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. In 2025, she won the Chair’s Award for Recognition of Excellence in the category of Rising Star Clinical Faculty. 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.
Paige Beck, M.D., Ph.D.
Colleen Lassiter
Aruna Malladi, M.D.
Lauren Gibson-Oliver, M.D., MBA, FAAFP
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 (STFM), along with the 2024 UAMS Excellence in Mentoring Award (Clinical Emerging Faculty category). In addition, the AAMC Southern Group on Educational Affairs presented her with the 2024 M. Brownell Anderson Award that is designed to identify and support emerging educators on their career trajectory. She won the 2025 Chair’s Award for Recognition of Excellence in the category of GME-Program Director. On top of that, she has been named a recipient of the 2025-2026 STFM Emerging Leaders Fellowship and was chosen to serve on the STFM Task Force on Professionalism in Medical Education. Dr. Gibson-Oliver was one of the inaugural faculty co-chairs of the UAMS Graduate Medical Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which was tasked with recruiting and retaining a more diverse resident and fellow cohort and improving the clinical learning environment experience across campus for trainees that are underrepresented in medicine. In 2023, she was named a UAMS Phenomenal Woman, one of the Best Women in Health Care by AY Magazine, and 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.
Diorella López-González, M.D.
Dr. López-González joined our faculty in 2023 soon after she graduated from our residency program. She is the Assistant Medical Director for the 12th Street Health and Wellness Clinic and is also the Site Director for the El Dorado Family Medicine 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.
Bala Simon, M.D., Dr.PH, DipABOM, DipABLM, FAAFP
Dr. Simon 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 is also the residency program director for the upcoming Preventive Medicine Residency Program in our department. 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. Simon 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 94 local health units located in all 75 Arkansas counties. 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. Simon serves in several leadership roles both at the state and national level. He served as the President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and he currently serves as the President of the Arkansas Public Health Association.
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).
Geeta Sakariya M.D., MPH, FAAFP
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.