She coauthored two additional articles with the group that were published this summer, a study in Clinical Infectious Diseases that found a decreased likelihood of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in vaccinated children, and a study in Pediatrics regarding health impairments in children and adolescents after hospitalization for acute COVID-19 or MIS-C.

Pediatric Critical Care Papers
Dr. Peter Mourani, Professor of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and President of the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, has had several recent publications including an article in Nature Communications that showed a more robust adaptive immune response to SARS-Co-V-2 in upper airway gene expression in children compared with older adults. Dr. Mourani also coauthored papers in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, on sodium bicarbonate use during pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and an assessment of patient health-related quality of life and functional outcomes in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. He also coauthored a study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases on the association between host respiratory transcriptome signature and poor outcome in children with influenza-Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.

Symposium Highlights Undergraduate Research
A shout-out to the UAMS Graduate School, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Arkansas INBRE (IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence) for their great work hosting the ninth Arkansas Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Almost 100 college students from Arkansas and nine other states presented their research during the July 27 event, which was back and better than ever after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Special thanks to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology faculty members Dr. Grover P. Miller, who oversaw planning of the event, and Dr. Eric Enemark, who delivered the keynote talk and emphasized the importance of his own summer undergraduate research in understanding his calling in research. Read more about the symposium and some of the excellent research presented by students in the UAMS Newsroom.

Lung Cancer Prevention
Lung cancer takes the lives of more Arkansans than the next four common cancers combined. And while lung cancer screening is safe and effective, it is underutilized. The American Cancer Society hosted the National Lung Cancer Roundtable workshop in Washington, D.C., to explore opportunities to prevent cancer deaths. Dr. Matthew Steliga, Professor of Surgery, was among the invited leaders from multiple disciplines across the U.S. to participate in a working group focused on addressing barriers to lung cancer screening and accelerating the uptake of screening on a national level. The UAMS lung screening program has gained significant recognition regionally and nationally, particularly for efforts spearheaded by Patricia Franklin, APRN, and Claudia Barone, EdD, APRN, to integrate tobacco cessation into the clinical screening workflow.

Big Data Insights into Antibiotic Resistance
Congratulations to Dr. Se-Ran Jun, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, postdoctoral fellow Dr. Zulema Udaondo and colleagues on their new article in Microbial Genomics. Dr. Udaondo is first author and Dr. Jun is senior author on the study, which provides novel insights into how resistance to daptomycin – an antibiotic used to treat serious bacterial infections – disseminates, revealing a new therapeutic target. Through big data analysis, the team was the first to identify the putative implication of composite transposons (transposable DNA sequences) in the molecular mechanism of dissemination of daptomycin resistance.

Conference Talk Lauded
Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine faculty members Dr. Rebecca Cantu, Dr. Brittany Slagle and Dr. Sara Sanders presented an excellent talk on the utility of procalcitonin level tests for the detection of serious bacterial infection during the Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) National Conference in July. Their presentation was one of the most attended during the conference and was so well received that the colleagues were invited to recap their talk on a national PHM podcast. Well done!

UAMS Northwest Team Research
UAMS Northwest third-year Internal Medicine resident Dr. Alex Belote is first author on a paper showing that subcutaneous monoclonal antibiotic treatment was equally efficient in preventing COVID hospitalizations as the more resource-intensive and time-consuming intravenous administration, in an analysis of patients in Northwest Arkansas. In addition to its clinical significance, the paper highlights the strong collaboration and partnership with Washington Regional Medical Center, which is home to senior author Dr. James Newton. UAMS Northwest medical students Megan Clark, Spencer Parnell and Caroline Geels are among the coauthors. All three students are beginning their second year at UAMS Northwest, and Spencer is participating in the accelerated three-year MD track. Great job!

The Path to Pathology
At UAMS, Dr. Matthew Quick, Professor of Pathology, is greatly respected and appreciated by medical students for his award-winning initiatives to expand pathology education and the exploration of pathology as a career path. Programs such as the pathology interest group, a summer pathology preceptorship and the integration of autopsy pathology into first-year gross anatomy have led to a dramatic increase in UAMS graduates choosing pathology. Dr. Quick recently shared his expertise with members of the Royal College of Pathologists in Australia, co-presenting a talk on “Helping Medical Students and Junior Doctors Discover Their Path.”

Award-Winning Research
Congratulations to second-year Internal Medicine resident Dr. Vignesh Chidambaram on receiving the first place Early Career Research Award at the American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention. Dr. Chidambaram works in the laboratory of Dr. J.L. Mehta, Stebbins Chair in Cardiology and Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Cell Biology and Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Chidambaram’s research, which indicates that elevated HDL levels may decrease susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, was highlighted in an article in Cardiology Today.

Terrific Teamwork
I would like to share a note I received from Dr. Mollie Meek, Professor of Radiology, about the collegiality and teamwork of Associate Professor Dr. Shannon Dare and others on the Anesthesiology team on a recent day in Interventional Radiology when two medically complicated patients in a row needed procedures that could not be delayed.

“On a regular day, working in IR can be a challenge due to the physical space and equipment,” Dr. Meek wrote. “We are very appreciative of the continued dedication from all of the anesthesia team members in caring for our challenging patients. Dr. Dare and her team took excellent care of the patients, and we were able to complete the procedures safely. Dr. Dare exemplifies UAMS’s core values and we are lucky to have her as part of our faculty.”

Top Docs
Congratulations to all of the fantastic College of Medicine physicians who were named on the 2022 Top Docs list by Little Rock Soirée this month. Nearly 140 of our faculty practicing at UAMS Medical Center, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System are on Soiree’s list (and presented alphabetically on the UAMS website.) We are equally proud of our faculty who were named to the 2022 Castle Connolly Top Doctors in Arkansas list, which will be published in the Arkansas Times in October. These UAMS physicians also are currently listed on the UAMS website. Kudos to all of you for providing world-class care while teaching and training the next generation of physicians and scientists for Arkansas and beyond.

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!

Mentor Spotlight Podcast
Bravo to medical students Manasa Veluvolu, Weijia Shi, Hannah Hubbard and Jasmin Cotoco, the team behind the excellent new Mentor Spotlight Podcast. The students recently released the first episode, an interview with Dr. Hakan Paydak, Professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, who is widely recognized for his outstanding teaching and mentoring as well as his expertise and leadership in cardiac electrophysiology. Sharanda Williams, M.A., Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity, and Web Manager Chris Lesher also helped get the project off the ground. The podcast was created to connect medical students with potential mentors and to share insights from faculty across the COM on career paths and more. Dr. Paydak’s interview was a great way to start!

National Service in Pathology
A shout-out to Dr. Eric Yee, Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of the Anatomic Pathology Laboratories, on two recent national appointments. He has been named Chair of the Case of the Month Section of the Education Committee for the Rodger C. Haggitt Gastrointestinal Pathology Society, and Co-Chair of the Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology Subcommittee for the Chinese American Pathologists Association. Dr. Yee also serves as an Assistant Editor for the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

Congratulations to Dr. Felicia Allard, Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of the Cytopathology Fellowship, on her appointment to the Journal Watch Section of the Education Committee for the Rodger C. Haggitt Gastrointestinal Pathology Society. Dr. Allard’s other national roles include serving on the Education Committee of the Pancreatobiliary Pathology Society and as an Assistant Editor for GI pathology for the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. 

Spine Surgery Expertise
Dr. Noojan Kazemi, Associate Professor and Director of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Education in the Department of Neurosurgery, recently shared his expertise in minimally invasive developments in lumbar spine surgery with an international audience. Dr. Kazemi was the presenter for an online program hosted by Izmir Katip Celebi University in Izmir, Turkey, and endorsed by the Turkish Neurosurgical Society. Dr. Kazemi has published extensively on topics including spinal tumors, minimally-invasive surgery and craniocervical distraction injuries. He also has authored several book chapters in major neurosurgery textbooks.  

Residency Celebrations & Honors
It has been a pleasure to share highlights from graduation and year-end ceremonies from across the college this summer. This week, we are featuring the Department of Anesthesiology, which presented awards to residents for excellence in several areas, along with recognitions for outstanding teaching by faculty at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s. Program Directors and Coordinators can continue to share reports of ceremonies and honorees for upcoming editions of Accolades. Use this template for your overview and send it to COMInternalCommunications@uams.edu.

Surgery & the Pandemic
A new paper by Drs. Lori Wong, Moriah Hollaway, Hanna Jensen and colleagues shows how the initial triaging system UAMS used during the early months of the pandemic to postpone or cancel elective surgeries when possible worked well. The study, published in Surgery in Practice and Science, found there were minimal urgent admissions or Emergency Department visits due to canceled surgical cases. Dr. Wong worked on the project while completing her Clinical Informatics Fellowship in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. Dr. Hollaway, now a Surgery resident, was working toward her MD/MPH degree and received a U.S. Public Health Service award for the project. Dr. Jensen, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Radiology, was senior author and is leading the team’s follow-up study analyzing similar outcomes in later stages of the pandemic. Kudos to the team for this important work – and to Team UAMS for ensuring the very best surgical care throughout this challenging time.

Robotic Surgery Leadership
UAMS’ leadership in robotic surgery has led to designation as one of a select number of da Vinci Observation Epicenters for Colorectal Surgery. UAMS will host surgeons from across the country to demonstrate colorectal surgery with the da Vinci Surgical System, which is used by more than 1,500 hospitals nationwide. Dr. Conan Mustain, Associate Professor of Surgery, hosted the first visiting surgeon last Friday. The colorectal surgeon is head of the UAMS Robotics Steering Committee and one of 16 certified robotic surgeons at UAMS across nine specialties – Colorectal, General Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Thoracic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Urology, Urologic Oncology, Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

Giving Matters
Dr. William C. “Bill” Culp, who retired from UAMS in 2020, devoted his expertise, energy and resources to finding new treatments for stroke and advancing the field of interventional radiology during his two decades on the faculty. The retired Professor of Radiology, Surgery and Neurology also served as Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiology. A $500,000 gift commitment from this visionary and forward-thinking scientist, clinician and educator will be used to establish the Dr. William Culp Endowed Professorship in Interventional Radiology. We are grateful to Dr. Culp, whose gift will support this important area of research for decades to come. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom. 

Putting Patients First
Sometimes, “putting patients first” goes beyond providing exceptional care at the bedside. Dr. André Wineland, Associate Professor in Pediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, turned a tragedy into a statewide training opportunity. A young patient with a tracheostomy died earlier this year after it accidently fell out and was not replaced in time. To prevent something like this from happening again, Dr. Wineland and his team organized the first annual Statewide Pediatric Tracheostomy Training Course.

Almost 50 people devoted their entire day on July 22 to learn how to better care for children with tracheostomies. Participants included therapists, nurses and administrators of day cares and schools. Parents of children with tracheostomies also participated, providing their unique perspective on caring for a child with a tracheostomy. The mother of the little girl who inspired Dr. Wineland shares why the initiative is so important in this video from Arkansas Children’s.

Kudos, Dr. Wineland. Creating a one-of-a-kind conference that will benefit countless lives is the epitome of 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!

New Endowed Chair
It was a pleasure to celebrate the investiture of Dr. J. Paul Mounsey, Professor and Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, in the Don and Carolyn Kirkpatrick Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine last week. This is a well-deserved honor for Dr. Mounsey, who has made strides in growing our cardiovascular programs since his recruitment to UAMS in 2019. Dr. Mounsey is a nationally recognized expert in managing complex heart rhythm disturbances. Under his leadership, our goal is to provide comprehensive cardiovascular care for Arkansans, to eventually include heart and lung transplants. We are grateful to the Kirkpatrick family for their generous gift to establish this chair. Read more about the investiture in the UAMS Newsroom.

National Psychiatry Honor
Congratulations to Dr. Veronica Raney, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Medical Director of the Child Study Center at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Interim Division Director for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, on being selected for the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s 2022 Psychodynamic Faculty Initiative (PsyFI). The initiative’s goals are to provide recognition and a faculty development opportunity for AACAP members who are planning to teach psychodynamic theory and therapy in child and adolescent psychiatry fellowships. As part of the award, Dr. Raney will work with a mentor to create a project designed to enhance the psychodynamic training experience at UAMS by addressing a problem or specific need within the Department of Psychiatry. She will present her project at the AACAP annual meeting in 2023.

National Workshop Spotlights our Dashboards
Dr. Beatrice Boateng, Associate Dean for Analytics and Strategy, presented an excellent workshop, “What’s your data telling you? Dashboards for Strategic Faculty Development and Vitality,” at the recent AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs Professional Development Virtual Conference. Dr. Boateng demonstrated the faculty dashboards that have been developed for the College of Medicine and discussed how they can be used for prescriptive and predictive analytics to improve faculty vitality. Other authors on the workshop included Dr. Erick Messias, former Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs; Emily Freeman, MA, Director of the UAMS Center for Faculty Excellence; Dr. Renee Bornemeier, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs; and me. You can view Dr. Boateng’s workshop slides here.

Opioid Treatment in the ED
A shout-out to the Department of Emergency Medicine for the lifesaving innovations put in place for patients with opioid use disorder who come to the Emergency Department. The initiative is led by Dr. Mike Wilson, and Dr. Wes Watkins did a great job sharing information about the program in a KARK-4 news segment last week. At UAMS, treatment for opioid addiction can start right in the Emergency Department. UAMS is the first ED in Arkansas with a grant-funded program to provide free, take-home doses of naloxone, the life-saving drug that counteracts the effects of an overdose, in case of future overdose. It is also the first ED to provide buprenorphine to help patients going through symptoms of withdrawal, and any attending physician in the ED can now prescribe it.

Accelerating Precision Cancer Medicine
Congratulations to Dr. Donald Johann, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, who is an author on an article in the high-impact journal Genome Biology on ways to improve Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) assays that use fixed tissue. Precision medicine approaches are revolutionizing the practice of clinical oncology. However, formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE), a routine pathology practice, brings challenges for the molecular extraction of relevant biomolecules and the quality of the molecular profiling assays that are essential to precision oncology. To investigate the effect of FFPE on clinical specimens undergoing NGS analysis, the research team designed a comprehensive study querying crucial components and provided salient recommendations.

Healthcare Ethics for the Pandemic & Beyond
The recently published second edition of Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees, co-edited by Dr. Micah Hester, was shaped in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Hester, Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities & Bioethics at UAMS, and Dr. Toby Schonfeld, Executive Director of the National Center for Ethics in Health Care, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, also addressed significant changes in health care since the first edition of their book was published in 2012. Read more about this insightful work in the UAMS Newsroom.

Improving Bladder Cancer Treatment
Congratulations to Dr. A. Murat Aydin, Assistant Professor of Urology, on his newly published article in Urologic Oncology, a leading journal in the field and the official journal of the Society of Urologic Oncology. Dr. Aydin, a researcher in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, is first author and corresponding author on “Comparative analysis of three vs. four cycles of neoadjuvant gemcitabine and cisplatin for muscle invasive bladder cancer.” The study showed that continuation of treatment with a fourth cycle prior to radical cystectomy benefits patients and may further improve survival outcomes.

Laser-Based Cancer & Disease Detection
A research team led by Dr. Vladimir Zharov, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Director of the Arkansas Nanomedicine Center, has published the latest advances in its ability to detect cancer and other medical conditions using a non-invasive, portable blood sensor. The article, “Towards Rainbow Portable Cytophone with Laser Diodes for Global Disease Diagnostics,” was published in Scientific Reports, a Nature Portfolio journal. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

International Expertise
Dr. J.L. Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Cell Biology and Pharmacology and Toxicology, will lend his expertise as a member of the Board of the Giovanni Lorenzini Medical Foundation in New York. Dr. Mehta was unanimously appointed to the U.S. board by the Board of the Fondazione Giovanni Lorenzi Medical Science Foundation in Milan, Italy. Through a global network of experts and extensive pool of research and development projects, the Lorenzini Foundation translates the latest findings in translational and evidence-based science and medicine. Congratulations also to Dr. Mehta and colleagues on the publication of two recent articles. He is the senior author on “HDL cholesterol levels and susceptibility to COVID-19” in eBioMedicine, published by The Lancet; and “Vegetarianism, microbiota, and cardiovascular health: looking back, and forward,” in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Internal Medicine residents Dr. Vignesh Chidambaram and Dr. Amudha Kumar are co-first authors on both papers.

Team Effort Pays Off
The UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program had all 17 of its poster submissions accepted for the FMX conference in Washington, D.C., in September. FMX (Family Medicine Experience) is the premier annual event for the American Academy of Family Physicians. The 100% acceptance rate was a team effort led by Program Director Dr. Shashank Kraleti, with participation by seven faculty members, four residents and three medical students. Not coincidentally, one of the accepted posters is on the theme of using a team model to transform daily work into posters and presentations. Other poster topics include implementing interdisciplinary didactics, developing a research curriculum, designing an integrated behavioral health experience, and creating a competency-based review document as part of resident evaluation.

Residency Celebrations & Honors
I have enjoyed highlighting the year-end celebrations of departments across the college this summer. This week, I am pleased to share highlights from the Department of Surgery, which honored exemplary residents, along with Department of Surgery faculty who made an exceptional impact on students and residents this past year, and winning presenters from the recent Surgery Research Day. Program Directors and Coordinators can continue to share reports of graduation/year-end ceremonies and department honorees for upcoming editions of Accolades. Use this template for your overview and send it to COMInternalCommunications@uams.edu.

Putting Patients First
I recently received a wonderful note about an exceptional team player, Dr. Ryan Strebeck, Chief Resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Tonia Cox, RNC-NIC, was working in the Institute for Digital Health and Innovation Call Center late one night when a new mother, recently discharged and distraught over a glitch in obtaining important medications from her pharmacy, telephoned. Dr. Strebeck stepped in to assist Tonia and the patient and was exceptionally helpful. “It takes teamwork to solve problems at UAMS, and Dr. Strebeck deserves recognition for his role in this situation,” Tonia wrote. “Labor and Delivery is a busy place to work; I appreciate the time he took to facilitate thorough patient care and follow up post-discharge.” I couldn’t agree more. Kudos to both of these outstanding colleagues.

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!

Genetics Research Excellence
Congratulations to Drs. Reine Protacio, Tresor Mukiza, Mari Davidson and Wayne Wahls in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The significance of their recent Genetics paper on the plasticity of meiotic recombination – a component of evolution of species – was just highlighted in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Genetics. Their work was featured with top billing on the home page of the journal and will appear in the August print issue. The discoveries were also the topic of an invited perspective article in Frontiers in Genetics. Department Chair Dr. Kevin Raney notes that this is the tenth time that a scientific publication from Dr. Wahls’ laboratory has been discussed in a commentary, editorial, highlight or editors’ choice of top papers published during the year. As Dr. Raney said, this remarkable achievement “reflects the sustained high quality of fundamental, basic science research conducted by a group of talented UAMS scientists.” Read more here. Well done!

International Leadership in ENT
Dr. Susan Emmett, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Director of the UAMS Center for Hearing Health Equity, delivered the keynote lecture at the recent virtual AG Bell Global Listening and Spoken Language Symposium. Attendees from over 50 countries listened to her talk, “The Road to Hearing Health Equity.” Her work also was highlighted at the World Health Organization launch of the WHO-International Telecommunications Union Global Standards for Accessibility of Telehealth Services in June. She was an invited speaker and the only academic researcher featured alongside international leaders in government and industry.    

Congratulations also to Professor Dr. Gresham Richter on being voted President-Elect of the American Broncho-Esophological Association, and on the publication of his latest paper, “Characterizing Pediatric Bilateral Vocal Fold Dysfunction: Analysis with the Pediatric Health Information System Database,” in The Laryngoscope.

The Nonfatal Injury Burden of Mass Shootings
For every death in civilian public mass shootings across the nation, another 5.8 individuals are injured. Assistant Professor Dr. Amanda Young and Associate Professor Dr. Carly Eastin in the Department of Emergency Medicine are coauthors on an important multicenter study, recently published in JAMA Network Open, into the burden of non-fatal injuries in mass shootings. The study documented the substantial morbidity associated with mass shootings, including injury characteristics, outcomes and impacts on health care services. The results reveal the importance of including data on nonfatal injuries to inform public policy and help prevent and reduce the harm caused by mass shooting events.

COVID-19 & Heart Failure
Congratulations to Dr. Husam Salah, Chief Resident in the Division of General Internal Medicine, on the publication of his paper in Nature Communications on the increased risk of heart failure among individuals previously hospitalized for COVID-19. Dr. Salah was first author on “Post-recovery COVID-19 and incident heart failure in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) study.” The work also was noted in a news article on COVID-19 in the state in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

National Pathology Leadership
Dr. Susanne Jeffus, Associate Professor of Pathology, has been elected to serve on the Council of the Program Directors Section of the national Association of Pathology chairs. The section provides a forum for the exchange of information and ideas and makes recommendations on governing content and management of pathology residency training programs. Dr. Jeffus served as Associate Program Director at UAMS from 2014-2019 and has been the Residency Program Director since then. Under her leadership, 100% of residents have given the program a positive evaluation on the ACGME survey for two consecutive years.

Using AI to Predict the Need for Brain Surgery

A shout-out to Assistant Professor Dr. Viktoras Palys‘ research group in the Department of Neurosurgery for their publication in Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. Their article, with intern Dr. Thomas Harkey as first author and additional residents and students as coauthors, represents three years of neuroimaging data collection and exploration of automated volumetry software for the brain and skull. Dr. Palys’ team is striving to reduce the barrier to entry for research and clinical groups, including neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists, to incorporate these artificial intelligence tools into clinical workflow. A future extension of the group’s research is to utilize AI to prognosticate the utility of decompressive craniectomy in ischemic strokes with large vessel occlusion. In their efforts to improve outcomes in the Stroke Belt, these physicians have been awarded two grants from the Fund to Cure Stroke Grant at UAMS. 

Promising AI Scholar
Catherine “Cat” Shoults, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, already has drawn international attention for her promising work in artificial intelligence. She recently was accepted into the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) Institute for Artificial Intelligence Summer Scholar Program. We were saddened when the prestigious program was canceled for this year due to illness of a key organizer – but Cat nonetheless deserves a shout-out. Professor Dr. Jonathan Bona, who teaches information modeling at UAMS and is a previous TU Dresden Scholar, facilitated the opportunity, along with the College of Medicine Artificial Intelligence Creativity Hub led by Distinguished Professor and Biomedical Informatics Chair Dr. Fred Prior. At UAMS, Ms. Shoults is part of the Biomedical Ontologies Arkansas group chaired by Dr. Bona and Dr. Mathias Brochhausen, Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Programs. Her dissertation work focuses on data mining adverse events in Reddit to complement FDA drug safety reporting.

Highly Cited Work
A 2019 paper by Dr. Giulia Baldini, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Dr. Kevin Phelan, Professor of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, continues to provide obesity researchers with important insights and context. Their review article, “The melanocortin pathway and control of appetite-progress and therapeutic  implications,” was one of the most highly cited articles in the Journal of Endocrinology in 2021 and is now being showcased in the journal’s Impact Factor Collection. Congratulations, Dr. Baldini and Dr. Phelan!

Residency Celebrations & Honors
A few weeks ago, I noted that celebration was in the air across the College of Medicine as our departments and residency and fellowship programs honored graduating housestaff and outstanding educators. I am pleased to share some of the lists of honorees we have received. Congratulations to the exemplary graduates and faculty in Emergency Medicine, Family and Preventive Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery and Pathology!

I look forward to highlighting additional year-end celebrations and awards in upcoming Accolades. Program Directors and Coordinators can share information about ceremonies and honorees using this template and sending it to COMInternalCommunications@uams.edu.

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!

Residency Celebrations & Honors
June is a time for celebration across the College of Medicine and UAMS as our residency and fellowship programs honor exemplary graduating housestaff and the outstanding educators who made a difference during their training. I want to take a moment to congratulate the 189 housestaff who are graduating from College of Medicine programs this month. Congratulations as well to the 50-some Family Medicine residents and Sports Medicine fellows graduating at the UAMS Regional Centers.

This year also marks the graduation of the inaugural classes of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine residents in the Baptist Health-UAMS Medical Education Program. Special thanks to Dr. Julea Garner, Program Director for the Family Medicine Residency, Dr. Paula Podrazik, Program Director for the Internal Medicine program, their faculty and staff team members, and Dr. Stan Kellar, Melissa Yandell and all of our partners at Baptist Health.

Finally, I invite our Program Directors and Coordinators to share information about your graduation celebrations and program honorees, so we can highlight them in Accolades. Here is a template you can use to tell us about your graduation ceremonies and awards. Please send your report to COMInternalCommunications@uams.edu. We will share the reports we receive in upcoming editions of Accolades.

Surgical Safety Education Accreditation
Congratulations to Dr. Karen Dickinson, Assistant Professor and Director of Interprofessional Simulation and Clinical Skills Training in the Department of Surgery, and her team on achieving accreditation for UAMS as a Focused Education Institute by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The program evaluates and ensures the highest standards for simulation-based surgical education and training to promote patient safety. As an accredited institute, UAMS will join other top surgical programs and multidisciplinary professionals around the country in a safety-focused educational consortium. Under Dr. Dickinson’s leadership, UAMS recently had an outstanding site visit by the ACS Accredited Education Institutes team. Well done!

Shark Tank Winner
Congratulations to Dr. Gary Lewis, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, on his winning innovation pitch in the “Shark Tank” competition during the recent American Brachytherapy Society annual meeting. Dr. Lewis’ proposal would use virtual reality to improve the patient experience during gynecologic brachytherapy. For patients with advanced cervical cancer, the brachytherapy treatment may be essential, but it can cause significant anxiety and discomfort. During the competition, Dr. Lewis explained how virtual reality technology could be used to soothe patients and reduce the need for potentially addictive opioid pain medication. The Shark Tank competition highlighted ideas for transforming the practice of brachytherapy by the year 2030. Great job, Dr. Lewis!

Radiation Oncology National Honor
Dr. Fen Xia, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, has been selected to receive the prestigious Fellow designation from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (FASTRO). The honor recognizes Dr. Xia’s service to ASTRO and contributions to the field of radiation oncology. Dr. Xia, who was recruited to UAMS in 2016, is an internationally known physician-scientist specializing in treatment of central nervous system tumors. Her research focuses on DNA damage response and repair and the impact of these processes on genomic stability, aging, carcinogenesis, tumor response and normal tissue injury in cancer treatment. Dr. Xia will be recognized at a convocation ceremony during ASTRO’s annual meeting in October.   

“Girlology” Empowers Arkansas Girls
A shout-out to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which recently held the first “Girlology” seminar in Central Arkansas and is gearing up for a second session. The physician-led program provides puberty education for girls ages 8-14, with the goal of providing young girls and their parents/caregivers a medically accurate educational experience to empower them to make good health choices. OB/GYN Chair Dr. Nirvana Manning, Dr. Laura Hollenbach, Associate Professor and Director of Pediatrics/Adolescent Gynecology, and Assistant Professor Dr. Kathryn Stambough conducted the well-attended and very well-received seminar. Based on the national Girlology program, the UAMS initiative is funded in part by a Chancellor’s Circle Grant. The next large-group Girlology event will be held at UAMS on August 7. Learn more and register here. 

Summer Lecture Tour
Dr. David Ussery, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, has had a busy summer so far with activities including a series of lectures on genomic epidemiology. On Monday, he gave a talk for Arkansas high school students as part of the Summer Health Professions Education Camp held at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. Yesterday, he led a virtual round table discussion for a biodefense meeting in Washington, D.C. The discussion focused on using single-molecule sequencing for pathogens in wastewater to detect viral outbreaks, including monitoring for polio and monkeypox, both of which have been in the news recently. Today, he is giving a plenary talk at the biodefense meeting on what can be learned from more than 11 million COVID-19 genome sequences. Dr. Ussery also gave an introductory talk on genomic epidemiology at the recent Arkansas Summer Research Institute.

State Lab Accredited
Dr. Theodore Brown, Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of Autopsy at UAMS, also serves as Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Arkansas. Under his leadership, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory has attained full accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners. The rigorous accreditation process ensures the highest caliber of medicolegal death investigations for our state. This accomplishment and Dr. Brown’s leadership role is yet another example of the ways our faculty serve Arkansans beyond the core areas of education, research and clinical care. Kudos, Dr. Brown.

Great Job, Geriatrics Fellows
Graduating Geriatrics fellows Drs. Bader Alkharisi, Anil Anandam, Sakiru Isa and Onna Lau presented well-received posters at the recent American Geriatrics Society meeting. The project titles were: “From tardive dyskinesia to Parkinsonism: an avoidable journey;” “The importance of dopamine deficiency evaluation in Alzheimer disease related dementias;” and “When treatment of hypertension becomes burdensome.” The fellows also presented a grand rounds on their quality improvement project, “Delirium Knowledge in Patients and Caregivers in a Geriatric Clinic,” which was mentored by Dr. Gohar Azhar. They were mentored for their abstracts and other Geriatrics grand rounds over the year by Dr. Jeanne Wei, Dr. Azhar, Amanda Pangle and Fellowship Program Director Dr. Priya Mendiratta, with assistance from Program Coordinator Joni Pharis. The fellows also contributed several novel innovations for the program during the year. Geriatrics faculty Dr. Kalpana Padala and Dr. Danish Hasan also presented at the AGS meeting.

Top Downloaded Paper
An article by Dr. Teresita Bellido, Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, and Dr. Jesús Delgado-Calle, Assistant Professor, was recently recognized as one of the 10 most downloaded articles in JBMR-Plus, a journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. The article, “Ex Vivo Organ Cultures as Models to Study Bone Biology,” describes the protocols optimized in their laboratories to establish bone organ cultures that enable the study of bone cells in their natural 3D environment. Dr. Bellido and Dr. Delgado-Calle also presented examples of how this technical approach can be used to study osteocyte biology, drug responses in bone, cancer-induced bone disease, and cross-talk between bone and other organs.

National Podcast
Dr. Jason Mizell, Professor of Surgery and Director of the nationally recognized Business of Medicine course, was featured this week in two episodes of the “Behind the Knife” podcast. The series is the premier podcast for comprehensive surgical education for health care providers and learners in all stages of their career. Dr. Mizell discussed financial principles for surgeons in the episodes – the 10^th podcast featuring Dr. Mizell and the innovative course he established at UAMS eight years ago. Congratulations!

Accolades will be on hiatus for the next couple of weeks, returning July 20. Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday!

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!

Study Published in NEJM
Congratulations to Dr. Jeannette Lee, Professor of Biostatistics, and colleagues on the publication of results of the groundbreaking ANCHOR study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Lee was the lead statistician and the Department of Biostatistics was the statistical center for the multi-center phase 3 clinical trial focusing on anal cancer prevention in persons with HIV. The study, led by Dr. Joel Palefsky at the University of California San Francisco, showed that treatment of precancerous lesions reduced the progression to anal cancer. The success rate of the therapy was so high that the trial was halted early. Read more about the study in this June 15 news release from the National Cancer Institute and about Dr. Lee and her team’s role in this UAMS story from last November.

Improving Access to Hearing Care
A landmark study led by Dr. Susan Emmett, Associate Professor, and Dr. Samantha Kleindienst Robler, Assistant Professor, of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, shows the power of telemedicine for increasing access to hearing care for rural children. The study was published June 15 in The Lancet Global Health. Dr. Emmett and Dr. Robler are Director and Associate Director, respectively, of the new UAMS Center for Hearing Health Equity. The randomized controlled trial was conducted in 15 rural Alaskan communities with funding support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). As Dr. Emmett explains in this UAMS news story, the study has important implications for addressing disparities relating to hearing and other preventable health conditions in rural states such as Arkansas. Excellent work!

Preparing Seniors for Residency
A shout-out to Dr. Karina Clemmons, Assistant Dean for Medical Education, for her innovative work to enhance the Residency Preparation course for seniors. Dr. Clemmons, an Associate Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, developed the course improvements as a participant in the prestigious Harvard Macy Institute for Educators in Health Professions this past year. One of the creative additions to the revamped course is a series of podcasts with faculty and residents discussing topics such as how to prepare for residency interviews, evidence-based education, and communication and leadership skills. The course, co-directed by Dr. Nicholas Gowen, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, continues to feature mock residency interviews and clinical skills simulations to help graduating seniors transition to residency.

Spina Bifida Advocacy
The Spinal Cord Disorders Multidisciplinary Team is doing excellent work in Arkansas, nationally and internationally on behalf of patients with Spina Bifida. Dr. Eylem Öcal, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, attended the recent 75^th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) and side events in Geneva, Switzerland, as a member of the Global Alliance for Prevention of Spina Bifida. After the conference, she met with Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Health to discuss the importance of prenatal care and folic acid fortification in staple foods to prevent Spina Bifida and other birth defects. Meanwhile, team coordinators Becky Watkins-Bregy, RN, and Allison Curtis, RN, attended the Spina Bifida Association Clinical Care Meeting in Boston and accepted recognition of Arkansas Children’s as an official clinical partner. They represented ACH and the team’s Medical Director, Dr. Laura Hobart-Porter, Associate Professor of Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, who was unable to attend. Kudos to all for their outstanding work.

Academic Senate Service
Congratulations to the College of Medicine faculty who have been elected to the UAMS Academic Senate, and kudos to those who are continuing or have just completed terms. Dr. Tiffany Huitt, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, has been re-elected to the leadership and will serve as President-Elect starting July 1. She is currently serving as Past-President in the three-year leadership cycle and is also a past representative of the College of Health Professions. Dr. Brad Martin of the College of Pharmacy will serve as President starting July 1.The new College of Medicine representatives to the Academic Senate are Dr. Steve Cherney, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Ronald Sanders Jr., Professor of Pediatrics/Critical Care, and Dr. Ben Stronach, Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, who will serve two-year terms.

Dr. Priya Mendiratta, Professor of Geriatrics, will serve as Past-President in 2022-2023. A two-term COM representative, she stepped in to serve as President a year early and worked closely with former Dean Dr. Chris Westfall on a number of issues during the pandemic. Dr. David Ussery, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, will continue to serve as a Member-at-Large for the upcoming year. Dr. Richard Turnage, Professor of Surgery and Vice Chancellor for Regional Programs, completed his term as a COM representative.

Mediating Bone Loss
Dr. Stavros Manolagas, Distinguished Professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and colleagues in the Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases and the departments of Internal Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Informatics collaborated on a newly published study in Scientific Reports. Former postdoctoral fellow Dr. Filipa Ponte was first author and Dr. Manolagas served as senior author on “Mmp13 deletion in mesenchymal cells increases bone mass and may attenuate the cortical bone loss caused by estrogen deficiency.” Other contributors were Drs. Ha-Neui Kim, Srividhya Iyer, Li Han, Erin Mannen, Horacio Gomez-Acevedo, Intawat Nookaew and Maria Almeida, and Aaron Warren.

Championing Biostatistics
The Department of Biostatistics and the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Statistical Association (ASA) were highlighted in the ASA’s Summer 2022 Chapter Chatter newsletter for their participation in the Central Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair this spring. Dr. Ruofei Du, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, organized the activity and penned the article for the newsletter. The Central Arkansas Chapter sponsored awards for exceptional application of statistical and data science techniques for analyzing, tabulating and/or visualizing data. Kudos to the Biostatistics team and the many faculty members across the college and UAMS who take the time to engage young Arkansans in research and STEM activities!

Red Sash & Gold Sash Honorees
Finally this week, congratulations to this year’s Red Sash and Gold Sash recipients. Red Sash honorees were recognized by members of the Class of 2022 for outstanding teaching during their four years of medical school. Gold Sash recipients received the highest number of votes by members of all four classes for their excellent teaching. Throughout my first year at UAMS, I have been amazed by the dedication of our faculty to our educational mission. It is an honor to serve alongside such skilled and passionate educators.  

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!

Nationally Recognized Pediatric Excellence
Congratulations to Arkansas Children’s on being ranked in seven national specialties in the just-released 2022-2023 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings from U.S. News & World Report – the most ever. This incredible accomplishment is the result of exemplary leadership and the dedication and teamwork of everyone involved. Below are the specialties that ranked along with the division/section chiefs for those areas. Kudos to these leaders and teams.

Cancer #42 – Ranked for the 1st time in Arkansas Children’s history!—Dr. David Becton and the Peds Hematology/Oncology team

Cardiology and Heart Surgery #44 – Improved from #50 in 2020!—Dr. Paul Seib, Dr. Brian Reemtsen and the Peds Cardiology/CV team

Diabetes and Endocrinology #29 – Ranked for the 1st time in Arkansas Children’s history!—Dr. Jon Oden and the Peds Diabetes and Endocrine team

Nephrology #34 – Improved from #50 in 2020!—Dr. Richard Blaszak and the Peds Nephrology/Dialysis team

Neurology and Neurosurgery #48 – Ranked again for the first time since 2019! —Dr. Fred Perkins, Dr. Greg Albert and the Peds Neuroscience team

Pulmonology and Lung Surgery #24 – Highest ranked service in Arkansas Children’s history!—Dr. John Carroll and the Peds Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine team

Urology #40 – Improved from #47 in 2020!—Dr. Stephen Canon and Peds Urology team

Many teams and specialties in addition to those above helped to make this happen, and we are grateful to all. Way to go to our UAMS colleagues and Arkansas Children’s!

Ensuring Safe Schools
Dr. Laura Dunn, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychiatric Research Institute, has been appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to the newly reinstated Arkansas School Safety Commission. In the wake of the May 24 mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas and other gun violence, Gov. Hutchinson on Friday issued an executive order convening and appointing new members to the commission, which initially studied school safety in 2018 and issued 30 recommendations. Dr. Dunn is lending her expertise in mental health as the group reviews and expands on those findings. The panel is chaired by Dr. Cheryl May, Director of the University of Arkansas System Criminal Justice Institute, and includes representatives from state government, schools, law enforcement and mental health care. Thank you, Dr. Dunn, for serving in this crucial role.

Speed Date with Research
A shout-out to Arkansas INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence) and researchers from several departments in the College of Medicine and College of Public Health for doing a great job at a “Speed Date” style workshop for Arkansas college students focusing on obesity and diabetes research. The workshop, which drew raves from participating students, was organized by Dr. Thomas Kelly, INBRE’s primary undergraduate institution liaison, Professor of Pathology and Associate Director for Cancer Research Training and Education in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. INBRE is directed by Dr. Lawrence Cornett, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology. Other presenters included Drs. Elisabet Borsheim, Dinesh Edem, Eva Diaz Fuentes, Joseph Henske, Lee Ann MacMillan-Crowe, Tiffany Miles, Emir Tas, Michael Thomsen and Jerry Ware. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

AGEC Junior Faculty Fellows
Congratulations to the newly announced Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative (AGEC) Junior Faculty Development awardees, including the College of Medicine’s Dr. Lee Isaac. Dr. Isaac is currently a postdoctoral fellow in clinical neuropsychology at UAMS specializing in geriatric neuropsychology. He will join the Department of Psychiatry as an Assistant Professor in August and will start his year-long AGEC fellowship in January. Congratulations also to the College of Health Professions’ Dr. Caitlin Price, who will start her AGEC fellowship next month. Read more about the awardees here.

Inspiring Innovation
Biomedical Engineering students at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville spend time in medical settings to identify vexing challenges and devise technological solutions. A team working with Dr. Astryd A. Menendez, a Professor of Pediatrics and pediatric pulmonologist at Arkansas Children’s Northwest, developed a concept and prototype for a pediatric spirometry training device that is progressing toward potential commercial development with support from a National Science Foundation National Innovation Corps award. Taylor Farnan, who has since graduated from the U of A, initiated the project and was joined later by Lina Patel (now an incoming UAMS nursing student) and Nathan Lucas, who also were students of U of A Associate Professor Dr. Morten Olgaard Jensen. Dr. Hanna Jensen, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Radiology at UAMS, made the initial connections with Dr. Menendez. Well done!

Quality Management Expertise
Kerri Hill, RN, OCN, Quality Management Director for the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, has been selected to provide an educational course for the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). Ms. Hill will share her expertise in quality management for transplant programs across the nation and beyond. Her selection by FACT, the leading organization for transplant quality accreditation, demonstrates what she brings to our team, and the quality of our Stem Cell team more broadly. I join with Dr. Muthu Veeraputhiran, Director of the Hematology Section and Clinical Program Director of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, in extending congratulations.

Grateful for Great Residents
Dr. Manisha Singh, Associate Professor in the Division of Nephrology and Director of the Home Dialysis Program, recently wrote to Dr. Mollie Meek, Program Director for the Interventional Radiology Integrated Residency, and Dr. Roopa Ram, Program Director for the Diagnostic Radiology Residency, to congratulate them on graduating outstanding residents. Dr. Singh was grateful in particular for the expert and compassionate care provided in a recent challenging case by Dr. Scott Fleck, who graduated this month after serving as the 2021-2022 Chief Resident. Dr. Fleck went the extra mile with a patient with end-stage renal disease. In addition to expertly handling a difficult procedure, Dr. Fleck helped to assure and calm the anxious patient. “It is heartwarming to see such care,” Dr. Singh wrote. Kudos to Dr. Fleck, and to Dr. Meek, Dr. Ram and the entire Radiology Residency team.

Creative Writing Awards
Finally this week, congratulations to this year’s winners of the Drs. Paulette and Jay Mehta Awards in Creative Writing. The award for poetry went to medical student Samuel Byrd. The fiction category recipient was Dr. Stephen Nix, Assistant Professor of Pathology. The award for creative nonfiction went to graduating Emergency Medicine resident Dr. Elizabeth Hanson. Read more about the second annual awards ceremony and the Mehtas’ ongoing dedication to the arts and literature here. As Dr. Stephanie Gardner, UAMS Provost and Chief Strategy Officer, said at the ceremony, “These awards speak to the Mehtas’ belief in the ability of creativity and the arts to nourish our spirit, to cultivate lifelong learning and to guide us to becoming better health care providers.”

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!

Team Teaching
A shout-out to the Department of Internal Medicine and team members from across UAMS Health for their contributions to the System Based Practice Elective, a two-week course designed to teach Internal Medicine residents about navigating the complex landscape of the health care industry. Sixteen UAMS employees were honored at a recent luncheon for their commitment and dedication to the program. They included course instructors Julie Atkins, Catherine Corless, Ann Creel, Carla Elmore, Dr. Bhawna Jha, Ben Muse, Matthew Osburn, Lori Salisbury, Troy Schmit, Melissa Slater, Candy Snellgrove, Alison Stangeby, Dr. Carol Thrush, Monica Watson, Kari White, and course administrator Sheryl Young. Special thanks also to Dr. Ahmed Abuabdou, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Chief Medical Officer, for his leadership of the initiative. Read more here.

Health Disparities Scholar
Congratulations to Dr. Akilah Jefferson-Shah, Assistant Professor in the Allergy and Immunology Section of the Department of Pediatrics, on being named a 2022 Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Dr. Jefferson-Shah was selected for the highly competitive program based on her past accomplishments and for showing great potential as a health disparities researcher. In August, she and other scholars will participate in lectures, seminars, interactive sessions and small group discussions with leading scientists and NIH staff to gain a broad overview of key issues in minority health and health disparities research and enhance grantsmanship. They will also attend a NIMHD Mock Review.

Equity in Obstetric & Gynecological Anesthesia
The June issue of Current Opinion in Anesthesiology is an insightful collection of review articles focusing on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in obstetric and gynecological anesthesia thanks to Anesthesiology Chair Dr. Jill Mhyre, who served as editor, and several UAMS faculty and residents. In addition to Dr. Mhyre’s editorial, the issue includes three articles co-authored by UAMS colleagues on issues relating to disparities in access to gynecologic care, under-treatment of pain, and workforce solutions for addressing disparities. UAMS contributors include Obstetrics and Gynecology residents Dr. Ann Marie Mercier and Dr. Stormie Carter and OB/GYN Chair Dr. Nirvana Manning; Dr. Jaleesa Jackson, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology/Pain Medicine; and Dr. Johnathan Goree, Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and incoming UAMS Medical Center Chief of Staff.

Telehealth Award
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has awarded a Telehealth Equity Catalyst (TEC) award to the Institute for Digital Health & Innovation for the Arkansas Telemedicine Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program (TeleSANE), noting that it “stood out as a prime example of effective efforts to advance health care equity and telehealth.” The $15,000 pilot award, one of only three awarded nationwide, will be used to expand the program’s activities and bolster its sustainability. TeleSANE was launched in May 2021 to increase certified nursing access in emergency departments across Arkansas for adult and adolescent victims of sexual assault. The program is one of four U.S. Department of Justice-funded sites harnessing telehealth to improve sexual assault medical-forensic exams through trauma-informed, patient centered care. Well done.

National Spotlight
Dr. Gwen Childs, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, was an invited speaker at two national meetings in May. She was a panelist and spoke on the topic of faculty evaluations and improving performance at the meeting of the Association of Medical School Neuroscience Department Chairs. At the American Society of Andrology meeting, she gave a talk on leptin signaling in male reproduction as part of a symposium on metabolism and male reproductive health. We also just learned that a review article by Dr. Childs on the importance of leptin to reproduction was among the top 10% of cited articles published in Endocrinology in 2020-2021. Coauthors were Dr. Angela Odle, Dr. Melanie MacNicol and Dr. Angus MacNicol. Congratulations!

AHA Committee Leadership
Dr. Steven Post, Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Pathology, will continue to lend his expertise as Co-Chair of the American Heart Association’s Peer Review Committee for Established Investigator Awards. Dr. Post, who received the award himself many years ago, has served on the committee since 2012 and has co-chaired it since 2019. At UAMS, his roles include Associate Director of Shared Resources and leader of the Cancer Biology Program in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Director of the UAMS Tissue Biorepository and Procurement Service, and Director of the Experimental Pathology Research Core.

National Radiation Oncology Recognition
Congratulations to Dr. Ganesh Narayanasamy, Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, on receiving the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) Educator of the Year Award. Dr. Narayanasamy was nominated by UAMS Radiation Oncology residents for his outstanding teaching and mentorship.

Elite Reviewer
Dr. R. Dale Blasier, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, has been designated as Elite Reviewer for the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, one of the leading scientific publications in the field of orthopaedic surgery. In addition to reviewing multiple manuscripts, he earned the honor for achieving review ratings in the top 1-2 percentile and other factors. Fewer than 3% of the journal’s reviewers have achieved Elite Reviewer Status. Congratulations.

Poster Presenters
A shout-out to 2022 College of Medicine graduate Dr. Win Lubana and incoming PGY1 Pediatrics resident Dr. Amy Eisenberg, along with Dr. Laura Hobart-Porter, Associate Professor of Developmental Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, on their poster presentation at the recent national meeting of the Academic Association of Physiatrists. Their research was titled “Late effects of COVID in pediatric patients: one institution’s experience.”

Thank You, Dr. Schulz
Finally this week, I want to take a moment to thank Dr. Thomas Schulz for his many contributions to our educational efforts in Northwest Arkansas as he wraps up his time with UAMS. He has been recruited to Loma Linda University Medical Center in California, where he will serve in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and will be closer to his family. Since joining our faculty in 2015, Dr. Schulz has done an excellent job as the inaugural Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. In partnership with the VA and Mercy hospitals, the program has grown from 24 positions to 33 and is graduating its fourth class of very well trained physicians later this month. Dr. Schulz also has served as Medical Director of the UAMS Neighborhood Clinic and the student-led North Street Clinic, where he has been an exemplary role model for our students and an advocate for patients in need of compassionate, high-quality care. Thank you, Dr. Schulz, and very best wishes for the future.

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!

Excellence in Teaching, Academic and Student Leadership
The College of Medicine Honors Convocation ceremony last Friday evening and UAMS Commencement ceremony on Saturday were both incredibly moving and inspiring. It was such an honor to participate in these events for the first time. I want to thank our Academic Affairs and Student Affairs teams for once again doing a fantastic job with Honors Convocation and to thank all of the speakers, presenters and participants.

I also want to congratulate the College of Medicine faculty members and residents who were recognized for teaching excellence. Dr. Gregory Snead, Professor and Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine, received the Chancellor’s Teaching Award for Teaching Excellence at UAMS Commencement.

At our Honors Convocation, Dr. Sung Rhee, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, delivered the Faculty Charge and also was selected by students as this year’s Senior Golden Apple Award recipient. The Junior Golden Apple went to Dr. Lindsey Sward, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Sophomores awarded their Golden Apple to Dr. Manisha Singh, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine/Nephrology. Dr. Alan Diekman, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was the Freshman Golden Apple recipient. Earlier, COM students at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus honored Dr. Sharon Reece, Assistant Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, as their inaugural Golden Apple honoree.

Also at Honors Convocation, fourth-year General Surgery resident Dr. Tamara Osborn was recognized as Resident of the Year. For the Northwest Campus, third-year Internal Medicine residents Dr. Tony Hoyt and Dr. James Tullis received awards for Resident Physician Teaching Excellence.

Watch for lists of this year’s Red Sash and Gold Sash recipients in the COMmunication newsletter later this week. Meanwhile congratulations to all of these outstanding educators and, of course, the Class of 2022!

Pediatric Health IT Standards
Clinical informaticians from the departments of Pediatrics and Biomedical Informatics recently completed a two-year project to develop national electronic health record (EHR) system standards to improve care for pediatric patients. Dr. Pele Yu, Chief Medical Information Officer at Arkansas Children’s and Professor of Pediatrics, Biomedical Informatics and Public Health, co-chaired the effort as part of the Health Level Seven International (HL7) EHR Working Group. The resulting standards officially launched in May. Dr. Yu is Program Director of the UAMS Clinical Informatics (CI) Fellowship Program. CI fellows Dr. Daniel Liu, Dr. Lori Wong and Dr. Obeid Shafi contributed to the project and published an account of their experience in Applied Clinical Informatics. Read more on the Biomedical Informatics website.

National Honor for Incoming Resident
Congratulations to incoming PGY1 Neurosurgery resident Dr. Stenia Accilien, who has been awarded the national James E. Boggan Award. The award is presented to exceptional aspiring neurosurgeons with the goal of encouraging medical students from underrepresented groups to enter the field. Haitian born Dr. Accilien is a graduate of Florida State University College of Medicine, where she served as Class President. We are thrilled to have Dr. Accilien join Team UAMS!

Surgical Research Symposium
The inaugural UAMS Surgical Research Symposium was a great success last week thanks to the many faculty, residents and medical students who participated. The event showcased the diverse areas of research performed in the Department of Surgery focused on the generation of novel therapies and devices and modification of standard treatment protocols for improving patient care and outcomes across the UAMS campus. Presentation awards went to third-year medical student Tarendeep Thind – Best Overall; 2022 graduate Dr. Hailey Hardgrave – Chair’s Choice; and third-year student Samuel Byrd – Speaker’s Choice. Special thanks to Dr. Marie Burdine, Director of the Division of Surgical Research, Assistant Professor Dr. Hanna Jensen and Grants Manager Sandy Moore, MA, for their leadership and coordination of the symposium. Thanks also to keynote speaker Dr. Joshua Smith, who delivered an excellent talk highlighting his impressive research as a surgeon-scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Read more on the Department of Surgery website.

Expertise Highlighted in ACNC Webinar Series
The Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC) is doing an excellent job hosting a three-part webinar series in partnership with the Institute for Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences. The series of 90-minute webinars began May 17 with an overview of the ACNC by Director and Developmental Nutrition Section Chief Dr. Mario Ferruzzi and presentations focused on early-life determinants of metabolic health, including fitness and physical activity, by Pediatrics faculty members Dr. Elisabet Borsheim and Dr. Craig Porter. The series continued on Monday with talks focused on connections between the gut and the brain with Dr. Linda Larson-Prior (Psychiatry), Dr. Xiawei Ou (Radiology/Pediatrics) and Dr. Laxmi Yeruva (USDA-ARS). The series concludes tomorrow morning with a focus on maternal and child diet and physical activity with presenters Dr. Aline Andres (Pediatrics) and Dr. Taren Swindle (Family and Preventive Medicine).

Ehlers-Danlos Insights
A shout-out to Pediatric Pulmonology fellow Dr. Jordan Fett and the labs of Dr. John Carroll at Arkansas Children’s and Dr. Roy Morello in Physiology and Cell Biology on their new article in Physiological Reports. Dr. Fett is first author on “Haploinsufficiency of Col5a1 causes intrinsic lung and respiratory changes in a mouse model of classical Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.” The paper is the first comprehensive characterization of respiratory abnormalities and pulmonary function in a mouse model of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a group of inherited disorders that affect connective tissues, primarily the skin, joints and walls of blood vessels. Milena Dimori, a Research Assistant in Dr. Morello’s lab, also contributed to the project.

The Operating Table
Fifth-year Neurosurgery resident Dr. Matthew Helton did a great job presenting “The Operating Table – Past, Present, and Future,” at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting in Philadelphia earlier this month. Dr. Helton conducted his project with the help and guidance of Neurosurgery Professor Dr. T. Glenn Pait and Associate Professor Dr. Noojan Kazemi.

Fellows Research Day
Congratulations to the outstanding fellows who received awards at the Department of Pediatrics Fellows Annual Research Day on May 19. The Samuel D. Smith Outstanding Fellow of the Year Award went to Dr. Patrick Bonasso (Pediatric Surgery). The inaugural Outstanding Fellow Educator of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Mary Littrell (Hematology/Oncology). The Best Abstract, Poster and Oral Presentation awards went to Dr. C. Preston Pugh (Neonatology), Dr. Murad Almasri (Pediatric Cardiology), and Dr. Jacob Wooldridge (Clinical Informatics), respectively. For more information and photos from the event, click here.

Improving Services for Epilepsy Patients
Thanks to team members in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, patients with implanted Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) devices can now have MRIs performed more quickly. Jason Guell, MRSO, and Emily Casson, LPN, are believed to be the first MRI technologist and LPN combo in the country to be trained for VNS device management – bypassing the need for having a Neurology resident or attending step aside from other urgent duties, or even having a VNS company representative come in from out of state, which can delay the MRI. The newly trained team members provide coverage on workdays, and when additional MRI technologists are trained, they will also provide services after hours in lieu of neurologists. This is a big win for patient accessibility, convenience and satisfaction. Kudos to Jason and Emily, along with Dr. Viktoras Palys, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Surgical Director of the center and Quality and Safety Officer for the Neuroscience Service Line, and MRI tech leader Gregory Martin.