UAMS Invests Shashank Kraleti, M.D., in Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine invested Shashank Kraleti, M.D., in the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine during an April 10 ceremony.
Kraleti is chair of the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine and serves as the director of primary care clinical services, providing oversight for clinical and population health initiatives for Arkansas. Further, he is the senior vice president for UAMS Health.
In his 15 years at UAMS, Kraleti has earned an outstanding reputation for transformational leadership in teaching, mentorship, residency training, informatics, clinical care, scholarly activity, population health initiatives and family medicine.
“It is an honor to occupy the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine and to follow the likes of Dr. Garnett and the previous chairholders,” said Kraleti. “Family medicine is a noble profession filled with intelligent, generous, warm-hearted people who know the discipline of walking with others along the road to better health and better lives. I am truly honored to lead the Family Medicine team at UAMS as we engage in this work together.”
An endowed chair is among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member. An endowed 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.
“Endowed chairs and professorships are the ways UAMS denotes the highest level of academic excellence,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “Shashank, I’d like to congratulate you on this very important moment in your career, and I want to thank you for your service to UAMS.”
The Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine was established through a gift from the late Rose Kirkpatrick Garnett, the daughter-in-law of Algernon Sidney Garnett, M.D., to honor his memory. The Centennial Chair of the Arkansas Caduceus Club solicited gifts and pledges from faculty, UAMS College of Medicine alumni and Arkansas physicians, which were added to the original bequest. Before his death in 1919, Garnett practiced medicine in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for 45 years and was the driving force behind the establishment of the Army-Navy Hospital in Hot Springs in 1882.
“Endowed chairs help UAMS improve our programs and services for Arkansas year in and year out, which is especially important when other resources are limited,” said Steven Webber, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine and UAMS executive vice chancellor. “The cumulative and compounding impact of these gifts is enormous, because this support continues in perpetuity through the earnings on the endowment. It is truly an honor today to celebrate the generosity and philanthropic spirit that created this chair and ensured its legacy through the years.”
Kraleti graduated from Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, India, in 2005. In 2009, he entered the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program and joined the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine as an assistant professor in 2012.
From 2016 to 2023, Kraleti was the director of the Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program, where he held the Jack W. Kennedy Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine. He is a graduate of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors National Institute for Program Director Development, a graduate of the LEADS fellowship from the Association of Departments of Family Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Additionally, he is widely recognized as a leader in clinical informatics, having completed a three-year practice pathway fellowship in informatics and serving on informatics leadership groups.
Kraleti’s excellence has been recognized nationally, including honors such as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine New Faculty Scholar Award, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors Program Director Recognition Award, and the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors/American
Academy of Family Physicians Award for Scholarship. In several cases, Kraleti was the first Arkansan to win these awards. At UAMS, his recognitions include the UAMS Residency Educator Award and the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Outstanding Teaching Award.
“Dr. Kraleti, seeing you grow and develop into the person you are today has been gratifying, and I am pleased to have been your colleague,” said James W. Tysinger, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the Long School of Medicine, University of Texas Health – San Antonio. “You have a bright future, and always being an ideal team player has served you well. I know everyone will support you through both good and trying times.”
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.###