UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Celebrate Three Honorees at Investiture
| Arkansas Children’s and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) celebrated the investiture of three health care professionals in a ceremony at CALS Ron Robinson Theater on Sept. 27.
The honorees included Mario G. Ferruzzi, Ph.D. as recipient and steward of the Arkansas Children’s Endowed Chair in Digestive Disease & Nutrition Research; Peter Mourani, M.D., as recipient and steward of the Ross and Mary Whipple Family Distinguished Research Scientist Endowed Chair in honor of Richard F. Jacobs, M.D.; and William J. Steinbach, M.D., as the recipient and steward of the Robert H. Fiser Jr., M.D. Endowed Chair in Pediatrics.
“We are fortunate to have such talented and dedicated medical leaders working to advance health care in Arkansas,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “An endowed chair is the highest academic honor a university can bestow. It’s an indication of the work they have done, and it is an investment in their productivity in the future.”
Establishing endowed chairs provides UAMS and Arkansas Children’s the ability to recruit top leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients.
“It is an honor to celebrate the exceptional talents of Dr. Ferruzzi, Dr. Mourani and Dr. Steinbach. I see firsthand how their work and dedication advance the Arkansas Children’s mission, ensuring that all children receive the highest level of care and best outcome,” said Marcy Doderer, FACHE, president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s.
Ferruzi is a professor and chief of the Developmental Nutrition Section in the UAMS Department of Pediatrics. He also serves as director of the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Arkansas Children’s Research Institute and UAMS. His research focuses on how agriculture, food and nutrition are connected and how they affect human health.
Mourani is president of the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute and senior vice president and chief research officer at Arkansas Children’s. He also serves as a professor in the UAMS Department of Pediatrics and practices as a critical care physician at Arkansas Children’s. Mourani is the principal investigator and steering committee member for the prestigious National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-supported Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network.
Steinbach is chair of the Department of Pediatrics and associate dean for Child Health at UAMS. He is the pediatrician-in-chief at Arkansas Children’s. For more than 20 years, Steinbach has led an NIH-funded, multidisciplinary clinical and research program supporting immunosuppressed children. He is the founder and director of the International Pediatric Fungal Network, an NIH-funded global consortium of 55 sites dedicated to investigating invasive fungal infections in children through multi-center studies.