Faculty, Fellows and Hospitalist Team | UAMS Department of Pediatrics

Leadership In Its Natural State

We love working together as a team and sharing in the triumphs and trials we face as a team. From our incredible director to every fellow, resident and provider on our team, we know that getting to know each other only enhances our ability to understand and work together.

Take a moment to meet our team!

Fellowship Director

Rebecca Cantu, M.D., MPH

Fellowship Program Director
Chief of Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Augusta, Ga.
Undergrad: University of Georgia, Biology
Medical School: Tulane
Residency: Tulane-Ochsner
Additional Training: P.H.M. fellowship at UAB, M.P.H. in Tropical Medicine at Tulane
Work Interests: Faculty development and data analytics
Work Roles: Acute Care Committee Chair, physician manager of ABP MOC Portfolio, a plateful of other projects
Non-work Interests: Knitting, cross-word puzzles, reading (I’m really not a grandmother, despite my hobbies)
Pets: Reggie Hobbes (a cat), Noodle (a leopard gecko), two human children
Fave: The parks, outdoor trails and the libraries

Faculty

Emily Barnes, M.D.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Little Rock, Ark.
Undergrad: Ouachita Baptist University – Chemistry + Biology, psychology minor
Medical School: UAMS
Residency Program: UAMS
Additional training: PHM Board-certified
Work Interests: Bronchiolitis, BRUE, vaccines
Work Roles: Shared clinical time with general pediatrics. Co-Medical Director of 3K. Pediatric Residency Associate Program Director
Life: I love spending time with family and friends. I love live music and theater. I love puzzles, games, movies, hiking, singing, and flower arranging.
Pets: 2 rescue dogs, Remy and Tucker
Little Rock favorites: The restaurant scene is great. There are benefits of city life with the feel of a small town. You can get anywhere in 20 minutes which includes some amazing outdoor scenery and activities.
Misc: - I renovated a +100-year-old home in the Central High Historic District so now I can walk to work!
I can juggle.
I have a really good sense of direction.
Green is my favorite color.

Bonnie E. Kitchen

APRN

Hometown: Garden Grove, Calif.
Education: UAMS – Masters of Science in Nursing
Work Interests: Mentoring and teaching
Work roles: I'm an APRN on one of the inpatient teams. I also serve on the APRN council, medical informatics committee, med safety council, and inpatient antibiotic stewardship committee. DOP faculty council. I am an editor of our ACH Advanced Practice Provider newsletter.
Hobbies: Travel, photography, creating junk journals, cross-stitch, reading, cooking, hiking.
Pets: Molly - my Saint Bernard
Little Rock favorites: Great central location to explore the state from. Friendly atmosphere. The Rivermarket. Good food!
Fun Facts: I went on a safari alone! I have 3 children and 1 grandson. I once delivered a package to Tom Selleck. I love to explore National Parks. I have scuba diving experience.

Jacob F. Filipek, M.D.

Assistant Professor

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Bismarck, Ark.
Undergrad: UCA, Pre-med Biology/Honors Sociology
Medical School: UAMS
Residency: UAMS/ACH
Work Interests: I love teaching students/residents and am in charge of acting intern lecturer on medically complex patients.
Work roles: Emergency Management Committee; 3K Co-Medical Director
Life: My wife, Victoria and son, Will.
Hobbies: I love fishing, hunting and the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Pets: A black lab named Pete.
Little Rock favorites: I love that it's a city but has a family-friendly atmosphere. I love all the outdoor activities and restaurant options.

Charalene R. Fisher, M.D.

Assistant Professor

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Greenville, Tenn.
Undergrad: Baylor University, Religion/Chemistry
Medical School: UAB
Residency Program: UAMS
Work Interests: Leadership Development, Trauma, Feedback, and Surgical-Medical co-management
Work Roles: Trauma council, Feedback QI project leader, and PHM Outstanding Resident award program leader
Life: Hobbies – art, yoga, traveling, and piano. Family – beloved husband and son.
Little Rock favorites: I like Little Rock’s small-town feel with a bigger city’s medical and research power. I also like all of the river bridges here. The diversity in Little Rock is nice for a city of this size.
Misc: I have been to around 20 countries. My first passport photo was when I was 2 years old. I am an officer in Toastmasters International, a leadership and public speaking club.

Rebecca Latch, M.D.

Vice Chair of Education, Residency and Students
Associate Professor, Hospital Medicine

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Bismarck, Ark.
Undergrad: Hendrix
Medical School: UAMS
Residency: UAMS
Work Interests: Promoting compassionate family-centered care; championing diversity, equity, and inclusion; building evidence-based practice within the section and the department
Work roles: Vice-Chair of Education, Grand Rounds facilitator, physician leader for Schwartz Rounds
Life: Loves outdoor activities like hiking, swimming, fishing – or reading a book while her husband and sons catch the fish!
Pets: Smokey the dog
Miscellaneous: She and her family are working on their goal of visiting all 52 Arkansas State parks.

Steven G. McKee, M.D.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Little Rock, Ark.
Undergrad: University of Arkansas, Biology with Math minor
Medical School: UAMS
Residency Program: Penn/CHOP
Additional Training: SGIM TEACH
Work Interests: Resident as Teacher, Ultrasound
Work Roles: APD for Medpeds program
Life: Water sports
Pets: Roscoe – greyhound/golden mix, allegedly
Little Rock favorites: quick access to hiking, biking, fishing, and water of all sorts.

Sara C. Sanders, M.D.

Assistant Professor

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Pocahontas, Ark.
Medical School: UAMS
Residency: UAMS
Work Interests: research, hospital flow, process improvement
Work roles: Social media chair for our section.
Life: I have three adorable children, including the newest member born in February.
Pets: Three dogs

Brittany M. Slagle, D.O.

Assistant Professor

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Memphis, Tenn.
Undergrad: University of Tennessee, Biochem & Cell and Molecular Bio, psych minor
Medical School: Nova Southeastern University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: University of Kansas, Kansas City
Work Interests: Quality Improvement, Sepsis, Pathways, Resident and Student Education
Work Roles: Medical Informatics Subspecialty Leader, Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes Physician Champion, ABP MOC part 2 Reviewer, Admissions Workflow Quality Improvement Committee, Somatoform Disorders Pathway co-lead, Hospitalist Elective Co-lead
Life: Spending time with my husband, 2 kids, and our dog. I love to hike, work out, eat good food, and travel.
Pets: 1 dog, Macy!
Little Rock favorites: There are so many outdoor activities and it’s a city with a small-town feel!
Misc: I grew up dancing (tap, ballet, jazz) and still love to dance even though it embarrasses my kids! I love food and am also very into food as medicine and disease prevention. I love good coffee and order beans from all over the country.

Maxwell Taylor, M.D.

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: Shreveport, La.
Undergrad: Public Health
Medical School: Emory
Residency: UAMS
Work Interests: Medical student & resident education
Nonwork Interests: Traveling with my wife Mary, live music and theater, live trivia.
Fave: Arkansas River Trail; dining at 42 Bar and Table in the Clinton Presidential Center.
Misc: Spent a college summer break working as an extra on a few movie productions.

Melissa A. Wood-Katz, M.D.

Associate Professor

Website: Clinical Bio

Hometown: North Little Rock, Ark.
Undergrad: Univ of Arkansas, Chemical Engineering
Medical School: UAMS
Residency Program: UAMS
Life: I have a husband and two kids. While driving my kids around is my biggest pastime, I love to cook, entertain, garden, and work out.
Pets: I have a three-year-old Australian Shephard, Gus.
Little Rock favorites: I love the Little Rock skyline, yummy restaurants, river views and lots of outdoor activities.
Misc: I was invited on stage at a Jimmy Buffet concert when I was in high school.

Fellows

Cindy Nguyen

Fellow Physician

Hometown: Plano, Texas
Undergrad: The University of Texas at Dallas - Biochemistry
Medical School: University of Texas Medical Branch
Residency: UAMS
Work Interests: Patient experience, including improving communication among team members, patients, and their families. Medical education.
Hobbies: Board games, puzzles, arts and crafts. Baking, cooking, eating. Hiking.
Little Rock favorites: Lack of heavy traffic, good food, and lots of hiking opportunities nearby.
Fun Facts: I was on the varsity bowling team in high school. I played a lot of competitive flag football throughout college. I was once part of a winning hip-hop dance team.

Our Hospitalist Teams

The Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) section consists of four teams and has an in-house attending 24/7. Our services discharge about 5,000-6,000 patients annually, typically accounting for about 1/3 of all discharges at ACH.

We have three teaching teams comprised of a senior pediatrics or medicine-pediatrics resident, two to three interns, sometimes an acting intern, and medical students, and an attending hospitalist. In addition, our teams include pediatric pharmacists, social workers, dieticians, and case managers. We have one hospitalist-only direct care team covered by two to five hospitalists depending on the time of year and census; this team also provides consults upon request for other services such as PM&R, burn surgery, and other surgical specialties, and provides telephone consultation for and accepts direct admissions from providers throughout the region.

Our hospital endorses family-centered rounding and has active quality improvement projects focused on improving nursing presence on rounds, multidisciplinary team communication, and the use of tools like in-room dry-erase boards to improve team and family communication.

We see patients in our Intermediate Care Unit (IMU) and in medical-surgical units throughout the hospital. The IMU functions as a step-down/step-up unit with continuous cardiorespiratory monitoring and telemetry and smaller nurse-to-patient ratios; it’s also right next to our PICU.