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.
David A. Nelsen, Jr., M.D., M.S.
Dr. Nelsen — long-time Family Medicine faculty member (since 1995), and graduate of the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program (1981) and UAMS College of Medicine (1978) — retired from a full-time status in September 2024. He will continue precepting in the clinic for one half-day each week and also will work with the informatics fellows at ACH. Dr. Nelsen’s other plans include traveling, tutoring math and science at Central High, building another guitar, and playing more music. He has been playing at local nursing homes several times per month. Dr. Nelsen built an impressive career in Family Medicine as an informaticist, teacher, mentor, administrator, and clinician in Arkansas for the most part, with some time in Minnesota. His Arkansas experience includes service in DeQueen, Arkansas, where he was Chief of Staff, Chief of Obstetrics, and a private practitioner. Along the way, he spent time as a Fellow in Faculty Development and Clinical Investigation at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a master’s degree in Family and Community Medicine. He won the UAMS Educational Excellence Award and the DFPM Family Medicine Outstanding Teaching Award in two years, back to back. He also won the DFPM Master Educator Award in 2022 — and this not a full recounting of his accomplishments by any means. We are glad that he will still be working with us on a part-time basis.
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.
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.
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.
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 and Co-Director of the DFPM Office of Leadership and Professional Development. Dr. Jarrett is the recipient of the UAMS College of Medicine Dean’s Educational Excellence Award, the Dr. Edith Irby Jones Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award, and the UAMS College of Medicine MVP Award. In 2024, she was selected as co-editor for the STFM Education Column, which spotlights educational innovations in Family Medicine. 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 Associate 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/mass communication 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, Frank Albertson, and Dan Frazer, along with World War I ace/actor Charles Nungesser and director Carl Theodor Dreyer.
Shashank Kraleti, M.D., FAAFP
Dr. Kraleti is the Garnett Chair of the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Senior Vice President for the UAMS HEalth Network. He is also Director of the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line, where he provides oversight for clinical and population health initiatives for Arkansas. He serves as Medical Director for the UAMS Division of Community and Health Education, is recognized as a leader in clinical informatics, and serves on the UAMS core informatics group. From 2016 to 2023, he was the Director of the Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program, where he was honored with the Jack W. Kennedy Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine. He is a graduate of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD) National Institute for Program Director Development and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Dr. Kraleti has a faculty appointment as Associate Professor with tenure in the clinical educator pathway, and he has written multiple peer-reviewed publications and has made presentations at national and international forums. His community outreach experience includes television appearances and authoring a series of newspaper columns on health issues. Among his many awards are the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award, the New Faculty Scholar Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the AFMRD Program Director Recognition Award, the AFMRD/AAFP Award for Scholarship, the AFMRD Resident Scholarship Award, and the DFPM Outstanding Teacher Award. When he is away from work, Dr. Kraleti serves as the President of the Global Illumine Corporation, a non-profit organization that transforms lives by supporting the education of underserved young people. He is the Chair of the Charity Committee for the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, and the Vice-President of the Hindu Temple of Central Arkansas. On his own time, he enjoys music, movies, traveling, swimming, and spending time with his kids.