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Alan Diekman, Ph.D.
UAMS’ Alan Diekman, Ph.D., Receives National Mentoring Award
| LITTLE ROCK — The Urology Care Foundation, the official foundation of the American Urological Association and the world’s leading nonprofit urological health foundation, recently awarded its Distinguished Mentor Award to Alan B. Diekman, Ph.D., at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Diekman is a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Department of Urology.
The foundation recognized him May 14 at its annual meeting in New Orleans as one of a handful of recipients of the 2022 Research Awards of Distinction, which acknowledge outstanding contributions to urology research and recognize the dedication of exemplary research mentors and the efforts of talented early-career scholars.
The Distinguished Mentor Award was established in 2003 to recognize researchers and physician scientists who have an outstanding track record of fostering the next generation of research by continually providing an excellent training environment and guidance to early-career investigators.
“Since the inception of the American Urological Association’s Summer Medical Student Fellowship program, Dr. Alan Diekman and the Arkansas Urologic Society have been national leaders in engaging medical students in urologic research,” said Timothy Langford, M.D., professor and chair of the UAMS Department of Urology. “Dr. Diekman’s dedication and leadership have been instrumental in starting and sustaining this program, which has enriched the education of numerous medical students. His students consider him a caring and enthusiastic mentor.”
“Dr. Diekman is well-regarded as one of the best educators at UAMS,” said Kevin Raney, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “He is also an excellent scientist with broad expertise. In addition to graduate students, he routinely hosts medical students in his research lab where his focus is on molecular mechanisms in reproductive biology.”
Raney added, “Dr. Diekman works directly with students. His knowledge and his research area are attractive to students with interests in urology, but it is the personal interactions with the students that makes him a great mentor. Dr. Diekman’s receipt of the Distinguished Mentor Award is a tribute to his dedication to the teaching and research missions of UAMS.”
“I was honored and humbled to receive this recognition,” Diekman said. “I owe a great deal of gratitude to my own mentors, both formal and informal, who have guided and advised me during my career. Their example instilled me with a commitment to the training of the next generation of scientific investigators. I am also thankful for a wonderful group of research trainees whose intellectual curiosity and energy are an inspiration.”
Diekman was also honored at the College of Medicine Honors Convocation on May 20, where he received his ninth consecutive and 10th overall Golden Apple Award from the freshman class. In 2020, he received the COM Master Teacher Award.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.
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