UAMS researcher Tiffany Weinkopff, Ph.D., has received a 2019 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, sponsored by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, which recognizes promising new scientific careers and supports their development.

UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA; Vice Chancellor for Research Shuk-Mei Ho, Ph.D.; and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Lawrence E. Cornett, Ph.D., surprised Weinkopff recently in her office to present the award.

“You were selected from among 167 other applicants in a peer-reviewed evaluation process that included scientists from throughout the nation,” Patterson said. “You’re going to get $5,000 to go toward your research, and we’ve matched that with $5,000 more for a total of $10,000. Congratulations! I see this as validation that other people see your work as we do: as important research at the forefront of medical advancement.”

Weinkopff is an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the UAMS College of Medicine. She studies the disease process behind leishmaniasis, an infection spread by parasites that is found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Some patients easily heal their skin lesions following infection, while others suffer long-term issues like skin ulcers and destroyed tissue. Some forms of the infection are fatal.

In the body, leishmaniasis causes a massive influx of immune cells to the infection site, dramatic changes to the surrounding blood vessels, and an expansion to the body’s lymphatic network. Weinkopff’s lab hopes to uncover exactly how some of these processes occur at the cellular and molecular level to understand how they might be controlled. They are also studying how the wounds caused by the infection heal.

Surprisingly, when Patterson, Ho and Cornett met Weinkopff, they learned that Patterson worked on the same cells and molecular pathway earlier in his career.

Weinkopff’s work could have implications for treating leishmaniasis and similar diseases. Known as the Neglected Tropical Diseases, they affect more than 1 billion people — or one-sixth of the world’s population — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, better understanding the disease process could have applications for treating other types of infection, autoimmune disease and cancer.

“Dr. Weinkopff’s work has the potential to help millions, if not billions of people,” Ho said.

Weinkopff came to UAMS about two years ago. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and performed her Ph.D. dissertation work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Shortly after coming to UAMS, she was offered a position in the UAMS Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Inflammatory Responses, directed by Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D. The center has earned $21 million in funding through the NIH’s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program, which provides funding and mentoring to researchers who are early in their careers.

“Dr. Weinkopff is the first faculty member from UAMS to receive the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award,” said Cornett, who represents UAMS with the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. “We recruited her to UAMS and got her involved in the COBRE because we think her work could have a significant impact on human health. We are pleased to see that a national organization like the ORAU agrees.”

One of the goals of the COBRE program is to help institutions establish themselves as centers of technology and expertise by attracting promising scientists with adjacent interests to work in the same place, sharing knowledge and tools.

Weinkopff said that a key piece of technology needed for her work, a two-photon microscope that allows her to look at the behavior of cells near the Leishmania infection site in real time, was already at UAMS. She said this two-photon microscope and other COBRE-funded technologies are instrumental in her work. With the Powe grant, she will be able to invest in more of the technology she needs to pursue her research.

“The Powe Award is almost like a pilot seed investment, and by matching the grant, the university shows that it’s behind you as well,” Weinkopff said. “It will help me take this work to the next level and expand into new techniques and technologies.”

UAMS has three COBRE centers, which are launching new scientific careers, attracting top talent and creating concentrations of expertise on topics like infectious diseases, cancer therapy and bone health. UAMS faculty lead two additional COBRE centers on childhood obesity prevention and pediatrics at Arkansas Children’s Research Institute.

The Oak Ridge Associated Universities is a consortium of American universities that aims to advance national priorities and serve the public interest by integrating academic, government and scientific resources globally.

“So if I told you this is where the diaphragm sits, where do you think the right superior, middle, and inferior lobes are on him?”

Kevin D. Phelan, Ph.D., co-director of the Division of Clinical Anatomy in the UAMS College of Medicine, drew an arc with his finger just along the bottom of the rib cage on the “patient” — actually a UAMS medical student — while a group of high school students from the Little Rock School District followed the gesture with their eyes.

“Think about when we saw the lungs in the lab this morning.”

The students hesitated.

“It’s weird, right, taking what you saw and now thinking about where that sits in the body? Our medical students have to learn that too. Talk amongst yourselves and use these stickers to label the lobes. Do the left side too.”

A student took the stickers, assumed a leadership role, and the discussion started. By the end, they correctly labeled all of the lobes except the — admittedly tricky — right inferior, which Phelan adjusted by a couple of centimeters. Next, they used a spirometer to measure the patient’s lung flow and volume, while watching the results appear in real time on an iPad.

SONOcamp Uses Hands-On Tech

Welcome to SONOcamp, held June 10-14 at UAMS with 60 Little Rock high school students.

Similar scenes repeated throughout week with the heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, vasculature, and more. The students used hand-held ultrasounds, augmented reality, infrared cameras, and a 3D anatomy simulation table in same gross anatomy lab and patient simulation center used to train UAMS medical students. They learned about applying tourniquets in the field and saw a simulation of fetal sonography.

They interacted with faculty and students from the UAMS College of Medicine, College of Health Professions, College of Nursing and Graduate School, and undergraduate students who are conducting biomedical research through the Arkansas INBRE program.

The camp focused on hands-on, tech-heavy lab experiences. At the end of the week, they tested their knowledge and skills at the SONOlympics.

Twelve medical students helped lead the small-group exercises. Ryan Coleman, who is entering his second year of medical school, said he was amazed by the advanced labs and tech the students were able to experience because of the camp.

“I never used an ultrasound for anything before I came to med school,” Coleman said. “I had never done any human dissection before I came to med school. This is a very real experience for them. A lot of the things that they’ve learned in this camp, I literally learned this year or — in some cases — I learned this week, right along with them.”

Despite the complexity of some of the concepts, Coleman said, the camp’s goal to use hands-on tech to aid in student interest appeared to be working.

“It’s been really interesting to see how much they’ve actually retained,” Coleman said. “We did our trivia session, the SONOlympics, on the last day, and they got a lot of it right — like a lot — and that was really impressive.”

Grant Enables STEM Educational Outreach

As great as SONOcamp is, it’s only one small part of a larger project called ArkanSONO.

In 2018, Phelan received a $1.27 million, five-year science education research grant called a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, with is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Phelan is researching whether using handheld and interactive technology to teach students about health will inspire more students to pursue careers in STEM: science, technology, engineering and math.

“More and more educational research is showing that the sooner young people are exposed to STEM careers, the greater the likelihood they’re carry that interest into adulthood,” Phelan said. “If we’re going to support the STEM careers of the future, we have to inspire younger students by showing them their real-life potential before they disengage and start to believe it’s not a path that’s interesting or open to them.”

The program also aims to teach students about cardiovascular health, which is a leading cause of death in Arkansas. The students learned how the heart and blood vessels work and the importance of exercise, eating a healthy diet and refraining from smoking.

The partnership with the Little Rock School District began in January with UAMS faculty visiting ninth-grade physical science classes. They used real medical-grade handheld ultrasound devices to teach basics about the physics of sound, how ultrasounds work and how they are used in various STEM fields, including medicine, biomedical research and industry.

SONOcamp was the next step in the effort to deepen student engagement. Next year, some of the students from this year’s camp will be asked to come back to assist in teaching the next group.

School Superintendent Michael Poore, Ph.D., spoke at the opening day of camp and emphasized to the students to importance of the opportunity.

“I’m very excited for you,” Poore said. “I’m excited for our district. I’m excited for our community that this opportunity has been made available. This is a unique thing. You can be proud of yourselves as the first class that ever accomplished this, and I expect you’ll hear about it years down the line. I hope you leave here fired up and excited about what possibilities your futures hold.”

The process will repeat over five years, and Phelan will track which experiences are the most successful at sparking the inspiration for careers in STEM.

As for the first group of SONOcamp participants, Phelan was impressed.

“We have a great, diverse group of students here, and all the medical students and all the faculty, we have just been amazed at their enthusiasm, their engagement and how quickly they’re learning everything, and just how excited they are to be here.”

Phelan is joined in administering the grant, program and accompanying research by Gregory Snead, M.D., chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine Ultrasound in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine; Billy R. Thomas, M.D., a professor in the Pediatric Neonatology Department; Noor Akhter, Ph.D., and Mohsin M. Syed, Ph.D., both assistant professors in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences; and Karen Yanowitz, Ph.D., professor in the Arkansas State University Department of Psychology and Counseling.

For more information about ArkanSONO and for ideas for using ultrasounds to teach science, find ArkanSONO on the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Neurobiology website —  or follow @ArkanSONO on Twitter.

Alan Tackett, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has received a five-year $1.75 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to identify new tumor targets in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Tackett is a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and serves as associate director of basic research in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

Although melanoma is less common than other forms of skin cancer, it is the most deadly form of the disease. About 96,480 Americans – including 760 Arkansans – are estimated to be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin in 2019. While not all of these cases will metastasize, or move to other areas of the body, for those that do, treatment options are limited and often unsuccessful.

In recent years, a type of immunotherapy known as immune checkpoint inhibition has shown unprecedented success in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Immunotherapy harnesses the body’s natural immune system to seek and destroy cancer.

However, while immunotherapies, such as the drugs Keytruda and Opdivo, are successful for many patients, others fail to receive the same positive outcome.

“While these new therapies show great promise for many people, approximately half of metastatic melanoma patients do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors. My laboratory is focused on understanding why some patients do not respond to these immunotherapies, so we can use that information to turn these patients into responders” said Tackett, who holds the Scharlau Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research at UAMS.

To accomplish this task, Tackett uses a sophisticated approach called proteomics that allows his team to measure molecular changes in melanoma cells at the atomic level.

In 2016, Tackett received funding from the National Institutes of Health to implement a National Resource for Proteomics at UAMS, which provides a biomarker discovery platform to researchers at UAMS, as well as those in 23 other states and Puerto Rico.

“By defining pathways active in certain types of melanomas, we can identify new targets for drug development that could increase responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors and thereby save the lives of thousands of patients each year,” said Tackett, whose research has been highly funded by the National Institutes of Health for his entire career.

To accomplish its research, Tackett’s team works closely with UAMS surgeons, oncologists and pathologists to obtain fresh tumor samples removed during surgery at UAMS Medical Center.

“Getting fresh tissue out of surgery and into our lab very quickly is key. This gives us the ability to sort it into individual cell populations and analyze it in ways that are difficult to do with older, fixated tissue samples,” he said.

New patients at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute are asked in the early stages of treatment about their interest in donating a portion of their surgically removed tumor, or other specimen such as blood or urine, to benefit research.

The procurement of donated tumor tissue does not require any type of additional procedure, but makes use of a portion of the tissue that was removed during the normal surgical process.

“The research environment at UAMS is ideal for these types of studies as basic scientists work seamlessly with clinicians to move research from the lab to the clinic as quickly as possible,” said Tackett.

This federal grant will bolster the Cancer Institute’s ongoing efforts to receive National Cancer Institute Designation, which requires the institution achieve at least $20 million in annual direct cost research funding from an approved list of funding agencies.

To achieve designation, cancer centers undergo a highly competitive assessment process that demonstrates an outstanding depth and breadth of research in three areas: basic laboratory, patient/clinical and population-based. The designation brings with it many benefits, including expanded access to federal funding for researchers and improved access to clinical trials for patients.

June 19, 2019 | The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) made history this spring with its first Master of Science graduate in biomedical informatics/translational bioinformatics.

Biomedical informatics professionals use computational tools to learn from medical and public health information to improve human health.

As one of the program’s first enrollees, Dina Elsayed was aware she would be among the first graduates but didn’t imagine she would be the first.

“Honestly, it was intimidating but exciting,” she said. “It is a great feeling to be the first graduate of the biomedical informatics program at a great university like UAMS.”

The new degree program is offered by the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the College of Medicine with support from the UAMS Translational Research Institute. Translational bioinformatics is one of four tracks developed by the Department of Biomedical Informatics offering both master’s and doctorate degrees.

Other new tracks are:

• Clinical research informatics (first in the United States)
• Imaging informatics
• Clinical informatics

“Biomedical informatics is an emerging field in health care and precision medicine, making it possible to customize treatments for individual patients,” said Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the College of Medicine. “I am proud of our biomedical informatics leadership because this program positions UAMS as a national leader in one of the fastest growing health research fields.”

Because of its focus on human health, the UAMS biomedical informatics program is unique to Arkansas, addressing a critical workforce need in the field, said Fred Prior, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics.

“In addition to Dina’s degree, we had five certificate graduates and 22 students are currently enrolled,” Prior said. “We’re excited about the momentum we have for this new program and we look forward to its continued growth.”

Each of the four tracks are offered in the UAMS Graduate School as a 36-credit hour master’s degree with a Professional and a Master of Science option. Additionally, the doctoral program will take a minimum 55 credit hours that are inclusive of the master’s degree credit hours.

“These degrees have strengthened our curriculum and are already helping us compete for students nationally,” said Graduate School Dean Robert E. McGehee Jr., Ph.D.

Both master’s options can be completed in two years with full-time enrollment, and the Ph.D. can be completed in four years, though for most students it’s expected to take five years.

The Graduate Certificate consists of one core course, a practicum, and additional courses of the candidate’s choosing.

Elsayed earned a medical degree in Egypt and has that country’s board certification in dermatology. She hopes to use her new degree to pursue multiple research projects that use the science of genomics to help cancer patients.​

“I found that the translational biomedical informatics track will allow me to learn about the most advanced research in treating cancer through studying the genetic abnormalities in cancer patients,” she said. “I chose this program with the hope that one day I would be able to participate in the discovery of new, effective cancer therapies.”

As part of her thesis, she studied new gene abnormalities in patients with multiple myeloma and its correlation with severity and prognosis of the disease.

“We identified about 20 genetic transcripts related to multiple myeloma, some of which are probably linked to severity and prognosis of the disease,” she said. “I hope this novel information will open the door for further research projects to achieve better outcomes for this dreadful cancer.”

The program is now accepting applications for fall 2019. The deadline for applying for fall 2019 is July 1. To apply or for additional information, please visit the link below.

More information about the degree program is at https://dbmi.uams.edu/education/graduate-programs/admission-information/.

J. Paul Mounsey, M.D., Ph.D., FACC, a nationally recognized leader in electrophysiology, will join UAMS on Oct. 1 as director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine and director of the cardiovascular program at UAMS.

“Dr. Mounsey brings extensive expertise and leadership experience to our clinical, educational and research programs in cardiovascular medicine,” Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., and Internal Medicine Chair James Marsh, M.D., said in a June 17 announcement to the faculty.

Current Division Director and Professor David Rutlen, M.D., will assume a new role on Oct. 1 as director of Inpatient Cardiology, leading efforts to enhance quality and efficiency in inpatient cardiology care.

“We also want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Dr. Rutlen for his 11 years of service and excellent leadership of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, as well as for his ongoing commitment to providing high-quality cardiovascular care at UAMS,” Westfall and Marsh said.

Mounsey currently serves as professor of medicine and director of cardiac electrophysiology and pacing in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at East Carolina University (ECU) and the East Carolina Heart Institute in Greenville, North Carolina.

Mounsey received his doctorate in physiology, with an emphasis in cardiac muscle biophysics, from St. Thomas Hospital Medical School in London, U.K., in 1983 and his medical degree from the University of Oxford Medical School in 1987. He completed his internship and residency in medicine at Oxford. Mounsey continued his training with a cardiology fellowship at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the U.K. and a cardiac electrophysiology fellowship at the University of Virginia.

Mounsey began his career in academic medicine as a lecturer in cardiology at Oxford and then as a senior lecturer in cardiology at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. He returned to the United States in 1996 and served on the faculty of the University of Virginia until 2007, when he was recruited to the University of North Carolina (UNC). He served as a professor of medicine and director of cardiac electrophysiology and pacing at UNC until 2012, when he was named Cecil Sewell Endowed Distinguished Professor of Medicine. Mounsey was recruited to Eastern Carolina University and his current posts in the ECU Brody School of Medicine and East Carolina Heart Institute in August 2017.

In addition to publishing extensively, Mounsey has served on the editorial boards of Heart Rhythm, the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology and the Journal of Electrocardiography. He has also been an ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals including Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Mounsey is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiologists and the American Heart Association. Among numerous honors, he received the University of Virginia Department of Internal Medicine Clinical Excellence Award and the University of Virginia Dean’s Award for Clinical Excellence in 2001. He received the Leonard S. Gettes Faculty Teaching Award in the UNC Division of Cardiology in 2008.

Arabinda Choudhary, M.D., M.B.A., FACHE, has been named chair of the Department of Radiology in the UAMS College of Medicine. He will join the faculty on August 1, following the retirement of current chair James McDonald, M.D.

“Dr. Choudhary brings extensive experience as a clinical, executive and academic leader at top tier hospitals,” UAMS Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., FACS, said in a June 14 announcement to the faculty.

Choudhary has served as chair of pediatric radiology at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, since 2013. He is internationally recognized in his subspecialty of pediatric neuroimaging and for his expertise in imaging related to pediatric abusive head trauma (AHT).

Choudhary received his medical degree from the Medical College of Calcutta in 1994. He completed residencies in pediatrics at Princess of Wales Hospital and the University of Wales and Llandough Hospital in the U.K., followed by a residency in radiology at Cambridge University. He continued his training with fellowships in pediatric radiology and pediatric neuroradiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Choudhary received his M.B.A. with a major in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 and received Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) certification in 2018. He is board certified in clinical informatics, radiology, neuroradiology and pediatric radiology.

He began his career in academic medicine as director of pediatric neuroradiology at Penn State Milton S. Hershey University Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, from 2006 to 2013. He also served as associate program director of radiology in 2011-2012. He developed the pediatric neuroradiology section with increased specialization and a comprehensive teaching curriculum for fellows and residents. He also worked with partnering hospitals to build relationships and provide subspecialist services. He taught medical students at Penn State and mentored numerous students, residents, fellows and junior faculty members.

Choudhary’s research has centered on diagnosis of brain and spinal trauma, as well as chronic disease and surgery involving the brain. He was the lead author on a 2018 consensus statement on abusive head trauma, the leading cause of fatal head injuries in children younger than 2 years of age. The statement, supported by 15 international pediatric and radiology organizations and published in the journal Pediatric Radiology, outlines the consensus of evidence-based medical findings on AHT to serve as a tool within the legal system. Within weeks of publication it was in the top 5% of all research ever tracked by Altmetric, and it was the third most downloaded article from Springer’s pediatric and radiology journals in 2018.

Choudhary has published extensively and lectured internationally on neuroimaging. He received the Society of Pediatric Radiology’s prestigious Walter E. Berdon award in 2016 for authoring the best clinical research paper in Pediatric Radiology in 2015. He received the David S. Hartman, M.D., Faculty Golden Apple Award for outstanding medical student teaching at Hershey Medical Center in 2010.

Great things are happening in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, with a recent research poster day as just the latest sign of the department’s “good health.”

The poster session featured 35 posters, including 20 projects by residents. Topics included residency administration and education, ethics, case reports, improvements in patient care, and research on medical conditions like anemia, HIV, COPD and chlamydia.

Event organizers were Shashank Kraleti, M.D., residency program director, and Diane Jarrett, Ed.D., assistant residency director and director of education and communications for the department. They said the poster session gave residents a chance to highlight the department’s strong commitment to research and to practice their presentation skills in a laidback environment at their home campus before showcasing their work elsewhere.

Family medicine resident Appala Suman Peela, M.D., facing camera, talks with faculty member Stephen Sorsby, M.D.

“Family medicine isn’t a field that’s necessarily thought of as a huge research-producing specialty, when in fact, our department has a lot going on,” Jarrett said. “So events like these serve a dual purpose. They show our residents that the academic projects they participate in are important and that others are interested in their results, and it showcases to the wider campus all the great things that are going on in our department.”

Kraleti said he thinks the emphasis on research results in better physicians and patient care.

“I have always believed that when residents do research, they take an extensive look at a particular topic and gain knowledge that they can use in their practice,” Kraleti said. “Research also gets residents thinking creatively and proactively about how they can contribute to improving patient care in their clinic and beyond.”

Obioma Nwaiwu, M.D., Ph.D., left, talks about his project with fellow resident Paige Beck, M.D., Ph.D., while his research partner, Brian Yuen, M.D., looks on.

For example, third-year residents Obioma Nwaiwu, M.D., Ph.D., and Brian Yuen, M.D., presented their poster on how to improve shared decision making between providers and patients for prostate cancer screening, especially given that new guidelines leave the decision on whether to screen up to the patients.

Nwaiwu and Yuen tried passive approaches like handing patients flyers in the waiting room. They also tried more direct approaches like calling the patient on the phone before their appointment and contacting providers to remind them of the new guidelines.

They found that the direct approaches significantly improved the shared decision-making process.

Research and Evaluation Division faculty member Lorraine McKelvey, Ph.D., left, listens to Program Coordinator Kisa Vaughn, MPA, near Vaughn’s poster on the Passion Project.

“What this tells us is that when you empower the patient, when you empower the provider and tell them about the changes in the guidelines and give them some of the statistics involved, then they can really talk about it and come up with the decision that is best for the patient,” Nwaiwu said.

These opportunities for resident research haven’t developed in a vacuum. The department’s Research and Evaluation Division (RED) started 10 years ago. The residency program has also developed a strong research and scholarly activity curriculum for the residents and the faculty. And across the department, Kraleti said the faculty do an amazing job on both their own work and investing time to collaborate with the residents.

“They are very strong and produce a lot of work, and the clinical side and research side are always looking for collaborations,” Kraleti said. “It’s paid off. We do posters and presentations nationally and internationally, and there are lots of publications. By the time we started thinking about a poster session on campus, it was well overdue.”

The first event was in the fall and featured 25 posters. Now in the spring, the event is intended as an annual tradition, and Kraleti said they may expand it to a research day with presentations in the future.

The Family Medicine program was also recognized at Dean’s Honor Day in the spring. Kraleti won the Residency Educator Award. Nicola Edge, Ph.D., won the Faculty Excellence in Research Award. Shalese “Fitz” Fitzgerald, M.S., won the Staff Excellence in Research Award.

“It was wonderful to see our research efforts in family medicine recognized,” Kraleti said. “Several of our faculty were promoted this year. We also have had a 100% board pass rate for our residency program for seven years, which puts us among the best in the country. We feel we have good synergy happening within the department, and we’re happy to feature it with events like this.”

Great things are happening in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, with a recent research poster day as just the latest sign of the department’s “good health.”

The poster session featured 35 posters, including 20 projects by residents. Topics included residency administration and education, ethics, case reports, improvements in patient care, and research on medical conditions like anemia, HIV, COPD and chlamydia.

Event organizers were Shashank Kraleti, M.D., residency program director, and Diane Jarrett, Ed.D., assistant residency director and director of education and communications for the department. They said the poster session gave residents a chance to highlight the department’s strong commitment to research and to practice their presentation skills in a laidback environment at their home campus before showcasing their work elsewhere.

“Family medicine isn’t a field that’s necessarily thought of as a huge research-producing specialty, when in fact, our department has a lot going on,” Jarrett said. “So events like these serve a dual purpose. They show our residents that the academic projects they participate in are important and that others are interested in their results, and it showcases to the wider campus all the great things that are going on in our department.”

Kraleti said he thinks the emphasis on research results in better physicians and patient care.

“I have always believed that when residents do research, they take an extensive look at a particular topic and gain knowledge that they can use in their practice,” Kraleti said. “Research also gets residents thinking creatively and proactively about how they can contribute to improving patient care in their clinic and beyond.”

For example, third-year residents Obioma Nwaiwu, M.D., Ph.D., and Brian Yuen, M.D., presented their poster on how to improve shared decision making between providers and patients for prostate cancer screening, especially given that new guidelines leave the decision on whether to screen up to the patients.

Nwaiwu and Yuen tried passive approaches like handing patients flyers in the waiting room. They also tried more direct approaches like calling the patient on the phone before their appointment and contacting providers to remind them of the new guidelines.

They found that the direct approaches significantly improved the shared decision-making process.

“What this tells us is that when you empower the patient, when you empower the provider and tell them about the changes in the guidelines and give them some of the statistics involved, then they can really talk about it and come up with the decision that is best for the patient,” Nwaiwu said.

These opportunities for resident research haven’t developed in a vacuum. The department’s Research and Evaluation Division (RED) started 10 years ago. The residency program has also developed a strong research and scholarly activity curriculum for the residents and the faculty. And across the department, Kraleti said the faculty do an amazing job on both their own work and investing time to collaborate with the residents.

“They are very strong and produce a lot of work, and the clinical side and research side are always looking for collaborations,” Kraleti said. “It’s paid off. We do posters and presentations nationally and internationally, and there are lots of publications. By the time we started thinking about a poster session on campus, it was well overdue.”

The first event was in the fall and featured 25 posters. Now in the spring, the event is intended as an annual tradition, and Kraleti said they may expand it to a research day with presentations in the future.

The Family Medicine program was also recognized at Dean’s Honor Day in the spring. Kraleti won the Residency Educator Award. Nicola Edge, Ph.D., won the Faculty Excellence in Research Award. Shalese “Fitz” Fitzgerald, M.S., won the Staff Excellence in Research Award.

“It was wonderful to see our research efforts in family medicine recognized,” Kraleti said. “Several of our faculty were promoted this year. We also have had a 100% board pass rate for our residency program for seven years, which puts us among the best in the country. We feel we have good synergy happening within the department, and we’re happy to feature it with events like this.”

A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher who is seeking an explanation for why millions of people worldwide do not respond to the current available treatments for high blood pressure has received $1.89 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue this groundbreaking work.

Shengyu Mu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the UAMS College of Medicine, has devoted his career to understanding the causes behind this common condition. His lab has found evidence to support an emerging theory that the salt-sensitive variety of high blood pressure may actually be an immune disorder.

“Twelve years ago, no one believed there was an immune connection behind salt-sensitive hypertension,” Mu said. “Now it’s a hot topic. My lab has found evidence to suggest this, as have labs at Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Duke universities. A picture is coming together, and the next step is understanding exactly how it works so we can pave the way for designing immunological strategies of treatment.”

More than 1 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure. In the United States, one in every three adults is living with high blood pressure. It is the leading cause of heart disease and stroke, which are major causes of death in the United States.

Although there are many drugs available to treat high blood pressure, fewer than 50% of patients are able to control their blood pressure with the current options. The work of Mu and others indicates that new drugs targeting the immune system could be key.

“Hypertension is a silent killer. By the time most patients find out they have it, it’s already caused damage,” Mu said. “It is important to identify unknown mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of high blood pressure so we have better options for treating this life-altering and deadly condition.”

Mu’s lab previously found that immune cells, white blood cells called T lymphocytes (T cells), can infiltrate the kidney and stimulate excessive salt retention, resulting in blood pressure elevation.

Mu was able to pinpoint the overall process: When too many of a major subtype of these T cells interact directly with — and actually touch — the cells located in the area of the kidneys that reabsorb salt, the kidney’s absorption of salt increases, thereby impairing the function of the kidneys to filter out excessive salt. Salt-sensitive high blood pressure is the result.

With this current five-year NIH grant, Mu aims to provide, for the first time, evidence and mechanisms of how these T cells interact with kidney cells. Specifically, he will identify the key molecules involved in the interaction between T cells and kidney cells. He will define the signaling pathways involved when the process goes wrong and results in disordered immune activity.

“Dr. Mu’s work has the potential to effect positive change for millions of people,” said Nancy J. Rusch, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. “Hypertension is a common — and frustrating — condition to treat, with major impacts on global population health. Dr. Mu’s breakthroughs in this area are invaluable, and we are gratified to see that the NIH recognizes the importance of supporting his vanguard research.”

In his work, Mu has been aided by Yunmeng Liu, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate, and Sung Rhee, Ph.D., an associate professor, both in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; and Steve Post, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Pathology.

Before coming to UAMS in 2013, Mu received his medical degree from TianJin Medical University in China and a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in Japan. Previously, his work has been published in Nature Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Nature Communications. He has received the New Investigator award and the Research Recognition award from the American Heart Association and the American Physiology Society for his contributions to research.