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 25 Leader
Marcy Doderer, President and CEO of Arkansas Children’s, has been named one of Modern Healthcare’s “Top 25 Women Leaders.” She joins an elite group of health care executives who were honored by the industry’s leading source of health care business and policy news, research and information. Ms. Doderer was recognized for her leadership in strategic planning aimed at dramatically improving the health and health care of Arkansas’ children, her work to expand community clinics and access to primary care, her leadership in improving hospital metrics, and more. Congratulations to Ms. Doderer on this very well-earned honor.

International Committee
A shout-out to Dr. Martin Radvany, Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery and Chief of the Division of Interventional Neuroradiology, who has been appointed to the Interventional Neuroradiology Council of the International Pediatric Stroke Organization (IPSO). IPSO brings together leading investigators and multidisciplinary health professionals from around the world who have a common interest in childhood cerebrovascular disease.

National Service
Congratulations to Dr. Meredith Von Dohlen, Instructor and Medical Education Fellow in the Department of Emergency Medicine, on her appointment to the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Research Committee for 2021-2022. Kudos to Dr. Von Dohlen for her national service to her field as well as her excellent work at UAMS.

ED Consultant of the Month
Emergency Medicine residents selected third-year General Surgery resident Dr. Whitney Taylor as the newest Emergency Department Consultant of the Month. Emergency Medicine residents applauded Dr. Taylor for always being a team player and going out of her way to teach “clinical pearls” at every opportunity. As one resident commented, “There is no resident more committed to doing what is best for the patient than Whitney.” Congratulations Dr. Taylor!

Feeling Heard
As hard as we try, occasionally a patient doesn’t have the experience at UAMS that we hope for. When a patient commented in a social media group about a past negative experience, Dr. Luann Racher, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, reached out on behalf of the UAMS Health Women’s Center, where she serves as Medical Director. The patient returned to UAMS and received what she described as “phenomenal” care from Dr. Racher and her team. In a glowing follow-up post, the patient explained that she “felt heard, cared for and believed.” Great job!

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!

Gold Medalist
Dr. Joanna Seibert, Professor Emeritus and former Chief of Pediatric Radiology at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, has been selected to receive the 2021 Society of Pediatric Radiology (SPR) Gold Medal. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the SPR. Dr. Seibert is being recognized for her decades of service and visionary leadership in the SPR and for her innovations in pediatric sonography, including important contributions to the development of the clinical application of pediatric Doppler sonography. As the first trained pediatric radiologist in Arkansas, Dr. Seibert provided leadership in the specialty for almost 40 years. The SPR award is just the latest of many honors for Dr. Seibert, who was named to the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2017.

Featured Article
An article by four Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences colleagues was the featured article at the top of the home page of Endocrinology, the journal of the Endocrine Society, last week. Professor and Department Chair Dr. Gwen Childs and Assistant Professor Dr. Angela Odle were co-first authors of the invited mini-review article, “The Importance of Leptin to Reproduction.” Dr. Angus MacNicol, Professor, and Dr. Melanie MacNicol, Associate Professor, served as co-senior authors on the paper, which the journal also promoted on social media. The publication was one result of a very productive year for the entire department. Well done.

Digital Health Takes Off
The rapid acceleration of digital health endeavors at UAMS, as well as the breadth of clinical, research and educational activities in digital health, is remarkable. A recent “Showcase of Medical Discoveries” highlighted more than a dozen digital health projects at UAMS. Meanwhile, the outstanding team in the Institute for Digital Health & Innovation (IDHI), directed by Dr. Joseph Sanford, continues to find novel ways to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of Arkansans. For example, a new $749,968 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to the IDHI and Principal Investigator Dr. Stanley Ellis will support a pilot program to help prevent violent crime in Arkansas schools through telemedicine-based training for school personnel and students.

In the Spotlight
Dr. Laura James and Dr. Ryan Dare did a great job in a KTHV news segment this week that highlighted clinical research underway at UAMS to find better treatments for COVID-19. Dr. Dare, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases who is leading UAMS efforts on a promising clinical trial, noted how previous scientific advances have dramatically improved mortality rates for COVID-19 patients. Dr. James, Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical and Translational Research, and Director of the UAMS Translational Research Institute, eloquently put current research efforts into context. “If you look back at history, this is how science works,” Dr. James said. “When there is a challenge, the great minds and the scientists and the community get together and come up with the best treatment approaches possible; and then those things have to be tested rigorously.” 

Also doing a super job on TV this week: Dr. Robert Hopkins, Professor and Director of General Internal Medicine, explained on KTHV why it’s so important not to let your guard down even after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. And Dr. Johnathan Goree, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of the Chronic Pain Division, shared a personal encounter with implicit bias in health care, a problem faced by many underrepresented minority patients and families, in a KATV news report.

National Lectures
Dr. William Golden, Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health and Medical Director for Arkansas Medicaid and the Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology, delivered three national webinar lectures this winter. Dr. Golden participated in the CMS Quality Conference, the annual Medicaid Innovation Conference, and the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative, sharing his expertise on new methods of using health information exchanges for Medicaid clinical performance measurement and improvement.

Pandemic’s Impact
Dr. Tina Ipe, Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of the UAMS Blood Bank and Transfusion Division, is a co-first author of an insightful article on some of the professional impacts of the pandemic on women faculty. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Academic Productivity by Female Physicians and Researchers in Transfusion Medicine,” was published in Transfusion. Dr. Ipe collaborated on the article with faculty from Southern Illinois University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of California San Francisco.

Prolific Fellows
Dr. Priyenka Thapa, a second-year Infectious Diseases fellow who excels clinically and academically, published two manuscripts this month. She was the first author of a unique case report describing Mycobacterium abscessus-induced Sweet Syndrome, as well as coauthor of an article highlighting clinical outcomes found in a multi-site study of admitted patients with COVID-19. As our Infectious Diseases faculty noted, UAMS is fortunate to have dedicated, hard-working trainees like Dr. Thapa.

I was also pleased to hear about the excellent scholarly work being done by our Pulmonary and Critical Care fellows, including Dr. Siddharthan Vaithilingam, who was the first author on a detailed case report about e-cigarettes or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) published in the journal CHEST this month. His mentors and coauthors were Dr. Anand Venkata and Dr. Nikhil Meena, and the work inspired Dr. Vaithilingam to continue his research into the vaping epidemic. As result, a review article on vaping by teenagers is being published in the renowned journal Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. Dr. Vaithilingam’s co-authors were Dr. Venkata and second-year fellow Dr. Raga Deepak Reddy Palagiri.

Award-Winning Poster
M3 medical student Hayden Scott did a superb job at Weill Cornell Medicine’s first international Medical Student Neurological Surgery Research Symposium, winning third place in the poster competition. Hayden collaborated on his poster, “Influence of Stereotactic Imaging Techniques on Operative Time in Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery,” with Dr. Erika Petersen, Professor and Neurosurgery Residency Program Director, and 2020 UAMS Neurosurgery Residency graduate Dr. Heather Pinckard-Dover. The poster bested 35 other contenders in the virtual competition.

Well-Earned Commendation
And finally this week, you may recall that Dr. Omar Atiq, Professor of Internal Medicine and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, made national and international news last month (such as this) for erasing the outstanding debts of nearly 200 former patients of the cancer treatment center he founded in Pine Bluff. Last week, the Arkansas State Medical Board voted unanimously to issue a formal commendation to Dr. Atiq for his “humbling and compassionate gesture.” The board went on to write, “In all your years of exceptional service you have epitomized the kind of warm, sympathetic care that any physician would hope to emulate.” We could not be more proud of you, Dr. Atiq!

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!

NBME Appointment
Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Slotcavage, Assistant Professor of Surgery, on being selected to serve a four-year term on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). As a member-at-large, she will provide strategic guidance and advice on major policy recommendations for the organization, which develops state-recognized national examinations used in medical education, licensure and certification. Dr. Slotcavage has been recognized for her previous contributions to NBME efforts to improve the surgery subject examination.

Expert Panel
College of Medicine faculty members will lend their expertise as panelists for a virtual Town Hall on COVID-19 for residents of Little Rock today. The panelists include Arkansas Department of Health Medical Director Dr. Jennifer Dillaha; Dr. William “Sam” Greenfield, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Dr. Akilah Jefferson, Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology; and Dr. Keyur Vyas, Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. Little Rock residents can learn more and submit questions here. The Town Hall is from 12:30-1:30 PM and can be viewed on the city’s YouTube channel, Facebook page; and on LRTV Channel 11.

GME Excellence
Kudos to Dr. Molly Gathright, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, and the GME team for their hard work and commitment to excellence, which has resulted in another successful continued accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Like individual residency and fellowship programs, sponsoring institutions such as the College of Medicine receive an annual notice of accreditation and can receive citations for any issues that must be addressed. Once again, we received continued accreditation with no citations or areas for improvement. Great job, GME team!

Top of their Game
Congratulations to Drs. Ashley Antipolo, Joseph Sanford and Kevin Sexton, who recently passed their board certification exams for Clinical Informatics. All three play an integral role in the Clinical Informatics Fellowship Training Program, housed in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. Their success confirms what we already know – that the COM’s clinical informaticists are at the top of their game and ready to lead us into the future of medicine and informatics. Their subspecialty credentialing also raises the profile of the new fellowship program, which began in July and is directed by Dr. Feliciano “Pele” Yu, Jr. The three join Dr. Yu and Drs. James Magee, Kandi Stallings-Archer and Donnal Walter as the board-certified Clinical Informatics subspecialists at UAMS.

Got it Covered
Dr. Intawat Nookaew, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, and colleagues made the cover of not just one, but two scientific journals recently. The cover art for the latest issue of Nucleic Acids Research draws from the article “Decoding the epitranscriptional landscape from native RNA sequences.” The cover art for the December issue of Chemical Research in Toxicology is based on the article “Detection and Discrimination of DNA Adducts Differing in Size, Regiochemistry, and Functional Group by Nanopore Sequencing.”

Evaluating IPE
Dr. Amy Seay, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and Dr. Wendy Ward, UAMS Associate Provost for Faculty and Director of Interprofessional Faculty Development, collaborated with other psychologists at academic medical centers across the country to evaluate the use of interprofessional education (IPE) in psychology training programs. Their manuscript, “Interprofessional Education in Psychology Doctoral Programs, Internships and Postdoctoral Training: A Survey of Training Directors,” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings. Congratulations to Dr. Seay and Dr. Ward on this outstanding and important work.

Student Published
Third-year medical student Hanna Kulbeth was the lead author on a manuscript accepted for publication by Neurotoxicology and Teratology. “Automated Quantification of Opioid Withdrawal in Neonatal Rat Pups Using Ethovision® XT Software” describes the validation of a new application of the Noldus Ethovision® XT video tracking software to quantify opioid withdrawal in a rat model of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome that is faster, less labor-intensive and more objective than previous methods. Co-authors include Saki Fukuda, a master’s student in the Graduate School, and senior author Dr. Lisa Brents, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Hannah conducted the work while she was a 2019 summer intern supported by the NIDA-funded T32 program at UAMS.

Off and Running
A shout-out to the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery for the excellent and exciting work being done in sports medicine. The orthopaedic and sports medicine team in Northwest Arkansas, headed by Dr. Wesley Cox, is partnering with the American Track League on a four-meet series being broadcast on ESPN/ESPN2. The series features some of the top men’s and women’s track and field athletes in the world and will continue on Sundays through February 14. Read more here, and check out this ad that captures some of the energy and excitement of UAMS’ program. Meanwhile, the sports medicine team based at Arkansas Children’s, headed by Dr. Brant Sachleben, is doing innovative work with high school athletics in Little Rock schools, earning a nice mention in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this past Sunday.

Elite Reviewer
Dr. R. Dale Blasier, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program, has been designated as an Elite Reviewer for the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is one of the leading scientific publications in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Fewer than 3% of the journal’s approximately 1,200 reviewers have achieved elite status for their contributions. Congratulations, Dr. Blasier.

Neurology Standouts
Dr. Ricardo Lopez Castellanos, a third-year resident, recently told me about two individuals who are making a difference for patients and trainees in Neurology. “I look forward to being as passionate and devoted to clinical education as Dr. Erika Santos Horta,” Dr. Lopez said. “She always finds time to teach and discuss new topics and make sure you have a good understanding of the clinical scenario.” He also noted fourth-year resident Dr. Panna Bhattacharyya, who received the UAMS Comprehensive Stroke Center’s 2020 Time is Brain Award for achieving the fastest “door-to-needle” time, administering the clot-busting drug tPA to a stroke patient in 26 minutes – action that resulted in a full recovery.

National Appointments
Department of Pediatrics faculty colleagues continue to provide outstanding leadership at the national level. Recent appointments include Dr. Kimo Stine, a Professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, to the Hemophilia Alliance Board of Directors; and Dr. Abdallah Dalabih, an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, to the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Sedation. Thanks to Dr. Stine and Dr. Dalabih for their service nationally and here in Arkansas.

Teaching Excellence
And finally this week, congratulations to the recent recipients of our Teaching Excellence Award. Seventy-five faculty members and residents in central Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas received the honor this winter, entitling them to wear a special Teaching Excellence lapel pin. All of these honorees have been recognized by our students and/or residents as exemplary teachers who make a difference in medical education and training at UAMS. 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!

Shoring up the Pipeline
Arkansas needs more doctors, but social, economic or geographic disadvantages often create academic barriers that prevent promising medical school applicants from being accepted, or from thriving academically after they are admitted. The College of Medicine, in collaboration with the College of Public Health, is launching a post-baccalaureate program this year to keep young Arkansans who have great potential to become outstanding and compassionate physicians in the pipeline.

Participants in the one-year Medical Scholars in Public Health (MSPH) program will begin working toward master’s degrees in public health while studying to retake the Medical College Entrance Exam (MCAT) and participating in an academic success program that includes one-on-one faculty coaching and much more.

Jerrilyn Jones, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, has been named Director of the program. I want to thank Dr. Jones for agreeing to serve in this important role, as well as members of the COM Admissions Committee, who will be integral in identifying potential participants. Special thanks to Dr. Sara Tariq, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, for her leadership of the MSPH planning committee, and the committee members: Drs. Edgar Meyer, David Davies, Gloria Richard-Davis, Billy Thomas, James Graham, Karina Clemmons, Jasna Vuk and Jeanne McLachlin; Mr. Tom South, Ms. Amber Booth and Ms. Kimberlyn Blann-Anderson.

Thank You, Arkansas Children’s
With the care of all adult trauma patients back at UAMS as of this week, I want to thank Arkansas Children’s leadership, faculty physicians and clinical team members for the excellent care they provided for adult patients over the past couple of months as we prepared for a surge in patients at UAMS due to COVID-19. We are grateful, as always, for the partnership of Arkansas Children’s on behalf of patients across Arkansas.

Interprofessional Grants
Congratulations to the recipients of UAMS Interprofessional Education (IPE) Small Grant Program awards: Dr. Sacha McBain, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Surgery; Dr. Gary Lewis, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology; and Emily Freeman, MHSA, Director of the UAMS Faculty Center. The focus of this year’s awards from the Office of Interprofessional Education and the Provost’s Office was on projects to address objectives in the UAMS Vision 2029 strategic plan. Read more in this week’s announcement from the Provost’s Office.

Top Five
An article by Dr. Giulia Baldini, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Dr. Kevin Phelan, Professor of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, was one of the top five most-cited articles in the Journal of Endocrinology in 2020. Dr. Baldini and Dr. Phelan coauthored “The melanocortin pathway and control of appetite – progress and therapeutic implications,” which was published in April 2019. Congratulations.

Scholars & Mentors
The Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is doing a fantastic job on scholarly projects with medical students. M2 student Jessica Campbell was second-author on an article, “Operative and postoperative outcomes in elderly patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery” in the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology. She collaborated with Dr. Olivia Daigle and research fellow Dr. J. Reed Gardner, under the guidance of senior author and faculty member Dr. Alissa Kanaan. M3 students Olivia Speed and Kesley Brown coauthored an article, “Impact of surgery for velopharyngeal insufficiency on eustachian tube function in children: pharyngeal flap versus sphincter pharyngoplasty,” in the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. They collaborated with Pediatric ENT fellow Dr. Colin Fuller and Dr. J. Reed Gardner, under the guidance of the senior authors and faculty members Drs. John Dornhoffer, Adam Johnson and Larry Hartzell.

Masquerade Uncovered
Fourth-year Ophthalmology resident Dr. Joseph Fong and faculty members Dr. Ahmed Sallam and Dr. Joseph Chacko co-authored an insightful case study in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology. In “Vitreopapillary Traction Masquerading as Papillitis and Papilledema,” the colleagues showed that vitreopapillary traction, a process localized in the eye, can simulate a stroke or papilledema from a brain tumor. Early identification of the condition can avoid an unnecessary MRI and spinal tap. Well done.

National Nominations
For the first time ever, the Department of Emergency Medicine has three faculty members simultaneously nominated for national office positions in the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). The SAEM nominating committee tapped Dr. Amanda Young, Assistant Professor, Director of EM Simulation Education and Assistant Residency Program Director, as a candidate for the Simulation Academy Executive Committee. Assistant Professor and Emergency Medicine Clerkship Director Dr. Christopher Fowler was nominated for the SAEM Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine Executive Committee. Dr. Tony Seupaul, the Stanley E. Reed Professor and Chair of Emergency Medicine and UAMS Medical Center Chief Clinical Officer, was nominated to serve on the Board of Directors for the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine. Congratulations to all.

Podcast Guest
Dr. Martin Radvany, Professor and Chief of Interventional Neuroradiology, was the featured guest on recent episodes of the BackTable podcast, a resource for vascular and interventional specialists. Dr. Radvany discussed the role of interventional radiologists in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Read more and get the links here. Great job, Dr. Radvany.

Above & Beyond
Imagine being on your own in a country without family and having an urgent medical condition arise. When Dr. Alissa Kanaan, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, learned of difficulties a young man in Northwest Arkansas was facing (through her own connections with a neurologist in Paris), she reached out to Dr. Lee Archer, Professor and Chair of Neurology, and Dr. Joseph Chacko, Professor of Ophthalmology. Without hesitation, they arranged to see the patient and provide the diagnosis and care he needed. Dr. Kanaan said they treated the young man like family. “As I told Dr. Archer, I am extremely proud to work in an institution that has great people like him and Dr. Chacko; not only for their great skills and expertise, but also for their compassion and willingness to help.”

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!

Championing Women
Dr. Theresa Wyrick, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, will help lead efforts to support the advancement of women in the field as 2021 Co-Chair of the Academic Orthopaedic Consortium (AOC) Women’s Leadership Forum. This important leadership post reflects Dr. Wyrick’s personal commitment, as with her department’s efforts, to make diversity “not just a checkbox, but a mission.” Kudos to Dr. Wyrick for her outstanding work at UAMS and at the national level.

Military Match
Congratulations to our graduating seniors who matched into military residency training programs. Having completed my own residency training in superb military facilities, and having retired after 26 years of service in the Army and Air Force, I am thrilled for these aspiring physicians. Our thanks to each of you for your commitment to serve!

Jackson Arnold – Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii
Billy Christy – Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia
Matthew Cordell – Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia, General Surgery
Evan Laman – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Maryland
Joel McGowan – Naval Medical Center San Diego, Emergency Medicine
Nicole Mercier – Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center, Ohio, Pediatrics
Alex Rivas – William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso
Catherine Nicole Thomas – Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Family Medicine

In the Spotlight
Dr. Jason Mizell, Associate Professor of Surgery, received a well-earned shout-out in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this morning for his pioneering work in financial education for aspiring physicians. Financial consultant and author Sarah Catherine Gutierrez lauded Dr. Mizell in a column, “Physician, heal thyself – with solid financial know-how.” Ms. Gutierrez, who teaches a session in Dr. Mizell’s award-winning course, explains how and why it has expanded into an extremely popular four-year honors track that has served as a model for financial education courses at medical schools around the country.

Above & Beyond
The rollouts of COVID-19 vaccinations for UAMS and Arkansas Children’s team members have been monumental efforts. I want to take a moment to thank the many team members who have been involved in these operations on both campuses. Special thanks to three faculty physicians who have been instrumental at UAMS – Dr. Michelle Krause, Dr. Robert Hopkins and Dr. Keyur Vyas. Likewise, many thanks to Dr. Jessica Snowden for providing medical and scientific input and leading messaging efforts at Arkansas Children’s. Your expertise, hard work and dedication have helped to ensure the success of these crucial efforts. Thanks to all of you, better days are on the horizon.

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!

Transplant Excellence
Kudos to the Solid Organ Transplant team for their outstanding work to achieve some of the best outcomes in the nation. In the latest data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) and its “5-tier” outcome rankings, the program is second nationally among all kidney programs, 10th in liver programs, and third among the nation’s combined kidney/liver programs. The overall end-goal measurement is for organ function, speed to transplant, and patient survival at one year. These excellent results are only possible through excellent collaboration with several great groups at UAMS including Anesthesiology, Interventional Radiology and Advanced Endoscopy, and they reflect exceptional institutional care overall.

Top Article
An article by Dr. Rosalia C.M. Simmen, Professor of Physiology and Cell Biology, and her research team, “Metformin Promotes Anti-tumor Biomarkers in Human Endometrial Cancer Cells,” has been selected as the most popular basic science original article published by Reproductive Sciences in 2020. The study was conducted with postdoctoral fellows Dr. John Mark Pabona (lead author) and Dr. Maria Theresa Montales; collaborators Dr. Alexander Burnett (Obstetrics & Gynecology), Dr. Charles Matthew Quick (Pathology), Dr. Frank Simmen (Physiology & Cell Biology), Dr. Shi Liu (College of Pharmacy) and Eric Siegel, M.S. (Biostatistics); along with medical students Dustin Brown, Tyler Rose and Iad Alhallak. The award will be recognized at the Society for Reproductive Investigation annual meeting in July. Congratulations to all!

ENT Leader
Congratulations to Dr. Gresham Richter, Professor, Vice Chair and Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, on his election to a two-year term as President of the Society for Ear, Nose and Throat Advancement in Children (SENTAC). SENTAC is a collective group of health care professionals involved in the care of children with otolaryngology, hearing, speech and swallowing disorders. Dr. Richter was also recently selected to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular Anomalies.

Student Published
Third-year medical student Austin Brown is co-first author on a paper published this week in Neuromodulation. The article, “Allergy Complications in Implanted Neuromodulation Devices,” reviews research into the clinical management of poorly understood, and fortunately rare, complications of neuromodulation device implantation. He collaborated with Dr. Diana Munoz-Mendoza (Pediatric Allergy and Immunology) and the Department of Neurosurgery’s Dr. Viktoras Palys and Dr. Erika Petersen (senior author), along with researchers at several other institutions including New York University, Dartmouth and Johns Hopkins University. Great job!

Geriatrics Research
A shout-out to the Department of Geriatrics’ Dr. Gohar Azhar and Dr. Xiaomin Zhang and their colleagues on their excellent recent publications. Dr. Azhar was the lead author on “Potential Beneficial Effects of Dietary Protein Supplementation and Exercise on Functional Capacity in a Pilot Study of Individuals with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction,” published in Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Zhang was the lead author on “Alternative Splicing Increases Sirtuin Gene Family Diversity and Modulates Their Subcellular Localization and Function,” published in a special issue, “Molecular Mechanisms of Gene Expression: Bioinformatics of Gene Regulations and Structure,” from the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

COVID Image Sharing
An article in Nature, Scientific Data highlights work by data experts at UAMS to share clinical images of COVID-19 patients with scientists across the country through The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), a publicly available national database housed at UAMS and supported by the National Cancer Institute. The work was part of an effort led by TCIA Principal Investigator and Department of Biomedical Informatics Chair Dr. Fred Prior and Dr. Ahmad Baghal, Director of the Arkansas Clinical Data Repository at UAMS. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.

Tops in Ortho
Congratulations to Dr. C. Lowry Barnes, Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, on being recognized as one of the nation’s top orthopaedic surgeons by Becker’s Healthcare, an industry leader in health care information. Dr. Barnes was named one of “65 total knee replacement surgeons to know” and was the only Arkansas surgeon on the list.

Distinguished Alumnus
I recently had the honor of presenting the College of Medicine 2020 Distinguished Alumnus Award to Dr. Jack Blackshear, a 1968 graduate who has been a true ally for UAMS and our college. Before the pandemic put a halt to my in-person weekly breakfasts with first- and second-year medical students, Dr. Blackshear joined us for some of these meetings, and his devotion to future physicians was obvious. That dedication goes back decades. Read about Dr. Blackshear and our virtual celebration in the UAMS Newsroom.

Kindness Exemplified
A remarkable act of kindness by Dr. Omar Atiq, Professor of Internal Medicine and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has made news across the nation and beyond. The cancer treatment center Dr. Atiq founded in Pine Bluff nearly 30 years ago closed early last year. As 2020 was winding down, Dr. Atiq decided to forgive all remaining balances – totaling almost $650,000 – of nearly 200 former patients. His generosity was highlighted in many local and national news reports, such as this feature on the ABC World News Tonight.

Meanwhile, Dr. Atiq continues to work tirelessly on behalf of patients at UAMS and as a national leader in internal medicine. You may know that he served as the 2019-2020 Chair of the American College of Physicians (ACP) Board of Governors. He continues to serve on the ACP Board of Regents and as Chair of the ACP Health and Public Policy Committee, which has just published a position paper on disparities and discrimination in health and health care, of which he is also an author. We are so fortunate and proud to have Dr. Atiq as a colleague!

Above & Beyond
I am continually amazed at the selfless spirit of UAMS team members, even in the most difficult circumstances. Second-year Internal Medicine resident Dr. Connor Rayburn recently experienced the tragic loss of his grandfather due to COVID, and he had other loved ones who were affected with the virus. Despite these immense stresses, Dr. Rayburn continued to have an exemplary work attitude day after day in the ICU, while completely refraining from visiting his family during their quarantine. He took no time off except for a day to attend the post-quarantine funeral. Dr. Anand Venkata, who shared this story, said, “I cannot commend him highly enough for placing service ethos before personal grief.”

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!

Recognizing Kindness
My first accolade of the New Year is about the importance of kindness during difficult times. When the pandemic began last March, the College of Medicine was tasked with coordinating logistics and scheduling for entrance screening sites throughout the UAMS main campus. Renee Raines and fellow research administration team members Anna Evatt and Ashley Gregory led the effort to schedule, train and support hundreds of volunteers to cover screening stations for a combined total of 2,500 work hours per week – for four months. This was an extraordinary, round-the-clock administrative feat.

But it was their kindness toward volunteers – and the kindness of their army of volunteers – that made all the difference.

I had the pleasure of recently presenting Renee, Anna and Ashley our first-ever Kindness Award. The colleagues were nominated by Danele Poole, Assistant Chair and Administrator for the Department of Neurosurgery. When we informed Renee about the award and our plans for a Zoom presentation, she invited several other screening site managers and core volunteers to join in the celebration. “I wanted to make sure the people who really, really gave 110% were here, because without them the whole process would not have been possible,” Renee explained. Thank you, Renee, Anna, Ashley – and all of our amazing volunteers!

Insights on Equity
A shout-out to the Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics’ Dr. Laura Guidry-Grimes and Dr. Brian Gittens, UAMS Vice Chancellor and Director of the Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for their insightful contributions to a recent podcast on racism in patient care. Dr. Gittens and Dr. Guidry-Grimes were among the expert guests on the Beyond the White Coat podcast from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The episode explored how academic medicine can help to prepare and train future physicians to provide patient care that is more equitable for all. The podcast was highlighted in the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs Weekly Roundup on December 18.

National Leadership
Dr. Michael Wilson, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry, has been named Chair-Elect of the Coalition on Psychiatric Emergencies (COPE). The coalition of behavioral health, psychiatry and emergency medicine professionals is headed by the Emergency Medicine Foundation. With representation from 13 professional organizations, it is the country’s largest collaborative in the field of emergency psychiatry. My thanks to Dr. Wilson for his outstanding work at the national level as well as here at UAMS, where he serves as Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Behavioral Emergencies Research Lab and the department’s Research Associates Program.

In the Spotlight
Congratulations to Dr. Sacha McBain, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Surgery, and Dr. Marie Mesidor, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, on their recent honors from the Arkansas Psychological Association (ARPA). Dr. McBain, who was named Early Career Psychologist of the Year, is doing wonderful work in her roles as a clinical psychologist for the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and as Associate Director in the Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Trauma Prevention, Recovery and Innovation. She also has been instrumental in developing mental health resources to help medical residents, Arkansas physicians and other health professionals cope with stress and anxiety during the pandemic. Dr. Mesidor received the ARPA Medical Center Provider of the Year Award for her exceptional work at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Editorial Appointments
Congratulations to the Division of Endocrinology’s Dr. Spyridoula Maraka on two new editorial board appointments. She was named to the Editorial Board of Thyroid, the official journal of the American Thyroid Association, after being highly recommended for her expertise and prior contributions as a reviewer. She will also serve on the Editorial Board for Clinical Thyroidology, which provides summaries and insights into the most cutting-edge and relevant scholarly articles for clinicians.

Kindness Heals
I will end this week’s Accolades as I started, with another story about the power of kindness. The adult daughter of a patient of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery’s Dr. Simon Mears commended Dr. Mears, nurses and other staff for their kindness. “It helped my father heal more quickly,” she wrote in the patient survey. “He is recovering with so much positivity due to the personal attention given to him. Thank you, Dr. Mears. We truly appreciate your magic.” The writer noted that her father occasionally lost his patience and became a little upset after his surgery. “Even after that, the staff and nurses gave him full attention and treated him with so much love. We are truly speechless. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

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!

On the Forefront
College of Medicine faculty are on the forefront of the historic efforts to test, evaluate and roll out promising new vaccines for COVID-19. They are lending their expertise at the national level to ensure approval and prudent distribution of safe and effective vaccines, while also championing science and preventive practices in news interviews and other venues.

Dr. Robert Hopkins is providing superb leadership as Chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in addition to serving on the frontlines at UAMS and educating Arkansans about the virus. Dr. Jose Romero serves as Chair of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, while also leading COVID efforts in Arkansas as Secretary of Health. Dr. Jeannette Lee is serving on the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which approved emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine last week and will consider the Moderna vaccine this week.

Meanwhile, as the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrive, vital vaccine research continues, including the launch of the UAMS test site for Janssen’s vaccine candidate under the leadership of Dr. Kristine Patterson and with coordination by the Translational Research Institute. These efforts and many others by UAMS colleagues provide hope, and we are grateful.

EPIC Achievement
Thanks to teams across UAMS, the UAMS Regional Campus clinics are now “live” on the Epic electronic health records system. I join with the project leader, Dr. David Nelsen, in thanking everyone who contributed to this massive undertaking. Kudos to team members in IT, especially project management, ambulatory, lab, radiology and interface teams. In addition, thanks go out to UAMS Clinical Informatics, Instructional Designers (trainers), UAMS Executive Project Leadership and operational leadership from nursing, billing and scheduling.  As Dr. Nelsen notes, “The real superstars of this project, however, were the UAMS Regional Programs clinics in Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Helena, Jonesboro, Magnolia, Pine Bluff, Springdale and Texarkana.” This is great news for patients across the state.

Students & Mentors
College of Medicine students are doing excellent scholarly work with the support of the Division of Surgical Research and faculty mentors from several departments. Juniors Helena Drolshagen and Dillon Wade gave virtual presentations on their original research at the Americas Hernia Society annual meeting this fall. Sophomore Hunter Rose presented his research at the International Geriatric Fracture Society meeting last week. John House, Joey VanScoy, Zain Alfanek, Tommy Christensen, Hayden Hairston and Liza Hill were the first authors on six abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2021 Academic Surgical Congress.

Their faculty mentors include Surgery’s Drs. Hanna Jensen, Kevin Sexton, Kyle Kalkwarf, Katie Kimbrough, Avi Bhavaraju and Lyle Burdine; Dr. Simon Mears (Orthopaedic Surgery); Dr. Martin Radvany (Radiology); Dr. Tina Ipe (Pathology); and Dr. Saleema Karim (College of Public Health). Many others have contributed to the prolific output in clinical and basic research supported by the Surgical Research team, including Drs. Marie Burdine, Sacha McBain (Psychiatry); and Rebecca Reif, Judy Bennett, Monica Kimbrell and Kim Gates, along with Dr. Manos Giorgakis and Surgery Chair Dr. Ron Robertson. My thanks to all for your great work with our students!

Thyroid Expertise
As one of the world’s leading experts in thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy, Dr. Spyridoula Maraka, Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, was invited to present on maternal hypothyroxinemia this week during the 16^th International Thyroid Congress, a conference held only every five years. In more good news, the VA Health Services Research and Development Service just awarded Dr. Maraka a $163,670 pilot grant for the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, safety and effects on quality of life of discontinuing levothyroxine therapy (thyroid hormone replacement) in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.

Cover Author
Dr. Surjith Vattoth, Associate Professor in the Division of Neuroradiology, is a cover author on the recently published fourth edition of “Diagnostic Imaging: Brain” along with world-renown authors including neuroradiology legend Dr. Anne Osborn. Dr. Vattoth authored or coauthored 104 chapters in this highly prestigious textbook published by Elsevier, which is also available online in STATdx. Congratulations!

Pitching In
As UAMS began offering weekly antigen COVID-19 testing for employees who work directly with patients this week, several Department of Pathology faculty and residents volunteered to be trained and perform the testing in the initial days until a stable workforce could be put in place. Kudos to Dr. Ericka Olgaard, who oversaw the effort, along with faculty volunteers Drs. Nicole Massoll, Daisy Alapat, Kandi Stallings-Archer and Hoda Hagrass. Thanks also to redeployed residents including Drs. Alyssa Higgins, Anna Tart, Richard Dunn, Ivette Perez, Brannon Broadfoot and Azin Mashayekhi.

Up & Coming
Congratulations to Dr. Gregory Snead, Professor and Chief of Emergency Medicine Ultrasound, on being selected for the 2021 Association of Academic Chairs in Emergency Medicine (AACEM) Chair Development Program. Emergency Medicine Chair Dr. Tony Seupaul notes that the highly selective program is known for developing future leaders in academic emergency medicine, and Dr. Snead will represent UAMS exceptionally well.

Ask-a-Chair
Speaking of Dr. Seupaul, a colleague points out that he did a great job as the guest for a recent episode of the Residency and Medical Student Section of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s “Ask-a-Chair” podcast. Dr. Seupaul, who also serves as Chief Clinical Officer for UAMS Medical Center, discusses the challenges of holding a senior leadership role in an academic medical institution, his longtime interest in evidence-based medicine, and tips for medical students and residents as they transition to new roles through their academic career.

MVPs Make a Difference
And finally, let’s have a round of applause for the 10 stellar College of Medicine team members who were named our Most Valuable Players – MVPs – this fall! I had the great pleasure of paying tribute to each of them in Zoom celebrations over the past few weeks. As Sara Windsor, COM Director of Strategic Initiatives and Engagement, explains: “MVPs love what they do and love helping others find their own strengths. MVPs exemplify the qualities of a great teammate.”

I couldn’t agree more. I would also like to give a shout-out to the colleagues who took the time to nominate these MVPs. They wrote eloquently about what makes these team members so special. Please visit our new MVP Webpage to read about the honorees. Meanwhile, very special congratulations to our newest MVPs:

Michael Blackburn, B.S.
Pediatrics/Developmental Nutrition

Joana Mack, M.D.
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Renee McGraw, M.D.
Obstetrics/Gynecology

Priya Mendiratta, M.D., M.P.H.
Geriatrics

Tamara Perry, M.D.
Pediatric Allergy/Immunology

Roopa Ram, M.D.
Radiology

Denise Thomas, B.S.
Obstetrics/Gynecology

Misty Virmani, M.D.
Pediatrics/Neonatology

Keyur Vyas, M.D.
Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases

Jennifer White, B.S.N.
COM Graduate Medical Education

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!

Culture of Health
Congratulations to Dr. Rosemary Nabaweesi, Assistant Professor in the Community Pediatrics Division of the Department of Pediatrics, on being selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) Culture of Health Leaders program. Dr. Nabaweesi, who also serves as Senior Director of Research and Evaluation for the UAMS Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will use skills developed through the three-year curriculum, along with RWJ funding support, to develop a community-based, cross-sector strategic initiative focused on creating an optimal culture of health and addressing health inequity in the Arkansas Delta. Read more here.

Setting Standards
Congratulations to Dr. Lawrence Tarbox, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Director of the UAMS Center for High Performance Computing, on his re-election to a second two-year term as the User Co-Chair of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Standards Committee. DICOM is the international standard for medical images and related information.

COVID Research
Faculty researchers continue to fight COVID-19 on many fronts in labs across UAMS and our partnering institutions. At the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, a prolific colleague is Associate Professor of Geriatrics Dr. Kalpana Padala. Among many activities, Dr. Padala is the site Principal Investigator for both the Romark/VA Nitazoxanide study for prophylaxis against COVID infection among residents in long-term care facilities and the Janssen/ENSEMBLE vaccine trial (which is also being conducted separately at UAMS). Dr. Padala’s team recently published nine COVID-related publications addressing a wide range of issues, including disproportionately lower internet access and capability for video visits among older rural veterans. Her team also found that the pandemic has increased loneliness, worsened behavioral problems in the context of dementia, and disrupted care in those with serious mental illness.

Implementation Scholars
The Translational Research Institute (TRI) and UAMS Center for Implementation Research (CIR) have selected five faculty members as the 2021 Implementation Scholars. Congratulations to Dr. Laura Jean Hobart-Porter (Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation); Dr. Kyle Kalkwarf (Surgery); Dr. Riley Lipschitz (Internal Medicine); Dr. Aravindhan Veerapandiyan (Pediatrics); and Dr. Elizabeth Riley (College of Nursing). Read more about the scholars and their projects for the two-year program in the TRI newsroom.

GME Grant
Associate Dean Dr. Molly Gathright and the Graduate Medical Education team are doing a great job to support and improve our internal residency and fellowship programs and graduate medical education across the state. An important initiative, the Pathway to Program Excellence educational program, recently got a boost with a $30,000 Chancellor’s Circle Grant. My thanks to the GME team, and congratulations on the grant!

Active Learning Insights
Congratulations to Dr. Stanley Ellis, Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of Education for the Institute for Digital Health and Innovation, and Dr. Taren Swindle, Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine,for their recent publication in MedEdPublish, an official journal of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). Their article, “Exploration of an Integrated Active Learning Strategy to Balance Student Workload in a Mixed Level Research Methods Course,” addresses how integrating active learning strategies from Team Based Learning (TBL) and Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) pedagogies aids in reducing the perceptions of workload imbalance among team members in a research methods course.

Service to Arkansas
Emergency Medicine physicians and their patients throughout Arkansas will benefit from the leadership of Dr. Brian Hohertz, Professor of Emergency Medicine, as the newly installed President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Assistant Professor Dr. Lauren Evans was selected as President-Elect during the annual chapter meeting last week. Thank you both for your service to our state.  

Case Series
Anesthesiology colleagues presented an excellent case series, “Erector Spinae Blocks for Axillary Pain Not Covered by Interscalene Blocks in Shoulder Patients,” at the American Society of Regional Anesthesia’s recent virtual Annual Pain Medicine Meeting. The case series was produced by residents Dr. Cash Arcement and Dr. Duy Ha; faculty members Dr. Trina Kleiver and Dr. Matthew Spond; and Floyd Nutter, RN.

National Scholarship
Congratulations to M4 student Jasmine McKissick on receiving a 2021 STFM Foundation Student Scholarship from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. The highly competitive scholarship recognizes some of the best and brightest medical students nationwide who have shown strong potential for a career in academic family medicine through their scholastic, volunteer and leadership pursuits. Jasmine and fellow honorees will attend and have the opportunity to present posters at STFM’s virtual annual conference next February.

Giving Back
The pandemic thwarted the Department of Pathology’s annual volunteer service day with the Arkansas Food Bank – but not the team’s determination to make a difference for those in need. Staff, faculty and residents raised $2,045 in monetary gifts and collected 148 pounds of food items, supporting an incredible 10,403 meals through the Food Bank. Kudos to project lead Dr. Sara Shalin and all who pitched in.

Brighter Holiday
A shout-out to second-year medical students Anapaula Rojas and Vanessa Bastidas for their work to make this holiday season a little brighter for older Arkansans. Working with the UAMS Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative (AGEC), Anapaula and Vanessa recently presented a virtual program, “Festive Crafts for Seniors.” They also organized a “Holiday Note of Cheer” drive to have medical students make cards for residents of a local nursing home, on behalf of the UAMS Student National Medical Association Outreach Committee and AGEC. The projects, supported with a HRSA COVID Cares grant to AGEC, are designed to help decrease feelings of isolation and loneliness in older adults due to the pandemic.

Ironman Extraordinaire
And finally this week … COVID-19 forced many changes this year, but it certainly didn’t stop Medicine-Pediatrics resident Dr. Tommy Martin in his tracks. Far from it! Dr. Martin, an Ironman triathlete, was scheduled to race in Florida in November. With the race canceled, he completed his own personal challenge: successfully swimming, biking and running five Half Ironman races – a total of 350 miles – on five consecutive days. With the help of many contributors, the effort raised at least $8,255 for the Hematology-Oncology program at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, which had to cancel its annual fall fundraiser, the Super Hero Dash-and-Bash, due to the pandemic. The annual event funds toys, snacks, toiletries and much more for patients and families. Way to go! 

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!

Stepping Up
Kudos to our colleagues at Arkansas Children’s for stepping up to the plate in the escalating battle against COVID-19. Arkansas Children’s Hospital has begun to take certain adult trauma patients and adult critically ill transfer patients to help offset the rise in hospitalizations at UAMS. Thanks to the strong leadership at Arkansas Children’s and the dedication of outstanding faculty physicians and clinical team members, these adult patients are receiving excellent care in a very difficult time. I join with President and CEO Marcy Doderer, FACHE; Drs. Rick Barr, Greg Sharp and Todd Maxson; Chief Nursing Officer Lee Anne Eddy and Patient Care Services Vice-President Mary Salassi-Scotter in expressing gratitude to all team members.

Legacy of a Leader
Dr. Sam Smith improved the lives of countless children and their families during his 28 years of service as Chief of Pediatric General Surgery. The legacy of this retiring leader extends through the ACGME-accredited Pediatric Surgery training program and the excellent surgical research training program he founded after joining our faculty and Arkansas Children’s in 1992. Dr. Smith developed the trauma program at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Among many leadership roles, he served as Interim Chair of the Department of Surgery in 2007-2008. Dr. Smith also trained Dr. Sid Dassinger, who succeeds him as Division Chief. Read more about Dr. Smith (and Dr. Dassinger) in this tribute from Dr. Todd Maxson. Please join me in wishing Dr. Smith a joyful retirement!

Newly Invested
Congratulations to recently invested Geriatrics colleagues Dr. Steven Barger and Dr. Denise Compton. Dr. Barger, an exceptional neuroscience and neurological disease researcher, was invested in the Louise G. Hearn Chair in Dementia and Long-Term Care. Dr. Compton, a clinical psychologist and geriatric neuropsychologist specializing in seniors and cognitive disorders, was invested in the Magalene McKinnon Ingram Endowed Professorship in Geriatric Education. These are well-earned honors for Dr. Barger and Dr. Compton, who will have an even greater impact through their endowment-supported initiatives.

In the Spotlight
A recently published paper by Executive Associate Dean for Research Dr. Richard P. Morrison, Microbiology and Immunology Research Associate Sandra G. Morrison, B.S., and colleagues at the University of Indiana School of Medicine has been highlighted in a news brief by the prestigious Nature Reviews Microbiology. “A Genital Infection-Attenuated Chlamydia Muridarum Mutant Infects the Gastrointestinal Tract and Protects Against Genital Tract Challenge” was first published in the high-impact journal mBio. The paper identifies a promising path toward a live-attenuated vaccine for Chlamydia trachomatis, the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection.

Rural Research
Congratulations to the many UAMS faculty and staff who contributed to three publications in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science devoted to research focused on improving rural public health. I join with Translational Research Institute Director Dr. Laura James in applauding the interdepartmental and cross-college research collaborations that led to the articles on topics including a digital health platform to support rural communities; field assessment of a safe-sleep instrument using smartphone technology; and mapping mammography access across Arkansas.

Editorial Appointment
Dr. David Nagy, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of Trauma Anesthesia at UAMS, will lend his expertise to the Editorial Committee of the Trauma Anesthesia Society. The Society works to advance the field of trauma anesthesia through education and research. Congratulations!

Dispelling Fears
Dr. Sarafina Kankam, Pain Medicine fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology, did a great job in an interview with KTHV-TV last week discussing the nationally noted concerns that many Black Americans have about the emerging COVID-19 vaccines. For some, fear and mistrust of government and the medical field stems from the grave mistreatment of Black Americans in the Tuskegee trials of the 1930s and other health system failings. Dr. Kankam emphasized the extensive scientific work that has gone into ensuring the safety and efficacy of the new vaccines, and she encouraged viewers to trust their health care providers on this important issue.

COVID & the Kidneys
Dr. Jawahar L. “Jay” Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine and Physiology and Biophysics and the Stebbins Chair in Cardiology, Internal Medicine resident Dr. Husam Salah and Dr. John Arthur, Professor and Director of the Division of Nephrology, are the authors of an insightful editorial in the European Heart Journal, the highest-ranking cardiology journal. “Implications of renal ACE2 expression in the age of COVID-19” provides context for recent research involving angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor for the virus that causes COVID-19, and comorbidities involving the renal system.

Cancer Insights
A shout-out to Tracy Nolan, Instructor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, who was recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for her contributions as a co-author on an important paper about patients with cancer who had exceptional responses to therapy. The research, published in the journal Cell, revealed molecular changes in the tumors of these patients that may help explain their response to treatment. The team at the UAMS-housed Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) has been working with the NCI on the project for several years. The study was highlighted in an NCI news release.

UAMS at AAO
The Department of Ophthalmology and Jones Eye Institute were well represented at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology virtual meeting with an incredible seven presentations. I join with Ophthalmology Chair and Jones Eye Director Dr. Paul Phillips in congratulating all who participated. Presentation leaders included residents Dr. Kinza Ahmad and Dr. Zia Siddiqui; faculty members Dr. Sami Uwaydat and Dr. Ahmed Sallam; orthoptist Kathy Fray, CO; and award-winning medical student Michelle Huynh. Well done!

Consultant of the Month
Emergency Medicine residents selected Kyle Brewer, a peer-support specialist who helps address substance-use disorders in Emergency Department patients, as the newest Consultant of the Month. Residents praised Mr. Brewer for helping patients behind the scenes, sometimes influencing life-changing decisions through his own story and heart for service. One appreciative resident said he is “making us better doctors.” Thank you for you service Kyle, and congratulations!

No Hesitation
The Department of Surgery’s Dr. Conan Mustain recently saw a returning patient whom he realized needed to be evaluated for an unrelated and undiagnosed issue. A quick conversation with the Head and Neck Oncology Clinic’s Samantha Rose, CNP, was all it took to initiate life-saving care by Dr. Emre Vural, Ms. Rose and their team. “There was no hesitation on the part of the HONC staff to add this patient on to their already busy schedule,” Dr. Mustain told me. “It was great to see simple, in-person communication and a patient-first attitude expedite the care of this patient.”

Resident Heroes
Second-year Internal Medicine resident Dr. Ples Spradley wrote to me to share a story of heroism by a fellow UAMS resident. While driving on a major Little Rock street one recent evening, Dr. Spradley came upon a three-car pile-up that had just occurred in the opposite lanes – and he was stunned to see an injured driver collapse onto the median. He called 9-1-1 and quickly made his way back to the scene. Upon arrival, he discovered that first-year Surgery resident Dr. Megan White also had stopped to help. Dr. White was softly comforting the injured woman. When paramedics arrived, she provided a succinct summary of the patient’s condition. Dr. Spradley was amazed at Dr. White’s compassion and professionalism. I am proud of both of these selfless residents and am honored to have them training with us at UAMS.