UAMS’ Childs Leads National Scientific Group
| LITTLE ROCK – Gwen Childs, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine, has been elected president of the American Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Neurobiology Chairpersons.
Childs began her term in 2009 for the organization that represents academic leaders in the disciplines of anatomy, cell biology and neurobiology at medical schools across the country. She recently presided over the organization’s winter conference where she organized a program on techniques to promote chair and faculty development across both academic and research.
Childs has served as chair of the UAMS Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences since 2000. From 2006-2009, she has been given a Red Sash award by the graduating medical class as one of the faculty members who most influenced them during their time at UAMS. In 2009, she received the Outstanding Woman Faculty Award from UAMS for her achievements in scholarship and mentoring.
Her research interests include neuroendocrinology, anterior pituitary cytochemistry and cytophysiology. She is primary investigator on two National Institutes of Health-funded projects worth nearly $2 million and serving as a mentor on another NIH-funded grant.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 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 the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 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. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.