Klimberg Named UAMS Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – V. Suzanne Klimberg, M.D., today became the recipient of the Muriel Balsam Kohn Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).


   


Klimberg is chief of the Division of Breast Surgical Oncology at UAMS and a professor in the Departments of Surgery and Pathology. She also is director of the Breast Cancer Program at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute as well as director of Breast Fellowship in Diseases of the Breast at UAMS.


 


“Dr. Klimberg is a champion for breast cancer patients and survivors,” said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. “She fights tirelessly to ease the burden of this disease, which affects so many of our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters. We honor her today for her compassionate patient care and her pioneering research that has changed the way we look at breast cancer.”


 


The endowed chair is the result of a gift from the Tenenbaum Foundation. The foundation’s primary objectives include providing humanitarian assistance to residents of central Arkansas, promoting awareness of breast cancer and funding research to reduce or eliminate deaths from the disease.


 


The chair is named in honor of Muriel Balsam Kohn, mother of Judy Tenenbaum, who died of breast cancer in 1993.


 


Klimberg is well recognized for her breast cancer research initiatives, including a study funded by the Tenenbaum Breast Cancer Research Foundation of breast cancer patients at risk for developing lymphedema. To prevent the arm swelling, Klimberg developed the Axillary Reverse Mapping (ARM) procedure. The new technique evaluates the ways in which fluid drains through the lymph node system in the arm.


 


Klimberg also pioneered the use of a procedure known as radiofrequency ablation for breast cancer patients. The procedure is designed to reduce or eliminate the need for follow-up surgery, reduce recurrence of breast cancer at the original site, and even reduce the need for radiation treatment.


 


Results of the study from UAMS found that 91 percent of breast cancer patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery followed by radiofrequency ablation did not require a second surgery to remove additional malignant tissue. UAMS is the first hospital to use the procedure to treat breast cancer.


 


An endowed chair is the highest academic honor that can be bestowed by a university on its faculty. The first named chair was established in England in 1502, when Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, established the Lady Margaret Professorships of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge. An endowed chair at UAMS is supported with designated gifts of $1 million or more. A donor may name a chair in memory of a loved one or to honor a person’s accomplishments.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,538 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. For more information, visit www.uams.edu.