Faculty/Staff | UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine

Curriculum and Residency Management Administrators Team

Lauren Gibson-Oliver, M.D., M.B.A.

Dr. Gibson-Oliver (she/her) is the Program Director of the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program. She joined our faculty as Associate Director in 2020 and has a faculty appointment of Assistant Professor. She is a graduate of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors’ National Institute for Program Director Development and the winner of the 2024 New Faculty Scholar Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Dr. Gibson-Oliver is one of the inaugural faculty co-chairs of the UAMS Graduate Medical Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which is tasked with recruiting and retaining a more diverse resident and fellow cohort and improving the clinical learning environment experience for trainees that are underrepresented in medicine across campus. In 2023, she was named a UAMS Phenomenal Woman and as a Top Doc by Little Rock Soirée for the second year in a row. While a resident in our program, she earned the distinctions of serving as chief resident, resident council secretary, resident council co-chair, and achieving the top in-training exam score among her classmates for all three years. She also won the Outstanding Resident Award and the TOP Award for professionalism. Originally from Colorado, Dr. Gibson-Oliver graduated from the Caribbean Medical University in Curaçao and earned an MBA from Davenport University. Her clinical interests include lifestyle and preventive medicine, women’s and adolescent health, health equity, and healthcare for underserved and historically marginalized communities. Outside of the office, she enjoys practicing yoga, baking, sewing, and exploring the world with her family.

Wayne Bryant Jr., M.D., M.S.

Dr. Bryant is the Associate Director of the residency program, having served as Assistant Director since joining the faculty in 2022. His faculty appointment is as Assistant Professor, and he is co-chair/faculty sponsor for the Walk with a Doc program. Dr. Bryant won the UAMS Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2023 and participated in a campus-wide panel on the subject of increasing the number of Black men in medicine. While in our residency program, he served as Chief Resident and won the Outstanding Resident Award, the STAR Professionalism Award, and the 2021 National Institute of Health/National Medical Association Academic Medicine Fellow/Traveling Award. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Florida and completed medical school at the American University of Antigua. Dr. Bryant’s clinical interests include improving health literacy and health equity for the underserved and historically marginalized communities, along with women's health, lifestyle medicine, and preventive medicine. When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching sports, traveling, and playing pool.

Elizabeth “Beth” Schmit, Ph.D.

Dr. Schmit joined the faculty in 2020 as our Behavioral Scientist. From 1996 to 2019, she was in private practice in Portland, Oregon, serving individual adults and couples with a variety of mental health concerns. She has taught community-wide classes on marriage/relationships and parenting. Her areas of clinical interest are behavioral medicine, anxiety, mood disorders, trauma and resilience, couples and relationship issues, and parenting. Dr. Schmit’s doctorate and master’s degrees in clinical psychology are from Purdue University in Indiana. She also completed a predoctoral internship at Palo Alto VA Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine at Stanford. Outside of the office, Dr. Schmit enjoys good coffee, exploring the outdoors, travel, writing, attending plays and choral concerts, and needlework and crafting. She is married and has two grown daughters, one on each coast.

Faculty

Paige Beck, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Beck joined our faculty in 2020. Her accomplishments include completing the UAMS geriatrics fellowship, serving as chief resident in our program (the class of 2019), and earning both a medical degree and a doctorate from the UAMS College of Medicine and Graduate School. Along the way, she won multiple awards including a National Research Service Award for M.D./Ph.D. Fellows from the Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Beck has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications, has significant research experience, and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Geriatrics Society.

Michael Cassat, M.D.

Dr. Cassat joined the faculty in March 2015 and brings extensive clinical experience in sports and musculoskeletal medicine. Dr. Cassat graduated from the UAMS medical school in 2002 and completed his residency at the Area Health Education Center in Fayetteville in 2005. After practicing primary care and sports medicine in Springdale, Dr. Cassat moved to Vail, Colorado. He received additional training in sports and musculoskeletal medicine at The Steadman Clinic and practiced there until his return to Arkansas, where he was most recently affiliated with Arkansas Specialty Orthopedics. Dr. Cassat sees patients of all ages for sports related injuries, as well as other musculoskeletal problems. He also maintains a primary care patient panel and supervises residents in both the Family Medical Center and the hospital. He focuses on the rapid recovery of non-surgical injuries through both imaging-guided injections as well as physical therapy.

Monica Ferrero, M.D.

Dr. Ferrero joined our faculty as an assistant professor in 2021. She practices in Little Rock, Helena, and the House Calls program. During her time in our residency program, she won the STAR Professionalism Award and the Goss Physician/Patient Relationship Award. She is a graduate of the University Libre Seccional Cali, Colombia, and is fluent in Spanish and English. During her free time, Dr. Ferrero enjoys spending time with her pets and dancing.

Jamie Howard, M.D.

Dr. Howard joined our faculty in 1981. She directs the Preventive Occupational and Environmental Medicine Division and UAMS Student and Employee Health Services. She also oversees the clinical laboratory and is a medical director of the Integrated Medical Service Line (IMSL) Quality Improvement (QI) council. In addition, Dr. Howard is a certified Epic physician builder.

Yasthil Jaganath, M.D., MPH

Dr. Yas Jaganath joined our faculty as an assistant professor in 2021 and practices in Little Rock, Helena, and the House Calls Program. He graduated from our residency program where he served as a chief resident and was awarded the STAR Professionalism Award and the STFM (Society of Teachers of Family Medicine) Resident Teacher Award. He has a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Humanitarian Health, and a Certificate in Gerontology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in HIV and Tuberculosis with the UNAIDS Center for the AIDS program of Research in South Africa, where he worked with the pediatric population in the city he grew up in. Dr. Jaganath holds licensure in Arkansas and South Africa. He is passionate about providing personalized care to his patients. During his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends.

Diane Jarrett, Ed.D., M.A.

Dr. Jarrett joined the DFPM faculty in 2008. For 15 years, she was a member of the management team of the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program, where she was the Assistant Director and also the DFPM Director of Education and Communications. In 2023, she was named Director of the brand new DFPM Office of Communication and Departmental Relations. In this role, she will lead strategies to improve communication and collaboration in the DFPM throughout Arkansas, and she will continue teaching, mentoring, and producing scholarly activity. Dr. Jarrett is the recipient of the UAMS College of Medicine Dean's Educational Excellence Award, and the Dr. Edith Irby Jones Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. In 2023, she was awarded the Sandra L. Panther Fellowship in the History of Medicine from the American Academy of Family Physicians. Over the years, she has made presentations at conferences everywhere from New York to Denver to Saskatchewan. She holds the rank of Assistant Professor and is a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the American Educational Research Association, and Mensa International. Dr. Jarrett's master's degree is in journalism/communications and her doctorate is in higher education. When she isn't working, she enjoys writing about classic films. She has had five publications (so far!) in the international journal Films of the Golden Age -- biographical essays on William Boyd, George Macready, Micky Moore, and Jack Doyle, and an analysis of the 1943 film The Seventh Victim. Her publications in Classic Images include profiles of actors Richard Todd, Ray Dixon, and Frank Albertson, along with World War I ace/actor Charles Nungesser and director Carl Theodor Dreyer.

David M. Kelley, M.D.

Dr. Kelley joined our faculty in 2022 at the rank of Associate Professor. He has extensive teaching experience, including service as clerkship director and division head for education. His multiple teaching awards include the Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, the Dewayne Edwards Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Aesculapian Award. Dr. Kelley is an AAFP Fellow and has given numerous national presentations. Originally from Colorado, he graduated from the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago and completed his training at the La Grange Family Medicine Residency. His clinical interests include women’s health, pediatric care, and preventive health across the lifespan. Outside of the office, Dr. Kelley enjoys baking, home improvement, and being active with his family.

Stephen King, M.D.

Dr. King is a hospitalist for the Family Medicine service. He graduated from UAMS in 1984 and completed his postgraduate training at Family Medicine Spokane (Washington). He was in private practice for 15 years in Spokane and later worked urgent care and emergency medicine before moving to hospital medicine. He was previously employed by UAMS in El Dorado at the AHEC (now Regional Programs) residency as interim residency director where he lead the program through successful accreditation. Through his career he has been involved in medical education at various levels, and he loves teaching. One of his most fulfilling medical endeavors was working in a refugee camp in Ethiopia during the famine of 1985. Dr. King is happily married to Beth and is the father of two beautiful girls, Mary and Lydia.

Diorella López-González, M.D.

Dr. López-González joined our faculty in 2023 soon after she graduated from our residency program. During her time in training, she served as Chief Resident and won multiple awards including Outstanding Resident, the AFMRD Resident Scholarship Award, the TOP Outstanding Professional Award, the STAR Professionalism Award, the Medical Knowledge Award, and recognition for serving as a Community Medical Liaison. Her clinical interests include chronic disease management, geriatrics, and inpatient medicine. Dr. López-González is from Caguas, Puerto Rico, and she attended medical school at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, baking, learning from art and history, and trying new restaurants with her husband. She also enjoys visiting museums with her husband and daughter.

Aruna Malladi, M.D.

Dr. Malladi joined our faculty in 2020. She is a 2019 graduate of our residency program, where she was the winner of the 2018 Medical Knowledge Award and a member of the UAMS Clinical Documentation Committee. Her scholarly activities included poster presentations at the 2018 AAPI Annual Conference and the 40^th Annual Family Medicine Intensive Review Course. A graduate of Gandhi Medical College in India, Dr. Malladi is particularly interested in preventive medicine. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family.

David A. Nelsen, Jr., M.D., M.S.

Dr. Nelsen practiced medicine in rural Arkansas for five years and served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota before joining the Department. He completed a faculty development fellowship and a Master of Science in Family and Community Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He is an active clinician and is certified by the American Board of Family Practice. Dr. Nelsen is the Assistant Medical Director for Clinical Informatics for the UAMS campus. In this role he is the primary physician representative for informatics issues relative to inpatient and outpatient information systems.

Amber Norris, M.D.

Dr. Norris wears many hats in our department including precepting residents, serving as the Medical Director at Helena East, working with House Calls, and serving as the Family Medicine clerkship director for M4 students. From a clinical standpoint, she is passionate about opioid use disorder and medication assisted treatment. On the personal side, she is married, has 3 children, and loves board games, reading (anything fantasy), and cooking/baking. Dr. Norris was born and raised in Central Arkansas, graduated from UAMS in 2017, and completed her Family Medicine residency at John Peter Smith in Ft. Worth, TX.

Geeta Sakariya M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Sakariya joined as faculty in 2018 and has been the Medical Director of the Family Medical Center since June 2022. She has years of experience as a family physician in addition to experience as a clinical researcher on topics such as decreasing overweight and obesity rates, the effects of smoking on pregnancy and offspring, and curriculum development on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Her clinical interests include preventive medicine, chronic disease management, and women’s health. She has a special interest in procedures in Family Medicine and supervises the procedures clinic at the FMC. Dr. Sakariya graduated from medical school in India, then went on to earn a Master of Public Health from California State University, Long Beach. She completed her Family Medicine residency at UND, Bismarck. In her free time, she likes cooking, exercising, home improvement, spending time with her friends and family, and traveling.

Charles W. Smith, M.D.

Dr. Smith retired from full-time faculty status in 2019 after 30 years at UAMS, but he continues to precept in our clinic. He opened a direct care practice (Dr. Smith Direct Care) in 2019. He also serves as medical director for Cottages of Poplar Grove (a rehab and long-term care facility) and also for Arkansas Health and Nutrition (formerly the UAMS weight loss program).

Leslie Stone M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Stone is the director of the DFPM Division of Medical Student Education and an experienced family physician with an interest in underserved populations and in chronic care. He completed an intensive course at the Institute for International Medicine to study public health challenges of the developing world and has worked in public health settings in Honduras and Cuba. Dr. Stone also worked at an FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) in East Harlem, New York, where he managed methadone maintenance therapy for patients with opiate addiction. He is a graduate of the UAMS medical school and the UAMS Northwest Family Medicine residency program. His MPH is from the State University of New York in Brooklyn.

Adjunct Faculty

Bala Simon, M.D., Dr.P.H., DipABOM, DipABLM, FAAFP

Dr. Bala is a board-certified family and preventive medicine physician, an epidemiologist, and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). He joined the DFPM in 2013 and currently serves as an adjunct Clinical Associate Professor and precepts residents and medical students in the FMC. He obtained his medical degree from India and completed his Family Medicine residency at our program, where he was a chief resident. He obtained his Master of Public Health with emphasis in Epidemiology from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He further obtained his Doctorate in Public Health with emphasis in Health Policy and Epidemiology from UAMS. Dr. Bala completed a fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Preventive Medicine Residency and Fellowship Program, and became board-certified in Preventive Medicine. He is also board-certified in Obesity Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. Besides serving as the ADH Deputy Chief Medical Officer, he is also the State Chronic Disease Director, overseeing and providing medical guidance to chronic disease programs such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, tobacco, substance use, nutrition and physical activity across the state through the ADH’s local health units. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Epidemiology in the UAMS College of Public Health. He is widely published both in national and international journals, and has obtained numerous awards for his work. These include the Director’s Science Award for his contribution to the ADH, the Chronic Disease Champion by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and the Physician Volunteer of the Year award for his work at the Harmony Health Clinic, which serves the uninsured and underinsured residents of central Arkansas. Dr. Bala also is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, and is currently serving as the 73rd President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Research and Evaluation Division Community Research Group Faculty

Get more information about the faculty in our Community Research Group.

Curriculum and Residency Management Administrators Team

Faculty

Adjunct Faculty

Research and Evaluation Division Community Research Group Faculty

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