June 20, 2018 | The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has established the Pamela Rakhshan Chair in Otolaryngology thanks to a $1 million gift from her father, Chris Rakhshan, in gratitude to the physician who saved her life.

UAMS will name a professor to the Rakhshan Chair at a later time.

Rakhshan, of Boulder, Colorado, was living in Arkansas in 2008 when Pamela, then 18, was diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a malignant tumor of the trachea. The rare condition occurs only 2 or 3 times per 100,000 people per year, most often in the elderly.

James Y. Suen, M.D., distinguished professor in the UAMS College of Medicine and a world-renowned head and neck cancer surgeon, operated on Pamela for more than 10 hours and continued her follow-up care. Today, Pamela is cancer free.

“I thought for sure that we had lost her,” Rakhshan said. “But Dr. Suen told me later that he took extra time, because she’s so young, and he wanted to be sure that not only the operation was successful, but that she would never have any issues. He took extra time to make sure everything was done to perfection.”

During Pamela’s follow-up visits, her father was impressed not only with Suen’s skill but with his kind, soft-spoken and compassionate manner.

“I realized then how very lucky my family and I were to have Dr. Suen save my daughter’s life, and I determined that somehow I wanted to repay that kindness,” Rakhshan said.

Rakhshan, who moved to Colorado recently, donated his Arkansas home to UAMS, and UAMS used the proceeds of that sale – nearly $1 million – to establish the Pamela Rakhshan Chair in Otolaryngology, both to celebrate Pamela and honor Suen.

“Sometimes we mistakenly measure our fortunes with what’s in our pocket,” Rakhshan said. “And at the time, when I was going through this with my daughter, I realized that my true fortunes in life were what was in front of me – my family. And there’s no greater gratitude I could have had to Dr. Suen and UAMS for bringing her back to me.”

An endowed chair is among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member and is established with gifts of $1 million, which are invested and the spendable distributions from the endowment are used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields of expertise. The endowment will provide funding for continued research and advancements to treatments and surgeries for head and neck cancers.

“I would like to thank Chris Rakhshan for this generous donation, especially because it’s honoring his daughter,” said Suen. “This chair will be at UAMS for as long as UAMS exists, and the interest can be used year after year for research, helping us find cures for patients that have these vascular anomalies. This gift will make a huge difference and I think will save many lives in the future. We’re grateful to Chris and Pamela for that.”

“This is kind of like the eternal flame,” said John Dornhoffer, M.D., chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine. “This is going to continue to support – so long as there are sick people, so long as there are diseases, so long as there’s cancer – this is going to allow us, essentially forever, to continue to research this. I think that’s a really powerful gift. For somebody who does research, for somebody who supports clinicians and researchers, this is going to allow us to do it in a way that otherwise would not be possible.”

LITTLE ROCK — Laura Hutchins, M.D., a hematologist oncologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) who has devoted her medical practice and research to fight breast cancer, melanoma and brain cancer, has been appointed interim director for the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute effective immediately.

She succeeds Peter Emanuel, M.D., who recently resigned after leading the institute since 2007. A committee will be formed to conduct a national search for a permanent director.

Hutchins is a professor in the College of Medicine Division of Hematology/Oncology where she was division director from 1998 until September 2013.  She also has served as director of clinical research at the Cancer Institute since 1998 and has held the Virginia Clinton Kelley Endowed Chair for Clinical Breast Cancer Research since 2007.

A New Jersey native, Hutchins graduated from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1977. She served her internship and residency at UAMS, followed by a fellowship in the Division of Hematology/Oncology. She joined the UAMS faculty in 1983 and is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, oncology, and hospice and palliative medicine.

She has been a co-investigator on numerous National Institutes of Health grants including those focused on detection of circulating melanoma cells, and using nanotubes to detect and purge circulating cancer cells.

She served as principal or co-investigator on multiple other grants focusing on projects ranging from the development of a South Arkansas Integrated Telehealth Oncology Program to weight management in breast cancer patients. She has been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas Breast Cancer Research Program and American Society of Clinical Oncology, among others.

Her research includes collaborating with Thomas Kieber-Emmons, Ph.D., a fellow scientist to study a UAMS-designed vaccine to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer. That vaccine, now in a phase 2 clinical trial, is being used in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer to determine if the combination of the vaccine and standard chemotherapy improve the benefit of preoperative therapy.

For many years, Hutchins has championed efforts to promote and expand participation in research clinical trials through the use of shared data. She has enrolled patients in more than 70 industry-sponsored trials for breast cancer, melanoma and supportive care, providing new treatment options to Arkansas patients and research data to advance new therapy availability.

In 2007, Hutchins received a grant of more than $120,000 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to participate in the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG), a virtual information network enabling researchers and doctors to more easily share information and accelerate progress in cancer research. With her leadership, UAMS used caBIG’s open-source tools to personalize its own information-sharing program, which received international recognition from peer institutions and a 2009 NCI Delivering Results Award.

Hutchins was appointed by the governor to the Arkansas Breast Cancer Research Program Oversight Committee from 2001-2004. From 2004-2012, she was appointed to serve on the state Breast Cancer Control Advisory Board, serving as chairman from 2007-2008.

Hutchins has published more than 200 journal articles, book chapters and abstracts, and has presented numerous lectures at courses, symposia, workshops and other events in Arkansas and across the country.

She is a member of the American College of Physicians, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association of Cancer Education and the American Medical Association.

June 18, 2018 | Emergency care requires health care professionals and first responders to be adept at reacting quickly and efficiently to a variety of needs.

Staying abreast of the latest advancements in treating common conditions and identifying what needs to be done takes training and practice.

About 100 health care professionals, first responders, police officers and firefighters received updates and training exercises on best practices in emergency care June 1-2 at UAMS as part of the third annual ICARE Conference (Improving Critical and Acute Care through Regional Education).

The event is led by the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine and the UAMS Office of Continuing Education. The conference’s lectures, question-and-answer periods and interactive sessions help participants assess and treat traumatic injuries, and learn evidence-based diagnostic and treatment recommendations for common emergency situations.

Participants took part in sessions on opioids, psychiatric and pediatric emergencies, traumatic injuries, stroke and sepsis.

The conference was started in 2016 to address emergency medical care preparedness in Arkansas and appeal to different specialties and disciplines that require emergency response and care.

“We have rapid-fire teaching sessions, large group discussions and panel discussions,” said Rawle A. “Tony” Seupaul, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and ICARE course director. “This makes it a much more interactive experience for our participants.”

By Lee Hogan | June 18th, 2018

Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine celebrated the investiture of Frederick “Rick” E.  Barr, M.D., MBA as the recipient and steward of the Robert H. Fiser, Jr., M.D. Endowed Chair in Pediatrics on Tuesday, June 12.

In 2006, the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Board of Directors created this chair in honor of Dr. Fiser’s service and commitment to championing children. He served as chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at UAMS from 1975–1994. At age 32, he became the youngest pediatric department chairman in the United States.

“Arkansas Children’s proudly celebrates Dr. Rick Barr as the chair holder for the Robert H. Fiser, Jr., M.D., Endowed Chair in Pediatrics,” said Marcy Doderer, president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s. “Dr. Barr serves a vital role as a physician leader at Arkansas Children’s and his partnership is helping to change the story for children by continuing efforts to make our state one of the healthiest and safest places for children.”

On October 1, 2017, Dr. Rick Barr assumed the role of pediatrician-in-chief for Arkansas Children’s and as chair of the Department of Pediatrics and associate dean for child health in the UAMS College of Medicine. He succeeded Richard F. Jacobs, M.D., who retired in June of 2017 after 35 years of service on the UAMS faculty and Arkansas Children’s team.

“Dr. Barr is a leader who has played a key role in strengthening our partnership with Arkansas Children’s to provide a healthier tomorrow for the children of Arkansas,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, chancellor of UAMS. “Through this endowed chair, Dr. Barr will continue to lead the Department of Pediatrics to pursue innovative ideas, programs and projects to move the needle on children’s health.”

Establishing endowed chairs provides ACH and UAMS the ability to recruit top-notch leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients in Arkansas. An endowed chair or professorship remains the highest academic honor a university can bestow on its most distinguished faculty. Those named to a chair or professorship are among the most highly regarded scientists, practitioners and professors in their academic fields.

Barr formerly served as the Suzan B. Thames endowed professor, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and senior associate dean for Graduate Medical Education at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He was also physician-in-chief at Children’s of Mississippi/Batson Children’s Hospital. Barr served on the faculty at Vanderbilt University from 1995 to 2010, and was chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care from 2007 to 2010. He also served as co-director of Vanderbilt University Master’s in Clinical Investigation Programs). From 2010-2011 he was an endowed professor of Pediatric Critical Care and director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati.

Barr received his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1988, and completed his residency in pediatrics at Vanderbilt. Barr completed a clinical fellowship in pediatric critical care at the University of California San Francisco, where he was also a research fellow in the Cardiovascular Research Institute. While on the faculty at Vanderbilt, he obtained a Master’s of Science in clinical investigation.

By Ashley McNatt| June 13th, 2018|

Luis Juncos, M.D., has joined the Department of Internal Medicine as a Professor in the Division of Nephrology and Director of Nephrology at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Dr. Juncos, who previously served as Nephrology Division Director at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, is nationally recognized for his expertise and contributions in acute care nephrology and continuous renal replacement therapy, as well as for his work as an educator and researcher.

Dr. Juncos is a standing member of the National Institutes of Health Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases D Subcommittee (DDK-D) and has served as an ad hoc reviewer for other study sections. He has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, and Critical Care Medicine. He has also served on the American Heart Association’s Council on Hypertension Publications Committee.

The College of Medicine Class of 2018 said goodbye to medical school with the time-honored traditions of burning their short white coats, receiving accolades at Honors Convocation, and formally receiving the M.D. after their names at the UAMS Commencement Ceremony on May 19.

Toby Vancil, M.D., spoke on behalf of the faculty at Honors Convocation, held the night before Commencement. He emphasized that UAMS has prepared the graduating seniors well for residency, the next phase of their journey to becoming licensed practicing physicians.

“As we bring this ship into the dock closing this adventure we call medical school, I would like to tell you how excited we are as a collective faculty to have been a part of your voyage thus far,” said Dr. Vancil, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and award-winning educator who was also chosen by students to deliver the Faculty Charge two years ago.

“My final charge to all of you is to always keep in mind who that person was who filled out that medical school application years ago,” Dr. Vancil said. “Take time every day to remember who you are, where you came from, and why you have dedicated so much time to this very moment.”

Golden Apple Winner

Selected as the most outstanding teacher of the year by a vote of each class.

Graduating seniors chose Jason Mizell, M.D., an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, as the recipient of their class’s Golden Apple Award. Dr. Mizell, who was unable to attend Honors Convocation this year, has received four previous Golden Apples from junior and senior classes.

Katie Brown, O.D., an optometric physician at the UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, is the Arkansas Optometric Association’s 2018 Young Optometrist of the Year award recipient.

The award is given to an optometrist who has practiced at least four years, shows promise and interest in Arkansas Optometric Association leadership, and volunteers their time.  Brown was nominated and selected by an awards committee comprised of optometric physicians.

Brown has been at UAMS since 2013. She sees patients at the eye institute, performs comprehensive eye exams, diabetic eye exams, glaucoma screenings and contact lens fittings, and treats conditions such as corneal abrasions, pink eye, corneal ulcers, dry eye syndrome and glaucoma.

She works closely with cornea and retina specialists to provide prosthetic contact lens fittings for vision rehabilitation due to corneal dystrophies or after ocular trauma and corneal transplantation. Brown is also an assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and teaches ophthalmic medical technology students, medical students and ophthalmology residents.

Brown is involved with the association’s student membership, education and recruitment. She also volunteered this year with a UAMS medical student’s non-profit, ROOTS, which provided eye exams to children. She is the coordinator at the Shepherd’s Hope Neighborhood Health Center’s free eye clinic in Little Rock.

“I have a passion for optometry and providing high-quality eye care for Arkansans,” she said.

Brown graduated magna cum laude from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis. She completed internships at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and The Eye Center in Memphis. She received contact lens training at Alcon Academy for Eye Care Excellence in Fort Worth, Texas, and at Vistakon Vision Care Institute in Jacksonville, Florida.

Brown is certified by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry and the Arkansas State Board of Optometry. She is a member of the Arkansas Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association.

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UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; northwest Arkansas regional campus; statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Myeloma Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,834 students, 822 medical residents and six dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses throughout the state, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

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By Lee Hogan | June 4th, 2018 |

UAMS College of Medicine students, faculty and leaders paid homage to the namesakes of the college’s seven Academic Houses at a recent dinner for family members of the iconic educators, alumni and other groundbreakers whose legacies live on through their impact on health care in Arkansas.

“It is an understatement to say that our Academic Houses are named after some of the giants in medicine in Arkansas,” Interim Dean Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., told guests at the May 17 dinner.

“Abernathy, Beall, Bruce, Compton, Ish, Lowe, and Tank …” he said, reciting the house names.

“With names like these, the Academic Houses are providing our students with powerful inspiration for the physicians that they – and all of us in the College of Medicine – hope they will become.”

Students echoed Westfall’s words of gratitude in presentations about each house and the namesakes (all deceased) that members chose for inspiration when the houses were launched two years ago. They gave family members or a representative a framed copy of their house’s student-designed crest and explained the symbolism they had incorporated.

“We chose a lion as our house symbol,” said Chase Wingfield, a junior in the house named after Betty Lowe, M.D., a 1956 UAMS graduate who became a nationally prominent pediatrician, transformative medical director at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), and beloved faculty member and mentor for generations of students, trainees and colleagues at UAMS and ACH.

“Just as Dr. Lowe was steadfast in her resolve to advance medicine in Arkansas, seeing that every child has not only an opportunity to receive health care, but also the most up-to-date, advanced treatments at their fingertips, we want to continue that resolve into the future,” Wingfield said.

The houses are structured learning communities, not physical residences. Each house includes students from all four class years along with specially trained physician and basic sciences faculty advisors. The houses provide extensive academic and career counseling, foster peer mentoring, and host wellness-focused events.

Many house activities focus on academic success and preparation for crucial milestones such as national exams and the increasingly competitive National Resident Matching Program, which determines where medical school graduates will train in their specialty before becoming fully licensed physicians. For the past two years, UAMS’ graduating seniors achieved their highest residency match rates in over a decade, and the academic houses are credited as a factor.

The dinner welcomed namesakes’ family members from around the country, including eight family members of the late George William Stanley Ish, M.D., a Harvard-trained African-American physician who cared for citizens in his hometown of Little Rock from the 1920s through 1960s. Among many accomplishments, Ish established hospitals and the state’s McRae Memorial Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which cared for black patients during the long era of segregated facilities. It was the first institution in Arkansas and one of the first in the nation to use isoniazid and streptomycin to treat the disease, according to the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

“We are proud and so happy that the college is honoring our grandfather,” said Marye Ish of Fort Washington, Maryland, who attended with her sister, Lynette Ish-Greene, of Novi, Michigan, and six other family members. “We can’t tell you how much that means to us. Even as children, we knew our grandfather was doing special work, even if we didn’t fully understand it.”

Emily Holthoff, a graduating senior and student leader in the Ish House, expressed gratitude to the family for expanding her understanding of Dr. Ish’s legacy while they enjoyed dinner together. She explained for other guests how the phoenix rising from ashes on her house’s crest represents renewal and overcoming adversity. “We felt like that is exactly what Dr. Ish did,” Holthoff said. “And that is something that we hope we can do as physicians throughout our careers. We hope to overcome the obstacles we face, for the betterment of our patients.”

Colleen Flanagan, a junior, spoke on behalf of the Tank House, whose namesake, Patrick W. Tank, Ph.D., helped more than 4,000 medical students learn the complexities of the human body during his 34 years on the faculty, including 27 as director of the gross anatomy course for freshmen. Tank died in 2012. Today, medical students at UAMS continue to be guided by “Grant’s Dissector,” a manual that was edited by Tank for three of its editions and is used at medical schools around the world. His name is also on UAMS’ state-of-the-art gross anatomy lab.

“The name Tank is most likely the first distinguished name a medical student learns upon starting at UAMS,” Flanagan said.

“Dr. Tank’s time at UAMS came before my classmates’ arrival. However, looking back at all of his accomplishments, three things are obvious. Dr. Tank devoted his life to his profession; his students cherished him; and UAMS would not be what it is today without Dr. Tank’s work.”