With a deep-rooted passion for Mental Health Advocacy, Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Holistic Pain Mangement, Lenieka is a dedicated Peer Support Specialist committed to fostering healing and empowerment within communities. She offers a unique blend of empathy, understanding, and expertise in guiding individuals towards recovery and wellness.
Jason Arthur, M.D., MPH
Lenieka Knight
Sean Thomas
Sean is a dedicated peer support advocate committed to fostering empathy and empowerment within the community. With a background in communication and a passion for mental health awareness, he strives to create a safe space where individuals are heard, understood and supported. Whether you’re facing challenges or celebrating victories, he’s here to lend an empathetic ear and offer guidance on your journey towards wellness.
Shannon Giger, MHA
LaTunja Sockwell
LaTunja Sockwell is a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Faculty Research Instructor in the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine’s Research and Evaluation Division. Ms. Sockwell has a Masters in Criminal Justice and over 15 years of research experience with seven years leading and evaluating projects (SAMHSA, Pharma, and CDC). Ms. Sockwell’s research focuses on enhancing substance abuse (SA) treatment and wrap-around services for individuals with co-occurring SA and mental health disorders, youth substance abuse awareness, stigma reduction around HIV and related issues, HIV prevention and linkage to care, and rural healthcare access issues. Ms. Sockwell currently sits on several task forces for the betterment of those that have substance abuse, homelessness, and HIV related issues.
Ahad Nadeem
Ahad Nadeem is a research coordinator in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He has previously worked as a clinical research associate on several emergency medicine clinical projects, involving both research and education. As co-project director on ED-ALT, he assists in overseeing all project teams and data collection. He is passionate about improving pain management for Arkansans and is excited to be working on this grant.
Mike Wilson, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Wilson is board-certified in emergency medicine, and is an Associate Professor (tenured) in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Clinically, he serves as the emergency department lead for both neurological and psychiatric emergencies. Dr. Wilson’s research interests are in behavioral emergencies and substance use disorders, with more than 85 peer-reviewed articles, 30 book chapters, four edited books, and multiple grants in this area. He is a Senior Associate Editor of the Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Ronald G. Thompson, Jr., Ph.D., LCSW
Dr. Thompson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Department of Psychiatry, Center for Health Services Research. He conducts both public health and clinical intervention research in the intersecting areas of substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, and suicide and has published over 45 peer-reviewed articles on his work in well-regarded national and international scientific journals. Dr. Thompson has been the Principal Investigator of two NIH-funded studies (R21AA017862; K23DA032323) to develop and test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of disseminable brief motivational interventions to reduce substance use and sexual risk behaviors among homeless young adults. This work included the development and testing of a smartphone application to self-monitor substance use and sexual risk behaviors, plus a brief motivational intervention, that has been shown to reduce such behaviors in this vulnerable population. Dr. Thompson currently serves as: (1) Co-Investigator on a NIDA-funded study (R01DA048022) to (a) develop and evaluate the feasibility of a smartphone application (app) to reduce relapse among individuals receiving outpatient medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD) and (b) use functional neuroimaging to model neurocognitive mechanisms by which the app reduces opioid misuse; (2) Co-Investigator on two studies (VA HSR&D RIVR 19-478; VA HSR&D IIR 20-058) to develop and pilot brief strength-based interventions to link veterans with alcohol problems and/or PTSD to substance abuse and mental health treatment; (3) Co-Investigator on a study to empower veterans to address suicide in their communities; and (4) Co-Investigator and Evaluator on the Arkansas State Opioid Response (SOR3; SAMHSA) to establish and expand MOUD services within the state by compensating facilities across the state to provide MOUD to uninsured and underinsured patients.
Kevin W. Sexton, M.D.
Dr. Sexton is a surgeon-scientist with board certifications in Surgery and Clinical Informatics, he has used this expertise to create software that worked across multiple electronic medical records to predict patient complications in hospital and outpatient settings (Midas+ Live™) and has created medical devices designed to use venous waveforms to monitor patients. The software was acquired by Affiliated Computer Services (a Xerox company) and the device is licensed to Baxter International, both Fortune 500 companies.
Kevin is currently an Associate Professor at UAMS in the Department of Surgery, with secondary appointments in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management, and the UAMS College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Practice, Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy (PEP). He serves as Associate Chief Clinical Informatics Officer for Innovation, Research, and Entrepreneurship at UAMS, the Associate Director of the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, and President of BioVentures, LLC, the UAMS technology transfer office.
Kevin has authored over 80 peer reviewed publications and has a track record of extramural funding from the National Institute of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Department of Defense, among others. He is currently funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Center For Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R01 GM 111324, UL1 TR003107, KL2 TR003108, and TL1 TR003109.
Technology is in Kevin’s DNA. He’s a managing member of Datafy and advisor to hDrop Technologies, Inc., Decisio Health, Inc., HoopCare, Inc., and others. Kevin is also a professional coach who specializes working with healthcare executives and healthcare software companies.