UAMS Invests Corey J. Hayes, Pharm.D., Ph.D., MPH, in Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Professorship
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy invested Corey J. Hayes, Pharm.D., Ph.D., MPH, a tenured associate professor in the UAMS Department of Pharmacy Practice, in the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Professorship during an April 9 ceremony.
“As I look across this room, I am reminded of the people who have been so influential in my journey — I’ve been so lucky to have had so many people positively impact my life, to help me get to where I am today,” said Hayes. “With these professorship funds I hope to do two things: first to pay it forward by investing in the training of future scholars who wish to better the lives of those with substance use disorders, and second, to continue to love others well through service, particularly to those battling addiction.”
Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., presided over the investiture ceremony.Evan Lewis
Hayes holds secondary appointments in the departments of Biomedical Informatics and Psychiatry in the UAMS College of Medicine. He also serves as a research health scientist with the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System’s Center for Mental Healthcare & Outcomes Research and as deputy director of the Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Rural Telehealth Evaluation Center.
“I want to extend my congratulations today to Dr. Corey Hayes for his accomplishments, which have merited this honor,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost and chief strategy officer. “It is particularly meaningful to me as I knew Corey from the time he was a first-year student in the College of Pharmacy, so to see where he is today is just really heartwarming.”
An endowed professorship is among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member. It is a $500,000 endowment established to support the educational, research and clinical activities of its holder, who will lead future innovations in medicine and health care. Those named to a professorship are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields.
The Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Professorship was established in 1986 with an endowment of $125,000 by the Arkansas Office on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention for the development of activities related to alcohol and drug abuse prevention in the College of Pharmacy. Since its creation, the College of Pharmacy has provided supplemental funds so that the professorship remains fully funded. Kim Light, Ph.D., professor emeritus in the College of Pharmacy, was the inaugural holder of the professorship.
“The Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Professorship was the first such endowment within the UAMS College of Pharmacy. This was an early and important investment in a public health challenge that has affected generations of Arkansas and still does,” said Cindy D. Stowe, Pharm.D., dean of the UAMS College of Pharmacy. “From the very beginning, this professorship reflected a forward-thinking commitment to prevention education and intervention in the area of substance use disorders. It is especially fitting that this endowed professorship was created not only to recognize academic excellence but to enable and enhance it, ensuring that that UAMS and the College of Pharmacy would have a dedicated focus on addressing alcohol and drug abuse through scholarship education and service.”
An Arkansas native, Hayes received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia in 2009. In 2013, he received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the UAMS College of Pharmacy and a Master in Public Health degree with an emphasis in epidemiology from the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. From 2013-2016, he practiced as a clinical pharmacist at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. In 2016, he returned to UAMS for additional training, completing a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded T32 Post-Doctoral Fellowship in translational addiction research and a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences with an emphasis in pharmacoepidemiology. He began his career as an assistant professor in the Center for Health Services Research in the Department of Psychiatry of the UAMS College of Medicine and as an investigator with the Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research, which is a national Center of Innovation housed at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
Corey J. Hayes, Pharm.D., Ph.D., MPH, addressed guests at his investiture.Evan Lewis
Hayes’ research goal is to leverage data to improve the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders by generating clinically actionable knowledge that informs clinical practice and improves care and policy. His work focuses on improving policies related to opioid prescribing and developing technology-based interventions for improving treatment of patients with opioid use disorder. He has received research funding through the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Veterans Health Administration, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Justice, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, and other foundation sources.
He has co-authored more than 70 scientific articles in leading health care journals, such as Addiction, the American Journal of Public Health, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and JAMA Network Open. His research has been highlighted in more than 250 articles from top news outlets, such as The New York Times, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, NPR and ABC News. His findings have also been used in the development of over six clinical guidelines related to opioid use, including the CDC’s Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain, and guidelines on opioid and benzodiazepine use from the National Academy of Medicine. His findings have also been used in more than seven national and international policy-related materials issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the CDC, Urban Institute, the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health among others.
“It has been such a pleasure to watch Corey develop into a highly accomplished, nationally known and sought expert in his field,” said Michael Cucciare, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Health Services Research in the UAMS Department of Psychiatry. “I want to express my sincere congratulations to Corey — we are so fortunate to have him in this new role and we’re eager to see the continued impact he will make in the field, on our institution and on the community at large.”
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.###