Latest Showcase Celebrates Arkansas Children’s Research Institute
| Feb. 26, 2026 | The first University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Showcase of Medical Discoveries of 2026 broke new ground as the largest yet since its relaunch, with 35 research poster presentations.
Held Feb. 11 in collaboration with Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI), the showcase focused on impactful discoveries in child health. Attendees mingled among research posters on innovative disease prevention programs, immune engineering breakthroughs, and nurturing maternal and pediatric nutrition and activity on the sunlit 12th floor of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.
The Feb. 11 Showcase was held in collaboration with Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI).
“We were pleased to feature ACRI, an institution that accelerates pediatric research breakthroughs through cutting-edge cores, collaborative networks, and innovative programs across Arkansas,” said Daniel Voth, Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor for Research & Innovation, which sponsors the Showcase of Medical Discoveries series.
“Researchers at ACRI are addressing a wide spectrum of children’s health concerns that impact families throughout our state,” he added. “Through specialized programs and centers, paired with robust mentoring and funding opportunities, ACRI empowers investigators and partnering institutions to pioneer transformative discoveries in child health.”
The showcase partnership with ACRI made sense, Voth said, not just because of the distance between the two institutions — about two miles — but also because of the collaborations and successes that UAMS and ACRI share.
“Collaboration between our institutions is so essential,” said Tamara Perry, M.D., interim president of ACRI and a UAMS professor of pediatrics. “By working together, we can combine our complementary scientific strengths to meaningfully impact the lives of children and families in Arkansas and beyond. Both institutions share a mission of advancing scientific discovery and fostering innovation to improve health and provide the best opportunities for optimal health outcomes. We are eager to grow, strengthen our partnership, and accomplish more together so that can achieve our mission of transforming the health and lives of children and families.”
Aline Andres, Ph.D., R.D., professor of developmental nutrition in the Department of Pediatrics at UAMS and project leader at Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, was a co-author on three posters submitted for the showcase.
Andres’ research program is dedicated to examining the effects of prenatal and postnatal nutrition on offspring growth, body composition, metabolism, and development. Using multidisciplinary approaches, the team also studies how human milk composition and infant formulas support optimal growth, health, and development.
“Team science is critical to our research so that we can achieve a wider impact using multidisciplinary approaches,” she said. “Working with multidisciplinary teams is not only enriching, but they have also been the best and most fun projects I have led. Team science truly elevates the quality, reach, and impact of what we can do. Showcasing our research at this event was a fantastic way to connect with others and learn from them.”
Claire Foster, M.D., is a combined Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Fellow in the Department of Pediatrics at UAMS who treats patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Her research explores school performance in pediatric intensive care unit survivors with the objective of evaluating the association between critical illness or injury and academic achievement. The research indicates that pediatric intensive care unit survivors were less likely to undergo post-admission standardized assessments and exhibited greater declines in math scores.
Poster presentations, such as the Showcase of Medical Discoveries, not only help build collaborations, Foster said, but also help researchers bridge different fields to further their research.
“Some of the things that people have asked as I’ve presented this work are about the science they are interested in or the papers on the subject they’ve read,” Foster said. “Sometimes it is a specific disease of which they are thinking. It might make sense that kids might have problems in school after a neurologic injury, but they’ll ask if I’ve thought about the impact of acute exacerbation of chronic asthma or a hematologic illness. These discussions at presentations deliver new questions.”
Ronald Thompson Jr., Ph.D., used the Showcase to highlight his technology-enhanced, nonmedical prescription drug use prevention intervention for adolescents.
Ronald Thompson Jr., Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UAMS, used his space to highlight his technology-enhanced, nonmedical prescription drug use prevention intervention for adolescents.
Called GUARD (Generating Understanding and Awareness for Responsible Drug Use), it consists of two independent yet complementary research-based components: a video game-based application intervention for adolescents to engage and motivate them while simultaneously promoting pro-health attitudes and behavior, and a video-based educational program for their caregivers.
“The purpose of the intervention is to intervene with adolescents before they’ve started experimenting with prescription drugs,” he said. “There’s a bigger problem with this than most people are aware. We’ve made this game an immersive experience, an actual video game, partnering with Little Rock Games. It instructs kids about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and allows them to experience the consequences of such misuse in a safe, virtual environment, so they know what can happen.”
While two laptops showed loops of the game and videos, Thompson was able to demonstrate his research to visitors at the showcase and truly make his research come alive.
“The Showcase of Medical Discoveries is all about being able to meet people that I would never see because we’re all working in our little silos,” he said. “We can come here and be collegial and have fun.”
View the Feb. 11 Showcase of Medical Discoveries booklet to see all posters.