HJAR Jan/Feb 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  JAN / FEB 2022 25 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com and blood tests of diabetic pregnant mothers. Researchers hope the study involving more than 300 women and their newborns will be a step toward finding new drugs or other help- ful treatments. Hari Eswaran, PhD, who is leading the study, said it would build on existing knowledge about the connection between diabetes in pregnancy and developmental problems for babies. The multidisciplinary team science project includes UAMS researchers at Arkan- sas Children’s Research Institute. Infants and children from diabetic mothers are more likely to have neurological issues such as low IQ, poor muscle control and delayed lan- guage development, said Eswaran, a profes- sor in the College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of research at the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. The prevalence of births complicated by type 1 or type 2 diabetes has increased by about 50% in recent years. Eswaran will use a unique device he helped develop at UAMS known as Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) Array for Reproductive Assessment (SARA). The non- invasive device can detect fetal brain activity through the mother’s abdomen. SARA will be used in this study to check fetal responses to sound and visual (light) cues. That information will be compared with the moth- ers’ blood tests analyzed by the collaborating research team at Arkansas Children’s. The lab-based part of the study is led by Shannon Rose, PhD, an assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pedi- atrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology. Her team will measure a battery of inflamma- tion markers associated with diabetes, includ- ing pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as inter- leukin-6 and C-reactive protein. “This should provide much better insight into the specific mechanisms of inflammation that impact fetal development,” Rose said. “If, for example, we determine that interleukin-6 is really elevated and is associated with poor out- comes for babies, then that might be a target for a future drug clinical trial.” “This is a classic bridge between clinical electrophysiology and laboratory science,” Eswaran said. “No other researchers have con- ducted a study that involved using functional brain analyses with this technology to correlate with maternal inflammatory biomarkers in dia- betic pregnancies.” Hepatobiliary Surgeon Abdelrahman Attili, MD, Joins CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic CHI St. Vincent announced that Abdelrahman Attili, MD, has joined the team of leading phy- sicians at the CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diag- nostic Clinic as the first hepatobiliary fellowship trained surgeon in Arkansas. His primary focus is on complex procedures involving the liver, bili- ary system, pancreas, spleen, adrenal glands and the stomach. After attending medical school at the Univer- sity of Jordan School of Medicine in Amman, Jor- dan, Attili completed a residency in general sur- gery at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando where he became general Abdelrahman Attili, MD surgery board-certified. He completed fellowship training in minimally invasive advanced gastro- intestinal, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery at Miami Cancer Institute. Attili performs various complex gastrointestinal surgeries using new robotic-assisted technology. Attili is now seeing patients at the CHI St. Vin- cent Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic at 10001 Lile Drive in Little Rock. CARTI Opens Cancer Center in El Dorado CARTI announced the opening of the CARTI Cancer Center in El Dorado, located at 1601 North West Avenue. The center provides med- ical oncology and PET imaging services to can- cer patients of south Arkansas. The facility, built in the former Office Depot, includes an infusion suite with 30 heated recliners and an on-site lab. The cancer center will be open Monday - Thurs- day from 7 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. This is the fifth comprehensive cancer center in CARTI’s network of treatment locations, bring- ing its statewide presence to 18 treatment loca- tions in 15 communities. CARTI currently has south Arkansas locations in El Dorado, Crossett and Magnolia. Patient care will be provided by medical oncol- ogist Balan Nair, MD, and Kayla Williams, APRN, MSN. Nair has been treating patients in El Dorado since 1998. Phase II of the project will bring additional ser- vices, including radiation oncology and imag- ing services, including mammography, CT and MRI. Phase II is expected to be completed in late 2022. n