Translational Research Institute


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…


November 8, 2024

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…


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…


September 3, 2024

UAMS Receives $3 Million NIH Grant to Address Feeding Practices at Early Child Care Sites

David Robinson

UAMS' Taren Massey-Swindle, Ph.D. (right), with her collaborator, Julie Rutledge, Ph.D., from Louisiana Tech University.

LITTLE ROCK — University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher Taren Massey-Swindle, Ph.D., and a Louisiana Tech University collaborator have secured a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address feeding practices at 80 early childhood care and education sites in Arkansas and Louisiana. Massey-Swindle and Julie Rutledge, Ph.D., from…


June 14, 2024

Breakthrough Device Implant at UAMS Restores Young Woman’s Pain-Free Life

David Robinson

Jolee Camp, here on her parents' farm, is grateful for having access to a cutting-edge device study at UAMS that has cured her disabling back condition.

Jolee Camp was a thriving 15-year-old who dreamed of becoming a professional dancer and enjoyed hunting, fishing and working on her family’s farm in Lonoke when she was suddenly disabled by unexplained low back pain. “She spent her senior year in a wheelchair,” said her mother, B.J. Camp, who took her daughter from doctor to…


May 9, 2024

UAMS’ Holly Maples, Pharm.D., Recognized by National Society for Effort to Improve Antibiotic Utilization in Pediatric UTIs

David Robinson

Holly Maples, Pharm.D., presented her award-winning poster at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Spring 2024 Conference.

Holly Maples, Pharm.D., an associate professor in the UAMS College of Pharmacy, was recently recognized by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America for having a top featured poster abstract, which she presented at the society’s Spring 2024 Conference. The recognition stems from her work as a UAMS Translational Research Institute Implementation Science Scholar. The…


April 9, 2024

National Journal Devotes Issue to Project Led by TRI’s Laura James, M.D.

David Robinson

UAMS Translational Research Institute Director Laura James, M.D., led a team of five guest editors from institutions across the United States who were published on their efforts to improve clinical trials.

UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) Director Laura James, M.D., concluded her tenure as co-chair of the national Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA) Steering Committee in December with an effort aimed at making clinical trials more informative and of higher quality. Her work, and those of other CTSA leaders, appears in a themed issue of…



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