In the summer of 2016, Stuttgart native Blake Pond, 36, moved back to his home state after living in Dallas for 16 years. He, his wife, Ann, with their infant daughter, Caroline, wanted to be closer to family. So Pond accepted a position as chief of staff at the UAMS Myeloma Institute.

On Oct. 5, 2017 a day before Caroline’s first birthday, Pond scheduled an appointment with Chuck Smith, M.D., at the UAMS Rahling Road clinic to establish primary care.

“I told him I’d been having some symptoms over the past couple of years,” Pond said. “I just thought to mention it. But that piece of information along with my family history concerned Dr. Smith, who recommended to get it checked out just to be on the safe side.”

Smith referred Pond to get a diagnostic colonoscopy which revealed a polyp about the size of a golf ball. He was diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma of the colon, the most common type of colorectal cancer.

The news came as a surprise to Pond.

“I’d been in oncology research for 10 years, so all these thoughts were going through my head. The worst part was the unknown,” he said.

Conan Mustain, M.D., a board-certified colon and rectal surgeon and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, talked through the next steps with Pond.

“First we got a CT scan to look at his lungs and liver,” Mustain said. “Those are the two sites most common for colon cancer to spread.”

Blake’s scan came back clear. There was no evidence that the cancer had spread.

“The decision then was whether removing just the polyp was adequate treatment or if we needed to also remove part of the colon,” Mustain said.

Mustain said there were two things to consider when it came to deciding whether to remove a part of Pond’s colon: the polyp site itself and whether cancer had spread to the regional lymph nodes. For some early cancers the risk of lymph node spread is sufficiently low that complete removal by colonoscopy is considered adequate treatment. In Pond’s case pathologists had not been able to confirm if the base of the polyp’s stalk (a piece of tissue that attaches the polyp to the intestinal wall) was completely clear of cancer. Additionally, some enlarged lymph nodes were visible on his CT. Given his young age, uncertainly about these nodes could mean years of costly surveillance and worry. Pond and Mustain ultimately decided they’d remove part of the colon and the lymph nodes.

The surgery was scheduled for Oct. 30. Mustain laparoscopically removed 10 inches of Pond’s colon containing the polyp site and 16 regional lymph nodes. The minimally invasive approach included three small incisions around the abdomen. Mustain says doing the procedure this way leads to less pain, lower narcotic use and a faster return to normal bowel function after surgery. Pond was discharged from the hospital after two days and back to work in two weeks.

“I’m grateful for the whole health care team at UAMS,” Pond said. “From Dr. Smith for having the wherewithal to refer me for a colonoscopy to my follow-ups after surgery. I really think this is a good example of the system working. My original primary care appointment was Oct. 5. By Nov. 5, I was back on my feet and on the road to the recovery.”

Pond went on a ski trip in January and performed at a level he would have prior to his diagnosis and surgery.

“No one is eager to get a colonoscopy,” Pond said. “But you have to know your body and if there are any symptoms, don’t wait to get it checked out.”

Mustain says colon cancer screening should begin at age 50 for most people. Those tests should come sooner if a patient shows symptoms or has a parent, sibling or child who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

By Katrina Dupins | March 19th, 2018

Tears came in all shapes and sizes at Match Day 2018 – tears of joy, tears of relief and tears from proud families.

“I’m going to cry,” College of Medicine senior class President Grant Cagle said prophetically while welcoming the audience, made up of the 155 seniors who participated in the match, their families and mentors and staff from UAMS in a packed room March 16 at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock.

A short time later, he ripped open a sealed envelope to reveal the location and specialty for his residency: internal medicine at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University in Providence. Almost inaudible through tears, he assured the crowd that it was his dream match, and the audience erupted to share his joy.

Student after student came to the podium, each with their own version of Cagle’s story, including the years of work, high expectations and support from others along the way. Many used their time at the mic to give thanks.

“It takes a team just for one medical student to graduate,” Cagle said.

Each year Match Day starts at 11 a.m. Central Time, with senior medical students all over the nation simultaneously opening envelopes to reveal their “match” – or where they have been accepted to continue their training in a specialty residency for the next three to seven years.

For some, the tears came later, maybe as they hugged their proud mothers and fathers waiting on the sidelines, or while hugging other members of their class – peers who can truly understand everything that has led up to this day.

Tess Coker and Alex Croft got a little misty-eyed as they looked back to that first day of school when they met. Soon after, they started dating. They had each other to lean on throughout the highs and lows of med school, and the match process for couples is especially daunting.

Match Day is conducted by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Students in their fourth year apply to programs, interview and then send a ranked list to the NRMP. Residency programs also submit a list of preferred candidates, and an NRMP computer, using an algorithm, reconciles the lists as best as possible.

Couples face the additional challenge of trying to match in the same geographical area, while considering each other’s career goals with regard to specialty and the prestige of the program. There is a “couple match” option through the NRMP that tries to factor in geography, but still, it’s tough. One of the students who didn’t match this year was a member of a couple who was not looking for alternatives in order to stay close to a partner.

“We both knew on Monday that we had matched somewhere, but you don’t know exactly where, and even with couple matching you still have to list some apart, and couple matching in general just limits your options,” Croft said. “We were both super nervous coming into this.”

Coker’s envelope revealed she had matched in pediatrics; Croft matched in emergency medicine – both at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

“We couldn’t be more happy,” Croft said.

Cody McLeod of Arkadelphia, on the other hand, said selecting his top rank was easy. At the mic, he announced his match – orthopaedic surgery at UAMS – with a bit of punch in his voice, and the crowd cheered in response. McLeod’s father is an orthopaedic surgeon in Arkadelphia and he envisions a similar future for himself.

“I’ve had so many great mentors in the ortho department,” McLeod said. “It was a no-brainer for me to stay in that program. They’re doing exciting things right now, and I’m glad I’m going to get to be a part of it.”

McLeod said that in addition to his mentors, support from his wife has been key, and he’s glad he will have the support of some familiar faces as part of his residency. Derrick Henry, Timothy Hereford and Sean Parham also matched in the department.

Several students also matched in family medicine at the UAMS Regional Center in Pine Bluff, including Robert Ferguson of Booneville, who said he hopes the program will take him one step closer to his goal of becoming the rural Arkansas family doctor he aims to be.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted to be,” Ferguson said. “When I was growing up, the doctor you saw in the doctor’s office was the same one you saw in the hospital, it was the same person providing you with almost all of your care. That was my idea of what a doctor was.”

Similarly, Julie Sherrill, who grew up in Dumas and attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for her undergraduate degree, matched in pediatrics at UAMS just as she hoped.

“I grew up in rural southeast Arkansas, where health care is limited and doctors are hard to find,” Sherrill said. “I want to be a primary care provider for children and adults in a small, rural community. Arkansas is my home state and I really would like to use my training to care for the people here.”

This year, 51 percent of the UAMS students matched in primary care – internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine or obstetrics/gynecology. With an in-state tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 academic year of $32,378, many Arkansans pursuing careers in medicine see the value in a quality education at that price and chose to complete medical school at UAMS close to home.

One of UAMS’ goals is to inspire doctors to stay in Arkansas for their careers, particularly those in family medicine.

The program ranks third in the nation at retaining medical school and residency program graduates in the state. More than two thirds of Arkansas’ 75 counties include federally designated Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas. For five out of the last nine years, UAMS has ranked among the top 10 Doctor of Medicine programs in the nation for the number of graduates who chose family medicine.

Richard Wheeler, M.D., executive associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Medicine, started keeping statistics related to Match Day in 2005. Although there were many tears at this year’s Match Day, thankfully, few were related to students not matching at all. This year, five students did not match in the first round.

“One of the problems that students have now is the number of students graduating from medical school has increased,” Wheeler said. “The number of residencies that are opening have not kept up with that. Last year there were over 600 students in the United States who didn’t get anything at all … and that’s horrible.”

Wheeler said UAMS is working with other hospitals and programs in the state to open additional residency slots in an effort to address this issue, and every year the staff continues to help students find positions even if they didn’t match in the first round.

“We’d like to have everybody match,” Wheeler said.

The NRMP billed the 2018 Main Residency Match as the largest in history, exceeding the more than 43,000 applicants who registered for the 2017 Match and the more than 31,000 positions offered by residency programs across the nation last year.

By Amy Widner| March 16th, 2018|

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Professor Charles O’Brien, Ph.D., has been awarded $11.3 million in federal funds over 5 years to launch the Center For Musculoskeletal Disease Research.

The Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant comes from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The program aims to create multidisciplinary, collaborative and synergistic research centers in states with lower rates of federal research funding.

“What this funding will allow us to do is bring together a diverse group of investigators who can work as a team that is more than the sum of the parts,” said O’Brien, a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine–Endocrinology in the College of Medicine. “The COBRE approach is a proven model. Its participants are more likely to obtain independent federal funding, and it serves as a springboard for innovative, quality research.”

The $11.3 million represents Phase 1 of the COBRE grant in direct and indirect costs. It will support the research of four UAMS faculty who are early in their careers and have yet to secure independent research funding. With approval, COBRE grants can be renewed for up to three phases – representing up to $30 million in funding and support for numerous junior investigators.

Each COBRE center is organized around a theme, in this case, musculoskeletal disease. Although the participants in Phase I of O’Brien’s COBRE come from different disciplines, they are all interested in bone health.

Elena Ambrogini, M.D., Ph.D., of the Department of Internal Medicine-Endocrinology, is studying the association between atherosclerosis and osteoporosis and a therapy that could target both diseases; Jinhu Xiong, M.D., Ph.D., of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, is studying the mechanics behind how exercise improves bone health; Niels Weinhold, Ph.D., of the Myeloma Institute, is studying why some forms of myeloma (cancer that develops in the bone marrow) are more aggressive than others; and Srividhya Iyer, Ph.D., of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, is studying how different cellular stress pathways are important for issues like low bone mass.

Support for the investigators comes in many forms. They receive funding for their research. They are supported by existing technology at UAMS and the grant can fund additional technology purchases, if needed.

“Dedicated research funding is indispensable to support projects for young investigators and their path to independence,” said Associate Professor Maria Almeida, Ph.D., associate director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Disease Research. “The investigators also receive structured support in other aspects needed to develop their careers, such as budget and personnel management and professional development.”

They are exposed to mentoring and networking opportunities in several ways: from senior UAMS faculty, from each other during periodic workgroup sessions, and from distinguished outside speakers invited to UAMS on a regular basis.

They also receive detailed help applying for their own research funding. Once they secure a certain level of funding – an NIH Research Project Grant (R01) or similar level – they are considered “graduated” from the COBRE and their spot is opened to make room for another junior researcher.

“The NIH believes in this approach and so do we,” said Lawrence E. Cornett, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research. “With each graduate, the cycle continues, and over time it helps an institution develop a critical mass of investigators focused on a theme and supported by the necessary technology to do cutting-edge research.”

Ambrogini, one of the junior faculty benefitting from the grant, said she could not have dreamed of a better scenario.

“This is the perfect setup for me,” Ambrogini said. “Not only do I have the funding, I have the mentoring and expertise of seasoned investigators, and I have this environment – the resources, technology and collaborators with the technical skillsets needed to make my research possible. It’s the ideal combination of factors to help me reach the next stage in my career.”

O’Brien said that existing synergy and collegiality at UAMS built the strong foundation that made the success of the Center for Musculoskeletal Disease Research COBRE application possible. Aiding in the success of his application, he cited:

• Support for research at UAMS, specifically among leadership of the College of Medicine.
• Existing COBRE’s at UAMS.
• The Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases at UAMS, led by Stavros Manolagas, M.D., Ph.D. It is one of the largest and longest-funded osteoporosis research centers in the world and is based in the Endocrinology Division.

“Dr. Manolagas led a Program Project grant for 20 years, which really allowed us to develop true synergy within the Endocrinology Division. We’ve seen the success that consistent funding can bring, so we want to build on that success and take the lessons we’ve learned in the division and share them with others,” O’Brien said.

COBRE grants are only available for Institutional Development Award (IDeA) states where NIH funding has been historically low. They include 23 states and Puerto Rico.

In addition to O’Brien’s grant, UAMS faculty lead five other COBRE centers at UAMS and the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute:

• The Center for Translational Neuroscience; Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D.; $22.5 million; third and final phase
• The Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Inflammatory Responses; Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D.; $21 million; Phase II
• The Center for Studies of Host Response to Cancer Therapy; Martin Hauer-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D.; $10.5 million; Phase I
• The Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention; Judith Weber, Ph.D., $9.4 million; Phase I
• The Center for Translational Pediatric Research; Alan Tackett, Ph.D.; $11.5 million; Phase I.

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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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Sometimes a motivation and an idea grounded in the academic world make the same journey and reach the same destination together. They did for Amanda Stolarz, Pharm.D., Ph.D. in 2016.

At the Entrepreneurship Boot Camp in the summer of 2016, Stolarz’s motivation to do purely academic research met up with an idea for a new way to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy that ultimately won an award and resulted in the formation of a new company, Rejuvenix Technologies.

“I did not like business,” Stolarz said. “I was not interested in business at all. I wanted to do academic research, clinically meaningful research. Dr. Nancy Rusch said, ‘You know, things don’t magically go from the bench to the clinic. There’s a commercialization process. To be a good scientist, you need to understand that process.’ So, as an academic exercise, I wanted to understand how my research would finally make it to a patient.”

Stolarz is a postdoctoral fellow and member of a research team led by Nancy Rusch, Ph.D. Rusch chairs the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and leads the educational efforts of the UAMS Translational Research Institute.

Rusch and Nancy Gray, Ph.D., director of BioVentures, worked together to secure the funding for the Entrepreneurship Boot Camp that Stolarz attended.

At the boot camp lead by University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s (UAF) Carol Reeves, Ph.D., Stolarz became aware of a team of business students at UAF that needed someone to provide scientific expertise as part of an entrepreneurship course, and she joined them.

After pivoting from one promising idea that wasn’t yet mature enough for commercialization and examining several others, Joshua Phillips, a business student on the team, found a technology that looked to have potential.

“He called me up, and I immediately was excited about it,” Stolarz said. “My over-arching goal in my research is to treat and prevent the side effects of chemotherapy. This technology has the potential to reduce the side effects of a multitude of chemotherapeutic drugs.”

The technology being commercialized was developed as a collaboration between UAF and UAMS. The lead inventor is Daniel Fologea, Ph.D., formerly at UAF and now at Boise State University, who collaborated with Michael Borrelli, Ph.D., in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Radiology. Fologea and Borrelli continue to play important roles as advisors to the Rejuvenix team, Stolarz said.

The technology is a radiation-triggered lipsome or ‘fat bubble,’ Stolarz said. Focused radiation is used to trigger the release of a drug or drugs encapsulated in the bubble after it enters the cancerous tumor environment. The technique sharply limits systemic exposure to chemotherapy because it only is released at the site of the tumor.

“You’re protecting the rest of the body from the toxic side effects because it’s more targeted,” Stolarz said. “It achieves the same goals I have been trying to achieve in my own research but in another way. The idea of using liposomes in chemotherapy is not new, but the type of liposome delivery here, that’s innovative. Before it was passive release, and they just slowly released drug over time. With this technology, you can get an active, rapid release of the drug.”

Because the idea has such strong potential, the team built a business plan around it with the support of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub’s I-Fund program, and their mentor Jay Gandy, Ph.D. The team entered the plan in and won the 2017 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup competition along with the $25,000 top prize.

With the successful discovery of the commercial potential of the liposomes, Rejuvenix Technologies chose to move forward. Phillips is Rejuvenix CEO, and Stolarz is the startup’s chief scientific officer.

Shortly thereafter the team added Gandy to the company to help lead the complicated regulatory effort and provide expertise in other areas needed for a startup Gandy also is chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the UAMS College of Public Health.

Rejuvenix is applying for a Small Business Technology Transfer research grant from the National Cancer Institute for funding to test the idea in an experimental model.

The Entrepreneurship Boot Camp that Gray and BioVentures played a key role in organizing helped Stolarz start down the path to Rejuvenix, and they continue to assist the company. Stolarz said Gray has provided valuable advice to them along with letters of support in the company’s search for funds. UAF officials also have given them assistance.

Ultimately for Stolarz and Rejuvenix, the business is the means to do something more than just achieve success in the marketplace.

“One of the driving forces behind us is a set of facts,” Stolarz said. “About a third of cancer patients interrupt, change or stop therapy altogether because of the side effects of cancer treatment. We are so advanced medically that we should be able to treat cancer without killing the patient. That’s what this technology is striving to do, provide an option for patients to have cancer treatment without having to suffer these debilitating and damaging side effects.”

By Ben Boulden| March 14th, 2018 |

Student Research Day is about students, but it is also about mentorship and peer engagement – the relationships that turn hunches and ideas into innovations.

Robert E. McGehee Jr., Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Graduate School, said as much as he welcomed everyone to the event, and the day’s distinguished lecturer, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, M.D., echoed that sentiment repeatedly throughout his talk.

“Being pushed by your students is one of the greatest gifts, and I ask you guys to do the same. Push your mentors. We need to be pushed,” Quiñones said, detailing an instance in which a grad student’s perspective solved a longtime problem for Quiñones’ team and resulted in two patents, several papers and a human clinical trial over the span of about 10 years. They developed a $30,000 ring-like device to be used during brain surgeries to preserve function for the patient. It replaces the older multi-million-dollar device, making the technology more accessible.

Quiñones is the William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor and Chair of Neurologic Surgery in the Brain Tumor Stem Cell Research Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Previously, he served as a neuroscientist and neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, for more than a decade. His life’s work has been dedicated to finding a cure for brain cancer.

Quiñones came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico in 1987 at the age of 19. He was unable to speak English and worked as a field hand, painter and welder, but soon set his sights on something bigger, eventually graduating from college and Harvard Medical School.

During medical school, Quiñones became a U.S. citizen. He has had more than 350 publications, has four concurrent active NIH R01 grants and performs 200-250 neurosurgeries per year.

When asked to account for the secret behind his success, Quiñones cited the team of scientists who have come through his lab over the years – 150 people in total, 28 of whom moved with him when he moved from Johns Hopkins to Mayo. Quiñones also attributed his accomplishments to “the beauty of this country.”

“It’s very important for us to build bridges,” Quiñones said. “The rest of the world wants us to build barriers, but we know that the world doesn’t change when we build barriers. It only changes when we build bridges, when we exchange information and communication.”

Student Research Day is an annual campuswide opportunity for students to practice building those bridges by communicating about their research through poster presentations and the Three Minute Thesis challenge, during which they develop an “elevator pitch” of their work. The event has been paired since 2011 with the Robert E. McGehee, Jr., Ph.D. Distinguished Lectureship in Biomedical Research, named in McGehee’s honor. It was held March 6 in the I. Dodd Wilson Education Building.

The lectureship brings some of the most innovative thinkers in science to UAMS, thanks to an endowment from an anonymous couple. McGehee mentored their grandson during Graduate School.

“It was amazing and humbling to be honored in this way,” McGehee said, “and I tell that story to let you know that you never know who will be affected by your actions and your work. The relationships you build can change the future for the better.”

For the first time this year, there were no classes so students could feel conflict-free in attending Student Research Day. McGehee thanked the students for using the opportunity to hone their research communication skills.

“Turnout has been absolutely phenomenal,” McGehee said. “You guys have really stepped up and participated and made it a big success.”

A record-shattering 500+ students across all colleges participated in one or more of the events this year. There were 161 posters in the research presentations, 93 students participated in the Three Minute Thesis oral presentation college semifinals, with eight of them in the final competition held on Student Research Day, and there were 262 students who presented as teams in the Interprofessional Education Triple Aim sessions. More than 400 people attended Quiñones’ keynote.

Emily Enderlin, a third-year student in the College of Medicine, said that she wanted to participate in the event to get feedback from outside eyes about her research, which is about the management of tachyarrhythmia during pregnancy.

“I feel like it builds your character to be able to stand up and present what you’ve done,” Enderlin said. “If your work can survive that, it makes you feel like what you’ve done is worthwhile, like you’re on to something, and that’s the end goal after all. It’s the whole ‘peer review’ concept in a nutshell.”

Meanwhile, Appala Peela, M.D., a first-year resident, presented a Sweet’s Syndrome case study he had come across in the hospital. He was hoping meet others on campus with similar interests.

“This is a big networking opportunity for me,” Peela said.

In addition to touting relationships and communication, Quiñones offered other bits of advice. Some of it was practical – he gets up two hours early every day to write and thinks time management is key – but most was philosophical. Don’t get too comfortable. Look for people who challenge you. Find ways to give back. And have faith that if you believe in something, it will work out.

For many years, Quiñones said he avoided his personal story and just focused on the science. That is, until a colleague convinced him otherwise. So Quiñones established the Mission:BRAIN Foundation to expand neurosurgery internationally, often finding lower-cost approaches to make health care more affordable. His children have helped with the mission, allowing them to learn more about him and his home country in Mexico, where some of the work takes place.

In addition, Quiñones became more willing to share his personal story, which he documented in a 2011 biography, “Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon.” Disney and the actor Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B Entertainment, are developing Quiñones’ book into a movie.

In the face of so many inspiring accomplishments, what should students take away as Quiñones’ main message for success, McGehee asked.

“Sometimes we concentrate on the things that we can’t do and then we tend to lose a lot of energy worrying about those things. I would give the advice to concentrate on the things that you can do, and do them,” Quiñones said. “Get something done.”

Award Recognitions:

POSTER SESSIONS:

Graduate Students:

1-Chris Bolden tied with Samantha McClenahan

2-None

3-Magdalena Delgado

Professional Students:

1-Arun Gunasekaran

2-William Hyatt

3-Ahmed Salem

Post-Docs:

1-Sajid Khan

2-Alicja Urbaniak

3-Clark Trapp

Housestaff/Subspecialty Fellows:

1-Appala Peela

2-Kasa Cooper

3-Cory Couch

Overall (all categories):

1-Chris Bolden tied with Samantha McClenahan

3 MINUTE THESIS:

1-Ada Sochanska

2-Samantha McClenahan

PC-Ty Spradley

IPE TRIPLE AIM AWARDS:

1-Intergrated Behavioral Health Team

2-Mental Health Awareness Team 2

3-Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Team 1

BHUVAN BIOCHEMISTRY AWARDS:

1-Magda Delgado tied with Brian Koss

2-Kirk West

3-Binyan Belachew

By Amy Widner| March 9th, 2018

A portion of the ninth floor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute has been transformed into an instructive, collaborative center where ophthalmology residents and UAMS students can learn surgical techniques and procedures outside the confines of an operating room, thanks to a $600,000 donation from the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.

UAMS faculty, staff and supporters celebrated the opening of the Walker Eye Surgical Simulation & Education Center on March 7 with a dedication ceremony, complete with tours of the simulation center, classrooms and clinical space that comprises the renovated floor. Johnny Mike Walker, Walker Foundation trustee and son of Willard and Pat Walker, and Mandy Macke, foundation associate director, were in attendance.

The Walker Center features simulation machines, microscopes and other equipment to help the next generation of ophthalmologists hone their skills. Under new curriculum requirements, ophthalmology resident physicians will have to show proficiency in certain surgical techniques and procedures, including suturing, cataract surgery and glaucoma surgery. The center will also be open to medical students and ophthalmic medical technology students.

“The completion of the ninth floor is the capstone of the Jones Eye Institute,” said Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., Jones Eye Institute director, interim UAMS College of Medicine dean and director of its Department of Ophthalmology. “It’s fitting this was accomplished through the continued generosity of the Walker family.”

The ninth-floor revamp moves all simulation-related tools and equipment that were once scattered across multiple floors in the institute, to a centralized, modern space where residents can review surgeries on television screens and practice procedures.

“We are thankful for the many contributions the Walker family has made to UAMS through the years,” said interim UAMS Chancellor Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D, Ed.D. “UAMS would not be what it is today without the Walkers.”

John P. Shock, M.D., Jones Eye Institute founding director, lauded the Walker family’s charitable giving and commended Johnny Mike Walker and Mandy Macke for carrying on the Walker Foundation’s philanthropic spirit.

The center will be led by Ahmed Sallam, M.D., Ph.D., JEI ophthalmologist and assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology.

“There’s real evidence this will improve our residents’ competency levels, so the benefit of this simulation center is two-fold,” said Sallam. “It increases the comfort level and proficiency of our residents, which in turn, improves patient safety and satisfaction.”

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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| March 8th, 2018 |

A first-of-its-kind survey is being circulated in Arkansas by UAMS researchers interested in Arkansans’ attitudes and perceptions about cannabis (marijuana) as state officials prepare to make it available for medical use.

Of the 28 other states with medical marijuana, none have conducted surveys prior to its legalization that document public attitudes about marijuana as a medical treatment. Nalin Payakachat, Ph.D., who is leading the study, said she hopes to gather more than 1,000 completed surveys from across the state.

“This is a unique opportunity for Arkansas if we can get a large dataset before the product hits the market,” said Payakachat, an associate professor in the UAMS College of Pharmacy. “This will be valuable information, especially as we conduct follow-up surveys over time.”

Arkansans voted in 2016 to allow marijuana use with a doctor’s prescription for 18 medical conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, seizures and intractable pain.

The survey is open to those who live in Arkansas and are 18 and older, regardless of whether they plan to use medical marijuana. In addition to questions about attitudes toward marijuana, the survey, which takes about 30 minutes to complete, covers quality of life and health conditions. Follow-up surveys will be given at six months, one year, 18 months, then yearly over five years.

Over the study period, the surveys will reflect any changes in people’s attitudes and perceptions about medical cannabis. The responses from survey takers will also shed light on the health benefits and harms of marijuana when used for their specific health conditions.

Unlike with other prescription medications, physicians can’t tell patients what type of marijuana to buy, or dosage, said William Fantegrossi, Ph.D., co-investigator on the study.

“People will just buy what they want, so there will be sort of a natural experiment going on, and that’s information that will be important to understand,” said Fantegrossi, associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. “Eventually we may also have a better idea of what’s most effective – smoking it, eating it, or using it as an oil on the skin.”

Payakachat also noted the survey includes questions about the role of pharmacists who will be on staff at medical marijuana dispensaries.

“Pharmacists will be at the front gate and should be able to provide some guidance in terms selecting the appropriate products for patients’ conditions,” Payakachat said. “In our follow-up surveys, participants will tell us not only what they are buying, but also what they perceive of the pharmacists’ roles in the dispensaries.”

Payakachat and Fantegrossi have been assisted in their work on the survey by Lauren Russell, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

To protect confidentiality, the survey contains no information that identifies participants except for an email address and phone number for follow-up surveys. Survey information is also protected using a federal confidentiality law for people who participate in research. The law has been applied in this survey through a “Certificate of Confidentiality” from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The idea for the study grew out of conversations with researchers from other research institutions, including Johns Hopkins, Harvard and McGill universities. They took the idea to 7-Hybrid Cultivation, a group that had expressed an interest in conducting research to augment its application for a state medical cannabis cultivation license. 7-Hybrid awarded $30,000 to support the study. It was not, however, among the five firms to receive a cultivation license. As part of the agreement, the results of the study belong to UAMS and will be open to the public.

The study is also supported by the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI), which receives support from grant 1U54TR001629-01A1 through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the NIH.

By David Robinson| March 7th, 2018 |