Please join us in welcoming these recent additions to the College of Medicine faculty.
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
Ashley Shuffield, M.D.
Ashley Shuffield, M.D., has joined the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Shuffield received her medical degree from UAMS in 2019. She completed her family medicine residency at the UAMS Northeast Regional Campus in Jonesboro in 2022 and joined the Baptist Health Family Clinic-Conway West, where she practiced until her recruitment to UAMS. Dr. Shuffield will provide care and teach at the UAMS Neighborhood Clinic in Maumelle.
Department of Internal Medicine
Anshuk Kakria, M.D., MSHS
Anshuk Kakria, M.D., MSHS, has joined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Kakria received his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica in 2019 and a Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS) in Clinical Translational Research at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 2024. He began his internal medicine residency training at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center–Temple in Texas and later completed a transitional year of residency training at HCA Healthcare in Plantation, Florida, followed by residency training at Trios Health in Kennewick, Washington.
Dr. Kakria is committed to evidence-based care and advancing patient outcomes through both clinical excellence and research in his new role at UAMS.
Raja Kumar Pola, M.D.
Raja Pola, M.D., has rejoined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Pola earned his medical degree at Andhra Medical College in Vishakhapatnam, India. He completed his internal medicine residency at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, where he also served as Chief Resident.
Dr. Pola served as an Assistant Professor, Academic Hospitalist and Chief Hospitalist at UAMS from 2011-2016. He went on to practice hospital medicine at CHI St. Vincent Hospital and Cornerstone Long-Term Acute Care Facility in Little Rock. Dr. Pola is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP).
Department of Pathology
David Raggay, M.D.
David Raggay, M.D., has joined the Department of Pathology as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Raggay received his medical degree from the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. He completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Dr. Raggay continued his training with fellowships in hematopathology at Hartford Hospital and in transfusion medicine and blood banking at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.
Dr. Raggay will serve as Medical Director of the Blood Bank at Arkansas Children’s Hospital along with his role with the transfusion medicine and hematopathology services, with close collaboration with the apheresis and cell therapy services. In addition to his clinical and academic focus in these areas, Dr. Raggay is passionate about medical education and the advancement of diagnostic and therapeutic care in underserved populations.
Department of Surgery
Chad E. Cragle, M.D., Ph.D.
Chad Cragle, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the Department of Surgery as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology. Dr. Cragle received both his Ph.D. and his medical degree from UAMS, graduating in 2018. He completed his general surgery residency at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle and continued his training with a surgical oncology and hepatopancreatobiliary fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Dr. Cragle manages a wide range of cancers and has a particular interest in cancers of the upper GI tract including the stomach, duodenum, pancreas, biliary system and liver.
Gregory Tyler Rives, M.D.
Tyler Rives, M.D., has joined the Department of Surgery as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Rives received his medical degree from UAMS in 2019. He completed his general surgery residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and continued his training with a fellowship in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Dr. Rives specializes in helping patients address the disease of obesity through a comprehensive and individualized approach. His surgical expertise includes sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, single anastomosis duodenal ileal bypass and a full range of foregut procedures including hiatal hernia repair.
Department of Urology
Bradley Houston, M.D., MPH
Bradley Houston, M.D., MPH, has joined the Department of Urology as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Houston received his Master of Public Health and medical degree at UAMS, graduating from the College of Medicine in 2017. He completed a general surgery internship and residency in urology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.
Dr. Houston brings a wide range of experience to UAMS with special expertise in kidney stone surgery, enlarged prostate (BPH), prostate cancer and robotic surgery. He practiced at Arkansas Urology in Conway prior to his recruitment to UAMS. Dr. Houston will provide care at the UAMS Urology Clinic in the Premier Medical Plaza building in Little Rock.