HJAR Jan/Feb 2022

22 JAN / FEB 2022  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs or family member; adult day centers; respite cen- ters; residential care facilities; group homes; rec- reational settings; community-based programs; hospitals, etc. Lifespan respite includes care for recipients of any age or diagnosis. Those being cared for can be children with serious health issues or a disability or adults dealing with issues such as Alzheimer’s or cancer. “Getting the chance to take a break is so impor- tant for full-time caregivers,” said Martina Smith, director of the Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance at DHS. “Caring for a loved one full-time is a labor of love, but it is difficult, both physically and mentally. This voucher pro- gram allows caregivers to hire trusted individuals to care for their loved ones for a short time while they recharge and take care of themselves. In the long run, this helps everyone, and we’re happy to give full-time caregivers this opportunity.” There is no deadline to apply, but applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis until the available funding runs out. After an appli- cation is received, caregivers will be contacted within 14 business days to inform them of the sta- tus of their application (either approved or denied). If the application is approved, a check is mailed directly to the caregiver. The caregiver is respon- sible for selecting and paying the respite provider. The $300 must be used during the approved award term (provided on the award letter). Any unused funding must be returned to the program once the award term ends. Caregivers do not have to use the $300 all at one time; it can be spread out over different periods of respite care during the award term. For exam- ple, caregivers may choose to use $200 to offset the cost of a week-long respite care program, and $100 to reimburse the cost of an individual pro- viding in-home respite for a weekend while they travel out of town. Caregivers can learn more about the Arkansas Lifespan Respite Voucher Program and connect with respite providers in their area by visiting www. ar.gov/arlifespanrespite and clicking on “Care- giver Resources.” Caregivers also can call toll-free (866) 801-3435 or email arlifespan.respite@ dhs.arkansas.gov for more information. For more information about programs offered through DHS, visit humanservices.arkansas.gov. J. Alyssa Peters, MD, Joins CHI St. Vincent Pulmonology Disease and Critical CareMedicine Clinic CHI St. Vincent announced that J. Alyssa Peters, MD, has joined the team of leading pulmonolo- gists at the CHI St. Vincent Pulmonology Disease and Critical Care Medicine Clinic in Hot Springs. Peters is now seeing patients at the clinic, located at 1 Mercy Lane, Suite 301. After attending medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, Peters completed a residency in internal medicine at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn, New York. She completed a fellowship training in pulmonology and critical care at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. The CHI St. Vincent Pulmonology Disease and Critical Care Medicine Clinic diagnoses and treats breathing problems related to diseases of the lungs and bronchial tubes, which often involve the upper respiratory tract as well as the heart. Common conditions that the clinic treats include sleep apnea, apnea, snoring, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary hyper- tension, emphysema, lung cancer, sleep disorders and pneumonia. NIHAwards $13.8Million to Test UAMS-Discovered Drug for Methamphetamine Use Disorder Treatment A drug discovered at the University of Arkan- sas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to counter the effects of methamphetamine will be tested in a phase 2 clinical trial as the only potential treat- ment of its kind for methamphetamine use disorder. The study is led by UAMS startup biophar- maceutical company InterveXion Therapeutics, LLC, and is funded by a three-year, $13.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The drug, IXT-m200, could be the first mono- clonal antibody treatment for methamphetamine use disorder and overdose. It received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track Designation in 2016 for treatment of metham- phetamine use disorder. FDA Fast Track Designa- tion facilitates the development and speeds the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. “There is an urgent need for an effective treat- ment, and we’re excited to begin this next phase of testing,” said Brooks Gentry, MD, one of the grant’s principal investigators and a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Departments of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology and Toxicol- ogy. “Because there are no medications out there to treat meth use disorder or overdose, we hope the FDA Fast Track Designation will help us move a little more quickly.” Gentry, the chief medical officer for InterveXion, noted that the number of people in the United States with methamphetamine use disorder increased by 62% between 2015 and 2019, and overdose deaths increased by 43%. UAMS, which has partial ownership of InterveX- ion, will receive a sub-award of $388,876 to sup- port the clinical trial, named the OUTLAST trial. Arkansas Urology Plans Advanced Imaging Center Arkansas Urology has announced plans to open an advanced imaging center at its Little Rock clinic location. The center, which will include a state-of-the- art Positron Emission Tomography – Computed Tomography (PET/CT) scanner, as well as an advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner, will allow Arkansas Urology to more effectively and efficiently treat patients. Arkan- sas Urology will also be offering a new targeted PET imaging agent to detect the presence or absence of metastatic prostate cancer. This tar- geted PSMA (Prostate-Specific Membrane Anti- gen) called the Pylarify diagnostic tool is another J. Alyssa Peters, MD