HJAR Mar/Apr 2021

28 MAR / APR 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs Arkansas Hospice Names Shannon Boshears Vice President, Chief Philanthropy Officer Arkansas Hospice announced that Shannon Boshears, CFRE, has been named vice president and chief philanthropy officer for the organiza- tion. She will oversee all fundraising, gift admin- istration, and strategic direction for the Arkan- sas Hospice Foundation while working alongside organizational leadership to provide support for the programs and services of Arkansas Hospice. Boshears most recently served as vice-chancel- lor of advancement for the University of Arkansas - Pulaski Technical College (UA-PTC) and execu- tive director, UA - Pulaski Technical College Foun- dation. During her six years at UA-PTC, Boshears was the chief development and communications administrator providing executive leadership and vision, plus strategic direction and integration for the Office of Advancement, Public Relations and Marketing, UA-PTC Foundation, and the Center for Humanities and Arts (CHARTS) Programming. Boshears received a Bachelor of Arts in Jour- nalism/Public Information from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is the recipient of more than 30 combined awards from the Inter- national Association of Business Communicators and the Arkansas Advertising Federation, both of which recognize excellence in advertising and communications in Arkansas. Two NYITCOMStudent Doctors Matched toMilitary Residencies Two members of New York Institute of Technol- ogy College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University’s Class of 2021 were matched to U.S. military residencies and will begin their grad- uate medical education in conjunction with ser- vice to their country. Student doctor Kimberly Fletcher matched in psychiatry and will perform her residency at Dar- nall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas. Student doctor Danny McIntyre was placed into a transitional year program at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Fort Gordon, Georgia. “I am incredibly proud of these outstanding stu- dent doctors and I congratulate them on their remarkable achievements,” said Shane Speights, DO, dean of NYITCOM at A-State. “We as an institution have tremendous respect for the work and sacrifice made by those who serve our coun- try, and we are honored that these students have chosen this path of service as they continue their medical education.” Upon completion of medical school, physicians must complete a residency training program to obtain a medical license to practice medicine in the U.S. and become board-certified in the phy- sician’s specialty. Medical residencies last three to five years for primary care physicians, while some specialties require additional years. Medical stu- dents who have committed to military service to complete their medical education are matched early in the year, while the civilian match takes place on March 19, 2021. NYITCOM at A-State students participating in the military match received expert guidance throughout the process from Amanda Deel, DO, associate dean of academic affairs, who spent five years in the U.S. Navy following her completion of medical school. “Student doctor Fletcher and student doctor McIntyre are not only committing to serve their fellow man, but also their country,” Deel said. “My time in the Navy was one of the greatest and most rewarding experiences of my life, and I’m thrilled for our students who are certain to gain similar invaluable lessons as they begin their graduate medical education and enter active duty in the military.” Jennifer Laudadio, MD, Named Chair of Department of Pathology Jennifer Laudadio, MD, has been named chair of the Department of Pathology in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. Laudadio, a professor of pathology, had been interim chair since Aug. 1. “Dr. Laudadio has earned praise for her com- mitment to quality and safety, and her work in graduate medical education, and she will pro- vide strong leadership for one of our most com- plex departments,” said UAMS Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean Chris- topher T. Westfall, MD. Laudadio joined UAMS in 2013 as associ- ate professor and medical director of molecu- lar pathology. She became vice chair for clin- ical operations and medical director for the Laboratory/Pathology Service Line in 2015. She was Pathology Residency Program director from 2014 to 2019 and CLIA Laboratory director from 2015 to 2020. Laudadio received the College of Medicine Residency Educator Award in 2016 and the inau- gural Clinical Excellence Award for Quality and Safety this year. A graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, Laudadio completed a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the Medical University of South Carolina and a fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at Oregon Health & Science University. UAMS Physician Establishes Second International Guidelines for Treating Castleman Disease Frits van Rhee, MD, PhD, a myeloma researcher and clinician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), was lead author on a recently published paper that establishes con- sensus diagnosis and treatment guidelines for a form of Castleman disease, a rare disorder of the lymph nodes and related tissues. The recommendations were created to improve outcomes in patients with a form of the disease called unicentric Castleman disease (UCD) that affects a single lymph node area and can com- press vital structures such a blood vessels, nerve bundles, or the airways. In others, UCD can give rise to night sweats, fevers, weight loss, and anemia. “Castleman disease is rare so people don’t know how to treat it and until recently there has not been any systematic approach to UCD,” said van Rhee, an international expert on Castleman disease. “These guidelines are meant to give treating physicians a framework for the diagno- sis and treatment of UCD.” Van Rhee is a professor of medicine, clini- cal director of the UAMS Myeloma Center and holds the Charles and Clydene Scharlau Chair for Hematologic Malignancies Research. The paper, “International Evidence-based Con- sensus Diagnostic and Treatment Guidelines for Unicentric Castleman Disease,” was recently pub- lished in Blood Advances, an online publication of the American Society of Hematology. It included research and input from van Rhee and 41 other