HJAR Nov/Dec 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  NOV / DEC 2020 33 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com Medicine Department of Physiology and Biophys- ics, serves as principal investigator and director of Arkansas INBRE. “With this new funding, we will transition our proteomics resource to an NIH National Resource and expand our ability to provide highly advanced research support to scientists in under- funded areas throughout the United States,” said Tackett, who holds the Scharlau Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research at UAMS. Salman Zahoor, MD, Joins UAMS as Neurologist Salman Zahoor, MD, has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as a fellow- ship-trained neurologist specializing in epilepsy. Zahoor is a board-certified neurologist with fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology and the management of epilepsy. He graduated from Rawalpindi Medical College in Pakistan. He completed a neurology residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich., where he was chief resident. He completed fellowships in clin- ical neurophysiology and epilepsy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where he served as a chief fellow. He also is an assistant professor in the Depart- ment of Neurology in the UAMS College of Medicine. Washington Regional Opens Integrative Gynecology Clinic Washington Regional Integrative Gynecology Clinic, located at 3561 Johnson Mill Blvd., Ste. 102 in Johnson, is now serving patients. Kris- tin Markell, MD, a board-certified gynecologist, provides gynecology services using integrative, functional, and conventional medicine techniques to evaluate and discover the root cause of gyne- cological symptoms. Integrative medicine incorporates nutrition, supplements and herbal support, movement, mind-body care, and specialized functional test- ing recommendations. Markell earned a medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at UAMS where she served as co-chief resident. She is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology. State Awarded $21MGrant to Grow Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment Programs The State of Arkansas has been awarded $21 million in grant funding to increase access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid and stimulant abuse, expand treatment options, and reduce opioid and stimulant overdose deaths over the next two years, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) announced Monday. “Arkansas is one of four states that has reduced the number of fatal drug overdoses over the past year,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. “This confirms that our programs are working. This grant will enhance our efforts to educate and save lives.” The State Opioid Response grant from the Sub- stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin- istration (SAMHSA) will fund 10 different projects in Arkansas that fall into one of three categories- -prevention, treatment, and recovery. “With this additional funding, we can build upon the work we’ve already done to address opioid addiction and ensure that services are available all across the state, especially in rural areas that may have limited access today,” said Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane, who works with the DHS Division of Adult, Aging, and Behavioral Health Services (DAABHS). “Substance Use Dis- order affects people from all walks of life, and it’s going to take a strategic and coordinated effort to address the problem.” Lane said DHS is working with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Arkansas Community Correction on some of these projects. Included funding will be used to: • Increase access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) by recruiting and supporting new MAT providers. Since staff began working on this issue a year and a half ago, the num- ber of doctors who can provide this treat- ment has gone from 75 to 360. • Continue to reduce unmet treatment and recovery needs, with a focus on rural areas of the state. • Reduce opioid overdose deaths utilizing and empowering the use of naloxone • Reducing the stigma that surrounds sub- stance use disorder • Expand the use of peer recovery work, which uses people with lived substance use disorder experiences who have been in recovery for at least two years to connect with and support others who are struggling. • Continue outreach and education about Substance Use Disorder aimed at the aging population, college students, and prescrib- ing communities. UAMS Researchers Awarded $11.4MGrant to Continue Study of Cancer Therapy Side Effects Led by Marjan Boerma, PhD, a team of Uni- versity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researchers has received a five-year $11.4 million grant to continue research into the side effects of cancer therapies, including radiation and chemotherapies. The Centers for Biomedical Research Excel- lence (COBRE), a program of the National Insti- tute of General Medical Sciences, awarded the grant. The COBRE researchers at UAMS work in the Center for Studies of Host Response to Salman Zahoor, MD Kristin Markell, MD