December 26, 2024

Gail Runnells, RN, Wins 2024 Bonny Hope Wallace Award

David Robinson

Gail Runnells, RN (left), receives the Bonny Hope Wallace Award from Jennifer McClusky, UAMS research compliance manager.

Gail Runnells, RN, a clinical research nurse manager at the UAMS Translational Research Institute, recently received the 2024 Bonny Hope Wallace Award for her outstanding work as a research coordinator, mentor and manager.


December 17, 2024

Community Partner Celebration Honors Efforts to Address Critical Health Challenges

David Robinson

The Olly Neal Community Health Center, represented by (l-r) LaFay Broadway and Cassandra Franklin, received the Research Partner of the Year Award. Laura James, M.D., TRI director, and Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D., director of TRI’s Community Engagement Core, presented the award.

The Ninth Annual Translational Research Institute Community Partner Celebration on Dec. 6 brought attendees from across Arkansas to recognize the pivotal role of community partnerships in advancing research and improving health. Organized by the institute’s Community Engagement Core, the event at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock drew more than 80 attendees representing…


December 12, 2024

UAMS Receives $3 Million NIH Grant for Novel Pituitary Gland Research

David Robinson

The multidisciplinary UAMS research team is testing promising findings that could lead to better treatments for hormone loss caused by a malfunctioning pituitary gland. Team members include (l-r) Angela Odle, Ph.D., Angus MacNicol, Ph.D., Melanie MacNicol, Ph.D., and Gwen Childs, Ph.D. Not pictured is Stephanie Byrum, Ph.D.

LITTLE ROCK — A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) research team has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test promising findings that could lead to better treatments for hormone loss caused by a malfunctioning pituitary gland. The five-year R01grant from the NIH National Institute of…


November 22, 2024

UAMS Employees, Public Join National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program during Exhibit Tour

David Robinson

Robin Camp, RN (left), assisted by Belen Castres, the All of Us tour manager, said she was interested in joining the research program as soon as she heard about it.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) hosted the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Journey, a traveling research exhibit, Nov. 12 – 15. The interactive exhibit drew 120 visitors, with 40 people enrolling in the NIH’s All of Us Research Program before the tour left Little Rock. Among them was Robin…


November 8, 2024

UAMS to Host National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program Mobile Tour on Nov. 12-15

David Robinson

A diverse group of smiling young people talk as they exit a building and walk down stairs.

LITTLE ROCK — The public is invited to visit the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Journey, a traveling, hands-on exhibit, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Little Rock campus Tuesday, Nov. 12 through Friday, Nov. 15. The exhibit, at 324 W. Campus Drive, will be open to the public…


75 Years after Accident, UAMS Surgeons, I³R Researchers Restore Greenwood Pastor’s Sense of Touch, Ability to Grip

David Robinson

Dewey Hickey was amazed at how his prosthetic hand system helped him repair his bait casting reel.

As Dewey Hickey took apart and reassembled a bait casting reel using an experimental prosthetic hand system, he marveled at the revolutionary technology that made it possible. “It amazes me,” said Hickey, who in January 2023 became the first Arkansan and only the second person in the world to receive the device, which restored his…


October 29, 2024

TRI-Supported Researcher Megha Sharma, M.D., Published in Pediatrics

David Robinson

Megha Sharma, M.D., poses with a poster about her Implementation Science Scholars project.

A successful effort at UAMS to reduce the amount of blood taken for lab tests from premature infants has been published in the journal Pediatrics. The project was led by Megha Sharma, M.D., a neonatologist and associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. Her work was conducted in the UAMS Neonatal Intensive…


October 4, 2024

Research Leader Tells Conference Attendees that Networks Are Key to Solving ‘Wicked’ Health Problems

David Robinson

Neal Halfon, M.D., MPH, speaks to attendees of the Advancing Arkansas Lifespan Research Conference.

Lifespan research may span cradle to grave, but for Neal Halfon, M.D., MPH, the top priority is addressing complex problems that often begin prenatally, preventing children from thriving and leading to long-term health issues. A major thought leader in children’s health policy and health system change from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Halfon…


October 1, 2024

NIH Awards UAMS $3.7 Million in Quest for More Effective Tuberculosis Vaccine

David Robinson

Lu Huang, Ph.D., center, with his lab team at UAMS (front, l-r): J. Tucker Andrews and Ananya Ranaraja; and (back, l-r): Grant Dawson and Jilliyn Jeu.

LITTLE ROCK — UAMS researcher Lu Huang, Ph.D., has received a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support his pursuit of a more effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, a feat that has eluded scientists for more than 100 years. The five-year grant from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious…


September 17, 2024

UAMS Study to Address Maternal, Infant Deaths with $2.4 Million Federal Grant

David Robinson

UAMS' Stefanie Kennon-McGill, Ph.D., is leading the four-year study, which she hopes will deliver sustainable solutions to high maternal and infant death rates in the Delta. Arkansas has the highest maternal death rate in the U.S., and pregnant Black women die at nearly twice the rate as pregnant white women.

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will receive up to $2.4 million over the next four years to test prevention strategies for reducing high rates of maternal and infant deaths in the Arkansas Delta. The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will fund a combination…



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