Friends of UAMS – Jonesboro Meets at Rotary Club
| March 11, 2016 | More than 125 business and community leaders and members of the Rotary Club of Jonesboro enjoyed an afternoon of food and conversation March 8, during the second gathering of the Friends of UAMS – Jonesboro Chapter.
![The Friends of UAMS-Joneboro Chapter and the Rotary Club of Jonesboro meet for lunch March 8 in the St. Bernards Auditorium in Jonesboro.](https://news.uams.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Jonesboro-group-300x135.jpg)
The Friends of UAMS-Joneboro Chapter and the Rotary Club of Jonesboro meet for lunch March 8 in the St. Bernards Auditorium in Jonesboro.
The noontime event was held during the rotary club’s weekly meeting at the St. Bernards Auditorium in Jonesboro, adjacent to the St. Bernards Medical Center campus. Beverly Parker, rotary club president, welcomed UAMS and its guests.
University of Arkansas Board of Trustees Chairman Ben Hyneman and UAMS Northeast Director Ron Cole were in attendance.
Dean Lee, Ed.D., UAMS executive director of alumni and constituent relations, discussed the Friends of UAMS initiative and introduced Peter Emanuel, M.D., executive director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.
![Peter Emanuel, M.D., executive director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, shakes hands with Jared Woodard at the Jonesboro luncheon.](https://news.uams.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Jonesboro-Emanuel-Woodard-300x222.jpg)
Peter Emanuel, M.D., left, executive director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, shakes hands with Jared Woodard at the Jonesboro luncheon.
Emanuel spoke about recent advances in cancer research and treatment. He noted that many of these advances are made possible by patients participating in clinical trials.
He added that the Cancer Institute is working toward gaining National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. “For cancer patients, that means Arkansans would have better access to clinical trials,” he said.
Other Friends of UAMS chapters are already established in Texarkana, Batesville and Monticello, and more are planned. In the next few months new events will kick off in Pine Bluff, Batesville, Helena-West Helena, Hot Springs and Fort Smith.