HJAR Sep/Oct 2021

26 SEP / OCT 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs Two UAMS Doctoral Nursing Students Named Jonas Scholars Two students in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing have been awarded grants totaling $30,000 from Jonas Philanthropies, a leading national philan- thropic funder of graduate nursing education. The recipients are Vivian White, MNSc, RN, a psychology and mental health scholar, and Rachel Pascoe, BSN, RN, a vision health scholar. Both are students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. Their research and clinical foci address some of the nation’s urgent healthcare needs. The grant will empower and support nursing students with financial assistance, leadership development and networking to expand the pipeline of future nursing faculty, researchers and advanced practice nurses. “The pandemic magnified the need for well- educated nurses to provide expert clinical care, leadership, and serve as clinical faculty to educate the nursing workforce,” said Patricia A. Cowan, PhD, RN, dean and professor of the UAMS Col- lege of Nursing. “Vivian and Rachel are step- ping up to meet those challenges as leaders in nursing, and we are very proud of what they are accomplishing.” White will use the two-year funding for research into providing mental health services for African American veterans. Pascoe’s research will provide screening for vision loss related to Type II diabe- tes in the Hispanic community. As 2021-2023 Jonas Nursing Scholars, the two UAMS students join more than 75 others pursu- ing doctoral degrees at 49 universities across the country whose work focuses on critical health priorities. “Each year, we grow more in awe of all our Jonas Scholars have achieved. It is with great honor that we welcome and celebrate this new cohort of nurse leaders,” said Donald Jonas, who co-founded Jonas Philanthropies with his late wife Barbara Jonas. “With more than 1,400 Jonas Scholars to date who are committed to meeting the greatest health needs of our time, we look forward to continuing our work with our part- ner nursing schools and expanding our impact to advance care for the country’s most vulnera- ble populations.” NYITCOMat A-State Faculty Receive CATCH Implementation Grant fromAmerican Academy of Pediatrics In response to Arkansas’s significantly high infant mortality rates, a local physician and a public health practitioner have secured a grant to provide education and resources to mothers in the state. Christine Hartford, MD, a board-certified pedi- atrician and clinical medicine faculty member at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State Uni- versity (NYITCOM at A-State), and co-investiga- tor Jennifer Conner, DrPH, associate professor at NYITCOM and deputy director of the Delta Population Health Institute (DPHI), have received a $10,000 Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) Implementation grant from the Amer- ican Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to address the health of mothers and infants living in rural Arkan- sas through education, connection to services, and collection of data. “We are honored to receive this grant,” Hart- ford said. “Infant mortality rates in Arkansas are among the highest in the nation, and the Delta has the highest rates of any region in our country, making this one of the most pressing child health- care issues in our part of the state. Community outreach programs can lead to significant change and improve health outcomes, and that’s exactly what we aim to accomplish through this project.” Hartford and Conner, along with volunteer medical students from NYITCOM at A-State, will conduct group prenatal visits for pregnant women in an underserved community in the Delta region of Arkansas. The prenatal visits will be in the form of interactive educational sessions that will cover important topics for pregnant women and new mothers, with a focus on those that may help improve infant health such as breastfeeding, safe sleep, maternal depression, healthy maternal behaviors, and vaccinations. Participants will be provided with informational packets covering a range of important topics as well as a list of local resources specific to the com- munity in which they live. The project will help provide prenatal education to pregnant women, a gap that some mothers in the Delta may expe- rience due lack of access to healthcare, poverty, food insecurity, lack of insurance and lack of edu- cation, among others. The NYITCOM and DPHI teams hope to help program participants learn about and understand factors that are important to their infants’ health. The project will also inform mothers of relevant resources in their area for both themselves and their infants and help connect them to services as needed. The CATCH program, a flagship initiative of the AAP, supports pediatricians and residents to col- laborate within their communities to advance the health of all children. “As a pediatrician, I’m extremely passionate about the health of children, and I’m honored to have an opportunity to take on such a worth- while project,” Hartford said. “I’m grateful that the AAP recognizes the importance of address- ing this issue in our state, and I’m humbled at the opportunity to help lead such a project.” Arkansas Health Network Appoints LubnaMaruf, MD, as CMO, VP The Arkansas Health Network (AHN), a physi- cian-led, clinically integrated network (CIN) serv- ing Arkansas patients, providers and employ- ers, announced that Lubna Maruf, MD, has been appointed as its new chief medical officer and vice president. Maruf will oversee all aspects of clinical quality improvement, provider engage- ment efforts and performance in quality metrics across the network and provide medical leader- ship for AHN’s strategic initiatives. “We’re blessed to add Dr. Maruf’s commit- ment and incredible expertise in the field of Lubna Maruf, MD