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Nikki Edge, Ph.D., (center) was joined by Cathy Cole Seilhan and Denton Seilhan, who established the endowed chair in honor of Edge.
Image by Evan Lewis
UAMS Invests Nikki Edge, Ph.D., in Newly Established Seilhan Endowed Chair for Child and Family Resilience
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine invested Nicola “Nikki” Edge, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of research in the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, in the Cathy Cole Seilhan and Denton Seilhan Endowed Chair for Child and Family Resilience during an April 17 ceremony. Edge is the inaugural holder of the endowed chair.
“Supportive relationships will allow our research community to weather any adversity that may lie ahead and emerge resilient, not just surviving, but thriving — our sincere thanks to each person in this room who helps form this critical web of supportive relationships,” said Edge. “I am grateful to you all for being here today and for helping us celebrate the gift from Cathy Cole Seilhan and Denton Seilhan that created this chair and all that it means for children and families in Arkansas.”
Nikki Edge, Ph.D., (seated) was invested into the endowed chair by Steven Webber, M.D., and Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA.
Edge noted that supportive relationships, such as health care providers, educators and advocates, are critical not only to the development of resilience in individual children but also to developing resilient organizations and communities.
Edge also serves as director of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Research and Evaluation Division. She joined UAMS in 1996 as a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry.
“Endowed chairs are a prestigious honor and as such they help us recruit and retain world-class educators, scientists and clinicians like Nikki Edge, and just as importantly, they support the vital work and vision of the faculty who hold them,” said Steven Webber, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine and UAMS executive vice chancellor. “It’s a great pleasure to honor the outstanding colleague who will be the inaugural holder of this endowed chair, so again, congratulations to Nikki.”
An endowed chair is among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member. A chair is established with gifts of at least $1 million, which are invested and the interest proceeds used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields.
“Nikki, I want to thank you for everything that you’ve done for UAMS, for the people you care for as well as for the state of Arkansas. This is an enormous honor but it’s an honor that you deserve so very well,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “I’d like to thank Cathy and Denton Seilhan who have a particular commitment to issues related to childhood well-being, and this chair will further your concern and your support in this area. Your family has consistently dedicated itself to doing good, and we are so fortunate to have you as part of our family.”
During the ceremony, Nikki Edge was able to share her vision for the endowed chair.
Edge also thanked the couple for their “commitment to fostering resiliency in children and families.”
“Like my mom, Cathy spent many years as an educator, serving as a resiliency factor in the lives of many children, and now in her retirement, she continues to support children and families in new ways,” Edge said. “Denton similarly uses his time and energy to support some of our most vulnerable children as a court appointed special advocate for children in foster care. They both work to build resilient communities by supporting groups and institutions like their public libraries, their local community mental health center and now this generous gift to UAMS.”
In 1995, Edge was completing a master’s degree in education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, when a chance meeting with Leanne Whiteside-Mansell, Ed.D., changed her career plans. Whiteside-Mansell offered Edge a job as a graduate assistant at UAMS and later encouraged her to enroll at the University of Memphis in Tennessee to complete her doctorate in educational psychology and research. Edge completed her Ph.D. in 2000 and joined the UAMS faculty. Whiteside-Mansell would go on to serve as Edge’s primary mentor for 25 years. After Edge moved to the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine in 2011, they established the Research and Evaluation Division at UAMS, growing it into a thriving division that today includes seven faculty and more than 50 staff.
The ceremony honoring Nikki Edge was a well-attended affair.Evan Lewis
Edge’s research focuses primarily on understanding the factors that place children at risk for less optimal emotional health and well-being, including child maltreatment and traumatic experiences, and translating research into community-based interventions that support child resilience. She has led or contributed to more than 45 extramural grant awards, totaling more than $75 million from federal, state, foundation and philanthropic sources. She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and provided over 150 presentations at national and international meetings. She has served on the editorial board of Infant Mental Health Journal, the leading journal for relational health of young children.
One of her biggest career achievements has been the development and direction of Project PLAY (Positive Learning for Arkansas’ Youngest), the state’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation program, which provides intervention for children at risk for expulsion from early care and education programs due to early emerging social and emotional concerns. Under her leadership, this program has been nationally recognized for research demonstrating positive outcomes and innovative work to support children in foster care. In 2021, she extended her work to the K-12 school system, with the launch of the Arkansas Trauma Resource Initiative for Schools (TRIS), which provides training and resources to school personnel in Arkansas to prepare them to recognize and respond to the impact of trauma on students.
“Nikki has established herself as a leading researcher in understanding and addressing factors that place children at risk for poor social and emotional outcomes,” said Deborah F. Perry, Ph.D., research professor at the Thrive Center for Children, Families & Communities at Georgetown University. “The world is truly a better place because of Nikki and her research, and with this generous gift, her work will continue to flourish.”
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 3,553 students and 902 medical residents and fellows. It is the state’s largest public employer with about 12,000 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.###