Inside News

May 21, 2019

UAMS Showcase of Medical Discoveries Celebrates Garcia-Rill Legacy

David Robinson

Center for Translational Neuroscience Director Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D., with Vice Chancellor for Research Shuk-Mei Ho, Ph.D.

The UAMS Showcase of Medical Discoveries on May 15 was a celebration of UAMS’ first Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), which brought in more than $21 million in research funding to UAMS over the last 15 years. UAMS’ Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D., secured the COBRE funding to establish the Center for Translational Neuroscience (CTN). The program…

UAMS Financial Picture Much Improved, Patterson Says

Yavonda Chase

Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, told employees at a May 14 town hall that UAMS has a much brighter financial picture than it did 18 months ago.

Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, and other senior leaders told employees Tuesday that the financial picture for UAMS is much brighter than it was in fiscal year 2018.

May 20, 2019

UAMS Graduates 864 Health Care Professionals

Spencer Watson

Sharanda Williams (center), director of Academic Affairs in the UAMS College of Medicine, stands as marshal with students ready to receive their diplomas.

Degrees and certificates were awarded to 864 graduates of the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) five colleges and graduate school May 18 during a commencement ceremony at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. Degrees were presented to 165 in the College of Medicine, 229 in the College of Nursing, 111 in the College of…

May 16, 2019

UAMS Celebrates National Nurses Week

Spencer Watson

A decorated table offers cupcakes for dessert during a lunch and learn panel held during Nurses Week.

A week of educational talks, events, awards and discounts marked the many ways in which UAMS celebrated National Nurses Week May 4-10 including weekends, nights and off-site clinics. “Nursing requires a tremendous amount of compassion, spending your entire day attending to the needs of others,” said Trenda Ray, Ph.D., RN, associate vice chancellor for patients…

Team UAMS Members Turn Out for Charity Walks

Yavonda Chase

Team UAMS at the Parkinson’s Foundation Moving Day Little Rock on April 27.

Dozens of members of Team UAMS participated in various Central Arkansas walks in April, raising money for health care causes close to their hearts.

May 9, 2019

UAMS Establishes Center for Dietary Supplements Research

Ashley McNatt

CDSR

A new center to provide regulatory agencies, industry and the public with credible information and assessments related to the safety of dietary supplements has been established by the colleges of Public Health and Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

UAMS Celebrates Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Spencer Watson

Members of the Ozark Islanders dance group perform at the Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration.

Guests took a tour of southeast Asia and the islands of the western Pacific Ocean as panelists from the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, India and the Marshall Islands shared the experiences and memories of their native cultures and countries recently at UAMS The May 1 event, “Our Voices, Our Stories,” was part of the seventh annual…

May 8, 2019

Cancer Researchers Form Collaborations, Share Insight at Inaugural Retreat

Susan Van Dusen

UAMS cancer researchers gathered May 2 for the inaugural Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Research Retreat.

With about 125 cancer researchers and clinical scientists gathered in one spot, new ideas and collaborations are bound to develop.

May 3, 2019

FCC Commissioner Impressed by UAMS Digital Health Initiatives

Ben Boulden

May 3, 2019 | UAMS’ pioneering work in bringing health care to those who need it through digital health applications has drawn the attention of a top federal official who traveled from Washington D.C. to UAMS recently to see for herself. Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, visited April 29 with UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA; guests of the university; and leaders of UAMS’ new Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, including institute director Curtis Lowery, M.D. “We are 46th out of 50 states in health outcomes,” Patterson said. “UAMS needs to change that for the better, and we won’t do it just by staying in Pulaski County.” Telemedicine allows health professionals to diagnose and treat patients not physically present by using telecommunications technology, such as live video. It allows UAMS to extend its presence beyond its main campus and regional campuses. The creation of the institute, under the leadership of Patterson and Lowery, was announced in February and builds upon several telemedicine programs already in place, including ANGELS for high-risk pregnancy, AR SAVES for stroke, STAR for rural School-Based Health Centers and more. The institute connects the majority of hospitals and clinics across the state with telemedicine through interactive video and other digital services. Lowery gave a brief presentation to Rosenworcel about the history of digital health and telemedicine at UAMS. Lowery, Tina Benton, B.S.N., and a small team of clinicians and staff in 2003 founded ANGELS to bring maternal-fetal medicine to women with high-risk pregnancies who did not live near such a specialist. ANGELS (the Antenatal and Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning System) is an innovative consultative service for a wide range of physicians including family practitioners, obstetricians, neonatologists and pediatricians in Arkansas. An ANGELS obstetrician can talk to a pregnant mother via a live video connection and watch an ultrasound image of her baby from a local hospital so she can avoid traveling to Little Rock hours away. Lowery said the institute is doing a pilot study to see if ANGELS’ live video consultations can help during an emergency labor-and-delivery. “That’s the only way you’re going to do anything about it,” Lowery said. “By the time you transfer a mother from that smaller hospital, we might lose her because of excessive bleeding. I think in the next year we’re going to explore the idea of delivering blood by using drones. It could make a real difference when a hospital doesn’t have the blood for a massive loss.” Rosenworcel said she was intrigued by the idea of using drones to facilitate the transportation of blood and transplant organs. During her visit, she observed a live ANGELS consultation with a pregnant mother in another Arkansas town and toured the 24-hour call center that routes calls for ANGELS and other telemedicine programs like Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support (AR SAVES). Renee Joiner, B.S.N., AR SAVES director, briefed Rosenworcel about the stroke telemedicine program. UAMS started AR SAVES in 2008 to provide telemedicine consultations with stroke neurologists at any time via live video. Through this service, almost 2,000 patients have received a clot-busting drug that often restores complete function to the patient. Arkansas recently fell to seventh in the nation in the number of stroke deaths per capita after many years in first place, a huge improvement credited in part to the efforts of AR SAVES. “I went down to Crossett on Friday and met a 27-year-old gentleman who had a stroke and went to the Ashley County Medical Center,” Patterson said. “He was treated through AR SAVES. Without this, he probably would have been a paraplegic and unable to work.” Rosenworcel learned about the trauma telemedicine program and the School Telemedicine in Arkansas (STAR) program, the first-ever effort to bring telemedicine care to Arkansas’ rural School-Based Health Centers. STAR two years ago rolled out the Healthy Now initiative for obesity reduction and prevention. Graduate students from the University of Central Arkansas and a UAMS nutritionist engage the students in one-on-one telemedicine encounters. “We piloted the program in the Magazine School District,” said Alan Faulkner, a program manager for the institute. “With two groups of participating students, 51% in one group reduced their weight, and 66% in another group reduced their weight.” Rosenworcel said she found those numbers to be very impressive. She was also given an overview of the Arkansas e-Link network by network director Roy Kitchen. The network was created from a $102 million grant awarded in August 2010 to UAMS and partner institutions through the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program Comprehensive Community Infrastructure grant. Led by UAMS, e-Link uses high-speed data transmission lines to connect about 400 community institutions for videoconferencing between medical professionals, patients and doctors and others along with the real-time exchange of patient data and readings. “Your approach has been great,” Rosenworcel said. “Instead of building a network and then finding problems to solve with it, you identified many real problems in public health and specific ways a digital health network can be used to solve them.” Rosenworcel especially enjoyed being able to meet an ANGELS patient via live video and observe the patient’s telemedicine consultation. “We are becoming one of the most connected states in the nation, and we believe with that we can use digital health to improve the health and quality of life of Arkansans,” Lowery said.

UAMS’ pioneering work in bringing health care to those who need it through digital health applications has drawn the attention of a top federal official who traveled from Washington D.C. to UAMS recently to see for herself. Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, visited April 29 with UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D.,…

May 2, 2019

UAMS Volunteers Provide Physicals for Special Olympics Athletes

Spencer Watson

UAMS volunteers administer a vision screening for a Special Olympics athlete.

Like a school gym on tryout day, the waiting room of the UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center was abuzz with energy as dozens of young athletes waited their turn to take a physical that would clear them for sporting competition. Some were a bundle of nerves. Others were relaxed and all smiles. But…


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