Grand Rounds June on Arkansas Medical News Inc.

Grand Rounds June

Arkansas Children’s Hospital Receives OptumHealth’s Center Of Excellence Designation For Neonatal Centers Of Excellence Network

LITTLE ROCK — OptumHealth Care Solutions, one of the nation’s largest health and wellness companies, has named Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) a Center of Excellence (COE) for its neonatal intensive care and resource services.

OptumHealth gives the COE designation to medical centers that combine superior clinical care with excellent patient support. COE networks provide members with access to superior medical centers at industry-leading discounts for organ and bone marrow transplantation, cancer, congenital heart disease, neonatology, bariatric surgery and infertility treatment.

Gardner Invested with Inaugural College of Pharmacy Chair

LITTLE ROCK – Stephanie F. Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., dean of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy, was invested April 27 with the college’s inaugural Dean’s Chair.

Income from the endowment will assist Gardner and future deans in supporting new academic programs, faculty recruitment and retention, and student leadership.

Speakers at the event included longtime supporter and pharmacy advocate state Sen. Percy Malone; R. Scott Pace, Pharm.D., executive vice president of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association; Barbara G. Wells, Pharm.D., dean of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy; and UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D.

Gardner joined the UAMS College of Pharmacy in 1991 and subsequently earned a doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She previously earned a bachelor of science in pharmacy and a doctor of pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gardner then completed a research fellowship in Cardiovascular Pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University.

Prior to being appointed dean in 2004, she served as chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice for eight years. She has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, and has published more than 40 abstracts or letters. She is a member of the editorial advisory boards of the Annals of Pharmacotherapy and the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.

Gardner has received several honors at UAMS, including the Senior Clinical Faculty Award and the Most Outstanding Professor in Pharmacy Practice Award. She has served UAMS as chair of both the Committee on Clinical Research and the Council of Deans. Gardner is a member of the UAMS BioVentures Advisory Board, the Arkansas Center for Healthcare Improvement Advisory Board, and has served as director of the Evidence Based Prescription Drug Program.

Gardner was also recently selected to serve a six-year term as a member of the Board of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

UAMS Scientists Find New Genetic Clue for Multiple Myeloma Diagnosis, Treatment

LITTLE ROCK – Multiple myeloma researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently discovered that widespread activity of a specific class of genes can identify aggressive, or high-risk, cases of the disease.

Research led by John D. Shaughnessy Jr., Ph.D., director of the Donna D. and Donald M. Lambert Laboratory for Myeloma Genetics at the UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, pointed to the high level of molecules known as microRNAs in patients with high-risk multiple myeloma.

The discovery could lead to more sensitive tools for diagnosing and treating those with high-risk multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell produced in the bone marrow.

The research was detailed in the article “High-risk myeloma is associated with global elevation of miRNAs and overexpression of EIF2C2/AGO2,” published online the week of April 12 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article can be found at www.pnas.org/content/early/recent.

The abnormal over expression of microRNAs in high-risk multiple myeloma adds to the understanding of disease biology and the extreme variability in patient outcomes, said Shaughnessy, a professor of medicine and biostatistics in the UAMS College of Medicine.

MicroRNAs are small ribonucleic acids (RNA) that contain genetic information transcribed from genes contained in our DNA. It has been shown that deregulation of microRNAs contributes to the initiation or growth of cancer.

Researchers led by Shaughnessy at the Myeloma Institute hypothesized 10 years ago that gene expression profiling of multiple myeloma cells at time of diagnosis might be able to predict a patient’s ultimate response to therapy.

After 10 years of follow-up on more than 1,000 patients receiving uniform treatment, the researchers were able to show that patterns of just 70 of the 25,000 genes tested could predict less aggressive, or low-risk, and more aggressive, or high-risk, forms of the disease. Approximately 20 percent of newly diagnosed cases are thus identified as high-risk.

In the latest research, uniformly high levels of microRNAs in high-risk myeloma patients were found. This finding reveals possible clues to this difficult-to-treat form of the disease, said Shaughnessy.

Other cancers have been linked to altered microRNA levels, Shaughnessy said, but the microRNA levels are more variable, with some being high and some being low in different diseases.

Kathryn Blackman Named Vice President for Patient Clinical Services at St. Bernards

Kathryn Blackman of Jonesboro has been named vice president of patient clinical services at St. Bernards Medical Center.

She will have oversight of St. Bernards emergency department, trauma center, research center, institutional review board, epidemiology, the community training center and clinical, community and corporate education. She also will oversee inpatient dialysis, the Outpatient Dialysis Center in Jonesboro, the Outpatient Dialysis Center in Wynne and nursing at the St. Bernards Behavioral Health Unit.

A nurse by training, Blackman has been on staff at St. Bernards since 1979.

She holds associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Arkansas State University. Chair of the St. Bernards Medical Center ethics standards committee, she is the regional leader for the Northeast Arkansas Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Committee and co-chair of the Arkansas Hospitals Standards Committee for the Arkansas Department of Health and Arkansas Hospital Association.

She holds certifications in healthcare ethics and as a critical care clinical nurse specialist and critical care registered nurse. Her professional memberships include the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the Arkansas State Nurses Association and Sigma Theta Tau International.

Blackman is an advisory board member for the Workforce Training Consortium of Northeast Arkansas and the ASU Technical Institute. She also is a hospice advisory board member and a member of the St. Bernards Development Foundation’s Women’s Advisory Council. She serves on the Local Emergency Planning Committee and is both an American Red Cross and a United Way volunteer.

UAMS Surgeon Kent Westbrook, M.D., Receives BreastCare’s Josetta Wilkins Award

LITTLE ROCK – Kent Westbrook, M.D., distinguished professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has received the Josetta Wilkins Award for professional achievement and leadership in breast health.

The award is presented by BreastCare, a program of the Arkansas Department of Health that provides free breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment services for women who qualify.

A graduate of the UAMS College of Medicine, Westbrook has served on the faculty for more than 40 years. From 1984-1998 he was director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, which he helped co-found and where he was instrumental in establishing the Diseases of the Breast fellowship program and in promoting legislation that led to the formation of BreastCare.

He served as chief of the UAMS Division of Surgical Oncology from 1992-2003 when he was named distinguished professor.

New Plastic Surgeon Joins Staff at St. Bernards Medical Center

Dr. Joel Epperson has joined the medical staff of St. Bernards as a plastic surgeon.

A native Floridian, Epperson grew up in Tampa and earned a bachelor’s degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Ross University School of Medicine.

After serving an internship and residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, he served a residency in general surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He also served a residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Dr. Epperson is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery.

He is accepting patients at Jonesboro Plastic Surgery Associates, 1150 East Matthews Avenue.

Dr. Epperson offers a full range of cosmetic surgery for body contouring, face lifts, breast augmentation and reconstructive surgery and non-surgical enhancements. He also will hold clinics at the St. Bernards Wound Healing Center, working with patients whose wounds won’t heal or whose wounds need coverage.

“I see the plastic surgeon as essentially a problem-solving surgeon,” he says, adding that he uses his skills to restore form and function to a state of being as normal as possible.

He is a member of Healthcare Medical Group (HMG) and St. Bernards Healthcare Associated Regional Providers (SHARP).

Jonesboro Plastic Surgery Associates is located at 1150 East Matthews Ave.

Foundation Gift Tops $1 Million to UAMS AHEC in Jonesboro

JONESBORO – A gift to the University of Arkansas Foundation Inc. from the Judd Hill Foundation Trust today establishes a $1 million endowment for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Northeast in Jonesboro.

The endowment, which constitutes the largest gift to any of the eight UAMS AHECs, was signed at a ceremony attended by UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., Ron Cole, director of AHEC Northeast, Mike Gibson, trustee of the Judd Hill Foundation Trust and other UAMS officials.

Interest earned from the endowment will support the AHEC’s recruitment of students into health care fields and the AHEC’s many education programs, which provide family medicine residency training as well as programs for students of nursing, pharmacy, medicine and allied health care fields.

Rahn thanked Gibson for the Judd Hill Foundation Trust’s 15 years of generous support of the Jonesboro AHEC.

Gibson said the AHEC’s mission fits perfectly with that of the foundation trust and the vision of the late Esther Hill Chapin, who gave her entire estate to the Judd Hill Foundation Trust when she died in 1991.

The Judd Hill Foundation was created by Chapin in 1985. The principal asset of her estate when she died was the 4,000 acre Judd Hill Plantation near Trumann, which was given to her by her father – Judd Hill – as a wedding gift. The farm now produces about 3,800 acres of cotton, corn and soybeans annually.

The UAMS AHECs were set up around the state starting in 1973 to get more family medicine doctors into rural communities. As envisioned, hundreds of family medicine graduates have chosen to stay in their host AHEC communities after fulfilling their three-year residency requirement.

Ron Cole, director of AHEC-Northeast, said that with the nation’s baby boomers set to enter their golden years, it’s imperative that more people be recruited into primary health care fields.

Mark Mengel, M.D., executive director of the UAMS AHEC Program and vice chancellor for Regional Programs, said the support of community partners and philanthropy is critical to all eight AHECs.

He noted that other sources of revenue are declining. For example, after adjusting for inflation, clinical fees paid to primary care physicians has declined 25 percent since 1997. That’s important to the AHECs because 40 percent of the program’s income comes from clinical revenue.

In addition to clinical income, the AHECs rely on funding from the state, 30 percent; local partner hospitals, 25 percent; and grants, contracts and gifts, 5 percent.

HealthCare Plus receives Award of Excellence

Des Arc — Healthcare Plus, in Des Arc, AR, a St. Vincent affiliated clinic, was awarded the Arkansas Chronic Illness Collaborative Award of Excellence. They were also awarded the 2010-2011 grant for the Arkansas Chronic Illness Collaborative Diabetes Prevention and Control Program.

Healthcare Plus participated in the year-long research grant for heart disease and stroke prevention program. They met the three cardiovascular health focus measureable goals. The clinic participated along with twelve other clinics in Arkansas. The grants are presented in three focus areas, diabetes, cardiovascular and comprehensive cancer prevention. Healthcare Plus won the overall division of cardiovascular.

Dr. Johnson Joins Stone County Primary Care Clinic

Mountain View -— The Stone County Primary Care Clinic is pleased to announce the association of Dr. Dwight Johnson, Family Practice.

A lifelong resident of Arkansas, Dr. Johnson received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He completed his residency at the University of Maryland Medical System and is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.

As a family physician, Johnson provides continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. A family physician provides care based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion. He may refer his patient to other specialists or caregivers as needed, but remains the coordinator of the patient’s health care including local hospitalization if needed. The family physician serves as the patient’s advocate to other medical professionals, third party payers, employers and others.

UAMS’ Evans Receives Achievement Award from American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

LITTLE ROCK – Richard P. Evans, M.D., a hip and knee replacement specialist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has received an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Achievement Award.

Evans, an associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine, was recognized for significant national contributions to education, research and advocacy in the surgical specialty of orthopaedics.

Evans has been active at the national level in the orthopaedic surgery discipline, most recently developing a continuing medical education program for orthopedic surgeons that has been adopted in 11 states and by three insurance companies for malpractice insurance premium reduction. The program also is required for certification by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Evans also serves as director of the Evans Staph Infection Research Foundation and as chairman of the AAOS Patient Safety Committee. In addition, he has been an appointed member of the task force that developed the AAOS Guidelines on Peri-prosthetic Infections of the Hip and Knee and is a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.

Evans joined the UAMS faculty in 2006 and also serves as director of the UAMS Center for Hip and Knee Surgery and Chief of Adult Reconstruction.

Garg Joins UAMS Myeloma Institute as Research Professor

LITTLE ROCK – Tarun Garg, Ph.D., has joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) working in the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy.

Garg, appointed as a research professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Myeloma Institute in 2009. He works with Frits van Rhee, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and director of clinical research for the Myeloma Institute, on research on natural killer cell therapy development for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood’s plasma cells.

Garg earned his doctorate in zoology in 1992 from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. Before completing his postdoctoral fellowship at the Myeloma Institute, he completed a fellowship in 2005 in the UAMS Department of Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences.