News

2025

• Aline Andres, PhD, RD, received the UAMS College of Medicine Excellence in Research Award
• Laxmi Yeruva, PhD, Research Leader at the USDA-ARS, SEA, MMRU received the 2025 Maxwell Lecturer Award of the American Society of Animal Science Foundation
• Tiffany Miles, PhD, received the Community Advisory Board Choice Award at the 2025 UAMS Translational Research Institute Research Day.
• Aline Andres, PhD, RD and ACRI are awarded $3 Million NIH grant for  work in prenatal exposure to polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
• Aline Andres, PhD, RD was invited to serve on a National Academy of Sciences Planning Committee for Exploring New Evidence on Weight Gain During Pregnancy and Perinatal Outcomes: A Workshop
• Meagan Kingren, PhD, Post-doctoral fellow (Porter) was accepted to the HSIE T32 program at UAMS for the next 2 years. Meagan was also the recipient of the Shock Society Research Investigator Fellowship.
• Dr. Xiawei Ou, PhD is the 2025 recipient of the Dr. Robert H. Fiser Research Award

2024

• The NIH’s Nutrition for Precision Health, with ACNC as a collaborating center, is highlighted on CBS Sunday Morning
• The ACNC Turned 30
• Craig Porter, Ph.D., was awarded with an R24 award from the NIH to enhance the capability of resources that serve his work in optimizing animal models for translational preclinical research
• Sarah Sobik, M.D., was named Resident Medical Educator of the Year by the UAMS Dept. of Pediatrics.
• Umesh Wankhade, Ph.D., was recognized with a NISBRE 2024 Merit Award for this research on imprinting effects in adipose tissue.
• Taren Swindle, Ph.D., received the 2024 UAMS Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Center Director’s Spotlight Award
• Colin Kay, Ph.D., is the 2024 recipient of the ASN Foundation’s National Scientific Achievement Mary Swartz Rose Senior Investigator Award.
• Mario Ferruzzi, Ph.D., Receives the 2024 Dr. Robert H. Fiser, Jr. Research Achievement Award. Dr. Ferruzzi is the 3rd ACNC faculty member to receive the award in the last five years.
• Good Afternoon Arkansas Appearances
  • Adjusting to Summer Schedules with Audrey Martinez, M.S., RD
  • Mental Health Awareness with Taren Swindle, Ph.D.
  • Getting more movement is a family affair with Lisa Jansen, Ph.D.
  • National Nutrition Month with Lexi Poole, RD LD
  • Stay heart healthy with Sabrina Chambers
  • New Year’s family fitness goals with Clifton Holmes, Ph.D.
  • Plan healthy lunches for back to school with Markie Ballard, M.S., RD, LDN
  • Ways to support lactating mothers with Sarah Sobik, M.D., MPH, FAAP, IBCLC

2023

• Mario Ferruzzi, Ph.D., was invested with the Arkansas Children’s Endowed Chair in Digestive Disease & Nutrition Research
• Brian D. Piccolo, Ph.D. received a UAMS Translational Research Institute KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Scholar Award for his project, “Mechanisms by Which Culturally Specific Foods Influence Infant Gut Development and Barrier Function”
• Elisabet Børsheim, Ph.D., receives the Dr. Robert H. Fiser, Jr. Research Achievement Award, created to honor the accomplishments of an ACRI research scientist who has distinguished themselves through extraordinary scientific research that will have lasting impact on the health, development, and well-being of children and their families.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture selected Aline Andres, Ph.D., to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. 
• The ACNC Welcomed Colin D. Kay, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Scientific Director of the Metabolomics and Analytical Chemistry Core, and Director of Precision Health Research at ACRI.
• Elisabet Børsheim, Ph.D., named inaugural ACRI Director of Research Faculty Development, tasked with developing a formal on-boarding plan for new research faculty and mentoring junior faculty.
• Good Afternoon Arkansas Appearances
  • Healthy Meal Prep with Elizabeth Hayes
  • Making School Lunch Boxes Heathy with Adrienne Keck, M.S.
  • Benefits of Breastfeeding with Dr. Sarah Sobik, M.D.
  • Summer Food Safety with Anni Fuenmayor, M.S.
  • Importance of Physical Activity with Clifton Holmes, Ph.D.
  • Maternal Mental Health with Taren Swindle, Ph.D.
  • Managing Stress Through Exercise with Lisa T. Jansen, Ph.D.
  • Good School Breakfast Options with Markie Campbell, RD LD
  • Heart Healthy Diets with Lexi Poole, RD, LD

2022

• Registered dietitian, Audrey Martinez, M.S., RD, was interviewed on Good Afternoon Arkansas about introducing solid foods to infants
• Aline Andres, Ph.D., receives 2022 American Society for Nutrition’s Nutritional Sciences Award
• The ACNC appointed an External Advisory Committee (EAC) and and held its first meeting in September. Established to aid ACNC leadership in review and assessment of scientific and strategic direction for research, the EAC convenes twice annually.

2020

• Aline Andres, Ph.D., Receives 2020 Fiser Research Achievement Award

2019

• The work of Laxmi Yeruva, Ph.D., received funding through National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health
• Xiawei Ou, Ph.D., received funding from the National Institutes of Health to study how maternal obesity affects babies’ brains
• Clinical research promoter Lauren Ramsey interviewed with KATV’s Elicia Dover on Good Afternoon Arkansas to talk about healthy summer snacks for children
• Physical trainer Alvin Dupens, interviewed with KATV’s Elicia Dover on Good Afternoon Arkansas to demonstrate some exercises for their Workout Wednesday segment
• Clinical research promoter Lauren Ramsey interviewed with KATV’s Elicia Dover on Good Afternoon Arkansas to talk about the Expecting study
• Researchers at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center find correlation between C-sections and baby brain development.
  • The American Journal of Neuroradiology published the manuscript