Please join us in welcoming these recent additions to the College of Medicine faculty.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Joonas Jamsen, Ph.D.
Joonas Jamsen, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Jamsen earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in biochemistry at the University of Turku in Finland. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Cancer Research in the UK (CRUK) in London, and the Institute for Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis.
Since 2014, Dr. Jamsen has served as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Genome Integrity & Structural Biology Laboratory at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Funded since 2018 by an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award, his research has focused on the molecular architecture of oxidative stress induced double strand break repair.
Department of Internal Medicine
Peter DelNero, Ph.D., MPH
Peter DelNero, Ph.D., MPH, has joined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Community Health and Research. Dr. DelNero completed his undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at Vanderbilt University. He received his Master of Science and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Cornell University in 2015 and 2017, respectively. He earned a Master of Public Health in quantitative methods from Harvard University in 2019. Dr. DelNero most recently completed a four-year postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention with the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. His research portfolio involves research implementation science, community engagement and biomedical engineering.
Mauricio Garcia Saenz de Sicilia, M.D.
Mauricio Garcia Saenz de Sicilia, M.D., has rejoined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Associate Professor and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He served most recently on the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“We are pleased to recruit Dr. Garcia back to UAMS to transform the delivery of gastroenterology service in Little Rock and the state of Arkansas,” said Edward T.H. Yeh, M.D., Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. “He will also play a pivotal role in strengthening the liver transplantation service at UAMS.”
Dr. Garcia earned his medical degree at Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Universitaria Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in 2004. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas Salvador Zubiran, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He continued his training with two additional fellowships in transplant hepatology and advanced transplant hepatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha in 2012 and 2013. While completing his fellowships, he also earned a Master’s in Medical Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
Dr. Garcia began his career at UAMS in 2013 as Director of the Primary Liver Tumors Clinic in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In 2017, he took on the role of Hepatology Service Line Director, shortly followed by Gastroenterology and Hepatology Service Line Co-Director. A year later, he was appointed Liver Transplant Medical Director.
In 2020, Dr. Garcia joined Washington University School of Medicine as an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology’s Hepatology Program. He has mentored numerous students, lectured in undergraduate and graduate programs, published 18 articles, and delivered over 15 oral presentations.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Susan Emmett, M.D., MPH
Susan Emmett, M.D., MPH, has joined the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery as an Associate Professor and Director of the new UAMS Center for Hearing Health Equity. Dr. Emmett holds a secondary appointment in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology.
“Dr. Emmett is a star in our field, with a national and international reputation,” said John Dornhoffer, M.D., Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. “As one of the most successful NIH-funded ENT surgeons in the country, she will help UAMS quickly become a leader in research involving hearing health disparities both in Arkansas and abroad. I am extremely excited to have been able to recruit a physician scientist of her caliber.”
In addition to practicing otolaryngology and performing cochlear implant surgery, Dr. Emmett is a nationally and internationally recognized public health-trained researcher who holds four grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As Director of the new Center for Hearing Health Equity, she will lead research into hearing health disparities in Arkansas and around the world. The center will be home to research conducted by two multi-center research networks.
Dr. Emmett comes to UAMS from Duke University School of Medicine, where she earned her medical degree in 2010 and was most recently an Associate Professor of surgery and global health.
Read more in the UAMS news release about Dr. Emmett’s appointment, and about a landmark study led by Dr. Emmett that has just published in The Lancet Global Health in this news release. The study has been featured in a number of national health and general news outlets.
Department of Pediatrics
Mina Nguyen-Driver, Psy.D.
Mina Nguyen-Driver, Psy.D., has joined the Department of Pediatrics as a Professor in the Division of Pediatric Psychology at the Schmieding Developmental Center in Springdale.
Dr. Nguyen-Driver specializes in evaluation and treatment for children with complex developmental and medical concerns, using a variety of modalities including comprehensive assessment and consultation, and short- and long-term cognitive behavioral therapy.
Dr. Nguyen-Driver completed her psychology internship at UC Davis Medical Center and fellowship at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, gaining extensive clinical training in the evaluation of medically complex pediatric patients with a broad range of medical disorders. After completing the fellowship in 2001, she joined Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). In 2007, the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) recruited her to its Department of Pediatrics, where she spent the next 15 years. Between CHLA and OHSU, she has gained significant experience in the field of rare disease and behavioral health.
Department of Physiology and Cell Biology
Ryan Allen, Ph.D.
Ryan Allen, Ph.D., will join the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology in July as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Allen received his master’s in biology at Arkansas State University. He received his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Prior to his recruitment to UAMS, Dr. Allen served as a postdoctoral fellow and research instructor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville (2018-2022).
Neha Dole, Ph.D.
Neha Dole, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Dole pursued her early graduate education in biotechnology at Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College in Navi, Mumbai, India, and at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She earned her doctoral degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington in 2015. She received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Orthopaedic Research Society/OREF Foundation and worked as a post-doctoral scientist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 2021, she was appointed an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF.
Dr. Dole is currently funded through a Mentored Career Development Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease (NIDDK). Her current focus of study is the impact of nutritional variation on bone development and physiology.
Dr. Dole’s honors include a Young Investigator Award from the International Bone & Mineral Society (IBMS), the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Harold M. Frost Young Investigator Award, the Advances in Mineral Metabolism (AIMM)-ASBMR John Haddad Young Investigator Award, the Orthopaedic Research Society Alice Jee Award, and the ASBMR Most Outstanding Basic Abstract Award.
Amy Sato, Ph.D.
Amy Sato, Ph.D., has joined the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology as an Assistant Professor. She received her doctorate from the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine, where she went on to serve as a postdoctoral fellow in 2017-2020. Dr. Sato relocated to UAMS in 2020, serving as postdoctoral fellow prior to assuming her current faculty appointment in March 2022.
Department of Surgery
Sabina M. DeMarco Siddiqui, M.D.
Sabina M. DeMarco Siddiqui, M.D., has joined the Department of Surgery as an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Surgery practicing at Arkansas Children’s Northwest.
Dr. Siddiqui was born in Texas and raised in Tennessee. She completed her undergraduate studies at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., graduating magna cum laude with degrees in biology and communication. She received her medical degree at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and completed her general surgery residency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. She continued her training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with fellowships in medical innovation and surgical critical care with a focus in pediatric patients and pediatric surgery.
Dr. Siddiqui practiced pediatric surgery and critical care in Ann Arbor, where she also served as a clinical lecturer, and at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where she was an Assistant Professor, prior to her recruitment to UAMS and Arkansas Children’s. Dr. Siddiqui is board certified in general surgery, critical care surgery and pediatric surgery.